That Was Awesome

Movember No Mo!

2011-12-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

Ha! All of us were grateful when December 1 arrived (especially Jared being that it was his birthday)! Unfortunately, we had to wait until December 2 to say goodbye to the mustache for another year. But, thanks to our friends that provided us with these stick-on mustaches, we were all able to join in Movember!

The reason for the wait...to take the picture below. In total, there were 25 colleagues that joined Movember to raise money for cancer research. A bonus this year was an auction, that determined what color John dyed his mustache on the last day! He looked very Christmasy.

Sometimes I Miss

2011-11-02T08:31:00.001-07:00

The view from our apartment in Melbourne.

Jared at 3! Chillin at our window watching traffic and footy, while listening to "Yeah!" by Usher and "Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men.

But I am pretty sure (the kids are definitely sure) that I don't miss this...

Movember is back! Awesome!

Texas Vacation - San Antonio

2011-08-07T07:11:00.001-07:00

We stayed in San Antonio for three nights and spent one day at Schlitterbahn. It was blistering hot, but we all had a good time.

We also went to the Alamo and spent some time on the Riverwalk. One of the interesting things about being in Texas is the huge amount of Texas history taught in school. Almost a greater amount than US history.

The Riverwalk was beautiful, but hot. One of the neat things about the Riverwalk is that you can go down many different channels and have a different experience each time.

Our last day we went to the San Antonio Zoo. Surprisingly the animals were mostly active, especially our four!

One of the highlights for us when we go to zoos is to see all of the Australian animals. Here is a Cassowary. Seriously ugly birds, but really cool as well!

Our drive home felt long. Jenny always likes this church, but because of the flow of traffic never really gets to take a picture, luckily this trip she got to take many. (Did I mention how long the trip was? Traffic was a beast!)

This was Jared's expression for the greater part of the trip home. We must not have been giving him enough to eat!!!

Texas Vacation - Austin

2011-08-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

Two of our favorite shows on TV are Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network and Man v. Food on the Travel Channel. Right before our vacation we watched Man v Food about Austin and so I needed to go and try out Round Rock Donuts and Salt Lick. (We also went to Dough Pizzeria in San Antonio, which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives)

The Original Salt Lick located out in the country. Far out in the country.

John is currently traveling to Austin each week and so we joined him one night before heading to our final destination in San Antonio. We headed down to Congress bridge to watch (and listen to) the bats come out at twilight.

The Bell Tower was directly across the street from our hotel.

The State Capitol

The next day we rented a ski boat on Lake Travis. The girls had a blast on the tube and could have been out there for hours! The boys...not so much. Both John and Jenny got out on skis. It was a lot of fun.

We ate at Berryhill's Baja Cantina, a favorite restaurant of ours from Houston. It has fantastic fish tacos.

London and Prague

2011-06-09T20:15:00.001-07:00

Prague - the city of 100 spires.

London. A brilliant city.

Awesome!

Piano Recital

2011-06-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Colin, Brooklyn and Isabella started playing piano in September of 2010. We had their second recital last weekend and they did fantastic. It was a name that tune themed evening and Colin played "When the Saints Come Marching in," Brooklyn played the theme from Beauty and the Beast, and Bella played "Alouette."

Jared is a super star for going along with all of the lessons, group lessons and piano practicing that is done on a daily basis. He can play the first bar of "We Three Kings" and insists that he is ready for piano as well.

Flashback Friday!

2011-03-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

Three years ago we were in Hawaii! We had been planning a trip with our friends, Mark and Laura Hamilton, to coincide with our ten year anniversaries since our first year of marriage. Since that time we met Dave and Kim Chapman in Texas and invited them along. At the last minute, our friends Dallin and Sarah Combs decided to come as well (actually Dallin was working in Honolulu at the same time we were going and Sarah decided to join him). It was awesome!

We took them to the Polynesian Cultural Center for some island culture and yummy food.

Hanauma Bay was amazing!

Laura & Mark

Sarah & Dallin

Kim & Dave

John & Jenny

We went boogie boarding at Sandy Beach. Technically the boys boogie boarded while we sat on towels and watched. I think they had plenty of fun without us.

The sunsets were amazing.

We also went to Kauai with the Chapmans and packed our 3 day stay with a weeks worth of activities. Landsurfing is a sport co-discovered by Dave and John. They spent hours in the surf with waves pounding them from all directions at Barking Sands Beach (a.k.a. 10 mile beach).

Kayaking Wailua River

Ziplining in the mountains

The memories are sweet!

Na Pali Coast, North Shore of Kauai

The Best Winter Day Ever!

2011-02-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, today and tomorrow the kids will be home from school! Yeah? Jared declared yesterday to be the best winter day ever until he went outside and realized that the white stuff was cold and that wearing shorts outside was probably not the best idea!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

Halloween is awesome in America, according to the Aussie Rules Football Player, Pirate, Witch and Princess.

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2010-11-09T15:48:00.001-08:00

I think I'll move to Australia! Wait, we did that and took thousands of pictures only to come home and lose them all when our external hard drive crashed and all of the pictures became "irretrievable". Seriously, a very bad day. Maybe I can convince John to let us move back to Australia and redo all of the fun things we did.

But then again, "Movember" makes me wonder whether all of the things we did in Australia were awesome! (Seriously, check out the Stache!)

November 2009 - Melbourne Royal Botanic Garden

Finally!

2010-09-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

Jared started school on September 2 and it was a much anticipated event! He loves it. I love it. We both love it. The only problem with school according to Jared is the following, "Mom, I really liked school, but they only ate once and it was a long, long time ago. I'm hungry!" That was said on his first day, but he has repeated it every time since.

Third Times a Charm

2010-08-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

It was the first day of school for the kids today! Let me clarify that it was the third, first day of school for the kids this year. They are entering kindergarten, second and fourth grade, but have already done that twice before in Australia. They are thrilled to be returning to school and to make new friends. I am thrilled that they are returning to school as well!

Poor Jared. He has to wait until next Thursday for his first day of school. He was not terribly keen to be left alone, but we were able to satisfy him with a picture in front of the Bronco after we dropped off the others.

Willow Flats

2010-08-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of John's favourite places on earth and we go every time we visit his parents. This year we also went with John's brother Sid and his family, and his sister Dianna. It is truly fantastic.

One of the first picture stops along the route is this bridge.

The Resting Rock - not quite half way up, but everyone stops because this is where you can get lemon drops that make the rest of the trip sweet!

Seriously cute.

Dianna, Sid and John

One of the best things about the hike is drinking the spring water directly from the mountain. Everyone made the trek over slippery rocks to get the purist water.

Some of us even went to extremes getting the water. Colin followed directly after John.

After hiking to the spring, we always spend time around a campfire eating tin foil dinners, making s'mores and enjoying the beautiful area. The conversation isn't too bad either!

Well done Grandpa! The fire was great.

Did You Know...

2010-07-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Flower Mound, Texas has awesome sunsets just like Australia.

June

2010-06-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

After traveling for almost 24 hours we made it home to Texas from Australia. This picture of Jared was taken in the huge party limo that picked us up from the airport complete with two TVs, and lots of amenities. The nicest of them all was air conditioning! Doesn't Jared look tired? Not even close to how John and Jenny looked.

Colin was able to go to his first Cub Scout Day Camp and loved it.

We spent many, many hours hanging out with Jay, our highly motivated Realtor. He definitely kept the kids entertained.

All of the kids took swimming lessons and they have definitely paid off for Bella and Jared. They were lucky enough to have their friend Shawn in their class.

The girls participated in a cheer camp with their friends, Brooklyn and Ella.

And finally, Jenny celebrated her birthday with a delicious cake at the end of the month. It was awesome.

Really, the main blessing in June was being back among our friends in Texas. We missed them all so much during our two years abroad. Can you tell from all of the pictures that I took?

We Love Visitors!

2010-05-28T02:39:00.001-07:00

Why? Because we get to take them to the Brighton Beach Houses. It is always one of the first places we visit, we love to pick our favourite bath houses to take pictures of.

Thank you Dianna for coming to Australia so that we can show off Melbourne. We had a brilliant time!

Jared

2010-05-27T18:08:00.001-07:00

~He refers to Toucans as Canatoos (which is influenced by all of the Cockatoos found in Australia) and is quick to correct people that say it wrong, just ask Dianna!

~He asks to eat constantly and when I say constantly, I mean it. When we went on the Great Ocean Road with our friends Deena and Christian he said every few minutes, "I want something to eat." Deena was trying to distract him and asked him what he was thinking about and he said, "I'm THINKING that I WANT something to EAT!" He has a one track mind.
~He knows every AFL (Australian Rules Football) team, by colour and jersey and knows that we want either St. Kilda or Wisconsin to win.
~He loves to dance and has sweet moves like his dad.
~He calls his blanket "dankie."
~He refers to an elevator as an "elagator."

The Great Ocean Road #7

2010-05-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

John's sister Dianna came to visit the week before we came home and it was fabulous. She brought along her friend Margaret and we had a great time showing them around Melbourne and savoring every minute of our time together. Yes, even the Great Ocean Road.

The Twelve Apostles

The Grotto

Loch Ard Gorge

Triplett Falls

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

The animals are amazing.

A Holiday in the Country

2010-05-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

The Meltons are some of our favourite people and we love traveling with them. In May we went to Sovereign Hill a suburb of Ballarat, which is an outdoor museum set during the 19th century Gold Rush. We stayed at a cabin in Daylesford and enjoyed a relaxing visit with our dear friends.

Wombat Hill Lookout Tower, Daylesford

Enjoying afternoon tea in the club house with Bella, Madi, Colin, Ingrid, Jared, Brooklyn and Astrid.

Sovereign Hill

Panning for gold.

We watched gold, worth over $100,000, get melted down and then formed into a gold bar.

Madi was able to hold it. She is so lucky!

The kids were able to dip candles as well.

Mornington Peninsula

2010-05-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

We spent a few of our last weekends in Melbourne down on the Mornington Peninsula. It is a wonderful place to spend the day and gorgeous as well. We spent time in Franklin at a park and then walked around these sand sculptures.

No trip is complete without making our way to the ocean side of the bay (a.k.a. The Bass Strait) and enjoying the scenery and views.

Sorrento is lovely and the children enjoyed rolling down hills and playing hide and seek tiggy (tag).

And finally, ending the day with a brilliant sunset.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2010-05-09T04:09:00.000-07:00

It was awesome to wake up with four packages of chocolate from the top Chocolatiers in Australia: Koko Black, Chokolait, Max Brenner and Haighs Chocolate. For those of you who know Jenny, nothing says love like Chocolate! Well done John, Colin, Brooklyn, Bella and Jared!

A Fun Surprise

2010-05-05T20:08:00.001-07:00

John was able to surprise his parents and sister Dianna in Madison, Wisconsin two weeks ago. He had meetings scheduled in the States for work and made a connection through Chicago where Sid, his brother, picked him up. None of John's family lives in Wisconsin anymore, but a lot of his family happened to be meeting there to participate in the Crazylegs Classic run. John was able to spend just under 24 hours with his family before heading back to Chicago and onto Miami. Because John's parents and sister didn't know that he was coming, it was quite a surprise when he walked up to his mom at Brennan's, a family favourite cheese and produce market. The reunion caused a lot of excitement and by the time they left most everyone in the shop had heard the story about John showing up for a visit all the way from Australia.

From L to R: John, Sharon, Dianna, Ben, Adam, Paul, Hannah, Traci and Sid.

Seriously Cool

2010-05-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

We had the best views in Australia.

Brilliant!

2010-04-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

Not that staying in Australia is a hardship, but there are a few things that make it all the more awesome.

The Sunrises

The Sunsets

The Hot Air Balloons

This hot air balloon went right by our windows, and the occupants even waved to the kids.

Visitors!

2010-04-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

Jenny's cousin Natalie and her family spent the month of March in Australia. They arrived in Melbourne on March 11, which meant that we would just miss them because we were returning to the states on the 10th. As luck would have it, we were still here. While Adrian spent the days working, I was able to show Natalie and Taylor around Melbourne. It was fantastic!

Fraser Island

2010-04-12T18:48:00.001-07:00

Whilst up on the Sunshine Coast we went to Fraser Island, which is the largest sand island in the world. The only way to get to the island is by ferry and once on the island you must take a 4WD to get anywhere. The kids loved the big truck we went around in, and were thrilled to sit in the back row because it was really bumpy, mom and dad were not nearly as excited. Just like every other day we were up at the Sunshine Coast, it rained the day we went to Fraser Island. We found it ironic that every time we got into the truck the rain would lessen and/or stop completely, but once we stepped out of the vehicle for lunch, our swim at Lake McKenzie or our walk into the Red Canyon the rain would begin again with a vengeance.

These are pictures of our rain forest walk.

This is Lake McKenzie (one of over 100 freshwater lakes on the island). The sand was incredibly white and the water was nice and warm. We have no pictures of ourselves at the lake because the minute we got there the rain started pouring down and we all jumped into the water to warm up. The lake is a ‘perched’ lake which means it is completely supplied by rainwater, no ground water or streams feed into this lake. The natural composition of sand and organic materials at the base of the lake, form a special layer preventing the water from draining away. As you can see from this picture the lake has a shallow edge where we were all able to play, but if you go out past the first 10 meters there is steep 8 meter drop. I chose to include these pictures because this is what it would have looked like had it been sunny and that would have been truly awesome.

photo from davidwallphoto.com

photo from wikipedia.com

We were lucky enough to see a dingo along the 75 mile beach road on our way home. These particular dingos are the purest strain found in Australia. Although very dog like, there were 5 attacks on tourists in 2009, so we made sure that Jared (being the baby stayed away)...we didn't want to tell people that "a Dingo ate my baby!"

Red Canyon was beautiful, it's actually just coloured sand. There is no rock at all, and all of the foliage you see is growing out of sand.

The "NO" Sunshine Coast

2010-04-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

For our "last" trip that we were meant to take here in Australia we went to Noosa, a gorgeous resort town favoured by Melbournians. It came highly recommended and all of us looked forward to a week relaxing on the beach, enjoying the warm weather, and playing in the water.

What we got instead was rain, rain, and more rain. Loads of rain. Even heaps of rain. It didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves though. We got plenty of use of the jacuzzi on the deck of our apartment which was fully covered.

The kids each got a souvenir of our trip as well, raincoats. They turned out to be very handy and were used almost continuously.

We even went on a bush walk through the rain forest behind our place. We saw this tree that looks like it has a koala climbing on it.

More rain.

Further along our walk, we found a real Queensland Koala, which is smaller in size and has thinner fur than the Koalas found in Victoria.

With all of the rain we were able to see gorgeous flowers. The top flower is actually leaves.

We also saw some beautiful birds.

The highlight of the trip for some of us was finding the Big Pineapple. The rain wasn't ideal for the pictures, but it sure made the area green and lush.

A bonus highlight was finding the Big Cow! Big Bonus! Huge!

3 Times - I Repeat...3 Times

2010-03-29T01:33:00.000-07:00

During our 20 months in Australia Jenny has been given a breathalyzer test 3 times! Makes you wonder what's going on down under. The first time was way back in February 2009 when she was pulled over along the Great Ocean Road, while driving with her in-laws, for speeding! While taking the breathalyzer test she was so nervous that she couldn't blow enough air into the machine. Fortunately, she got off with a stern warning, and a reminder that in Victoria the speed limit is 100 kph (62 mph). The best thing about being pulled over with in-laws is that they remind you the entire rest of the trip that "the police have your number!"

The second time happened the day after we were meant to leave Australia to return to the states. Interesting because after 18 months of using her mobile whilst driving, she found out that it's illegal to do so in Melbourne and is in fact very dangerous, at least according to the three officers that surrounded the car. She must have looked very suspicious in a mini-van with four children. The officers were amazed that in Texas it is allowed and asked "Don't they know how dangerous it is?" Still concerned they asked her to take a breathalyzer test. She failed to breath long enough to fully register, but graciously was again let off with a warning because the officer liked Americans and he had always heard that "You Don't Mess with Texas!"

The third time happened the last Friday of March, whilst driving home from a birthday party. This time she wasn't pulled over for any particular driving offense, but rather was randomly selected for the test! Again, a mini-van full of kids in the middle of the afternoon must have appeared really sketchy. Once again, Jenny failed to breath long enough for the test to register, but in another stroke of good luck she was allowed to drive on.

Jenny decided that she needs to take things into her own hands in order to avoid future embarrassing "non-registers"and therefore is working with this amazing machine, which apparently is found in nearly all pubs in Australia, to increase here her lung capacity.

Crazy Hair Day

2010-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

In March, before the end of term 1 the kids had crazy hair day at Wesley. This was Colin's go at crazy hair. Brilliant!

As part of the kids' curriculum they were able to take Japanese during their time in Australia and the symbols on Colin's neck and arm mean friendship and strength.

We Still Call Australia Home

2010-03-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Brighton Beach - March 13, 2010

Mardi Gras

2010-02-28T01:22:00.000-08:00

We went to a Mardi Gras Party at the home of one of John's colleagues. We enjoyed a brilliant feast of muffaletta sandwiches, red beans and rice, gumbo, and this amazing seafood boil. The food and friends were fantastic.

Football Season

2010-02-28T01:07:00.001-08:00

It's finally football season again (that is Australian Rules Football season), which means we have left boring season behind us here in Melbourne. We took the entire family to St. Kilda's first game of the year. It was exciting match with St. Kilda winning by 1 point in the final minute and beating our least favourite team, the Collingwood Magpies.

We loved the Saints' cheering section with their enormous pom poms.

This is the team captain, Nick Reiwoldt (on the left). We don't think that he would be able to eat at the Yarrawonga and Border Golf Club, do you?

Only in Australia - Dress Code

2010-02-28T00:46:00.001-08:00

During our water skiing weekend we went to dinner at the lovely Yarrawonga and Border Golf Club. The club's strictly enforced dress code caused us all to wear our "Sunday best" to dinner, which was unfortunate because John really wanted to show up in his "singlet" and "footy shorts" and Jenny wanted to wear her "tatty jeans".

Yarrawonga

2010-02-28T00:13:00.000-08:00

We went water skiing once again up at Lake Mulwala and enjoyed a beautiful day out on the water with the Melton and Fruechtl families. John and the kids went skiing in the morning and Jenny went in the afternoon. As you can see Colin, Brooklyn, and Bella were all able to successfully get up and give it a go. We all had a great time and look forward to being close to good water skiing in Texas.

While the group went water skiing in the morning, Jenny dragged the other women along with Jared and Anton on her search of all things big and found the "Big Strawberry" in lovely Koonoomoo. It was awesome.

In addition to great water skiing, Yarrawonga also favoured us with some lovely sunsets.

The sunset over Lake Mulwala.

Only in Australia

2010-02-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Actually, this "hook turn" sign only appears in Melbourne's downtown area. Because of the trams that are used here, the city worked to provide a safe option for people to turn right (across traffic here because in Australia you drive on the left) and keep the road clear for trams and oncoming traffic. So you must wait on the side of the road for the light to turn red and then you turn as fast as you can to get out of the way of the traffic whose light just turned green and are now racing toward you. I won't tell you who, but one of us didn't turn to the guidebook (there really is one) when we first moved here to find out how to perform the hook turn and he/she couldn't understand why so many people were honking.

Australian Open 2010

2010-02-22T02:10:00.001-08:00

We went to the quarter finals of the Australian Open. The match between Tsonga and Djokovic went five sets and lasted nearly five hours. It was a very fun and intense match to watch. Colin went earlier in the tournament and saw Roger Federer and Serena Williams play, but not each other.

Sassafras

2010-02-22T01:54:00.000-08:00

We went back to the Dandenong Ranges in January (which is summer here) and the weather was colder than when we went in May of last year (which is equivalent to November in the Northern Hemisphere). It is surreal how different the weather in Melbourne can be on any given day. Jenny was thrilled to find another "Big Thing" which we failed to find the first time there.

Rainbows Down Under are Awesome

2010-02-22T01:28:00.000-08:00

We will also miss the many rainbows we see out of our windows or from John's office.

Double rainbows on both sides of the apartment.

This picture is from John's office of Eureka tower and the Royal Botanic Garden.

Sunsets Down Under are Awesome

2010-02-22T01:09:00.001-08:00

These are some of our favourite pictures of the sunset from our apartment. We have always appreciated our view, but now as we get closer to moving back to the States, we try to appreciate how spectacular it really is.

Only in Australia

2010-02-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while in the United States you will come across a park where some aggressive dunk ball has taken place and you'll find a court where the rims have been torn down. So, when we got to Australia we found it very strange to frequently find "basketball courts" where the hoop remained, but the backboard was gone. When we asked the locals about this, we found out that the backboards were not actually missing, but that Australians play a game called Netball. Instead of going into all the detailed rules of netball let me just describe it like this; it is lame version of basketball played with a volleyball where you can only dribble the ball once and must keep at least 3 feet distance between you and the person with the ball.

In Australia, Netball is only played by women and is quite popular (go figure) they even have a professional league. And for those of you who think that the WNBA is bad, let me now introduce you to the ANL (Australian Netball League) . These gals make the WNBA look like pure entertainment, but at least their uniform is flattering.

The First Day of School

2010-02-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

School started back up this week and although we will be leaving in 5 weeks we decided to send the kids to school for the month of February. On February 2 Bella started Prep (a.k.a. kindergarten), Brooklyn started year 2, and Colin started year 4.

In a strange twist, when we return to Texas in March the kids will actually go back a grade to preschool, grade 1 and grade 3.

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T00:16:00.000-08:00

Who knew that we would be spending another New Year down under! We spent New Year's Eve with the Melton family swimming and watching the fireworks from their place. The next day, Brooklyn slept until 12:30 pm! We then went to one of our favourite parks to ride scooters and have a play. One of the amazing things about Melbourne is its weather. We were swimming and in shorts New Year's Eve, but sweaters and jeans New Year's day.

Jervis Bay

2009-12-28T00:46:00.000-08:00

We decided to take a road trip after Christmas up to the South Coast of New South Wales, specifically Jervis Bay. White sand beaches, beautiful blue skies and a laid back atmosphere make this one of our favourite spots in Australia.

The kids enjoyed playing in the water and in the sand.

The boys each got boogie boards for Christmas and everyone had a go on them.

One of our favourite past times on the beach was building 'snowmen'. We felt a little bit bad missing out on the cold and snow of the Northern Hemisphere, (okay we didn't really feel bad, but at least we were thinking about y'all freezing in the north) thus our attempts at snowmen in some of the whitest sands on earth.

Our laying out snowman!

Christmas Down Under

2009-12-25T01:38:00.000-08:00

We were excited to be in Australia for another Christmas. We had a fantastic holiday and enjoyed the warm weather, whilst the Northern Hemisphere was blanketed in snow.

View of our Christmas tree and a large cruise ship in Port Phillip Bay.

We had lots of Santa interaction this year, starting with a visit to the local library where Jared informed everyone "That's not Santa, he's just a man!"

We then went to the Queen Victoria Market to visit Santa in his red tent, his very red tent.

And finally, we visited with Santa at John's office Christmas party. He sang and danced and was by far the most energetic Santa that we have ever seen. However, Jared was not fooled and came and whispered in our ear that he was still just a man.

We also went downtown to mail our Christmas letters to Santa (which we didn't have with us at the time and so sent them by email). This Christmas tree is downtown on Swanston Street with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

Christmas Eve we went to our friend's home where we all had a go bouncing in the 'Supabounce' bounce house. It rained and the kids were soaked, but we all had a great time.

Christmas morning brought many fun gifts and lots of smiles.

Our favourite shot of the day shows just how occupied and quiet the children were, which was an awesome Christmas gift in and of itself.

The Great Ocean Road - #6

2009-12-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

There is only one thing that would make Jenny go on the Great Ocean Road again and that is a visit from friends. And so on December 13 we went again for the sixth time. Let me just repeat we have gone on the Great Ocean road SIX TIMES in less than a year. Thanks Deena and Christian! ;-)

We did have a couple of firsts or 'bests' on this trip. It was the first time someone threw up from car sickness (two others were sick as well). It was the first time we visited Stevenson Falls, which was brilliant.

It was the best trip for spotting Koalas.

The best Kangaroo spotting as well! These Kangaroos inhabit Anglesea Country Club, there were dozens on the fairways and greens.

Overall, the Great Ocean Road was beautiful as always and a trip that Jenny would make again, just as long as you come all of the way to Australia! But you better hurry, you only have 6 weeks before this offer ends.

Shopping Down Under

2009-12-10T02:02:00.000-08:00

It is bizarre that every purchase is rounded to the nearest five cents, but sale percentages are as follows.

St. Kilda Pier & Fairy Penguins

2009-12-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

From our windows we look out over St. Kilda, an eclectic neighbourhood filled with interesting people, fantastic restaurants and little fairy penguins. We decided to spend an evening down on the pier watching the penguins return to their homes. It was a gorgeous night with no wind, which is rare in Melbourne.

A view of downtown from the pier.

St. Kilda Beach

The Fairy Penguins were amazing. Each day they are out in the bay feeding and then return to their nests at night.

Jared's Birthday!

2009-12-01T02:45:00.000-08:00

Jared celebrated his 3rd birthday in December. He was quite keen to have his birthday and gifts because during the previous two months we had celebrated Colin, Brooklyn and Isabella's birthdays. He was patient during their birthdays and birthday parties though and enjoyed the spoils of the parties, but it wasn't the same. All that day he kept informing us that because he opened his presents that meant he was 3. However, the rest of the month he reminded us that he had only had a little birthday and he was ready for his big birthday (party).

Movember - It's for a good cause

2009-11-30T02:42:00.001-08:00

Every year in Australia men, at least those that are manly enough to be able to do so, are encouraged to grow a mustache during the month of November. The purpose is to raise awareness of men's health issues (e.g. prostrate cancer, male pattern baldness, ED, etc.) Money is raised through sponsorship and is donated to organizations that provide free prostrate cancer screenings, colonoscopies, Propecia, etc. As you can see below, John was manly enough to participate this year!

The Evolution of a Stache

As a wise man once said, "you do not choose the mustache, the mustache chooses you."

Day 1 __________________Day 5

Day 6__________________Day 10

Day 20__________________Day 30

The Blue Mountains

2009-11-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

We ended our trip to New South Wales going to the Blue Mountains. The rock edifice is called the Three Sisters and is surrounded by mountains covered in trees. The moisture from the Eucalyptus trees in the valley evaporates to form a cloud cover that makes the mountains appear blue. It was nice to go up, one more check on our list of things to do in Australia.

We hiked down to this waterfall.

We set off on the "900 steps walk" to the valley floor and I found it necessary to take this picture of Jared, John and Bella in matching shirts. The rest of us didn't get the memo. It was so hot this day and when we got to the top of the steps part of the "900 steps walk" we were told that it was closed because of bush fire fears, I wasn't too disappointed.

And finally, here is another picture of John looking like a bloke. This is a cork hat, one of the few effective remedies to combat the obscene amount of flies that are attracted to your mouth, nose and eyes.

Sydney Aquarium

2009-11-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

We visited the Sydney Aquarium this trip, which is touted to be one of the best in the world. It was a very hot day so we were pleased to spend a bit of time in the air conditioned building.

The aquarium has two very significant viewing areas where the animals swim over and around you. They are very keen on their Dugongs down here (a.k.a. Manatees), which were fun to watch.

The amazing thing about the viewing areas is that the animals behind the glass actually appear 25% smaller than they really are, which means this turtle is humongous. Did you know that turtles will wedge themselves under rocks to sleep, they may appear to be stuck, but they are really just sleeping.

The underbelly of a sting ray is really neat, but only because you don't get to see it very often.

The children loved seeing Nemo and Dori. It seems like someone in Sydney caught them after all.

The platypus is by far one of the most fascinating animals in all of Australia (which is saying a lot, because the country has a lot of amazing animals!)

Our children loved the Aquarium. It was truly awesome.

Bondi Beach

2009-11-20T18:59:00.000-08:00

If any of you have watched Bondi Rescue you know that Bondi Beach is one of the most popular beaches in all of Australia. We didn't really believe that it would live up to the hype, but we were pleasantly surprised. The sand was soft, the setting gorgeous and the water was clear and cold, but the sheer number of people are what set this beach apart from other beaches around Sydney.

Sydney - Royal Botanic Gardens

2009-11-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

John works in Sydney a couple of times a month and when he can, he goes for a walk in the Botanic Gardens which are not far from his building. He was excited for us to come visit Sydney with him again so that he could show us the thousands of bats that live there.

If you clap your hands really loud, the thousands of bats take off in flight! It was awesome.

From the gardens you get some great views of the Sydney central business district.

You also get nice views of the Harbour with the Opera House and Bridge in the background. (note: this was in November, so John still had the funky facial hair thing going)

And by far, the best picture of the day. The sculptures around the garden are awesome and rather lifelike.

Sydney - CBD

2009-11-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

We had an opportunity to travel with John up to Sydney for a weekend in November. We ended up staying in 3 different hotels during our stay because Britney Spears was in town performing and everything was sold out. While John worked, the kids and I took the opportunity to walk around the city being careful to follow the signs that were painted on the road at every intersection.

We found this tree, made of Sprite bottles, which hinted of the Christmas season about to come.

We walked around "The Rocks", which had no rocks to speak of, but did have a tree that was a lot of fun to climb on.

We then walked to the Harbour Bridge and enjoyed views of the Sydney Opera House and the harbour.

The day was very hot and the highlight for the kids was getting Slurpees (after walking for ten hours, according to Colin)!

Favourite Hot Air Balloon Pictures

2009-11-01T01:32:00.000-07:00

Almost every morning we see hot air balloons from our windows. Depending on the wind patterns the balloons can end up in very different locations around the city. It's always a contest in the morning among the kids to be the first to spot the balloons.

Melbourne Marathon

2009-11-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

No - this is not a post telling you that we ran in the actual marathon. Both the marathon and half marathon passed by our apartment. The highlight of the race for us turned out to be watching many of the "overhydrated" male runners veer off the course to use the bushes directly across the road from our apartment. When we spotted the first guy we weren't quite sure what was going on, but when more and more blokes followed suit, it became evident what they were doing. The funniest bit was when there were 6 guys lined up at the same bush. At that point we just had to take a picture, unfortunately we only caught one guy. Keep in mind that there was a toilet not more than 50 yards down the road.

Hong Kong

2009-10-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

In October John took a business trip to Hong Kong. It's an amazing city with a lot to see and do, a great place to visit, but would be a hard place to live.

View from the "peak" on Hong Kong Island.

Cable car that goes up the mountain to the "peak".

View of Hong Kong Island from John's hotel room.

View of the Harbour, mid-afternoon. Check out the smog, one of the reasons it would be tough to live in Hong Kong.

Streets of Hong Kong, everyone lives in a high rise apartment.

John stayed over the weekend and attended church at this downtown chapel.

Views up and down the street from the chapel.

Only in Australia -El Camino Alive and Well

2009-10-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who thought the reverse mullet of the automobile world (party in front, work in back) died in the 1970's, think again. The El Camino is in fact alive and well, having taken refuge down under. It is unbelievable the number of these that you see down here. We rarely see an SUV or a true pickup truck, but can't go two minutes on the road without seeing a "Ute" as they call them here.

Below is a sampling of some of our favourite utes that we have seen.

Wait, there is more. They are even seen as Taxis.

And our all time favourite Ute, the El Camino Police Car.

One year in OZ

2009-10-14T02:44:00.000-07:00

As of today we have been in Australia for one year. In honour of our one year anniversary and in response to multiple enquires, we decided to let you in on a little secret! John does in fact work here, a lot! While it is true that we have seen a lot of the sites over here on the other side of the world, our day to day life is far from spectacular. John works. Colin, Brooklyn and Isabella go to school. Jared is a two year old. Jenny does mom things...including cleaning, driving and laundry. Really not too different from our lives in Dallas.

Only in Australia

2009-10-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Another example of the "big things" erected throughout Australia is this Giant Earthworm. This structure, located in South Gippsland, Victoria, is in honour of Megascolides Australis. More commonly known as The Giant Gippsland Earthworm, it is the largest worm in the world. There is a museum inside the giant earth worm structure and you used to be able to handle the worms but scientists found that any human contact would shorten the lives of the earthworms to a few weeks. Now when you go to the museum you can only see pictures.

All She Wants for Christmas...

2009-10-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

Her two front teeth

No Wait... her three front teeth

Brooklyn lost her first top tooth during dinner while we were on our holiday at Woodside Beach with friends last week. Jenny pulled her second top tooth on Wednesday night of this week and then Brooklyn pulled out her 3rd top tooth on Thursday after school! Needless to say, the Tooth Fairy has racked up frequent flyer points coming to our house.

Only in Australia

2009-10-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

We were very confused when we first started seeing these signs in Australia. We had noted that Australians are very gracious in giving asylum to just about anyone, however, we found it a bit disingenuous that the refuges were expected to gather themselves on "islands" in the middle of major roads. Turns out a "Refuge Island" is just an Australian name for median. Go figure.

Winter Uniform

2009-10-02T03:18:00.001-07:00

In honour of the fact that the Northern Hemisphere is heading toward winter, we thought we would commiserate by letting you see what Colin and Brooklyn wore all winter. They are now in their 4th term at school and that means that they can wear summer uniform again. Yeah for warm weather.

Shopping Down Under

2009-09-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

We've learnt a lot about shopping whilst we have been here in Australia. And it is a whole different experience from shopping in the States. For instance, you can buy your "Horse Poo" and Eggs at the same location.

Live chickens are readily available at the market.

As are fresh local fruits and vegetables.

With rows and rows of vendors selling their wares you can always find great produce. Active bartering is encouraged so you can usually find a good deal as well.

The mystery meat shop, fish monger, and butcher provide the protein. The meat is always really good, especially the fish. But the smells coming out of these places can be a little bit sketchy.

One thing we still can't get over is the fact that at the supermarket the milk and eggs are not refrigerated...

...whilst the dog food is. Very strange.

Finally, from the "Australians do this better file" we have the "travelator". Like an escalator but without the steps. These are very convenient when you need to change levels with a shopping cart. The shopping carts are even designed so that they don't roll when going up or down a travelator.

Australian Rules Football Grand Final (Super Bowl)

2009-09-26T02:48:00.000-07:00

The whole family has really gotten into Australian Rules Football while we've been here. Colin played "Footy" this past winter and loved it.

Football is very important in Melbourne, we were told by multiple people when we first moved here that we needed to choose a team. So without much forethought we choose a team based in the neighborhood we live in. Our adopted team, the St. Kilda Saints, are best known as perennial losers. Their first, last and only Grand Final victory came in 1967. But this year, out of the blue, they had the best record in the regular season, got the top seed in the playoffs and made it to the Grand Final. Grand Final week was really fun, there were lots of activities all around the city and everyone was talking about the big game.

The pillars of City Hall were draped in St. Kilda colours.

St. Kilda cupcakes for Colin's Birthday

The most popular show in Australia is "The Footy Show". It's a mix of a traditional pre-game show and Saturday Night Live. Sounds like a strange mix, but it really works. John and I became fans during the season and I was able to get tickets to the Grand Final show. It was Awesome.

The kids and I went downtown for the Grand Final parade.

We had expected to enjoy a Saturday afternoon barby and watch the game at home. But an extremely generous friend of ours got a couple of extra tickets and offered them to John and Colin. Getting tickets for the Grand Final is like getting tickets for the Super Bowl. It's nearly impossible to get tickets unless you are willing to pay a ton of money.

MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) seating compacity 100,000.

The game was incredible, very intense. The Saints led for almost the whole game, but in the end fell just short.

Picture with our fiend's daughters taken about 3o minutes after the game. Colin was devastated by the loss, but did his best to try and look happy for the picture.

Following the game our friend somberly told John that Melbourne has two seasons, footy and boring. We have now entered boring, which has proven to be true.

The Great Ocean Road 3, 4, and 5

2009-09-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

We love the Great Ocean Road. Love it. But visiting 5 times in under the year is quite the feat. Instead of blogging about each trip individually you get a shortened version. As always the highlight of every trip is seeing the Koalas at Kennett River. The views are amazing, the rain forests wet and very green and the milk shakes are still just milk shaken up! It has been one of our favourite places to take our guests from overseas.

The Great Ocean Road: Number III

We spent two full days during this trip with Jenny's parents staying one night in Apollo Bay and the second in Port Campbell. It was so nice to take the time to see the sights and we were able to enjoy many bush walks.

Kangaroos in the wild at dusk

Koalas on Kennett River

Hopetoun Falls

Maits Rainforest Walk

Triplett Falls

The Twelve Apostles

The Grotto

London Arch

The Great Ocean Road: Number IV

John's sister Allyson and her husband Matt came to visit in May. They got to Melbourne on Saturday morning and left Monday morning (no worries though...they went to Fiji, Cairns and the Gold Coast before arriving here). It was a whirlwind trip and it included a quick trip to the Great Ocean Road. We left around 11:30 am and barely made it out to the Twelve Apostles before sunset.

Kennett River

The Twelve Apostles

Just Jared

And finally, The Great Ocean Road: Number V
Our last trip was on the 12th of September. Jenny's parents returned with her little sister Kim and husband Chris. It was fun to show them all of the sights along the road and the weather was beautiful for our trip.

Koalas at Kennett River

The Split Point Lighthouse at Airey's Inlet

Daydream Island - The Animals!

2009-09-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time spotting animals around the island. Our favourites included the goannas that were everywhere and all of the marine animals in the the 'shark ponds'. We spent a lot of time watching the stingrays and sharks being fed and spotting all of the beautiful fish. Can you tell which animal is real in the picture with Colin?

Whitsunday Islands - Daydream Island

2009-09-20T01:43:00.000-07:00

Daydream Island was awesome! The weather was phenomenal. The water pristine. It truly was an amazing experience. We started our trip on a 15 minute ferry ride to the island. The water was a brilliant turquoise colour.

These mermaids are separated from the island during high tide, but during low tide the kids were able to get up close and personal as evidenced by the following picture of Brooklyn

(the only PG rated picture that we could find).

There were so many things to do and see while we were on the island. A highlight was visiting Lovers Cove where we were able to snorkel right off of the beach.

This is the view from the top of Lovers Cove.

We spent a lot of time in the pool.

The other end of the island boasted many fun things to do. We were able to take pictures with these authentic, artificial, aboriginal statues.

John and Colin were able to play a mean game of chess.

We were able to enjoy the miniature golf course in all of its Aussie splendor.

We watched a movie on a huge outdoor screen and also watched wallabies hopping around.

The sunsets were spectacular.

And finally, a great part of traveling was sharing the experience with Grandma and Grandpa and Kim and Chris.

Whitsunday Islands - Airlie Beach

2009-09-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

The Whitsunday's are a series of islands off the Queensland coast known for their beautiful beaches, great scuba diving and snorkeling, and fantastic sailing. Our first night in the area we stayed at Airlie Beach on the mainland. We woke up in the morning with Sulfur Crested Cockatoos on our balcony, amazing weather and a brilliant view of the Whitsundays.

Airlie Beach was nice, but as you can see not very many people were actually at the beach. Apparently they take their warning signs seriously. There were signs all over the place warning of Crocodiles and jelly fish. John and Colin risked life and limb with a quick refreshing swim and survived unharmed. Everyone else was smart enough not to join them.

The following sign was posted everywhere. It is rare that pedestrians in these small beach towns pay any attention to traffic, I guess this has become a problem in Queensland. Although the signs didn't seem to do much good, pedestrians still walked through the streets wherever they felt like it.

After spending a few days at Daydream Island (1 of 74 islands) we returned back to the mainland and passed through Bowen, which provided Jenny's highlight of the trip because Bowen is the home of the Big Mango. Unfortunately John missed this because he had to leave and go back to work a day early.

We enjoyed lunch and a stroll along Rose Bay Beach in Bowen after seeing the mango. It was so fun to spend the extra days up in Queensland.

The Whitsundays were Awesome

2009-09-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

We spent some of our spring break up in Queensland in the Whitsundays with Jenny's parents and sister Kim and her husband Chris. It was a beautiful area to stay and one that we would love to visit again.

Oh Happy Day!

2009-09-06T02:40:00.000-07:00

There are many great things in life that we often take for granted...among these are family, freedom and 'pay at the pump'. Far too often we fail to really appreciate these things until they are taken from us. The blessing that is 'pay at the pump' really hit home moving here where they are stuck in the 80's. Here you still have to go into the gas station and interact with an attendant to pay for your petrol. But alas, just recently we found a station that has discovered the revolutionary technology that is 'pay at the pump'. And although you might not be able to tell from John's expression in this picture, we are very excited about this new development. This alone ups the probability of us staying here longer by at least 25%.

12 Years of Absolute Bliss

2009-08-08T04:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend John and I celebrated our anniversary. And no this isn't a picture from our wedding, that was twelve years ago, it only feels like thirty!

To celebrate John got a perm and hair plugs on his chest!

Got Crabs?

2009-07-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

We don't anymore, but we did in Port Douglas! The kids enjoyed catching hermit crabs at Four Mile Beach and named each one. Hermy, Shelly, Mishell, Sebastian and Big Poppa all made the list.

We caught crabs again at Cape Tribulation Beach, but these ones were Sand Crabs. They were in the tide pools and would burrow under the sand. Brooklyn found this one and made sure that John caught it.

Crocodile Farm

2009-07-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

On our way to the airport, for our flight back to Melbourne, we stopped at Hartley's Creek Crocodile Farm. There we were able to go on a boat ride in the lagoon and spotted a 95 year old crocodile named Ted who is the dominant male even though he no longer has any teeth. As we went around the lagoon the tour guide fed chicken heads to several of the crocodiles. It was amazing to see the crocodiles up close. It seems to have had a particularly strong impact on Jared. Since that time, Jared has given thanks for crocodiles and chicken heads in his prayer each night before he goes to bed.

It was little strange to go to the crocodile farm after seeing them in the wild. Especially when you walk through the gift shop and they are selling crocodile handbags, wallets and boots.

Ted

Crocodiles were swimming all over the place and came right up next to the boat.

Feeding time - yummy chicken heads.

The kids posing next to another large animal monument. Gotta love Australia.

Only in Australia

2009-07-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

We expected to see this sign in Queensland where there are loads of jellyfish, including a microscopic one (Irukandji) whose sting is lethal. We only wish they would update the sign with a man wearing board shorts instead of a budgie (Speedo). Anything that can be done to discourage the public use of budgies is encouraged.

We were also not surprised to see this sign. What was surprising is that you only see these signs where there are Salt Water Crocodiles. Areas that only have "freshies" don't warrant these signs as "they are not very aggressive unless they are really hungry."

We were thrilled to see this large Barramundi edifice, because you can never see too many giant animals perched on top of buildings. Barramundi, also known as Australian Sea Bass, has become one of our favourite fish to eat.

But by far, our favorite sign of the entire trip is this speed bump sign which we spotted in Cape Tribulation. Cassowaries are an endangered species that are only found in far north Queensland and in New Guinea.

Although we didn't see any cassowaries in the wild, we saw this one at Hartley's Creek Crocodile Farm. Like most of the animals in Queensland (crocodiles, sharks, jellyfish, etc.), the cassowary can also be lethal to humans. It doesn't happen often, but this bird has been known to attack and kill people with its beak and sharp talons.

Kuranda

2009-07-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

Kuranda is a rain forest village located close to Cairns, Queensland. To get there we went on a 7.5 km gondola ride which provided breathtaking views of the rain forest below. We also spotted several Sulfur Crested Cockatoos as we glided over the tree tops. The entire trip was 90 minutes which included two stops with boardwalk trails through the rain forest canopy .

View of Green Island

Gondolas on the initial ascent over the rain forest.
The six person cars were ideal for our family.

View of Barron Falls from the gondola side of the trip.

View of Kuranda Railway from the gondola.

We spent time walking and shopping in Kuranda. We caught the train down the mountain which took 90 minutes and enjoyed a better view of Barron Falls and riding right by a waterfall.

Barron Falls

Passing by the waterfall.

Cape Tribulation

2009-07-08T03:02:00.000-07:00

The only way to get to Cape Tribulation is to cross the Daintree River by way of a cable ferry. The ferry runs continuously back and forth across the river. On the bank of the river John and the kids saw mudskippers which are only found here and in parts of Southeast Asia. They are amphibious fish that use their fins to walk on land.

Photo courtesy of dailycognition.com

We drove quickly along the route to make it up to the beach which was spectacular. The foliage was green and dense, the beach was beautiful and nearly deserted.

This huge spider drew a lot of attention. It was enormous.

Sunset from the ferry. What a glorious day full of beauty and amazing things.

Crikey! Crocodiles!

2009-07-08T01:57:00.000-07:00

We went on the Daintree River cruise to find crocodiles in the wild. We enjoyed the hour long cruise and spotted 7 crocs along the river bank. We also saw a green tree snake.

The highlight was the 6 month old croc hiding among the mangrove trees.

After the river cruise some of us enjoyed a tasty meat pie, a classic Australian meal. Those who haven't acquired a taste for this Australian delicacy searched for a vegetarian alternative. Brooklyn found this giant leaf, not good for eating, but you could make quite an outfit out of it

Mossman Gorge

2009-07-08T01:42:00.000-07:00

Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park was beautiful. We enjoyed a short walk to a swimming hole where the children enjoyed playing on huge boulders and wading in the water.

The rainforest is amazing and so green. It is a play land for young and old as well as a visual feast.

The Great Barrier Reef

2009-07-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

Once we decided to visit the Great Barrier Reef we have had many people say to us..."It's good that you are going now, before it disappears." We are indeed grateful that we made it up to the Reef, although we don't think it is disappearing anytime soon. It's only the largest living thing on the planet. We had perfect weather conditions for viewing the coral and fish and the sites were truly amazing.

This is what they call a semi-submersible. It's basically a submarine that doesn't fully go under water. It has glass windows throughout the inside that provided great views of the reef and fish.

The kids absolutely loved it.

All of us, even Jared, were also able to go snorkeling. They spotted Nemo and his dad and lots of other fish. One of our favourite moments was when the lifeguard started feeding the fish from the platform where Jared and the girls were standing. One enormous blue fish came right up to them and they were able to pet it.

After a day out on the reef John decided that he would try out for the Blue Man Group. OK, not really, the lovely suit he is modeling is called a stinger suit which he was required to wear for the private snorkeling tour he went on. He protested, but in the end he relented under the condition that no pictures would be taken. Hey at least I didn't post the full body picture.

Jared fell asleep during our second ride on the semi-submersible while John was out on his tour. He slept most the way home. It was awesome!

On the way home we were able to see where the continental shelf meets the reef and drops 3200 feet to the ocean floor.

Port Douglas, Queensland Australia

2009-07-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

Four Mile Beach

After our long day of air travel we spent Monday relaxing at the beach. We were minutes from 4 mile beach and the kids enjoyed playing in the water and sand, catching hermit crabs and enjoying the chance to run free. John and the kids went to the beach in the morning and built this great sand castle.

We went for a play at the park and watched the ships go out to the Great Barrier Reef. John also played a role that he knows well.

Tarzan!

Only in Australia

2009-07-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

Another highlight of the 10 hours we were stuck in the Brisbane airport were these signs.

The Non Virgin Loo

Our Travel Day from Down Under, Way Down Under

2009-07-05T03:42:00.000-07:00

Our day of travel from Fiji back to Australia was long. Unbelievably long. Almost unbearably long. Before it was over John and I both said that maybe we should just fly back to Melbourne instead of continuing up to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Let me explain...Jenny rudely woke up John at 2am in the morning and made him change rooms because the air conditioning wasn't working in our hotel room. At that time Jenny was informed that our flight to Cairns via Sydney had been delayed two hours and that we wouldn't have to leave as early as planned. However, John woke up at 6 am to check the status of the flight and found that it had been delayed 6 1/2 hours, he then tried to get us onto the flight to Brisbane which left at 8:15 while Jenny woke up all of the kids, ran down to get our clothes from the laundry, packed up the bags and got us ready to go. Amazingly we were able to get to the airport, return the car and finagle our way onto the overbooked flight which got us to Brisbane at 10:30. We were thrilled until we learned that we couldn't get onto a flight to Cairns until 8:45 pm. So we spent the entire day at the Brisbane airport. It was awesome. The only highlight was watching the St. Kilda Saints beat the Geelong Cats in Australian Rules Football while we waited in the Qantas Club.

Here is John waiting in line at the Nadi Airport in Fiji and pictures of the kids playing on the floor while we waited. They were very tired.

And here we are in the Qantas Club. Bella finally fell asleep 20 minutes before we boarded the plane, where we then sat on the tarmac for over an hour because a man checked his luggage but didn't board the plane which required the baggage handlers to unload all the luggage to find his bag (we were thrilled). We finally arrived in Port Douglas at 12:30 am and taking into consideration the time difference we had been awake for almost 24 hours. We were exhausted.

Our Fijian Experience

2009-07-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

Our stay in Fiji was amazing and we enjoyed every moment at the resort, but we felt like we had not had a true Fijian experience. So we hopped in the Toyota Hiace and drove into the mountains. We had read in one of our guide books that nearby there was a short walk to a waterfall. All we had to do was take a quick drive into the mountains, find the village "tourism centre", pay a couple of bucks and we would be swimming under a waterfall. The quick trip to the waterfall turned into a 5 hour experience. After finally finding the "tourism centre", which also served as community centre, village market, church, etc., we were met by Francis our tour guide. Our quick hike, which ended up being about 5 miles return, started on relatively dry ground, but quickly turned into a mud bog. The hike also included a dozen river crossings, not by bridge, just straight through the water. Of course we had to carry the kids across but we got plenty of help from Francis, a healthy Fijian women, who was able to lift both girls and carry them across the river simultaneously. And all of this while walking in her bare feet. The hike was more than we bargained for, but the waterfall was beautiful and looking back on it now it was definitely worth it.

Here is the view from the top of a mountain into the valley.

Francis leading the way.

Beautiful waterfall

Only in Fiji

2009-07-03T03:15:00.000-07:00

We loved the signs in Fiji...and really appreciated this cow warning that we received right before we saw...

A Horse!

We are unsure what this sign is for, but anytime Naked and Fire are included on the sign...one would be wise to obey!

After the signs in New Zealand, we appreciated the simplicity of the signs in Fiji...we thought that Jared would make a fantastic sign maker in Fiji.

Little Chiefs Club

2009-07-02T03:01:00.000-07:00

Our children thoroughly enjoyed spending their days at the Little Chiefs Club. We dropped them off in the morning and they were entertained non stop. The girls and Jared stayed together and went on treasure hunts and boat rides, picked flowers, made necklaces, built sand castles and enjoyed playing at the playground. Colin stayed with the older kids and enjoyed playing cricket, soccer, rugby, and Australian Rules Footy. He also climbed coconut trees and went fishing. A highlight each day included getting their faces and/or arms painted.

One of the biggest surprises in Fiji was meeting up with schoolmates. Both Colin and Brooklyn had friends that were on holiday at the Shangri La as well. We have pictures of Ashley and Brooklyn, but didn't catch Colin and Miguel together...mainly because they were never around.

Beach Bure #3

2009-07-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

We loved the place we stayed at in Fiji. We were fortunate enough to get a bungalow set at the far end of the resort. The relative seclusion and absolute quiet, was spectacular. On the map below, our bure was on the left hand side close to the shell market.

Views from the water of our Bure

The front of the bure.

The path to everything.

View of the beach in the morning.

The swimming pool on our way to dinner.

Sunset from the patio.

View of the bay

Fijian statues are all around the resort.

Hindu Temple - Fijian Style

2009-07-01T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple is the largest Hindu Temple in the Southern Hemisphere (according to Wikipedia) and lone tourist attraction in Nadi. We passed it on our way to our resort.

Photo from Ryanphotographic.com

Bula Fiji!

2009-07-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

Fiji was awesome!

The top ten reasons why:

#10 Meals prepared for the children by someone other than Jenny! The kids loved eating dessert for breakfast (pastries) and dinner (ice cream, lemon tart, cheesecake, brownies, mousse, mud cake, etc.)

#9 Snorkeling right off the beach for Colin, Jenny and John

#8 Warm weather

#7 The Little Chiefs Club - where the kids were entertained from 9am-12pm, 1pm-5pm, and 6pm-9pm by someone other than Jenny and John.

#6 Warm Weather

#5 Feeding the fish from the dock of our Bure.

#4 Swimming underneath a waterfall.

#3 Driving the party van with seating for an entire Fijian mountain village, really after we went to the waterfall we gave almost the entire village a lift to the main road.

#2 $1 USD = $2 FJD

#1 Beach Bure 3

Winter in the Southern Hemisphere

2009-06-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest misconceptions we had about New Zealand is that it would have copious amounts of snow. To us Northern Hemisphere types, winter means cold, ice and snow. The only saving grace of the 5 hour drive to the Christchurch airport was experiencing some real winter weather. Although the drive was a bit sketchy at times, I don't think they believe in snow plows in New Zealand, it was very beautiful. And when the kids got out to touch the snow and make snowballs there were no complaints about the cold.

Overall we thought New Zealand was brilliant!

FYI

2009-06-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

On July 15, 2009 the south island of New Zealand moved 30 centimetres (12 inches) closer to Australia all because of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Unfortunately we had already returned home to Melbourne, so the price of our plane tickets wasn't affected.

Photo from Ethnojourneys.com

Milford Sound

2009-06-29T02:55:00.000-07:00

As noted in a previous post, we went to Milford on my birthday. We had debated whether to take the kids skiing (because that would have been seriously cool to ski in June), but decided that with the after effects of swine flu we would be better off not doing anything too strenuous. Instead, we decided to drive 8 hours for a 1 1/2 hour cruise on the sound. A couple of hours into the drive we were seriously questioning this decision (there are a lot of sheep in New Zealand), but as you can see from the pictures it was clearly worth it.

The picture of Colin was taken right before going through Homer Tunnel. The tunnel is straight, narrow, dark, long and downhill. I don't think we have ever been in a tunnel where you come out further down the mountain than when you went in.

(Photo from NZ transit)

We took the following pictures before getting on the boat for our afternoon cruise. Mitre Peak (behind Brooklyn) is one of the most photographed mountains on the sound.

This is the Milford Monarch, the boat we went on, with Mitre Peak behind.

There are two permanent waterfalls on the sound. However in the rainy seasons there can be dozens of waterfalls cascading down the cliffs. The following pictures show how large the waterfalls appear up close and how small they are in relation to the mountains.

There is no soil on these mountains - the trees hold on by intertwining their roots with other trees. Sometimes, one tree lets go and this causes a "tree-slide", as other trees lose their grip.
This waterfall is supposedly twice as tall as Niagara Falls.

An awesome look back at Milford Sound, which is really a Fjord.

Jenny's Birthday

2009-06-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

How lucky is Jenny? She gets to spend her birthday at Milford Sound in New Zealand. This is not a picture we took, but it looked just like this...totally worth the 8 hour road trip.

Deer Park

2009-06-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Upon arrival into Queenstown we went to the Deer Park, which has been used as a filming location for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the X-Men Origins movie. We really enjoyed feeding the animals and interacting with them. Our favorite memories include: the goats jumping on the side of the car to get at the food.

The llama and alpaca sticking their heads in the van and watching the alpaca spit at the llama

The line of goats followed our van around the entire park begging for food.

The bison boxed us in and we were unable to drive anywhere for ten minutes and then after they moved off of the road came up right next the window and had a staring contest with the kids.

And finally the spectacular views.

It was awesome!

Mount Cook (Aoraki)

2009-06-28T02:45:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Mt. Cook National Park where we enjoyed the towering peaks above a glacier fed lake. The highlight was the suspension bridge where other walkers stopped along the trail to watch our children as they sprinted across the moving bridge.

The short bushwalk was very memorable and not only for its name.

Within Hooker Valley there is the 40 mile long glacier fed Lake Pukaki. The unique turquoise color comes from the glacier flour.

The Winking Game

2009-06-28T01:18:00.000-07:00

During dinner in Queenstown we practiced winking. Here are our favourites.

Only in New Zealand

2009-06-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

As if driving on the wrong side of the road weren't hard enough, in New Zealand they try to further throw you off with odd road signs.

Interpretation: curve ahead, 65 alternative routes possible.

Interpretation: We don't plow our roads so watch out.

Interpretation: Watch Out! Something very dangerous is coming up, but we are not going to tell you what it is. Seriously, they have these signs all over, but rarely mentioned what you should be looking out for.

Interpretation: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Interpretation: Here's your chance to break wind!

Interpretation: Kiwis can't fly and aren't necessarily fast, so don't hit them.

We thought that only Australians made huge animalia edifices, apparently we were wrong because we spotted this trout in Rakaia, New Zealand.

New Zealand even takes it one step further, it has large fruit monuments as well.

Christchurch, New Zealand

2009-06-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

We flew into Christchurch on Friday, June 26. Our flight over was relatively uneventful excluding the fact that four of us were ill with swine flu and Colin yakked three times on the plane, thankfully John was sitting with the boys on this flight. We stayed only one night in Christchurch and woke up to a very foggy and cool morning. We drove around to get a feel for the city and then embarked on our road trip through the middle of the south island to Queenstown. Here are few of the sights.

Christchurch Cathedral

Avon River

Holy Abby of St. Christine

Queenstown

2009-06-27T03:39:00.000-07:00

After spending one night in Wanaka we headed toward Queenstown on the Crown Range Road. We stopped at the Crown Terrace to take this picture of Queenstown and then continued onto the zigzag portion of the drive, which is unbelievably windy.

These signs got very old after the first 10. John and I both commented that it was the quickest descent from the top of the mountain into the valley that we have ever driven.

Twizel

2009-06-27T03:21:00.000-07:00

As we continued our drive to Queenstown, the kids were fascinated by the fact that we were driving through the clouds.

We especially enjoyed our visit to Twizel where we were enveloped by clouds and hardly saw anything more than 5 metres away from us.