Moving to Gosford

Well that is it, we have moved to the bustling town of Gosford. We drove down Monday afternoon and ended up in Gosford at about 5:45pm. The car ride down was less then comfortable to say the least. Gran, Gramp, the two kids, and myself were sqeezed into a car that was packed up tighter then a ducks arse. Each of us only had a small cubby of space big enough for our bodies and Gran and I both held things on our laps the whole way. The kids did well all things considering. However by about 5:00 I was pretty edgy. It was partially due to the fact that Gran wanted to stop in Tuggerah for whatever it is what she wanted, and Gran seems to run on her own time. There is no sense of punctuality or needing to get things done. The kids were wrangy and hungry and it was all going down hill fast. It is a good thing that we got to the house when we did or someone wouldn't have been making it out of that car alive and it wouldn't be me.

So we arrived at the house. Now, although it is technically a house because of the outside structure don't be fooled. I went inside to see where I would be sleeping and do you know what I saw? Nothing! Just that, nothing. No kitchen, no carpet, no furniture no anything, just a shell of a house. I had an old mattress on the uncarpeted disgusting floor and a thin piece of foam for a pillow. This was for me to call home for the next week until I went to Cairns. Then I went down stairs to see the rest of the place. Down there was equally disgusting but had a kitchen. In fact it had two kitchens. One part one with running water and one sitting right in the middle of the space. Seeing that sight upon my arrival completely disheartened me. As much as I am not looking forward to the next 4 weeks of renos and everything going on around the small space i take solice in the fact that it is only 4 weeks and feel for the new girl coming in. Although by the time I get back from Cairns it should be more like a home and hopefully have some furniture.

On Tuesday I set off to see the town of Gosford with the kids. Gosford is a special kind of place where special types of people live. For instance I was talking on the phone with my friend the night I got there and I told him that I would text him the first time I saw a mullet. Well 8:34am Tuesday morning Shane received a txt that simply read 'Seen it.' There is a very high tats to teeth ratio per capita it would seem, and the streets are peppered with discount stores and bottle shops. As we walked along the street there was a young man on a bike riding towards us. This fellow had a small trailer towing behind his bike, and on this trailer he had a large living room speaker hooked up to some sort of music playing thing and was blasting his music as he pedaled. Liam the oldest boy said "Jessica, that man is not wearing a helmet." Liam always takes notice if people are wearing helmets because we have drilled it into his head that you must wear a helmet on your bike to be safe. When he commented on this particular fellow my relpy was "You know Liam, I think if that guy falls off his bike it will be okay. I don't think he could do much damage." I guess I will have to make due until I leave. Although my weekends won't be spent in Gosford. I have a list of things to get done before I leave at the end of May and that means that my weekends will be spent doing stuff in and around Sydney.

It was a trying week, but I made it! The kids and I found a playground and some really awesome trails in the woods. We know how to get to town, and if they are lucky I might just take them on the train somewhere. We are getting to know our surroundings and I am sure I will make it through the next 20 working days after I get back. Right now I am in Cairns and just enjoying my time off. I had an adventure lastnight, and am diving on the reef tomorrow, a possible trip to Kuranda on Monday then back to Boganville on Tuesday. I am going to wait to write about Cairns when I can upload photos, but for the record I friggin love it here!

Well week two with Gran and Gramp is complete! This will only be a short entry because to be honest I really don’t feel like writing, but I know if I don’t I will get behind. This week has been full of events, but not a holiday. Gran and Gramp enjoy showing me around and doing things with the kids, but I have found it both frustrating and exhausting with the kids. I have had to be the bad guy since I stepped of the plane. The kids are acting like spoiled jerks. Well seeing as with the grandparents they are spoiled and they let them act like jerks without saying anything about it. So while we have been going places and having picnic lunches and what could be good times it is frustrating to deal with the children on these outings. Basically I am now at the point where I feel like pulling my hair out. Thank god for the weekend!

Tuesday we went to the Billabong wildlife park. This was pretty cool because they had animals native to Australia. I got to pet a koala, feed kangaroos, see emus etc. It was a good day to see all the animals, and we had a picnic lunch there at the park. I also got to see three white kangaroos, so that was interesting, and I got to see a dingo. Now before you make the cliché ‘the dingo ate your baby’ joke it should be noted that Gran actually knows the family that the dingo ate their baby. I am not joking! Gran is friends with the whole family, and was friends with them when it happened. Crazy! What are the odds that I come to Australia and meet someone that knows that family! It is crazy! I knew that before because Peter told me, but I just forgot about it.

Wednesday we went on a boat cruise up the Hastings River. It was nice and I got to see two dolphins up close. It was awesome to see the dolphins so close to the small boat, and the driver stopped the boat so that we could watch them for a while. After the dolphins we went and stopped at and oyster farm and saw them farming oysters. The cruise was good, but would have been better if I didn’t have to spoiled little boys to contend with.

Thursday I took the kids to the beach, and Friday Gramp took us out to a buffet lunch. I ate way too much, but it was awesome. Overall the general feeling of Port Macquarie is slow and relaxed, probably because the majority of its residents are over 65. This week, on Tuesday we head down to Gosford to reunite with the family. It should be interesting until the house gets a little fixed up, but I leave on the 23rd for Cairns anyway. I will see the reef, and tell you all about it. Until then I bid you adieu.

Back to Reality…..Well Port Macquarie……

Well after an amazing fun filled trip to Tasmania I flew back to Sydney for the night then on Tuesday I had flight out to Port Macquarie to settle in with Gran and Gramp. I had a hotel room next to the airport for Monday night so I could get some sleep before flying out the next day. I checked into my hotel room and went upstairs to check it out. When I got upstairs and opened my room I was very surprised at my room. I think I have actually seen closets that are bigger then this thing. It had two beds in it, but they were bunk beds! The room was bare, no comforts what so ever. A bed, a small TV, and a small corner desk, I was lucky to get towels I think seeing as there was no hand towels or anything in the bathroom. The bathroom is a whole other story! I opened the door to the bathroom and saw a toilet a sink and a shower curtain. I also noticed an abundance of ants on the walls of the bathroom. This was definitely a no frills kind of place. I am not one that needs a lot of frills however a bed spread without, what seemed to be unwashed, stains would have been great. I talked to mom for a bit and made sure three times that the door locked from the outside. In the morning when I went to have a shower and I noticed that there were no walls to this shower, no little lip and what seemed to be no sloped floor. So I had my shower, and indeed as I suspected it flooded the whole bathroom floor. No wonder it had a sign on the bathroom door that said ‘Please close door when showering.’ I showered up, got dressed and got the heck out of dodge. I went to the McDonalds across the road and nursed a large hot chocolate while I uploaded some photos to facebook until it was time for my flight.

My flight was good. I was able to see Sydney’s icons from above and of course snap a few pictures. I put my headphones in and tried to prepare myself for the next two weeks with Gran and Gramp. I assumed that I would be walking into two children acting like spoiled little boys, and of course then there is Gran and Gramp. I arrived in Port Macquarie in the early afternoon and it began. It is now the end of the first week as I write this and I have to say that it hasn’t been terrible. The boys are testing a bit and I have been finding it exhausting being the bad guy. I have to be the bad guy and lay down the law because it is the grandparent’s job to spoil them. I just don’t want the children to act like little brats. So I am not well favored around here by the kids as I am the only one to say no. However I have bonded somewhat with Gran and Gramp. They are very nice people just Gran has some slightly annoying habits. I feel like we have a different relationship with Gran and Gramp and I am happy about that. Plus although there is absolutely nothing to do in this town of nearly deads and newly weds, my day off was very relaxing. I did basically nothing but upload some photos and chill at the beach. Gran and Gramp are very much enjoying showing me around and are very welcoming people. My only major complaint is the talking. Geesum crow Gran could talk the ear off Helen Gellar. Most of the entries I have posted on here were written in the lounge and that is why they are less descriptive then most. I have to try to concentrate on writing and she just doesn’t stop talking. Ever! She has a real talent for starting to tell you one story then half an hour and 4 stories later she finally gets to the point she originally started to make. Last night I had the joy of soaking in the hot tub with Gran and for some reason she told me the birth stories of her three children. Fun, fun! There have been a few funny things that she said though, and I have had to take a double take. For instance Gramp was telling her about a new pet store opening in town and they were talking about that. Then I heard Gran say “Well if they have better weed, I will be going there.” I looked up from the computer and said “Umm, what was that?” Or when we were at the beach and we were getting ready to go and Gran said “Oh, I can’t forget my man’s shoes.” Bahahahahah! It just sounds funny coming from Gran. I also had to go and by milk because if I had to choke down one more bowl of stale cereal with warm soy or rice milk I was going to puke, so I just kindly went out and bought some regular milk and placed it in the fridge. I didn’t want them to feel bad, but I just could take it anymore.

Gran and Gramp love showing me around. We went up to the camp for a night Thursday night and went to Coff’s Harbor to see the big banana. The big banana was pretty cool and I took the kids on a toboggan ride down the side of a large hill on a track. The kids really enjoyed this, and Jake loved to go fast. We had it wide open, but I think he would have preferred a little faster. We ate lunch and stopped at a honey place too so that I could show Liam a real working hive. I had been teaching him about bees a bit and wanted to find a hive he could see. So we went to this place and saw a hive, we also go to taste different types of honey. The camp was okay but one little caravan is too small of a space for my liking. I am glad it was only one night. On Friday morning we went to a beach just down from the camp, and it was a beautiful beach. It was so lovely, and I really enjoyed it there. The kids had a blast! I took Liam out deep with him on my back and we paddled around in the small swells. Then Gran, Jake, Liam and I dug big holes in the sand and buried the kids. It really was a great time, this is what memories are made of for the children. On the way back to Port on Friday we stopped at Freddos Pies. Apparently Freddos is famous for its pies and has a selection of over 50 varieties of pies. Many famous people have been in there and bought pies including the likes of Russell Crow. While we were there the guy who came second in Australian Idol came in and bought a pie. It meant nothing to me, and I had no idea who the fellow was till they told me. Anyway I had a……………Crocodile Pie! Yup, that is right! A Crocodile Pie! Gramp wanted me to try it because that pie is one of the ones that are the claim to fame at the pie shop. So I can now say I have eaten crocodile and although I hate the cliché I have to say, it tastes like chicken. It tasted as if I was eating a chicken pot pie. It was pretty good.

I think I will make it through the next week but I am looking forward to getting back to civilization very soon. Also at the end of the month I will be going to the Great Barrier Reef, so that will be great! Gran and Gramp have some family activities planned for next week like a boat cruise, and dinner and such so it shouldn’t be too bad. The biggest thing is just being the bad guy with the kids all the time. I really do find it exhausting! Anyhow this will probably be the last post until next weekend when I can make my way to an internet café, so have a good week, I will catch you on the flip side!

I Saw The Devil, and Went to Prison (Final Day)

The final day in Tasmania we decided that we couldn’t come to Tasmania and not see a Tasmanian devil. We had already decided to go to Port Arthur and lucky for us there was a Tasmanian devil conservation park on the way to Port Arthur. We checked out of the hotel and piled our bags into the car and got an early start to day. It wasn’t long before we got to the conservation park, and I was pretty psyched about seeing the devils. The park was pretty small, but had lots of interactive things to do with the animals. We arrived just in time to feed the Kangaroos and wallabies. Although I had seen so many kangaroos at the campsite before it was really cool to be able to hand feed them. You could tell that the kangaroos knew what time it was because every time people came in the gate a few of them would bound over to see if they had any food. The guy came with the food and we could take small handfuls out of the bucket and hold it out for the kangaroos. They were not shy that is for sure. The shy ones were the Pademelons. They were small little wallabies that hid in the bush, but I was able to feed one of them.

After the kangaroos we headed over to catch a Tasmania devil feeding. This was quite a sight to be seen that is for sure. While we were waiting for the guy to come and feed them the two of them started to scrap. I think they were getting a bit anxious while waiting for their food. What they say is true they are vicious little things. The teeth were bearing and the noise! The noise they make is crazy. I don’t even know how to describe it, and I tried to get it on video but it wouldn’t work. I think my camera has been used and abused more then the average person and is on its final legs. Anyhow we watched the two scrap and growl with each other until the guy came to feed them. Well he dangled a hunk of meat over the side of the fence and the two of them went ape shit! They were jumping and clawing, growling and sputtering. He dropped the meat and one of them grabbed it and took off. The other one grabbed the other end and there was a serious stand off before they ripped in half. I am glad I can say that I was able to see Tasmanian devils feeding. After the devil feeding we went over for a bird show.

I wasn’t too keen on the bird show, and didn’t expect much from it, but I was pleasantly surprised. He only had 5 birds in total but they were great! The first was a gala named Bossi and he was very smart. Galas are a type of parrot her in Australia, and are very easily trained. He was pretty cute, but the next bird was a real show. He brought out a white bird and said that if you had a dollar coin to hold it between your thumb and forefinger with your arm outstretched. Of course I had to participate in this! I didn’t have and dollar coins but I had a two dollar coin to hold out. This little bird flew over to each person, landed on their arm and took the coin out of their fingers with its beak. Then it took the coin over to the handler and put it in his pocket for him. I tried so hard to get a picture of this, but with no avail, the bird was just too damn fast. After collecting all the coins from the crowd the handler told the bird to take them all back. We had to stand up with our palms up and arm out. The bird flew to me, landed on my arm and dropped my coin back in my and. It was really really really cool! The other star of the show was a brown falcon. The handler lined up about 18 children and asked them to stand with their legs apart. He then swung a leather pouch thing with a piece of meat on it behind the line of kids and the bird swooped down and flew, so fast between the kids legs! The handler said his record was 33 people. It was neato! After the bird show we headed on the road again to go to Port Arthur.

Port Arthur is an old prison settlement on a tiny little peninsula on the southern tip of Tasmania. Also a few years ago a crazed gun man when to Port Arthur and opened fire on a bunch of tourists. There was a big massacre and he ended up killing around 35 people before the cops actually took him down. So now when you mention Port Arthur to any Aussie that is most likely what they think of. Needless to say, the tour guide skipped over that part of the tour. Dead tourists are bad for business. We bought a pass that entitled us to a guided tour and a harbor cruise, and of course we were free to explore the grounds on our own as well. The tour guide we had, Jeddah, was quite good at giving an informative tour. We later learned that this was her first week at this job so we made sure to give her some atta boys after the tour. It was really interesting to find out about the twisted history of Port Arthur. Port Arthur was a place for people that committed multiple offences or really bad things. Keeping in mind that back in the day you could be jailed for just about anything, so committing multiple offences probably wouldn’t be that hard. After the tour we walked through some of the old buildings on the ground, and got slightly creeped out by some of the stuff. Like in a building called ‘The Separate Prison’ the people there went through some harsh things. They were not allowed to talk, ever! They were forced to be silent and stay in single cells; the only time they were allowed to make a sound was to sing hymns at church. At church they had to stand in stall like things so they couldn’t see anyone else in the room but the pastor. Also there they had the punishment cell. This cell had walls a meter thick, no windows, a solid door, no bed, nothing just a small empty cell. I could go on and on about all the creepy interesting things we learned at Port Arthur, but just have a look at the pictures I posted on facebook. I was given a card when we first bought our ticket and then you can match up your card with a person that was at Port Arthur. My guys name was Thomas Davis and in the end he escaped for good from Port Arthur (for the whole story see my facebook photos).

After indulging in a little convict history of Australia we headed back to the airport to end our awesome journey. I had an amazing trip and am so grateful that I was able to go on this and have the experiences that I have now shared with you. My time here in Oz is coming to an end, and that is probably the best trip I have had since I have been here. Thank you Kim, I had a blast!!

From the Tip Top to Deep Below (Day 3)

Sunday was adventure day! I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Easter away from home. I was with someone from my family and having super adventure in the land down under. We had a big day planned and got an early start as we had a bit of driving ahead of us. Our first stop was the Tahune Forest for an air walk and swinging bridges. I have had so many firsts down here on my trip that I have lost count. This day was a day of firsts for me. I have never seen the likes of this air walk before. A tall metal walkway through tallest southerly eucalyptus trees in Australia. We were so high up just looking out over the tree tops and the Huon River. I loved every minute of it and of course took a billion pictures. There was a little bridge part that stuck out facing the river and mountain and that view was just breath taking and amazing. After walking in the tip tops of the trees we came down off the air walk and walked through the forest to the swinging bridges. The walk in the woods was very nice, and although this was a tourist attraction, it was very quiet and peaceful. There were huge old trees and some that had fallen across the track that they cut a space to walk through instead of taking them out. There was one tree that Kim and I stood in and took pictures that just the stump was the length of our arm span. At the end of the forest walk we came to two swinging bridges that crossed two rivers. The swinging bridges weren’t too swingy, but were a big accomplishment for Kim who used to be afraid of heights. We made it across the bridges easy peasy and took in the views of the rivers. We were slightly rushing because we were hoping to catch a bus back to the start, but we later found out that the bus never showed anyway. It was no big deal though because it wasn’t too far of a walk back to the beginning but we were anxious to go to the next activity, HANG GLIDING!! Boo-ya that is right, we signed up for hang gliding over the Huon River.

Hang gliding was amazing!!! Now I should let you know that it wasn’t free style hang gliding or anything, it was attached to a cable line across the river, but that cable was 800 meters above the Huon River! I got all strapped up and hooked up to the glider then, the rather carnie type fellow running the ride, asked me what speed I wanted. He said there was one at 45km/ph or one at 65km/ph. My answer to this kind fellow was “I don’t half do anything bud, I go big or go home, and I came all the way out here give me the fast one!” After that he flipped the switch and a started to go backwards up the cable to the top platform. I started to climb higher and higher and as I looked down for the first time I did get a little nervous but that is the exciting part. Once I reached the top part and Kim looked like a tiny little person standing on the bank of the river, I did for half a second think, “Oh shit! What did I just do? I should have just done the slow one!” Then the brake let go and I was off! It was great! It was amazing, and wonderful and just awesome! I zipped down the cable across the river at 65km per hour and landed on the bottom, lucky for me you got two turns each. After the two turns I wanted more! I just wanted to go again and again. I think I might be a closet adrenaline junkie, lol. We not so much in the closet, hehe. After I had my go, it was Kim’s turn. I warned her that she may wet herself when she went up because she was formerly afraid of heights. She got all strapped in and headed up. I was very proud of her, and she did great. After doing the slow run she too tried the fast one. I think it is safe to say that a good time was had by both of us, that is for sure. I just loved every minute of it!

After gliding through the air and walking in the tip tops of some of the tallest trees in Oz we headed down to Hastings Caves to a journey deep below the earth. We had to rush a bit because it was Easter Sunday and most places had reduced hours. So we ate in the car and took off. We arrived at Hastings Caves just in time for the second to last tour of the day. I am sooooo glad that we made it! That was my first ever experience we caves with big formations like this. I had been wanting to go to the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains but hadn’t made it yet, and it looks like I am not going to either, so I was so glad that we got to see this. It was just amazing to see all the formations and chambers of the caves. We went on a 45 minute guided tour of the caves and saw some pretty amazing sights. I even got to see glow worms! I took some pictures of the caves with my camera, but no camera could ever do that justice. The picture doesn’t capture the dampnes or the sound, the cool air, the hollow echo. It was just awesome!

Well there you go, I have just added some blog entries, but unfortunately I can not add them all right now. I will keep doing what I was and saving them and posting them when I can. I will keep you guys in the loop.

On Top Of The World (Day 2)

Saturday was the second day of our trip and we kept it semi mellow and didn’t pack in too much. In the morning we went to Salamanca Market. This market is very large and very well known in Tasmania. Anyone that I spoke to about going to Tasmania that had been there before asked if we planned to go to this market, and if you Google Hobart one of the first attractions that comes up is the Salamanca Market. So Kim and I had somewhat big expectations for this market. We were also somewhat disappointed with this market. No doubt about this was a huge outdoor market with many many vendors and sights to see. We were thinking it was going to be more like the Victoria Market in Melbourne but it was not unlike any other outdoor market or flea market. We walked around and saw many different things, but for me, the highlight was the great big bratwurst sausage smothered in onions and condiments that I had. That was the one of the best sausages I have ever had! So big and sausagey! One funny thing that happened at the market was the bongo player. As we strolled through the crowd I could hear this great bongo music. As we walked it was getting louder, so I knew we were getting closer. I could see the crowd turning a corner onto the next lane and knew the bongo player would be sitting in a small clearing in between the stalls. Once the crowd cleared I expected to see a grown man possibly with dreads and a saggy knitted cap on, or some sort of hemp derived clothing. His skin might be worn by the sun and weather from his travels as he busked for change in each town he went. Something along those lines, you know what I am talking about, but alas I did not see a sight such as this or anything near it really. Instead I saw a small fair skinned, red haired boy with a large cowboy hat and a collared shirt banging away like crazy on a bongo. He was excellent! I thought the music was great when I could hear it and thought it was a grown man, seeing that it was a wee boy just made it that much better. After the market we went back to the hotel, got the car and headed towards Mount Wellington.

Driving up Mt. Wellington was great as a passenger because I could look out and see the views getting better and better as we got higher and higher. When we left the hotel it was a fine day in Hobart with sun and patchy clouds. We could see some clouds looming near the peak of the mountain but hoped for the best. We stopped along the way to take some pictures of the views as we went up and up and up. Once reaching the peak we got out of the car to a very brisk temperature indeed. It is a good thing that I once inherited Leonard’s old jacket, lol, because it was a bit nippy. We guessed it was around 3 degrees or so and a wind to boot. This was the first mountain I had ever been on that was actually tall enough to be in the clouds. You can see in my pictures that there is a dome of clouds over the peak of the mountain, and we were actually looking down under the ground at the land below where it was a mostly sunny day. You could see for days and days on top of that mountain! I am sure that I could see my mom’s house if it was clearer. It was breathtaking and just amazing! You could see the entire city of Hobart and surrounds, all the mountains valleys and lakes. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. It is slightly too bad that we were shivering and shaking like a dog shitting razor blades at the top of that mountain. It was a smidge annoying to put up with that one group of annoying tourists that feel like they own the scene and try not to get in there way while taking about a zillion photos flashing the peace sign. Kim and I took a ton of pictures of the surrounding areas and the breath taking sights, and just in time too. Just after we were finished taking pictures a huge wall of cloud starting moving in around the peak of the mountain. It was really amazing to see that too. It really looked like a solid wall of cloud closing in on the mountain. We took a picture and you can see the clear wall moving in. In a matter of seconds the wall had closed in and all you could see was white. You could see around you but when you looked over the edge of the mountain all you could see was white. We couldn’t have timed our trip to the top any better if we tried. Once we left and started driving down the mountain it wasn’t very far until we were out of the cloud and you could see the sunny day in Hobart again. It was really cool. For the rest of the day we chilled in the hotel room and planned some of the next days adventures (well Kim looked stuff up online and this old girl had a cat nap, lol.)

For dinner we asked at reception what a good restaurant on the waterfront was. She recommended a few, one of which was the Drunken Admiral, but we ended up eating at Fish Frenzy. This place was quite good, and had huge portions of food for not a bad price. The only weird thing was that they served it in a big horn shape cone thing. It looked kind of horn of plenty you would see at Thanksgiving. It was strange indeed. So after that we retired to the hotel for an early night because we had a big big day planned for next day.