Shaz - My Squishy

I love Shaz! Shazzle Dazzle! She's adorable! I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to Shaz when I left Australia. So sad...

To the Airport

Lelle and I left for the airport, still in denial. We checked my bags in all the way to LA so I didn't have to deal with them in Sydney. My plane was delayed, so instead of leaving at 12:15 am, it left at 1:45 am. Fortunately Lelle was able to wait with me and keep me company. She gave me a beautiful Christmas present with Australian souvineers, a stuffed Echidna (they like me), and an Aussie Bible (bible stories told in Australian lingo). And when I said Christmas present I wasn't lying. Ha ha...Christmas in June. Thanks Lelle! I loved it! We had a coffee/tea and potatoe wedges while we waited. Lelle quizzed me on my Australian lingo and I failed miserably. I suppose 3 weeks isn't enough. It's like a different language! At least I know a little more. Well, the sad moment finally came where I had to say goodbye to Lelle and board my plane. I will see you again soon Lelle! The trip from Perth to Sydney went fast. I had a small adventure in Sydney. I made the mistake of deciding to check out the International Airport before heading into Circular Quay to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I ended up getting hearded (without a way to turn around) to customs and left the country (according to the paperwork at least). Not without getting pulled aside to be searched my security of course. Given that Lelle and her mum are security at an airport, I was sure to be very gracious. They were very nice and ended up joking with me. Anyways, back to the story at hand. I thought there was no way I could talk my way back into the country. But after asking around I was sent to talk with customs. Normally customs doesn't let people back in unless they have at least 6 hours until their flight. At this time I had about 3 hours. They were very understanding and helpful and let me back in! It's amazing! They said I was able to make my own decisions and just let me know I was taking a risk. A risk that of course I was willing to take since I don't know when I'll be able to see Sydney and I missed it on the way in! So I ran down to buy my train ticket to Circular Quay. There was a nice guy there that started to talk with me. We were headed the same direction, so we sat together on the train. We had a very nice conversation. During the conversation I happened to ask him what he did for a living. (He had given me a card with his name and informatino on it for mandarin lessons that he was offering online). Apparently the lessons wasn't his main job, but he told me to just google his name and I'd know what he did. I thought that was a bit weird, but didn't really think much of it. He got off the train at Central and I had a bit further to go to get to Circular Quay. I had a quick look around, saw the bridge, opera house in about 40 min and then got back on the train to go back to the airport. I made it through customs and security fine without any problems with heaps of time to spare. Almost too much time. I wish I had spent some more time at Circular Quay. But you never know and it's better to be safe than sorry. My flight home was long, but good. Stephanie, one of my good friends, picked me up from the airport. We had lunch at Downtown Disney. Then we came back to her house and I taught her how to crack the stockwhip. She was also able to try Tim Tams and experience Vegemite for the first time. Anyways, I finally googled the guys name from the train. Apparently he's a stage performer in Shanghai. His name is Robert Vicencio if you want to look him up. Anyways, I'm now back at school. I've had my first few days of class already. I miss Australia very much already and can't wait for the day that I can visit again. Anyways, until my next adventure. (I might go back and add more detail to my past blogs if you're interested in checking back later). And for a different perspective check out Lelle's blog. It's on my links.

My Last Day in Perth

The final day of my trip arrived too quickly! But Lelle and I weren't about to let that get us down. As soon as we woke up we grabbed Shaz and went up to Eni and Johno's to learn how to crack a stock whip. Lelle, being the pro, taught me well. It took me several tries, but I soon got the hang of it. It's quite fun actually. I did it so much that I made my arm sore. While we were doing that I finally heard a Kookaburra laugh! I was scared I'd leave Australia without hearing it. So I was very happy to hear that. Then Lelle and I went to the orchard and picked some Mandarines. The chickens thought we were going to feed them so they attacked our feet. The the Mandarines were worth it! After that we went back to Lelle's to make another batch of cinnamon rolls since they were on high demand. Kyla, Jess, and Brian came over to help us make them. After much hard work, we enjoyed the delicious outcome of our labour. Of course, this time they were a bit undercooked. Oops. I left the recipe in Australia, so they can perfect the art of making cinnamon rolls. Shortly after that I had to say my goodbye's to Jess, Brian, and Kyla. Lelle and I had a little time to kill before I had to take off for the airport. We were still not talking about me leaving. We figured denial was a better approach. When the time came to say goodbye to Lelle's parents, Keith and Jenelle, my heart sank. I had fallen in love with their family. So much so that they feel like part of my family. I don't know when I'll see them again, but I look forward to the day! Jenelle and I have a joke, or I'd like to think of it as someday becoming a reality, of meeting up in Paris. My dear Aussie mama - Here's to meeting in Paris!

Miss Mauds, Colours, Movies

Early in the morning on Wednesday, Lelle, Kyla, and I went to breakfast at Miss Mauds. Miss Mauds si a smorgasbord of delicious foods. I really enjoyed it! And I successfully enjoyed Vegemite for the first time there. It was quite a moment of triumph. After that we went shopping for a little bit. Then Kyla had to run to work. Lelle and I then went to Koorong, the main store to buy Christian books and cd's, etc. I bought a few Hillsong United cd's, which is praise music by the Hillsong Church in Australia. After that I went to have my colours done. This means that a consultant matches my skin tone with certain colours of fabric and lets me know which colors to wear and which to avoid. I ended up being a "summer", which includes many beautiful, soft colors. Lelle was very excited, as she's had her colours done and she is also a summer. So we went shopping, and only had about 30 minutes to do so because stores close really early in Perth. Lelle was grabbing clothes of my colour off the racks and I tried all of them of quickly, with Lelle helping me to stay organized. I managed to get some wonderful winter clothes...too bad it's summer here! Arg! After that Lelle and I went home quite exhausted from all our adventures. That night we watched Galipoli, which is a movie about a tragic massacre of Australian soldiers during WWI, under the orders of Britain for them to fight only with Bayonettes against machine gun fire. We were slightly depressed after that so we lightened our spirits with a little Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo, which is an old tv series that Lelle and her dad used to watch as kids. Skippy can do anything!

Rottnest Island

Lelle and I went to Rottnest Island today. We had to leave early to hit the Ferry in Fremantle at 8:30 am. When we arrived on the island we rented some bikes, grabbed some breakfast, took some pictures of the quokka's, and then headed out on our long ride around the island. It was so much fun. The water was beautiful. Rottnest has some of the only remaining guns (that could be used with some work) from World War II. We got a free tour of one considering we were the only ones who had ventured to them that day. We had a great time but were EXTREMELY exhausted by the time we made it all the way around the island. Anyways, I still haven't put those pictures on the computer, so they'll come soon. Maybe more details later as well. It's getting late and I have to get up to go eat at Miss Mauds for brekky (breakfast). Anyways, love you all.

The Pinnacles

Lelle and I drove up to the Pinnacles yesterday. It was an incredible site. The contrast of colors and the shapes of each Pinnacle is amazing. It was well worth the long drive north. On our way back we stopped by the beach really quick. Then we saw an Echidna cross the road. That's extremely rare since Echidna's are nocturnal. Lelle said she didn't think she had ever seen one in the wild before. So I feel really lucky to have seen one. He curled up into a ball and just hoped that his spikes would protect him from the big scary people. We didn't hurt him. We just wanted to check him out. Heh heh.

Go Eagles!

We're the Eagles, the West Coast Eagles! And we're here to show you why. We're the big birds, kings of the big game! WE're the Eagles. We're flying high! That's the song for the West Coast Eagles (Perth's Aussie Rules Football team). Lelle, Jess, Brian, and I all went to watch the Eagle's vs. St. Kilda AFL game. Unfortunately St. Kilda won. But it was fun all the same. That night we had a lovely dinner at Jess's house. I was able to visit with Jess's parents, brother-Luke, sister-Olivia, Kyla, Jemma (Kyla's sister), Brian, Jess, and Lelle. It was a lot of fun. For once I wasn't the ignorant Yank. I had learned to eat "properly" with a knife and fork. This time it was Brian with the so-called cave-man habits using "only a fork." Dread the thought! Sorry to my Aussie friends...I haven't picked up a knife since I've been back. Ha ha. However, I've only eaten sandwiches, pasta, and salad. So we'll see what comes of my manners. One of the favorite past times of the night was to shoot each other with Olivia's nerf gun. Whatever you do, keep it away from Luke!

Cinnamon Rolls and Hiking

On Friday, after we got back from Busso, Lelle and I made cinnamon rolls. They were a big hit considering all 20 or so were gone by the next day with the acception of a few we were saving for some friends, which ended up not making it to them anyways. Sat morning we went to Carmel for church. Then we went on a hike that afternoon with Kyla's family. That night we went to a church social at Fremantle Church (where Cherie goes). We played games and watched a movie. It was fun to meet some of the youth. Then on Sunday morning Lelle, her dad (Keith), and Shaz - the dog, took a hike to Lesmurdie Falls. It was a beautiful hike. We even managed to lose the regular trail and took a Kangaroo track. Great fun. That afternoon...AFL!

Busselton

Well, I know it's been forever since I've written a blog, but I've just been so busy! Last Wed Cherie, Kayla, Lelle, and I headed down to Busselton to enjoy a bit of caravan camping on the beach. It was a lot of fun. I will try to get more details up soon, but it's kinda late and I have another early morning tomorrow. So here are some pictures and you can check back later for details.

Ok - here are the Busso details. We stayed in a camper on the beach. It had beds and a stove, so it wasn't like we were roughing it any. We did a lot of fun things like watching Love's Brother (and Aussie movie about Italians living in Australia, starring Adam Garcia - Lelle's favourite), seeing the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, Cheese Factory, getting lost driving, having ice cream (name Lelle?), walking the jetty, visiting beaches, eating yummy food and chocolate of course, and my personal favorite...giving Kyla lessons on how to speak American and me failing miserably at my Aussie accent. Don't ask me to do it cause I can't. We all had a great time. The weather was a bit wild. The wind was blowing very hard and there were waves on the beach which is usually clear as glass...or so they say. I'm going to post the picture of the beach in it's current state and then I'll get my hands on a picture of it when it's beautiful. **I got the picture up of a beautiful Busselton. And I also put a picture up of one of the campers. It's not the same one we were in, but it's very similar!**

Cohunu

Monday Lelle and I had a look around Carmel. I saw where Lelle went to High School (Carmel Adventist College) and met some more of her family. It was a fairly relaxing day. That night I challenged the Marmite. Lelle fixed it up with a thick layer of avacado so that it wasn't too strong. It was actually not that bad except for one bite that the Marmite was a bit thick for me. But I defeated my fear! Sort of. Ha ha. Then we watched a couple Aussie movies. We watched The Dish and Bootmen. The Dish was about a satellite dish in a sheep paddock in Australia that received the pictures and video footage of Neil Armstrong landing and walking on the moon. It was a good movie. I enjoyed it. And bootmen was about a guy who tapdances. Not too descriptive I know. Sorry. Today we went to Cohunu Wildlife Park. We picked up Lelle's friend, Cherri, and went straight to the park. We saw all sorts of Australian animals. My favorite part was holding a Koala! He was sooooo adorable! I could have held it forever! Then we went to Miss Mauds for lunch and had ice cream on a fresh waffle at Gelare! It was yummy. Now I'm here watching The Man from Snowy River...another Aussie movie. I'm a bit lost since I've been writing my blogs. I'll have to have Lelle catch me up. Anyways, enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow I'm off to Busselton, or nearby. I'll be gone for 3 days, so there won't be any blogs for a bit. Enjoy your week!