Six Wineries Later....

Although I stayed in town this weekend I can't really complain.  On Saturday I spent the morning running "long" in a different direction taking me to places I had never seen before.  I must say I love the one way running I've been doing.  I set out and run and when I've run long enough I find my nearest form of public transportation and make my way back to my place. This Saturday was no exception.  Instead of running on the Capital City Trail I decided to stick to the Merri Creek trail and I headed west and north (instead of south and east).  I ended up on Sydney road in North Coburg and made my way back home.  Before I boarded my bus I picked up a great coffee from a french bakery.  After a quick shower I caught the tram and train to Prahan and met Samantha for lunch.  I then snooped around Chapel street again (and found the Dan Murphy so I bought some wine in honour of RWN's up coming birthday) before heading into the city for some errands.  In the evening I met Katherine and her friends at a restaurant/bar on South Bank.

This morning I met up with Zane and Danielle (two fellow Canadians on exchange just like me) and we headed out to the Yarra Valley for the Shortest Lunch.   It is an event put on by the smaller wineries of the Yarra Valley.  Sixteen wineries were involved providing free wine tasting  and small meals available for purchase.  Since I'm in the southern hemisphere these days June 21st marked the shortest day of the year - hence the shortest lunch event.

We saw this sign at each of the wineries we visited along with a free breathometer.

Our first stop was at Panton Hill Winery.  To our surprise the wine maker was actually Canadian although he's been living in Australia for 30 years.  We were lucky enough to have our tasting presented to us by him and he entertained us with his vast knowledge of wine.  Along with the tasting we sampled their "Sardinian Slow Cooked Lamb in Fennel".  I left the first winnery with a lot more knowledge about wine, a fennel, and a great bottle of red wine.

Me and Danielle 

Me, Zane, and Danielle

Our next stop was at Lovegrove Winery. As we drove in we saw a Kangaroo sitting in the middle of the vineyard.  Danielle and I tried to take photos but a large NOISY van went by and it hopped away quickly.  You'll have to take my work for it.  When I got into the cellar door I was taken a back. The host seemed a bit rude and not all that interested in us sampling his wine.  But thankfully  in the end the man who gave us our wine tasting (a different one than we met at first) was very informative.  Here we sampled their Boeuf Bourguignon (Burgundy Beef) and enjoyed their wine.  I left with another bottle of red wine.

Our third stop was at Yileena Park.  Here we encountered a man that liked that I was from Vancouver so we again got great service.  As you can see from the photos below the surrounding area was beautiful.  At this winery we had Penne Pasta with Mediterranean Sauce.  We also spotted another Kangaroo.  Although it wasn't in the vineyard I was able to take a photo of it on the grounds.

Yileena Park grounds - if you look closely there is a kangaroo in the middle of the photo

Yileena Park Vineyard

Our fourth stop was Steels Creek Estate.  Steels Creek Estate was badly damaged in the fires back in February and you can see signs of this damage as you drive onto the property.  The wine at Steels Creek was great and so too was the beef and eggplant we sampled.

Zane and Danielle

Zane using the Breathometer - don't worry he was always under the legal limit 

(which is even lower than it is back at home)

The Steels Creek Grounds not damaged by fire

Our fifth stop was at Allinda Winery.  I was impressed with Allinda for a variety of reasons.  The first was the incredible view out the back.  I could have spent all afternoon looking at it.  The next reason was the wine maker Al.  It was easy to see that he made his wine out of love.  Al took us through our wine tasting and then we sampled marinated garlic prawns.  At this winery we ran into Zane and Danielle's neighbours in Australia who happen to also be Canadian.  Apparently there were four canadian groups rooming the vineyards on this day.

The View from Allinda

Al the Wine Maker

Our sixth stop was at Miller's Dixons Creek Estate .  It was the first winery that I had already tasted  at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival back in March.  It was interesting for me to double check my comments on their wine from that day in March.  I still liked the wine I had already liked but I appreciated one of their ones more today then I did back in March.  Perhaps it had something to do with drinking red wine in the heat (it was hot in March) or perhaps it was because I had sampled far too many wines at the festival a few months back.

By the time we left Miller's it was after five o'clock and the event finished at 5.  We didn't even get a chance to  sample food at Miller's.  However back at Allinda's we were told that the Yering Farm Winery often stayed open later sampling their wine and selling their hand made apple pies (with FRESH apples being picked from their property).  Knowing this, and knowing that we weren't too far way we headed there. Unfortunately by the time we arrived all the pies were gone and they were in fact closed for the day.  

Overall it was another great weekend in Australia.  Thankfully I have only one more week of work before I'm on school holidays again.  It will be a long week though as my report cards go home to parents this week and I have parent teacher interviews.  Thankfully I can see some light (and SUN) at the end of this week.

Mid Week Update with Photos and More Flights Booked!

Today I attended the second part of a two day workshop on the Observation Survey.  The workshop itself wasn't all that interesting (although more interesting than the first part) but what I liked about it is that it took me to another part of Melbourne.  The photos of Altona Beach below were taking just blocks from Altona Primary the sight of my workshop.

Altona Beach

Altona Beach

While in Altona I snooped around a bit in the small shopping area.  I went into a bike store and saw a great cycling vest - which I didn't buy, at least not yet.  From there I boarded the train and headed into the city to transfer money and look for a couple of things.  The train is just a commuter train and it took about 40 min to get to Southern Cross the main train station.  Below is a picture of Southern Cross.  I really like that train station because it's always busy with action.  It's also home to the main bus terminal.

Southern Cross Train Station

Outside of Southern Cross there is a D.F.O. (Designer Factory Outlet).  I did a quick snoop around but couldn't find what I was looking for. I did try on a super cute dress but my pudgy body didn't look all that good in it.  I think I've mentioned before that Melbourne has great shopping, great coffee, great food, and great chocolate.  I've taken full advantage of all the edible options.  The photo below  shows one of many many chocolate restaurants here in Melbourne.

Below is a picture taken from the top stairs at Southern Cross Railway.  It's looking north up Bourke Street and at the front of the photo is Spencer Street.  When I'm going home from Southern Cross I catch my tram at the stop on the left, just across the street from the station.  Not bad eh!

It's really convenient for me to get from my Melbourne home to the airport.  All I have to do is catch a tram from my home to Southern Cross, then catch a bus directly to the airport.  It's a good thing it's convenient because I've booked more flights.  In case you haven't been able to keep track since I arrived in Australia I've been to the airport for the following trips:

Melbourne-Alice Springs - Melbourne

Melbourne - Canberra - Melbourne

Melbourne- New Zealand - Melbourne

Melbourne - Sydney - Melbourne

Melbourne - Perth - Melbourne

Melbourne - Adelaide - Melbourne

In addition I have the following airplane trips to look forward to still:

Melbourne - Cains/Gold Coast/Whitsunday Islands - Melbourne

Melbourne - Darwin - Melbourne

Melbourne -  Hobart - Melbourne

Melbourne - Fraser Islands/Queensland Coast/Byron Bay/Sydney-Melbourne

I still hope to find time for another trip to Adelaide to visit Kangaroo Island and  a trip to Lauceston on Tasmania  to see Cradle Mountain.  

My travels haven't only included airplane rides.  While I've been based in Melbourne I've travelled by car, bus, or train to the following places:

Great Ocean Road

South Gippsland

Great Alpine Road

Ballarat

Phillip Island

Mornington Penninsula

and the

Yarra Valley

We still have ITF weekends planned for Wodonga/Albury,  Bendigo and Healesville. I also want to get to the Dandenongs, the Grampians,  Wilson's Promotory,  Echuca and back to Gippsland to visit with Sharon's friends there.  I've been invited to Ocean Grove with a colleague and there has been talk of another trip (or two)  to the great ocean road.  And there has even been talk of a ski weekend.

SO now the question is.... what am I still missing with only weekends or slightly longer weekends to visit?

Work, Surprises, and the Melbourne Gaol

On Tuesday after the long weekend school was back in full swing although still over 25% of my class was missing.  We were suppose to have Mini Athletics (which to me seems a little bit like a sports day for just the primary children done over two hours during class time) but the weather was awful and so it was cancelled.  The rest of the week chugged along uneventfully too except on Thursday.  One of my very sweet students from Indonesia moved back and her last day was Thursday.  (We had a curriculum day on Friday so there was no school for students then). Several of my students are in Australia because their parents are on student visas. A's family was one of them and after about three years they must return to their home country. 

Friday's curriculum day focussed on classroom libraries and independent reading. Those two both seem like really important aspects of the literacy program here in the Western Region.  I think with so many changes in philosophy over the years some really good stuff was thrown out and now it's being re added.  (Yes, if you can believe it there were virtually NO books in my classroom for the kids to access besides their home reading books and their guided reading books). It's interesting for me to go through these changes with this staff.  The higher powers in the school district (school board?) are quite direct with what they want in their classrooms and the teachers really don't have much say.  A few people from the "higher powers" have come through our school to make sure we are doing what they want us to do.  I find all that quite different from what I'm used to in Canada but I'll leave that discussion for my staff back home.

During our curriculum day I met our soon to be THIRD principal this year.  Our first acting principal left after term one for a more permanent position at another school.  Our second acting principal is my assistant principal filling in the role of principal until a "real" principal can be hired.  So, while I've only been here for six months I will soon be working for a third principal.

Oh, and how could I forget.  When I got home from work on Wednesday I actually had GOOD NEWS in my mail box.  First off I received my second of four water bills for the year.  In Melbourne you receive a water bill every three months.  I was a bit worried about how much this one was going to be but to my surprise it was a lot less than I had expected.  That was surprise number one.  My second surprise was that the hospital in Melbourne actually sent me a cheque because I had over paid them for my procedure.  Talk about putting a smile on my face when I saw the cheque.  Obviously I'll let me insurance company at home know, especially since the claim hasn't gone in yet (I've been waiting for the anaesthetisologist bill before I submitted all my paper work - which arrived to day) .  The third good news was a card from the post office telling me I had a parcel to pick up.  I wasn't able to get to the post office until Friday but when I did I had a surprise parcel from my friend Deni.  Way back in February she sent me peanut butter cups from Trader Joes.  I love those. Unfortunately for what ever reason they took over four months to get to Canada and when I finally got them they looked like they had had a better day.  I don't really care though, the smile they put on my face was huge.  I still haven't heard back from Deni but if any of you know her give her the biggest hug you can from me.  It was a super awesome treat to get such a care package from back home.  It once again reminded me how great my friends are, and how much I really really miss everyone.

On Saturday I was up and after a lot of procrastination I headed out for my run along the Capital City trail.  This time I figure I went about 15 km meandering along the river.  I ran into a nice gentleman at one point and he told me about a half marathon that is the week before my half marathon on the Gold Coast but right here in Melbourne.  I looked into it and while I'd be game to do a local half marathon as training for my "real" half marathon on July 5 the course was two loops and it didn't include a shirt.  At home I could care less about race shirts but here I really want them to be able to take them back to Canada with me.

My run ended near Chapel Street which is apparently a good shopping street here in Melbourne.  Although I was all sweaty I wasn't disappointed in what I saw. I just wondered a bit and ended up at the Parahan Market.  I've been told that it's a pricey market but I found some great deals there.  In the deli section I was able to buy four items for ten dollars.  In the end I bought eight different items for twenty dollars and they threw in a loaf of bread.  I had three different dips, a couple of cheeses, some crackers, some olives, and some meat.  It made for a great appie evening.

Prahan Market

 (or a small glimps of the market)

On Saturday night Zane and Danielle (two teachers on exchange from Alberta) came over for pre dinner drinks and appies.  It was the beginning of a great evening.  We then made our way onto Brunswick street for a nice Greek meal, followed by a beverage in a local pub.  It was really nice to be out on a Saturday night having fun.

On Sunday morning I got up and after some great french toast if I say so myself ( ;-) ) I packed a bag a headed to Smith Street.  Smith Street is the outlet part of town, and it's a short walk from my place.  I went with a mission to find the Ice Breaker store.  If you haven't heard of IceBreaker it's a very ethical company that makes excellent merino wool products.  It's a New Zealand company but it's available all around the world.  It isn't cheap stuff but it's very high quality stuff.  Anyhow I was on the hunt for another pair of merino wool socks from them.  Well, even though I went specifically  for one pair of socks, I left with a brand new jacket, two pairs of wool socks, and a wool tank top.  Each piece was purchased at a great price and they will all last for a very long time both here and in Canada.  

While on Smith Street my phone rang and it was Julie from my work.  She had invited me to her place for tea (which is dinner or sometimes called evening tea) with her family.   Before dinner her and her husband were taking their daughter to the Melbourne Gaol and wanted to know if I wanted to come along.  Since I had already done enough damage on Smith Street I was happy to join them.  They picked me up right on Smith street and then together we headed to the gaol.

The lady that sold us our tickets thought it might be better to take a later tour because the next tour guide was quite mean.  Julie's daughter assured us that she'd be okay.  Once the tour started we were all a bit scared. The guide (in role as a police officer treating us as if we were being arrested) was right into character.  She was insulting people, making us stand a certain way, and was really  mean.  It was a bit scary actually, but not in a really "I'm frightened" sort of way.  No one wanted to be yelled at.  Julie's daughter was a bit scared at first but then she realized that the lady was just an actress and was actually a really nice person.  Once she figured that out it was much better for all of us.

This is Julie and her husband and daughter inside the "gym" area of the gaol.

Me behind a locked gate.

Me, Julie, and Ella inside the Padded Cell

(Notice my new IceBreaker Jacket)

My mug shot from the Melbourne Gaol

Inside the Gaol.

A display inside a cell.

Me in Ned Kelly's armour.

From the Gaol we made our way onto Lygon Street for a treat at Koko Black.  I think I've mentioned before that beside being a great place for coffee (espresso type coffee drinks) Melbourne is also a great place for chocolate.  I was not disappointed with my Iced Chocolate.

From Lygon Street we jumped back into the car and made our way to Julie's house.  If you don't already know Julie has been a real sweet heart to me while I've been here in Melbourne.  She's also new at my school and she's been a real good ear for me, particularly when I was so stressed in the first term.  Julie has done so many nice things for me that I don't think I'll ever really be able to thank her enough.  Last night was no exception.  She invited me back to her house and I  joined her and her family for a wonderful stew dinner.  

Because Julie lives about 45 min away by tram I spent the night and went to work with her this morning.  Not only did she feed me last night, but she also provided me with lunch today at school and left overs for dinner this evening.  Julie also has many more places she wants to show me around Melbourne so that I get the true Melbourne experience.

Only two more weeks until I'm on term two school holidays. I'm also just about at the halfway point in my year hear (June 23 marks six months since I left home) .  Next week my reports go to the parents as they come for parent interviews.  What I find quite different here is that the parents don't get their children's report cards until minutes before their interview with me.  If you don't make an interview I'm not sure when you get your report card. I guess I'll find out next week.

For those of you teaching in the North Hemisphere I am totally envious of your big summer vacation.  While I am off for two weeks starting June 27th, I'm right back to work July 13th.  I think those next  weeks of work during Melbourne winter without a paycheck  from Canada may be the toughest I have to go through while I'm here.  But if Sharon survived weeks of snow, I should be okay too.  Plus I do have a few trips up my sleeve and  one for certain will be getting me to somewhere WARM and SUNNY even in August!  

Working Without Students

I'm not sure how I forgot to write about my week without students.  On Monday my school was closed to students because a second case of swine flu was discovered.  What is interesting is that swine flu is no longer in the news in North America but it's spreading widely here in Victoria.  I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that it's winter here now and the start of flu season.  Some states are making children that are returning from North American  or even the state of  Victoria stay away from school and daycare for one week to ensure that they do not have swine flu. Anyhow my school was the last school to be  closed as the cases of swine flu continue to grow to the point that closing schools isn't helping much.

Anyhow back to my week.  So, Tuesday I show up to work. Thinking it would be a day to edit and finish my report cards I was feeling pretty good.  In the end we had meetings for almost three hours.  I did managed to edit my colleagues reports but I didn't get mine officially finished.  Wednesday I was determined to get my report finished between our meetings.  I had several interruptions during the day but I was determined.  I stayed until a bit before I was kicked out of school and finished my reports.  It felt so good to have them DONE!  Thursday I was at an all day workshop about the Reading Recovery Observation Survey.  It was pretty dry but hopefully after the second part of the workshop I will feel like I've gained some valuable information that I can take back with me to Canada.  While we were at the workshop (I went with three other teachers) the rest of the staff had a meeting free day back at school.  On Friday our school reopened to students.  No one really knew how many would turn up since it was the Friday before a long weekend and the kids had been off since Tuesday.  As it turned about 1/3 of the school population showed up.  I started the day with four students and with in twenty minutes I had  seven.  They ended up combining classes and giving them to the CRTs (think TOC or substitute teacher) and I was given time to plan, mark, and assess.  I used my time to asses my students that were at school.  It was part of my homework from the workshop I attended the day before.  I also did some planning but it was finally easy since I had the entire week already planned but didn't get the chance to use it.  I was out of work shortly after the bell on Friday and it was a WONDERFUL feeling.  The first time since I've been here. I need to do that more often.

This week is a short week.  Today was a day off for the Queen's Birthday.  Tomorrow we have mini athletics for two hours and on Friday we have a curriculum day.  I've already been given some readings that I have to do before Friday (which I read on the plane).  Hopefully it will be a quick week.  In three weeks it's our winter school holidays and I'm meeting up with my sister in Palm Cove outside of Cairns where it should be nice and warm.  I can't wait!

Adelaide June 5-8 2009

This past weekend was a LOOONG weekend as Australia celebrated the Queen's Birthday.  With an extra day off I headed to Adelaide, South Australia.  The original plan was to spend two days on Kangaroo Island but because of the cold and rain I scrapped that plan and spent my time hanging around Adelaide.

I arrived late Friday night and settled in.  On  Saturday morning I was up early enough to do a bit of a run (again just a little over 10 km) around the outer terraces of Adelaide.  Adelaide's CBD (Central Business District)  is surrounded by North, East, West, and South Terraces and so I ran around the CBD. It was a good way to get my bearings (I actually thought I was heading west until I hit the first terrace sign that let me know I was heading east).  Most of the CBD is surrounded by park land so by running the terraces I was able to see all of these parks.  

After a quick shower I headed off on foot to discover Adelaide's CBD.  My first stop was the Adelaide market.  I have to say I was very impressed with this market.  The food looked so good that I ended up buying some bread, meat, fruit and vegetables.  I had an excellent lunch.  

From the market I walked around a bit more and ended up outside Haigh's chocolate on King William and Rundle Mall.  I've had some of their chocolate in Melbourne and I must say it's very tasty.  From there I made my was onto Rundle Mall.  It's the main CBD shopping district.  I had no desire to shop though so I headed to the tourist information booth.  I spoke with someone for a while.  I was hoping to get to a Haigh's chocolate factory tour but the last one of the day was already booked.  The lady suggested I do a walking tour of the public art and buildings around town.  She also suggested I hop the tram and head to Glenelg a suburb on the water. Since I had already run past many of the buildings she mentioned I hoped the tram down to Glenelg.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't great (think WET) but I enjoyed seeing a bit more of Adelaide by tram and I liked walking around Glenelg.  The tram that was in Glenelg when I was ready to go back to Adelaide was an old fashion tram and it was pretty cool to ride on it.

Looking back at Glenelg from the jetty.

Inside the old tram that I rode back to Adelaide in.

The old tram from the outside.

Sunday morning I was up early for my day tour to the Borassa Valley.  The problem with being on your own is that you can really only do wine tasting with a tour because you can't drive and taste at the same time.  I looked at a few tours but when it came time to book there was only one that had space for me.  Unfortunately it was my third choice.  

I was picked up at 7:50 am and after all the pick ups we (the 12 of us plus the driver) headed through the Adelaide hills to our first stop in Gumeracha, the home of  largest rocking house in the world.  I felt like a total tourist stopping here but it was also a chance to get some breakfast for those that hadn't eaten yet.  (Food in the stomach was a prerequisite for wine tasting).

The world's largest rocking house 

(If you look carefully you can see a regular sized rocking horse in the background.)

This sign was at the rocking horse.  See how far away from home I was!

My view from the FRONT window of the mini bus.

Our next stop was at the Borassa Dam which is also known as the whispering wall.  It was pretty cool actually.  Half the group stayed on one end of the wall while the rest of us walked across the dam.  We then whispered into the wall and we heard one another even though we were over 100 m apart.  It sounded like we were using microphones but we weren't. It was pretty cool, and the views around the dam weren't too bad either.

Borassa Dam 

(A.K.A. Whispering Wall)

From the whispering wall we were off to the wineries.  Our first stop was at Jacob's Creek.  What I learned is that Jacob's Creek is just a label name for a winery called Orlando (and it like many of the wineries in Australia isn't owned by an Australian).  It's a huge company shipping wine all over the world.  I can't say that I love their wine (which is one of the reason's why this wine tour wasn't my first pick) but the man that gave us our tour was very informative.  

The wines tasted at Jacob's Creek

A small glimps of  Jacob's Creek's Vineyard.

Our next stop was at VineCrest a boutique winery.  I really enjoyed their wine and ended up buying a bottle of their Merlot (the middle bottle in the photo below).  The lady who did the wine tasting for us here was excellent too.

Wines sampled at VineCrest

From VineCrest we headed to Richmond Grove for more tasting.  At Richmond Grove we were treated to a behind the scenes tour.  We learned about the barrels, the underground storage of wine, the huge vats , the press and many other things.  The wine was quite nice too but one of the people in the group told me that it's available at Dan Murphy's so I didn't buy any.  It was good wine though so I'll have to look for it here in Melbourne.  

The wine I sampled at Richmond Grove

From Richmond Grove the agenda said that we would be having a bar-b-q lunch but the weather was so lousy so a restaurant lunch instead.  Lunch was uneventful but I think everyone was happy with what they had.

After lunch we headed to our final winery of the day - Seppeltsfield.  Seppeltsfield is a very very old winery and so we were told a lot of history.  They also have some very old tawny (Port but since they are not in portugal it is called tawny instead).  We saw a bottle that was bottled in 1909 and was for sale for $1000!  For $50 we could have had a sample but no one took up the offer.  We did try some 20 year old tawny though.

Seppeltfield Wines

Seppeltfield Winery

Seppeltfield Wine Barrels

Seppeltfield was our last winery of the day.  We then headed to a pub in the small local town.  it was a bit funny actually as I would have much preferred to try more wine but on tour you do as the group does.  After the pub visit we headed back to Adelaide.  Below is a picture I took of the region from the front of the bus.  I wish I had more time to explore the area.

A snap shot of the Borassa Valley in winter 

(taken from a moving mini van)

On Monday I had a few hours to explore Adelaide again before I caught my mid day flight back to Melbourne.  I went walking again but this time I took the time to walk along the Torrens River checking out some of the public art and through Elder park.

The view of the river from Montefiore Road Bridge

A dog water bowl along the path. 

It made me think of my sister Debbie's dog Robbie.

Looking towards Adelaide's CBD from Elder park

I then crossed back into the CBD just as the free local bus came by.  I hoped the bus and did the full route.  It didn't pass by any where I hadn't already seen so once I got back to East Terrace I jumped off and took myself for brunch/lunch.  Once my stomach was full I wandered through Rundle Mall (all the stores were closed) and took a couple of pictures of the public art.

Spheres

One of three pigs. 

The last photo I took was the Haigh's Chocolate store on the corner of Rundel Street and King William.  From there I made my way to the bus stop and headed to the airport.

Overall it was a pretty good weekend away.  There was a fair bit of rain on Saturday and Sunday but it is winter after all so I shouldn't complain.  The worst part of all is that when I walked out of the airport this afternoon it was so cold in Melbourne that I could see my breath.  I guess winter has arrived.

Oh, and how could I forget.  I finally got some EXCELLENT news.  My strata council finally decided that our building maintenance budget will be paying for the damage caused by my toilet that cracked and flooded the unit below me back in Vancouver.  So I DON'T HAVE to pay over $2500 in repairs!  I can't tell you how happy I am with this news.  It's time to book more FLIGHTS!!

First Day Of Winter

I don't know how I forgot to tell you all but yesterday was the first official day of winter here in Melbourne.  While my friends back in Vancouver are melting in the warm June sunshine I'm about to embark on my first Melbourne winter.  Thankfully I know it will be NOTHING like what I missed back at home this past January and February.  What I am having some trouble wrapping my head around is me having a winter birthday.  I'm a summer baby through and through and it's just wrong that July is a winter month.  Thankfully I'll be in a warm place with my sister Debbie for my birthday.  But still, winter in July????

Report Writing, The Capital City Bike/Run Trail, and more Swine Flu

This past weekend was set aside for report writing so I had no great plans.  I woke up early on Saturday with hopes of getting a good start on my report cards.  It was funny though I turned on my Skype around 8 am my time and I think I didn't get off of it until after 2 pm.  It was so nice to touch base with so many of my friends back at home.   Darcy from my swim group arranged for Skype to be at our wind up party (my masters swim group end at the end of May) and so I got to talk to several of the people I swim with back home.  It was an excellent way to spend a morning (and afternoon).  Eventually I got to the task at hand. I worked for a while and then of course I was distracted by other things.  I was suppose to go out for dinner with another exchange teacher but she was too into her report cards and  wasn't feeling too well.  At some point on Saturday evening I decided it was important for me to sign up for  the Gold Coast Half  Marathon despite the fact that I haven't run much at all since I've been here in Australia.  I have no lofty time goals at all I'm just trying to make myself accountable to my running and hopefully I can become a runner again.

Having signed up for a half marathon on Saturday night I felt it was important that I go for a run.  Sunday morning I woke up and put on my running clothing.  Last weekend before my first bike crash I was looking for the continuation of the Capital City Trail.  It's the trail that is just a short block from my Melbourne home and loops all around the city.  I've found it heading west but I can't seem to find it heading east because there is a section that is closed due to construction. So with running clothing on I was determined to find it.

I DID IT!!  For what ever reason when ever I hit the construction I didn't take the time to read the sign.  This time I actually read the sign, followed the detour, and found the rest of the trail.  I'm so glad I did.  The Capital City Trail follows along a river and then leads to another river.  It's a beautiful trail with many sights to distract me with.  Along my adventure I was surprised to see a car on my running path.  I know this isn't a normal place for a car it was just so strange to see that I had to take a picture.

The trail wasn't that well marked because from time to time another path would join or the original path would split in two.  Sometimes there were signs helping me make the right choice, other times there weren't.  Below is the sign I was constantly looking for to confirm that I was heading the right way.

As I mentioned above it was a beautiful trail with so many things to distract me as I plodded along.  I ran passed a small waterfall called Dight's Falls near Yarra Bend Park, Collingwood Children's Farm, and the Abbotsford Convent.  Once a month there is a farmer's market at the children's farm and once a month there is one at the convent.   Now I know I can easily get to both.

Dight's Falls

Collingwood Children's Farm 

(I'm at the fence beside the farm I didn't actually go in)

Abbotsford Convent (behind the sheep)

Overall it was a great run.  I ran about 10.5 kms in one direction only.  Once I figured I'd run enough I made my way off the trail and headed towards Brunswick street for brunch.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

This week will be an interesting one.  A second case of swine flu was diagnosed at my school and so all the children must stay home from school until Friday morning.  Unfortunately swine flu doesn't seem to really affect adults so the staff must come to work (or that's what our school board has told us).  It will be a nice break to come to work and not have to teach any children.  I'm sure we'll all get a lot done but I have been told that the meetings will go on as usual.  Thankfully I think we'll be able to hold them during school hours so I should be able to get out at a reasonable time.

On the health front I'm still waiting for my appointment with the Gastrointerologist.  My condition hasn't changed much I now just know why what's happening to me is happening.

Oh yah today, the day after my looong 10 km run (yes that's a long run for me these days), my legs are SORE!  It will be interesting to see what happens over the next 5 weeks.