Canberra

It's been about a month since my last post, and since then a lot has happened! I typed up this post from a while ago, but never had a chance to post it. Here it is now and I'll do my best to post some pictures as well! Unfortunately I'm working with McDonald's wifi, so we'll see how it goes!

It’s funny that every time I get around to blogging about a place, I’m usually leaving it. Canberra has been a fun city to live in, but now it’s time to move on. After I left the Goondiwindi area, I bussed to Brisbane airport. I then flew to Sydney, and then flew to Canberra. It was cool right away when I got there. Nicola (my new host mom) was there to greet me with a cart for my bags and a moose dressed as a Canadian hockey player so that I could identify her. She was quite excited that I was Canadian, as her kids are half Canadian as well. Nicola is extremely nice and friendly. The first week I spent at the house was filled with meeting the family and learning the kids’ schedule. The house was nice, and I definitely fell in love with my bedroom right away. It was big and cozy. The heat also got trapped inside there, which was great at night. It’s kind of funny how I started in Melbourne where it was cold, moved to Goondiwindi where it was warm enough that you could wear a t-shirt, and then moved to Canberra where it’s cold again. Most mornings it’s around -4. My head is still confused by this, as it’s July and it’s supposed to be summer (it is in Canada). I’ve seen leaves on trees changing colour and falling too. It looks like October here! 

Anyways, my job was taking care of the kids, playing with them outside to work their fine and gross motor skills, doing the grocery shopping, cooking dinner, and helping with bath and bedtime. I was able to warm up to these children a lot faster than the ones at the last place. Oh by the way, I was nannying for 7-year-old twins (boy/girl). Although they had their moments which were not so nice (all kids do), they were often really funny and sweet. The kids were usually better behaved when separated, which makes sense really. My older sister and I used to fight like cats and dogs for years growing up. Ty and Lexi were the twins’ names. Ty had a bit of autism, so that made him a little more behavioural at times. He was a sweetie though and great with numbers. I’m pretty sure he’s an accountant in the making. Lexi was so funny all the time. She’d do hillarious impressions and dance and sing almost all the time. She and I usually read together before she went to bed and laughed a lot. I’m definitely going to miss those kids. At the same time though, I think I’ve come to realize that I don’t really want to nanny while here. This trip is supposed to be my vacation, but it’s hard to fulfill that when you’re constantly taking care of kids. Also, being an au pair is fun, but can also be stressful. Even if you like the family you are with, it can be tough to just get your own time. Even when you’re not working you sometimes still feel like you’re working. 

Anyways though, back to my telling of Canberra. Some people warned me that it would be a boring city because it’s the capital and mostly has government buildings. I was a history major, so I in fact really enjoyed this. I find that Canberra is extremely similar to Canada’s capital, Ottawa. It has parliament and some cool museums. It has malls and bars and restaurants, but just the right amount. Goondiwindi hardly had anything. Canberra has it’s main city core smack dab in the middle of the ACT called “Civic.” Oh by the way, the ACT is a territory (Australian Capital Territory). Although most people think Sydney is the capital of Australia (I did once), it’s actually Canberra. So there’s the main city core, and then branching out in different directions are the little suburbs. Mine was called Curtin. After making a visit to Parliament, I quickly realized that most if not all the little suburbs around are actually named after past Prime Ministers. There’s your history lesson for the day! But yeah, it’s pretty easy to get around in Canberra. I had a GPS in the car, so that was really helpful. I was extremely grateful to be driving an automatic vehicle as well. The lanes are really wide on the roads, so it’s really easy to drive as well. I think I’ve really gotten the hang of this driving on the other side of the road and other side of the car thing. It feels like it’s going to be weird to go back to Canada after this trip and relearn the other side again. 

Since I’ve been here, I’ve made a few friends. On Canada Day I happened to meet an American who runs the Canberra Cavalry baseball team. He works for MLB and is here to help grow the sport. Thom is a sarcastic and funny guy who loves being American. It’s been great having another North American to hang out with and laugh about stuff that is different in Australia. I was even asked to dress up as the mascot for the Cavalry at a rugby game (Brumbies vs. Blues) and partake in a 100 metre race with other mascots and children during half-time. It was basically a relay where the kids were on one side of the field running towards us (we were partnered up) and then they had to tag us. Once they tagged us, we ran with the child across the field to the other side. For anyone who has not worn a mascot outfit before, it’s hard to run in them! My head was almost flying off and I had big boots on my feet, so it was really quite hillarious. I ran as hard as I could though and although we didn’t finish first, we didn’t finish last either. I was pretty exhausted by the end of it, as it was quite the workout. The guy in the Viking outfit and I had been trash talking before we went out, saying we were going to battle each other. He popped me in the head from behind. I swung around for our battle, and then my kid started battling him to defend me. I knew I liked that kid! After lots of waving at the crowd (over 14,000 in attendance), and pictures with some mascots, we ran off the field while the players ran back on. I have to admit that was a really fun and hillarious experience overall. I’m really glad that I can put that one on my bucket list. 

Another one of my friends is Rhiannon. She is a really great person and friend. I was introduced to her by Nicola’s brother, as he goes to the café where she works daily. She’s my age and a really sweet girl. I could tell from the first time I met her that she’s really genuine. We got together for a number of lunch dates and have also gone out for dinner and such. It’s uncanny how much this girl is just like me. We are always laughing about how alike we are, yet we come from complete opposite ends of the planet. I love hanging out with Rhiannon and just laughing about everything. Her family is really great too. I was invited for dinner one night, which of course I didn’t turn down! It was the first real home-cooked meal I’ve had in Australia. I’ve been living with Rhiannon and her family for about 4 days now, until I head out on my next adventure. I had to leave the family I was nannying for because a member of the family decided to hit on me and act inappropriately while Nicola and the kids went on a 10-day vacation. It was really awkward and uncomfortable for me, so it was time to leave. Anyways though, I am so happy to have met Rhiannon and her family. We all believe that everything happens for a reason. It’s been really fun to have a girlfriend to hang out with and talk to again. She and I have had some crazy awesome adventures together. We went to Tidbinbilla, a reserve where we stood about 5 feet away from kangaroos in the wild. We also went to this place called Corina Recreation Centre, where we actually went bobsledding! This was one of the most fun and hillarious things I’ve done to date in Australia. Basically you get on this sled thing and then this pully takes you up the hill for a long time. The sled is in this long silver slide thing that is the bobsled track. When you get to the top of the hill you push the lever forward to start your ride. You really do fly down the track! You are supposed to break at the turns a bit, but we rarely did. We were flying around the track so fast. It was so fun! I wish we had that in Canada. Yesterday, we went out for breakfast at a café with her boyfriend, and then we went to the market. We sampled lots of tasty foods and bought lots of treats. The chocolate covered strawberries were the best. We came across a stall that was selling friendship bracelets. We knew right away we had to buy one each. We bought one for each other, then gave them to each other. We did a whole skit where we pretended we didn’t know and acted surprised. It was really funny and cute. I’m really going to miss her when I leave Canberra and when I finally leave Australia. I’ll be back to visit the family while I’m here in Australia, and I’ve already been invited for Christmas dinner if I’m still in the country by then. 

My third friend (last but not least) is Charlie. He’s another American that I met out here. I joined this group online on meetup.com. This is a great website for meeting new people, and apparently it’s worldwide. There’s a group called “The Best of Canberra” social group. You just need to make a short profile and you can join for free. I did this and then found tonnes of neat meetups that I wanted to go to. My first one I went to was a trivia night in a suburb called Mawson. Basically you get together with the people in the group and form a team to do 5 rounds of trivia against other teams. A lot of the trivia was Australian, but Charlie and I knew the answer to some of them. 

I definitely enjoyed my time in Canberra, but decided it was time to move on. The blogs that will soon follow will be about my 2 day trip up the East Coast with 3 other backpackers, and also about my time thus far in Brisbane!

Life on the farm near Goondiwindi

Hi everyone!

I apologize for leaving such a gap between posts. I meant to write sooner, but have had a crazy last few weeks. I left the Melbourne area about 4 or 5 weeks ago to become an au pair for a family that lived on a farm on the border of NSW and Queensland. I met up with the family at the Gold Coast, and then we drove inland for 4 or 5 hours to get to their farm. I was taking care of 6-month-old twins (boy/girl) and a 3-year-old boy. The family was nice, and I tried to get into their routine but it was really tough. I was caring for the children for 10-11 hours a day, Monday to Friday. It was just way too much to handle and it really wasn't a good fit for me there for a number of reasons. I really wasn't enjoying it and found myself stressed, so I left that family and was in search for another. I did enjoy the experience of living on the farm though. It was really neat to see kangaroos just hopping through the fields and across the road. It was interesting learning to drive there with kangaroos as obstacles! They were basically the same as deer are to Canadians. They were everywhere! The rule of thumb was if you see one, slow down and wait as there will probably be more. I also got to see some emus as well. While on the farm, I learned to drive on the other side of the road, the other side of the car, and also manual driving. Driving on the other side of the car and road wasn't too bad, it's the manual driving that was pretty hard. I did manage to do it, but am happy that I no longer have to do that! I have no real intentions of ever doing it again either, but it was a good learning experience. Anyways, I'll post some pictures to this blog so that you all can see what I was seeing there. I am going to follow this post by another post about my current situation, so that everyone is up to date!

Gold Coast

View from where we stayed

This is "the tank" which is what I drove

Three emus and a kangaroo in a field

kangaroo that jumped across the road

Cotton, lots of cotton

Ducks (Wilbur) making cookies with me

Adorable baby goat

Adorable lambs I saw while out on a walk

The twins Elkie and Jack

Sheep

One of the many work dogs that lived on the farm - they were really sweet

Another cute lamb

Hard to see, but it's kangaroos jumping across the road

Great Ocean Road Tour - June 1, 2012

On Friday I went on another tour with Go West. This time we headed to the Great Ocean Road. This is a road that was built by WWI soldiers/veterans. It's a very long and winding road that is right along the coastline, so there are lots of beautiful things to see. After meeting my tour guide Isaac and hopping on the bus, we headed off towards the Great Ocean Road. We saw some kangaroos jumping around out in the wild. It was nice to see them free in a natural habitat. The little joey was the cutest! Then we headed for the famous Bell's Beach. There we had a gorgeous view of the beach and scenery. We watched some brave surfers battling the waves and took our photos before heading back to the bus. This is a famous beach that has a huge surfing competition every summer.

Kangaroos in a meadow

Bells Beach

The hardcores surfing in the cold water

Then we made a quick stop to see a lighthouse that was used in filming a popular Australian TV series. The next stop was the official beginning of the Great Ocean Road. Here we were able to see amazing scenery and view the monuments made about the road and for the soldiers. I took a lot of photos out the window of the bus while we were driving, to show the great views we had and the winding roads. It was a very bumpy ride and there were lots of turns, but it was really fun.

What we saw along the drive

Official beginning of the Great Ocean Road

Memorial for the soldiers

Lots of winding roads

We stopped at a beach where we shared some Milo (Australian hot chocolate) and cake. Here we were able to explore the beach and relax for a bit. This beach was interesting because it had a lot of rock that reminded me of the moon. It had what looked like big craters in it. The weather was gorgeous, and the waves weren't too high, so we were able to walk out for a bit towards the ocean. It's at this stop that I met my new friend Jane from New York. She was really nice and here for work, so I got her information so we can keep in touch. When we were having our Milo and cake, we had to stare in awe at all the cockatoos in the trees. Here in Australia, they are a wild bird. We saw about 10 different cockatoos just flying around from tree to tree above us. I told the tour guide that in Canada, these birds are pets and kept in cages. It was so different to just see them flying around free.

Lovely beach!

Wild Cockatoos hanging out in the tree

Our next stop was a place where we were told we could feed tropical birds. We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived, but after getting a handful of bird seed and then jumping out of the bus, we were immediately swarmed by a bunch of gorgeous birds. At one point, I had about five or six of them on me. It was such a neat experience! They were literally landing everywhere - on our shoulders, heads, cameras even. I felt like I could have just stayed there all day feeding the birds. But, we had lots more to see still, so after feeding the birds we were off again. Since we were making good time, Isaac stopped at a special spot that had a great view for us to see and take a few quick pictures. The views on this trip were absolutely breathtaking. Once again words could not do justice to what I saw. It was amazing! We drove to Apollo Bay for lunch, where Jane and I shared flake and chips on the beach (flake being shark).

Loved feeding the parrots!

Gorgeous view!

Lunch

Beach at Apollo Bay

 After lunch, it was off to do a nice and relaxing rainforest walk. In here there were plenty of eucalyptus trees that smelled fantastic. We got to see some of the world's largest hardwood trees and kept an eye out for the black snail. It is a carnivorous flesh-eating snail. Unfortunately we didn't see any of those. We did see lots of really neat trees though and really enjoyed the walk. It was very refreshing after having lunch. After that we drove for about an hour to get to one of the main attractions, The Twelve Apostles. It's a world famous attraction of giant rocks made of limestone. Originally it was called the sow and her piglets apparently, but someone changed it to The Twelve Apostles - they aren't sure who. There are only seven Apostles left out of the 12, and one could fall at any time according to Isaac. It was a beautiful view, and the gorgeous weather made it even better.

Rainforest walk

The Twelve Apostles

The next stop made was to the Loch Ard Gorge. This was also a very beautiful sight to see. There was a story behind it as well. Apparently a ship of 52 people went down there and there were only two survivors, Eva and Tom. Tom somehow battled the waves and swam to shore before hearing the cries of Eva out in the water. He battled the waters for another hour before getting her to safety. They took refuge in the gorge before getting help the next day. It was interesting to go visit it and stand in a historic place. As soon as I was on sand, my shoes came off. It feels amazing walking barefoot in the sand! I was wondering how cold the water was and eventually curiosity killed the cat. I rolled up my pants and went to investigate. When the water hit my feet, there was an initial shock because it was a little cold, but I got used to it really quickly. I decided to go out a bit further since the water wasn't coming in as much where I was standing. Just as I did that, a big wave of water came splashing at me, soaking the bottom half of my pants. It was a surprise but all part of the experience and totally worth it. I walked around barefoot for nearly the rest of the time at that stop and loved every minute of it.

Gorgeous Gorge!

The water wasn't so bad once you got used to it

Didn't expect the water to come up so fast

The aftermath

 Our final stop of the day was to see the London Bridge. There was also a funny story behind this one - whether this story was true or not we weren't sure, but it was funny regardless. Apparently this couple was out on the London Bridge the one day and the middle part of it collapsed, leaving them stranded. Someone ran to the police station after seeing them and told them that London Bridge had fallen down. They didn't believe them at first, but then eventually went to check it out. The realized it had fallen down and the only way to rescue the couple would be with a helicopter. Unfortunately, the rescue helicopters in Melbourne were off helping fight forest fires at the time. They called channel 8 news and told them they could have exclusive coverage of the story if they brought a helicopter to save the couple. In about an hour the helicopter landed where the couple was stranded. Apparently as the camera man tried to talk to them, they kept running away and he wasn't sure why. He chased them down (they didn't have far to go) and then after some investigating, realized why they were running away from him. Apparently the two people had called in sick to work that day, and the lady who was there with the man was not his wife. His wife however did see the story on the 6 o'clock news. Isaac said their relationship was on the rocks after that - pun intended. The view of the bridge was gorgeous as the sun was setting. Once again, it was another great ending to another amazing day in Australia.

London Bridge

Beautiful sunset to end the day