Christmas 2008

I worked Christmas Eve until 17:40. Daryl picked me up from work to go home for a quick snack before church. Before Jac, Mrs Kong (Jac's mom) , Daryl and I left for church we exchanged gifts with Jake (who was staying home to make us Christmas Eve dinner). Daryl and I got a digital frame! It is cool!!

Daryl had made plans with his friend Daniel to go to church with Daniel and his family. We dressed for church and hopped in the car for 20:00 mass. When we pulled up at the church there were only 3 cars in the parking lot which we found odd considering it was Christmas Eve!! Maybe we were really early?

Jac, Mrs. Kong and I ventured inside the church and sat down in the back pew. Daryl waited outside for Daniel. After 10 minutes the church was still empty with a few people inside putting things away and decorating. Jac decided to ask one of the parishners when the mass was due to start.

He told us that we had just missed the family mass and that there was another service at 19:30 at another church and then there was a Spanish service at 21:30. But he said that atleast we tried!! Giggling a little we went outside to tell Daryl. We jumped back in the car so that we could try to get into the city for the 20:00 mass.

Traffic wasn’t too bad and we made it to the church just as the bells began to ring AND as Daryl pulled over to let us out … a car pulled out and we got a spot directly in front of the church!!! How blessed were we ;) HAHAHAHA …

So we snuck into a back row in time for the priest to walk up the aisle. I was worried that we were in for a long mass but it was under an hour. Daryl and I lit some candles before we went home for our home cooked meal.

Daryl and I slept in the next morning … exchanged some gifts… packed up the car, skipped the beach, and then had to go back home twice before finally beginning our day properly!

We stopped to deliver a few gifts and to enjoy some Christmas cheer and festivities with some good friends and then we were on the road to Melbourne.

Dandenong Mountains

We went to visit the Dandenong mountains again. This time it was hot and we had a 5 minute storm while we were up there... it hit just after we decided to sit inside out of the sun! Good thing!!

Southern Cross Wheel

We managed to do some touristy things while in Melbourne. We went on the Southern Cross Wheel (120 metres high) with Daryl's niece Marli. The Southern Cross Wheel looks like the Eye in London (which is 135 metres high). The Southern Cross Wheel takes approximately 27 minutes to go around. It is quite pretty to see everything from up there.

While in Melbourne we went to the Queen Victoria Market - you can buy fruit and veg, clothes, souvenirs... there are delis, butchers... it is quite nice. We also went to the Births/Deaths Registry so that Daryl could get a copy of his birth certificate so that he can apply for a passport .. so that he can go to CANADA!! YAY!!

New Years Eve

On New Year's Eve we went into the city to watch the fireworks. (a few days after we got home from Melbourne we saw spectacular fireworks in our back yard... they were better than the fireworks in Melbourne..)

There were alot of people in the city... like Canada Day. After the fireworks we went to our friend Anna's parents house and rung in the new year with some champagne!

Lake Eildon

On New Years Day we drove to Lake Eildon in Victoria. We had to drive through a rain forest to get there. The ferns were HUGE!! We camped overnight in a borrowed tent and Daryl took 4 Wheel Driving ... it was pretty cool to see the lake this way but a little nerve racking at some spots ... we went up an especially STEEP track and I should have gotten out to photograph it once we made it up safely...

Randall's 40th Birthday

The night before we left Melbourne we joined Daryl's cousin Randall to celebrate his 40th birthday.

On the way home from NY in Melbourne... we took another photo of the Giant Koala!!

This one is much better than the last photo....

The Lights of Lobethal

Lobethal is located 33 km from Adelaide in the Adelaide Hills. At Christmas the entire town puts lights up and decorates their houses and the store fronts. They have 2 set routes to follow and you have to queue up to drive through... our photos didn't turn out that great and we had to keep driving... (P.S Lobethal isn't as nice as Taffy Lane....)

OUR NEW RECLINERS

Okay, so it has been a while since we last blogged. For Christmas Daryl and I decided to buy ourselves recliners...