Seven weeks in the land down under and not one day without the famous Aussie euphemisms, or slang as many would call it. “Everyone there speaks English,” they said. “You guys will be fine,” they said. Truth to be told, for novices like us, we had heaps to learn. That means “a lot” to learn in Aussie. 🙂 We were confused half the time, but rather amused when hearing sentences put together that made absolutely no sense. Either way, we didn’t mind it one bit. In fact, it was so much fun to hear a new phrase or word (with that robust Aussie accent of course) and ask/research what the heck it meant. We began to look forward to it and because we were living with a local family upon arrival it was simple to identify.

Despite the entertaining and long list of slang, Australia (or Oz when referred to informally) is a dream come true for those of us who are from the States and in particular, California. We are so ridiculously far from this beautiful country. So, as you can imagine, our excitement to experience iconic attractions for the very first time at this popular destination was quite surreal. Our first two weeks were spent at a charming retreat guesthouse overlooking the glorious Blue Mountains about 2 hours (by train) inland from Sydney. We, however, were staying with the local family at the house next door helping maintain their guesthouse property in exchange for accommodation and meals. We found this opportunity on helpex.com. We first heard about this program from a friend in Peru and figured this would be a unique introduction to Oz and a great way to experience the local lifestyle.

So, for the next 15 days we helped for five hours per day from Monday-Friday alongside our Frenchie friend who was also there doing the same. Thankfully, there were two guys that allowed this girl to take it easy when it came to the work outdoors. I kept busy doing the guesthouse laundry most days and let it be known; never again will I use a hotel towel to wipe any miniscule amount of make-up from my face. My hands still have rough patches from all the scrubbing. After laundry, cleaning out chicken houses, clearing driveway gutters, etc. our evenings consisted of people from different countries and backgrounds sharing one dinner table along with stories, conversations and inspiration. Late night talks by the fireplace and listening to the guys strumming guitar were the best.

And of course, an evening was not complete without having a Tim Tam or two (or five). We had not been in Oz but for a week when we were introduced to the delicious chocolate covered biscuit known as a Tim Tam. This was not a good idea, as it immediately became part of our daily diet while in Oz. It was a tough habit to break. We were also introduced to the arguably savory dark brown Australian paste known as Vegemite. We were not big fans of this stuff until we tried it on toast with a bit of butter. Depends on how you eat it, but take it from us, a spoonful of the stuff is not recommended.

During this short two weeks we also visited the annual Katoomba festival, which happened to be going on the weekend we arrived and was only 2 train stops from the house. Here, we heard good music, snacked on great food and made new friends at a local bar/lounge. We must have been inspired at this festival because for the first (and definitely last) time ever, I had a snake, python to be exact, wrapped around my shoulders. Ewwww! Still can’t believe it. Luckily, I wasn’t squeezed to death, which is apparently highly likely in Oz.

Did you know that Australia is home to some of the most deadly animals in the world? Here’s a few that are absolutely terrifying: Saltwater crocodile, box jelly, red-back spider, funnel web spider, snakes of all kinds, and the great white shark. It was the craziest thing to hear about the latest shark attack while listening to the radio during the day.

If you didn’t know, listen to this song and do tell us what you think.

Being so close to the Blue Mountains, we had to be extra cautious about spiders when working outdoors. One day, while Enoc was chopping up wood for the fire, he found an ugly black/brown spider within a hollow space of a log. Not knowing what to do and most likely thinking about his wife’s annoying safety tips, he rushed to grab the frenchie and I from the guesthouse. I had one look at it and knew right away (thanks to my friend Google) it was none other than the deadly funnel web spider. Our hosts made us kill it right away and rightly so. Till this day, I have met many Australians that have been in Oz their whole life and have yet to see this spider. We saw it on our second week there! Oh, the joy. After this encounter, we had trouble sleeping until we reached the city and stayed in a high-rise for the next two weeks. Surely, spiders back home will seem cute after our year on the road.

This was our first time living with complete strangers, which ultimately led to close friendships and a diverse set of life skills. All stories aside, it has been such a blessing to have these opportunities to connect and love people from around the world. We are forever grateful for moments and experiences like this.

Sydney and Melbourne to be posted later this week.

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