Anna's Next Adventure

I'm going to miss Manly ...

2012-02-11T12:04:00.000+11:00

Doesn't look promising

I first came to Manly when I was a uni student visiting Sydney for a mother-daughter weekend with my Mum. We did the touristy thing - caught the ferry across, walked down the Corso to the beach, probably had an ice-cream and walked back to the ferry. I had never dreamed that I'd one day spend three summers living in Manly, spending just over a year of my life in the cute Sydney beach-side suburb.

Stormy seas

My time in Manly is drawing (far too) quickly to a close - today is my last day here. Last day of living here, last day of working with this family. I will miss Manly. I will miss the beach enormously, despite the fact that I'm not a huge beach-goer. Particularly since I'm going to a land locked city, which for an Aussie girl, is a slightly claustrophobic prospect.

The closest to a sunrise Manly got this morning

Other things I'll miss about Manly? I'll miss the village-like atmosphere, the ambient coffee shops and bars, the ferry rides, the walk along the waterfront to work, the fitness classes, the dips into the ocean after a hot yoga workout and, of course I'll miss the kids. Over the past few weeks, I've been creating a slide show of our time together and it's amazing to watch it and see how much they have grown - not just physically but emotionally and as learners too. I feel sad to be saying goodbye but also excited as so many new opportunities are opening up for me and I'm contemplating the prospect of my life taking a direction far different to anything I'd ever thought of.

(Note - the gloomy beach pictures were taken this morning on my last Manly beach run - 6 km of running, hoping the sunrise would be spectacular but, instead, getting soaked by a rain storm!)

Breakfast and board games ...

2012-02-10T11:49:00.000+11:00

Lemon crepes and Trivial Pursuit

It's my second last day of work and both teacher and students are starting to feel a little sad about this two-and-a-bit-year adventure coming to an end. Official school has finished and we've got two days of fun planned to end our time together. To kick start our fun days, we began today with breakfast and board games at B's favourite cafe, Inside Out, a creperie near the Manly Wharf. Whilst munching on lemon crepes and ice cream, the girls thoroughly walloped the boy in Trivial Pursuit. Next fun event - 'James and the Giant Peach' sculpture making!

Return of the running fever ...

2012-02-09T11:58:00.000+11:00

Great Wall Marathon (well, 1/2) in 2009

It was this time last year that my passion for running took a major dip. I was forcing myself to go running and not enjoying it at all. So, I decided to take a break. I stopped running and took up other forms of exercise – body weight and gymstick workouts, walking and a little bit of yoga. My body (and mind) felt a lot better. Then, towards the end of my last stint in Canada, I felt the ‘need’ to run returning. I started to run a few times a week, nothing too far or too fast, just some jogs around the river/countryside and some interval runs on the treadmill. When I returned to Manly, I stopped again, mainly because I have been working out a lot with Vital Fit and Power Living (it’s enjoyable and hard work plus I want to get my moneys worth!). But, the itch is back.

Crowded on the Great Wall of China

Just over the past week or so, I’ve been feeling that itchiness in my feet and I’m ready to run! I’ve started with a few beach jogs (I managed 6km my first run back which I was thrilled with) and hopefully by the time I get back to Calgary, I’ll be ready to hit the pavement although perhaps the treadmill is a better option at -25 degrees!

Misty running

I’ve decided that I need a goal to work towards. Not only to keep me motivated but also to keep my mind off the enormity of the ‘permanent’ move to Canada and missing my family. So, I’m planning on registering for the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, which I was registered for in 2010 but, as I wasn’t in the province at the time, I didn’t make it. Before that race (which is in September), I’ll try to throw in a few 5km and 10km fun runs to get back into the competition groove, after not having participated in a competitive run for over 2 years.

First 1/2 marathon ... done!

It's a great feeling to have - to actually want to run again and be excited about it. Once I'm back in Calgary, I'll be ready to hit the ground running!

Breakfast and people-watching ...

2012-02-08T10:27:00.000+11:00

View from my favourite breakfast spot

Since it's my last week in Manly, I'm trying to fit in as many of my favourite beach-side activities as possible (in between last-minute work jobs and packing). This morning, I treated myself to breakfast at my favourite beach-side cafe, Bluewater. As I've written about before, I do love going out for breakfast in Australia. I have the same thing nearly every time - two poached eggs (super runny) on sourdough toast with a side of spinach washed down with a pot of green tea. Sometimes, if I'm feeling particularly daring, I have a double order of spinach (what a radical life I lead!).

My favourite breakfast

Mornings are my favourite time in Manly because there are so many people out and about, it makes for terrific people-watching. Being on the beach means that there are lots of people outdoors early in the morning, all walking, surfing, working out etc. It's also a great source of inspiration to watch people enjoying an active life. This morning, it was such a luxury (for a week day) to sit, enjoy breakfast and indulge in a spot of beach-side people watching. I'm going to miss that.

Manly Beach on the way to work

Last weekend in Manly ...

2012-02-07T12:32:00.000+11:00

Manly beach in the evening

My time in Manly is drawing to a close and this past weekend was my last that I'll spend in this beautiful place. It was unfortunate that I needed to spend much of it studying (two ethics applications and one 1200 word essay about Canadian pioneer women, thank you very much!) but I still managed to get out and enjoy some of my favourite activities in Manly. I made it to two hot yoga classes, each followed by a cooling dip in the ocean, strolled along Manly beach, sun-baked and read the Sunday papers on the harbour-side beach and enjoyed bubbles and cake at Circular Quay, overlooking the harbour bridge. I also indulged in a favourite treat - a glass of wine at the movies - not once, but twice. On Saturday night, I saw 'Women on the 6th Floor' in Manly and yesterday, I saw 'The Iron Lady' at Circular Quay. I am feeling slightly sad about leaving and this week is going to be one of mixed emotions as I finish my time teaching seven year old R and eleven year old B and living a lovely summertime life in Manly.

Harbour side beach

A treat at Circular Quay

Summertime reading ...

2012-02-04T11:07:00.000+11:00

Summer time is a great time to delve into a pile of novels and even though I've been working for most of the summer, I've still had plenty of time to read. Living by myself has opened up many more hours of reading opportunity and whilst I'm studying hard, I find is beautifully relaxing to slip into another world where study deadlines and work requirements don't matter one iota. Here are the books that I've read in 2012 so far ...

I couldn't really get into this; the story line was just a bit odd

My first Nicholas Sparks book for the summer - I kept seeing his books being made into movies and had to find out what the fuss is about ... not great literature, but enjoyable summertime reading

By the time I got to this one, I was ready for a break from Nicholas Sparks

More lovely light summertime reading

One of my new favourite authors ... I have one of her books on Kindle to read on the plane back to Canada

Love, love, love. I loved this book. I love Ian McEwan's books

I saw this in the airport and immediately downloaded it onto my Kindle. I love a good war time romance story!

I wanted to get into this but couldn't; I tried to keep going but gave up half way through, I'm going to give her other book, 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' a go

Seven year old R gave me this for Christmas; such a fun book

In preparation for the puppy!

C gave me this before he returned to Canada

Henk Berg Leather ...

2012-02-02T10:01:00.000+11:00

The minute that C and I walked into Salamanca Market during our trip to Hobart, I fell in love. Not with him (that had already happened some time ago). But with the Henk Berg leather collection. I'd been looking for a new handbag to travel with for some time and had quite specific criteria - it had to be a simple design (I'm not much of a bling girl), brown (all my bags are black, it was time to change things up a bit), large enough to fit lots of stuff to keep me entertained in the air (laptop, kindle, ipod, small toilet bag, newspaper etc.) and have a zip so that I can put it in an overhead locker without everything spilling all over the place. As soon as we walked up the Henk Berg stall, I saw it ...

I knew I had to have it. They didn't have the exact one I wanted (it was the above bag but with a big buckle) so I had to wait patiently for the bag to be altered and then shipped to me. Well, it arrived yesterday and I absolutely love it. The leather is soft and has that beautiful smell of real leather. I also loved meeting the owner (Lara Berg, daughter of Henk Berg) and hearing the story behind the company (all the products are designed in Launceston, Tasmania and made by a family in Java, as part of a fair trade agreement). If you're after a lovely new bag or wallet, I can highly recommend the Henk Berg line of products. I know where I'll be getting all of my handbags in the future!

The bureaucratic teaching game ...

2012-02-01T12:53:00.000+11:00

Now, one would like to think that two undergraduate degrees, a Masters degree just a whisker away, eight years experience in three different countries and membership to several professional organisations would be enough to gain certification to teach in Canada. But, no. One must complete a six month (and $1500 cash upfront) course in Canadian history. I'm still not really sure how learning about the domesticity of women in British Columbia in the 1880s is going to help me to teach.

source

At the moment, all my spare time is being taken up with study. Not just the Canadian history unit, but also with the ethics application for my Masters thesis in gifted education. Now, you tell me what is going to improve my teaching ability ... a knowledge of Canadian women in the 1880s or a knowledge of gifted children in a classroom? It seems quite ironic that I'm having to put my teaching work aside to complete a totally unrelated course just so that I can become a teacher in a different country. It's enough to make a girl want to leave the profession. Which, is exactly what I'm thinking of doing. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. More than love it, I thrive off it, I love working with a classroom full of different personalities and helping them to learn and love to learn. But, when my only job prospect in Calgary will involve ten hours a week in the car (more in winter), a class of 30+ children, limited resources and a salary less than I've ever had before, I'm not sure. I think that I love my sanity and life more than teaching when it comes to that situation. Which saddens me because I love what I do and I know I'm good at it. But, I'm not alone. There are many studies in the US that show that teachers are leaving the profession at an astonishing rate, with some studies showing that a third of new teachers leave the profession within their first four years in the classroom. That number is staggering. I'm sure it's not because they don't like what they do. Perhaps they, like me, are fed up with the constant bureaucracy, unhelpful criticism from the community, lack of respect for a teacher's professionalism and low salary. I find all of this incredibly sad because the ones who are really losing out are the children. It's time for teachers to receive the credit they deserve and society to value them as the professionals who are educating the next generation.

source

But for now, let me put down my reading about how to differentiate learning in the classroom for gifted students and find that article I'm meant to be reading, '"Not Gainfully Employed": Women on the Iowa Frontier, 1833-1870', because, apparently it's going to make me a better teacher.

Champagne ladies ...

2012-01-31T09:20:00.001+11:00

Mum has been visiting for the past four days and it's been wonderful to spend time enjoying Manly with her. On Saturday afternoon, when I finished work, we headed out on the Sydney Harbour for an hour and a half of kayaking. There were many boats on the water and we enjoyed paddling around them, laughing at some of the funny names ('Champagne Lady' was far lovelier than 'Fat Lady'!) and greeting the boat owners sitting on deck, drink in hand. Following our kayaking adventure, we retired to my couch with a bottle of Moet that had been gifted to Mum by my employers. We definitely fancied ourselves as Champagne Ladies rather than Fat Ladies!

'The Boys' ...

2012-01-28T14:03:00.000+11:00

Last night, Mum and I headed to Kings Cross to the Griffin Theatre to see 'The Boys', a highly anticipated show that has received many wonderful reviews in the papers across Australia. The play was originally staged 21 years ago (in the same theatre) and has been performed as a movie as well. It is a highly confronting, violent play but incredibly powerful. The play is based on 'the boys', three dysfunctional and violent brothers, and the women in their life (mother and girlfriends) on the day that one brother returns from jail. The story follows their day of 'celebrations' as it quickly escalates into a violent crime against an unknown woman and the consequences that follow. The actors are amazing - they are so believable that it is very scary; you want to look away, but the acting and story is so compelling, you can't. If you're in Sydney or planning to be over the next month, be sure to get along and see 'The Boys' but do be prepared for a high level of confronting violence and a feeling of sadness that stays with you long after the play has finished.

LEGO and Antarctica ...

2012-01-27T12:30:00.000+11:00

Last week, I took the kids into the city to explore a couple of the summer time exhibitions that are being held in the CBD. We began with the Art of the Brick LEGO exhibition at the Town Hall where we marveled at the amazing sculptures made out of LEGO. The kids had fun posing next to many of them. Our second stop was the State Library of NSW, where we viewed the Finding Antarctica: Mapping the Last Continent exhibition. The exhibition was much larger than I had anticipated and I wondered how long the kids would remain engaged with the old maps and artifacts. To my surprise, they thoroughly enjoyed looking at the ancient, hand-drawn maps of Antarctica. There are always lots of fun things happening in the city over the summer and I'm trying to make the most out of all the offerings before I leave Sydney in just a few weeks.

Xin nian kuai le ...

2012-01-25T11:29:00.000+11:00

Fireworks from my 26th floor apartment in Wuxi

As I'm sure you're all aware, Monday was Chinese New Year. The day, and all the celebrations that come with it, reminds me of my time in China just before the celebrations started. When I lived in China, all the expat advice was to leave the country in order to escape the madness that accompanied the biggest Chinese celebration of the year. You may remember that I took a ski trip to Japan during those holidays. But, I do remember the lead up to the celebrations - shops were over-crowded as everyone stocked up on fruit, fireworks and gifts for families and there was an even greater sense of chaos in the air. I'm told that the fireworks during Chinese New Year are simply insane and I can imagine just how irritating that would become, particularly given that huge firework displays 2 or 3 times a week was normal when it wasn't the Chinese New Year! Anyway, to anyone celebrating the Chinese New Year, xin nian kuai le, and welcome to the year of the dragon!

The Australian Open ...

2012-01-24T14:28:00.000+11:00

Every January, the talk in Melbourne centres around the Australian Open tennis tournament. There is always an excited buzz in the air and, even if you're not actually there watching the tennis, most people spend each evening watching it at home on TV. Since I've missed the Open the last few years, I was determined to get there for the 2012 tournament. On Sunday, Mum and I headed to the grounds to watch some great tennis (and boil in the strong sun.) We had a ground pass which enabled us to wander around the outside courts where we watched several doubles matches before settling on the lawn in the shade to watch Nadal beat Lopez. We were lucky that my bosses needed to leave early to catch a flight back to Sydney, so we took over their centre court tickets (fourth row, thank you very much!) to watch Li Na ("Ja you! Ja you!") play Kim Clijsters. Unfortunately, we were only able to stay for the first set since we had a family dinner to get to, but it was wonderful to have the opportunity to watch some world class tennis for an hour or so. The next time I make it to the Australian Open, it will be when I'm seeking some relief from the bitterly cold Calgarian winter!

Doubles game on Margaret Court arena

Old fashioned tennis gear

The ever-so-cute ball boys

Watching the big screen from our shady spot

The funny linesmen (and women)

Nadal is interviewed after his win

Cameramen being sunsmart on centre court

Clijsters in action

Li Na in action

The house that Zoli and Garry built ...

2012-01-21T11:30:00.000+11:00

The 'big lawn' now covered with garden beds

One of the highlights of our trip to Hobart was visiting the house that our family built and grew up in. Every time I'm in Hobart, I like to drive by and see how the garden has grown. This time, we had a second reason for visiting. On our trip to Tassie, we were carrying the ashes of our dear family dog, Charlie. It was a strange experience, approaching my childhood home to ask permission to scatter Charlie's ashes. But, luckily, the owners were dog people and understood our request. It was a sad but freeing experience to scatter Charlie under his favourite possum-hunting gum trees.

The bottom of the 'big lawn'

Many hours were spent on this swing set as a child

The owners of the house were very kind to us and let us have a wander around the gardens, giving us a bit of a tour and explanation of what they've done to the gardens as well as allowing us (well, me) some time to reminisce about the great times I had in the house, garden and horse paddocks. The garden has been expanded to take over all of the horse paddocks, but I was pleased to see that they had left the fences, stile, stable and water troughs and incorporated them into the gardens.

Looking back to the sun room and BBQ area

The horse paddock

To say that the new owners are enthusiastic gardeners would be an understatement. They have taken the rather amazing gardens that my grandparents and parents worked so hard on and, with a combination of their creativity and the mature trees and plants already in place, turned the property in a wonderland of garden. In fact, the gardens are often open to the public to enjoy, with much money being raised for a variety of charities.

Horse paddock again

The stile to get into the second horse paddock and the water trough in the background

Whilst the real reason for our visit to my childhood home was a sad one, it was wonderful to spend a few hours in the garden reminiscing about my childhood. And, that brings our Tasmanian adventures to an end. I'm off to Melbourne tonight for some much needed family time and time at the Australian Open. Next week, I'll be back blogging in the present.

Our old stable is now a fernery!

The other horse paddock

Entrance to the horse paddock

Old vegetable gardens

The orchard

Scattering Charlie's ashes

(By the way, Zoli is my grandfather and Garry is my father ... and they, with the help of my grandmother, mother and a few others, built this house)

A flying visit to Hobart ...

2012-01-19T11:10:00.000+11:00

Sullivans Cove wharf area

Being my home city, three nights and two full days were probably not enough to fully show off the city to C. There were so many things that I wanted to share with him - touristy places and also places where I spent a lot of time growing up. Of course, there were several old friends I wanted to catch up with. So, it's fair to say that we did not stop once we arrived in Hobart (which was kind of a shame because we didn't get to enjoy our upgrade to a king apartment!)

Interviewing Wild Oats after the Sydney-Hobart yacht race

Another Sydney-Hobart contender, drying all their gear out

To begin with, we spent nearly every single meal at the Taste of Tasmania, where there was a huge variety of Tasmanian food, wine and entertainment to be enjoyed. The standout food and drink were the seafood sausages from Silver Hill Fisch and the Sauvignon Blanc from Bream Creek Vineyard - if you're after a great Australian Sauv Blanc, you can't go past this one (it's about $25 at Dan Murphy's).

Catching up with girlfriends from school

Salamanca

We were lucky enough to be in Hobart on a Saturday which meant that we could enjoy the famous Salamanca Market. As a Hobartian, the markets are normally a place to go once in a while and certainly not purchase any Huon Pine knick-knacks. However, I was there as an ex-Hobartian, desperate to hang on to a little bit of home when I return to Canada, so I bought a Huon Pine cheeseboard with knives and a Huon Pine photo frame. I also stumbled across a stall selling the most wonderful handbags, Henk Berg. The bags are just divine and the girls at the stall (including Lara, Henk's daughter) are lovely. I have one on order and I'll post a picture when it arrives.

Fruit and veg at Salamanca market

Arty bike racks at Salamanca

A visit to Hobart is not complete without a drive up Mt Wellington. We scooted up there while the sun was out only to have the clouds roll in once we were at the top, but not before I quickly managed to point out the interesting landmarks to C. He was surprised at how barren it was at the top.

Cute little home in Battery Point, near where we stayed

Mt Wellington from Battery Point

A new 'must-do in Hobart' experience is a visit to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. If you've even so much as glanced at an Australian newspaper in the past year, you'll know all about MONA. It is a truly bizarre and intriguing experience. The museum is mostly underground and is filled with controversial objects of new art (for example, a machine that simulates your digestive system, complete with smells and turds at the end; a wall of casts of real women's vaginas; a 'death' room) offset by examples of really old art such as 6000 year old Egyptian coins. On site, there is also a brewery and winery. The museum also offers a ferry service which allows you to get a glimpse of Hobart from a different perspective. When in Hobart, you should definitely visit this museum but be prepared to have your senses challenged.

The Taste of Tasmania from the water

More Sydney-Hobart yachts

A definite highlight of visiting Hobart was taking C to see all the places where I spent a lot of time growing up. We took a drive out to my old home (more on that tomorrow) and also down to Monmouth Pony Club where I used to spend nearly every weekend from ages 8 to 18. We also visited my old high school, Friends, with its beautiful old buildings and the North Hobart football oval, where I spent many a Saturday afternoon watching Dad play and coach football.

Mt Wellington from the water

The Tasman Bridge

The end of our time came much too quickly in Hobart and, with a fuzzy head on New Years Day, we headed back to Sydney.

MONA - Museum of Old and New Art

I used to live to the left of this mountain, Mt Direction. I'll take you there tomorrow.

View from Mt Wellington, just before the clouds obscured everything

Visiting my old pony club

Seven Mile Beach, the site of many gallops and swims on horseback

An unlikely event ...

2012-01-18T14:49:00.000+11:00

Pudong

Yesterday, I had a very funny and unlikely experience. As I was walking home along the beach promenade, I came across a blonde girl who looked incredibly familiar. It took me a moment to work out where I knew her from until I finally figured out that I know her as 'SHE In China', a Swedish girl whose blog I followed before, during and after my time living in Wuxi. I approached her and (startled her I'm sure) asked if she was, indeed, Jonna from Shanghai. She was and we had a lovely chat about living in China, what we were both up to and the beauty of Australia. It was such a surreal experience - an Australian girl meets a Swedish girl and her Finnish boyfriend in Manly after ‘knowing’ each other as a result of reading one another’s blogs in China. It is a small world indeed.

Looking down the Bund

Tahune Air Walk ...

2012-01-17T13:34:00.000+11:00

Since we only had a few days in Hobart, we had to be selective about the things we chose to do. We decided on one 'big' day trip and the rest of the time was spent in Hobart itself, which I'll write about later. The toss up was between Port Arthur and the Tahune Air Walk, both a couple of hours drive from Hobart. The Air Walk won out in the end, primarily because it is a natural attraction and who knows how long the forest might be there. We took our time driving down there, meandering through the Huon Valley and stopping for local fruit along the way. While stopping in Geeveston to buy our tickets (and eat local icecream), C's day was made when we stumbled across a girl holding a day-old wallaby whose mum's life had been lost to a car. He was thrilled to pat it and have a cuddle.

I was slightly apprehensive about walking out onto the platform suspended above the river!

View from the end of the platform

The Air Walk itself is at the end of a long, windy road with many places to stop along the way and do short interpretive walks, including one which we did to The Big Tree, an ENORMOUS tree. It was so big that it was too difficult to get a decent picture of it. Forestry experts have estimated that the tree weighs over 300 tonnes!

Looking back to where we had come from

View from the middle of one of the swinging bridges

Eventually we got to the Air Walk where we spent a couple of hours wandering along the actual walkway as well as going on a 'swinging bridge' walk and the short, riverside walk to see the ancient Huon Pine trees.

Looking back onto the swinging bridge

The Tahune Air Walk seems to be a forgotten tourist attraction because there were hardly any people there and many locals had never been or never heard of it. But, the trip is definitely a worthwhile one - the drive down is spectacular and the walk itself is awe-inspiring, being up amongst the huge, ancient trees.

The Special Project for 2012 ...

2012-01-16T13:23:00.000+11:00

I was going to reveal the 'Special Project' for 2012 (and beyond) a little later, but I'm too excited to wait ...

That's right, C and I are getting a puppy! When I return to Canada in just over a month, we'll be picking up one of the puppies in the above litter. C went to visit them today, on their 1 month birthday, and he just fell in love them (I admit, I was slightly jealous that he got to meet them before me). How could you not? They are just the most adorable puppies. Thanks to Facebook, I've been able to watch them grow with the photos and videos posted by their breeder. Being able to stay at home most of the time for the pup's first few months with us will be an added bonus for me and already I'm looking forward to winter time snuggles on the couch with the new addition to our life!

The drive down the East Coast ...

2012-01-14T13:38:00.000+11:00

Our time on the east coast of Tasmania was truly magical. The scenery was spectacular and the weather proved not to be stereotypically Tasmanian (I swam on the east coast more than I had in the two months prior to Christmas in Sydney). C and I were both in true holiday mode and, apart from a few pre-booked plans, had no real schedule to stick to. We took our time getting from one place to another, stopping at many different sights on our way to Hobart ...

Not technically on the east coast but on the way to the east coast - view over Scottsdale

We took a side road somewhere near Scottsdale and found these amazing sculptures

A close up

Poppy fields on the North East Coast

Luckily C and I share an obsession with creeks and waterholes - such a quiet, peaceful spot

Tide out at St Helens, an East Coast fishing village

Another spectacular East Coast beach

Waterhole in Douglas Apsley National Park

Lunch break at Bicheno

Friendly Beaches near Freycinet National Park

Looking back to the Hazards

Richmond

Richmond Bridge - Australia's oldest stone bridge

Kayaking at Freycinet ...

2012-01-13T14:26:00.000+11:00

My Christmas present to C was a kayaking tour during our time in the Freycinet National Park. I chose a twilight paddle with Freycinet Adventures which had been voted 4th on the 'must-do-experiences-in-Australia' by the Nine Network. We had a perfect evening for the paddle - balmy, very little wind and a great group of people. The guides were particularly knowledgeable about the area and we both learned a lot about the history of the area as well as the flora and fauna. We paddled for about 2.5 hours in total and also stopped at Honeymoon Bay for an evening snack on the beach. It was the ideal way to spend our first night in Freycinet and we felt very privileged to watch such a magnificent sunset whilst reclining in our kayaks in the Great Oyster Bay.

Kayaks on Muirs Beach

Ready to go!

Heading towards the Hazards

Supper time - hot drinks and biscuits at Honeymoon Bay

Fooling around - throwing paddle over jetty and (attempting to) catch it on the other side (Freycinet Lodge in the background)

Happy kayakers

What a way to end the day!

Wineglass Bay-Hazards Beach bushwalk ...

2012-01-12T12:27:00.000+11:00

The second destination on our (brief) tour of Tasmania was the stunning Freycinet National Park. The most popular experience in the park is to walk up to the lookout over Wineglass Bay. The origin of the name of the bay is often debated - some say it is because of the shape of the bay and others attribute the name to the colour of the water. Frequently, the beach is named in the world's top 10 beaches. After all our Christmas eating and drinking, C and I were after a longer hike than the popular 45 minute climb, so we completed the 11 kilometre walk up to the lookout, down to the bay, across the isthmus to Hazards Beach where we enjoyed lunch and a swim before walking back on top of the cliffs to the trail head just inside the entrance to the National Park. The walk was perfect, not only for the exercise, but also because the further we got into the walk, the less people there were. Here are a few pictures from our day of doing the famous Wineglass Bay-Hazards Beach bushwalk ...

View over the iconic Wineglass Bay

Sneak peeks at the beach as we make our way down towards it

The beautiful Wineglass Bay beach

Along the isthmus to Hazards Beach

A marsh along the isthmus

Hazards Beach

Proof that I did actually go swimming

Our lunch and afternoon nap location

View back towards Coles Bay

Looking out over Great Oyster Bay

Sunset at Muirs Beach

Beautiful Bay of Fires ...

2012-01-11T12:02:00.000+11:00

On Christmas Day, C and I left Melbourne bound for Launceston, where our Tasmanian adventure began. It is safe to say that I was overly excited about showing off my home state to him (C refers to our time in Tassie as 'Anna's Seven Day Sales Pitch') as well as exploring an area I'd never been to ... the Bay of Fires. For many years now, I've heard people talk about the four day walk that takes you along the entire length of the Bay. We didn't have the time for this, but did spend two nights in St Helens, exploring several of the beaches in the Bay of Fires. For those non-Taswegians, the Bay of Fires were named by Captain Tobias Furneaux in 1773 when he arrived and saw the fires of the Aboriginals along the coast line. We spent one particularly lovely day at Binalong Bay, walking along the beach, reading and snoozing on the rocks and (for C at least) body surfing. It is a truly spectacular place to visit ... and barely another person around, even at the peak of the holiday season. Enjoy these few pictures ...

Family fun in the sun ...

2012-01-10T10:31:00.000+11:00

Dad and Rob in charge of the BBQ

On Friday evening, I headed to Canberra to join Dad and Carla in celebrating the end of their time in Canberra with an epic BBQ marathon (11 hours of eating and drinking) on Saturday. My brother, Rob, joined us from Melbourne as well. We were super lucky with the weather and Saturday was just perfect for sitting in the sun (well, in the shade for many of us) and enjoying Dad's BBQ skills - the self-proclaimed BBQ King - with a few drinks. It was sad to say goodbye, not knowing when I might see them again.

Even BBQing in the rain!

Rob explores the rocks in Sydney Harbour

Rob and I caught the ~~train~~ bus back to Sydney, which was a more comfortable experience than we had anticipated, since we were expecting to be on the train. Yesterday, we went kayaking in the Sydney Harbour, which was my Christmas present to Rob. We spent four hours on the water altogether, exploring a few of the little beaches around Manly.

Q Station beach

Waterfall on one of the tiny beaches

Our first stop was the Q Station beach where the old Quarantine Station is housed. This is where diseased immigrants had to remain until they were cleared and able to enter society in Sydney. We had a look around the small (and fascinating) museum before heading back out onto the water. Our favourite beach was Store Beach with its long, empty expanse of white sand and warm, clear water. We stopped here for quite some time, eating our picnic lunch, swimming and napping in the shade of the nearby trees (a beach with shade is my kind of beach!).

Heading into Store Beach

Relaxing on Store Beach

The second part of Rob's Christmas present is a Stand Up Paddling lesson tomorrow afternoon. Photos to follow. Tomorrow, I'll get back to the Tassie adventures. Have a good week everyone!

Happy Christmas Rob!

Heading back into Manly

Chistmas time, family time ...

2012-01-06T11:34:00.000+11:00

The whole Davidson/Kaldy gang (with a Canadian ring-in)

After just a few days in Sydney, C and I headed to Melbourne for Christmas celebrations with my family. Christmas Eve is always a fun time in our family and this year was particularly special as everyone (siblings, parents, cousins etc.) was there, along with two dogs and one guinea pig. As always, it was a very enjoyable night with lots of food, drinks and laughs (possibly the biggest laugh came from Grandmother being re-named 'G-Mo' and getting down with some rap moves!) Christmas morning is just a regular day for the Davidson clan, but for C and I, it was time to start our Tasmanian adventure, which I look forward to sharing with you next week.

Slightly wonky photo, but evidence that my 'G-Mo' (grandmother) is up with the times!

(On another family note, tonight I'm off on the train to Canberra to farewell Dad and Carla as they pack up their home in the capital and begin their epic road trip from Canberra to Perth! After my first week back at work, I'm more than ready for some chill-out time on the train and a weekend of being social)

Cockatoo Island ...

2012-01-05T15:05:00.000+11:00

Entering Cockatoo Island

Since I've been spending a few months of each year in Sydney, I really haven't gotten to know the city as well as I could (should) have. For a few reasons - Manly is just so lovely that it's hard to leave, I'm often busy on weekends with studying and I also visit family and friends in Melbourne quite regularly. So, it's no surprise that I'd never heard of Cockatoo Island. Then Mum came to visit and did an excellent job of playing tourist and giving me some suggestions of fun adventures to be had in the Sydney area. Luckily, C arrived not long after Mum left, so I was able to take that opportunity to explore a little further afield than Manly.

Camping ... nice view of the Harbour Bridge

C takes the audio tour

By far our most adventurous trip was on the ferry out to Cockatoo Island, which sits in the middle of the Sydney Harbour. From Mum's description, I was intrigued about the island due to the fact that you can camp there, they often stage art exhibitions and the history sounded really unusual. Plus, the island has recently (2010) been declared a World Heritage site. We chose to do an audio tour of the island because we're both nerds although we were both interested in different aspects of the history - C was interested in the ship building side (yawn) and I was into the convict history. The island has also been a reformatory and industrial school.

Convict buildings

The Island Bar

Half way thorough our tour, we stopped at the Island Bar to refuel with pizza and bubbles (beer for the boy). My enthusiasm for continuing the audio tour was somewhat dulled after several glasses of bubbly - an afternoon nap was more what I had in mind - but I tagged along as C finished the rest of the tour. Our trip to Cockatoo Island was the main touristy thing we did in Sydney, mainly due to the small window of lovely weather. The rest of our time in Sydney was spent inside - at art galleries, shops and cafe. It also appears unlikely that I'll get to play tourist very often in my last few weeks in Sydney because they are jam packed with visitors here, trips away and, the not so exciting, study.

My favourite part of the audio tour ...

2011 ...

2012-01-04T15:20:00.000+11:00

Wow! When I think back over last year, 2011, I realise how much I did, it was huge! It was a great year, full of challenges, surprises and so many new experiences. Here's a recap of some of the big events of 2011 in my 'next adventure' ...

In January, I headed to Alice Springs to visit Mum on her year of going 'walkabout' in the Northern Territory. I was overwhelmed by the beauty in the landscape around Alice Springs.

Another watering hole

February was a sad month with the health deterioration and subsequent passing of my dear old dog, Charlie. I was lucky to be able to say goodbye to him on a visit to Dad's just a few days before he left us. In late February, I made the trip to Hanging Rock with some family and friends to celebrate my 30th birthday.

Hanging out with Charlie (and C)

Hanging out at Hanging Rock

In March, I returned to cold Canada where, on my first day back, I caught up with an old school friend, Camilla and her husband, on their brief trip to Calgary. I also headed to San Francisco for a conference and catch up with my dear friends, Jolan and Arpad. After San Fran, I followed C to Sin City, where I escaped the casinos to visit the awesome Grand Canyon.

Welcome back to the cold in Calgary

A San Fran icon

Touring the wineries with Jolan and Arpad

Grand Canyon

April was a fairly quiet month. I spent some time working at the family's island and enjoying the delights of Salt Spring Island.

May brought another visit to the West Coast, this time to celebrate C's parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

June was an eventful month, health wise, with a bout of pancreatitis to slow me down and inspire me to give up booze for a month. I drove to Montana to renew my visa and spent some time oggling horses at Spruce Meadows.

Magical Montana

Spruce Meadows

Everything seemed to happen in July, as is necessary in Canada because the window for lovely weather is fairly short. Having said that, the first major activity in July was outside of Canada with a whirlwind trip to China, where I gorged myself on my favourite Chinese foods, shopping and catching up with old friends. July was also Stampede time and Canada Day celebrations (for us, the Millarville Races). Calgary Folk Fest also entertained us in July. We spent time hiking (and bear spotting). Towards the end of the month, C and I explored lakes and wineries in the Okanagon.

Eating with friends in China

Drinking with friends in China

Yeeha at the Stampede

Canada Day celebrations at Millarville Races

Hiking in Kananaskis

Bear spotting in Kananaskis

Lakes and wineries in the Okanagon

In August, we headed the other direction and visited the prairies, where we saw a prairie theatre production and hung out at a friend's lake side cabin (where I discovered that tubing is not for me).

Driving in the prairies

My very short tubing experience

In September, I visited C's parents in Victoria and also bid farewell to Deadman Island. I celebrated my last night by impressing the kids with my ability to jump off high rocks into freezing cold water.

Beautiful Victoria

A brave feat on my part

October was fairly uneventful since I was (supposed to be) staying at home working on my uni assignments. C and I took part in the annual Calgary Stampede Cattle Drive and stayed at the Banff Springs hotel. I also helped out at Millarville Community School. At the end of October, I celebrated my first Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Cattle Drive

Banff Springs Hotel

In November, I headed back to Australia. I was thrilled to be back in time for the Melbourne Cup carnival and to see my family. After nearly a month off, I returned to work in Manly.

Stakes Day with Mum

Manly

December was a busy month. Mum visited for 10 days and we had lots of fun adventures. Not long after she left, C arrived for Christmas. We had a wonderful time exploring Sydney, Melbourne and various spots in Tasmania. You'll hear more about these adventures over the next few weeks. And, of course, there was Christmas, which was a fun celebration of family and life.

Elton John concert with Mum

Hanging out in Sydney with C

Christmas time = family time

So there you have it, the year that was 2011. The new year of 2012 is going to bring huge changes to my life, which stresses me out slightly but it's bound to be one big adventure. I have only 6 weeks of work left until I will be officially unemployed. I will return to Canada on a more full time basis and hopefully find a teaching job beginning in September. Until then, I plan to work on my Masters thesis, pick up some casual work and work on a special project which I'll announce in a little while (and no, I'm not expecting a baby). 2012 will be the year of the unknown for me, but I look forward to sharing the ride with you all. Happy New Year!

Christmas cheer ...

2011-12-16T09:58:00.000+11:00

Our school Christmas tree (made out of 7 year old R's hand prints)

It's the last day of school here before we take two weeks off over the Christmas break. The kids are super excited about Christmas and we've been having some Christmas fun this week with crafts, carols and Christmas themed Maths (the joy of homeschooling is that you can do these kind of things whereas in most schools, fun Christmas activities are a no-no). Today, we're heading out for brunch and board games at the kids' favourite cafe before coming back to 'school' to make some Christmas cards. We'll end the day with a little Christmas party (hopefully with bubbles for the teacher) and the much anticipated (by the kids at least) opening of presents. I'm going to be taking a break from blogging over the next few weeks since C will be here (2 more sleeps!) and we're off on an adventure, which means I'll have plenty to blog about when I get back in January. Happy Christmas everyone!

Bubbles in beautiful locations ...

2011-12-15T12:19:00.000+11:00

This picture just about sums up Mum's visit to Manly last week - we drank a lot of bubbles in fairly spectacular locations, including beach side in Manly and harbour side in the city with views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We spent a lot of time drinking, eating and doing minimal exercise. This week, I'm in recovery mode with lots of healthy foods and plenty of exercise before I start it all again on the weekend when C arrives and Christmas family time begins.

Sunshine at last ...

2011-12-14T10:58:00.000+11:00

There weren't too many sunny days in Sydney when Mum was visiting, so when the sun came out on Sunday morning, we jumped at the chance to enjoy some beach time. We began with a walk along Manly beach where we spent time watching the kids delight in the waves crashing into Queenscliff pool. As we headed to Shelly beach for a swim, we came across Father Christmas who was arriving at the surf club to meet the little nippers. It's the first time I've seen the fat jolly man travel by surf boat! It was (only just) warm enough for a swim at Shelly beach but we didn't last long - the water at Shelly is normally free from waves and seaweed but due to the recent weird tides, there was a lot of seaweed being churned around in the (small) waves. After our quick dip, we ended our beach time with coffee and cake at the Sandbar right on Shelly beach. We arrived home just in time to watch the clouds roll in with a big storm on the way. So, unfortunately, the sunshine didn't last very long.

Waves at Queenscliff pool

Body boarding at Manly beach

Father Christmas arrives by surf boat

He arrives at North Steyne surf club

'Gross und Klein' ...

2011-12-13T13:14:00.000+11:00

Last year when I was in Sydney, I went to the theatre many, many times, taking advantage of the under 30 ticket prices (normally $30). However this year (since I'm getting old), I have had to carefully choose the theatre productions that I see (and can afford!). Upon looking at this years offerings from the Sydney Theatre, I was immediately drawn to 'Gross und Klein' (Big and Small), purely for the fact that the lead actor was Cate Blanchett, one of Australia's finest actors (and also a graduate of the school I used to work at in Melbourne). So, I splurged and bought Mum and I tickets for her recent visit to Sydney.

We were not disappointed. It was amazing to see 'Australia's Cate' live on stage in such a unique play. She was fabulous. She produced such an incredible range of expressive emotions and as an audience member, you truly believed in her character, Lotte, an odd, lost soul wandering aimlessly around Germany trying to connect with people. Also, I've never heard such a strong and powerful voice on stage; the way it projected out into the audience was amazing. The storyline is a little odd and while it takes some time to 'get into', it is rewarding once you've figured it out. Before attending the play, I read an interview with Blanchett and Benedict Andrews, the director, that summed up the experience of seeing such a quirky play ... in Andrews' words, I think it's great if people have mixed feelings about work because it means the work is alive. I don't think theatre should always be easy to consume. it should be a difficult and delicious pleasure. It's an insult to the audenice to think you should pander to them or make it easy. We go to the theatre to get closer to people. I don't mean that in a touchy-feely way ... we go to the theatre to understand people more, to get deeper into them and to be touched by them. Whether my work has been divisive or not, it should be judged on whether it does that. Did a theatrical event take lace? Did it touch you? Didi it make you laugh or cry? Didd you get closer to someone? That's all I care about. I'm happy to say that our experience of Cate Blanchett as Lotte in 'Gross und Klein' ticked all of Andrews' boxes. If you're in Sydney and you get a chance to go, it's a performance not to be missed.

Sailing on the Sydney Harbour ...

2011-12-12T13:06:00.000+11:00

We are obviously 'real' sailors with our wine in hand

Nearly every week, I get asked if I'd like to go sailing with my bosses on a Friday evening. I nearly always decline because I'm not a huge fan of sitting on a boat when it's windy and the waves are rolling in through the Heads from the ocean. But when I do accept, I actually really enjoy myself. I have Mum to thank for getting me out on the water this past Friday night; she was super excited about sailing on the Sydney Harbour. And, it was fun. It was a lovely evening and there were many boats on the water, which caused some chaos when we got to the marker which we had to turn around (we were in a real race, not on a casual sail). It wasn't too windy or too rough, so who knows, maybe I'll be back out there this Friday night?

Sun setting over Sydney

Manly ferry amongst the sailing boats

A huge cruise ship dwarfs the sail boats

Chaos as we round the marker

The sun lights up Manly as we head towards the finish line

Picasso and Paris ...

2011-12-09T13:19:00.000+11:00

The current Picasso exhibit at the Art Gallery of New South Wales has caused much talk amongst Sydneysiders, so it was with much delight that Mum called to say that she'd booked us tickets (the entry system operates on a timed entry basis, meaning that the exhibit is never going to be over-crowded at any one time) for Wednesday afternoon. The exhibition was excellent, not just for the intriguing works of art but also for the story was told through the sequence of the art. The exhibit was organised into 10 rooms, each holding Picasso's work from a different time in Picasso's life - from his early days in the late 1800s right through until his death in 1973. As with the last Picasso exhibition I saw (in New York last year), I was particularly taken with the pencil drawings. With this exhibit, there were many sculptures on display, an art form that I wasn't aware Picasso was known for. I particularly enjoyed the sheet metal sculptures. Wednesday is also Art After Hours, where the gallery comes alive with free talks, tours and music. Mum and I sipped on bubbles whilst listening to a jazz band play before heading to the main foyer to listen to Richard Gill, an opera conductor, speak about the importance of arts education in Australian schools.

Wishing to continue with the arty Parisian scene, last night we decided to go to the movies to see 'Midnight in Paris' which I'd already seen but was more than happy to see again since I loved it the first time around. If you haven't seen it, I can highly recommend it - it makes you want to book a flight to Paris, preferably travelling back in time to the 1920s, with the beautiful architecture, fashion (I love the women's headwear of this era), music and art. Following the movie, we were jolted back to reality of life in Australia in 2011 with dinner and drinks at the 4 Pines micro-brewery in Manly.

China Beach ...

2011-12-08T09:52:00.000+11:00

On Monday evening, Mum and I headed out for a 'splurge' meal at China Beach, an Asian fusion restaurant right next to Manly Beach. I'd heard great things about the restaurant and was unable to get in last time I tried because, for most nights, you need to make a reservation. Although I'd booked a window table for Monday evening (it was a wet and chilly night so not suitable for sitting outside), the restaurant was not full, so was a little quieter which was great since that seems to have been the only complaint about the restaurant. The staff were outstanding and helped us to select dishes (and portion sizes) to accompany our chosen wine (a Hunter Valley white that we'd tried the day before) and even giving us an extra starter which would apparently go superbly with the wine. The food was amazing - fresh, delicious and beautifully presented. The whole evening was a perfect splurge experience, with great food and wine in an amazing location and with an amazing person, my Mum!

Betel leaf with house smoked trout, grilled eggplant & green chilli Nam Jim

Lab Kai, Chicken with Kaffir lime, lemongrass, mint & a chilli, lime dressing

Steamed scallops with ginger, lemongrass & soy sauce

Pork belly special with green snake beans

Stir fried Sichuan eggplant, tofu, cashew nut & snow pea

Ice cream and sorbet - guava and raspberry sorbet, rum raison ice cream

Wine and view

Manly - Spit walk ...

2011-12-07T13:47:00.000+11:00

Late yesterday afternoon, Mum and I headed off on the Manly-Spit walk, a popular Sydney excursion. The walk takes you on 9.1 km of coast line and bush to the Spit bridge, where you jump on a bus back to Manly. It was a grey afternoon and the weather couldn't decide if it wanted to be warm or cold, but still, the walk was worthwhile. Since it was high tide, we spent more time walking up on the cliffs than down along the beach, but the scenery is still quite beautiful. Due to the somewhat depressing weather, there weren't many people on the path, but we were lucky enough to watch a hang-glider preparing for an afternoon flight and then to see him take off and soar way above the Sydney Harbour. Here are a few pictures of our afternoon stroll ...

Not a bad view!

Boats in the Fairlight area

Cool, squiggly gum trees

Thanks to the rainy weather, the wildflowers were spectacular

More pretty flowers

Hang gliding out towards the Heads (South Head on the right)

Looking out towards North Head (near Manly)

Famous Manly ferry, North Head and a glimpse of blue sky

Up close and personal with a spiky bush

A big rock with a great view

Yet another little cove

Another big rock, this time with a support

Walking on soft sand at the end of long walk is h a r d

And another cove!

And finally at the bus stop ... ready for a glass of wine, dinner and a bath!

Meandering through the Hunter Valley ...

2011-12-06T11:23:00.000+11:00

View from our breakfast table

After the Elton John concert, our second priority of the weekend was to explore the Hunter Valley to admire the countryside and sample some of the local wines. We didn't have a lot of time so we headed to the area that was most concentrated with wineries and drove around the small roads just checking it all out. We wound up at the Small Winemakers Centre, which is a location for winemakers who are not large enough to have their own cellar doors to show their wares and offer tastings of their wines. They also had a cafe attached where we sat for some time, enjoying both the food, the first tea/coffee of the day and the stunning view. For me, I truly felt like I was back in Australia with the sight and smell of the gum trees surrounding us. After breakfast, we tackled the wine tasting counter, trying many of the local specialities (shiraz and semillon) from a number of small winemakers, making several purchases to take home with us.

Wine tasting at the Small Winemakers Centre

A bird enjoys the Sunday morning sunshine

In the early afternoon, we headed back to Newcastle where we met up with a couple of friends who I used to play hockey with at the Kew Hockey Club. They've been in Newcastle for a few years now and were kind enough to take us to a beautiful bar in a terrific location - on top of the Newcastle surf life saving club. The view was stunning on such a cold, wet and stormy afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the coastline of Newcastle was - I was expecting it to be a very industrial looking city.

Lake at Small Winemakers Centre

Driving through Wine Country

After a quick catch up, it was time to head back to Sydney on the train, ready for a week filled with exciting experiences to share with Mum during her holiday in Manly.

Storm approaching the vineyards

View from the Newcastle Surf Club Bar

Catching up with old hockey friends

Elton John in the Hunter Valley ...

2011-12-05T14:01:00.000+11:00

View from the train

It was with much anticipation that Mum and I boarded the train bound for Newcastle early on Saturday morning. We were headed for the Hunter Valley with two purposes in mind - Elton John and wine. After 2.5 hours on the train and about an hour in the car, we arrived at our accommodation in East Maitland at the Windsor Castle Hotel, which had possibly the only hotel room left in the entire Hunter Valley due to Elton's appearance in the valley (and my lack of organisation in booking something). Thankfully (and perhaps surprisingly) the room was quite lovely and perfect for our needs.

The Windsor Castle Hotel

Waiting for the gates to open

After dumping our bags, we quickly headed out to the Hope Estate to line up so that we could secure ourselves a good position on the lawn for the concert. Surprisingly, the line wasn't that long and we were amongst the first people there. We only had to wait for about 30 minutes before security let us in early and we quickly found a great position and settled in for an afternoon of people-watching (wow, people can behave oddly after too much booze or other substances) whilst drinking bubbles. We had ordered a gourmet hamper which was well worth it (we'll ignore the fact that the antipasto platter was covered in mould and needed to be exchanged) and kept us entertained for several hours as we ate our way through its contents.

Enjoying our gourmet hamper in the afternoon sunshine

I'm a new fan of the cello ... no reason why.

The music began at about 6.30 with Eran James whose music was okay but fairly unremarkable. However, the second support act, 2 Cellos, was amazing - both musically and as eye candy. The 2 Cellos group is made up of two absolutely gorgeous Croatian guys playing rock songs on the cello - U2's 'With or Without You' and Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' were the stand out hits. I was thrilled to see that the 2 Cellos stayed on stage, playing, for most of Elton's performance. Eventually Elton arrived on stage and entertained the crowd for well over two hours, demonstrating his superb singing ability as well as some athletic ability with a jump or two over the piano. He played all the big hits as well as some other songs that I was unfamiliar with.

Mr John himself

Mother and daughter enjoying the music

The fantastic concert (and firework display at the end of the evening) was only slightly dampened by the fact that it took us 1.5 hours to get out of the car park and another hour to get home thanks to the dodgy directions from the traffic warden. But, overall, it was a fabulous experience to see a worldwide icon such as Elton live in concert!

The development of the Metis culture in western Canada ...

2011-12-02T09:57:00.000+11:00

White men and Indian women in the fur trade society

A year ago, I'd never heard of the Metis people, so I find it quite funny that now I'm having to research and write essays about them. Last night, I finished the first assignment for the Canadian history course that I am required to complete before Alberta will allow me to teach there. At first, I was excited about doing the course but already I'm sick of it - it's proving to be quite challenging on a few fronts. Firstly, as an Australian, I have started the course with absolutely no background knowledge at all. Secondly, the readings and assignment requirements are difficult because they are completely different in structure and expectations to those in an education course. And finally, the referencing system that is used in history essays is ridiculous - so many pedantic rules about the order of the text information and the indents ... what difference does it have if the text is indented 1/2 cm or 1 cm or, heaven forbid, not at all?! Based on these factors, I found the first assignment, 1500 words about women's role in the development of the Metis culture, very time consuming and challenging. Ask me to write 1500 words about something to do with education and I can probably whip up something reasonably educated, but for this assignment, it was a painful process of writing whilst desperately watching the word count creep up. Having said all that, I did learn a lot, although how it will help me to teach in Alberta, I'm not so sure. I won't bore you with the 1500 words of dribble, but here's the general gist ...

In 1670, white men arrived in western Canada to make money in the fur trade. When they got there, they married native women who were a huge help to the fur trade economy - they spoke the local language, they knew how to trap animals, they made/preserved food etc. as well as all the other wifely duties ... oh, and they were happy living in such a harsh environment, not like the white women. When these white/Indian marriages produced children, they were known as the Metis ('halfbreed' in French ... since it was predominantly the French who began the whole thing). Those kids had a tough upbringing because they had difficulties finding their identity within either culture. But, the women did a pretty good job and most children grew up with some Indian traditions and a Christian upbringing.

So there you have it, the the start of the Metis culture in a nutshell! The next unit is about the pioneer women who arrived in the late 1800s, which should also be interesting. Until then, I'll wait for my results on this assignment, hoping that I've at least got some of the important indenting right and have passed it!

Working out, beach style ...

2011-11-30T10:43:00.000+11:00

Whilst I'm in Manly for the summer, I'm taking advantage of some of the popular beach side exercise options that are available. I've signed up with Vital Fit and have been enjoying the twice weekly 6 am beach side circuit and boxing classes, which normally involve a lot of running on the soft sand which I find incredibly challenging. I've also signed up with Power Living, a very popular (last week, one of the classes had 70 people in it!) yoga studio that specialises in hot (30 degrees, so not as hot as bikram) yoga. So far, I've been going three times a week and absolutely loving it - the stretching and the light and relaxed feeling that I get when I've finished are such great feelings. It's also been a good 'character building' exercise for the perfectionist that I am because I'm not very good at yoga and have to satisfy myself with trying my hardest rather that trying to perfect each pose. And of course, the other benefit of power yoga is the numerous half naked men who are in each class! Exercising beach side has been a welcome change from working out in the gym and running at altitude.

The Australian Museum ...

2011-11-29T11:21:00.000+11:00

Last week, 7 year old R and I jumped on the ferry and headed into the city to visit the Australian Museum next to Hyde Park. Our purpose was to visit the insect display in order to report back to R's Grade 2 class in Canada about Australian insects (to fit in with their current study topic). To tell you the truth, the insect display was pretty boring but we also visited the skeleton exhibition which was amazing as there were skeletons from all kinds of animals. The best part was the bicycle that you could cycle (with legs and arms) and see how the bones move together on the above skeleton on a bike. Pretty cool.

(As a funny aside, we ran into a Grade 3 class from a local girls school with their teacher who was also a Miss Davidson! Both their class and R found that extremely amusing.)

Fine weather again!

2011-11-28T12:11:00.000+11:00

Shelley beach from our 'playground' this morning

After more than a week of miserable weather, it's nice to see that the sun is shining and the people of Manly are out and about again. According to my workout group this morning, that was the worst run of weather that Manly has had all year (yes, even over winter time!). I'm hoping that it stays lovely and sunny because Mum arrives on Friday for a beach holiday and C arrives in less than 3 weeks!

It's raining, it's pouring ...

2011-11-25T10:17:00.000+11:00

That's right, it's pretty miserable in Manly at the moment. For over a week now, I haven't seen the sun shine. It's simply been grey skies and rain. It hasn't stopped me doing my usual outdoors things like walking to work or walking on the beach. There is something wonderful about walking on the beach in the rain. It's also been pretty good because I don't feel guilty about sitting inside studying. I have a few 'indoor' projects on the go at the moment - my Canadian studies work, writing a thesis proposal, learning about the American Revolution so that I can teach it to 11 year old B in January and sorting through old photos, letters and memorabilia to work out what is a reasonable amount to take to Canada. The only downside to this rain (and the accompanying coldness) is that I didn't bring any rain gear or very many cold weather clothes, so I've been wearing pretty much the same 1-2 outfits for the past week. Whilst I'm happy for the rain now, I hope that it clears up for the end of next week when Mum arrives for a 10 day visit!

A flying visit to Melbourne ...

2011-11-22T12:30:00.000+11:00

Thanks to cheap flights in Australia, whilst I'm here, I'll be able to make several trips to Melbourne to visit family and friends. This weekend, I had a crazy whirlwind two day trip during which I managed to spend time with my Mum and brothers, dine out for every single meal, drink far too much, visit my Grandmother, enjoy the Spanish Festival in Fitzroy, catch up with some friends and make a trip out to Monash University to learn more about writing a thesis next year. It was a full-on weekend and now I'm back at work for a rest! But, it was a wonderful Melbourne weekend and I can't wait until the next one!

Paella at the Spanish Festival

Lexie, enjoying the sunshine at a St Kilda cafe

The Christmas pudding, hanging at my Grandmother's place, ready to be eaten on 24 December!

My hydration for the weekend

(As an interesting aside - It took me five different modes of transport to get home last night! Tram, bus, plane, train and boat!)

Manly the movie set ...

2011-11-18T09:56:00.000+11:00

On Tuesday, both kids arrived at school to tell me that they had stumbled across and watched the filming of a movie being made in Manly. 7 year old R told me that it was all happening at 'Australia's version of the Great Wall of China.' This perplexed me just a little and after some prompting, I learnt that she meant St Patrick's Seminary, which sits high up on the hills overlooking Manly Beach. 11 year old B told me that the movie will star Leonardo diCaprio, but I didn't believe him, thinking that perhaps there would be a greater deal made of such a big star being in little old Manly. But, after some Googling, we discovered that, yes, Leo is in town for the filming of The Great Gatsby, which is being directed by Baz Luhrmann and also stars Carey Mulligan. So Manly is not just a sleepy beachside 'village' but a rocking Hollywood movie set!

The daily commute ...

2011-11-17T09:59:00.000+11:00

Work is up on that cliff, just behind that big tree

One of my favourite things about working in Manly for the summer is the commute to work each day. I've written about my Canadian commute here and the commute here in Manly couldn't be more different. Each morning, it is 20 minutes stroll along the beach front and up a big hill past all the multi-million-dollar mansions before I arrive at work. The view from my 'classroom' is pretty spectacular too. Then in the afternoon, I walk home, often stopping at the beach to sit and read for a while. It's not a bad way to spend the 'working' summer!

Looking back towards Manly beach

'Bloodland' by Bangarra ...

2011-11-16T10:03:00.000+11:00

Last year while I was in Sydney, I got quite hooked on going to see theatre productions, either at the Opera House, Sydney Theatre Company or Griffin Theatre Company. I was lucky in that I was in the last few months of my twenties, so could take advantage of the cheap 'Under 30' tickets. This year, however, I'm not so lucky and will have to pay full price for tickets, but there are a couple of shows that I will splurge on over the summer.

'Bloodland'

I started this year's Sydney cultural experience with a trip to the Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf to see a Bangarra Dance Company production of 'Bloodland' with Dad and his partner. I had previously seen one of their performances in Melbourne and loved the way the combination of traditional and modern Aboriginal dance told the story. However, this performance was somewhat more abstract and, at times, was difficult to follow. The performance didn't have nearly as much dance as the other one I had seen, which was slightly disappointing as that I had enjoyed that aspect of the previous performance so much. It was a very 'arty' theatre performance and, as a result, the more I thought about the performance, the more I enjoyed and appreciated it.

Cate Blanchett in 'Gross und Klein'

The other performance that I've booked for the summer is a Sydney Theatre Company performance of 'Gross und Klein', starring Cate Blanchett. I am super excited about seeing her on stage and also sharing the experience with my Mum. I also have my eye on a couple of other shows that I might book for early next year.

Cremorne Point Foreshore Walk ...

2011-11-14T15:36:00.000+11:00

The first peek into the harbour

Since I only have a few more months left of living in Sydney and it's unlikely that I'll ever live in this city again (Sydney, I've decided, is amazing if you have money and can afford to live on the water. Not so wonderful if you don't), I'm aiming to make the most of it while I'm here. This past weekend, Dad, his partner Carla and their dog, Archie, were visiting me. Yesterday, we walked the Cremorne Point Foreshore walk. The walk hugs the coastline and has some terrific views of the water, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and the Taronga Zoo. There weren't too many people on the path, despite the fact that it was a lovely day. We did run into the same park ranger twice and got ticked off twice (well, Dad did) for not having Archie on a lead. We finished off the afternoon with a burger and a beer next to Manly Beach.

Two Sydney icons - Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Not a bad view from the Cremorne swimming pool

Another Sydney icon, the ferry

Looking across to the zoo - the 'Birds of Prey' show

Lush gardens on the harbour

A giant asparagus?! Or a cactus?!

Big home

Another big home

Into the rainforest

A home in the rainforest

Happy Friday!

2011-11-11T10:23:00.000+11:00

My new puppy dog!

The picture above is of the 'Westie' that C gave me when I left Calgary - cute, isn't he?! Well, this is the first full week I've worked for quite some time and I am more than ready for a weekend. I'm looking forward to hanging out with my Dad when he, his partner and dog arrive for a visit. Happy Friday everyone!

Back to the books ...

2011-11-10T15:38:00.000+11:00

View from my study 'desk' yesterday afternoon

Several weeks ago, I completed the coursework component of my Masters course - 3 units in gifted education and 1 in research methods. Early next year, I will begin the thesis component and I'm hoping to knock it over in 6 months so that I will be study-free once I start full-time work in a school (positive thinking - I am going to find a job in Calgary!). However, despite the fact that I have finished the required work for Monash University, I've still got uni work to complete. Last week, I began a course with Athabasca University. Completing a course in Canadian Studies is the only thing I have left before I can be a fully certified teacher in Alberta. At first I thought it would be a (expensive - $1500) drag, but once I saw the huge range of course options, I began to look forward to this requirement. After eliminating the boring (to me) subjects and the ones that require exams (I don't like exams, I much prefer a nice long essay), I ended up choosing 'The Women's West: Women and the Canadian Frontier Settlement'. So far, I'm really enjoying the readings and I'm learning lots about the role of women, particularly native women and Metis (half Indian, half White) women, in the fur trade in the 1800s. Whilst I'm enjoying all this study, I do look forward to April, when I will have finished this course and (hopefully) July when I will have a Masters degree to my name. Anna Davidson, BTeach (Primary), BAppSci (Human Movement), MEd (Gifted Education) ... it looks very sophisticated doesn't it? PhD next perhaps? Doctor Davidson?!

A day at the races ... Stakes Day 2011 ...

2011-11-09T10:54:00.000+11:00

Mother and daughter

Being a horsey gal, I've always enjoyed going to the races. When I was a kid, I loved going to the racing stables and admiring the horses with Dad when we made our regular trips to collect stable manure for the garden. The past few years, I have missed Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival, so I was excited to have the opportunity to go to Stakes Day with my Mum on Saturday. Mum had never been to the races, so it was fun to dress up together, prepare a picnic and head off for the day.

Studying the form guide

Checking out the horses in the stable area

We arrived nice and early to get a good spot on the rails, about 100 metres back from the finishing line and within eyesight of a big screen. We spent the few hours before the races began people watching, choosing horses for our bets, checking out the betting ring and admiring the horses in the stable area. Oh, and feasting on cheese, dips, sourdough bread, sundried tomatoes, veggies and the desserts that seem to be the 'in' thing right now, macarons.

Bart!

And they're racing!

Once the races began, we stood on the rails and cheered for 'our' horses, although we didn't have much success on the betting front. The highlight of the horses for the day was definitely seeing Black Caviar race. For those of you who are not in Australia or who have had their head in the sand, Black Caviar is the world's best sprinter at the moment and on Saturday, she won her 16th consecutive race (I think the record is 18 or something like that). The atmosphere surrounding her race was amazing, with the crowd waving Black Caviar flags and sporting Black Caviar masks.

The crowd

Flags for Black Caviar

It was an incredibly hot day and Mum and I both struggled with the heat, so we ended up buying a Flemington umbrella so that we had some shade in our prime position on the lawn. Despite the shade and a lot of water, we were still too hot, so ended up leaving the after the Stakes, race number 6. Neither of us had felt the urge to drink anything alcoholic at the races due to the heat, so once we were home, we enjoyed a bottle of bubbles, as every mother and daughter should do!

And there she is, the superstar herself!

And there she goes, winning the race by several lengths

Leading the winner back to the winner's circle

Melbourne ...

2011-11-08T11:29:00.000+11:00

Internal view from Mum's apartment

Even though the concept of 'home' is relatively abstract for me, there is definitely a feeling of coming home when I visit my family. On Thursday morning, after arriving in Sydney, I jumped on another plane headed straight for Melbourne. Despite feeling a little weary, I had an amazing few days hanging out with my family and catching up with some friends. Mum's new (less than a year) home is in a terrific location, right in the heart of St Kilda, minutes from the beach and also from the city. I can't wait to spend more time there over the next few months.

St Kilda Pier from St Kilda beach

Being back in Melbourne made me realise how much I miss the food in Australia (okay, I'm a greedy little pig, I love all food!). It felt like I spent most of the few days rolling from one session of eating and drinking to another! Interestingly enough, on the Thursday night, we ended up at a pizza place called Banff, where the pizza was amazing. Another culinary highlight was enjoying my favourite breakfast of poached eggs on toast with a side of spinach (no greasy piles of potatoes to be seen!) at the St Kilda Sea Baths whilst looking out to sea. On Friday night, my younger brother Rob took Mum and I to a delicious Japanese restaurant called Wabi Sabi on Smith Street, Collingwood. Another culinary highlight was perusing the South Melbourne Market for goodies to take for a picnic lunch at the races on Saturday (the topic of tomorrow's blog entry!). There is so much fresh and tasty food to be enjoyed, I had better make sure I'm on top of the exercise front while I'm in Australia!

On the beach looking towards Port Melbourne

My few days in Melbourne ended much too quickly and now I'm back in Sydney, looking forward to catching up with the rest of my family (Dad) this weekend when he visits me in Manly.

View from our table at Sandbar, near Mum's place

Halloween ...

2011-11-02T16:37:00.000+11:00

Chairman Mao demonstrates how to carve a pumpkin

My last night in Canada just happened to be Halloween and the running of the Melbourne Cup, so there was no time to dwell on how much I would miss C. Instead, the bubbles and candy (oh how I hate that word) flowed and there were good times to be had with a couple of friends who joined us for the festivities.

A close-up shot of the pumpkin carving demonstration

Carving my first pumpkin

To begin the evening, C (aka Chairman Mao) taught me how to carve a pumpkin. It was an interesting experience as it required a trait that is a weakness of mine (patience) and one that is a strength (perfectionism - which can also be a weakness!). First, I drew an outline of my Jack O'Lantern face and then proceeded to carve it out (C had done all the hard work of getting the pumpkin innards out). It was surprisingly fun and I carved two pumpkins with different faces. We set the pumpkins (complete with tea lights inside them) outside the house to signal to 'trick-or-treaters' that we were open for business.

The look of concentration!

The finished product! (one of two)

It was a lot of fun to greet the 'trick-or-treaters', some who were as young as 2 and some as old as 13-14, although by the time kids are that old, the whole thing idea of dressing up and asking strangers for candy seems to be a little uncool. There were some incredibly creative outfits including The Four Seasons, a Leafblower, a Homeless person, Ketchup and Mustard and a Half-Dead-Half-Alive person, as well the predictable flow of princesses, dragons, witches and cute, furry animals. By the end of the evening (about 6-9pm), we had handed out nearly 100 small chocolate bars!

Our efforts (mine are the two on the ground on the left)

Chairman Mao greets (and scares?) the first 'trick-or-treaters'

The whole time this was going on, the four of us managed to polish off several bottles of bubbles and get stuck into a bottle of red. Dinner was an odd mix of cheese, biscuits, veggies with hummus, ginger snaps and a red monster cake.

'Trick-or-treaters'

A very creative costume, The Four Seasons (poor 'Summer' was too cold to look too summery!)

As the evening was winding up (it was a school night for nearly everyone), we tuned into ABC 774 to listen to the running of the Melbourne Cup. What a great race! It was amazingly close and if you were the owners/trainers/jockey etc of Red Cadeaux, you'd be pretty disappointed, I would imagine. None of the horses I had money on placed, so I'm really hoping that my bookie (my younger brother) couldn't make it to the TAB for some reason! So, Halloween and Melbourne Cup celebrations provided a great way to finish another 7 month period in Canada and now it's time to head home to see family and friends and head back to work after nearly a month off!

Another creative costume, a Leafblower (C is fixing the poor leafblower's leaf)

The autumn reading list ...

2011-10-28T05:08:00.000+11:00

One of the best parts about living in another country is discovering books about that country and by the country's authors. In China, I read a lot about the history of China and discovered several (Westernised) Chinese authors whose books I really enjoyed. It's been the same here in Canada, I'm discovering many Canadian (and American) authors whose books I'd never read before. Here is a little selection of what I've been reading lately ...

This is a pretty well-known book in Canada. It's a beautifully written tale exploring what it is like growing up in a Mennonite family

Another book about the Mennonites, albeit a sillier tale of a woman in her 40s returning to her Mennonite background

Obviously not a Canadian book, but one that has been on my must-read list for a while. I loved it but after a while, the 'goodness' of the March girls got to me!

Recommended by a local librarian. I listened to this on an audio book during my long daily commute to the ranch. A delightful book.

Another recommendation. A beautifully written book that is written as a letter from a dying man to his young son.

I'm not great at reading non-fiction in my downtime, so this book is perfect for me - photographs and detailed captions about Alberta and its history.

I just finished this book this morning and I'm contemplating jumping on a plane to Nepal right now. It's a beautiful (true) story of the 'orphans' in Nepal.

On my bedside table waiting to be read (or packed for Australia) are the following books ...

I bought this book after seeing the movie (which I loved) and can't wait to read it.

I have to read this book as part of the Canadian Studies course I need to complete (more on that later this week)

A friend at home recommended this book and it's waiting on my Kindle for me to read on the long flight home

Preparing for winter - raking the leaves ...

2011-10-27T07:42:00.000+11:00

Beginning the job

This past week has seen the weather turn very chilly. With nighttime temperatures several degrees below zero and daytime temperatures under 10 degrees, winter is on its way. And many Canadians are spending their weekends outside doing the last few jobs before the snow sets in for several months. One of those jobs is raking and bagging the autumn leaves so that the ground is bare before the snow arrives. Why? Apparently if the leaves stay on the ground, they go mouldy and kill the grass after a long winter of heavy snow on top. So today I decided to practice being a Canadian and get to work raking and bagging the leaves. We only have one big tree in our backyard, but there were still plenty of leaves to rake up - 6 bags full to be exact. I managed to work up quite a sweat whilst doing the job, stripping off layers as I went. The next Canadian job this week? Prepare for Halloween - buy some lollies for the trick or treaters, decorate the front yard, find a costume to wear and bake some scary treats.

Nearly there

All done!

The Banff Springs Hotel ...

2011-10-26T08:19:00.000+11:00

Banff Springs Hotel from Tunnel Mountain (taken a few weeks ago)

A friend of ours held her 40th birthday party in Banff this past weekend and was kind enough to organise a group rate at the Banff Springs Hotel, the original hotel in the Rockies, built to accommodate the rich who travelled across Canada on the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is a spectacular hotel in an even more spectacular location and we were incredibly excited to have the opportunity to stay there.

The view from our room

And from the other direction

We arrived nice and early so we could make the most of the facilities. As we were checking in, we noticed a historical tour about to start, so we jumped at the chance to learn a little more about the hotel. The hotel has a fascinating history since it first opened in 1888. Did you know that the hotel was originally built backwards? This meant that guests looked into the side of a mountain, whilst the kitchens and the staff quarters had the million dollar view! Over time, however, the hotel has been rebuilt, this time in the right orientation.

Our room

What a view from the pool!

After an academic hour, we headed to the heated outdoor pool, which is much like the Banff Hot Springs (which are just up the road from the hotel), where we bobbed about until we turned into prunes and it was time to prepare ourselves for a night on the town in Banff.

A male deer enjoys the green, green grass

Spray River

The night out was a lot of fun. C and I began the evening with champagne in the Rundle Lounge at the hotel, feeling very posh and sophisticated. Which didn't last for long as we joined the others on a Banff pub crawl. About 25 people turned up for A's birthday, meaning that it was quite the group to get around Banff as we launched from one pub to the next. We left at the fairly sedate time of 1.30am.

Spray River meets the Bow River

Pretty patterns in the ice

The next morning, after a late breakfast at the hotel, C and I wandered down to the Spray River, following it along to the Bow Falls and then walking all the way to downtown Banff, before turning around and walking back. It wasn't quite a hike, which is why we would normally head to Banff, but on a cold, clear morning, it was the perfect thing to fix a foggy head from the night before.

Rainbow colours off the Bow Falls

Such a beautiful location

A stay at the Banff Springs Hotel is definitely recommended. If you're coming from outside Alberta, it obviously has the charm of the Rockies, but if you're a local and used to only going to Banff for a day trip (it's only about 1.5 hours from Calgary), then it feels somewhat decadent to actually stay the night, especially at the legendary Banff Springs Hotel.

Procrastinating and baking ...

2011-10-19T08:03:00.000+11:00

I'm in the middle of writing my last assignment for the coursework component of my Masters. It's a pretty boring assignment (an analysis of a bunch of qualitative research studies) so I've also been taking the time to master the art of procrastination ... in the form of baking. A month or so ago, I discovered the website of Teresa Cutter, Australia's 'Healthy Chef'. I've always admired her approach to food - an 80/20 approach (eat well 80% of the time, treat yourself 20% of the time) - and I'm loving experimenting with some of her recipes. So far, I've tried (and enjoyed) these tasty concoctions ...

Protein Fudge Cookies

330 g raw whole almonds
60g vanilla protein powder
16 fresh dates, pitted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
coconut for rolling

Throw almonds into the food processor with cinnamon, protein powder and cocoa then process until the mix looks crumbly.
Add dates, vanilla extract then process again until the mix starts to come together.
Add a splash of water if you need to so that mixture is soft and forms a soft ball.
Form into 14 decent sized balls.
Roll in coconut and store in the fridge until you feel like a snack or quick meal on the run.
Store in the fridge for upto 4 weeks if they last that long.

The World's Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookie

150 g almond meal
50 g grape seed or macadamia nut oil
50 g honey (2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract
50 g good quality dark chocolate, or raw cacao nibs

Combine the first 4 ingredients then add the dark chocolate and form into a dough.

Add a few tablespoons of water if mix is a little dry.

Using a small ice cream scoop or spoon form into 10 cookies.

Press onto a baking tray lined with a sheet of baking paper.

Bake in a low 150 C oven for 20 – 30 minutes until golden.

Cool completely before devouring.

Makes 10 cookies.

Oatmeal and Honey Scones

2 1/2 cups rolled oats + 1/2 cup extra for rolling
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (linseed)
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from 1 orange
1 ripe banana
1 cup fresh dates ( pitted and halved)

Preheat your oven to 180 C. (160 C FAN FORCED)

Combine 2 1/2 cups of oats, honey, oil, cinnamon, orange zest, vanilla, banana and bicarb into a food processor.
Mix for about 15 seconds in the food processor until the scone mixture comes together to form a soft dough. ( now you can also do this by hand, but it will take you a good 5 minutes of mixing and squishing the dough until it comes together)
Add the dates last of all and mix through by hand.
Spoon the scone dough onto a board coated with the rest of the rolled oats and cover the outside of the dough with the oats.
Flatten down slightly and cut into rounds. You should get 8 rounds.
Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden.
Remove from the oven and cool.
Enjoy alone or with a little ricotta, honey or whole fruit jam.

Detox Energy Salad

150 g mixed leafy greens
1 bunch broccolini or asparagus lightly steamed
1/2 avocado
10 g pumpkin seeds
10 g sunflower seeds
10 g walnuts
20 g goji berries
40 g wakaeme seaweed (rehydrated in cold water for a few minutes)
10 g ground flax seed (linseed)

Arrange the salad leaves into serving bowls. Lay over the broccolini, seaweed, avocado and sprinkle over the seeds + goji berries.
Serve with the below dressing.

Green Dressing
1 bunch parsley leaves
1 bunch mint leaves
zest and juice from 1 lemon
cold pressed olive oil, flaxseed or walnut oil

Make the green dressing by combining all the ingredients into a high speed blender like a VitaMix and process until smooth.

Season with a little fresh ground pepper.

Pour a little over the salad just before eating and enjoy.

All of these recipes are incredibly easy to make (read - almost impossible to screw up) and super duper tasty. Right now, I'm off to make some more of of the oatmeal and honey scones so I have a tasty treat when I get back from my run (another healthy source of procrastination!)

A Sunday bike ride ...

2011-10-18T01:50:00.000+11:00

C loves riding bikes, especially in the mountains. Me, I do not. I like riding bikes, but preferably if they are a lovely step-through bike with a basket, a bell and no hills involved. I mean, I loved riding my bike in China but there were 9 million other people on bikes too, so it felt a little bit safer. Not to mention I had a lovely orange step-through bike with a basket and a bell!

So, it took some coaxing on C's part to get me out on his mountain bike around Calgary on the weekend. But, surprisingly, I loved it. Whilst I didn't have the basket or the bell, there was not a single hill in sight. We cycled around a part of the Bow River that I've never been to because to run it (and be able to run a loop across the river) is too far (or maybe I'm too lazy). I was surprised to see so many people out and about on a cold Sunday afternoon, but the brisk wind was very refreshing and it was lovely to share some light exercise with C.

Downtown from the river pathway

After enjoying myself so much, I've had a wave of inspiration and am contemplating purchasing a bike of my own (one with a basket and a bell and in a pretty colour of course) this week. So, stay tuned, I may be the proud owner of a bicycle later this week!

Busy ... but lazy ...

2011-10-17T07:10:00.006+11:00

I've been super lazy on the blogging front this past week. And it's not because I haven't been doing anything worth writing about. I've done lots of interesting things. And it's not because I've been working too hard. Because I haven't - I'm on holidays. So, I guess it's just that I've been lazy. Briefly, here's what I've been up to ...

An 'old' Main Street at Heritage Park

Seeing 'Ova', the latest Cirque du Soleil offering. Wow. It was my first time to a Cirque show and it didn't disappoint.

Visiting Heritage Park, an 'old' historical village which is a little bit like Sovereign Hill for the Victorians in the crowd, but not as fun or authentic.

Old fashioned trains at Heritage Park

Visiting the Calgary Zoo and oooing and ahhhing over the size of the Grizzly Bear's claws and realising that, no, I really don't need to see one of these whilst hiking.

Running around the river and kicking up the autumn leaves.

Check out the views of the mountains from this Heritage Park ride!

Researching Westie breeders and dreaming of a puppy.

Volunteering at Millarville Community School and LOVING being back in front of a class of kids (albeit 29 of them!)

Battling many Canadian bureaucratic agencies.

Eating and drinking too much at two Thanksgiving dinners. Yummo.

Taking in a Wordfest event in downtown Calgary. We saw 5 authors speak in a literary/musical event which was an odd combination.

Procrastinating about starting my last coursework assignment for my Masters.

Buying books online to take back to Australia (they are SO much cheaper here).

Seeing live music at the Ironwood Stage and Grill.

Baking healthy treats from The Healthy Chef.

Going on weekend drives and bike rides with C.

Walking into town and working out at the YMCA.

Looking forward to heading back to Australia to see family and friends.

Now I know that this is an incredibly lazy blog entry, but I will aim to write more over the next few weeks, including some more detailed entries about some of the above events. Until then, a cup of tea and the weekend papers await me on the couch ...

Cowgirl for a day ...

2011-10-12T03:50:00.000+11:00

On Friday, it was the annual Calgary Stampede President's Cattle Drive which has been held on my boss' ranch for many years. C and I were lucky enough to be invited along on the cold and wet ride that was the 2011 cattle drive. Dressed in many layers and with countless cups of hot chocolate with Baileys along the way, we stayed warm and moved the cows from their summer home to their winter home. Having the opportunity to be part of a cattle drive is a unique and special Albertan experience and once I finish working with the family, I am going to greatly miss the opportunity to participate in such events.

Getting ready to ride in the rain

Heading out to round up the cattle

Herding the cows towards the road

And up through the bushes

Along the long, wet road

First break of the day - hot chocolate and Baileys anyone?

Typical North American icon (yellow school bus) mingles with the typical Albertan icon (cattle and horses)

Wrong way!

Beautiful fall colours, what a shame it was too cloudy to see the Rockies

The end is in sight (and so is the rain)

Arriving in their winter home

Last day of work ...

2011-10-07T04:21:00.000+11:00

Today marks the end of another period in my life - life as a teacher at Rocky Mountain Ranch 'school'. It has been a satisfying, challenging and mostly enjoyable experience being a home-school teacher in rural Canada and I'm truly grateful for the experiences that I've been lucky enough to share with this family. The adventures with the family will continue for another couple of months in Australia, but not here at this beautiful Canadian property.

I've been living in my old place on the ranch this week since C is in the US on business (and the 5 minute commute on foot has been much appreciated!) and I've been making the most of country life. The scenery at this time of the year is stunning with the autumn colours lighting up the foothills. I've been outside running each day after work and loving the clean country air (and the workout that the hills provide!)

My last day at work has begun well. I was surprised to arrive at school this morning to see the classroom draped in tinsel and a huge bunch of flowers sitting on my desk. The kids and I are seizing the day as one of celebration and fun - finishing off a big project (a virtual trip to Italy in preparation for the kids' upcoming real trip to Italy) and then heading out for lunch and a movie.

While it's the end of an important part of my life, I have much to look forward to - lots of fun events before I head back to Australia in 3 weeks, spending lots of time with my wonderful family in Australia and then returning to life in Canada, this time as an unemployed teacher working on my Masters thesis. After all, this blog is about my next adventure, so bring on the next one!

Looking for a puppy ...

2011-10-05T02:56:00.000+11:00

Lexie hoping that she looks cute enough to come inside the house

Since I'm making a (semi) permanent move to Canada for love, one of my 'conditions' is that I can have a dog. It's all about compromise isn't it? I move to Canada and C welcomes a dog into our life?! So, C has agreed and we've begun the process of finding a breeder from whom to purchase a West Highland Terrier (aka Westie). My brother owns a Westie, little Lexie (above) and over the years, I've been lucky enough to dog-sit her many times. She is the sweetest, funniest little thing. On the weekend, we visited a breeder north of Calgary and we both fell in love with the puppies and adult Westies we saw. We could have easily taken one (or more!) home then and there. But, we need to wait until I get back from Australia in February. In the meantime, we'll have a look at other breeders and make our final decision before I go back to Australia. I am ridiculously excited about getting a dog and sharing that experience with C.

We are Geelong, the greatest team of all ...

2011-10-04T02:55:00.000+11:00

The 2011 AFL Grand Final was a perfectly executed game - a close game for three quarters followed by a runaway lead by Geelong in the final quarter. C and I watched the game with about 100 other Australian expats at a local pub. There were several Collingwood jumpers in the crowd, but no Geelong ones to be seen, despite the fact that most of the crowd seemed to be cheering for the Cats. So, I shouldn't have been surprised when, at the end of the game, no one sung the Cats theme song (and I wasn't drunk enough to sing it by myself!) They obviously weren't 'real' Geelong fans. It was a terrific night and it was very satisfying to watch Geelong take home another flag.

My low-alcohol journey ...

2011-09-30T23:42:00.000+10:00

Some of you may be wondering how my quest to limit the amount of alcohol I drink is going. Well, I can happily say that I am now down to drinking just one beer each day ...

Just kidding. After my bout of pancreatitis attack, I took a month off drinking and since then have had fairly strict rules about when I drink. But, rules were meant to be broken, weren't they?! So, they're more like guidelines. Firstly, I try to only drink on Friday and Saturday nights. I try to only drink 1-2 drinks if I'm at home or 2-3 if it's an evening out. Which means that I'll be practicing lots of self control at the Grand Final tonight - it will be a long night from the time we get there early to snare a table and the end of the evening when I'll be singing the Geelong theme song loud and proud. And, it would be un-Australian not to have a beer or two at the footy, wouldn't it?!

Grand Final fever ...

2011-09-30T03:10:00.000+10:00

This is the fourth year I've been out of Australia at Grand Final time. In China, the Aussie expats watched it at Blue Bar, an Aussie establishment in Wuxi. The (small) crowd was pretty half-hearted and it was difficult to drum up enthusiasm. Last year, my mum was visiting and we desperately tried to jump online to view it (twice due to the draw), but in both cases, we gave up and went to bed in order to get an early night for our next-day hiking adventures. This year, C and I will be joining every other Australian in Calgary at Bottlescrew Bill's to watch the Cats beat the Pies (although I do have soft spot for Mick Malthouse and wouldn't mind if the Pies got up for him). To create a little bit of finals atmosphere at home, I've been listening to podcasts of the Coodabeen Champions and listening to a lot of old footy songs, such as this one, my favourite:

To combat my feelings of homesickness for the footy, I've also been introducing 11 year old B and 7 year old R to the joys of the sport. We've been doing all our Maths around AFL - logic puzzles involving the ladder order, dice games simulating goals and points, and probability investigations into the 'fairness' of the finals structure. They won't be there on Friday night, but you can bet that the first thing on Monday morning we'll be doing is singing the Geelong theme song. We are Geelong, the greatest team of all ...

Calgary Tower ...

2011-09-29T05:47:00.000+10:00

The Saddledome

On Monday, 7 year old R took me to the Calgary Tower, a revolving restaurant, for lunch. I'd been before and it's a fun experience for the kids. The food is terrible, but the views are amazing. We were there for quite some time, so managed to 'revolve' twice, seeing Calgary from every angle, including the river, downtown and out towards the Rockies. We then went down to the Observation Deck where R delighted in seeing her teacher too scared to step out onto the glass floor over the street, approximately 190 m above the ground. I've dined in the Calgary Tower twice now, once with each of my students, but I don't think I'll be hurrying back, despite the amazing views.

Autumn colours and the mountains


The Bow, which will be the tallest building in Calgary when it is done

The Bow River

Tunnel Mountain ...

2011-09-27T09:46:00.000+10:00

The Banff Springs Hotel golf course beneath Rundle Mountain (to the right of the picture)

Weekends just seem to fly by at the moment. Between doing all the necessary things like study, exercise, socialise and fill in bureaucratic forms (the never-ending task in my life at the moment), there never seems time to get out of the city and into the mountains. However, this weekend I was determined to get out and enjoy what could possibly be the last of the warm, sunny weekends. On Saturday I did a lovely long walk around the river, culminating in a lovely long workout at the gym. On Sunday (with a slightly fuzzy head after a dinner party on Saturday night), we decided to take an afternoon drive to Banff for a stroll in the mountain (and to visit the marvellous Banff tea shop). I say stroll because I don't think you could possibly classify the walk up Tunnel Mountain as a hike. It took us about one hour and thirty minutes to walk to the top, have a snack and a look around and return to the car. Despite the short walk, it was lovely to enjoy some fresh mountain air before getting back to those bureaucratic forms.

A glimpse of the Banff Springs Hotel

(And, in case you are wondering, there is no tunnel on Tunnel Mountain. The original CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) planned to drive a tunnel through the mountain, but on second thoughts, it was decided that it was easier to go around the mountain.)


View over Banff townsite from the top of Tunnel Mountain

Pearl Jam ...

2011-09-23T02:57:00.000+10:00

Eddie Vedder just has to be one of the ultimate rock gods around. Last night, C and I went to see Pearl Jam in concert which was amazing given that Pearl Jam's music was among the first that I owned as a hip (!) teenager. The concert certainly didn't disappoint. Eddie had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. In fact, the audience members on the floor looked remarkably like Hitler's followers many years ago, albeit slightly less brainwashed. I've never been to a huge rock 'n' roll concert where the guitarists go mental and the crowd are on their best head-banging behaviour. It was amazing.

The rock god himself ... Eddie Vedder

The support act was Mudhoney, who we'd never heard of but Googled quickly during their first song (thank goodness for iphones!). It turns out that Mudhoney were actually deemed the founders of grunge music in Seattle ... their music was popular way before Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam hit the big time with their grunge. Kind of funny to think that 25 years ago they were bigger than these three (now) well-known acts but are now playing support gigs. Mudhoney were pretty good in a frenzied, screaming kind of way.

Mudhoney

Then came Pearl Jam. Wow, did they put on a good show. They played for over two hours, including not one, but two encores. They played a ton of hits as well as some that I didn't know (including a song called 'Rats', which was played in honour of the fact that Alberta has been rat-free for 50 years, a fact of I was not aware!). The only disappointment from rock god Eddie was that they didn't play 'Spin the Black Circle' or 'Better Man', my two favourites. I was dying to see 'Spin the Black Circle' live, but had to make do with a youtube clip this morning ...

The commute ...

2011-09-22T05:58:00.000+10:00

The early days of commuting in China - I'm still wearing a helmet! That didn't last for long!

For most of my career, I've had a very easy time getting to my workplace. For the most part, I've been able to walk or ride a bike to work. The best commute was when I lived in China when I never knew what would happen on the 20 minute bike ride to work. But now, my years of easy commuting have been replaced by a two hour round trip. The reason for the long commute? About 6 weeks ago, C and I decided that it was ridiculous for us to be half living at each others' places. We decided it would be easier (and more fun) if we just lived together in the one home. So, now I'm officially a resident of the lovely Calgarian suburb of Hillhurst, right near the Bow River and a 20 minute walk from downtown. Unfortunately, however, it means that I am now living about 65 km from my work. Hence the long commute. Luckily, my commute is against the traffic so it's a relatively smooth journey. I'm also lucky that it's pretty drive - out of the city, over the foothills and towards the mountains. However, I only have another three weeks of this commute and then I'll be off to Australia (after a three week holiday), where my commute to work is a 20 minute walk along the beach!

'The Tree' ...

2011-09-21T02:33:00.000+10:00

Simone played by Morgana Davies

Last night, C and I headed to The Plaza, the local neighbourhood cinema to see an Australian movie that C had heard about on the radio, 'The Tree.' I'd never heard of the movie before which is an Australian/French collaboration that closed the Cannes Film Festival (with a 7 minute ovation, according to Wikipedia) in 2010. It was a slow movie but incredibly moving - the story of a family who grieve for their lost husband/father with the help of a huge, ancient Moreton Bay Fig Tree. The young girl, Morgana Davies, who played Simone totally stole the show with an amazing performance. The movie is worth watching for her performance alone. I can highly recommend 'The Tree' to anyone, but especially to any Australians who are overseas and missing the Aussie accent as well as the landscape!

A slow weekend with a side of culture ...

2011-09-20T05:58:00.000+10:00

Perehudoff - The Optimism of Colour

I came back from the island on Friday night feeling tired and unwell. Being cooped up in a small house each day with two sniffling children does not bear well for one's immune system. So, I decided to have a very slow, lazy weekend. Most of the weekend was spent pottering about the house, reading the newspapers, cooking soup and strolling around the river. The highlight of the weekend was when C and I decided to head to the Glenbow museum to utilise our membership and see the current temporary exhibitions. The first exhibit was the Perehudoff exhibit of abstract art. This 93 year old Canadian is a well known abstract artist from the prairies. I enjoyed the display but sometimes struggled to see the 'art' in the huge canvases of coloured lines. The second exhibit was entitled 'Cut! Costume and the Cinema' and featured a number of period costumes from movies such as 'Finding Neverland', 'The Duchess' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' This exhibit was particularly interesting because it described the way in which costumes are constructed, how they are made to look old and also showed the undergarments which give the full figured shape to the beautiful period dresses. The Glenbow is a fantastic museum and I'm looking forward to heading back over the next 6 weeks in order to make the most of my membership before I head back to Australia.

Cut! Costume and the Cinema

Goodbye Salt Spring Island ...

2011-09-17T03:08:00.000+10:00

Glassy water this morning

Today is my last day on 'the island' with 'the family.' I fly out on the 1.20pm seaplane. Last night, I ticked off one final island 'must-do' ... jump off the rocks into the water and have a swim. It took much encouragement from fearless 11 year old B, who put me to shame with his somersaults and twists as he dove into the f r e e z i n g water. I took one jump and lasted all of 2-3 minutes in the water before I hurried to the other end of the island to warm myself up in the hot tub. Next time I'm in the Gulf Islands, it will likely be as a holidaymaker and not as 'the teacher.' And who knows when that will be since there is so much of this big country to see. So, until then, goodbye Salt Spring Island!