Quick Immersion

I ended my last blog post with an image of me eating my America food store-bought Fritos while smearing the grease all over my phone. (I know, pretty sexy, right?)  My other recent food behaviors include lots of bagels and cream cheese, excessive amounts of pizza, eating 5 breakfasts but no dinner, and thinking up all the insane things I would do for a chick-fil-a "meal number one," which is calling to me from thousands of miles away.  Also, I'm getting a little fat.

Although I feel it is somewhat justified as I'm 14 weeks pregnant!  I'm due in December and we were pretty stoked to have perfectly executed an Aussie summertime baby!  That quickly changed, however, when the Hong Kong plan began and it occurred to me that Hong Kong is in the opposite hemisphere. Oops!  Winter baby, it is.

So, rewind a few weeks and we were on our house hunting trip in Hong Kong.  I've only been there twice in my life so far. The first time, I was 7 weeks pregnant with Isla, trying my hardest not to puke the entire time.  And this time, I was 7 weeks pregnant with Macklemore (as I am referring to him/her at the moment) and trying to not puke while looking at apartments. Needless to say, I am pretty pumped to move to Hong Kong and explore it without carrying around a plastic bag, just in case I can't keep my lunch down.

Before we went for our recent visit, I gave myself an internet crash course in the public and private health systems in Hong Kong.  The first thing I learned was that getting into a private hospital with a delivery booking is a pretty competitive process given that the city is 1/3 ex-pats.  I saw an OB while there and had my first ultrasound.  Then, as expected based on my research, I was asked to fill out the booking forms for the hospital I had selected to deliver.  This part definitely threw me for a loop.  I couldn't help but laugh as I scanned over this form.  It looked exactly like the Expedia screen looks when you are selecting which room you want at a given hotel - you select what type of room you want, then how many nights you'd like to stay, if you want a meal option for your spouse, and then the kicker, whether you'd like to have a C-section or not.  Huh. "Why, yes, I'd like to book a quick C-section followed by a 5 night private room stay with a balcony.  And please just hand me my baby upon check out.  Cheers!" 

Needless to say, our Hong Kong adventure is already off to a pretty interesting start! We also signed a lease for an apartment in the Midlevels area of Hong Kong island and got Isla all set for pre-school there.  Our visas are approved and the movers arrive in 2 days.  Now all we need is an awesome line-up of visitors. (Hint, hint!)

Other than international baby prep, we've all been wrapping up things here as much as possible. I took the train last week a couple times just to ensure both my metro cards ran into the negative. I didn't really need to ride the train, but it just seemed like a clever thing to do. We sold lots of stuff, donated lots of stuff, organized lots of stuff, and today I had two important tasks:  I did my last run along the beach near our house in Elwood, and next, I plan to eat all the food left in our refrigerator and pantry.  This is somewhat of a gross task, but it will be rewarded tomorrow when my planned activity with a friend is to go out to eat at a couple of our favorite places (which of course I will have to do once  there's nothing to eat in the house.) I haven't told Isla this plan for tomorrow, but I can only imagine the look on her face when I tell her we need to go out for muffins and babychinos for most of the day!

Our last beach ice cream down at the pier

View of Melbourne from my run today

Proud to be an American?

Don't worry, I'm not about to get political. I may be about to get fat based on my adventure this afternoon, however.

Scattered around Melbourne, there are a few small grocery stores called "USA Foods" and they carry just that - US foods that are not sold or used in this country and most Aussies haven't even heard of.  According to my friend, Hannah, the stores get their food from US military ships that dock in Australia and unload their extra food stocks.

I have managed to avoid going to one of these stores for 18 months, but broke that streak today.  Our playgroup is having a joint 2 year old birthday celebration for all the kids (so, lots of bubbly for the adults) this weekend and I had a vision of impressing the hell out of them with my buffalo chicken dip (When I say "my," I am more specifically referring the recipe on the back of the Frank's Buffalo Sauce bottle, of course!). Buffalo sauce is not really a thing in Australia, so I decided it would be fun to make this dish.

I walked into USA Foods and 2 overwhelming feelings struck me - one of nostalgia and longing...and one of total disgust. The combination made me giggle awkwardly as I wondered through the place. This is a store of total junk food.  I love a hostess cupcake as much as the next guy, but, my oh my, there's a lot of unhealthy stuff in there!  There's basically an aisle for 800 kinds of pickles, an aisle for cereal (only the chocolate and lucky charm varieties), an aisle for cheese covered stuff like Cheetos, cheese puffs and cheese balls, an aisle for sauces, and finally, one for frozen items like Ben and Jerry's.

Oh, and as far as I can tell, there is a permanent display in one corner for Thanksgiving items, which may have been my favorite part.

In truth, all of these foods felt like I'd found absolute treasure and had to get them because who knows when I would see them again?!  The outrageous prices kept me contained however.  I got the buffalo sauce (Ever paid $9 for Frank's?). Then I decided we would do something crazy for Nate's birthday this weekend so I got Bisquick pancake mix and log cabin syrup - only the finest in my house!  Then, just as I was rounding the corner to the register, I spotted something beautiful out of the corner of my eye - FRITOS!  Couldn't stop myself. I'm eating them right now while rubbing the grease on my phone screen and I don't even care because they taste so good!

Eating the Frog and Toad

It was November of 2015 when we officially started "Hitting the Frog and Toad!"  So, we have lived in Australia for nearly a year and a half, and we've gotten pretty good at it, I think. My blog posts now have much fewer "oh crap" moments and way fewer stories of hilarious inappropriate conversions to kilograms, meters and celsius that get me into trouble.  We learned the culture (drink more, drive on the left when not drinking, and just be direct in your statements). We've mostly even navigated the health system here, as both Nate and I battled a nasty GI bug across the last two weeks.  We've gotten very comfortable in our day to day routine here at this point. And anyone who knows us well knows this is when Nate and I get a little bored of routine and itch for a new experience...

This time, however,  we did not seek out a new experience.  This time, it fell in our laps and made us dry heave a little from nerves and the sheer magnitude of the change. Let me back up to a Monday morning last month:

As I was getting Isla dressed, I saw I had a missed call from Nate at 8am.  He never calls, so I quickly rang him back, fearing he crashed his bike on the way to work.  He quickly answered and said, "Two things. One - I left my laptop on the counter. Could you please bring it to me at lunchtime? And two - let's go to lunch when you come and I need to know if you want to move to Hong Kong."  Aaaahh!  Fast forward about 4 hours and Nate had his laptop and we were moving to Hong Kong!

We'll be moving around August.  This is an incredible career step for Nate and I'm pretty stoked to explore more of the world (Hong Kong and surrounding countries) with our little lady.  I always envision myself cruising into some remote and exotic Asian port looking quite fashionable like James Bond would. However, in reality, I think I generally end up rolling into new locations half asleep looking like a disaster with no make up, struggling to carry Isla's toy bag and her while her hand is pulling down my shirt to put her toy koala in "mama's pocket" (aka - my cleavage).  So, I'll keep working on actualizing this James Bond image in the coming months. It's good to have goals.

We have very little figured out about the move at this point, but as an ex-pat friend assured me, "Once you make all the mistakes in your first international move, you'll be totally on the ball for the next one."  Who knows, I might even remember to pack sheets and towels in our air shipment this time!  I'm sure the blog posts will only get better as we try to navigate another language, very different housing and exotic foods (hence, the unofficial new blog name, "Eating the Frog and Toad!")

So, if you've ever wanted to visit us in Melbourne, book your tickets fast! Guests are very welcome!!  More updates to come soon on our Asian adventures!

A Fresh Nappy Please!

Life with an almost 2-year old is just flat out hysterical.  Isla is now a talking machine that keeps us on our toes and laughing.  While she has not developed any aussie accent, she has started going to pre-school ("goule," as she calls it) two days a week and comes home knowing songs we have never heard of (if anyone knows a song that contains the words "Lingy Dingy Danga, please contact me!) as well as aussie words and phrases.  Within a week, she was yelling, "Mom, I need a fresh nappy, please!" It sounds like she is straight out of Downton Abbey, which kills me every time.  Some of her other most notable regular behaviors include:

My co-chef & baby sommelier
Isla likes her kitchen, but she loves the real kitchen.  Once she realized my refrigerator contained ingredients to make baked good and hers just had plastic croissants, there was no competition.  She asks on a daily basis to make muffins and generally does a good job stirring and "helping," but every time I turn around, she sticks all her fingers into the batter and then yells that she got all dirty and freaks out until I give her a paper towel. (I think this is actually a genetic behavior she shares with my Dad...one should always have a damp paper towel handy!)

Like a true Australian, she also helps with wine selection and pick up.  I order almost all our wine from Qantas Airlines. Our house is not ideal for deliveries, so I select our local pharmacy as my pick up location.  The last time I went into the pharmacy with Isla and told them I had a delivery to pick up, they checked my license and then said, "Wait, do you need help with this?"  I jokingly replied, "Nah, don't worry, I do this all the time." Then I propped Isla high up on one hip and grabbed the case of wine on my other hip and walked out.  As we turned to leave, Isla giggled and yelled "Mama, wine!"  The woman did not think this was funny at all and just stood there with her mouth open.  (She must have thought I was a really super mother when I came back in 2 minutes later to carry the second case out).

Daddy naked!
In recent weeks, Isla has developed some passionate feelings regarding her clothing, and much to my surprise, VERY passionate feelings about Nate's and my clothing.  Specifically, she seems to believe it is of the utmost importance that we all be wearing clothing with animals on them at all times.  As the evening draws near, she asks me where "Daddy's kiwi shirt" is (a shirt from NZ with the kiwi bird on the front) and brings it to the door to get it ready for Nate's arrival home from work.  Nate typically bikes home and he doesn't even get up the stairs into the house before he is berated with:
"Dad! Take off the bike shoes...helmet off...this shirt's ALL DIRTY!  Take off the work glasses, wear the kiwi shirt, Daddy naked! No work daddy!" And that continues for the next 5-10 minutes. With the amount of excitement and vigor she has yelling all of this, I'm not sure if this entire process is more exhausting for Nate who can't seem to change quick enough, or for Isla who seems like she's going to have a baby coronary from the stress of it all.

This may shock you, but I actually don't own many clothes with animals on them (I know, I know, please be sure to get me that piglet character t-shirt for Christmas this year!) but I do have one pair of sweatpants with a bear on them, so this is my requested outfit every day.  Isla assures me I can wear the bear pants no matter what the plan for the day is - swimming, running, grocery shopping, you name it.  (Truthfully, I don't know why I never thought of this as a justification for my wardrobe for the past few years:  "Yes, well you know, I just HAD to wear these sweatpants again today...whatever it takes to keep my child happy!")

The kid also has an unhealthy affinity for my hair ties. I say "unhealthy" only because I worry they will actually cut off her circulation one day as she wears them on her baby biceps and her thighs.  She often goes to sleep at night wearing 10-15 of them all over her body and after she falls asleep, I gently peel all of them off her, hoping I didn't miss any.

Lady Gaga
I couldn't write this update without including perhaps one of the most inappropriate and funniest things Isla does. About 6 months ago, as she was learning body parts, we went through her whole body, naming parts.  Her pronunciation in general was still very much developing so she called her vagina her "gaga."  Okay, good enough, right?  Then a friend of mine heard Isla call it that while I was changing her and she cracked up saying, "oh my gosh, that's too funny! It's like her 'lady gaga.'"  I laughed and I guess Isla picked up on this phrase because her official name for that body part remains "Lady Gaga."  Pretty fitting, really.

Every day is a good day for the airport lounge
While Isla is definitely into lots of typical 2 year old things like baby dolls, stuffed animals, coloring, etc., she has also been exposed heavily to many of Nate's and my favorite things.  She invented a game she calls "Ironman" where she puts our headphones around her neck, puts the hair ties on her ankles (I think to simulate the band I wear around my knee for an IT band injury), and then runs around the house in circles alternating yelling "Ironman" and cheering/clapping for herself.  It seems like a healthy enough game, so we take part in it regularly. (In fact, I think Nate's using the laps around the house as part of his training for his real Ironman in May.)

The other game she plays is "airport lounge."  Given that we know we have a limited time in this country, we try to explore it as much as possible and take advantage while we can.  This, coupled with the frequent visitors we've had, has meant lots of trips to the airport.  Nate flies a lot for work, so we usually are able to hit up the Qantas lounge before/after a flight for some snacks.  I'm not sure whether to be embarrassed or proud, but Isla regularly tells me we are going to play "airport lounge" at the house.  This generally entails packing her suitcase (a blue backpack on wheels with elephants and flowers on it), then yelling that we are going to the airport and running into the living room to "look for some croissants and a babychino." 

In short, she's nuts and we love it.  I can't imagine what other challenging and inappropriate things are headed our way in the next year!

Ketchup (or if you are Australian, Tomato Sauce!)

A belated Season's Greetings from the Zahm household!  We have truly treasured the holiday season here with sunshine and temperatures in the 80s (I know, I know. Feel free to virtually smack me in the face if your hands are warm enough to move them.)  I've been accused of not being active enough on Facebook, so I've been trying to post some updates and pictures there in between blog posts, but here's a brief run down of some November and December highlights:

I finished the desk in November and while Nate hasn't actually done any work at it yet, it looks quite nice in our office that was previously just the stomping ground for stacks of papers one accumulates when they have to file taxes in two different countries and keep track of renting out property shenanigans for a house abroad.  In short, we cleaned up, added the desk and the space looks great now (if I do say so myself)!

We spent the first week of December in Busselton, Western Australia for my ironman and the location did not disappoint.  Crystal clear water, sea turtles popping up to say hello (thankfully, I saw those and not the tiger sharks lurking around), kangaroos hopping alongside our car in a field next to the highway, and great weather to boot.  Having done this type of racing before, Nate and I are both used to the multi-day preparation of getting your stuff ready, dropping off your bike, touring transition, practice swims, etc.  Isla was a rock star as we dragged her to all these things and mostly just wanted to know when and where she could "fwim" again.  It must have been a confusing 3 days when we kept explaining, "we have to do x for mommy's race, then we have to go to the race site, then back to the bike shop..."  I think she was totally relieved when we woke her up at 4am on race day and told her it was finally time for the actual race (unlike me who mostly just wanted to puke that morning). All went well that day and my cheerleaders stuck it out until I finished just before 8pm that night. The next day, as soon as my stomach was almost back to normal, I hobbled into some amazing Margaret River wineries and we enjoyed some relaxing family time before flying back.  Below is a picture of my "excited face" just before finishing.



I'm fully aware that unless you are me, the desk stuff a even the ironman race is probably a total bore, so I'll move on to wine country and koalas...

Nate's parents arrived in the middle of December and while Nate continued to work another week before the holidays, Isla and I jetted off with his parents to Adelaide to go to Mclarene Vale and Barossa Valley, world famous wine regions mostly known for Shiraz.  The wine was great, but there were two specific noteworthy moments from this trip. 

The first was our three-attempt landing in Adelaide.  Adelaide is not massive, but has a sizable airport with a normal sized run way.  We were in a 3x3 pretty standard plane and it was very bumpy and windy.  The pilot goes to land, wheels out, wing flaps up, just about to touch down....and then...NEVERMIND...back up!  The pilot missed the runway and had to quickly go back up, making everyone squeal a bit.  The pilot got on the speaker stating it was very windy and he'd try again.  So after a 20 minute circle, down, down, down, wheels out, wing flaps up, about to touch down, then....OH NO, UP, UP, UP!  By this point, everyone on the plane looked pretty nauseous.  The pilot got on the speaker again and said, "Sorry folks, today is just not my day.  Let's try again."  Um, what? Who's flying this thing?!  Another 20 minute circle made the 1 hour flight to Adelaide take almost double that.  He made it on the third attempt. Everyone clapped and we decided to run quickly off that place before the pilot decided to take off again!

The second moment came after a relaxing lunch of cheeses and meats on the veranda of a winery.  As we wrapped up the meal, we all did the "Isla run around, everyone take turns going to the bathroom" routine and then we left and started driving to our next winery.  About 20 minutes later, I asked Nate's Dad how much the bill was so we could add it to our running tab.  "I didn't pay," he exclaimed.  "Well, I didn't pay either....Carol, did you pay?" I asked.  "No..." she relied.  OMG, we ran out on the bill!  Oops!  Phone service is not exactly fluid there, so eventually when we had service, we called to explain and give them our credit card number, but it made for a good amount of laughing until then.

When I think about the best way to sum up the rest of December, it would be koalas, koalas, koalas.  Many of the zoos and sanctuaries here offer close up encounters with animals for a very small amount of money, so when guests come, we generally take advantage of this.  We hung out with koalas in Melbourne as well as in Hamilton Island, where we spend Christmas week.  I must say, while cute, my overall opinion is not high of koalas as they are super lazy, low energy, and sleep 17 hours a day.  Not my kind of animal.  However, at least they are somewhat productive in Hamilton Island, where tourists pay to have a 1 minute koala cuddle, which includes a souvenir photo. Mostly, I just like to see these lazy animals finally do something productive!  They give some cuddles, take some photos and make $10 a pop!  Sounds like a pretty good gig to me. In fact, once Isla starts going to pre-school in Australia, I think this type of low stress job could be right for me - give some cuddles, take some photos, go back to sleep for the afternoon.  On second thought, this might actually be called prostitution. And while legal here, this may not be the resume booster I'm looking for.

Dec 4th Ironman Tracking Details

Calling all insomniacs!  In case you'd rather track my race on Dec 3rd-4th than sleep, here's how to do it:

We'll be in Western Australia, 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.  The mass swim start (all 2000 people at once) kicks off at 7:00AM which is 6:00PM EST on DEC 3rd.

There are 2 ways to track me.  The first is via computer only (no mobile option) and the second is the mobile app option which is super easy but costs $0.99.

First Option

1. Go to the athlete tracker site:
http://ap.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx
*Nothing will be loaded on the site until the actual race starts. 

2. On the very top, there will be a red bar with race options listed in white.  Click on "Western Australia" and then select the "Western Australia 140.6" option (as the half ironman, 70.3, will be happening at the same time).

3. If it is not already selected, go to "Athlete Tracker" on the page.

4. Then simply type in my last name or bib # ,which is 763, and my race info should populate.

Second Option

1. Download the mobile app, IronTrac and search for me by selecting the distance (140.6) and year (2016) and then select the race, "Western Australia." 

2. Then you can add me to your "watch list" by searching by my name or bib #, which is 763.

The third option, of course, is to just harass Nate via text or email! This Thursday (Dec 1st), we fly to Perth in the morning and then will drive 2 hours south to Busselton, where the race will be held.  The next 1.5 days will be filled with race prep, check ins, lots of eating and buying of race gear, and those silly little things like having the local bike shop build my bike back up.  (There is no option for shipping your bike on a truck like in the US here, so my bike will be in about 8 pieces in an air travel bag this time!)  On the upside, the Busselton bike shop that will reassemble my bike is not just a bike stop, but also an espresso bar that gets 4 stars on TripAdvisor!  Following race day, we will have 1 extra day to explore the Margaret River region, which is supposed to be some pristine wilderness combined with world class wineries...just a little extra motivation to push through the race!


An image of the Busselton Jetty, which conveniently goes out into the sea 1.2 miles, so the swim goes out to the end, around it, and back on the other side.
*Photo credit - Be Active Busselton Jetty Swim page on HomeAway.com.au

New Zealand Top 10

My blog posts are running about two months behind, but hopefully the stories start to warm you up as we go from spring to summer down under!  In mid-September we ventured to the south island of New Zealand and all three of us had a blast.  We really lucked out as early spring weather there could have gone any way, but it was warm and sunny the entire time. In fact, the rain forest had a drought for 8 days - bad for the rain forest, but great for us!  As a summary of our time there, below is a Top 10 list:

10.  MAJOR CAR BEHAVIOR IMPROVEMENT (not Nate...)
Many of you know that our child has been awful in the car since birth. She screamed the whole way home from the hospital at 24 hours old and continued to scream in the car for most of the next 16 months.  We haven't let this stop us from doing things, but it certainly made us want to wear ear plugs every time we drove more than 10 minutes!  Our NZ trip included a flight, long train ride, and then 2-3 hours of driving a day.  We were a bit nervous about this going in, but all of the sudden, something clicked and Isla realized that the car could take her amazing places!  She was ecstatic the entire trip and only got a bit freaked when this cheeky kea tried to peck its way into the car.

9.  HOKEY POKEY
Along the glacier hike, (see #5 below) the guide was making conversation with a few of us and mentioned that his all time favorite ice cream flavor was called "hokey pokey."  Being a pretty big ice cream fan, I asked him what exactly this meant.  He told me that is was a vanilla base with caramel swirls and honeycomb crispy bits in it and that is was a "New Zealand tradition."  OMG.  I couldn't wait to get the heck off the glacier that is melting at a rapid pace and may be gone in 20 years so that I could try this piece of culinary genius!  I then made a bit of a fool of myself when he added, "Ashley...just make sure you don't skimp when you get this ice cream. Get Tip Top," to which I replied, "Oh don't worry, I always dip my cones in chocolate!"  He stared at me for a minute and then informed me that Tip Top was a brand of ice cream and not the "choc top" I was referring to that McDonalds regularly serves in Australia.  Oops.  I got hokey pokey ice cream twice that week and a couple times since returning home.  It is quite special!  Thank you, glacier guide, George!



8. REALIZING WE ARE TOO OLD FOR BEER GARDENS IN WANAKA
Wanaka is a much more chill, quieter version of Queenstown, but both are jam packed with adrenaline junkies who jump out of planes, off cliffs, bike/ski/snowboard down mountains, and just about any other crazy sport you could think up.  We rolled into our bed and breakfast in Wanaka and started looking for a place for dinner.  It was a beautiful evening so we opted for the place with the best outside seating and view of the lake that looked to have great beer on tap.  As we settled in and were told, "sorry mates, no high chairs here!" we looked around at the crowd and realized Nate should have probably ridden a skateboard in and had a longer than work-appropriate beard, and I should have been in a romper with the bottom of my ass cheeks out if we were actually going to fit in.  We actually watched one guy skateboard in on his non-broken leg while the fully casted other leg dangled and he used his crutches to help push him along.  The food and beers we ordered were delicious and we definitely enjoyed the people watching!  Mostly, we just glanced up at each other and decided we were unfortunately getting old.  Following Wanaka, we went searching for elves and fairies while driving on this road...



7. SEAL ABOARD!
We did an overnight boat trip on the Milford Sound.  I understand this place is usually swarming with tourists and tons of boats, but since we went out on the first overnight sail of the season and no other tours had started operating yet, we had the entire, pristine fiord to ourselves (along with 50ish other boat guests).  I guess the wildlife had not yet adjusted to boats being all around for the season yet and assumed the boat was just a big rock - after eating dinner, we looked down onto the stern of the boat to see that a seal had hopped aboard and decided to hang out for a while.  Isla still talks about this - quite a defining moment in her toddlerhood so far!



6. LAKES AS MIRRORS & SUSPENSION BRIDGES
That description says it all!  With so many crystal clear lakes and so many snow-capped peaks, it wasn't very hard to just look down into some water and see a mirror image of the surrounding mountains.  And as if seeing this from a walking path wasn't enough, some of the neatest mountains and waterways are easily viewed from suspension bridges.  I had always just assumed there was some photo-shopped amazing suspension bridge cropped just right in all the New Zealand brochures, but heaps of them really do exist!  Isla loved the crap out of everything we did, but among her favorite experiences was throwing rocks into water from "up high."  We threw rocks for hours every day.  And what's more fun than throwing rocks from land?  You guessed it - throwing rocks from bridges! 

5. HELICOPTERS & CRAMPONS
We knew going into making a reservation for a heli-hike on the glacier, you have about a 50/50 shot of your trip actually going as the weather changes so rapidly.  We booked far ahead that I would do the trip of our first day in Franz Josef and Nate would go the second day.  My trip went. Sadly, Nate's did not.  But it's just another reason to go back to NZ again now!  The trip is very cool - helicopter ride up to the glacier and you actually land on the ice.  You hop out, strap on your crampons and hike through some crazy ice formations.  When the hike is over, you helicopter back to the a little rainforest landing pad (and if you are me, frantically start scouring town for Tip Top Hokey Pokey ice cream!)



4. A ROOM ON A BOAT MADE FOR HOBBITS
I mentioned our boat ride, complete with wildlife aboard.  The boat gets 2 highlights within the top 10 as it was just such a neat experience.  We had a water-view cabin and everything in it was just...precious. Teeny sink, teeny shower, teeny beds.  Isla thought the room was made for her.  We all slept soundly aboard the Milford Mariner!



3. TRANZ-ALPINE BUBBLES AND KISSES
The first leg of our journey was taking the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch over to Greymouth (on the west coast).  It's a 5 hour train ride with lots of "Lord of the Rings" views.  The train departs at 9am, so naturally, the bar opens at 9:30am. People take the food car and bar pretty seriously on their holidays and it is most economical to buy bottles of wine and sparkling.  This ride is ranked one of the top train rides in the world and it did not disappoint.  There is a "viewing car" in the very front of the train that you can walk up to anytime and it has no windows, but rather is completely open so you have unobstructed views. We walked up and down a lot and noticed one crowd of very enthusiastic individuals all dressed up in costumes and fully taking advantage of the train bar. As we got off the train and were walking over to our rental car, all the women in this group ran over to say goodbye to us (well, at least to the cutest one of the 3 of us...).  They chatted for a few minutes and then all proceeded to kiss Isla goodbye.  She was covered in lipstick and a bit confused, but we just went with it.



2. EATING A LOCAL DELICACY...JUST DON'T LOOK THEM IN THE EYE!
I read about whitebait prior to leaving for our trip and had earmarked the page in the book that described a hut called "Curly's" where you are supposed to stop for a whitebait patty.  Given that it was a patty, I was thinking this would be similar to a salmon burger...wrong!  Whitebait look like tiny little white worms with 2 big black eyes.  In the middle of beautiful nowhere, we spotted the spray-painted sign for Curly's and pulled into a dirt drive that took us down a long hill, past the cow that looked more like Mufasa from the Lion King than a cow and then past a chained dog that, surprisingly, also looked just like Mufasa.  We found the wooden hut and waited for someone to come out.  A hugely tall and very friendly guy stepped into the hut and asked us "how many?"  We got one patty to split and then we saw it - a bucket full of these tiny creatures mixed with a little bit of egg.  He fried up the patty and put it on one slice of white buttered bread.  I promptly asked if he could give me one more slice of bread to cover the patty as I was struggling with them looking at me.  "No, no, no, "he said, "that would ruin the flavor!  Just go ahead and try it."  It was surprisingly decent, but I had look away as I ate it. Nate ordered another patty as a side at dinner later on that night.



1. SUMMITING MOUNTAINS WHILE NAPPING
One of us took an amazing nap. The other two of us got an amazing arm workout.