Having left Asia in an all fire hurry, tired of the press of overpopulation, ready to eat something that doesn’t include noodles or rice, and having spent 10 months, essentially, illiterate, Australia is a deep sigh of peaceful relief.

It’s hot here too, but the hot is different, it’s dry (very, very dry) and to our tropical-wet conditioned selves, it feels cool and crisp. Twice in twenty four hours I’ve been so chilly I’ve had goosebumps!

The Going Anyway crew are generous to a fault, picking us up from the airport, finding mattresses for us to crash in their house, feeding us fantastic fresh food on the grill on the banks of the Swan River, and taking us to a beach with the bluest water we’ve ever seen. I’ve barely seen the boys, they’ve been playing non-stop with their good friends and we’re all enjoying the company of people who are “our people” in thinking and lifestyle. They’re heaps of fun!

First impressions of Australia:

• CLEAN!
• Organized
• Easy (language, societal norms, cultural bridges that feel comfortable to us)
• Delicious (a picnic of grilled chicken, corn and zucchini and loads of fresh bread!)
• Warm (but not stifling hot! And the Indian Ocean is COOL here, not bath water warm like in Thailand!)
• Expensive! (A small bottle of water at the airport was $3.50!! Gone are our SEA prices!)
• Beautiful (We’d read that Western Australia has the most beautiful beaches in the world: true story.)

Of course we’re completely upside down and the blood is rushing to our heads and the sun is upside down as well. We’re happy to report that our hair does NOT hang upside down over our heads just from being on the bottom of the world, nor do we have a hard time sticking to the bottom surface of the earth.

So far, we are loving Australia.

Part of that is our friends, of course, part of it is the shift to things that are more comfortable and familiar to us. But mostly, Australia is just fantastically interesting. Everywhere we look there are new things to discover and more to learn. The boys held jellyfish that don’t sting! We saw wild cockatiels in the park, preening their feathers like they didn’t even know that they’re only found in cages on our side of the world. The plants are different too! We cannot wait to get out and explore!

Don’t worry, we’ll take lots of pictures for you!