Australian firsts

Obviously this trip is full of many firsts for me.  And I usually learn something from these firsts, so there is a moral to each of these stories.  So just like a mom documents her baby’s firsts with tacky yet adorable pictures that will be used years down the road for embarrassment, you will be able to read about some awesome and not so awesome moments I have here in Australia.  If you are lucky, you might even get the chance to lay your eyes upon some priceless pictures catching me at my best or my worst, knowing full well that the pictures I post may come back to haunt me if any of you want revenge.  I can only hope I’ve chosen sympathetic friends.  And family, well….I’m kind of stuck with you all.

All right.  So here it goes.

I got my first police escort.  So if anyone wants to wire bail money over here that would be superb.  Australian jails are pretty nice, I mean, they let me update my blog! 

Okay that is all completely false.  Except for the police escort.

Some friends and I decided to head to The Rocks and scope out a place to have a nice dinner as a celebration of our first Friday night in Australia.  The Rocks is an area right by the Sydney Harbour Bridge full of chill restaurants and pubs and was highly recommended by one of the workers at the Bridge Climb.  After a full day of walking and city exploration, this sounded perfect.  So we headed out and soon realized we had no idea what Australian cuisine actually is (the Wikipedia site didn’t even help us figure it out).  After much deliberation about which people roaming the streets could be knowledgeable locals, we found a group of very friendly looking cops and asked where we could get the best authentic Australian dinner.  They immediately thought of a place, and get this….they not only showed us to the restaurant, but walked right in the front doors as if they ran the place and led us to the very back.  Guys, we hit the jackpot.  Before us was a case full of meat.  And outdoor grills.  And outdoor seating.  It was awesome.  So we picked our cuts of meat, went outside, and BARBEQUED OUR OWN DINNER.  Look!

This was topped off with some delicious local Aussie beer.  Though we still don’t exactly know what Australian cuisine consists of, the meal was delicious.  So moral of the story…Australian cops are much cooler than American cops.

As if that wasn’t enough, I can now say that I have taken part in a famous Australian pastime.  This thing has been voted by the Aussies themselves as the number one icon that represents their beloved country.  I tried Vegemite.

Now let me back up a bit and set the stage.  Our last day in Sydney consisted of the ultimate test to see if we actually learned anything about Australia’s largest city.  We had our very own Amazing Race.  Our team of four showed up bright and early Saturday morning, armed with a map and bus pass (gone are the days of smart phones and cars), and sprinted off on our mission, bound and determined to win this thing.  With sweat dripping down our faces (literally) we navigated through the streets of Sydney, asking locals to help us figure out cryptic clues and take our picture with various objects.  They were all extremely nice and helpful despite our accents and frazzled appearance.

And then it happened.  The heavens opened and showed us what Sydney’s clouds are capable of.  Knowing a soaking was inevitable, we resumed the sprinting.  Needless to say, we were quite the sight.  Even the lady working in Aveda had a horrified look on her face as we stopped to collect our bearings.  Guys, it was quite the experience.

But it didn’t end there.  I haven’t even gotten to the best part.

An hour or so later, water still sloshing in our shoes, the sun finally came out as the clues led us to Sydney Harbour.  Knowing the light at the end of the tunnel was near (aka lunch at the Opera House), we ran up to one of the final checkpoints.  The challenge: two team members must eat a piece of bread smeared with Vegemite.  My friend Jess and I gladly stepped up to the plate.  Challenge accepted.  This was like a win-win; we both wanted to try this thing that most Australians have come to love and eat on a regular basis, and it would get us one step closer to the finish line.  This was going to be LEGEN….WAIT FOR IT…..

I can’t even finish that phrase.  Our looks say it all.  And this was even before we took a bite.

Sorry to all you Vegemite lovers out there, but this was the most vile thing I have ever tasted.  It was all kinds of terrible.  It took about four slices of bread each to get this stuff down and that still wasn’t enough.  I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  The Vegemite kind of looked like Nutella, but was super salty and had a flavor that still makes me cringe.

After this trauma and a few mix ups with the next clues, we finally made it to the finish line, completely exhausted and salivating over the thought of this lunch at the Opera House.  Between the day’s events and amazing atmosphere, it was one of the best burgers I have ever had.

So.  Moral of this story: just because it looks like Nutella doesn’t mean it tastes anything like it.