Good morning, Tas!

One benefit of jet lag is that it adjusts you to an earlier time schedule. Uncharacteristically I have been waking up between 6:30 and 7 AM since arriving and was lucky enough to catch this view before the clouds rolled in this morning. Not bad, eh?

St. Patty's head

The other day Greg and I went for a hike up to St. Patrick's Head state park, where, in typical Glasser male fashion, he failed to impart on me the intensity of the climb. So after some huffing and puffing (coming from me only, Greg was able to carry on long-winded conversations without any trouble, naturally) we finally made it up to the top.  And of course, the view was awesome! 

I made it!

love those gums...

Isn't Tassie worth a visit? I think it's so under appreciated...

Welcome to Tasmania!

To continue my story of the flight to Australia, I realize that good conversation helps time to fly by (thanks Byron!), but given that I slept a good 7 hours and ate two decent meals (thanks Quantas!) the jet-lag was really minimal. In fact, I am going to go so far as to say that I was less jet-lagged than on trips to Europe...maybe because it's like you spent a whole 24 hrs on the plane? I dunno, but luckily for me, I adjusted right away to everyone else's schedule.

So, after 15 hours to Sydney, a quick 1.5 hr flight to Launceston, and then a 1.5 hr drive to Scamander, I finally arrived. Greg picked me up from the airport and we cruised to the coast, passing heaps of sheep grazing on the hills...pretty idyllic, really.

My arrival coincided with a big move for the family, from their house in "town" (Scamander is teeny tiny, so it's relative) out to their 10+ acres on Little Beach, about a 30 min drive away. So, for the past few days I have helped move boxes, unpack, and deal with the trials and tribulations of living in an unfinished house...basically glorified camping. But this is the view...

and this...

...don't you just love the gum trees?

...and this adorable kelpie puppy, Mojo

...and my cute little cousin Sorcha (pictured with Percy the pony)

and we get to play in tidal pools that have cool starfish and sea anemones (Sorcha pictured with Josh in the background).

So yeah, I guess life could be worse.

Making friends already

Meet Byron, he's my new friend that I met on the flight from LA to Sydney. Byron and I were lucky enough to have 4 seats between the 2 of us, so we spread out our stuff and enjoyed the ride. I was all prepared to have to entertain myself for the duration of the flight, but instead spent 15 hours chatting with a keyboardist/drummer who's returning from a week at Jazzfest in New Orleans. Already love the Australians, they're the nicest people ever!

Farewell breakfast

Sarah, in all her cooking glory, decided to make beignets on my final morning in the States. They were perfect to say the least--wonderful, bite size powdery goodness. Mmmm, can't wait til I return for some more. 

Welcome to Santa Cruz!

This Sunday we decided to take a little road trip down to Santa Cruz to enjoy the beach, fried seafood, and cheesy boardwalk arcade games. Addy's a big fan of the sand and the idea of water, however actually getting close enough to stick her toes in is still a little scary. We ate, we played, we rode the carousel...and afterwards, on our way home, we pulled over for a little fresh air and found a dude walking his goats through the woods...cause this is California and taking your goat herd on a hike is, like, totally normal. 

Who doesn't love a good farmer's market?

Saturday mornings mean going to the San Francisco Farmer's Market in the Tucker household, and being a big fan of farmer's markets already, I was very keen on going. This isn't like the one down in Ferry Plaza (a bigger version of Eastern Market for all you DCers), this is where the locals go...which means better stuff, naturally. 

Addy taste tested all of the citrus before finding her favorite stall--the lady who plays the saw. She loves to dance to this lady who plays along with an ancient tape deck--it's pretty awesome...

and on the way back to the car we passed some pretty sweet graffiti too. 

Side note: for anyone going to San Francisco in the future, go to Mitchell's icecream in the Mission and order the coconut pineapple, it's heaven in a cone..and trust me, the line is worth it!