It wasn't a picnic!

WOW!!!! We are terrible…we’ll definitely give you that if you are cursing at us…it has been awhile now since we last wrote. Right now we are in Melbourne-our final stop in Australia before we fly out to New Zealand- Taya sobs daily , she doesn’t want to go home, Briana is excited that she made it this far and Brittany is floating along and loving life! We are going to throw out a quick warning as this blog may need an intermission for all you readers- there’s lots to cover! So, Sydney- unbelievably jam packed with activities so graciously planned by our new travel mates that we met in Bali! The first day that we arrived, did the usual-got sorted out and decided what we all wanted to see/do. The next morning we met up with our fellow Saskatchewan-ite, Megan- we did a lot of walking and touring around Sydney’s central areas including the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hyde Park, The Rocks, the famous Sydney Opera house and the Sydney harbour bridge. A lot of miles but worth every single step. That evening we stalked our friends C-Rad and Patty (guys, we know you love these nicknames!!! Don’t lie!) and had coffee in Hyde Park. The boys flipped a coin to see who had to take ‘the kids’ out that night--C-Rad lost …and the next day too…poor guy! He took us to the Famous Pie stop in Sydney- “Harry’s Pies” it’s notorious among the locals and obviously the tourists, not forget all the celebrities- Pamela Anderson, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe…you know the big leagues! One thing we’ve learned- the Aussie’s love their meatpies! The next day we took a train to meet C-Rad. That day he realized just how bad he lost out- I think he underestimated 3 Canadians for 14.5 hours, non-stop chatter…ahhh, we feel bad just thinking about it but what a trooper and we heart him and Patty for everything they have done for us! (tear) He took us basically from one side of Sydney to another starting off in the Blue Mountains- we went to the Three Sisters and walked down to some waterfalls, from there we had a ‘lunch’ (wink, wink) not a picnic. Even though we sat at a picnic table and ate food from an ‘Esky’ (cooler). Everything he bought was iconic of Australia or had Australia in mind, even the cups. We were lost for words as we felt very surprised and spoiled. From there we raced (literally) to a pub to partake in an Austalian Tradition- the Melbourne Cup. Everything seems to come to a halt while the race is on, the women dress in lavish dresses and headpieces/hats. We even put a bet down to get in the spirit, not knowing we picked the underdog- Spin Around…only $20 lost. Unlike the poor bloke who put $20,000 down on one horse! Moving on we drove to Coogee Beach where we walked for about 2 hours to the Famous Bondi Beach. We were fortunate enough to see the annual display ‘Sculptures by the Sea’….it was amazing to see how much work was put into each one. We then met up with Patrick, thinking they would be about ready to get rid of us, they spoiled us once again and took us out for supper. They kept reassuring us that it was on a running tab for when they come visit in Canada….we accept and raise you by 1 boys….surprise us…we have room!!! It was like Bali again- sad to say goodbye to them but worse this time because we know the time in between our next visit will be a lot longer. Haha! We are still trying to convince the boys to go home to Fiji for Christmas before Dec.23rd, forcing a reunion!!! After Sydney, we got on our last bus for Australia and headed towards Melbourne on a 3 day tour. We covered the Snowy Mountains, Wilson’s Promontory, and the Parliament House in Canberra ( the Capital) among other little stops. It was so incredibly odd to take a chair lift up Mount Kosciusko and find SNOW!!!! Yup, in Australia, who knew! It is spring here, so it was melting fast but cool to see that it was stained red from the massive sandstorms in late Sept. Also,odd that the day prior was a sweltering 38 degrees and then we were in 6 degree weather and scrambling for our jumpers! (hoodies) To make all of you proud we made snowmen, snow angels, had a snowball fight and shocked everyone on our tour that we were doing this in our t-shirts and mandals as we climatized sooner than we thought! Last big stop- our diver stopped in an old WWII landing strip where we spotted wild Kangaroos, emus and the red back spider-one of Australia’s most deadly. So, to today- Melbourne. We decided to take it easy today and plan our remaining time. We hit the beach, a nice spring day….above 30...this is ridic! We’re melting … funny how much Canadians perspire compared to these Aussie’s…god dang they love their heat! Our plans include, a tour of the Great Ocean Road, the Queen Victoria Park, Federation Square, the Eureka Tower etc….not exactly sure yet. All we know is that our days are limited and cannot believe we are almost done in Australia….quite sad actually. This trip is flying by. Well, gonna head to bed now…take care. Keep your stick on the ice.

P.S. We want to give a shout out and a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Cody and Sheena! Welcome baby Kendal…looking forward to meeting her!

P.P.S. THANK YOU AGAIN, Conrad and Patrick. We will miss you and can’t wait to see you again.