Two 'Heels in Oz!: Summer

Today, December 1st, is the first day of summer Down Under. As if the weather gods knew that summer started today, we have been blasted with a warm (85F), sunny day. Normally, Erik and I would have no complaints, as we find that temperature just about perfect, and any day with sun is a good day in our books. However, as I have previously mentioned, it is certainly hard for it to feel like it will be Christmas in 24 days when everyone is walking around in tank tops, shorts, and thongs (flip flops for the non-Aussies!). Very few houses have lights or decorations because, to be honest, it's not getting dark these days until about 9pm, so very few people would be able to enjoy those lights. We do have one neighbor who has gotten into the festive season though!

As far as 'trimming the tree" goes, I'm pretty sure that most Aussies use a fake tree, though there are a few Christmas tree farms within a reasonable drive of Melbourne that will set you back about $100 for a tree. I actually think that the risk of fire, due to the climate being so dry, is a deterrent for having a real tree in the house.

Our "tree" last year...if you can find the actual tree in the picture!

Pavlova, or "pav", a summer/Christmas tradition in Oz. This one was made by my dear friend Ellise.

I am sure that if we had grown up here, we would associate this type of weather with Christmas. Many Aussies that we know spend the time around Christmas soaking up sun at the beach and having picnics in the park with friends, which is nothing to complain about, except that is just doesn't "feel" right. Our association with Christmas is cold, snow, and snuggling up under a blanket or by a warm fire with baked goods and hot chocolate while lights twinkle outside the house. Quite a different scene, but we are trying to embrace the traditions of our new home, having spent last Christmas hiking along the beaches of Wilsons Prom. Surely there could be worse things in the world than spending Christmas at the beach?! :)

Christmas greetings projected on Melbourne's Town Hall last year.

A few months ago, Erik was awarded a grant to complete research at a university in Canada for four weeks. In addition, he was selected to present at a conference in San Francisco. With these two events combined, he would be gone from Australia for over 7 weeks. Since part of this time fell over the Victorian School Holidays, we decided that I should head to the States to escape the winter weather during part of the time he was in Canada, then we would rendezvous in his hometown so that he could have a few days of vacation before heading back to Oz.

It’s a bit strange to be “vacationing” in your home country that you are not currently a resident of, and even though I spent my time in places where I’ve vacationed many times before, it felt like more of a holiday for some reason. I spent the first full day home hiking with my sister in Patapsco State Park, followed by visits to Trader Joe’s and Wegmans (if you have not been to Wegmans, you should get there ASAP!), and ended the day with a Maryland crab cake from Timbuktu. The next few days were spent in my hometown, catching up with high school friends and spending time hanging out with my parents. I soon headed to the beach with my family and enjoyed more quality time with them, along with my best friend from undergrad, Mo. Following nearly a week at the beach, I flew to Minnesota to be reunited with my husband after almost 6 weeks of being apart. We spent the first few days at his family’s cabin, where we played our traditional summer softball game, swam across the lake, waterskied, and had an impromptu triathlon. We spent the rest of our time in the Midwest in Erik’s hometown, spending time with family and friends. Erik’s godmother was kind enough to allow us to host a get together at her house, where we had an excellent turn out of friends and family that we were able to catch up with all at once. At the end of our week in MN, Erik headed back to Oz and back to work, while I got the chance to keep playing in LA with my best friend from grad school, Tandi. Tandi is the queen of planning activities when I am in town, so we literally went non-stop for 4 days and it was an amazing trip. I learned to surf (still need lots of practice though and hoping my Aussie friends can help me out with this one!), saw Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney in concert at Angels Stadium, hiked to Sandstone Peak (the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains), spent a night in Palm Springs, visited Salvation Mountain and Slab City (from the movie “Into the Wild”), went whale and dolphin watching, and had my first go at stand-up paddle boarding.

We are so incredibly thankful for our family and friends who put so much time and effort into making our visit such a fulfilling one. I truly feel as if I am returning from an incredible holiday and I couldn’t have asked for anything more on my trip. I think Erik could have used a few more days of vacation, but I know he is extremely grateful for the short time that he did get to spend with people in Minnesota. According to our friends and family, we should have many potential visitors over the course of the next six months, so we are looking forward to showing them a good time in our new “home” country. For now, we are just adjusting to going from 90 degree F temperatures to winter weather. And as our summer tans quickly fade away, we will still be holding on to the memories of our 2012 vacation to the US of A!

Highlights of our trip in photos...