Whitsundays

Ah yes, Fraser was so much fun... except when MArcey drove. I was VERY nervous! But it was so great. I we looked for sharks off Indian Head... no such luch. I even climbed down a bit of a cliff (yes mom, Marcey took a picture b/c she was going to show you the location where I died) but I'm super cunning and agile so I was never in any danger... and I still didn't see anything exciting in the waters below.

Whitsundays were INCREDIBLE!! My ears are still full of water from all the snorkelling we did on the Great Barrier reef. SUCH amazing and beautiful things to see under the ocean waters! So many colours and fish!! My favorite was swimming in the schools of tropical fish... until I actually swam with a turtle!!! First I saw a HUGE turtle just lurking around the boittom and eating the weeds that turtles eat... then I was a younger (smaller and not covered in slimmy stuff) and I swam with him as far as I could out to see, until it got too dark and I was afraid our spotter wouldn't be able to see me anymore. All those years of swimming lessons sure paid off in the currents and stuff. Marcey and I were both able to nagivate around in the water quite comfortably. Oh yes, and jumping off the bow of our tall ship in the middle of the ocean was definately a highlight too. Not to mention the colour of my skin... I almost don't recognize myself... Marcey keeps telling me Julie will be so jealous... so maybe I won't post any pictures! hehe. Slept on deck the first night and the second night I slept on top of the roof thing over the wheel. Marcey was quite the entertainment as she tried to get up too.. Just ask her how her bum feels today. She won't let me look to see if there's a bruise.... Now we're here in Cairns. another night train. MArcey and I are both sick. sore thoats, coughing (just a bit) and I feel like all the sinuses are full. So I'm ready for a really really early night to catch up on some sleep! OH!! and today I met Leslie, a digereedoo man. He invited me into his digereedoo shop and taught me how to play. He was very patient with me as I attempted to play... but by the time I left I was getting the hang of it a bit... maybe I will have to get one before I come home.... We'll see. Not sure of the plans while we're here... we haven't booked any tours yet... but that's probebly what we'll do. oh yes, and we had very very excellent coffees today for brekkie. Oh yes, and I took a picture for Ed Miller of me on the sail boat in the whitsundays drinking a real Aussie beer! haha! speaking of which... I bought pills to take to make me not sea sick. they worked. but today I still feel like i'm rocking back and forth.

so yeah, uh... that's about all for now I guess.

ps. i love swimming with turtles!

Fraser Island!

Cheeky Monkey's is a bar/pub type thing. Met up with our surfer friends. Yes, I love surfing. And YES!!! Byron Bay is beautiful!! Eastern most point of OZ and the light house was sweet as. I danced on the tables most of the night. all in good fun. Marcey and I went back to our hostel to sleep for 1.5 hrs before our 6:00am bus all the way to Rainbow Beach. Tomorrow bright and early we are heading over to fraser island for our remote camping trip throught sand dunes and crazy fun stuff. I'm excited! And yes dad, I think I will be a surfer when I grow up. I was pretty scared of the ocean the frist day (sharks and all that). But I got lots more comfortable as the week went on and I was standing and surfing and dancing on my board heaps!! It was great fun. I have baord burn on my thighs from all the tricks and jumping around I was doing. lol. Praying mantis on the board is what got me to the finals really.... Anyways, this hostel we're staying at tonight is really beautiful and very cozy. our camping grou (10 of us) all seem very nice and it should be a great next few days!

much love.

i love surfing

Just quick

Just quich to tell you we survived the surfing school. Today was the "competition" I made it to the finals in my heat but lost to a Norwegan girl in the end. Oh well, I'm still pro star. I met the man of my dreams (just kidding b/c I'll never see him again). But I got a kiss on the cheek twice! Uh... yeah, so Marcey and I are on our way into town right now and we're going to dance on table tops at some cheeky monkey something something?? Dunoo, that's where all the surfers are hanging out tonight.

much love from almost a world class surfer....

Tasmania!

Wednesday morning bright and early... just kidding, it wasn't bright yet. Caught the train from Albury to Melbourne to meet Marcey. We made our travel plans for up the east coast. Marcey had been hanging out with a guy named Roy (ooh la la) and somehow convinced him to drive us to the airport. We stopped for a "lunch" and Marcey and I both tried Australia's version of booster juice. YUM!!! Bit pricey though. We caught our Jet Star flight to Launceston to meet up with Malcolm. This is the guy who was on the Flying Kiwi tour in NZ. He picked us up from the airport and took us to Subway for supper. Then it was off to the Newsboys concert!! There was a strange band playing for the opening... they were... interesting. Then the Newsboys! It was great and I sang along.. then they just stopped! But they came back for two more songs, including the ever famous Breakfast song. So we had loads of fun and My only complaint was it was too short. I tried to find the Newsboys afterwards... but they somehow, very sneakily, ditched out of the theatre before I could find them and get autographs. I guess they're busy guys. Then Mal drove us back to his place in Scotsdale. very small town. Very cute town. Friday morning Marcey and I slept in. Mal took us to his parents vegetable farm during his lunch break. Very cool! SOOOO many onions! Then back to his place for a quick sandwich. He dropped us off at the "eco" information centre. eco is apparently a very popular theme in Australia. So Tasmania is cold. So I maybe bought some Tassie wool to knit myself some mittens. Then Marcey and I scoped out all the sites of Scotsdale... uh, art galary (one room) and a doll museum that cost $11 so we just looked in the gift shop. lol. then we headed to the grocery store to buy food so we could make Mal dinner!! How exciting! After work we went to watch him at his footy practice. Then back to his pad for Anne and Marcey made meal! It was pretty filling. YUMM!!

Next morning bright and early we headed out east for a few short bush walks and then to the coast and his parents "shack" on the beach. It is NOT a shack at all. WOW! We were served hot tea (yes!) and fruit cake. Fruit cake seems to be very popular in OZ. Onward to a waterfall, coastal cliffs, A huge bush walk up some boulders (I say boulders b/c the rocks are so BIG and round!! But they are part of the mountain... so cool!), yeah wine glass bay I think it was called. This is where I saw a walabie. And saw it close. there were two just hopping through the car park. All casual... so I walked up real close and stuck my hand out. I was going to pet it, but then I was afraid he'd bite my finger off or smoething... you never can tell with these wild animals. But I was seriously that close. And they're pretty tall... up to my thigh. hop hop hop! We arrived in Hobart Friday night and went out for a very nice dinner (compliments of Mal) and this was my first Tasmanian red wine. I highly reccomend it. Then back to Mal's sister's pace for some Tim Tam icecream! yummy!!! Up early again to make our way to the Hobart Market. Hobart is Australia's oldest town so the town is BEAUTIFUL!!! LOVE love love it! Yes, I could move there. And Tasmania as a whole is stunning and absolutley breathtaking around every corner! and has great wine! who could ask for more?? So we spent the morning at the market. very cool. Onward to Port Arthur from there. sweet as place full of history and even a fairy ride... yay (not the sarcasm). Spent the arvo there and then checked into our hostel. Out for dinner again (i had some local veneson) with another bloke we met in the hostel, Peter. He's a freelance writer from Sydney.. quite entertaining.

Sunday Mal surprised us girls with Cadbury Easter eggs! What a guy. We did a few more walks to some incredible rock formations along the peninsula. I seriously love this state. wow. And Mal dropped us off in Hobart on his way back home. Us girls toured ourselves around the Botanical gardens, which also happen to be the best botanical gardens I have ever seen. Then to the harbour for some fish and chips... (or a hamburger if you don't like sea food like me). We checked into our hostel and found a 6pm evening easter service. After church Marcey and I made our way to the grand piano to have a go. While we were sitting there... many people came to hear about our travels... wonder what gave it away that we were Canadian?? Anyways, Joyce and Ed invited us back to their home for a cup of hot Milo by the wood fire. So we went to their house and told travelling stories and heard some in return. We were there quite late and Joyce gave us cadbury easter eggs on our way out to eat on the plane in the morning.

Early morning flight (yes still dark out) from Hobart to Sydney today. Now that we're here, we've locked our bags for the day, hope to find a place to crash at Trev's place (another flying kiwi friend). Then tomorrow is the start of our four day learn to surf camp. We will make our way to Byron Bay during this camp... I'm not sure how big of a gong show me on a surf baord will be... but I'll give it my best go. Pray that no sharks eat me!

Love you!

Winter Camping... in Australia

Introducing... the Australian Apline area.

Ah yes, the mighty Mt. Jim. (insert laughing here) Wild brumbies beware, I'm about to conqure Mt. Jim. If a backpacker can do this, a backpacker can to anything! Including...Rise and shine! It's winter camping time! Wait a minute... I'm in Australia! What's going on here?
Liz, me, and Colleen. That isn't snow is it??

Australian Alpine area. Very beautiful.

PICTURES!

Introducing.... Volvita! (sorry for all the grass... put the timer on the camera on the ground)

Cleaner guy, me, and April by the dog on the tuckerbox. Very popular here. The cleaner guy was cleaning the pond part around the dog... the pond was added in hopes of distracting people from stealing the statue... it didn't work. colleges still steal it and put it on other campuses. I haven't seen it at CSU yet.
and you're in for a treat. a Koala I saw! isn't he cute?
Oh yes, and this is me standing infront of what you might call a mound of dirt covered in grass. well, it sure is the "underground" lecture theatre I have geology in every Monday. I saw "underground" becasue i think they built the theatre and then piled dirt on top of it. CSU is also home of the "drop toilet" yes, our bathrooms are outhouses but they aren't out. they're in. and it's smelly. so use the toilets in the library, they flush.

Pictures, as promised

CanadiAnne and Marcey at the Commonwealth Games! Go Canada go!! That's the inside of the MCG in Melbourne!

Me and my two survaying friends at the Albury Gold Cup. (I actually wore the pink hat all day, we just traded for a bit in this picture).

My winning horse. I bet $1. I won $5! yay!

Me infront of my classrooms at the Turgoona Campus. I have one class in the room furthest to the right on the second floor on Thursdays and one class in the room furthest to the righ ton the bottom floor on Tuesdays.

Computer lab on the right and prof offices on the left here.

A normal day

Hello!

Ok, so as I was falling asleep last night I was thinking, I only write about "adventures" on here, thus making my "normal days" seem plain. Well, today I will change that and let you know about a normal day in Anne's Australian world.

So I am borrowing a bike from Noni's little brother Caleb. He's going to school in Melbourne and driving a car, so he's letting me use his OLD bike. It's got cob webs tangled around the pedals and is very much a gong show. My house is at the top of a very steep hill, or just a steep hill (depending on the way you're coming home). To change gears from the harder ones to the easier ones on the front derailer, I have to use my toe. Yes, the gears don't work properly and I have to stop while trying to get up enough steam to make it up this hill so I can switch gears with my big toe. but on the way down, it's all fun :) I have to ride along the highway for a bit. This is the highway that there is MASSIVE road work being done. They're building an overpass. So yesterday, on my way home for lunch (avacado sandwiches!!!) I was peddling through the road work like usual. The guy in the neon shirt who works the lights to tell you when to stop when a bid truck is crossing now has a smart comment to make to me each time I ride by in my old old school "challenger" helmet. lol. So now I just say helloooo as I'm riding by. But yesterday, near the end of the road work, the guy in the neon shirt (all road workers wear neon) who holds the two sided "stop" and "slow down" sign jumps out right infront of me so I have no time or room to go around him. So I stop.. rather close... then he says, "I'm just trying to save you from getting run over" So I look around. no traffic. at all. I'm confused, so I ask him where the traffic is. He points to a truck around the corner driving away, and then to a small truck turning onto the other side of the road from me. I wanted to laugh out loud! but It was akward because I was standing too close to him to even see that he was holding a sign that said stop. So then, when he moved out of my way, I continued riding along, what a strange guy. So I'm in my own little world laughing at this road guy and one girl at school (same one who ditched our tent the last night) because at school she asked me if I was sad on the last morning because I liked Simon and she went to Simon's tent because and not me. Ok, now let me paint you a picture of Simon. picture anyone you know who farts alot. multiply that by 14 and you have Simon. He calls his farts his ducks. So I call him duck boy. He's shorter than me (and everyone knows that if he's shorter he doens't even have a sniff of a chance), and he's the womanizer type who gets drunk pretty much every night. So if you know me at all, you know that this would be the furthest thing from "anne's mr. right". SO I found this accusation rather, well, absolutely hilarious. I arrive at home (after switching gears with my toe), for a cuppa with Colleen. A cuppa? A cup of what? well, that's what I would like to know. But today it was Tim Horton's Coffee!!!!!! THANKS MOM!! YOU ROCK MY WORLD! Then a sandwich with. yes,. the inevitable avacado. As Colleen is leaving I RUN to the back of the house to frantically take all my camping laundry off the line because it has started to spit. I try to get the clothes off before they get wet again. And just as I'm running into the house like a man woman with an over flowing basket of clothes and clothes pins all tangled together, it stopped raining. So I go inside to clamly fold my clothes and put them into their proper drawers. hmm. now some time for h-work. SO journaling for my rec class about the hike and such.

Then Robyn arrives home from work. She works at her own shop. She owns a stor that sells, well, it'a gift shop, but it' sells useless bobbles. Beady lamps, crazy butter holders, fancy spoons, flowered placemats, fake "diamond" rings which are really huge beads... you get the picture. Anyways, she always has a story of the day and I get to hear all about it. I actually rather enjoy listening to her and about her day. And she laughs at me quite alot... Like last night. She has two OLD cats: chunky and blacky. so blacky is a bully and drools and only has one tooth that sticks out like a fang. Chunky is long haired grey cat that is quiet and such a suck... loves to be patted. So Chunky comes in last night while we're wathing our Aussie version of ER called All Saints with a live mouse!!! In the house!! So Robyn runs to clse her bedroom door, but for me to check if my door is closed, I would have to venture into the hallway with the crazy cat playing with a live mouse that's now running all over!! So I scream, jump onto the chair I was calmly sitting in just seconds before, and then jump down to bravely check my door. I see the mouse run around the corner and a blur of grey cat mass, I scream and jump up onto the chair again. My heart.... racing. Robyn's laugh... racing. Anne is once again astounded by the hilarity of her present situation and looks back on her one-of-a-kind day.

So yes, littel random adventures like this happen each and every day... it sure keeps me on my toes. and there is really never a dull moment. until the weekend... then the adventure begins!

PS my mom is the coolest mom ever.

Another weekend, another adventure

OK, before I start I would like to say I got the most exciting letter in the mail when I got back from camping that I read it entirely before I even showered!! Thanks Anne!!

Ok, so this weekend was my first camping experience in Australia. What do you think of when you hear "Australian Alps"? Me? I thought of maybe some hills, something like the foothills of the rockies? Hot weather, snakes, and spiders. Well, to my surprise, it was nothing like anything at all! So we arrived at the staring point to our hike on Friday after lunch (after the fan belt in our bus broke and we were about and hour behind schedule from leaving the school). So we set off and yeah, it looked like hills upon hill upon hills. When we reached the "high plains" it looked like the praiares and it looked like you could walk to the edge and just fall off. It was pretty cool. I got some great shots! Anyways, we hiked into our camp, Towanga Huts. Huts meaning that there was a shack made out of coragated metal (grain bin) and there was cob webs and it was really gross. So nothing very cool at all. So we set up in an old paddoc (feild where cows used to graze back in the day). After a bit of a brak a few pf us (all but 2) hiked up to the top of Mt. Jim. Now this was funny. It was like walking up a hill with a flat top and then there was appeared to be a pile of rocks in the middle of the flatness. That was Mt. Jim. Anyways, we climbed it and on the other side was a HUGE heard of wild brumbies (that means wild horses). So that was cool. And I won't tell you about the hair that jumped out of the grass in front of me and how I screamed and ducked because I was scared. How embarassing. Anyways, that night we all sat in the sketchy hut roasting marshmellows over a coleman propane thinger (both ingredients brought by the one of two males on our 6 womaned trip). So he was a hit (particularily with my tent mate Alanna). Anyways, it was funa dn we told random stories and laughed lots. Bed time and we all were tucked into our happy tents to brave the "cold Australian Alpine air". Right. haha.

So I woke up the next morning to shreaking and giggling. SNOW!! Everywhere!! COvering all of our tents ond it was till coming down!!! AH!!! Two of the girls had never seen snow before and I was thinking "oh great, now my socks will be wet today". lol. So we made hot breakfasts and talked about revising our route from walking on top of the Nigger Heads to sticking to the Fainter Fire Trial. It probably would be more do-able given the slippery conditions. One girl also had bought new shoes for our trip and didn't break them in... So we used plastic bags and duct tape to fashion her a pair of blister free shoes... if you could can them shoes. So that was hilarious. Anyways, I was feeling right at home and remembering camping trips of past when snow had surprised us in the nights. AH, what a nice nalstalgic day down memory lane. As we walked on we walked thorugh the burnt out part of the trail (ie. trees with no leaves now overed in snow). I felt right at home. Then as the day went on and the sun peaked through the clouds, it started to melt! Spring!! YAY!! I haven't missed spring this year. Even thought mine was only about an hour long... but that's beside the point. We hiked thought great views and didn't stop long enough for me to completely and entirely enjoy them. I would really rather be a happy wanderer than a determined hiker I think. Anyways, when we arrived at our camping spot for the second night we set up out tents and they even dried out a bit before bed time that night. It was SO cold when the sun went downa dn the cloud cover left that all 8 of us piled into the buys tent (because it was the biggest) and played card games for a good few hours. Then when we were getting a bit cramped and Damion let a nasty one rip, we vacated the tent only to stumble upon the most incredible veiw of the start I have ever seen!!! In the "mountains" with clear skies as farr as you can see, it feels like you're so close to the sky!!! It was incredible!!! Although I didn't drool on my pants like Simon did at lunch time... Anyways, I was freezing so it was time for me to go to bed. Coldest night yet!! I had to use the good old Canadain trick of taking a bit of chocolate each time you wake up freezing cold to warm up enough to fall back asleep... my tent mate didn't like to cuddle, with me anyways. I guess she lost her way back to our tent and stayed with the guys... boo.

So morning came and there was no snow to great us. But I was ok with that. My socks were dry and that was just fine by me. :) So we started our decent down the rocky paths and had a few good and even deep conversations with two of the girls on the way down. Such a bonding experience I'd say. We arrived in Bogong villiage and stopped for a nice meal (and latte for me, since I wasn't ordering a beer) on the way to pick up another group that had hiked up and down Mt. Bogong. Then back to town sharing different stories in the bus all the way. SOunds like everyone enjoyed their trips despite the snow and cold weather.

So now I'm back in Albury, hung out all my smelly camping gear and I'm ready for a week of school. I'm going to try to finish 3 assigments before Easter break... so this week may not be full of adventures. But we'll see. I'll try to post pictures soon for you all to enjoy and laugh at as much as I did.

Love you and miss you.