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!

Hiking the Pennisula

We went for a ~4 hour hike out around the peninsula in Kaikoura to see seals and take in the scenery.  I learned that if you get to close to a seal, they will bark at you, and it will be somewhat terrifying.  Part-way into the hike I had the opportunity to try some fresh crayfish (lobster) at a food stand, a local specialty!

So hugable

A biiiiiig yawn

Happy cows might just be in NZ...

Whale watching in Kaikoura

One of my best days ever.

We saw 12 whales (10 sperm whales and 2 humpback whales) and hundreds of dolphins.  We also got to see some albatross, one of the largest flying birds.

And back to NZ with Kaikoura

I had the most incredible time in Kaikoura, NZ.  This was my favorite place in NZ hands down and will be some of my best memories of my time there.  It helped that we had such stellar weather plus seeing whales, dolphins, and seals in the wild.

My Two Birthdays

On my Aussie birthday…

What a great birthday!  Donna and her family went out of their way to make sure I had a fabulous day.  I was sung to after Eddie’s cake during his birthday party, but we had our “adult’s” party later.  Donna made me a special cake and decorated it.  We all laughed until we cried when Donna accidently dropped my cake that she had just decorated (complete with a giraffe drawing) upside down on the floor.   Luckily it was in a container and the icing just squashed to the top of the plastic lid.  It was redecorated :) She didn’t have any candles besides Eddie’s “1” candle, so she cut out a “27” and taped it over the “1.”    We sipped daiquiris, played charades, and had lots of laughs.

On my USA birthday…

Donna, her aunts, her mom, and I all went for a drive to the Wildbrumby schnapps distillery for lunch and taste testing!  The schnapps is distilled from the fruit unlike the American version where they add the flavoring after.  I have a pear schnapps for me, Mom, and Becky to drink when they arrive.  The taste testing was excellent!  We tried mango, pear, sour apple, peach, chili, and butterscotch.  The distillery had a restaurant and we had lunch.  I opted for a hot chocolate with a shot of butterscotch for dessert.   YUM.  We then drove to the nearby ski fields for a snow visit as one of Donna’s Aunt’s had never seen a significant amount of snow.  This was in the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains.  We crossed over the Snowy River at one point on our drive.