12 weeks

I can hardly believe that I have been here for 12 weeks! Yikes! It seems like I have been here forever, while at the same time it feels like I just got here. Even after 12 weeks I still am upset that because of the time change I lost nearly an entire day of my life! I guess I'll get it back when I return to Canada.

Thus far my time in Australia has been such a learning experience for me. I have learned what seems like a new language with all of Australia's many abbreviations and odd words. I have learned how to drive on the left side of the road. I have learned to cook Thai food (reasonably) well. I have learned to scuba dive, how to take a train rather than buses, I have learned I have good sea legs, but mostly I have learned that no matter where you are people aren't very different.

It's so interesting how people from so far away can be so similar. Earlier on this morning I had the pleasure of going for coffee with a lovely young lady from the local Presbyterian church. we chatted about life, books, coffee, traveling, and much more. I was blown away by how both of us were on such similar journeys in life and how we were both struggling with the exact same dilemma. I found such solace in talking to her about struggles that we shared when I thought I was the sole person I knew working through it. It was such a comfort and joy to have found someone to relate to and share with.

Day to day life here seems so trivial sometimes, but when I step back I see just how content I am with it. The simplest things are what I enjoy most: Driving

the girls to school and listening to the daily prank call on the radio. Sitting in the hot Aussie heat to read a book and getting so boiling hot that I have no choice but to jump into the pool. Sitting down and watching the morning news (Sunrise) with my

cup of green tea.

When I made the decision to come to Australia I thought that through my time here I would understand my path in life. I thought that once I was here I would have the answers to post secondary education, to what career I would pursue, to my future family life, pretty much I thought I would grow up, mature and become the Emilie I was meant to be. I guess I was too naive to realize that Australia isn't magical, I definitely haven't received any answers yet. If anything I am more unsure and confused, but I think

I like it that way. My mind changes on a daily basis, and it keeps things interesting, I seem to be looking up different career options every week (this week's is Natural Medicine in case you were wondering). None really ever seem to stick, but maybe one day something will, I'll just wait and see, I still feel like I have heaps of time.

This post may not be as exciting as the others, but I figured a select few of you readers may want to hear things other than my Aussie adventures. For those who are only interested in my adventures here are some pictures of this past weekend's deep sea fishing trip:

My trip to Cairns

My trip to Cairns was an absolute dream come true! I left from the Brissy airport on Thursday the 27th right after we picked the girls up from school. After about 2 hours in the air I landed in the extremely hot and muggy tropical climate of Cairns. I landed around sunset so I saw the sun go down over the mountains and I had a beautiful view of the reef.

Steve's good friend Rhonda lives in Cairns and so I was thankfully able to stay there. I have never felt more welcome in my life! Rhonda's youngest son, Samuel (10) moved out of his room for the weekend so I had my own room! That night I sat in on a lovely family dinner with Rhonda, Samuel, and Ilyssa (17).

Friday Rhonda had to work so I spent the day with Ilyssa and a few of her friends

. We drove to Crystal Cascades. I have never seen so beautiful a place! The cascades ran down in between a large forest of beautiful green tress, vines and flowers. We spent the day there swimming and jumping off the rocks. I managed to face my fear of heights and I jumped off o

ne of the taller cliffs.

Now Saturday the 29th of January was a day that I will always remember. Rhonda booked

herself, Samuel and I to take a snorkeling/diving tour of the reef. Since it was my birthday Steve, Monique and the girls surprised me with a call that morning telling me that the whole trip to the reef (including my first dive) was all taken care of! I couldn't

believe it! I couldn't have gotten a better gift.

After we got checked in we spent an hour and a half on the boat to get out to the reef. Poor Rhonda and Samuel both got quite sea sick. Once we were there I immediately jumped into my very beautiful Lycra body suit and I was shown the basics of diving. Next thing I knew I was 7 meters under water breathing out off this mouth piece and wondering where the boat was. It was a very eerie and uncomfortable feeling at first.

Not long after our decent into the ocean a massive Blue Wrasse named Wally was swimming up to us waiting to be given a pat. We each took our turn posing for a picture with him and I even ga

ve him a little cuddle. After that the dive went by so quickly! We

squeezed sea cucumbers, touched sea anemone, and just got used to the feel of diving. After that first dive i was hooked, I quickly grabbed some lunch then headed back for my second dive. Thankfully this one was longer now that I knew the basics. This time it was just the instructor, an older German man named Wolfgang, and I. This time I wasn't scared in the least. We slid off the platform and descended to a depth of 15 meters this time. I swam along side an old sea turtle, held a clown fish that I captured while playing with the anemone. I gave the sea turtle a nice back scratch, but I don't Think he noticed because of his shell. When we swam back up to the boat I couldn't believe how quickly the time had passed! I was offered an opportunity

for a third dive, but of course it would have cost me. Now looking back I wish I would have just done it. Oh we

ll, I had a great afternoon snorkeling with Rhonda and Samuel. I saw heaps of beautiful blue parrot fish, clown fish, butterfly fish, a sting ray, and even a bamboo reef shark! (a pretty small one, but ma

ybe that was best).

When we got back to Rhonda's Ilyssa had made a lovely veggie lasagna and picked up a delicious chocolate cake for my birthday dinner. We set off sparklers outside before cake and retired early since we were so tired.

On Sunday we drove to Port Douglas to take a look around the markets and eat lunch on the beach. After we went to Mosomon Gorge and took a walk through the rain forest. We even took a dip in the chilly runoff from the mountain. It was such a beautiful place!

Monday was my last day, I spent it shopping with Ilyssa and her friend Jake. I found a few neat souvenirs and a nice pair of Thai pants. Then in the afternoon Rhonda, Samuel, Ilyssa came brought me to the airport and off I flew back to Brisbane. It was a wonderful weekend!

Back to School

The girls started their first day of year 6 today! Of course in preparation we spent Sunday and Monday at the theme parks. Sunday was a day full of dolphins, sea lions, penguins, and rays at sea world. We saw the sea lions and dolphins show,and road up front on our favourite sea ride:

Jet Rescue. It was a blast!

Monday was spent at Wet N`Wild where we spent most of the day waiting in lines on the boiling hot cement. I must say that the highlight of my day was Wet n`Wild`s newest ride: The Aqua Loop. (http://wetnwild.myfun.com.au/en/Attractions/Rides/AquaLoop.aspx) The Aqua Loop is a water slide that starts off with you free falling through the clear tube then takes you through a full 360 degree loop. When you are at the top the lifeguards help you into a clear pod. Then an eerie female voice counts down "three, two, one", th

e floor drops from underneath you and then you soil yourself. Haha ok, maybe not but it was scary as! Of course, I`d do it again!

Now that I have weekdays free, I'm unsure as to what to do with my time. I have signed up to do child care for Mom's Morning Out at the church I've been attending. I would be doing that every second Thursday. I haven't heard any news from the lady in charge yet, so I hope that it works out. Other than that I may be looking after Declan on Tuesdays. I've been starting a bit of a job search mainly childcare, cleaning or waitressing, so hopefully I find something soon so I don't get too bored (and make a bit of extra $ for traveling).

As for tomorrow: IT'S AUSTRALIA DAY! (January 26th) We'll be taking out Steve's boat, and enjoying the sun and sea! Then we'll spend the evening with Monique's family having a birthday BBQ for Monique's nephew and sister in-law.

So... in case you forgot (in which case I hope that for you own good you didn't) it's my birthday this Saturday! I'll be leaving Thursday afternoon to go up to Cairns for the weekend! The weather looks good so far, so hopefully I'll spend the weekend exploring the Great Barrier Reef and dodging crocks on the beach.

OMG! Oprah's big secret!!!! ...

I wish I was Oprah's half sister!!!!!!

And I hope everyone has been watching Oprah's Australian special! It's been a pretty huge deal around here.

Queensland floods 2011

As you may have heard there is serious flooding here in Queensland. If you haven`t well then check it out it`s pretty darn bad. I spent half of my trip in Sydney trying to get updates on the situation in Brisbane. By the time Friday came around the airport (thankfully) was still open and I was able to make it back to Brisbane without any troubles. I arrived in Brissy only a few hours after the river crested and thankfully the water was a whole meter lower than predicted. We spent the day driving around and scoping out a street in Kenmore that needed some serious cleanup. Steve and I went out the next day (Saturday) to help with cleanup. We took the water semi and all the hoses. We left the house at 4:30am and got there by 5:30 am. Steve spent the first few hours hosing off the road to prevent anymore mud from being tracked into the homes, while I used a 5000 ppi pressure washer to clean out the bottom level of a home. The homes down that street are all two levels and they were only flooded one the first level. After I had cleaned out the home Steve disinfected it chlorine. We spent a major part of the afternoon hosing out the underbelly of a home right on the river. After a 12 hour day of non-stop work we had hosed out 3 homes, the road, and disinfected 4 homes.

The work was very difficult, but it was good to be a part of the clean up. I could really feel the Aussie spirit as volunteers came from all over to help, and people brought us sandwiches, treats, and drinks. Please keep the people of Queensland in your thoughts and prayers as they clean up and rebuild.

As for our home, it`s completely fine. Capalaba has been untouched which has been a real

blessing.

As an extra: my rav4 broke down today after delivering water hoses to the flooded Rocklea Markets so I spent my morning waiting for a tow truck to arrive. The badly damaged areas are overridden with traffic trying to get in and out with volunteers, trucks and supplies, therefore making the traffic jams insane.

My week in Sydney

While the girls spent two weeks at their mother`s I hopped on a train and made my way down to Sydney. During my 13 hours on the Country Link train from Brisbane to Sydney I met a group of New Zealanders, saw the beautiful Aussie countryside and saw a trampoline set up on a hill at a 40 degree angle (quite odd).

(performers at the Sydney Festival)

Once in Sydney I saw all the sights: Bondi Beach, the Opera house, New South Wales Art Gallery, the Harbor Bridge, the Sydney Markets

, China Town, and last but not least the Olympic Park.

I was also able to explore a few suburbs where I was staying (Waverton, Lidcombe, Ashfield, and New Town). My

favourite of these was Newtown. It was filled with Thai restaurants, 2nd hand book shops, hippy boutiques, and even a bike library!

Lucky for me I arrived in Sydney in time for the kick off of the Sydney Festival. I was able to take in a few free concerts and enjoy downtown city. I even scored a few freebies from my bank ANZ who was sponsoring the event.

(View of the Opera House from the bridge)

That was my trip to Sydney in a nut shell. Hopefully I`ll get a chance to go back again yet during my travels!

(Kangaroo Pizza)

what`s new...

Last week was flurry of post Christmas shopping, playing with Christmas gifts and rain. The girls, Declan and I spent the lone sunny/hot day on the beach at Wynnum. It was great because they have a giant pool filled with sand and sea water, so it`s like swimming in the ocean, but without the dangers of waves, currents and wild life (great for the kids!). I had two evenings out as well, where I managed to make a few more Aussie friends. It was nice to see a bit more of Brisbane and spend time with people my age.

We spent New Years Eve at South Bank in Brisbane. We went for the 8:30 fireworks which were beautiful but apparently the midnight ones kick the early one`s butt. I`m pretty sure I was in bed and asleep by 10:00. Then I was rudely awoken by the loud bang of fireworks at midnight! What I party pooper I am eh? Oh well, next year I'll do better, I promise.

The girls left on New Years Day to spend two weeks with their mother. After two hours without the girls I found myself quite bored and unsure what to do, so i dyed my hair. This week has been nice and relaxed so far. I`ve done some house cleaning and yard work, swam in the pool, read The Lost Symbol, watched 2 foreign films (The Edukators and Jeux D'enfants) I recommend both. I`ve also gotten to spend more time than usual with Declan which has been a blast!

As for this comming week without the girls: I`m off to Sydney!!!

I`ll be sure to write about my adventures there as soon as I return to my home in Capalaba.

And the picture... yes it is a BBQ set to make beer bird. There's no better way to cook a chicken then to but a beer up its bum.

Ta-ta for now!

Christmas in Australia

So Christmas came and went. The kids woke up Christmas morning to heaps and heaps of gifts. Declan was given a Green Machine, which I think the girls are enjoying even more than he is right now. The girls received loads of jewelry and a beautiful jewelry box to put it all in. Steve and Monique will be taking me to a show called Outback Spectacular in the next little why, I can`t wait. I`ve heard great things about it, including that you get a sweet hat, so you know it'll be good.

Christmas night was a flurry of rum ball making and choosing out which jewelery the girls wanted to wear. After much rushing and a lot of jewelry combinations the whole family took off to Monique`s place for dinner. There was food on food. Pork, chicken, potatoes, veggies, white christmas, rum balls, chocolate whip and much more. All of the children were given fart bombs, making the evening a very smelly one.

Boxing day was spent at the shops. The girls brought their fart bombs, Ashleigh walked past a huge crowd waiting in line to go in a store, she stomped on the bomb and pretty much ran away. Watching the faces of the people as they began to smell it was absolutely priceless!

That`s about it for my Christmas, oh but I gave Steve the movie Strange Brew for Christmas...possibly a bad idea...he won't stop talking in his version of a Canadian accent. I think Monique is the most frustrated with the accent haha.

So I left Christmas celebrations with a new bracelet and earrings, the N,Synch Christmas Cd, beautiful flowers, and a ticket to the Outback Spectacular. Pretty sweet. Merry Christmas everyone!!!