January Journal

Before we even get into today's write-up, we have a guest appearance for the Connal Round-the-World Travel Journals. This entry was submitted by loyal reader Jeff Schmitt, who was kind enough to suggest the following to be cut-and-pasted for the remainder of our stay in Australia.

I got up at 3:45 to beat the heat this morning. It was hot as a bastard along the esplanade. How do these people do it? Went to work. Heidi got a sunburn. Jon was stuck with a snorkel group from Japan. We slept the whole way back to the marina. Man is that boat a bitch to clean!!! Jon went shopping for white curry powder. Heidi got loaded again with the rest of the all-male crew after "cleaning the boat" (whatever that means). We went back to the apartment and cooked our favorite Malaysian dish, kuraphurad. It was yummy. As we had worked another hard day, we fell asleep at 8:15 reading Louis L'Amour novels.

- By Jeff Schmitt

Well. That about sums it up for us. Thanks, Jeff, for your great input. Hope it's snowing like hell in Poughkeepsie, 'cuz it's nice and warm here!

And Now We Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program, Already In Progress.....

Another relaxing day for us. Jon slept in again because of his sore throat, although it seems to be getting better. Good thing he started popping antibiotics right away!

Mid-way through the morning, I had a nasty headache so I went back to bed for a quick nap. Then I went to Deep Sea Diver's Den to pick up the rest of our books. "Chookie" (aka AnnaMarie, our instructor) was unfortunately involved teaching class, so I have to go back tomorrow as she's the one who has to help me out.

Jon went to the grocery store to pick up stuff on our never-ending list. He's been craving sushi lately, so he picked up all the required ingredients for sushi-making, including the little bamboo "sushi rollers". We had salmon and tuna sushi with red peppers and avocado. It was really good, and would have been even better if we would invest in some brand-name soy sauce. A month ago we bought the generic brand and, while it tastes fine in Phad Thai, it's absolutely heinous by itself.

That's one lesson that we've definitely learned on this trip: There are just some things that you should never EVER skimp on. These items include, but are certainly not limited to, chocolate chips, soy sauce, and toilet paper.

Come to think of it, that's very poetic. I might have that written on my gravestone.

On a more crucial note, I received a very important email from my sister which states the following:

"We've been advised that terrorists may attempt to pass themselves off as ordinary American citizens and may even attempt to change their hair color wardrobe or appearance in order to "blend in." You are advised to notify the authorities of any suspicious individuals who may match the following example:"