Phone home

Yesterday I contacted home (The kids). It was great to hear they are doing fine. Now I can get past the guilt of being so happy.... I know confusing huh?
Slight complication is my little dog Lucy is not doing so well. It's so hard for me to handle. If you all could send her best wishes I know it would help.

Just your regular morning

In Australia, breakfast is referred to as Brekkies..... always.
I think it's stupid but who am I?

No yoga

I am getting used to not having a home base, regular schedule, familiar scenery. Change is good sometimes. The one thing that is making me crazy is not doing regular yoga! I miss my Bikrams!
(OK I also admit I miss my kids and doggies)
We are going to try to get to a studio today for a class... I am so excited. I clearly know now that my yoga moves firmly forward with me to chapter two.

Melbourne

Long road trip today with a yummy Indian food restaurant  as the highlight. We stopped on a whim and were treated like family to a nice lunch. It always feels good when you traveling.
Lots of good talk in the car. Lots of laughs trying to find a freakin' Kangaroo. Good fun with my best friend.

road trip

In the car with another person for 8 hours... and I still like him! Hahaha
We had a great drive down to a spot called Lakes Entrance, on our way from Berry. Berry is 2 hours out of Sydney, heading south, and Melbourne is still 4 hours south from here. I had no Idea Australia was this big!
I had a great time looking at all the changes in scenery out the windows. Lots of eucalyptus trees and ferns. Some areas lush and tropical some sandy, and others recently burned by forrest fires. We passed lots of pastures with cows, sheep and horses. Then just over a hill we would see another beautiful beach. I think the most striking thing we saw was recently flooded rivers with trees downed and grass caught in barbed wire fences. We must have missed the flooding by just days. This country is Amazing!
Some towns we passed through include Ulladulla, Moruya, Bodalla, and Narooma. I will never be able to say town names without giggling here! Are they kidding???

Sunshine after the rain

We are enjoying a relaxing time here in Berry.
Two days ago we were trapped in town, roads blocked, flooded in. It was a bit scary with the thunder and lightening. Yesterday toured around the countryside and visited Tutor House, Lucas childhood boarding school.
Today was warm and beautiful and we a walk in the tropical forrest.  

Lazy daisy

Today is the first day since I arrived that we've just relaxed. No family. no yoga, no work. So nice to slow down. I'm trying to settle in and feel a bit less like I'm on vacation.
The Townshedns home is so lovely. Like staying in an art gallery.

Garden yoga

Amazing moments spent in the garden today. I know I was waking up muscles that haven't been used in awhile. My feet and hands were bare, it rained and wasn't cold. I am on the gardner exchange program, practicing Janna Yoga in Berry, Au:)

Celebrating

Tonight I celebrate 7 consecutive days of hot yoga! I'm so happy that Lucas has made it with me:) We both feel great.
I am enjoying all my new surroundings and all the new people i've met. I am grateful for the opportunity to be starting a new chapter in life.

settle down

Day 7 in Sydney. Things are starting to look familiar. I no longer strain to get a good look at every breathtaking beach. I'm not straining to understand the accent, remember names, and figure out the exchange rate. I'm settling in.
Some amazing Sydney sights have included.... Major Latte art on every cup, beautiful explosive orange sunsets, the dog breeds look foreign but the Australian people look familiar. Sandy beaches of white powder sand, warm oceans surrounded by shark nets:) Amazing food at every meal, yogurt that tastes like ice cream! Bikrams classes taught with an Aussie flair, room temperatures to 120f and 45 humidity!!!! The thin toned bodies of the Sydney population wearing fashion that looks more like modern art. Big bats, huge spiders and white Parrots flying from tree to tree:)
I'm in love!

Big day

Today was my first day of feeling healthy since arriving.( I brought a cold with me from the US.) We hit the ground running this morning with a trip to the family import business to have a look at new merchandise from India. Beautiful stuff! Luke picked me out a pair of Koi Fish earrings:) Then out to lunch with the crew and over to the Botanical Gardens. All while meeting and greeting all the people the family knew around town.
We almost decided to skip yoga, then rallied and made it! Yeah for us! 4 days straight of Bikrams and talking about doing a 30 day challenge..... team Darling-Townshend rocks!

Partner Yoga

As I begin my 3rd day of yoga in Sydney, I can't help but think of my partner. For years yoga has been my solo journey. I suffered alone, felt the joys alone, victories and defeats were mine to sort through. It was a bit like a pilgrimage!
Thanks to Lucas I now have a yoga partner to share all that comes up through the practice. "Did you enjoy the teacher? Was the class hotter than normal? Do your hamstrings hurt after Toe Stand? We should be drinking more water!"
This is a new wonderful experience and I'm enjoying every second!

PS... I do have to give gratitude to all that joind me in time along the way. Kim, Christina, Tanya, Holly, Katie, Katie, Karina,  Parker and especially my future yoga champ Madison! I will never forget our mat time together:)

Live from Sydney

Well followers (hahaha) I've done it. I was a gutsy move but I packed up my suitcases and caught the plane to a new life. Not that it was easy...
In my now VAST experience with change I have found that there are always built in roadblocks. Maybe the universe tests you along the way to make sure you are alert. Big change and new beginnings should be heart felt yet logically thought out. Then at the end of the day it's just a dice roll, like the rest of life.

Darlinghurst

2nd day in Sydney and were already off to Bikrams. I am travel weary and Lucas and I are both in different stages of a cold, but were determined!

First step... find the studio. Since Lucas grew up in the neighborhood he had a vague idea of the spot. To our surprise it turned out to be in a building his family once owned! Our crazy universe.

What a beautiful studio, with two yoga rooms! Great class taught by the studio owner.

Change is good

Life is an organic force.. with that I mean it should continue to change, be flourishing, be unhealthy at times, thrive and sometimes be stagnant. Today I was reminded of how my life and others lives around me should not always be the same. Good times go bad, bad changes to good and so on. Life goes on