Photos and Stories from Melbourne

Red and Silver Christmas Table

CHRISTMAS 2010- FERN TREE GULLY at the NORMOYLE'S HOME:  

We had a lovely Christmas - the table was set elaborately and beautifully! The theme of the table was red and silver and Sue has these fabulous Santas that hang from the glasses! I loved these!  We had a lovely pre-breckie and then waited for Mark and Lauren to arrive..  then we ate and open prezies.    Even the dog got to come and celebrate!

Santa hanging from my glass!

Monty in the middle of it all!

After Christmas we headed down to the beach for about 5 days.  The Normoyles have a camper superbly located in Torquay (pronouced tor- key).  This is about 5 km away from Bells beach which is where a famous surf competition happens every year!  This small lovely town is home base for Rip Curl, and there are outlets for Billabong, Roxy, and other surf related stores!  Shopping there was quite fun!

These are people going out for a surf lesson

I loved seeing the progression of them getting onto the water.

ready to feel the water and learn from a pro!

A Norfolk pine, singularly beautiful right next to the water

Brookie at dinner!  I think those are fish balls!

Thought I'd prove I was there!

We decided to drive along the Great Ocean Road to go see the 12 Apostles.   These are rock formations that the sea has eroded over time.. There are no longer 12 of them as some have collapsed into the sea.  They are beautiful and breathtaking!

We also drove into the  Otway National Forest to see if we could see some koalas in the wild!  They have had an epidemic of Chlamydia and have been vaccinating them and then moving them.  We believe this area is where they have been moved to because we saw at least 30 koalas in the trees. Brooke said she has never seen so many. They were amazingly cute, "drunk" on the Eucalyptus leaves.  I know they are not "bears" because they are marsupial but you sure want to snuggle with them like a bear :)  I guess that is a fallacy as well because you would not cuddle a bear... but you get the picture!

Mommy alert and looking right at me!

I am scrunched up but comfy!!!

Look how close I am.. I could nab him!

Is this guy for real????

 Oh how I love these little guys!!!!!

My new screen saver at work!!

 These are the 12 Apostles!  Beautiful.. what more can I say!!  It was a little windy that day but the crispness adds to the beauty in my opinion.

Wind swept but happy!

See we were there!  Trying to get a picture!

Flora and fauna

Hilarious sign!

I love the waves on this photo!

Beginning of regrowth after last year's fire.

5 colors:  death and rebirth....

 















This was such a fantastic trip.  

Lovely food, traveling, camping, walking, beaching, sipping copious amounts of champagne, boating, driving, viewing, site seeing, coffeeing, shopping, movies in pure luxury, family time, and friend time! 

Brooke and her family made me feel so at home.  I was relaxed and entertained and just all around loved my experience of Australia! 

G'day Ow Ya Goin Mate- Tales from Down Under

Yes I am Down Under for Christmas! 

The stressful trip to Australia:  The taxi man picked me up and made a bad turn and we moved 20 feet in 20 minutes.. the clock was ticking (I was trying not to stress)... good thing I try always to leave early.. one hour later I get to the airport... Get to the 1st class counter (thank god for air miles and elite status) and I was told I could not board as I needed a visa (of which I did not even think about, nor did I get- go silly American traveler)... the ticket agent said I could possibly get an instant e-visa and took me down to the business center.. where the Internet was not working.. (a little more stress) then thankfully I got taken down into the depths of the Beijing Capital Airport.. get my instant visa!  (YEAH Thai Airways and YEAH Australia for having e visas for those of us who never think of needing a visa!)...  Get my ticket with a few minutes to spare... get through customs... realize that I forgot Brook's dads present at the ticket counter.... The security man said I did not have time to go back and get the Chinese made walking stick... he saw my face of stress.. and asked a lady to call over and see if it was even still there... I sat down and she had the Thai airways person bring the cane to me :)  Drama OVER!!  Get on the plane and all is smoother from then on! Brooke came and picked me up with a coffee in hand! (LOVE HER) and barely anyone in the airport! We even missed all the storms!

 I am definitely missing my family, but getting an amazing experience here and the Normoyles are taking me in and treating me like family! Trevor is making sure I learn some Strine! (That's Australian- Mate!) It has been unseasonably cold here and quite rainy so far, but each day the weather is getting warmer and I think it is supposed to be a beautiful 28 degrees Celsius.

I got to have a Melbourne experience... We saw Flinder Street Station on Swanson which is where everyone meets under the clocks.   (Here comes a little 'strine (Australian) verbage..   "Went into Young and Jacksons had some tucker (food) and VB "(Victoria Bitter beer other wise known as Vitamin B) and saw the famous Young and Jacksons Chloe (Naked woman portrait- google it) I got a chance to see the Australian Philharmonic Choir sing in St. Paul's Church.  The acoustics were amazing and you can listen in... It was a beautiful experience!

We went and saw the Myers Christmas Windows where each year they depict a theme.. this year was the Nutcracker.  Each window depicted and told part of the story. 

Then Brooke and I went and visited some of her friends down by the bay.  I knew one of them, Carla, who came out to Beijing last year, so that was fun.  I tasted a famous Australian fish called....  and it was lovely! 

Lauren, Brooke's sister and i went shopping at....  which was quite fun and yesterday, Brooke and I biked down the Dandenong Range which was really fun and invigorating!  We rode through huge forests of Eucalyptus and Paperbark trees.

It is hard to download pictures here as they don't have quick in all of Australia, so I will add more pictures when I get home!

So far I have been welcomed into the Normoyle household with loving and open arms and I feel so lucky to get to be here with Brooke and her family!

More updates later