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