Day 1

April 26, 2011- Day 1

Where: Healesville

Dinner: Brussel sprouts with garlic and shallots, grilled cheese sandwiches.

Thankful for spicket near campsite and excited for our first sleep in the van :)

First day of the road trip!! Actually most of the day was spent cleaning up the apartment and packing up the van. The van! The newest member of the fam. It's purple and green. Who's idea was that? We pretty much scream “tourist!” wherever we go. I guess that will excuse any stupid driving error we make. Remember, “In Australia We Drive on the Left Hand Side of the Road.” Thank goodness we have those signs. Pat and I repeat that line to each other often. Kate came over and helped us pack up for the last hour, and to say goodbye. I can't believe we've already been here for 5 months. For the past year Kate and I have been talking about when I come to Australia and now I'm leaving. It's gone by really fast and she and I haven't really spent a ton of time together, but I guess things never turn out the way you imagine they might. It's only really been in the past month and I feel like we've started enjoying each other like we did in France. I think we hung out with the guys too much in the beginning and didn't spent enough time just enjoying each others' company. I feel a little bit sad about that, but I'm glad our last few visits have been fun. I'll miss having her and her very sweet family nearby. They really were amazing to us, and just fun people in general.

Now the road trip! Pat drove out of the city and while I was certainly a stressful passenger, I think I'm getting over it faster than out last drive together. We made it onto the Eastern Freeway and we're staying the night in Healesville, VIC. We arrived after dark which was a bit inconvenient, but we did find a caravan park that was still open. We made our first dinner on our little single burner butane stove. Or should I say, Pat did. He did a great job! We had brussel sprouts with salami, garlic, and shallots and grilled cheese sandwiches. Haha, I was thinking about it I were on this trip with Cait we would eat some form of pasta every night and never have any veggies. But with Pat, we're eating in style. He was even sure to throw in garlic and shallots. He really doesn't like to make crap food. I like it :) I did the dishes in our little sink from the water tank underneath. I'll have to find a better system because tonight I used the whole water tank and ended up getting myself wet. Thank goodness there was a water spicket next to our site.

Camper in the van reminds me so much of camping with my family when I was little. Wandering around in the dark with out flashlights, trying to find the bathrooms. Pat and I are both pretty city folk- like at this point and we were a pick squimish. As we were cooking a racoon wandered up near us and Pat just stomped his foot and he ran away. I got a bit freaked out and then we were both paranoid and kept looking around us as we cooked. Possums are super creepy to me so I'm not even going to look up in trees at the risk that I may see one and end up spending the rest of the night cooped up in the car.

The best part so far is the sky. The stars are absolutely incredible out here!! It's probably pretty similar to the Colville sky, but I haven't been there in quite a while. I can see what looks like the Milky Way, and millions of stars. I can't wait to see more skies like this on the trip. We've realized that our bodies are probably just going to sync up with nature. I'm sure, despite the little curtains that cover all the van windows, that the sun will wake us up early and it really makes sense to cook dinner while it's still light out and then go to bed once it gets dark. I kindof like that idea. As cheesy as it sounds, I think it might be cool to be a bit more aligned with nature. Pat thinks maybe he likes the idea of being in nature more than actually being in nature. Haha, I think we'll both get more used to it. He didn't like it being so dark. Apparently that's rather inconvenient because you can't see anything. Yes, true. Where are all the street lamps?! Healeville Sanctuary tomorrow. Time to see some Australian animals. Finally!