I figured it was time for a more detailed update.
Yesterday was my first day in Australia and the majority was spent in the hospital... Due to my previous medical history I thought I had another blood clot in my leg after the long travel and flight. After 4 hours in the hospital I was relieved to find out I did not and it was just some pooling of fluid in my leg after the flight.
The little girl I was looking after has just started ballet, so yesterday we went to buy her all her ballet gear. Later on in the evening I taught her some of the different positions. Looks like my dance training is coming in handy!
This morning my family had some friends over, so we enjoyed some pancakes for breakfast with Canadian maple syrup! The rest of the day I spent setting up my room and trying to get over jet lag. I even managed to catch the Leafs vs. Canadians game online.
Tonight I played the Canadian Monopoly game that I brought with the kids.
Overall haven`t seen to much of the city, but will def. be getting out more over the next few days.
"Don`t let your life run out before your dreams".
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Photos
There arn`t many photos to share at the moment, but here are a few of my room and the view.
View from large windom:
View from small window in which you can see the tennis courts:
View from large windom:
View from small window in which you can see the tennis courts:
Friday, February 11, 2011
Arrived!
I will keep this brief as I have a lot of unpacking to do!
I have arrived in Melbourne and just woke up from my first sleep. The kids met me at the airport and they are extremely cute! My first impressions of Melbourne is that it has a lot of similarities to Toronto. The house I am staying at is very nice and big. I am still in the process of setting up my room, but I will send pictures shortly!
I have arrived in Melbourne and just woke up from my first sleep. The kids met me at the airport and they are extremely cute! My first impressions of Melbourne is that it has a lot of similarities to Toronto. The house I am staying at is very nice and big. I am still in the process of setting up my room, but I will send pictures shortly!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
New Zealand Drama
Still at the New Zealand airport with 2 hours remaining in my layover. The airport has picked up and gotten a lot busier. Had a little nap in one of the pod chairs they have. Went shopping at duty free and had my name called over the loudspeaker. They had to take me back to security due to something suspicous in my checked luggage. For those of you who have ever seen the show Locked Up Abroad, it kind of reminded me of a situation like that. One of the airline attendants walked me through the sketchy back of the airport where you have to swipe in everywhere and then we go into this room with security where they had pulled my luggage aside. Turns out maple syrup resembles lighter fluid and they just needed me to prove that it wasn`t, lol. So a few heart pallpitations for nothing! So a note to everyone travelling, don`t pack maple syrup in your suitcase they may deem it suspicous.
That`s all for now. Off to kill 2 more hours!
That`s all for now. Off to kill 2 more hours!
New Zealand Stopover
I am currently sitting in the New Zealand airport eating Burger King at 8:30am on Friday New Zealand time. Keeping track of all these different time zones is getting a little tricky, luckily I have my Iphone world clock app to help with that!
Made it through the long haul flight! It wasn`t as bad as many would expect, but it was definitely nice to get off. The plane was absolutely wonderful so that probably helped a lot. I have a couple more hours to kill in New Zealand before boarding my final flight to Melbourne! You can`t really see much of New Zealand from the airport, but this is definitely another place I would like to stop on the second travelling leg of my trip.
Missing you all, but am having a good time (well as good as you can when in transit).
More updates to come once I have reached my final destination!
Made it through the long haul flight! It wasn`t as bad as many would expect, but it was definitely nice to get off. The plane was absolutely wonderful so that probably helped a lot. I have a couple more hours to kill in New Zealand before boarding my final flight to Melbourne! You can`t really see much of New Zealand from the airport, but this is definitely another place I would like to stop on the second travelling leg of my trip.
Missing you all, but am having a good time (well as good as you can when in transit).
More updates to come once I have reached my final destination!
The Travel
Throughout my travel I wasn`t able to get internet access, so here is the play by play:
Feb/9th/11
7:00 PM (TO Time)
Well, the countdown is over and the journey has begun. Here I am sitting on my first plane ride from Toronto to LA, which will be a duration of just over 5 hours.
The goodbyes and tears are now over and the excitement has begun. It seems a lot more real now, seeing as I will be in Melbourne in just under 24 hours. Everyone keeps asking me if I`m nervous and nervous isn`t really the word. I`m excited and ready to face the unknown that lies ahead, no nerves attached.
Before I get to caught up in the excitement I thought I would recap some of things I am going to miss (and definitely in no particular order):
1) The city of Toronto – some people don`t think it`s all that great, but it`s home. I will miss the familiarity of the city and all the memories that go with that.
2) My family & puppy - enough said
3) My friends – you know who you are
4) Hockey – we should all know how much of a die hard I am, so it`s going to be difficult not to be able to spend my Saturday nights getting ready for the bar watching Hockey Night in Canada. Real Sports Bar ties into this as well. Hopefully I will be able to find a sports bar in Australia that matches up to this one and will play me some hockey!
5) My wardrobe - vein I know, but there was only so much that could fit into 2 suitcases, but there is so many cute clothes left behind in my overstocked closet.
As much as I will miss these things there are a lot of things i`m looking forward to, so stay tuned for the next blog post.
Feb/10th/11
12:09 AM (TO Time)
I am currently just chilling at LAX during my 1 hour layover before heading on the long haul 13 hour trip to New Zealand. Unfortunately you have to pay for internet here so this update will have to wait. I am trying to stay awake in order to better coordinate with Melbourne time. We`ll see how long this lasts. LAX is definitely not as nice as I expected it to be. The lights of the city coming in though was very cool. Maybe a stopover here on my way home? Still have 364 more days to decide that…
Feb/10th/11
1:50 AM (TO Time)
Just took off from LA heading for Auckland, flying Air New Zealand. The plane I am on is only 10 days old and has every feature you could want on a plane! I am currently watching Glee and am looking forward to working my way through the Glee archives. There are also a ton of new release movies that I am looking forward to watching, looks like I won`t be getting much sleep on the plane!
Some other examples of the amenities that this awesome flight has is ordering snacks and drinks from the tv at your seat. Your own ipod hookup to your television. The plane has its own concierge, led color changing lighting and many other cool things! Hopefully this will make the 13 hours fly by.
I also received several jolts of excitement when boarding the plane, due to the number of Australian/ New Zealand accents heard. Sorry Mom & Dad, but I think any man with an accent has me at hello (she says batting her eyelashes...). Only 12 more hours on board, time for me to enjoy Glee and all the snacks I can order!
Feb/10th/11
10:24 AM (TO Time)
My in flight map shows me that we are currently crossing the international date line and only have 3 more hours to go. It actually hasn`t been as bad as I had expected. After settling in to the flight I watched 5 episodes of Glee. Then it was ‘dinner’ time (or 3 am my body clock time). There are so many in flight entertainment options that I only got 2.5 hours of sleep. So much for trying to beat the jetlag! Currently watching some more Glee episodes, after finishing up the movie 127 hours.
To continue my movie review tradition I will now review the movie 127 hours. One word, weird. Based on a true story, it focuses solely on a Aron a climber who gets his arm stuck when climbing. The movie then focuses on his delusions of grandeur and attempts to get out of the situation. A very graphic movie, not for the weak of stomach! I`m going to get back to all you can watch Glee and ordering on demand snacks.
Feb/9th/11
7:00 PM (TO Time)
Well, the countdown is over and the journey has begun. Here I am sitting on my first plane ride from Toronto to LA, which will be a duration of just over 5 hours.
The goodbyes and tears are now over and the excitement has begun. It seems a lot more real now, seeing as I will be in Melbourne in just under 24 hours. Everyone keeps asking me if I`m nervous and nervous isn`t really the word. I`m excited and ready to face the unknown that lies ahead, no nerves attached.
Before I get to caught up in the excitement I thought I would recap some of things I am going to miss (and definitely in no particular order):
1) The city of Toronto – some people don`t think it`s all that great, but it`s home. I will miss the familiarity of the city and all the memories that go with that.
2) My family & puppy - enough said
3) My friends – you know who you are
4) Hockey – we should all know how much of a die hard I am, so it`s going to be difficult not to be able to spend my Saturday nights getting ready for the bar watching Hockey Night in Canada. Real Sports Bar ties into this as well. Hopefully I will be able to find a sports bar in Australia that matches up to this one and will play me some hockey!
5) My wardrobe - vein I know, but there was only so much that could fit into 2 suitcases, but there is so many cute clothes left behind in my overstocked closet.
As much as I will miss these things there are a lot of things i`m looking forward to, so stay tuned for the next blog post.
Feb/10th/11
12:09 AM (TO Time)
I am currently just chilling at LAX during my 1 hour layover before heading on the long haul 13 hour trip to New Zealand. Unfortunately you have to pay for internet here so this update will have to wait. I am trying to stay awake in order to better coordinate with Melbourne time. We`ll see how long this lasts. LAX is definitely not as nice as I expected it to be. The lights of the city coming in though was very cool. Maybe a stopover here on my way home? Still have 364 more days to decide that…
Feb/10th/11
1:50 AM (TO Time)
Just took off from LA heading for Auckland, flying Air New Zealand. The plane I am on is only 10 days old and has every feature you could want on a plane! I am currently watching Glee and am looking forward to working my way through the Glee archives. There are also a ton of new release movies that I am looking forward to watching, looks like I won`t be getting much sleep on the plane!
Some other examples of the amenities that this awesome flight has is ordering snacks and drinks from the tv at your seat. Your own ipod hookup to your television. The plane has its own concierge, led color changing lighting and many other cool things! Hopefully this will make the 13 hours fly by.
I also received several jolts of excitement when boarding the plane, due to the number of Australian/ New Zealand accents heard. Sorry Mom & Dad, but I think any man with an accent has me at hello (she says batting her eyelashes...). Only 12 more hours on board, time for me to enjoy Glee and all the snacks I can order!
Feb/10th/11
10:24 AM (TO Time)
My in flight map shows me that we are currently crossing the international date line and only have 3 more hours to go. It actually hasn`t been as bad as I had expected. After settling in to the flight I watched 5 episodes of Glee. Then it was ‘dinner’ time (or 3 am my body clock time). There are so many in flight entertainment options that I only got 2.5 hours of sleep. So much for trying to beat the jetlag! Currently watching some more Glee episodes, after finishing up the movie 127 hours.
To continue my movie review tradition I will now review the movie 127 hours. One word, weird. Based on a true story, it focuses solely on a Aron a climber who gets his arm stuck when climbing. The movie then focuses on his delusions of grandeur and attempts to get out of the situation. A very graphic movie, not for the weak of stomach! I`m going to get back to all you can watch Glee and ordering on demand snacks.
Friday, February 4, 2011
A 59 day journey?
Today was my last day of work... Many of you would think that I would be jumping for joy, but I truly do love where I work and am very sad to leave.
We had a great lunch and I learned some key things not to say in Australia!
I also learned that if you map quest getting from Hamilton to Melbourne they tell you to kayak. So if any of you are interested in a cheap 59 day adventure to come see me make sure to bring your kayak!
We had a great lunch and I learned some key things not to say in Australia!
I also learned that if you map quest getting from Hamilton to Melbourne they tell you to kayak. So if any of you are interested in a cheap 59 day adventure to come see me make sure to bring your kayak!
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