Hallowe'en 2009

We missed out on Hallowe'en last year because it's not celebrated in Australia. We made up for it this year by going to a pumpkin patch, carving some pumpkins and going trick or treating. The kids enjoyed the night, but were scared by a big dog at a neighbour's house. Bennett didn't want to go up to anyone's door after that, until he was sure there was no dog in their house! What's Hallowe'en without a little fright!!

"The doctor is in"...

top floor, corner right office

Here is the logo that Joelle came up with to use for her business cards, appointment cards, and letter head.

Two local newspapers, the Times Colonist and the Goldstream Gazette interviewed Joelle on different occations and posted articles informing the community of her arrival and specialty. Click on the newspaper names to see the articles.

The Big Move

storage locker, Ferndale Washington

again, hats off to the inventor of the "Shoulder Dolly" for making the heavy awkward stuff, light and easy!

pops and I making it happen- just the two of us, not bad eh for a 67 year old?

jigsaw puzzle complete, it all fit.

Victoria B.C. here we come.

Bristol Bay, Alaska '09

north line, Ugashik

our buddies on the Maxine W.

tender, processor, tramper

pickin as fast as possible

workin the magic

siesta time

we had the most amazing sunsets this season

city dock, Naknek River

heading to deliver our catch inside the Naknek River

waiting to deliver

F/V "Blue Finn" aka the "Reliance" off in the distance that Rob first started working on during the summers of '88 and '89.

rafting up after a days catch

dinner time

freshly caught, perfectly barbequed sockeye salmon- it just doesn't get any better than this- yummy tail!

WWII converted landing craft

one of the "Deadliest Catch" crab boats.

rolling fog at sunrise.

The "Russian Cowboy" on the line.

last set coming in fast.

Another great season comes to an end! Caught over 200,000 lbs. and had a lot of fun!

Back in the Northern Hemisphere

Well, we made it back. We've been back almost a month now, busily adjusting to life back home. We spent about ten days at Rob's parents' place on Lake McMurray. Rob left for fishing on Father's Day. The kids really loved being able to run around the yard and play outside all day long. We had quite the excitement one night when a transformer blew just in front of the house. We got to watch the firetrucks and firefighters secure the scene and finally the power company bucket truck fix the problem. Bennett was in heaven!!

We moved to Victoria at the end of June and settled into our temporary accommodations. Joelle's parents and nieces arrived on July 1st to help out while Joelle started work. The kids have loved having all this family around. We've been to the beach and even took a ferry ride to SaltSpring Island. They've been a huge help as Joelle has been trying to find more permanent rental housing (which she did) and an office to set up (not yet found). Work is going well. It's been a good return. We are looking forward to Rob's return when we can start making more permanent plans.

Hawaii - North Shore of Oahu

Jumping off the rock at Waimea Bay

3 Tables, in front of our cottage

keeping cool

"Dog the Bounty Hunter" fans will recognize this place...

shaved ice

dole whip (fresh pineapple sorbet)

"It's not the destination, it's the journey"....well, not in our case! Hawaii was a great place to recover from our eventful flight. The heat was incredible and forced us to stay in cool areas, like an air conditioned car for most afternoons. We ventured to the beaches in late afternoons and early evenings, often having a picnic dinner on the beach. We got to enjoy Dole Whip twice - the infamous ice cream like treat from the Dole Pineapple Plantation. The kids loved the water and the sand. What a great way to recover from our jet lag from Australia.

Flight to Hawaii - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

We flew from Melbourne to Hawaii on the 13th of June.  We (aka Rob) had been supremely organized so there was little last minute stuff to do.  We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  The good part of the trip was that we got away with being 20kg overweight without having to pay any extra fees.  The flight to Sydney went quite well.  Glenn sat in our laps for the hour trip and Bennett actually fell asleep, likely still recovering from the flu he'd had for the week prior to our flight.  Our 2.5 hour layover in Sydney was also quite uneventful.  

Unfortunately, the good didn't last.  On our trip to Melbourne last year, we'd had good luck with a sedative for Bennett which made him sleep for 8 straight hours.  We thought we'd do it again.  Glenn got a dose too and she slept pretty well.  Bennett on the other hand, had the complete opposite reaction - this is a potential side effect of this medication.  Instead of sedating him, he got hyper and distraught.  He was crying for no reason and couldn't be consoled.  It took him four hours to finally fall asleep. 

Now for the ugly part.  After four hours of sleep, the plane began its descent into Honolulu.  Bennett, now overly sedated, has a coughing fit and pukes into Rob's hand.  We got him cleaned up as the fasten seat belt sign went on.  Then, with the plane almost landed, Glenn decides that it's her turn.  She not only threw up, but she projected her vomit all over herself and the seat.  We ended up just throwing all her clothes away.  Bennett threw up a second time as the plane was approaching the gate.  Bennett was so out of it, he could hardly walk and we had to request a wheel chair to carry him through customs and immigration.  The only good thing about that is that they brought us to the front of the line and didn't give us any hassles.  The car rental and baggage storage went off without a hitch.  

We've made up a jingle for our children after this incident.  It goes to the tune of "These boots were made for walking":

These kids weren't made for flying,

This is what they'll do

One of these days, these kids

Are gonna puke all over you!

Our Australian Adventure Ends

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

Paddy, Yasmin, Sonia, Nur Azurah (gynaecology team at RCH)

Chelsea - daycare worker

Prue - speech pathologist, Lynette - occupational therapist

Kaye - nurse from BC Women's Hospital

Anna, Martin and Sacha

Bron

Geoff

This is our last post from Melbourne.  What a year!  We've seen so much, we've met some great people and have memories to last us a lifetime.  This has been a fabulous experience and we hope you've enjoyed sharing it with us along the way.

The fellowship year has been such a valuable experience too.  The people I've met (Sonia, Yasmin, Paddy, Nur Azurah, the team at the Mercy Hospital, etc) have all been so welcoming.  I've seen some bread and butter things of paediatric and adolescent gynaecology, but I've also been involved in some weird and wonderful things too.  This year has trained me very well to start up my own practice back in Canada.  It's also opened some doors with regards to ongoing collaboration with physicians here in Australia.  I've gotten my name in print once, and will hopefully get two more articles published too.  It's sad to say good-bye to everyone, but it's also exciting to be heading home to finally get my career going - 38.5 years old isn't too old to start working is it??!!  

Bye-bye Victoria Australia, hello Victoria Canada!  

Bye Bye Queensland, Our Road Trip Ends.

Check out the people on top of the bridge.

Ben has always been fascinated with hitches.  He loves vehicles that tow things.  Well, he now has discovered that a hitch, when not connected to something, can have a cover over the ball joint that can be quite greasy.  While riding his bike around in the underground parking lot of the hotel, he took one off and put it over his mouth, don't ask why.  We were laughing at him and I think he didn't understand why and was a little confused until we told him to go look in the mirror.  

GG now prefers a bottle of port over her water bottle.

 

Brisbane

We arrived in Brisbane a day earlier than anticipated because the weather had turned quite wet.  We were hoping to stay near the Glasshouse Mountains again, but we couldn't see them due to the rain and clouds.  We therefore spent the night at Newmarket Gardens Caravan Park just west of the city centre of Brisbane.  It poured the entire night.  The next morning we left to return our motorhome to Britz and check into our hotel.

The park was becoming a swamp.  Perfect time for our departure.

The river next to the park was rising fast.

That evening we saw on the news that the park was evacuated due to the water rising up to people's knees.

Our Bunnings umbrellas became our best friends. 

Looking up the street from our hotel as we were unloading our bags from the motorhome water flowed like a river. 

After a successful, yet very wet unloading of our gear, we made our way to drop off the motorhome.

Check out this video!

The route to Britz was quite memorable to say the least.

At one point, we thought the engine was going to stall because we were having to drive through some very deep water.

Upon our arrival at Britz, we were greeted outside by an employee saying that their office was entirely flooded and that all we had to do was hand her the key.  She asked if we could sort out the paperwork and any issues the following day. 

The following day was blue sky- shocking.  It's amazing how fast the weather turns here in Australia and how severe it can be in such a short amount of time. 

The last major flood in Brisbane occurred in Jan. 1974 that lasted for 3 days with 580mm of rain falling.  This one lasted only a day with around 400mm falling in and around Brisbane.  At Rainbow Beach where we were 4 days ago, a record of 713mm fell.  A news report said that the dams were at 50% and now they are at 75%. This was a very unusual occurance due to May typically being a dry month.  

Underwater World

On a rainy day, we decided to visit Underwater World which is basically an aquarium.  It has this really incredible tunnel with a rolling carpet that rolls you through the exhibit.  Bennett loved it so much, we spent over 1.5 hours just going round and round on this carpet.  He loved the sharks most.  Bennett also got kissed by a seal!  

Dicky Beach

Shipwreck of the S.S. Dicky

Ben found a skateboard park next to the beach.

Our neighbors at Dicky Beach Caravan Park. 

B working on his backhand

Montville, Glass House Mountains

A local at the caravan park we stayed at described Montville in two words, Gods country.

Carlo Sand Blow, aka "The Dunes"

Our attempt at stitching the sand blow together

From the parking lot, we walked up with these blokes who had these remote control gliders which provided great entertainment for us. In the picture above, they were testing the video hookup on the glider before sending it up.  The clarity of the video was amazing and the distance that you can fly these is even more amazing.  If they become out of site, you use the video monitor to fly it- pretty cool!

Bennett enjoyed dodging and chasing the gliders.

Bennett attempted to walk across the sand blow but only made it 3/4 of the way.  He's a spec off in the distance.  This place was bigger and steeper than the pictures portray.

Making our way back up the blow.

Walking back to the parking lot we saw some amazing gum trees. The bark sheds off these trees every year and then re-grows.

When the gum tree has its bark, moths find there way underneath and lay their larva which burrow around eating the tree leaving these squiggly lines.

Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach is only a few kilometers from Tin Can Bay where we fed the dolphins.  It has beautiful, safe beaches and isn't as built up as the Sunshine Coast.  It was a perfect place to relax for a few hours.

Dolphin feeding at Tin Can Bay

Early morning dolphin feeding

We had a lot of fun feeding the dolphins.  Bennett was scared at first but warmed up later and was able to feed them with a little help.

Hervey Bay, Fraser Island

Catching the ferry from Hervey Bay to Fraser Island.

Off the ferry and in our 4WD tour bus.  Ben loved sitting up front and bouncing up and down from all the bumps.  

This was the most incredible tree.

Ben inside the tree.

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world.  It's the only place in the world where tall rainforests are found growing on sand dunes at elevations of over 200 meters.

Ben playing in the sandy street after lunch with his monster truck.

The two garbage trucks off in the distance were waiting for the tide to drop a bit before attempting to make it around the rocks.  We didn't and just drove right through the waves.  

"The Pinnacles", aka "The Colored Sands" at Cathedral Beach is apparently a sacred spot for aborigial women.

The shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno

We drove to one of the many fresh water lakes on the island and went for a quick dip and shined our rings using the pure silica sand.

We made it back just in time to catch the ferry back.

All aboard!

After celebrating Bennett's birthday, we drove to Hervey Bay which is the gateway to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world.  It spans over 120km in length and about 20km in width.  The lumber industry used to be very active on the island, but in the 1990s, all logging ws stopped and the island was declared a World Heritage Site.  We took a guided tour on a 4WD bus.  Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the entire area and he gave us amazing descriptions of the history of the island, the fauna and flora, and the Aborigines who used to inhabit it.  

Seventeen Seventy- Bennett's 5th Birthday

1770 Camping Ground

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Birthday dinner

Birthday cake- yummm!!!

Capricorn Caves

We had one of our most peaceful overnight stays here at the Capricorn Caves- not many people and lots of raw wilderness to roam around in.

face to face with a kangaroo

Entering the caves with our personal guide.

Ben searching for his superhero Batman.

Ben blurts out, "Batman, are you in here?"

They actually hold weddings in here.

Never did find batman, he must be out on one of his crusades. 

Our longest driving day went by quite well.  We left Airlie Beach early in the morning and made our way down 450km to the Capricorn Caves.  We arrived just as the sun was setting.  The Caves had a small caravan park attached to it which was very quiet, in the middle of the wilderness.  It was a refreshing change from the BIG4 caravan parks we'd been staying at.  In the morning, Bennett enjoyed playing soccer with a little boy he met in the park.  We then went on a tour of the caves.  They were quite impressive.  Both Bennett and Glenn enjoyed them too.