These Are a Few of My Favourite Things...

Just 4 sleeps left till we leave Western Australia. All the expected lines apply - "Seems like we just arrived", "Time flies when you're having fun", "Where did the year go?", "A penny saved is a penny earned". Okay, not that last one. Just checking to see if you're paying attention :-)

I'll do one last post after this from WA with our travel plans. But todays focus is all the incredible memories and things we'll miss from this corner of the world. Just as back in Canada, our list is topped by family and friends, the list here is headed by the wonderful people we have met. It may be 'a small world', but distances are still very great when you would like to just sit and have a coffee (or glass of Aussie wine :-) with a friend.

We've made friends through many channels. Both Mike & Kyle have new mates from school as expected, but there's also my fitness friends (they even took me out for morning tea to say goodbye), yoga buddies, Kyle's friends through his gaming club - not to mention his girlfriend whom he met through those friends, and the Canadian and Aussie friends we now have acquired through the exchange teachers group. Canadians are supposed to be known for their generosity, but the Aussie folks we've met have done their country proud. They have made this an absolutely memorable (in only good ways) year.

And then there's the other stuff. Being nature buffs, both Mike and I have been especially taken with the variety of birds and trees down here. I'll miss the 29's (coloured parrots - family lives in the tree behind us), the magpies, the pink and grey gallahs (Kyle's fav), the cockatoos (my favourite) who wrestle each other off the branches of trees for entertainment (theirs and mine), the ravens with their loud laughter and cries which make you think there's a baby out there, the wagtails - especially the one who danced on our window ledge at his own reflection, the wattle bird who picks off all the spiders around the house and the pelicans who waddle around the waterside.

The trees are fascinating to me in how distinct they are from our trees. Almost all trees flower in colour - spring is wonderful. The bottlebrush have colourful 'brush' type flowers along their branch, the grevillea with their wonderful constant flowers, the wattle with their masses of tiny pompom flowers, the banskia with their unique cones and large cylindrical brush flowers, the eucalyptus in all their many varietes with wonderful bark and aromas, the desert oak (not an oak at all) so soft and whispy, the tree ferns which florish after fires. Some trees lose their bark, not their leaves. Some can survive fires which appear to have decimated them. Then there's the giant fig trees which are massive in their width, and the karri and the tingle and the tuart - all giants in their height. And when you do see a North American tree such as an oak, it is suffering to survive in the dry heat of summer and missing it's long winter nap.

And of course, there's the food and drink!!! We will definitely miss the Aussie wine. We've been spoiled for the entire time with quality wine for a reasonable price. And although that has not helped the waistline any, it's been good for the palate. Besides a glass or two of red wine is good for you - right? Also on the list are macadamia nuts, mangos, bananas, Milo (kind of a chocolate milk drink mix - Kyle is addicted and will likely suffer from withdrawl), TimTams (chocolate biscuits), pavlova, prawns, and perhaps most of all - meat pies (especially from Miami bake shop!)

The landscape is another of my favourite aussie memories - beaches and coral reefs, ancient rocks and giant bolders, and canyons and ravines and waterfalls. You've seen the photos and know that I can't even begin to put them into words.

Finally - though certainly not least - the weather. Although it seemed to rain endlessly in the winter, it was NOT SNOW. Apart from the occasional day when rain kept me in, I rode the bike all year round - not something I can say back home. And even though it gets very hot in the day at times, the nights almost always cool down with a wonderful sea breeze. If I have to complain, it would probably be the wind - it rarely stops and often causes painful sand blasting on any exposed skin. Not being especially keen winter sport fanatics, both Mike and I can't really say that we've missed the Canadian winter. But I must admit - it's just not right having Christmas around the corner and 35 degree weather. And TV commercials with shrimp on the barbie for Christmas dinner just seem weird - sorry folks. Regardless - I will really miss the weather....sigh.

I'm starting to think I should have done this post first, and then followed up with the Canadian things we've missed while here. Right now I'm struggling with why we're leaving (just joking Mum :-)

The Stuff We Miss Most

Hi folks. Past time for another post. As mentioned in the previous couple of postings, we're wrapping up here, so weekends have been spent socializing and organizing. My days are now spent cleaning and packing.

For this post, we'll focus on the stuff we've missed the most while here in Oz. And up at the top of the list is family and friends.

This week Mum & Dad celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. We obviously knew when we left that this would occur - but that doesn't make it any easier. It was posted very kindly by Joanne/Mark and Robin/John in the Hamilton Spectator. Above is a copy of what went in - and at right is a photo similar to the one on November of our family calendar. It's been very nice to have a different combo of the Wotherspoon family greet us as we turn each month.

And of course we've missed a year of birthday celebrations with family and friends (except for the couple we were able to share with George & Marucia). That includes Joanne's birthday which just passed!

And we'll also miss two weddings - one on each end. Daren and Alison will wed in Mexico over the Christmas break, and Anne Maree and James hook up in January down here. Unfortunately we'll be nomads for both events - but best wishes to both couples - married life has been good to us - hope it's the same for you!

And there are babies that have been conceived and born in our absence!!! In addition to a few more which will arrive just after we return - so looking forward to seeing those brand new bundles.

And on a more basic daily level, here are some of the other things we've missed - in no particular order:

cruise control on the car, bacon, maraschino cherries, graham crackers (for cheese cake crust and Nanaimo bars), bacon, being able to go more than 3 km over the speed limit without getting a speeding ticket, our hot tub, shopping after 6pm or on a Sunday, bacon, coffee cream, Canadian butter, and did I mention bacon?

Next time we'll summarize some of the stuff we'll miss from here - and I'll try not to shed any tears as I post that one, but it'll be hard! After all, we'll return to the Canadian stuff we've missed, but no telling if we'll ever revisit down here (sigh).

Break 2 Days 1 & 2 - Getting to Uluru

The anticipation at the start of a trip is always much more exciting to experience than to review, but for those interested, I'll start with the back story of getting to Uluru (Ayer's Rock).

Friday brought Mike & Pat home. Mike was exhausted from Country Week since he was on supervisory duties each night until all the students settled down then was up very early to head off to the games. He photoed other Pinjarra teams as well as coaching the girls basketball team, so his days were full. The girls team played very respectably, and all were pleased with their convincing 3rd place finish in a challenging division. Had they scored a single point more in the semi-final they would have been in the grand final - against a team that had met and lost to by a single point. Here are 2 (wow a record!!!) shots of Mike - one after their successful win for 3rd, and another with a fellow teacher / volleyball coach - wearing one of the gifts from the team (he also received an Aussie flag signed by the team and a basketball).

We had a bit of a scramble to get Mike a tripod on Saturday morning as Patrick had left a critical piece behind at Gingin. Mike ended up with a new tripod, which isn't so bad since the old one was about 20 years old and missing some newer features. The scurry had us leave a little later than planned, and we arrived at the airport to extreme crowds - having to park in the 3rd or 4th level of overflow parking. Luckily the airline opened up express lanes for imminent flights and we managed to get checked in just in time for our flight to Alice Springs. No Worries!

Alice itself seemed quite similar to our last visit in 1988. Although definitely bigger, it still had the same character, and the residents were just as friendly. People seem to come here to visit and just never get around to leaving. Many people you speak to have been there for 5, 10 or 15 years and had never really had planned on staying, but they just love it there.

Saturday evening we stayed at a hostel and the hosts very kindly drove us to the 'Overlander Steakhouse'. We are almost positive that this is the same restaurant where we shared a fantastic (for 3 of us at least) meal with Dan & Suz so many years ago (with Dan's infamous miniature buffalo steak :-). Although witchetty grub soup is no longer available, we did share an appetizer plate of Emu (quite good - bit oily), Crocodile (bit fishy), Kangaroo (better than WA roo we thought) and Camel (the least favourite for all of us, but still tasty). We all had beef of varying cuts. The portions were large and the accompaniments superb, however each of the 4 different cuts were a bit disappointing given the reputation of Aussie beef. Apparently the very best cuts now are exported, especially to Japan since they can draw such huge profits. Too bad since the beef we had here last time was superb.

We then headed to Coles to do our groceries for the trip to Uluru in the morning. In the morning Mike & I rose early to go get the camper van while the boys were spoiled with a late lie. Mike managed to drive back to the hostel very smoothly despite the size of the beast. It was a bit older than we had hoped for and showing it's age, but very roomy with a cooktop, microwave, fridge, TV with DVD, 2 indoor tables, toilet/shower/sink, toaster, kettle and running hot & cold water. It was a bit later than we hoped by the time we set off, and it was a long drive, so off we headed to try to catch the sunset at Uluru!

The drive was long, but with a speed limit of 130km per hour, we could travel as fast as we wished (which was NOT 130km in Beast). This area is not full out desert, but covered in sparse scrubby vegetation as you can see by a shot from the window.

The first giant formation you come to is not in fact Uluru, but Mount Conner (859m). It is substantially larger than Uluru (348m), but not as much of an attraction. Uluru is more interesting due to it's changing vision in the light, and it's monolithic presence.

We made it to sunset over Uluru just in time. We ate our dinner watching the subtle colour changes. If you peek through to see the colour of Uluru in our family photo here, you can see the difference of the rock colour from the other photo here.

Then it was off to Yulara to check into our campsite for the night before returning for a true visit to the Rock tomorrow.