Day 18 – Friday, November 7th

We had very little planned for today so it ended up being a fairly relaxing and quiet day. We left the house about 11:30 to pick up our rental car. All four of us went, and Danny and Michael went one way in the rental and Ruth and I went the other for some shopping. Danny had hatched this plan for getting the car and thought that it was wonderful until he realized that it meant he had to ride with Michael driving the car…..on the other side of the road!!! As he walked to the car, he was muttering prayers under his breath!!

Ruth and I went to a wonderful fabric and quilt shop. They were having a big sale and there were a ton of women there. I tried to be good, but there were some fabrics that I couldn’t get at home and they were on a huge sale, so I finally succumbed and bought a few meters.

I had been dying for a dessert called a “Vanilla Slice” and Michael called while we were out and said that he had bought one for me. He then called back a few minutes later and said that he had bought me ANOTHER one….apparently he dropped the first one and it fell out of the bag and all over the floor!!!

We drove to a local mall and ran into Michael and Danny, so they went with us while we had lunch. Michael had already eaten a meat pie that he said was wonderful and I decided to have a Sausage Roll that was also great. It is a long roll of ground sausage that has been covered with a flaky pastry and baked.

The guys headed back to the house and Ruth and I did some shopping. I enjoyed picking up some souvenirs and looking around in the various shops. The most interesting time was in the grocery store (Woolies). I have decided that Australians eat a wider variety of foods and much more adventurous than Americans. The prices of fruit, vegetables and other fresh items such as cheeses and breads seem to be about the same as at home. Canned goods and processed foods were more expensive.

I had an “old home week” experience while shopping and truly enjoyed walking around and see things that we used to buy 20 years ago. I especially enjoyed the Bickie (cookie) section, especially the Arnotts brands…..Tim Tams (deep chocolate), Shortbread Creams, Milk Arrowroot and so many others. The Lolly (candy) section was also fun with Cherry Ripe, Mentos, Chocolate Frogs, and SO many others.

I had also forgotten about the shopping carts where all four wheels are loose. It is impossible to drive the cart in a forward direction….they always veer diagonally.

We returned to the Eve’s house and had a wonderful night with all of the Eve’s children. Matthew (oldest) and Linda (youngest) joined us for dinner and Ben and Mel came after a soccer match. Linda cooked a Pavlova for dessert and we really enjoyed eating it. I know that we could make them at home, but it is just much nicer eating it in Australia. Michael enjoyed sitting with Ben and Matthew and smoking a cigar. After a night of MUCH laughter, we dropped into bed about 1:30.