Catch Up

What to say...!!  A lot has happened since we have left the farm.  For the first few days of our holidays, Dylan and I travelled up North to a place called Alice Springs.  It was a 19 1/2 hr bus ride but that also includes the mandatory stops for the driver.  From there we did a tour to Uluru or Ayers Rock.  It was incredible.  For those of you who don't know, Ayers Rock it is basically a big rusty rock in the middle of a desert.  Well to us that is what it was, but to the Aboriginals it is a very sacred place.  We got to learn a fair bit about the culture and the people.  We were hesitant to go at first because we thought that we would be disappointed, but we chose a sunset tour so we watched the sun go down and the colors change drastically of this enormous rock.  

From there we headed to Cairns where we started our last vacation.  We had enjoyed it so much that we decided to come back here again.  Our accommodation is right on the Esplanade so we have access to many shops and the local swimming lagoon.  Our main focus was to relax so to be honest, we have not done much around here!  On Sunday we are heading to Sydney where we will spend the rest of our time.  We will be there for 7 days and then we will be on our way home!  

I am sorry that there are no pictures with this post, but McDonalds provides free internet so we have been using that and as you can imagine it is extremely slow and very busy so it would take a while to upload all of our pictures!!  

Time Flies

Well, it seems hard to believe but this week will be the last one here for us on the farm. On Sunday the 18, we will be heading into Adelaide for the last time! We are planning on doing three weeks of holidays and then heading home on November 7. We are definitely looking forward to seeing everybody again. It seems as though a lot has changed in the past seven months! We have had a good time here on the farm but it just isn't quite the same as in Canada. We have learnt so many things about the culture and the country since we have been here and are looking forward to sharing all of our experiences with everyone!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Down here in Australia, they don't actually have Thanksgiving so Dylan and I have had to celebrate this on our own!  Our meal wasn't quite as fancy as it would be if we were home considering that our meal consisted of a Big Mac and Chicken Mc Nuggets!  I am definitely holding out for that Turkey when we get home though!!  

New to Old

On September 18, Dylan and I got the afternoon off to head into Adelaide and welcome the new trainees.  They arrived in Australia on the 17th already so the jet lag was really starting to kick in!

There are about 14 of them so it is a bigger group than when we came.  This also meant that we got a new trainee for here on the farm.  We have had a good time getting to know them over the last few weeks.  On Wednesday nights the trainees usually get together for tea.  We have a ways to drive so they try to make it close enough for us to go as well but it doesn't always work out.  They seem to be a good group of people and I sincerely hope that they enjoy their time here in Australia.   

Full of Surprises!

This is what we did for Dylan's birthday.  As part of the surprise long weekend I had also made a reservation to go Skydiving.  Unfortunately the weather was terrible that day so we had to re-book for Monday.  It turned out to be a beaut of a day!  When we got to the Goolwa Airport, we were put through a brief training session, suited up, and boarded the plane!  It was such an amazing experience and we would recommend it to anyone!  Big thanks to Skydive Goolwa for taking us up and well..... down!!  

I have tried many times to get the video to upload but it will just not go.  So I have taken some pictures of the video!  I am sorry for the poor quality of the pictures but at least you can still share in our experience!  Just ask us when you see us next to watch the video's!

Kangaroo Island

September 12 was Dylan's birthday so as a surprise, I had arranged for a long weekend off!  We took off Thursday after lunch and came back on Monday night so we had a really long weekend. We took a couple of days and headed to a place called Kangaroo Island.  Below are a few pictures from on the Island.  The weather was miserable most of the weekend but we did try to make the most of it.  

These are Fairy Penguins.  The live along the coast and this was the first time that we actually got to see them.  Actually, Dylan was down below the deck getting the car off of the Ferry so he got to see them via pictures!!

We stopped at a very vacant beach!  Due to the cold weather, nobody else was there.  What I found interesting about this picture is that the footprints appear to be raised at first glance.  It takes some concentrating to get them to actually switch to sunken in.  

We found a little spot along the way from one side of the Island to the other that had a Koala viewing.  There were rows of Eucalyptus trees with 20-25 resident Koalas.  We walked up and down the rows to try and find these cute little guys!  We never actually counted how many we found but there would have been between 10-15 that we saw.  

On the Island they have a place called Kelly Hill Caves.  The caves are dry limestone and appear to be a popular tourist spot.  The name comes from a rather simple story.  A horse and rider were out riding through the trees and exploring the area when all of a sudden they sunk into the side of the hill.  Now how did they get the name, well.... the horses name was Kelly!  Nobody knows the actually ending to the story, but they have never found horse bones in the cave.  There were so many different formations that we got to see but here are just a few pictures.

Take a close look at this stalactite.  It looks as if it could be a ballerina leg with a slipper.  I thought it looked pretty interesting although I would hate to have to hold that pose for this long!  

This is a picture of the flashlight shining onto a piece of the floor in the cave.  

This picture is just some of the many Stalactites and Straws hanging from the roof of the cave!

Royal Adelaide Show

On Sunday the 6th, Dylan and I had the opportunity to head to Adelaide to visit the Royal Adelaide Show.  To explain this best, it is like the Stampede but only with out the Rodeo aspect and smaller.  The main reason why we were there was because Agriventure, the exchange program, was sponsoring a number of categories.  Dylan and I were asked to represent Agriventure and sash the 'Horses in Action'.  So basically for one of the classes we got to head into the ring and tie the sashes around the necks of the top six horses.  It was something that you don't experience very often!  It was a very interesting insight for the both of us!