Home Sweet Home

I'm back from Australia and as much as I loved Oz nothing bets coming home to my tiny apartment in Philly. I only wish Simon could of come home with me, but he'll be home at the end of the summer and I'll stay busy till then.

Being back hasn't been too eventful, unless you call waking up at 6:30 in the morning fun and exciting. I've been home since Tuesday and am just starting to get over my Jet lag. This means back to work with me. Having had the last three months off traveling has been interesting and it really made me think about what I want to do down the road. I'm not sure if this at all helped me out since now I'm a little bit confused as to what I really want, because I want to do so much. For now Im going to get over my jet lag, go to my summer job, and then go from there. With our wedding coming up in September I won't really have too much time to mull over these big life choices till after Simon and I are Married.

Wow this post got a bit deeper than I expected, well enough of that! Australia was an amazing experience. I will pick a day in the week and post more of my pictured of my time there. It is a beautiful and diverse place. I saw mountains and coast line, pristine beaches, rain forests, rolling fields, and salt water lakes. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had, and I will have a continued relationship with this country as Simon's family is there and we are going to try and go there at least every two years to visit them and see more on this amazing country.

Koala Hospital Port Macquarie NSW

Simon's mom took me to the Koala Hospital in Post Macquarie. This was a great tour and a great orginization. Here are just three of the eight Koalas that were at the hospital when we went. Above is Golfer and old gentalman koala. He is a permanet resident at the hospital and you can see him getting his suppliment for the day. There are three other permanet residents at the koala Hospital. They are Kayle who is an ampute and had her leg removed, but she can still climb well with only three limbs, and on the day we went she was high up in the tree in her pen. Then there is Birthday Girl who is Oz's oldest Koala, she is around 23 years old. And finally there is Barry who has scoliosis but that doesn't stop him casing after the ladies.

Sleepy Koala

This is baby Noah the only Joey at the hospital. He had just started to climb on his own in the past week or so.

Blue Mountains Part III

On our last day in the Blue Mountains we went fishing for Yabbies which are large crayfish, or small lobsters, whichever you prefer. Simon has told me about this past time many a time. It involves a stream with good yabbie hidding spots (like rocks and tree roots) a stick with some string on it and a piece of meat tied to the end of the string. (It reminded me of trying to fish for sunfish in the lake with cheese doodles.) Although I will admit i never was sure home much of what Simon told me was actually true or how well this methode would work.

It works damn well.

I caught the little guy in the photo above with just a stick, some string and a raw chicken wing. He did give me a good little nip on my finger for holding hime to close to his nippers. The photo was taken after said nip and Simon couldn't believe I was willing to still hold it after it had already latched down on my finger. Hookie said I had balls.

On our way home from Yabbie fishing we say this wild peacock hanging out on the side of the road. He could see his reflexion in the car and came up really close to us.

All in all a wonderfull weekend in the Blue Mountains. I did tell Simon if he had more friends like Laura and Hookie I would highly consider moving to Oz.

The Blue Mountains Part II

Emperess Falls, 15 minuet hike down 45 minuet hike out. Worth every minuet and every stair.

Simon getting ready to jump into the pool at the base of the water fall.

Simon and Hookie haveing a grand old time .

We loved the scenery and the company!

Blue Mountains Part I

After Simon and I hung around the hunter valley for a few days we drove down to the Blue Mountains for a weekend with Simon's best mate from school and his family. He took us to some of the best places and made sure that we saw some great views and had a wonderful time. The above pic is of some Aboriginal carvings.

I took this shot just below a look out called The Rock.

This one was taken from the verry top of The Rock.

Wine Tasting in the Hunter Valley Part II

The next day Simon joined me out in the country side to take in the views, watch me taste wine, and have a winery tour at Tyrrell's.

Here is a shot of the front of the winery, they had a lovely Semillion, the first of the trip that I enjoyed and they also had a nice shiraz. One thing I did try and we brought back for Simon's dad was the 25 year old Tawny Port. Very yummy. We spent most of the afternoon at this winery tasting and taking the tour. The tour started out in the Vineyard talking about viticulture and moved into the cellars where we got to see all the barrels. My favorite part of the winery tour was the bit out in the vineyard.

I love this shot and learned later that this was the original shack built and lived in for two years by the founder till the homestead was ready to live in.

Because Simon was such a good sport we then went to two brewerys for tastings. This one was the Potters Brewery. This one is built on the land where the pottery factory once stood and these are the giant kilns that still stand today. We also went to the Blue Tounge Brewery Cafe and tasted their beers as well. All in all a great day and a great couple of days in Cessnock.

Wine Tasting in the Hunter Valley

About two weeks ago Simon and I went to the Hunter Valley. Mostly because I wanted to go wine tasting. We had two days in and around Cessnock and I went on a wine tour the first day around the county side. Here are a few photos of the first day out in NSW's wine county. The above photo was taken on the balcony of Ivanhoe Winery.

We visited about four winerys that day, along with another place that had liqours for tasting. I don't think I've ever tasted that much wine in one day. We started at 10am with our first winery. I learned too that there are over 100 wineries in the Hunter Valley and they make up for 1% of Australia's wine production. They are best know for there Semillions which is a crisp white wine that becomes golden in color as it ages.

This is my favorite winery that we visited, Audrey Wilkinson. It had amazing wine and amazing views. I loved their Chardony, their traminer, and they had a wonderful cab sav that came home with me and might even make it's way back to the states.

This is just one of the views from the hill top that Audrey Wilinson sits atops. The small house on the hill is the original homestead.

Flying Foxes

Simon's mom took me to the nature reserve in Wingham and we walked through the bush to see the flying foxes. They are the biggest bats I have ever seen. The above picture is of the massive fig tree that greets you as you walk into the reserve.

Here are three full grown bats sleeping in the fig trees. The older ones perch higher up and are much less noisy than the young bats.

Tons of juvinile bats perched in the trees. These guys were so close to us you can hear their wings flap and they nock down leaves they are moving so much. There were hundreds in the trees around us. A bit creepy as you walk through the bush and relize that you are surrounded by bats. They're above you, next to you and some are even flying infront of you.

The Tide Pool

Simon took me to the beach a few weeks aga, Balck Head Beach to be exact, and we went exploring on the rocks just around the head land. There were tons for tidal pools made in the rocks with lost of life teaming in these and I saw live starfish, giant sea snail as big as my fist and sea urchins.

I even got a little too close to the sea life when I fell into the tide pool while trying to get a picture of two live starfish under a rock ledge. I got soaked, but I saved my camera and got a pretty good shot of said starfish.

Said starfish in one of the many tide pools on Blackhead Beach. This is the shot I got right before I fell into the tide pool and had to walk around for the next hour with a wet bum.

First Post from Down Under

I made it and have been having a blast here in Oz for the last month. I was trying to think of the best way of sharing my trip and thought that everyday I would post a new pic or two as weel as a blurb, and any exiting info that I may have to share.

So far, Simon and I have spent time in Sydney, the Hunter Valley and Cessnock, and the Blue Mountains (which other than the beach might be my favorite so farm. So here begins the beginig of my experiment in my Aussie Photo Blog. The above photo of me was taken on my first day in Australia just minuets after stumbling across the opera house while walking though the botanical gardens, you can just see the harbor bridge in the back ground. A bit of a busy picture, but nessicary to the tourist on their trip to Australia.

As well as taking a ton of photos and meeting Simons family I've been working on a new hat design which I plan to submit to Knitty for the First fall & holiday head start issue. My deadline for submission is March 15th. The hat is finished, the pattern typed up now all I need is to take the photos or said garment. What better back drop than the Australian Coast, or maybe a bit of the Bush. I haven't really decided, but I am going to take a bunch of pics, tomorrow is my schedualed photo shoot with Simon on the beach.

Manic Monday

My Monday wasn't manic it was actually quite laid back and nice. I listed a new item, ran errands, and worked in the afternoon for a few hours.

I've started to post in the evenings and i think I like it much better than posting first thing in the morning before my day even starts. Expect more late posting from me in the future. This I think will be a new years resolution, post on my blog in the evening before dinner.

Simon and I are spending a lot of time together as he has finished school and is leaving in ten days to go back to Australia. All the while I am running around trying to get this K1 visa package together to petition for Simon to return to the country so we can get married. We have to document our relationship for at least two years. From the info I've been reading there are people who have never met who get this visa. Simon and I have been living together for the past year and I'm still worried something will go wrong and get in the way. Stupid crazy red tape!

It will all be worth it in the end.

Update

I have been busy this week. I can't complain, but it is unusual for me to be this busy. I'm working extra hours at the shop, because we are trying to get inventory done, and I'm baby sitting two half days and on top of this trying to get all my Holiday shopping done and gifts wrapped. I wised up when it cam to knitting my gifts as I only knit for about 5 people one of who never wants me to make him anything. My families gifts are knitted and waiting to be wrapped. I am currently knitting something for one of my best friends, and she tends to read this so I can't divulge any more than that.

One more week in the city and then Simon and I are off to Upstate NY. In a month Simon flies back to Oz and in seven weeks I fly to Oz. There's a part of me that wants to start packing right now, but I think I'll wait till the new year.

Must run off as I have yarn in the dye pot!

Oz

Red Kangaroo 1
By jellibat

Well it's final, I am going to Australia. I bought my ticket on Monday and had a tiny panic while I was moving the $1500 from my savings to my checking, but I got over it really fast when I thought of how warm it was going to be when I arrive in Sydney. I also got really excited when I thought about how awesome the surfing was going to be compared to here.

I am not looking forward to flying for almost 24 hours...Ok only 20 are spent in the air, there are four of those hours are spent in layovers one in Atlanta and a quick stop in LA. I leave in two months and I feel like I should start packing right now. One of the hardest decisions that I am trying to make is what will I knit while I'm there. I was planing on socks or lace because the weight of the yarn is minimal and the needles are small and easily packed. While I am trying to address this dilema I am also trying to start and finish a few garments before I leave. I feel like I'm missing my winter knitting, because I'm jumping right into summer garments made in cotton, bamboo, silk and linen. I can't justify knitting bulky sweaters right now as I am only here for two more months...granted cold months...but I think I would rather spend the money on some yummy linen right now so I can wear what I make in Sydney.

(The photo I used is by jellibat, who is a crafter from Melbourn check out her shop. I was torn between the roo or the box jelly.)

For Realsies

This long weekend was spent in south jersey much like my summer. The camp I work at had it's 50th year this summer and to celebrate there was a reunion of campers and councilors from past years. Just like after camp Simon and i came home and crashed.

Today has been spent sitting around the apartment watching trashy tv and knitting. I do however have work today at three. It was a nice way to ease back into both my jobs as well as living in philly.

Hopefully Simon and I can fit a few more days of surfing in. The water stays pretty warm into October and the waves are better in the fall. We bought wet suits last fall and are now ready for the off season. Maybe I can convince Simon we should go surfing on Sunday. The shoulder season as they call it seems to be the best conditions for surfing here on the east coast. this also reminds me that I need to start planing my trip to Australia. I will be leaving in February and will be in Oz for about three months. I will miss most off the winter here in Philly which will be nice.

April Showers

I know April showers bring May flowers, but why does it have to rain on my only day off!

Looks like I will stay inside most of today as it is rainning and is suppose to rain all day. Yuck! Yesterday was sunny and warm and beautiful, but I was in a dark theatre for most of the day. Simon and I did go for a walk last night to get Rita's. (First Rita's of the season, I love their custard.)

Simon has been itching to get surfing since its been getting closer and close to summer. I agree that I want to surf, but the water temp on the shore is still in the 30's and I would much rather wait till May. My wet suit isn't think enough to keep me warm in the water till then. It's a full steamer, but it's only 3mm thick, so I will have to wait till it gets closer to summer. This is all Simon has been talking of lately, well that and Tommy Emmanual. I think he misses Oz just a bit. He says what he really misses other than his family is being able to surf year round. I think that this is going to be a requirement for where we decide to live once he's done with school. I'll be honest I wish we could surf year round too, with out having to invest in a ton of cold water gear.

Also I listed s new bag today! Check it out!

Day Off!

Mondays are my day off no matter if I'm at my day job or working on a show. Today I hung out with my friend Antea who took me a cafe in Philly called Ants Pants. I had a wonderful mocha and crossant breakfast sandwich. They make their own chocolate syrup!

The real reason for going is that Ants Pants is a Australian cafe and they have wonderful Aussie items such as Tim Tams and Violet Crumble. You can also sample Vegemite if you dare! This being said My boyfriend Simon is Australian and is always looking out for his favorite Aussie treats, and I am sure he will want to go to this cafe as soon an I mention that they serve Vegemite. I did buy him a Violet Crumble as that is one of his favorite candy bars, a close second after the Cadbury Picnic bar.

Aussie!

Simon and I went to breakfast at our favorite spot today and our conversation turned to Australia. This happens a lot since Simon is from Oz. We are trying to figure out our trip to Australia. Simon has to leave next January and I have to decide if I'm going over with him or coming a month after and how long am I staying? Not to mention the decision to get a partner visa or not.

The trip is a year away, but there is so much to think about and plan. I can't wait, although a 14 hour plan ride is not the perk of this trip. I have to decide how long I plan on staying and then get a visa or not get a visa. If i stay for 90 days or less I don't need a visa, but if I want to stay longer than 90 days I have to look into getting a partner visa or a longer visiter visa. Two decisions have been made. One, I am going to Australia in the spring and two, I am staying for at least four weeks.

I have a little time to make this decicion as I don't qualify for the partner visa till June, but I have to have my trip plans ready and set by August that means flight, and visa or no visa all in order. Along with setting up how my Etsy will run while I'm in the outback.

Oh and breakfast was awesome!