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!