Merry Christmas

The last 2 weeks here in Brisbane has flown by. Hard to believe that we only have another 3.5 here.

We have been blessed to find work through the company that Sirkka works for, the Finnish Rest Home Assoc. Sirkka is the homeowner we are housesitting for. So we have been employed as causal employees and have been going to aged individuals homes and doing domestic cleaning. It has been quite a pleasant job actually.

First off, because Andreas and I are actually working together and really enjoying it too. We are a good team together and work well. We will not likely be working together much in the near future, so it's a neat opportunity. It's also great to be using the same car and starting and finishing work at the same time.
Secondly we have loved some of the clients that we have cleaned for. They have been so sweet and generous, giving us chocolates or something cold to drink and just sharing about their life. We have met some very interesting people!

It's hard to believe Christmas is already here and gone!! Wow this year has just flown. We were very blessed to have Cessi, Andreas youngest sister stay with us for a few days! She's living in Sydney currently, so it was just a quick flight up here! We were quite happy to have at least some family with us during this weekend, and not just the 2 of us. We went for a swim at the beach on Christmas day, even though the beach was flooded and the weather was very overcast. It was still warm enough in the ocean! We made a lovely dinner on Christmas Eve of skewers with lamb, chicken, roo and veggies and pineapple. We made two Finnish dishes, one a yummy potato bake and also delish rice and carrot dish. We had waldorf salad and palvola for dessert with whipping cream and fruit. Then later on we had cheese and a divine Gewurtztraminer wine. We ate lots!!!
Christmas Day we had leftovers but it was still good! We made a gingerbread house in the afternoon and Andreas and I went for a nice walk. Thankfully the weather managed to be dry for most of the afternoon. We watched Anne of Green Gables that evening. Today we slept in (well Cessi did) and we had a late breakfast and lunch. We all read our books and just relaxed. In the afternoon we went to the city centre of Brisbane and walked around, but it was pouring rain all day. We got wet even with our umbrella's! Then we dropped Cessi off at the airport and came home.

At this time of year we do miss family but are so thankful for skype to stay connected and close. It is also very special for us to be able to spend our first christmas together and be thankful to God for the gift he gave us in each other!

South Australia & New South Wales

So Andreas and I were very happy when the weather started warming up. Our last full day in Clare we walked along the Riesling trail, and along some paved roads as well. In the end doing about 17 kms. My dogs were aching me then! We visited several wineries. Our favorite was the Sevenhill Winery, which is actually run and operated by the Jesuits. They started the winery in the 1800's for the creation of altar wines for mass. However over the decades they started creating table wines as well. We found their quality was exceptional and their prices were really reasonable too. They still do some fermantation in the wooden barrels so it's very aunthentic.

After we left Clare we drove down to Port Victoria on the Yorke Peninsula. We have become members of the Top Tourist caravan/camp grounds. So we recieved a booklet stating which towns had Top Tourist campgrounds. Well there had been one in Port Victoria but when we got to the campground office there were no logos up and I was hesitant. We gave them our membership card and the woman confirmed they were no longer with them. I was miffed that they had cancelled their membership with the chain after the booklet came out! Sneaky cheeky's!!
What was nice was the weather warmed up dramatically. Andreas and I found Port Victoria beautiful.

Port Victoria has a significant connection to the Åland Islands (where Andreas' mum is from). In the 1930's and 1940's huge four masted windjammers would sail from Europe to Australia to load up with grain to be taken back to Europe. An overwhelming proporion of these ships came from Åland although they carried their load mainly to England. There was a small maritime museum in town which Andreas found very interesting, in a documentary featured in the museum two of his grand mother's friends were interviewed. The era of bagged grain trade and windjammers came to an end in 1949 when the last two ships Pamir and Passat left Port Victoria and about 110 days later reached Falmouth via Kap Horn.
The same afternoon we had a beach afternoon on Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula. It was great that the temp was in the high 20's and the lows were in the low 20's. Very comfortable to sleep in.

Then we headed to Port Augusta. It was hot there, with the temp in the 30's. But a dry heat so very pleasant. The second day there we headed to the town of Whyalla and went to the HMAS Whyalla museum. The ship was neat to explore and tour guide was fun. The actual museum was okay too. The ship was actually built in Whyalla as a mine sweeper/corvette during WW2. Today she is about 2kms from the ocean on dry land, quite a feat of transport to have her moved there.

From Port Augusta we went up to Flinders Range. We loved the Rawnsley Park campground. We did a short hike the day we arrived, about 5km along the low ranges. The gound was abit soft though, due to rain earlier that day. The next day we did a long 13.8km hike to Wilpena Pound lookout and Rawnsley Bluff. There was a very steep part for at least a km that was very challenging but fun too! The view was spectacular. We went for a swim that afternoon in the camp pool, so it was another hot day in the 30's. We loved this campground as it was quite quiet and few campers. The amentities and camp kitchen were incredibly clean and suitable.

Then we are on our way to Brisbane. Our first stop was Broken Hill in NSW. We had left South Australia, but Broken Hill is very west NSW. Anyways the weather was beautiful the day we arrived but that night was awful! The wind blew so hard and it was a total lightening storm and we ended up sleeping in the car as the tent sides w constantly caving into our faces was not condusive to a good sleep. It also poured rain so the tent got very wet. The only upside of that campground was the couple camping next to us were from Parksville, BC. They were in their 60's and really nice. We had a nice chat with them (before the weather had turned!) Well it made for a good memory!

That day we drove about 750 kms, (our long day of driving)to Dubbo. The weather was good in Dubbo and we were able to hang up some clothes that had gotten very wet. The caravan park was lovely as well, incredibly clean and pretty new. The camp kitchen was lovely! However the town had some major flooding going on....the Macquarie river near the caravan park had totally flooded its banks. Thankfully the park was fine but on the other side of the river another more lower level caravan park was totally flooded as well as the parkades of two shopping centres. This has been such a rainy year for Austalia, which is great b/c they've had drought for so long.....but now at this time of the year it has become too much! The couple from BC, Tom and Teresa were also in the same campground again and we stayed chatting with them for over a hour. They invited us to come look them up when we visit the Island, great connection to make.

We had a good night sleep and the next day we drove up to Goondiwindi just inside Queensland. We love being back in Queensland. Another beautiful campground. Very clean, we had a huge campsite for ourselves, good camp kitchen and clean amentities. The pool was the best though. We went swimming in it yesterday and it's slightly heated so it felt the same temp as the ocean in Fiji. So comfortable to swim and sit in.

Now we are on our way to Brisbane for our next housesit for 5 weeks. It will be great to be in a house again. Though we loved the camping that we've done for the last 3 weeks, we are ready to be in a house again......and work too!

Castlemaine, Great Ocean road and South Australia

So the last two weeks have flown by. We arrived in Castlemaine on thursday afternoon, Nov 18th. It was so lovely to see our grandmother Bibi again. It had been 14 months for me and 10 months for Andreas. We love our Bibi. We were all staying with Bibi's son and his wife and children. Since the home isn't to big we tented out in the backyard. The weather was first cool when we got there, but it warmed up beautifully for the weekend. We celebrated little Annie's 1st birthday on the Saturday. This is Bibi's first biological grandaughter. She was enjoying having the time with her grandaughter.
On the Sunday we drove into Bendigo and walked around the lovely city and did some shopping.

Monday morning we left and drove South towards Geelong, grocery shopped and then headed out onto the Great Ocean road, one of the most famous beautiful scenic drives of Victoria. Though the day was so sunny, clear and warm inland, once we headed out on the coast the sky was so foggy. We could hardly see anything. Thankfully we didn't drive to far along the coast that day. The next day was beautiful, warm and completely clear. We saw beautiful coastline, and also did a detour inland and did a tree top walk in the Beechforest. We saw the gorgeous famous Twelve Apostles, limestone pillars left standing when the coast around them has been eroded away.
We camped in Port Fairy that night.

The next day we drove into South Australia. We had these expectations that it would be so nice and hot in this state. What a disappointment! It has been so cool, quite cloudy and windy and even periods of rain. The whole week we have been here. Even the locals are saying it is a very unusual cold snap!
We're very glad we have each other to snuggle up to in the tent!
We saw Coorong National Park along the South eastern part, then we went to Victor Harbor on the Fleurieu Peninsula. It was a beautiful area with great scenery but again so windy and cloudy that we mainly just drove around it. Then we headed into Adelaide for 2 days. It was cloudy with minor sun and the city was great to drive around in. Compared to the other 3 main cities of Australia we have been in, Adelaide was definitely the best road wise. Wide multi-lane streets and very simple road grid. We went to the Migration museum which was very interesting and did a bit of shopping. We also went to a small Baptist church in the morning, very sweet people.

The last 2 days we have been in the Clare Valley. We have enjoyed the lovely famous Barossa Valley, finding we enjoyed the Peter Lehmann wines the best. Then today we had a super long walk, about 17 kms along the Clare valley wineries. We really loved the Sevenhills vineyard which is actually run by Catholic Jesuits. It's a super old winery over 160 years old. Originally created for altar wines, they later expanded to make great table and fortified wines. They had a beautiful church, an old crypt and a lovely ancient cellar. At least the weather was nice and warmer this afternoon.

Neerim, Victoria

Well it has been 2 weeks since my last blog, and about 17 days since we left New Zealand. Right before we left for the South Island we had a house/farm sit confirmed in Neerim, Victoria. Since we already were planning on being in Victoria for alot of November, we were very happy to have a 16 day house/pet sit.

Well today is our last day and we are happy to be out of here. The homeowner lives on an acreage and has quite a few animals. 5 horses (which are darling - 2 geldings, 3 mares), 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 chooks, 1 guinea pig, 1 cockatiel bird. Plus a cow, but she required no work, she had a whole huge field to herself.

We did like the location of the place, only 80 minutes from Melbourne or the beach. When we first arrived we were quite dissapointed at how cool the weather was. It was windy, rainy and cloudy for over 3 days. A high of about 15.

We went to Melbourne for the first time that week and checked out the Old Melbourne Gaol. It was such a neat experience. One of the most interesting museums we have been too. We took a number of photos. We also checked out some of Melbourne downtown.

The first weekend was our 9 month anniversary and a beautiful sunny day and we went to Phillip Island. It was a busy day there and a great beach. Unfortantly we didn't bring our swimsuits to get full body color and we also didn't wear sunscreen. We both had shoulder, arm and knee burns. Thankfully not to bad though.

The next week was lovely weather. We went to Melbourne again and checked out the downtown, the older buildings and shops.

We also went to a beach in Inverloch. It was a quiet day since it was during the week and nice and warm. This time we had sunscreen on and got a nice comfortable tan.

The animals here at the home have been interesting. The dogs Cash and Annie are complete opposites. Cash is a 12 month German Shepard and very hyper. However he is quite intelligent and listens pretty well. Annie is 13 yrs old and very calm. However I don't if she has ever been trained. She doesn't seem to know any commands.

The 2 outdoor cats are fine, obviously very low maintanice. The one indoor cat Kimba, has been a complete headache. Though we change his litter box every 2 days, he has a kidney problem and urinates alot. Whether his box hasn't been dry enough or he's just wanted to be a pain he has peed in the house over 10 times. So annoying and smelly! Andreas and I have deceided we will NEVER have a cat! They are cute at times but the hair is just too much.

The 5 horses are very beautiful. My favorites are Cocoa, Raz, Clancy. Though I really like Zeph too, but just this last day he has been acting so scared and spooked of us. We need to take the rug off him, as the weather has gotten warmer but it's dragged too low and we think that's what's making him scared.

We went to Melbourne again on Sunday and went to the Victoria Art Gallery (it was great!), Victoria and King's Domain gardens and visited the Remembrance Shrine which was in the gardens. Great learning opportunties!

Today Cash attacked the old chook. He was already defeathering her when we noticed. I was so upset to see him doing that. Poor chook barely moved when Andy picked her up and carried her to the coop. Just a little cackle. She was not bleeding and we have checked her throughout the day and she is still breathing. Though moving very little. We are not thrilled to have to tell the owner this :(

Now we will be off to Castlemaine to visit Ronnie and Bibi and family!

New Zealand holiday

Well the last two weeks have been great. Andreas and I decided to do a hop over to the South Island of New Zealand. We didn't know when we would next go to New Zealand and since Australia and New Zealand are "neighbors" so to say, we knew this would be the best time to see it.

It was such a wonderful time, we had great weather, out of 10 days we had only 2 cloudy/rainy days. It was a nice comfortable temperature of about 18 degrees and the scenery was majestic.

The day we arrived into Christchurch, we bought some kebabs and did the long drive to Queenstown, where we stayed for a full 4 days. We rented a little Nissan Pulsar (manual, small sedan). It had great mileage. About 6 litres per 100 km. We were so happy with it and Andreas definitely was comparing it with our "Mandy Mazda". Our car has average mileage. On the way to Queenstown I started realizing my kebab was not sitting with me well, and felt quite nauseous. But all we could do was take a couple of rest stops and keep driving. We were staying in Queenstown with a couple friend of Andreas.

We arrived at Steve and Mary's past 11:00 pm. After a mint tea we went to bed. Thankfully we had a great sleep and I felt much better the next day. We explored Glenorchy and Queenstown that day, did a couple short hikes. The next day we went skydiving! It was so awesome and such a great experience. There was only one instructor jumping that day, so Andreas and I took turns. He did the jump first. When he came down and told me how awesome it was, I didn't feel nervous but excited. We had a nice 20 minute scenic flight up to 12,000 feet. The instructor was a Korean named Yuan. He was really nice and thorough and had done over 900 tandem jumps before. We had a beautiful view of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains. It was a clear, sunny day. Yuan opened the door of the plane, helped me put my legs out and then.....out we went. The freefall was a good 45 seconds and went so fast. We were dropping at a speed of 200 km/hr but we were so high up it wasn't scary. You could barely see the ground. The air was just whipping past. After the freefall, the parachute was opened and we had about a 5 min float to the ground. Though this was a pricey activity it was so worth it!

The next day we went to Wanaka with Steve and Mary, had a lovely lunch and then did a long walk/hike by Lake Wanaka. It was such a warm day. We had dinner that evening with Steve and Mary's senior friend Alan. He cooked the dinner himself and it was pretty tasty!

Sunday we went to a church service in the morning at the local Anglican church which was hosting a Jazz style worship. Had a good walk in the afternoon, with Andreas, and he also went to the golf course with Steve after lunch. In the evening we went to Steve and Mary's church. It was a good service and the people were very lovely and friendly.
Steve and Mary are such a lovely couple, so hospitable, comfortable, kind and very generous. I felt so at ease with them and could see why Andreas liked them so much. It was such a gift that they opened their home to us and made us feel welcome. We want to be like that in the future. When we left Monday morning it was quite emotional for Andres and even me as well. We invited them to come to Canada and visit us. We'd love to see them again soon!

Monday we drove to Milford Sound and picked up 2 hitchiker backpackers (at different places). First we picked up Joel (he's German) and drove him for an hour. Shortly after we dropped him off we picked up Geri (she's Canadian!). We drove her to Milford Sound. It was such a beautiful day at Milford and the fiord was gorgeous. We did some short hikes around the area, then went to see a cinema show that evening that is shot from the air of the Milford/Doubtful Sound fiords. Majestic!
We stayed in Manapouri that night at a backpackers lodge.
The next day we went to Catlins. On the way we stopped at Invercargil and Bluff (which is the Southern most tip of NZ). This was on the southeast of NZ. We stayed at a really nice beach house, and there was only one other guy there. The accomodation also came with 2 outdoor cats. But I let them in and they were so friendly. Immediately curling up beside us or sitting on our laps. The house had a beautiful view of the beach/ocean.

The next day we drove up back to the West Coast to Haast. As we got closer the weather got quite cloudy and cool. When we arrived at our motel and unpacked, we walked around the town then went back to the motel and made our dinner. Watched abit of TV and went to bed. We had driven long that day.
Thursday we drove to Greymouth. On the way we stopped at 2 glaciers, the Fox glacier and Franz Josef glacier. They were magnificent. We walked to some great look out points. The weather was rainy but not bad. We stayed at a Top 10 holiday park cabin that night.
The next day we drove to Blenheim, and stopped on the way at the Blowholes and Pancake rocks at Punakaiki. Really neat. A nice walk around the area as well. We stayed at another Top 10 park that night.
Saturday was our last full day in NZ. We drove back to Christchurch, but on the way we stopped in Kaikoura. There were so many seals in the area. They were very interesting to watch and some were sunning themselves on the rocks and grass. It was easy to get very close to them and take a picture. Though a large group of them tended to produce an unpleasant stench. We did a lovely walk at the coast in Kaikoura first along the top of the hill, then on the way back along the beach. Saw 2dead seals by the beach :(
Then on to Christchurch. We returned our rental car and the owner drove us to our hostel. We walked around downtown Christchurch for a couple hours, Andreas got his hair cut cheap, and we ate yummy hokey pokey ice cream. Then we went to bed early as we had to be up by 4 am to get the shuttle to the airport. Unfortantly there were a few drunks outside the steps of the hostel and they were talking loudly late into the night. We didn't sleep well at all.

Sunday morning we flew back to Sydney and headed into the state of Victoria. We have a short housesit for 2 weeks in Neerim South. It is in the country and a beautiful area. We are looking after 2 dogs, a few cats, a bird, 5 horses, 2 chooks and a guinea. It's mostly just feeding that needs to be done though.

Our time in New Zealand was awesome. It was very special and significant for us as this is the country where we first met. And excatly 9 years ago. Okay the North Island of NZ, but close enough!

Good-bye Canberra (Queanbeyan).......on our way to New Zealand!

These last 2 weeks have gone by so quick, but they've been so good. Two weekends ago the neighbor's invited us over for dinner. We had a nice meal and fun time socializing, getting to know them better, playing with their two boys for abit.
The only downer of the evening was that I was very hungry before we ate, but also felt abit bloated. We were having wine and cashews before we had the dinner and though I only had about half of my glass (which was quite small) it definitely didn't agree with me. I ended up having a small vomit outside. Andreas was great and very caring/concerned. Thankfully though I felt better then, and still stayed at the guests house to have dinner.

The next day we went to the Australian Parliament and explored that. It was neat and very infomative. We enjoyed it.

During the last week we went to Change the young adults group, and than last Friday evening we had a potluck dinner with Steve and Trish, Brad and Kate, Matt and Sam came along. Carly also stopped in for abit. These are all couples in their 20's that we made friends with during our time here. It was such a wonderful time, yummy yummy food and great company. Andreas and I definitely could see ourselves being comfortable staying in this area for awhile. But alas, time goes on and home owners come back.....and we would need to find a place to rent then. Plus there is still alot of Australia we haven't seen yet.

It has been hard saying good bye to the clients I have worked for with Just Better Care. Today is my last shift with one particular client I really enjoyed being with and developed a friendship with his family. It has been so encouraging to hear clients say they will miss me and that they really enjoyed my work and conversation with them. There were numerous lovely elderly people I had the privelege of knowing.

The homeowners Phil and Kathy came back from their Europe trip on Saturday. They have been absolutely lovely in letting us stay an extra four days at the house to finish up our jobs. We have really enjoyed housesitting for them and developing a friendship. We will miss Jack, he was a great dog and even Mitzy the cat was really warming up to us the last couple weeks. Sleeping on our bed by our feet :)

Yesterday evening I was treated to dinner by the staff of the Remedial Therapy Centre. The other job I will miss. I really loved the staff I worked with, we had many laughs and informative training sessions too. I also appreciated the clients that were regulars and that I got to know.
This has been such a wonderful experience of getting to know the Aussie culture and personality.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early at 4am to drive to Sydney (3 hours away) to catch our flight to Christchurch, NZ. We will be spending 10 days travelling the South Island. And we will be going sky - diving this Friday in Queenstown, NZ. Ahhhhhhh!

Time has flown.....

Well it's hard to believe that we only have about 2 more weeks here in Queanbeyan. The last 6 weeks have flown by. It has helped that we have had steady jobs. That was the main thing we wanted out of this stay and it has happened so that's been great. Building up our savings which was getting fairly low :[

The last two weeks have been good. We have attended church on Sunday mornings and attended the young adult group as well. I had my shift changed on Sundays so I start later which is great, so I can attend the morning services.

Andreas and I went to the national art gallery and portrait gallery last weekend in Canberra. I loved seeing the portraits, they were done excellently. The art gallery was very interesting as well, definitely some dual-meaning art :)

We went up Mt. Ainslie again last Sunday with Jack. It was a beautiful weekend.

Trish and Steve have gone up to Darwin for a couple weeks so we haven't seen them.

This past Friday we went to Sydney to take in a Hillsongs service. It's a long weekend here in Oz and they didn't have a Sunday evening service, so we went to their Friday evening one. It was great. I love the worship, so uplifting.
It was a late night though, with the 3 hour drive we didn't get home until 12:30am. It was great to see sista Cessi though! Shortly before we got home 2 things happened. First a roo jumped in front of the road and I was doozing. Andreas slammed on the brakes and I was like "whoooaaa". Glad my hubby is such a good driver. Now I didn't have my seatbelt on, wanted to be more comfortable to sleep.
So then 3 blocks away from the house we were pulled over by the police for an alcohol check. I had tried to yank the belt and clip it, but the belt got stuck halfway across me. I just prayed the police wouldn't notice or care about my seatbelt.
Thankfully they didnt'!

Didn't do to much on Saturday but work, and grocery shop. Sunday was church and a walk. The weather has not been that great this weekend. But since Andreas had the day off today we went to the National museum of Australia. It was interesting and very informative.

Well that was our last couple weeks, only about 2 more to go. Then we head off to New Zealand, so excited about that!

Canberra and my birthday

Well it has been two weeks since I last wrote, I've really let the time get away from me. I was wanting to write this weekend, but it was a pretty busy weekend. Andreas and I have enjoyed several parts of Canberra that we hadn't taken the time to see until now.

A week and a half ago we went for a walk around the lake in the city centre of Canberra. It was already late afternoon and the wind was picking up, but it was still very lovely.

Then last Friday we went to Fleuride which is a annual flower show the city puts on every September. This is spring time and all the tulips, hycinths and daisies were out in full bloom. There were numerous gardens planted in beautiful designs and shapes.

This past Saturday was my birthday. 28 years now! At least I still feel excatly the same! Actually this has probably been one of the healthiest years of my twenties. I have not had a cold/flu since last October, about 11 months. It's a trend that I get at least 2-3 colds a year. Maybe being married and incredibly happy with my partner has boosted my immunity. Well I have read studies that say those in good relationships have stronger immunity.????

My birthday was great. Andreas surprised me with flowers, a lovely card, and mint chocolates. I recieved a pedicure and he also bought a yummy cake for the evening! My sister in law Cessi came in from Sydney for the night and she brought a nice friend Johanna along. We had a dinner that night with 4 other young women from C3 that we've met thru Change the young adults meeting. It was very special to have family and new friends from the country we're in celebrate with me.

Other than that Andreas and I have been working steady. He is working at least 38 hours a week, I work more like 22-24 a week. But it is good, we are very happy to be making an income. I am really enjoying my job at remedial therapy centre, and I also am really enjoying my job with Just Better Care. Mainly I have been doing respite for those caring for a parent with Alzheimers or domestic care for aged females. But I really enjoy meeting these individuals and getting to know them too!

The pictures above are of Fleuride, my birthday party and the lake.

Spring has sprung!

Well life here in Queanbeyan is going swell! The pictures from the previous post are of the house we are staying in, Jack (all wagging his tail b/c we are about to go for a walk), and the view of Queanbeyan with Canberra in the distance.

Andreas and I have been fairly busy with work. The massage work at Remedial Therapy Centre is going well. I've been averaging around 14 massages a week so I'm pretty happy with that.
I really love my work there as most of my appointments are deep tissue and pain problem focused. It has made me work harder, rely on my education and past experiences and really communicate properly with my clients. Back to pro trigger point therapy and strong pettrisage.
I've been having a fairly good go of return clients already too! And have also learned about being proactive to clients about rebooking by a fornight (2 weeks). Or for sure 3 weeks.

Andreas got a job for the whole of September working at a ladder producing company. So good! He got the job through the agency he's employed with. It's also very handy b/c he can walk to work in 15 mins, as I have to drive to work. So sharing the vehicle has been real easy even with us both working.

And I got another job as well with an organization called Just Better Care. We do homeservices for aged individuals still living at home. This includes domestic work and personal care. Which I have done both of, from Bethesda. We also provide respite for families who have special needs children or relatives at home. I'm really looking forward to working with the company. I really love their values and mission statement. I got the tip for this job from Phil the homeowner here. Phil works with this company and gave me the manager's name and told me to call them. I'm available with Just Better Care from Wed - Friday. My first appointments are this friday.

We have also just joined Steve and Trish's connect group. The first meeting was last night. Trish spoiled us with delicious baking! She is such a good baker! I snatched her cookie recipie off her.

I'm still making time to walk Jack often and it has been quite lovely to take walks in the morning. Spring has come to Canberra. The trees are blossoming and and buds are everywhere. It's funny how it's spring here in Oz, and late summer close to autumn starting in Canada.
Looking forward to the warmer weather for sure!

The photo's are of the park we take Jack and of Mitzi

Canberra, C3 church and life on 1A Nimmitabel St.

So Andreas and I have settled comfortably into our new home for the next 2 months. The home we are in is somewhat old, but maintained pretty well. And it's large enough for us, 3 bedroom. We just close off the main dining and lounge area anyways. It is very cool here, defintely a huge difference from Queensland, to southwest New South Wales. Since there is a wood fire off the kitchen that is what we use to heat up the house. We also close the doors to the extra 2 rooms. So some heat makes it's way down the hall to the bedroom.

Jack is a lovely dog. We really enjoy taking him for walks and playing fetch with him. He is loyal, obedient and very friendly. Mitzy the cat is her own character. Friendly when she wants food or some attention but otherwise keeps to herself. And very disobedient with climbing onto the kitchen counter. Phil and Cath have tried to teach her to not climb on the counter, but what does she care. Cats make their own rules. Phil also let us know she may puke up occasionally and we had the joys of that experience on Wednesday. Thankfully it was on the kitchen floor so easy to wipe up and guess who did it???? Not me!!! Andy took care of it!
But it's definitely fair as I'm the one who changes Mitzy's litter and I also clean up the Jack crap in the yard!
I have found a job at a massage clinic about a 13 min drive from home. Manuka Remedial Massage Centre. I'm working 4 shifts a week, 4 days in a row, Sat - Tues. I'm very happy if I can have 4 hr massages per shift. I am subcontracted so I get paid per massage not per hour. But the wage is generous! I'm in the process of getting a Australian Business number as well for this type of employment.
The staff I work with are all great and lots of fun. I love Aussies, just really easy people to be with!
Andreas has found some work with a temp employment agency. He's usually working a couple days a week. He's looking for something, so he could also work at least 4 days a week,
We have found a great church here, C3. It stands for Christian Life Church. They are a fairly big denomination in Oz and New Zealand. Pentecostal type. The young adults are friendly and it helps that Andreas actually knows a couple that live here and attend the church. Andy met Trish and Steve when he was doing his study in Israel. Trish works in diplomacy and her job here had sent her to Israel for several years. Andy attended the same church in Tel Aviv as they did.
Small world eh?
Very neat to meet them and for Andy to see them again. They are our age too, which is nice and have a new baby. We are excited to build more friendships together. We also will be looking into getting involved with this church for abit as well.
Yesterday Andy and I previewed the Australian War museum. It was very enlightening interesting and heroic to see the history of the Australian's and the ANZAC spirit of the soldiers. They lost so many lives but fought for freedom of their own nation and many times for other nations. Of course Andy loved it too!
Post some pictures when I have them!

Armidale, Sydney and Queanbeyan

So last monday (9th) Andreas and I left Brisbane and took a lovely scenic route to Armidale. We went from sea level to 1000 meters above. It was so beautiful to see the mountains and see the great dividing range (again). Armidale is the highest city in Australia and we could definitely tell from the temperature. The winter temps in Armidale often go below 0 at night anyways. Colder than Southern B.C. average winter. It was one of the nicest towns we have seen. Population about 30,000 and so much of the original architect from the early 1900's. A good number of schools, churches and even homes were designed by a famous architect and are well maintained.

It really gives the whole town a quaint look.

We stayed at a great bed and breakfast called Annie's B & B. The best part is we were upgraded to the studio suite which was it's own building. It had a great kitchen as well for us to make our dinners. For us this was our 6 month anniversary celebration. We had fun!

The second day there we did a free town tour that highlighted the schools, universities, the old railway station, the art gallery and the churches.

We also visited a winery that afternoon. The cellar door assistant was a lovely young lady that was really fun to talk with. We are loving all the new people we are meeting along the way.

On Wednesday we took another lovely scenic route back down the mountains to Sydney. We stayed with Cessi, Andreas youngest sister. She is such a sweet sister-in-law. I love her. We camped out in the living room, as Cessi shares the downtown flat with 5 other girls. We were only like 2 blocks from the Hillsong City Church. I took in a service on thursday morning called "Sisterhood". A regular session the church hosts on thursdays. It was great! The worship was just excellent and the speaker shared a very encouraging message. Then on Friday we went to the college chapel service. Again great worship!

Another perk at the apartment block that Cessi lives in is a shared gym and pool facility among a few of the buildings. So Andy and I had a workout both days and took in the sauna as well. We arrived in Sydney early evening on Wednesday and left Saturday at noon. Because Cessi is in Bible school we really only had Friday evening and Saturday with her. We walked around some of the downtown and to a great park on Saturday. Oh yes and we also shared a dinner with Carolyn and Charles on thursday evening. It was great to see them after 3.5 months and catch up. They are a hospitable and sociable couple.

We arrived in Queanbeyan late afternoon Saturday. The couple we are housesitting for Phil and Cathy are very nice. Their home is older but nice and clean (Phew). Average 3 bedroom home. They were very hospitable giving us their room and ensuite the night we arrived and telling us to stay in that room for the duration of the housesit. We will be here for a full 2 months. They own a dog and cat. Jack is a blue-heeler cross cattle dog breed, and a really well-behaved and smart dog. He is a pleasure to walk and play with. Mitzy is an indoor cat only and more aloof, but will get used to us in time. Both pets sleep in front of the wood fire on mats beside each other at night. Very cute. It is very cool here, August is the coldest winter month for Queanbeyan, night temperatures around 0 (or lower). This is not the warm part of Oz, but we were prepared for it.

I had an interview yesterday at a massage clinic in town and I have the job. It's so easy to get a job in this country it seems. More about it in the next blog....

Alpha Homestead, Brisbane (Forest Lake Suburb + Wellington Point Suburb)

Well this last week has been very eventful and fun. First we finished our housesit in Rocky last Wednesday morning. Then for Wednesday morning to Saturday morning Andy did some bush clearing up at Mt. Morgan about 75 mins from Rocky. He was offered the job by the couple who had taken us boating to Humpy Island the first week we arrived in Rocky. Excellent that he had some work, but there were no pit toilets or anything on the property. I didn't want to stay up there for 3 days. So I stayed at the Walford's home with the wife and daughter. Though I did really miss sleeping with my hubby! It was weird I felt single again. Don't really enjoy it.

Last Saturday we headed to Alpha, west of Rocky. It was to a homestead on Pine Hill, called Rocklea. Basically it's like a big farm, but Oz style which is much different than Canada. The couple Lawrence and Pat are the parents of the man that we housesat for in Rocky. They invited us out to their property. It was fun. We saw the cattle and gave them hay, I rode Junea the mare, and Andy and I went for walks along the dusty dirt tracks (of course minding the cow pies!)

The cattle are so funny, when you approach them on the road, they look like they'll trot toward you but then they run into the bushes. Hehehee.

After Alpha we had a night in Taroom, then we had been invited to stay in Brisbane with a couple we had met camping back in early May. Patty and Andy are a couple our parents age and have a beautiful home in Forest Lake (Brisbane suburb). It is so clean and tidy and very big too. The guestroom was so nice and the bed so comfy. And though it is getting pretty cool here at night and in the morning (12 or lower degrees) they have heating in the rooms. So it chases the chill out. They also have two lovely dogs Champ and Chilli and we walked them both mornings. On Wednesday we went to downtown Brisbane and shopped around. The first time Andy and I have really shopped together here in Oz. And after 4 hours I was pretty tired of it. Andreas is so happy he didn't marry a shopper :)

Thursday we left the McFarlane's house and went to the beach in the afternoon. Just to relax and read. In the late afternoon we headed to Markku and Sirkka's place. They are the Finnish couple we stayed with in May, on our way up North. We will be here with them for another day and a half. So exciting to find their little sauna in the backyard is working again. We did a sauna on Thursday and Friday evening. Great way to warm up in the cool evenings :) Yesterday Andreas and I went to the Mt. Coot-Tha Botanical gardens. They were so beautiful. It was a perfect day to walk the gardens. Cool catci, Pine and Fern trees, Herb garden and Azaleah garden.

Then today we went on a fun hike with Markku and Sirkka and their friends. It was about an hour and half away, parallel to the Gold coast but up in the mountains. It was cold! We left early in the morning and it was probably 7-8 degrees during the hike. Good we all had enough layers. We went 12 kms and there was beautiful scenery and waterfalls.
Pictures will be uploaded in a day or two.

Heading to the Hunter Valley (Wine country) and staying at a B&B next week for our 6 month. Yay!

Memories from Rocky

Well it has been close to 2 weeks since I last wrote a blog. I guess Andreas and I have kinda just settled into town here at Rocky. I've been working 4-5 days a week the last couple weeks and then Andreas and I have walked the dogs or run other errands.

We have really gotten quite close with the Higgins family, who we went 4x4ing with 2 weekends ago. A week and a half ago they invited Andy and I over for dinner. We brought desert! After a BBQ meal we sang karoke for at least an hour and a half. It was so fun and funny. Jeff and Petie Anne are great and their daughters are so lovely. When you live somewhere for 5 weeks, that's about the length of time it takes to connect with people. But now we have to leave....sigh

Then just this past Saturday the Higgins invited us for dinner again. Yummy! The Higgins couple friends, Doug and Jen were also there. Fun to meet new people.

I have really enjoyed the staff I've been working with as well. The employers, Rolf and Claudine treated us staff to a lovely fancy restaurant lunch. It was so good. And considering I'm only a temp very generous of them. They also give all staff and their spouses free adjustments and massages. My spine and hips are now corrected and Andreas has experienced his first adjustments as well.

We also attended Life church a few more times and met some friendly and kind people there. It was good to attend a smaller church, people noticed us and reached out. Andreas also did some labor help there one morning.

We will be leaving this housesit tomorrow morning. Then we are off to Alpha, staying at a homestead for a weekend, then slowly start driving south, Brisbane, Ballina, Armidale, Hunter Valley, Sydney and then Queanbeyan, our next housesit.

In the pictures above are the two dogs here, Splodge (the small lab/sharpa) and Muddy (the big labradoodle). We loved Muddy and would consider having a labradoodle when we have our own place. I'm holding Missy, the black cat with personality!

The family in the picture is the Higgins daughters with their dad Jeff. The other bloke in the picture is a family friend.

Skittles, Ferns National Park and work

So this last week has been fun and relaxing, yet steady. The Skittle and mouse story is already two weeks old, but funny.

So a few days after moving into the house, I noticed mouse poo and urine under the sink cupboard. Since the homeowners had mentioned, if we happen to see mouse signs in a cupboard, just leave it open and the cats will get it, I figured the cats had already got this mouse. The cupboard just needed to be cleaned out. So I cleaned the cupboard and sanitized it.

About 5 days later, Andreas came home to find water all over the floor. He opened the cupboard beneath the sink and saw the leak in a hose. He closed the faucet and realized it was the dishwasher hose, then detached it from the outlet. Examing the hole, we realized it was definitely a mouse trademark. Plus I noticed more mouse poo on the cupboard bottom. We were like, where is this mouse coming from? We had taken everything out, and cleaned the cupboard. We had not seen the mouse. Then we spotted the hole in cupboard that the hoses go thru to attach to the back of the dishwasher. Small but enough for a mouse to squeeze thru. Skittles the cat was already in the kitchen prowling near the dishwasher. Andreas pulled the dishwasher out a bit and saw the brown mouse. Skittles was interested too, we pulled the dishwaser out abit more and she darted in right away and grabbed the mouse. Then she carried it to one of the boy's rooms. Then she dropped it and it ran up the closet door. Skittles couldn't get up there. Andy pulled it off the closet door by it's tail, and dropped it back on the floor (the bedroom door was closed). Mousy just ran under the bed. Skittles followed it under the bed and somehow managed to get him back into her jaws, but then she dropped him again. Mousy ran behind the desk and bookshelf. No way Skittles could squeeze in. Andy and I were like, oh great we need to get this mouse out, but we can't pull the desk and bookshelf to far out, as there were a bunch of books near the top. Then Andy thought of a mop handle, and Mousy wasn't too smart. Andy put the mop handle behind the desk and slowly drew it out and Mousy just ran closer to the top of the mop, and Andy's hand. We decieded not to give Mousy back to Skittles because she was just playing. She was not interested in harming it.

Then we tried drowning it into a bucket of water but Mousy just kept pawing the water. Finally we just went to the end of the backyard and tossed it into the field behind the house. Immediately the birds were at it. Let nature run it's course!! I don't think we'll be seeing Mousy

again.

Then on Saturday we had a very nice invitation from a neighbor family down the street. They are close friends with the couple(family) we are house sitting for. Jeff and Petie-Anne have 3 daughters, 9, 12, 14. They were camping out for the last weekend of mid-winter school break at Fern's National Park. They invited us out to go 4x4ing with them.

We drove an hour to the National Park and joined in for a very fun day of 4x4ing with the 5 of them in their SUV. We went on the big, high sand dunes of the area. It was very fun and we got pretty stuck at one part for abit. All fun and adventure. The girls, Charlotte, Elousie and Emma were very nice girls, it was great to spend some time with kids again. We just had such an enjoyable time with another family and getting to know more people. We feel we know Jeff and Petie Anne better then the family we're housesitting for, probably b/c we've spent more time with them already.

We went to a different church last Sunday, it was a much smaller church, maybe about 50 people. But it was warm (temp) and the pastor had a good message and since it was so small we actually met quite a few people. We will be going back to Life Church.

I have had quite abit of work this week, working 5 days of the week. At the end of last week a part-time employee quit and suddenly they needed me for more than 2 shifts a weeks. I had no problem obliging. I'm glad I've been able to help during this pinch. They have hired another massage therapist but will still give me the 3-4 shifts they offered for next week too. We will be done here in Rocky in excatly 2 weeks. I have really enjoyed working in the Hauert Chiropractic Clinic. I love the set up, it's a clean, simple, airy set up and very modern. The chiropractor and his wife are very nice as well.

Included a cute picture of Missy drinking a tad of milk.

Rocky! (aka Rockhampton)

Andreas and I have now been in Rockhampton for almost 2 weeks. It has been great to be in a house again. We were getting just a little tired of the air mattress and a few of the cool nights we camped out.

The house here in Rocky (as it's affectionatly called by Aussies) is fairly large, well larger than the place in Townsville. However I did do some deep cleaning once we arrived and settled in, so it would feel comfortable to my standards. Growing up with a perfectionist, tidy mother and home has somewhat shaped how I like a house to be. And the family that lives here are also very busy and don't have a lot of time to spend cleaning. Well I had plenty of it!

The animals are interesting, and funny. There are 2 dogs, Muddy and Splodge. Muddy is a labradoodle, and only 2 years old. Splodge is a 9 year old lab sharpea breed. I must admit I quite miss Tiggy compared to these dogs. First of all Muddy is incredibly hyper and needs a firm hand and consistent commands to not jump up on you. He is a pretty big dog, thigh height.

We are taking them for walks to the dog off lead area. Muddy runs all over the place, though at least he does come when you call. Splodge on the other hand does not listen. She could care less, I think she is undertrained, that's probably the main reason. So we leave her on the lead now, that way we don't have to run after her. Muddy we are working on training with treats as incentives. Seems to be working somewhat.

They also have two cats, Skittles and Missy. They are cute and pretty affectionate, half indoor/outdoor cats.

Then there are 4 chooks (chickens) in a pen at the back of the backyard. Easy to look after, and the free eggs are great!

Some of the best news is I am finally working! A friendly and helpful neighbor passed on a newspaper ad from a chiro office looking for a massage therapist. I phoned the receptionist/part owner and had a interview. This was just over a week ago now. All she could offer me was a casual postion, but hey, I'm only here temporarily, I'll take what I can get.

So I work about 2 shifts a week. It is great to be doing massage again. I really missed it and it's a neat opportunity to work with a chiropractor as I have never worked with one before. Also massage therapists get free adjustments and massage, so I will book myself in for one before we leave. Ahhhh......

Andreas has not found any work and that has definitely been dissappointing and frustrating for him :(

We have attended a church here several times now "Cathederal of Praise" It's a nice sized church with a really great worship team. The messages are good as well. The only down side is the air con is turned up way to high. Feel like I'm freezing thru half the service. To bad my husband is just as cold as me!

We did meet a really nice couple from the church though, Simon and Linda. They are our parents age and have a small boat. A week after we arrived in Rocky they took us out on the boat to this island 30 mins away. Humpy Island. It was such a beautiful day. We went on a hike, then had a quick bite, then the guys went snorkelling in the wet suits, while I suntanned on the beautiful beach. Then after Andy came back I put on the wet suit and went snorkelling. Some beautiful fish to see! We hope to get to the mainland beach at least one more time before we leave.

The story of the Skittles and the mouse will be the next blog.....

Cairns, Undara, Northern Territory, KAKADU, Darwin

Well my honey and I had a very busy and fun vacation for the last 16 days. We drove over 5,500 Kilometers in that time as well. We ended up seeing quite a lot of Australia, I've probably seen more of Australia than my own country.

We started out from Townsville and went up North along the coast to Cairns. This is the last bigger town on the east coast. Cairns was a nice town, though very busy with other young backpackers. The "highlights" was walking along the strand by the beach and daydreaming about owning a fancy sailboat in the future by watching the ones in harbor. Oh and having bats shat all over our car that night plus having a drunk backpacker(s) in the hostel be very obnoxiously loud at 3 am. :P I think we've learned our lesson about hostels......we're too old for them!

Then off to Undara which is famous for it's lava tubes. However the tours were very expensive to see them, and we arrived to late anyways and missed it. But we did hike up to a old overgrown volcanic site the next morning. It was a really nice campground we stayed at as well.

On the way to Mt. Isa which is far west Queensland, we ran out of fuel. The fuel prices were incredibly expensive in the outback, as it was up to 0ver 400 kms between service stations. Thus no competition so propriators could really ask outrageous prices. The most we paid at one station was $1.70litre. This trip became quite expensive........

Anyways we had to hitch a ride to the next town which was thankfully only 20 kms aways and buy a 5 litre jerry can then hitch another ride back to our stalled car. Ahhh the adventures :P

Mt.Isa we stayed at a very nice caravan park but it was quite abit cooler at night.

Threeways, the next stop was an awful location it was so windy the tent was caving in and very cold. We didn't even stay at that caravan park on the way home.

Katherine was beautiful. It was warm . This was in the Northern Territory now, the far north west state of Australia. We stayed at this campground for 2 days. We hiked up a 7 km walk the next day along the beautiful gorges. Saw a thin small brown water snake and then turtles and fish in the river. We dropped bits of our lunch and tuna in the water and they loved it!

The campground had a nice pool in it as well, so we cooled off after the hike.

That night we met a German backpacker named Patrick. He was 19 but passionate and intelligent. Anyways Andreas and I talked with him for several hours and religion and Christianity came up too. It was a great opportunity to witness our faith. Patrick is definitely searching and we prayed that our words and example could make a postive impact on him.

Then on to Kakadu National Park. We stayed at the Park for 3 days, 4 nights. It was great. Many hiking/walking trails, beautiful rock escarpments, artistic ancient aboriginal rock art, unique and diverse wetlands. We went on a wetland boat cruise and saw about 4-5 wild crocodiles. The second campground (Merl) that we stayed at in the national park was better. The only down side of Kakadu was the Mossies (Mosquito's). They were awful, those combined with Midgie bugs. Andreas and I got at least 200 bites each. Let me tell you it was a very itchy 5 days after.

Then on to Darwin. Which is the only city on the North coast of Australia. It was a scenic interesting place. A beautiful park, historic museum and lovely beach. The only problem was no swimming as there was algae growth in the waters. We also got our thermostat replaced on Mandy and also a couple rock chips on the windscreen from the big road trains that passed us on the highway. It was mainly 2 lane highway the whole way.

Then it was the long drive back to the east coast, to Rockhampton. We drove over 2,500 Kms in 5 days. The most interesting stop on the way back was in a town called Winton. Nothing very special about the town or the caravan park we stayed in that night. But at the caravan park they had this evening show featuring 2 middle aged bush poet women. It was highly entertaining. They were comediens, they shared some amazing poems they had wrote, waxed yarns about the way of life in Oz and just spoke abit about their lives. It was definitely memorable.

Two days later we were here in Rockhampton........overall this road trip was awesome and I could not have had a better travel companion. I love married life and have such a wonderful husband. Andy was so helpful with all of our camping and set up, making dinner, looking after Mandy really well and even changing the oil himself. He was the best snuggler the nights it was cool outside, I actually for once was not too cold camping :)

I will be uploading a bunch of pictures on my facebook today of our time in Australia, if you're interested in the sights we've been seeing :)