Aussie TV Shows

Okay I'm going to admit it, I'm addicted to Aussie TV mini-dramas. I don't know why but I just am! It all started when I was just surfing around youtube looking up shows this one Australian actress was in and that was when I discovered McLeod's Daughter. Which is a television drama set on an Australian rural property with two half-sisters running the property inherited from their father with an all-female workforce. This show was filmed in Southern Australia and set in a fictional farm called 'Drovers'. Just seeing the scenery of the rolling hills where the farm is set was enough to capture my attention, the plot was also pretty good about strong capable women dealing in a mostly men's world of farming. So that was my first glimpse of Aussie TV. =)

Then Nickelodean had introduced a new show this Spring called H2O Just Add Water and when I did a little more research in found that it was set in the Gold Coast. I mean just looking at the background made me want to jump on a plane and fly down to Australia to swim! But the plot is this: Emma, Cleo and Rikki are sixteen year old girls growing up on the sun-drenched beaches of the Gold Coast. Emma is confident and athletic, Cleo is slightly insecure and awkward while Rikki is the aloof and rebellious new girl. Because of Rikki, the girls find themselves stranded at sea one day, floating towards the mysterious Mako Island. The three girls find themselves exploring the eerie jungle-covered island before becoming trapped in an ancient cavern under a volcano. Discovering an underwater channel, they decide to swim to safety. As they enter the pool, the light from a full moon illuminates the water, creating a mysterious glow. Emma, Cleo and Rikki get off the island as fast as they can and back to "normal" life. However, the girls discover life is never going to be normal again; ten seconds after they touch water, they turn into mermaids. After further experimentation, they find they have supernatural powers; Emma can freeze water, Rikki can boil water and Cleo can turn a drop of water into a bucketful and mould it into any shape. The girls enlist the help of their friend Lewis, who considers himself a scientist, and he attempts to discover the secret behind their transformations. Everyday situations turn tricky as the girls struggle to cope with their new-found powers, which have numerous advantages and disadvantages, while also trying to keep them a secret from everyone else.

So now I was hooked to two Aussie TV shows but that isn't the end. While looking around youtube for more glimpse of those two shows I found a third Aussie TV Show called Blue Water High. Blue Water High is an Australian television drama series. Each season follows the lives of a young group of students at Solar Blue, a high-performance surf academy where several lucky 16-year-olds are selected for a 12-month-long surfing program on Sydney's northern beaches. Now I came in on season 3 of this show but so far from what I've read and seen, it looks really good. Made me wish I could swim so then I'd be able to learn how to surf!

I've found these Aussie TV shows to be wholesome, fresh and yet maintain a decent plot compared to some of the TV shows they are currently showing in the US. But of course watching all these shows has already gotten my travel bug desiring to really see and experience the world 'Down Under'. So perhaps my plans of not hitting Australia for a few more years may have to change. Anyways, next year I was planning to head West since this year I'm headed East to Spain! Who knows? I'll just keep you all updated. =) But for now I'm open to learning more about shows set around the world to keep my travel appetite going!

Weekend @ Anne's

I went down to Stanislaus County to visit Anne. I haven’t had much sleep this week between family obligations and the construction work going on with the driveway and sidewalk of the house. Anne lives in a nice, gated community out in the middle of nowhere. It’s very quiet and dark out there that you can see Venus shine clearly in the night sky. When I got to Anne’s place we went to Home Depot. I was “volunteered” to help redecorate our training room at work and needed paint samples. Hues of green were the choice colors because they are not too soothing like blue or bright like yellow and orange, the latter colors being recommended as “stimulating colors for learning”. Blue would make the room feel to comfortable and yellow is just too bright, it reminded me of the court room I had to sit for hours in when I got subpoena for a case. Then we went to Target to check out what movies are out and I found “The Lake House” on sale for $10. What a bargain! I had wanted to see that movie and heard some mix review but for $10 it was worth getting. By this time my quick lunch of a single tortilla filled with rice and beef was fully consumed by my stomach and it protested in hunger. Fortunately Johnny Carino’s was nearby, this place is awesome! When I first ate there it took me back to Tuscany. They have a brick oven where they cook their pizza and the tables are wooden so you get that old world kitchen feel. The food is fabulous and for dessert they had my favorite, cannoli but this time it was Chocolate cannoli. Delicious!

(Sorry the pictures are so small but I took them with my phone camera)

After dinner Anne had to go to JC Penny’s to check out the curtains for her house. Man there is a reason why Anne and I only get together once a month or so, our pocketbooks wouldn’t be able to handle it. We ended up spending more than what we meant to and picked up a few more extra purchases along the way. I was not planning to get clothes but I found a dress that seemed suitable for an upcoming wedding I must attend. Anne found some tops she liked along with curtains and this very pretty picture that reminded us both of Venice. We had to stop by Anne’s work so she could drop off her leftovers to one of her friends/co-worker and I got to meet more of her co-workers.

When we got home it was movie time. So with our PJ’s on, blankets and pillows with us, popcorn and lemonade on the table nearby us popped in “The Lake House”. I liked the movie; it reminded me of “An Affair to Remember”. The beginning I was a little lost because of how they would shoot the past scene and then move to the present but I got used to it and soon the plot engaged my attention. I had to put down the training papers I was working on, set my PDA on the floor along with my laptop. (Yes I have this very bad tendency of multi-tasking when watching TV, so the plot has to be pretty good and draw me in for me to put things down and just watch.) I am not ashamed to admit that I cried a little during the movie, it is definitely going on my Chick Flick list. This movie is one where you watch it on Single Awareness Day (a.k.a Valentine’s Day) along with some ice cream and tissues next to you. One of things I liked about it was that it brought in a favorite book, Persuasion by Jane Austen. If you’ve never read that book, I highly recommend you go and read it. But if you are too lazy or not much of a reader there is a movie form too which is very good. The whole concept of an epistilatory romance is found in that book, along with learning the rewards of Patience and Obedience.

The next day we didn't leave the house until 1300hours (1:00pm). Anne needed to get a new local cell phone number, check out some more furnishings for her home and I just wanted lunch. We ended up going to this new restaurant "The Elephant Bar". This place was pretty cool. They had an African Safari theme going on in the decor and menu. The floors were cheetah spots carpet or dark wood, there was this large frontal view statue of an elephant (like he was coming out of the wall) in the waiting area and various statues of animals like giraffe's around the room. Their lights were sticks or palm fronds that would fan the area. The food was delicious! I had a Strawberry Breeze (one of their non-alcoholic drinks that was like a strawberry milkshake but with more fruit and less shake) for my beverage, we shared a tempura rolled salmon sushi appetizer and I had the barbeque platter for my entree.



After eating it was off to run errands and shop. Anne got a few knick-nacks for her house and I got more books. The Borders down in Modesto had the DVD set for the Australian TV series that I have been watching on youtube. Totally surprised at that, so of course I just had to get the DVD. LOL But I enjoy watching this show, Mcleods Daughters, and since I don't live Down Under I must be content with what episodes I can find online. I started watching the 6th season online but I only got the general idea of the premise behind the show. It's about these two sisters who were seperated in their youth thanks to the parents who seperated. When the father dies he leave the farm and all its land to his two daughters. Tess (the girl who lived in the city with her mom, until mom dies a year before her father does) goes back to Drovers Run, which is the ranch that her dad and estranged sister-Claire live. I don't know much about the beginning other than the sisters end up firing all the male help at the farm and run it with their female friends. Usually there are about five girls that live and help run the farm, but with each season a character goes and a new oen comes, but there is always a Mcleod. (prounoucned Mac-Cloud). But I digress, Anne got her new cell phone with a local number and we ended up back at her house watching Robin Hood Men in Tights before I drove back home.