A&W Root Beer

A few months back Conor came to the realization that they don't have root beer in Australia - he then proceeded to become obsessed with root beer!

Then on Saterday night we were in the city with a couple of friends watching the men's tennis finals on this big screen tv in Federation Square and Conor went for a walk to grab a coffee. When he came back he looked so excited and told me that he found a doughnut store that sold A&W Root Beer. I don't know why he didn't buy one right then and there, but ever since then he's been going on and on about this root beer.

We were in the city the other night and decided to go buy a can of the root beer, but when we got to the store it was closed. Conor was very upset!

So tonight after dinner we walked all the way into the city (about an hours walk to get to the doughnut shop) and bought ourselves two cans of A&W root beer. It was yum! Now that's all that Conor wants for his birthday! HAHA

Another funny thing - I only realized that they don't have Dr Pepper or Reeces Peanut Butter cups until I saw them in the doughnut shop. Very strange.

It was nice to drink root beer :)

((now if only we could turn an alley and find a tim hortons there!))

Australian Open 2008

Conor and I got to see the tennis again this year at the Australian Open - we went the first day, the Monday before last, to cheer on the two Canadians that were in the singles draw (both lost, unfortunately) - we also go to see Davenport that day.

I got a really bad burn!

Then the following Thursday night Jo (one of the girls I work with at the cafe) and I went and saw James Blake play, it was a great match!!

Sharipova just defeated Ivanovic for the woman's championship title, and Djokovic (who upset Federer in the semis) and Tsonga (who upset Nadal in the semis) play for the men's championship title tomorrow night...I'll definitely be watching!

Lorne

Well this year we had the pleasure of going to Lorne again with the family that we play poker with. Last year Liz was here so she was able to come with us as well - but unfortunately we had terrible weather pretty much the whole time we were there!

Last year we decided to just get a ride from the dad, so we left the Friday night and came back on the Sunday night. But this year we decided to use some of our Christmas money (thanks Mom P, Dad and Mom S, Grannie and Papa and Grandma F!) and rented a car! I had gotten the dates mixed up of when the family would be there, and in the end wasn't able to make it for a weekend, but instead we left Sunday after I was finished work and I think we got to Lorne around 7ish? When we got there another family (who we also play poker with occasionally) was still there, they had just gone for the day, so it was a full house! After we ate some dinner we went down to the beach with a couple cricket bats and tennis balls and some people played a little beach cricket. I just kinda wandered around and one of the girls (the middle child, I think she's 16 or 17) was throwing sticks in the water and waiting for the waves to bring it back - we both got soaked a couple times by waves!!

Walking down to the Beach for some Cricket

We slept in the next day and then Conor and I decided to drive another 2 hours along the Great Ocean Road (the highway that goes right along the coast - beautiful views!) to a place called the 12 apostles. The twelve apostles are rock formations caused by the tides and waves in the ocean...I think there are only 8 still standing, and somewhere in the vicinity is another rock formation that was called London Bridge, but that also has fallen. It turned out to be terrible weather though when we got there, it was really cold and windy and just unpleasant, so we only stayed for 10 minutes and then drove back to Lorne. When we got back to the house we found out most of the family decided to go there as well, and they left about an hour after us. When they got back we found out they had beautiful weather there! If only we had waited! haha

While we were waiting for the family to come back for dinner, Bridget (the 16 year old) Conor and myself decided to go for a swim...it was so cold! I can't believe I had to nerve to go in! But once we were in it was so nice, the waves were kind of crazy though, and the lifeguard waved us in at one point and told us to stay out of the area we were in cuz the rip was bad, so we moved and still had alot of fun!

In the evenings we watched tennis, played poker and watched the first and second Lord of the Rings - I lost at poker :(

We stayed until Wednesday night as I had to work on Thursday morning at the cafe. One day Conor, three of the daughters and one of their boyfriends went to Erskine Falls, which is about a 10 minute drive from where we were staying and hiked down from the waterfall along the creek all the way to the beach where I was with the mom, son and two youngest girls - I think it took them about 2 hours, and they saw a snake...I can't remember what it was called, but it was one of the really poisonous ones! I'm surprised Conor didn't pass out.





We also went to a place called Teddy's Lookout where you get to see over the ocean and take great pics of a stretch of the great ocean road.

Conor, Dom and Bridget

Well it was alot of fun, lots of swimming, goofing around and just relaxing :)


Back to work now!

Sydney - Day four

On the last day in Sydney, Bernard and us went to Bondi Beach which is a very popular beach in Sydney. Dan wasn't feeling well so he didn't go swimming, and I didn't feel like it either, so Conor and Bernard went swimming, while Dan sat around and I walked around the shops.

Gotta love Dan's new shirt :)

After that we drove into the city, walked a little more around Circular Quay where all the ferries leave from, and then walked around the Opera House. Dan had a rest in the botanic gardens...so when we were done at the Opera House, we walked through the botanic gardens and then met up with Dan.





Conor and I were flying back to Melbourne that evening, so we just took a little drive with Bernard after that and then it was time to head to the airport, and say goodbye to Dan.

Goodnight Sydney!

After that he went to New Zealand - eventually he will have his blog updated, if you want to know how his trip went.

Sydney - Day Three

We decided to take the half hour ferry ride to Manly in the morning, then we could find a plot of land to guard with our lives until the fireworks!

Ferry to Manly

Beach (no one in the water though)

The ferry ride to Manly was actually really nice, it gives a really good view of the opera house and the bridge, for half the price of any of the actual tour boats. Unfortunately, when we got on the ferry there was a big sign saying that the main beach was closed because the waves were too dangerous. So when we got there, we walked around, looked at the beach, took some pics, and then we found a little beach to the right of the main beach that was open, as it was kind of sheltered by the waves. After that we ate, looked in some shops and then headed back to the city!

I can't remember for sure, but I think it was around 3ish when we got back. We had been looking at the newspaper to see where the best spots to sit for the fireworks were and decided to try a spot across the harbour bridge - then we basically just stayed there, sometimes wandereing around...where were initially sat we decided we wouldn't stay there for the fireworks, but there was plenty of room - we really should have just not even come down to the fireworks until just before the 9pm family show! Oh well!

Hanging out waiting for the sun to go down

But in the end, even if we didn't HAVE to have gone so early, the fireworks were amazing and soo worth it!!!

I think they were about 15 minutes long (the 9pm show was good as well!) - it felt like they just kept going and going and were getting bigger and bigger...it's really difficult to describe how good it was, and even harder to take pics of them! haha - anyways, definately check out the fireworks on youtube part one and part two and if you have a chance - spend New Years in Sydney!

It was a long night though, bad stuff going on all around us while we waited for the fireworks, but I won't go into that!

In the end there were SOOOO MANNY PPEOPPLLLEEE!!! trying to get to the same train station as us. So in the end we decided to leave the main group and walk to the next stations (away from the city, so we would still end up at the closer station, but before everyone else) It was great, other people did the same thing, so we weren't the only smart ones, but we did end up with seats all the way home so that was good.





I had a really good nights sleep that night!!

Sydney - Day Two

The next morning we got up and caught the train into the City. Bernard lives about a hour from the city by train. We were very lucky to have been able to stay at his place while we were in Sydney. When Dan had finalized the days he was coming and I checked what days I could get off, we booked our tickets to Sydney, but I hadn't thought that we would have any trouble finding accommodation in the city. Little did I know! haha - it seems EVERYONE goes to Sydney for New Years! I can't remember when exactly I started looking into hotels and such, it was before November I think - anyways, EVERYTHING in the city was either booked or else you had to be staying at least 7 days in order to get a room...and we were only going for 3 nights.

I had found one possible place in Manly (which is a ferry ride away from the city) - but at that time I didn't know the proximity of Manly to the city, or how often ferries went and such, I didn't want us to get stuck there and not get to see the city as much as we wanted to, so I called Bernard just to ask about that stuff, and when I told him our predicament and said that if we were going to stay out in Manly we might as well stay at his house with him and his parents. I was very grateful, and they had two spare rooms so we slept very comfortably while we were there!





Anyways, onto Day two - we took the train in and Conor and I went to mass (it was Sunday) at the Cathedral and Dan went to a "performance" at Hillsong :) hehe

Mass at the Cathedral was at 1030, if I remember correctly, and Dan's church was starting later - so Conor and I went shopping and wandering around the city, ate a bit, and then met up with Dan at Darling Harbour.

I really wanted to go to the Aquarium in Sydney because I had heard good things about it, but as we were waiting for Dan, Conor saw the Maritime Museum across the way so we had a look and decided to go there instead, if it was okay with Dan. When we finally met up with him he was in line at the Aquarium, but the line was really long - so we definitely decided to go to the Maritime Museum instead.

The destroyer and the submarine

The museum itself was free, and then you just paid to go out onto the ships that were docked in the harbour. You could get a package where you could go into all the ships, but we were mainly interested in the submarine and the big destroyer ship which you paid one price to do both. It was so cool - and I'm very glad that I'm not claustrophobic, because the submarine is very small, and there are people in front of you and people behind, so it wouldn't very fun if you didn't like small spaces!

Dan was getting scared! hehe, just joking!

After going through the submarine you can wander around the destroyer ship for as long as you like, so we did that, and took lots of silly pictures, and then headed into the museum and wandered around.



After that we decided to walk up to "the rocks" (which Conor was very disappointed about as he thought that he would get so see some special rocks, but really it's just a name for that area of town) and then to see the Sydney harbour Bridge. We were also starting to scout out possible spots to sit and watch the fireworks for New Years.

After tiring ourselves out, we went back to the rocks where we had found some nice places to eat, and we picked Phillips Foote.


We didn't know it at the time, but at this restaurant you grill your own steaks! haha - so you go up and you can buy a meal with whichever meat you want (steak, chicken, etc) and includes potatoes and all you can eat salad - or else you can just get the salads without the meat...so I did that, and got drinks while the boys grilled their food. It was a really nice place, I recommend it if you're in Sydney.

After stuffing ourselves there we hopped back on a train to Bernards for a good nights rest before a long New Years Eve day.

Pictures

Obviously I haven't been putting up all of the pictures from when Dan was here, and Sydney - but if you go to the right of the screen, under the links to other blogs, there are links to all the photo albums that I've put on facebook.

Sydney - Day One

On Saturday morning (Dec 29th) we flew to Sydney were we would be spending three nights at a friends house, Bernard, and watching the Sydney New Years Fireworks.

Before leaving I wasn't sure how much free time Bernard would have while we were there, if we would get to see him much or not, but it turned out he was on holidays from work so it worked out great. He didn't spend the whole weekend with us, because he had some JPII institute papers he wanted to work on, but we were very thankful for his help and driving us around while we were there!

He picked us up from the airport when we arrived, we went and had some lunch at his place and dropped of our stuff and then we drove to the "Blue Mountains". On Wikipedia it says they get their name because of the "blueish tinge the range takes on when viewed at a distance, which is caused by the release of volatile oils from eucalyptus forests". We didn't really know what to expect - but were very surprised!! We were driving and saw signs saying that we were nearing the mountains, and then we parked on some residential street, walked a little bit and then looked out and saw this!!

Beautiful!!




It was crazy, the mountains and trees and ridges spanned as far as you could see. You could climb down "1000 steps" (I think there was only 800-900 steps), some carved into the stones and some man-made, down beside a rock formation called the "three sisters". We took the chance to get some pictures with the three sisters to show my mum, because she's always loved the three sisters mountains in Alberta.







Anyways, I wasn't very keen, but we decided to walk down the "1000 steps" and then walk back up...it was crazy! They weren't your typical house steps, you really had to watch where you were walking. Anyways, at one point I decided it was going to be hard enough walking up from that point, let alone walking up from the very bottom - so the boys went ahead and I started walking back up. But apparently I wasn't actually very far from the bottom when I turned back.






Boy did I regret that walk though - my calves were SOOO sore for the next two days. Especially after sleeping, or after sitting down for lunch or dinner, they would be really really stiff afterwards...but they're looking good now though! haha



After we were done we drove around a bit, stopped at a little town with shops and such, wandered around and then headed back to Bernards.

Down Under with Dan Part III

Boxing day went down to St Kilda Beach

(and got a little burned! )

My oldest brother, Mike, calls me Jackaroo :)

The priest that we play poker with at our monthly poker night took Conor Dan and I to a cricket game the day after boxing day.

Haha - posers!

Every year Melbourne holds the "boxing day test cricket" - which is actually 5 days...so we went the day after boxing day. Cricket isn't my sport...but I enjoy going to most sports games and asking questions and learning how the game works. Then I enjoy it for another hour or so...but then after that will come proof of whether I enjoy the game or not. I don't really enjoy cricket that much! But it might have to do with the fact that it was a really SLOW game (in the first hour and a half Indian ((it was Melbourne vs India)) had zero out and only 2 runs...if you know cricket, then you know that's REALLY slow!) We got to the game around 11 am and I left around 5ish, the boys stayed til 6 to see the rest of the days game. I was there for 6 hours!! Anyways, I'm glad I went..now if Conor's watching it on tv I can actually understand what's going on.

I had to work the next day, and I'm not sure, but I think Dan and Conor went golfing...and it was a really hot day! haha, poor Dan.

Then, bright and early Saterday we left for Sydney for the weekend and to see the New Years fireworks!!!

Down Under with Dan Part II

Last year we really wanted to go to Midnight mass at the Cathedral, but there were no trams running afterwards so we didn't go...but I really wanted to go this year, especially with Dan around so we found someone that could bring us home afterwards!

So we went to Midnight mass, and there were carols before hand so we got there around 1030pm. The Cathedral was already filling when we got there, and I'm sure that within 15 minutes of us sitting down all of the seats were taken, it was crazy! We sat there for a good 2.5 hours! It was long, but really good...the choir were better than ever, and they even had a mini-orchestra!

Here's our Christmas trees - better than last years! click to see

The next day we slept in, had some breakfast, and then got to opening presents! (Thank you to everyone who sent cards and presents!!) Since it was a hot-ish day (definitely no snow) it didn't feel like Christmas, but having Dan here made it feel more like it!

Dan trying to solve the sudoku rubics cube that I got him

Conor was going on and on about his family normally has a "Christmas hike", so we went on an extra long walk (not a hike) and then relaxed when we got home. Then our friend Clare (she's from Queensland, but was staying in Melbourne for Christmas) came for dinner with a friend of hers, Friska.

Clare, Friska, Me and Dan

The food turned out really good, and it was nice to have the extra people - we had a good game of tricks afterwards (Conor, Dan and I:the Canadians, won coming in the top 3!)

The FEAST!!

We were going to rent a car for Boxing day and go up the great ocean road (the same place we got to go with Liz when she came last year) but by the time we had decided a day and all, all of the cars were booked, so instead we relaxed in the morning and then went down to the St Kilda Beach and enjoyed the sunshine (after the miserable few days Dan had previously)

Christmas Pics

Down Under with Dan Part I

Dan was worried that it was going to be really hot when he got here...the first day it was raining but grossly humid, it was horrible. But then the next few days were rainy/cold! haha, so I guess he got what he wanted.

The face that greeted me...Thanks Dan! *note sarcasm

On Saterday the 22nd we kinda just wandered around the city. We went up to the war memorial (I didn't put up new pics, but you can find old ones here under the war memorial heading). Then we wandered some more, and went to the Queen Victoria Markets...I think Dan was tired and out of it, but oh well!

I had to work Sunday, I think Conor took Dan to the Art Gallery that day. Then the fun begins!!

On Christmas Eve (monday) we headed to the Melbourne Zoo!!

Waiting for the tram

We had alot of fun taking silly pictures and sitting on animal statues.

Whoa! BIG turtles!

We decided to go to the "meet the keeper" for the Koalas, and along the way we were walking past a spot where some people were feeding Kangaroos!

We got to feed a Kangaroo!!!

It looked as though they weren't going to be there much longer and they made some comment about how the kangaroo was probably getting full and would therefore stop eating soon...I really wanted to feed it!..but then they said they would let two more people try to feed it before they go, so Dan and I stepped right up!

Anyways, very cool! I was hoping the same luck would befall us with the Koala, but no dice :(

Updates to come!

I promise, LOTS of updates and pictures to come

I just have to sift through the, oh, 400 some pictures I've taken in the last few weeks!!