The second day I got to help out on another sheep farm where the farmer was rotating his herds around to different paddocks and as it was lambing season checking on the ewes. His dogs were particularly well trained; we would drive the ute while the dogs did all the work. He explained that a properly trained dog can be worth as much as two full time employees. All they need is a bit of a pat, some food and the best part is they are ALWAYS eager to work. The only job they couldn’t do was open the gates and thats where I came in lol.
After not being around or working with animals for over 1 year and working with the general SICK public, I was feeling a bit out of touch and realized I needed a good dose of animal work and country life. I asked our flat mate if he knew of any farmers who could use a volunteer for a week to help out with whatever jobs they had around. Our flatmate called around and organized with his friend from agriculture college, that we all come down for a weekend then I was to stay the week with the family and help out. A few weeks later we were all making our way to the country, to a town called Grenfell 400 km South West of Sydney! After a 3 hr train ride to Sydney then a 5 hour car trip we arrived at the Nowlan’s who met us with open arms. They then showed us around their beautiful newly built country home. The house was quite large, Andrew and I stayed in the west wing where we had our own bedroom and bathroom. The East wing was where all the other bedrooms are. The wings of the house are connected by a massive kitchen and living area. As Grenfell gets quite cold in the winter they built the house with water heated floors all throughout...so lovely. Not only was the home amazing the family that fills is spectacular, loving and welcoming. Saturday morning we woke up to a egg, bacon and sausage breakfast then played around on the farm. The house is situated next to a river and surrounded by fields of canola. Each kid has a plot of land that is theirs and named after them. In a nearby paddock was a herd of ewes with their lambs tucked in close. We always had to make sure we knew where Jock, the family dog, was as he thoroughly enjoyed pointlessly chasing the sheep across the field scaring the lambs. They also have a small flock of chooks, a potty lamb and potty calf. One of my daily jobs was to feed the potty lamb, Julian, and potty calf, Yum Yum. Dom was a sucker for potty animals, he would joke that would one day they would end up in his freezer, which wasn't much of a joke if you saw their freezer! Around lunch time we loaded the ute up with some chairs and a cast iron stove then drove down the road into the woods to have a paddock cookout. Once the camp and fire were set we went to cut wood. To our surprise cutting wood is therapeutic, relaxing and something everyone enjoyed! I’ve piled wood in the past but have never driven to a field and started hacking away at a massive fallen tree. Luckily they had an automatic splitter, which did the majority of the work. Once we had a trailer full we went back to the fire where Dom lit the stove and cooked us home made sausages for lunch. Afterwards we spent the afternoon enjoying the area, kicking the footy and relaxing! Saturday night we dressed up in our finest attire and headed to the local Bimbi pub where we had a delicious dinner and excellent, freshly baked cheesecake for dessert. The next mroning the boys headed back to Sydney and were very jealous of me for getting to stay for the week;) As Dom and Emily work full-time off farm, they arranged for me to visit different farms and help out with full-time farmers. Not only did they arrange farm visits, they let me use their farm ute to get around. It was great having my own set of wheels to explore the area. Each morning we got up around 6:30 am, got ready for school or work then headed down the laneway to meet the school bus. Every morning I would follow Dom to the bus stop with all the kids in my ute, it was hilarious watching them fight who got to sit in the front for the 30-second drive lol. Once the kids were on the bus we would continue to either the farm or into town where I would meet the farmer I would be working with that day. Over the week I helped out on 3 different sheep farms with something new and exciting happening each day. The first day I got to help out in a shearing shed where I helped sort out the ewe's from their lambs. Once separated the ewes were shuffled into the shearing shed, sheared then sprayed with a yellow lice repellent to help kill any lice and prevent future infestations.Sheep farmers normally employ contracted shearers to come to their shed and shear as the work is very full on and would take way too long for them to do by themselves. The shearers were quite intense, they work 8 hours spread out in 4 two hour blocks with a 30 min break into between each block. Once finished, the sheep were put back with their lambs then herded back to their respected fields. It was incredible and inspiring watching the farmers with their working dogs. They would yell commands and the dogs would know what side to run to and how to organize the sheep. One common practice I saw done throughout the week was the farmers would tie the dogs up whenever they moved lambs and ewes. They all said the dogs would get too excited and rush the ewes scaring the lambs. I thought it was quite nice to see they were concerned for the little lambs overall welfare. Each night when I got home I’d give a run through of my day to the family and tell them what I had done and experienced. We then would go outside, play with Jock, feed the potty animals and all sit down to a lovely dinner. The second day I got to help out on another sheep farm where the farmer was rotating his herds around to different paddocks and as it was lambing season checking on the ewes. His dogs were particularly well trained; we would drive the ute while the dogs did all the work. He explained that a properly trained dog can be worth as much as two full time employees. All they need is a bit of a pat, some food and the best part is they are ALWAYS eager to work. The only job they couldn’t do was open the gates and thats where I came in lol. While we were moving herds we came across a brown snake crossing the road. Brown snakes are the second most venomous land based snakes and are commonly found on the eastern coast of Australia. He explained for it being mid winter it was quite uncommon to see one, yet he mentioned in the summer it's quite common...gross! They are not usually aggressive however, he has lost a few dogs to them over the years. They don’t usually attack yet if I dog encounter’s one and corners it the snake then feels threatened and strikes. After seeing one I felt a bit uneasy especially because we had to sort sheep using the stock chute which was overgrown with weeds higher than my shoulders. We had to walk through pressing the weeds down with our boots in order to get the sheep to move through the chute. The weeds were so tall that when they walked through the centre you couldn’t tell where they were standing, luckily the dogs were there to help. The second part of the day we spent helping sheep up that had rolled onto their sides during lambing. Once they are on their sides they can't get up because their upper body with that massive wool coat is too heavy to maneuver over, if they are left unchecked some die of starvation or complications during lambing. To help mobilize them we gave them a concentrated glycol solution then tried to lift them onto their feet . Wednesday and Friday I worked on another farm marking. The farm was about 20 mins out of town, set on a beautiful property surrounded by rolling green hills. Marking is when you separate the lambs from the ewe’s then vaccinate with an injection and oral drench to kill any internal parasites and prevent disease. Once vaccinated the lambs get ear tagged, tail docked (to prevent fly strike) and castrated using small rubber bands around their tail and testicles. I had a go at all the tasks but was quickest at drenching and vaccinating. On the first day we marked 450 lambs and on the second we did another 350. For lunch the farmers wife brought us hot tea, coffee, baked goods and homemade sandwiches, which we ate out the back of the ute. It was lots of fun marking! I really enjoyed my time with the family, everyone was so relaxed, welcoming and fun. I also loved working outside in the fresh country air, handling the animals and learning about sheep production. Originally we had planned to do the second day or marking on Thursday; however, it was raining so we postponed it to Friday. That meant I had the day off on Thursday to explore Grenfell! I started the morning by going for a run down the road, playing with Jock then headed into town to meet Dominik and his colleague Steve at a local pub for lunch. Dom ordered a plate called The Mixed Grill, which consisted of a two types of chops, a 8 oz steak, bacon and an egg cracked on top with french fries and the smallest amount of vegetables on the side. He joked by saying he was preparing himself for the dinner I was making, which was vegetarian lasagna. After the pub Dom and Steve went back to work while I explored Grenfell. I walked around the town poking around in the little shops. I ended up at the towns art museum where they had a great display of hand made quilts made by local ladies. I was amazed at the intricacy of the quilt patterns. One in particular was Australian themed and would have made the best souvenir, too bad it wasn’t for sale. I then picked up a few things for dinner and headed home to meet the kids. I was a bit hesitant to make the family vegetarian lasagna as they are major meat eaters. They are building a kill room and cold celler to process their own meat, we were fortunate to have some of their meat from their farm and it was fantastic! In the end the lasagne went over quite well, I even noticed they went back for seconds. I had so much fun with the family we shared lots of good laughs together. They made me feel like a part of their family and at times like the new "toy". One of my favourite comments of the week was when the youngest son asked his parents if they could “keep me” lol. For dessert I made brownies, which I found out was a very “American” thing to bake and that they weren’t the families favourite... you could have fooled me as they were gone by the end of the night! Friday I went back to the Nealon’s to finish marking sheep, on the way I got a bit lost and ended up at a gate, which had a sign to not let out the grazing cattle and that shooting is permitted on the property. I couldn’t remember if on Wednesday we had driven through the gate so I continued down the road. Along the way I had kangaroos bounding alongside the fence, right next to the car, they were keeping my pace then spilt off into the bush. When I got to the second gate I realized I must have been lost, turned around and made my way to the correct farm. Once I got there and explained to them where I had been they said “geez you were up in deliverance country" lol which would have explained the broken downs house with cars covering the property. After we were done they took me for a scenic drive around their property showing me the fabulous views of the surrounding valleys. After that I headed back to town, picked up some lunch at the local café, showered then jumped on the bus back to Sydney. You know it’s a small town when you get introduced to the bus driver and only one other person gets on to go to the city on a Friday afternoon. All in all I had the best week! I thoroughly enjoyed spending time in Grenfell and with the families who were all kind and made me feel so at home while being so far from home. I really appreciate all their efforts in arranging my amazing farm visits and loved learning and experiencing a little bit about everyone’s lifestyles. Country life was so happy, fun, welcoming, relaxed and charming. I can’t wait to visit again or better yet return the favour one day. Thank you to everyone who made my farm stay amazing!
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Ah winter in Newcastle, well it's very different than winter in Canada. Firstly, Australia does get winter and cold weather, not cold like at home but cold enough that people wear winter woolies (coats, boots, scarves and beanies (toques). The real difference for us is that we actually felt the cold here not like in Canada. As this part of Australia, Newcastle only gets winter for 2-3 months not many houses or work places are heated or properly insulated, yet on those cold days you sure wish it was. Our apartment for example, has central air and heat; however, our flatmate bought a gas heater to save on electricity that we used in the evenings and shut off at night. This meant that we had to sleep with at least 2 dooners (duvets) and winter jammies, Courtney even bought a pair of UGG style slippers. On the coldest days we would wear all our warm clothes, meaning a sweater, a light wind breaker and scarf but we never bought anything warmer than what we came with :). The second major difference between their winter and Canada's is that Aussies participate in more organized sports in their Winter as it's too hot in the summer. So every weekend we would see fields filled with children running around kicking the footy. Our outdoor activities changed a bit as well, we spent less time swimming and surfing and more time running along the coast, trail running in the Glenrock conservation area and going to hot yoga. One weekend we ventured to Sydney to watch the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which was amazing very inspirational. If you can see it where you live we suggest you do! While in Sydney we also went for a hike through Royal National Park with Amy and Sid. Another weekend Amy and Stefan came to visit us in Newcastle. We took them around to the local sights, one neat activity is to watch the huge coal ships manoeuvre their way through the small harbour. Later in the day we introduced them to our our local tequila bar :) Another weekend we did our SSI dry suit diving course, which was great because we stayed bone dry while diving and will now be ready to dive in Canada. We got two dives with the course, the first was in a protected bay off a beach to get us use to using the dry suit and getting our buoyancy correct. The second dive was at an actual dive site where we saw tons of fish, an octopus, some rays and nudibranch! The best part of winter in Australia is the massive whale migration that occurs along the NSW coastline! The whales migrate to the warmer waters in Queensland to mate and give birth from April to August. Then they start making their way back down from September to November. They estimate over 20,000 Southern Right Whales pass coming very close to shore. We were fortunate enough to see a few hundred grace us with their presence right from our balcony! It was amazing getting to spot them, we had a pair of binoculars from South Africa that we would use :) We would first spot them by the massive amounts of water shot out of their blow hole, then they would come right close to the baths, where we would swim in summer, and lots would then breach! One day we were walking along the coast and walked into the baths area, right then a HUGE whale shot out of the water and splashed down about 75m off the bath wall. It was insane, too bad we didn't get a shot of it. Andrew did get a few good ones while spotting off the balcony. A few days I sat waiting patiently, near the baths with the camera as they went pass but wasn't lucky enough to get one breaching. We got close but not as close as this guy did! http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/surfer-knocked-unconscious-as-10metre-whale-tosses-bondi-boarders-with-its-tail-20130707-2pjn5.html Another joy of winter is watching the amazing sunsets and waves. Andrew took some brilliant shots of the massively huge storms that would roll in. One amazing attribute to living on the ocean is watching the weather and waves change. In one day we can have the sunniest, bluest day with flat calm water and by the evening the clouds and wind has rolled in and the surf is 8m high bursting out over the swimming baths. Sometimes when the dark clouds roll in it's like watching something from the movie Independence Day when the Alien's massive mothership covers NYC. Another weekend we had a go (Aussie expression for trying something out) at open water sailing through our local cruising yacht club. We were told if we showed up 1.5 hours before the race started we would probably get to help crew one of the boats. So one Sunday morning we showed up, asked around and were placed on two separate boats. Having no sailing experience we were of little help but both had an amazing time out on the water. The boat Courtney was on was a relaxed cruising yacht, which also gets used to race. However, Andrew's boat was strictly for racing and so his crew was much more intense and competitive. Courtney got to enjoy whale watching, helped counter balance, pulled a sail in under the deck and even got to try steering while Andrew ran around trying to listen to where the skipper wanted him to sit. At the end they all race for fun, some just take it more seriously than others :) We all ended the day trip with a few beers, a good laugh and watched dolphins flip and follow the boats back to the harbour. We both really enjoyed the experience and would love to have another go at sailing in the future. Newcastle also has a fantastic shared multi-use pathway that runs along a closed railway, which was once used for transporting coal. One day we biked to Red Head (30km) with two British friends, John and Sunny. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and a great ride. One of the last winter weekends we road tripped with John and Sunny to Byron Bay, a beautiful, touristy beach town 8 hours South of Newcastle. Byron is very popular with tourists as it has great year round weather, a massive beach with crystal clear water and soft white sand, nice walks in Cape Byron Conservation Area and unlimited choices for food and accomodation. We stayed at a relaxed backpackers on the main street and enjoyed its proximity to the shops, bars and beach. Byron has a really nice relaxed atmosphere with a massive beach culture. The weather wasn't ideal for the beach on Saturday so we rented bikes to get around then hiked up to the lighthouse for a wonderful view of the surrounding area. Sunday the weather was amazing, hot and sunny, so we spent the morning swimming and playing on the beach! It was quite difficult getting back in the car mid-day for the 8 hour drive home. The weekend was great fun and I would definitely recommend staying a bit longer to really enjoy the towns charm.
and the Tasmanian road trip continues...Days 3, 4 and 5Day 3. After spending another comfy night in our little campervan we woke up to a brisk morning, perfect for an 11km hike around Freyicent National Park. The hike took us through the forest, which had large red block like rocks displaced throughout. We then headed to Wineglass Bay a very popular but secluded beach in Tasmania where we had beautiful views of the calm bay. The trail continued through to another forest section leading to Hazards Beach, a second beach on the other side of Wineglass Bay with rougher water. Along the way we enjoyed the views and loved seeing the wild wallabies bounce through the bush. After the hike we made our way inland to Mount Field National Park, a park known for its incredible diversity. The atlas we were using to get around highlighted the town of Ross as a great spot to stop for a break and it didn't let us down! Ross is a quaint town off one of the main highways with cute bakeries, antique shops and an old gas station lining main street. We visited one great bakery where Andrew bought a special beef pie (very popular in Australia), however this one was wasn't the traditional pie shape, but was shaped in a triangle with the top squeezed together in a hand shape. The baker explained that this was the traditional way miners wives use to bake them, one side was filled with savoury meat and the other with a sweet pie mix. The pie was shaped with the top formed this way in order for the miners to hold it with their dirty hands, eat it and then when done they could just the throw away the top bit. In addition to the bakery, we also visited an interesting tourist information centre with a large exhibit on wool production. Once we had poked around there we headed to Ross's last attraction the historic bridge which is the third oldest bridge built by convicts and still used in Australia. Two of the convict labourers were stonemasons who were later credited for their intricate designs and carvings alongside the bridge. It took the majority of the day to get to Mount Field National Park so we re-stocked our food supplies along the way in the town nearest to the park. Once we had arrived we realized the park office was closed so we decided we would head up the mountain to a parking lot set next to the Tall Trees walk where we ended up staying for the night. The road up the mountain had lots of warning signs regarding not driving in the evening (had no other choice really) and to be cautious of icy conditions. ICE? But we are sleeping in a unheated camper van! Although it was a Saturday night we were the only ones up there; a tad chilling as it was very windy, dark and we were surrounded by monstrous trees. We decided we would do the tall trees walk in the dark with our headlamps. It was a short 1 km walk with informative signs posted throughout explaining the tall tree ecosystem and their incredible size. The signs explained that the swamp gums, eucalyptus regnans, are the largest flowering tree in the world and have been growing before 1642. After our walk we made some food, drank some Tasmanian wine and hunkered in for the night listening to the howling wind. We woke up to a think fog around the van, we decided that we would continue up the mountain road where we would start a long days hike to see some of the parks diversity. Up and up we drove eventually leaving the fog below us, which lead to amazing views of the surrounding area. The park is hugely diverse, at the bottom there are massive tress surrounded by very lush damp rainforest. As the winding road continued up we could already see a huge difference in the plant life and moisture content. Mount Field is unique in that plant diversity increases as you increase in altitude which is usually not the case in other mountain ecosystems. The hike was incredible. It traversed up on to a mountainous plateau and across several different eco systems. At one point we lost the track but a little bit if route finding got us back on track. The walk ended up taking a bit longer than we expected and we found ourselves returning to the camp near sunset. We had't planned on where we would be sleeping next so we thought we would just drive out of the national park towards the next nearest town and camp near the town for the night. Day 5 - Although the park was beautiful it was quite cold to sleep high in the mountains so we drove down to the closet town and free camped for the evening in a back street. In the morning we drove to Bonorong Wildlife Park where we had a lovely time making new kangaroo friends and finally meeting a Tasmanian Devil! After the wildlife park we continued making our way to Hobart but stopped off at the Cadbury Chocolate factory where we enjoyed a heavenly delicious hot chocolate, loaded up on reduced priced goodies and learned about Cadburys processing history. Unfortunately we didn't get to go on a tour through the factory which you used to be able to go on. Big changes to come now that Kraft owns Cadbury. Last we heard they were planning on changing their chocloate composition to 50% rubber. Our last stop before returning the van was a drive through Hobart and up to Mount Wellington. From the top we were surprised to see the smoke from a nearby forest fire. The view from the top was fantastic! Tasmania is a really beautiful place with immense diversity and variety. We had an amazing time and definitely felt 5 days wan't enough to even scratch the surface. We'll have to return again to enjoy more of the scenery, hikes and National Parks. It is very different to mainland Australia and we highly recommend it!
View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint Day 1 - Newcastle - Hobart - Tasman National Park Our Aussie friends had sold us on visiting Tasmania; they had explained it was a beautiful part of Australia with massive diversity and a real different feel to the main land, so we were totally stocked to see it for ourselves. Friday early morning we jumped out of bed to catch our 6:00am flight to Hobart with a connection through Melbourne. Once we were on our flight to Hobart the pilot had suggested there might be some turbulence near Hobart and he wasn't kidding! As the plane descended though the clouds we felt like we were at Canada's Wonderland on a roller coaster ride! Once we were through the cloud cover we safety landed to the Land truly down under. Our first moments in Tassie we experienced some of the beauty of the land and people that all the Aussies had told us about. Everyone was super friendly and on a much more relaxed pace than the main land (which is already pretty relaxed). Shortly after our flight arrived, we were picked up at the airport and taken to our van rental where we were introduced to our campervan, which would be our wheels and home for the next four nights! After researching different van companies we went with Devil Campers because truthfully their prices couldn’t be beat and there were no terrible reviews online. We didn’t have high expectations; for the price we expected the van to be more or less ghetto but we were pleasantly surprised that everything was clean and functioning! The owner showed us around to all the neat and funky features. It was a pop-top campervan that had a mini kitchenette with a sink, gas stove, fridge, cupboards and even a small closet with clothes hangers! Along the back walls were two benches and a table that we could set up during the day. During the evening the benches flattened into a comfy double bed, above the bed was a storage area that also converted into a double bed however we used it to store all the bedding. At the other end of the van, above the car seats was another storage area where we put bags and food while driving. Once we got acquainted with the van we set off for another adventure and headed to the infamous Tasman National Park, 100 km south east of Hobart. Although the distance wasn’t very much the roads are very small and winding so we had to take our time. The roads are also covered with road kill… yuck! Unfortunately locals drive very fast and with there being so many nocturnal animals road kill is inevitable. The scenery to the park was beautiful, the road followed the coast with great lookouts along the way. Once we got near the park we turned down a 14 km unsealed or better known at home as dirt road, which led us to where we’d be staying. As we drove the whole van rattled away, we kept our fingers and toes crossed hoping we wouldn’t break down as we had just signed a document stating we wouldn’t drive on unsealed roads… woops! It was well worth the risk, the campsite was set in a beautiful area right on the waters edge in a bay with ocean access for the lucky people with boats. We hadn’t pre-booked so we were happy to hear that it wasn’t fully booked up, all other campers were there fishing and had great big ocean fishing boats rigged with heavy duty fishing poles. Once we got settled we set out on our first Tassie hike. On the way we ran into some fisherman who had gotten back and were preparing their dinner. The hike took us through the forest and then opened up to viewpoints looking out onto the bay where the campsite was set. We kept climbing and then veered off course to where the Ranger had suggested we sit to watch the moon rise. We caught it at the perfect time, just as the sun set this massive ball of fire rose over the ocean and lit up the area. We stayed enjoying the moonlight until our bellies started to rumble, when we finally decided to head back. Good thing we brought our headlamps as it was night dark. The trail was pretty easy to maneuver in the dark and we were only spooked once when a little wallaby jumped out onto the trail and hopped along with us for a bit. Once we were back at camp we made a delicious pasta dinner then headed to bed to wake up for sunrise. As our alarms went off on Sunday morning we decided it was a better idea to stay in the warm bed and watch the sun rise over the bay instead of hiking to see it rise over the ocean. We did go for a little of a walk to get some views but then returned and made our way to the next park, Frecyinet National Park. The drive between the two parks took a good portion of the day as we would stop at lookouts, for food and at one berry and chocolate farm where we spoiled ourselves with delicious chocolate and beautiful views of the park in the distance. Once we arrived in the park we decided to head out on a small hike up to a nice lookout of Wineglass Bay, a beautiful bay with a pristine beach stretching in the shape of a wine glass. After our hike we settled into our campervan spot then headed out to the local pub for some grub. Being in the area known for it’s salmon I had the wild salmon and Andrew ate the the Sunday roast, the food wasn’t anything special but the atmosphere and people were friendly and hospitable. During our first few days in Tasmania we experienced lots of beautiful scenery, super friendly people and the awesomeness of having a mobile home! Stay tuned for the second part of our Tasmanian Adventure!
After our trip to Melbourne we reignited our hunger for some more travel so we headed down to the infamous Blue Mountains! Courtney visited the Blue Mountains back in 2008 but she insisted that I check them out and she was pretty eager to go again. Basically we went to the main tourist town called Katoomba and stayed in a hostel there. We spent the weekend hiking around the national park, visiting the local bars and enjoying some of the local live music! Our friends Amy and Stefan from Canberra and Sid from Sydney met us to enjoy the weekend in the mountains! We had a lovely time exploring and enjoying the scenery. Saturday morning we embarked on a 14 km hike, which led us to "The Ruined Castle" a large rock formation that looked like an old castle. It was interesting as the rocks were set up high on a hill with no other mountains directly around them. On Sunday we went on a shorter hike with some great views of the mountain range and some beautiful waterfalls. After our hike we headed home on the train back to work for Monday morning.
Melbourne - Food, Footy and Old FriendsAfter working a few months we've started replenishing our bank accounts and now can venture out more. Our first trip was a short jaunt to Melbourne for an extended weekend. We had heard from many Aussies that Melbourne is a great city to enjoy shopping, food and most of all coffee by winding your way through their neat spray painted back alleys. We flew right from Newcastle to Melbourne and enjoyed the next 4 days drinking coffee, stuffing our faces with delicious foods, shopping, seeing the AFL footy and meeting up with old friends. One of Andrews best friends from Uni, Jake was living in Melbourne so we spent lots of time with him catching up and seeing the sights. Jake showed us around the streets and to some great pubs, one in particular was set right on the river with a great view of the city. Later that night we all met Kane, our friend we met while travelling on the Andaman Islands in India. It was fantastic to reconnect in another country! After fighting the hangover blues we met up with Piers and hit Etihad stadium to watch the Bombers crush St. Kilda! It was a great time! We learned a lot about AFL, but most importantly we learned to constantly heckle the opposing team's fans when their team made mistakes! Meanwhile back in Newy...A good pal of ours named Joe came to visit us for a day. We met Joe on Havelock Island in India at a dive resort and he liked us so much that he followed us all the way back to Newcastle! We were hoping to show him a good time but we never could have imagine how awesome the day would come to be! Then the next day we got this close to the dolphins! Some of them swam under us a few times! We were so close we could have definitely touched them! A local photographer for the Newcastle Herald caught this awesome moment! The next day Piers called us and couldn't believe what he was reading in the paper. Surf
Between hitting the beach, surfing and work we've been pretty busy down here in Newcastle. But that doesn't mean we haven't snuck in a few other activities to really soak in the summer while it lasts! For Andrew's birthday we took the ferry over to Stockton, which is just north of Newcastle across the harbour. Stockton has a different feel than Newcastle. Its quite a bit more quiet and the beaches are more secluded, plus we were able to camp next to the beach! Basically we were getting tired of crossing the road to get to the beach so we just set up our tent next to it! One morning we woke up to some guy shouting, "Cordial!" While it was annoying it did get us out of bed and we watched the Hill to Harbour Marathon come past our balcony. We did feel a bit lazy sitting on the balcony drinking coffee while all these fit runners past below. I'm guessing they would have traded with us if they had the option. We woke one morning to our roommate shouting, "Dolphins, dolphins, the dolphins are so close!" It seems like we are consistently woken up by shouting. At any rate we ran down to the beach with a couple of boogie boards and quickly swam out to where the dolphins would pass by us. The swell was relatively small so we were able to get past the break without being dumped. We got pretty close to the dolphins at one point and our roommate even grabbed a couple of snaps of us. It was an amazing way to start the day!
After a few weeks of "career" job hunting online and living it up in Sydney with Amy and Sid we decided we would start researching places to move as we wanted to live somewhere smaller with more outdoor activities nearby. So one day we went to look at an apartment in a city called Newcastle approximately a 3.5 hour train ride from Sutherland. We totally lucked out and found an amazing apartment right beside Newcastle Beach sharing with an awesome Aussie bloke. We moved the next week, but before we moved we had a few Sydney festivities to tick off the list. One being AUSTRALIA DAY where we headed into the city for a day out celebrating this beautiful sunny country. We walked around Sydney harbor then made our way to Darling Harbor and shared a few pitchers of beer and cider. Once our bellies were full we headed to The Star casino and watched Amy win over $75! After the casino we headed for some ice cream then found a spot in the crowd to watch the fireworks. The show was AMAZING!! The fireworks were set to music and lasted 30 minutes. It was so much fun watching and celebrating Australia day with Australians in Australia’s most beautiful harbour!! Our last day in Sydney was spent in the city where we got to go on a jet boat ride courtesy of Amy and Sid from Christmas. It was insanely fun! The boat was airborne the majority of the hour ride. Due to a storm, the swells in the open water were too big (they tried hitting one and it felt like we were about to flip) so we stayed in more protected waters. After our ride we met Amy and Sid for a delicious pizza dinner to thank them for hosting us for over 1 month. The Monday after we headed by train to our new home in Newcastle. For the first few weeks in Newcastle we looked for casual jobs at all the cafes, restaurants, and retail stores. Whoever says getting casual work is easy, it sure wasn't for us. We kept hearing that no one was hiring or that they wanted people to stay at least a year and have years of serving or food handling experience etc etc. We were feeling pretty low and looking into other places to move when Andrew got a call back from an Adventure travel and gear shop! He got a interview and was working within the same week! A few days later I got a job working as a receptionist at a family medical practice. So now we are living and working in Newcastle enjoying the city. One weekend we headed to Port Stephens, a touristy area popular for their beautiful scenery, water sports and marine park where most in this area go to snorkel or dive. We stayed at a "rustic hostel" (another name for dirty and unkept). The first day we had great weather so we spent time playing around on surfboards and then went out for dinner in Nelson's Bay. When we came home this guy (photo below) was waiting for us to arrive. Andrew flicked Henry off the door but when we got inside we were all spooked and spent the next hour looking for Henry's relatives, which we found all over but luckily they were much smaller but still gross. We ended up sleeping with the light on, then woke at 5:00am by roosters crowing, overall not the greatest sleep we've had. On Sunday along with being tired the weather was also pretty lousy, however we did get to see that the area is beautiful and we'll be back as soon as we can. So far we love living here, we've got to experience living next to the beach, waking up to the sound of the ocean and swimming in the ocean baths and surf. We've even spotted dolphins off our balcony multiple times!! The area is great for swimming, surfing, biking, running and close to both of our new jobs. We've signed up for an Ultimate Frisbee league and will start participating in some local events and clubs. We've also enjoyed watching the weather change and the storms roll through. The last storm caused severe flooding inland and currently there is a dark brown silt tinge to the sea from the river waters. Newcastle was hosting Surfest, a large international surf competition with competitors from all over the globe including Brazil, Japan, USA, Hawaii, but no Canadians. One day I volunteered at Surfest and was responsible for checking in the junior pros and handing out their rash guards. It was pretty interesting and informative as I got to learn all about surf competitions and who this years up and coming surfers are. The week after the juniors competed the world pros came to compete so we went back to watch. The pros were amazing and made it look so easy when we've experienced it's quite the opposite. After our awesome two weeks down the South coast we had to get back to reality and start applying for jobs. We then spent a few days writing cover letters and resumes to all sorts of full time jobs around Australia. Andrew was looking into engineering project management jobs while I was looking for some kind of research or laboratory technician jobs. When we weren’t looking for jobs we spent time exploring the shire, beach and nearby national parks. Our first adventure in, around or near the city was to The Basin in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park for a one night camping expedition. We left Saturday afternoon and drove 2 hours north throughout many subdivisions lining the coast. We drove under the harbor bridge and through one really fancy area where the famous Australian show “Home and Away” is filmed. We parked the car up on a hill with a beautiful view of the small marina and then boarded a ferry, which took us to The Basin, a campground and day recreation area split into two swimming areas. One area was a beach where small sail boats were docked and the other was a salt water lake inlet. Being summer school holidays the campground was really busy but we lucked out with a great spot under a tree shading us form the 35oc sunshine. We then spent time swimming, playing Frisbee, drinking and then cooked a yummy BBQ. One of the most fun parts of The Basin was that there were wallabies visiting our neighbors and getting into their trash. Amy isn't much of a camper but was a great sport until we starting taking photos of her sleeping. Later in the night she got us back when she woke up screaming that there was a wallaby on her tent, there really wasn't. Night terrors were bad in The Basin. Our second adventure was to visit Amy and Stefen in Canberra, Australia’s capitol city 3.5 hours inland form Sydney. We took a bus to them on Friday and a scenic train back the following Monday. We really enjoyed our visit, getting to see Canberra’s sights and hanging out with our other Aussie friends! On Saturday we visited two lookouts then visited the War Memorial Museum then out for Saturday ciders with Amy’s friends. Sunday we spent the day on a wine tour visiting 5 different wineries. We had a delicious pizza lunch at one of the wineries then continued sampling the areas finest wines. Later in the day we went to parliament house. The train ride back was very scenic winding throughout the country side and then into Sydney CBD. Our third adventure was a two day trek in the Royal National Park, which is situated in the shire's backyard. It's a beautiful National Park so close to Sydney and sprawls a huge area of coastline and forest. The best part was the hike was completely accessible on public transport! We started by taking a train to Cronulla (6 stops away) then waked to the ferry which took us over to Bundenna, a small town or suburb inside the parks area. Then we walked through Bundeena to the trail head and began the 24 km hike. The hike followed the beautiful coast line, every so often the trail would lead us to a beach where we dropped our bags and jump into the wonderful cool ocean. Our favourite beach was called little Little Marley, a pristine protected bay with crystal blue water where we floated and enjoyed some rest. We stupidly decided to hike in our "Barefoot" runners, which had no ankle support and made our calves KILL! Needless to say by the end of the end we were exhausted and ready for bed before sunset. http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/Royal-National-Park/the-coast-track/walking Along the hike there were certain park picnic areas and beaches accessible by car where we would run into others enjoying the beautiful Australian summer weather. The campground was very picturesque with a great view and easy access to the beach. We also loved that there were countless deer surrounding us. In the middle of the night Courtney got up to go to the bathroom and spotted hundreds of little glowing eyes surrounding our tent area. They were so close and there were so many, it was amazing! The next morning we had approx another 10 kms to hike. The trail followed along the coast to two more beaches, one where we swam then continued up a steep incline into the forest. Along the way the bush opened up to some great lookouts. The trail ended at a popular lookout point accessible by car. We then followed signs to a relatively remote train station in the middle of a large valley. We walked down the stairs and waited for the train back to Sutherland. Over all, it was a fantastic trip with amazing views, beaches and scenery.
Our last day in India was a bit surreal. We were really excited to be heading to Australia but we were also a bit sad because the traveling portion of our trip was nearing its end. That’s right we’re going to be integrating back into society…whether we want to or not! In addition to seeing the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge we got to visit with one of Andrew’s friends, Graham, who he worked with back in Edmonton. It was a short but sweet visit where we all got to catch up on what each other’s years had been like. Andrew also got caught up on some of the gossip he missed over the last year! Christmas arrived faster than 35 centimeters of snow in Canada for us and we were off to spend Christmas Eve with Amy’s Dad and his family out at their rural home. They were really welcoming and they helped us to come to terms with BBQing, swimming and playing badminton outside as Christmas activities. Luckily they had a fireplace for Santa to enter the house, it wasn’t burning but it was ready to receive him! After a really nice time opening gifts and a delicious Christmas morning brunch at Amy’s Dad’s place we zipped off to Sid’s parents’ house for Christmas lunch! We were so used to eating vegetarian food in India that our bodies had to perform super-human feats of digestion to keep up to the barrage of Christmas deliciousness! With our bellies full to our throats we jumped in the car and headed down the coast to Amy's Pop's house where Amy's mom had prepared us a lovely Christmas dinner. We don't know how we did it but we managed to stuff three huge meals plus dessert into our guts. We were both so happy to be spending the holidays with close friends and their families. We got to experience what Christmas is all about in Australia and loved each minute of it! Thank you to all the families who opened their hearts and homes to us, we really appreciated all your lovely gestures! The next 10 days were spent at Amy's Caravan in Ulladulla. It's a caravan park right next to the beach but also has a swimming pool, bouncing pillow, and activities center. Courtney's good friend Amy E (old roommate from second year Uni) and her boyfriend Stefan came down to spend the holidays with us as well. We all had a great time enjoying the beach, going for runs, partying, and making the most delicious BBQs! One day we went on an excursion to Pebbly beach, known for having wild kangaroos stroll with you down the beach. Unfortunately we didn't see any kangaroos but we did enjoy the beautiful beach and ultra friendly birds! After we went and had fish and chips in Batemans Bay! One evening Pop invited us all out to fish, he's a seasoned fisherman and wanted to show us what the South Coast had to offer. Below was the cheering section! The fishing trip was successful with the group catching 3 small fish that Pop and chris ate the next day for lunch! Pop however asked that we never join him again due to all the line snags, loud disturbances, and flash lights turning on and off! Next time he only took the boys! Another night the 6 of us went to the local RSL club to participate in their weekly meat draw and pokies (poker machines, which are in almost every bar in Australia). We didn't win but had a delicious dinner and good fun playing around. The second week we returned and won 2 meat trays! SCORE! On a different day Stefan drove his car down down Monkey road, which ended up being 20km of unpaved bumpiness ending at Pigeon House Mountain. After our stomachs settled we hiked up a nice, well beaten trail then climbed insanely steep ladders where we reached the top for some views of the area. It being overcast allowed us to hike without keeling over with heat exhaustion, however the view wasn't too speculator. Amy and Sid drove to Sydney to spend New Years in the city, while we stayed and enjoyed the night in Ulladulla! In the evening we walked to the town and and watched fireworks from a patio bar. After the 9:00pm show we headed to the local fair where we rode bumper cars, ate pizza, and enjoyed some cotton candy then returned to the bar. It was a great time! The next morning we woke up and were feeling not half bad so we decided to head out to an animal park. We had an amazing time petting and feeding the Australian animals! On another adventure Sid, Andrew, Chris (Amy's Mom), and I walked along 5 different beaches to the lighthouse. The walk was very nice with some great views of pelicans. The last few nights were spent playing with the neighbour's 5 boys! Each night we would have an incredibly fun soccer game usually resulting in the girls (better known as The Bashers) winning! |
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