And We're Off

In less than 1/2 hour we leave our 'home away from home'. It truly has been a home for us for the past year, and each return home from our 2 week stints has felt like coming home. But now we start our next adventure.

Kyle and 'JC' have been catching as much time together as possible before we leave, including a tour of the Mandurah canals to see the incredible Christmas lights adorning the 'ritzy' homes on the canals. And Mike and I have been socializing up to the end also. Last night we had a wonderful 'Christmassy' dinner hosted by Donna & Chris and with Richard & Phillipa. Again too much good food and drink!

But now having spent the last few days frantically packing and cleaning and disposing of the car, we are waiting for our 'bookend' hosts to take us back to the airport. Richard and Phillipa met us at the airport upon arrival and are now seeing us off. In between they have been the perfect sponsors, always there when we need them.

So, as promised here is our final adventure plan. The next few weeks will see sporatic postings depending upon network access on our travels. But here's where we'll be:

Dec 16-22 Fly to Adelaide and drive down to Melbourne where we'll hook up with Montgomery family friends, the Wallaces.

Dec 23 - 29 In Tasmania - 3 days near Cradle Mountain, and 3 in Hobart. Tassie for 'Chrissie' as the Aussies call it.

Dec 30-Jan 13 2 weeks in New Zealand (the map is a bit off - we really do start in the far south and then head north). In the North Island, we'll hook up with the Birds who were in Canada on exchange a few years back.

Jan 14-21 Thailand - we do an organized tour for the week.

Jan 22-23 Back to Hong Kong and hopefully catch up with Simon who we met on the way down.

Jan 24 - BACK TO CANADA !!!

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 :-)

Year End Staff Party

With just one week to go before we leave WA, we had a chance to spend an evening with Pinjarra staff at the year end party.

Fund raising and fees are used to fund the entire do for staff (reasonable charge for partners), so with all your booze and food paid for, many staff take advantage!

We were lucky that the venue was at the local cricket club - so we were able to walk and not have to worry about 'drink driving' (that's the Aussie term for DUI or drunk driving). In the end, we actually were given a lift home by Paul Mitchum and his wife (and daughter) which was a nice bonus.

We are told that not as many people attended this year since it was held a week prior to school end. Sounds like some people don't want to show their face after the party :-) At any rate, there was still a good turn out and those in attendance had a great time (at least we did).

Given Mike's passion for music, he supplied the music for the evening. He and Kyle headed over early to set up and make sure all was in order (and grab an early beer). As you can see, it did get people up dancing. It was good to burn off some of the alcohol and calories that had been consumed!

And as seems to be an Aussie tradition, there had to be a certain amount of bared flesh. While some of the boys had fun dropping each others drawers (you can ask Monty about the unintentional full Monty - apparently he needs tighter elastic on his boxers :-), they also had a full out streak fest on the cricket field later in the evening. Too bad the lights on the field were not on!

And finally around midnight, the bar staff had had enough of us, and the booze tab had run out. So we all headed off - several staff continued on at Players - a Mandurah bar, but knowing our limits, we very maturely headed home - after all it was hard to pass up a drive home!

First Farewells & Round 'Em Up

As we continue our 'last time' events, it naturally includes seeing people for the last time. The Exchange Teachers of WA farewell BBQ was this past Saturday, and we could not miss this one. The host exchange group have been amazing in their support and effort put into arranging events on our behalf.

Ted and his wife Wendy hosted the farewell event. The food was fantastic and most of the group made it out. There were '2 up' demonstrations for those who missed the Kalgoorlie trip, and each teacher was presented with their own 2 up betting stick. 2 up is a pure form of gambling where you bet on the outcome of a toss of 2 coins. I spoke more of it back on our Kalgoorlie posting (click to refer back if you wish).

So we had a bitter sweet evening comparing notes and saying farewell to the many new friends we have accumulated over the year. As Ted said when we first met: "We meet at the start, and at the end of the year. In between we will cross paths at several of the organized events. If we see you at every event, we know something is wrong and if we don't see you at any events, we know something is wrong." Our intermittent crossing of paths with this group has been very much a part of our successful exchange experience. They truly have been an exceptional set of hosts and their dedication to our welfare and enjoyment has been most appreciated.

On Sunday, we headed out for some more 'local' experience. A teacher at the school had told Mike of the 'Camp Draft' which was running this weekend. So Mike & I ventured out to check what a Camp Draft was all about.

Along with several thousands flies (look closely at some of the photos - the inside of the loud speakers as a prime example), we watched the competition in Coolup. There are several categories, but we only witnessed the Novice competitors.

As we were standing trying to figure out the process, a local cowboy kindly explained the rules for us. Each cowboy/cowgirl in turn takes their go. They are first in a corral with 8 cows. They must identify which cow they are going to isolate to compete with. They then must separate that cow from the herd and force it out of that corral into the bigger arena.

Once in the big arena, they must lead the cow around a set of posts in a figure 8, and then back up around through two other posts all within a 40 second time limit. They are judged on their work in the first corral, their horsemanship in manipulating the cow in the main corral and on their success on guiding through the posts.

Many are eliminated by failing to isolate their cow from the herd, or from failing to guide through the posts. The skill of the cowpokes was very impressive and it was all very entertaining. True Aussie cowboys/girls in action. Apart from the odd over zealous face slap to swat the flies, and a cow running into the fencing (it's actually soft fencing - tough cloth stripping), there were no incidents.

And as mentioned in my last post, the posting on what we'll miss from here is still to come.

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).

Cricket & Surf Rescue & Moustaches

Yeah, the moustache is now gone! But before he shaved it off, we made sure we took a photo for posterity. At left is a group shot of the Movember gang. They received donations from students towards prostate cancer as well as raising awareness. All for a good cause, but I'm still glad to have it shaved off :-)

Sorry for the reduced postings - but we're spending more time at home with wrap up activities and local socializing, so not so many photos.

However, as part of our wrap up activities, there were a couple of photo venues Mike still wanted to capture - and we managed to fit them in this past weekend.

With 'footie' finished for the season, cricket has now taken over the sporting world here in WA. On the tellie this past Saturday afternoon, the only shows on were a choice of either cricket or the world championship of Women's Netball. Neither sport would even appear in Canada - so it was quite a unique experience. If you aren't familiar with netball, it's kind of like basketball, but no dribbling, no jumping, free access to shoot the ball and no backboard. For us basketball fans, it's not very enticing I have to admit.

On Saturday, Mike attended a cricket match of one of the teachers - actually not the whole match as it does go on for an awfully long time - but part of the match at least. From the photos you would almost think it was a game full of action!

We had attended a performance of the school play a couple weekends ago, and this past weekend we had more social dates.

Friday evening Kyle was bowling with friends, and Saturday evening Mike & I had dinner at Richard & Phillipa's (fantastic lamb roast dinner).

And we even managed to rise early enough on Sunday to head up to Fremantle to catch their hosting of the Surf Lifesaving Competition. This was the other local activity Mike was hoping to catch before we head out, and this visit was much more successful than our failed attempt a few weekends ago!

Many local Surf Lifesaving teams competed in a whole range of age groups. The events included individual and team competitions. There were running races on the beach (individual and relay both photoed here), swimming races, board races, boat races, and even tug of war for the younger crowd!


Kids start at a very young age and it's a very impressive program. The members are all extremely fit, and it's obviously a very popular activity with kids and adults of all ages. I can't really say we have anything like this in Canada, although ski patrol programs would be the closest thing.

And one final photo to finish with - a shot of a bobtail skink from the local surrounds. Mike comes across them every now and then, and finally had a camera handy on this occasion!