Dinner with Neighbours

Last night, our neighbours (Rob & Ann & 4 kids - you initially met them 11 Sept.) had us over for dinner. They also invited the neighbors on their other side, too (John and Grace). It was a great night and felt so comfortable! And it was so much fun to hear their stories - both couples are pretty amazing.

Rob and Ann both grew up out in Dubbo (~6 hrs NW of Sydney) and come from big farming families. John is an electrician, and was telling us about how he installed electricity at lots of the big farms out there. He's only ~37 yrs old - that really makes you realize how young the country is. Bill Bryson writes about this town that just got electricity in 1995, but you kind of get the feeling it's an unusual case. It's not - it's the norm.

And John and Grace are in their 70's, and I think they've seen the entire world. When they were in their 20's(?), they bought their house in Epping and then decided to travel around the world. They took 6 months to do the Overland Route from India to England, and then settled in England and bought an MGB. But the trick was, to avoid paying some kind of tax in England, the car had to leave the country within 1yr. And to avoid taxes in AU, they had to own the car outside AU for 18 months. So after working in England for a year, they did a road trip around Europe for 6 months. They sent the car back to AU after the trip (and still own it), but instead of following the car, they decided to move to Toronto. They worked there for a year, and then started another road trip in a $200 rusted-out station wagon. They worked their way all the way down through South America. They said the 2 big things they didn't make it to were the Galapagos and Tierra del Fuego. And then they sold the car in Paraguay(?) for $250 - made $50!! ...and finally headed back to Oz (but didn't stop traveling).

Lots of other neat stories about the history of our neighborhood (since John and Grace have lived there 40 years) and insights into AU culture and even a little bit of talk about US politics. We learned that our house used to be connected to Rob and Ann's years ago - we're in the one that the elderly parents lived in. Hopefully that doesn't say anything about us!

And a great dinner, too! Started with fresh oysters that Rob's brother just brought up from Merimbula. For dinner, we had steak or sausages, roasted potatoes, and a beautiful salad with beets, pumpkin, feta, and walnuts. For dessert, Ann had made a cheesecake and Grace had made a pecan spice cake. We ended up making rice krispy treats with sprinkles, but the kids mostly took care of those. Rob and Ann have a beautiful back porch and it was a beautiful night, so we just sat out there and talked until nearly 11:00.

And we even got a fantastic art show: