Welcome, Tristen!!

My best friend, Jocelyn just delivered baby #2, another boy!! All went well and they came home from the hospital today. You can read more & see pictures on her blog. There is a link to it on our blog list.

Congratulations, Jeff & Joc! We are so happy for you & wish we could be there with you!! I know you will have an awesome Christmas, now that you can relax a bit! We wish you all the best!! Lots of hugs & kisses for Tristen (and Aiden too!) :) We love you guys!

Albert Park

The other day we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk to nearby Albert Park. The park is huge (560 acres), which is especially impressive considering it is only about 1.5 miles from downtown Melbourne. The park also has a large lake in the middle. In fact, there are several sailing clubs located at the park and the lake is used for sailing competitions. The day was really nice and there were a bunch of sail boats out on the water.

The roads in and around Albert Park are also where the Australian Formula One Grand Prix is held every March. The Australians follow Formula One pretty closely, and I guess this is a pretty exciting event.

Here are a few pictures from our picnic:

Our Dinner

Our Thanksgiving dinner turned out really well, with all the favorites: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, and salad. It was a little different since it was just the two of us, but we had a great, relaxing day and the food was really good!

Our favorite though, was dessert...apple pie! I swear it's the best recipe I've ever tasted!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish we were home to celebrate with you all, but we hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving! When we stop to think about our lives, we realize how much we have to be thankful for! Anthony and I have talked lately about how lucky we are to have each other and our family and our friends! God has blessed us more than we deserve and we are so grateful!

We both have to work Thursday and Friday (since they obviously don't have Thanksgiving here) so we're going to do a small Thanksgiving dinner together on Saturday. We lucked out and found a frozen turkey, a box of stuffing (although it looks a little questionable), and sweet potatoes. The only thing they don't have here is canned pumpkin. Thanksgiving just isn't the same without pumpkin pie! When I asked some co-workers about it, they said, "Couldn't you just use 'real' pumpkin?". Ha! I guess I could, but I don't really want to, so we're going to have to settle for apple pie (my Aunt Sandy's amazing recipe!). Apple pie is Anthony's absolute favorite anyway, so he's okay with that :)

My cousin, Ronda, posted this verse on her blog. I'm going to copy her because it's one of my favorites and a great one for this time of the year:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God, and the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7

Sydney

Kristi and I went to Sydney a couple of weekends ago. It was our first trip together outside of Victoria. Thank you, Dad & Joyce, for letting us use Worldmark - the condo worked out very well and we had a great time!


Since being in Australia we've learned that Melbourne has a funny relationship with Sydney. The two cities have enjoyed a complex rivalry through most of the history of Australia - going back and forth over which is the more significant city. They take it pretty seriously here. And so, when we told others we were going to Sydney for the weekend, we would often get responses like "I'm sorry" or "Why?". Even at the airport when we asked a fellow traveller if they come to Sydney often, his response was "Not by choice." It's quite odd.

Luckily, we were not deterred by the cynics. We thought Sydney was awesome. Sydney must have more waterfront property per capita than any other large city in the world. It seemed there was an endless supply of hidden tree-lined coves, many with picture-perfect white sand beaches.

An integral part of the Sydney transportation system is the ferries, which carry only people - no cars. They take you to all over the Sydney harbour, and it was one of our favorite ways to get around. We spent the first half of the first day seeing the opera house, harbour bridge, botanical gardens, etc, and we then spent the next three days out exploring the harbour. It was beautiful. You can see some of our pictures below, but they don't really capture all the beauty.




















Oh, and we found our first clothing-optional beach. We did not venture down to the beach itself, but we could see from the distance that some people were on the beach... and exercising the "option."



We spent one full day on Bondi beach, which was amazing. It reminded us of a nice beach in Hawaii. Australians claim it is the "most famous beach in the world," but we are not so sure. Have you even heard of it? In any case, the day we went it was 28 degrees (~82 degrees F) and it was perfect for relaxing after a couple days of walking around the harbour.







Here's a little video...we could have sat there forever and watched the waves roll in.


On Sunday, we went to Hillsong church, which has two "main" campuses and a dozen or more "extension" campuses. We went to one of the main campuses, but it was apparently not the main "main" campus because Brian Houston and Darlene Zschech weren't there. Still, it was pretty cool. We determined that Hillsong does Hillsong better than any other church. And then we lucked out because the church was celebrating 25 years and they had a big celebration down at Darling Harbour later that night. We went and got to see Darlene Zschech singing Shout to Lord, which was pretty cool.

So in summary, we had a great time in Sydney. It was nice to have a little vacation. I already want another one!


PS. Here's some more pictures from our trip that didn't fit in this blog.

Sydney

Quick update on the Prom post below...

Just letting you know that we have now edited the "Prom" post below so you can click on the collages to see larger versions. That should help since the pictures look pretty tiny in the standard blog format.

The Prom

So, I know this post is a little late. Technically, Kristi and I went to the prom quite a while ago - nearly ten years ago in Kristi's case! No, I'm just kidding of course; this post doesn't relate to the high-school dance. Kristi and I went to Wilson's Promontory - known locally as "the Prom" - a couple of weekends ago.

The Prom is a peninsula about 3 hours east of Melbourne. It is unadulterated "bush country." We did quite a bit of hiking and got to see some really nice coastal views, rivers, eucalyptus groves, waterfalls, and the like. It was very relaxing. We stayed at a cabin located about 2 km's down a dirt road and situated just off the water.

It really squeaks!!

The highlight of the trip, however, was the wildlife. We mentioned to the visitor center at the Prom that we would like to see some wildlife if we could. The lady was very nice and told us about a spot near an abandoned air strip where lots of animals come to graze at night. She told us that we would need to pull off the road at a specific place (it is unmarked) and then make our way through the line of trees/brush to find the clearing. If we got there right at dusk, we should see animals. We were pretty excited.

We found the unmarked pullout (mostly by luck) and proceeded to make our way towards the dense tree growth along the side of the road. We found only one trail that appeared to lead through the trees and promptly took to following it. After several feet we determined that we were actually on a wombat trail. The primary evidence for this was that wombats are about two feet tall, and so was the clearance for this trail. Kristi rationally concluded that this was obviously not the trail we were meant to use and we were likely in the wrong place. I saw no other trails and irrationally determined that what was good enough for a wombat was good enough for me. I volunteered to go ahead alone to see if there even was a clearing ahead. After several yards of clumsy crawling, crouching and hobbling (and one ripped tee-shirt later), I did in fact come to a clearing. And in one of the more exciting moments of my life, I saw two wild emus standing about 50-yards in front of me.

I called for Kristi to crawl through the wombat trail, and just as she made her way to the clearing I spotted a gravel maintenance road off to the side that would have provided easy walking access. Sorry honey. In any case, we were both too excited about the emus to care.

We wandered around the clearing quietly and saw some heads poking above the grass in the distance. We slowly progressed towards them and eventually discovered dozens of kangaroos coming out to graze. We kept our distance at first, but we found that they didn't seem to be bothered by our presence in the slightest. So, we continued to inch closer in order to get a better view. At various intervals a random kangaroo would stick his/her head up, would look at us, and would then return to grazing as if he had seen nothing unusual at all. Apparently kangaroos are not too shy around humans, which was good for us because we were able to get an awesome view. As kangaroos came out of the woods we were eventually surrounded by perhaps 50 to 60 of the animals. It was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. We had our camera and we took lots of pictures and videos. I felt like Steve Irwin.

One of the cutest things we have ever seen was a group of joeys in the middle of the mob ("mob" being the technical term for a group of roos). The joeys would stand around for a minute and then suddenly break into little boxing matches. It was hilarious. We tried to get some video, but it was a little far away.

I say the boxing joeys were one of the cutest things we've ever seen - probably the absolute cutest things were the wombats. As we were standing among the kangaroos, we saw a couple of wombats come out of the woods. These guys were definitely more shy than the kangaroos, so we didn't want to scare them by getting too close. Even so, they were incredibly cute. They look like large hamsters - only with cute, chipmunk-like faces. Too fun. See our video below.

Kristi and I agreed that we could have stayed in that clearing for pretty much the entire night. It was an amazing experience. We had to leave before it got too dark because we were basically in the middle of nowhere and they caution you to stay off the roads at night to avoid animal collisions (which are unfortunately quite common).

The next day, we enjoyed more scenery including an amazing waterfall and some cool coast-lines. Of course, we kept our eyes peeled for more wildlife - and we were not disappointed! We first saw a wallaby hopping along the side of the road, but the driver was going too fast to get a picture (sorry about that). We next spotted an echidna crawling up an embankment. Echidnas are also pretty cute. I think maybe all Australian animals are cute.

The highlight of the second day, however, was on a secluded road heading down to some coast off Cape Liptrap: We saw a wild koala sitting at the base of a tree by the road! We stopped and got out and the koala quickly raced up the tree. I feel bad about scaring it, but it was a pretty short tree, so we were able to get some good pictures while staying a safe distance back.

So I think we have now seen nearly all of the primary Australian animals in the actual wild: emus, kangaroos, wombats, wallabies, echidnas and koalas. Of course it would be fun to see a platypus, but they are nocturnal and apparently quite rare. Overall, this trip was great for the relaxed pace and amazing scenery, but the wildlife made it unforgettable. It was awesome.

Stay tuned for our Sydney post!

A Little Craziness

Tuesday started like any other day... I went to work as usual, but on my home way home I nearly missed the bus. Since I worked late, I didn't know how long I would have to wait for the next one so I ran after it. The bus driver was a little annoyed, but he let me on. I took out my wallet with my bus pass in it and punched the card. I took a seat and settled in for the ride home.

I stopped by Coles (the closest grocery store to our apartment) for a few items I needed for dinner. As I was checking out, I reached in my purse for my wallet only to discover it was missing. I didn't panic at first because I figured I just stuck it in a different section of my purse since I was a little frazzled on the bus earlier. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I dug through my whole purse while the check-out lady was staring at me like I was an idiot.

I immediately called Anthony (slightly freaking out) while I turned my purse and my bag inside out with no luck. I re-traced my steps to the bus stop and all over the grocery store looking for my little black wallet with no success. Luckily, I did find about six $2 coins in the bottom of my purse (I love those coins!) and was able to pay for my groceries.

I called the number on the bus stop only to get an answering machine telling me the hours were 9-5, Mon-Fri. So, I walked home, stressing all the way. When I got home, I figured out that my wallet contained the following: my CA driver's license, my debit card for our bank here, my debit card for our account at home, my social security card (don't ask me why I carry it around with me - that will change!), my monthly bus pass that I just bought a few days earlier, and my blockbuster card. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night.

At exactly 9am the next day, I called the bus company. The lady who answered knew right away what I was talking about, and I can't tell you how relieved I was to find out they had my wallet in their safe!!

The lady gave me the directions to their office and said it was about 10 minutes from the City. I figured it wouldn't be a problem to go on my 1/2 hour lunch break. I left at noon and caught the tram outside my office. 40 minutes later, I ended up at the bus depot! I waited at least 5 minutes before a stout woman came up to the window to help me. I explained my situation and she left for 15 minutes before coming back with my wallet. I'm not sure what took her so long, but I was just glad to have my wallet back! Meanwhile, my lunch break turned into 1 hour and 40 minutes.

After a couple of crazy days, everything turned out fine. My wallet was just as I left it. God is so good! He watches over even the smallest details of our lives!

"Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you" Psalm 55:22

Traveling

We are going to Wilson's Promontory ("The Prom") tomorrow. It's the southern most point of Australia and it's about 3 hours from Melbourne. We are staying the night at a little cabin, so we'll be gone Saturday and Sunday. I'm so excited to venture a bit farther outside the City. One of Anthony's co-workers has said good things about this place so I can't wait! We will post pictures when we get back.

Then, next weekend, we are off to Sydney for 5 days!! We are so excited for our first trip outside of Victoria. It's about 2 hours by plane and we're leaving Friday afternoon and coming home that following Tuesday. We can't wait to see all the exciting things Sydney has to offer...they have some nice beaches too! We will definitely be blogging about that when we get back too!

We hope you all have a great weekend! Bye for now.

Melbourne Zoo

This post is actually a little late. We went to the Melbourne Zoo two weeks ago. We had good intentions, but we decided (quite ambitiously) that we would try to incorporate a slide show into the post to show off our pictures. We inevitably encountered some technical difficulties, which led to frustration (technology frustration no less) and then temporary abandonment of the project. We have since regained composure and had a second go (and I think we got the slide show to work - fingers crossed!).


We initially weren't sure what to expect at the Melbourne Zoo. We wanted to go to a zoo, but this particular zoo was not first on our list (it was actually third). Unfortunately, the other zoos were quite a ways out of town and required creative transportation solutions... and a little more planning than we allowed for. The Melbourne Zoo is in the heart of the city, so it was easily accessible. However, given its location in the city, we were thinking that this zoo might be a little cramped (for the animals, not us). That made me nervous (I blame a wildlife conservation class I took in college).


But we went, and the whole experience actually turned out to be highly impressive. The exhibits were all top quality and we even learned a few things (like what an echidna looks like - or even that echidnas exist). We both thought it was probably the best zoo we had ever visited.

Here's the infamous slide show of pictures from our visit:

Melbourne Zoo

Kristi also got a few videos that turned out pretty well. We wanted to adopt one of the little penguins as a pet. They are hilarious. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Anthony!

Anthony turned 25 on Tuesday! Since we both had to work, we just celebrated at home that evening. I made him one of his favorite dishes for dinner...spaghetti pie. For those of you who have never tried it, you're missing out! :) It's an italian recipe I got from my mom-in-law and it's to die for! We found a good Shiraz that complimented the dish and made for a great dinner.

Then, for dessert, I tried something new. I made a cake from scratch...no box involved! It was a Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. I was a bit nervous since I've never attempted one before, but it turned out really well! I would definitely make it again! It was so moist and fluffy and really good! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANTHONY!!

Mornington Peninsula

This last weekend we hired a car and took a day-trip to the Mornington Peninsula. It's about an hour-and-a-half from our house and is home to wineries, gardens, natural hot springs and several popular beaches. The weather forecast called for scattered showers last Saturday, so it was a bit of a gamble. Indeed, it was kind of gloomy when we picked up our car, and the clerk at Budget warned us that it "was not a good day" to go. Hmmm... too bad we were signing the rental papers as he said that. So we headed to Mornington.

The first thing we did was get lost. It was a little stressful, I won't lie. I (Anthony) don't like being lost. I also refused on principal to use the new tollway (Over $20 to use a road?!?). So that didn't help. Luckily, our first destination was the Peninsula Hot Springs. So when we (eventually) made it, we were able to relax for a while. It was quite nice.

Although it rained a little on our way to the peninsula (which didn't help with being lost), the weather actually cleared pretty quickly and it was sunny and warm most of the day.

After the hot springs, we decided to head to the Enchanted Gardens, which included several large hedge mazes and other such attractions. Even though most of the day was sunny, the moment we arrived at the gardens it started to pour down rain. We passed on the gardens and instead decided to drive a bit longer.

We headed to the Cape Schanck lighthouse, which actually still operates (unlike most scenic lighthouses). The sun came back out, which is good, but what we didn't realize about Cape Schanck is that it is apparently the windiest place on earth. It was very scenic (see some pics below), but I have literally, no exaggeration, never felt wind like that before. There is a boardwalk down to the beach and we were warned, in all seriousness, to be careful as we progressed down the walkway because the winds got even stronger and we could actually get blown over the side railing! We decided not to go any farther.

We drove along the beach on our way home and found that most of the beaches were lined with "beach boxes", which are apparently little colorful beach huts that people use for lounging at the beach in the summer.

Oh, and perhaps the highlight of the trip was that we stopped by the hardware store (since we had a car) and bought a barbecue grill and an outdoor table set. It had been about 5 months since we have been able to BBQ. We've now had it every night since. I'm not sure how we lived without it.

Port Melbourne Tour

Last Saturday, we were planning to go to the Maritime Museum, but after enjoying a lazy morning drinking coffee and "vegging", it was too late to get to the museum before they closed. So, instead, we walked around our little town of Port Melbourne and decided to take some pictures for you all so you know where we live :) It was really sunny and actually too warm for the fleece jackets we were wearing!! Great news for us since we just went through our 2nd winter of the year!

The picture above is of our building - we live up on the 6th floor (of 9). There are four buildings in our apartment complex with a little courtyard in the middle. It's secured by locked doors that only open when your swipe your key. You can see the courtyard below.

This is looking down from at Bay Street from the stairs that lead out of our apartment complex.

The pics below are of Bay Street - the street we live on. The bus stop is right here on this street, so it's a pretty convenient way to get to work in the mornings. (Anthony and I have been able to ride into work together most mornings. He gets off one stop before me, so it works out perfectly!) Bay Street has everything we need: grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, a post office, lots of little shops, a cute wine store with free tastings on the weekends....what more could we need?

It was such a beautiful day! Lots of people out walking their dogs, playing in the sand with their kids, and flying kites.

The Spirit of Tasmania is a small cruise ship that sails to Tasmania every night from Port Melbourne. Someday we'd like to take it over to tour around Tasmania...probably once the weather gets a little nicer.

Yah for the first signs of SPRING!

This is the closest tram station is to our place. There are a bunch of restaurants along the water - the ones we've tried so far have been good.

Here's a short little video I took from a dock in the water. It's looking back on the street. We love Port Melbourne!

There are a lot of statues and historical monuments along the walkway by the water. There's also 2 lighthouses (1 in the water & 1 on land) that used to be used for navigation for ships coming into the port. If the beams were lined up, then they knew they were coming in straight. Very interesting. The lighthouses aren't really used for navigation anymore, but they do still light up at night.

There was a bit a breeze that day. When we got back to our house, we could see tons of sail boats out on the water. I love our little view of the bay :)

We've also attached a little map below so you can see where we live (it's the blue marker). For reference, it's about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from our apartment to downtown Melbourne.

Since we didn't make it to the museum on Saturday, we decided to get an earlier start and go visit it on Sunday. After wandering around for awhile looking for it, we came across a couple of parking attendants and asked them if they knew how to get there. They informed us that the museum was closed for renovations. Sad. We'll just have to try again later, I guess.

Instead, we decided to take the tram to St Kilda Beach area since we haven't been there yet. It was actually a pretty windy and cool day, but because I thought we were only going to the museum, I was in capris, flip-flops, and a short sleaved jacket. Of course, by the beach the winds were even stronger/colder! So, we didn't stay very long. I did get a little video of some kite surfers though!

St Kilda Beach Park is about 4 kilometers from our place in Port Melbourne and there's no convenient public transport between the two towns. So, we just decided to walk home. This really reinforced the bad choice of wardrobe on my part! My feet hurt for the next two days! But, we found a cute little coffee shop along the water about 1/2 way home, so we stopped and warmed up before finishing our journey. I'm definitely looking forward to going back with the appropriate shoes and warmer clothing though! :) Here's a little collage from the St Kilda trip.

We hope you all have a great week!