FINALLY - JOCE & ROB

I found Joce and Rob in the lobby lounge waiting for their room to be ready. We hung out until Daryl got to hotel around 14:30. Because we got there later then planned we did not have enough time to get to the zoo so we freshened up and went for a walk. Our hotel was located a few blocks from Circular Quay (pronounced "key" not "kay").

We came across this lane on our walk .... :)

Once we got back from our long walk we had a nice dinner at the hotel and planned out what time we would meet up on sunday morning.

After Joce and Rob went off to bed - Daryl and I went back out to meet up with his cousin Natalie and her partner Jimmy. We went for a walk around the Harbour. It was very pretty all lit up. So many weddings - we saw atleast 7 brides that day. AND there were fireworks as we walked towards the Opera House.

Coastal Drive to Wollongong

Sunday morning Daryl got up early and went to pick up the hire car. Our first stop was Bondi beach (favourite reality show is Bondi Rescue :)

We drove south towards Wollongong through the Stanwell Tops National Park. It was absolutely beautiful.
We stopped at a beach and went exploring on the rocks. We found two octopuses! They were trapped in crevises in between the rocks. It was really cool!! You probably can't tell it is an octopus in this photo but it is!!


How cool is that to see an Octopus in the wild?!!

LOOKOUT & LITTLE BLOW HOLE:

That night on our way back we drove to Manly Beach to have a look. It is a beautiful town by the sea - very busy. We drove back into Sydney's centre and had dinner at a Pizza Hutt buffet. We dropped Joce and Rob at the hotel and went out again to gas up the car. On our way back from getting petrol, Daryl took me for a drive to Kings Cross. As we approached he locked the doors... I would say it was very similar to the main road in Toronto or Montreal or Montreal Road in Ottawa (on a bigger scale). I thought it seemed fairly tame.. Daryl pointed out hookers but I thought they just looked like the regular girls who we have seen wearing short tight skirts.... there were police everywhere and I guess you could tell that it was a pretty skiddy area but isn't there a street like that in every big city?

The Taronga Zoo

Monday morning Joce, Daryl and I took the ferry to the Taronga Zoo. We were there for 6 hours and still did not see everything. We saw alot of beautiful animals and had some good laughs... goats... sea lions.. gorillas..birds. We had a good day.

The zoo overlooks the Harbour and some of the city views were pretty gorgeous. On the way back to catch the ferry we took a sky ride to get back to the bottom and we saw a few exhibits that we had missed. There were quite a few exhibits under construction which was a little disappointing but we did get to see ALOT of animals!

And look - they even have Thanksgiving dinner at the zoo!!

We had a bit of a rest when we got back to the hotel and met up with Rob again. We took the ferry out to Manly beach and had dinner.

Our weekend in Sydney went way too fast and I was quite sad to say goodbye to Joce and Rob on monday night but I am positive that they would be enjoying their cruise right now :) And Joce... we have started saving in the event that we decide to join you and Rob next year;)

Wedding in Melbourne

At the beginning of November we went to Melbourne for a wedding. As usual, it was quite a busy weekend for us. We flew in on the saturday morning and we caught up with our friends Anna, Yanna and Andrew for a breakfast at the park. Then we were off to Mama's house where we had a few hours of relaxation and visiting. We then made our way to Michelle and Jason's for a lovely BBQ with Michelle's family.

Sunday morning we met up with Steve for a birthday breakfast and then back home to get ready for the wedding.

It was quite a hot day but we had a great time celebrating Jo and Michael's wedding:) Jo looked gorgeous, Michael looked very happy and the food was delicious!

We got to catch up with Lee and Carrie-Ann and Cam and Bec ... it was quite an enjoyable day.

We were home in time for dinner and to read a story to the Marli and Tiahna. Such gorgeous little girls :)

The next morning we walked Tiahna to school and met up with one of Daryl's friends for breakfast.

We caught up with Tim for lunch and went to visit Eugene before we had to return the hired car and check in for our flight home.

HALLOWE'EN

Our friend Indre hosted a Hallowe’en party/benefit for Cancer.

Hallowe’en is not big in Australia but apparently it is becoming increasingly popular and I say YAY!!! Daryl and I waited until the last minute and could not decide what to be for Hallowe’en so we went to a costume hire place. We won the award for Most Original costume. I would not say that our costume was politically correct but I was happy that it was a Canadian costume. I told everyone that we were Metis!



When we got out of the car someone driving by called out to us in a not so politically correct way. I am guessing because they don’t realize that it is racist to make those kinds of noises [most people I have met here don't know that you are supposed to refer to Indians in Canada as First Nation. Daryl did yell out that it was racist;)


The theme for the night was “Ghouls night in” so I can understand why everyone chose scary costumes. I have always liked “nice” friendly costumes myself.

The idea was to play games, paying $8 for a VIP package and then donating what you would spend on an average night out. The girls raised close to $300! Woohoo Indy!
One of the games was a Hallowe’en quiz and at first I thought for sure I would do well and let’s be honest here... all I was thinking was “I am the one who grew up trick or treating – if I don’t know the answers how can I admit I am Canadian?”!! Some of the questions were hard!! I was thinking “how did they find these questions?!”

Daryl came in SECOND!! All I can say is “CHEATER CHEATER PUMPKIN EATER”!!! He copied more than a few answers off of me but he still beat me. I can’t believe I am admitting this! I have always loved Hallowe’en! What has Australia done to me?! ;)

Canadian Thanksgiving/Tracy's Birthday

When I first came to Australia we started a tradition of hosting Thanksgiving for my birthday. This year there were 13 of us. AND I was not the only Canadian at the party! Before our trip to Canada I befriended a fellow Canadian and promptly invited her and her partner to Thanksgiving [even though we had months to go at this point].

Again we did not take any photos when everyone was here...

Daryl went crazy when we were in Canada and we bought heaps and heaps of Canadian paraphernalia cheap after Canada day.... we had balloons, and table cloths and plates and napkins...it was perfect.

We went out shopping in the morning to purchase a turkey baster. I thought that it would be the easiest thing to find – it wasn’t!! We finally found one not so far from home. Mom called and said she would wish me a happy birthday then as she had plans the next day ... when we got back to our house we found a MASSIVE bouquet of flowers. It was absolutely beautiful. I took a picture every day because each day a new flower would open. The flowers lasted close to 3 weeks.

New Fridge

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, Daryl and I finally decided on what we would do with the Canadian money that we were given – so we bought a much needed BIG fridge! It is quite beautiful and for atleast two weeks we marvelled about how much space we had each time we opened it! AND we can have a BIG tub of ice cream ... the freezer is enormous!!!

Mt Gambier/The Big Lobster

On Labour Day weekend Daryl and I decided to go to Mt Gambier. It is approximately a 5 hour drive from Adelaide. And much to everyone’s surprise, we were only there for a day – I guess not so surprising if you have read about some of our other trips.. Ie. Our Trip to the Red Centre

Our first stop on the way was to take a photo of the BIG LOBSTER!!!

As it was spring when we went to Mt Gambier.. we had a bit of rain. Mt Gambier was built on volcanoes and are famous for the Blue Lake.

Mt Gambier - Labour Day

Outdoor Setting

Daryl and I splurged and bought ourselves a much needed outdoor setting for our new patio ...
This photo makes our backyard look small but it is actually quite roomy and notice the clothes line. That has to be one of the best things about the backyard :)

The Giant Rocking Horse

Mid September Nicolette, Arne, Kaspar and Marli came across to visit us. I took a day off to sightsee with them. Unfortunately it rained every day almost!!
On the Friday night Daryl and I had a reception at Roccos Cafe. We had a beautiful dinner with friends and family. Thanks to everyone who could make it. We didn’t take very many photos there either. Sorry Michael we are very bad now that we have a good camera!! We keep forgetting to document.

Moving House

When we got home from Canada we were notified that our house was up for sale and there was some discrepancy in regards to our lease term .... so we moved house. It is a two-storey, three bedroom house. Still renting.... pictures to come....

Party in Melbourne

The weekend after we arrived home from Canada, we drove to Melbourne. Daryl's sister hosted a reception for us at her house. We did take our camera with us but we only managed to take photos of before. It was a wonderful party and we both thoroughly enjoyed the night. Everything was beautiful ...

We didn't take very many photos...