City 2 Surf 2010

Good morning Everyone!

Today was the annual City 2 Surf race in Sydney! People start at Hyde Park in the centre of Sydney, and run to Bondi Beach, which is about 14 kms. My friend Molly ran both last year and this year, and since the building we live on is right along the race route, Jeff and I decided to head down to the street and be part of the excitement!

The 2nd heat of people heading towards us from
Hyde Park - the first one was just as big! 

It was incredible to see so many people all out to a charity event, and even within the masses we managed to catch a glimpse of Molly running past us!

I caught her just in time! I was positive there was no way we would find her in that many people, so she caught me very off guard when I heard my name!

Last year there were about 75 000 people that ran, and for this morning's race there were 85 000 participants! So glad that we were able to catch Mol in the masses!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Jeff & Leah
xoxo

Jobs, Placement & School - Oh My!

Hello everyone!!

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last 6 weeks. July was a very busy month down here! Heather has found a job at Bondi Pizza; a gourmet pizza restaurant in the very busy Bondi Junction. She's been putting in a lot of hours to save up as much money as she can before she starts to travel and see the sights of Australia.

Showing our team spirit at ANZ Stadium

Leah has ticked off another box on her Master's "to-do" list. July 30th was her final day of placement at St. Joseph's hospital in Auburn and she's already started the new one. At the hospital she was working with adult clients who have had a stroke or have degenerative diseases, and are experiencing speech/language difficulties. Her new placement is at The Sheperd Centre in Roseville which is in the Northern part of Sydney. She is working with hearing impaired children who have hearing aids or cochlear implants. On her first day she observed and participated in therapy sessions, and the rest of her week has been clinical meetings with all staff members of the various centres in New South Wales and Canberra. The meetings have been a great way to learn a lot of background information about the field of Auditory Verbal Therapy, and the various factors that contribute to cases of individuals with hearing impairment. She was nervous heading into it since it is so different than most speech pathology practices, but she seems to be excited about what she will learn this placement.


I have almost three weeks in the books as a full time teacher with my year 1/2 split class at Coogee Public School. The weeks are already flying by! There have been a lot of things going on at the school so far this term. There has been at least one day every week where something is going on that eats up a whole day. Whether it's the Athletics Carnival, NAIDOC Day (celebrating Aboriginal Heritage) or Sustainability Day where the kids learn about the 3 R's, it's been fun for the kids (and for me!). It has made it a bit tricky to establish a routine with the kids, but it's coming. I'm really enjoying the kids and the life of a teacher; the days are pretty busy, it all seems hectic while it's happening, but all of a sudden the bell goes and another day has gone. I put in some pretty long days the first couple of weeks, but now that I'm organized I feel like I can sit back and enjoy my evenings.


Even with all of this going on, the three of us are still managing to get out once in a while. We met up with Luke, Tamara, Tamara's sister Claire, and their friend (also Claire) for a BBQ on Saturday followed by our last visit to ANZ Stadium to watch the Sydney Swans. They got slaughtered by the defending champions, but it's always a fun time. And just in case that wasn't enough fun, we're planning a big night out Friday in the Rocks... we're all very excited!

Heather taking in the view of Bondi Beach

The weather here has been up and down lately; there's been a lot of rain, but also some pretty warm and sunny afternoons - today especially! It felt a lot like spring, which is appropriate since spring kicks in September 1st here. I think we're all about ready for the warm weather to return, especially since we've been hearing about the wonderful weather back home.

I guess that's all for now - we'll try and post more frequently as we're coming down the home stretch down under - CHEERS!

Jeff, Leah & Heather
xoxoxo

ht has arrived! :)

Hello all!

  Leah and Jeff decided that it would be my task to update the blog, since I’ve now been their new roomie for over a week!  Just to clarify, it’s Heather (Leah’s sister) writing.  I’m not a frequent blogger, nor am I a stellar journalist, so bare with me. 

  Now, where to begin…

  Well, I left home 2 weeks ago on the 15^th of June.  I extended my layover until Wednesday night, so I got to spend one night with my best friend Sherri and her fiancé Wayne out in Vancouver.  After a fantastic visit with them, it was time to leave trusty ole Canada and head down unda.  By the time I finally got to Sydney it was about 8am on Friday the 18^th, local time.  Leah and her friend Tamara were at the airport to greet me, and let me tell you, after that hefty flight, I sure was happy to see them. 

  After spending a nice low-key day settling in after my early-morning arrival on Friday, the next day Lee, Jeff and I walked down to Circular Quay, where I got some gorgeous views (and pics, as you’ll see below) of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.  We grabbed some lunch on a rooftop nearby, walked through some markets, and made our way through the Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park.  The day was topped off with an evening over at Luke and Tamara’s place for dinner and Wii Bowling (at which I was an all-star, thank you very much! Haha). 

  I am currently still on the hunt for a job, but hopefully I’ll be a workin’ girl in no time.  Until then, I’m enjoying my days wandering throughout the city, getting to know my new home.  Since Leah’s placement only has her in Wednesday through Friday, we were able to get out today to Bondi Beach.  Although 15 degrees doesn’t sound too warm, it was a lovely (and sunny!) winter day down at the beach.  We got some gorgeous photos and took a nice stroll down the beach. 

  All in all, I’m having a splendid time here.  It’s so great to see these two again, and I can’t wait to see all the trouble we get in to in the coming months.

  Hope all is well!!

Love and Smiles,

   -ht-  xox

East Coast Excursions: Part 2

We spent Friday morning on the beach and wandering through town. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and we clearly weren't the only people who thought so! It seemed there were twice as many people in the town as there had been the day before. 

at the beach in Byron Bay

After heading back into town for a quick lunch, it was time for our surfing lesson! Our instructor picked us up at our hostel and we headed to the beach. After suiting up in some very fashionable wetsuits, we spent about 30 minutes learning the techniques, physical aspects of waves and how to use rips to our advantage. Luckily there weren't any rips too close to us so we didn't have to test that one out! Then it was into the water! Our timing was impecable, as the tide was coming in, creating some fairly large waves for us. While that makes for good surfing, it also makes it super tricky to get back out to where you started especially when you're travelling with a gigantic surfboard for the first time! ...I think I'll let the following photos speak for themselves! 

my first ride                                                                    Jeff's first ride

It was certainly a lot of work but so much fun! Since it is winter time here it gets dark quite early, so following our lesson, our drive down to Coffs Harbour was in the dark. 

Saturday morning it was pouring rain in Coffs Harbour so we ventured out to the Clog Barn for some lovely Dutch pancakes and a quick wander around the little Dutch village. 

Then it was back to the highway to visit the Big Banana! We were able to get up close and personal with the banana, and wandered through the small complex that housed an ice skating rink (which we haven't come across too often in our travels here), and small shops. Across the way we visited Coffs Candy Kitchens, where we watched a demonstration of custom made candy while surrounded by candy! That day they were making candy for the Ronald MacDonald House, so we watched as they combined the thick slabs of coloured sugar to create each layer of the personalized candies. It was incredible to see how quickly a gigantic tube of candy could be stretched out to make tiny little sticks while still maintaining the text within.

Once we reached Port Macquarie, we headed to the Koala Hospital. The hospital admits between 200-300 koalas each year for various reasons including illness, disease and injuries. The koalas are treated in the clinic area, and as they recuperate they are moved to the outdoor yards until they are ready to be reintroduced into the wild (if this is possible). We went on a walking tour of the facilities during their feeding times, and were able to meet what they believe is the oldest koala in captivity, Birthday Girl (the oldest koala in the Guiness Book of World Records is 23, and Birthday Girl is 24) [photo on the right]. We met many others including this little cutie - it is rare to see floppy ears like this on a koala [photo on the left]. 

Sunday morning it was time to start making our way back to Sydney but not without a quick camel ride along the beaches just south of Port Macquarie! They were Dromedary camels (one hump), which are extremely common in Australia, with over 1.2 million estimated to be wild in the outback. 

It was a rough take off and landing, as you can imagine it's not easy for a 500Kg animal to stand up and lay down!  Once we were going we took in the breathtaking landscapes, ocean, sands, trees, mountains, and enjoyed our stroll down the beach. 

The drive back to Sydney was a sunny 4 hours and we were able to take in some of the beautiful countryside in New South Wales!

We stopped into have a quick visit with Luke, Tamara and Hina at Hina's new place! Then it was back to reality. We had a lovely little surprise waiting in our mailbox when we got in, and promptly opened the package from Kim and Erik to look at all the photos and videos of our little nephew that they had sent to us!


This week has been a quiet one, but we have started getting things ready for Heather's arrival - which is only two weeks away!


Hope all is well at home.


Jeff & Leah
xoxo

East Coast Excursions: Part 1

I am pleased to report that I have written my last exam EVER! Tuesday morning we wrote our last exam of the program, and then went for lunch as a class. Since we will be embarking on different clinical placements over the next 7 months, it will likely be the last time that we were together as a whole class! It was great to have a little visit and recap the last 18 months of madness, and let me tell you - it feels great to have that behind me!

Jeff had his first day of a 5 week teaching block today. He will be with a year 4 extension class for the remaining weeks of the term so things are going to be busy around here, especially once Heather arrives and then I start my next clinical placement! But more on those things later - first, a recap of our adventure!

Tuesday evening we set out on our latest Australian Adventure! Of course, Jeff couldn't let our getaway begin without a little excitement, waiting until 3 minutes before check-in closed to arrive to meet me at the airport for our flight up to the Gold Coast! My heart was racing as I waited for him to meet me after teaching for the day down in Gymea, standing there with all of our bags. I was incredibly glad to see him come up the escalator and we ran through to pick up his boarding pass and onto security.

We were breathing a small sigh of relief that we had made it once we arrived at our gate, only to realize that the airline had changed the departure gate after printing our boarding passes - and to boot, the new gate was at the exact opposite end of the terminal - so the race continued! As we arrived at our new gate, our flight had already begun boarding and we were in our seats within no more than 5 minutes.

After arriving on the Gold Coast, we hit up the Hard Rock Cafe at Surfer's Paradise for some dinner, and following a stroll along the beach, called it a night!

The next morning we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise from our balcony, and headed out to meet Steve for our Kayaking adventure. It was a gorgeous morning, and the water was a balmy 22 degrees. We paddled our way to a little inlet on the east side of an island, where Jeff went snorkeling as Steve and I fed the fish around him. The magnification of the goggles provided us with many giggles as Jeff felt he was being swarmed by the little fish. There were several varieties, all different sizes, and Jeff thought there were probably close to 80 fish around him at one point! We retreated back to the warm beaches, and had a lovely picnic breakfast before continuing onto our next destination, Snake Island. The water was incredibly clear allowing us to see much of the ocean life around us, including some jellyfish up close and personal! Once we got to Snake Island, we hopped out of our kayaks and wandered along the paths to the opposite side of the island. We came across a golden wallaby, which are very rare, while we headed to the beach to check out the surfers and take in the views. The paddle back was a bit more challenging as the wind had picked up but eventually we made it back, and just in time to see the pelicans begin to gather for their daily feeding on the beach.

Wednesday night we ventured along the esplanade for the evening markets, picked up a couple of cupcakes and packed it in early to get ready for the rest of our adventures! Thursday morning we got off to an early start, and began our drive down the east coast. The rain appeared as soon as we crossed back into New South Wales, but that only seemed to add to the atmosphere while we visited the Crystal Castle just outside of Byron Bay. This castle has several gardens, statues and crystal sculptures set about the premises, with paths and sitting areas along the way. Here you can have your horoscope read, photos of your auras taken and take part in yoga and meditation classes, however Jeff and I decided just to stroll about the beautiful gardens. It was incredibly peaceful, and as we headed back into Byron, the sun started to peek through the clouds. We drove up to the lighthouse, and walked along the pathway leading us to the most easterly point of Australia`s mainland. The views were incredible, with extensive beaches on both sides of the cape.

Just a short drive closer to the city was what is called `The Pass`, where we stopped to watch some of the best surfers in the area! That night was a full moon, so apparently the swell was pretty good - but what do we know! We took some inspiration from what we were watching and signed up to take some surfing lessons the next day!

Stay tuned - more to come!

Jeff & Leah
xoxo

Still Alive!

Hi Everybody!

 

It's been a long time since the last update and a lot has been happening. The best news in the last 6 weeks is definitely the arrival of our nephew; Jensen Erik Gruber! He arrived on April 22nd at 10:38 p.m. (Ontario time), at 8 pounds 1oz. Thanks to the miracle of technology, we have had the chance to see the little guy in pictures, video and on Skype. He's extremely cute and we can't wait to hold him and play with him when we get home.

In other news, since our return from Tasmania, I have managed to get fairly steady work between teaching at Gymea Bay and Coogee as well as a few days in the day care just to fill the gaps. I had a full week with a grade 3 class at the end of April, but other than that, it's mostly been the day to day stuff. I have a couple of days lined up for this week, and then next week I start 5 weeks with a grade 4 class to finish off term two; something I have been looking forward to for quite some time now.

 

As for Leah, she is one exam and one assignment away from finishing off her third term of her degree! While it was only a 10 week term, there was an awful lot of work put into it between assignments and plans; but most of her time went into her school-based placement down in Miranda. All of that hard work was worth it in the end when she got her evaluation back from her supervisor as she achieved very high regards.

 

Even though we have been quite busy the last 6 weeks, we have still managed to enjoy our time in Sydney - spending time in the park, hanging out with our friends and also planning our next trip which beings on Tuesday! We are catching a flight up to the Gold Coast in Queensland on Tuesday, spending a couple of days in Surfer's Paradise before renting a car and making a few stops down the coast before coming back to Sydney. There are a few nice little towns along the coast with some tourist attractions along the way, so it should be a very nice few days of driving and most important - very relaxing!

 

The weather here has started to cool off quite a bit. Up until about May 12th, we were still having very sunny days and highs of 22-24 here in Sydney. But for the last week or so, the highs are about 18-21 with the odd rainy day every now and then. It still gets quite warm in the middle of the day with the sunshine, but there's a chill in the air on the way to the train/bus in the morning - so the "winter" jackets have come out of the closet.

 

We hope you are all enjoying the long weekend and that you've been keeping well. Stay tuned for a review of our trip up the coast.

Take care everybody!

 

Jeff and Leah

xoxo

Tassie Tour

Hello Friends!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and ate lots of chocolate!

Earlier today we returned home from our Easter trip to "Under Down Under" aka Tasmania. We have heard from most people that Tasmania is abundant in natural beauty, and our trip allowed us to see it all. We started in Hobart and headed up to Bicheton - a very old, remote town, but very nice. There was a stop along the way to see Coles Bay and Wineglass Bay, where we saw nice mountain top views of all the surrounding, very blue, water.

After we headed out of Bicheton we began our trip up to Launceston, which involved a stop at a wildlife reserve. At this reserve they had a number of kangaroos just roaming about, free for

petting and feeding. And what trip to Tasmania would be complete without a close encounter with a Tasmanian Devil? They are very cute little creatures, even when they are devouring the remains of a bird... which we also saw.

Later that afternoon we stopped for lunch and a walk along the beach at the Bay of Fires. As legend has it, from out on the water the bay often appeared to be filled with fire as the Aborigines set up camps all along the beach.

We then headed over to the west coast which is rich in rain forests, waterfalls, unique trees (both due to their size and species), and mountains. We went on many hikes and nature walks, breathing in the crisp air and of course, enjoying the sights. And as is almost customary with every guided tour, we headed to the beach - Ocean Beach, which boasts a 30 mile coast, some massive waves and the closest to South America you can get from Tassie.

Just behind this beach are 30 and 40 meter sand dunes which we had the opportunity to climb up and take in the views from.

On the drive back across the middle of the state we passed through one of the major National Parks in Tasmania and stopped to take a small walk to the mouth of the Franklin River (where Mount Franklin bottled water is from). Our next stop was at Lake St. Clair; the deepest lake in Tasmania. While it was very beautiful, it looked very similar to Northern Ontario so we made a quick trip to the lookout and back.

Next we took a bit of a longer walk through a more tropical rainforest that had some of the tallest and oldest trees in Tasmania. Jeff was able to stand inside the trunk of one of the trees that had fallen over. This particular species begins to 'die' from the inside, creating a hollow trunk.

Five days sure seems like a short time, but it was long enough for us to make a few new friends. A teacher from Brisbane (Angela), and a couple of others who also live in Brisbane but originate from Italy (Priscilla) and Poland (Michael). After our tour finished, we ran into them by complete accident twice in a matter of 12 hours while in Hobart... no, it's not a very big city! It was nice to have a little company to enjoy the last part of our trip!

Now that the trip is over, it's back to reality. Leah got an email from Sydney Uni informing her of her next placement at St. Joseph's Hospital in Auburn which is in Sydney's Western suburbs, about 30 minutes away. It will be 3 days a week for 6 weeks starting June 21st. As for me, school holidays are still on next week so I'm planning to continue to take it easy and maybe just take care of things around the apartment.

Hope you're all well and we'll be in touch soon!

Jeff and Leah

xoxo