Camping at Koolandilly

This weekend I went camping with the family at the Koolandilly property. This is the place that I went on my very first day here in Australia. Remember how I said that first weekend that I thought I would enjoy it more if I were less jet legged and more aware. Well I certainly was able to take in more of my surroundings and relish in the natural beauty that I was surrounded by. It really really is one of the most beautiful places I have been. Lots of hills, a big river, huge gum trees and wide open blue skies. I did however find that living where you work and not having a sufficient amount of me time or time away from the kids and family makes for a cranky Jessica. I found it somewhat difficult to spend the weekend with just the family, but I think it may also partially be due to the fact that I have been missing home like crazy for about a week now. I am quite homesick at the moment so going away with only the family added to my homesickness. It made me want to be home with my friends and family even more.

The drive to the campsite is enough to make any agnostic praise ala. You have to travel for about 45 mins down a gravel road, part of which you have to pass through a one lane tunnel through the rock, albeit very neat it is nerve racking at the same time. Most of the road is basically one lane with a few spots here and there to pull off and let someone pass. Not to mention that the road is is the most winding road I have ever been on, and every other turn is a hairpin turn. On one side is a rocky mountain, and the other a shear cliff. The road in spirals down a mountain until you get to the bottom. It is so hard to explain with words, and I couldn't take ver good pictures either. To sum it up you have to keep the car between a moutain side and death basically. I am glad that Peter has driven that road many times, but I still had a mild stroke several times traveling that road.

Once arriving at the campsite we were able to set up camp in the clubhouse as we were the only ones using the property for the weekend. We brought the trailer with us in case we couldn't use the clubhouse, but it was nice that we could. It had seperate rooms and a table and such. It also had a few creepy crawlies that gave me the heeby jeebies. I made sure my bed was off the floor and not touching any walls. I also kept my eye on the large spider on the roof, that legs in was about the size of my palm, that by the end of the weekend I determined it was dead anyway, haha! The biggest issue at the campsite, not in the hut, but at the site was ants! Gawd! These Aussie ants are relentless! They are every where, and they crawl all over your feet and legs if you stand still too long. Plus they are effing huge and bite just for shits and giggles. I HATE the ants!!! Friday was stinkin hot so after setting up camp we went 4-wheeling. That way we would be in the air conditioned car. We went 4wheeling through a nudist colony and through the bush. The nudies were all in their caravans so I didn't see any wrinkly old asses walking around. We crossed a river and drove up another mountain. That is where the picture of me on here is taken. That track up the mountain was even more scary then the road in because everyturn was actually a hairpin turn, and one side equals death. I also saw my a kangaroo while we were 4 wheeling. It was the first one that I saw that was alive, and I could actually stop and take a look at. After a few hours of 4 wheeling through the bush and up mountains we headed back to camp for dinner. I took my journal down to the river, below a mountain, and sat in the middle of the river on a rock writing in my journal drinking tequila cooler. That is pretty sweet I must say. That same night I saw so many more kangaroos. They were all over camp, every where you turned there were kangaroos. Actually walking back from the river they were all over the path, and since I am from Canada I didn't want to get to close for fear of death by roo, but it was cool to be that close to all those wild kangaroos. I even got to see two of them boxing! The only thing I didn't see, that I wish I had of was a joey in a pouch. Tune into my facebook for pictures of all the wildlife I saw this weekend.

On Saturday we had to take a unexpected trip in town for a few hours. Too much wine on a Friday night can sometimes lead to a trip to emergency the next day, lol. And no, it wasn't me! It was good that we went into town tho, because after discovering that Peter and Charli didn't know what smores were I was determined to give them their first smore experience. I went in search of graham crackers and marshmellows. Little did I know that it wasn't just Peter and Charli that have been deprived of smores but Australia in general. They don't even have graham crackers and their marshmellows were about 1/4 the size of our roasting mellows. They were only slightly larger then hot chocolate mellows. I took my stunnedness out on the poor stock boy at Woolworths. What the hell kind of place am I living in that have never had smores, don't know what they are, and don't even have the things to make them. It is just down right nutty! So after that we had some lunch and drove to the Wombeyan Caves. Geesh! I thought the drive into camp was scary! One madam Willis would be having herself a litter of kittens if she had to drive that road! At least on the road into camp there is some vegitation that you pray would slow you down or stop you if you went over the edge, but on this drive it was just shear death to one side. You could see straight down for at least a mile in some spots. I tried to look straight ahead. The caves were really cool. We didn't do the whole walking tour because the kids fell asleep on the way there (or passed out from fear I think, lol) but Peter and I walked around a bit. They were huge and really cool. It made me excited for the trip I have booked to the Jenolan caves in two weeks. Then we spent Saturday night around camp. I made a fire and tried to make smores, but was only frustrated by the ordeal. I bought a biscuit type thing, but it was no graham cracker and that was evident. In the morning we packed up and shipped out. I was grateful that we left earlier then expected and I was able to get some sanity time by myself, and did a little retail therapy to smooth things over. In the end I am thankful that I was able to experience the breath taking views around the property and were able to see all that I did.

Last I leave you with this. Before we went camping I took the kids shopping for a few toys to bring with them. Their parents don't ever pack anything for them to occupy themselves with in these situations, but I decided to take a stand. I would not put up with wrangy kids any longer when the cure could be found in a $2 pack of dinosaurs and a bottle of bubbles. So we went to K-mart and were browsing for some things we might want to get. I saw a rack of bubbles and they had billion bubbles and all sorts. Then I noticed an odd shaped bubble wand staring me in the face. I took a double take, because at first glance I was a little offended until I realized what it was supposed to be.

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It is a banana of course! These bubbles smell like bananas, so why wouldn't the wand look like a half peeled banana? I did have to take a double take tho, hehe. Well if you have read this whole thing, good on ya, it is a long one. I miss everyone at home, and thanks for tuning in. Hopefully the week will be good.

Happy Australia Day!

Yesterday was Australia Day. When I tell that to people back home they say, "What's that?" As if this would be a foreign concept......hellooooo people Canada Day????? Australia Day marks the day the first boatload of convicts were brought to Australia, therefore starting the wheels in motion for it to be a country. Here in Australia Day is very much celebrated as Canada Day would be, BBQ's, drinking, games, carnivals, concerts etc. That is of course if you live with someone fun who believes in celebrations. I swear to pete that these people are Jehovah Witness or something. What the hell is up with the indifference towards holidays. For christ's sake you have two small children that might enjoy a little fun once in a while! Granted we did go to watch the fireworks in Parramatta Park, but it was a very non enthusiastic event. Originally I was told that we would be taking the kids to the carnival and taking them on rides and things, then we would go and watch the concert in the park before the fireworks. I thought, okay this is good, real celebration......WRONG! We drove into Parramatta and went to the hill where the concert was. They didn't bring a blanket to sit on, or anything to make it mildly fun. We couldn't see the stage and the boys spent most of their time getting restless and tired before the fireworks. The fireworks were great and the kids really enjoyed them. However as we were there I couldn't help but look around at the families with childrens face painted, balloons, temporary tattoos, picnic bags and blankets, and really making the best of the occasion. I didn't want to stand around doing nothing so I took the oldest boy through the crowd and to the stage to see a drumming group called Tyke Oz. They were great, and whatta ya know, he loved the entertainment. If I had of known we weren't going to do all that was said I would have went in by myself earlier in the day, but by the time I realized we weren't leaving it was too late. There was a rather hillbilly or bogan family sitting not far from us. Yea they might have been a little drunk and trashy, but you know what? They were having a ball! The kids were having fun, the parents were having fun it was a fun day out. I have never in my life met people that were so anti celebrations, other then JW. I guess I will have to whoop it extra for Canada Day when I get home! Oh I also took a picture of this woman's shoes next to Liam and I when we went to see the drums. I thought they were neat, and she and her husband really showed some Aussie pride!

Well despite a very anticlimactic Australia Day I am looking forward to camping with the fam this weekend. We are going to Koolandilly. That is where we went on my first day here in Oz. I think I will be able to better appreciate it this time :). I am glad to hear that you guys back in Hali had a mild day, and a bit of sun. That should give you all hope for spring :).

Bushwalking

Today I went bushwalking on the central coast. I went with this adventure social club that I found. It was great! It was everything I love wrapped into one. Hiking, bush, beach, and great views. It turned out that there was only four of us including the guide, but it was great anyway. I will be doing more events with them before I go I hope. I took the train to Wyee, which all together is about 3ish hours from my house. I didn't mind though, it was an okay train ride. Lots of things to look at once you get out of the city and suburbs. The guide picked me up at the train station, and there it was another 20 minutes or so driving to the meeting site. We met at Frazer beach. The beaches here are just awesome! The sand and the clear water just paint such a picture, that you can't help but love it. The bushwalk went from Frazer beach to Moonee beach, which is about 8km there and back. So it wasn't too long, but we took our time and explored around as we walked. The area we were in was hilly and there were many good views out onto the water. We also went down to a few beaches along the way. It was so nice to see the sandy beaches and big cliffs. It really was a wonderful experience. It was also such a nice day for it. It wasn't too hot, and it stayed cloudy so the sun wasn't beating down on us. As we walked I got to see different types of plants that are native to Australia, including one that will only regenerate when there are bush fires. It holds it's seeds in a pod until there is a fire and then it busts open and drops all it's seeds into the fertile ash. It is funny how this adapt to their surroundings. For example we had some apples and oranges to eat and Dean (the guide) passed around a bag to put our garbage in. I asked him why we wouldn't just leave it seeing as all the fruit peels would break down. He told me that the plants around there were so used to the low nurtient level in the soil, and that they have adapted to flourish in that environment that if we left the fruit there then it would break down but it would throw the plants out of whack because of the added nutrients. We walked through some bush trails, we walked along the beaches, we ate lunch in the sand dunes, and explored a rock tunnel through a cliff. It really was one hell of an experience that I am so glad I got to have. Dean was a bit of a super dork, but hey, to each their own I guess. I am keeping this entry short because I am soooo tired and really want to go to bed, but please check out my pics tomorrow after I put them up. Work tomorrow, then Australia day on Tuesday! Whoop........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz nighty night!

Sweaty Saturday

Well I am actually writing this on Sunday night, but since I have had such a busy weekend I have to write two entries. This is about my day on Saturday. If you notice the title of this one it best describes the weather here on Saturday. Actually I heard today that yesterday was the hottest Sydney has been in 4 years. Let me tell you, it was Hot, with a captial H. I was taking the train to Manly beach and just sitting still on the train I could feel the sweat running down the sides of my face and back. I know that is a smidge gross, but it really paints an accurate picture of how hot it was. I figured the beach would be a good place to be on such a stinkin hot day, so I took two trains and a ferry to get to Manly. When I got there I soon realized that they were having their annual lifegaurd games. So this took up a large chunk of the beach, leaving the swimmers confined to a few small squares of sand and water. It was mega packed because of the heat, and the spectators to the competition. I went in the water for a few minutes and sat on the beach for about a half hour and then went and milled around the shops. I couldn't hack the people+heat+shitty sand. The sand on Manly is not cool. It sticks to everything! Even when it is dry it doesn't brush off. It is the most annoying beach sand ever. I was glad that I went out to Manly though, and I got some information about a big walk that I may do at some point. A funny thing happened while I was walking around though. They were having a little market in one of the side alleys, so I walked around there for a bit. Part of the market was in a bar so you had to be over 18 to go in there, or supervised by someone over 18 said the sign. I went to walk in the door and the guy sitting at the front put his arm out and said "Are you over 18?" I laughed right in his face! Haha and no I don't think he was hitting on me, I think he was just stupid, lol. I was glad that I had the experience of taking the ferry to Manly, but if I go back it won't be for the beach. I took the train home, and when I stepped out of the station at Parramatta the temperature had dropped by about 20 degrees and the sky opened up and poured. The erratic weather kinda made me feel like I was at home :).

After arriving home Peter said that they were going into the city for the Symphony in the park, so I decided to join them. We drove into the city around 7:30ish and walked over to the Domain. The Domain is the main big park where all big events like this are held. Remember the picture I put up of the million people in the park for carols? Well that was also held at the Domain. Anyways we were walking up the path to the area where we were meeting friends, and Liam noticed birds in the sky. He said "Look Jessica at those birds." I looked where he was looking and sure enough is seemed that there was a large murder of crows or some other type of black birds flying around. Then one flew towards us, and over us. I looked up and it was at that moment I realized they weren't birds at all, but BATS!! Giant bats! They were huge, and there was thousands of them flying around. There just seemed to be more and more of them the darker it got. I knew that they lived in the botanic gardens but it was very creepy to see them flying around. Also it made it slightly more horror movie like with the symphony playing in the background.

The Symphony was great. It was nice to sit in the park and listen to the music. Plus now I can say that I have heard the Sydney Symphony play. There seemed to be a shit load of drunk old people around though. This is because I am not the only one that takes to drinking in the park. We got home around 11:30pm and I had a bunch of stuff to get ready for my bushwalk so that's why I had to give you Saturday's update today. Also I am hoping to put all my pictures from this weekend on facebook tomorrow.

TGI Friggin F!!!

Holy man I have had a long week today! I actually have had very strange day coupled with extreme heat. To start with I have had to work a bit late everyday this week except Monday. Peter has been away on business, and Charli doesn't get home until later. I don't mind helping out because as far as families to work for these guys are pretty great and flexible. So I don't mind giving a bit for a bit back. However it does make for a very very long week that is for sure. Also today it was about 40ish give or take a degree, and tomorrow is going to be about 48ish give or take. This Canadian-o can not take the heat! It really takes a toll on me, and probably a bit cranky. So that sure didn't help my kooky day. Plus this week I have been fighting with the gym managers and having to fully lay down the Moreeeny Wrath, and for those have witnessed this you know! All wrapped into one I am so thankful that today is Friday!

The first picture on here is of a cockatoo in the tree on my way to the gym. I still can't get used to the fact that they are wild here and just fly around willy nilly like it is normal or something. They can make and awful racket up in the trees, but are really nice to look at. So I thought I would share that with you.

So here is my day in a nut shell, a very large and long nutshell :). In the morning I took the boys to the playground not too far from here. It was so bloody hot that I think I may have lost about 5-7lbs just sweating walking back. Finally we arrived home and I blasted the AC for the rest of the day. I made lunch for the boys and put them to bed for a nap. Friday naps are the best ones for me because I usually do just about nothing while they sleep. Except today! I was sitting in my room chatting away with my mother on MSN and I wanted a drink so I ran downstairs to grab a drink and as I came down the stairs I noticed Tyler the cat jumping out of the kids play area. I was just like, meh she always gets into weird places she is not supposed to be when we are not around. I grabbed a drink and went upstairs continue chatting with me ma. Well I no sooner sat down at the computer and I hear an awful sound coming from downstairs. I hear an awful yowling sound, and loud too. So I run back downstairs to see what the deal is, and I see Tyler lying in the middle of the living room floor in a most awkward position with her leg half cocked out making this awful death cry. I got freaked/grossed out and didn't want to touch her. I said her name and she didn't respond at all then she opened her mouth and looked sooooooo freaky! Then I turned and walked away towards the stairs and she rigidly lifted her head and gave me the strangest stare with her mouth open. I raced upstairs and my next IM to mom said this " OMG the cat is dying! What do I do, what do I do !?!" I ran back downstairs to check on her and she had moved under the coffee table and seemed to be freaked but okay. I ran through a few possibilities with mom and concluded to just leave her and keep an eye on her. I watched her and all seemed fine, and Charli told me that she had done that once before. They didn't know if it was a type of seizure or what. Whew! They don't think that I killed their cat!

Right after supper I was sitting with the boys at the table. Charli had gone upstairs to the bathroom and I was waiting for Liam to finish his pizza. I heard the chickens making an racket outside. I weird noise, not regular clucking. I turned my head and saw a flash of white chasing the chickens. "What the hell was that!?!" I thought. I opened the door and saw a small white 'dog' chasing our chickens around. Now in my opinion if you can kick it across the room first try it is not a dog. But others say different. Anyways so I grabbed a piece of small piece of pvc pipe lying with the kids toys and chased the dog towards the gate, assuming it was open. When I rounded the corner by the trailer I noticed the gate was closed! The dog got backed into the corner and I didn't want to go any closer because I didn't know what it would do backed into a corner. I went through the house to open the gate on the other side and when I went back into the back yard the dog was gone! I have no idea where it came from or where it went, but it was gone. And no the heat was not getting to me! I think it may have squirmed out underneath the gate through a small hole. Charli came out to see what I was doing and I said "That's it! Seizing cats, mystery dogs, I am going to the liquor store!"

So after that off I went. It had been a day! Those things coupled with just the two kids and the heat were enough to push me over the edge. As I walked across the park I smelled the sweet smell of BBQ. Oh how I miss the taste of BBQ steak or meat at all for the matter. I nearly jumped the fence and stole their stuff right off the grill. These people don't even own a BBQ. Who wants to grill veggies and tofu anyway! I know that grilled veggies are quite good, but no one buys a BBQ just to grill veggies. They grill veggies to go along with their MEAT! So that was a bit of a slap in the face after a shitacular day. Also although it was the evening, and there was a bit of a "breeze." I suspect that is the same type of "breeze" that comes from the ass end of a boeing 747 jet during take off. It felt like someone was standing in front of me with a giant hair dryer just blowing hot hair on me. Mmmmm sweaty!

I got up to Woolies and to my surprise saw a beat boxing flute player. Yep that is correct. Outside the grocery store/beer store there was a beat boxing flute player. First one I have ever seen! While I was in the liquor store I saw the most interesting drink. Here they have things premixed in bottles and cans. Like Jack and cola or Jim Beam and Cola but this, this was different! I bought one to have on my way back home. As I walked back home I stopped in the park to enjoy a bevvy. Yes ma, that is your daughter sitting in the park drinking from a brown paper bag! Actually I just left the bag on for added effect, lol. So the drink that I bought and the drink inside the bag was a straight tribute to Amy ass Murray. I found a tequila pre-mixed drink. It was soooooooo good, and I am considering ditching the shitty Aussie beer and just drinking that from now on lol. Amy if you were her you would love it. It is like tequila candy in a bottle.

After drinking in the park I returned home to write this, and it took me twice as long because I kept drinking beers in the dark, and may have made some typos, lol. That was my Friday, but I am soo much looking forward to my weekend. I am going to the beach tomorrow, and then a bushwalking tour on Sunday. I will keep you posted! Thanks for tuning in!

Dry Spell.....

Well guys I don't have much to write. Things have been super slow around here, and I haven't been up to much these days. Just hanging out with the family, and keeping it pretty mellow. Also the weather has not been great on weekends with forecasts of rain, so that has kept me from going out and about and doing stuff interesting enough to write about. Not to worry tho, this weekend shall be filled with some sort of venture. I am not hanging out waiting for the rain to stop any more. If it is raining this weekend, I will get wet, lol.
Thanks to all who follow this silly thing, and I have been diggin the comments and messages on facebook.
Well guys that's it for today, more to come in the week I suppose. Peace!

Forecasting......Rain with Partial Puss......

TGIF!!! That is for sure. Not that I had a particularly long or hard week, but right about now I feel like shotgunning a 40. Today was just one of those days......you know one of those I say black he says white, I say up he says down kind of days. It is days like this that I wish it was still social acceptable to hit children (kidding of course, I would never). Just to top things off they are forecasting grey skies, and possible rain for the weekend. Plus I woke up this morning and my left eye was glued shut. It just doesn't make sense, I worked in a daycare for years with the little disease carriers, and may have gotten pink-eye once. Now I am in a private home with two children and BAM! pink-eye. So I thought, well no biggy I will just run up to the drugstore and grab some polysporin........wrong! I went and asked one of the chickies that worked there if they had polysporin drops. When she looked at me like I had 7 heads I realized they didn't have polysporin here in Australia. Well one would figure that they would have another brand or something similar to that, welllllll they don't! Go figure that here in Australia the medicare system has such a tight reign on things that you need a perscription for treatment of pink-eye. It is a damn good thing that I am living with a RN and an ex-paramedic that can fink me some treatment for my pussy eye.

And another thing......what kind of world am I living in that when I go to the library with the kids and I ask where the Robert Munsch is and the librarian looks at me with a blank stare. Then after checking the database says that there is one library that has a few books and if I like she can put them on reserve so that I can go and pick them up. SAY WHAT!!! Isn't Robert Munsch a staple to any childrens section of the library. They also failed to have Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Brown Bear Brown Bear and several other household names in Canada. I was shocked! I asked Peter if he had ever heard of these books, or was this just a dodgy library. He seemed as clueless as the librarian. These poor deprived children! Although maybe it is best that they don't know what they are missing. We originally went to the library to get some books on snow, and ice and things because the oldest boy asked me the other day "Jessica, do you know about the snowman animal?" I chuckled and explained to him that a snowman was not an animal, but something you make out of snow. He was so interested to hear tales of snowmen, snowforts, snowballs and piles of snow higher then he is tall. It must be amazing not to have any idea what snow is, and to have only seen it on TV or books.

Well I am hoping that this weekends weather doesn't turn out too bad, because I would really like to get out and about a bit more. I want to head back into the city and I have been trying to make it to Manly beach for weeks now. Aw well I also have packages to send out so we will see if I have transit fare after that. Well for the night I leave you with this link that Matt posted on my facebook wall. For those of you who didn't see it on there, you really should have a read, it is freakin hilarious! I hope you all have a wonderful Friday.

Check it out ---> http://www.cracked.com/funny-163-australia/