Australia! Now, just how rockin' cool is that? Keep your eyes open for some more Down Under photos soon - in the meantime, here's the bean's first adventures in Oz, as relayed by Bindi... Enjoy!

Shortly after touchdown in Brisbane, after a long and arduous journey across the Pacific ocean, the beans decided that a vacation break was in order. (Were they tipped off about their host family being vegetarian? Who knows?) Wanting a nice relaxing break, they shied away from the glitzy Gold Coast and headed for the peace and warmth of Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

After a short spell sunbaking at Caloundra's King's Beach, in which some actual nude sunbaking by the beans took place (which I haven't included, as I understand that this is a "G" rated pages...and you wouldn't have been able to recognize them without the label, anyway...), the beans headed up to the comforting mateship of the Ettamogah Pub.

The Ettamogah Pub was actually based and built upon a successful cartoon that used to appear within a now defunct Aussie magazine which had its heyday back in the 70's. The full-page cartoon always consisted of the lopsided pub (complete with an old Ute on top) {Beer truck, for us Yanks...} with hilarious retorts and verbal sparing from the occupants within. Nowadays it's a fantastic stopover (long or short!) to bask in Aussie mateship and icy cold lager.

(Kevin here, jumping into Bindi's Bean Adventures for a minute - I thought you'd like to know what it says on the side...)

Ettamogah Beer
Aussies best beer...
Eradicates cane toads...
Destroys groundsel and cholesterol...
Turns crocs into tadpoles...
Cleans out ya carbi...
Tantalizes ya taste buds...
It's fair dinkum brain food...
Kicks over the starter motor...
Settles the dust...
Takes the puff out of cyclones...
& tastes flamin' great too, mate!

And now - back to the tale!

After a (hic! burp!) full afternoon at the pub, in which copious amounts of XXXX (the best beer in the world!) was consumed, the beans were thankful to see that entry to Aussie World was free!

Wanting to catch up with some of their distant cousins - the nut group - the beans headed for the Macadamia Nut farm. Yeah, everything's oversized in Oz.

Totally exhausted after catching up with the nut family, and feeling a bit vulnerable, the beans decided a stopover at the "Big Pineapple" would be the perfect spot for a relaxing break, content in the comfort that ice cream sundaes and black beans are not compatible!

I've heard that relaxed after their holiday, the beans are fully rejuvenated and are planning a full-throttled vacation in Sydney. Stay tuned!