Time to start packing. I definitely didn't take as much care packing to go home as I did to come here. I brought a lot of clothes that I didn't wear because it wasn't warm enough.
Angela, Susan and I went searching for a place to eat breakfast and we couldn't find anything open, believe it or not. Again with the hard to find food, let alone healthy food. It's a good thing that I had a bunch of sample protein/carb bars from the expo. I just ate one for breakfast.
Angela and Meghan wanted to shop and it was their time to do what they wanted because they haven't been able to do anything they wanted to do in Vegas because they have been through airline hell. First of all their flight was cancelled on Friday and they had to re-book to leave on Saturday. They were put on stand-by and when they finally boarded the plane, their luggage didn't make it. Finally, they arrived in Las Vegas, but no luggage. They had to buy all their race gear. Hopefully they will be reimbursed for the night they lost at the hotel on Friday.
Once Meghan and Angela left for the airport this afternoon, after less than two days in
Vegas, Susan and I had an an hour to kill so we went in search of food. We were definitely
under-caloried on this trip, and it definitely isn't a great venue, in my opinion, for a marathon or any athletic event, at least not for athletes who want to eat well.
I haven't mentioned that the Nationals of rodeo have been in town since Thursday and will last for 10 days. We have seen alot of cowboys this week-end, and I gotta say that the hilight, besides Cher of course, was seeing all of those cowboys. When we were at Starbucks this afternoon, there was a tall, strapping young man in front of us with a cowboy hat. Susan and I didn't want to take our gaze off of him. Not only was he the epitome of a cowboy, and very polite by saying "Thank you, ma'am" to the lady who said "Jason, your Grande latte is ready", but we looked down and saw spurs in his boots. 'Maan', we thought, 'he must be the real deal'. I started a conversation with him about the rodeo and asked where he's from. "Wyoming Ma'am", he said. Usually I don't like it when somebody calls me ma'am, but there's something about a real cowboy calling me ma'am that made me melt. He's also a steer wrestler - no wonder he's so big and muscular. Susan and I melted at his cowboyishness. We wanted to sneak him home in our suitcase, but his girlfriend quickly came to his rescue.
We checked out this morning and left our luggage at the bell area. It was time now to pick it up and catch our shuttle bus to the airport. Arrival at airport... check; flight departure on time... check; check-in...check; sit and relax for a couple of hours... check.
I just got a text message from Angela that their flight was cancelled again. Air Canada will put them up in a hotel for the night. What bad luck. I wonder if they will ever get home. The time quickly came to board the plane, and guess what...I'm sitting beside a cowboy.
I'm watching CTV News and it tells me that Edmonton has had alot of snow and is very cold. Actually, I heard throughout the week-end that it was cold and snowy, but now it is closer to reality. I hope my car will start. If it doesn't, I may be calling my Dad to come and rescue us. Just kidding Dad. I wouldn't do that to you at midnight. I'm sure there are tow trucks at the airport for just these kind of situations.
10-4.
Vernazza
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Race Day, and then Cher
Our day started at 4am after our wake-up call. Since there is no microwave or even a coffee maker, I can't boil water to make my regular pre-race meal - oatmeal. I had to buy bananas yesterday for breakfast this morning. It is chilly outside so it's a good thing I was wearing my warm-up pants and jacket over my race gear.
When we got to the race site I heard someone say that there are over 29,000 participants in the race. I can't even fathom that many people in one place. I have never been in a race this big before. We were heading toward the bag-drop area to store our bags, but by the time we maneuvered around all the people, it was getting close to start time so Susan decided to leave her bag on the side of the road somewhere. I asked a lady if she would take my bag to the drop-off area. She said she would, but didn't want to take responsibility if she couldn't find it. I told her "it's either lose my bag by leaving it here, or lose it because you can't find the bag-drop area. I am willing to take the risk". She then told me that if she couldn't drop it off for me, she would take it to her hotel's registration desk and I could pick it up there. Deal! I am in corral 6 so my race starts a few minutes after the gun goes off at 6:15 because we start in waves. Fire works are all around to let us know that we are about to start and finally, my corral is moving toward the starting gantry. My belief system is shattered because I see hundreds of Santas over there. I thought there is only one Santa. That, my friends, is how I found out he isn't real. Besides, he's supposed to have a big belly and none of the Santas had big bellies. I also saw quite a few Elvises; in fact, more than the numbers of Santas. The last time I saw Elvis he was in Taree, NSW in Australia.
Isn't that the Statue of Liberty over there? I thought I was in Vegas. It's just the New York New York Hotel. Then the Mirage, then Caesar's Palace. Oh look, Cher - well, just a sign of her. This is where we are seeing her tonight, and I think I'm going to have to wear sensible shoes and change into my Cher shoes when I get to Caesar's Palace as my feet may be sore when I finish. It's going to be such a good show.
I'm now entering sin city - or at least that's what that casino and movie rental place over there is called. I thought that's what this entire city is known as - sin city! I definitely wouldn't want to live here. It's not friendly enough and people aren't willing to help anybody out.
We are now at the turn-around and the first order of business is to find a porta-pottie. There's one. It seems like I have been standing here for three or four minutes waiting. Hurry up in there, I have a race to run!
Some marker signs are in miles and some in km, and when I started running again, fortunately I saw a sign saying '15 km'. I'm glad because I really didn't want to put the effort into conversion. That's six more km to go. Hmmm... that's about 32 minutes. Hey, I think I may be able to finish this race in a better position that I thought I would. Suddenly my pace picked up.
I crossed the finish line in 2:10:05. That's respectable and I am very pleased with that time. Here's my drill-down results for the half marathon:
5,621st place out of 17,827 finishers
2,505th place out of 11,322 women
195th place out of 1,200 women in my age category
Minimum time was 1:01:40, average was 2:31:45 and maximum was 5:06:23. I was faster than the average... yippee.
It's better than I did in Australia and I didn't train as much so I have decided that training is over rated; well, at least for shorter races. There's no way I could get through my longer triathlons next summer without training. Oh, and my gear bag was at the bag-drop area. After maneuvering through all the athletes, kiosks and free food areas (mmm, food), we made it back to our hotel for a latte at the clean-air Starbucks, but we had to go through the smoke-filled casino to get there.
I think I need a shower now and a good stretch. I have to be in top form for Cher tonight.
The time has come. Time to go to the lobby to catch a cab to Caesar's Palace. We checked out the Cher store, and my new Cher outfit was big a hit to the ladies and men. A couple of women commented on my outfit and how nice my jacket was as well. They actually thought I was somebody big. I told them I am just a regular person, and they insisted I was a movie star and that I looked like Celine Dion. That is the nicest compliment I have ever received from anyone before.
We're now in the Colosseum waiting to see Cher and the music just started. Impressive so far. The music is excellent. She's making her entrance by coming down from the ceiling on a platform and singing. She's on stage now and starting the show off with a 10 minute monologue. She's actually pretty funny. I'd say she's larger than life, but she is more petit than I thought, but that could just be that she's 50 feet away. She is just like you see on TV, with all the wigs and head pieces. When she is busy doing a costume change - and she does plenty of them - her dancers are either performing a very lively act or she is showing footage from the Sonny and Cher Show. It was very classy of her to remember where she started out.
Time for "If I Could Turn Back Time" and the black outfit she is so famous for. She doesn't quite wear the same outfit she wears in the video, but it comes close. For a woman in her 60s, her plastic surgery has served her very well.
She put on an excellent show with continuous action. She is AWESOMe! Who would have thought that the lady I saw on TV 30 years ago would become so big and such a diva and I would get to see her in concert.
After the show, we went shopping at the Forum shops. We shopped at Jimmy Choo Shoes, Cartier, Diesel, David Yurman jewelry, Pandora. I also wanted some gelato, but it was $12 for a scoop. I'll pay for an over-priced dress or shoes, but not for something that's gone in a matter of 30 seconds. It's too bad that staff at Jimmy Choo Shoes didn't offer foot massages because I could have definitely used one, what with running a half marathon and then wearing my very high Cher Shoes. Not exactly practical, but they look great.
Time to go so we can hit the hay, but I didn't because I went out with Angela for awhile.
Tomorrow is our last day here and I've had enough of this town. I can't wait to get home so I can eat healthy. Oh, I forgot that I'm also looking forward to the cold; NOT! From what I hear, it is very cold in Edmonton woo hoo.
When we got to the race site I heard someone say that there are over 29,000 participants in the race. I can't even fathom that many people in one place. I have never been in a race this big before. We were heading toward the bag-drop area to store our bags, but by the time we maneuvered around all the people, it was getting close to start time so Susan decided to leave her bag on the side of the road somewhere. I asked a lady if she would take my bag to the drop-off area. She said she would, but didn't want to take responsibility if she couldn't find it. I told her "it's either lose my bag by leaving it here, or lose it because you can't find the bag-drop area. I am willing to take the risk". She then told me that if she couldn't drop it off for me, she would take it to her hotel's registration desk and I could pick it up there. Deal! I am in corral 6 so my race starts a few minutes after the gun goes off at 6:15 because we start in waves. Fire works are all around to let us know that we are about to start and finally, my corral is moving toward the starting gantry. My belief system is shattered because I see hundreds of Santas over there. I thought there is only one Santa. That, my friends, is how I found out he isn't real. Besides, he's supposed to have a big belly and none of the Santas had big bellies. I also saw quite a few Elvises; in fact, more than the numbers of Santas. The last time I saw Elvis he was in Taree, NSW in Australia.
Isn't that the Statue of Liberty over there? I thought I was in Vegas. It's just the New York New York Hotel. Then the Mirage, then Caesar's Palace. Oh look, Cher - well, just a sign of her. This is where we are seeing her tonight, and I think I'm going to have to wear sensible shoes and change into my Cher shoes when I get to Caesar's Palace as my feet may be sore when I finish. It's going to be such a good show.
I'm now entering sin city - or at least that's what that casino and movie rental place over there is called. I thought that's what this entire city is known as - sin city! I definitely wouldn't want to live here. It's not friendly enough and people aren't willing to help anybody out.
We are now at the turn-around and the first order of business is to find a porta-pottie. There's one. It seems like I have been standing here for three or four minutes waiting. Hurry up in there, I have a race to run!
Some marker signs are in miles and some in km, and when I started running again, fortunately I saw a sign saying '15 km'. I'm glad because I really didn't want to put the effort into conversion. That's six more km to go. Hmmm... that's about 32 minutes. Hey, I think I may be able to finish this race in a better position that I thought I would. Suddenly my pace picked up.
I crossed the finish line in 2:10:05. That's respectable and I am very pleased with that time. Here's my drill-down results for the half marathon:
5,621st place out of 17,827 finishers
2,505th place out of 11,322 women
195th place out of 1,200 women in my age category
Minimum time was 1:01:40, average was 2:31:45 and maximum was 5:06:23. I was faster than the average... yippee.
It's better than I did in Australia and I didn't train as much so I have decided that training is over rated; well, at least for shorter races. There's no way I could get through my longer triathlons next summer without training. Oh, and my gear bag was at the bag-drop area. After maneuvering through all the athletes, kiosks and free food areas (mmm, food), we made it back to our hotel for a latte at the clean-air Starbucks, but we had to go through the smoke-filled casino to get there.
I think I need a shower now and a good stretch. I have to be in top form for Cher tonight.
The time has come. Time to go to the lobby to catch a cab to Caesar's Palace. We checked out the Cher store, and my new Cher outfit was big a hit to the ladies and men. A couple of women commented on my outfit and how nice my jacket was as well. They actually thought I was somebody big. I told them I am just a regular person, and they insisted I was a movie star and that I looked like Celine Dion. That is the nicest compliment I have ever received from anyone before.
We're now in the Colosseum waiting to see Cher and the music just started. Impressive so far. The music is excellent. She's making her entrance by coming down from the ceiling on a platform and singing. She's on stage now and starting the show off with a 10 minute monologue. She's actually pretty funny. I'd say she's larger than life, but she is more petit than I thought, but that could just be that she's 50 feet away. She is just like you see on TV, with all the wigs and head pieces. When she is busy doing a costume change - and she does plenty of them - her dancers are either performing a very lively act or she is showing footage from the Sonny and Cher Show. It was very classy of her to remember where she started out.
Time for "If I Could Turn Back Time" and the black outfit she is so famous for. She doesn't quite wear the same outfit she wears in the video, but it comes close. For a woman in her 60s, her plastic surgery has served her very well.
She put on an excellent show with continuous action. She is AWESOMe! Who would have thought that the lady I saw on TV 30 years ago would become so big and such a diva and I would get to see her in concert.
After the show, we went shopping at the Forum shops. We shopped at Jimmy Choo Shoes, Cartier, Diesel, David Yurman jewelry, Pandora. I also wanted some gelato, but it was $12 for a scoop. I'll pay for an over-priced dress or shoes, but not for something that's gone in a matter of 30 seconds. It's too bad that staff at Jimmy Choo Shoes didn't offer foot massages because I could have definitely used one, what with running a half marathon and then wearing my very high Cher Shoes. Not exactly practical, but they look great.
Time to go so we can hit the hay, but I didn't because I went out with Angela for awhile.
Tomorrow is our last day here and I've had enough of this town. I can't wait to get home so I can eat healthy. Oh, I forgot that I'm also looking forward to the cold; NOT! From what I hear, it is very cold in Edmonton woo hoo.
In search of...
Up and at 'em. Susan was still in bed, so I decided to start the day by myself. I ran into a couple with a very southern accent who are doing the half marathon as well on Sunday. I told them it is colder than here back home in Canada. They agreed as if they knew what they were talking about and like we live in igloos. Stupid southerners!! I was in search of relatively healthy food, but had no luck. I walked around for more than an hour looking for a coffee shop, but they don't have them here. They're all in the hotels and I found out there is also no free wireless. So far I have no desire to return to this town. Everything's a money grab. I knew that before I came, but I expected the Internet to be free in the hotel at least. I finally found a mexican restaurant that serves breakfast burritos, which isn't my first choice for a healthy meal, but I was so hungry I could have eaten a kangaroo, and believe me, I would if I could.
There were a lot of runners out this morning preparing for the race on Sunday. Oh! Just got a text message. Susan must be up. I texted back telling her where I am. The Adidas store is next door and she remembers where that is, or at least she thinks she does. She said she'll be here in five minutes, but the streets are so big here and you forget which door of the hotel you come out of that I bet it'll be 10 minutes. No disrespect though - it is difficult to find your way around until you get your bearings.
Susan, where are you? I've been waiting for more than five minutes; as a matter of fact, it's been 20!
I'm looking forward to getting off the strip to do some shopping, and not just for the shopping, but to get away from this area.
After shopping for awhile in the Adidas store, we decided to check out Starbucks in our hotel, but not before we checked out the lion exhibit. After our lattes Susan wanted to go to the gym and stretch, but there is a fee to use the spa in our own hotel!!! There's another nail in Las Vegas' coffin.
I'm now on my way to the host hotel of the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon, the Mandalay Bay. On my way there I realize I don't have my water bottle. I had to go back to Starbucks in our hotel because I remember leaving it there. I am lost in the hotel because it is so huge. I thought I got lost a lot on the streets of Australia, but in a hotel! OK, got the bottle and I'm off again to the Mandalay Bay, a short 15 minute walk down the strip. The hotel is huge. Then again, everything is huge in Las Vegas. For a minute I thought I was in Aussie land again because there is a huge fish tank with tropical fish and down the way, there is a shark reef tank. I haven't seen that yet, but I'm on my way now. Of course I also have to go through the casino to get to the Convention Centre to pick up my race package. Whoever designed the hotels in Las Vegas is brilliant because no matter where you are going, you have to go through the casino. They really want you to lose your money to them. Well, I'm not falling for that game. I work too hard for my hard earned money to risk losing it by gambling.
I digress. I will now sign off and continue my way to the Convention Centre to pick up my goodie bag, or swag bag, as we call it. Oh, by the way...they charge to see the shark tank so I'm not going to see it. I saw enough sharks in Australia.
Maan, I entered this hotel 25 minutes ago and I'm still making my way to the Convention Centre Bayside Hall C. This hotel is so huge that I had to take a rest on the way there. Once I entered the hotel, it's a longer walk to get to where I'm going than it is to get from my hotel to this hotel. Enough resting Ellen, get going, and I'm off again.
I checked in to collect my number at the appropriate wicket, corral 6; there are 29 in total, so that means there are close to 30,000 runners in this race. I can't even imagine that. Good thing there are 29 different waves to start the race; otherwise, it would take half an hour to get to he start line. That's why there are so many corrals.
The next stop was a table to get my swag and t-shirt. After that I wandered around the expo for quite a while. The expo was huge. Every kind of product that an athlete might be interested in was available, from clothing to protein drinks to protein bars. There were lots of samples of protein bars and our favourite, a probiotic drink that was delicious. We definitely weren't hungry after the expo. I asked somebody to take a picture of me posing as Elvis playing a guitar.
Enough of this sporty stuff. Let's go to the factory outlets. Speaking of Elvis, guess what I bought? ...some blue suede shoes.
I'm tired, let's go! We caught a cab back to the hotel and unpacked our loot and now I'm finishing my blog for today. I'm yawning so I better get ready for bed.
Las Vegas Here We Come
Well, here we are - in the Edmonton International Airport and things didn't get started off too well. Actually, I'll start off with telling you what happened last night. I tried to web check-in, but guess what...our tickets are more than two months old and their computer system has changed so our reservation code wasn't good anymore. I was on hold for more than an hour and finally gave up, thinking "well, we have our tickets, so everything will be fine". We managed to get checked in, but only after trying to use the kiosks to no avail. We finally waited in line for half an hour. Good thing we got here with lots of time to spare.
Now, on to Security. Step one...through customs. "Are you taking any fruit or vegetables to the U.S. with you" the nice lady asked me. "Just an apple and orange to eat on the plane", I said. God forbid...the plane might go down if you have an orange. I had to surrender it because who knows what you can transport in orange peel. Well, at least I still have my apple and sandwich.
Next...step two - through Security. I knew from experience that I'd have to undress - or should I say take off my belt, remove all my dangly jewelry from my jeans, take off my jacket and shoes. Good thing I wasn't wearing my Cher outfit, or I would have to take off my blouse, or do you think they would let me get away with leaving THAT on? For some reason they put my carry-on bag through the x-ray machine twice and I have no idea what it was they were concerned about. Memories of all the Security I had to go through last time I travelled came flooding back.
OK, now that we're through the portal, the first order of business was a latte, but unfortunately the only coffee shop nearby was a Starbucks. Susan owes me a latte because I won a bet, but I think a special latte in Las Vegas sounds better than Starbucks, so I told her to keep her money until we're there.
We're on the plane now. Hey, where's the flight path and the International Date Line? Oh, I forgot that we're only going three hours away. I'm already acting like I've been drinking, but I haven't. I'm just excited about going to Vegas. There's a man sitting beside me and I told him we're going to see Cher and he told me he's jealous. I asked him if he's gay. He isn't, but that was the topic of conversation for awhile. Whaaat! A man who likes to shop? "Are you sure you're not gay?" I asked. "No," he said, "but it's great ice breaker if we see each other this week-end." He's also running the Rock n Roll marathon. In fact, there are a lot of people on this flight running in the race. Just to give you an idea of how many people are in this race, we are each assigned a corral number to start the race, as it starts in waves because there are so many runners that we can't all start at once. Each corral houses 1,000 runners. My next door neighbour here is in corral 20, so you figure it out. I don't know if there are more than 20 corrals, but I have never been in a race so big. Good thing they're closing the strip for the race. I eventually told him "OK, I'll shut up now". He didn't seem to mind my childlike attitude though. When I eventually shut up I started reading a magazine that was left behind by a previous passenger. There was an article in it about the Queen's grand daughter relaxing at a luxury eco-resort in the Blue Mountains in Australia after putting on a dazzling performance in the Melbourne Cup. Hey, I've been there, and not only that, I've heard of the Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately, I didn't stay in a luxury resort, but had I not been in Australia only a month ago, I wouldn't have known what either was, but hey, I'm in the know now.
We're starting our descent now. That was a much quicker flight than last month, but I have to say that I would much rather have the long flight I had last month if it meant I was going to the same destination. I am looking forward to the race and seeing Cher though.
Viva Las Vegas
We're here and it's freezing outside. I just may be able to get away with wearing my down filled jacket, but I don't think I will; it's not THAT cold. The forecast for overnight on Saturday is down to -5 degrees Celcius, which means it will be cold at race start on Sunday morning. That's as cold as it is at home during the day right now. I think I may need to buy some cheap throw-away gloves.
The MGM Grand is massive. We got lost looking for a place to eat. Oh, and did I mention that they also allow smoking in casinos. So much for my healthy, pink lungs! That won't serve me too well for the race. I hold my breath a lot. Not only that, but Internet costs $14.99 a day in the hotel. So far, so bad! Are Edmonton and St. Albert the only places in the world that offer free wireless??? I doubt it, but it seems that everywhere I travel these days - being the world traveller I am - has high-priced Internet. Our room doesn't have a microwave or even a coffee maker. So much for the oatmeal I brought for breakfast. Even Super 8 has a microwave and coffee maker. We're now in search of a restaurant with healthy food for breakfasts. Do they even know what healthy is in this town? I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time near casinos, and I'll be carrying my lap top with me everywhere again hoping to find a free connection. I'll ask the concierge tomorrow if he knows of anywhere. So far I'm not too impressed with the MGM.
After dinner We went for a walk on the strip. Maan, the strip is not how I remember it, but I haven't been here since 1995. I can't even describe it, other than to say 'there are a lot lights!' We went to the M&M store. Four stories of anything and everything M&M - Christmas decorations, clothing, stationery, kitchen trinkets, and M&Ms in colours, in bulk, that we don't get at home. I bought some of my trademark green, purple and yellow peanut ones.
On the way back to the hotel, we were looking for somewhere warm to hang out and went into a tacky souvenir shop. I hope it's warmer tomorrow.
Now, for a good night's sleep to start the day bright and fresh.
Now, on to Security. Step one...through customs. "Are you taking any fruit or vegetables to the U.S. with you" the nice lady asked me. "Just an apple and orange to eat on the plane", I said. God forbid...the plane might go down if you have an orange. I had to surrender it because who knows what you can transport in orange peel. Well, at least I still have my apple and sandwich.
Next...step two - through Security. I knew from experience that I'd have to undress - or should I say take off my belt, remove all my dangly jewelry from my jeans, take off my jacket and shoes. Good thing I wasn't wearing my Cher outfit, or I would have to take off my blouse, or do you think they would let me get away with leaving THAT on? For some reason they put my carry-on bag through the x-ray machine twice and I have no idea what it was they were concerned about. Memories of all the Security I had to go through last time I travelled came flooding back.
OK, now that we're through the portal, the first order of business was a latte, but unfortunately the only coffee shop nearby was a Starbucks. Susan owes me a latte because I won a bet, but I think a special latte in Las Vegas sounds better than Starbucks, so I told her to keep her money until we're there.
We're on the plane now. Hey, where's the flight path and the International Date Line? Oh, I forgot that we're only going three hours away. I'm already acting like I've been drinking, but I haven't. I'm just excited about going to Vegas. There's a man sitting beside me and I told him we're going to see Cher and he told me he's jealous. I asked him if he's gay. He isn't, but that was the topic of conversation for awhile. Whaaat! A man who likes to shop? "Are you sure you're not gay?" I asked. "No," he said, "but it's great ice breaker if we see each other this week-end." He's also running the Rock n Roll marathon. In fact, there are a lot of people on this flight running in the race. Just to give you an idea of how many people are in this race, we are each assigned a corral number to start the race, as it starts in waves because there are so many runners that we can't all start at once. Each corral houses 1,000 runners. My next door neighbour here is in corral 20, so you figure it out. I don't know if there are more than 20 corrals, but I have never been in a race so big. Good thing they're closing the strip for the race. I eventually told him "OK, I'll shut up now". He didn't seem to mind my childlike attitude though. When I eventually shut up I started reading a magazine that was left behind by a previous passenger. There was an article in it about the Queen's grand daughter relaxing at a luxury eco-resort in the Blue Mountains in Australia after putting on a dazzling performance in the Melbourne Cup. Hey, I've been there, and not only that, I've heard of the Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately, I didn't stay in a luxury resort, but had I not been in Australia only a month ago, I wouldn't have known what either was, but hey, I'm in the know now.
We're starting our descent now. That was a much quicker flight than last month, but I have to say that I would much rather have the long flight I had last month if it meant I was going to the same destination. I am looking forward to the race and seeing Cher though.
Viva Las Vegas
We're here and it's freezing outside. I just may be able to get away with wearing my down filled jacket, but I don't think I will; it's not THAT cold. The forecast for overnight on Saturday is down to -5 degrees Celcius, which means it will be cold at race start on Sunday morning. That's as cold as it is at home during the day right now. I think I may need to buy some cheap throw-away gloves.
The MGM Grand is massive. We got lost looking for a place to eat. Oh, and did I mention that they also allow smoking in casinos. So much for my healthy, pink lungs! That won't serve me too well for the race. I hold my breath a lot. Not only that, but Internet costs $14.99 a day in the hotel. So far, so bad! Are Edmonton and St. Albert the only places in the world that offer free wireless??? I doubt it, but it seems that everywhere I travel these days - being the world traveller I am - has high-priced Internet. Our room doesn't have a microwave or even a coffee maker. So much for the oatmeal I brought for breakfast. Even Super 8 has a microwave and coffee maker. We're now in search of a restaurant with healthy food for breakfasts. Do they even know what healthy is in this town? I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time near casinos, and I'll be carrying my lap top with me everywhere again hoping to find a free connection. I'll ask the concierge tomorrow if he knows of anywhere. So far I'm not too impressed with the MGM.
After dinner We went for a walk on the strip. Maan, the strip is not how I remember it, but I haven't been here since 1995. I can't even describe it, other than to say 'there are a lot lights!' We went to the M&M store. Four stories of anything and everything M&M - Christmas decorations, clothing, stationery, kitchen trinkets, and M&Ms in colours, in bulk, that we don't get at home. I bought some of my trademark green, purple and yellow peanut ones.
On the way back to the hotel, we were looking for somewhere warm to hang out and went into a tacky souvenir shop. I hope it's warmer tomorrow.
Now, for a good night's sleep to start the day bright and fresh.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
More pictures from Australia
For some reason Sydneysiders feel they need to give direction to tourists. Apparently there have been alot of deaths...
The guys jumping on the beach on Moreton Island...
Inside the tour van...
The guys jumping on the beach on Moreton Island...
Inside the tour van...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Photos and Videos from Australia
Now that I have quick uploading capability, I thought I would post some more pictures and a video that I couldn't while I was in Australia. Enjoy the pictures and videos.
Red Panda:
Things seem to be faster here in North America. Debra, get Gord to look at this video of the Andean Condor since he's into birds.
Check out the roos too.
Red Panda:
Things seem to be faster here in North America. Debra, get Gord to look at this video of the Andean Condor since he's into birds.
Check out the roos too.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
My long journey home
Part I:
Up at 3:07 am and the morning started off with a bit of an uneasy feeling when the shuttle bus didn't show up until 20 minutes after it was supposed to. I like Australia, but I want to go home. I was told to be waiting outside of the hotel between 4 and 4:15 am, but when the shuttle hadn't shown up at 4:15 I was starting to get concerned, thinking that perhaps I missed it even though I did as instructed and was out there at 4 am. Shuttle bus after shuttle bus went by, but none pulled into my hotel parking lot. I was standing by the road watching intently for my transportation and several taxis drove by. One driver drove by me twice, sure that he was going to get a fare. Five more minutes and I was tempted to flag down one of those taxis that were driving by, and finally, 4:20 am rolled around and the shuttle pulled up. Talk about a feeling of relief.
Part II:
I'm finally on the plane to Sydney. Only 33 hours of travel to go! Oh no, not again! Taxiing down the runway and then take-off. The flight to Sydney was uneventful. A couple from Seattle was sitting beside me and they hadn't had a chance to see Sydney yet, but they had a six-hour layover, so I told them to make sure they see the Sydney Opera House, if nothing else, because at the same time they'll be able to see the Harbour Bridge and those two things are a must-see.
I'm trying to not sleep because I now have to re-adjust my sleep pattern to 17 hours behind. Right now it's 6:22 pm on Monday at home, so I should wait at least four hours before I try to sleep, but if I do that, I will miss breakfast. Breakfast at 10:22 pm??? Oh, wait that's Canada time! What to do, what to do!! I enjoy food too much so I will stay awake.
Here I am in Sydney, for two and a half hours. That gives me enough time do a bit of shopping, or, maybe not - I've spent enough money. I did manage to buy some kangaroo jerkey to take home though. I was about 35 cents short and a nice Aussie man offered to pay the difference for me and I was very grateful. Now, I officially have no Australian currency. No need to worry myself about converting it back to Canadian when I get home. Mission accomplished!
Part III:
The layover in Sydney went without a hitch. The plane landed at the domestic terminal, and the international terminal is six km away, so a free shuttle service is provided. When I finally arrived at the international terminal I found my way to customs, security, and of course the layout of the airport forces a walk through the duty-free store. I had no intentions of buying anything because I think duty-free is a scam. I did have a look at the watches, just to see what there was. I had already spent enough money and besides, I bought my most expensive item yesterday - a very nice stainless steel "ripcurl" waterproof watch. It is designed for surfers because it is a must that they look cool while surfing, and now that I am an experienced surfer, I figured I should have one.
Taxi and take-off. What a beautiful sight!!! I'm glad I got a window seat on the right side of the plane because Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are just outside my window. There's Sydney Olympic Park in the distance. This city brings back fond memories.
They are now out of sight and I'm feeling a little bit emotional because I will miss Australia. Time now to sit back, relax and take in a few movies for the long journey of 13 and a half hours to LA.
Nix the movies. I can't hear anything, so I have resorted to being a computer nerd again. I guess I will review my pictures. That should pass a couple of hours. I'll have to recharge my battery when I get to LAX. I should have brought my headphones on the flight instead of putting them in my checked luggage.
Suddenly, as I look out the window, jumping 14,000 feet just popped into my head. The only difference now is 17,000 feet, a parachute and, a good looking Aussie to jump with is missing. If my ears hurt from all the wind from sky diving at 14,000 feet, I think my head would explode at this height.
I now have the flight path on screen. I'll give you a blow-by-blow account of our altitude and where we are. Can you tell I'm bored?? Altitude - 31,000 feet; Outside air temp. - -33 degrees celcius; Time to destination - 10:13; Distance to destination - 9,363 km; Ground speed - 1,064 kph; On-screen map shows that we are near a place called "Nadi", about 2/3 of the way to the International Date Line from Sydney.
Hey, there's a kangaroo on the wing. Oh wait, that's a decal! I was hoping Skippy was coming home with me. I'll have to settle for the jerkey I bought.
Hey! What happened? A minute ago it was light outside. I closed the shade and when I opened it, the plane was surrounded by darkness. We must have crossed the International Date Line. Just a minute, I'll take a look at the flight path. Just as I suspected...the tail end of the plane on the map has just crossed it. I am now officially back a day - Four hours and forty three minutes ago it was November 3 and now it's November 2. It's also now -38 degrees celcius outside. It's gotten five degrees colder since I last looked. Oh my Gawd, what am I coming home to? I'm sure glad it's not as cold on land as in the air at 33,000 feet - 2,000 feet higher than when I last looked.
I hope you're enjoying my commentary. We're a bit farther than half way to LA now. Yikes, another 2,000 feet - we're now at 35,000 feet. At 894 kph, we've slowed down abit, and we are 6,815 km from Cairns, but we're going towards the cold this time - -43 degrees celcius. I wonder if that's with wind chill?
I just got back from a walk around the plane a couple of times. It's almost like a walk around the block because the plane is so big. I was beginning to get restless sitting for so long. Poor people beside me have to move all the time, or should I say the person in the aisle seat moves and his wife stays in her seat and I just stand up in my seat and step over her. I walked up to the front to see how the rich live. They have their own pods that they can lay down in. Maaan, I need a sugar daddy ha ha! I've even developed my own exercise program at the back of the plane - wall sits where I lean against a wall and sit, but there isn't a chair for cheating. It keeps my muscles active.
Time to destination: two hours and 15 minutes, and the crew is getting ready to serve us breakfast because it's starting to smell good in here. The food has been excellent, both on the trip to Australia and back. I was curious what Qantas stands for, so I asked an attendant, and in case you're interested, it stands for Queensland Australia Northern Territory Air Services.
One hour 23 minutes to go and I'll be on land again - 4.5 hours to be exact until I catch another plane to Vancouver. I don't understand why we are always ascending. We are now at 39,000 feet. Shouldn't we be descending if we are only an hour 20 minutes out? For all I know, we are in Mexico. We can't be though - it's -59 outside.
We have started our descent now. The sunrise is gorgeous. Gridlock, and it is only 6:30 in the morning. Touchdown! Now Canada is only a short 7.5 hours away. Yeah!
Part IV:
Starbucks?? But how could you??? I almost regretted it the minute I bought the Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte. I told the staff at the counter that Australia's coffee kicks ass over Starbucks. It has been such a long morning/day/night-and-morning-again though that I felt that I needed a pick-me-up.
I can't believe the speed to upload photos and video clips on my blog. It took so long in Australia that half my Internet time purchased was devoted to that alone. It was so frustrating. I think I'm going to devote a couple blog entries just for photos and video clips to share with you.
I sure hope I can get all the way home. I tried to web check-in through West Jet, but didn't have my booking number, only a flight number and I hope that's enough. If not, I will call Air Miles to sort it out.
I'm on the plane to Vancouver now and I'm tired. Almost everybody has a laptop - I'm no longer special. Qantas includes all meals and snacks and it is a pleasure to fly with them. Air Canada is much different and they would charge you to fart if they could. They may charge you to fart, but at least I have an empty seat beside me so I can put my feet up on the seat and sleep. There is heaps of room. There is even more leg room. Ya gotta love these partially empty flights. We're at 35,000 feet and I can't see anything except white outside. I think we're still flying over the Pacific Ocean, but it's not the same as earlier. Oh, oh, the Captain just announced that we have started our descent.
There are islands to the left of me and to the right, ladies and gentlemen, SNOW on the mountains? There was no snow on the last mountains I saw? This isn't the same Pacific Ocean I saw 28 hours ago, and where's the Reef? There seems to be no pride of ownership here on this side of the Pacific - the water here isn't clear.
Touchdown. Welcome to Canada, eh! Now it's off to West Jet to see if I can get to Edmonton. If not, I may be walking.
Success and I've got my boarding pass.
Part V:
It's 6 pm and I'm boarding my fourth and last plane for my journey home. My ears hurt when I blow my nose and they're still plugged. I'm gonna have to go through weeks of feeling like I'm falling because of my inner ear problem, just like when I was in Sydney. Good thing the flight to Las Vegas one month from today is only a few hours.
I feel like Clint Eastwood in "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" because I have a blanket from my last flight wrapped around me with a string holding it on. I also feel like a bum because I slept on an airport bench while waiting for the plane to board.
I'm on the last plane on my way home. I can't wait. There is a very obnoxious kid behind me. Shut up already! The flight was just under two hours and when I saw Mom waiting by the baggage carousel I gave her a big hug. It's good to be home. When I got home there was the following picture on the door waiting for me. I suspect it was our next door neighbour. If you can't read the fine print, it says "Good bye Australia, Hello Turin.
AND
From this...
and this...
and this...
To this
All in a matter of a day boo hoo!
Good-bye Australia. I'll be back some day!
Over and Out, Ellen
Up at 3:07 am and the morning started off with a bit of an uneasy feeling when the shuttle bus didn't show up until 20 minutes after it was supposed to. I like Australia, but I want to go home. I was told to be waiting outside of the hotel between 4 and 4:15 am, but when the shuttle hadn't shown up at 4:15 I was starting to get concerned, thinking that perhaps I missed it even though I did as instructed and was out there at 4 am. Shuttle bus after shuttle bus went by, but none pulled into my hotel parking lot. I was standing by the road watching intently for my transportation and several taxis drove by. One driver drove by me twice, sure that he was going to get a fare. Five more minutes and I was tempted to flag down one of those taxis that were driving by, and finally, 4:20 am rolled around and the shuttle pulled up. Talk about a feeling of relief.
Part II:
I'm finally on the plane to Sydney. Only 33 hours of travel to go! Oh no, not again! Taxiing down the runway and then take-off. The flight to Sydney was uneventful. A couple from Seattle was sitting beside me and they hadn't had a chance to see Sydney yet, but they had a six-hour layover, so I told them to make sure they see the Sydney Opera House, if nothing else, because at the same time they'll be able to see the Harbour Bridge and those two things are a must-see.
I'm trying to not sleep because I now have to re-adjust my sleep pattern to 17 hours behind. Right now it's 6:22 pm on Monday at home, so I should wait at least four hours before I try to sleep, but if I do that, I will miss breakfast. Breakfast at 10:22 pm??? Oh, wait that's Canada time! What to do, what to do!! I enjoy food too much so I will stay awake.
Here I am in Sydney, for two and a half hours. That gives me enough time do a bit of shopping, or, maybe not - I've spent enough money. I did manage to buy some kangaroo jerkey to take home though. I was about 35 cents short and a nice Aussie man offered to pay the difference for me and I was very grateful. Now, I officially have no Australian currency. No need to worry myself about converting it back to Canadian when I get home. Mission accomplished!
Part III:
The layover in Sydney went without a hitch. The plane landed at the domestic terminal, and the international terminal is six km away, so a free shuttle service is provided. When I finally arrived at the international terminal I found my way to customs, security, and of course the layout of the airport forces a walk through the duty-free store. I had no intentions of buying anything because I think duty-free is a scam. I did have a look at the watches, just to see what there was. I had already spent enough money and besides, I bought my most expensive item yesterday - a very nice stainless steel "ripcurl" waterproof watch. It is designed for surfers because it is a must that they look cool while surfing, and now that I am an experienced surfer, I figured I should have one.
Taxi and take-off. What a beautiful sight!!! I'm glad I got a window seat on the right side of the plane because Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are just outside my window. There's Sydney Olympic Park in the distance. This city brings back fond memories.
They are now out of sight and I'm feeling a little bit emotional because I will miss Australia. Time now to sit back, relax and take in a few movies for the long journey of 13 and a half hours to LA.
Nix the movies. I can't hear anything, so I have resorted to being a computer nerd again. I guess I will review my pictures. That should pass a couple of hours. I'll have to recharge my battery when I get to LAX. I should have brought my headphones on the flight instead of putting them in my checked luggage.
Suddenly, as I look out the window, jumping 14,000 feet just popped into my head. The only difference now is 17,000 feet, a parachute and, a good looking Aussie to jump with is missing. If my ears hurt from all the wind from sky diving at 14,000 feet, I think my head would explode at this height.
I now have the flight path on screen. I'll give you a blow-by-blow account of our altitude and where we are. Can you tell I'm bored?? Altitude - 31,000 feet; Outside air temp. - -33 degrees celcius; Time to destination - 10:13; Distance to destination - 9,363 km; Ground speed - 1,064 kph; On-screen map shows that we are near a place called "Nadi", about 2/3 of the way to the International Date Line from Sydney.
Hey, there's a kangaroo on the wing. Oh wait, that's a decal! I was hoping Skippy was coming home with me. I'll have to settle for the jerkey I bought.
Hey! What happened? A minute ago it was light outside. I closed the shade and when I opened it, the plane was surrounded by darkness. We must have crossed the International Date Line. Just a minute, I'll take a look at the flight path. Just as I suspected...the tail end of the plane on the map has just crossed it. I am now officially back a day - Four hours and forty three minutes ago it was November 3 and now it's November 2. It's also now -38 degrees celcius outside. It's gotten five degrees colder since I last looked. Oh my Gawd, what am I coming home to? I'm sure glad it's not as cold on land as in the air at 33,000 feet - 2,000 feet higher than when I last looked.
I hope you're enjoying my commentary. We're a bit farther than half way to LA now. Yikes, another 2,000 feet - we're now at 35,000 feet. At 894 kph, we've slowed down abit, and we are 6,815 km from Cairns, but we're going towards the cold this time - -43 degrees celcius. I wonder if that's with wind chill?
I just got back from a walk around the plane a couple of times. It's almost like a walk around the block because the plane is so big. I was beginning to get restless sitting for so long. Poor people beside me have to move all the time, or should I say the person in the aisle seat moves and his wife stays in her seat and I just stand up in my seat and step over her. I walked up to the front to see how the rich live. They have their own pods that they can lay down in. Maaan, I need a sugar daddy ha ha! I've even developed my own exercise program at the back of the plane - wall sits where I lean against a wall and sit, but there isn't a chair for cheating. It keeps my muscles active.
Time to destination: two hours and 15 minutes, and the crew is getting ready to serve us breakfast because it's starting to smell good in here. The food has been excellent, both on the trip to Australia and back. I was curious what Qantas stands for, so I asked an attendant, and in case you're interested, it stands for Queensland Australia Northern Territory Air Services.
One hour 23 minutes to go and I'll be on land again - 4.5 hours to be exact until I catch another plane to Vancouver. I don't understand why we are always ascending. We are now at 39,000 feet. Shouldn't we be descending if we are only an hour 20 minutes out? For all I know, we are in Mexico. We can't be though - it's -59 outside.
We have started our descent now. The sunrise is gorgeous. Gridlock, and it is only 6:30 in the morning. Touchdown! Now Canada is only a short 7.5 hours away. Yeah!
Part IV:
Starbucks?? But how could you??? I almost regretted it the minute I bought the Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte. I told the staff at the counter that Australia's coffee kicks ass over Starbucks. It has been such a long morning/day/night-and-morning-again though that I felt that I needed a pick-me-up.
I can't believe the speed to upload photos and video clips on my blog. It took so long in Australia that half my Internet time purchased was devoted to that alone. It was so frustrating. I think I'm going to devote a couple blog entries just for photos and video clips to share with you.
I sure hope I can get all the way home. I tried to web check-in through West Jet, but didn't have my booking number, only a flight number and I hope that's enough. If not, I will call Air Miles to sort it out.
I'm on the plane to Vancouver now and I'm tired. Almost everybody has a laptop - I'm no longer special. Qantas includes all meals and snacks and it is a pleasure to fly with them. Air Canada is much different and they would charge you to fart if they could. They may charge you to fart, but at least I have an empty seat beside me so I can put my feet up on the seat and sleep. There is heaps of room. There is even more leg room. Ya gotta love these partially empty flights. We're at 35,000 feet and I can't see anything except white outside. I think we're still flying over the Pacific Ocean, but it's not the same as earlier. Oh, oh, the Captain just announced that we have started our descent.
There are islands to the left of me and to the right, ladies and gentlemen, SNOW on the mountains? There was no snow on the last mountains I saw? This isn't the same Pacific Ocean I saw 28 hours ago, and where's the Reef? There seems to be no pride of ownership here on this side of the Pacific - the water here isn't clear.
Touchdown. Welcome to Canada, eh! Now it's off to West Jet to see if I can get to Edmonton. If not, I may be walking.
Success and I've got my boarding pass.
Part V:
It's 6 pm and I'm boarding my fourth and last plane for my journey home. My ears hurt when I blow my nose and they're still plugged. I'm gonna have to go through weeks of feeling like I'm falling because of my inner ear problem, just like when I was in Sydney. Good thing the flight to Las Vegas one month from today is only a few hours.
I feel like Clint Eastwood in "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" because I have a blanket from my last flight wrapped around me with a string holding it on. I also feel like a bum because I slept on an airport bench while waiting for the plane to board.
I'm on the last plane on my way home. I can't wait. There is a very obnoxious kid behind me. Shut up already! The flight was just under two hours and when I saw Mom waiting by the baggage carousel I gave her a big hug. It's good to be home. When I got home there was the following picture on the door waiting for me. I suspect it was our next door neighbour. If you can't read the fine print, it says "Good bye Australia, Hello Turin.
AND
From this...
and this...
and this...
To this
All in a matter of a day boo hoo!
Good-bye Australia. I'll be back some day!
Over and Out, Ellen
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The morning after the last day
Yesterday was a very nice and relaxing day; just how I planned it.
I took my time getting started and then the first order of business was the continental breakfast that was included with my room. I went to the dining room and it felt special because I knew it was my last morning in Australia and it was nice to just throw on some clothes and not have to worry about brushing my teeth or even putting sandals on. I went in bare feet, a skirt and camisole.
The second order of business was to find a phone booth to confirm my pick-up to go to the airport. Then I threw some laundry in and started walking towards the Esplanade looking for some kangaroo for lunch - I wanted to eat kangaroo on my last day. I wish we had kangaroo in Canada because it is so lean and tasty - better than any beef I've tasted. Oh, oh! I can't go anywhere until I put my wet clothes in the drier. I walked back to the hotel and decided to put my wet clothes in my room and dry them later. I don't want to be tied down with house duty.
I had a delish kangaroo dish at a restaurant called the Raw Prawn and sat on the patio on the Esplanade looking out at the ocean - well, actually it was the mud flats, not very attractive, but I had my eye out for crocs because these waters are infested with them. I didn't see any. It would have been awesome seeing one crash up through the water to eat a bird, but no go.
I went to the Qantas office to find out more details about my flights. Apparently, I didn't need to confirm if the flights were on time because they must always be on time. I guess they never have to worry about de-icing wings.
OK, I'm ready now. All the dirty work has been taken care of. All I have to do now is shop.
I took my time getting started and then the first order of business was the continental breakfast that was included with my room. I went to the dining room and it felt special because I knew it was my last morning in Australia and it was nice to just throw on some clothes and not have to worry about brushing my teeth or even putting sandals on. I went in bare feet, a skirt and camisole.
The second order of business was to find a phone booth to confirm my pick-up to go to the airport. Then I threw some laundry in and started walking towards the Esplanade looking for some kangaroo for lunch - I wanted to eat kangaroo on my last day. I wish we had kangaroo in Canada because it is so lean and tasty - better than any beef I've tasted. Oh, oh! I can't go anywhere until I put my wet clothes in the drier. I walked back to the hotel and decided to put my wet clothes in my room and dry them later. I don't want to be tied down with house duty.
I had a delish kangaroo dish at a restaurant called the Raw Prawn and sat on the patio on the Esplanade looking out at the ocean - well, actually it was the mud flats, not very attractive, but I had my eye out for crocs because these waters are infested with them. I didn't see any. It would have been awesome seeing one crash up through the water to eat a bird, but no go.
I went to the Qantas office to find out more details about my flights. Apparently, I didn't need to confirm if the flights were on time because they must always be on time. I guess they never have to worry about de-icing wings.
OK, I'm ready now. All the dirty work has been taken care of. All I have to do now is shop.
Last day in kangaroo country
This is it, my last day in Australia. I leave early tomorrow morning and fly to Sydney and then to Los Angeles and then to Vancouver and then home. The flight to LA won't be quite as long as coming here because I will be flying against the rotation of the earth.
I did alot of crazy activities during the last month that I would never have done in Edmonton. Most of the crazy things I did were optional activities that were offered through OzExposure, the tour company I was with. I've decided to boycott winter this year because what's the sense of having a tan if I can't show it off with summer clothes. People may look at me funny, but getting embarassed is not one of my strong suits. Can you boycott a season?
Although I thoroughly enjoyed my trip of a lifetime, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, getting back into my routine and seeing my family and friends again. And yes, I'm looking forward to getting back to that thing called work and showing off my tan, if I still have it. I've heard there are alot of changes that have come down the pipe, so I think I'll be on an SRD learning curve. Oh, and I'm starting a new travel fund when I get home. The World Masters Games is in Turino, Italy in 2013. I'll have to learn to speak Italian. I've caught the travel bug.
Today is kind of a house cleaning day - laundry, checking flights, confirming shuttle transfers and catching up on my blogs. Thanks everyone for reading them. I enjoyed sharing my trip with you and enjoyed reading your comments. Today I feel so Sarah Jessica Parkerish because I'm typing this from my laptop on the bed just like she did. There were times on this trip that I was referred to as a computer geek because I would always pull out my laptop on the bus to update my blog. They mock me, but this way everything gets entered and I don't forget anything. It was all in fun though and the group is looking forward to reading my blog, so I'll have to send the link to all of them. I would even be at the train station in Sydney and pull out my laptop and just sit on the ground typing as I waited for the train. Now that's the sign of a die-hard blogger.
When I get back to St. Albert I'm going to have to start training for the 1/2 marathon I'm running in Las Vegas in early December and then after that start training for Ironman next summer. I think the 1/2 marathon will be a bust since I haven't been running since October 18. I've got the base, but four weeks just isn't long enough to get enough long runs in, plus I have to taper, but what the heck...I'm gonna see Cher with my new outfit from Australia. I bet nobody else can say that. Anyway, enough of that.
There have been so many highlights on this trip, but I would have to say I had the most fun on the tour with my 13 friends from the United Kingdom (Hannah, Emma, Stephen, Calum and James), Croatia (Elia and Ivan), France (Gaelle), Canada (Rachael), the U.S. (Marie), Scotland (Ross with the dead sexy accent), Holland (Jolanda), and of course, Australia (Sarah). White water rafting was probably the most fun, but we also had alot of fun bouncing around in the 4-wheel drive on Moreton Island. Aussies, especially the ones that live in a beach town, have alot of fun and live life free and easy. Perhaps some North Americans could learn a thing or two from them. I think I could fit quite nicely into Aussie culture because I am a free spirit.
See you all when I get home, and thanks for reading.
Enjoy the picture below. It was a road sign on one of our travel days on the tour.
Ellen
I did alot of crazy activities during the last month that I would never have done in Edmonton. Most of the crazy things I did were optional activities that were offered through OzExposure, the tour company I was with. I've decided to boycott winter this year because what's the sense of having a tan if I can't show it off with summer clothes. People may look at me funny, but getting embarassed is not one of my strong suits. Can you boycott a season?
Although I thoroughly enjoyed my trip of a lifetime, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, getting back into my routine and seeing my family and friends again. And yes, I'm looking forward to getting back to that thing called work and showing off my tan, if I still have it. I've heard there are alot of changes that have come down the pipe, so I think I'll be on an SRD learning curve. Oh, and I'm starting a new travel fund when I get home. The World Masters Games is in Turino, Italy in 2013. I'll have to learn to speak Italian. I've caught the travel bug.
Today is kind of a house cleaning day - laundry, checking flights, confirming shuttle transfers and catching up on my blogs. Thanks everyone for reading them. I enjoyed sharing my trip with you and enjoyed reading your comments. Today I feel so Sarah Jessica Parkerish because I'm typing this from my laptop on the bed just like she did. There were times on this trip that I was referred to as a computer geek because I would always pull out my laptop on the bus to update my blog. They mock me, but this way everything gets entered and I don't forget anything. It was all in fun though and the group is looking forward to reading my blog, so I'll have to send the link to all of them. I would even be at the train station in Sydney and pull out my laptop and just sit on the ground typing as I waited for the train. Now that's the sign of a die-hard blogger.
When I get back to St. Albert I'm going to have to start training for the 1/2 marathon I'm running in Las Vegas in early December and then after that start training for Ironman next summer. I think the 1/2 marathon will be a bust since I haven't been running since October 18. I've got the base, but four weeks just isn't long enough to get enough long runs in, plus I have to taper, but what the heck...I'm gonna see Cher with my new outfit from Australia. I bet nobody else can say that. Anyway, enough of that.
There have been so many highlights on this trip, but I would have to say I had the most fun on the tour with my 13 friends from the United Kingdom (Hannah, Emma, Stephen, Calum and James), Croatia (Elia and Ivan), France (Gaelle), Canada (Rachael), the U.S. (Marie), Scotland (Ross with the dead sexy accent), Holland (Jolanda), and of course, Australia (Sarah). White water rafting was probably the most fun, but we also had alot of fun bouncing around in the 4-wheel drive on Moreton Island. Aussies, especially the ones that live in a beach town, have alot of fun and live life free and easy. Perhaps some North Americans could learn a thing or two from them. I think I could fit quite nicely into Aussie culture because I am a free spirit.
See you all when I get home, and thanks for reading.
Enjoy the picture below. It was a road sign on one of our travel days on the tour.
Ellen
Kuranda
First of all, I apologize to those of you who are receiving my blog entries more than once. The Internet boots me out with no warning and I have to go back into my blog to update it. Alot of the problem is this netbook. The cursor jumps all over the place and isn't very accurate so it takes time to place it correctly. Anyway, on with the blog.
I have heard that Kuranda is a nice tourist trap, so Kuranda is the destination today.
The bus was at the hotel for pick-up at 8:25 am sharp.
We arrived at the Kuranda entrance and took the air rail up to the village and markets. The air rail is a gondola. Kuranda is a village in the rainforest, but since I've already been to the Blue Mountains Rainforest outside of Sydney, I was more interested in the markets and shopping. What's new! Let's see how much money Ellen can spend today. Hmmm...I took care of one Christmas gift for my brother, Joe and his wife, Janelle. Sorry, I can't tell you what it is or that would spoil the surprise because I think Joe may be following this blog. Let's just say it will be cumbersome transporting home.
It was a beautiful day even though the sun was in and out. It's always warm because it is the tropics after all.
Time for a latte. We went to a coffee merchant who brews local coffee and I have to say it was the best latte I have had to date and it wasn't even flavoured. The presentation of the cappuccino Jeff had was like a piece of art that you wouldn't want to drink. The coffee guy took alot of pride in his coffee. Unfortunately, my latte wasn't as pretty. I have attached a picture of the cappuccino.
It isn't like in Canada where they just put some foam on and that's it. This guy put a dollop of foam, then sprinkled something on it - cinnamon I think, then put another dollop and sprinkle, and again. Since it wasn't flavoured, you would like it Mom. Only problem is... it's a long way to come for this latte, but if you're willing to spring for airfare I think I could treat you to a day a Karunda and a latte. I might even throw in dinner.
I almost bought a T-shirt for Dad that said "Bank of Dad - closed", but they didn't have the right size. Now, don't get me wrong...Dad doesn't support me, but he does spoil me, or so he says. What are Dads for anyway if they can't spoil their little girl ha ha! Another option would have been a funny fishing shirt, but again, not the right size.
Now, Mom is harder to buy for. A girl can only buy so many bridge passes (private joke) so I settled on a combination gift for Mom and Dad where size doesn't matter.
In Australia, there is a horse race called the Melbourne Cup (I think that's what it's called) and hats are part of the chosen dress code, so I was trying on big fancy rich looking hats. I had so much fun shopping and just being silly trying them on. The hats went very nicely with my touristy look don't you think? What the hell, I am a tourist, but only for one more day and then I'll be back home. At the end of the day, we took the scenic railway back to Cairns. It was a nice way to end the day.
Oh, the airplane below is what the airplane looked like after I skydived from it.
Just kidding. It was actually a plane that flew in the 2nd World War and somehow ended up at Kuranda.
I have heard that Kuranda is a nice tourist trap, so Kuranda is the destination today.
The bus was at the hotel for pick-up at 8:25 am sharp.
We arrived at the Kuranda entrance and took the air rail up to the village and markets. The air rail is a gondola. Kuranda is a village in the rainforest, but since I've already been to the Blue Mountains Rainforest outside of Sydney, I was more interested in the markets and shopping. What's new! Let's see how much money Ellen can spend today. Hmmm...I took care of one Christmas gift for my brother, Joe and his wife, Janelle. Sorry, I can't tell you what it is or that would spoil the surprise because I think Joe may be following this blog. Let's just say it will be cumbersome transporting home.
It was a beautiful day even though the sun was in and out. It's always warm because it is the tropics after all.
Time for a latte. We went to a coffee merchant who brews local coffee and I have to say it was the best latte I have had to date and it wasn't even flavoured. The presentation of the cappuccino Jeff had was like a piece of art that you wouldn't want to drink. The coffee guy took alot of pride in his coffee. Unfortunately, my latte wasn't as pretty. I have attached a picture of the cappuccino.
It isn't like in Canada where they just put some foam on and that's it. This guy put a dollop of foam, then sprinkled something on it - cinnamon I think, then put another dollop and sprinkle, and again. Since it wasn't flavoured, you would like it Mom. Only problem is... it's a long way to come for this latte, but if you're willing to spring for airfare I think I could treat you to a day a Karunda and a latte. I might even throw in dinner.
I almost bought a T-shirt for Dad that said "Bank of Dad - closed", but they didn't have the right size. Now, don't get me wrong...Dad doesn't support me, but he does spoil me, or so he says. What are Dads for anyway if they can't spoil their little girl ha ha! Another option would have been a funny fishing shirt, but again, not the right size.
Now, Mom is harder to buy for. A girl can only buy so many bridge passes (private joke) so I settled on a combination gift for Mom and Dad where size doesn't matter.
In Australia, there is a horse race called the Melbourne Cup (I think that's what it's called) and hats are part of the chosen dress code, so I was trying on big fancy rich looking hats. I had so much fun shopping and just being silly trying them on. The hats went very nicely with my touristy look don't you think? What the hell, I am a tourist, but only for one more day and then I'll be back home. At the end of the day, we took the scenic railway back to Cairns. It was a nice way to end the day.
Oh, the airplane below is what the airplane looked like after I skydived from it.
Just kidding. It was actually a plane that flew in the 2nd World War and somehow ended up at Kuranda.
The Coral Sea
I have been derelict in my blogging duties and I have a couple days worth to catch up on. Enjoy.
Today we decided that Port Douglas was the place to be, so at the last minute we booked a bus trip out there. The weather was fabulous so with sandals, sunnies, sunscreen and towels in hand, off we went to catch the bus.
Port Douglas is a trendy holiday town with alot of fabulous shops and restaurants. I bought a wicked bamboo purse - the favourite saying in PD is wicked. I seem to be keeping Australia's economy afloat ha ha.
Next, down to the Coral Sea to swim for a bit. The waves were huge and it was alot of fun jumping into them, and the water was so warm.
I was getting short tempered because I was hungry. I finally said "Jeff, just make a decision and let's eat." I hate indecisiveness about such a simple thing. There were some Canadian women from Scarborough in the same restaurant as us. When I finished my lunch, the waitress brought theirs and I said "That looks better than mine was". One of the ladies asked if I wanted a piece of pizza and who am I to say no to pizza.
Time to find a washroom, toilet or loo. You can walk into any restaurant in Australia and the staff doesn't mind if you use the toilet. They aren't only for customers. In fact, they are more than happy to let you use their toilet if you walk in off the street and ask.
Back to finding a loo - I found the loo in a very posh restaurant and one of the walls was an aquarium of tropical fish. I felt like I was snorkelling again.
We headed back to the tour shop for the bus ride back to the hotel and then we were in search of a restaurant for dinner.
Since I had some time remaining on my Internet account that I purchased at the hostel, I wanted to check my e-mail and update my blog on the way to dinner. I caught up on my blog and then we ended up at The Woolshed - the same restaurant the tour group went to a couple of nights ago.
Two hours after I used the computer, I suddenly realized that I forgot my flash drive in the computer, so we rushed back hoping it was still there. It wasn't, so now I owe Janis a flash drive since it was hers. I managed to keep it throughout the Sydney portion of my trip until two days before I leave Australia. What an airhead I am!
Time for more Aussie expressions:
Give me a tick - means give me a moment
I found out what Ridgie Didge means - everything's OK
Bonza - everything's good
Hard yakka - hard work
Dill - I thought it was a spice, but in Australia it's someone who's stupid.
Flat out like a lizard drinking - working hard
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Day 12 - Great Barrier Reef
Today is my last day with the group and we are going scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
At 7:15 am all 14 of us met at the front door of the hostel to get ready for our 15 minute walk to the harbour. The day wasn't really sunny, but warm enough. We boarded the catamaran, along with about 100 other people for our excursion out to the reef.
After about 15 minutes, Stephen wasn't feeling very well. Then Emma wasn't feeling well. I am grateful for small miracles - the sea sickness patch - because the water was rough and I would have been pretty green.
It took two hours to sail to the outer reef and I was enjoying the sun when it peeked out from behind the clouds. Ahhh, this is the life... sunning on a big catamaran and sailing out to the Great Barrier Reef.
Since I have not scuba dived for 19 years, I had to take their introductory course for the first dive. It was very remedial. Three of us all linked arms with the instructor and he took us down to the reef. It was annoying because we all were banging our fins on each other. It was amazing, but I didn't see any really colourful fish like I did when I snorkelled the other day.
After the scuba diving, the crew prepared a cold lunch for us - prawns, different kinds of salads and pasta with a choice of three sauces. One thing the Aussies know how to do is make the food on a day trip worth the money paid.
Two hours later, being the sucker that I was, I went for a second dive. This time I told the instructor that I wanted a little more freedom to venture out on my own since I am already a certified diver.
The second dive was deeper, but it wasn't as nice. Oh well, what's a little money; I've already thrown the budget out the window. Oh, now that I think of it, I didn't have a budget at all.
After a long day on the reef, we headed back to Cairns. Since I am parting ways with the group today, Sarah drove me to my hotel in Cairns where I will spend the next four nights. When I checked into the Bay Village Tropical Retreat I was upgraded to a one bedroom apartment - SCORED! First thing I did was have a shower and unpack so I didn't have to live out of a suitcase for four days. Since four of us - Gaelle, James, Emma and me - were leaving the tour, Sarah wanted to make the night special by having dinner at a restaurant called "Rattle n Hum" by declaring it 'sparkly' night, so we all wore something sparkly for the occasion. Note to self: don't wear jeans in Australia even if they do look nice with your new sparkly T-shirt.
I took a cab to the airport to pick up my friend, Jeff, as he is coming up from Sydney to visit me.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Day 11 - 10,000 feet and still goin' up
Am I still in Sydney? It's raining again??? Yikes! I actually enjoy the rain though because it's a warm rain. I don't know if I was hoping that the rain would cancel our sky diving or not!
Hannah, Ivan, Elia, Stephen, Emma and me piled into the bus to go to the skydiving office to sign our lives away. Mom and Dad, you won't be able to live on my life insurance money, but you are my beneficiaries.
We drove to the airport and got into a very small plane and we're off. The entire adventure was recorded and burned onto CD, including the gearing up and the landing.
We're at 14,000 feet now and it's GO time. The door slid open and Ivan was the first to go. That's when I started to wonder "What am I doing?" My turn! I was strapped tightly to my instructor, Sinno, and then suddenly - head back, arms crossed and Oh my Gawd! I'm flying. This is exhilirating. The wind was unbelievable and my ears were hurting, but all I can say is WOW!. Sinno spun us around 360 degrees and I almost lost my breakfast; then left, then right. AWESOME! Then, a minute later, the parachute came out - I feel relieved now. We sailed down to the beach and landed. WOW, what an experience. If you ever have the chance to spend alot of money to go skydiving, don't just think about it, DO IT!
We all got back into the van and headed towards Cairns, leaving Cassowary country and the rainforest. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up, I saw a sign saying Innisfail and then Edmonton Central District. I wasn't asleep that long was I??
We just arrived in Cairns. Meeting time -- 6:30 pm at the bar in the hostel. No more tents for me. Just a comfie bed from now until ???????
I went shopping and bought a new piece of carry-on luggage for all my purchases. My clothes are getting pretty wrinkly in the one I brought, so I had to buy new clothes to wear here ha. Unfortunately, I won't be able to wear them in Canada until May, if it's nice, but I will wear them over the next three days.
Tonight we're going to The Woolshed for a feast. This is my last night with the group so I intend on celebrating. I have met 13 friends from all over the world - Hannah, Emma, Stephen, James and Calum, all from the UK; Gaelle from France; Elia and Ivan from Croatia; Ross from Scotland with the dead sexy accent; Marie from the U.S., Rachael from St. Albert (country not necessary); Jolanda from Holland; and of course, Sarah, our fearless tour leader. My 12 days with them has been fabulous. We have bonded; confided; told stories; laughed; had fun, no, a gas; and watched out for each other. Paddy has been our second home for 12 days. I am hooked on travel and my next destination will be ???? after Las Vegas of course. I tried my hardest, but couldn't find a part 3 for my Cher outfit. I'll have to settle for Edmonton's finest.
Stay tuned for more of my travels in Cairns over the next four days until I come back to Canada.
Till then, Ta.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Day 10 - I think I have a permanent smile
Today we woke to rain, but I didn't care because we were going to get wet anyway. The rain here isn't like rain back home, or like the rain we had in Sydney for that matter. It is fine and warm here. But, to be fair to Sydneysiders, it was very unusual weather and it isn't generally that cold.
Today was our day for white water rafting. I'm going to use bad grammar because I need to emphasize how much fun I had; it was the most awesomest day of my life. It was sooo much fun.
We boarded the bus and were taken to Raging Thunder Adventures, along with several other adventure seekers. It was left up to us to break into groups of six, and we also chose our guide. Our group was made up of six women and we chose Vinnie to be our guide because he was nice to look at; actually, truth be told, it was me who decided on the nice looking Aussie to be our guide.
After our brief introductory safety orientation, and Vinnie telling us that somebody always falls in at some point, we put our helmets and life jackets on and headed down to Tully River. Apparently Tully is the worst place to live in Australia because it gets so much rain - up to seven metres. That is why Tully has such good white water rafting.
Some of the commands - To the left means everybody to the left of the raft; to the right means, well, you figure it out; all down means put your paddles vertically in the air, handle end down and sit on the bottom of the raft; lean in means, well, lean in.
We all got into the raft and headed down the river to begin our adventure. I was scared at first, but quickly overcame that.
If Female Viagra is meant to produce heaps of fun, get me some more. I couldn't take the smile off of my face after the first rapid we went over. It was called "Foreplay". I guess they figure they need to warm us up. Not too bad, but I thought this was the extreme rafting trip! "Just wait", Vinnie says. Little did I know what was coming.
Oh cool, another rapid! This time it was called "2-15" meaning that it either takes two minutes or 15 minutes to get through. Oh my Gawd, we're going to flip. Vinnie quickly assured us that we weren't going to flip; he was saving that for later. Oh great! We got through the rapids in two minutes and other rafts got stuck and took much longer. That's the fun of it though - getting stuck and not knowing what's going to happen.
There were large boulders and medium sized boulders that made up the rapids and our raft would quite often hit them head on. Poor Emma thought Vinnie had it in for her.
We had great conversations during the entire trip. Rachael was wearing her swimming goggles because she didn't want to lose her contact lenses. She was quite the picture and we had quite the laugh at her expense. Our conversations involved everything from crocodile sperm to Rachael checking out Emma's bum, but that's another story. It was heaps of fun. Oh shit, look out, another big rock, and it's coming towards me. It didn't hurt though because the raft takes the hit. I think I will have a few bruises though tomorrow.
There were three rafts on the river and when we all came together, we would splash each other with our paddles. Our raft was usually first to get through the rapids and I always yelled to the other group, guided by Dino, that "We're having more fun than you are, na na na na na na". Vinnie started a joke about me getting an Aussie husband and the next thing I knew, Rachael was going to stay in Marie's tent tonight to leave an extra spot in our tent. It was all in fun though and nothing came of that.
We stopped at a rock, or should I say huge boulder and climbed to the top and jumped in the water. It was about 20 feet high. Our life jackets and helmets remained on though so nobody would get hurt. It was pretty high and we were all encouraging the scardy-cats to jump.
Next, stop for lunch on shore. It was a barbeque and you wouldn't expect something like that in the middle of the jungle/rainforest. Australians know how to do things big. Yes, it was like we were rafting through a jungle and Vinnie told us that crocodiles are here sometimes. Fortunately, I didn't see any, but Rachael is sure she saw one.
When we finished lunch we got back into the raft to continue our trip down the river. It was time to horse around again and then we were in for a a very fast and rocky rapid called "The Regurgitator". But 'Why Vinnie, would you feed us lunch before this particular rapid?' It wasn't that bad though. Next rapid was down the lava flows. We had the chance to jump in the water and float down the rapids on our backs. Once we got out of the rapid that sucked us under water, we had to swim hard to get out of the water. If we couldn't swim across though, the guides had ropes to pull us out. It was sooo much fun.
Oh shit, I hear a water fall and I was envisioning Niagara Falls. No worries though; it was only a water fall coming down a cliff. We steered towards it and rafted through it. It was hard when it smacked down on our heads, but it didn't hurt. That was just the first water fall. We then came to "Disappearing Falls" where we had the opportunity to jump down the falls. We were told that we would have to equalize our pressure because the falls are so strong that they will take you down deep and fast. That was alot of fun too. Are you sick of hearing me say "that was alot of fun" yet?
After those falls, we had about four km remaining of our 12 km trek. Next came a set of three rapids called "Jabba the Hut"; then "Flip Wilson", where we all flipped the raft; and then "Shark's Tooth". I have no idea how they come up with these names. It was fun navigating through the rocks. The last rapid of the day was called "Double 'D' Cup"; probably named for its curvy route.
I didn't fall out of the raft today, but thought we were going to capsize several times. I am an addict now. Vinnie definitely has a nice office to work in. I wanna move here. Oh, have I said that before?
If I have gained any weight on this trip, I lost it today with all the paddling and moving back and forth on the raft from the "Go Left" or "Go Right" commands. I have a sore bum. I can see why rowers have a six pack and I think I will have sore abs tomorrow, and my shoulder may be sore too. This was definitely the most fun I have had so far on this 12-day adventure. There are only two days left and five left in Australia.
Today was our day for white water rafting. I'm going to use bad grammar because I need to emphasize how much fun I had; it was the most awesomest day of my life. It was sooo much fun.
We boarded the bus and were taken to Raging Thunder Adventures, along with several other adventure seekers. It was left up to us to break into groups of six, and we also chose our guide. Our group was made up of six women and we chose Vinnie to be our guide because he was nice to look at; actually, truth be told, it was me who decided on the nice looking Aussie to be our guide.
After our brief introductory safety orientation, and Vinnie telling us that somebody always falls in at some point, we put our helmets and life jackets on and headed down to Tully River. Apparently Tully is the worst place to live in Australia because it gets so much rain - up to seven metres. That is why Tully has such good white water rafting.
Some of the commands - To the left means everybody to the left of the raft; to the right means, well, you figure it out; all down means put your paddles vertically in the air, handle end down and sit on the bottom of the raft; lean in means, well, lean in.
We all got into the raft and headed down the river to begin our adventure. I was scared at first, but quickly overcame that.
If Female Viagra is meant to produce heaps of fun, get me some more. I couldn't take the smile off of my face after the first rapid we went over. It was called "Foreplay". I guess they figure they need to warm us up. Not too bad, but I thought this was the extreme rafting trip! "Just wait", Vinnie says. Little did I know what was coming.
Oh cool, another rapid! This time it was called "2-15" meaning that it either takes two minutes or 15 minutes to get through. Oh my Gawd, we're going to flip. Vinnie quickly assured us that we weren't going to flip; he was saving that for later. Oh great! We got through the rapids in two minutes and other rafts got stuck and took much longer. That's the fun of it though - getting stuck and not knowing what's going to happen.
There were large boulders and medium sized boulders that made up the rapids and our raft would quite often hit them head on. Poor Emma thought Vinnie had it in for her.
We had great conversations during the entire trip. Rachael was wearing her swimming goggles because she didn't want to lose her contact lenses. She was quite the picture and we had quite the laugh at her expense. Our conversations involved everything from crocodile sperm to Rachael checking out Emma's bum, but that's another story. It was heaps of fun. Oh shit, look out, another big rock, and it's coming towards me. It didn't hurt though because the raft takes the hit. I think I will have a few bruises though tomorrow.
There were three rafts on the river and when we all came together, we would splash each other with our paddles. Our raft was usually first to get through the rapids and I always yelled to the other group, guided by Dino, that "We're having more fun than you are, na na na na na na". Vinnie started a joke about me getting an Aussie husband and the next thing I knew, Rachael was going to stay in Marie's tent tonight to leave an extra spot in our tent. It was all in fun though and nothing came of that.
We stopped at a rock, or should I say huge boulder and climbed to the top and jumped in the water. It was about 20 feet high. Our life jackets and helmets remained on though so nobody would get hurt. It was pretty high and we were all encouraging the scardy-cats to jump.
Next, stop for lunch on shore. It was a barbeque and you wouldn't expect something like that in the middle of the jungle/rainforest. Australians know how to do things big. Yes, it was like we were rafting through a jungle and Vinnie told us that crocodiles are here sometimes. Fortunately, I didn't see any, but Rachael is sure she saw one.
When we finished lunch we got back into the raft to continue our trip down the river. It was time to horse around again and then we were in for a a very fast and rocky rapid called "The Regurgitator". But 'Why Vinnie, would you feed us lunch before this particular rapid?' It wasn't that bad though. Next rapid was down the lava flows. We had the chance to jump in the water and float down the rapids on our backs. Once we got out of the rapid that sucked us under water, we had to swim hard to get out of the water. If we couldn't swim across though, the guides had ropes to pull us out. It was sooo much fun.
Oh shit, I hear a water fall and I was envisioning Niagara Falls. No worries though; it was only a water fall coming down a cliff. We steered towards it and rafted through it. It was hard when it smacked down on our heads, but it didn't hurt. That was just the first water fall. We then came to "Disappearing Falls" where we had the opportunity to jump down the falls. We were told that we would have to equalize our pressure because the falls are so strong that they will take you down deep and fast. That was alot of fun too. Are you sick of hearing me say "that was alot of fun" yet?
After those falls, we had about four km remaining of our 12 km trek. Next came a set of three rapids called "Jabba the Hut"; then "Flip Wilson", where we all flipped the raft; and then "Shark's Tooth". I have no idea how they come up with these names. It was fun navigating through the rocks. The last rapid of the day was called "Double 'D' Cup"; probably named for its curvy route.
I didn't fall out of the raft today, but thought we were going to capsize several times. I am an addict now. Vinnie definitely has a nice office to work in. I wanna move here. Oh, have I said that before?
If I have gained any weight on this trip, I lost it today with all the paddling and moving back and forth on the raft from the "Go Left" or "Go Right" commands. I have a sore bum. I can see why rowers have a six pack and I think I will have sore abs tomorrow, and my shoulder may be sore too. This was definitely the most fun I have had so far on this 12-day adventure. There are only two days left and five left in Australia.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Day 9 - Travel Day to Mission Beach
Last night I got frocked up and we went to a restaurant called Cactus Jacks. I had a drink called 'Female Viagra'. I don't know what it was supposed to do, but it was very tasty. Payment is like some cell phone plans in that you pay as you go, and payment must be made in cash. Good thing I didn't have much cash because I would have most certainly ordered more viagra, and who knows how it would have affected me.
I haven't told you about the shower or kitchen facilities at all of the campgrounds we have stayed at. It puts any campground I have stayed at in Alberta or BC to shame. You don't have to pay to have a shower here and all of the shower heads have been those rain shower heads with full water pressure, and they're clean. The camp kitchens are all sheltered and have stainless steel sinks, fridges, power, barbeques and nice picnic tables. It's nice to have power because we all recharge our phones, camera batteries and I recharge my netbook.
Last night as I was standing at the sink I saw something move on the pole beside me. It was a huge, and I mean HUGE beetle - yikes! I thought is was a cockroach, but was informed otherwise. I could have sworn it was a Hissing Madagascar Cockroach, but I'm not in Madagascar. When it crawled to the ground I used all my might to kick it away and it scampered away.
Today is a travel day to Mission Beach for a stay of two days. Tomorrow is a choice of white water rafting, ferry over to Dunk Island to just relax for the day or sea kayaking. I'm going to give white water rafting a go. And for the adventurous (as if we aren't already), skydiving on Thursday. I'm considering it. Alot of the others are doing it, but it is expensive so I haven't completely decided. Seeing my indecisiveness in words now has made my decision-making process easier. I'll do it; I'm here, what the hell! There is a choice of 10,000 feet or 14,000 feet and if I'm going to do it I may as well do the 14,000 feet. At that height we freefall for 60 seconds. Again, don't worry Mom and Dad as it is tandem, just like the hang gliding, but I think it will be waaay more exhilarating.
We just stopped in a town called Bowen. Its claim to fame is two fold: a large mango (just like the easter egg in Vegreville) and the movie 'Australia' was filmed here. I had some 100% pure mango sorbet - no sugar added. Emma said it was different because it didn't have sugar, and I told her you don't need sugar added to mangoes because they are already sweet. She quickly replied by saying "a little sugar is always good". Again with the English ways (smiles).
Next stop along the way - lunch at a roadside campground. After we filled our tummies, we made another stop 20 minutes later at a place called "Frosty Mango" where freshly made tropical fruit sorbet and ice cream is made. There is Paw Paw, Dragon Fruit and of course Mango, as well as tons of other flavours. I had a double scoop of ice cream, and it was real. If I don't stop eating ice cream and sorbet, I'm not going to fit in my winter clothes when I get home. Speaking of that, this bus tour has went by so fast, I can't believe there is only three days left. The tour ends in Cairns and then I spend three full days there before I go home to chilly Canada.
We've pulled into Mission Beach where we are camping for two nights. Apparently, there is a plethora of cassowaries here. Hey, I just saw a bikini on a tree, apparently from someone having a little bit of fun last Christmas, and it hasn't been removed.
Tonight we are making a Croatian dish. Elia is from Croatia and one of my cooking partners. I've never had Croatian food.
Tonight will be a relaxing evening with a walk along the beach. Maybe I'll catch the sunset if we finish supper early enough.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Day 8 - Whitsunday Islands
This will be a short blog because I didn't do much OTHER than sail all day. Life's rough.
What a beautiful day. We hopped on a bus that took us to the harbour to start our day cruise on the Ragamuffin sailboat to the Blue Pearl Harbour. The ride (or whatever you call sailing) out there was beautiful with beautiful weather. I felt like I was hobnobbing with the rich and famous. We saw dolphins jumping in the water and tortoises as well. The water was so clear we could see them swimming, and then of course the dolphins did their jumping. I wish they would have been beside the boat.
There are 74 islands that make up the Whitsundays. The Blue Pearl harbour is at one of them and has a beautiful beach made of coral instead of sand. It is also a great place to snorkel. Some people decided to scuba dive. I thought I might change my mind until the dive instructor told us the diving would only be a maximum of six metres depth. I have been as deep as 80 feet before and didn't want to just go 20 feet down for $90. I will wait until Cairns. We got off the boat onto mini muffin, the yellow dingy that took us all ashore. The water was so clear that you could see the Great Barrier Reef. I had to wear an attractive stinger suit to protect me from the stinging jellyfish that start to come out this time of year; they weren't out yet though. Maybe by the time I get to Cairns they will be. The fish were absolutely gorgeous. Green ones, blue ones, purple ones, green, yellow and purple ones, big ones, small ones, different colours of clams. It is indescribable. I was swimming through thousands of fish and they were brushing up against me. This IS living!
After snorkelling we were treated to a nice lunch of chicken, salad, pumpkin salad (they're big on pumpkin in Australia) while moored in the harbour. You can't get better that this. Did I say "THIS IS LIVING"?
We were being silly and took Titanic pictures on the way back and we were treated to more food - fresh fruit this time.
It was a full day on the water and the heat can be tiring. We are going out for dinner tonight after the disaster we had yesterday and weren't able to.
I'm typing this on the ground just outside my tent.
Time for more Aussie expressions:
Frocked Up - dressed up
Ridgie didge - don't know what it means, but it sounds funny
'Ave a good one! - assuming it means have a good time
Bonza mate! - don't know what it means
What a dag! - don't know what it means
I have alot more from a towel I bought so I am not sure what some of them mean. I thought I would just share them with you.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Day 7 - Travel to Airlie Beach
I had to put this picture in my blog because it is from the zoo and is funny.
My day started off very early. We were scheduled to leave camp at 7:30am. For some reason I got my time wrong. It was only 5:30 and I thought we only had an hour, so I got up. I was wondering why no one else was up yet. I must have been tired from lack of sleep from the kangaroos hopping by the tent, the crows with their Aussie accents (they do sound different here) and kookaburras singing.
As soon as I logged onto the computer, my Mom was quick to Skype me. Although the connection was better (well, sort of) and there was no delay or jerkiness, we were cut off and I felt bad because I couldn't spend much time online with her because I only purchased half an hour of Internet time and the connection here is awful. I keep getting booted out and I have to navigate my way around to get back in. I wanted to post one more picture for yesterday's blog, but kept getting booted out. I finally gave up. What normally takes three minutes to do took me 25 minutes ... so frustrating.
It's Jolanda's (I've been spelling her name incorrectly previously) birthday today. She's 26 years old. I can't even remember 26 years old. We're going out to dinner at Airlie Beach tonight to celebrate.
We just crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. It goes through a town called Rockhampton, the center of Australia. A large sun dial is in the middle of town and on one side of it is a sign that says "Temperate Zone" and the other side says "Tropic Zone". Sarah told us that you can feel it get colder as you walk towards the "Temperate Zone" sign. As we all walked towards the temperate side, Sarah said "Just kidding". I can't believe we fell for it. It sounds so tropical, doesn't it. That's because it IS!
What are caterpillars scared of? Dogerpillars. I know, I know, sick. Don't blame me. We just drove past a sign in front of a primary school where the school children made the sign. We've been on the road for six hours now and I'm bored. The scenery isn't very nice because we are heading towards the outback and it is very hot. Oooh ooh - road kill. We're in kangaroo alley - seeing a roo dead on the side of the road is more common than deer or moose in the mountains.
I'm becoming quite the little camper. I hung my clothes on the line last night to dry, underwear and all, just like Norma back home. It wasn't quite dry this morning so I just packed them in my day bag and I'm using the dash board of paddy as a dryer. It doesn't take any time at all with the hot sun. At 10:15 this morning, it was already 28 degrees. It must be 35 or more now.
And now for the excitement of the day so far - a flat. The tire shredded as we were driving 100 kpm. 37 degrees and changing a flat in Australia. It's a team effort of supervisors and workers, or it was until we realized that the spare tire had the wrong rim on it. Sarah called a tow truck and when it got here we had already been waiting for over an hour. This has been an exercise in patience. I told Hannah that I thought her and Calum were an item and she informed me otherwise; they are just good friends. Sorry Hannah and Calum. We had reservations for Jolanda's birthday dinner. We won't get to Airlie Beach now until dark. We have been playing cards, playing the shopping game (a memory game I'll have to show you when I get home) and just amusing ourselves. FOUR hours later, we were finally on our way. Yeah! Our dinner out was nixed, but we will go out tomorrow night. We are in this campground for two nights which is a treat to not have to break camp tomorrow morning.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Day 6 - Australia Zoo
After our full day of activity yesterday, we pulled into a campground in Redcliffe. The campgrounds here are nice - stainless steel barbeques at some; stainless steel picnic tables at others and full sinks. Some even have all three. After we pitched our tent and I showered all the sand off me I was in search of a wireless Internet cafe. I didn't want to venture too far down the beach in case I got lost, when I came across four Aussie ladies, or should I say sheilas. They didn't know of any wireless Internet locations anywhere on a Friday night after 9 pm in Deadcliff as they call it.
They pointed out a couple of other spots across the water: Deception Bay, AKA Decrepid Bay, and Moreton Bay is also called Moron Bay. They were very nice and we talked on the Beach for about an hour. Aussies are so friendly and fun. When I returned to the campground, I found out there was wireless there. It wasn't free, but at least I got to connect with my friends via e-mail and update my blog. When I was finished, Ross and James caught up on their e-mail too, or at least until the Internet timed out. I purchased an hour's worth of time, but I'm sure I got alot more because it seemed I was online forever.
During my 17 days so far here in Australia, I have learned a thing or two:
Number one - I wanna stay ha ha!
A few Aussie expressions:
G'Day Mate - I used that once and I felt like an Aussie
Fair Dinkum - pulling the wool over your eyes
Heaps - Alot of
I was up with the birds this morning and some very nice singing birds were right outside our tent. It was very nice. I was taking care of some business at home - paying a bill. OK, that's done - back to the business of sun and fun.
Today we will just be going to the Australia Zoo - home of the Crocodile Hunter. Some others in our group opted for a hike to the Glass Mountains. We have a long drive ahead of us as we are heading towards Airlie Beach where I will be sailing around the Whitsunday Islands on an 80 foot long racing yacht called the Ragamuffin. She has won alot of competitions. I can picture my brother and his wife green with envy. Snorkelling will be on the menu, as well as scuba diving if I choose, for an extra fee. I think I'll wait until we get to Cairns before I scuba dive because that is where part of the Great Barrier Reef is.
Back to the zoo.
I am very glad I chose, or was talked into, the zoo. Can you say A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, or as Susan would say, AWESOME! We spent four hours in the zoo and still could have seen more. This zoo is the best zoo I have ever seen. It's more of a wildlife park in that it is all about conservation. Their saying is "if you stop buying, hunting will stop." There was a wildlife show at the Crocoseum and it put any animal show I have seen to shame. There were Macaw parrots flying free. I have never seen so many beautiful birds as there are in Australia. We were treated to seeing how a crocodile hunts, by a man splashing to attract the croc, and we were given a lesson on a few varieties of snakes. A guy was in the water swimming with a very long snake. For the most part, if you leave a snake alone, it will leave you alone.
The kangaroos were out in the open - it just isn't right to cage a roo. I bought some food to feed them and got some great photos of me - feeding and laying beside a roo. I happened on a bunch of them hopping away and got some great video coverage.
All the animals were spectacular. Do you think they would notice a Macaw parrot in my carry-on luggage? That would be the ultimate souvenir for my Mom and Dad. What do you get for someone who doesn't need anything?
Time to get on our way to our next destination. Tomorrow will be a travel day.
Try to imagine typing in a very bumpy bus ride. That's what I'm doing now - one-finger typing. This is very frustrating and slower than using one arm after my shoulder surgery because the cursor jumps all over the page and it is time consuming fixing jumpin'-cursor syndrome. Then when I finally realize there's a really big mistake, I can't find where the mistake is a sentebecause the screen is so bmiddle of a ouncy. Later, when I'm proof reading, I find the middle of a sentence in the middle of another sentence. It just happened for the 5,000th time, but I'm not going to fix it because I think you need a challenge to figure this out ha.
We stopped for lunch at a picnic playground. Emma had an extra sandwich and asked if anyone wanted it. I asked if there was butter on it because as alot of you know, I don't like butter. Emma said "Of course", as if to say "Why wouldn't there be?" That's England for you. Now I think I understand why my Dad puts butter on every piece of bread - he's English! I'm still trying to figure out my Mom.
I think there is a love connection between Hannah and James because they look pretty cozy. Ahh, young love!
We drove by a small bush fire as we were driving down the road close to our campground. We have now checked into our campground and the first order of business is pitching our tent and then laundry. We might be on You Tube because all the local campers were taking pictures of us because when we arrived we were a flurry of activity putting up our tents. Hey, there are some wild kangaroos over there watching me. Crikey! That's a wrap.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Days 4 and 5 - Moreton Island
We had to get to the ferry bright and early for the hour's ride from Brisbane to Morton Island. Eeew! I have never seen such a big beetle in my life. It was on its back on the floor of the loo since last night and it couldn't right itself and I wasn't about the touch it to help it out. Next morning, it was still wiggling its legs. They sure have long deaths. On the drive to the ferry Stephen was talking about a big UV. I wasn't sure if I heard him correctly and then I realized he was talking about an RV. We all got a laugh out of that. The ferry ride was so warm and it was nice basking in the sun. As we approached the island I took alot of pictures. It was very beautiful. 
When we arrived, our attentive taxi driver, Jim, was waiting for us in the Mitsubishi (Missy) 4-wheel drive. It was a huge bus-type vehicle that had very good suspension. The ride to our cabins was more fun than an amusement ride. I was sitting in the back of the truck and it was very bouncy - not such a good thing you have to pee. Good thing we were wearing seat belts! Sometimes the vehicle rocked back and forth so much I was afraid it was going to tip, but I was amazed how it never did. I was laughing out loud because it was so much fun. When we arrived at the cabin we all claimed our beds and went to the beach for about an hour before we started our adventures. We all hopped in Missy and Jim took us to the most northern point of the island, where there's a lighthouse and lots of whales and turtles. The whales were too far out to get a picture of them though. Sure Ellen, you're thinking - twice now you've been too far away from the whales to take pictures!!! Believe me, if I could swim with them, I would. After spending time watching the whales, or at least their spouting, we went to another beach where we walked to a wall of rocks to watch the water break. Water splashed every where, including onto Yolanda's camera. Now she can't take pictures, but hopefully, it will dry out enough to start working again. The sand here has alot of silica in it so it squeaks when you walk. Next destination, Blue Lagoon - no, not from the movie. Blue Lagoon is a fresh water lake with tea tree and eucalyptus in the water. After I swam in it for awhile, I was healed of all my ailments. 
We had a long, hot day and retreated back to our cabins for dinner, but not before we checked out the sunset at the nearest western beach. When you're on a small island, any beach isn't far away. The sun sets very fast. Last night's dinner was Risotto. I'm eating better than when I'm at home. It's really too bad there are no kangaroos in Canada; it is very tasty. After dinner the boys decided to play a game of beer pong. It's a game where you bounce a ping pong ball off the table and try to make it land in the opponent's cup which is full of beer. When it lands, one person on the opposing team drinks that glass and whoever drinks all their glasses first loses. It was a lot of fun; although, I didn't partake in this particular activity because I don't drink beer Yuk!
I went to bed before 10 pm and had a great sleep - one of the few I've had since I've been here. Must be because I was in a bed and not on an inflatable mattress. We leave here at 3 pm Friday (today) and we have alot to do before then. First thing's first - breakfast - cereal and yogurt. We only take the gear we need today - water, flip flops, swim suit, cameras (the cameras have been stored in plastic bags because of the very fine sand), sunnies (sun glasses) and sunscreen. The rest of our gear was left on the beach in a truck so we wouldn't have to haul it around. Then we made lunch. I had to make a sandwich with white bread. White bread? White bread is a foreign substance. This isn't right, but you have to work with the cards that are dealt. It didn't even feel right making a sandwich with it. The first thing we did was climb Mount Tempest, the highest point on Moreton Island.
I dare you to try hiking up a mountain in flip flops in sand. My calves were killing me. The sand was way too hot to walk in bare feet. Okay, we're here now. Snap,snap, let's go. I'm hot. I need air conditioning, at least until we get to the desert to go sand boarding - laying on a waxed board face down and riding down a sand dune. I thought there was alot of sand in places where sand shouldn't be after surfing, but let me tell you, sand boarding in the desert is way sandier. We could hardly wait to get to the sea to rinse off while we waited for the ferry to come and pick us up. Now we've checked into our next campground and pitched our tent, showered, ate and caught up with my blogging and e-mails. Tomorrow we're going to the Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's zoo. You've all heard of Steve Irwin - he's the Australian crocodile hunter who was killed by a stingray. I wasn't really interested in going because I went to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, but I have been told that "You have to go, it's an Australian icon." There are rhinos and I can feed the elephants whoo hoo! More later.
When we arrived, our attentive taxi driver, Jim, was waiting for us in the Mitsubishi (Missy) 4-wheel drive. It was a huge bus-type vehicle that had very good suspension. The ride to our cabins was more fun than an amusement ride. I was sitting in the back of the truck and it was very bouncy - not such a good thing you have to pee. Good thing we were wearing seat belts! Sometimes the vehicle rocked back and forth so much I was afraid it was going to tip, but I was amazed how it never did. I was laughing out loud because it was so much fun. When we arrived at the cabin we all claimed our beds and went to the beach for about an hour before we started our adventures. We all hopped in Missy and Jim took us to the most northern point of the island, where there's a lighthouse and lots of whales and turtles. The whales were too far out to get a picture of them though. Sure Ellen, you're thinking - twice now you've been too far away from the whales to take pictures!!! Believe me, if I could swim with them, I would. After spending time watching the whales, or at least their spouting, we went to another beach where we walked to a wall of rocks to watch the water break. Water splashed every where, including onto Yolanda's camera. Now she can't take pictures, but hopefully, it will dry out enough to start working again. The sand here has alot of silica in it so it squeaks when you walk. Next destination, Blue Lagoon - no, not from the movie. Blue Lagoon is a fresh water lake with tea tree and eucalyptus in the water. After I swam in it for awhile, I was healed of all my ailments. 
We had a long, hot day and retreated back to our cabins for dinner, but not before we checked out the sunset at the nearest western beach. When you're on a small island, any beach isn't far away. The sun sets very fast. Last night's dinner was Risotto. I'm eating better than when I'm at home. It's really too bad there are no kangaroos in Canada; it is very tasty. After dinner the boys decided to play a game of beer pong. It's a game where you bounce a ping pong ball off the table and try to make it land in the opponent's cup which is full of beer. When it lands, one person on the opposing team drinks that glass and whoever drinks all their glasses first loses. It was a lot of fun; although, I didn't partake in this particular activity because I don't drink beer Yuk!I went to bed before 10 pm and had a great sleep - one of the few I've had since I've been here. Must be because I was in a bed and not on an inflatable mattress. We leave here at 3 pm Friday (today) and we have alot to do before then. First thing's first - breakfast - cereal and yogurt. We only take the gear we need today - water, flip flops, swim suit, cameras (the cameras have been stored in plastic bags because of the very fine sand), sunnies (sun glasses) and sunscreen. The rest of our gear was left on the beach in a truck so we wouldn't have to haul it around. Then we made lunch. I had to make a sandwich with white bread. White bread? White bread is a foreign substance. This isn't right, but you have to work with the cards that are dealt. It didn't even feel right making a sandwich with it. The first thing we did was climb Mount Tempest, the highest point on Moreton Island.
I dare you to try hiking up a mountain in flip flops in sand. My calves were killing me. The sand was way too hot to walk in bare feet. Okay, we're here now. Snap,snap, let's go. I'm hot. I need air conditioning, at least until we get to the desert to go sand boarding - laying on a waxed board face down and riding down a sand dune. I thought there was alot of sand in places where sand shouldn't be after surfing, but let me tell you, sand boarding in the desert is way sandier. We could hardly wait to get to the sea to rinse off while we waited for the ferry to come and pick us up. Now we've checked into our next campground and pitched our tent, showered, ate and caught up with my blogging and e-mails. Tomorrow we're going to the Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's zoo. You've all heard of Steve Irwin - he's the Australian crocodile hunter who was killed by a stingray. I wasn't really interested in going because I went to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, but I have been told that "You have to go, it's an Australian icon." There are rhinos and I can feed the elephants whoo hoo! More later.
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