Ocean Royale - Home sweet home

This is a view of our front door at the Ocean Royale, our home away from Canada for now. We are on the third floor wich is great as we see over all the vegetation and other rooftops for a clear view of the ocean. When Regent is home we go together for a walk along the beach at around 10:00 to 11:00. Lots of time to unwind and completely clear our minds of all the usual stuff rummaging around in there...it's closer to meditation that I have ever gotten to even when deliberately trying to meditate!
This is my own personal lifeguard goofing off! Nice to see him with the ability to that when not on duty...what a little R and R will do for a guys stress level!!!

Last Sunday we walked along the beach road as far as we could and walked all the way past Mermaid Beach and to Burleigh Heads ! We found the most amazing neighborhoods built right on the Beach, the most amazing houses I have ever seen in my life! Next time we will be sure to bring the C-A-M-E-R-A...duh....!

Here comes the Sun

Very unstable conditions today!

So, I guess surfing is not an option today! ...Darn, just what I had planned for today!

Regent brought over some good old, truly Canadian Roots gifts ( cell phone holders, caps and such...) to share with his co-workers here yesterday, which they got quite a kick out of as Roots, Rooter and other derivatives of this word have an Xrated meaning in Australia!
Regent is having great fun learning the "lingo" here from his co-workers which he is sharing with me. This is giving us kind of a gist of the Aussie sense of humour ...

Aussie colloquialisms for your enjoyment:

Being Liberachied: being rearended in a car( so, you really have to know who Liberachi was! ;

Ankle biter/tin lid: a small child (actually somewhat appropriate);
Bastard: term of endearment (?, ok then!);
Aussie wave: swatting away the flies with the hand (that's coming with the summer, we will then be perfecting the Aussie wave!);
Bizzo: business, as in mind your own bizzo, you bastard!...can you see my dilemma here?
Banana bender: someone from Queensland (now that correspondence is still a mystery to me);
Kiwi: someone from New Zealand (the Aussies have other names for New Zealanders and for people from Tazmania, but I will not be repeating them here!!!Inappropriate...need I say more?);
Ute: truck, as in Utility Vehicle, of course!;
Capsicum: peppers (red, green, yellow): knowing this was very useful at the local Subway sandwich store!
Budgie smugglers: mens tight swimming trunks (speedos...looks like an international distaste!);
Chuck a sickie: take a day off work when you are perfectly healthy (now who would do that?); Piece of piss: not a problem - easy task (I dont get it!);
Stickybeak: nosy person ( again...I just dont get it!);
Thongs: flip flops (clarification on the Aussie meaning of this narrowly averted a most uncomfortable situation during a conversation Regent had at work concerning his friend Anthony's thongs! The mental picture alone...lets just move on!);
Trackie daks: tracksuit pants (I dare you to say trackie daks three times fast while being Liberachied in your Ute, wearing your buggie smugglers you bastard Mate!!! It certainly is not a piece of piss!!!
Bottle Shop: Liquor store (...oh the Australian wine! I may have to do a whole post just on that subject!!!).
Never never: The outback, centre of Australia (Most of the population lives on the coastal areas of Australia, the centre of the Continent (not an island, not a country, but rather referred to as a continent , ok I get it!) is inhabited by Aborigines only;
Walkabout: a walk in the outback by Aborigines that last for an indefinite amount of time...hey that reminds me, it's just about time for my walkabout to the bottle shop!
Hooroo Mates! Goodbye friends!

How can you differenciate the Australian drivers from the tourists? The ones who put on their wipers on every corner they need to turn on are the tourists!!! Not a habit that's easy to break, except when it is raining!!! Cheers!

Amusement Park in Sydney

Scary sight isnt it? This is the entrance gate to an amusement Park in Sydney. I dont know if as a kid I would have happily walked into this big, open mouth...kids today I suppose need bigger and better thrills than I did!!!

I have spent the morning reading and writing emails as my connection to the internet has been great!

Perhaps the air was cleared by the spectacular storm here last evening, it felt like mother nature was suffering through an impressive bout of PMS. Regent and I closed all the lights and marvelled at the spectacle of thunder, lightning and rain like a rushing waterfall, it felt like a ride on an old fashioned wooden rollercoaster ... and once it was done, it was done. Today is a beautiful day and expecting a beautiful week! Today will be a day to go out and do some solitary exploration!

Our one week anniversary!

On this throne sits the Queen of Quite-a-Lot in Surfers Paradise. Quite an interesting place shock full of all kinds of personalities and many restaurants and bars... Great for people watching :)

This was our saturday walk along the Beach to Surfers Paradise ... this called for a little trip to the Hogs Breath Cafe for a perfect steak and a flat white.

Yesterday, Sunday we took a little treck to the Carrara Markets which operates on the weekends. We bought a used BoomBox for the apartment which Regent risked his life for because the little Asian fellow whose booth it was did not wish to be haggled with! Regent still got his price and one that was satisfactory to the vender as once the money was handed over he appeared quite pleased! Gives a whole new meaning to driving a hard bargain!!!

Our first visitors

Bernard and Bernadette paid us a little visit on our porch but were to shy to come in! Not the usual Aussie inhabitant, Australians love it when you open the door to a conversation and will keep it up for as long as you are willing!!!...they did however enjoy having their picture taken and waited for us to take a second shot to insure we got a great pose...

Life's a beach!

I'm afraid that Regent is ruining me for any other lifestyle than this life of the rich and famous in Australia! Hearing the sounds of the surf all day has a way of touching me deep into my soul... I may have been a mermaid in a former life!

I have spent my days this week walking the beach, reading on the beach, writing on the beach, having lunch in my kitchen overlooking the beach (I sense a pattern emerging here...) and the days have just flown, without televison and without the radio, and without newspapers...I am living in blissful ignorence of current affairs and loving every precious moment in the company of my new lover, silence! ...not quite true, sometimes I like to listen to Amy Whinehouse on my IPOD while sitting on the beach...

Regent drives into Brisbane three days a week to work in the office. This gives him a 1.5 hour commute in relatively heavy traffic, however one of his coworkers at Virgin Blue is commuting with him. They will drive on alternate weeks, which makes the commute less boring (as he needs all his Spidy senses alert to understand the Aussy accent and I'm sure his coworker has much the same challenge understanding Regent's French Canadian English accent! Well, that is the spice of life...

Spring began here on the 1st of September so the days are quite warm, but the nights are downright chilly even for us. I get up at 05:30 with Regent and watch the Sun rise over the Ocean and thrill at the spectacle every morning!