Great Ocean Road+Geelong

Hey All,

After eleven days on the road, we have finally returned home to beautiful Mudgee.  After spending a day with Angela & co., we set off to see the great ocean road.  About an hour into the drive, we stopped at a beautiful spot called Kennett River where we stayed (for free, no less) in one of Angela’s friend’s summer houses.  It was great.  We were only a short walk from the beach and we spent the time before dinner jumping and diving in the waves.  On the way home, Gavin was startled to see a family of koalas hanging from the trees and eating.  It was great, and we got some great shots.  I highly recommend organizing a trip to this house for the sea and surf, just don’t get peed on.  Apparently their pee is DISGUSTING!  After dinner, we pulled ourselves out of a drowsy stupor and went for a walk on the beach.  It was dusky and getting kind of dark, so the ocean looked like the cold, forbidding ocean near Victoria.  Coincidentally, I was wearing my Sea Trip shirt, so I plunged into a fit of moping reminiscing about that one unforgettable week.  Ian and I attempted to race back to the house, but since it was on a steep slope and I have really long legs, I was ahead of him in no time.  Ian is kinda like the rest of the Farquhar family and doesn’t really like to lose, so he sprinted up and punched me in the stomach, which I have to say, worked really, really well!!! OW!  That evening, being out of everyone’s way, we watched Shrek 3 without feeling guilty of being unsocial.  Everyone we've stayed with has been super hospitable and really great, but it's nice not to feel like you're underfoot.  I had a great sleep while Mum and Gavin laid awake in bed hearing the pounding of rain against a tin roof.  I was blissfully unaware, and so happy was I to have my own room again, made it as inhospitable as possible by opening all the windows and letting the cool, ocean breeze freeze everyone else while I was snug under three dunas (duvets).  We woke up and hurried out of the house, cleaning more fastidiously than we do in our own home because it was free, and were out of there by 10 in the morning, much to my chagrin.  I admit, I would have much preferred to spend another night in that wonderfully cold room.  Gavin’s dream over this entire adventure had been to see the 12 apostles, so of course, we did.  They were pretty cool, but as far as interest goes, I would have been as content to splash in those grey swells that remind me of Victoria, even if you won’t get hypothermia from them.  The 12 apostles were glorious and majestic, but there weren’t enough information plaques to delay our departure for as long as Gavin would have liked.  We then visited the shipwreck in which all but 2 died.  It was pretty cool, but would have been cooler had the ship still been there.  After a long, hot day in the car, Ian and I were dying for a swim.  Gavin reluctantly pulled over at Port Campbell where there was a nice beach.  For Ian, I mean.  The swells barely crested my knee, but Ian had a great time splashing around in the surf.  The next day, we returned to Geelong and with Angela and co. with us, set off for Melbourne.  Gavin, whose beard was pretty shaggy by then, got it trimmed and toddled around the city, while Mum, Angela, the kids (all four of them), and I explored the aquarium.  That, needless to say, fascinated Ian and Ezera for almost the entire day.  Dinner was eaten in a little street off of the city center in a chic little alleyway with lots of cool shops and restaurants.  On the way back from Geelong, I discovered with some delight, that Ian could read.  Small words, but he was trying at least and could get Bat, Rat, Sat, Sit, Cat, Dog, God, Ali, Ian, Mum, Mom, Dad, Gavin, and others with little trouble.  That night, we talked with Joel and Angela until 2 in the morning which probably wasn’t the best idea in the world, since Gavin wanted to leave early before the 11-12 hour drive.  That morning, Gavin left, Ian, Mum and I went to the Geelong waterfront with Angela and co. and then got on the airplane to Sydney.  The on to a train to Lithgow, where Gavin met us and then home to Mudgee.  So concludes out epic, way too long trip, around bits of Australia.

Even though, we’re having such fun, I still miss you Calgary folks.

Don’t worry, I won’t forget about you.

Lots of love,

Ali

Melbourne+Aussie Open

Hey All,

We are now in Geelong, a cute little country town about an hour and a half outside of Melbourne.  Yesterday, we left Andrea and Peter’s house in the morning, and using our new GPS, Gavin and Ian dropped Mum and I off at the Australian tennis open.  (Gavin and Mum finally relented and bought the GPS after it took us an extra hour and a half to get to Andrea’s house).  Gavin and Ian drove out to Geelong, while Mum and I enjoyed watching Tennis.  We had tickets to the Rod Laver court.  In the morning, we saw Maria Sharapova defeat Tanasugarn (sorry if I mispelt it), and then we watched Caroline  Wozniacki defeat Gisele Dulcko.  We left in the middle of that match to go and get some lunch.  While we were eating, we walked into an outside court and watched a couple of men’s singles play.  After Caroline Wozniacki won, Roger Federer played Lucas Lacko (pronounced Lascko).  Boy, was that cool to see.  Roger Federer won of course, but one of the amazing things is that their serves were going almost 200 kilometers an hour.  That’s way faster than I have ever driven!  That evening, we caught a tram down to Southern Cross Station and took a train to Geelong.  It was great.  Mum made a new friend and we got some pretty good tips about where to find koalas and stuff.  Everyone we have met has been so nice to us.  I’m sure if I were a visiting Australian to Canada, everyone would be pretty nice to me, but still.  Here are some videos and photos of what we saw while at the Melbourne open!

Even though I’m having tons of fun, I still miss you guys.

Love,

Ali

Melbourne

Hey All,

This is just a quick post, as I have kept as up to date as the limited Internet connection will allow.  We have spent the past two days in Canberra, this nation’s grand, but obscure, and wildly unknown capital.  We were looking in the Lonely Planet (a travel guide) and Canberra (the nation’s capital, mind you) wasn’t even mentioned.  In the morning, we all trooped up to the Australian War Memorial/Museum.  After about an hour or two of exploring Australia’s part in World War 1 and 2, and others, Ian, Mum, and I happily went off to Questacon, to lighten the mood.  Gavin, as you might have guessed happily spent the entire day there reading all the plaques that Ian didn’t allow Mum and I to.  Questacon was really cool.  It was a mash up of the Calgary science center, a children’s museum, and a theme park.  The best part for all of us was definitely the “face your fears” part.  Ian and I dropped down a 6-meter vertical slide twice and we both would have gone more had the employees permitted us.  I tried out a fake guillotine, which was silly and terrifying at the same time.  It’s the suspense that gets you.  I stuck my head and arms into their rightful places and waited for what felt like 3 minutes until it came whooshing down right on top of my neck.  Thankfully, it stopped just before it hit me, or else I would have spent a couple of days in the hospital.  I came out of the experience relatively unharmed except for the feeling in my ears that comes from the ascent and descent on an airplane.  I promise you, I wouldn’t have done it again for any amount of money under fifty dollars as it took a couple of minutes for my hearing to go back to normal.  After that, Ian, Mum, and I went on a simulated roller coaster ride, which felt pretty real, but the graphics were a little a cheesy.  That night, our family ate with Ian’s new friend Tom and his family, little Hue, Older Patrick and his parents Justin and Shmilla.  Ian has taken after the Farquhars, with all their ability to befriend in a few short moments.  Today, we are in Melbourne after about 8 hours of driving.  All of our tempers are short and after such a long time driving none of us has any patience to spare.  Anyways, I miss you all and everything in Canada, but Australia is pretty nice I have to say.

Hugs,

Ali

Jenolan Caves

Hey All,

My family and I spent the last two days in Jenolan Caves walking up stairs, taking millions of photos, making friends with a wonderful family, the Morath's, and spending time in our private guest house with 30 rooms (we were given one and the rest weren't lent out).  The first night we got there, the family went to a ghost talk about how the caves were haunted and how the hotel ghosts acted.  A lot of orbs (big white circles of light that have really plausible explanations, but people like the supernatural) were talked about and I thought it was a crapshoot to make people buy tickets on the ghost tours and stuff.  After thoroughly freaking myself out, all the while staying the perfect skeptic, we commenced our day with four different tours starting with the orient.  I think, by vote, that that was the most beautiful and by far out favourite.  The orient was also where we met our new friends, Micheal, Terry and the kids, Jake (12) and Liam (10).  Mum and Ian finished their long day by talking with the Morath's and Gavin and I dragged our weary, footsore bodies out the door and onto the ghost tour.  And what an experience that was.  The two of us spent equal time leading the entire group or trailing behind with this pit of darkness growing behind you.  The ghost tour, while not terrifying at all, was a great experience because of the understanding you got of the predicament of those who discovered all these caves buried deep in the mountain.  In the 1800s, when they discovered these caves, their only source of light was a candle and later on a lamp that they held in their mouths.  When holding those little lanterns that the guides gave us, one really got a sense of how these caves were found, except without platforms and railings, and ladders (when necessary).  The Mills/Farquhar/Harrod family is currently to be found in Canberra (pronounced Canbra), the nation's capital.  God, names of places in Australia are AMAZING!  For example, Jake Morath told us about a place named Woolloomooloo, Mudgee, Wollongong...  Spectacular, isn't it?

Love you all,

Hugs,

                                            This 2 shots are the figure of a platypus that didn't appear shy for us. At one point he scratched his chin and his duck bill was stuck up.  There is a family that live in the water that flows out of Jenolan caves and they didn't live up to the phrase "shy as a platypus!"

Ali

My Mudgee House

My room with my prized Moose (Thank you Lauren).

Our backyard.  !/2 an acre!

Our new car

Front door

Photos of the Fiji Trip

We had New Year's on the plane.  The Fijians liked the baby powder!

This was the water ferry type thing that took us to Malolo island resort.

The boys to the left are Patty (Patrick) and Lucas, 8 and 10.  Ian LOVED hanging out with them.  What do you think about the Auzie boys?

Sorry about the late update.  It took us a while to get from Fiji to Sydney because one of the water taxi's engines ran out of fuel on the way back to mainland and we missed our flight.  Because of the missed flight, we were able to explore the real Fiji, the way the locals knew it.  It was humbling.  Anyways, we arrived in Mudgee, chose our rooms, started the washing machine as fast as I could because I was out of clothes and starting to smell not so good.  Did you know that Mudgee means nest in the hills?  It really paints a much better mental picture.

I love you all.

Hugs,
Ali

P.S.

P.S.  Check down a little to see what I posted most recently about Fiji.  I'll upload my photos in Mudgee.

Love,
Ali

Sorry

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't published anything for a while.  It's just that it took me forever to find out how to get internet on the mac.  Anyways, I'll keep you all posted.

On a side note, my shoulders are horribly burnt.  On the upside, the rest of me isn't!

Love you,
Ali

January 2, 2011 (Fiji), January 1, 2011 (Calgary)

January 2 2011

2:30 Fiji, 6:28 Calgary

            So here we are in Fiji.  At the malolo island resort to be exact.  Sand, sun, surf, snorkel…  All those great “s” words are to be found here.  Even supper.  Yesterday, as we disembarked from our 7-47 (which has two levels by the way), we were blasted with warm air funneling through windows and doors that never close.  We took our private bus (because no one else was on it) to the Denarau marina and then boarded a water taxi that took us here.  We arrived to a welcome party that sang as to us and then were brought damp hand towels smelling heavenly minty and a fruit punch drink with ice.  We spent the rest of the day playing beach volleyball and swimming until it was time for bed (which for us, was right after dinner).  Today, I got up to birds singing, waves crashing against the beach, and Ian munching on chips because he missed dinner the night before on account of jet lag.  After a real breakfast consisting of not one single chip, mum and I got on a boat for a snorkeling tour.  We saw tons of different types of coral, beautiful fish, our boat moving away in the distance (don’t worry, it stopped and we got on).  When we got back, the family partook in a malolo island rules game of baseball which was more like cricket.  The adults lost magnificently and we all retired to the shade of the pool.  After we found our camera to which had been accorded much stress, we ate lunch at the beach bar overlooking the ocean.  This afternoon, I am dragging my unwilling family out on a sail and then I am going to crush mum at volleyball.

Hugs,

Ali

P.S.  Oh, and I miss you all…  I think.

P.P.S.  Just kidding.  I do miss you all if not the -24 Calgary weather.  Did I mention that it’s +28 outside right now?  Love you all.

Departure Day

Wow.  It’s finally coming true.  That which we have waited and prepared for for so long is finally happening.  Until I stepped onto the plane, it didn’t seem like I was actually leaving.  It seemed as though we were only talking about it and not really going.  Right now, the Mills/Farquhar/Harrod battalion (family) is on a plane to Los Angeles where, once we get there, we will make our connecting flight to Fiji after a 6 hour layover.  10 hours into the flight to Fiji, we will land and make our way to the boat that will bring us to our little island resort in Malolo.  4.5 out of 5 stars.  Anyone else jealous?  My Christmas was awesome.  I spent it with my dad in White Salmon (Washington) skiing, lounging about the house, and all around not worrying about the trip ahead at all.  Greatest Christmas break yet.  On the other hand, the Mills/Farquhar faction spent the time in Fernie with Corin, Megan, Transfer, and Kunik.  They spent a great deal of time worrying about it judging from the haggard expressions on their faces yesterday evening and the bags under their eyes.  The short and long of it is that I got the best deal by far.  When I returned from dad’s house, I found my bag packed and pretty much ready to go, the Finter’s (our Australian exchange partners) installed in our house which had been fastidiously cleaned over 48 hours, the travel documents in order, and tortière sitting in the freezer for me (!!!!!).  Sadly, when I awoke the next morning, the tortière was forgotten in Tara and Brad’s fridge (you might not want to eat it anymore) in the hurry to get out the door and meet Catherine at the airport.  So here I am sitting on the plane 30 000 feet in the air with an hour to go on our Los Angeles connection.  Hopefully Ian and I will survive the waiting to come in the next 24 hour period.  

I love you all.  Hugs,

Alison