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Ande's spaceAdventures in the Land Down Under and other weird destinations July 29 last day in margaret riverHi!
Well the time has come to say good bye to Australia!! Its been such a great year and a half, Im pretty sad to leave but very happy to go back to North American summer. Im leaving Margaret River tomorrow, then flying to Brisbane for 2 days to see a couple friends and get the last of my luggage that I left there last September. After that I fly to San Fransisco were we pick up the Mustang Convertable and cruise up to Napa Valley, and stay in a cottage for free on a winery!! Then we fly to Vancouver and stay with a couple of my friends that I met in Banff, then drive to Kelowna and Penticton to stay with friends. There will be alot of wines to be tasted on this trip! After that we fly to Toronto and Im home! Then a few days later we are taking a train to Quebec City for a few days to speak french and eat baquettes. I cannot wait! See you soon! April 15 The End of SummerHello,
Well I'd have to say that the end of summer has arrived. The last 3 days have been glorious, cloudless days hitting about 26 degrees. But today and the rest of the 7 day weather forecast are rain and thunder. The last couple months have been very busy at work with this years vintage (grape picking and pressing) going on. Tomorrow night we have our end of vintage company dinner at one of the great restaurants in town. But that also means that the next month is going to be very boring until the pruning season starts up. I have taken a week off next week just because there is nothing to do at work. Its was unseen and there is a public holiday and its school holidays so all flights are triple their normal price so Im going up to Perth with a friend to see a concert and enjoy the city life again-yay for shopping and eating at ethnic restaurants! So that will be great and relaxing.
I bought a car a couple weeks ago. I'll post some pictures of it soon. Its a dark blue mazda and its great. I now get down to the beaches as much as I want. I really like going after work and walking. Ive also been doing a few really good, long walks through the forest trails. Did one on Sunday that took 4 hours to the dam. Very beautiful though.
Im heading to Melbourne again for 4 days in early May since I was only there for 1 and a half days at Christmas time and its a really great city. Two of my Canadian friends are living there so I'll stay with each of them and enjoy the eating and shopping there.
The past couple months Ive been camping a few times down south to where there are some REALLY tall trees. They are very magnificent. I was too scared to climb any of them that had pegs sticking out cause they had nothing to hold you in if you slipped but everyone said the view from the top was amazing, oh well.
There was a big world famous surf competition this past weekend, it was really cool to watch, the day I went down the waves were pretty small though. But the weather and atmosphere were pretty good.
Other than that its been pretty usual. Played some lawn bowls on Sunday but the green was not up to snuff and it was more like bowling; just lopping your bowls as hard as you can and hope for the best!
So have a great spring and keep in touch! February 08 Margs and RotnestHi
So now that its finally summer I have been so busy! Spent the last two weekends with Jess and Uena as they came down for the Aussie Day long weekend and then I went up to Perth for a weekend and we took the ferry to Rottnest Island. Named that after being discovered by the dutch and having thought to have been infested with giant rats which are actually marsupials called Quokkas, and rat is "rot" in german so there you go. We saw only one, under a tree that the bus driver pointed out. We spent the day snorkelling and swimming the crystal clear waters and walking around the island taking in the many amazing vistas.
When Jess and Uena were visiting me we did a few more winery stops and went to a couple beaches, that of course were stunning. Went to a beach that had massive waves crashing pretty much onshore, played in those ( just the white foam that rushed up the sand) just that was enough to knock us off our feet and wash us around like we were in a washing machine!!! So much fun though, we were trying to get rid of the sand for days!
Also, I have been learning (kinda) to surf. I have stood up once but with both my legs together and at the back of the board. Apparently thats not the way to do it.
Work is about to get crazy, as picking season appoaches. It has already gotten so busy that my day is soley organizing teams for each day! And then just when I think its done, we get a phone call and I have to change it all around again. Oh well the days go fast! Im sure there will be a few tears though. All in a days work. :)
Hmmm... not much else. Just waiting to buy a car off my friend. That will be good then I can go see the sunset after work. My friend from Brisbane is coming to visit on the 28th so I can't wait for that.
Well thats about it. Im going camping this weekend to a place called Windy Harbour. Wineries, big karri tree forests, river and beaches. What more could you want!
Catch ya later! January 17 SummerHi everyone!
I can't believe its already the middle of January!! But at least its finally summer. Today was a hot 32 degrees and nothing but sun. Although I was inside at work all day:(
This weekend is supposed to be really nice so Im hoping to get some surfing in. I have many people willing to TRY to teach me. Both my roomies have big boards and are keen to get better. I might end up just watching though, depends how lazy I feel. This month has just been hanging out alot trying get back on track money wise after my big trip!
Since we are subletting Drews room while he's home in NZ, we have our new and very cool german roomie named Ann. She is great and her, Jane and I all get along really well. At the moment we are all just sitting on our laptops. Oh technology. Last Saturday we had a big dinner party with about 20 people. It was italian themed. It was great we had it alfresco and put 3 long tables together and had candles and fairy lights. Great food and lots of fun.
Work has been pretty slow but its going to break soon with picking season. We basically have to supply 200 people to the vineyards the day after the vineyard manager thinks the grapes are ripe. Yeah... ill just pull them out of my pockets... So that will be interesting.
So my trip to Ayers rock, Alice Springs and Melbourne was great. For the 1st time I felt like I was in Australia. I think thats because the outback is so distinctive and unlike anywhere else. I walked around Ayers rock in the morning and then had an amazing luxury "Sounds of Slience dinner " under the stars on Christmas day. Then did a hot air balloon ride over Alice Springs (thanks Uncle Raymond!!!) it was great to see all the kangaroos under us! But the entire tour and the guide were german!!! It was funny though. I stayed in the resort that had a bar in the pool. (Voyages Alice Springs Resort) but then I missed my flight to Melbourne (dont ask) it wasnt my fault. So I was only in Melbourne for 1 1/2 days. Ill have to go back, I loved it!!!! I met up with friends that worked at the rimrock and they took me to cool places. We went to Lorne on the Great Ocean Rd, had nacho pizza and Acland Street for pastries! It was alot of fun. I want to travel more around this country, darn work gets in the way :)
Anyway thats about it for now. Looking into buying a car, Ive got to get to the beach more often, Ive been about 6 times in 4 months and its 10 minutes away and beautiful!!!!!
Bye!!
ps- we have had the lowest scores in lawn bowls for the past 2 weeks BUT having said that we won beer holders and hats!! I figure we'll never win overall so we might as well lose overall and get recognized. December 02 Decemeber al readyHi!
I know I know, it had been for ever since I last wrote. Thats because I think that nothing really exciting happens. But I guess since it is going to be the coldest winter in the last 15 years there Ill keep you entertained by my summer rendezvous. Although yesterday was the 1st day of Summer and it was only about 14 degrees and raining. We were going to have a party, we had invites and everything but then due to the bad weather we moved it to next Saturday. It should be a lot of fun, outside on our back patio.
I am getting excited about my trip to Ayers rock, Alice Springs and Melbourne, all done in 6 whirlwind days over Christmas. It has come on so quickly, I can't believe its December already!
Today I had my first surf lesson and my last! It was so hard and we went to a beach that you had walk about 1/2 K to get to the beach with a huge board! After 20 minutes in the water, fighting the waves, I was sooo tired! I just collapsed and had a little nap on the board in the sand. I stood up 2 times but got water shot up my nose about 20!! My throat is still burning! But it was great fun, although I might stick to boogie boarding!
This past week was our first corporate lawn bowls game on Wednesday. It is the greatest concept (I organized our Vinepower team - me and 3 people in the office make up the team.) I saw the form in the paper a few weeks ago and we only got in cause a team dropped out last week. Anyway there are 32 teams and 2 lawns. And you can drink beer while playing, it was so relaxing after work! We actually won the game even though only 2 of the team had ever played. Afterward you get a free sausage and stand around socializing. I had my last belly dancing class right after so it was a bit of a long evening! But cant wait for this week!
TOday we trimmed our Christmas tree, it is plastic but they dont really have pines in these parts!! It looks great, although it could use a few more decorations. THis Friday we are having turkey dinner so we get it in before we all take off over Christmas.
LAst week I took the bus to Perth, about a 5 hour trip (in a car its only 3) to visit my Canadian friend Jessica. We had a great time exploring and going to the beach. It was nice to be in a city again and have the all the stores and restaurant choices. But I was glad when the bus rolled back into Marg's again.
So this past week, I was approached with something I didnt see coming. My boss and the office manager sat me down and asked me if they could get me to stay longer and that they would sponsor me. (They must like me!) Well I love it here and I believe in fate so maybe its all part of the plan. It would mean not leaving and going to the East Coast for school but I was unsure of that due to the ridiculous cost and how much I would be in debt afterwards. Im still weighing the pros and cons. But I should let them know by the end of the week. The best pro is that if I stayed, I would come home for a few weeks in summer and I can see everyone and go waterskiing and miniputting and all the fun summer things I missed in Banff. And come home again at Christmas. But I havent decided yet. We'll see.
Next week we have our office party, its at one of the nicest restaurants in town. We are all bringing wine, my boss has a cellar of over 1000 bottles so we should get a chance to try some good stuff! I've already researched the menu and Im getting the duck. YUmmy!
Anyway, thats about it. I have to make some cookies for our end of season belly dancing party later today.
Have a great cold and snowy day!!
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