Summer Days, Drifting Away

It's not often (like never) that my birthday signals the beginning of the end of summer. Unfortunately for me, I did not get my birthday on the beach as the weather in Canberra was cool and overcast. A relief to my parents after multiple 35 degree days.  Dad was even missing the snow. Wierdo! I also, unfortunately, had to go to work. Happy Birthday, to me.

Mom and Dad gave me my gifts, including Australiana cookie cutters, a gift certificate for a pedicure and some cold hard cash.

It was then off to work. My seriously cool co-workers had a miniature birthday for me, including a cake baked by Miriam. A pretty good start to my 33rd year on this earth.

In the evening, we met up with Nat's family for my birthday/mom and dad's farewell dinner at Tongue & Groove. For my birthday they even had 2 for 1 pizzas. Ok, it wasn't for my birthday, they do that every Tuesday, I'm just trying to make it sound special. I got to hang out with some of my favorite people in Canberra. I got flowers from Rob, Nicole and Kyra, and a scarf and a necklace from Shirley. Bill and Chris just made sure I didn't get feeling too good about myself. It was a great evening, but also bittersweet because I knew that Mom and Dad would be back to Canada the next day.












The next morning, all three of us were up early and off to work. Mom and Dad were coming to opening mass and then we would go to the airport. Mass was lovely, including the Healing portion of it. Yup, that's right, it was a Healing Mass for our school's opening mass. Anyways.... we headed to the airport where I procrastinated for as long as I could before having to say good-bye to Mom and Dad. We drank coffee/tea, ate savouries and talked. Unfortunately, I had to get back to work and the 'rents had to get back to the freezer that is Canada. After tears and hugs, they were off to catch their plane and I was off to get my RE accreditation. Whoo-hoo!

Thankfully I have some of the best co-workers in the country and they took me out for my Canada Birthday drinks after school (Yay for the international dateline) and by the time I got home, I was ok with it being empty. It was back to my normal Australian life.

The next couple of days at work were a little chaotic as all of a sudden I had to get 'qualified' to teach in the ACT. This was supposed to involve a criminal record check, a look at my transcripts and various other things that are all filed very safely away (read: I have no idea where they are right now) in Canada. After multiple phone calls and a ridiculously long application process minus the documents mentioned above and drive to the far north side of Canberra, I was qualified to teach in the ACT, or so I thought.

That Monday, I found out that my qualification hadn't come through yet, so my Assistant Principal had to sit outside my classroom for 3/4 of the day because for all technical purposes I was just a 'volunteer'. I asked if I could volunteer to go home. That was a no go. For the rest of the day, I was of course made fun of endlessly. Thankfully the kids behaved and I got to show of my excellent volunteer teacher skills to the AP. By recess I was fully qualified and able to teach without supervision. The qualification service was calling the CEO to ask about me, but called payroll. I don't get paid by the CEO, so they didn't know who I was. Ridiculous!

My class this year is pretty fantastic. They are a very energetic bunch and definitely have a lot to talk about. We've had lots of fun so far and I plan on even more. They've also tested my patience a time or two, but some comment will make me laugh and we're good to go again. The parents have also been very welcoming and are excited to have the Canadian teacher teaching their child. It's been difficult to program for this term as I don't know the curriculum very well and I'm trying some ideas out that I would like to transfer from Australia to my Canadian classroom. It is sort of starting to come together, but it's hard to believe that I only have 14 more weeks of teaching here and only 16 more weeks until I'm headed back east. The staff is pretty adament that I am not leaving. In fact, there are great plans to marry me off before I leave. It's nice to feel wanted.

It was a busy first couple of weeks of school. Though outside of school was even busier. Miriam and I went to Sydney to see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum the first weekend of school. It was a gallery of props  from the movies. It was really cool to see the textbooks and clothing they wore. Then it was time to meet the new exchangees in Canberra.

There is a family from Ireland living in Kaleen, a lady from Ontario living in Gordon and a girl from Colorodo in Gungalin. There is also a lady from Colorodo in Jindabyne which is a couple hours up the road in the mountains. There is also a family from Halifax in Curtin, though I haven't had much to do with them. We had a welcome BBQ at Kathryn's (a teacher here in Canberra who has been on exchange to BC) and got to know each other a bit. We also had a Teaching Exchange Convention in Sydney on the 2nd weekend of February.

The conference part wasn't really that pertinent for me as I had already had to deal with all of that 6 months ago, and never really had any problems with it. I only went for the networking and that was fantastic. I drove up with a couple of the girls from Canberra and we met up with Lois from Jindabyne. I got to play tour guide and I took them to the Bridge and Opera House at night. It was fun watching them discover this wonder for the first time.

The next day, after the conference, a few of us went shopping where we found a vending machine selling thongs (flip-flops to the uninitiated). I, of course, had to buy some. Later, we all met to have dinner at Foote Pub in the Rocks and had a great time getting to know each other. The next day, many of us did a Harbour Cruise with a picnic lunch halfway through. I even went swimming in the Harbour, for all of 30 seconds. The water was disgustingly garbage ridden and there were also shark warnings.  All I could think as I jumped off the pier was "get me outta here, I just made a big splash and that attracts sharks!" I was also wondering what diseases I would get from getting water in my mouth (nothing yet).

Stephanie and Janice

whose that Bikini Babe?

The best part of the entire weekend was that I finally got to meet Janice. Janice is a friend of my aunt's and I had heard so much about her, before I left and during my trip here. She is with her family in Griffith, which is 4 hours north west of me here in Canberra. They've had an interesting trip so far as they were caught up in all the flooding a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully I will make it that direction before I leave.

I also got to meet Stephanie, the other teacher from Red Deer Catholic. She teaches in Sylvan Lake,but is now in Dubbo, about 4 hours north of Canberra. She's coming down to Canberra with her Year 6s to see the Parliament House, so we will hopefully get together again at that point. I also hope to get up to Dubbo to visit.

In the Harbour. If you look closely you can see the garbage.

Jumping off the pier. The shark net is between the posts.

Posing with the shark warning after jumping in

After a day in the sun in the harbour (and getting a massive sunburn on my very white tummy and back), I was exhausted. I went back to the hostel for a bit of a rest before going to Love Never Dies, the sequel to the Phantom of the Opera. I was very excited to see it and was a little disappointed. It was a little trite and got really corny at the the end. The music wasn't as good. It was definitely interesting to see, but was no Phantom.

On Sunday, I was up bright and early to catch the train and the ferry to Manly Beach. There was a surfing competition and I was determined to watch it. It was well worth the early morning. The surfing was fantastic and I even got to use a Sony camera for free for an hour. I took hundreds of photos and got to try out a great camera. Unfortunately none of them made it into the video they were promoting, but I still had fun. I also bought a t-shirt that I got to personalize. It started with 'Life is Better in" and I got to add whatever I wanted. I really, really wanted to add 'thongs', but figured I would only be able to wear that shirt in  Australia. After a couple weeks of not being able to wear flip-flops everyday, I was definitely ready to say that life is better wearing them.

The next weekend was an Exchange Excursion and we made a full weekend of it. I went to Susan and John's (the Irish couple) for dinner that night and we went to a Brumbies game (Rugby Union). I have now officially seen all of the footy here in Australia. The next morning, John, Patrick (their son) and I were up early for the 2 hour drive to Jindabyne. We were meeting some other exchangees to climb Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. John, Patrick and I met Lois at her house in Jindabyne and continued to Thredbo and the chairlift that would take us to the trailhead. We met Elizabeth and Robert (ex-exchangees) he 4 hour hike to the summit. It was a beautiful day for a walk and I got to know my new friends quite well. At the summit  we had our photos taken on the cairn with our various flags (Robert and Elizabeth had them all except for Ireland), John dropped his pants to show off his Aussie flag underwear since there was no Irish flag, then we had a picnic with champagne. We made our way back down and headed to the schnapps distillery down the road. We had a couple drinks and met up with Susan and Mollie and celebrated Susan's birthday. Back in Jindabyne we went down to the lake for a little bit of a swim and then had a BBQ and cake. I then went downstairs to sleep with the spiders and ski equipment in the basement. On Sunday we went for a BBQ in Cooma at Lois' exchangee's boyfriend's place. Man is that a mouthful. We met some more friendly Australians and had a fantastic meal. It was finally back home after an adventure packed weekend, and back to the reality of school on Monday.

The start of the trek

Beautiful wildflowers

Lois and I

"I know the one on the right is Canadian, but what's the other one?"
That's ok, I don't know what the Western Australia flag looks like either.

The Great Adventurers - Lois, Patrick, John, Elizabeth, Robert

A little champagne to celebrate the great summit attempt

Emu crossing

The view from Lois' apartment over Lake Jindabyne. I want an exchange within my exchange.
P.S. The original Jindabyne is underneath the lake

It was a very busy first month back at work and as of March 1st, it was officially Autumn here in Australia. Summer ended, but what a summer. I don't think that I have recovered yet.y first two weeks off a very awesome Autumn. Stay tuned. There are more fireworks, more swimming, cows and ATVs and a leprechaun attack.

This is Australia!

We arrived home from our time in Victoria just in time for Australia Day in the nation's capital. Mom, Dad and I were on the road early to see the raising of the flag at Regatta Point and the swearing in of the newest Australian citizens. We arrived just as Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Governor General Quentin Bryce arrived.  After a review of the troops and a gun salute, the flag was raised upon the flagpole that Canada gave to Australia to commemorate the 200th year of Australia's founding. The pole is a Douglas Fir trunk painted white (and the actually put the Canadian flag up on Canada Day. I can't wait).

Next the newest Australian citizens were sworn in by the PM. There were even some Canadians. I didn't know whether to be jealous of them or disappointed in them. This is also when I got my first glance at the Australian of the Year, Mr. Geoffrey Rush a.k.a. Captain Barbossa, Oscar Winner.

After the ceremonies, we followed the crowd to the barrier around a 'private' tea party for the new Australians, the PM and Geoffrey Rush. Here I stood on one side of the fence, but only a few feet away from Geoffrey Rush. That is my celebrity experience of the year. I think he saw me.

Governor General Quentin Brice

Australian of the Year Geoffrey Rush

Guillard and her hat

After watching the important people eat, Mom, Dad and I headed off to the War Memorial for our second visit of Mom and Dad's visit. Before going in, we had an Australia Day picnic of Anzac cookies and Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Finally we were up the steps of the Memorial and checking out the museum once again. After another 4 hours, I think we actually saw the whole thing. We stayed right until closing and saw the Bag Piper's Lament that shuts down the Memorial at the end of each day. It was a pretty profound experience.

We headed back home to get into some warmer clothes, picked up my friend Miriam and we were once again off to Lake Burley Griffen, this time to watch some fireworks. Ironically, I've never been to Canada Day fireworks.

The fireworks were almost as spectacular as the New Year's Day fireworks in Sydney.  Definitely not in such an iconic place, but still fantastic in their own right.  This time we had music blaring behind us that the fireworks burst in time to, and there were just a few less people to impede our view of the fireworks. They went up and down the lake and off the bridges at both ends of the lake.

The entire day was a fantastic way to celebrate the founding of my second favorite country. It was also a great way to celebrate the last couple days of summer. It was back to school on the Monday and only a few days away from Mom and Dad's last day in Australia.

Highway Robbery a.k.a. Gold, Bushrangers and Dairy Farmers

Before I start on the next adventure, Mom thought it would be a good idea to put dates on these posts because she's afraid that people will think that I wasn't able to get rid of them at all and that they are still in Australia. I think most of you who read this are smarter than that, but for those couple who may not be.... this part of our whirlwind trip around Australia took from January 19th to January 25th.

We left Melbourne early, but had to make a not so quick stop at USA Foods on our way out. The reason behind the stop was to get some Clamato juice so that we could make some Caesars. It was very exciting. If only they would have had pyrogies. (I'm still waiting on that one). After picking up these all important supplies, it was time to head towards the Great Ocean Road.

After about an hour of driving we arrived in Torquay which the beginning of the Great Ocean Road and the centre of surf culture in Australia. Torquay is the home of the head offices of Billabong, Rip Curl and Quicksilver/Roxy. This also means that there are awesome surg outlet shops.  I made good use of my time there by not only getting some deals on clothes, but also losing Mom and Dad in the process.  Unfortunately, Ma and Pa were smart enough to be waiting at the car when I was done shopping. We piled back into the car and turned the car west. There was one more stop to make before the great drive down the coast. Last time I was down this direction, my friend Kelsi and I had stopped at Bells Beach because we were told it had some of the best surfing waves in Australia. This is where they hold an Pro Surf event every April. When Kels and I drove up, all we saw was flat. I decided that Bells got one more chance and then I was going to write it off. This time when we pulled up, the waves were massive. I wouldn't want to surf in that. Anyways, it had redeemed itself and it was time to actually get on the Great Ocean Road to see the gorgeous shoreline.

Our first stop was at Split Point Lighthouse. We walked up to the lighthouse, then down to the beach for a little bit of a walk. The sand was soft and the water was blue. The walk back up the hill was thigh burning and not without a fair bit of whinging from Dad. Luckily because of this, it was easy to convince him to stop for a drink and a scone. It was fabulous.

The landforms that are created by the Southern Ocean hitting the coast also began to appear. Below is a picture of Mom and Dad in front of one of those landforms. I don't know which is though. Sorry.

Mom and Dad realizing that they should be
driving on the left.

We also made a stop at the Great Ocean Road Archway for the photo op and to read a little bit of history. The Great Ocean Road was built as a make work project for the soldiers returning from WWI. It stretches 250 km along the southern coast of Victoria and is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the world. On the one side, gorgeous ocean views and on the other either rolling farmland or lush eucalypt forest. Prime time for koala viewing, but more on that later. With the sun quickly making it known that it was time to find accomodation, we made our way to Apollo Bay. Apollo Bay is a little bit of a  resort town, but is also just outside Great Otway National Park. With some time to still kill before supper time, we decided to make our way to the lighthouse at the point of Cape Otway.

The lighthouse at Otway is the oldest lighthouse in Australia and dates to 1848. More importantly, the drive to the point may as well be called Spot the Koala Road. When Kelsi and I were here last time, this is where we saw the only wild koala in our entire month here. As Mom, Dad and I drove in, I was excited to spot one almost immediately in a small tree on the side of the road. We got out to take our 100 photos, and then continue to the point. As we started back to the car, a very nice couple in an SUV let us know that there were a bunch more koalas about 1 km up the road. We kept our eyes in the trees, though I managed to keep one on the road, and spotted about 6 more in the next kilometre. That was just the beginnings though. It got to the point that everytime we stopped for one koala we spoted we saw about 10 more in the trees surrounding it. It was insane. In the picture above and to the left, there are about 6 koalas, see if you can find them. In the picture below and to the right there are about 6 or 7 as well. This was definitely one of the cooler moments on our trip.
By the time we had taken millions of photos and finally got to the lighthouse, it was closed and we weren't even able to see it. We had to march ourselves down a path that gave us a view of the lighthouse from a distance. Oh well, the koalas were cooler anyways.

On our way out, and back to Apollo Bay, we found one more koala that was just a baby. It was very very cute. I wanted to take it for a pet.

After a great meal, and then a mouthwatering Caesar, it was time for bed.

The next day ended our time on the Great Ocean Road, but it was also included the most stops. The frist stop was at Gibson's steps. We made our way down the steps where we had a good view of the first of the famed 12 Apostles. Dad especially like the stairs. He thought they were a great way to get exercise and a great start to his day.

The net stop was the actual 12 Apostles (pictured above and to the left). They have been created by the waves pounding the shoreline until they were seperated from the headland. There are actually only about 6 left as storms and erosion have knocked others down. There is nothing like the oranges and reds of the land next to the bright blue of the ocean. It is a very Australian view.

The next stop was Loch Ard Gorge. This Gorge is named after a ship that sank here in 1878. This part of the coastline was notorious for it's difficulty in navigating, and many a ship making their way from Europe to Melbourne were shipwrecked along this coast. Hence, it is called the shipwreck coast. Again , the layers in the limestone cliffs and the blue water with white crashing waves are beautiful, even though they did cause much misery in the last century. There is also a graveyard for the bodies that were recovered from the Loch Ard and and memorial for those that weren't. The various lookouts also provided chances to use of the Gorilla Tripod, too.

Loch Ard

The next few stops were close together. We stopped at the Arch, the London Bridge and the Grotto. All these places were created by the waves once again. London Bridge did once used to have a bridge from the headland to the 'bridge' but a storm in 1990 knocked the bridge down actually stranding a couple of tourists for a few hours until they could be rescued by helicopter. So glad it wasn't me caught up there.

The Arch

London Bridge

The Grotto

Bay of Martyrs, where we saw an echidna up close and personal.

After seeing the fantastic landscape, it was time to stop again. We found accomodation in Warrnambool and then headed to see the light show Shipwrecked at Flagstaff Hill. This show was fantastic as it told the story of the Loch Ard and it's eventual shipwreck at Loch Ard gorge. The show took place alongside a pond that was to replicate the harbor. They sent a spray of water into the air and then projected the movie onto the water spray. It was very ingenious.

The next day, we went to Flagstaff Hill to actually check out the replica village they had created to represent Warrnambool in the 1800s. It is also home to the Loch Ard peacock. This peacock was created for the World Exhibition in Melbourne and was the only porcelain animal to survive the shipwreck. It is now worth over a million dollars. Two people also survived. A young woman named Eva Carmichael and a young man named Tom Pearce. No romance story here folks. Eva soon returned to Ireland and they never saw one another again.
It was back on the highway again, but this time we were headed inland towards the gold fields.

Eureka Southern Cross

We arrived in Bllarat, the ventre of the goldfields, about mid afternoon which gave us some time to check out the sights. Mom and Dad really enjoyed this as we got to walk a few kilometres around the town on the Eureka Stockade walking tour. Ok. I just lied there. Mom and Dad still make fun of me for making me take them on this walk. Too bad, so sad. I learned alot about the famed Eureka Stockade. This was a miner rebellion in response to unfair miners' licenses and corrupt politicians. The miners eventually lost, but it is considered the first breath of democracy and removal of colonial law in Australia.

We drove our way out of Ballarat after a fantastic steak meal and through the Victory Arch (built to remeber those who fought in WWI), down the Memorial Road (lined with trees for each man in the district who fought in WWI) to our hotel. We watched Canadian Milos Raonic lose to Lleyton Hewitt and then it was bedtime.

The next day we were off to Sovereign Hill, a replica goldfield camp and village. It is fantastically laid out and is even better than Fort Edmonton. There was so much information and so much to do. We started with a tour of the mine, then we got some information about the actual gold mining in the area and how gold was discovered. At this point we even saw a "raid" for liscenses on the river. Dad and I tried to find some gold of our own, but we were unsuccessful. There was a gold pour where they melted down some gold and then made a gold ingot. I was the only one there who got to hold it. If only it fit in my pocket. It was a great day that ended with an interactive light show on the grounds that told the story of the Eureka Stockade. I highly recommend this. It was fantastic. We moved around the grounds and even ended up at a point where they recreated the entire village to tell the story. I was very impressed.

The best part of the entire evening though, was Dad's supper before we got there. He ordered a pancake with ice cream. The waitress asked if he wanted to share it as it was quite big. We all thought it was like 6 pancakes, but no. It was actually a massive pancake with half a gallon of ice cream on it . Dad couldn't even eat half of it.

The next day we were off again. This time we went through Melbourne to go visit the deBoer family on their dairy farm situated East of Melbourne. We had a great afternoon with them and Dad was excited to see the dairy operation in Australia. Mom and I had played hockey with Monica and Mom had taught the majority of their kids When they were living in Thorsby. They had moved to Australia 5 years ago and are making a pretty good go of it.

After visiting the deBoers, I wanted to head to a Polish restaurant (still on my quest for pyrogies in Australia) that is in a small town almost straight north of deBoers. Little did I know that this would take us on the adventure of our lives (or that seemed to almost take our lives). Unfortunately the restaurant was only open on weekends, so we continued to Ned Kelly country in the north of Victoria. This route took us straight through the mountains and on some of the scariest roads I have ever encountered. It was a long and twisty road up the mountain and a long and twisty gravel road down the mountain. The best part was the 1000 foot drops without guardrails. That was lots of fun. We finally made it to Benalla where we stayed the night. I wobbled my way on shaky knees to the room and thankfully slept without nightmares of flying off a cliff in my little white car.

Stringybark Creek

The next day was Ned Kelly day. Ned Kelly was a very infamous bushranger. He has become a Louis Riel like folk hero in Australia. His notorious career began around Benalla where he was arrested multiple times as a boy for horse stealing and various exploits. When he shot a policman for hitting on his sister, he took off into the nearby Wombat Ranges and hid out for 2 years, robbing banks and planning a rebellion of sorts. His end came when he tried to create an ambush for a bunch of police that backfired and led to a standoff in Glenroawn that Ned lost. He eventually hung in Melbourne. Benalla had a nice little museum that laid out the Ned Kelly story and we did a driving tour of the town to see significant sights of Ned Kelly lore. This included a drive down to Stringybark creek where Ned and his mates shot and killed a couple of police officers. The drive there was fine. The drive onto Glenrowan was much scarier. I thought the road to Benalla was bad, this was worse. Mom of course had to tell me this story about a couple that got stranded in BC just before Christmas that ended with the man disappearing and the woman almost starving to death. Thanks, Mom. Great story to tell while I am trying not to drive us to our deaths.

Our final stop of the trip was at Glenrowan to see the site of Ned Kelly's Last Stand. They have a fantastic map of the area with information about what happened at each sight. Of course there is the prerequisite Big Thing of Ned.

This was our final stop on the whirlwind tour. It was thenoff to Canberra to get ready for school. BOOOO!

But first, Australia Day!