greetings from the world's most liveable city....

shannon and i headed to toronto for a couple of weeks in mid-august to catch up with some friends and family, visit toronto and manage a bit of a holiday a deux! we spent the first week and a half in a whirlwind of lunches and dinners with highlights including a full turkey dinner with all the fixings on a hot august evening (not ideal conditions but delicious nonetheless!! thanks mom!), a couple of lovely bbqs with friends and their family, random dates with international visitors and gail's birthday party to name a very select few!

from a sight-seeing perspective, we went to top of the CN tower, had a lovely tour of the scarborough bluffs and the don valley brickworks and we looked through old photos giving shannon a glimpse of my life growing up... i must confess that some of the photos offered for viewing should have been left in their boxes/envelopes!!

after we'd finished meeting and greeting, we headed off on our holiday. the first place we headed was esprit rafting on the ottawa river! we spent two nights camping there and had a lovely day on the river with beautiful sunny skies and warm water!! the rapids were pretty good though i admit that i pined immensely for a kayak, skirt and paddle... we did some serious surfing in some rapids and shannon went for a bit of an accidental dip which was cute!! from there we headed to algonquin park for a paddle around canoe lake and a portage - i wanted shannon to experience having a canoe on his head (and i wanted to take pictures!!). we spent the night at one of their campsites and woke early in search of a moose. unfortunately we didn't find any, only their tracks... we headed down to innisfail to see jocelyn, brian and newman (their newfoundlander) and spent the evening catching up before heading down to niagara-on-the-lake for two nights at a b&b (thanks again d&g for the gift!) we had a delicious lunch at a winery and then visited a couple of other ones, enjoying a leisurely afternoon together. the next day, we went to niagara falls and took heaps of photos and went on the maid of the mist (and got drenched!!). it was a beautiful spectacle and we returned later in the evening for some night shots. unfortunately, as we all know, all good things must come to an end and so the next morning we rose, packed our bags and headed back to toronto and shortly thereafter, we headed on a plane back to melbourne!!

thanks to all for a lovely visit and i'll make a point of updating the blog more regularly going forward!

hugs,
s

p.s. while we were in toronto, melbourne was voted "the world's most liveable city"... it seems i chose well when relocating! particularly now that spring's around the corner and you can feel the excitement in the air!

time flies but i'm settled into the house.... :-D

i hate to say this but i've not been doing much in the way of travel since my last blog...  too much time spent organising the move, buying stuff for the house and now getting things sorted and settled!!  it's been a bit of a whirlwind of excitement and effort and i'm happy to say that i'm now settled in my new pad!!  (photos to follow shortly!)

over the easter long weekend, shannon and i made a trek out to the danenongs region for a hike and some picturesque views...  we stopped at a walk to a waterfall but it was too cold and wet to be inspired to do much more than a stroll!!  we also headed for a bit of a drive along the great ocean road out towards lorne.  it was much nicer weather and we managed a nice kayaking trip down a marshy river in anglesea.  we arrived in lorne in late afternoon, did another waterfall walk (notice a trend?!?! :-D and then had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the ocean as the sun was setting.  it was a nice romantic setting and the food was surprisingly delicious!! 

other than these two short hops, i've been busy socialising in and around melbourne!!  i've been super busy with dinners and drinks, bbqs and bday parties, photo group and running around getting the apartment settled!!  i've got an engagement party tonight, a quick photo course tomorrow and then off to watch a hockey game with shannon and the kids!!  i'm hoping that the next few weeks/months should be a bit more normal (or at least i'm hoping that will be the case!!) and i can manage a monthly jaunt somewhere fun!!  

in addition to the above, i figured i should share four further bits of exciting news!!
1.  i received my permanent residency from the australian government on 2 june!!  i'm super excited with the security that residency provides and i was amazed to see that it only took immigration one week to process my application!!
2.  shannon and i will be in canada in august for a visit.  he wants to meet the family and friends, see toronto and the surrounds!!  our flights are booked and we'll be there from 13 august to 1 september!  look forward to seeing everyone then!
3.  i've got a new job!!  ssshhhh!!  it's not been officially announced in the office!!  i'll be working in the environment & sustainability team at nab, working with procurement to ensure that all of our suppliers adhere to our sustainability principles!!  a total shift in focus which i'm really excited about!!  i think i'll be starting around 13 june but it's ytd still!
4.  on 14 june, it'll be my 4yr anniversary in aussieland!!!  i have no idea how the time has passed so quickly but i reckon i'll be here for another few ;-D 

hugs to everyone and can't wait to catch up in toronto!!
s



 

i've been out and about again ;-D

one of the perks with work is that i get to travel a bit and occasionally it works out that i'm in a different city for an exciting event!!  my most recent escapade involved a trip up to sydney during mardi gras weekend ;-D  i had a full day at the 'office' travelling around sydney doing different site visits before meeting up with some friends for after work drinks on the roof of the glenmore hotel (http://www.glenmorerooftophotel.com.au/1_home/).  we had some great views of the harbour bridge and opera house.  from there, the group of us headed to dinner at kings cross (a suburb in sydney known for its unruly characters and gritty charm).  we had dinner at a fabulous mexican restaurant and then headed over to a neighbourhood gay bar for some further drinks and socialising.  

i woke up saturday morning with a minor hang over and little planned for the day except shopping until the parade later that evening.  i'd been informed that today was officially "gay christmas" and i was most excited to watch the events unfold ;-D  i met up with a friend (and his friends) for pre-parade drinks and dinner and then headed down to watch the parade.  what i actually saw can only be described as madness!!  heaps of people dressed in fancy costumes (and not in the parade), people standing 10-12 people deep on milk crates, trying to get a view of the parade, lots of drunkenness and drinking; all up, a fabulous atmosphere!!  i can't say i managed to see much of the parade except on a big screen but i definitely enjoyed the energy and think i'll be back for another mardi gras weekend!!

i arrived back in melbourne with enough time to do laundry, see a couple of friends and pack before heading up to townsvillle with shannon for a holiday.  (my boss has been mocking me for the last week as it's the rainy season in northern queensland so i had no expectation regarding good weather!!)  we took a ferry to magnetic island and disembarked to torrential rains as few places outside of the tropics can boast!  we dashed to our hotel room, drenched and looking like drown rats after 5 mins and spent our first day indoors, fearful that our week's holiday would be spent watching dvds while the sun shined in melbourne!!  fortunately, the sun came out the next day and we hired a car to tour the island, taking pictures and hiking to see some world war II relics. amazingly, the next day was equally as sunny so we had a swim in the hotel pool before heading for a long walk along the beach!!  we headed out that night to watch a toad race with the other tourists on the island :D  a gentleman does a hysterical job auctioning off the toads (all with colourful ribbons around their necks, of course ;-D to the highest bidder before the race starts!   i bought a toad for $25 who seemed super speedy however he must have gotten confused when it started to rain as he performed very poorly ;-(  truly, it was over within a blink of your eyes!  

we then headed down to airlie beach which is the stepping stone for the whitsunday islands and the great barrier reef!!  (the weather didn't promise much but it was better than heading north!) we booked ourselves into a backpackers that actually had a really nice setting with a small creek running through the back area of the hostel with tropical plants growing all along the garden walkway!  we planned to go on a catamaran for the first day which included a snorkel along the reef and a swim on whitehaven beach for a bit of variety.  the sun was shining, the scenery impeccable and we had a lovely day sailing around some of the 74 islands that make up the whitsunday islands!  our next day, we went on a massive power boat out to the great barrier reef where we spent the day snorkeling and scuba diving!!  (it was shannon's first experience doing both and he loved them!!) the water was really clear and the fish were so plentiful and varied that it was easy to spend the entire day under water with them!  we left airlie beach and drove back to townsville in the pouring rain!!  we were super lucky with the weather!!  i might even have managed a couple of VERY light tan lines!! ;D

the only other piece of good news to share is that my permanent residency application has finally been approved at work!!  now it's up to me to get all of the documentation sorted and submitted pronto!! it's a bit of a race against time as i'd love to get my application approved before i take possession of my new house (so that i can get the first home owner's grant) but i'm not going to hold my breath...  there are far too many bureaucratic agencies to contend with in two different countries to expect much!!

hugs to all!
s

p.s.  i've discovered that blogger has a stats page and i'm AMAZED to see how many international readers i have :-D  thanks for reading!!

2011 is shaping up well :-D

amazingly, i was down the coast two more times in january which is more trips down in january than the entire 3 years i've lived in melbourne!! 

the first weekend, i headed down with some girlfriends for the day for a hike up the hill (arthur's seat) which allowed for some fabulous views of the coast and a rewarding swim/frolic in the beach after!!  i'm not sure which i enjoyed more ;D 

the weekend after, i headed down with shannon for a friend's birthday.  they'd planned a horseback riding winery tour which was a novel idea except for the minor accident!  my old horse would do nothing but trot despite all my prodding while everyone else was cantering.  a friend's horse (a new young male horse) decided to overtake and suddenly my horse was off at a speedy canter, forcing the young horse into the bushes and my friend fell off!! ...  as soon as he'd blocked the young horse from passing, my horse slowed down to a trot!!  obviously, there was a bit of competition between them!!  we spent the evening barbequing, chatting and relaxing.  sunday, we saw some koalas, had a picnic and a relaxing afternoon under the shade of a tree!!

otherwise, i've been in and around melbourne city, having picnics, attending wine tastings, birthdays, seeing movies under the stars, attending the pride parade and my local st kilda festival to name a couple of fun activities!!  in addition to the fun bits, i've been looking for a house/apartment/townhouse to purchase...  it's been a tedious process (as parameters have changed a couple of times) but today, i successfully purchased a two bedroom townhouse/apartment in seddon, vic!!  i'm most excited about the prospect of owning a place in australia and truly settling here!  that said, i need to get my permanent resident visa progressed so i can qualify for their first home buyers grant...

hugs and hope everyone's having a great new year!
s

what happened to 2010 (or the last three and a half years)?!

another year has passed by and with it's passing, i'm reminded that i've been in australia for over three and a half years now....  i certainly didn't expect to be here this long when i embarked on this journey!!  that said, i do believe that australia has been a great growing experience for me and truly, i still believe melbourne suits me brilliantly ;-D

i managed my most traditional christmas since i landed with shannon only it was a week earlier than it was supposed to be!!  we had a lovely christmas morning together!!  it started with a light breakfast and presents under the tree (there were heaps of presents from canada to open!!)  he then cooked a leg of lamb with roast veggies, etc..  for lunch and then we headed out for dinner at a greek restaurant with a group of friends.  it was really nice to have a quasi-traditional christmas for a change, even if i'm still yearning for a dose of snow, family and friends and of course, a turkey with all the fixings!! :-) 

for christmas proper, i headed up to noosa, queensland for 6 days with a friend.  we expected to spend days at the beach swimming, kayaking and snorkeling.  unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and it poured for the entire 6 days except for about 3 hours of grey overcast clouds on christmas day!!  we headed off to fraser island, the world's largest island made entirely from sand for christmas eve.  there are some absolutely breathtaking photos of the place however i can't say that any of my shots are anything but dreary!!  christmas day, we went for a stroll before lunch which was put on by the hostel and then spent the afternoon in the pool getting rained on!!  i spend boxing day on the phone with the family and then we headed over to see a movie (what else do you do when it rains 24 x 7?!)  we went for a hike through the national park on 27 december in the rain before flying home the following day to sunny, warm and dry melbourne...  why i paid money to go away, i'm not entirely sure!! :-D

i spent the new year's long weekend with shannon down the coast in sorrento/rye area.  we drove down on new year's day, stopping for a picnic and a couple of walks before arriving in rye.  we spent the night at a bed & breakfast, woke early and visited a lighthouse (my favourite thing to photograph!!), a strawberry farm (it was chockers with people and delicious strawberries), a goat's cheese farm (where we had a tasting plate) and a winery before commencing our drive back to melbourne.  it was an action-packed day which finished with a bbq by the beach across the road from my apartment and a kite flying lesson (i'm sure i used to be good at this activity!!) before we snuggled on the couch to watch a movie!!

other than the holidays, i've been super busy doing spring/summer activities!!  i taught a friend to ride a bicycle, head on a sail around the bay for another friend's birthday, had some dinners and drinks with friends as well as the requisite holiday parties, etc...

all up, the last six weeks have been super busy and i'm looking forward to a somewhat slow start to 2011!!

best wishes to all in the coming year!!

hugs,
s