Do You Come from a Land Down Under?

[East_TX_Spa]

For those of you who wonder why I'm so passionate about selling HotSpring Spas and why I don't think there's a finer company with which to do business, let me give you a little taste of the fantastic trip I took to Australia with 400 of my friends and associates.....

After a 14 hour plane ride from LA to Sydney (Qantas Airlines is fantastic!), we were ready to go on a little walkabout and stretch our legs.  When we arrived at the Hotel Intercontinental, these two mates hopped up to greet us as we departed our bus.


I came off the bus hopping as high as I could.  One of the blokes shouted "Hey mate, you're one of us!" as he grabbed my arm and we hopped around like a couple of hoptoads.  I couldn't get quite as much air as they could but I gave it my all and had a minor stroke as a result.  

Our hotel was located near Circular Quay (pronounced "key") about 2 blocks up the road from the Sydney Opera House.

Here's Ol' Meanness with the Opera House (OH from now on) in the background:


And here's yours truly posing in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge (SHB):


Just past the Quay was the Rocks district full of ancient pubs, cafes, and gift shops.  My wife was looking at some jewelry so I wandered off on my own.  One of the little shops I came to was full of didgeridoos, the Aboriginal instruments made from eucalyptus tree limbs hollowed out by termites.  When I walked into the store, I exclaimed "What is that wonderful smell?!"

The owner of the store, Melina, walked over and said "That'd be me!"  I said, "Well, I need to take you to Texas and put you in my store."  She replied "That'd be fine with me."  I was going to like Australia a lot!

Mel told me all about the diggitydo and taught me how to play it.  Since I've wanted one ever since I was a little girl, I decided I was going to buy.  I just needed help deciding which one.  I ended up with a 4' long one with a tribal kangaroo and iguana motif.  $220 for the dippitydo and an instructional DVD.  I had a wonderful time shopping and referred 4 of my fellow HS associates to her fine establishment to buy her instruments.  If you're ever in Sydney, stop by DidjBeat and meet Mel!


After a brief rest at our hotel, we loaded up the buses and headed for the Argyle Center reception.  I was on the first bus and was the first to run the gauntlet.  For anyone wanting to know, this is how almost every HotSpring function begins:


The beer, wine, and champagne flowed all evening.  There was an Australian folk band and waitstaff dressed in 18th century garb.  I got to meet a Koala (I named him "Arjuna" which means "grumpy little bear" in the Aboriginal language):


Koalas are not very cute in person and are somewhat dour little critters.  Arjuna mainly sat around scratching his giblets and eating eucalyptus with an unpleasant look on his face.  The joey kangaroo was cute, but I was disappointed to learn he was not on the menu for the evening:


However, the rest of the menu was very exotic.  There were 4 rooms set up buffet style with a different selection in every room.  Some of the choices were grilled King Prawns (giant shrimp, there's an oxymoron for you), linguine with blue crab meat, oysters on the half-shell, skewered emu, peppered crocodile, fish & chips, beef tenderloin medallions, and various salads and dessert.  I enjoyed the croc meat (tastes like chicken fajitas) but was disappointed in the gamey taste of the emu.


With the exception of some goober coming up and asking my wife if she was one of the wenches (I was not there at the time and we never saw the guy again), we had a great time!

To be continued.....

[drewstar]

For those of you who wonder why I'm so passionate about selling HotSpring Spas and why I don't think there's a finer company with which to do business, let me give you a little taste of the fantastic trip I took to Australia with 400 of my friends and associates.....

After a 14 hour plane ride from LA to Sydney (Qantas Airlines is fantastic!), we were ready to go on a little walkabout and stretch our legs.  When we arrived at the Hotel Intercontinental, these two mates hopped up to greet us as we departed our bus.

Obvisouly Male kangaroos.  (Christ, I couldn't walk if I was made that way, never the less hop. )

[luvmytub]

Looking forward to "part 2".  Your wife is a beauty, Term!  What a neat trip!  Glad y'all had a blast.

Randi

[East_TX_Spa]

Yep, it is tough for us boy kangaroos sometimes, especially on 14 hour plane rides!

Terminatoroo

[drewstar]

Yep, it is tough for us boy kangaroos sometimes, especially on 14 hour plane rides!

Terminatoroo

Youre nuts!

[East_TX_Spa]

Youre nuts ache!

Yep!

Terminutor

[socal]

term

i always get a kick outta your pic/story combos.
not to step over any boundries, but i have to agree, the misses is a hottie. how did you ever trick her into going out with ya???  
looks like you had a blast down under. looking worward to more pics.
by the way....how long does it take you to come up with those stories??? im still on page 4 of mine lol, at least i have not hit delete yet  

[Spatech_tuo]

term

i always get a kick outta your pic/story combos.
not to step over any boundries, but i have to agree, the misses is a hottie. how did you ever trick her into going out with ya???    

I wondered the same thing until I saw a picture of her holding a long, thin, white cane.

[socal]

I wondered the same thing until I saw a picture of her holding a long, thin, white cane.

ahhh now i understand. it wasnt that he tricked her, she just couldnt get away fast enough!!!  

[East_TX_Spa]

Yep, she was blinded by the light! (reflecting off my head)

Socal, as far as my story writing, I have always been of a good humored nature and, being from Texas, have always enjoyed telling stories.  I was a journalism major in college as well as a pitcher on the baseball team, and since I wasn't a very good ballplayer, I would report on the game from the bullpen.  I enjoy writing and tend to overdo the editing if I ever run across a typo I've submitted.  I hope that some of ya'll get a kick out of my tales and do not want to kick my tail, though I'm certain some of you probably wished I had better ways to occupy my time.  Since I am not one to try and save the world, I am content to try and brighten my little corner the best I can.

Terminator

[drewstar]

Yep!

Terminutor

I guess I should have said is " I belive these kangaroos are mentaly unsound".

I can cleary see thier nuts!

[Wisoki]

I went to a dealer conference ONCE. The last thing I'll ever do again is go to a far off exotic location (Manzanillo, Mexico) with a bunch of hot tub people that want to do nothing but talk about hot tubs. For the kind of money I had to pony up for that trip, you'd think there would be more to do and talk about than spas. Don't get me wrong, the snorkling, was a kick, and fortunatly I brought a non spa couple of friends to go on the Jeep rally, but other than that, no freaking way. Glad you had a good time Term, how much of the cost did Watkins cover?

[East_TX_Spa]

Glad you had a good time Term, how much of the cost did Watkins cover?

Thanks, I did have a great time.  And I agree, I hate sitting around talking about hot tubs so most of us didn't.

Watkins paid for every dime of the trip plus gave me $350 for incidentals.  I have to pay the tax next year but it'll be worth it.  The only money I spent out of my pocket was on souveneirs, hookers, and blow.

Terminators

[Wisoki]

LMFAO, Well then... Jacuzzi Products Inc. negotiates a good rate, but each dealer is responsible for their air fare plus about $1800 per person. But it is a tax write off.

Thanks, I did have a great time.  And I agree, I hate sitting around talking about hot tubs so most of us didn't.

Watkins paid for every dime of the trip plus gave me $350 for incidentals.  I have to pay the tax next year but it'll be worth it.  The only money I spent out of my pocket was on souveneirs, hookers, and blow.

Terminators