magical usb cord - unpacked! (=pictures can be uploaded)

qantas check-in: we'd just arrived in sydney, been through customs, and had our epic four-day trek to the opposite end of the terminal. it's hard to appreciate just how much stuff we had, but believe me, it was a LOT!


glenelg beach: nova's first-ever trip to the beach. not bad.


frewville city fringe apartments. ah, hotel living. here's payton hard at work in his cell. it was an all-in-one living space: bedroom, dining room, office, living room...


nova's hotel digs


whoa!! it's hard to stay contained in suitcases for two weeks.


henley beach: this beach is directly west (~25 min drive) from where we live. it is so hard to hold nova back from the water. i can't wait until it is hot enough to let her charge in to waves like she wants to do. in the meantime, her camo gum boots with skull and cross bones on the side will have to try to keep her dry so she can at least wade in up to her ankles (and baby ankles aren't very far of the ground. she gets wet a lot. trips to the beach always involve a couple changes of clothes).


henley beach


nova at glenelg beach


love bug. nova was thrilled when this article got pulled out of the box. i'm not sure why/how it got packed - i don't think they do halloween over here. she, of course, doesn't need the excuse, so maybe we'll just wear it anyway...


go ozito!


of course, the kid gets her stuff built first! first home-cooked dinner in the new house.


brekky with daddy.


nova enjoys brekky at her new table... which turned out to a bit of an oversight on my part. ikea was out of stock of these tall, little-person chairs that would have brought nova comfortably up to our level of dining. so, i nabbed it, thinking myself a fast thinker: this little set was cheaper, available, and oh, so cute for when her cousin comes to visit this spring or when she has friends over. as it turns out, all three of us now eat all our meals at a table made for midgets. payton's and my knees are somewhere between our ears and our plates... but nova seems right at home with it.


can anyone see the kangaroo in this photo?!

crouching diaper, hidden tantrum

wow. well, that threatened to be the shortest-lived blog ever. sadly, my australian basketball career was even shorter. after two games - where i didn't even sit bench because they had no uniform for me - where there was a full team plus subs, i finally asked if they really needed me. i was politely informed that, no, i think we're good, but thanks for scoring our game tonight.... so, i am again on the hunt for some sort of sport team to join up with. i think payton should play footie (he's got the perfect background: cross-country endurance mixed with battering ram mentality, and he mostly understands the game already).

regardless of our club recreation, we have spent the past couple weeks playing "the price is right" at ikea and following up with some rigorous furniture building. the ozito (we did not name that one outright, it is the brand name, but still we refer to it as though it is its given name), the ozito is a tiny little hand drill that kept us from screwing a thousand little screws in by hand. our forearms are thankful.

we've also finally been able to unpack the boxes we shipped - those things go through hell! boxes were burgered left and right, they hardly needed any encouragement to collapse into the recycling bin - with only a single casualty (a rocking horse rocker). nova unearthed her fuzzi bunz diapers and was beside herself. she has since been carrying them around with her, trying to put them on her stuffed animals, trying to put them on herself, wearing them on her head (don't worry, they're all clean), using them as blankets, transporting them from drawer to wardrobe to drawer to mama and daddy's bed to various meals to the grocery store (she's only allowed to take one on stroller outings), etc. she is also enamored with a pair of red patent leather lug-soled mary jane hand-me-down shoes (kb callari, you might recognize them) that will probably actually fit her when she is three or four (i can't judge sizes that well yet). so, she insists we put them on her first thing in the morning and she clomps around in them in her footie pajamas until one of us finally gets around to changing her diaper and putting her in some real clothes. she is also starting her terrible twos early and can throw a tantrum to rival any two-tonne opera diva you can name. this is made slightly more embarrassing when you live in a "unit" - i.e. share a common wall with the family RIGHT next door.

we went for a hike/walk up in the adelaide hills at norton summit (of note because supposedly there is a great pub there) and saw - hooray! - kangaroos!!! payton and i were like giggly little kids. we got all excited pointing and whispering like you do when you need to keep impressing the fact that you're seeing something great even though the person standing next to you is seeing the same image and does not require further assistance from the little jabs of your forefinger aimed at the scene or the urgent, rather loud whispers repeatedly naming what it is you are both seeing - as if the alert, wild creature staring back at you in fluorescent-got-it-at-the-patagonia-outlet-sale-orange raincoat hasn't noticed you yet. i'm not sure nova got to see the first few roos due to getting rapidly slung from side to side in the backpack as payton twisted and turned trying to get her a view. nonetheless, we (including nova) actually got to see quite a few kangaroos... and it was made readily apparent just how new we are to the country.

we (rather, i - everyone knows payton - who is curretly sacked out next to me - does not do much blogging) love hearing everyone's comments - it's like getting mail at camp. only it's electronic and this is a substantially longer camp than ones we remember as kids. and farther away. we've finally got internet again, so i'll try to be more regular with this. as it is, i'm just going to post all the photos i finally uploaded to this here posting. provided i can figure that out. afterwards, i'll try to keep the right photos with the right words.

cheers
lindsey

love the car, love the house...

oh wow, what a great weekend.

saturday was my 31st birthday, so to celebrate, we went car shopping. after much cruising of the main car lot drag, protesting from nova, fending off drooling and bloody-toothed used car salesmen, we found our new ride. we had looked at the toyota hilux (think four-door tacoma with a little bed), the nissan navaro, the holden rodeo, the jeep cherokee (liberty), the toyota land crusier (they love their cruisers here, and the price tag shows it)... but all a no go, for one reason or another. and then, the last dealer at the end of the day.... we found her! and you can't get one of these in the states.... a turbo diesel nissan patrol (nissan's version of the cruiser). she's a tank. she's gold, so we named her gloria gardner, but call her gg for short. we are so proud and can't wait to get in to the outback - apparently a common past-time for aussie's in the winter (a good time to go interior, as it's just WAY too hot in the summer) and with their families. payton and i figured that camping and being feral are a couple things we know how to do.

but the adventure continues... all along, with all the recent craziness in our lives and lack of exercise, i've been telling payton, "we need to get on some sort of sports teams when we get there" - you know, a great way to meet folks, play, get some exercise... astound with our athletic prowess.... and what do you know, but we're sitting down to sign the papers on gg and the gal looks me up and down and asks if i've ever played basketball. sure (in middle school, mind you. marie - i hope you're reading this). well, she says, i'm eight months pregnant and need someone to take my place on the team, you want to do it? (aussies may be a bit too trusting, or optimistic, or mistaken that a "tall enough" american probably knows how to play basketball). so i say, uh...sure. i see payton's head crank around to look at me in shock (i prefer to think of it as awe, however), and then she invited payton to be the coach!! now it's my turn to stare at him as he says sure (i, of course, being a homemaker, am thinking "who's going to watch nova?").

now, let me tell you, payton and i are athletic enough to try anything (i ain't saying it's going to be pretty, or fast, or successful, but we'll try) and there are many sports that either one of us might be alright at due to past experience.... but basketball is NOT one of them. footy, rugby, soccer,... even cricket, since we could claim total ignorance, would have been a better choice. but no. i can't shoot a basket to save my life and payton just keeps repeating, "pick and roll, pick and roll", whatever that means! first game is tonight... oh boy.

well, the rest of the weekend was uneventful (which is fine, because it was eventful enough as it was). we had our potential rentals down to two: one more inland, closer to payton's work, closer to the city and in a cool, funky part of town; the other was very near the beach, but teensy tiny with no patio/grilling/sit-outside-and-drink-a-beer space. we chose the one inland, knowing gg would be happy to take a few trips to the beach every week and knowing we'd enjoy the space more day to day. i'm considering not posting pictures, so you have to come visit if you want to see it.... but probably i'll post pictures. mind you, there are three bedrooms, so we're planning on company....

hope all's well in everyone's time zone.

cheers,
lindsey

love adelaide - where are all our friends?!

wow, well we finally made it. that is one long ass flight - made longer with small whirling dervish we call our daughter... and as usual, detouring adventures abound for the gardners.

our 8 pm plane out of albequerque was delayed due to weather (much thanks to abi for helping us haul all our carry-ons - stroller, car seat, guitar, diaper bag, school bag, back packs, baby - to our gate) so we missed our connecting flight to sydney. bummer. sarah, you'll be envious to here we had to spend an unexpected 24 hrs (because, of course, there are not frequent flights to australia, even from la) in the city of angels, where, thanks to a rental car and the ENORMOUS generosity of whitney's sister, julie, we did find a peaceful place to stay with food and beer and baby toys and fresh food before hopping on the 14 hr flight to sydney. much benadryl and only 6 hrs later, nova was wide awake trying to scream her way in to first class (kid's got taste). elbows flying side to side, she made many laps up and down the aisles and through the galley, payton and i switching off between exhaustion and nova.

shockingly, the flight came to an end and we finally landed in aus. where, adam, i have yet to see a corn dog. but oh, the meat pie is very tasty. krista, this will offend mike enormously, but for us it is a comfort - i feel like he's always near us because every dude sounds like him. anyway, customs was a treat. not only did we have the aforementioned carry-ons, but now we had to cart our luggage as well - 6 very large (wheelie, fortunately) bags. everyone was very friendly and loved to tease us about "how long are you staying?!", it was gratifying to answer that yes, all this baggage is in fact necessary because we are now living here. so after customs, we had, literally, about a mile trek pushing, pulling, or carrying some 600# of luggage between the 2 of us to the end of the terminal where we would catch ANOTHER flight... to adelaide. dripping with sweat and feeling uncomfortably like the beverly hillbillies, we finally made it to the qantas gate. the poor woman didn't know what to do with us or all our stuff, so after much measuring, weighing, calling to higher ups, and waiving of MAJOR baggage fees, we finally got to get on the bus to get to the terminal to get on our plane. fortunately, nova was cheery as a cheerio and the cereal they served us for breakfast on the flight has in fact become one of our favorites and remains steadily stocked in our little extended stay hotel kitchen.

once we got to our little one room apt., nova took a 17 hr nap and payton and i tried to stay up as long as possible to get through the time change asap. adelaide, oddly enough, is 30 minutes ahead of sydney, so we are 16 1/2 hrs ahead of all you in the states (mountain time). after a blurry week of recovery, house hunting, a lot of tea and a frantic search for decent coffee (instant is rather popular over here. and they don't have 1/2 and 1/2, you get the real thing, baby, all cream), we are finally getting on our feet. payton has gone in to work, confirmed that his guitar made the transition just fine, and is currently out car hunting. nova, because she sleeps better without us in the room, has a twin mattress on the floor of the single bedroom, sleeping sweetly next to the double bed in there, leaving payton and me to figure it out on the other twin bed that's set up in the living area. so, instead of being barefoot and pregnant in a trailer in wyoming (as i was a couple years ago when we were working in yellowstone), we are now back to how we used to sleep in college, and have only slightly more in the bank. although this time, all our stuff doesn't fit in the back of our truck....

nonetheless, we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves and having fun getting to know an entirely new system. driving is breathtaking, mainly because a right hand turn leaves you facing off with other cars at the intersection - an experience more commonly left to the left-hand turn in the states. the beach is beautiful and very fun to play on. the days are quite short, shadows rather long, but even though it is fall, when it rains it feels like spring.

ken - we looked at a house the other day and the fellow showing it looked so much like you, we looked around the place a few more times just to see him and feel like we'd seen you that day. unfortunately the place was a shit hole, but it was nice to see you with an australian accent all the same. whitney, where are you and kai? nova picked up the "more" sign from kai right before we left and now she taps her fists together and says "mommy, mommy, mommy" all the time for...everything.

hope all is well for everyone. please forward this email on to anyone you think would like to get it. i know we have plenty of friends who are not on facebook, so pass it on. we'd love to hear from you. we usually have skype turned on - your evening is our morning.

cheers,
lindsey

ps. i'll post pictures as soon as we unload boxes and find the camera cord.

i can't believe i'm doing this...

well, i've finally slid down the slippery electronic slope to the sleezy, slimy depths of the me generation - i have a blog and will now promote it! here i am typing about myself, my family, our life... and the "occupation" section of our rental applications for applicant 2 (i.e. me) is: homemaker. but i promise not to bore with textile choices and the quality of nova's poop (please, no offence to others in this line of business). no, instead i will try to make everyone insanely jealous that they are not here in aussieland with us, and so persuade you to come visit. of course, in order to do that, you might should skip the installment about travelling here... just scroll on down to the surfing/four-wheeling/eating great seafood/petting kangaroos and koalas part. i'll post pictures and extrememly witty, sarcastic text with each logged adventure.