Hello friends!
Sorry for the lack of blogging, but the past two weeks have been quite crazy for us. We were busy packing up our apartment, cancelling power/phones/insurance/internet, moving, cleaning, and going to Wet 'n Wild with our friends from Sydney. It was a crazy couple of weeks.
But, now we are in oh so lovely New Zealand and enjoying every minute of being here! We spent 3 nights in Christchurch before we headed to Mount Cook for a day of hiking. Now we are in Oamaru for a quick stop before we head to Invercargill for 3 nights. The scenery is beautiful in New Zealand, with every few minutes along the road offering another picture perfect opportunity for post card, desktop background, or lifelong memory.
For those of you interested, yes, the entire country looks like the landscapes depicted in The Lord of the Rings movies. There are also millions of sheep, tons of farmland, next to no people, and lots of talk about rugby. Trip highlights so far are: driving up hills so high on roads so skinny that you get butterflies in your stomach, coming within inches of seals, penguins, and sheep, and Andrea driving on the wrong side of the road in a manual and trying to overtake a semi-truck road blocking us, and it was her first day driving in nine months...scary!
Right now we're in sleepy Oamaru, a transient pit-stop town if you've ever seen one, but it is the steampunk capital of the New Zealand, it hosts a wonderful whiskey distillery and licensed tea room where you can sample the local whiskey, and it is home to a colony of little penguins that come to shore every evening. Back in the 1870s, Oamaru was a bumping town/city and most of the old buildings are still standing and being used today, so it has some great history.
Today we are off to Invercargill, but will stop to see the Moeraki Boulders along the way and hopefully grab some delicious seafood chowder at a cafe we read about in the Lonely Planet...yummy!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Our Fabulous Day
For the first Saturday in weeks it was sunny and warm. We have been cooped up in our apartment since Christmas because of the rain, and with the floods, we have really been house bound since the buses and trains were canceled for a few days. After too many days stuck in our apartment with cabin fever, we were so excited for a sunny Saturday.
Once again we rented a car and decided to drive up the Sunshine Coast to Eumundi and Noosa. We did this same trip before Christmas, but unfortunately is was pouring rain that day (big surprise), so it wasn't the most enjoyable of trips. This time, the sun was shining!
As I wrote before, Eumundi has an amazing market on Saturdays. You could spend your entire day walking the stalls, sampling the food, enjoying the music, and spending lots and lots of money. Having been there before, we knew what we wanted to get and made sure to pick up some souvenirs for our families. We also bought some passionfruit for cheap. YUMMY!
After a couple hours at the market, it was time to drive to Noosa for an afternoon at the beach. We were so lucky to get a prime parking spot, as it's school holidays right now and very, very busy. We found ourselves a lovely spot on the sand and just enjoyed the sunshine, breeze, ocean and our books. When we started to feel like the sun was a bit too strong, we decided to grab a beer at the Noosa Surf Life Saving Club. It's a great restaurant/pub right on the water and we were able to sit on the patio, overlooking the water, and enjoy a beer! We went back for some more time in the sun before we decided to call it a day.
On our way home, we wanted to drive through a town called Buderim, a mountain town about 30 minutes inland from the coast. After a long day in the sun, we were hoping for a nice little McDonald's detour so we could cool off with some ice cream and iced coffee. We plugged in the coordinates into the GPS and we were off to the races, ready to satiate our desires for iced yummies. To our great dismay, upon entering the house of Ronald, we were greeted to one of the most disasteful signs, proclaiming: "We are out of iced cream and iced coffees." Snacktime fail. No ice cream? That's just not Australian. So we made our way to Buderim, which has some amazing waterfall walks, but every time we've wanted to go, it's been raining. Even though it was getting a bit late in the afternoon for a hike, we decided to go there anyway and check out the town. It was definitely worth the drive! It's a beautiful town located in the 'mountains' with amazing views all the way to the ocean.
After our detour to Buderim, we hit the highway for our drive back to Brisbane. As we were getting closer to the Glass House Mountains, there was a road sign for a scenic lookout point. We decided to make another detour and find out what the lookout was all about. After quickly exiting the highway we followed the beaten up signs to the lookout. Based on the quality of these signs and the heavily pot-holed road, we were fairly certain this was a route meant to lure naive travelers into the woods for all kinds of "Wolf Creek" badness, but like true adventurers, we live for the thrill of the unknown! The lookout, much to our dismay, was not a 'Drive Thru' lookout and required a fairly steep 1km walk up a hill, but at the top was the most amazing 360 degree view of the Sunshine Coast. To the east we could see the Glass House Mountains, to the north we could see Caloundra, to the west we could see the Pacific Ocean, and to the south was Brisbane. It was such an amazing lookout, and we would never have known to go there if not for the road sign!
After our second detour of the day, we made it back to Brisbane, though we missed our exit off the highway and ended up taking the toll bridge over the Brisbane River into the Southern suburbs. Luckily we were able to turn around as soon as we got off the bridge, just to get back on it again to go back over to get to the Northern suburbs. We were both laughing and enjoyed our third detour of the day! And even though we should be dinged $6 in toll fares, because of the flooding, all toll roads are free.
It was a really great day and we were both so happy to get out of the apartment and enjoy the sunshine!
We hope that you have as good a Saturday as we did!
Once again we rented a car and decided to drive up the Sunshine Coast to Eumundi and Noosa. We did this same trip before Christmas, but unfortunately is was pouring rain that day (big surprise), so it wasn't the most enjoyable of trips. This time, the sun was shining!
As I wrote before, Eumundi has an amazing market on Saturdays. You could spend your entire day walking the stalls, sampling the food, enjoying the music, and spending lots and lots of money. Having been there before, we knew what we wanted to get and made sure to pick up some souvenirs for our families. We also bought some passionfruit for cheap. YUMMY!
After a couple hours at the market, it was time to drive to Noosa for an afternoon at the beach. We were so lucky to get a prime parking spot, as it's school holidays right now and very, very busy. We found ourselves a lovely spot on the sand and just enjoyed the sunshine, breeze, ocean and our books. When we started to feel like the sun was a bit too strong, we decided to grab a beer at the Noosa Surf Life Saving Club. It's a great restaurant/pub right on the water and we were able to sit on the patio, overlooking the water, and enjoy a beer! We went back for some more time in the sun before we decided to call it a day.
On our way home, we wanted to drive through a town called Buderim, a mountain town about 30 minutes inland from the coast. After a long day in the sun, we were hoping for a nice little McDonald's detour so we could cool off with some ice cream and iced coffee. We plugged in the coordinates into the GPS and we were off to the races, ready to satiate our desires for iced yummies. To our great dismay, upon entering the house of Ronald, we were greeted to one of the most disasteful signs, proclaiming: "We are out of iced cream and iced coffees." Snacktime fail. No ice cream? That's just not Australian. So we made our way to Buderim, which has some amazing waterfall walks, but every time we've wanted to go, it's been raining. Even though it was getting a bit late in the afternoon for a hike, we decided to go there anyway and check out the town. It was definitely worth the drive! It's a beautiful town located in the 'mountains' with amazing views all the way to the ocean.
After our detour to Buderim, we hit the highway for our drive back to Brisbane. As we were getting closer to the Glass House Mountains, there was a road sign for a scenic lookout point. We decided to make another detour and find out what the lookout was all about. After quickly exiting the highway we followed the beaten up signs to the lookout. Based on the quality of these signs and the heavily pot-holed road, we were fairly certain this was a route meant to lure naive travelers into the woods for all kinds of "Wolf Creek" badness, but like true adventurers, we live for the thrill of the unknown! The lookout, much to our dismay, was not a 'Drive Thru' lookout and required a fairly steep 1km walk up a hill, but at the top was the most amazing 360 degree view of the Sunshine Coast. To the east we could see the Glass House Mountains, to the north we could see Caloundra, to the west we could see the Pacific Ocean, and to the south was Brisbane. It was such an amazing lookout, and we would never have known to go there if not for the road sign!
After our second detour of the day, we made it back to Brisbane, though we missed our exit off the highway and ended up taking the toll bridge over the Brisbane River into the Southern suburbs. Luckily we were able to turn around as soon as we got off the bridge, just to get back on it again to go back over to get to the Northern suburbs. We were both laughing and enjoyed our third detour of the day! And even though we should be dinged $6 in toll fares, because of the flooding, all toll roads are free.
It was a really great day and we were both so happy to get out of the apartment and enjoy the sunshine!
We hope that you have as good a Saturday as we did!
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| Eumundi Markets |
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| Driving from Eumundi to Noosa |
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| Noosa |
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| Buderim - looking towards the ocean |
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| Buderim! |
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| Wild Horse Mountain Lookout - Chris and the Glass House Mountains |
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| Glass House Mountains |
Friday, January 14, 2011
Fruits and Veggies
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| Empty produce shelves at our local Coles. Except for a couple soft pineapples and a few questionable grapefruits, there is not a single piece of produce. It was quite shocking to walk in and see completely empty shelves. |
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Vegemite
Chris has never tried Vegemite. And since we've been in Australia for over 9 months, I figured it was about time he tried it. And since Vegemite is as Australian as you can get, I thought it would make a great blog post. But instead of writing about the experience, I'll let the pictures tell the story!
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| Concentrated Yeast Extract - rich in Vitamin B and Folate |
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| A little apprehensive and probably annoyed that I'm making him do this. |
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| The first (and only) bite. |
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| Not enjoying the Vegemite experience |
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| 'What did you make me eat?' |
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| 'Don't make me finish it!' |
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Flood Update
It was announced this afternoon that Brisbane is facing its worst flood since 1974. The river is going to peak around 5m, possibly making it worse flood than 1974. Many suburbs are being evacuated.
The rain let up for a bit this afternoon, so we decided to go to the shops to grab some water and canned goods, just in case. We took some pictures of the road near our apartment and the parking lot at the shopping centre. Both are flooded already.
The rain let up for a bit this afternoon, so we decided to go to the shops to grab some water and canned goods, just in case. We took some pictures of the road near our apartment and the parking lot at the shopping centre. Both are flooded already.
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| The 'creek'. To the right is a bike path that is completely under water. The train to the airport runs on the overpass you see in the picture. |
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| The parking lot at our local shopping centre. The small hedge that is under water is where the parking lot is. We usually walk under the overpass to get to the shopping centre. The tree to the left of the McDonalds sign is along the now flooded bike path. |
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| From the shopping centre, looking towards our road. The 'Keep Left' sign is probably about 4 feet high. The orange/yellow barriers in the middle of the picture are one street away from ours. |
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| Same as picture above, but looking from our road towards the shopping centre. This road has flooded twice since October, but by far this is the worst yet. The underpass is completely under water. |
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| Water in the underpass. |
Flooding
Yesterday, there was a flash flood in Toowooomba (about 120km west of Brisbane). An 8m wall of water came rushing into the city without warning. 2 people died and 72 are still missing. It's absolutely devastating in Toowoomba. There is debris everywhere: cars piled on top of each other like toys, furniture in the streets.
Now, the floods are affecting Brisbane. The river broke its banks in the CBD and people are being told to evacuate and get to higher ground. There are 32 neighbourhoods on flood watch. The last time Brisbane flooded was in 1974, when 6700 houses were flooded. They expect this flood crisis to possibly be as damaging. It all depends if the Wivenhoe dam can contain the water.
And with all of this, the rain is still pouring down.
Chris and I ventured out this morning to check out how our neighbourhood is faring. There's a lot of water flowing down the streets, and a lot of water falling from the sky. I hope the rain stops soon.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Laundry
We don't know anyone in Australia who owns a dryer. Granted, we don't know that many people, but I don't think I'm too far off in saying that dryers are rare here. And really, they should be. When you live in the Sunshine State, you shouldn't need one!
I really love hanging laundry outside to dry. There is something so wonderfully simple as putting your clothes on the line to dry in the sunshine and breeze. Yes, it's a bit of a pain when it's been raining for a week and you have to hang your clothes inside in order to get dry, but on those gorgeous sunny days, when there's a lovely breeze in the air, I love to wash clothes. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's almost like a novelty for us.
Even though you would never dream of hanging clothes outside to dry in an Edmonton winter, I don't think enough people do it in the summer. We are so spoiled by our dryers that we forget the best, most energy efficient, way of drying our clothes is that bright yellow thing in the sky. I know, your clothes don't end up as soft as they would if you tumbled them in a dryer for 40 minutes, but you get over it pretty fast. I think we'll definitely be making more of an effort to take advantage of the Earth's dryer when we get back home!
I know this post is a bit random, but I think that this is a part of Australian life I will always remember. Thirty years from now, when I'm throwing wet clothes into a dryer in the middle of winter, I'll remember the days when we would hang our wet clothes on the line in the bright Aussie sun to dry.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone! We hope that you have recovered nicely from your holiday feasts! We had a very nice Aussie Christmas, even though our plans didn't go as...well...planned.
Back in October, we had booked a place in Lennox Head, NSW (near Byron Bay) for 4 days of Christmas relaxing. Unfortunately, mother nature has not been kind to Queensland and parts of NSW, and the forecast for the Christmas holidays was nothing but rain. So, we decided to cancel our Christmas trip to the beach. No point in going if you'll be stuck in a hostel the entire time!
Instead, we made ourselves a great holiday at our apartment. On Christmas eve, we decided to head to the shops to do just a bit of Xmas shopping for each other. With a $50 limit, it was a bit challenging to find presents, but we managed! That night, we made a delicious roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and veggies. It was quite a delicious Christmas Even dinner!
On Christmas day, with the rain pouring down, we made ourselves a delicious brekkie and then opened our presents to each other. Chris got me a photography book, a puzzle book, and some chocolates (they didn't last long!). I got him a pencil case for his drawing pencils, a MasterChef cookbook, a magazine, and some playing cards. We spent our day lazily watching movies, reading, and enjoying our Aussie Christmas. All in all, it was a great day!
The rest of the week was filled with pretty much of the same. The rain didn't stop pouring for an entire week, and sadly now many places in Queensland are flooded.
We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and that 2011 will be a healthy and happy year!
Back in October, we had booked a place in Lennox Head, NSW (near Byron Bay) for 4 days of Christmas relaxing. Unfortunately, mother nature has not been kind to Queensland and parts of NSW, and the forecast for the Christmas holidays was nothing but rain. So, we decided to cancel our Christmas trip to the beach. No point in going if you'll be stuck in a hostel the entire time!
Instead, we made ourselves a great holiday at our apartment. On Christmas eve, we decided to head to the shops to do just a bit of Xmas shopping for each other. With a $50 limit, it was a bit challenging to find presents, but we managed! That night, we made a delicious roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and veggies. It was quite a delicious Christmas Even dinner!
On Christmas day, with the rain pouring down, we made ourselves a delicious brekkie and then opened our presents to each other. Chris got me a photography book, a puzzle book, and some chocolates (they didn't last long!). I got him a pencil case for his drawing pencils, a MasterChef cookbook, a magazine, and some playing cards. We spent our day lazily watching movies, reading, and enjoying our Aussie Christmas. All in all, it was a great day!
The rest of the week was filled with pretty much of the same. The rain didn't stop pouring for an entire week, and sadly now many places in Queensland are flooded.
We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and that 2011 will be a healthy and happy year!
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