updates from the land down under

sorry my posts have been less frequent than i had hoped.  I have been a little busy getting everything in order for the new trip and spending time with loved ones before i leave.  however, when i get to australia, i hope to be updating the blog every few days with whatever adventures or stories come my way so bear with me until then. 

for those of you who don't know, jim already left for the land down under last friday.  we have been communicating every day as much as we can between the time changes.  it has pretty much worked like this: 

i wake up at 5am to talk to him before he goes to bed (around 9:30pm in australia).
then, around lunchtime i hear from jim again when he is waking up (around 4:30 - 6:00am in australia)
then, we will reconnect when i am going to bed around 9 - 10pm (around 1 - 2pm in australia)

It is weird!  Needless to say, we are looking forward to being in the same time zone, again.

ANYWAY, i wanted to share with you a few of the updates i have received from the land down under jim. 

yesterday, jim went to the mall which i understand is literally two blocks from the apartment (this could be baaaaaaad for me).  apparently, while everything else is three times as expensive in australia, clothing prices are not (again, this could be baaaaaaad for me).

and the stuff looks CUTE!  (see how this could be baaaaaad for me??)

and to pay for the many items i am sure i will buy at this mall we have...... MONOPOLY MONEY!

yup.  that's australian currency.  very colorful AND a little more expensive for us americans... the exchange rate right now is 1 USD = .96 AUD. 

and to show you some real life pictures from our apartment, here is the view from the front balcony which is the smaller of the two balconies.

and here is the view from the larger of the two balconies on the pioneer river side....

the pioneer river is a tidal river so when the tide from the ocean is up; the river is up.  when the tide from the ocean is down; the river is down (that is what you are seeing here). 

jim's report is that i am going to absolutely love it there.  so far, he is enjoying it very much, but we are both anxious to start this journey TOGETHER!  T minus 16 days!!!