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