Papua New Guinea, Houston, and Everywhere In Between

Changes...

2012-01-31T13:02:00.004+10:00

Just changed the title of the blog... It was no longer appropriate to call it "Chris and Chrissie Down Under." Eventually (after our beautiful niece is born and we settle into life in Houston/Papua New Guinea) we will start using this crazy schedule of ours to travel the world, and with any luck I'll have time to share stories of our travels with you. More to come (hopefully)...

Goodbye Brisbane

2011-11-02T18:36:00.004+10:00

This is a hard post to write. Chris thinks I am a bit overly emotional about saying goodbye to people and places. And he’s right. But it’s hard to say goodbye to a city and people that have meant so much to us over the last three years. Brisbane, and Australia in general, has been an AMAZING place to live! We have learned so much about ourselves and each other through this experience and have made thousands of lifelong memories. Petting kangaroos and koalas, driving along the Great Ocean Road, hiking in Lamington and Noosa National Parks, tasting wine in the Barossa Valley, camping in Kakadu, seeing the Sydney Opera House, climbing the Story Bridge, and spending 12 days exploring New Zealand are just some of the experiences we would have missed if we had said “no” three years ago. In the meantime, we learned to enjoy (and in Chris’s case, become addicted to) rugby and Aussie Rules football, and we say things like “no worries,” “cheers,” “good on ya,” and “how ya going” without even thinking (still haven’t mastered “g’day mate”). We also travel with amazing frequency (mostly for work), and we now cruise through airports like we own the place. And yet I can still remember being so nervous about flying over here for the first time. Seems like so long ago!

It’s impossible to list everything we will miss about this city and this country, but here’s a few things that come to mind…

1. Running along the Brisbane River: I’m not much of a runner, but it certainly helps to have such a beautiful and convenient place to run. Almost every Sunday evening Chris and I would go for a run/walk along the river, and every time we would marvel at how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful city. When I think back on Brisbane, I’ll probably have the view from our Sunday runs in my mind.

2. Walking to work: Oh my goodness at the convenience!! It’s just so nice to not even think about getting in the car or worry about finding a parking place. Just let your feet do all the work for you - as stress free as it gets!

3. Avocado toast: Granted we can make this ourselves in Houston, but I’ve included it on the list because we will no longer be able to order it at restaurants. Thank you Australia for realizing the delicious goodness of spreading fresh avocado on warm, buttered toast (with a dash of salt and pepper).

4. The coffee: Seriously America, learn how to make good coffee. Please.

5. Thai food and Indian food: As most of our friends and family know, we are obsessed. And although we can find both of these cuisines at restaurants in Houston, we're just now sure if it will be quite as good. Time will tell. If you do know of any good Thai or Indian places in Houston, please let us know.

6. Amazing seafood: There are so many wonderful, fresh varieties of fish available here – many we had never even heard of! Chris will especially miss Barramundi, which has become a staple of his diet. I will particularly miss Jellyfish, a delicious seafood restaurant – perhaps my all time favourite (and that’s saying a lot).

7. Jacarandas in the Spring: I did a post a while back about the beauty of the Jacaranda trees. In the Spring, Brisbane is covered with these amazing purple trees. So pretty.

8. Maggie Beer’s burnt fig, honeycomb and caramel ice cream: Best. Ice Cream. In. The. World. Chris disagrees, but since I’m typing this, it’s going on this list. I ate as much as possible during the last week. Probably not the best idea, but it sure did taste good.

9. Witchery: My favourite Aussie clothing store. Don’t worry; I bought a few things to remember it by.

10. My hair dresser: Love her. If I was a millionaire, I would fly to Brisbane just to have my hair done every month.

11. The Australian “Today” show: Carl, Lisa and the gang have been giving us “today’s top stories” every morning for almost three years. We’ll miss ‘em.

That is by no means a comprehensive list. I’m sure as soon as I hit “post” I will remember 10 more things we will miss, but hopefully that gives you an idea…

It’s hard to say goodbye, but it’s certainly good to say hello again to the US and to our family and friends! We’ll see you soon…

Goodbye 70 Mary Street...

2011-10-05T13:42:00.019+10:00

Tonight is our last night here at 70 Mary Street. Moving begins tomorrow.

Some of you may remember when we first moved to Brisbane and were soliciting advice on our apartment choice. We were deciding between a third floor apartment on Kangaroo Point (across the river) and a fortieth floor apartment in the heart of the city. Although we were a bit nervous about living so high off the ground, we chose the inner city high-rise. And after almost three years here, we know we made the right choice. It has been home for us - nice and cozy, within walking distance to work and almost anything else you could want, and with incredible views! I know it’s time to move on, but I get teary-eyed when I think that we will never again sit on the balcony overlooking the river on a perfect Saturday afternoon. Or lie on the couch at night with the lights of a beautiful city as our backdrop. We are truly going to miss it...

Our cozy living room

View of the river

The sparkly city!

P.S. For those of you that are wondering, we still have about a month left in Brisbane. We will be living in a temporary apartment until officially moving back to the US. We are so very excited about seeing more of our family and friends but also sad to leave the friends we have made here and the city that has been our home for three years. The next month will be both exciting and stressful! More to come…

20 Things You Might Not Know About Australia

2011-09-23T14:43:00.014+10:00

I found a draft of this blog entry the other day (it's at least a year old, if not more), and decided I would share it. It seems appropriate now as our time in Australia is dwindling. I’m sure I meant it to be “25 Things You Might Not Know About Australia,” but apparently, I could only come up with 20. Here they are...

1. Stores close too early! If you want to do a little shopping, you better be prepared to finish before 5:00 (4:00 on Sundays). Very frustrating. The Australian economy would be better off if I was tempted with open and welcoming shops on my walk home from work. For this reason, Chris is probably thankful that stores close early.

2. “Utes,” which are these little car/truck vehicles, are very popular here, and they almost always come in ridiculously fluorescent colors. Not really sure why…

3. It seems like a lot of people smoke. A much higher percentage than in the US. And this is despite the extremely graphic anti-smoking ads that the government runs. I mean, really, digustingly graphic! Ugh!

4. Two of the three licensed bridge climbs in the world are located in Australia (the Story Bridge in Brisbane and the Harbour Bridge in Sydney). The third is in Auckland, New Zealand.

5. Most prime time television shows start on the ½ hour instead of the hour. For instance, Law and Order starts at 7:30, followed by something else at 8:30 and so on.

6. There are no kangaroos wandering the streets in Brisbane. I have heard that they do sometimes cross roads and can be seen in fields further out of the city, but not here.

7. Koalas are not bears. They are marsupials, and their closest relative is a Wombat (believe it or not). Australians think Americans are silly (or maybe just ignorant) when they say “koala bear.” So, if you ever visit Australia… don’t say it.

8. Ground coffee is hard to find, as are regular ol’ drip coffee makers. You either buy instant coffee or coffee beans to make espresso – no in between. However, I must say I MUCH prefer the coffee over here. I will miss my morning “skinny latte” when we move.

9. The food is pretty good! The only foods we miss are TexMex, good cereal, American-style hamburgers (they put beetroot on their hamburgers – yuck), and cheese grits. And maybe the pizza - I do miss American pizza!

10. Queensland is really big. It covers 1,727,000 square kilometers, which is about 666, 798 square miles. For reference, Texas is only 266, 874 square miles. That makes Queensland roughly 2 ½ times the size of Texas, and it’s only the second largest state in Australia!

11. We drop our dry cleaning off at a newspaper stand. It worried us at first, but apparently that’s the common practice.

12. Australians still use travel agencies – a lot. Unlike in the US where the internet has all but done away with the market, you can find travel agencies on every corner. To be honest, I don’t really understand it. At the urging of my co-workers I have tried to use a travel agency twice, and both times I have thought, “I can just do this myself online,” so I did just that. And it was easier. Who knows?!?!

13. The “h” in “herb” is not silent, and they say “fillet” just like it is spelled, “fill it” not “fil-a.”

14. Arugula is “rocket,” bell peppers “capsicum,” and cilantro is called “coriander.” Menus took a while to get used to!

15. Speaking of menus, an entrée is an appetizer here – not the main course. Also confusing!

16. The letter “Z” is called “zed,” and apparently Australians (and Britons) have something against it because it is rarely used in words. “Maximize” becomes “maximise,” “organization” becomes “organisation,” and so on…

17. Australian Central Standard Time (primarily serving the Northern Territory and South Australia) is 30 minutes behind Eastern Standard Time (serving the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania). To make matters even more confusing, South Australia recognizes Day Light Savings Time and Queensland does not, so for half of the year they are 30 minutes behind us and the other half they are 30 minutes ahead. Seriously!

18. No one drinks Fosters beer. In fact, I have yet to see Fosters on any menu, in any restaurant. As Aussies say, “it’s the Australian beer than no Australian drinks.”

19. Speaking of beer, one thing Australians do like is Vegemite, which is a by-product of the beer making process (something having to do with yeast). They love it and can’t understand why Americans and other foreigners don’t. Trust me, it’s gross.

20. One the other hand, Australians can’t understand why we Americans eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. PB&J seems like a match made in heaven to me, but alas, it is not a popular combination on this side of the Pacific.

So there you go. Maybe you feel slightly more educated and worldly now. Or maybe just more confused. :)

Hamilton Island - Great Barrier Reef

2011-06-27T19:56:00.018+10:00

It took two and a half years and Chris’s brother Bert and his wife Jennie coming to visit, but we FINALLY made it to the Great Barrier Reef! Worth. The. Wait.

Before we left for Hamilton Island (our Great Barrier Reef destination of choice), Bert and Jennie spent a few days exploring Brisbane. We had so much fun introducing them to our adopted country and sharing a few favorites including avocado toast, which they really enjoyed, and Tim Tams, which they loved! We even went so far as to teach them the “Tim Tam Slam” (drinking hot chocolate through a Tim Tam cookie until it completely melts). I’m pretty sure this is now one of their favorite desserts ever! We also taught them that a fillet mignon is an “eye fillet” in Australia (and is pronounced “I fill it”). And together we learned that Spatchcock is really just chicken at a fancy restaurant – who knew?!?!

After four days of fun in Brisbane, we left for Hamilton Island (or “Hammo” as the locals call it). Unfortunately, our trip began with two days of overcast skies and rain. But we made the most of it! The boys even went fishing on the second day and caught a Spanish mackerel, which we had for dinner that night – DEElicious!! On the third day the sun came out, and my goodness was it beautiful!! This was the Hamilton Island we had been waiting for!

Sun shining on our balcony! A welcome site!

Hamilton Island Lookout

Whatever inactivity the weather might have forced on days one and two, we made up for on days three and four.

Day Three: Full-day trip to the “outer reef,” including several hours of snorkeling and a quick trip on a semi-submersible boat for easy reef viewing. I was even able to go on an “Intro to Scuba” dive. Chris was supposed to go with me, but because he had asthma as a child they wouldn’t let him go without a medical. Bummer! After my short “intro dive,” I joined Chris, Bert and Jennie in snorkeling, and I can truly say that from the top or down below the scenery was AMAZING!! I think I actually saw more when I was snorkeling because while diving I was so focused on breathing calmly and making sure my eardrums didn’t burst, you know…little things like that. Plus, I felt like I was wailing around everywhere – constantly trying to make sure I wasn’t floating too far up or sinking too far down. I’m sure it was interesting to watch!!

Day Four: Full-day “Triple Treat Adventure” featuring a short walk up to Hill Inlet Lookout (ridiculously beautiful views), snorkeling on one of the “inner reefs,” and several hours relaxing on the justifiably famous Whitehaven Beach. I think this was our favorite day overall – amazing scenery, beautiful beaches and snorkeling with hundreds of interesting fish swimming through amazingly colorful coral! What more could you want?!?! Definitely a good way to end our stay on the wonderful Hamilton Island.

Hill Inlet Lookout

One of the many incredible views!

The Snorkelers!

We feel so blessed to have been able to experience the wonder that is the Great Barrier Reef, and to see it with Bert and Jennie made it even more special! It is an experience that we will never forget!! Pictures really don’t do it justice (especially underwater pictures), but we still managed to take a few good ones! Check them out here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113320343630507525982/HamiltonIsland?authkey=Gv1sRgCJLGm7aNkfurPg&feat=directlink

Phuket - Our Final Adventure in Thailand

2011-06-16T10:31:00.015+10:00

If you read my posts about Bangkok and Chiang Mai, you know while we had an amazing time in those two locations, it wasn’t exactly a “lying on the beach, relaxing” holiday. Which is why, I was so very excited to do just that the moment we checked into our hotel in Phuket. I chose the hotel because it is located on a quiet stretch of beach far way from the hustle and bustle of the infamous Patong Beach. Great choice! This was our view from our beach lounge chairs on our first afternoon there…

What you can’t see from the picture is the woman massaging my feet (for little to no cost) while I read my book. Paradise! Of course, I was travelling with Chris who can only stand so much lying on the beach doing nothing, and let’s face it, if I didn’t have a good book I would have been bored pretty soon too. So…

The next day we took a full-day speed boat tour of the Phi Phi Islands (note: it’s pronounced pee-pee). Our first stop was Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh (“Ko” means island in Thai), which is where the movie The Beach was filmed. From the pictures it’s easy to see why the producers chose this location. Absolutely stunning! Unfortunately, we had to share it with hundreds of other tourists. Oh well, still beautiful!

From there we visited Viking Cave where bird’s nests for “bird’s nest soup,” a delicacy in Asia, are collected. Yep, they literally put the bird’s nests into a soup and eat it. Apparently it’s really expensive. (Rule of Thumb: If you’re in Asia and you’re offered something that is a “delicacy,” you should politely decline.) Afterwards we visited the larger island of Ko Phi Phi Don and had a great time snorkelling on one of the nearby reefs! Phi Phi Don is the only one of the Phi Phi islands that is inhabited and was initially populated by Muslim fisherman before becoming a coconut plantation.

Viking Cave

The following day was one of our favorites of the entire trip! It was another speed boat tour, but this time we visited Phang Nga Bay which is home to hundreds of limestone cliffs with sea cave systems. The most famous of these cliffs is Ko Tapu, also known as “James Bond Island” because it was featured in The Man with the Golden Gun. And that was our first stop of the day! After taking plenty of pictures featuring “James Bond Island,” we departed for our first of two sea canoeing adventures. We canoed through several hongs (to my understanding, “hong” literally translates to “room,” but is also the word used for “cave”), including Mangrove Cave, Oyster Cave, Bat Cave and many more!

Ko Tapu (James Bond Island)

Canoeing through the caves

View from our canoe

After canoeing, we had lunch at Ko Panyee which is a “floating village” inhabited solely by Muslim immigrants from Malaysia. Lunch wasn’t all that great, but it was neat to visit the “floating village” anyway. Following lunch we made a short stop on the scenic island of Na Ka before heading back to Phuket.

On our last day in Thailand (it was really a half day as we flew out that evening), I convinced Chris to spend the day lying on the beach doing NOTHING. And that is exactly what we did! It was wonderful. I did have the energy to walk down the street and have a Thai massage – also wonderful! Chris, meanwhile, fell asleep in the beach chair, and consequently received a little too much sun.

Be sure to check out the rest of our pictures by clicking here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113320343630507525982/Phuket?authkey=Gv1sRgCLHe5faou-j-bQ&feat=directlink

As you can see, we had an amazing time in Thailand! It is truly a fascinating and beautiful country! Hard to leave such picturesque beaches!!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the stories of our adventure.

- Chris and Chrissie

Adventures in Chiang Mai

2011-05-29T18:30:00.012+10:00

While we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Bangkok, we weren’t sad to leave. It’s very vibrant and alive but also very hectic and a little too busy for my taste (particularly while on vacation). Chiang Mai is the opposite. Set in the mountains of Northern Thailand, only a couple of hours from the Myanmar (Burma) border, it is much smaller in comparison (about 200,000 compared to Bangkok’s 10 million) and much more laid back – everything just seemed to move at a slower pace.

On our first night in Chiang Mai we met one of our co-workers from Brisbane, who just happened to be vacationing in Chiang Mai as well, and one of his friends. We met for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant called ‘The House.’ If you’re ever in Chiang Mai, I would highly recommend it - Delicious! Our transportation to and from dinner was a ‘tuk-tuk,’ which made me happy as I had been looking forward to riding in one of these iconic “Thai taxis” since we arrived in Thailand. There were plenty available in Bangkok, but the traffic there was WAY too frightening to think about riding in something without four doors! (Seriously, if you thought petting tigers was frightening, you should have seen the traffic in Bangkok.) In Chiang Mai, however, there was FAR less traffic, and really, there were no regular taxis to be found – tuk-tuks were the way to go!

Our first full day in Chiang Mai was quite eventful. We started off with a visit to the Mae Ping Elephant Park where we went on an “elephant safari,” followed by an entertaining “elephant show.” We then went on a short ox-cart ride through the jungle, took a “cruise” down the Mae Ping river on a bamboo raft, and visited the hillside village of the long-neck Karens. Like I said, it was a full day! The long-neck Karens are originally from Burma, but they moved across the border as refugees years ago and now make their home here in the mountains outside Chiang Mai. They are a Christian tribe, very much the minority in this Buddhist country, and therefore, pretty much keep to themselves – other than selling souvenirs to the thousands of tourists (like us) that come to take a peek at their unique lifestyle.

Ready for our elephant safari!

Elephant Show

One of the beautiful women of the long-neck Karen village

The following day we headed back up the mountain to visit Wat Phra That Doi Suthap, the most sacred temple in Northern Thailand. Much like the Grand Palace in Bangkok (except much smaller), it was very impressive, very gold and very sparkly (for lack of a better term).

After our visiting the “wat,” we went on a fascinating “Industry Tour.” We visited a parasol factory, where we saw how they make and dry the paper for the parasols, a gem factory (my favorite), a silver factory, and finally a silk factory, where we saw how they collect the silk from the cocoons of silk worms.

We finished our day by taking a Thai cooking class at BaanThai. (“Baan” means home in Thai.) It was really fun, and hopefully we even learned a thing or two about Thai cooking that we can apply back at home. I made stir-fried prawns in red curry sauce, a coconut creamy soup that I LOVED, and green chicken curry. Chris made stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts, hot and sour soup, and Paenang curry. All were delicious, believe it or not! :)

On our final morning in Chiang Mai we paid a tuk-tuk driver to take us on a quick tour of the temples of the Old City. There are actually more than 40 ancient temples in “old” Chiang Mai, but we only had time for six of the more popular ones. I’m not sure I could name all six, but they include Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phan Tao and Wat Chiang Man. They were all so unique and interesting, much less glittery and flashy than the Grand Palace, but just as impressive. One that stands out is Wat Chedi Luang, which is built around the ruins of an ancient “chedi” that dates back to the early 1400’s. So much interesting history!

Wat Phra Singh

The ancient "chedi" of Wat Chedi Luang

The teak temple of Wat Phan Tao

Unlike Bangkok, we were sad to leave Chiang Mai. It’s such a beautiful and interesting city. I hope we are able to go back one day!

Check out the rest of our pictures of Chiang Mai here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113320343630507525982/ChiangMai?authkey=Gv1sRgCMKk_O-g67iKnQE&feat=directlink

Bangkok, Thailand

2011-05-25T16:58:00.017+10:00

Due to popular demand (really just our families), I thought I would do a few blog posts to share some of our adventures from our recent holiday to Thailand.

We visited the cities of Bangkok and Chiang Mai and finished up by relaxing on the beaches of Phuket. First our adventures in Bangkok…

We arrived in Thailand’s largest city (population of approximately 10 million) mid-afternoon following a short stop-over in Singapore. We had read in our Lonely Planet guide book that the best way to get a taxi from the airport was to avoid the “official taxi” stations and instead make your way to the “public taxi” line. So this is exactly what we did. This led to us passing by many of the nice (and new) silver Camry’s and climbing into a BRIGHT hot pink, piece-o-crap car with no seatbelts. But hey, it only cost us 200 baht, so Chris was happy. Note: We later learned that very few taxis in Bangkok have seatbelts, and most are BRIGHT hot pink pieces-o-crap.

Our hotel in Bangkok, the Pathumwan Princess, was connected to the MBK Centre, which is the largest shopping center in the city. (I booked the hotels, so this was not an accident.) But, oh my goodness was it large – and busy! It felt like the Galleria at Christmas time! Knock-off designer clothing, purses, watches, etc. everywhere you looked! And every second store was a tailor offering to make Chris a suit. He declined, of course.

On our first night in Bangkok we had dinner at Naj, an “upmarket” Thai restaurant (of course) – apparently the King himself had dined there! Then we walked over to the famous Patpong Night Markets. This was an experience! Very busy, very hectic, very Asian, and very explicit! Definitely not a street for children (although there were plenty of them there for some reason). Interesting to say the least. We didn’t stay long.

The next day we visited the area of Ko Ratanakosin, which is home to Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and Thailand’s Grand Palace. Chris described our visit as crowded, exquisite (he said that), interesting and hot. It was definitely all of those things! But it was truly a sight to behold – so extravagant and colorful! One building is covered in very small 24 ct gold glass plates, and it is one of the more mundane buildings!

Entrace to the Grand Palace

One of the many beautiful buildings

We also visited Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), which as the name suggest is home to a reclining buddha. But not any reclining buddha – the largest in the world at 46 meters long!

After “wat-hopping” (wat means temple in Thai), we decided to take the SkyTrain to the Chatuchak Markets, which is one of the largest markets in the world. Sounded like fun to me! The problem was it started POURING down rain the moment we stepped off the SkyTrain. It was like a monsoon! We ended up stranded on a sidewalk under a very flimsy umbrella belonging to one of the many street vendors. There was all manner of food being washed away down the street. Meanwhile, the street vendors were making full use of the water by washing their dishes in huge buckets filled with rainwater. Resourceful for sure, but definitely not to my sanitary standards.

Eventually we made a run for the markets (walking through knee-deep water)! And as promised, it was HUGE! We spent about four hours wandering around, bargaining and buying, and we did not even begin to scratch the surface!

On our last day in Bangkok we journeyed outside of the city to visit the infamous Bridge over River Kwai and Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua (more commonly known as the Tiger Temple). It was a full day! We visited the Death Railway museum and Allied cemetery and learned so much about the sad history of the Burma-Thai Railway (including the bridge). And after visiting the bridge itself, we went to the Tiger Temple and hung out with fully grown tigers! Crazy!

In front of the Bridge over River Kwai

Chris with a few tigers

Me posing with one big tiger

For many more pictures (that are far more interesting than my stories), click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113320343630507525982/Bangkok?authkey=Gv1sRgCLik4NjLntHz7gE&feat=directlink

I know this post is long, but here are two final observations/tips about Bangkok in case any of our faithful readers ever visit…

1) Get used to saying “meter please.” EVERY taxi driver will try to make you a “deal” by offering a fixed price instead of using the taxi meter. Always go with the meter! There are no “deals” to be had.

2) They sure do love their King! There are pictures and billboards of the King and the Thai Royal Family almost everywhere. And apparently every home in Thailand has at least one photo of the king on the walls.

Mama and Caitie Down Under, Part 2

2010-09-09T08:40:00.022+10:00

After our rainforest adventure (see previous post), we returned to Brisbane where Mama and Caitlyn were able to spend a week exploring the city that we currently call home. We visited several of the markets (Caitlyn and I bought matching bracelets), walked around the city until our feet were aching, and introduced our guests to Thai food (my favorite)! While Chris and I were working, Mama and Caitlyn went whale watching and wandered through several Botanic Gardens. You'll have to ask them about those particular adventures, but I was able to join them on a visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

Lone Pine is full of koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils and other uniquely Australian animals, and is truly a wonderful place to spend an afternoon! It was especially fun to watch Mama and Caitie as they saw and experienced all of these animals for the first time! And we were all able to meet Barak the platypus for the first time - therefore accomplishing my goal of seeing all of the quintessential Australian animals (it only took me 1 1/2 years!). Although watching Barak swim around his tank was incredible (seriously, platypus are crazy looking animals), I think my favorite part was watching Caitlyn (attempt to) hold a koala. She was so afraid that it would use the bathroom on her that she could barely manage a smile for the camera! Such a diva! If you know Caitlyn then you know she did manage to smile beautifully for the camera before turning her nose up and giving the koala back to the keeper as quickly as possible! Needless to say, mama and I gave her a hard time about it for the rest of the trip. It's a good thing she loves us!

Here are a few of our pictures...

"Get this thing off of me!"

Mama and Caitlyn with the koala

Petting kangaroos

Barak, The Platypus. I wish he was more photogenic! Trust me, he's awesome!

Click on the slideshow for more pictures of our trip to Lone Pine...

Mama and Caitie Down Under, Part 1

2010-09-03T16:43:00.029+10:00

In late July my mom and youngest sister, Caitlyn, took the long journey across the Pacific to visit us in Brisbane. It was quite the ordeal for them. My mom had never been out of the United States, and although Caitlyn has travelled abroad, every trip is an ordeal for her because she worries about everything (which may or may not have been influenced by the fact that every trip I take is an ordeal because I worry about everything). So, perhaps it's not surprising that their trip from LA to Brisbane lasted 17 long hours instead of the usual 14 because of an unexpected landing on the island of Noumea due to heavy fog in Brisbane. Nonetheless, they arrived in Brisbane happy to be on solid ground and with their suitcases loaded full of goodies for me and Chris! Goodies in the form of Jif peanut butter, Reese's peanut butter cups, and various hair products that you can't find here (or are ridiculously expensive here). They did not, however, bring any of my aunt's delicious pepper jelly, which I had requested, because Caitlyn was too worried about bringing it through Customs (not surprising). I forgave them, but barely. (I mean, worst case scenario is the jelly is confiscated, but Caitlyn was convinced they would be arrested and detained forever.) The lack of pepper jelly notwithstanding, we began what was an exciting two weeks of fun and family!

Our first adventure was in Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland (southwest of Brisbane). There we visited the Natural Bridge, took some photos at the picturesque border between the states of Queensland and New South Wales, ate some really terrible pizza, and finally explored (and were lost in) part of the rainforest.

Lamington National Park sits on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland / New South Wales border and is known for its beautiful rainforests, diverse birdlife, ancient trees, and incredible mountain views. We can attest to all of these - except maybe the birds, we didn't see many of them (probably because Caitlyn and I were talking and laughing loudly during much of the journey). Walking around the rainforest was an incredible experience in itself because of all the amazing (and huge) plants and trees. Mama was particularly fascinated. But, our favorite part was probably the view of the valley - absolutely incredible! Our least favorite part was not completing our journey before nightfall. Some of you may remember that Chris and I had already experienced walking around at night (lost) in a national park, and it was not an experience I wanted to repeat. Can you believe we still didn't have flashlights with us?!?! You would think we would learn our lesson!

Take a look at some of our pictures, and click on the slideshow below to see more...

The Natural Bridge

Caitlyn and I under "the bridge"

In the rainforest with a very large and very dead tree.

Mama, Caitlyn and I in front of Moran's Falls (Chris was our dutiful photographer)

The valley

Mama, Caitlyn and I posing with the valley behind us!

Click on the slideshow to see more pictures of our adventure!

Fraser Island

2010-08-16T20:33:00.021+10:00

This post is long overdue, but I wanted to share a few pictures and stories of our trip to the largest sand island in the world!! Fraser Island (the aforementioned largest sand island in the world) is located about an hour and a half north of Brisbane and is listed as a World Heritage site (which I think means it is very geologically and ecologically unique). We stayed at one of the two hotels on the island and enjoyed visiting the beautiful fresh water lakes, the Maheno Shipwreck and the famous 75-Mile Beach.

Like most of Australia, Fraser Island was originally inhabited by Aboriginal Australians, but soon after European settlement and the discovery of quality timber, they were "relocated" to inland Queensland. Now the island is home to approximately 350 residents, many of whom are employed by the tourist industry.

Our visit on the island began with a swim in beautiful Lake McKenzie, which is one of many "perched" fresh water lakes formed by rain water on top of compact sand and vegetable matter. The sand at Lake McKenzie is almost pure silica and the Aboriginals used it for washing thier hair and even brushing thier teeth. We didn't attempt to brush our teeth with the sand, but I can tell you that it is incredible smooth and soft, like a bath scrub.

Lake McKenzie

After our swim we drove to 75-Mile Beach, which runs along the entire east side of the island, and (not surprisingly) is about 75 miles long. The beach is also used as a runway and one of the island's main highways (seriously!).

75-Mile Beach

Along 75-Mile Beach is the wreck of the Maheno, which simply drifted ashore while being towed from Melbourne back in 1935 and was never moved.

Our final tourist destination on Fraser Island was a walk through the island's beautiful sub-tropical rainforest. It's a large part of what makes this island so unique. Remember, this is all on a base of sand!

As you can see, we really enjoyed our visit to Fraser Island! The pictures above are just a taste of the beautiful sites. Click on the slideshow to see more!

My sister, the President

2010-07-06T17:35:00.013+10:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures from my trip to Orlando to support Caitlyn at the 2010 Florida FFA Convention. We all had so much fun visiting with family and watching Caitlyn and my grandfather WOW the audience with their amazing speeches! Seriously, they were both awesome! My Papa had the entire audience of over 3000 laughing with stories of his year as the 1941 National FFA President, and then he had us in tears as he told the story of how he met his "best girl," my grandmother, over 65 years ago. Caitlyn took the stage on the last day of the convention with her final address as the Florida FFA State President. She literally amazed the audience with a flawless and entertaining speech. I was so proud to be her big sister!

Caitlyn with Ma and Papa

Papa impressing the audience

Caitlyn, The President

The President's siblings introducing her before the big speech

Caitlyn with Sally and Aunt Susan at her reception

The siblings celebrating the fun week together!

The Wedding

2010-06-29T09:54:00.008+10:00

Just wanted to share a few of my photos from Cassie and Josh's wedding. The pictures are mostly from before the wedding when we were getting ready and hanging out with Cassie. Who, by the way, was not nervous at all. I think everyone in the wedding party cried except her! Needless to say, she was a very happy bride, and without doubt one of the most beautiful I have ever seen (not that I'm biased)!! I still can't believe my little sister is married, but I am so happy for her and Josh! Hope you enjoy the pictures...

Australia's First Female Prime Minister

2010-06-24T08:16:00.009+10:00

Australian politics continue to amaze and confuse me! As of 9:00 this morning, Julie Gillard is the Prime Minister of Australia. How did this happen so quickly? Beats me! As far as I can tell, the Labor Party leadership (currently in power) decided it was frustrated with Kevin Rudd and held a caucus to decide who would be the leader of the Labor Party. And Julia has defeated K. Rudd.

So, just like that Australia has its first female Prime Minister. All without the months (or years) of campaigning, debating, town-halling, etc. Can you imagine this happening in America?!?!

Ok, Ok...

2010-06-23T17:36:00.004+10:00

I just returned to Australia after three wonderful and very busy weeks in the US! During that time, I watched one of my sisters get married and the other deliver an amazing speech to over 3,000 people. They both continue to amaze me with their poise and grace. During our time home I was also (kindly) harassed by several people about why we have not been updating our blog. So, this is me promising to at least try to do better...

Since our last post, we have visited Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, the Barossa Valley and Fraser Island. Keep checking back and I'll try to have pictures and stories from each of those adventures posted soon. I'll also post a few pictures from our most recent trip home.

And before I sign off, congratulations to Bert and Jennie on their recent engagement! We are looking forward to returning to the US in October for the wedding!

Melbourne, the Australian Open and the Great Ocean Road

2010-02-18T18:30:00.016+10:00

Before I begin with stories of our recent trip to Melbourne, let me say that I know it has been FOREVER since our last post. Sorry about that! I almost feel like I should introduce myself again! Our absence from blog-posting was filled with lots of work and lots of travel - mostly to PNG and/or Singapore for work and then, of course, back to the States for Christmas! It was so great to see family and friends again! We also passed our one-year mark in Australia. In some ways it seems like we've lived here for years, and in other ways, I feel like we moved yesterday!

Now that that's out of the way, on to our trip...

This year for Australia Day, we decided to take a short trip down to Melbourne with plans for attending a session of the Australian Open and then driving the Great Ocean Road. I won't bore you with a detailed account of our itinerary, but as you can imagine, watching world-class tennis at the Open was incredible (even for someone like me who doesn't know that much about tennis), and well, the Great Ocean Road is seriously one of the most beautiful stretches of highway ever!! Just take a look at the pictures...

Center Court at the Australian Open...

We saw Lleyton Hewitt vs. Marcos Baghdatis and Caroline Wozniacki vs. Shahar Peer. Lleyton's an Aussie, so watching him play with a stadium full of proud Australians on Australia Day weekend made for an exciting match!

Below are a few pictures of the incredible sights along the Great Ocean Road, but be sure to check out the slideshow of pictures at the bottom...

Bay of Isles at Sunset

Great Ocean Road

Bay of Isles - My favorite spot

Just another great view along the road

The '12 Apostles'

Those are only a fraction of the beautiful images we captured. Check out the slideshow below if you want to see more!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-27T14:17:00.003+10:00

Just wanted to wish everyone back home in the States a very happy Thanksgiving! I'm not going to lie; it has been a bit tough being over here with all these Aussies who simply don't understand the importance and beauty of the holiday (my favorite holiday, by the way). We were, however, able to have a dinner with turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes at a local restaurant owned by an American. It was nowhere near as good as my mama's, but it was better than nothing. :)

Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving!

PNG and other updates...

2009-11-16T18:51:00.004+10:00

It's been a while, so I thought I would give a quick update on our life as of late. I think it can be summed up in one word - WORK! Yes, for better or worse, work is getting very hectic in the countdown to Christmas break. And so, it was for work that I made my first trip to PNG last week...

My short visit was to Port Moresby (capital of Papua New Guinea) and one of our construction sites, which is about 30 minutes outside of the city. First impressions...it's an absolutely beautiful country, but definitely still developing. The beautiful harbor, with its bright blue water and background of rainforest-covered mountains, provides a stark contrast to the poverty of the surrounding population. This was my first trip to a “developing nation,” so it was a bit of a wake-up call. However, PNG is truly a fascinating place, and the people are so friendly - I'm looking forward to my next trip!

I would post some of the very few pictures I was able to take during my time there, but Chris actually has the camera with him in PNG. Yep, that's right, I returned to Brisbane and Chris left for PNG. To make matters worse, he returns later this week, and I immediately leave for a short business trip to Melbourne. We're hoping to see each other this weekend! :) We may even take a trip to one of the weekend destinations on our list to celebrate Chris's birthday (on the 23rd). I'm voting for O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat...

We Climbed the Bridge!!

2009-10-27T18:57:00.005+10:00

This past weekend we climbed the Brisbane Story Bridge! Climbing the bridge is a huge tourist attraction here and has been on our "to do" list for a while because it's one of only three (authorized) bridge climbs in the world! The other two are the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Auckland Harbor Bridge. Maybe we can climb those as well before we head back over to the Western Hemisphere. :)

Anyway, climbing the bridge this weekend was really fun but definitely not for the faint of heart! The Story Bridge is 80 meters high (about 22 stories), and as you can imagine, requires A LOT of steps to reach the top! But seeing the city and the river from up there was worth it! And, don't worry - we were harnessed and tied off during the climb.

I wish I could share the pictures of us on the top of the bridge, but you're not allowed to take cameras (or anything else for that matter) on the climb and the tour company only gives you hard copies of your climb pictures. They really need to enter the digital age!

Makeover

2009-10-15T19:29:00.003+10:00

Thought it was time to give the blog a bit of an update. Hope you like it...

Purple Trees!

2009-10-15T18:25:00.009+10:00

As we enter the Summer season, the Brisbane landscape has become spotted with beautiful purple trees, like the one below.

Apparently (as I'm sure some of you know), these trees are called Jacarandas. That's news to me, but I can tell you that they seemed to appear all over the city out of nowhere and are such a beautiful, bright shade of purple. Maybe that's because, according to Wikipedia, "Brisbane, Australia is noted for its jacarandas which are common in public areas, parks and suburban backyards." I am happily enjoying sitting on my balcony looking down at all the jacarandas in the Botanic Gardens...

USA Foods

2009-10-15T17:41:00.004+10:00

So, until now we've just been "making do" with the foods available in our Aussie grocery stores, but last week we finally broke down and ordered a few items from USA Foods (an online company in Melbourne). Today our shipment arrived!! We are now the proud owners of a huge jar of Jif Peanut Butter, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts, Tony's Etouffee mix, Tony's seasoning, sweet pickle relish and 6 boxes of instant grits. Our choices might seem odd (and I think we overdid it on the grits), but the available selection leaves something to be desired and the opportunity to have real relish on our hamburgers and enjoy a nice bowl of grits for breakfast (with cheese, of course) is priceless to us!! Now I just have to decide which of these wonderful items I’m going to use with dinner tonight!

Mt. Tamborine and other thoughts...

2009-10-11T17:22:00.011+10:00

I have been told by just about everyone lately (including Chris) that I am slacking on the blog, so here we go...

Chris is currently on a flight to Melbourne for a short business trip, and I am enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon at home - the perfect time to blog! I plan to catch up on my favorite TV shows from home as soon as I finish this, but before I turn my attention to Grey's Anatomy I want to tell you about our recent day-trip to Mt. Tamborine.

Mt. Tamborine is located in the Gold Coast Hinterland about an hour south of Brisbane -really an easy drive for a nice day away from the city! We drove down with two of our friends, Abby and Shaun, and began the day with several bush walks around the mountain. It was hot, but the scenery was beautiful, so overall definitely worth it. We also did a rainforest canopy walk, although I think "canopy walk" was a bit overstated since the elevated portion only lasted for about 100 feet. Nonetheless, it was a neat experience.

After exploring the "bush" of the mountain, we visited the Witches Falls Cheese Factory. I think we were supposed to tour the factory, but all we did was sample lots and lots of cheese! (Hey, we earned it with all the walking we did earlier!) After we had our fill of cheese (at least for the day - I bought some to enjoy back here at home), we visited two of the many wineries located on Mt. Tamborine before heading back to Brisbane. I'll stop boring you with a description of the trip now and let you see some of the photos for yourself. I think I'm going to go eat some of our Witches Falls Cheese! :)

One of the waterfalls on our walk...

A huge tree that almost caused us to get lost in the forest (long story)...

Beautiful views of the valley...

Me and Chris on the rainforest walk...

With Abby and Shaun...

Riverfire!!

2009-09-17T18:38:00.004+10:00

This past Saturday was the first day of the 2009 Brisbane Festival, which meant Riverfire! What is Riverfire you might ask? Well, basically... it's a huge fireworks show over the Brisbane River featuring a fly-by with an F-111 and lots of other goodies. We had been looking forward to the event since we moved here and heard such wonderful things from co-workers and locals. Let's just say it lived up to it's reputation!!

We spent the evening at Il Centro, a restaurant on the riverwalk, with several friends and co-workers. The food was delicious, and the views were incredible! Photographs never really do justice to fireworks, but nonetheless, here are a few pics...

A picture of the river from our apartment prior to the fireworks. There were so many boats that came into the city to see the show.

Fireworks coming off the top of buildings in the CBD...

Fireworks from the Storey Bridge...

Cassie and Josh Down Under

2009-09-13T08:27:00.012+10:00

This blog post is way overdue, but as you know Cassie and Josh came for a visit in early August. They spent their first week in Aussie land on a tour of the Outback featuring Uluru/Ayer's Rock and King's Canyon, where they got engaged. After their tour, they returned to Brisbane to spend a week hanging out with Chris and me and exploring the surrounding area. Fortunately, I was able to take a few days off work and join them in a trip up to Noosa, the Australia Zoo and the Glass House Mountains. Here are some pictures of our adventures...

A picture of the beach along our walk in Noosa National Park...

Me and Cassie at Alexandria Bay...

Josh walking on the beach at Alexandria Bay. Can you believe we were the only people there?!?!

Just a pretty picture of a sailboat...

Another shot of me and Cass...

Cassie striking a pose at sunset...

Me and Cass on our balcony before dinner on their last night in Australia...

We really loved having Cassie and Josh visit, especially the opportunity to show them some of our favorite spots here in Australia! We are truly enjoying our time here, but being so far away from family is without a doubt the hardest part. It was such a blessing to have family here with us for a while. We can't wait for our next visitors, whoever they may be!

To see more pictures of Cassie and Josh's visit, click here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/CassieAndJoshDownUnder?feat=directlink

Whales!

2009-09-05T16:53:00.008+10:00

As I mentioned earlier, Chris and I took Cassie and Josh whale watching during their visit to Australia. I say that like we did it just for their benefit, but actually, I had been looking forward to going whale watching since we moved to Brisbane. Every year from July to November there are thousands of humpback whales that migrate from the Arctic up to the warmer waters near the Great Barrier Reef, therefore passing the east coast near Brisbane. As I expected, it was an incredible experience! They are really such huge and magnificent animals. I've posted a few pictures, but the real treat is the video that Chris made. I hope you enjoy...

A picture of the videographer...

Singapore

2009-08-31T19:01:00.009+10:00

As I mentioned before, August was an eventful month! Not only did my sister and her boyfriend (now fiancé) come to visit, but I also had to spend a week in Singapore for work.

My trip was indeed for work (unfortunately) so I wasn’t able to do as much sight-seeing as I would have liked, but I did have time to do some exploring, and shopping!! Singapore is a really interesting city with a distinct combination of Western and Eastern culture. It’s also the cleanest and greenest city I’ve ever visited. Clean because there are very strict laws regarding littering and chewing gum is against the law all together, and green because there is literally trees and other plants everywhere you look, even in downtown. Some of the highlights of my trip were visiting the Bugis District (complete with Chinese and Indian temples), the Chinatown Shopping District, and having dinner with my teammates on Clark Quay. Here are just a few pictures of my trip. I hope Chris and I can visit together one day, and next time I'll be sure to bring more summer clothes. I know I should have realized this from looking at the map (being that Singapore is barely above the equator), but I completely underestimated how hot it would be!! Anyway, on with the pictures...

Here's a shot of me with my teammates...

The view from my hotel window...

The Bugis shopping district...

In front of a Hindu temple...

Another temple...

Footy!

2009-08-23T11:14:00.007+10:00

I know we have a lot of catching up to do on the events listed in the previous blog post, and I promise to update you on those soon, but while it is fresh on our minds, we wanted to tell you about the Australian Rules Football game we went to last night. Don't be confused by the name, Australian Rules Football (Aussie Rules or footy as it is more often called) is absolutely nothing like American football. For example, there is no throwing of the ball, but instead players hit or kick the ball to each other around a huge oval-shaped field where the primary goal is to kick the ball through the middle two goal posts at the ends of the field. There are a total of 36 players on the field at all times (18 for each team) so it can be an exciting game to watch, if sometimes confusing! If you're interested in learning more about this game that so many Australians love, I'll refer you to the Wikipedia link below because I am still learning myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football

Last night we watched the Brisbane Lions take on the Port Adelaide Power, and although the Power were ahead most of the game, the Lions came back in the fourth quarter to win the game 107 to 92. Go Brisbane! Here are some pictures from the game.

The Brisbane Lions running onto the field...

In the middle of a play...

Number 16 is Jonathan Brown, one of the best footy players ever (according to Australians).

A fight broke out, apparently a pretty regular occurance.

Much Needed Update

2009-08-22T13:38:00.003+10:00

Oh my goodness! Where has the time gone?!?! This past month has been action-packed, and I apologize for the lack of blog posts. Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks. Look for more detailed blog posts in the near future...

My sister Cassie and her boyfriend Josh came to Australia for a visit
I spent a week in Singpore for work
Cassie and Josh got engaged
We went whale watching
We visited Noosa, the Glass House Mountains and the Australia Zoo

I think that covers most of it, but I hope you'll check back soon to see pictures and stories of all of our recent adventures.

Darwin and Kakadu

2009-08-05T20:43:00.008+10:00

Life has been so busy lately! Mostly work, but Chris and I have also been keeping busy with several great dinners with friends and co-workers. Now that we have a few minutes to spare, I wanted to share with you a few pictures and stories from our trip to Darwin and Kakadu National Park.

Our friend Ashley lives in Darwin and works on an LNG project there (apparently there is a lot of LNG going on in the Asia Pacific), so Chris and I flew up to Darwin for a long weekend to explore the city and go camping in Kakadu with Ashley and Alyssa. We began our trip by going to Mindl Beach Markets, Darwin’s biggest attraction. The markets were lively and the food was delicious, but my favorite part was sitting on the beach watching the sunset over the water – a rare treat for people like us who live on the east coast. On Friday, Chris and I explored the city with Ashley before picking up Alyssa at the airport. Darwin is a relatively small city of only 70,000 people, 30% of which are Aboriginal Australians. In fact, the Northern Territory, which is bigger than Texas, only has about 200,000 residents! Kind of unbelievable!

Saturday morning at 6:00am the four of us met our tour bus and began the drive to Kakadu. Upon entering Aboriginal land we were greeted by some locals who showed us some of their traditions and customs. And, lucky for us, we had a man spit water on our heads to keep the spirits from following us after we left Aboriginal land. Yep, that’s right, we let this man take water from a billabong and spit it on the top of our heads! I still can’t believe I did that!! Gross! But, I guess it worked because we haven’t noticed any spirits following us around.

Here's a picture of Alyssa, Ashley and I learning an Aboriginal dance. We couldn't get Chris to join us.

Following our very interesting crash course in Aboriginal customs, we went on a cruise down the Mary River. The Mary River has the highest density of crocodiles of any body of water in the world. And boy were there crocodiles! It seemed like everywhere you turned there was another croc, and according to our tour guide there were several swimming underneath the boat at any given time – kinda scary! But, we kept our arms and hands inside the boat and we were fine. It was really cool seeing that many crocodiles out in the wild! Here's one of the bigger crocs we saw...

After our cruise, we drove on to Barramundi Falls where we had the opportunity to swim in the plunge pool at the bottom of the falls. Of course, given that we were in the middle of croc country, I required multiple reassurances from our tour guide that the plunge pool was isolated and croc-free. I finally went in, but I won’t say I wasn’t scared at first! While we were swimming in the plunge pool, the four of us actually saved a member of our tour group from drowning. That’s right, we’re heroes! Seriously, I don’t know why she decided to jump in when she couldn’t swim, but lucky for her we were there to save the day!

Here's a picture of the Barramundi Falls plunge pool...

On our second day of the tour, we went visited Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls, where we swam in another plunge pool. The water in the pool at Jim Jim was absolutely freezing, but we didn’t mind because it meant definitely no crocodiles lurking around!

This is a picture of Twin Falls...

The rest of our day was equally as eventful, but I'll let the pictures do the talking instead of boring you with details. Except, I must mention that Chris ate an ant! Some sort of green ant that our tour guide said was a local delicacy. Chris and the others in our group that tried it said it tasted like citrus. As you might imagine, I just took their word for it.

To see more pictures of our adventure, like the one below, click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/DarwinKakaduNP?authkey=Gv1sRgCKO9uLCk3t2kyQE&feat=directlink

Byron Bay Video

2009-07-31T19:50:00.003+10:00

Here is a video Chris created of the whales and dolphins we saw while at Byron Bay. You have to look closely to see some of them, but it is really neat! I hope you enjoy...

Noosa, Australia Zoo, Byron Bay

2009-07-20T21:20:00.009+10:00

I know this blog entry is way overdue, and I apologize to all of you that have been waiting on it. Between being really busy at work and being out of town every weekend, these past three weeks have flown by! But, finally, this weekend we had a chance to relax and basically do nothing. It was great!! Now we want to share with you some of the fun we’ve had recently.

Two weeks ago our friend Alyssa came to visit, and we had an action-packed weekend showing her as much of Brisbane and the surrounding area as we possibly could. We began by driving up to Noosa to walk around the National Park and have a nice dinner on Hastings Street. The weather was beautiful, we saw a koala in the wild and had a delicious dinner at Rococo. So, all in all a very successful trip aside from getting lost in the national park. Yep, that’s right, we started our walk in the park around mid-afternoon and apparently forgot that it gets dark at around 5:00, so we ended up wandering around in the dark with nothing but an iPhone to light our way for about an hour and a half. I still can’t believe we did that! And I can’t believe Alyssa trusted us with her itinerary after that experience! But she did, and we enjoyed a visit to the Australia Zoo and a drive through the Glass House Mountains the next day. At the zoo we saw crocodiles, snakes, kangaroos, koalas and other weird Australian animals, but the highlight may have been when we saw Steve Irwin’s children playing on the rocks. We had a good laugh about the fact that we (along with many others) were standing around watching these kids play as if they were zoo animals themselves!

Here are some pictures of our adventures in Noosa and at the Australia Zoo…

You may think our weekend was over after all those adventures, but not even close! On Sunday we work up really really early (like at 4:00am) and drove to the Gold Coast to participate in the Gold Coast Marathon. Alyssa and Chris ran in the 10k, and I ran in my very first 5k! I know many of you reading this can run ½ marathons without breaking a sweat, but running a 5k (without stopping or walking) was an achievement for me! And, believe it or not, I enjoyed it! I’m actually thinking of training for a 10k now, but anyway I digress…

After the races, we drove further down the coast to Byron Bay. It was actually our first trip to New South Wales (the state bordering Queensland to the south). Byron Bay is really a beautiful place, and we enjoyed the walk up to the “most powerful lighthouse in Australia.” The walk was long, uphill and exhausting considering I had just run my first 5k earlier that morning, but completely worth it! Along the way we stood on the eastern-most point of mainland Australia where we saw dolphins down below and even a few whales! Really cool! I can’t wait to go whale watching to see even more!

Here are a few shots of Byron Bay...

For more pictures of Byron Bay, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/ByronBay?authkey=Gv1sRgCPPT89HT_pXN0wE&feat=directlink

And, for more pictures of Australia Zoo, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/AustraliaZoo?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbbxdvKguaCMQ&feat=directlink

It's been a while...

2009-07-13T17:59:00.002+10:00

Just wanted to apologize for the lack of posts lately. We have so much we want to share with you, like our recent trips to Noosa, Byron Bay, and Kakadu just to name a few. The problem is, we've been so busy that we haven't even had time to think about blogging! For instance, we just arrived home this morning at 6:00am after a red-eye flight from Darwin where we were visiting our friends Ashley and Alyssa and camping in Kakadu National Park. Stay tuned... Pictures of crocs coming soon!!

State of Origin Update

2009-06-27T13:26:00.002+10:00

For those of you that have been sitting on the edge of your seat wondering if the Queensland Maroons won the second game of this year's State of Origin series...They did!! Queensland beat the New South Wales Blues for the second time this year meaning that they have won a record four straight State of Origins! We're proud Queenslanders...

Scroll down to see my first State of Origin post if you missed it.

Utes

2009-06-21T17:29:00.004+10:00

Chris and I are still in "full-on" (that's an Australian expression) home-decorating mode, and thus this weekend we got rid of one of our old leather chairs (the other is going in the study) and picked up a bookcase that we bought last weekend. At home we would have simply used Chris's truck for these activities but since all we have now is a Honda Accord, we had to rent a ute. What is a ute, you may ask. Well, good ol' Wikipedia defines a ute as, "a coupé utility automobile body style which combines a two-door coupé cabin with an integral cargo bed behind the cabin..." In other words, it's a car-truck hybrid.

Believe it or not, utes are some of the most popular vehicles here in Australia. You see them everywhere and mostly in bright colors like lime green, purple, orange, etc. In case you still can't picture it, here is a picture of a typical Australian ute.

Our ute was more industrial in nature since we rented it solely for the purposes of moving furniture. Just for fun, here are a few pictures of Chris in our rented ute.

We're very happy to have all of our furniture moving behind us, and we hope our American friends enjoyed this little lesson on the purpose and beauty of the Australian ute.

WE HAVE A COUCH (and it's actually in our apartment)

2009-06-09T21:11:00.004+10:00

It actually worked!! I thought it couldn't be done in four hours, but the guys from Action Upholstery did it in less than two!!

Here's the couch in the storage unit before the demolition began.

This is one of the arms from our couch before it was reassembled.

Putting the couch back together...

And here it is, a little rumpled, but fully reassembled and in our apartment.

It is such a relief to finally have a couch in our apartment. Now we just have to get new chairs...

Happy Queen’s Birthday and other updates (including the couch)

2009-06-08T12:22:00.003+10:00

Today marks the end of three-day weekends in 2009, but it sure is a beautiful one! Chris is offshore fishing and I’m sitting on our balcony typing and enjoying the wonderful weather. So, the reason for this holiday (as you might have guessed from the title and picture) is the celebration of the Queen’s Birthday. Apparently Queen Elizabeth’s actual birthday is in April, but today is the day that England and all the Commonwealths celebrate. No matter the reason, I am happy to be enjoying this beautiful weather from my balcony instead of my office!

Now for a few updates…

In case my last post about the State of Origin game left you wondering who won – we did! The Queensland Maroons beat the New South Wales Blues 28-18. If we win this series we will have won a record four State of Origins in a row! Go Maroons!

Now on to the couch... I realize that it has been a long time since I have given a couch update, and that is mostly because at times it was just too frustrating to talk about, but we may finally have a solution so it’s time for an update. Two weekends ago Chris and I finally decided that attempting to take apart and reassemble the couch ourselves was just too much trouble, so we went furniture shopping. (To be honest, I came to this conclusion several weeks ago, but it took Chris a little longer to agree.) During our shopping trip we picked out two couches that we liked and were prepared to choose between those two and donate our couch to charity; however, when we were browsing around one last furniture store the salesman mentioned that he knew of a company that specialized in taking apart couches and reassembling them. So, to make a long story short, we (of course) requested contact info for this company and called them immediately. We sent detailed measurements and drawings (we are engineers after all) of our couch and our doorway constraints, and believe it or not these guys think they can help us. So, tomorrow two guys are going to go with us to our storage unit, take apart our couch, move it into our apartment and then put it back together – in four hours, nonetheless. I am skeptical, to say the least, but there is no charge if we aren’t completely satisfied so I guess we have nothing to lose. Expect an update soon on whether or not this attempt is successful. I’m crossing my fingers. It will be so nice to finally have a couch!!

State of Origin

2009-06-03T21:02:00.004+10:00

Right now Chris and I are watching rugby. More specifically we are watching a rugby game that is one of the biggest sporting events in Australia - Game I of the 2009 State of Origin, which is an annual best-of-three series between the Maroons (which is pronounced more like "Marones") of Queensland and the Blues of New South Wales. It's such a big event that we even received a "Safety Alert" at work yesterday about the potential hazards (heckling, etc.) of wearing maroon or blue today. Chris and I wore orange and green, respectively, and we made it through the day without any trouble.

Because we live in Queensland and because we have always had a fondness for the color maroon , we are rooting for Queensland. Go Maroons! (Or "Marones") Right now we're winning.

As is my usual practice, here is a wikipedia link that has a little more detail about the State of Origin series in case you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_State_of_Origin

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-31T19:12:00.006+10:00

I know it's been a long time since our last post, but I hope you have enjoyed looking at all of our pictures from New Zealand.

As many of you know, I returned earlier this week from a 2 1/2 week trip to the United States. The official reason for my trip was training and meetings, but I was also able to spend time with family and friends and see my sister Caitlyn at her senior prom and graduation. I had such a wonderful time with Chris's family, my family, and all of my wonderful friends in Houston! A huge thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to hang out with me. It really made my visit special!

It was an emotional visit for me because although I am truly enjoying our life down under, my visit reminded me of all the reasons I love the USA! If Chris hadn't been back in Brisbane, I might have stayed!!

Here are a few pictures of the two main events from my trip, Caitlyn's prom and graduation. I promise a more Australia-focused post in the near future.

New Zealand, Day Nine

2009-05-09T01:29:00.002+10:00

On the morning of our last day in New Zealand we woke up early to see the sun rise over Mt. Cook. Then we went on two short walks to see Hooker’s Glacier and the Tasman Glacier, which is the largest glacier in New Zealand. It took us about two hours to reach Hooker’s Glacier, but it was a really pretty (and flat) walk that we both enjoyed! There are several pictures from our walk in the web album (see link below).

After our walks, we had lunch (and our final taste of the best sticky date pudding ever) and then drove to Christchurch for our flight the next morning.

Overall, our trip to New Zealand was an incredible experience and a time that we will remember and cherish forever. We hope you have enjoyed the stories and pictures.

For more pictures of our last day in New Zealand, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayNine?authkey=Gv1sRgCLivsMCy-vyoyAE&feat=directlink

New Zealand, Day Eight

2009-05-09T01:18:00.003+10:00

On Friday morning we work up early and drove from Dunedin back out to the tip of the Otago Peninsula (about 45 minutes) for a Nature’s Wonders tour. On the tour we saw a large colony of New Zealand fur seals up-close and personal – one baby seal even came up to us! We also saw two or three Orca whales splashing out in the ocean, which was an unexpected treat even for our tour guide. We were hoping to see more penguins but only got a glimpse of a little blue penguin hiding in a hole and a yellow-eyed penguin in the distance. One of my favorite parts of the tour was standing on a hill on the tip of the peninsula and looking at the Southeast corner of the world! There is no land any further south or east before you start going north or west. Pretty cool!

After our final wildlife encounter on Otago, we drove towards Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3,754 meters (12,316 ft). Along the way we stopped to see the Moeraki boulders, which are unusually large and spherical boulders on the east coast of the South Island. After taking a few pictures of the unique boulders, we drove on to Mt. Cook Village…

Mt. Cook Village is a really small town consisting only of the people who work in and operate the few hotels and restaurants there. The town has such a quaint, mountain feel and the scenery is incredible! Luckily for us, we arrived in time for dinner at the Old Mountaineer’s Café (the only restaurant in town not associated with a hotel). It was here that we experienced the best sticky date pudding ever!! It was so good that Chris and I went back for lunch the next day and each had more! Like I said in a previous post, in the coming weeks I’ll attempt to explain sticky date pudding and maybe even make it and post the recipe.

Here are a few pictures from Day Eight:

For more pictures, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayEight?authkey=Gv1sRgCKmpj93QlZa1QA&feat=directlink

New Zealand, Day Seven

2009-05-06T21:22:00.023+10:00

On our seventh day in New Zealand we did a lot of driving - from Te Anau down to the Catlins Coast and then across to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula. Along the way we stopped at Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay to look for the rare Hector’s Dolphins, but we didn’t see any. We did, however, see a petrified forest and beautiful views of the southernmost coast of New Zealand. We drove on to Nugget Point where we saw a lighthouse, the “nuggets,” and a few New Zealand fur seals before continuing on to the Otago Peninsula.

The Otago Peninsula is full of interesting wildlife, including a Royal Albatross colony and both yellow-eyed penguins (the world’s rarest) and little blue penguins (the world’s smallest). The Royal Albatross is a large seabird with an average wingspan of over 3 meters! They’re huge! Luckily, we arrived on Otago in time to see several royal albatross flying overhead. We also arrived in time to watch a colony of blue penguins come ashore for the night. Unfortunately, by the time they came ashore it was so dark that we could hardly see anything but shadows, but we did see a yellow-eyed penguin just before dark.

Here are some pictures from our Day Seven journeys:

For more pictures, click here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DaySeven?authkey=Gv1sRgCKyf08qPxd7sHg&feat=directlink

New Zealand, Day Six

2009-05-06T20:38:00.015+10:00

Day Six was our “Milford Big Day Out,” which is basically a tour that includes a two-hour nature cruise into the sound and then several short walks along the Hollyford Track (another one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks”).

Before I go any further I want to explain that Milford Sound and the many other sounds (Doubtful Sound, Dusty Sound, etc.) in Fiordland National Park are not actually sounds, but fiords (hence the name of the national park). In simple terms, a sound was carved out by water (usually a river) and a fiord was carved out by ice (a glacier). All the “sounds” on New Zealand’s South Island were carved out by ice but were incorrectly called sounds when they were discovered and the name stuck. Milford Sound is the only fiord that is accessible by road, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Here are some pictures from our cruise into the fiord. It was really cold because the wind was blowing so hard, but the views were worth it!

To see more pictures of our cruise and pictures of our walks along the Hollyford Track, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DaySix?authkey=Gv1sRgCNm485HKp4nxngE&feat=directlink

New Zealand, Day Five

2009-05-06T20:14:00.006+10:00

After exploring Queenstown on Day 4 (and jumping off a canyon), we woke up early Tuesday morning to drive from Queenstown to Te Anau. These two towns are only about 30 kilometers apart “as the crow flies,” but it takes almost four hours to drive because you have to go around the mountains. As is usually the case in New Zealand, it was a really beautiful drive!

Te Anua is the “gateway” to New Zealand’s Fiordland and the famed Fiordland National Park. It’s also home to Lake Te Anau, a beautiful and huge lake with a maximum depth of 270 meters, making it the largest body of fresh water in the Southern Hemisphere. We arrived in Te Anau in time for lunch at the Sandfly Café, so named because sandflies are everywhere in the fiordland (and they bite!). After lunch we drove into the fiordland towards Milford Sound and stopped at The Divide to walk up to Key Summit, which is near the end of the Routeburn Track. The Routeburn Track is one of many “Great Walks” in New Zealand and has been called the “Greatest Walk in the World” by several magazines and such. It takes about three days to complete. Chris really wants to do this one day, but needless to say, he’ll have to find another partner. I’m sure it’s beautiful, but three days of walking and camping is not for me. I did, however, agree to walk up to Key Summit with him. It’s only about a 3 hour walk (there and back), but it was uphill all the way!! If I had realized this I might not have agreed, but I’m glad I did because the views were incredible. Be sure to click on the link at the end of the post to see pictures.

After our walk, we drove back to Te Anau. For dinner we ate at The Ranch and had a wonderful meal and the best sticky date pudding I’d ever tasted! (Little did I know I would have some that was even better a few days later – New Zealand really knows how to make sticky date pudding!) I don’t think I’ve described sticky date pudding yet, so I’ll have to do that in a later blog post. Maybe I’ll even try to make it. It’s one of my favorite desserts! Enough about dessert (for now), here are some pictures…

For more pictures, click here: ht tp://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayFive?authkey=Gv1sRgCLKGiv2CpZGWVQ&feat=directlink

New Zealand, Day Four

2009-04-30T21:29:00.005+10:00

As I mentioned, the day before we had signed up for the Canyon Swing. I don’t even really know what to say about this experience. I’m glad I did it, but I would never, ever do it again. The 60 meter free-fall into a 109 meter canyon was almost more than my heart could take! But, we did it. Take a look at the videos and pictures of us jumping. It’s pretty entertaining. My facial expression in the picture Chris took right before they swung me out over the edge pretty much sums up my feelings.

We had also signed up to go hang gliding later that day, but unfortunately the winds were too strong so our trip was cancelled. Instead, we enjoyed Queenstown and had fun exploring all the little shops.

Here are the videos of our jumps. And just so you know, the scream in Chris's video is me not him.

And, of course, there are pictures of our jumps and the sights of Queenstown here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayFour?authkey=Gv1sRgCOC19eb6nO6N-AE&feat=directlink

Successful ANZAC Biscuits!

2009-04-28T19:42:00.004+10:00

Our ANZAC biscuits turned out really good! Chris and I have definitely been enjoying them (probably too much). So, just in case any of you Americans want to pretend to be an Australian for a day, the recipe is below (and I’ve already done the conversions for you). They're really easy to make, and remember, none of the ingredients spoil so they’ll last forever, or at least for a long time.

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup coconut flakes
125g (4.4 oz) butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup (pancake syrup)
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon baking soda

Method

1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the sugar, rolled oats and coconut. Mix.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add golden syrup and water.
3. Stir the baking soda into the liquid mixture.
4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Place walnut-sized balls of mixture on a greased tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 175 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
6. Biscuits will harden when cool.

I promise to continue posting NZ pictures as soon as possible.

New Zealand, Day Three

2009-04-27T20:15:00.012+10:00

Our third day in New Zealand was Easter Sunday, and so on our drive from Haast to Queenstown we stopped at a little picnic area and read the Easter story. It was a beautiful experience.

I mentioned that the heli-hike was one of our favorite experiences, and so was the drive from Haast to Queenstown. I know it sounds weird to say that driving was one of our favorite experiences, but the views of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea with incredible mountains in the background were absolutely stunning! Quite possibly the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen!!

After arriving in Queenstown we bought a digital camera! Finally!!! Queenstown is a really cute little mountain town that has become a hugely popular tourist destination and therefore offers the little luxuries of Starbucks and great restaurants. Queenstown is also the self-proclaimed “Adventure Capital of the World” and the home of the original bungy jump. And so, that afternoon we signed up to do the Canyon Swing (a modified bungy jump) first thing the next morning. More to come on that in Day Four.

Here are some pictures of from our drive...

I understand that I had mistakenly put the link to Day One pics here instead of Day Three. That has been corrected. To see more pictures of Day Three, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayThree?authkey=Gv1sRgCIf0oJm4wrKGxgE&feat=directlink

New Zealand, Day Two

2009-04-27T20:01:00.008+10:00

On our second day in New Zealand, we did a heli-hike on the Franz Josef glacier! A heli-hike is pretty self explanatory, but just to clarify, it involves a short helicopter ride up to the top of the glacier and then a 2 ½ hour guided hike on the glacier itself. I’m going to let the pictures describe this for us because it was really too amazing for words. I don’t think it would be possible for me to pinpoint my favorite thing about NZ, but this experience would definitely be near the top of the list!!

After our heli-hike we drove on to the small west coast town of Haast, in preparation for our drive to Queenstown the following day.

To see more pictures of our heli-hike and the rest of our Day Two adventures, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayTwo?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTalMyP7rXL-wE&feat=directlink

Day three coming soon...

New Zealand, Day One

2009-04-27T13:07:00.007+10:00

There is so much we want to share with you about our experiences in New Zealand, so we decided to do a post for each day we were there. So, here it goes…

Day One...

We arrived in Christchurch, NZ around 11:00pm on Thursday, April 9th just in time to get a burger at Burger King (everything else was closed) and go to bed. So, our first real day in the country was Friday.

On Friday we drove from Christchurch (on the East Coast) to Franz Josef (on the West Coast). It had actually snowed the day before in Christchurch, so the views of the snow-capped mountains as we were coming out of the city were amazing!! However, it was when we were trying to take our first pictures of NZ that we realized our digital camera had broken. I mean, completely dead and gone – wouldn’t even turn on. To make matters worse, we had forgotten to charge our video camera the night before and the battery was dead. You cannot imagine how frustrating it was to be passing all of this beautiful scenery and not be able to take any pictures. I should also mention that it was Good Friday, so all the stores that would sell cameras and stuff were closed. So, we stopped along the road at a small café and asked the owners if we could charge our video camera. After about an hour of charging and drinking lattes, we continued on to Arthur’s Pass (about half-way to our final destination of Franz Josef). At Arthur’s Pass National Park, we walked the “Devil’s Punchbowl” track that led to a 131 meter waterfall. The views of the waterfall and of all the mountains surrounding us were beautiful!

After our walk, we continued on to Franz Josef and arrived just in time for dinner at the Blue Ice Café.

Here's a look at a few of our pictures...

For more pictures, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NewZealandTrip_DayOne?authkey=Gv1sRgCLHt8uqSpfSicg&feat=directlink

Day two coming soon...

Happy ANZAC Day!

2009-04-25T12:48:00.005+10:00

Today is ANZAC Day here in Australia. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corp, and the holiday commemorates the ANZAC soldiers who fought at Gallipolia in Turkey during WWI. According to Wikipedia, "This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name." It is a very important holiday to both Australians and New Zealanders, as evidenced by the law requiring all businesses except grocery stores and restaurants to close for the occasion.

Chris and I are celebrating by watching the many services and celebrations on TV and by making ANZAC biscuits (when Australians say biscuits, they’re talking about cookies). Apparently, ANZAC cookies were first created by the wives and mothers of ANZAC soldiers who wanted to send them food. They are made of rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water. All these items do not readily spoil, and therefore were able to make the long journey from Australia and New Zealand to the battlefield in Turkey. They’re actually really good. I hope ours turn out ok! To learn more about ANZAC biscuits and the holiday in general click here: http://www.anzacday.org.au/miscellaneous/bikkies.html

And of course, since all the stores are closed today we hope to use the afternoon to finally upload our NZ pictures to a web album. I thought I was exaggerating when I said we had 1000 pictures, but it turns out we actually took over 1,100!!! We’ll pick out some of the best ones to post on the blog. They’ll be up soon, I promise!

We're back in Australia!

2009-04-19T13:10:00.002+10:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we returned early this morning from New Zealand. We had a wonderful time, but it's good to be back. New Zealand is an absolutely beautiful country, and we can't wait to share our photos. However, I think we have about 1000 of them so it's going to take a little time to sort through them all before we can post any. We'll try to get most of them uploaded this week. Stay tuned...

Oh, and still no news on the couch. We're going to have it moved to a proper rental facility this week so Chris and look at it to see if he can take it apart. I'm just so ready to have a couch (any couch)!!! Hopefully we'll have it sorted out soon.

Hello from New Zealand

2009-04-13T08:17:00.003+10:00

Hey friends and family! It's Monday morning here in NZ, Day 4 of our trip, and we just wanted to say hello! We're currently in Queenstown and just finished doing the Canyon Swing -a 109m jump with a 60m freefall! I almost chickened out, but I did it! Still can't believe it! We have pictures and videos of our jumps, and we'll be sure to post those as soon as we return to Australia. This afternoon we are going hang gliding...

New Zealand is absolutely beautiful! Everywhere you look there is a picturesque view, and we can't wait to share all our photos with you!

Gotta go...

Couch Update and Other News

2009-04-02T13:54:00.001+10:00

Just wanted to give you a brief update on the couch… Allied had their “moving specialists” take a look at the situation this week and told us (once again) that there was no way to get the couch in our apartment, and that they had “never seen a couch this big.” So, no hope there. Chris still wants to attempt to take it apart, but unfortunately Allied won’t allow us in the storage facility on the weekends, so we’re not really sure when we’ll have time to take a look at it. In the meantime, I’m going to start looking for a new couch…

In other news, Chris made a brief trip to Papua New Guinea this week for a meeting. From all I’ve heard it’s really an interesting country, so I can’t wait to hear more. I’m going to do my best to convince Chris to blog a little bit about his experiences. I, meanwhile, am here in Brisbane attempting to make our apartment look less like a natural disaster area, but progress is slow. There are still boxes everywhere!! And the clothes! We completely underestimated how little closet room we have over here and have no idea where we are going to put everything. Time to be creative I guess...

Couch Drama

2009-03-25T14:45:00.002+10:00

We’ve obviously had some ups and downs since moving to Australia, challenges with setting up our internet and cell phone, visa hassles, homesickness, difficulty finding a church, and lots of complicated paperwork, but I think we’ve encountered our most annoying challenge yet: our couch won’t fit in our apartment! Actually, it won’t even fit in the elevator to be lifted to our apartment, and even if it could fit in the elevator there is no way it would make it through the doorway. It is currently being stored for us by Allied (the moving company) at no small cost. So now we have this couch, a super-comfortable couch that we both love, that we can’t use, can’t afford to store, and don’t know how to sell. Very frustrating! Chris is convinced that he can take the couch apart, move it into the apartment, and reassemble it. I, on the other hand, am very skeptical. However, because I am a good wife, and really because I have no better ideas, we are going this weekend to attempt to disassemble the couch enough to make it fit in the elevator and then through our door.

To further complicate matters, if we have to buy a couch (and I really think we will), it’s going to have to be really small or come in more than one piece because there is no three-seater couch that will fit in our elevator and through our doorway! How did we not realize this limitation when we chose our apartment?!?! Who knows, maybe Chris will be successful in taking it apart and putting it back together, but if not we’re going to miss our big, comfy couch!. I’ll keep you posted.

In happier news, yesterday (or today in the States) was our second anniversary! To celebrate we had dinner and went to see Chicago at the Queensland Performing Arts Center this past weekend, and of course, our big present to each other is our upcoming trip to NZ.

Election Day in Queensland

2009-03-24T14:29:00.003+10:00

This Saturday was Election Day here in Queensland. Among other things, the vote decided Queensland’s Premier, which is what we in the States would call Governor. I personally think “Premier” sounds much cooler than “Governor,” but anyway… The election was between Anna Bligh, a member of the Labor Party and Lawrence Springborg, a member of the Liberal National Party (LNP). I know very little about the two major political parties involved, but I’m doing my best to learn more. If you’re interested in a brief summary, check out these two Wikipedia links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Labor_Party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_National_Party_of_Queensland

Anna Bligh, who was serving as Premier after the post was vacated by another Labor Party member, won by a narrow margin and made history as the first female elected as a Premier in Australia. This is a pretty big deal here in Australia, and definitely a huge victory for the Labor Party and for women because Queensland is one of only six states. (There are also two territories, but since I don’t really understand the whole territory vs. state thing, I won’t try to explain it.)

The election process in general was really fascinating to Chris and me because there are some many differences between the process here and ours back home, one of which is the length of the campaigns. Political advertisements have really only been on TV for a little over a month, and Anna Bligh and Lawrence Springborg only officially kicked off their campaigns one week before the election – obviously much shorter than the year-long campaigns in the States! Perhaps an even bigger difference is that Australian citizens are actually required to vote! The elections are held on a Saturday, and the government issues a fine to all non-voters. Requiring all citizens to vote would certainly make for an interesting election back home!

I would love to point out other differences because I’m sure there are many more, but in truth, I’m still learning myself. We're glad y'all are learning with us...

Our Shipment Has Arrived!!

2009-03-18T08:30:00.002+10:00

We found out today that our sea shipment will be delivered on Monday. We are so excited to finally receive our stuff, even though we’re not so thrilled about the task of unpacking. Our apartment here is so different than ours was in Houston, so it could be a challenge to arrange all of our furniture, etc. Challenge aside, I can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to sleeping in own bed and using our own dishes! Not to mention having more of our clothes! It’s been two months now of wearing the same clothes and the same shoes over and over again! The clothes and shoes part has obviously bothered me more than Chris, but I think we both agree that Monday can’t get here soon enough!

Fortunately, Customs only “quarantined” three items from our shipment: a box of seeds (which I can only assume is potpourri), a woven basket, and some decorative sticks. I’m sad to lose the basket, but we feel pretty lucky after hearing some horror stories from some of our co-workers about what they had quarantined.

Other than the expected arrival of the majority of our earthly possessions, life has been pretty calm lately. I think we are finally through with most of the “moving” process, and it’s beginning to sink in that this is more than just a long vacation. We know this will never be home for us, and at times it can be difficult to be so far away from family and friends and the comfort and familiarity of the States, but we’re making the most of this opportunity that we’ve been given.

Speaking of which, to truly become “Australian,” we recently purchased a barbie (grill), and Chris has used it to cook up several wonderful meals for us! In fact, maybe I can convince him to cook something tonight! It’s definitely nice to not have to clean up the kitchen!

Suffice it to say that we are definitely enjoying our time here even though we miss home, and of course, we miss all of you! I hope everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying reading our blog. We are already looking forward to sharing our upcoming New Zealand trip with you, and in the meantime we’ll try to keep the blog as interesting as possible…

Missing Houston...The Rodeo, The Astros...

2009-03-12T12:41:00.003+10:00

This is the best time of the year to live in Houston! The weather is generally nice, the Astros are beginning to play, and it’s time for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!! The rodeo alone makes the city so much fun, and reading about all the concerts and upcoming events on chron.com has made us miss Houston even more! (If you can’t quite understand how a rodeo can transform and engage an entire city, then you’ve obviously never seen a wagon ride / cattle drive down an eight-lane freeway.)

As for the Astros…I have to admit I’m kind of glad I don’t have to watch the games on TV every single night, but I know I’ll miss going to games and hearing everyone in town talk about their projections for the Astros’ season. I might even miss watching a game on TV every so often.

It is truly a great time of year to be in Houston, so to all our friends there; please enjoy it for us!

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Video

2009-03-08T21:14:00.003+10:00

We finally bought video editing software, and Chris created this little video of our experience at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We hope you enjoy...

Noosa and the Glass House Mountains

2009-03-02T20:04:00.021+10:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this weekend Chris and I drove up to Noosa, which is a beach town about 1 ½ hours north of Brisbane. We arrived on Friday night and enjoyed a nice dinner on “world-famous” Hastings Street. I had never heard of Hasting Street until about a week ago, so I’m not really sure about the world famous part, but it is a cute little street right along the beach filled with shops and restaurants. It reminded us a lot of a beach version of Main Street in Fredericksburg, Texas, so if you’ve ever been there you can sort of imagine what Hasting Street might be like.

Saturday was a busy day as we went ocean kayaking in the morning and walked around Noosa National Park in the afternoon. We’ve both been kayaking dozens of times, but it’s an entirely different ballgame when you’re in the Pacific Ocean dealing with waves and a huge expanse of water. We had to learn how to “surf” our kayak onto the shore without tipping over. It was a little difficult to master, but believe it or not, we were successful! It was really neat (and a little scary) to be in the ocean in nothing but a small kayak, but we had a great time. As you can see below, the views were incredible! The only disappointment was that we didn’t see any dolphins.

After our kayaking trip we went for a walk around Noosa National Park. It was about a 6 kilometer walk in all, but definitely worth the effort as you can see...

Sunday morning we (or I) did a little shopping on Hastings Street before driving into the Hinterland. The Hinterland is the inland area that separates the coast from the Outback. It’s very green and hilly and absolutely gorgeous! It’s also home to the Glass House Mountains, which are the volcanic plugs from volcanoes that were formed 27 million years ago. They are really important in Aboriginal culture, and there is an interesting Aboriginal legend about the mountains. To learn more visit http://www.glasshousemountains.com.au/aboutledg.htm.

We thought about hiking around the mountains, but since Sunday was the hottest day we’ve experienced since arriving in Australia, we decided to save the hiking for a cooler day. However, we drove around the Glass House Mountains Tourist Drive and stopped at several lookouts. You can see the results of our journey below. We can’t wait to return to the Hinterland for more adventures!

We took many more pictures of our weekend. To see more visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/NoosaAndTheGlassHouseMountains?feat=directlink

Guess What We Found...

2009-02-26T17:25:00.003+10:00

That’s right, Krispy Kreme! I mean, we didn’t even have those in Houston! We stumbled upon one this weekend beneath a food court and couldn’t resist taking home ½ dozen classic glazed doughnuts. There was no “Hot Fresh Now” sign (at least at the location we found), but after 8 seconds in the microwave you can barely tell the difference. Absolutely delicious!!! However, our purchase was at least twice as expensive as it would have been in the US, so I can’t say that we will be regulars – for the sake of our wallet and our waistlines!

Since we’re on the subject of food (doughnuts are food, right?), I’m happy to announce that the food here is really pretty good. We were a little apprehensive, and definitely afraid of going without quality TexMex for long periods of time, but we have been pleasantly surprised. Don’t get me wrong, there is no good TexMex here (that will be the first thing we eat once we’re back in Houston), but there are a lot of other quality options. The seafood is really good, especially the shrimp (or “prawns” as they are known here), and we have had some really good fish. We found an amazing Thai restaurant, and, of course, we’ve managed to find some great steaks! I don’t think Chris and I could live without a good steak every now and then. The only thing that is slightly frustrating is the relative lack of options for dinner. Just like all of the stores many restaurants close really early, especially in the city. To complicate matters, many of the restaurants that are open late (and by late I’m only talking 8:00 or 9:00pm) require driving and attempting to find a parking place, which is usually difficult and very expensive!

The lunch and more casual options are easier to access and also pretty good. They generally resemble the type of casual restaurants you would find in the US. One difference, however, is the “kebabs.” A kebab here has nothing to do with meat on a skewer, but instead is more of a grilled wrap with meat (chicken, beef or lamb) and vegetables, with your choice of several sauces. There are little kebab shops everywhere, and most of them are pretty delicious! Something else that is everywhere is Subway. We were really surprised at the number of Subway restaurants in Brisbane. I feel like there is one on every corner, but I’m not complaining. The cookies here are just as good as they are back home!

So, as you can tell, Chris and I are not going hungry. We miss Mexican food, Chick-fil-A, cheese grits, and good breakfast cereal (something that is seriously lacking here), but we’re managing just fine.

One month down…

2009-02-19T20:00:00.001+10:00

Today marks one month in Australia. We can hardly believe it! It’s been so very hectic that it seems like we only arrived last week. But, we’ve made a lot of progress in one month. We have an apartment, all our necessary paperwork is complete, and today we bought a car!!! Finally, after what seems like endless visits to dealerships, and hours spent researching Australian cars, we bought a used Honda Accord. It’s really very similar to the Honda Accords in the US, with the obvious difference of the steering wheel being on the right side. Because we walk to work every day, we will really only be using it on the weekends. We just wanted something reliable and safe that we could use for trips. Speaking of trips…

Next weekend we are going to Noosa, which is a town on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane. It’s supposed to be beautiful! We’re going to go ocean kayaking and snorkeling, and maybe even take surfing lessons (but we haven’t decided on that just yet). We will be sure to take pictures and share them along with our stories as soon as possible.

Our second planned trip is to New Zealand in April!! Chris is so excited! He claims that he is going to sky dive, paraglide, and canyon swing, but I’m trying to talk him out of the sky diving. No matter what we end up doing, I know we will have a blast. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would travel to New Zealand! We are truly blessed to have this opportunity. Thank you all for sharing it with us through our blog!

Cooking in Australia

2009-02-16T19:59:00.001+10:00

Last night we had our first home-cooked meal since arriving in Brisbane. I know it’s been almost a month, and some of you are thinking that I should have been cooking for a while now, but it’s not as easy as you might think - at least for someone like me who wasn’t that great of a cook in America. To our credit, we haven’t had a fully-functioning kitchen for that long. But even with the necessary equipment, finding the right ingredients can be a challenge. The grocery stores here are fairly similar to those in the US, but there are just so many little things that are missing. The stuff we can find is packaged so differently that it’s hard to recognize! So, instead of relying on the same recipes we used in the US, we are trying new things. Tonight we had rissoles, which are seasoned meat patties – larger and flatter than a meatball, but not as big as a hamburger. They actually turned out pretty good! We served them with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Our first home-cooked Australian meal…we were proud!

The View from Up Here

2009-02-15T19:59:00.010+10:00

The best thing about our new apartment is the view. We invite you all to come see it in person, but for now we'll share it with you the only way we can. Here are some pictures from our balcony:

This last picture is a view of The Gabba at night. The Gabba is the cricket stadium here in Brisbane. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. On this particular night the Australian cricket team was playing New Zealand, which is a really big deal here. Australians take cricket very seriously and New Zealand is one of their major rivals. We plan to go to a game at The Gabba sometime soon, but for now we are content seeing it all lit up from our balcony.

On a side note: New Zealanders are more commonly referred to as Kiwis, which we find interesting. You often hear people say, “I’m a kiwi,” or “He/She is a kiwi.” Apparently, the name comes from a flightless bird found only in New Zealand.

Victoria Bushfires

2009-02-12T16:16:00.002+10:00

Several of you have expressed concern over the recent bushfires here in Australia. Fortunately for us, the fires are in Victoria (a state in southern Australia), and we live in the northern state of Queensland. Even though there is only one state (New South Wales) separating the two, Australian states are big – really big, so it’s roughly the equivalent of us living in New York and the fires being in Florida. With that said, the recent fires were, and still are, horribly bad and have affected the entire country. The death toll currently stands at 181, but officials expect it to rise to well over 200. Some are even projecting a death toll of over 300! Sadly, there are still 23 fires that are not yet under control.

Here are some pictures that I received in an email from one of my co-workers:

An interesting debate has begun in light of this disaster. Australia has what is commonly called a “Fight or Flight” policy with regard to bush fires, which encourages citizens to remain in their homes and fight the fire. Australian research indicates that a home is much more likely to survive a fire if there is an able-bodied person there to defend it. However, many are now saying the policy contributed to such a high death toll in the recent disaster. There is a national debate occurring over whether the policy should be changed or removed completely. If interested, click on the link below to learn more about this issue:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25032883-5018722,00.html

Please keep those affected by the fires in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely, Chris and Chrissie

It's a Small World After All

2009-02-10T18:56:00.001+10:00

On Saturday Chris and I ventured out to the suburb of Indooroopilly in search of large “big-box” stores. We were very happy to find a big K-Mart where we purchased things like a toaster, garbage can, iron, etc. Very convenient! Anyway, the point of the story is that while we were in the check-out line of a grocery store in Indooroopilly we actually ran into one of my former co-workers at PBS&J in Houston! I had been told that he and his family had moved to Australia a few months ago, but I had no idea he was anywhere near Brisbane. And even so, Brisbane’s a large city so the chances of us ever seeing him were pretty slim. The fact that we were checking-out at the same time at a random grocery store in a suburb of Brisbane has to rank amongst the craziest and most unlikely things that has ever happened to me! We talked for a while in the check-out line, and he and his wife invited us over for dinner on Sunday night. We accepted and had a good time learning from their experiences and talking about things we miss about the US (biscuits in a can and good cereal ranked pretty high on the list).

They have two small children, so it was interesting to hear about the differences between Australian and US schools. One of the things that surprised us the most is that there are no sports in schools here. All youth sports are done through community clubs, etc. Australia has such a huge sports culture (cricket players are like rock stars, seriously), so it was surprising to learn that children have to join a club (at no small cost) to participate in sports at a young age. There are also no college athletic scholarships, just academic. One of the many differences we are learning about…

Headed to the High Rise

2009-02-05T19:23:00.002+10:00

After a lot of thought and deliberation, we have decided on the 40th floor apartment in the CBD. It really came down to convenience. We will only be a 6 or 7 minute walk from work and really close to tons of restaurants and shopping. Plus, I know the 3rd bedroom will come in handy when we have visitors. Thank you to everyone who voted! We thought the poll was a fun little feature (it was Chris’s idea, of course), and we hope you enjoyed it too. On the night we had to make our final decision the vote was actually tied, but right after we told our relocation agent that we had chosen the high rise someone voted for it causing it to win the poll. It must mean that we made the right decision!

The whole process was a bit of a pain because we had to go back and forth with the owner on the rent price for a few days. I know I mentioned earlier that the renting process is different here, so let me explain... Most of the apartments in or near the city are more like condos in that each unit is individually owned by investors. Therefore, in order to rent an apartment you have to fill out a lengthy application and be approved by the owner (which can be difficult for immigrants like us). Once you’re approved you have to agree on a price, and similar to buying a house in the States, the price is negotiable so the process is to offer less than the listed price and hopefully meet somewhere in the middle. The owner of our particular unit was reluctant to come down from the listed price so we had to negotiate a little more than normal, but we eventually came to an agreement.

Rental amounts are calculated per week, and our rent is due every fortnight. (If you’re like me and had to think about what that means, it’s every two weeks.) I hope we don’t become confused by that!!

We move in tomorrow and are excited about setting up our new home and even more excited to leave this tiny temporary apartment!! Obviously this weekend will be busy for us, but we are learning new things every day and look forward to sharing our stories with you as soon as possible.

To learn more about our new home, visit www.monmary.com.au

Kangaroos and Koalas

2009-02-01T21:15:00.006+10:00

Tonight concludes a great second weekend here in Brisbane, and this time we have pictures to prove it! But first, an update on our apartment search... On Saturday we went to look at more apartments on Kangaroo Point, but it looks like we are still choosing between the two options that are shown on the poll (so there's still time to vote). We actually put in an application for the 3 bedroom in the high rise, but we offered less than they were asking so we just have to wait and see if they accept our offer. The apartment renting process here is much different than in the States, and we are still learning our way around. We will definitely keep everyone updated!

I should also mention that we chose to drive to Kangaroo Point instead of walk - our first major driving attempt. I drove first and, according to Chris, almost drove into the side of a bridge and several curbs (he exaggerates). But, I'm improving! Chris drove on the way back home and did much better staying in the lane, but we got lost and ended up driving around Brisbane for at least an extra 30 minutes. In the process we learned a little more about Brisbane, and Chris got extra driving practice so it wasn't a bad experience.

On Sunday we woke up early and had breakfast (more often called “brekky” here in Australia). Chris ordered blueberry pancakes, and they came with vanilla ice cream on top causing him to declare that he will always eat his pancakes with ice cream from now on. This may not seem blog-worthy, but since Chris is still talking about it tonight I thought I would mention it. It was pretty delicious!

Despite the goodness of the pancakes and ice cream, the big event of the day was our visit to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We held koalas, fed kangaroos and wallabies, and saw wombats, Tasmanian devils, and all sorts of other distinctively Australian animals! I would say more about it, but I think the pictures speak for themselves. I couldn’t load all the pictures on the blog, so the three I've posted are just a preview of all the fun pics we took. The rest are available to view via the link below. I hope you enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/chrissie.vandevere/LonePineKoalaSanctuary?feat=directlink

Help Us Choose Where To Live

2009-01-28T21:24:00.015+10:00

As mentioned before, we have been visiting numerous apartments this past week trying to find somewhere to live. We think we have narrowed it down to two locations but are uncertain on which we like better; therefore, we give our loyal blog followers the opportunity to opine. Use the poll on the right to vote. We have to decide by this weekend.

Also comment on our newest addition to the blog... the music. (If you find it really irritating you can stop it at the bottom of the page.)

Option 1: Kangaroo Point - Mid Rise 3rd floor apartment

*Spacious, open-plan living area with modern kitchen including granite benchtops, new appliances and gas cooktop.

* 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

* Main bedroom has a walk in robe and ensuite with spa and shower.

*Huge Balcony area suitable for outdoor dining/living. (When they say huge they mean ridiculously huge!)

* Partly furnished apartment includes: washing machine, dryer, fridge, coffee maker, laundry cupboard.

*Must take a ferry across the river to get to offices

Option 2: Central Business District High Rise - 40th floor

*3 bedrooms, 2 large bathrooms

*Master bedroom has ensuite and all rooms have large closets*Located in the brand new M on Mary Building within minutes walk to Queen Street Mall, Restaurants, cafes and the Botanical Gardens.

*Excellent views of the Brisbane River and Botanical Gardens

*Contempary fixtures include, stainless steel appliances, gas stove top, ducted reverse cycle air conditioning, security video intercom and floor to ceiling windows.

*Large kitchen (well...large for Australia, average for Houston)

Happy Australia Day!

2009-01-27T21:34:00.005+10:00

Yesterday (Monday, January 26th) was Australia Day, making this past weekend a long one for us here, and we certainly enjoyed it! We finally went to see the movie Australia. As some of you know, I have been trying to convince Chris to take me to see it for a while now. I guess he wanted to see it in the country of its origin. We both really enjoyed the movie, and it piqued our interest in Australian history (very appropriate given the holiday).

On Saturday, we set-up our Australian cell phones – after a lot of research on how the plans here work. They’re very different! Instead of paying for a certain amount of minutes per month, you pay for a certain dollar amount of credit. For instance, you pay $50/month for $600 of credit and then make calls at $0.80/minute (or as they will tell you “only $0.40 for 30 seconds,” which I think is very tricky). The good news is we are able to use our iPhones!

Later that evening we discovered that stores here close really early! Everything except for restaurants and bars closes at 5:00pm, except on Friday when stores are open until 9:00 for “Late Night in the City.” Luckily the riverfront is always open, so we enjoyed walking down the boardwalk on Saturday evening.

On Sunday we went for a walk through the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are really beautiful! Obviously we can’t post the pictures we took yet, but here are some pictures that Chris took during his first visit to Brisbane.

To celebrate Australia Day, we went to the city-wide celebration at Southbank. There were tons of concerts and entertainment to enjoy and people everywhere shouting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.” The sense of national pride here is really amazing. Later that night we stood on the pedestrian bridge over the river and watched the fireworks display, which was really neat (like what we are used to on July 4th). The picture below was taken with our video camera from the bridge where we watched the fireworks. We'll post more pics and some video (including some footage of one of Australia's finest that you don't want to miss) of Australia Day as soon as possible.

Just a final thought…The coffee is really good here! I mean REALLY good! They take their coffee very seriously and even have an annual competition that awards the coffee shop voted best in town. I think the lattes may be one of my favorite things about living here so far.

Driving and Apartment Hunting

2009-01-22T21:34:00.002+10:00

This morning we had our driver training… Very weird! It was so hard to keep the car in the center (or “centre”) of the lane since we are accustom to being towards the left side of the car and now we are on the right. Even more difficult is remembering that the blinker switch is on the right side of the steering wheel instead of the left. I can’t tell you how many times I turned on the windshield wipers trying to signal a turn! Needless to say we have a lot to learn! But at least now we have a rental car (or “hire car” in Australian) to practice with. It’s a cobalt blue Toyota Camry – it’s called something different, but it’s exactly like a Camry other than the fact that the steering wheel is on the right. The car was delivered this afternoon (while Chris was still in a meeting nonetheless), and I had to give myself a little pep talk before I had the courage to drive it around the block and into the car park (“parking garage”). It was scary, but I didn’t wreck it!!

Today was a busy day as we also went apartment hunting this afternoon. It’s hard to describe, but the apartments are different from the standard in the United States. For one thing they don’t have near as much storage space (I don’t think Australia has discovered the joy of walk-in closets yet!), and all the cabinets and doors look like they were built in the 70’s. I’ll post pictures as soon as possible. We didn’t fall in love with anything today, but we are going to look again on Tuesday, so maybe then…

Like apartment hunting, everything is a learning experience. Today in the elevator a women asked me how hot I thought it was outside, and I had no idea what to say! She finally said it was 26 this morning, which I assume is hotter than usual for a January morning – who knows! All we know is that it’s hotter than any January we’ve ever known. We have got to get used to this whole Celsius thing! Maybe we should carry around a calculator.

One thing that has not been an adjustment is the news coverage. We feel like there had to be more coverage of the Inauguration here in Australia than there was in the States! Don’t get me wrong, a good portion of the news is specific to Australia, but there is A LOT of US news coverage! We’re not complaining – it’s been nice to be able to keep up with the news from home so easily.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I think we are both looking forward to the weekend to relax and soak in more of Brisbane. We actually have a long weekend since Monday is Australian Day. We came just in time to learn more about Australian history and enjoy all the festivities associated with the holiday. We’ll do our best to take pictures and post them as soon as our cord arrives (which should be in less than a week).

Day #1

2009-01-20T20:51:00.004+10:00

So we survived our first 24 hours in Brisbane, and we have already learned so much! Just a few interesting notes on vocabulary… “tire” is spelled “tyre,” elevators are called “lifts,” no one says “restroom or bathroom” just “toilets,” and there is so much more…

During our first meal in Brisbane I discovered that there is no tipping and that tax is already included in the price listed for your food (luckily Chris knew this from his previous visits). You would think the no tipping thing would be a benefit, but I’m afraid it also removes some of the incentive for good service. I also learned (the hard way) that there is no such thing as free drink refills – apparently that’s an American thing. But on the positive side, avocados are really common here! So no guacamole, but we can still have good avocados!

In Brisbane there is TONS of foot traffic (completely different from Houston), and like everyone else we walk to work every day. The hardest adjustment so far has been learning to go to the left when you meet someone on the sidewalk instead of to the right. But, hopefully learning to walk on the left side of the sidewalk will prepare us for driving on the left side of the road! Speaking of which, we have driver training on Thursday, and I’m sure there will be some interesting stories from that experience.

The currency is so different from the US, especially the coins. Here we have $1 and $2 coins, and all the coins have such unique shapes and colors which has made paying for things in cash somewhat of an adventure. Setting our thermostat last night was also somewhat challenging since we initially had no idea what a comfortable temperature in Celsius would be! After some brain racking for conversion factors we settled on 22 degrees Celsius, which is roughly 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and we slept just fine.

Overall, Brisbane is a beautiful city. The Brisbane River winds through the center of the city and there are beautiful buildings surrounding the river with palm trees everywhere. We want to share pictures of where we are staying and our walk to work, but unfortunately we packed the camera cord in our air shipment which won’t arrive for another week or so. The pictures that are attached are from Chris’s previous visit, just to give you an idea of the city.

It’s 4:50am in Houston, and 8:50pm here in Brisbane, and we are once again exhausted. I hope we get used to the time change soon. We’ll share more soon. Miss you all!

Saying Goodbye to Houston

2009-01-17T03:59:00.003+10:00

On Wednesday we watched movers pack everything we own, and on Thursday we saw the majority of our earthly possessions placed in a 20-foot container (see picture) that will travel by sea to Australia. It was definitely a weird feeling! For eight weeks we will live off of what we have in our suitcases plus a small air shipment that should arrive in Brisbane in approximately two weeks. I’m sure we’ll survive…

Today is Friday, and therefore, our last full day in Houston. Our flight leaves tomorrow evening. I’ve already discussed the two most important things we will miss (our family and friends), but as we spend our final day in Houston I’ve been thinking about all the little things we will miss about this wonderful city. Just to name a few…

TexMex food in general and particularly fajitas from El Tiempo, Candelari’s pizza, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, the hundreds of wonderful restaurants, the Galleria, the Monogram Shop, our apartment, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and particularly our Sunday school class, cheesecake from Kenny and Ziggy’s, driving on the right (correct) side of the road, pedicures (I hear they’re terrible in Australia), Astros games, Shiner Bock, running at Memorial Park, the Houston Rodeo, listening to KSBJ…

The list could go on and on, and I’m sure we’ll continue to add to it as we begin to recognize all the little things we take for granted.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we depart for LA tomorrow night, and then take the 14-hour plane ride to Brisbane. We should arrive in Brisbane around 8:00am on Monday, January 19th, which is 4:00pm on Sunday, January 18th US CST. We’ll try to let everyone know that we are safe in Australia as soon as possible.

We’ll write again soon…

Welcome!

2008-12-19T01:28:00.004+10:00

If you’re reading this blog, I’m sure you know that Chris and I have accepted new assignments and are moving to Brisbane, Australia in January. We will both be working on an LNG (liquefied natural gas) project in Papua New Guinea, otherwise known as the PNG LNG project. Chris will be the Interface Advisor for the project and will be the main contact for our joint ventures. I will be a Construction Engineer for the gas plant facilities we are building in PNG. But enough about that…

Currently, we are still in Houston preparing for the holidays and waiting on our visas to be approved. Australia has quite an extensive visa/work permit approval process, which includes tons and tons of paperwork and tuberculosis testing among other things. (We don’t have TB for anyone that was concerned.) The frustrating thing is, we can’t finalize anything until we get approved by the Australian government – selling our cars, breaking our lease, setting our moving date, etc. We expect to be approved during the first week in January, meaning we should be able to mobilize sometime during the second week but who knows. Ugh! For those of you that know me well, you know that I really like to have things planned out well in advance so this whole process is really frustrating!

I honestly don’t think it’s really sunk in yet that we are actually leaving the United States (at least temporarily). Of course we are excited, but there are so many other emotions involved, and I can’t even imagine how much we are going to miss the little things we take for granted here. In order to discuss the things we will miss, I have to start with our family. We are so incredibly blessed to have two families that love us so much and will miss us as much as we will miss them (maybe even more in the case of our mothers). We already don’t see them enough, and it saddens us to think about the possibility of seeing them even less! Fortunately, technology is a wonderful thing, and we hope to close the distance through Skype, web cams, and other programs (if you don’t use Skype – sign up now). We are also going to miss our many wonderful friends! Chris and I both have great friends from high school and college that we keep in touch with, and we have made such wonderful friends in Houston! We’re going to miss hanging out with you guys so much!!! The other day, our friends from our Sunday School class gave us a scrap book to take with us with pictures and notes from everyone. I know that will be one of the more treasured gifts we receive this Christmas. Thank you guys so much! And while I’m on the subject of friends, I have to say thanks to Brooke B. since it was her idea to start this blog in the first place. So, if you like it you can thank her.

More to come on our thoughts as we prepare to move, but for now…Welcome to our blog! We hope to use this as a way to share pictures and stories of our adventures in Australia. We welcome any thoughts/comments/suggestions.

Love, Chrissie and Chris