Oct 23 - 25 Weekend - Pizza, My Sister Judy, and Williamstown Adventures

Friday evening Danielle and Zane  picked me up and we headed to Lygon Street for pizza and wine.  As is customary at many restaurants here in Melbourne we brought our own wine. To our surprise there was no corkage fee so we totally scored.  The pizza was great and the company awesome.  It’s always nice for me to have people to go out to eat with.

Saturday morning I spent about three hours talking with two good friends from back home.  Being away most weekends and with the awful time difference it’s been really hard for me to actually chat with my friends back home (yes we e-mail but it’s not the same).  It was so nice to hear their voices and catch up a bit.  I know that I will be home sooner than I may want to be (I’m having issues with barely getting  a summer before heading back into winter) but knowing that I have great friends waiting for me back home makes the return that much more exciting.

After the lengthy phone conversations I headed into town to pick up my sister Judy from Southern Cross station.  After her epic journey across the world she arrived safely less one of her suitcases.  I got her back to my Melbourne home, she unpacked and we headed out via foot.  I showed her around Brunswick Street and Smith Street and we checked out the Rose Street Market.  We ate dinner on Brunswick Street and Plant Veg (I think?) and while it’s a completely vegetarian restaurant the food was fantastic.  Everything we saw come out of the kitchen looked wonderful.  I’m sure I’ll be back there before I ship off to Canada.  


When we got back to the apartment Qantas called and Judy was happily reunited with her second bag.

Today we were up some what early and I showed Judy where I like to run (when I run).  We then walked along Johnston street to Smith Street and I showed her the Crumpler store ( an iconic Melbourne bag).  I don’t own one yet and after checking on line its actually less expensive for me to buy it in Canada than to buy it here in Melbourne.  Weird eh?  (Mind you maybe that was before the Aussie dollar became pretty much ON PAR with the Canadian one).  Any how during our post run walk I finally got to try (apparently) the BEST chocolate croissants outside of France.  I don’t remember the name of the shop but I do know it’s at 90 Smith Street.  I’m not a huge pastry fan but the croissant was delicious.  

Eventually Judy and I made it home and after quick showers we were off again.  Our first stop was the city for some wandering around in the little secret alleyways.  We were going to have lunch there but Danielle had called and we arranged to meet at the Art’s Centre Market on South Bank.  We met up with them and snooped around a bit.  I managed to purchase ANOTHER little change purse (my FOURTH).  I had mentioned to Danielle that I was thinking of taking Judy to Williamstown (a suburb of Melbourne) via train.  I have never been and obviously Judy had never been.  Danielle suggested we take a ferry there.  So we checked it out and just a few minutes later and a few dollars poorer we were on the boat to Williamstown.

Judy, Me, and Danielle at the Market

(thanks Zane for taking the picture)

The ride was quite lovely until the waves got choppier and the water started to spill onto the deck.  

View of the Central Business District from the Water

Judy and I on the Boat

(Yes it is sunny but the wind is COLD)

More views....

Still more views...

We arrived in Williamstown about an hour later.  We snooped around a bit, walked to the beach, and snooped around a bit more.  

View from the Pier in Williamstown Looking Back at the City.

Williamstown Cafe Street

More of Williamstown

The Water 

(The official Williamstown Beach was just to the right of this photo)

We ended up in the Coles grocery store so that I could pick up my necessary items for my lunches this week.  In the grocery store I showed Judy the dog food that is sold in the meat section of the store in refrigeration.  I don’t think we have ANYTHING like that back home (but then I could be wrong and D. I’m sure you’ll let me know).

The Dog Food Section in the Meat Department

More Proof

We then headed to the Williamstown Train Station.  This is where the journey home fun began.  NOT!!  When we visited the Williamstown Tourist Information Booth we were told that they were doing some work on the Williamstown train line and so they had busses shuttling passengers between stations.  I asked about the time of the busses and so Judy and I were sure to be at the station on time.  

We arrived at the  designated bus stop and waited.  We asked the people at the bus stop if we were at the right stop.  All was good until a bus FINALLY arrived and we found out we were ALL on the wrong side of the road.  This pissed us off because we saw THREE busses go by in the opposite direction. So we all (there were eight of us at this point) crossed the road and waited another twenty or so minutes until we could flag a bus down going in the right direction.  

The bus ride to the “working” train station was uneventful.  We headed onto the platform and boarded the waiting train to find out moment later that the train was damaged.  We had to leave the train because this one was cancelled.  The next train was scheduled to go 30 minute later.   Needless to say we were upset.  Connex (the train operators) tried to put out some fires and by getting us a bus and taking us to Footscray station instead of making us wait 30 min for the next train.  

It seemed like a great thing except by the time we got to Footscray station we just missed a train into the city and had to wait another 20 minutes for the next train.  I’m sure the train we missed must have been the train that left the other station 30 min later.  So needless to say by this point Judy and I are tired, hungry, and grumpy. 

Our train finally arrived and we headed to Southern Cross station.  We decided on the train that we were going to take the 112 tram directly to the Moroccan Soup Kitchen and HOPE that it was open and that we could get a table.  We RAN for the tram and made it (yah a small victory during this transit hell commute), and arrived at the Moroccan Soup Kitchen TWO HOURS after we left Williamstown.  Thankfully they were able to provide us a meal as long as we left within an hour.  The meal, as I already knew it would be, was fantastic.  My second great vegetarian meal of the weekend.

So now I’m home. I was working on my report cards for a bit while Judy watched some of Australian Idol.  I’m not too motivated to write the reports though which isn’t so good.  However, I know they will get done eventually.

I have a shorter work week this week because on Tuesday I need to head back to see the Gastrointerologist here in Melbourne and the appointment is smack in the middle of the day.  I guess it worked out nicely though because it will allow me to spend a bit of time with Judy before and after the appointment.

Until then have a great week.

Oh a couple more photos for a couple of people.  The first is a picture of the new school construction going on at Footscray North Primary School.  The second is for one person in particularly and they know who they are.  

The New Building Under Construction

Binks Ford - Light Trucks

(You know who, are you sure you don't own this?)

The Adventures of Yard Duty

Friday is the day that I have most of my 60 minutes of yard duty.  Usually things are pretty quiet - I chat with children hanging around me or I just wander and watch keeping everyone safe.  Occasionally I deal with a little more foul language than I'd like or some pretty aggressive behaviour.

Today was a lot different.  It was a beautiful sunny day and all was going smoothly until I heard a terrible scream.  I turn to find a little preppie (ie kindergartener) screaming and walking towards me.  I run to her to see an arm looking nothing like an arm should look.  Instead of a regular straight line it had an S bend BELOW the wrist.  The poor thing, it was obvious, had broken her arm.  Needless to say I tried my best to clear the rest of the kids away and I called for back up.

I can't tell you how brave this little girl was.  At first she was wailing but after not too many seconds she was calm and just asking for her mom.  Shock does do a wonderful thing for the body when it's under severe stress.

I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of her arm.  It's definitely another memory from my year here in Australia.

Kangaroo Island Oct 16 - 17, 2009

Back in June I was checking out cheap flights and found one to Adelaide for only $28 AU (and $44  back).  Obviously I purchased them and this weekend I headed back to South Australia to check out Kangaroo Island.

I was picked up by my tour at 6:30 am and we headed to Cape Jervis via the Fleurieu Peninsula to catch the 9 am Sea Link ferry over to Kangaroo Island.  The drive down was really beautiful as we passed through the Mclaren Vale wine region.  We arrived on the island at about 9:45 am.  Our first stop was the town of Penneshaw.  We picked up a bit of food and drink before heading to our official first stop on the island, Pennington Bay.

Pennington Bay

My crazy as every hair, in the wind, at Pennington Bay

Out next stop was at Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery which is the only commercial eucalyptus distillery in South Australia.  I learnt a bit about eucalyptus but the highlight of the visit was seeing a baby kangaroo (a Joey) and a baby wallaby.

The Joey (baby kangaroo)

Look, I'm a mom!

(My child is a baby wallaby)

One thing I noticed about the island is that while there is a main paved road, most of the roads are just dirt roads like the one in the photo below.

A typical road on Kangaroo Island

From the distillery we met up with the people on the three day tour and had lunch.  

At this point our tours officially joined together.  There were six of them and nine of us.  Well jelled quickly and set on our way with our young tour guide Jordan.  The first place he took us too was Vivonne Bay.  It  won the best beach in Australia award a few years ago.  Obviously the pictures don't do it justice.

Vivonne Bay

Me on the rocks at Vivonne Bay.

From Vivonne we headed to Seal Bay to see the endangered Australian Sea Lions.  It's a breeding colony for the seal lions.  We stayed about 10 m away.  We watched them for a while and it was cool to see how they interact with one another and how they move over the sand. 

Yah, they look pretty lazy here but they really did move quite quickly.

"Where's my baby?"

From Seal Bay we headed to "Little Sahara" for some fun in the sand.  Back when I was in New Zealand I did some sand boarding.  Here on Kangaroo Island I did a bit more.  It was fun but I was a bit of a chicken to stand on the sand board.  Eventually I did give it a go but thankfully my board moved very very slowly.

After the sand boarding we dropped those interested in quad biking to the activity centre and we headed back to Vivonne Bay.  Jordan wanted to catch a squid so that he could make us REAL FRESH calamari.  Within a few minutes he had what he wanted.

Mr. Squid

(later to be known as very tasty calamari)

We then headed back , prepared  and ate dinner.  After dinner we went back to Vivonne Bay to see the penguins come out of the water and into their burrows.  I think we got there a bit too late though because we only saw a few penguins and most were already in their burrows.  We then headed to our accommodation for the night - Kaiwarra Farm.  We had a campfire, roasted marshmellows, and enjoyed Jordan's calamari.  We also saw Kangaroos, and Wallabys sitting around in the dark.

The next day we were up early to head into Flinders Chase National Park.  Jordan pointed out a really old Yaka Tree.  It was pretty cool.  They look like big leafy plant but the grow up like trees.  So in a sense they look like a tree with a green wig on its top.  

We also stopped at Bunker Hill Lookout while driving in the park.  Jordan wanted to give us an idea of the different types of landscape on the island.

View from Bunker Hill

We then headed towards Remarkable Rocks which are these  rocks that have come out of no where.

Remarkable Rocks in the Distance

My group acting like surfers (I think)

(This picture was taken many times and each time we had to act differently)

We drove the "roller coaster" road (putting our hands in the air as we went down each hill) until we finally arrived at Remarkable Rocks.

Jordan tried to tell us that these rocks were the remarkable rocks.

Here are some pictures from Remarkable Rocks including some silly ones of me in or on the rocks. As you can see they are really quite incredible.

From the Remarkable Rocks we headed to Weirs Cove.  The water was just so amazing there.  In the olden days the supplies would arrive on the island at this point and they would haul it up the hill.

Weirs Cove

From Weirs Cove we headed to Admirals Arch.  On the way down to the Arch we saw a New Zealand Fur Seal colony down on the rocks.  At first they were hard to see but once my eyes adjusted they just popped out all over the place.

Can you see the seals?

Admirals Arch

From Admirals Arch Jordan took us to his favourite beach on the island called Snelling Beach.  The scenery around the beach was beautiful (the entire island is quite lovely).  From Snelling we headed to Stokes Bay.  After a quick hike around some rocks we discovered another wonderful beach.  

Stokes Bay was our last before we boarded  a private dolphin charter boat  to head back to the mainland.  Unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins and my camera was running on real real low battery power.

Snelling Beach down in the distance

Stokes Bay

Once back in Adelaide most of the group headed out for drinks.  Unfortunately I didn't go - for a couple of reasons.  The first was that I really had nothing to wear.  Since I came over with just a small carry on backpack all I had was "Kangaroo Island" clothing not going for a drink clothing.  The Kangaroo Island clothing was pretty dirty.  The second reason is that I could have mothered some of the people in the group.  Everyone was super nice though but I did feel a bit OLD around them.

On my final day in Adelaide I headed to the Rundle Street Market.  I managed to pick up something small from the market but overall it wasn't a great market.  There was talk that some of the people in the group were going to go to the market too and I was hoping to meet up with them but in the ended I didn't see anyone.  From checking out people's facebook pages I see that they did meet up.  It's too bad I didn't see them.

Anyhow I'm now back in Melbourne.  My sister Judy arrives on Saturday and we have some fun and adventure planned.  I really need to give my report cards some of my time too because I have visitor after visitor the next few weeks. I'm also heading back to Tasmania, and to Brisbane in that time.  I just can't get into them at all.  Can you blame me?

Until my next blog....

A Forty Nine Flight Year or Is It Fifty After All?

Wow, I can't believe it.  This morning I booked flight 48 and 49 of my 365 day adventure.  I actually thought I had 50 flights until I wrote them out and realized it was only 49.


Here's what my year abroad will look like by the time I land back in Vancouver on Dec 23, 2009.

1. Vancouver - Hong Kong (Dec 08)

2. Hong Kong - Bangkok (Dec 08)

3. Bangkok - Krabi (Dec 08)

4. Krabi - Samui (Dec 08)

5. Samui - Bangkok (Jan 09)

6. Bangkok - Chiang Mai (Jan 09)

7. Chiang Mai - Bangkok (Jan 09)

8. Bangkok -  Hong Kong (Jan 09)

9. Hong Kong - Adelaide (Jan 09)

10. Adelaide - Melbourne (Jan 09)

11. Melbourne - Alice Springs (Jan 09)

12. Alice Springs - Melbourne (Jan 09)

13. Melbourne - Canberra (March 09)

14. Canberra - Melbourne (March 09)

15. Melbourne - Auckland (April 09)

16. Auckland - Tauranga (April 09)

17. Napier - Wellington (April 09)

18. Wellington - Auckland (April 09)

19. Auckland - Melbourne (April 09)

20. Melbourne - Sydney (May 09)

21. Sydney - Melbourne (May 09)

22. Melbourne - Perth (May 09)

23. Perth - Melbourne (May 09)

24. Melbourne - Adelaide (June 09)

25. Adelaide - Melbourne (June 09)

26. Melbourne - Brisbane (June 09)

27. Brisbane - Cairns (June 09)

28. Cairns - Brisbane (July 09)

29. Brisbane - Prosperine (July 09)

30. Prosperine - Brisbane (July 09)

31. Brisbane - Melbourne (July 09)

32 Melbourne - Darwin (Aug 09)

33. Darwin - Melbourne (Aug 09)

34 Melbourne - Hobart (Aug 09)

35. Hobart - Melbourne (Aug 09)

36. Melbourne - Sydney (Sept 09)

37. Sydney - Hervey Bay (Sept 09)

38. Ballina - Sydney (Oct 09)

(although I ended up flying out of Coolangatta)

39. Sydney - Melbourne (Oct 09)

*40. Melbourne - Adelaide (Oct 09)

*41. Adelaide - Melbourne (Oct 09)

*42. Melbourne - Lauceston (Oct 09)

*43. Lauceston - Melbourne (Oct 09)

*44. Melbourne - Brisbane (Nov 09)

*45. Brisbane - Melbourne (Nov 09)

*46. Melbourne - Coolangatta (Nov 09)

*47. Coolangatta - Melbourne (Nov 09)

*48. Melbourne - Hong Kong (Dec 09)

*49. Hong Kong - VANCOUVER!!! (Dec 09)

* = still to come


But, as I look back on my adventures I DID fly in a helicopter over the Great Ocean Road back in February.  So the question to you readers is... does that make my count 50? 

School Concert, Class Assembly, and the Melbourne Half Marathon

This week I was back at work for my fourth and final term at my Aussie school.  To my surprise I didn’t have any new students waiting to join my class but I know this is only temporary.  For what ever reason this week wasn’t too bad.  We had our school concert on Thursday night and it was our week to present the assembly to the school on Friday.  Both went off without a hitch.  Our after school meetings were cancelled too which was great and allowed me to get home to meet up with Tammy a lot more quickly.  It’s too bad  the meetings were only cancelled this week.

Tammy had a good week exploring Melbourne, visiting the Great Ocean Road, and checking out the fun on Phillip Island.  It was really nice to have company for the week.  We managed to eat out a few times too which is a real treat for me being here on my own.  Obviously we missed the fun times we had with Nancy but soon enough I’ll be back in Vancouver.

Today was the Melbourne Half Marathon.  If you remember I signed up for the race a couple of months back but I really had no idea when I’d make the time to run.  Needless to say I didn’t train for this run.  I think in the past three months I’ve run five times TOTAL and the longest run was 40 min.  Heck before this morning my last run was three weeks ago when Tammy and Nancy arrived and we ran 30 minutes to a fantastic craft market (can you see where my head is these days?).  I have run for the odd tram but I don’t think that really counts for training. Anyhow with no expectations Tammy and I headed to the start of the race.  Our plan was to follow what Erica and I did for the Nike Women’s marathon a year earlier and that was to run five minutes walk one minute over and over with an extra five minute walk added in every so often.  We met up with Linh from my school. She was running her first half marathon and like Tammy and I she had no training.  

We took a few photos at the start before heading on our way.  We were very lucky because the sun was out and the weather was perfect.  The event was impressively well organized  too.  Tammy, Linh and I got into the routine of walking and running.   We certainly didn’t run quickly but we consistently moved forward.  We chatted with a few people along the way and some nice Aussie took some photos for us.  A little after the half way point Linh needed to walk a bit more than we had planned and so she dropped back.  I was so impressed with Tammy’s determination.  She’s been through so much these past few years and she still has a lot of day to day pain to deal with.  I was a bit worried that at some point in the course she would be in too much pain and that it would be a long walk to the finish.  But no, she kept going, and we managed to keep her pain in check.  We did our final victory lap on the grass of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (to a Melbournite that’s a really big deal) and while I set a new personal worst I had a ton of fun doing it.

Tammy and I with the Bananas in Pajamas before the race started.

Tammy, Linh, and I before the race start.

Linh, me, and Tammy on the course

(yah, we weren't up with the crowds)

Entering the MCG

(We reconnected with the marathoners and five km runners so it was crowded again)

Tammy crossing the finish line

(I was just a few seconds ahead so that I could take this photo for her)

Me just after we finished.

After a quick shower and some much needed food Tammy and I headed into the city to meet up with my friend Jenny Smith and her family.  I met Jenny in Vancouver over twenty years ago but we’ve been out of contact for many years.  She and her husband Ray live in Brisbane these days with their children Emma and Owen.  Jenny and Ray ran their first half marathons this morning and they both had fantastic races.  It was so nice to catch up with Jenny.  It has me thinking that even though I don’t have many free weekends left before I head back to Vancouver I really should find some time to visit Brisbane.

Me and Jenny

Emma, Ray, Me, Jenny, and Tammy

(in one of the small alleyways in Melbourne)

Anyhow, that’s my week in review.  Tammy heads back to Vancouver tomorrow.  We’ve had a really great visit.  I know she misses her husband and children a lot but I also know it’s been great for her to have to be responsible for only herself.  My loneliness won’t last too long though because  my sister Judy arrives in less than two weeks.  I also have a trip planned to Kangaroo Island this up coming weekend so time will continue to fly.  Some where I need to find some time to make a dent in my report cards.  Once Judy arrives, Nancy H and Mike come shortly after that.  By the time Nancy H leaves it will be the end of November.  I leave Australia on Dec 21st.  So time is ticking by very quickly.