Aaah! Esperance

So work less, travel more. That's the goal, right?

Our first test is a trip to Esperance for a long weekend. Esperance is an isolated seaside town on the south coast of Australia. Objects on the map are farther apart than they appear. I believe that Western Australia is about 2 times the size of Alaska (which is about 2.5 times the size of Texas).

So for our little weekend away, we had an 8 hour drive to the Southern Coast. You drive through mostly farming country--the wheatbelt. Towns are few and far between , 40-50 miles between towns of maybe 500-1000 people.

Weirdly, these small WA towns have worked hard to develop their own local identity, and to become a destination for tourists. Wave Rock in Hyden is a 15 m tall rock shaped like a wave, and they are selling coasters, t-shirts everything they can to make a name for themselves. The big tourist attraction is pretty neat, but the cave of aboriginal paintings was VERy cool. On the way to Hyden, we drove through Corrigen--a small town famous for having a dog cemetery. Their town was dying, so to rejuvenate it, they have tried to make the dog cemetery a focus for the town. So, they organised a Guinness book of World Records attempt--most numbers of Dogs in a Ute (a ute is a work truck). In celebration, and to promote the town, there are UTEs and cars advertising Corrigen along the long highway to Esperance.

The amazing thing is that my hometown of Elmore was looking for ways to revitalise their community, and the foundation they asked for help brought in a speaker from Western Australia to talk about Corrigen and Hyden. Small world huh?

Not when you are driving to Esperance.

Anyway, with all these attractive tourist destinations to loiter at, Nathan and I didn't arrive in Esperance until 11:00 pm on Friday night. Luckily the Esperance Guesthouse had given us a code to enter if we were late. Its a hostel/guesthouse, so we were a little surprised to score a bedroom with a sitting lounge, and a REAL bed, with room to walk around it and everything! The next morning, the owner of the guesthouse left freshbaked bread and good coffee on the side board for her guests. The smell of the bread woke me up before the alarm. ForNathan and I, who have been budget travels for years, it was heaven.

After a fantastic breakfast we took to the rough Southern Ocean for a wildlife/eco tour and a trip to Woody Island. The wildlife/eco tour showed off a few seals and sealions, a sea eagle, but rough weather and a cutting wind made us glad to arrive at Woody Island for tea. Nathan and I planned to rough it, because Woody Island is a class A nature reserve. With our tents and sleeping bags, we followed the guide to the kitchen where tea and cake was waiting for us. Before our tour he pointed us to the showers, and the camp kitchen which included sinks, fridge/freezers, and of course, Aussie BBQs. (This is roughing it...we didn't bring the airmattress like everyone else!) We set up our tent, and the weather cleared. After a few hikes, Nathan settled into fish a little. He caught two fish--which we had never seen before, and weren't in our local guidebook.. We ate them anyway.

One of the final highlights of Woody Island is the nesting Fairy Penguins. Parents swim 40 km to fish, and bring the food home for waiting babies. We waited til almost dark to see the penguins return. One lone baby penguin sheltered the beneath the rocks was waiting hungrily (I thought Nathan might regurgitate some fish for him, but he kept his delicious mystery fish to himself). We waited for awhile, but it grew to dark for us to wait for his parents to return.

The next day, we sailed back to Esperance before climbing on a dive boat. Which sailed back to Woody Island. This was our first open water dive, and I was a little nervous. As the rest of the divers sank to the bottom, I hyperventilated and tried to get my ears to pop. After a while, we made it below the surface, but the dive master had long since left us behind. We explored the area where we were, and after a peaceful 20 minutes rose to the surface and signalled the boat. It would have been longer, but my hyperventilating used up most of my air in the first 10 minutes.

We camped that night in Cape Le Grand, a national park only 20 minutes from Esperance that is famous for its beautiful beaches. Folks from WA claim that Esperance beaches are the best in Australia. The most famous is Cape Le Grand beach which has 10 miles of the finest white sand you've ever seen. It squeaks when you walk on it. NO REALLY. The sand is about the colour and texture of flour, and stretches for miles against an aqua-marine ocean. Our pictures don't really do it justice, because the sky was overcast. But when the sun would break through it was magnificent.

We concluded our visit to Esperance by climbing Frenchman's peak (because the top looks like a beret). Its really steep! On one of our many resting stops, we actually met a Frenchman on holiday. He wasn't wearing a beret, he was wearing one of those Australian sun hats.
But still, ironic huh?
The view from the top was stunning, beach, after beach, island after island (about 150 islands in the waters near Esperance). After taking it all in, we descended. Just in time to stiffen up nicely for the 8 hour trip home.

New Year's Resolutions

Okay--chinese new year's resolutions. Nathan and I like to set a goal each year--that really gives us some focus. I still do the prerequisite new year's resolutions (lose 20 lbs, better health, be a better friend, save money etc) but there's usually one that stands out. Mine for 2008 is work less, travel more. So far the workless part is being troublesome, but we are already making plans to tackle my travel more goals. Next weekend we will head to Esperance (about 1 days drive to the South Coast) to camp on an island nature reserve, and visit what has been almost universally described as Australia's most beautiful beaches. We've begun planning for a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, a trip to the US in August (4-18), some travelling with Todd & Steph when they come to visit in October, and maybe a trip to Bali or Phuket if we can squeeze it in. I'm still trying to work in my big goal--a trip to China, but we are running out of vacation days. Most of the trips this year feature diving or oceans somewhat, so I might need to go back and revisit that weight loss goal if all my pictures will be in wetsuits or swimsuits.

Nathan's goal is zeroing in on a triathalon. He's done a sprint triathalon before in Minnesota. But Aussie's are sports mad, and they have a hard-core triathalon culture here. The ultimate in doing this would be an ironman, but Nathan has agreed he needs to learn to swim first. He's already been running, cycling and playing hockey, so he's pretty fit, but swimming in the ocean promises to be the big challenge. The big steps to achieving this are swim lessons and a decepnt bike. If we both keep to our goals he'll be running, swimming, and cycling during all these vacations I have planned.

A photo-less blog...

The thing about moving is that certain items, even important items, items like that cord that goes from the digital camera to the computer, for instance, become separated from their intended place. I'm confident that it will show up, probably in the freezer with the frozen banana guacamole, but for the moment it means that my vivid narrative will be all that is available to evoke the images of beautiful WA.

So it was a great visit with Kirk, who has returned to the US, but left his wallet behind for us to remember him by. Kirk got us out sailing, checking out the stars, and convinced me to play a round of the most embarassing disc golf ever seen in the southern hemisphere. An afternoon on a historic tall ship, kayaking on the glassy waters of Geographe bay, watching as Kirk took several thousand photos in the wildlife park...all of these were highlights of a visit that started with helping up move house, and ended with a fantastic dinner on the beach.

What we didn't do, of course, was plan far enough in advance to get the cheap tickets to Singapore as we had previously hoped. Instead, we spent this last weekend dressed in skin-tight neoprene and mouth-breathing. We kept a promise that we had made to each other almost 10 years ago, and finally started our recreational scuba training.

This weekend, we finish with our open-water dives, and will get our PADI certification in anticipation of finally seeing what lies beneath the surface of the Indian ocean. Other than sharks, I mean. And deadly jellyfish. And lethal blue-ringed octopi. And deadly sea shells (I'm not making that up, even the shells can kill ya). It's no safer on land, however, so we thought that we may as well be cool while escaping from deadly peril.

Well, I've got to go assemble some more goodies from IKEA, but there will be a photo update as soon as I find that cable.

And where did the frozen banana guacamole go!?

New Digs

Well, it may be a new world record -- perhaps a new galactic record.

4 and 1/2 hours.

That was the total amount of time that it took us to move.
This morning, at 9:15, we picked up the moving truck. At that point, I would like the people at Guiness World Records to note that we had not packed...anything.
This afternoon at 2:45 we returned the truck. That even includes a stop to fill the tank with diesel. I have practically dislocated my shoulder patting myself on the back.
I also practically dislocated my shoulder carrying the mattress, climbing over the bed frames, and hauling one of the world's heaviest privately owned dining room tables.
All of this was made possible through the understanding, willingness to help, and strong back of our friend Kirk, here from Rochester just in time to help us move. In fact, it is on his computer that i type this update, since he chronicled the event and has most of the photos.
So...without further ado...

Our new home!

Merry Christmas!

Oh christmas blog, oh christmas blog,
that's how we keep in touch with y'all
Oh christmas blog, oh christmas blog
herein's news which will you enthrall.

A letter to the folks who freeze,
from the heat of the antipodes

oh christmas blog, oh christmas blog,
we're constantly thinking of you all.


I know that it's still Christmas (or, as the nickname-mad aussies say, "Chrissie") back in the US, so this should get in just under the wire as a holiday blog, but here, we've cleaned up the wrapping paper, made all the phone calls, slept as long as we could in the heat, and now it's Boxing Day.
Either way, we're enjoying a couple of days of relaxation before things get a little busy next week.

The only problem is that it is hot. I mean, really, really hot. Today it is predicted that the mercury will top out at 43 degrees C, which doesn't sound like much until i punch it into the unit conversion feature on my phone (the only feature that gets used much), and realize that this is a whopping 110 degrees F. Even if I wasn't feeling hot before, now I do. Luckily, we've made friends with a couple 2 houses over who have a swimming pool.

The other solution is to head to the beach, which we have already done. At 10am, it was over 90, and we sat roasting on the beach with the rest of town, occasionally splashing in the Indian Ocean to cool off. Then, if you can believe it, it became too hot for the beach. So now we're back home, watching a little of the boxing day test cricket and trying unsuccessfully to ignore the list of things that we really should be paying attention to.

Such as cleaning out the guest room. Kirk (a friend from Rochester) arrives tomorrow morning, and his room is where all of our hockey equipment is currently spread out, drying over the break in the hockey schedule.

Or getting ready for Nathan to start a new job. Tired of driving an hour and a half a day, I've taken a new job a little closer to home. Theoretically, I will be working fewer hours and driving fewer hours, which has the result of being able to see some of this huuuuuge country that we are trying to explore, but the early indications are that I will be working just as much. Hmmmm.

Or packing. Our lease is up, and we found a great new place in a very cool part of town, but it is going to mean moving this weekend, and even then our lease will only be for 6 months, and we may have to move again at the end of that time. Sometimes i think that in the last few years, all i've done is load moving trucks!

Luckily, during this busy time, Kris is required to take a 10 day break while the university shuts down -- which is a nice benefit to the position -- and it couldn't have worked out nicer in terms of having time when Kirk is here and moving and stuff.

I hope this finds you all in good spirits!
Merry Christmas.

house-hunting again!

So, for the last few weeks we have been house-hunting again. Our lease expires 24 January, but our landlords wanted to be in on the 7th if we could move earlier. With Christmas, that means a pretty tight turn around. We've looked at lots of places. Mostly we've focused on the neighborhoods that near the beach, the river, or Fremantle--which coincidently are almost all out of our price range. What I've been able to find in our price range, in those neighborhoods, either doesn't allow pets, doesn't have air conditioning, or was last decorated and cleaned in 1967.

Then last week, as I was leaving work, I noticed the price had dropped on a house near Fremantle. I called the agent, she would be able to show it to me in 15 minutes. I saw it and fell in love. Leaded glass windows, high ceilings, dark polished wood work, air conditioning, and A DISHWASHER!!!(this is a luxury item in Australia--and much needed in our house). Only thing is it had 2 bedrooms instead of 3. I went home that night, desperate to show Nathan. That evening, we pulled up to the house to look it over. He said it looked good enough from the outside to rent (interior unseen). As we walked from the prospective property to a nearby restaurant, we began making plans to put in a deposit on the place tomorrow. As we walked back from dinner, we came across someone moving into OUR HOUSE (we just hadn't told the landlords yet). I was devastated (we had already lost another house a few weeks ago). The next day Nathan went to the real estate agent to ask about the property--knowing I had my heart set on it. Surprisingly they took our money (we still don't know who these people were!). The next day, we got the call that we were accepted, but the original lease would only be for 6 months, with a possibility of renewing after that (of course, there's the possibility of house hunting again in 6 months, ugh!)

After some debate, we agreed to take it, in faith that this would work out and this is the place for us. We'll be moving over new year's weekend, and luckily will have an extra set of hands. Our friend Kirk from Rochester is coming to visit (and see the round the world clipper race). We'll post new addresses, and pictures when the lease is signed. We'll be getting mail at our current address for at least 2 more weeks, and set up forwarding after that. So don't worry about mailing presents--we'll get em!

Someone's out there!

Hey--the power of google strikes again.

Blogging is kind of weird. Its this diary, where you tell NO ONE (specifically) about your life, but have to be circumspect about what you say because ANYONE can read it. It's been great to get comments from friends and relatives that have been reading--periodically getting our random thoughts on life in Australia. But, when friends' post--its not interactive, I can't easily comment on what they say...even though I want it to be a conversation. I had begun wondering if just doing a periodic mass email to my friends would make more sense, at least then I could respond quickly when someone puts up a smart aleck comment about my spelling, or is awestruck by the size of the mighty koala. AND, it would probably be easier for them to keep up to date.

AND then...the internet does its magic.

Out of the blue, we are contacted by old friends. Jess and Ellis--googling us for our overseas address they came across the blog. I've tried searching to see if they have a blog, but all I get for those 2 are publications (since they are biochemistry professors). Jess was my college roommate at Gustavus (a genius), somehow we lost touch while she was living in California, exchanging Christmas letters for an annual update. It feels good to know that she is able to look across this whole year and see what's been happening. I guess it makes me feel connected to all of you just a little bit more.

Anyway, thanks for reading this every now and then. Kristin