FLA-fest

more work!

2008-10-20T22:43:00.003-04:00

Here's a before and after shot of some landscaping meghan did in the back. Also ryan stopped wearing anything protective while chainsawing and now uses the chainsaw to cut grass and make dumb faces. Meghan polished up the living room with the ol brooklyn vacuum. Ryan finally took down those stupid wooden light fixtures!

So I think we are moving in this week, once the mattress man shows up with our new mattress. This means we will have a real guest bed on the other side of the house, where no photos have dared venture yet. Coming next time, real photos from the street!

yardin, floorin, beddin

2008-10-20T22:31:00.003-04:00

This weekend and week have been real busy. We finally finished painting the living room and started in on the floor. Ry bashed away on it and mega slept in the new bed frame on it. We got a carpet man to do the carpet and tile repair too! See next post for a couple nearly-finished shots. We even moved in a couple chairs to sit on.

south beachin - weekend off

2008-10-20T21:50:00.003-04:00

Some photos from south beach weekend. beachtastic, and saw jill and jason from up north.

Happy Anniversary...

2008-10-09T22:39:00.004-04:00

to us! Whooop whoop, 4 years! We spent the evening painting the living/dining room and re-surfacing the ceiling. Romance at it's finest. Oh, and someone totally tagged our living room wall. Turns out the neighborhood is a little sketchy. Maybe we should've kept that alarm system.
Tomorrow we're off to South Beach for some non-home-improvement fun. Going to hang out with our friends Jill and Jason from NYC. YAY!!

xoxo,
M

Weekend Warriors

2008-10-05T17:36:00.003-04:00

So tired...hard to type. We had quite a home improvement weekend. Ryan (Manuel Labor) and Paint Pa McGuire tore down a wall/closet in the living room while Paint Ma McGuire and I painted the master bedroom and the kitchen. Ryan also attacked some foliage with his new chainsaw and put new fixtures on the kitchen sink. Things are really starting to look good round that place.
In between all that we headed up to our friend Josh's birthday festivities and had a great time. Now it's looking like some football induced napping is in store.

Snoooooozzzzzzzze...

Wallpaper and Security System

2008-09-30T09:53:00.000-04:00

Wallpaper sucks!! It took just about 2 hours for one small wall. Boooo!! We're taking down the wallpaper in the kitchen, going to paint it some nice color. Then on to the guest bath which is completely wallpapered...even the light switches.

Ryan worked on removing our hideous alarm system. I mean, really it all comes down to safety vs style? The choice was easy.

Here are a few more pics of us with our celebrity tans. We're working on getting that happy homeowners photo for you, Seth. Be patient.

xoxo
Mega

Hey hey hey!!!

2008-09-29T15:36:00.000-04:00

Decided to start this old thing back up, mostly so we can chronicle our progress on our new house! Whooo hoo! NEW HOUSE! In case you haven't heard, we became homeowners on Friday and are now official, bona fide Florida residents.

We had a fun weekend with our friends from Cape Can. Lots of surfing and partying, some household chores (installed new handles on kitchen cabinets) and a Sunday of yard work. Ryan got serious with a GAS hedge trimmer!

Here's some pictures for looking at.

happy america day

2008-07-02T22:41:00.000-04:00

Things have been going pretty good, hence the no blog posting. Mega and I are both working now and back in real life for sure. We have been using the camera less these days and are taking only the finest of pictures. Some possibly to follow.

Weeks past include dad's day on boat, friend weekend, and nyc visit.
Weeks ahead include gville visit, beer fest, and sarasota visit.

Nyc was a blast as usual and felt totally surreal. I had a hard time remembering what to do when I got home because I felt like I still lived in brooklyn. My old bike was still locked up in front of the old place and I rode it everywhere! Awesome! Also, successfully avoided manhattan all weekend as was the norm when living there. I didnt get a chance to see my old work mates but that will have to wait until next time.

More pics and updates

2008-05-13T13:54:00.000-04:00

Make sure to check out the post below for some boat pictures.

Here are a few more photos of our last month. We had a super fun visit from Ace and Greg and went to Adventure Islands with some very neon shirts. We finally got a new couch and it may be the best couch ever lounged on by a man! Vegas is loving Florida living and all of the windows in the house, but she especially loves to wear Jonathan's coolie cup as a hat. The beach is continuing to be awesome, we've been having fun body boarding/surfing...are starting to take night walks hoping to see some of the sea turtles that nest all over this stretch of coast.

Happy belated bdays to Cristina, Elisa and Hinkle! Aaaand Happy Birthday to Kaytay!!

Lots of love,
M&R

Boat pic post

2008-05-13T13:36:00.000-04:00

Hi there, If you haven't already heard, we bought a boat! It's an awesome 1984 Sylvan 18ft with seating for 6. Ryan's especially excited about the 120HP engine. Here are a few pics, have only had it out in the water for the test drive, but looking forward to taking it out this weekend.

Our number 1 name now is...Sea Y'all, but we're still accepting suggestions.

Spring-sproing!

2008-05-02T12:05:00.000-04:00

Phew, it's been a long time.
Posting a few pics from our latest home improvements. We laid a patio in our backyard and with a nice housewarming patio set from the McGuires, things are looking pretty damn good. Greg and Adrienne came down for a fun visit and we spent lots of time lounging around the patio, building outdoor showers and going to Islands of Adventure, pics to follow.
The job search continues. Ryan has got some pretty good leads this week and is hoping that they will all offer him jobs on the same day so he can pick n' choose, we'll see.
Non-profit jobs are a bit scarce down here, but I've managed to find a couple to apply to. Other than that, just been checking out the sights around here. Weather has been unbelievably nice and breezy during the day with cool nights. We haven't even had to run the AC...pretty sure that won't last.

more melbourne pics

2008-04-07T20:45:00.001-04:00

Hey there,

We finally moved all our stuff out of mini storage! Woo! So, we already paid the rent there, and its empty until april 20 if you need a place to stay or have band practice.

Some recent photo highlights:

Meghan got a big pot stuck on her head while decorating.
We ride bikes a lot.
We see sunny things and bodies of water frequently a lot and sometimes swim or surf in them.

I officially finished the resume today, and I am going to start sending them out tomorrow. Mega is almost done too. There seem to be a lot of tech openings, so hopefully I can nab something. Also there is a job fair next wednesday. Jobs are great and everything, and help pay bills off when you owe money to people for things.

Sometimes people write songs about jobs, like 'workin for a livin' and 'takin care of business'. Thats what mega and I are going to do soon.

Also, (not pictured) we went to a bar on saturday night and a whole wedding party showed up at about 10pm, which was wierd. Wierder, the bride was still in the wedding gown, stomping around in the rainy patio. I guess they had no music at their place. People heckled them. Feaux passe!

p.s. Go memphis slashing tigers

-Ry

picture post I

2008-04-07T20:17:00.000-04:00

here are a few pics from the last week. we had a busy couple days painting the living/dining room, but it turned out nicely and we've been enjoying some tasty Publix brand dinners. Ryan's shirt did not turn out quite as well. Australia ate some holes in it.

South Beach Livin'

2008-03-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

We did it! We now have a rental residence in Florida --- whoooooo!! It's an older two bedroom bungalow style duplex about 1 block to the beach in Indialantic! That's just up the road from Melbourne Beach. Some painting is up on the agenda, but after that we'll be ready for visitors.
Just so you know, yes, Greg and Ace have taken the lead and are already ticket holders for an April visit...act now if you want to beat them!! Happy Spring, y'all!

Contiguous!

2008-03-22T10:15:00.000-04:00

woo hoo!! we made it back. feels kinda wierd.

Hawaii already feels far away again, and florida already feels closer. In fact, we are physically in florida. Real life beckons! Oh no!

So far we did a bunch of florida stuff. After burning off the jetlag and conquering laundry mountain, the next thing was to get legal. After several trips to the dmv, I can finally drive again! No more meghan chauffering around and calling me senile. Well actually she still calls me senile.

And, thanks to Dale we have some wheels to peel out with. The toyota needed a bit of work to get it into interstate shape, but lookit those new manatee county plates! And those myakka city addresses! We are total rednecks already. The sanchez is still sitting in the yard, we might come back for it in a week or so. Meghan waxed it real good but the NY plates are expired.

We visited with all my 4 parents and are now headed up to g'ville for some easter-egging with meghans 2 parents. We are hoping to have a place in melbourne area by the end of next week, we are going house hunting around wednesday. A home! Whoa dammit I am excited. Hoppy easter.

-Ryan (an Meg)

Mowah Maui

2008-03-16T22:11:00.000-04:00

So, I forgot to mention that Ryan is so old, senile and decrepit that I now have to drive him everywhere. Ugh. He is the worst passenger and always yells about my "poor and senseless" driving and all the "crazy" kids with their new speedsters. Really he lost his license, now he don't drive.

Today I drove the old man out to a cool lava pool where we splashed around and looked at some fish and waves. Then we hiked up to a very windy, but scenic hill. Also including a couple of coolie cup pictures so Jonathan quits harassing us and worrying that it has been lost in the Pacific. Tomorrow is our last full day and we're going to head to the Southeast where there are supposed to be some waves.

xo,
Meghan

Last days

2008-03-16T01:52:00.000-04:00

We're quickly approaching the end of our sabbatical. Only TWO more days here in Maui. Here's an update on our last week:
Did a hike around the Haleakala volcano which is up at 10,000 feet in Maui. Then headed over to Oahu and celebrated Ryan's 31st at a super fun Ween show. Later we went up to the North Shore in Oahu to check out some of the gigantic surf and pantless Japanese. Back to Maui where we are now...seeing whales again everyday, same old same old. Ry tried to catch some waves but got eaten at Ho'okipa break. Meghan had more luck on the boogie board on the south shore. She has also satisfied her cat craving with a towel! Going to check out some more sights tomorrow and then celebrating St. Paddy's day Aloha style (whatever that means). Looking forward to being home soon.

Love,
Meghan and Ryan

Storytime!

2008-03-13T01:42:00.000-04:00

Ryan says I shouldn't tell stories until I have a trilogy, but what do I care? He's so old and feeble now, I ain't scared. So, here are my two favorite stories from Hawaii:

Oahu, HI: So we went to Waimea Bay in the North Shore today to check out big wave surf. After being warned by the lifeguards that the water was unsafe, three Japanese dudes decided to swim (drown) in triple-overhead waves. One of the guys really started struggling and just as the lifeguard was going in for him, he starts staggering up the shore --- birth naked!! I guess the waves ripped off his trunks. Everyone on the beach (including his friends and the lifeguard) were dying laughing. What's a naked dude to do? Continue to run around wildly whilst holding his junk in his hand until a hairy, overweight stranger swaddles him in a towel, of course!

Maui, HI: We were beginning our mountain hike when we happened across a family --- mom dad and two young boys. As we approached and said hi, the older brother yells "My brother just lost his FIRST TOOTH!!" Aw, that's nice, right? We smile and keep going when the brother continues to yell "Yeah, he was bending over taking a POOP and his tooth FELL OUT!! Ahahaha!" The little brother was standing there blinking in silence, all shell-shocked. The poor kid is scarred for life. He's going to think every time he takes a crap, teeth will fall out. No picture...you're welcome.

The End.
- Meghan

Happy bday to me

2008-03-10T03:23:00.000-04:00

Hooray! I'm older today. What better way to spend a bday than unemployed and hanging out in hawaii. Kind of like last year, only more unemployed.

Mega and I just left maui and are back in waikiki. We spent the last couple of days in hana, which is eastern maui and really far from the resort area (although tourists still invade in mid-day). I managed to pick up some chest high surf on friday, but the swell died after that. We hiked up to a gigantic waterfall yesterday, through a bamboo forest and then swam around by ourselves in an unmarked river-falls-pool. I broke open a coconut on a rock. Yay!

Also good was the snorkeling around hana. While meghan tanned and toiled, I explored a reef shelf in hamoa bay. The water was really clear and I saw turtle, eel, a giant fish, a fish fight, and a bunch of other fish. Also a plankton. Meghan saw a whale.

I also developed the underwater camera film from diving the great barrier reef. .

Oh yeah, I have been trying to figure out what makes up maui culture. Here are some

clues:

1. Creepy burned out cars on the side of the road everywhere
2. 4wd's jacked up real high
3. Onions
4. The power plant that runs on burning sugar cane
5. Some kind of surfing influence (shaka people when cutting them off in traffic)

Overall I think maui is our favorite island. No joke its awesome. Shaka Laka!!

-Ryan

p.s. happy birthday soon ross...

maui - hana photos continued

2008-03-10T03:12:00.001-04:00

Here are more photos from hana.

some great barrier reef photos

2008-03-10T02:46:00.001-04:00

Here are some old pictures from australia's great barrier reef underwater camera - where Ryan scuba'd. Woo!

Whales, whales, whales

2008-03-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

So we are continuing to see whales every day in Maui! It's starting to get a bit predictable...go to the beach, see a whale; look out at the ocean, oh, it's another whale breaching, ho hum.
In addition to whale spotting we've hit lots of beaches, went on a nice hike with a pretty overlook, and played 9 holes of golf at Kahului's gorgeous municipal course.
We've decided to spend a couple nights in Hana which is a very quiet town here and close to a great waterfall hike we are planning. Then we head back to O'ahu for 4 nights and plan to finally make it to Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head crater...also will be catching another Ween show...this one on Ryan's birthday! Then back to Maui for 5 more days of whaling and exploration. Whoooo! SPRING BREAK 08!!

Lots of love,
Meghan and Ryan

Maui Wowie!!

2008-03-01T12:33:00.000-05:00

Hey there, blogfans. One technical update: seems we had a spammer on our blog, so we are now moderating comments. Which means if you don't immediately see your comment appear, don't fret, once we approve it it will be posted.
We're here in the USA (sorry, not contiguous, Seth) in beautiful Maui. We arrived 3 days ago after a couple days in Oahu and have decided to extend our vacation by 2 weeks! Whoooooooo-hoo!!! So far we've seen whales EVERY day here in Maui and visited a couple of beautiful waterfalls (we even got a picture of a shaka-flashing sasquatch at one!) and lava beaches. Going to take a break from beaching today and do some hiking and golfing.
Aloha,
M&R

Last of NZ Pics Post 2

2008-02-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

Alright, so then it was back North and we stopped through Taupo again so we could see massive Huka Falls. In the Coromandel we spent two nice days in Whangamata and intended on more Coromandel time, but a big storm system set in and we tried to escape by driving to Gisborne. Found a nice beachfront camper park, a bit of surf for Ry and some awesome fish n' chips at Captain Morgan's, but it was still pretty rainy. The drive back from Gisborne to Auckland went through a beautiful gorge with tons of those crazy ferns. Our last night in Auckland was great and we got to catch the Ween show there. Just got in to Honolulu last night and hit Waikiki this morning. Ryan caught a few big waves and it looks like a pretty good swell is shaping up. Then it is on to Maui in a couple days. It's nice to be back in the good old USA with all of the Asians and the cheap beer. Ryan plans on eating a hamburger, Meghan's going to enjoy mexican food and not sleeping in a camper.
Lots of love,
Meghan and Ryan

Last of NZ Pics Post 1

2008-02-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more from our South Island adventure. Ryan tried to throw Meghan off a cliff in beautiful Akaroa, town of the most winding roads in the world. On our way back up we saw lots of baby seals outside of Kaikora. We found an awesome spot for our last South Island night and Ryan was able to catch a couple waves in the morning. As you may have guessed, we have limited ability to post pics, so this will again be a two post update...see above.

south island photo blast 2

2008-02-20T23:33:00.001-05:00

Make sure to read the post below for the rest of our South Island pictures. We have returned to the North Island and left Jay and Ami...shake n' bake, dudes!!
Had so much fun touring around with them for the first two weeks of our NZ campervan experience. Here are a few more highlights: we stayed in Abel Tasman at "Old McDonald's Farm" they had a great graphic designer make their sign, then we took a "Mud Squiggle" out to a boat and toured Abel Tasman, a mountain drive to Kaikoura followed. Kaikoura had a bunch of seals (more pics of those to come) and Jay and Ami tried to get in our heads.
Now we are back North at Greg's favorite, Whangamata. Today was an extreme beach day, but the surf has yet to work, although Ryan tried his damnedest. On to Oputere and mussel plucking tomorrow and the rest of the Coromandel soon after.
xoxo,
Meg n' Ry

south island photo blast 1

2008-02-20T23:30:00.000-05:00

Alright, finally got some decent internet connection and we're posting lots of pictures. Starting off we have a pic of Mega on the ferry heading south to Marlborough Sounds, then Ryan surfing wine country and finishing off with a camp shower at our awesome beach front spot...found after getting stuck in the sand dune for an hour or so. After that is a pic of us on our Abel Tasman hike and then Meghan and her prehistoric fern tree. Whoooooo!!
Love,
M&R

Rain blast in Christchurch

2008-02-15T18:47:00.000-05:00

Hey there,

We made it to christchurch! We have been riding out a storm system here in the city, because the beach and mountains are not as fun in the wetness. We met up with Matt, a kiwi who used to live in new york. He treated us at his favorite taco place and a couple of good bars. We hung out until late and had us some fun. His wife started a cupcake shop here a few months ago and they are doing quite well.

We are heading south a little more today, we may or may not make it to darwin, where they have many penguins. There is some huge surf moving through tonight so I hope to get into that while we are still with Jay and Ami.

After that its back north to the coramandel, a nice scenic beachy area, with significantly warmer weather. Antarctica is so close you can smell it down here.

Adios!
-Ryan and Meghan

More South Island Fun

2008-02-13T16:50:00.000-05:00

So we've apparently overloaded the computer with pictures and it is not happy with us at the moment...hopefully pics will be coming in the next day or so.
We've been having a great time in the South Island; visited Abel Tasman and did a nice cliff walk hike, sampled some great wines around Marlborough and have been hanging out in Kaikoura the last two nights. Tons of wildlife around here...we saw some seals yesterday, a lot of jumping dolphins and Meghan got stung by a kiwi bee! Valentine's Day (our 10th one together!) was a bit early and we rented an awesome room with a view of Kaikoura mountains and ocean from the balcony. It was a much needed campervan break.
Getting ready to head down to Christchurch then to Dunedin and back up to the North Island. Can't believe we'll be back in the continental US in less than a month!
Miss you all.
Lots of love,
Meghan and Ryan

Boo Patriots! From Wellington

2008-02-07T00:47:00.000-05:00

Hey yall!

Well, its been a while but here we are in Wellington already, at the south tip of the nothern island of NZ. We are heading to the south island tomorrow, to try to reach a wine festival in marlborough valley on saturday.

We caught up with Jay and Ami (new yorkers), who are also holidaying down here. Hooray! Travel troop. We met up in tongariro national park a few days ago and have been doing some extreme hikes. We climbed the Ruapehu volcano, which was gigantic and arctic/moonscapey at the top, with lots of views of the Mt Doom volcano from lord of the rings movies. We got to ride a ski lift about a third of the way up, which was nice for meghan because she does not ski. Afterward meghan and I soaked our dogs in a hot water fueled cooler, simulating a redneck hot tub.

We are currently parked in a beachside camper park just north of town, where there are no waves whatsoever. I swam around a lot in the tasman sea though, which is freezing.

Meghan got her first taste of wrong-side driving in the camper and did quite well in the winding mountain roads.

Also, we heard the giants won the super bowl! Wooohooo! Please forward any and all pictures of bill bellicheck or tom brady crying at the game. Boo patriots!! Ha ha ha ha.

xoxo,
Ryan and Meghan

p.s. happy birthday soon Seth.
p.s. another gratuitous beer cozy photo!

Kiwi time

2008-02-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

Whoo-hoo!! We had an awesome time the last two days in Waiheke Island just off of Auckland...the weather was beautiful as were the vineyards and beaches. Now we have picked up our New Zealand camper and are on our way down to Lake Taupo where we hope to meet up with Jay and Ami.
More to come...

Love,
M

PS: Muchas congratulationes to Naomi and Julian on the arrival of their baby boy! I'm so excited and can't wait to see pictures!!

Pictures and some details!

2008-01-30T03:58:00.000-05:00

Hey! So we've made it to New Zealand. Auckland seems nice from the 3 hours we've spent here. Anyway, how 'bout that last update from Oz, complete with pictures? Here y'all go...quoting Meghan McGuire on January 27, 2008:

Howdy from Central Australia! We're currently smack in the middle of the continent at Uluru/Ayers Rock. It's quite a change from the humid tropical temps we left in Cairns...temps here in Uluru are around 100 and extremely dry.
We had a great stay in Cairns, swam in their pretty public pool one day and then took a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a choppy day, so snorkeling wasn't great, but Ryan did a trial scuba dive and loved it!
Last night was our first in Uluru and we did a magnificent dining tour on a desert dune with sunset views of Uluru and later a star-filled sky. We shared a table with some very friendly Aussies and got some more info on cricket, which we are now sure is the most boring and pointless game ever invented. Resort living is really agreeing with us and we had a relaxing morning hanging out by the pool. We're headed out now for a quick hike around some other huge boulders in the Walpa Gorge at Kata Tjuta and then sunset at Uluru.
Lots of love,
M

Photoless again

2008-01-27T01:29:00.000-05:00

Was hoping to post some pics of our last few days, but there's no wi-fi out here in the middle of Oz. We're at Uluru/Ayers Rock now and having a great time at our hotel. Had a fun morning by the pool and are headed out now to do a quick hike and then sunset over Uluru. Hopefully we'll get some pictures posted once we return to Sydney.
Love,
Meghan

Aussie camper conclusion

2008-01-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

Well, our run in the Oz Thunderdome has come to an end. We've returned it and will now commence with hotel living for the next couple of weeks...Meghan is super excited about hotel living!
Flying out to Uluru tomorrow, which is Australia Day - kinda like our Columbus Day in that it marks the day Cooke "discovered" Oz. Don't think there will be many celebrations out in Uluru though, the Aboriginals have designated it as a National Day of Mourning. Turns out they got a raw deal, much like our Native Americans (big surprise).
Can't wait to hike around Uluru and get some real outback experience.
Then it's off to New Zealand where we expect to meet up with Jay and Ami! Woooo, camper caravan!!

Lots of love,
Meg n' Rydawg

Reefin'

2008-01-22T19:15:00.000-05:00

Gooday!~
We are here, in our final coastal destination "Cairns". This place seems to be a tourist center, with lots of great barrier

reef trips and such, one of which we will be heading out on tomorrow, to snorkel the outer reef and cruise on the boat. I lost

track of how many days it has been since the last post. We definitely put in a couple of serious driving days to get up here.

Fraser island was fun, we rode around in the biggest 4wd I have ever seen, looked at a shipwreck, Mega floated down a crik, and dingos tried to steal someone's baby, and sniffed around on the rainwater lake.
There was monsoon in Mackay, this time we rode it out in the camper. Notably, we had to go out into the storm at about 1am to

remove the awning because the wind was causing it to jerk the camper all over the place. It was fun.
On our way to the far north we passed through townsville, a very picturesque place, and took a day trip out to magnetic

island, where we found a beach all to ourselves. Townsville looked like it should have dinosaurs walking around in it.
We also stopped in the mountains for a night and saw a giant waterfall.
The people of the far north are friendly blokes. They have the most 4wd vehicles per capita of anywhere I have seen. They are

complaining because the monsoons have moved north and it is kinda hot. Too bad! ha ha ha more fun for us.
Catch you later -Ryan

Crickey ~ will you lookit these updates!!

2008-01-18T04:36:00.000-05:00

Hiya! We just got back from a daytrip to Fraser Island. It was lots of fun and really beautiful, but a bit brief...pics in the next post. We Spent the last two nights and will spend tonight at our favorite campsite yet, beachfront at Hervey Bay. It's been nice to be in the same spot for a few days. The weather cleared up a couple days ago when we were leaving Noosa. Ryan even had his most fun day surfing yet -- at "The Spit" in Noosa. We took take a trip to the Australia Zoo on one of the rainy days and saw lots of 'roos, some LAAAAZY koalas and cranky wombats. Here are some pictures of the sights we have seen over the last few days. We head up further north tomorrow and hopefully the weather will continue being brilliant!
Lots of love, Meghan and Ryan

p.s. check out the beer coolie, Jonathan

Queensland doesn't like us

2008-01-14T18:29:00.000-05:00

So, Queensland copied Florida and named itself the "Sunshine State"...HA, more like the crappy weather state! We've had tons of rain the last two nights and heard a couple of roads up North are out, so we're taking our time and hoping the weather moves on.
Oh and we broke the bank last night and got a cabin! Whooooo hoooo! Ryan was super excited about the TV and Meghan loved the a/c and not being dripped on from the campervan. The camper was sad, though, so it'll be back to campertime tonight.

Love,
M&R

p.s. Jonathan, coolie cup pictures are coming up soon!

Movin on up... da coast

2008-01-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

Hey! Ryan and Mega here. Sunday. We have fixed the comments section, so anyone can comment now.
Campervan is in full effect. We named the campervan 'thunderdome' on the first day. Sometimes Ryan pulls out on the wrong side of the road and Meghan yells at him. A couple of days ago, Ryan looked the wrong way while crossing the street on foot and almost died, but Meghan saved him by yelling at him. We also got a flat tyre! Ryan thinks of the road warrior a lot during drives.We are now back on the beach and approaching the tropics. For the two days before that we went up to the mountains and climbed cathedral rock. We also had some roo neighbors and saw tons of wierd birds that laugh at you, or say "ohhh noooo!". We got creeped out by lizards and aussie possums. They are better looking than FL possums.As it turns out, crocodile dundee was right and roos hop through the forest, even though Meghan thought they would bump their heads on limbs.Before that we were at the beach for a couple of days, we had a lot of fun in the sun.We are excited about the tropics and particularly the great barrier reef. Ryan is for snorkel. Roight! Surf is pretty flat right now. Please let us know if there are any cyclones coming, because we don't get weather reports much.Roight! We are missing all y'all back home and up north. Hopefully we will have more frequent updates now that we are close to Brisbane's urban tentacles. Gday!

p.s. happy January birthdays to Max, Ace, Greg, and Mr. Dale!!

Campervannin'

2008-01-07T17:41:00.000-05:00

Our expedition in the house-car that is the campervan has gotten underway brilliantly! We spent the first night out of Sydney at a beautiful spot in the Blue Mountains. The campsite was within a short hike to some overlooks of the canyon. At night Meghan saw 2 shooting stars, but Ryan only saw one, but it was big.
Then, we made our way out and up the coast and spent last night in a family holiday park -- quite an experience. It reminded us a lot of a trailer park, but it was right on the beach and Ryan had fun this morning catching 5 big kahuna waves...he had the break to himself. Now we're off to wine country in Hunter Valley and then back to the coast for a beachy state park around Seal Rocks.

G'day!
Meghan and Ryan

First leg, complete

2008-01-04T23:14:00.000-05:00

Hey, Ryan here.
Mega and I are checking out of sydney today, here are a few photos of our time here. Tis a nice place, with many beaches. We are headed out to pick up the camper - where the adventure really begins! First stop will be the blue mountains, then some wine country and surfing in newcastle. p.s. check out the 15 foot swell we got yesterday - complete with 30mph onshore winds. (see picture of swimming pool)
Waves should be settling into 4 foot range this week for ole ryan.

OK, Meghan here. I'll explain these pictures and not talk about surfing. First one is us on our cliff hike that covered 4 beaches. Some rain set in, though and we had to skip the last portion. Also pic of me in front of the opera house on our first day. That tour was a bit jetlagged, but we headed out via ferry the next day to Manly Beach and I wore Granddad's hat and a girl behind me had a fish and Ry caught some waves, but no photo documentation of that. p.s. cricket is stupid.

Might not be able to post for a few days while we are camping in the mountains. Bye for now!

xoxo,
M&R

The eagle has landed

2008-01-03T00:47:00.000-05:00

We made it! The flight actually wasn't so bad and we've had some time to wander around Sydney today. Would've posted pictures of us and the Opera House, but we discovered that Aussies are very stingy with their wireless. They also are total jerks when it comes to pricing soda and beer. A 6-pack was $16! aaaaand they wanted $2.50 for a Coca Cola! No rules, but not just right, hmph.
Anyway, we're looking to hit the beach tomorrow and Ry thinks it looks to be EPIC.

later gators.

...and so, it begins

2008-01-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Happy 2008, friends and family!!

Due to many requests we decided to try a travelblog for our trip to Oz and Naz. Right now we're a bit bleary eyed from a fun Myakka City New Year's at Berta and Dale's, but mostly gearing up for departure to Australia this evening!! Woooo!

Hopefully we'll be able to update this fairly regularly, but who knows what wi-fi access in the Outback is like??

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year's!
lots of love,
m&r