Sharks

Last night, Grace and I decided to go out. We found a bar that looked really cute along the water called Bayswater. Although we were mad at them for not hiring me a few days ago, we went in anyways. After realizing that they weren't kidding when they said "it was their dead season.." We walked home after a few drinks. 

How busy the bar was...

"Why are we the only people here..."

On the way home we stopped at the Shark Muesum that's at the corner of our street. We had a bit too much fun taking pictures... 

Getting creative

For those of you that have been keeping up with the blog, I'm sure you saw the post "womanly essentials". Since that post, we have been trying new home remedies to keep up with our womenly needs to continue looking this amazing.... 

Recently, Grace and I decided to make a home made mask that is supposed to make you "glow" and have radiant skin. We mixed banana, honey, and yoghurt together to make our DIY mask. Although the chunks of banana seemed to melt off of us from time to time, we know have faces as smooth as a baby's bottom. 

Scary..

Eat at Dan & Steph's

My Kitchen Rules also known as MKR is a popular reality show here in Australia... And of course I'm addicted to it. It is a cooking show with judges Pete and Manu, who are famous professional chefs. The winners of the show get money to start up their own restaurant at the end of the season. 

Pete and Manu... 

Although I wasn't here last year to watch last season, I've heard about the winners Dan and Steph. This week, the happened to open their restaurant in their home town of Hervey Bay, right down the street from where we live. Their restaurant is called Eat. At Dan & Steph's. Since Tyler is also a large MKR fan, we needed to go visit it immediately. On the way there we talked about the show, how exciting it must be to win and how they must feel when people ask them about the show. We also hoped that Pete and Manu would be there but... No such luck. 

Last season winners, Dan and Steph 

The restaurant is a cafe setting with a great view of the bay. It is absolutely adorable inside. They have an "all day" menu constructed of healthy food and delicious baked goods. There pricing is reasonable as well. We were surprised that they aren't open past 5, however, it was jammeddddd packed when we went in there at 10am on a Saturday. 

Dan and Steph were there. It was like we were hanging out with famous people (probably the closest we'll ever get..) they were such humble, happy people. They were more than willing to talk to all of their customers. They absolutely deserved to win. 

We had breakfast there which was amazing. Tyler and I also split a gluten free, organic banana, coconut, macadamia and orange zest bread.... Ummm best thing ever. And it's cooked fresh by Steph everyday. Looks like we need to go daily.... 

Retired.

Before our trip we liked to refer to ourselves as "retired". It just sounded so much better than "unemployed". Now, to confirm that we are actually retired, we are living in a retirement home. Tyler's boyfriends grandma owns a home in SeaChange retirement home in Hervey Bay. Tyler and her boyfriend, Jared have been living here since October. However, Jared is back home in Port Lincoln so grace and I have been living with Tyler and keeping her company. We feel like we are in Florida. Queensland is the sunshine state after all... 

At the retirement home we go to the gym, pool and beach often. Although the retirement home is an active community, we don't see the residence often.. It's almost like they never leave their homes. However, when we do see them, they seem utterly shocked as to why 3 young Americans are around. Besides a few nights ago (when we walked home from the bar at 4am), we are always very cautious of our behavior in the complex  so they don't hate us... ie. we have been good about profanity, our voice volume, being uncontrollable, etc. 

We are still searching for jobs here but since it's a dead season we aren't haven't too much luck... Retirement continues....

Bike police

Now that we are in a location for a longer period of time, I'm trying to get into a fitness routine. I haven't felt fit for a while so I'm ready to get back into the healthy habits I once had. I have been sleeping through the morning runs with the girls. To be honest, I've never been much of a runner anyways. So I decided to give bike riding a try. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike, but- why not? I love spinning so it's kind of the same thing...

This morning, I decided to take Tyler's bike to the grocery store to grab a few things. When I first started I was literally concerned how things would go. However, they don't have that saying "it's like riding a bike" for nothing. So I kept on riding. After stumbling over in front of the botanical gardens, I told myself no one saw. But a few more seconds down the road I passed an old man who seemed to be saying something to me. I took out my earphones and said "I'm sorry, were you trying to get my attention?" He said "yes, why do you ride your bike?".... Before I could respond he said "because you don't really know how. The seat is way to high for you and your helmet is loose." To be fair, Tyler is 5'7 and I'm 5'2 so the seat probably was too high but that's besides the point. I awkwardly laughed and told the old man that it was my first time back on a bike in a while. He smirked and said "good luck with that." .... Rightio old man, you must have been having a bad day. I plan to still ride the bike and hope to pass him when I'm fully back into the swing of things. Im just wondering if he thought he was the bike police or if he was concerned or if he was bored...  Guess I'll never know. 

Hervey Bay

On Friday night, we arrived at our destination in Hervey Bay, where we plan to stay for a month or so with our friend Tyler from Wolfeboro. We are living in her boyfriends grandmas house. 3 American girls living in an Australian retirement home... We actually love it. There's a free pool, gym and the beach is right down the street. It reminds us a lot of Florida... Definitely don't hate it. 

Tomorrow we are planning on searching for jobs. Being on the road made us feel broke and eager for a routine. Wish us luck! 

Noosa

Our favorite new town is Noosa. I want to  live there. When I'm a millionaire I'll buy a holiday home there. But until then, we will just keep going back for weekend trips. 

Noosa is an adorable town that reminds me a little bit of Newport RI. It is surrounded by the ocean, lakes and a river that we voiding figure out the name of. It has adorable shops, resturants and activies all along the coast. 

While we were there we were supposed to go kiteboarding. However, the wind wasn't strong enough so we have to wait until next time. As a plan b, we walked around the town- we shopped a bit, stopped for lunch and even some beers. As we continued along the coast we noticed there was a surfing competition going on. We stopped and watched for a bit- so cool. We want to be surfers now. 

Due to timing issues (we really need to work on that) we didn't have time to do too much. We are planning to go back for a weekend trip soon! 

Pacific Highway

We have been driving on the Pacific Highway since we left Sydney. Since we love the ocean, we have loved the scenic drive and outlooks. As you may know from previous posts, we do almost anything for a good sunset and/or sunrise. We have definitely seen a lot of great ones while driving along the Pacific. Having great views distracts us from realizing how long we are actually driving for which helps us become less delusional. 

We also discovered today that neither Grace or I have stuck our feet in the Pacific Ocean before... Until today of course :) we waved to America on the other side of the ocean! 

Byron Bay

Besides having the first sunrise in the country (being the furthest east), Byron Bay is an amazing place. It is a surfer town with large waves, hippe style cafés and breathtaking views. 

Grace and I got in touch with our "inner hippe" last night by sleeping in our car. After successfully surviving (thank god), we walked to the light house I our pjs (along with many others) to watch the sunrise. 

As we watched the sunrise over the ocean and lighthouse. It started raining mid-sunrise (our luck, we couldn't not laugh...) then the sky turned into a purple- pink color. Great way to start the day! Who knew the two of us would ever be up this early under our own will. I'm glad we got up though. Grace noticed that being there would be the closest we would be to America for a while... Weird thought, but cool. 

Once ready for the day, we ate brekky at a quaint little cafe. It had a very strong surfer vibe. Healthy food, smoothies and free wifi.. Just our style. After a walk around the little shops and beaches, we are again in the car to do some touristy things up the Gold Coast today. 

Roughin' it...

I apologize in advance for all of you potential "disappointed in you" moms. However, I would like to say that Grace and I are alive, happy and well today. After driving the Pacific Highway yesterday for nearly 10 hours, we were determined to make it to Byron Bay. Byron Bay has the first sunrise in the whole country- and we wanted to be there for it.

Minor complications on the drive there, but we got it...

When we entered Byron Bay it was past midnight. Everything was closed except for a few bars and gas stations. Grace and I pondered our options of where we were going to sleep. Our first thought was to swag it on the beach. But with endless signs saying "no camping", we decided we didn't want to be deported quite yet. After driving around, we found a semi- well lite spot on the road, next to someone's driveway (that way it looks like we were visiting... thanks guy.) After talking about feeling homeless, sketchy and planning our attack antics for intruders, we finally fell asleep. We were both on high alert the whole night. After hearing footsteps walk by, I googled hotels that were maybe open.. no such luck. However, we both ended up sleeping quite a bit in little balls in the front seat. Success.

This morning, we watched the first sunrise in Australia for the day over the beach and light house.. woohoo. Absolutely amazing. Afterwards, we found a public bathroom on the beach with outdoor showers. After showering outside, in our bathers, we were clean and ready for the day. We put on makeup in the rear view mirrors of the car and also did our hair. Wearing dresses and make up, we look pretty damn well put together. Go us! Here we come Gold Coast!