Sheilas Down Under

Home again, Home again!

2007-01-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well, the great adventure is over! The Australian part of it at least, Kate and I arrived home, tired and tanned on the morning of the 23rd and have been having a good time catching up with our men, and trying in vain to acclimatize to this disgustingly cold weather!

The trip went really well, I would give it three thumbs up! We had a bit of drama near the end, as the kidney disease that's been plaguing Lizzie caught up with me as well, so I got to see a little more of Australia than intended, staying overnight in a hospital near Perth. But other than that it was smooth sailing, and although I really miss the hot sun and warmth right now, I was sitting watching Adam play hockey last night and really couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be :)

We'll keep some more posts on here, of what we're up to PT (post-trip)and I'll also throw up a link to our pictures once I get my act together and post them...that's after I edit them down to a more manageable number than 899....gulp!

Here's some to keep you in the meantime!

Mandurah

2007-01-13T23:27:00.000-08:00

We're now in a place called Mandurah. Just south of Perth. Madeleine & I are going insane. We're tired of beaches and there really isn't anything else to do in oz. So today we went on a boat ride - with 60 year olds. It was surprisingly fun and very relaxing, but mostly it was a nice change.

We're going to drop Borat off tomorrow. I feel like apart of us is going to be ripped from our souls. Poor Borat, back to the market for him. But enough emotion. We're then heading to Rottnest Island to bike around and maybe do another dive for me. Speaking of which, the dives on Ningaloo Reef were amazing. Just as fabulous as the Great Barrier. The reef is smaller but somehow there's more colour and way more marine life. Such as sharks and 3 meter long shovelnose rays... just alittle freaky. Espeically when the dive master gets a kick from scaring the crap out of me. He pointed out a cute nudibranch (colourful underwater slug) and as I was swimming toward it, this little triggerfish tried to head-but me! He laughed so hard his mask filled with water! Very cute... didn't really want to fall for that one when there's obviously a 3m long creature lurking behind him!

I'm so excited to see every one soon.

- Katelyn

Jurien Bay

2007-01-11T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well Katelyn and I left Exmouth yesterday, and with it the unbearable 40 degree heat that had been plaguing us! I've never sweat so much in my life...little rivers running down my chest and did anyone know that your calves can sweat while you're just standing there? Yeah...hott.

We drove for ten hours yesterday, quite the marathon, and I did seven of them! It was an expensive day, as gas here is $1.50/L at some stations! Gulp...
I also got a fabulous neck burn, probably my best so far. It's really attractive and I can't wait to get back to Perth to show it off.

Borat doesn't have a cd player so we splurged and spent $10 on a Michael Jackson tape, probably the best purchase I've made this whole trip!

We haven't hit any wildlife yet, but our carcass count far outnumbers our live animal count..which is sort of sad.

We're off to see the Pinnacles today, which are huge towers of rock in the middle of the desert... this is what counts as a tourist attraction in WA!

Lots of love to you guys
xoxo
Madi

I put the 's' in pictures....

2007-01-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

Katelyn as Ned Kelly

Madi as...um...drunk?

a SHARK! OMG!

The Canadian Embassy in Cottesloe

Our Christmas pinata with presents for our men and Cedric on top!

Pictures!

2007-01-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

This was our Christmas Eve! More pics later

xoxo
Madi

Surprise!

2007-01-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

So, kate and I are indeed alive...sorry about the lack of updates lately but there's been some top-secret things going on! But now that it's all sorted, we can share - our new arrival day back to Canada is Jan 23!

The change was prompted by a few things, but mostly came out of several heart to heart's that Kate and I had, talking about why we came here in the first place and we both felt that we had accomplished the things we set out to and we really really wanted to be back with the people we love most!

Also, it was getting to the point where we were losing money by staying here, and although going into debt does go hand in hand with travelling, we really weren't having the best time working here. SO, we decided that rather than spend a month and a half working at jobs we didn't really like here then going home, we'd quit and spend three weeks travelling some more (since that's really what we're here to do) then go home a few weeks early!

So we worked our last shift at the bar on new years day, rented a 1998 Ford station wagon and a tent and have spent the last five days driving up the west coast to Exmouth!

It's been a great time so far, we've nicknamed our beast "Borat" for all his little quirks, and he's doing a great job getting us around. Driving in Oz is a little weird, Kate and I are both having trouble remembering that there's a car on the left side of us and other cars coming at us on our right! Also, there tends to be a lot of goats and roos wandering about the roads here! It's getting progressively more hot as we head north, I think it's hovering around 40 today...it's disgusting, we have to apply sunscreen before driving!!

We stopped along the way in Geraldton and Monkey Mia, spent a night in Coral Bay and arrived in Exmouth today. There are Emu's everywhere! Coming to the internet cafe, I got coralled by two of them and literally had to run the last block! Scarrry...

Anyway, that's what we're up to. I think Kate is going to ty and find a dive here to do, I am more preoccupied with finding shade..then to Karajini national park, then home to Cottesloe Beach...then to Sydney and then REALLY home, to Canada, and all of you!

xoxox
Madi

p.s. Mum, we're staying with Peter and Jennie Buckham in Sydney!

The first day of 2007

2007-01-01T08:24:00.001-08:00

This was a very trying day. We worked the new years day shift (which is also the Perth Cup - horse racing), and the only reason why we did it is because they paid us double. But let me tell you, it was not fun. I felt aweful the entire time. Madeleine was just a little slow in the mind, but otherwise fine... ugh.. you think her turning 23 would finally set in the hangovers, but no, she's a lucky one. Hopefully the rest of you Somervilles have the same luck!

So we might be renting a stationwagon to travel up to Exmouth! It's going to be really funny. We'll re-inact National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! "Odoile Rules!" There's this company that rents out the stationwagon with an icebox, chairs, a table, cookery and a little bbq. Just perfect. I think it's going to be a nice change from hostelling all over the place. And it should be cheaper with more sightseeing opportunities. We'll see I guess. I'm just exciting to start planning on getting out of here. I'm not very good at staying in one place.

Miss everybody back home, and I hope you all had great new years parties. Let us know what you did and what your resolutions are. (madeleine and my resolutions are to never work in a bar again! Especially on major events...)

- Katelyn

The first day of 2007

2007-01-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

2006-12-28T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well I had a fantastic 23rd birthday and so far am very much enjoying this advanced age! On the big day itself, my lady took me out for a delicious dinner at one of the cafes along the esplanade, we then walked back to the hostel and had some birthday drinks before making the trek to Fremantle Prison for a torchlight tour!

It was fascinating being in a place like that, seeing the cells and solitary confinement, the whipping post and the gallows, lots of history and quite a good time! We made out way back from that and then stayed up until 5 am milking my birthday celebrations! I tried to get away with another birthday yesterday because it was the 27th in Canada...but it didn't fly so well!

Katelyn and I are both VERY excited to work on New Years Eve...they dress up here for it apparently and the theme this year is "Australian Yabbo" and the requirements are a a blue singlet (wife beater), stight "ruggers" and a flanelette shirt....we needed a bit of a translation but from what I can gather, a Yabbo is like white trash yokel...should be hot hot hot!

I also for some reason volunteered to work New Years Day! Ouch...

We're planning a little side trip to Margaret River when we get a few days off in a row here, that should be fun if only to be on the move again!

We also went into Freo yesterdayn and saw "Happy Feet" in it...the main character's name is Mumble!! Gotta love that! It was really cute and had reat music!

Other than that, things are pretty normal around here. Not doing much beaching lately, as we work most early afternoons and around noon it's just deadly to be under the sun when it's 40 degrees out!

Love to you guys back home, and thanks for the birthday wishes!!
xoxo
Madi

It's my party...

2006-12-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!!

Coyote Ugly

2006-12-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

So..this is a random post!

Katelyn and I are now bartenders at the Ocean Beach Hotel! With no experience and not a hope in hell, we dropped off our CV's at the bar, then wandered off to go to the beach. They called us an HOUR later and asked if we would be available to work...immediately.

So, having never poured a beer in my life, we were put behind the bar and told to "jump right in"! That first night was what they call your "trials" which techically is supposed to see how you do, and if they want to hire you. We were in the beer garden though, and didn't see the manager all night so I think they are so understaffed that they didn't have a choice but to hire us!

Last night was our first real shift, it was so busy that we worked 5pm-2am without a break...I still don't know how we did it. I now know how to pull a beer decently well, HATE jagerbombs and the aussie way of nicknaming absolutely everything (each beer has about three different names!) and have to say, if things don't work out with Adam I have quite a few drunk proposals to consider!

It's actually quite terrifying and I cry before each shift because we haven't actually had any proper training and are basically guessing on pretty much everything, letting it slide until someone calls us on it. We are also now working Christmas eve and New Years Eve...boooo.

Hopefully we're not on the roster for my birthday because we have big plans to spend it in Freemantle Prison! yay!

Merry Christmas to all at home...I miss you guys and I really really miss the snow. It'll be very weird to spend Christmas eve pulling Swan Draught and Toohey's New while sunburnt and mozzie bitten!

xoxoxo

~Madeleine

Merry Christmas

2006-12-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

My family sent me this wonderful Christmas Card. Look how tanned we are!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Perth so far has been amazing. The 3 bed room has been a complete sanctuary. We barely leave it for fear of running into another human being. But the beach is too tempting with it being only 50 steps away, so we have emerged a few times. There is also a running path just above the beach that is another attraction for me. I've gone running every morning since we got here... until this morning (my legs didn't want to leave the sanctuary). On my second morning, I was stretching at a cool stations designed for stretching and more workout stuff, and I watching a pod of dolphins swim by for about 20 minutes. It was really neat.

The tan is coming back nicely, or in Madi's case, a good 3 degree burn on only half of her body! It's a beaut!

Work - I think - is going to be easier than Melbourne to come by over here. There's just fewer backpackers going for the same jobs. Hopefully it's only a matter of us going into these places to ask if they need some help. We'll let you know if it's as easy as the rumours say.

Off to the beach for alittle more. TA!

- Katelyn

West SIDE!

2006-12-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

Well Katelyn and I are now officially on the west coast! We're in a hostel in Cottesloe Beach, a very posh area and our place is directly across from one of the most popular beaches in western OZ! Quite nice if I do say so myself!

When we first arrived, we got into our rooms and could barely see the floor, there were two of our future roomates passed out on their bunks (one without sheets on her bed, one without any clothes on) and the other to MIA...the blinds had fallen down and no one had bothered to fix them, so they lay in shambles ontop of what could have been a really cute breakfast table and chairs.

After spending one night there, we pleaded with reception to get moved and -LO! A three bed dorm appeared...FOR THE SAME PRICE as the six bed one! Holla! We moved instantly and now it's just Kate and I in a room with our own fridge and bathroom and we can see the floor!! We arew hoping that no third person shows!

We also bit the bullet and braved the 35 degree heat to go into Perth and buy a little christmas tree, some decorations, stockings etc. They were sold out of little Christmas trees but, they DID have christmas tree shaped pinatas! So, we bought one of course, as well as some candy to fill it with. Now on christmas morning after the presents have been opened we can smash the tree to bits and probably get a few black eyes, then gorge ourselves on Candy! It's like christmas and halloween all in one, with a mexican twist-OLE! And we got the most fabulous little Angel for a tree topper...he's quite small and brought his own suitcase,,,,is grumbling a bit about being taped to the top of a papier mache tree, but I think he's secretly loving it...any guesses?

Our job search has suffered a temporary setback, as the workstay programme we were looking into had it's office close for xmas a day before we got here, not to open again till Jan 8! Back to pounding the pavement and fabricating experience I guess!

We've now officially passed the halfway mark in our travels, and it's quite weird to think that we have less than two months left...that in a week and a half it'll be January. You get quite a feeling of panic, thinking of all the stuff we still want to do! I'm getting a little homesick with all the Christmassy things goin on, makes me miss my mummer and all the crazy sisters, not to mention a certain cute Sears owner in a small town named Squamish!

But so that the mums don't worry about what we are doing on christmas day, our hostel is putting on a very classy affair, a free barbeque in the beer gardens! SHould be pretty fun, I may have to bring my own veggie dogs!

SO that's all for a few days here...we'd love some comments from all of you back home!!

Madeleine

Katelyn and Madi's Glamour Shots!

2006-12-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

Mummers, this one's for you!!

2006-12-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

$5 books!

2006-12-14T02:07:00.000-08:00

So today was day two of being gainfully employed! Well...day three if you count our brief stint as Captain fantastic...which I most definitely do!

We are working in a bookstore and sorting warehouse, sorting books and packing them, bringing them upstairs, unpacking them and then I get to make pretty displays with them!

Things I have learned on the job so far:

a) I like reading books more than lifting boxes of them

b) I can stack books really really well

c) working in a bookstore really isn't the most effective way for me to save money...especially when my "to buy" stack in the corner keeps growing and growing! Katelyn is trying to limit me to three...but they are all just $5 each...I can't NOT buy them! I'm trying to make some sort of profit but it's a tough sell!

Our supervisor guy is a young Canadian guy who grew up in Peterborough, then moved to Calgary where he lived about 5 mins from us and was a social worker before escaping to Australia, so we have lots in common!

We booked our tickets to Perth for Sunday so we now have to squeeze some touristy stuff in before we go...we're going to go to the Queen Vistoria Markets and also to the Melbourne Gaol where Ned Kelly was hanged...right up my ally!!

We are very despondent because also it's been sickeningly hot in Melbourne, massive forest fires have meant that it's very smoky and smoggy most days, no sun really, and we are losing our tans! We'll be glad to get back to the beach life in Perth.

Anyway, time for bed before another 12 hour day tomorrow!

~Maddie

Enough of Melbourne! We're going to Perth!!

2006-12-13T02:55:00.000-08:00

So we booked a ticket to Perth today. I'm very excited. We decided to go to the East Coast instead of New Zealand and we're both lovin it. We even found a job in a book warehouse for the next three days to pay for the flight! It's great. Life is good.

Suspense!!

2006-12-11T21:54:00.000-08:00

Katelyn and I have some exciting things planned in the near future....you'll never believe where we're spending Christmas 2006!

Stay tuned...

Christmas??!! It was 37 today!!

2006-12-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Seriously, 37...weirdest heat I've ever felt, like being inside an oven -literally!

I'm now taking requests for things you'd like to see pics of! I might comply...

Kate and I are a little discouraged at the moment, as anyone who's spoken to us recently knows...We're having some trouble finding jobs and as we are trying to save money, we're not doing anything fun or eating anything yummy or going out, so things are a little slow and trying on the patience. Also it's depressing to see the ole bank account dip lower and lower.

Also humiliating to be a university grad and be turned down for these crappy minimum wage jobs because we lack "experience"....erm....right.

Today we decided to get off the glum train and put the job search on hold since most places are closed anyway and we went to the National Gallery of Victoria and the Ian Potter Gallery. Both Beautiful and looking at pretty things for a few hours did a lot to raise the spirits!

Pictures!!

2006-12-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Local wildlife!
The biker gang we joined in Agnes Watters/1770

Our Swedish boys at the piercing shop...yes I got pierced...no I'm not telling you where! Jonas paid for Marcus to get this very attractive bull ring to keep me company...then made him take it out after a day because he was "too damn ugly to look at"
Byron Bay along a hour long walk to the most easternly point in OZ and to the beautiful Byron Bay lighthouse!

Santa looks a little different down under...

Melbourne

2006-12-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

After many false starts, we said goodbye to our Swedish travel mates, Jonas and Markus for REAL yesterday. We've been travelling with them for about two weeks now and you get to know people so much faster when living this lifestyle, it was really hard to part ways! Lots of tears were shed, it's so much harder to say goodbye to people when there's such a slim chance that you'll realistically see them again!

The bus ride from Sydney to Melbourne was loooong...and we arrived to cold drizzle - it felt like I was home in Squamish! The good news is that this hostel has a job club, which we will be hitting up ASAP because finds are scarily low!!

Christmas still seems months away, as does my birthday...it's going to be a weird one for sure!
I'd like to see more comments people!!!

Madeleine

Sydney - again!

2006-12-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Katelyn and I have just peeled ourselves off of a 13 hour bus ride from Byron Bay to Sydney.

Personally, my favorite part was when, 10 minutes into the trip, the driver told us that the bathroom was broken and we would be stopping every hour for a bathroom break which he announced every time over the loudspeaker. FABULOUS

We are staying here for a day, then continuing on down to Melbourne to find wealth and happiness!

Favorite memories of Byron include shaving men's armpits, nighttime beach runs, playing a vicious game of beach soccer in which I got my first ever sports injury (yay!!) and was called "surprisingly aggressive" and also managed to make a three/four-person tower in the ocean, which was no small feat considering the size of some of the waves!

We hope to meet up with our darling british ladies in Melbourne, as we missed eachother in Byron Bay, and I think Dan has been lost forever to the clutches of the hot Canadian women in a beachhouse in Noosa.

Lots of love to all at home, it's goose-bumply cold in Sydney at 7:30 am, but still very hard to believe that Christmas is 3 weeks away!

-Madeleine + Katelyn

Byron Bay

2006-11-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

We officially are out of money and have found a city that is really nice (If only the schoolies would leave... a bunch of 18-19 year olds have taken over the backpacking world! The clubs have become jail bait! But it's over in about a week, so that's a relief.) Finding a job should be a breeze with xmas coming up. But we'll let you know once we're offical aussie workers!

We sadly have to say goodbye for our first time on the trip. The Swedish boys that we found on Frazer Island are moving on... it's going to be so sad. Especially because we're starting to work and they get to go play for another 2 weeks in new zeland :( Best of luck to you boys!

- Katelyn

Eskimo Joe

2006-11-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we found brisbane to be one of the most depressing places we've been so far! The Gallery of Modern Art was closed, the cricket match was sweltering and possibly one of the most bizarre games I've ever watched and the whole city was just sort of blah!

That being said, we realized today that where we are right now is 55, that's fifty-five, degress warmer than calgary....! So no complaining here...

We've come to Surfer's Paradise, and are staying with Gavin Davies and it it so awesome to see someone from home!! Plus the luxuries like showering without shoes on, and using a REAL towel, and not paying for things like sheets, keys and utensils are just indescribable.

I'm loving the free internet too and am going to try uploading pictures later!

Madeleine

The Ashes!

2006-11-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

We are in Brisbane, and have managed to score tickets to The Ashes, which is a giant five day cricket game between England and Australia...we're in a weird position to choose who to support because we're in Australia but travelling with four brits!! Awkwaard!!

Apparently in cricket, being the posh english game that it is, they actually have "Tea Breaks"! Can you see this catching on in hockey??

Anyway we are having fun, a bit weird not being near a beach but good nonetheless!

kiss kiss

~Madeleine

Noosa

2006-11-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates...computers are scarce in some hostels.

We're in Noosa, have been for a few days now and are about to get on the bus to Brisbane.

Our Fraser Island trip was incredible, gorgeous scenery and we even saw a dingo! It stole two loaves of bread, but no babies *whew*

We met two hilarious swedish guys on Fraser Island and have swallowed them into our travelling clump! We've also recreuited another english guy...we're about nine in total now, though we leave some behind and pick some up at each new tpwn so the numbers are always changing..very fun to have a roving family like that!

Much love to you guys back home, I hope preparations for Christmas are going well!

Madeleine

Surfer Girls...

2006-11-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

Katelyn surfing!

Me surfing!

Me bailing!! Beautiful..
sorry i ran out of time to post more....but there's some more coming of kate surfing and of the hardcore biker gang we joined!

-Madeleine

More from Agnes Water

2006-11-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

WE WENT SURFING!!! IN THE OCEAN! ON REAL WAVES!!!!

and the most amazing part is that we all stood up! There are wonderful pictures of whipe-outs and some great ones of successful rides. Hopefully we'll find a computer that we can download some of them on here.

Yesterday I went on a little adventure to attenpt surfing for free. Lorna and Georgina dragged me along to go sea kayaking... it was hell. The wind and the currents and the giant waves. My arms are incredibly dead today, especially after the surfing. But the guide and his dad were going to go find some waves after our kayaking adventures and I asked if he'd mind teaching me while teaching his dad. So I went back to his apartment and his mom made us all veggie juice (from whole veggies in this sweet juicer) then we cruised onto these remote beaches. It was unreal. We would just drive down these bush tracks and out onto a beach where absolutely tobody was. So beautiful. Unfortunately there weren't any waves and there was alot of algae, which can give you a bad rash. So we ate some mangos while watching the sun go down with the ocean mist spilling onto the giant beach and I went back to the hostel for a veggie curry that this great chief cooked up. This man cooks every night and used to be a big-time cheif, and these amazing meals are only $5!!!!

All and all, I like Agnes Waters. But it's time to move on, and hopefully stay in the prison hostel in Bundaberg while finding a job picking fruit or working on a dive boat.

- Katelyn

1770 and Agnes Waters

2006-11-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

We are now in a town called 1770, named for the year Capitain Cook discovered it! We went to a beach party last night and now everything we own is covered in sand! It was beautiful and warm and lots of stars to look at. Today we are relaxing, taking in the town and the hostel called Cool Bananas - it's fabulous!

I'll update a little later!

~Madeleine

2006-11-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

Well we are all back from our Whitsunday adventure! I felt horrible up until about five hours after we got on the boat, it being the eighth day of my cold/flu, then when we went snorkelling, something about the salt water or pressure or something made me feel loads better!

Fantastic snorkelling, we even saw a turtle! Absolutely amazing, definitely something I wanted to see! We had a great group on board and learnt some new drinking games (though I only played with water) Lisa-they played Jenn Taylor et al's game with "Yeehaw" "Lasso" "Ho-down" etc! I don't know what it's called but I remember the instructional video!!

We spent a half day on one of the Whitsunday islands, the beaches were covered in silicone sand, the finest stuff imaginable...almost like flour and whiter than anything-it hurt to look at! It squeaked like snow when you walked on it...just stunning. This isn't a picture I took (just nabbed off of google) but you get the idea!

We're in Airlie Beach for tonight, meeting up with the group and crew from our boat for dinner etc and then going to either Rockhampton or Agnes Waters and 1770 tomorrow.

I hope all is well with you guys, Grandaddy, you would have loved the boat I was on! That's it at the top! It was a former racing yacht called Broomstick... the crew recruited everyone to help get the sails up when needed and apparently we got up to around 15 knots, it was lots of fun!
-Madeleine

Townsville and the SS Yongala Ship Wreck

2006-11-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

One of the worlds top ten Dives sites is just off the coast from Ary, only a 3 hour boat ride from Townsville. Although expensive, this dive was really neat. The marine life there was HUGE! I saw a sea turtle that probably could have comfortably seated 4 people. Even the angel fish were giant.

The SS Yongala went down in 1911 and is considered a historic site and a graveyard, so it was illegal to go inside. But what made it so interesting was the marine life. Basically the boat looks like a reef in the middle of nowhere. There was a school a baracuda that were about 3-5 feet long and around 100-200 hundred in numbers. There was also a school of giant travelies (absolutely enorous fist... the dive master said each is probably over 200 lbs.!!). I also was a tiny octipus which a very cool since they're typically shy. There was also a really strong current. When we were decending, we had to grab a rope which we stayed pretty well perpendicular to until about 15m depth! Horrible swimming into it, great floating back down the wreck to the line though!

I'll get some picture up here as soon as I can, although I'll warn you all that they're terrible... apparently you need to get the camera with a flash at 20m depths!

- Katelyn

Remember what's happening at home...

2006-11-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

And this is why I'm loving this trip!

- Katelyn

2006-11-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

a view from our hostel on Magnetic Island...

Full Moon Party on Magnetic Island

2006-11-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

It's strangely quiet around here, as everyone is recovering from last night! I made it out even though I feel like crap (sneezy, coughing, muchos mucus etc) but didn't stay out long, Dan and Kate made almost a full night of it! None of us made it to the 7 am end of the party though.

It was lots of fun, lots of dancing and DJ's spinning good beats and tons of people. The odd thing was that once the sky cleared up a bit it was fairly obvious that the moon wasn't quite full yet...any excuse for a party I guess!

We're off to Townsville today, and we've booked our Whitsunday trip - two days two nights on a former maxi racing boat- for next wednesday. Hope all is well in Calgary and Ottawa and Powell River and Squamish!

-Madeleine

Magnetic Island Country Club

2006-11-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

So, this is a great story... especially for those of you who know danny rutherford. Today we decided to go golfing at the magnetic island country club. it's nine holes of pure fun with club hire that are about 50 years old. needless to say we played really aweful with these clubs. Dan and I played with a british couple that we met in cairns (ben and gemma). The reason why this was such an amazing round of golf began on the second hole. Dan was pulling our beautiful clubs around when suddenly and bird about the size of the seagull with a yellow face came roaring onto the fairway and dived at Dan's face... came within about 2 feets of him. Definitely took him by surprise. Then Dan took another few steps and another ones came screaming at him about chest height and if dan hadn't ducked when he did the bird would have probably attempted to take his face with it! Once we came around the holes, dan took his shirt off to see if the bird was just offended with the green colour, and low and behold, he wasn't attacked... at least not until he put his shirt on again at the end of the eighth!! It was beautiful! Golfing with adenaline makes for a highly entertaining round.

Then the golf manager sent us on some hike back to the hostel which traversed through a nude beach, and through the bush where spiders that eat birds live and deadly snakes lurk in crevasses! it was great!!

- Katelyn
ps. Maddie's taken on a flu, and is out of sorts :( please comment sympathy notes for her!

Magnetic Island

2006-11-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

We're at the most amazing hostel right now. It's on Magnetic Island, though there's no reasoning for the name. The hostel is called Base, and it's amazing. There's a pool, huge outdoor bar/food area, kitchen, hammocks, lounges, scuba diving classes, right on the beach and it's just clean. AND there are other things to do like hike around, ride a moke (it's like a durby car), rent scooters or kayaks, snorkling rental and a baby reef just off the beach (which is sorta useless since the stingers are here!).

So far we drank with more irish men and women, have gone kayaking and went for a romantic stroll down the beach. Tomorrow we're going to rent scooters and visit all the island attractions, like an interactive zoo, a sancutary for local widelife and a 9-hole golf course (claimed to be Greg Norman's first golf round!) and it rents clubs so Dan and I are set.

The Main reason why we came here though was for the moon party. Casey put it on his top 10 things to do, so we're here for it. Timing couldn't have been better, it's on Friday/tomorrow!!! Basically it sounds like a tamed rave! let you know how that goes. OH... and there's a very famous wrech dive that I might do... but we'll see. Might be too deep for my liscense, but it'd be very neat.

We've met tons of people that we like here, and are excited to find more places that are similar (and not so much like the dead mission beach hostel!).

Cheers!

- Katelyn

Pictures!! Finally!

2006-10-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

Included in these pics: Royal Botanical Gardens of NSW, Sydney, my with the ultimate Aussie souvinier: a kangaroo scrotum bottle opener! Our diving trip complete with sharks, tropical fish and glamour shots, Kate and I drunk after playing drinking games with Bernard the Irishman, Mission Beach and the fire show we had last night at our hostel!

Any questions about pics can be asked in comments!

~Madeleine

and a hello from me too... she just says it all, but i am here!

- katelyn

Mission Beach

2006-10-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

We bought some greyhound passes that will allow us to do a unlimited stops trip down the gold coast and then hopped the bus last night to sunny Mission Beach. We're across from the ocean again, but no swimming unfortunately because it's bluebottle jellyfish season :(

Good thing our hostel has a lagoon though, because it's bloody hot! I'm sweating-SWEATING! Hope those of you in Calgary with -15 weather right now are enjoying the complaints! ;)

Anyway haven't done anything wild yet - will post when we do!

-Madeleine

p.s. We want to see more comments!! Only our mummas are leaving any - where is the love from the men in our lives?!? WHERE?!

Begosh & Begorrah!

2006-10-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

Last night's lesson: Never play drinking games with an Irishman!

We're heading out of Cairns today, down to Mission Beach (see Map at right) so we'll update when we get there!

-Madeleine

PICTURES!!

2006-10-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

These were taken during our dives on the Great Barrier Reef and were burned to a CD, so I can post them!!

Scuba diving was wild, I have no words to describe it! Chuck, you probably would have loved it!!Personally, I really couldn't relax enough to truly enjoy it, was desperately clutching my regulator the whole time (as you saw in the pics above!) remembering to breath and equalize the pressure and of course, busily searching the shadows for telltale fins, but I can definitely see why people fall in love with it!

I snorkeled the rest of the time, lurking around the surface as Dan and our divemaster Jason explored below. The coral reefs can be sometimes only a metre below the water, so there was still tons to see!

The first night, after Katelyn had finished her night dive, they baited sharks...stuck a of cod on a line and bouyed it with pop bottles. Within a minute there were three gray sharks circling around, probably just under 2m each. They each took turns rushing at the cod and tearing hunks off it...needless to say I didn't go in the water much the next day! It was terrifying!

A lazy day today... not much going on..probably going to leave Cairns soon.

-Madeleine

Living on a Boat

2006-10-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

The dive trip was absolutely amazing. We all went on an overnight trip to Millin Reef on the Great Barrier Reef. It was the most incredible experience. Dan and Maddie did their first dives... Cedric as well (we'll get pics up here soon). And I dove 5 times. One on them in the dark... and one after seeing a shark AAAHHHHH. But I also saw some really amazing things, like a sea turtle!

The weather was perfect. We've all managed to burn ourselves even with 30 SPF on. Fantastic.

I'll write more later when the computer aren't being shut down!

TA!

- Katelyn

Cairns

2006-10-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Cairns (pronounced Cannes) last night after a turbulent flight and spent our first night in a hostel! We're 8 to a room, in a coed dorm called "The Aquarium"...not sure why.

It's beautiful and sunny, our hostel is across from the esplanade and the ocean. Fabulous views and most everything within walking distance. The day before we left we spent a few hours at the beach, and I developed a nice burn. Mostly the backs of my legs and weird blotchy burns on my arms-some places I applied sunblock, some I didn't. Quite creative of me if I do say so.

still no pictures....I don't know how!! Damn these foriegn computers! I'll work on it.

Tomorrow we leave on a two day/one night boat cruise to the great barrier reef, Katelyn is going to do some scuba dives, Dan and I are going to snorkel around and do one intro dive. It should be great fun!

-Madeleine

2006-10-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Katelyn and Danny went off the Hunter Valley Wine Tours today, I opted out as the whole thing would be wasted on me!

I'm in the state library of NSW, having just spent the morning exploring the Art Gallery of NSW-absolutely stunning. The regular exhibits were free, then there was a goddess exhibit that was so interesting, all sorts of goddess statuettes, paintings etc. from all over the world.

It's actually been quite chilly here lately, I almost needs jeans and a light jacket!

I took in the botanical gardens this morning as well, while I waited for the museum to open. The trees and just amazing, and weird animals everywhere! At one point there was this cacaphony of noise and i was looking around to find what birds were making it...saw trees full of them and started taking pictures - then realized, as I zoomed in, that they weren't birds, but BATS! Gigantic ones, the size of cats, on every branch of every tree! It was horrifying...

-Maddie

Jet Lag Attacks

2006-10-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

Day three... last night I managed to stay awake till 8:45 and felt very proud, until I was up again at five! Yesterday we spent about six hours walking around Sydney, we went down to Manly Harbour and took the ferry across to Circle Quay, then walked through downtown for a few hours to get to the passport office and get our work visa's "evidenced".

We also booked our flights to Cairns for the 24th...the last thing I want to think about now is getting on another plane, buit I don't think there'll be a time change so that's reassuring!

After that we headed down to Darling Harbour andKing St and ended up getting caught in a torrential downpour in The Rocks, where we stopped at a pub to have a drink and wait it out. There was a local footy team (australian handball, a weird hybrid of rugby, basketball and soccer apparently) that was very drunk and streaking nude through the rain. It was definitely entertaining!

When the rain cleared we made our way back under the harbour bridge to the ferry and headed home, taking a few minutes to sightsee around Manly Harbour. Manly is the district so all the shops are all prefaced with the word: "Manly Auto Repairs" "Manly Pub" "Manly Backpackers" it's very cute and makes for some good photos!

It took us about two hours to navigate home by bus and a fair bit of walking, but we made it! The trees and animals here are wild, we saw a kookaburra (sp) and didn't see, but definitely heard, a ton of frogs and crickets all around us last night.

Today it's a bit cold and rainy out so we're lying low and trying to relax, stretch out our aching legs and confused inner clocks! I'm trying to upload some pictures but having a bit of trouble, but I'll keep at it.

love and kisses to all back home!

Mads

p.s. Dan and I got our first sunburns yesterday! Apparently SPF 50 does nothing for me! ;)

We're Here

2006-10-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

We've arrived...safe and sound!

Survived the flight, have been awake basically since we left, are being hosted by a lovely family Katelyn knows in Sydney so we are getting a grand tour and wonderful introduction...they have DRIVE THROUGH LIQUOR STORES!! A.K.A. "Grog Shops" needless to say, this is something Canada needs to adopt.

Anyways, off to eat and try and stay awake till 9 pm...barely remember my own name at this point!

love and kisses

~Madeleine

Oy!

2006-10-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

a quick pre-trip THANK YOU! to my grandparents Ann and Jim O'Brian who sent me a beautiful card and a lovely parting gift that will keep me eating and drinking for months! Much love to both of you - I promise to send postcards!

~Madeleine

p.s. Grandaddy, the other September 1st boy says hello!

2006-10-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well we have nine days to go before hopping on the plane to our homes for the next four months! It's blowing my mind.

"don't think about it" is my daily mantra...which is getting to be a little hard since every sentence out of my mouth seems to be "when I get back from Australia" or "before I go to Australia" or " I bought nine pairs of underpants for Australia"...

Really, it's exhausting.

~Madeleine

Home Sweet Home

2006-09-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this is Maddie's backpack.

And this one's mine.

Welcome to our new homes for the next 4 months!

-Katelyn

I made it!

2006-09-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all, this is my first time posting a real, certifiable blog.

Welcome to all who read this. It's going to be a grand adventure!

2006-09-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hey hot stuff! This is our Australia Blog.