Summer is Definitely Here

Dear 43 degree days. You resulted in me having a sleepover in the lounge room under the air conditioner. You are hot! 

How do you keep cool on these warm nights? 

Happy Friday!

Crafting and Making Art

God provided us with glorious rain and cold temperatures outside today. He doesn't do anything by halves, especialy today - I think the clouds are ringed dry. Although I think this weather is beautiful, I was thankful to the person who created the heater.

What a super day to be inside crafting and making art.

Let all you do be done in love - Corinthians 16:14

Thankfulness

I'm thankful for a Friday at home to finish my first seventeen-hundred word essay since 2010.

I'm thankful for Mr J, especially for writing me 'just becasue' letters, taking me on picnics and bravely undergoing tickle fights close to midnight.

I'm thankful for a family who listen to my wedding and planning talk.

I'm thankful for a regular income, although it's unexciting, it keeps our budget realistic.

I'm thankful for some cooler weather to reunite my quilt and I


Bring on the weekend!

Moving Along

Drive, drive, drive. That's what we did today! We left beautiful Banff at 9:00am on our way to our stop-over destination, before we get to Vancouver to end our tour. Today we had a couple pee breaks and stretches as we drove until 4:30pm. We saw Johnston Canyon, Spiral Tunnels and The Last Spike, ate the yummiest caramel and pecan crunch homemade icecream and played coach olympics on the bus. Our hotel for tonight is clean and cosy. We had a Chinese dinner with the group before an early, quiet night. Time to rest those sore muscles from yesterdays ride.

I hope you all have a great week in Australia!

Day of Scenery

Today was big. Boarded the bus at 7:15am to venture to some fast flowing waterfalls. We visited a trading post for breakfast where we bought a pina colada muffin, made fresh and served warm. Yummy. Our drive consisted of amazing views, mountains and wildlife. Mr J and I saw our first grizzly bear munching on some greens. We arrived at The Columbia Icefields where we caught a monster bus {their tires are five feet tall!} onto a glacier. Mr J tasted some of the glacier water as I played in the ice {to me, it was so close to snow}. It was cold but wonderful and fresh. Today we ate lunch with some ground squirrels before a nap on the bus. We had a birds eye view of Lake Peyto. I have never seen anything like this - the water was a very unique, aqua colour and so still. If you look carefully you are able to pick the shape of a wolf out of the outline. Lake Louise came next, an amazingly beautiful lake with a mountain backdrop. Mr J and I explored the shops and hotel in this area. We found out that to stay in this hotel for a night, it can range from $400 to $5,000 per night. Wow! We can only wish. Our final stop was Banff. Here we are staying two nights in a chalet. We are very happy to be sharing this space with A&S. After settling in, we had a group photo before going out for a buffet dinner. The night ended with Karaoke at the bar. Many, many laughs and fun. Confidence kicked in and I managed to sing ‘Man, I feel like a women – Shania Twain’ with the other contiki girls, ‘Wannabe – Spice Girls’ and ‘Sweet Dreams – Marilyn Manson’. Awesome night. Looking forward to a mini sleep in tomorrow too.

Wildlife, water and rest

We were straight into it today. We traveled on our bus once again, stopping to see our first Elk on the side of the road. Maligne Lake welcomed us with sourvenir shops, a café, wonderful views, fresh air and walking tracks. These were the things that Mr J and I enjoyed while others enjoyed an optional cruise on the lake. The lake was beautiful and calm. Maligne Canyon came next which was where we had a glimpse of our first black bear {we only managed to get a photo of the back end of it}.This afternoon was relaxing, we were able to do anything at our own pace. Mr J and I explored the cute little shops, grabbed ice-cream from coldstone creamery and watched the hailstones fall from the sky. We also had some time to sit and talk with some family on skype before we heading out for a pizza tea. We talked to some new people. We left the pizza bar for a catch up with A&S before we had an early-ish night for a big day tomorrow.

Blood Pumping Good

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month!

Jamie and I started the month off in Dennys Diner with pancakes, bacon and eggs fuelling ourselves for another 5 hour drive towards Jasper. Today we entered the Rockies region. Amazing mountains. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Mt Robson. Mt Robson is quite shy as he rarely shows his head through the clouds. After some food a group of us swapped buses ready for our next adrenaline pumping activity. White water rafting. Exhilarating, rough, extremely wet but so much fun. We got chucked around in our 8 passenger raft along Fraser River for 12 kilometres. We were skilful enough to not fall out, instead we had a choice to swim in the freezing melted-snow water with a wetsuit to protect us. Jamie and I jumped in as we knew this was an opportunity we wouldn’t forget. It was cold. The German gentleman we met over dinner leant me his jacket for the ride home, how lovely!

We reached our hotel in Jasper. It reminded me of the hotel in some of those British comedies with moose heads hanging on the wall, old wallpaper and floral covered arm chairs. Good vibes. We settled in, had time for a warm shower and then headed out to a brewery for dinner which was followed by drink at the bar within our hotel. Tonight we experienced something only Conitki participants experience. A shot which was invented and only drank for Contiki people, only at this hotel. A Beaver Licker. It has it’s own Canadian touch, with maple syrup whiskey and butterscotch schnapps. A ritual. The night ended very well, we spent it talking to our fellow contiki-ers including S&A.

Views of Canada

Mr J and I woke up this morning not realising what amazing views were in store. After a free breakfast we were joined by two other males on our tour for a Peak to Peak Gondola experience. We were lifter higher than all the trees and mountains. The views were breathtaking. We reached the top of the Peak and were able to touch snow for the first time {technically second time, we don't remember the first time though}. Many photos were taken.

Next, we met with the bus to drive 5 hours to our next destination. This trip included official introductions, embarrassing stories, views from every angle and some lunch. We arrived at Kamloops, where we discovered our average hotel rooms that smelt very odd. Many of us distanced ourselves from our rooms as long as possible. Mr J and I joined a lovely couple {A&S} for a drink before dinner. We strolled to a local pub where we were all asked for ID, shared stories and got to know each other a little better. A&S are residents of England and have excited us to explore that area of the world in the future. Burgers for dinner with the group was yum. The restaurant had a beer menu of over 130 beers, regardless of that I tried a cocktail called 'Kermits Third Leg' {yes, it was green!}. I sat next to someone who has been to over 40 countries in five years and is doing five contiki tours in five months - what experiences he is living! After all our munchies were gone, we joined four others for a walk through the Main Street. There wasn't much there therefore we were back at our hotel relatively fast. Great day.

Canada in many angles

Today was amazing. New experiences everywhere! I'm in awe of how beautiful Whistler is and I'm so excited to see what the rest of our tour has in store for us. This morning Jamie and I joined majority of our tour group for a canoe along the River of Golden Dreams. This was a beautiful, clear and clean lake with a view of mountains and silence all around. Picture perfect. The lake lead onto a river which we paddled on for approximately two hours. Minor rapids included. Jamie and I had the paddling down pat! We had to concentrate when riding on the rapids as no one wanted to capsize or fall into the water. The water was from the snow from the mountains - freezing! We had worked up an appetite from this activity therefore we enjoyed some Canadian hamburgs and fries for lunch. At 2.45pm we met with 8 others to participate in zip-lining. OH MY GOSH! This was beyond amazing and something that words or photos can not explain. We swung above the tress, over creeks and between valleys. Four zip-lines later we had gone over 90km/h, screamed, laughed and had enough adrenaline pumping to do anything {See the photo above - we swung on those cables}. Jamie and I felt so blessed and happy to have the opportunity to do this. The time came to take off our harness's and helmets and go back to Whistler. We were sad for the fact the time was over but excited that our adventures aren't over. We had some time to chill out before going out for dinner with everyone at an Irish pub. This was nice. I tried a tried Canadian Cocktail - it was disgusting. My food was good though. We sat with a couple from Germany who have worked in Toronto for the past 10 months, we learnt a lot over such a short amount of time. At 10pm, the day was not over, we joined everyone at a local club for an '80's night. We felt young. When some found out I wasn't even born then, they were shocked. A couple hours later we were back in our hotel ready for sleep. Bring on tomorrow!

Moving Around NY

This morning Jamie and I caught our tour bus to the 9/11 memorial. This was an eye opening experience as we read the details and timelines of the event. We saw letters and dedications to the people that were lost and we stood where the twin towers stood. Jamie and I bought a jumper each, where all proceeds went to the 9/11 memorial. We walked though St Pauls Chapel. This was a place that served as a relief mission for recovery workers at Ground Zero. It was a beautiful chapel with amazing and touching displays inside {see photo above}. We caught a bus back to Times Square for lunch and spent a couple hours chilling out in our hotel room before hitting the sites again. We couldn't go too far tonight as it starting raining in New York City but we did manage to go to Madame Tussaunds and have encounters with many famous people. Jamie was especially excited to have a photo with Yao Ming, Charlie Chaplin and Samuel L Jackson plus other sporting stars. I enjoyed the presence of Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Whoopie Goldberg, Spice Girls, Carrie Underwood plus more. After time with the famous we went for some ten pin bowling just down the street. It was fun. These two things were free with the New York Pass we purchased a while ago. The rain doesn't stop anyone in NYC.

Disney Life

17^th July 2012This morning Jamie and I woke up at 5:15am to catch a taxi to the bus station,where we would catch a bus to Orlando, Florida. We had a very friendly driver who talked to us the entire time. I think we persuaded him to move to Australia. Our bus ride was like any bus ride, nothing special. We arrived in Orlando and caught another taxi to our luxurious Hilton experience in the Disney World Resort. We arrived there around 10:00am with our fingers crossed that we could check in (check in was only meant to be from 4:00pm that day). God answered our prayers as the front desk found an empty room for us to move in straight away. We were on floor eight. We settled in, checked out the pools and hot tubs and ventured to Downtown Disney which was only a five minute walk from our hotel – this was a place full on shops and dining experiences. We had an afternoon nap and then ate tea with chopsticks at a Japanese restaurant below our hotel room, it was a great experience and wonderful atmosphere.

18^th July 2012Our Disney adventure begins today. We caught a free Disney world shuttle bus followed by the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Entering the park was an experience in itself. To enter each park you have to swipe your card and give a fingerprint – that was cool. The Magic Kingdoms main street was beautiful with old style buildings, street lights and Cinderella's castle in front of you. It wasn’t long until there were people everyone and the lines to rides began to grow. Jamie and I were thankful that each ride stated a waiting time, this helped us decide to stay or not. On my first day in Disney World I went on more rides than I ever have been on in my entire life, some of these included: Pirates of the Carribean Water Boat, Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party (spinning tea cups), Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin and The Brainstormer (Goofy's roller coaster). We ate delicious ice cream and left just before dinner to rest our legs and have time with our pillows before another big day tomorrow. Already exhausted.

19^th July 2012Hollywood Studios here we come!! As soon as we entered the park we met many photo opportunities. We had photos with Tigger and Eeyore, Mike from monsters inc and Mator and Lightning McQueen from Cars. This park was already awesome and we just walked through the gates. We had many experiences to see behind the scenes of movies, see stunt shows from vehicles and Indianna Jones, sat through an American Idol Experience, went on Toy Story Midway Mania and ate at a café called Studio Catering Co. Around 7pm, Jamie and I had seen all of the park and had fun on most rides. We decided to venture back to Magic Kingdom to watch the spectacular night time fireworks and light parade. We stayed until 11pm and had the opportunity to get to the front of the lines on our favourite rides (due to everyone starting to go home). Then home time.

20^th July 2012This was our last day and we had two parks to fit in. Exhaustion was now an understatement but we had to make the most of this. We headed to Animal Kingdom where we went on our favourite ride from all parks – Kali River Rapids. River rapids was exactly what it was, we got soaked! We thoroughly enjoyed the Safari Tour and saw many wild animals such as giraffes, rhinos, ostriches, crocs and the paw of a sleeping Lion. We zoomed through the entire park before heading to Epcot at 1pm. We grabbed lunch and Epcot followed by ice cream to help cool us down. While eating our ice cream sandwich, it took us a while to recognise some Australian accents across the room, Jamie and I giggled as we couldn’t believe that’s what we sound like. This family were from Perth and heading back home tomorrow. Epcot was very touristy as we walked through many different countries. We went on a few more rides including Spaceship Earth which took us to the future and Seas with Nemo and Friends. We also walked this entire park and then decided to go back to our hotel. Downtown Disney was where we went through the shops for the last time. We swam in the pool and packed for our next destination, leaving tomorrow. Wow, the last three days flew by! We loved it.

Summary: God stood with us. Thoughout the last 3 days, God gave us energy, strength and patience. Beginning our time in Orlando we thought we had 4 days to use our 4 day pass through Disney World. Instead we had to fit 4 parks into 3 days. We were exhausted, therefore long lines, hundreds and hundreds of people and lack of manners tested our patience, but with God’s help we were able to enjoy our time and keep our frustration to a low. We were blessed to occasionally get bumped up lines and be at the right place at the right time. Thankyou to everyone for you prayers and thoughts as we are holidaying in the states.

Rest, Cycle and Food

We woke up tired today. Jamie and I forced ourselves up this morning to eat breakfast before it was close time. Once we finished eating out cereal, bacon, eggs and pancakes we snuck a doughnut and some yoghurt back to our room to save for lunch. We tend to fill up on breakfast which will generally last our stomachs until dinner, therefore less money spent. We touched base with home on skype and relaxed in our hotel watching a movie {I may have fallen asleep, or as my Dad says "I watched the TV with my eyes shut"}.

After a couple hours in an air conditioned room we hired two bicycles and went for a ride along the Pinellas Trail. It was a chance to drive in American traffic, on the wrong side of the road {for Australians} and experienced more 'all way' STOP signs. Fun. It was warm but the breeze was cooling. After riding for one and a half hours we stopped for ice-cream and went back to our hotel to jump straight into the pool. After not seeing a squirrel at all this week, today we saw at least three.

Showered and fresh now. Jamie's relatives visited us at our hotel to say goodbye. A taxi picks us up after a morning wake up call, early in the morning. Due to such an early start we cleaned and packed up our room before heading out for dinner at a American style pub tonight. Jamie filled up on a porker combo {pork sausages, pork ribs and 1/4 chicken) with sweet potato fries and garlic mash, while I enjoyed my rainbow trout salad baguette with greens. It was nice.

Jamie and I are looking forward to starting our days as big kids tomorrow. Preparing ourselves with sunscreen and watching the disney channel on our widescreen tv.

A Busy Friday

Mr J and I can't complain we didn't get our exercise today. We left our hotel after breakfast on a mission to get to the closest mall by foot. It didn't look too far on the map but after a good hour of walking we had done a lot of talking and laughing but had no sight of a mall. We estimated that we had walked a good 3 miles (almost 5km) and decided to stop. We went into a walmart to see what they had instead. This wasn't the common walmart, instead it was a 'neighbourhood store' which is closer to a supermarket. All I can say is... cheap!! Mr J bought one litre of Gatorade for US$1. You can buy a large bag of M&M's for just over US$1 also {my brother would love this at home!}. We bought some necessities and found a bus stop nearby. We caught the bus back to our hotel after realising we had not put sunscreen on and were quite pink {there may be an ozone layer here compared to none at home but the sun still burns, it just takes a little longer}.  The bus trip was US$2, again very cheap! Mr J and I got off a stop early and picked up homemade ice-cream from a store nearby. It was a struggle to eat it faster than it was melting but after a messy face and a few giggles we got there. Back at the hotel, it was pool time. We then got ready for the wedding rehearsal and dinner.

At the rehearsal dinner we experienced our first American barbeque. YUM! I can't tell you what I was eating but it was tasty. Mr J went back for seconds, a big seconds! We ate cream pies, cake pops and we had Australian chocolates and lollies {candies} for the Americans to try. By this time there are a few Australian friends and family of the groom in Florida.

I have an American gentleman trying to teach me how to come across as a local. He is ATTEMPTING to teach me their accent and slang, I need a lot more practice. I was introduced to a lot of people tonight and none of them had heard of my name before. They like it {at least that's what they are telling me}. It's amazing to see how intrigued the Americans are about us, our culture and our accent. We often are getting people come up to us to hear us speak - quite frankly, I don't mind as I like hearing them talk too. Mr J has met the other men in the bridal party and gets along with them very well, one in particular has made time to get to know us and is picking Mr J up for the wedding tomorrow. All Americans are lovely, their service is incredible as they have to work for it {tips} and they have manners.

Mr J's cousin, who we havent seen for a couple of years lives with his wife and son, 4 hours away from here. They came across for the wedding and are staying in the same hotel as us. Its great! We grabbed a ride home with them from the dinner and as Mr J will be doing his groomsman duties tomorrow, I will be driving with them to the wedding also. Mr J and I also have organised to catch up with them over breakfast in the morning.

Jamie loved the bucks show yesterday!! They played dodgeball and other games at the venue. He ate pizza, talked guy stuff and went for a swim.

Wedding day tomorrow. Bliss!

Florida Day Two

Day two in Florida was very relaxing for Jamie and I. We thanked God for a wonderful, well needed sleep last night before heading to the first floor for a complimentary breakfast. The breakfast included bacon, eggs, pancakes, cereal, bagels, doughnuts, hot cinnamon rolls, scones (aka biscuits to Americans), yoghurt and more. We filled up on breakfast therefore didn't need lunch! After a large bite to eat we went for a tourist walk through the Main Street, visited the Pier and took lots of photos {See the photos below}. It was a beautiful day! Jamie had a swim in the hotel pool while I sat in the sun enjoying the scenery. We spent the afternoon relaxing at our hotel.

Tonight I helped Jamie's aunty set up for the wedding rehersal dinner, which is tomorrow night. Although we are in America, the rehersal dinner is Australian themed. I then joined Jamie's relatives for dinner. While I was doing this Jamie was out with the boys for the groomsman's bucks night. 

Today the receptionist at our hotel informed me of a bike hire shop straight behind our hotel. There is also a popular bike track running past our hotel. How convenient! Jamie and I are definitely keen to spend a couple hours on a bike. We will also be researching the bus route tomorrow to see if we can fit in some shopping or other sight seeing.

The weather has not changed and we got our daily storm. Still not used to looking left, right, left when crossing the road.

Tampa, Florida

After speaking to my family on Skype, we caught out shuttle to the airport at 5:15am. We checked in (again - we are getting pro's at this!) and went through the security check - in America everyone has to take their shoes off for this aswell. We ate breakfast at the airport before boarding our 2.5 hour flight to Tampa, Florida.

We arrived at a hot, humid city where we had to catch a train to pick up our luggage. Jamie's Aunty, Uncle and cousin picked us up and showed us some of the sights on our way to our destination. Florida is beautiful! apparently they think they are in drought, but to our eyes it is green everywhere with hundreds of palm trees. We went back to where Jamie's relatives were staying to have lunch and relax before checking into our hotel. Meanwhile, I went shopping with Jamie's aunty. As you enter shops in America you realise they all smell different and nice, this is because they put fragrances through their air conditioners. Lovely!

We got to our hotel around 4.00pm. At this time we were experiencing one of Tampa's storms. Tampa received at least one storm at day. The temperature only drops slighting so it is still very warm but has lightning, DARK clouds and rain {when it rains here, it really rains!}.We watched the storm from our hotel window. We are very impressed with our room! The next 5 hours were a struggle to stay awake but we knew that's what we had to do to beat jet lag. We went out for tea at Cafe Alfresco - approx 10 minute walk where we were served by a lovely waiter. As this was our first meal out in America we didn't know how to go about tipping. We asked our waiter and he was very helpful!! After dinner we went back to our hotel and straight to sleep.

A helpful tip we were given:
73 degrees Fahrenheit = 23 degrees Celsius, 95 degrees Fahrenheit = 35 degrees Celsius