much, much better

To combat jet lag when traveling to the west, I was told it's best to just stay up the first day and not nap. That way, even if you wake up at 4 or 5 am, you're that much closer to being on a normal sleep cycle with your new locale. Whew. I never really realized just how much humans need sleep until yesterday at about 4:30pm when I thought I was going to lose my lunch (breakfast, really) from not having slept yet. I managed to stay up until 7:30 and then crashed until 6:30am this morning. Since I was well-rested, I decided to get up and watch the sunrise off the back of the Curl's back balcony. I bundled in two blankets and with a "cuppa," met the morning in a very relaxed fashion. The sunrise was very peaceful, aside from the birds that look like minature parrots, who sound like distressed babies as they call to each other (that was the sound that I woke up to this morning....rather alarming, actually). And the kukuberras....Gracie, Ash's little sister identified them to me.

Ash and I walked past Manly Beach north to Freshwater Beach area to Qi, her yoga studio and took a yoga class with Mark (sounds like Maaaak). First of all, walking past three different beaches in order to get to another little beautiful neighborhood was just...GREAT. I could totally do with a commute like that in the mornings! I didn't realize how much tension I was still carrying in my body after the trip until Maaaak had us in the royal pigeon pose and this meditating tree pose. I could really do with taking yoga regularly. The best part of the whole 1.5 hours was the 1/2 hour breathing meditation, otherwise known as a "nap." After annointing the area of our foreheads where our breathing contacted our skin with saliva, we were told to focus on our breathing and where the air hit our nostrils. My nostrils were quite relaxed, as was my jaw. (For any of you whom have had the great pleasure of me napping on your shoulder, be impressed that I didn't, I repeat DIDN'T, drool during this whole session.) After yoga, Ash and I walked back through Queenhead (I think that's the name) to a little neighborhood cafe and had pumpkin soup and an egg, bacon and tomato chutney sandwich. Ash told me that it was one of the only neighborhood cafes in Manly, as it's a fairly touristy area. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and learned some random coffee facts from a little trading card game.

Currently, I'm sitting in Budget Oz Travel, a backpackers travel agency that helps people book tours throughout Australia. Ash and I planned on planning our travels once I arrived (not at all normal for me), but now that we're here, I'm having a difficult time making decisions about what to do. I realized that travelling and exploring is a very active endeavor and in order to get the most out of my adventuring, I need to get my head in the game, so to speak. So, now that I'm feeling somewhere close to normal, I'm taking it upon myself to really dig into the rhythms of where I'm at.

At breaky, I noticed that Australian books smell different - vaguely vegan. Like....some sort of herbal supplement has been added to the binding glue, or the paper and peppers the book with a very earthy, hippy scent. Not unpleasant, just...unexpected. Also, Aussies on the whole are way ahead of Americans in terms of living "green." Australians have already gone green and have adopted sustainable practices into their daily lives. Such as: Since most fridges don't have water spickets on the doors for getting a cold glass of water, Aussies fill glass bottles with tap water and keep them in the fridge. Not only is that more economical than buying plastic bottles, but it's better for the enviro and is way more aesthetically pleasing. How smart.

In a few moments, I'm heading out to walk around Manly and get a better feel for this community. I'll head down to the Wharf, wander around some neighborhoods, check out some shops, etc.

p.s. Have also noticed that Aussies tend to abbreviate everything possible and drop identifying, personal pronouns. Rather like it. Love to you all!