October 16, 2011

Welcome to Healesville Sanctuary
http://www.zoo.org.au/HealesvilleSanctuary

First Few Days

We are here! It's now Saturday here and we landed on Wednesday. It's been a fast paced blur, but here's what we've been doing.

Traveling

Traveling is stressful. My parents, all four of them, sent us off with a bang. We had a fantastic time in Seattle and can't wait to do it again. When we got to the airport the lady with United put us on an earlier flight in case there were any problems in San Fran. She wanted to make sure we made our next flight. That didn't leave a lot of time for goodbyes though. I had a window seat and got a few pics to share.

 The flights all went really well. First flight was a little bumpy, but it was such a short flight that we didn't hardly notice. It was a fairly empty flight and there weren't any kids/babies. In San Fran we made our way to the international section of the airport. We had burgers for dinner and looked around in some of the shops. Ian was making jokes like "who would buy a Coach bag at an airport and who would spend $2000 on it... *and my favorite*... look babe you could trade your flight for a purse." My response, "if you can afford you fly internationally then you probably have the money to blow on a bag at the airport." Anyway, the next flight was the long one. We left on-time and weren't seated near any kids/babies. They were there, but we never heard them. Dinner was good and breakfast was too. Nothing special though, roasted chix for din and a fruit bowl for brk. Ian had something different, but I forget what. We thought that flight was going to be 16-17hrs, but it ended up being only 12 or so. I don't think travelocity took into account the time changes in the calculated flight time. We had an hour on the ground in AUK and then it was back to the air for another 4 hours. Food on the second flight wasn't as good, but it was fine for a shorter flight.

Wednesday Oct. 12

We landed at 10:05am. On the plane we had to fill out an immigration card. Once off the plane we headed for customs. YAY! Yep that was sarcasm. You wait in line to see the first person. She didn't want anything except our passports and that card. She wrote some stuff on the card and stamped our passports. I now have a stamp. Woohoo! I've also been in more countries in one day than ever before. Now we are making our way toward baggage claim. OMG, two rooms big enough to put planes in and we had to find #5 and make our way through the chaos of everyone else trying to find their way too. There was this huge line that weaved its way throughout both rooms. At this point we had no idea what it was for. We found #5 and eventually our bag too.  So that line I told you about... now we're in it. Yay! Again sarcasm. For as long as that line was it went really fast. We got up to the guy and he looked at everything and sent us to guy #2 (I call him this because all the last man said to us was "got to 2"). Guy #2 asked all the usual questions and then sent us into the next hallway. This was my favorite part. We had to set our bags on a black line on the ground and then step back. A cute little beagle was then told to sniff our things. He was so cute and looked so happy to be there. Then it was out the doors and into Melbourne. We took the skybus into the city and from there we were only about half a block from home.

Once in the apartment we set our stuff down and headed to Coles; our closest grocery store. Got a few things and went back home. Showered, relaxed for a second and then we were off to get the rest of Alan's things from Ryo's place. It was moving day for him too and he needed a few extra hands. Then we went and got lunch, (Thai or Japanese I'm not sure which, but it sure was yummy) went up to Virgin Mobile and got Ian's phone set up, and went to Costco. Costco was just the basics for now, but we might get more this weekend when Alan has a car to drive down there.

All this running around has been done on the Trams. We got cards so getting on and off is really easy and they save us a little money that way too. When we got back from all that Ian and I put some of our room away and then the guys went for a run. They tried to get me to go to, but it's like 50 people that get together and run through the city. I don't like crowds and I don't like running with people so that didn't sound like the place for me. Something else might have gone on that night, but I can't remember what.

 Thursday Oct. 13

Ian and I went out and did a little bit on our own for the first time. We wondered in the shopping district that's about seven blocks from home. I had to get a purse and wallet that would work better down here. I like the one my mom made me better, but it was better for traveling. Hint*Hint* Mom, make me the one that's wider with the changes we talked about. After that we met back up with Alan and went around looking at banks in the area. We did some other stuff that day, but I can't think of what it was. Later that evening we had Indian food for dinner on our way to game night. Game night is a group of people who get together to play board games. It was at the Federation Square in a space that is decorated with game themed art and is continually changing. It was so much fun and I met a girl who crochets and is making a crocheted pacman image for the space we were in. She told me about a great yarn store in the CBD (Central Business District; that's where we live it's basically downtown Melbourne). She also told me that I should make something for the space. That's right Mom, I could have art displayed in a national gallery one day. I'm thinking it needs to be something Mario related. Then we headed back home.

 Friday Oct. 14

Alan was off doing stuff with Ryo so we decided to get some stuff done too. We went and got our bank accounts set up and had planned to go to the Zoo. By the time that was done and we got back home the day was half over so we decided to get stuff to make dinner from the store and check out one of the parks instead. Basically, I got us lost. REALLY lost, but after a very long walk, Ian found us and the park. It's a HUGE park and we only saw a fraction of it in the hour and half we spent there. We saw black swans and babies too. They were so cute and fluffy. There were crazy Australian birds everywhere and even crazier trees. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so there won't be any pics until the next time we go. We've already talked about going back. I think it's our new Manito. Ian gave me one more shot at navigating our way home. I got us there and getting back was a much shorter trip. I think we probably walked at close to eight miles and the park was only about two miles from home. When we got home we relaxed a bit and started dinner. Ian talked me into having roo burgers; that's right...kangaroo; I ate a cute little animal that has a build in pouch. Sad to say, it was pretty good." Tastes like an earthy hamburger" as Ian put it. We watched a movie and went to sleep. That was a long day.

Saturday Oct. 15

So far it's 9:45am and we haven't decided what we're doing today. We talked about going to the zoo, but after the hike we went on yesterday we don't want to be too tired to enjoy it. We'll probably go tomorrow. The aquarium is close to where we are and I want to do that one day soon as well. My tummy is telling me it's time for breakfast so I guess that's where we'll start.

Thanks for reading and come back again soon for more updates and pictures. Hugs for everyone back home. XOXOXOX

Spiders

I did a little looking and was happy to find that there is only one dangerous spider in Victoria (Melbourne's state). The red-back spider's bite is highly venomous. It causes pain around the bite site along with other symptoms that may include sweating, muscular weakness, loss of co-ordination and in severe cases nausea, vomiting, convulsions, etc. Treatment is often simple and involves an ice pack being applied to the bite site. Anti-venom is available, but is not necessary in most cases and is effective up to ten days after bite occurs.

There are about 22 other spiders common to Victoria. Some cause a painful bite with swelling or itching at the bite site.

"You're Going Where!?!?!?!?!"

It was brought to my attention that there isn't a lot about Melbourne on here. So, as requested, here is a little bit about where we will be for the next year.

Port Phillip is a bay with surface area of 1,930 km². That's 750 square miles for those of you, and myself too, that don't know metric. That's a lot of water! The shore line covers roughly 164 miles, over half of our state. Port Phillip has many sand covered beaches, most which are flat and fairly safe for swimming. Jellyfish are common in Port Phillip as well as Australian Fur Seals, Bottlenose Dolphins, Common Dolphins, and Humpback Whales. A variety of seabirds also frequent the bay feeding on many of the different varieties of fish that call the bay home.

I'm sure some of you have already noted that Jellyfish are common, but swimming is relatively safe. This is because Port Phillip doesn't really have dangerous jellyfish. There are four types of jellyfish in the bay;  Lion's Mane, Southern Tailed, Blue Blubber and Moon. The first two cause and itchy rash and the last two have no effects to humans.

Lion's Mane

Moon

Blue Blubber

The blue ringed octopus is one of the most dangerous creatures in Port Phillip Bay and can be found in coastal regions throughout Australia. They are often found in rock pools close to shore and although they are not very big, they are extremely dangerous. A person bit will feel numbness around the mouth, face, and neck and should use the "Pressure Immobilisation Technique" until doctors arrive.

Blue Ringed Octopus

Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria and has approximately 4 million inhabitants. It is located at the northern more point of Port Phillip. It is often refered to as the "cultural capital of Australia" and is a center for arts, commerce, education, entertainment, sport and tourism. The summers in melbourne are hot like it is at home and the winters experience rain, frosts and fog. The lowest temperature on record is 27 degrees F and the highest temperature on recod is 115 degrees F.

I would like to thank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Phillip, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne,  and The facts about Jellyfish in Port Phillip Bay that was provided by www.stkildamarinaclub.com/jellyfish.pdf for providing many of the facts used in this post.

9 weeks to go

WE HAVE FLIGHTS!!!!! We fly out on the 10^th of October, but will be leaving on the 8^th. That’s 62 days or almost 9 full weeks. The countdown begins!!!!!!

Now for the fun, and not so fun, part of getting everything organized to take with us and making the sometimes hard decision of what to leave at home. If you have traveled overseas and have any advice on what to take or what you thought you would need and didn't, please let me know.

Edit: We will be leaving on the 7th of October. I don't want to say too much since this is public, but we will be leaving the city on the 7th and flying out of the city on the other side of the state on the 10th. Fully confused yet? Well good, that was my plan all along. :D

Black Swan

I really didn't need another critter to get me excited about our trip, but I guess it doesn't hurt. This little guy is a black swan. They breed in the southern parts of Australia. Like other swans, the Black Swan is largely monogamous, pairing for life (about 6% divorce rate). I love the red bill, it stands out so much more against the black feathers than the white feathers.

Facts and some wording was borrowed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swan check it out to learn more.

YAY :D

IT’S OFFICIAL!!!! Passports are here and Visas have been granted. We leave early October, but a specific day is not set in stone yet. We need to buy our flights now that everything else is taken care of. This is going to be the longest eight and a half weeks ever. At least we have work to keep us busy, that’s been really nice.

YAY!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!!!!  :D