G'day Mates! First PWW Post from Oz

It has been five days since very-soon-to-be Mrs. PWW and I arrived in Australia, and after a harrowing first morning in the country thanks to a combination of long queues and inadequate transfer time which led to a missed flight, we and our overweight luggage have made it to the town of Stanthorpe. We've transplanted ourselves from hot and humid Manila straight to frosty winter mornings, so I now subscribe to the "layered" look for my daily wear not for fashion but for survival.

Much has changed aside from our everyday costumes: my body clock is still two hours behind, so while I think I'm waking up at six o'clock, it's actually already 8 AM here. When I do manage to wake up at six to go for a run, it's still too dark and I find many, convincing reasons to retreat back to the warmth of an electric blanket. Two days ago, we did succeed in getting out the door, jacket on top of my running shirt and hands wrapped in gloves, to run to the border of New South Wales (about 2.8 kilometers). I learned three things during my first ever winter run:

1. I run much faster in the cold - it's either my body wanted to get warmed up much faster or I wasn't overheating because of the weather. Either way, whenever I glanced at my watch I was clocking in a sub 5 pace.
2. The air here is incredibly pristine - this isn't really something new, but my lungs immediately noticed the stark contrast to the air quality of Manila. They were very thankful.
3. I love the motorists here - while running on the side of the road, against traffic, motorists veered away to give me more space. And they even give you a friendly wave! It certainly made me feel much safer.

We have yet to follow that run up with another, but although the cold is making it difficult for us to get out, that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. I've done some interesting things like operating heavy machinery and partaking in a genuine Aussie barbie.

Bobcats and Barbies

Just this morning, we went on a quick, short hike up Blue Mountain, with a summit that provides a 360-degree view of town. Best of all, this was located just at the backyard. Literally. And that's another thing about this town that leaves me smitten: you just have to step out the door and you're at the foot of a mountain or at a trail head. I'm not kidding when I tell you that driveways to houses here are trails that are better and longer than some of those back home. It's fantastic. Now if FedEx just hurries up with our bikes, we'd be sorted.

There's much to look forward to, but right now, it's my family's arrival next week that I'm really excited about.

All's going well so far. More of PWW from the Land Down Under soon.