Hi everyone - Happy February! By now, my parents should be about 4 hours into their long journey back to the US. I shed a few tears this morning as they pulled away, and then, as if I needed another reason for an emotional breakdown, that David Duchovny/Minnie Driver movie Return to Me was on TV this afternoon. You know that movie - the one where David's wife dies in a car accident and their dog keeps waiting at the door of their home for her to return, and then David meets and falls in love with Minnie, who just happens to be the woman who received his wife's heart in her heart transplant surgery...yes, that is the one. So, I write this blog with a few serious cries good and out of the way. On to the positive!
Isn't it Super Bowl weekend? For us it will be Super Bowl Monday, as it will be broadcast over here on Monday morning at 10am. "Super Bowl Monday" just doesn't seem to have quite the same ring to it as "Super Bowl Sunday" always does.
Huge congratulations to some of our dear friends on recent engagement announcements and some other dear friends on surviving their first holiday season with baby boys. You all know who you are. These engagements lead me to a brief run-down of travel plans that we have so far, just in case some of you are beginning to look at flights to come visit us here in Australia. We'd hate to miss you! Andy and I will be in Tasmania 2/24-3/1. It looks like Andy will be making a quick trip to the Minneapolis area sometime in June. We will both be making a trip to the Portland and Duluth areas toward mid to late August. Then we'll be visiting central Australia 9/4-9/11. By that time we'll have been living here for a year, and Andy and I have declared that "all bets are off" as to where we'll be living following the September central Australia trip. Andy is definitely pulling for some time in New Zealand.
Ahhh - New Zealand. New Zealand was incredible. We're definitely looking forward to spending more time in that country. But I am a bit ahead of myself in sharing about our trip with Ray & Marcia. Back up to January 5th- (I promise I'll try to keep it as concise as possible, but there really is just so much to share! Get yourself comfy is what I suggest):
Jan. 5 - we took the train from Melbourne to Geelong, and spent the afternoon strolling the harbour, eating fresh mussels, and eating* (again) at a local pub called The Bended Elbow British Ale House.
*I will refer to 'eating' multiple times throughout this trip description*
Jan. 6 - our 6am flight took us to Sydney. Ray & Marcia spent the day touring the ferries and Manly Beach with some friends they had met in Melbourne, while Andy and I ferried around the harbour and enjoyed late afternoon in The Rocks historic district.
Jan. 7 - we spent most of the day at Bondi Beach. It was gorgeous. We saw the Spanish Harlem Orchestra perform at Sydney Opera House - definitely one of the many highlights of this trip.
Jan. 8 - we were on an all-day Blue Mountains bus tour trip. I got to pet a koala and we saw our first crocodile. That night Ray, Andy, and I had dinner at the Lowenbrau Pub in The Rocks district and wandered around a bit while Marcia stayed in.
Jan. 9 - we visited Sydney Tower and then boarded the massive Princess Sapphire cruise ship around 3pm! This ship has a passenger capacity of 2670, and we believe this sailing was sold out. It literally took us (all of us) days to find our way around the ship. There were 6 pools and 8 hot tubs, a casino, a shopping area, multiple bars, restaurants, and nightclubs, an entire spa area, an internet cafe, a library, a movie theater....ok, you get the picture. This ship is like a massive luxury moving town! It was incredible to even be standing on board this ship, looking around Sydney Harbour, looking at the Sydney Opera House - it really felt like a dream. We pulled out of Sydney around 9pm that night.
Jan. 10 - day at sea. Andy was a good sport and dragged himself out of bed at 5:30am with me to watch our first at-sea sunrise. My mom and I spent hours lying beside the pool. Lots of eating.
Jan. 11 - day in Melbourne. As Melbourne is old news to us four, we stayed on the ship and lazed around. Played some shuffleboard, caught the afternoon movie, etc. Lots of eating.
Jan. 12 - day in Hobart, Tasmania. My parents excursioned (not sure if that is a proper use of that word) to Port Arthur, while Andy and I toured Hobart on our own. Lots of eating.
Jan. 14 - day at sea. Lots of eating.
Jan. 15 - day at sea. Lots of eating.
Jan. 16 - Fiordland National Park scenic cruising. Without a doubt, this was the most spectacular event of our entire trip! It was quite unbelieveable that this ship could be maneuvered up and down the sounds that we visited. And it was quite unbelieveable that we were doing it, and with my parents by our sides. We had a splendidly clear, warm day in an area that receives rainfall over 200 days/year. The pictures only hint at the magnitude of this region of our world, and I must recommend to everyone that you go to see this majestic location. The only downside to this day was that I was now fighting a pretty serious sore throat and nasty cold that was making me feel miserable, and the boat was rolling pretty good at times. Poor Marcia even threw up in a plastic bag as we lounged on the back deck. This event will stay with me forever! My poor mom and I, quite ill, while our two men sleep away in deck loungers at our sides :) Despite our illnesses, still lots of eating.
Jan. 17 - day in Dunedin. Andy and I were scheduled to do an afternoon sea kayaking trip, but the weather was rainy and a bit windy, so our tour was cancelled. Last minute we jumped aboard my parents' excursion that took us on an afternoon bus tour of the city of Dunedin and provided us a visit to Larnach Castle. Lots of eating.
Jan. 18 - day in Christchurch. My parents had an all-day bus & train tour of the region, while Andy and I did some Class 3, 4, & 5 white water rafting on the Rangitata River. Another huge event for us on this trip! 28 people from the cruise ship went on this excursion, and 6 of them found themselves out of their raft, floating down some pretty serious rapids at one point during the day. Andy and I definitely think some of these people had litle idea of what exactly Class 5 river rafting meant, and they certainly ended up experiencing much more than they had bargained for. Thankfully everyone survived and, although they were a little bit rattled, ended the day with smiles on their faces. One lady told me, "My kids are never going to believe that I did this!" This same lady was one of the 6 that had gotten tossed out of her raft, and she had slight wounds to her arms and face to prove it. During slow periods of the river, I would put my hand down in the blue-gray glacial water and think to myself, "I'm rafting in New Zealand," while trying to soak up our surrounds all the while. Really great.
Jan. 19 - day at sea - We're starting to get sad that our cruise is going to come to an end. Lots of eating. My dad and I played Bingo in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and even bet on some wooden horse racing, but came away in the hole every time.
Jan. 20 - day at Tauranga - all 4 of us did an all-day bus tour to the town of Rotorua, visiting a geothermal reserve, a Maori cultural lunch and musical/dance performance, and, wait for it......the Agrodome! And you know what? I have to type that the Agrodome was pretty cool. We saw 19 different breeds of sheep and a sheep-shearing demonstration to boot! Andy and I agree - we have never known so much about sheep as we do now.
Jan. 21 - our ship docks in Auckland. We disembarked at 10am, and by 10:45 we had picked up a rental car and were on our way to the beach town of Hahei, along the northeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Auckland. At 2pm we checked into our beachhouse, strolled along the beach, shopped at the local grocery store, grilled burgers for dinner, and beach strolled some more. We were a little bit disappointed, as the weather was kinda overcast and misty, and campers that we chatted with told us that we had just missed a solid month of superb weather and calm, tranquil waters, but it was impressive none the less. Not quite as much eating, now that we don't have a 24-hour buffet (or trough, as Andy and I prefer to call it) or our usual 8 restaurants providing 5-course meals to choose from each night, but we got by.
Jan. 22 - all 4 of us hiked to Cathedral Cove. Beautiful - both the hike and the destination. Strolled around Hot Water Beach. Visited Purangi Winery - by far the most laid-back, chill winery I have ever visited. If I ever go missing (by choice, of course) you could probably find me there. Took an off-the-beaten-path route on our way back to Auckland, checked into our hotel near the airport, returned the rental car, and cheers'd ourselves for a vacation well done. We landed back in Melbourne on the 23rd around 9:45am.

Whew! Well, that is going to have to just about do it for my blogging today. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and vacation recap.

To my parents - you are terribly missed already. Thank you so much for everything, and for being here with us for the holidays especially. It's nearly like you had the chance to live in Australia with me, not just visit us, and that remains quite unbelieveable and will always be a blessing. I'll start work on our next folder of travels real soon :)

Hugs and kisses all around - Cheers!

Love, Christy

Mini-Post

Hello all! In an effort to appease the masses, here are a couple of pictures from our cruise and New Zealand. We are back in Melbourne and attempting a return to a somewhat structured life. My parents leave this Friday morning, and we'll definitely have more posted soon. Cheers!

Love, Christy

Dec. 25-31, 2007 photos and update

Hello everyone. Hoping this finds 2008 off to a fantastic start for everybody! Vacation continues to rule our lives with Ray & Marcia here. Here's a brief breakdown of what we've been up to, which will help explain some of the pictures within the slideshow above:
Dec. 25 - Christmas Day! We enjoyed a breakfast feast prepared by Andy, and then continued to indulge all day, with spurts of opening gifts mixed in here and there. It was a gorgeous day, so warm in fact that the men carved the ham outside on the back porch to make more space in our little apartment kitchen. Our friend Ash joined us for the majority of the day - this being his 2nd Christmas celebration experience - adding much humor, knowledge, champagne, Indian food, & love to our day.
Dec. 26 - Boxing Day - We attended the Australia vs. India Cricket Test Match (Day 1) at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground. Again, Ash joined us and tutored all of us in the basics & intricacies of the game. We were there all day - 10am to 6pm - amongst a crowd of about 67,000. I feel proud that I can now watch a cricket match and know what is going on!
Dec. 27 - 29 - We picked up a rental car and headed out of town to drive along the Great Ocean Road. Saw many sights and breathtaking scenery. Nearly lost Ray & Marcia to carsickness our first afternoon, but they made a strong recovery. Spent our first night in the small town of Colac. Continued our drive along the coast the next day, stopping for a visit at Cheese World, and making our way up to the town of Halls Gap within Grampians National Park. Again, impressive scenery that we will certainly visit again. Our hotel this second night had many wild kangaroos and 2 emus just roaming the grounds, and we actually saw some kangaroo boxing!!! I am not kidding! We sat outside watching the sunset, watching the kangaroos, taking in our surroundings, and questioning the reality of it all. It was really stunning. We spent Dec. 29 visiting the Brambuk National Park & Cultural Centre, learning about the history of the area and the Aboriginals that have lived here for thousands of years. That afternoon we visited a few lookout areas and hiked to McKenzie Falls. Throughout this entire trip, it felt great to leave the city behind & get back out into nature, and to begin to see more of this country in which we live.
Dec. 30 - We BBQ'd at our friends Rosemary & Jung's home. We enjoyed a massive meat fest, shared many good drinks and laughs, and listened as Jung told us his story about fleeing Vietnam when he was 17 years old. I found myself sitting there, looking around, looking at my parents & Andy, taking in our environment, and again being amazed at the unbelieveable reality of the situation. Stories such as Jung's make our complaints about the hardships of moving abroad seem absolutely ridiculous and petty, and I am thankful for this enlightenment.
Dec. 31 - Melbourne recorded the hottest New Year's Eve day on record, topping off at just over 41 degrees Celsius, which equates to about 106 degrees Fahrenheit. We spent a few hours at South Melbourne Beach (Andy and I mostly sat in the shade) and then returned home to prepare for our big night out in the city. Our New Year's Eve Yarra River Cruise could not have been a more perfect way to celebrate the new year.
Jan. 1 - We declared a day off and stayed in our air-conditioned bedroom until nearly 3pm, before finally making our way out to the couch, with just enough motivation to order a bunch of Thai food to be delivered. The outside temperature cooled by about 10 degrees, which finally made it bearable to open the doors and move around the apartment a bit. It was an awesomely lazy day.

So, that's about it I guess. Andy is working 3 days this week, I've a job interview on Friday morning, we'll be spending Saturday in Geelong, and then flying to Sydney early Sunday morning. We will be in Sydney until Wednesday, board the cruise ship that day, and return to Melbourne from Auckland, New Zealand on January 23. Delays in blog postings are extremely likely throughout the month of January :)

Again, Cheers to the New Year! Thanks to everyone who made the special effort to ship us Christmas packages and letters - I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it felt to receive items from "home." Your thoughtfulness is so appreciated.

Be well-
Love, Christy

Happy New Year from Melbourne!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Andy & Christy, Ray & Marcia!

In 1897, Francis P. Church, an editorial writer at the now defunct New York newspaper The Sun, received a letter from a girl called Virginia, questioning the existence of Father Christmas. Here is her letter and his famous reply:

Dear Editor,

I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth: is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon

Dear Virginia,

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.

They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little.

In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.

There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus? You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart.

Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside the curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all the world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, 10 times 10 thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

On a lighter note, here are some Aussie-style lyrics to the classic Jingle Bells:

Dashing through the bush

in a rusty Holden ute

kicking up the dust

esky in the boot

Kelpie by my side

singing Christmas songs

It's summer-time and I am in

my singlet, shorts & thongs

Oh, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Jingle all the way

Christmas in Australia

on a scorching summer's day.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Christmas-time is beaut

Oh, what fun it is to ride

in a rusty Holden ute

Engine's getting hot

dodge the kangaroos

swaggy climbs aboard

he is welcome too.

All the family is there

sitting by the pool

Christmas Day, the Aussie Way

By the barbecue!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love, Christy & Andy

Various Pictures since Ray & Marcia's arrival

Hi everyone. Finally I am getting around to posting some pictures - good thing it's been raining for a few days, providing us with the opportunity to sit around the house a bit and take it easy.





Andy is officially on vacation as of Thursday at 5pm. We all celebrated by having EggBake for breakfast on Friday, followed by 90 minute Thai Massages, followed by afternoon tea. Ray & Andy then picked up a variety case of wine on their way home, so we continued to celebrate and live the luxurious life by popping open a bottle of Sparkling Shiraz. So, we are all doing just fine over here - don't worry about us.

The only minor hitch in our week was that we had a few rain downpour episodes here in Melbourne, which revealed a hidden bonus about our classic apartment: our kitchen window serves not only as a window, but also as a small interior waterfall, and the cupboards above our stove serve as an additional water feature. :) :(
We will see how this situation resolves itself in the coming weeks.

Enjoy the pictures, and we'll post again soon. Safe travels to everyone, everywhere, as you head off in all directions to spend the Holidays with those you love and cherish. We are thinking of you all, we are missing some of our Christmas traditions, but we are celebrating some old and new traditions as well. Cheers!

Love, Christy

MaSweany cookies pass inspection into Australia!

Hello, Hello everyone! My apologies for the long delay in blog posting; I've been busy hanging out with my parents :) We are having a fantastic time - the weather has been gorgeous, we've done a lot of walking & sightseeing, ridden a lot of trams, trains, & buses, eaten more than our share of good food, planned an incredible getaway for January, talked & laughed, laughed & talked, sneezed & blown our noses a lot, and installed a window air conditioner unit in my and Andy's bedroom. I am quite sure this installation is entirely against our apartment building policy, considering that we had to remove a pane of glass and slightly 'alter' (aka: carve away about 1/8 of an inch of wood) the wood window frame to get the unit to fit through, but hey, it was my dad's idea, and the incredible relief of sleeping in an air conditioned room last night and in the nights to come will definitely make up for the loss on our apartment deposit that is nearly guaranteed. We all think our work looks quite professional and will only lead to raising the value of the apartment, if only the owners will just keep an open mind about our alterations.
he he

Our 1st Christmas package from America arrived this week from Deb & Larry Sweany. The MaSweany cookies passed Australian Post quarantine checks, much to our relief and 'bites-of-MaSweany-cookies-straight-from-SD' bliss. They also sent 2 boxes of Fruity Pebbles for Andy and a South Dakota t-shirt and hat for us to represent SD while we are down here. Thanks so much, Deb & Larry!

It is with overflowing excitement that I tell you about our January getaway that we have planned! Andy and I and my parents fly to Sydney on January 6th, where we'll stay until the 9th. We've scheduled a Blue Mountains day trip, and also purchased tickets to see the Spanish Harlem Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House! On the
9th, we board a Princess cruise ship, and will spend the next 12 days on a New Zealand cruise, docking in Melbourne, Hobart (Tasmania), Fjordland National Park, Dunedin, Christchurch, Tauranga, and finally Auckland, New Zealand on January
21st. We'll spend 2 days in Auckland, and fly back to Melbourne on January
23rd. Every time I think about this trip, I pretty much want to start jumping up and down!

So, as our morning news puts it - only 10 more sleeps until Christmas. I continue to feel like I am not in any month in particular, but rather living out some dream/not-quite-real life. I think the combination of time, working, continuing to feel more settled, and having my parents here has helped in lessening my sadness about missing home, family, & friends. I feel like I've gone over an invisible hump, where when I think about home and family and friends, I'm not quite as sad as I was there for the first couple of months. I'm finding that I'm more excited and happy about our time here, a feeling that for a while I had to almost keep repeating to myself as one of the main reasons we had come. Andy and I had a 'cleansing' conversation with my parents last weekend, recapping that last busy month in Portland; packing, organizing, partying, being exhausted, crying, leaving, and then our first 6 weeks here in Melbourne and everything that that involved. It was weird to talk about it, knowing that it wasn't that long ago, but also feeling like it has been much longer than 4 months. Anyway, it is hard to describe in writing, but I am happy, and I feel like the original ideas & adventures that were the foundation for our wanting to live abroad are again revealing themselves. Thank goodness!


The pictures are of us with our SD gear and goodies, and also a shot of our mantle as we get ready for Christmas. We'll post another slideshow of photos soon of more pictures of my parents' visit so far.

Happy Holiday season to all! Be well.

Love, Christy