The Houghtons Down Under

What coup?

2006-12-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

Our departure from Australia was bittersweet. We were excited to be going to Fiji, glad to be coming home, but sad to be leaving (especially me). A couple weeks before leaving Adelaide, a military coup occurred in Fiji. We were unsure if we should cancel our trip, or see if we could be re-routed through another country. In the end, after checking our government's travel warnings webpage, talking with a co-worker who just had friends return from Fiji, and the lack of Fiji in the news, we decided we would go for it. We were a bit nervous when we arrived, but honestly, you would have no idea that any thing was even going on there. A military checkpoint on the way out of the airport where we weren't stopped was one of the two things we noticed (the other was a similar checkpoint at the marina). The next day we began our seven day tour through the Yasawa Islands, said to be the most picturesque of the 333 islands in Fiji. We boarded the Yasawa Flyer (a catamaran), and headed north off the main island. It took us just over five hours to arrive at our destination, Nanuya Lailai Island, home of the famous Blue Lagoon (from the movie fame starring Brooke Shields). Upon arrival we were given lunch then were shown to our accommodations, a beautiful straw bure (pronounced boo ray) right next to the ocean (that is it pictured)! Kyle and I shared this little hut with sand floors, a mosquito net for the bed, and a small window cut out of the straw looking out on the ocean - it was absolutely gorgeous with its view and its simplicity. We had a short hike over the island to put us in the middle of lagoon, so that is what we did the first afternoon. The water temperatures were in the mid 80s, the water was a beautiful turquoise color and the color and fish were spectacular. We saw sting rays, many sea cucumbers and even a lion fish (think Deuce Bigelow)! We spent two nights here then moved to our next island, Mantaray, where we also stayed in a beautiful bure, and this one was on stilts. We adopted a cat on this island, who slept under our bed at night, and was a soft as could be! We snorkeled more, and took the kayaks out around the island. This resort was one of our favorites because it was really nice, built eco-friendly, and had the best snorkeling out of all the places we snorkeled. From Mantaray we headed to Kuata for two nights, then onto Bounty Island for the last night. Kuata was a very traditional Fijian resort where you almost felt like you were living with the locals. We became friends with a beautiful Fijian child, and helped pick off the bubble gum like substance that became wrapped around my foot after I accidentally stepped on two sea cucumbers within minutes of each other. On Kuata we visited a Fijian village where we bought some handmade wooden artifacts, also there we went on a guided summit walk for sunrise. Bounty Island was probably the most resort like of all the islands we visited, and also where Celebrity Love Island (a British show) had been filmed for the last four years. It had a pool, and our bure had air conditioning, and hot showers (most showers in Fiji just use local water, and since it is so warm, they don't bother heating the water).
On the last day of our package we went on a sailing trip to the island where Tom Hanks filmed Castaway. We sailed on the Seaspray, the boat they used to film the "Adventures on the Seaspray" which we never heard of until then. For seven days straight we snorkeled, swam, got incredibly tan(a bit burned), kayaked, and remained wet for most of the day. We relaxed and learned that it in itself is tiring.

The Fijians take great pride in their hospitality, and everywhere you go they greet you with Bula! They are very welcoming and accommodating. They taught us some of their language, how to weave bracelets, how to drink kava (made from a root of a pepper and the official Fijian drink which numbs your tongue when you sip it ), and just how to slow down! Everything there was no problems, take your time, we are on Fiji time (which probably translates into if we say we will pick you up at 9 am Fiji time, it will more likely be around 9:45am). We learned some tips on fitting in with their culture, such as you do not wear anything on your head as it is a sign of disrespect to the chief of the village, shoulders and knees must be covered, and you don't touch their heads, as that is a huge insult. They also shed some insight into the coup (this being the fourth in 20 years). As we learned, many Fijians welcomed the coup because the current Prime Minister was "bankrupting" Fiji and perhaps a bit corrupt. The goal then of the military taking over (although they all acknowledged that the tactics weren't correct) is for the military to prove that this was the case. Consequences did occur including suspension from the Commonwealth, as well as various sanctions imposed by several countries, however it seems that this has been accepted by the Fijians because it needed to be done. Other interesting information about Fiji is that the country is comprised of about 51% of Fijians, the next largest portion is Indians at 42%, and the reminder Asian and European descendents. Therefore Fiji is know for its great curry dishes (including the delicacy of goat).

Fiji was a grand time and absolutely spectacular! I guess we tend to use Hawaii as a comparison because of the island factor, and we both thought Fiji definitely beat Hawaii in any sense and by a lot. Fiji, at least where we went, was less commercialized, more authentic, and very hospitable. Despite it being a ten hour flight from LA, we would return to Fiji before we returned to Hawaii.

It was a great way to end our trip to the southern hemisphere. Our trip home seemed to go by quite fast. In the process we celebrated two Christmas Eve days (because we crossed the international date line), and made it home to Denver and to the beautiful snow by 9:30 PM on Christmas Eve.

P.S. I will post a picture or two when we find the cord to connect our digital camera to the computer.

Fred

2006-12-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

Wasn't it just yesterday that I began writing this blog? It sure feels like it! We have just over four days left in Australia, and of course Saturday will come before we know it! Since my last post we have been trying to spend as much time with our friends and complete all those last minute things. My Christmas lunch here for my co-workers went well, and it was a great time. It also prompted me to get a lot of cleaning done, so at least I don't have all that to do on these last days. This past weekend we climbed Mt. Lofty located in the Adelaide Hills. Suprisingly it was a bit of a challenge and reminded of us of all the great hikes in Colorado that we are returning to.
Probably the most 'exciting' news to write is about my new friend - Fred. Last week when I was cleaning the back verandah area I noticed this huge black thing, looking similar to a scorpion. On closer inspection I realized it was not a scorpion but perhaps one of the largest black spiders I have ever seen, and very nasty looking. In fact, so nasty looking I got goosebumps! So what do I decide to do? Catch it for Kyle of course! I put on my cleaning gloves (because that is logical), got a glass to catch him in, and then about a minute later my senses came to me... Perhaps before trying to catch him, you should see if he could possibly kill you so to the computer I went. I knew the exact webpage to go to since I had visited it many other times, including the third day after we arrived in Australia (to identify one large spider sitting on our post box). Anyway, on this webpage they have spiders in Australia listed from most dangerous to harmless, and right towards the top is a very similar looking spider to the one sitting out back and that is when I realized that I wouldn't be trying to catch him for my dear husband. It was hard to identify which spider it was - a funnel web spider (the deadliest in Australia and I think also the world) or if it was a Black House Spider that delivers a very painful bite in which you should seek immediate medical attention, however probably won't kill you. I guess you could see it was the good vs bad news spider version. What to do next? I tried calling Kyle at school to tell him to run home (1.5 minute walk or a 45 second run for him) but of course they couldn't find him anywhere. So, no Kyle, just me and Fred, and that is when I remember about my camera! I went and grabbed it, and tried to get as close as I could because let's face it - if I didn't have proof, it meant nothing. I even tried taking a video of it, but Fred just sat there, (and Kyle thought the video wasn't very exciting and deleted it). Anyways, Kyle finally called me back, but by then Fred had disappeared into the abyss of the cinderblock wall. Well, my life has since become consumed by Fred as he is such a demanding friend. You may wonder how his name came about and it's simple: Fred the spider I would like to see dead. Heartless definitely, but the idea of having him out back isn't exactly comforting.
By the next day I had done several hours of research on these spiders, trying to pinpoint what make and model Fred was for sure. I learned heaps about spiders including their habitats, mating patterns, etc. I was determined to see him again, but more importantly while Kyle was home. Two nights later, I took the flashlight out back, and there was Fred sitting on the wall. I yelled for Kyle, but apparently Fred became scared and ran back into the wall. Awhile later I went out again, and Fred was even farther out on the wall and this time I whispered for Kyle. Finally, Kyle got to meet Fred! We grabbed the camera and Kyle got some incredibly close up pictures of Fred - it was with these we were able to confirm that Fred is indeed a Black House Spider. Anyways, so ends the story with Fred, I didn't see him last night, maybe because I sprayed some water in the crack trying to encourage him to find a new home (one that doesn't include in my house or anywhere near it). At this point I flip out when I feel something touching me because I am convinced it is Fred. Nothing like a return to the US to get over this!
We say goodbye to Fred, and our life here in Australia on the 16th, go to Fiji until the 24th, and then return to the US and then to Colorado by about 7PM(MST) *hopefully* on Christmas Eve. With that in mind, so ends blogging here in Australia. I'll sign off on the same note I signed off when leaving the US a year ago - Godspeed (but now I actually know what it means!).

Round-up of the last few weeks

2006-11-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

The last couple of months since our trip to Queensland have flown. I chaperoned a field trip with Kyle’s class to the SA Museum and the Botanic Gardens, where one of the children I was in charge of decided to run face first into a tree providing an interesting afternoon. We attended a performance of Australian schools called Wakakirri which ‘encourages young Australians to be open minded, confident and active through creating and sharing stories’. We also took a couple of tours around Adelaide to city icons as well as attended the Adelaide Christmas Pageant (an annual parade). We taught our Australian co-workers and Kyle’s students about Halloween by making ghost popcorn balls and orange spiders which proved to be a hit! I also attended the horse races in Adelaide in honor of Melbourne Cup – one of Australian’s most famous sporting events. We also took a long weekend trip to the Yorke Peninsula, a couple of hours west of Adelaide. Then we prepared for Kyle’s parents, Owen and Norma, arrival on the November 18th. Our first day with them was a visit to the markets, then a quiz night. These nights are designed as fundraisers for organizations where you compile a table of ten people and spend the night answering questions. Kyle and I attended one back when we first got here and had a blast, however this one was arranged a bit differently and therefore not as fun. I hope to bring this concept back to USA and use it in some capacity in the future. We also traveled down to the beach, where we met up some other fellow exchanges and rode the waterslides and got each other wet on the bumper boats. Fun was had by all. We also visited the Adelaide Zoo where we saw some crazy baboons.
Next on the agenda was preparing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our Australian mates who never had experienced this holiday. Some had never seen such a large turkey (which I had to special order from the butcher). We probably had the hottest Thanksgiving ever with temperatures maybe around the high 80s. The next day after dinner we traveled to Clare Valley and Barossa Valley to wine taste. We stayed in a fabulous place called the Rising Sun, and had some great meals, as well as some wonderful wines. Owen and Norma then left mid week for their long journey back to the US. That takes us up to last night activities – an awards show for the organization I work at here in Adelaide. My team was nominated for an excellence award for our work on obesity in the under fives so I got a free ticket, and Kyle came along. We didn’t win, but the band was so much fun – called Planet Square. They were dressed as geeks, and played some great music.
We have a little over two weeks left here in Australia and I am sure it will fly. This weekend will be busy with the exchange league hosting a farewell picnic. I will finish up work early next week, and am hosting the staff Christmas lunch on the 7th. It shouldn’t be too much work because it is going to be fully catered.
I have started packing, cleaning and organizing for our departure on the 16th. Currently we have plans to go to Fiji, however the military there has threatened a coup to overthrow the government (with a midnight deadline this evening), so we are unsure what that means for traveling (although the US government website has no travel advisories listed for there). Kyle finishes school on the 15th, and is completely flat out at the moment with report cards, and all that other end of the year stuff.
The most famous cricket rivalry is currently happening in Adelaide called the Ashes Tournament. This has Australia playing England and provides subsequent bragging rights to the winner. The history of the Ashes is quite interesting incase anyone wants to look it up.
We are looking forward to our return, however it definitely is bittersweet. It is hard to believe its December already! I’m not sure when the next post will be but hopefully everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Peace on Earth!

Let's go Tropo!

2006-11-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

We were back from our last trip a week, then headed out on our last major 'holiday' in Australia that took us to tropical Queensland for fifteen days. All I can say about Queensland is that it is like Hawaii, only 100 times better(and probably my leading recommendation for a honeymoon for anyone who is interested). Queensland is the northeast section of Australia, filled with tropical rainforests, and since it is located above the Tropic of Capricorn, considered to be in the tropics. Just flying into Cairns took us back to our honeymoon in Hawaii - the small airport, rainforests, green and warmth. We spent the first four days in Cairns, where we visited Daintree World Heritage area (did many great hikes), Karanda, a cute town north of Cairns, and of course took a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling. The trip out to the reef took about 1.5 hours on a very fast boat (when Kyle was here last time his boat took three hours!). The weather was spectacular, and the ocean fairly calm (That picture is Kyle getting ready!). We snorkeled in two different locations, saw tons of fish, sting rays and a reef shark! We also visited a tropical fruit farm, and licked (yes licked) some green ants because of the high vitamin C. Seriously, Kyle was in shock when after our guide told us about these ants, I walked up to the tree, grabbed an ant by his head, and licked his back end. He said, "Melis, wait, I need to get a picture because I can't believe you are doing this!" I replied, "If I wait I might change my mind!" Of course Kyle had to do it because he said he would never hear the end of it if he didn't (You know the bantering he would receive - I licked an ant and you didn't!) The funny thing is Kyle's ant bit him on the hand! Anyways, we had our vitamin C dosage for the day and now can say we have licked ants. (By the way, the taste was just a real concentrated version of a lemon or something acidic like that).
Queensland is also home to the Ulysses Blue Butterfly - considered one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world. I have wanted to see one of these since I was in 5th grade when I learned about them. I was quite happy to fulfill this small dream.
After leaving Cairns we headed south towards Brisbane (our final destination). We visited a couple of islands including Dunk Island and Magnetic Island before arriving in Airle Beach (a popular Aussie destination). It was here we boarded a sail boat for a three day sail around the Whitsunday Islands. This is by far one of the best things we have ever done. It was the most amazing time. We snorkeled off the boat (jumping off the yacht into 90 feet of ocean was a bit daunting), fished, and hiked on some of the islands. Our boat had nine people total on it, and everyone was really nice including the two crew members. Sleeping on the boat took a bit of adjustment and the second day I had some sea sickness (probably the worst I ever have had) but took some ginger tablets and then was fine. Ginger has a very soothing quality about it, doesn't cause drowsiness and natural - a perfect cure! We also visited what they say is the most photographed beach in Australia, Whitehaven. It had beautiful white sand that felt like baby powder. The inlet was filled with sting rays, and very blue tranquil water. We didn't swim here because I forgot to mention that it was 'stinger' (jellyfish) season. Anytime we snorkeled we needed to wear our stinger suits. The best explanation of these is to picture yourself wearing a full body set of pantyhouse in black - not the most attractive thing!
After leaving the yacht, we continued our journey south, stopping in Noosa and a couple of other coastal towns. We finally arrived in Brisbane, toured the city for a day, then the next morning, got up and flew home to Adelaide.
We had a fabulous time on this trip, and would love to return to Queensland. I was a bit depressed coming because this was our last big trip in Australia but then Kyle told me to get over it because in nine weeks we would be in Fiji, and he's right!

A whirlwind trip to Canberra and Melbourne

2006-11-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

On our way out of Sydney we stopped briefly at the Olympic Park then headed into the Blue Mountains, about 2 hours west of Sydney. There we visited the Three Sisters (pictured), a famous Australian icon. We also visited several waterfalls in the area then headed for Canberra, about a 3.5 hour drive. Arriving in Canberra (said Canbra) midday, the capital of Australia (our Washington, D.C.), we visited the War Memorial Museum, the Parliament House for a tour, and the Art Museum. The War Memorial Museum is quite an amazing place, and considered a must-see in Australia. It was filled with many displays and facts about wars that the country participated in. Overall Canberra is a bit on the boring side, as far as a city goes, but filled with some fascinating museums and history. This is the part of the trip that we said bye to Kyle as he was returning to Adelaide and work!
The next day began the 'girls' portion of the trip to Melbourne via Alpine National Park which houses Australia's highest peak, Mt. Kosciuszko (7314 feet). This is also the region where the story about the "Man from Snowy River" was written, and later made into a movie. It was a long drive to Melbourne and we didn't arrive there until 9:30 at night. The next day we headed into Melbourne to Federation Square. We visited the Art Museum, then another museum that was displaying a Picasso exhibit. Also happening in Melbourne that day was the funeral for Australia's most famous rally race car driver, Peter Brock. After a fun evening, we headed to bed, got up early and started our drive home via the Great Ocean Road. (This would be my second time there and the location of the half marathon I ran back in May.) This turned into an incredibly long day of driving, something like 17 hours in the car. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed.
The last few days of Sondra's visit included trips to some neighboring Adelaide towns. Then, a hour before returning the rental car, I hit a curb (kerb as they spell it here) and did $1200(AUD) of damage. Not the best note to end on...

A visit to the New York of the Southern Hemisphere?

2006-11-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

Although we spent one night in Sydney when we first arrived, we didn't see much outside of the airport, so I was excited to get there. Our trip began on a funny note when Kyle and I both accidently tried to go through security with knives. It was quite comical because Kyle went through first (he forgot his camping knife was in his first aid kit), and was instructed that if he wished to keep the knife, he needed to check it. Our friend Lou was the only one available with luggage allowance and a bag to check, so she was in the process of going back through to check the bag with the knife, when I went through. I also forgot that I was carrying a knife (one fine hot pink Swiss army knife given to me as a present from my friend Beth before leaving the country last year). It is at this point I yelled to Lou, across security, wait Lou, I have a knife too! Just imagine two Americans yelling we have knifes in an airport...
When we got to Sydney we took the worst cab ride ever to our accomdation. (I actually was giving him directions off a map in a city I had never been to - that's how bad it was)! When we finally settled in we began to prepare for our next day's adventure - climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Lou decided not to do because she can't handle hanging with us Americans :), so she was off on her own as we headed up the bridge. They climbing company dresses you up in these space looking suits, with a headset and hat, and makes everything very clear as to the rules you need to follow which was a bit intimdating. We weren't cameras, so we don't really have any pictures to post. As we started our climb, a bit on the nervous side (well, Kyle wasn't) we realized that this was going to be easy. The whole process took about four hours, and we were glad to be done because they take it really slow, and there are a bunch of people up there too. We were happy to have done it, but probably wouldn't do it again because the thrill factor is low and the price is high. Once we finished we went to a pub located right beside the bridge to wait for Lou to return from her days journey. It was there that Sondra and I had these fabulous drinks called Chocolate Trains. They say climbing the bridge you burn 600 calories, and I am sure we replaced those quickly with one of these drinks. It was like drinking ice cream! Our next destination was a place called the Australian Hotel, a place our climbing guide recommended with very awesome gourmet pizza. This was also the place we changed clothing in the bathroom for our next adventure (we were running out of time). We were off to see Pirates of Penzance at the Sydney Opera House and probably the thing I was most excited about doing. The Harbour looked pretty with the lights on the bridge and on the opera house, and the show was very funny. It also starred some guy who apparently is Australia most famous opera performer (can't remember his name at the moment).
The next day we headed back into the city for a visit to Bondi beach, the world famous Iceberg's Resturaunt, and Darling Harbour. We also met up with one of Lou's friends for a bit, rode the ferry and then headed back to our accomdation to prepare for our dinner reservations at this place called Sea Level. It was at this time, enroute to the resturant that we had the best cab ride ever (after waiting 1.5 hours for a cab to pick us up). This cab driver blasted music and was very very funny! It reminded me off someone you would meet in Jamaica (not that I have ever been there!). After dinner we went to a club for a couple of drinks where we met some new Aussies, and then Sondra lost her diamond earring getting into the cab, and that pretty much ended our evening out. When we got back to our accomdation Sondra, Lou and I decided it would be fun to stay up which we ended up doing, which in hindsight is where the trip began to deteriorate, sort of.
So... overall impressions of Sydney are quite average. I expected to be wowed by it, and I really wasn't. I can't remember if it was Sondra or Lou that noticed all the garbage laying around in the Harbour areas, and you know how it is once someone says something like that, you notice it everywhere. The public transportation does need some improvement, as numerous times our trains were late, or changed, or cancelled without any warning. Our visit to Darling Harbour was also a bit of a let down, and as it was explained to us later by a person who lived in Sydney for five years, Darling Harbour back in the 1980s was a complete dump, then they city decided to do some revitalization in the area. With this, the area became more popular and is close to many Sydneysiders hearts not because it is the most fabulous place, but because it is such an improvement which makes sense.
By no means would I rule out living there if we did another exchange because it does have that big city feel and we still have so much more to see, but it hasn't replaced my other favorite cities. I think Sondra had a nice time, but I don't think she absolutely loved Sydney either. Kyle had a pretty positive perspective of Sydney, he's been there before, but I think his sentiments about Sydney from his first visit actually were pretty accurate. Things such as it having the Bridge and the Opera House and the ferry system are neat, but lacking 'something' in other ways... I think another visit to Sydney would be fun, and would give us a chance to get to know it better, but at this point, I am not exactly dying to go back.

Bring in September...

2006-10-26T04:58:00.000-06:00

The beginning of September began with a weekend trip to see the Southern Right Whales (so named because when killed, they float, therefore they are the 'right' whales to hunt) down in Victor Harbor. It was pretty amazing because they were so close to the shore. We also got to a skink (a lizard type animal) and some beautiful waterfalls with lilies growing wild next to them. We also visited a tiny German town about 45 minutes away called Handorf and much to my delight we got to do a bunch of shopping!
On September 10th, my friend from grad school, Sondra, arrived from California for her two week trip in Australia. She was our second visitor to the land down under - our adoptive country that we have been calling home. I couldn't wait for her to get here and was so excited to pick her up from the airport. When we met her she had all the signs of an overseas traveler who had just spent 16 hours flying. NO, she didn't look particularly tired, but her fingers were covered in ink, a hazard of flying! I found this extra humerous because when we were enroute here I had two pens explode on me - something with the pressurized cabin/elevation. We brought her back to our place, asked her if she wanted to take a shower then a nap or would she like a glass of wine, and being the girl that we love, chose the latter. The next few days were spent reconnecting and looking forward to our next adventure east - Sydney.

The Day of the Grange

2006-10-26T04:39:00.000-06:00

I don't have any excuse for not keeping up on my blogging. It was hard to get back into the swing of things after returning from our outback trip. The next couple of weeks were fairly low key but definitely filled with some memorable moments. We spent some great times with our new friends here. We were treated to a great place called Windy Point Restaurant which overlooks Adelaide and had amazing food. Then on August 19th we participated in my first ever soccer tournament. The gym that we joined here has soccer every Wednesday morning at 6am that we had been going to. As part of the gym franchise, they host this annual soccer tournament. Our team came in third place, which wasn't that bad since a couple of us were new to soccer.
The highlight of the month came on August 20th - the day of the Grange. I don't expect non-wine lovers to ever begin to understand this day, but it was truly amazing. My boss, Mel(She is the blonde in the picture, with our friend Lou on the other side.), invited us to dinner at here place in Sterling, a beautiful town in the Adelaide hills. It was at this dinner that they (Mel, her husband, Denny and son Thom) brought out a bottle of Grange. I realize that this doesn't mean much to those not interested in wine, but this is the wine that people wait their whole lives to drink, and most don't get the chance. The bottle that was opened was vintage 1988, and was just past its prime. Therefore, if it didn't get drank now, it would start its slow decline into mediocrity. Grange is one of the world's most expensive wines. The bottle they opened retailed at almost $400! Kyle and I insisted on not sharing with us, I mean after all who were we? They persisted, and poured each of us a glass. There were six of us imbibing this wine, so that meant each glass was almost &70 a piece! Can you imagine? Needless to say, I was shaking as I picked up the glass, afraid of spilling. The wine was so amazing, it was so full, and by far the best glass I ever had, despite the fact that it had passed its optimal use by date. By the nights end my boss figured out that we drank over $1000 worth of wine...Frivolous is an understatement. Remember it forever - of course!
On August 21st we were invited to a cocktail party at the Government House with the Governor, Marjorie Jackson (the woman Kyle and previous met on our other post). Everyone at my job was jealous of the invitation - I guess it was that special. The last weekend in August took us to the one of Australia's major wine regions - the Barossa, where Kyle and I visited close to ten wineries and come home with a trunk load of fantastic wine. We also went to two nice places to eat while we there, and I thought I broke my hand when I feel down some stairs in the middle of the night (and no it wasn't because of wine, it was because I was in a strange place, and all Kyle had to say about the event when I woke him up in tears was "Melis, I think you are going to lose that finger nail". Regardless, it was nice to have that little getaway to end August.

The World According to Kyle

2006-09-22T09:16:00.000-06:00

Apparently I have gotten lazy with blogging, so I thought I would take Kyle's post and put it on this blog for your enjoyment...

The next leg of our trip began at the Apollo rental car office and spent the next hour waiting for the slowest employee in the world to go through a camper rental with the family in front of us. Once we finally got our car, we started heading north. There isn’t much to see once you leave Alice, so small things like the marker when you pass the Tropic of Capricorn become things to stop at! I was enjoying it because there is no speed limit in the outback areas of the Northern Territory, the roads are dead flat and smooth-surfaced with no vegetation for 100 feet on either side of the road, and there are very few other cars on the road. All of this meant we felt perfectly safe cruising along at 150 km/h (93 mph!) for hours on end, which got us north fast! We passed Tennant Creek and camped at Banka Banka Station. It was a little unnerving trying to cook dinner with an emu roaming through your campsite - they are HUGE birds! This far from cities and their subsequent light pollution, we were treated to an AMAZING view of the night sky. The Milky Way has never looked so bright! There was no threat of rain that night, so we even got to sleep with the tarp off the tent so we could stare at the stars while we drifted off to sleep.

In the morning we packed up and headed to Daly Waters for breakfast. This is a tiny town centered around the local pub - it is full of trinkets and such brought by travellers from around the world. Everywhere you looked there was something funny or interesting to check out. Just out of town there was a “tree” that supposedly had some explorer’s initials carved into it from long ago that we stopped to check out. I say “tree” because it was really nothing more than a 10 foot high stump. We couldn’t find the initials anywhere, and we felt like the victims of some outback practical joke! Back on the road again, we stopped at the Devil’s Marbles, some sandstone rocks that have eroded into giant spheres.

As we neared the town of Katherine, we finally noticed the weather getting warmer. We stopped in to the Mataranka Hot Pools to take a dip in some naturally heated spring water. It was great! We went on to Katherine and Nitmiluk National Park, also known as Katherine Gorge. We booked a boat tour for the following morning to check out the gorge and camped for the night. The boat tour was a neat way to explore the gorge and hear some of the Aboriginal history of the area. There are many sections of the gorge separated by rocky areas of the river which meant that we had to boat up one section, get out, hike upstream to the next boat, and venture as far as we could before having to repeat the process. We got a good look at the first three gorges in this manner, then headed back downstream, repeating what we had done to get upstream. In the visitor center, we checked out pictures of the severe flooding from the previous wet season. The northern part of Australia is in a monsoonal weather pattern, meaning that there are only two main seasons - the wet and the dry. The wet season (December - April) brings huge rainstorms, high humidity, and most of the year’s 65 inches (!) of rainfall. The dry season (May - November) brings dry, sunny days with temperatures in the 80s and cool nights.

Katherine Gorge is where we saw our first crocodile and learned the difference between freshwater and saltwater, or estuarine, crocodiles. “Freshies” are smaller and only live in freshwater areas, and normally don’t attack humans unless they are really provoked. “Salties” are much larger and a lot more dangerous. They can live in fresh or salt water, and will make a meal of a human if one happens into their habitat. Because of the seasonal flooding that occurs in this area, many areas are unsafe during the wet season because these animals can travel undetected into areas inaccessible to them during the dry. However, in places frequented by people, there are signs everywhere warning you about this risk. We played it safe and didn’t go swimming anywhere unless we knew it was nearly impossible for a saltie to have gotten in, and there were many other people in the water before us!

The first place we took a dip was at Edith Falls. We felt a bit nervous about swimming here because of all of the warning signs but we knew that it had been months since any croc would have been able to swim into the area and there were lots of other people swimming (and not being eaten). We then drove into Kakadu National Park and cut off the main road toward Gunlom Falls. It was 25 miles on a dusty dirt road but well worth it. We had a great campsite, hot showers, and even a slideshow at night! One of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the area came with her children to talk about bush tucker - wild foods that were (and still are) traditionally hunted and gathered by Aboriginal people who live in the area. It is absolutely amazing how much these people know about their land and how they had managed it so sustainably prior to European settlement. Some of the food looked really good, but some of it (witchetty grubs and file snakes in particular) looked a bit like an episode of Fear Factor! In the morning we hiked up to the top of the falls and enjoyed the early morning views before heading back to the main road and deeper into the park. We ran into several other teachers from Adelaide in the Kakadu visitor center, and they advised us not to miss the Yellow Water Billabong boat tour. We booked one for that afternoon and squeezed in a quick run up Mirrai Lookout where we could see smoke from bush fires set by local Aboriginals. They intentionally burn patches of land shortly after the wet season (before things get too dry) so that if a bush fire is started accidentally later in the season, it doesn’t have as much fuel and quickly burns itself out.

We returned for our boat tour and were first in line so we managed to get a spot up front. While this provided a great view of things on both sides of the boat, it put us pretty close to some of the toothier inhabitants! This trip was simply amazing. We saw more bird life than I have ever seen in one place - the pictures give you an idea. We also got a good close look at several huge saltwater crocs! They occasionally attack each other, and one of the crocs we saw was missing a leg. We took so many pictures it was ridiculous, but there was so much to see!

We headed back to the car and headed over to Nourlangie Rock. This is one of the two major Aboriginal rock art sites that are open to the public in Kakadu. We had seen lots of pictures of Aboriginal artwork, but to see it in person is much more impressive. One of the things we learned was that these paintings were always being painted over, layer upon layer. Most of them are made using red, yellow, or white ochre mixed with spit or animal fat to make a suitable paint. Because they get painted over and over and often do not use organic material which can be dated, it is often impossible to tell how old some of the paintings are. However, some can be guessed based on what they depict. For example, pictures of people with guns had to have been painted after European arrival in 1788, and paintings of the thylacine (or Tasmanian Tiger) show that there were thylacines in these areas prior to their extinction after the arrival of Europeans. We stayed the night in a campground in Jabiru and visited the other major rock art site, Ubirr. This gave us a great perspective of where Aboriginal people congregated and a glimpse into how they lived. After checking out this site, we headed west toward Litchfield National Park.

Now, we had seen a lot of termite mounds in the Northern Territory. I read somewhere that the biomass of termites below ground is actually greater than all of the sheep, pigs, cows, and horses above it. That’s a lot of termites! Many of these termite mounds are lumpy, pointy structures three to five feet tall. Some, though, are called cathedral mounds, and they resemble castle turrets as they rise 15 or more feet above the ground. As we entered Litchfield National Park, the first things we stopped to see were the magnetic termite mounds. These are thin and wide, and are aligned so that they all point roughly north to south. This helps them deal with the scorching summer heat as the sun only hits the broad side of the mound in the morning and late afternoon, while the strongest midday sun hits the mound on the skinny side, helping to keep the mound cool. These mounds have a slightly eerie feel to them, though, as they resemble gravestones in the fields surrounding you.

We pressed on down the road, stopping to take in various waterfalls along the way. We paused to take a dip at a couple of them, including Buley Rockhole, where you can wander up and down the stream as it tumbles over several small falls. After camping for the night, we got in one last swim at Wangi Falls, where we were surprised to find the trees full of animals we had never seen in person before - flying foxes! These huge (and I mean HUGE) fruit bats were returning from a night of feeding and were making quite a racket - they actually sound like crying babies! It was a little disconcerting the first couple times they flew overhead with a five-foot wingspan, but I thought it was pretty cool.

We then headed up to Darwin, amazed that our trip had come to an end so quickly. We drove a few laps around the city, dropped off our bags at the bus station, and returned the rental car. Our flight didn’t leave until late, so we had some time to walk around this beautiful, well-planned city. We had a nice dinner and decided to head to the theater to watch Ten Canoes, an Aboriginal story about a man and what he does when one of his wives goes missing. It was a great movie, and a fitting way to end our trip to the Top End. You can bet that we were planning the next trip on the flight home, though!

To the Outback and Beyond!

2006-07-29T20:19:00.000-06:00

On July 8th we headed into the outback of Oz (as Aussies call it). The trip would take us on the Stuart Highway that runs from Adelaide to Darwin (About 4000 KMs). It basically is the main road that runs from the bottom of Australia, all the way to the top. The first part of our trip included a nine day bus trip organized by the South Australian Teachers Exchange League. We were a bit apprehensive going on a group trip because we really had never done anything like this before but we figured we would give it a go. Our trip started with our departure from Adelaide. On the agenda that day was a stop at the Wadlata Outback Centre in Port Augusta, about three hours away. There we visited the local museum, and began our learning process about the outback, the aboriginal people, and history of the area and Australia. Our destination for the evening was Woomera, a very interesting place. Known as the missile testing grounds since the mid 1900s, we were exposed to a variety of information regarding this area. Essentially the British Empire needed an area to test missile launching and this was the chosen place. Basically they created this new town in the middle of absolutely nowhere complete with high level clearance classifications, and their own self contained world. Although people still live in this area, when the location was decommissioned they sold the prefabricated houses for something like $2000 with the only catch being you had to move it to a new location. Obviously people found ways to do this; so much of the former town is concrete driveways to the no longer existing homes. Our accommodation that evening was a school in which they convert the classrooms into housing rooms with cots.
The next day we headed on the bus to the semi-famous town – Coober Pedy – the opal capital of the world. It is so hot in this part of the country just about the whole town is built underground. This even includes churches! Another claim to fame is that it has one of the top ten most interesting places to golf in the world. The course has no grass, they give you a grass mat to tee off from, and the greens aren’t green –they are oiled dirt. Although we didn’t get to golf there, we got to see some pictures, and it by far looks like a life experience! Of course we bought some opals, and spent the night in an underground bunk house. The town itself has a reputation of people who randomly go missing, so the advice is to stay in big groups, and don’t go out at night – so we didn’t. By no means is this a beautiful – just unique.
The next day involved a very early start for our trip to Yulara Camp Grounds, near Uluru National Park (Ayers Rock). For those who don’t know about Uluru, it is one of the world’s largest monoliths. Another fact about Uluru is that it is located in almost the center of Australia, and like one of our fellow tour members said "I am excited about going on this trip, to Australia's belly button (Uluru). I hear it is an outie!" and for real - it really could be called an outie!

In some Aboriginals groups – Uluru is very sacred; therefore there is some speculation as to whether it is appropriate to climb. When Kyle was here eleven years ago, he climbed it, and said he would not climb it again. I was very torn as to whether or not I should, but then talked with several Aussies and they all felt that I definitely should. With that in mind, I decided to go ahead, and then Kyle decided he would climb it again so that he could go with me. It is hard to explain this hike, as there is nothing like it else in the world. The climb is up the sheer face of the rock, no trees along the trail, no walls, just huge drops. The only thing you have to hang onto is the massive chain they have attached to the rock. And did I mention that this climb has a huge vertical gain? It definitely is a challenge, and I am so glad that we did it. I really think it is a must do coming to that area, and if you don’t, you are really missing out, – however with that being said – I will never do it again due to the religious beliefs of the Aboriginals. After the hike up, we hiked around the whole bottom, and then headed to the cultural center. That night the tour group organized wine and cheese at a sunset viewing spot of Uluru then we were off to bed.

The next day we headed to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) pronounced: Kata Choota; for a nice hike on the Valley of the Winds Trail. The hike was quite far, and we were told that we wouldn’t have time to make it around the whole thing, but a group of us decided to go for it. It was quite beautiful, very similar to Western Colorado or Utah. After that we began heading towards Alice Springs with a stop at King’s Canyon.

While we were at Uluru, we learned that it hadn’t rained in three months in the Red Centre! Things were dry, riverbeds completely empty, and although mid-winter – the landscape was still oppressed by the dryness this region experiences. So imagine our surprise when the next day, heading for King’s Canyon National Park, it began to rain. I half expected people to come dancing out of their houses, flowers to spontaneously bloom, and all those kinds of things, but they didn’t. Anyways, we started this hike, up a fairly steep trail (nothing like Uluru – this was a piece of cake compared to that) and it just poured. Five minutes into the hike you are completely drenched, but it was awesome. The gorge filled with water that was coming from these impromptu waterfalls that had formed. The trail, since it never rains, takes you down these cracks in the earth, and across non-existent waterfalls but on this day – it was completely different. We crossed waterfalls, saw raging water, and had a most amazing experience. Our guide said that was his fifth or sixth time there, and he had never seen water there. Kyle will say that this was his favorite part of the whole trip, and I think the part of story I have yet to tell is why. After we had finished the hike around the gorge rim, we still had some time left, so we decided to hike up the gorge. As we began the hike, we met people returning from our destination, telling us that it was coming. What was coming we asked? The water they said, the water was coming, and we would get trapped up there if we didn’t turn around, so of course we continued! Next thing we see is this water slowly filling our trail, it was then we realized the trail was the dried riverbed. The water wasn’t moving fast by any means, so we really didn’t feel in danger whatsoever, but it just kept coming. It maybe took 30 – 45 seconds for an area to fill out, with maybe a foot or two of water, and then it would keep moving down. It was miraculous – to the point where no one had to be told that this never happens, you just knew. Needless to say – we were so wet, but we didn’t care – we were squeaking when we walked – it was hilarious, but absolutely beautiful.
We filed back onto the bus, wet clothes and all and headed for our next destination - the town of Alice Springs. Alice, as it is called is a pretty cute town, and has a lot to offer. In Alice we attended the Desert Park Outback Centre, the Sounds of Silence performance (where Kyle got to go on stage and play the didgerdoo with the musicians - and did awesome!), Standley Chasm, and Simpson's Gorge, but perhaps the most interesting event in Alice was attending the 'Alice Springs Camel Cup'. Can you imagine what this is? Just like it sounds, it takes place at the race track - and you've guessed it - they race camels! Needless to say - it was a riot. We saw a few races, and still couldn't get over the fact they were racing camels. The interesting thing about camels is that we were imported to Australia, and were a fairly popular mode of transportation, due to the ability to deal with the harsh desert conditions. After other modes of transportation became popular, many of the camels were left to go live in the desert, so it isn't unheard of to see wild camels roaming the in the outback - something I wasn't aware of. Anyways, for any future visitors to our home, I bought I beautiful wooden camel statue that we have affectionatley named Alice the Camel (with only ONE hump), and has become one of my most prized possessions of this Australian experience. And of course, Kyle just laughs, and says I couldn't expect anything else from you!

So that pretty much takes us to the end of the trip with the tour group. Of course I have left things out, but it was an absolutely wonderful time. I think I will end this post here, and start a new one for the next leg of our journey. Just some closing remarks about these first nine days... I guess you never know what to expect when you do these kinds of things, and a lot of time you need to just take things at face value and so that was our attitude. When you do that, it is easier to be impressed and easier to become attached to this country. Honestly, the outback is full of a bunch of nothing - maybe a random dingo here or there, some wild horses (like we saw), but something about it touches you deep in your spirit, and makes a lasting imprint. We met so many great people on this trip, and experienced something with them that will be always be in our memories (well unless Alzheimers sets in), but really this trip at this point, was already on its way to be one of our best ever.

Let the world change you...

2006-07-06T21:51:00.000-06:00

To think it was just over a half year ago that we left the country hits us with disbelief! Watching "The Motorcyle Diaries" the other night, Kyle and I were both hit by the closing remark in the movie "Let the world change you and then you can change the world". For those who haven't seen the movie, it is based on two guys who embark on a journey via a motorcyle around South America. Of course they are faced with typical traveling woes, but more importantly they are exposed to the injustices our world contains. Needless to say this experience changes their lives, and they end up making some huge contributions to society (rent the movie to find out)! So I thought I would take this opportunity to list some of our favorite aussie moments these past six months so we could show you how the world is changing us (for better or for worse!):

- Learning one night that "Perhaps you are left handed!" (This in itself will get its own post some day....)

- You can travel over 10,000 miles, end up in another hemisphere, yet still value the same things as the people you meet.

- How to officially taste wine and then being able to express its merits.

- The true meaning of "No wuckers" (after saying it to some influential people.)

- The joy our overseas callers have in their voice the first time they connect on an international phone call (yes, you can hear the difference!)

- Miracles do happen as they did with our Tasmanian miners.

- Seeing your niece walking in your high heel shoes AND doing a better job than you do while wearing them.

- The beauty of this country.

- 'Bundy' (Bundaberg Rum) is a way of life for some!

- East Timor - didn't realize the struggle they face (look it up and you will understand)

- A day of fishing in the ocean on a boat can teach you a critical life skill (Use your imagination - ummmm, where's the toilet?)

I guess those are just a few of my initial thoughts. We are headed off this weekend for our two week trip to the outback and the 'top end'. We will be sure to keep you posted on how Australia continues to change us...

Football - Aussie Style

2006-07-06T21:42:00.000-06:00

On May 27th, we attended our first footy game complete with a tailgating party prior (bringing back memories of dear ol’ state!) Kyle got some tickets from a co-worker to the game (Adelaide Crows vs. Carlton), and so we invited some of my workmates along. We headed out for the big game mid-afternoon, had an Aussie BBQ and headed into the game. Although the game was a blowout it still was heaps of fun. The highlight of the day happened after the game when we went to the Crow’s Shed, a huge warehouse that has been converted into the team pub. It was here that we got to meet the captain of the team – Roo (his real name is something like Mark Rocuitto). Anyways, we talked to him for a bit, and he asked us about Colorado and then we got pictures with him. The funniest part about it was I had been saying since we found out we were going to the game that I was going to get to meet Roo, more or less as a joke, but it really happened! That is us with him and our friend Lou, a woman that I work with at the Centre for Health Promotion. Lou surprised Kyle and I with Adelaide Crows scarfs - so of course we had to wear them! Adelaide has another footy team in the city called Port Power and so there is always some footy action going on in the city. It also creates one of the greatest rivalries I have ever seen in sport!

May is for matriculation and marathons

2006-05-25T21:13:00.000-06:00

It has been exciting month as May fifth was my graduation for grad school - although of course I didn't attend! A small surprise party was thrown at my workplace complete with a home made hat, diploma and a nice picture of George W. with the quote - "Melissa, your country is proud of you!" I'm sure....

On May 21st Kyle and I traveled to the Great Ocean Road, west of Melbourne,(about 10 hours from Adelaide) for my first ever half marathon. It actually was a bit longer than a traditional marathon at almost 15 miles and full of hills. I planned on doing this race since shortly after our arrival down under because it was on this famed road, complete with spectacular scenery, and "destined to become one of the great races in the world". The race was hard but I made it to the end and was definitely glad I was done.

The Great Ocean Road area is very beautiful. It includes famous Aussie icons including the Twelve Apostles - magnificent rocks near the shore (pictured). Our timing couldn't have been better because it was nearing sunset, and the light on the rocks was gorgeous! This short trip was packed with many other great sights, but before we knew it - it was time to make the trip back home!

Kangaroo Island, April 18 - 21, 2006

2006-05-13T10:08:00.000-06:00

I know this post is out of order because we actually visited Kangaroo Island before Tasmania, but this is how it is going to be!

Our first visitors, Kris, Deana and Autumn, arrived in Adelaide on April 17th. The next day we headed for Kangaroo Island which required a 45 minute ferry ride. It turned out to be quite an experience as the waves were really bad and it was very windy! Our trip to Kangaroo Island (KI) enabled us to see many of the great Australian wildlife which included koalas, kangaroos, seals, echidnas, and penguins.

We rented a cottage in American River, one of the four main towns of the island. We were treated to some wallabies in the back yard on the first night of our stay which was exciting. We also had pretty blue wrens hanging around the house.

KI wasn’t as ‘touristy’ as Kyle and I thought it was going to be, and we really didn’t see too many people out on the road. We visited pretty much all the major highlights of the island including Seal Bay, the Koala Walk, Kelly Hill Caves, Remarkable Rocks, and Admiral’s Arch (which was absolutely magnificent!).

Last time Kyle lived in Australia he remembered visiting ‘Paul’s Place’ a petting animal farm on KI, which made a lasting impression on him. He talked about returning there since we arrived in Australia. We made it there on our last day, and it definitely was one of our favorite parts - if not our favorite part- of our trip. We got to spend a good three hours with tons of animals. It was so much fun seeing Autumn loving it all. We were all able to hold a kangaroo, a koala and a possum. There was also snakes, emus, sheep, and horses involved throughout the day.

Kyle and I also visited a eucalyptus distillery which was very interesting. We bought some oils which are supposed to be amazing for a variety of problems, including physical ailments to stain removing. We will let you know how it works!

After we returned from KI, we spent a few days here in Adelaide before leaving for Tasmania. We didn't get to show Kris, Deana and Autumn as much of our fun city as we had hoped - but hey, you can't do everything!

For those of you who need to see a picture RIGHT now...

2006-05-04T01:38:00.000-06:00

I will try to complete this post in the next few days with details of our trip to Kangaroo Island, but here's picture for those who can't wait until then....

Tasmania: Devils and all

2006-05-04T01:10:00.000-06:00

‘Tassie’ as the locals call it, is Australia’s largest island. About 10,000 – 12,000 years ago, it broke off the mainland and has been in its own world ever since! The day after the Michigan contingent left us, Kyle and I flew to Hobart, Tasmania. We weren’t sure what to expect, as the Aussies told us that it would remind us of home. They couldn’t have been more correct, as you will read later! Flying in we got to see mountains that were snow-capped, and it was just beautiful! This was our first airport experience where they delivered your checked baggage on a trailer pulled by a little tractor. It drove right up into the terminal and that is when we knew that we loved this place!
After picking up our rental car, we headed directly in Hobart to grab something to eat. Since it was ANZAC day (our equivalent to Veteran’s Day) many places were closed. We managed to find a place called “Legs and Breasts” where we got lunch that consisted of chicken sandwiches, and some good ‘chips’(fries as we know it). We even got to see a bit of a parade in celebration of the holiday.

After lunch we headed toward the Western coast, where we would be staying our first night. Our first real stop was at Mount Field National Park where we took a hike to Russell Falls, then drove 16K to see fagus – a tree that only can be found in Tasmania. It was a brilliant yellow color, and painted the sides of the mountains in a spectacular autumn splendor (This they say is the ‘closest thing Australia has to a Vermont fall’). After that, we headed on and drove through some beautiful country. When we were told that this would remind us of home – everyone mentioned the mountains referring to Colorado. What they didn’t know was that the landscape could have been directly from somewhere in Vermont or Pennsylvania, which of course, we loved! It began to get dark, but we did manage to see some more beautiful landscape. The highlight of the rest of the evening was us getting to see a Tasmanian Devil(that's one in the picture) which Kyle almost hit with the car (by accident of course!). He was very cute, or at least of what we saw. We stayed in Zeehan that night, and prepared for the next day.

The day we arrived was also the day that there was a small 2.5 earthquake, causing a collapse in a gold mine in Beaconsfield. As it turned out, the earthquake was most likely caused by the mining. Eleven guys escaped from the mine, one died and at this moment (ten days later) two men are still trapped alive in the mine.

Although we were supposed to get up early to maximize our daylight hours, I just couldn’t do it. Kyle was a bit passive aggressive (it’s a long story) in letting me know his disappointment in this, but what is a woman to do? I needed my sleep! After breakfast we headed back on some of the roads we came in on to see in daylight. This included a stop in Queenstown, a mining town notoriously known because of the orange colored mountains colored by the ore that was being mined. Although a somewhat repressed town, still an amazing sight. We then headed to Strahan, a major destination spot on Tasmania. It was as cute as the guidebooks say, although we didn’t spend much time there.
Cradle Mountain was our next stop, and much anticipated because of the hiking we were going to get to do. We arrived in the afternoon, stopped at the visitor center, picked up a dish (we have been trying to get dishes/bowls wherever we go to put in our someday lived in/travel filled decorationed house). Cradle Mountain is a beautiful area and we were so happy to be hiking. It took us about 2.5 hours, and we were rewarded with more fagus, and even a platypus at the end of the hike! From here we headed to Stanley, a tiny little town way up north.
The place we stayed at in Stanley was very beautiful. It was situated on a hillside, overlooking the sea (although we couldn’t see this when we arrived because it was dark). Stanley is famed for “The Nut” which is large hill right next to the ocean. Kyle will forever remember the hike up it as the one that caused his legs to be sore for days!
Our trip then took us along the northern coast, a stop at Rocky Cape National Park where we saw a wombat, and then a drive through Beaconsfield, which was very somber due to the mining situation. We headed onto Lauceston where we visited Cataract Gorge. The most hilariously part of this was that they had a chairlift, coined the longest single spanned chairlift in the world, but we couldn’t stop laughing because it really wasn’t that spectacular, and reminded us of lifts we take to ski, but not even as nice! Regardless, we enjoyed ourselves and then headed out of town to our next stop of Scamander. After aimlessly driving around to find petrol (once you are out of a town, you are OUT OF A TOWN), we made our way. We arrived on the east coast in the evening, had great cheesecake and port, then hit the sack.
We managed to get up early the next day, and headed to Freycinet (pronounced FREE-SA-NEIGH) National Park where we got to hike the famous Wineglass Bay. It was a challenging hike especially when Kyle’s legs were still hurting from the Nut. We met some ladies, one from Indiana, the other with a Vermont College shirt on, while hiking who were quite humorous and took some pictures of us!
We headed south with intentions to visit Port Arthur, the famous convict town, but unfortunately never made it there because of time constraints. Instead we ended back up in Hobart, visited some wineries in the region, and settled into our last night. We stayied at a hostel and it turned out to be quite ‘dodgy’ – but met three nice guys from Hobart who begged us to stay another night so we could go to their favorite hangout called Flamingos (only can imagine what we would have found there).
That pretty much was our trip to ‘Tassie’. We had a wonderful time, and covered a lot of kilometers in the short time we were there. We arrived back in Adelaide the next morning and enjoyed the remaining day and a half left of the term break. Back to the grind...

April showers don't bring May flowers here....

2006-04-09T02:25:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post! Guess I will try to make up for lost time in this one. We have had a pretty good month. We attended the government open house the beginning of March, and met the Lieutenant Governor of South Australia(that's her with Kyle). Her position is appointed by the queen, therefore it is mainly a social position with no real power (and my new IDEAL job!). We had our pictures taken with her, which was fun. Once we get the pictures linked to this, you can view them. (That should occur fairly soon, as Kyle has gotten them all uploaded to Shutterfly).

I finished my internship, and am in the midst of finishing my final paper for graduate school. Actually my paper is all done - I'm just waiting for my evaluation from my supervisor at the hospital. In the mean time, the hospital offered me a casual/part-time position as a Health Promotion Officer. I accepted that position and have been working now for a few weeks. They are still trying to straighten out the paperwork since there was some fuss over them hiring a non-Australian.

Kyle's first term break starts this Friday the 14th. He is looking forward to the break and our first visitors. The Michigan contingent will arrive in Adelaide on the 17th, then we will all head to Kangaroo Island from the 18th to 21st. After that, we will return to Adelaide and then head seperate ways the beginning of the next week. Kyle and I will be heading to Tasmania from the 25th to the 29th where we plan on doing a lot of hiking. Tasmania is home to the convicts that were placed here by Britain, so apparently there is some interesting culture to learn about!

We now have two mountain bikes and have been enjoying our rides together. I would love to do a weekend long bike ride through the Adelaide Hills, however there is still some resistance (called Kyle) to this idea. We will see...

My Spanish class is on our first term break and will resume the beginning of May. It has been good so far, and hopefully I will keep learning! I have the most important phrase down: Quiero zapatos! Translation: I want shoes!

The weather continues to get cooler which seems weird since we are used to April as a warming up month. I am a little unsure what April exactly brings... Regardless of what it brings, we wish all of you a Happy Easter with lots of love and maybe a little bit of chocolate!

Christmas letter gone wrong

2006-03-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

Thought it was about time to do another post. I was trying to do them once a week, and I forgot last weekend! We are doing well, and can't believe it is the beginning of March. We have done some fun things the past few weeks. We bought a bike and are still looking for another one so we can increase our ability to see things locally. We attended the SAFM Sky Show that is held here in Adelaide, and for those that are familiar with the Jaffrey Fireworks show (I haven't ever been to them), apparently our show is not as good, but still way up there.

Last Friday night we went to the opening parade of the Fringe Festival. The parade was the craziest we have ever been to, and a lot of fun. Since the Fringe is an alternative type festival, what one would probably say as Off-Off Broadway - we were greatly entertained. After the parade we headed down to the "Garden of Unearthly Delights" and watched some side show performers. We plan on going to at least one of the main shows called La Clique.

Last weekend we also attended a BBQ at the home of our exchange partner's family. It is sort of comical because it was referred to as the an authentic Greek Australian BBQ - if you can image such a thing. We had a wonderful time and were able to get to know a woman who was an Australian Senator for the last 20 years. She had lived in the US back in the 60s(Bay area), and seemed to know extensive amounts of information about the US. The most exciting part though was the familial matriarch read my coffee cup! That was a first for me and I learned that my husband loves me very deeply, that money will never be a problem and oh, that a child will come very, very soon. These things are all just good fun, huh? Can't believe them...

Aussie Rules football or 'footy' as the call it has started, so here we are trying to learn yet another new sport. More details to follow...

We also went for our first 'bush' walk last week, although it wasn't as remote as we had hoped. We got to pick figs, and have classified them as one of our new favorite fruits (right next to the most amazing mangoes that are available here in Australia).

I joined a book club at the local library. Tonight was the first meeting. I also enrolled to take a year long Spanish class while we are here that starts Monday.

Tomorrow night we are headed to the opening celebration of the Adelaide Festival that runs throughout March. We are very excited because it is performance by the Italians who opened the Olympic Ceremony with the large balloons that have people attached. I realize I am not doing it justice, but I am assuming you may know what I mean. We will try to post a picture when we get some.

I guess that is about it! Did anybody else read this, and think "Christmas letter gone wrong?" I know I post every time about how we would love to hear from you, but we are serious - we would love to hear from you. Peace and love!

Cricket, Cricket

2006-02-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Happy start of the Olympics time! Of course, I am so excited about the games...

The internship is going - you know, just going. I spent Friday morning working on focus group questions for a deadline that afternoon. We are submitting to the ethics board in regards to a program that is starting at the hospital. The hope is that this work will get published, hence the reason for getting the ethics board involved. I have spent the last two weeks learning about childhood obesity, specifically in the 0 - 5 year old age range. Let's just say that the statistics are quite frightening. Possibly the first generation whose life expectancy may not exceed their parents - not a good prediction.

Kyle has settled in at school and seems to be enjoying things, although he could leave the long staff meetings, and some of the disciplinary issues. Yes, Mr. Houghton can be mean. : )

We had a great time last weekend at the Symphony Under the Stars. This weekend was our first experience with Cricket! We got tickets to the final series of Australia vs. Sri Lanka. The cricket started at 1:45pm, and finished at 10:00pm. That is not a misprint - it lasted over 8 hours! (In a traditional match - the game could go for 5 days.) We sat next to some fellow exchangers from England, who had a good grasp of the game, so now we can throw around the terms like wicket, and 50 over and seem semi-intelligent! We weren't there the whole time, maybe about 5.5 hours, and it was quite a bit of fun. Plus, we got to sit right in the middle of the bantering between the Sri Lankans (?) and the Australians. After our area had about ten police officers watching it, we figured that was a good time to leave. So regardless of that, we were hearing in our sleep last night the Australian chant which goes: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, and then you repeat Oi, Oi, Oi! Very difficult I know, but I believe Kyle and I have got it down.

Today we headed to a "barbie" and reserved our seats to the 'Red Center' for July, which should be a great time. We also got word yesterday that we will have our first visitors in April - The Houghton Michigan contingent! We are looking forward to that visit.

Adelaide is very busy this time of year - the festival season is upon us. Apparently it just keeps getting better. There are many plays and shows to see with the Adelaide Festival, as well as numerous international musical acts as part of this festival called the Fringe. Next weekend we will be off to the SAFM Sky show - a fireworks celebration set to music or something like that. Guess that is it for now - would love to hear from you, so drop us a line. Oh, and for anyone that calls us and gets our machine: the one with the screaming kids is us!

Happy February 1st!

2006-01-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking yesterday that I hadn't posted in bit, so here I am. Kyle and I are both in the working mode at this point. His first official day with the kids came this past Monday when I also started my internship. We both have been really busy this week and tired. I think it is because we have been on 'holiday' for so long.

Some things we have learned since we have gotten here:

Everyone says : 'How you going' rather than how are you doing? Hmmmmm... what is the appropriate response?

Rodeos are not favored here as there have been many issues involving animal cruelty recently, but the funny part is that they it as ROW DAY O (like the famous shopping drive in California)

We have been told by one 'mate' that he finds it incredibly annoying when Americans refer to sports team's season as the most winningest season ever. Australians says the 'most successful season'

We can't get away from American things! You turn on the radio - most of the music is American, same with the TV! (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - Desperate Housewives season premiere is this week, as well as all the other American show premieres)

AC/DC (the band) is considered an Australian band!

The song by Men at Work "Down Under" as in 'I came from the land down under' gets played very often (which I don't mind because I love it!)

We have a pretty full weekend lined up. Dinner with some co-worker of Kyle's on Friday, Symphony Under the Stars on Saturday, and a scrapbooking party on Sunday that a co-worker of Kyle is hosting.

The Super Bowl will be broadcasted live here on Monday - The best part is it comes on at 10AM, so guess we won't be watching it - but I do dare say: GO STEELERS! Pennsylvania Power all the way! Hopefully Kyle will win his football pool at his school in Colorado (since last we knew he was in first place).

Cheers and hope everyone is doing great!

P.S. We are slowly developing a theory about Australians and Spelling - we will post it when we have done more "research".

It's getting hot in here...

2006-01-21T02:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, do the conversion: it is 42.7 degrees Celsius here. Does anyone have any idea what that is in Fahrenheit? Let us tell you - about 110! That is how hot it is today! Adelaide is currently in the hottest weather streak it has seen since the 1940s. We spent most of today at the movie theater where we saw two movies just so we could be in the air conditioning. It is 8:30 at night, and still in the low 40s. Luckily, it looks like the weather will cool down in the next couple of days. It has been over 40 degrees for three days.

We spent yesterday at the beach. We took the bus to inner city, then hopped the tram to the shore (about 30 minutes travel time). The ocean was awesome. It felt like bath water, it was so warm yet it still cooled us off. I think it was one of the best beaches I have ever been to, and it is only 11K away!

On our way back from the beach we stopped at the Tour Down Under Tent where they had the different cyclists and their bikes. We inadvertently got on the local news channel, as we walked behind the reporter when he was on air (although we did not see it to be sure). Then we headed to the Central Market. This is a fairly popular and famous thing in Australia. It is filled with vendors selling fruit, meats, etc.

Kyle will be heading to school on Monday, and has been in contact with his principal, Peter, and co-worker, Evelynne. I told him that tomorrow he gets to pick whatever activity he would like to do since it is his last free day, so we may be heading to a place that you get to see kangaroos that he has been to before. Hopefully it will be cool (in temperature of course!)

That's all for now...

We are officially DOWN UNDER!

2006-01-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Australia on the 16th, as planned, however our flight leaving New Zealand was delayed, in turn causing us to miss our connection in Sydney. Qantas booked us for a flight the next morning for Adelaide, so our first night in the country was at the Holiday Inn. Qantas took great care of us covering the room cost, as well as dinner and brekkie (the Australian world for breakfast). Our exchangee, Pam, had set up her brother-in-law, Andrew,and his wife, Effy, to pick us up from the airport. Because of the delay, they were there to get us, except we weren't on that flight. After some confusion, they realized what happened, and we were able to get in touch with them. So, yesterday (the 17th), we arrived in Adelaide at 10:00 AM where Andrew and Pam's father-in-law, George picked us up. They were holding a cute little sign that said Kyle and Melissa. The humidity here hit us immediately, as well as the flies that are very bothersome. They will not leave you alone.

We were taken to our place, a cute bungalow very near Kyle's school,to get settled. George took us for coffee and to the chemist (our equivalent of a drugstore) to pick up contact solution for myself that I seemed to have lost between here and New Zealand. I was introduced to the most fabulous coffee drink ever put on the face of this earth called affrago (I think). It is espresso and a scoop of ice cream and just is divine!
In the afternoon, Andrew and Effy picked us up, took us on a tour of Adelaide, then to dinner at a typical Australian pub. We had some great Australian wine made in the Adelaide Hills, and had wonderful conversation with them about cricket, politics, and expressions.

We headed to the gym this morning then the grocery store. A unique thing about their grocery stores is that there are different owners occupying the store. So, in the one today, one guy owned the produce, one owned the deli, and then another owned the dried goods. You have to pay at the respective place before you move on. We thought that was sort of interesting.

Right now in Adelaide is the Tour Down Under - the Australian equivalent of the Tour de France. I am very excited about seeing it, and we will go on Sunday for the last leg that ends here in town. Also coming up is Aussie Day (January 26th), which is our equivalent or very similar to the Fourth of July. Just a couple of things we are looking forward to.
Would love to hear from you, so drop us a line!

The Southern Alps

2006-01-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

We currently are in Te Anau, which is about two hours from the Milford Sound, located in the Fiordland National Park. This by far has been the most beautiful, amazingly wonderful spot of our trip. The Southern Alps are gorgeous, as are the fiords. We have spent the last few days enjoying many great wonders of this area. After we left Abel Tasman, we headed south, made a stop at a national park along the road that had pancake rocks,and blowholes. Then we headed to the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. We hiked to both of these glaciers and were in awe over the size of these things. The oddities regarding these glaciers are their close location to the ocean, as well as location to the equator. At the Fox Glacier, it was pouring so hard, and I ended up pretty wet. After we finished there, we headed for Queenstown.

Since it was pouring non-stop, we got ourselves a hotel room at the Queenstown Lodge overlooking the lake. We enjoyed a bed since it had been nearly two weeks of sleeping on the ground, and a couple of showers in the short timespan of staying there. The next morning we decided that Queenstown is our ideal retirement home with mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, and skiing, hiking, and paddling galore! We headed south out of Queenstown, and our jaws have remained open since. Those scenes in Lord of the Rings, where you think that those mountains could not be real, well they are! We got to Milford Sound yesterday around 3 PM, and booked the last boat we could for a cruise. The two hour boat ride took us out the fiord, and to sea. We saw so many waterfalls coming down from the sheer cliffs, and some more seals. I can't even do the scenery justice - it was just stunning! We both agree that this is a must-see for everyone!

We met up with a family that we were camping next to us a few nights ago, who were also on the same cruise as us at the Milford Sound. The ironic part about it is that they are from Denver, and are currently living in Australia for year. He is a physician with the University of Colorado Health Science Center, and is on a sabbatical in Melbourne, Australia. By the end of the trip we exchanged contact information, and plan on getting together with them in Australia.

It truly is a small world, as when we were crossing to the South Island, a guy happened to notice my bookmark that had a Colorado address on it, and asked if I was from Colorado. It turns out he was from Loveland! As some of you know, that is only 15 minutes away from Longmont, and here he is standing next to me on a ferry on the other side of the planet!

Anyways, just to respond to some questions that we have gotten - the pictures we are posting are ones from the internet. We tried putting our pictures up, but the computer won't let us. Once we get to Australia - we will post our own pictures. (Actually, we are getting them all put on disc as we speak, so it may be sooner than that.)

This morning we hiked on the world famous Routeburn Track, and had a wonderful time. We are on our way to Invercargill, then Dunedin, then Christchurch. We have been staying fairly clean, but getting quite a few bugbites from the sandflies. This may be our last post until we get "home" on the 16th. See you then!

South Island, we have arrived!

2006-01-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

On the 8th, we took the ferry from Wellington to Picton. It was about a three hour ride and very beautiful. We crossed the Cook Straight, which apparently was relatively tame, so the sea sickness was very minimal for me (unlike when we were in Hawaii). We got our rental car in Picton, and headed to Abel Tasman National Park, several hours away. We had to stop in Nelson on the way to exchange our car because when we picked it up at the Picton office, some had previously tried to break into it, and we could not use the key to open the door. Since we have all our luggage for a year with us, we didn't feel comfortable using this vehicle, so they exchanged it for us. After that was done, we got to the National Park around 7 PM, found a camping spot, and went for a wonderful evening hike on the Abel Tasman Track, which is one of the top hikes in the country. It was pretty, and we saw a lot of birds. We are off to National Park number 2 today, then further down the west coast to the Fiords. Our fathers are present in our trip as today we will be seeing Owen Mountain, and tomorrow we will be going to Arthur's Pass National Park. How crazy! One thing we did miss in our travels the last two days was a stop at Houghton Bay near Wellington. We saw it on the map and meant to get to it, then it slipped our mind.
We are on the homestretch of our trip. I think this is Day 13. Still so much more to see. We will be in touch!

Commando in the Coromandel : )

2006-01-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hey! We finally got internet access again, well at least relatively inexpensive internet (NZ$7/hr)! We currently are on the Coromandel Peninsula just south of Auckland. We decided to rent a car, as the bus fares were adding up to the cost of having our own car. We got the car in Rotorua, and then drove here. We got to Hot Water Beach at the perfect time - low tide. It is during this time, when the water recedes, that you are able to dig a hole in the sand, which then fills with hot water from below due to the volcanic activity. OK, so we have never done anything like this, and we are thinking hot is equivalent to warm, but we were very wrong. It is scalding, burning hot! It was a great experience, and a great work out digging with our rented spade. The weather has been a bit rainy, but not preventing us from doing our chosen activities. This morning we got up around 6am and hiked to the Cathedral Cove (pictured above), where we met a lovely NZ woman on holiday from Auckland. We are heading back to Auckland to pick up the remainder of our 250 plus lbs. of luggage, then will head to Waitomo Caves, then cross to the South Island on the 8th. We will be sure to update at our next chance. Love to all!

Rotorua, Home of the famous hot springs

2006-01-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

We have left the Northland area, Bay of Islands region, where we celebrated New Years. It was quite beautiful there. We spent time at the beach, hiking to Haruru Falls, and then visiting the Waitangi Treaty Center, where this famous treaty was signed by the Maori (the indigenous NZ folk) and the British. It was pretty neat, as we got to see the largest war canoe in the world. We are now in Rotorua, where there are some of the world's largest hot springs, along with many other things. We arrived late last night via bus. We had been traveling for 12 hours on it, and it was surprising not that bad. We both have been reading tons, and I actually finished my book last night, so I need to go and get a new one. Kyle is feeling under the weather today - he has renamed this town Rotor-Rooter, if that helps explain the situation any more. That's it for now, since this internet connection is a bit more expensive than we are used to ($5 for 20 minutes).

Greetings from Auckland, New Zealand

2005-12-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

We made it to New Zealand yesterday afternoon with minimal troubles. We are staying at a nice little hostel in Ponsonby - a cute section of the city. We spent today at the Sky Tower, the Southern Hemisphere's tallest building. Then we visited Kelly Tarlton's Antartic Encounter, where we got to see penguins, sharks and more. Tomorrow we will be heading north to tour more of the North Island. Our mode of transportation is still up for debate.

Before our flight left on the 26th, we spent the day in Hollywood, California. We saw the sign (after driving around aimlessly), and went on a great hike in the Hollywood Hills. We hit Rodeo Drive, and Beverly Hills, then headed to Venice Beach for dinner. It was surprisingly cool there - actually Denver was a lot warmer! We spent the night at this place called Tradewinds Hotel - however it was a bit sketchy, so we were glad to check out.

We called our exchange family the evening of their arrival in Denver to chat. Unfortunately we did not get to meet up. As we found out later, Pam left messages with our 'hotel' but we never received them. We will make it a point to meet them on our way back.

That's the update for now - we will keep you posted!

Happy Solstice ( a day late)!

2005-12-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

Three days left and still so much to do. All the 'big' stuff has been done - or so we think. Our exchange family has already arrived in the US, and are spending Christmas in LA. We have lined up a meeting with them on the 26th, as we prepare to leave for New Zealand, and they head to Colorado.

We have had a wonderful last week in Colorado for now. Yesterday I went to Red Rocks with a dear friend and her beautiful daughter to celebrate the winter solstice. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise, complete with drumming and sage burning. It truly is a time for new beginnings. Although this ritual can be called a pagan holiday, I look at it as a time to celebrate all the beautiful things around us.

Today another dear friend and I went to High Noon Tea - something I have never done. We got to wear cool hats, had many delicious fingerfoods, and wonderful tea. I really think the British are on to something... Then tonight we got to spend time with some family that live in the Denver area. Once again they treated us to wonderful fresh fish that they brought from Alaska.

This will probably be the last post before we leave, so although I am unsure of the true meaning of this saying (and if anyone knows, can you fill me in?)- somehow I think its appropriate: Godspeed.

One week to go...

2005-12-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

A week from today (Christmas Day) we will be leaving for LA where we will spend the night and leave 10:30 PM on the 26th for New Zealand. We are hoping to meet our exchange family who will be vacationing in LA during this time. We have been busy with preparations - I am almost completely packed. (Don't ask about Kyle's status!)
The basic outline for our New Zealand trip is that we will fly into Auckland (North Island), tour that area for about 1.5 weeks, then take a ferry to the South Island, then leave from Christchurch to Adelaide on January 16th.
Some of the hostels that we have looked into have internet access, so I am thinking that keeping touch via E-mail may be easier than we anticipated.
Its hard to believe that a week from today is when we leave, but that it is also Christmas! We hope everyone has a peaceful holiday season. You are all in our thoughts.

Twelve days left and counting before departure....

2005-12-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Twelve days left before our departure to the other side of the planet. As each day goes by, the nervousness/excitement continues to grow. Things seem to be coming together - sold my car today, received the visas last week, have the plane tickets, and my last day of work is this Thursday. However, we are still looking for someone to take our cat, Jack, or as our niece Autumn would say "Jacks." I continually remind myself about how lucky and fortunate we are for this upcoming experience, and what an awesome husband I have to score this gig! With the passing of my aunt this past Thursday, it serves as a reminder to live your life to the fullest...