“There is no place like home.”

On my flight to New Zealand, I read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.  It could not have been a better fit at the time, and it’s an even better fit now that I’m home.

That’s right, all- I’M HOME!

This particular quote rings especially true for me right now.

“But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

I left with the idea that this trip would be the start of a new life for me abroad, but what I realized is that I might just have what I wanted all along right here at home.

There were several things that factored into my decision to return a little earlier than planned, and all I’ll say about that here is that I made the decision from my heart and am really happy.  Surprisingly happy, in fact!

I have some incredible memories and a few people I’ll be lucky enough to keep in touch with and even visit again one day.  It was an emotional and personal journey, to say the least.    I learned some tough at the time lessons, and I most certainly earned the confidence and resilience I know I have from everything.  I’m hoping the near future still contains some lessons, but perhaps a little gentler 

Let me tell ya, it’s been great to see my family.  I’m back in the barn, and I very quickly realized that you can take a girl off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out  the girl.   I’ve been to my favorite grocery store to stock up on allergy friendly foods, and I had a brief reunion with Target when I bought a sleep aid.  I’m still working through jet lag, but it doesn’t seem as bad as when I arrived in New Zealand in December.  (Wow, December!  Has it really been that long?)

Thank you to everyone who supported me on my journey away and to those of you who read any or all of my blogging along the way.  There was more love, encouragement, and prayers sent than I could have ever imagined, and I will never stop being grateful.  Thank you with all my heart!

And finally, back to New Zealand

And to conclude my trip with my mom and sister,we went back and spent four full days in NZ.  We spent two days in Wellington and two days in Martinborough, a famous wine town in the Wairapa region.

On the first day in Wellington, I showed them around the city and we took a 1/2 day tour around a wind farm and seal colony.  It was much better than I expected which was a delight; we had private access to a lovely part of the coast full of seals.  On the second day, I let them explore solo while I spent the afternoon saying goodbye to Caitlin (the Irish friend I met in Napier and then re-connected with just before leaving NZ).

Our trip around Martinborough was gorgeous and a lot of fun.  I rented a car drove from Wellington.  I don't think my family was too nervous to drive with me despite being on the left, but neither appreciated the drive through the Rimutaka ranges.  We stayed in an awesome hotel which made it even better.  We did wine tastings, shopped, and had brunch twice at a local cafe (I missed you, eggs benedict).  We also explored the town of Greytown for shopping and their chocolate store.  Before returning the car back to Wellington, we drove down to Cape Palliser, the southernmost point of the North Island.  Gorgeous!

On the way to Martinborough

Cows at Cape Palliser- they are living the life

The Rainforest Journey to Kurmanda

We took a scenic train ride up to a rainforest village called Kurmanda outside of Cairns.  While on the train, we were seated in the same car as a couple from Fitchburg (right outside Madison and within 10 minutes of my hometown of Verona).  We took a cable car back down, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed that experience as I had never done that before.

The village itself was great; it was a little hippie community full of markets and small shops. It was there that I met one of the bloggers I follow, and it felt a little like meeting a celebrity!  One of the greatest things about my time in Australia and New Zealand was the opportunity I had to have fun and learn from some exceptional people from both countries; it's humbling to realize that there are so many incredible people all around the world.  It's a great feeling to know that I have a few people in both countries I'll stay in touch with and hopefully see again one day.  And the added bonus of meeting an Irish family and an English girl in NZ means I just might get to spend some time in Northern Ireland and England as well!

Before heading back to the city, we stopped at a crocodile farm where I got to see more koalas (okay, obviously secondary but still my favorite part).  Seriously, could baby koalas be any cuter?  I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted to hug an animal more!  The croc farm actually scared me a little bit; those are some enormous and very dangerous animals.  But we attended talks on what to do if you were ever bitten by a poisonous snake or attacked by a crocodile which I found interesting although thankfully not needed.

Cairns

LOVED my time in Cairns (pronounced "Cans").  The Australian accent was occasionally difficult to understand; they're known for being fast talkers and cutting their words short.  For instance, afternoon is often shortened to "arvo" and thank you to "ta."  And the silent "n" snuck in from time to time in words like Cairns.  But I guess we have the silent "h" when pronouncing "herb" so we really can't be too critical.

It was hot here; probably sunny in the 80's.  This was the first time I really felt like I had a summer.  Yes, I'm a bit bitter about having a cold summer in NZ followed by Winter.  It was lovely!

We did two main trips; the first day was exploring Green Island off the coast (in the Coral Sea) and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef!  The reef was awesome but not as beautiful as I expected from seeing photos; I think it just depends where you're at as it stretches almost 1500 miles long.  We saw some "Nemo's," a couple sea turtles (the neatest thing!), and plenty of coral and other tropical fish.  I donned a "sexy" wet suit in order to get some extra protection from the sun or accidently brushing against something I shouldn't in the water.

The view of Cairns from the boat

Sydney

Sydney was okay to visit, but overall, I found it just to be a big city.  Not to say we didn't do some cool stuff!

The view from the Sydney Eye

Family shot outside of the zoo

Koala's are SO COOL.  This little fella was hopping  out of the tree to move to a different one.

A side view of the harbor bridge as we ventured out on a boat for a whale watching trip.  Saw a humpback whale breaching multiple times, but it was too quick to get a picture!

The iconic Sydney Opera House

The Gibby's

"The Dish" outside of Parkes- it was used to capture the footage of the moon landing.  I watched the Aussie movie "The Dish" with Jeanine ironically on the day Neil Armstrong passed.

Feeding cows with Season and her daughter Rhain

The view from the Mt Nangar lookout

My time in Eugorwa wasn't complete without a buggy ride from Colin and Ann around the farm.

Back: Jeanine, me, Britt, Rhain
Front: Colin and Ann

Ian, Season, and me

Lambing in Eugowra

I've finished up three wonderful weeks of travel.  It would have been great to have been able to upload my photos and write about my experiences since I had so much going on, but my internet access was limited.  Now, to look through my photos and re-remember the fun!

I had such a blast at the Gibby's farm in Eugowra.  Their neighbor, Colin, was kind enough to take me to work with him to check on the ewes.  One of my favorite experiences in all my travels!

Look at that happy face!  This is the lamb I pulled.

Oh, to hold a lamb.  This little one was accidently separated and I got to hold it while we reconnected it with the mob (aka flock)

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in Canberra

Some of my first wild kangaroo sightings!

Leaving Oz

What a great time had in Australia with Mom and Becky!  We're a few hours from a day of flights taking us from Cairns to Sydney and from Sydney to Wellington, NZ.

The highlights:

-Whale watching off the coast of Sydney.  We saw a humpback whale jump out and splash back into the Tasman Sea multiple times- breathtaking!!!!

-Seeing a baby koala in Cairns at a crocodile farm.  Also, I now have a fear of crocodiles.

-Kurmanda,  a rainforest village near Cairns.  Awesome markets, and I even got to meet a blogger I follow who I adore.  Her and her family were lovely!!!  We then took a Skyrail trip (cable cars) over the rainforest back down to Cairns was awesome.

This trip has really made me think about all the amazing things I've got to do in Australia and New Zealand so far.  It blows me away how lucky I've been :)

Sydney and Cairns with the Fam

We lucked out with some free wifi in Cairns, so I'll write a quick update!

TODAY I SNORKLED IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF!!!!!!

Yup, that was pretty damn cool.  I saw sea turtles, a giant sea clam, and tons of tropical fish.  Becky was my "snorkling buddy"- safety, first!  ;)

I'm still warm from all the sun.  I think it's in the 80's and beautiful.  I FINALLY got the warm summer-like days I've been waiting for!  At the end of Winter and in a city I'm leaving in a day and a half, but I'll take what I can get.

Mom and Becky are lame and fall asleep by 8pm, but I guess I can't really blame them.  I've had a few months to get over the time difference :)   They're snoring away as I write.

In Sydney, we went to an aquarium, up the Sydney Eye for a panoramic view of the city, and to a small zoo. The highlight was finally seeing koalas!  Absolutely adorable.

In an embarrassing update, I completely "Marilyn Monroe'd" the top deck of the cruise ship we rode on to the Island we snorkled off of today.  Yes, the top deck had a few laughs as I thanked the universe for full coverage panties.  I bet the look on my face was priceless.

It's been so awesome having Mom and Becky to travel with.  They've been great, and we've been filling our days with the perfect mix of touristy adventures and relaxation.  We head to Wellington on Sunday for the leg of the journey that I planned (Beck took care of Australia).  Wine will be involved.

Eugowra

Let me start this off by saying that this has hands-down been the best part of my trip so far.

I have been keeping very busy at my old neighbor's, the Gibby's, 5,000 acre farm.  I've seen Season and her family twice and also spent several days with the neighbors, Ann and Colin.  I've also visited all the small towns nearby and got to see the area's beautiful landscape.

Some highlights:

-Exploring the Gibby's farm

-My reunion with Season and meeting her family.

-Colin took me to the farm he works on so I could help him check the ewes to see if any where in trouble while lambing.  I was in a 4-wheeling accident when I was in high school, and ever since then I've been a little skittish around ATVs.  When he suggested I hop on and follow him while he rode a dirtbike, I sneakily (without having to admit my fears) suggested I ride on the back with him so I could take pictures!  Success!  But what I didn't realize is that he also planned to take the dog.  So on a bike meant for one, there's Colin, me squished up against him, and then the dog leaning into me.  We were quite a sight, let me tell ya!  I still don't think my legs have recovered from holding them up for ~2 hours as we drove around (did I mention there was nowhere for me to put my feet?).

-On my second day with Colin, I got to pull a lamb!  It was amazing and was the highlight of my day.  On that same day, I also got to hold a lamb which took a very close second.  It was left behind on accident because it was asleep when the group moved due to our arrival.  Oh yes, something I thought couldn't get any more ridiculous did- the motorbike now held Colin, the lamb in my arms, me, and the dog :)  If only I could have gotten a picture of that!!!!

-Touring the Japanese gardens, WWII POW camp/cemetery, and learning the history of the POW breakout in the nearby town of Cowra with Ann.  While at the POW camp remains, I saw two kangaroos fighting- they boxed each other and occasionally picked up their feet to kick.  I must say, very cool to see!

-Picking up Jeanine and Britt from the airport and reconnecting with them.  While I've seen Jeanine during visits back to WI, I haven't seen Britt since I was a little girl.  He joked about it being hard to believe I was all grown up from a snot-nosed kid in diapers :)  He also expected me to be blonde and told all the neighbors and Season that's what I'd look like...not exactly anymore!

That's all for now.  Tonight I'm experiencing the local life at the town pub, and tomorrow I'll be spending the day with Britt, Jeanine, and Season and her family.

On Sunday it's back to Sydney and then two weeks traveling with Mom and Beck starting Monday- expect a massive amount of pictures and posts after that!

National Museum

I loved these kangaroos in the Contemporary Indigenous sculpture display

I wrapped up the day with a tour of the National Museum.  Inside, I watched an incredibly moving mini documentary on the apology issued by the Australian Government in 2008 for the “Stolen Generation,” roughly 100,000 Indigenous Australians that were forcibly removed and raised by white families until the 1960s.   And I also enjoyed seeing the heart of their most famous racehorse, Phar Lap, though I can’t imagine everyone would think this was as cool as I did!

Parliament House

In the Parliament House, I joined up on a mini tour where I got to see their Magna Carta and sit in on a House of Representative session.

On the way, we drove through the embassies (a fun fact- America has the biggest embassy; the bus driver was keen to point this out to me) and past "The Lodge" where the Prime Minster lives.

View of the old and new Parliament House from the War Memorial.  This design was influenced by Washington DC (designed by two American architects from Chicago)

The Parliament House

The High Court

I loved the High Court building.  The court is responsible for interpreting and upholding their constitution and is the highest court in the land.  I love law, and it was especially interesting sitting down with one of the court workers and discussing recent legislature as well as Australia's emphasis on personal freedoms (for instance, there is not the same type of political party division based on a case like Roe v. Wade in the US).

Last week, the High Court ruled that Australia's law to force tobacco companies to remove all company branding and market their products in generic paper packages with health warnings was constitutional.  One of the reasons this law was put in place was aiming to make smoking less glamorous to young people.  Fascinating!  There was also a big international custody case this month involving four Italian children.  They were ordered back to Italy which is where their parents (an Italian father and Australian mother) had been granted shared custody in order to respect to respect Italian laws.

I also got to walk in and watch a court case- imagine getting to do that in the United States!  Amazing!

Australian War Memorial

In order to see all four places, I joined up with a bus tour that picked you up and dropped you off at designated times.  First stop, War Memorial!

The bus driver told me that this was the best war memorial in the world, and it was impressive.  I watched a video describing the attack on shipping in Sydney Harbor by three Japanese submarines during WWII and walked through their WWI (the "Great War") and WWII exhibits.  It was interesting learning about both wars from the perspective of this side of the world.  Seeing their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as the war exhibits were very somber and moving.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier representing all Australians who have lost their lives in war

For Dad and Paul

How can you resist the opportunity to take a photo of a John Deere on the lawn of Parliament House?

If you're in the market for a harvester, here's an antique from the National Museum:

Leaving Canberra

I am leaving in a few short hours from Canberra back to Sydney and beyond.  I’ve had an amazing time with the Gale family.  While I’ve had plenty of time to relax with the family as well, I’ve also got to see a little of what Canberra has to offer.

Last week, Donna, Eddie, and I went to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve where I got to get up close and personal with some wild kangaroos and emus.  It was odd seeing emus in the wild- for some reason those just don’t register for me as existing outside of zoos!

I spent yesterday visiting the Australian War Memorial, the High Court, Parliament House, and the National Museum.   So much fun!!

I must say, I get nerves with every move, but I'm getting better at constant change and suitcase living!

Realizing the benefits of my travels...

I had a pretty enormous realization this week that I’d like to share.  I’ve been browsing for jobs this week to get an idea of what’s out there when I return.   For those of you that don’t know, I’m hoping to be back in the Twin Cities area after some much needed quality time with my family in Verona- please help send good vibes for me to find a great job!

When I was thinking about what to do, I realized I could do anything.  And I’ve always been able to do whatever I wanted, but the difference is that now I don’t have anything hanging over my head.  I had no idea what my goal of living in another country was doing to me as far as my life plans- it has always factored into my decisions since college.  And now it doesn't have to!

How exciting is that?

Spring is coming...

The view from the house post evening run.  I will miss all the lovely scenery I've come to enjoy on a daily basis!

My first “footy” match!

I can check another item off my travel wish list- I WATCHED A RUGBY MATCH!  Matt (Donna’s husband) took me to see the Canberra Raiders v. Brisbane Broncos.   The Raiders won, and I believe they knew they had a foreigner to impress in the stands. At the end when I told someone how much I enjoyed it, his response was “Tell your 300 million American friends!”

It was so fun.  I had such a great time!  It especially held my attention because I was focused on figuring out how the game worked and compared to football at home.  I at least have a basic understanding and by the end I even managed to clap and boo at the appropriate times.

Afterwards I got a car tour of the war memorial, the parliament house, the embassy buildings and other government buildings.  And if my day couldn’t get any better, we concluded with all of us watching the Olympics and eating icecream from a local custard shop.  *contented sigh*

 It has been interesting watching the Olympics in a different country with their coverage being tailored to their competitors.  I actually haven’t seen much of the Americans.   I love seeing all the talented participants around the world; it’s so moving.

What a great day.  I am very happy to be with Donna, Matt, and little Eddie in Canberra!

Updating my blog title...

When I studied abroad in France, I had to read "A Year in Provence" before I left as an assignment for getting credit in my French class at UW-Platteville.  I chose the name "A Year in New Zealand" to reflect that but as of late, it's no longer fitting.

When I asked Donna for suggestions, she suggested "Down and Out to Down Under" which I loved for the cheekiness factor.  But for now, I'll stick with one more generic ;)

My Last Day in NZ

I spent my last evening in New Zealand with the lovely Watson family, the Irish friends I made.  They invited me to their house for a nice meal to send me off when they learned I'd be staying in a hostel in the city.  We had roast chicken with vegetables and finished with blueberry cobbler and ice cream.  It was the best ending to my NZ experience!

Patrick offered to get up early and take me to the airport before work.  I couldn't sleep the night before and ended up falling sleep around 1am.  My 4:15am alarm came all to early...so early, in fact, that I turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze like I thought.  At 4:45am, only five minutes before we had planned to leave the house for my 6:30am flight to Sydney, I frantically stumbled downstairs.  I was ready five minutes later and we were out the door.  We had nothing to worry about; we were at the airport around 5:30am and I was waiting at the gate 15 minutes after that.  Plenty of time!  Quantas was a nice airline to fly.  I had a hearty breakfast and watched TV shows the whole three hour flight.

And that brings me back to Australia!  I'm now 15 hours ahead of WI.  In simpler terms, you're now 9 hours ahead of me.  

My new cell number while in AU is 0420800846.

I'm still feeling really happy here!  It's a shame that I didn't start out in Australia, but you know, I probably wouldn't be fully appreciating what I have now without what I came from.  Now that I'm 27, I'm full of wisdom ;)

Wellington with Lucas

Before Lucas left, we did some touristy things around Wellington: the Weta cave (a museum for Peter Jackson's digital production studio), the parliament building, the zoo, and Te Papa (the national museum).

Weta Cave

The view of Wellington from the chimpanzee enclosure

Tisa, the lovely giraffe I got to feed at the zoo!