Final Australian Post :(

Sailing, Snorkelling, Deep sea fishing, Flying over Sydney, Zorbing, Surfing lessons with a World Champion, New Year’s Eve on the Harbour, the Chudleigh show (oldest continuous show in Australia), Cuddling koalas, Taming wild donkeys, Wine tasting in Mudgee, Weekends away to the south coast, Weekends away to the north coast, Horse racing with the Starks, Greyhound racing with the Shelbys, Meeting 8 out of 9 Starks siblings, Australia Day, Anzac Day, An Aussie Christmas, Boxing Day, Celebrating Thanksgiving on the reef, 2 - 50th birthday parties, Train delays, Hostels, working 4 Caringbah markets, 2 encounters with the Prime Minister, White water rafting, Whale watching, Loads of dolphins, A waterview, Herding cattle 3kms from Weemelah, 1 chipped tooth, Bananas hit $13 a kilo, lawn bowls,1 shower with a Western Brown, About 5 World Heritage areas, Beaches, Budgey smugglers, The kiss greeting, Loads of museums, A few tourist traps, Driving a manual on the opposite side of the road from Pymble to Caringbah on our 1st go with no idea of what to do at a round-a-bout, 3 parking tickets (rear to curb?), only 1 speeding ticket, 100 boxes of Kleenexes, staying with ‘strangers’ 8 times, 2 High Distinctions, 4 American visitors, greyhound races, a proper bush dance, pie and peas at Harry's, Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, 1 book club, 1 night at the Opera House, Singing the American National Anthem at our 4th meeting, Mrs. Shelby singing “Oklahoma”, boot throwing competitions, 5 days in aboriginal village, an encounter with stingless bees, Meeting the coaches of the Canteen Creek Blues, 1 night at Kings Cross (all we needed!), Sharks game, Swans Game, Warne gets 700 wickets, Commonwealth games, Melbourne Cup, Socceroos in the World Cup, Netball??, Mountains, 3 days as a waiter, 12 apostles, 3 sisters, Tassie devils, Devil’s Marbles, Gullet and Kitchen, Morning tea, Afternoon tea, Reefs, the feeling of being “outsiders” in an outback pub, Rainforests, Waterfalls, love/hate relationships with the birds, car sickness, sea sickness, Deserts, a giant rock, fjords, perfecting ‘G’day Mate!’, a 13 month honeymoon, 2 Austrian exchange students, 10 Rotary presentations, 2 Rotary District Conferences, emus, cane toads, millions of sheep, heaps of roos, Heaps more roos dead on the road, & 100 Australian roast dinners makes…

2 True Blue, Fair Dinkum Aussies!!!!!

(stay tuned for more updates from Oklahoma!!)

Final Rotary Preso

Look at these great centerpieces that Pam made for our final Rotary meeting! Aren't they neat!! Australian bottlebrush, eucalyptus, little koalas and kangaroos, and Australian flag all featured in a McDonalds (aka American Embassy/Maccas) cup!! Thanks, Pam!!!
Here we are with Pam and Lloyd... our current landlords! We have been so fortunate to know the Markwells and have really enjoyed getting to spend this time with them! Pam, Lloyd, Bianca and James have been so generous to us - taking us for boat rides, letting us borrow their cars... to letting us live in their home!!! :) It can't get better than this... we are going to miss them!! Thanks, James, for the free Maccas!! ;)
And here we are with our Australian parents, Phil and Glenis Hayes. Aren't they sweet!! They have been such a blessing in our lives this year! We couldn't have asked for better 'Rotary hosts', friends, and Australian family! We love this whole family so much, and can't wait to see them again!! :)
Here's the 'Naughty Table' feeding the pokies $10!! haha... This is their after-Rotary ritual! Good Luck, fellas!! ;)
Bill and I had such a blast giving our final presentation (aka preso) to the club. As you can see, we're both dying laughing! We were so fortunate to draw the Caringbah club - and enjoyed every second of it.... even working the markets!! ;) Thank you for a wonderful year!

Last Adventures...

Look at Us!! :) Bill and I were lucky enough to have personal surfing lessons from a local surfing legend!! Andy, and his wife Pam, took Bill and I to Gerroa last Friday to find "the perfect conditions for learning to surf!" We spent about 3 hours in the water - and after some wise counsel - were able to stand up and 'catch a wave'!! :) The best part was when Bill and I both stood up on the same wave, looked over to say "Hey, Look at me!" and realized that we were both standing!!! We had a blast surfing... if only we lived near an ocean back home!!! ;) These are two great people that we really enjoyed from our church in Sutherland. Rohan Dredge is an Associate Pastor at Shire Live and his wife Megan was my cell leader when we first came to Sydney. They were a lovely young couple that we really enjoyed getting to know!

This is Bill and I eating 'Pea Floaters' at a Sydney Icon.... Harry's Cafe de Wheels!! Robert Gray, and his wife Narelle, took us to Harry's on Wednesday night -- surely we couldn't leave Sydney without a proper meat pie with pea mash!! ;) We had a great night and enjoyed the perfect weather with a stroll around the Woolloomooloo pier. Look at those pies!!!
This is a view of the Harbour bridge with something very interesting happening... RAIN!!! Bill and I were enjoying a nice afternoon around the Rocks when all of a sudden we were in the middle of a downpour! Fortunately, we didn't have too far to run!

North Island

These pictures are from the North Island of New Zealand. While the South Island is more striking, the North Island has so many different, interesting things to see and do!

Below is Bill standing with the Giant Kiwi! Near Tauranga, there is a kiwi farm called Kiwi 360. We went on their tour and learned some very interesting facts! I tried a kiwiberry for the first time - they are like kiwi-grapes... very yummy! We stopped at the Agrodome in Rotorua and got a private showing of Sheep Shearing! We were in-between tours, but the shearer had to maintain his daily quota so we got to ask him all kinds of questions! It is really amazing how quick they move!
Bill and I had a great time at the Tamaki Village near Rotorua. It was very interesting to learn about the Maori culture. We met some really neat people and enjoyed the food! Bill got up on stage at one point to learn the moves, but I didn't get a good pic!

This is taken from Mount Maunganui. It was a really beautiful day - perfect for a walk around the Mount! We stayed with Phil and Glenis' daughter, Lisa, and her husband Murray Denyer - and their two beautiful kids, Richard and Emily. We had such a great time learning about this part of New Zealand from locals! They are truly fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the country! This last picture isn't very attractive, but shows the clouds of sulfur that were everywhere at the Wai-o-Tapu park near Rotorua. It was a beautiful day, but I just couldn't fully enjoy it - I hate the smell of sulfur!!! Rotorua is a very interesting city, though. There are pockets of boiling mud all across the city, as it is right on a fault line. It was very interesting... and very stinky!! It also has the largest population of Maori people in all of New Zealand. There were many beautiful churches and buildings with incredible carvings and details.

All-in-all, we had a fantastic time in New Zealand. It is just so beautiful! I know I have said it before, but if you get the chance to go, Take IT!! :) You won't regret it!!

South Island of New Zealand - Land of the long white cloud

Sorry to take so long with the captions!!

Bill and I had the best time in New Zealand - it is just absolutely stunning!! We spent 8 days on the South Island and 4 days on the North Island. We had such a great time seeing the sights and meeting heaps of new and interesting people!!
We set the timer on the camera and put it on the car - so it is a little bit slanted!! Sorry!! One of my favourite things about New Zealand was this crystally-blue water near Mt Cook. It is hard to tell here, but the water is full of minerals from the glaciers which causes it to appear almost opaque. It was truly wonderful to see!
This is a photo of Bill and I white water rafting the Shotover near Arrowtown/Queenstown. The water was VERY cold, but soo clear - I actually felt safe drinking it!! :) We had a great time rafting and made some new friends! (Side note - look at our funny guide - he's covering his eyes! He liked to consider himself an 'Eco-Sexual!' I about died - He was so funny!)
This is us at the Fox Glacier. We actually crossed ropes saying that we should not walk any further, we just couldn't resist! I really wanted to touch it! It was just starting to rain this day and was pretty cold, but luckily we touched it before the real rain started! Down at the ground level, the glacier actually looked quite dirty, but up in the mountains it was a beautiful ice blue colour. The creepiest thing about the glacier was that it was creaking! It made noises that made me so nervous... I thought it was going to collapse at any given second! I actually think I was starting to run away in this picture! ;) It was a neat experience though - one we are grateful to still be around to tell! ;) haha
This is the beautiful Mitre Peak of Milford Sound. Bill and I took a day cruise at Milford Sound and it was just stunning! It rains 200 days a year, so we were lucky to have clear skies! I have so many beautiful photos from this day - too many to post here! If you want to see more, just let me know!! The end the great day, dolphins (my new favourite!) started swimming with the boat. They were gorgeous!
This is one of my favourite pictures from the South Island. I just love the contrast in colours - how the gold meets the blue of the far off mountains. We pulled over to take this picture... we were pulling over ALL THE TIME to take pics. That pretty much sums up New Zealand... every where you go there are beautiful things to see! We saw rainforests, waterfalls, paddocks full of sheep, deer farms, crystal blue water lakes, amazing snow-capped mountains... the list goes on! We definitely recommend going to New Zealand if you get the chance!!

Fun in Sydney

Bill's Flying!! Bill and I had a fully packed Friday before we left for Tasmania... we went flying in the morning, and then sailing in the evening!
Roger that! I had the best time playing Top Gun with my earphones on! :)
Here's Bill with Brian. Brian was so great to take us on a flight over Sydney! We almost didn't go out because the morning was overcast and cloudy, but fortunately things cleared up a bit! It was a brilliant day for the flight! Sydney is such a beautiful city no matter what angle you see it from, but I must say - seeing it from the air is my favourite!
Later on, we met up with Andy from the Rotary group (he's also our neighbour!) and participated in the evening sailboat races. It was so much fun! I had never realised how much work was involved with successfully sailing! Bill and I really just ran from one side of the boat to the other when they would yell "Tack!" We had a great time!

See that guy in the red shirt? He's actually driving - not me! :) I was just pretending... I had this weird feeling that I would tip the boat over if I were driving!

Pretty sunset after sailing - tough life, huh! :) We are so grateful for all of these opportunities! We can't wait to show these Australians a good time in Oklahoma!

Alright, enough for now! We are going to New Zealand tomorrow morning (at 4 am!!) for 12 days and will surely have heaps of photos and stories to share afterwards!

Thanks for reading!

Time in Tasmania, Part IV!

Salamanca Markets in Hobart. Really fun atmosphere and neat items! And, some really talented buskers! Bill and I at Port Arthur, in front of the old prison.
This is the Cascade Brewery in Hobart. A truly beautiful building!
One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to! This is Wineglass Bay at the Freycinet National Park. We had to hike up the mountain to get to this lookout point, and then walk down to the beach. It took us a full hour to walk to the far southern part! It was a beaut day! And, to make it even better, we saw dolphins doing full flips out in the distance! I literally almost cried it was so spectacular!
A view from the southern end of the beach. Amazingly clear water!! (Can you tell I loved it!!) :)

Time in Tasmania, Part III

This is the Gordon River at Strahan. This is a World Heritage Site and is just stunning! Bill and I went on an evening cruise - we were told by MANY people that we HAD to do this, and it was well worth it! Definitely a highlight! Here's a funny/cute self-taken photo! You can see the pretty mountains in the distance! We also did a tour of Sarah Island, which was one of the first places to be settled with convicts. It was very interesting!
This is Horseshoe Falls, near Russell Falls at Mt. Field National Park. Bill and I haven't seen many waterfalls in our time, so we loved every one we saw in Tassie! We also became professionals at using our auto-timer!

After our glorious raspberry experience with the Dares, Bill and I just had to stop when we saw raspberries for sale straight off the farm! Yum!!

Time in Tasmania, Part II (Cradle Mountain)

On our 3rd day in Tasmania, we went to Cradle Mountain. It was just stunning! This is just one picture of the very interesting terrain! We also hiked through rainforest-type patches with waterfalls! Here we are at Crater Lake. We completed the Marion's Lookout walk and then the Dove Lake Circuit, which took about 8 hours! It was definitely more than we had realised we'd be walking! Good thing we brought water bottles! :)
This is the stunning view of Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake from Marion's Lookout. It was definitely worth the effort to get up there! ;)
You can probably tell, but we had just climbed 1,230 metres to get to this point!
Another view of Cradle Mountain from Dove Lake. It was a beautiful day - perfect for lots of water! There was a bush fire fairly close, so we were lucky that some of the walks were even open. We heard the following day that most had been closed due to the fire!

Time in Tasmania, Part I

Look at him go! This was our introduction to Tasmania - a wood-chopping contest at the Chudleigh Country Show! I was just fascinated watching him - such strength! We arrived in Launceston and made our way to Chudleigh to join our friends John and Lesley Dare. They were on the Chudleigh Show commitee, so we made this our first stop!
Here's a picture of John and Lesley Dare. They were so fantastically generous to us while we were in the Mole Creek area - they showed us all around! Tasmania is a beautiful part of Australia, and they are truly lucky to be surrounded by it every day! This picture was taken at Devil's Gullet, a lookout of Cradle Mountain and the surrounding mountains. It was spectacular!
This special spot falls in our Top 5 of favourite Tasmanian stops! This is the Raspberry Farm at Christmas Hills... We had the BEST meal there, including lots of raspberries, of course! I still have dreams about the sundaes we had after lunch! Pure Decadence! This is the view of the back of the restaurant from across the pond. Bill and I loved this so much, we started trying to figure out how to start a raspberry farm in addition to everything else they already farm!! If that happens, I guess I'll need to learn to make jam! ;)
This was our favourite mural at Sheffield. This town is known for its murals in the city - every year they have a competition to see who will paint the next mural. The winner gets to paint on one of the prominent city buildings! In this picture, the artist painted the brick to look like a wooden shed - pretty neat, huh!