Spring time in Sydney

Well, as per usual, it's been a while since our last post! It has been a crazy, crazy time since our last posting and so much has happened! The Swords have come and gone on their whirlwind tour of Australia. They arrived at the end of October, spent a few days with us in Sydney and then we all headed to Canberra. Canberra is pretty, but very, very small and quiet which suited Jon and I just fine as we had been very busy with school and work. We toured the parliament buildings, ate and drank plenty...Ruth and David visited galleries and museums...and er...Jon and I slept in. After Canberra, Ruth and David spent a bit more time in Sydney before they headed to Ayers Rock, then to Cairns where they went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef and toured the rain forest and then all the way back down to Sydney on a self-drive tour with many stops along the way. It was great having them for a visit!

Before Ruth and David's visit, we celebrated a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving here in Oz! We invited 8 of or Aussie friends and cooked up a HUGMONGOUS 21lb turkey. We'd ordered a big one, but 21lbs was a BIT ridiculous...but with that being said, we actually didn't have that much left over. We cooked up turnips, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pies which Australians do not typically eat, but all seemed to enjoy and and some went back for seconds. Although we missed our family and friends back home on my favourite holiday of the year, it was great to have wonderful people to spend it with here in our home away from home.

I had 3 placements during this placement block this term, one of which was in Newcastle, NSW which is about 2 hours north of Sydney. We dropped Kona off at the dog sitters and Jon and I headed north. Jon was able to work from the hotel during the day while I was on placement which made a placement away almost feel like a vacation. Newcastle was really pretty...they have fantastic beaches, great little restaurants and a seawall similar to Vancouver's all around the water's edge. Nobby's Beach, in the photo to the left, was just a short walk down the seawall from our hotel. We spent our evenings outside as the weather for the week was great.

Other than that, we've been spending a lot of time outside...the weather is getting warm and we've had some "feels-like 38C" days but most are quite comfortable. This is a picture of the family at the doggy beach in beautiful Mosman not far from our condo. My parents are arriving in less than a month and we're all pretty excited. They'll be here for Christmas which we're looking forward to!!



Hope all is well back home. As always, we miss you all!
Lori, Jon & Kona