Farewell Australia - July 2014

Our departure from Australia was a bit more sudden than we were expecting.  We had been talking for months about what we wanted to do, and what would happen if Oz offered Ryan a full-time contract.  We weren't sure we were ready to commit to another 2 or 3 years in Australia and the process of applying for permanent residence, but Ryan also loved his job and didn't really want to have to look for another one.  So, when the time eventually came and the offer was made, we were surprised for there to be a third option: take a summer position in Canada before ending employment with Oz.  That sounded perfect (though in retrospect it was a terrible decision...) so we took the offer and began the process of moving back to Canada.

Ediacaran fossils at the South Australian Museum.  They're what we were supposed to see in the Flinders Ranges had we made it past Slippery Dip.  They were in the museum the whole time, but it took us until the very last weeks to visit.

Packing in and of itself was quite the adventure, not to mention selling everything on Gumtree.  We were paying per kilo, so we had to assess which things were cheaper to replace than to ship, and which things we really wanted to take home with us, regardless of price.  After arriving in Australia with two bags each, we left with two bags each, plus 12 boxes.  

We also couldn't leave without throwing a killer party on June 21.  We invited everyone we knew, cooked a ton of food, and spent our life savings on a delicious gluten-free cake.  The best part was sharing what was left of our awesome wine collection (there were some seriously nice ones left), and our hard liquor.  The wine was gone surprisingly early (even though there were at least 13 bottles left), so the mixed drinks got kind of interesting after that.  Another great part of the party was the list we came up with of "Weird and Wonderful Australian Nuances" so we would never forget some of the odd parts of living down under:

-they say "ice block" instead of popsicle
-in New Zealand they call a cooler a "chilli bin"
-their shopping cart wheels go in every direction, making them much harder to push straight
-everything is smaller (sink, fridge, stove, etc.)
-people wear shoes in the house
-"fortnight" can also be said as "Monday week" (or whatever day you're talking about)
-babysitters aren't part of the main culture
-they print pictures on their toilet paper (we preferred the ones with coloured bubble pictures)
-gas=propane, car gas=petrol
-crikey, reckon, rubbish, no worries mate, trolley, lollie, heaps good
-thongs means flip flops
-the words bull, ball, and bowl all sound the same when an Aussie says them
-we never understood their phone number format.  Sometimes it would be 6 digits, but the spacing was different every time, and if two numbers in a row were the same they would say "double six" instead of "six six"
-good nic=good condition
-suss=suspicious/sketchy
-the smell of the flowers and the gum trees was amazing
-"no dramas"
-"take away" instead of "take out" for fast food
-"car park" instead of "parking lot"
-"move house" instead of just "move"
-Textas=Sharpie marker
-math class is "maths"
-autumn, not "fall"
-the telephone poles are made of cement, not wood
-"bring a plate" instead of "potluck"
-all of their power outlets have on/off switches
-sauce=ketchup
-pastie=meat pie

So after the hangover had passed and all of the boxes were packed, and we made one final trip to Henley Beach, Ryan officially flew to British Columbia to start his job on July 1, 2014.  Fittingly, on Canada Day.

Last visit to Henley Beach.  Where it all began.

Of course that meant I was left behind for an extra week, until July 11, to tie up all of the loose ends.  We hired a professional cleaner to clean the house (so we didn't get screwed like the last time we moved), but we STILL got scammed out of money because I accidentally had an extra rent payment go through that they refused to give back to me.  I also spilled water on my laptop the day before our insurance ended, so luckily I managed to get the money to buy a new one.

And while all of this was going down I got to stay with my lovely friends Janah and Luke.  Thank goodness I was around friends, because it was pretty hard to leave the amazing city we called home for almost three and a half years.

Those years changed our life like we couldn't have imagined.  The adventures were unmatched, and our friends and co-workers helped shape who we are now as adults.  As I write this, just over two years later, Ryan's parents are about to go back for a visit so we're feeling extremely nostalgic.  I'm missing the koala I used to pass in a tree on my walk to Greenhill Family Chiropractic, being woken up by parrots, sun drying tomatoes in the actual sun, and spending a lovely day at our favourite wineries in McLaren Vale.  But I also don't regret moving back.  Now we're back to living close to our family and friends, we got married in our favourite town, and we have an adorable puppy.  Everything happens as it should, and we will always remember those years in Australia with a fond smile and a twinkle.

Last view of Adelaide.

First view of Toronto.  Welcome home.

New Job, New House, New Adventure

As some of you already know, A LOT has happened in the past few months, so I thought I'd take some time to update everyone.  For the most part this blog has been about our travels, but we have made some changes will radically affect our travel plans for the next year.  I'll start at the very beginning.

My job at the mines was fairly repetitive, so I listened to a lot of audiobooks and podcasts while I worked (for those of you who don't know, podcasts are free audio programs on iTunes).  My favourite podcast was one called "The Wellness Guys", which was all about health and dispelling the myths that are out there about living a healthy life.  If you have any interest in health at all, I highly recommend it (www.thewellnessguys.com).  The program is run by 3 Australian chiropractors/wellness experts, so after listening to a lot of episodes I decided to go see Dr. Brett Hill in Adelaide for a wellness coaching session.  At that point I had no interest in chiropractic, but I did like his message about health.

In the meantime, I was also taking some of the advice from the podcast and changing my diet.  They highly recommended cutting grains from your diet in all forms (I know, it sounds crazy) so I decided to stop having toast and cereal for breakfast at the mines, and replaced them with other things like fruit, eggs, green salads, and even the dinner food they put out for the night shift people.  Almost immediately I stopped having my usual sugar crashes during the day.  I also lost a few pounds, and l now look and feel better than I have in years.  When I got home from the mines, Ryan listened to one of the interviews about the Paleo diet on the podcast, and we decided to give it a try.  He was doubtful at first, but the main message that hooked him was to pay attention to how you feel after you eat.  Pretty much instantly we noticed that not having grains or dairy made us feel so much better than before, and we were really enjoying the increase in veggies and meat.

So fast-forward a few months.  I had started seeing Brett for chiropractic work because of my sore back from work, and I also learned that chiropractors can help with so much more than back pain (sleep, digestion, headaches, immunity, etc.).  The job at the mines was really getting to me, and I desperately needed a change.  Also, winter at the mines was pretty cold at 5am, so I started getting arthritic hands and large sore bumps on them.  When I asked Brett what he thought would help, he said "well, you could come work for me!"  He was offering about 20 hours a week of front desk/chiropractic assistant work/marketing, but also the opportunity to be mentored by him in the hopes of becoming a wellness coach in his practice,  which of course sounded better than the mines.  Despite that,  I immediately said no because of the major decrease in pay and the long commute from home.  When I told Ryan, he said "so you took it, right?"

Over the next 24 hours Ryan and I hashed out all of the pros and cons of taking the job at Greenhill Family Chiropractic, but eventually decided that I would work one more swing at Prominent Hill, then take the job.  We also decided that we had to move closer to my new work (and away from the beach).  While we were in Tasmania Brett confirmed that I could have the job, and in that moment things changed forever.

I am now typing this from our new house (we just moved in yesterday), I have completed a basic Wellness Coaching Certificate online, I absolutely love working at Greenhill Family Chiropractic, and most importantly Ryan and I are both much healthier now than we have ever been.  That story is to be continued.

Our other exciting update is that tomorrow morning we are leaving for a major vacation!  We will be in Canada for 4 weeks, then Holland for a few days, and finally Thailand for a few days.  In Canada we have two weddings to go to (my brother's and my friend's), family and friends to visit, and a heck of a lot of shopping to do!  We haven't been home in 15 months, so we're really looking forward to the trip.  Because my new job is on weekdays, we won't be doing very many large trips like we have been doing, so this will be an awesome way to start our new chapter.  Consequently, I won't be posting on this blog for probably 2 months.  I will of course post about our trips when I return to Australia.

Until then, instead of reading my blog, listen to the Wellness Guys!  Even if it doesn't change your lives as drastically as it  changed mine, I guarantee that it will change your lives in another positive way.

Thanks for reading!

Love Steph

The Unveil and a Ryan Update

Ryan just got back last night, so now I can post pictures of our furnished house! More about Ryan after the pictures. Enjoy!

I love this house! It's fun to have lots of new things, and the hardwood floors are awesome.

So I'll try to sum up what Ryan's been up to. He's working 2 weeks on then gets 1 week off, and he'll be doing that until the end of August we think. At that time he might be able to take a few weeks off, then start a new job. He is basically the supervisor for the camp, so he's getting great experience. He has two "fieldies" (field assistants) working for him and he's getting along really well with them. Last week one of the machines fell on one of them, so Ryan had lots of paperwork to fill out for a few days. Everyone was really happy with how he dealt with the situation, so seems like he'll have some good references for the future. His days are usually about 10 hours at the work site, then he has dinner, then does another hour or two of data entry and reports in the evening.

That's all for now. We don't have any concrete plans for the week, but we will probably try to do a few day trips when Justin gets back from Canada on Friday. It's a long weekend here coming up (Queen's Birthday...our May 24 holiday) so Monday is a holiday.

Spiders and Semaphore

You guessed it! I saw my first deadly spider! The (not so) illusive, Redback Spider. Ryan saw one last week, but he didn't get any pictures. That's right everyone, I risked Kelsey's life to get this picture for you:

Kelsey was checking the chairs before we sat outside...and it's a good thing she did! She also killed it. So brave!

But this is a picture for scale...it was actually just a baby. They can get quite large though, with torsos the size of a quarter I think.



Anyways, this weekend was pretty fun. It was supposed to rain, but we had beautiful weather (about 17-22 Celsius, but cold wind). Friday was Kelsey's birthday, so we ordered take out Thai food, rented terrible chick flicks, and ate chocolate cake.

Saturday was our trip to Bunnings (like Home Depot, but BETTER!) Our mission was to get a barbeque and plants for an herb garden. Both were very successful. I resisted buying a citrus tree because they would take at least 3 years to produce edible fruit. Damn! Best part - they had free slushies and popcorn! Also the staff all had their faces painted, which was weird.

I think it's about time I show you what Justin and Kelsey's car looks like so you can get the full effect of loading a huge barbeque into it:

                       


This is just a picture from the internet, but theirs is red and looks exactly like this.

Anyways, somehow between the two of us we had a trunk full of plants so we spent the afternoon planting an herb and lettuce garden at my house. We also assembled the barbeque and cooked skewers for dinner. Delish!

Sunday we met some other women and dogs at Semaphore Beach (just north of our suburb) for a dog walk. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but it was low tide. The beach was so flat that at high tide there is only a few metres of sand.












We stopped at a great café for lunch while it got cloudy, then when we were done the sun came back out again! The afternoon was so nice we weeded Kelsey's gardens and planted her plants from Bunnings.

After ALL of that, it was still only 3pm, so we decided to go to the mall which has the good grocery stores. Got lots of delicious food and stopped at K-Mart to see if they have bikes. They do! I got one for $60! So again, picture a bike box (I have to assemble the bike) in the back of Kelsey's car!

Finally, the day ended with me practicing driving that car. The gear changing wasn't a problem, but we had a few close calls with me almost hitting things on the passenger side. It's soooooo weird to be on the other side of the car! I also panic and forget what I'm doing, even at 30 km/h. Practice makes perfect, right?

IKEA and Me

As I mentioned before, last weekend was dedicated to furnishing our new house. Saturday was basically a reconnaissance mission, with Sunday being the day of major purchases. I tried my best not to buy everything at IKEA, I swear! But their fancy colours and unbeatable prices won over everything else. Plus, I didn't want to pay multiple delivery charges from different stores, so really it was the best option for the big items. 

Here's the abbreviated list of what I bought from IKEA:
-couch
-2 bed frames
-dining room table and chairs
-coffee table
-3 side tables
-4 lamps
-many pillows and blankets
-4 outdoor chairs
-various other small things

In addition to a trunk full of stuff, my delivery consisted of 23 items….gulp!

And this is what that looks like:



In all fairness, this is after I started assembling the couch.

So Monday was my IKEA delivery, and Tuesday my 2 mattresses got delivered (yes, I have a guest bed!). I spent both days assembling furniture. I know everyone is sick of hearing about IKEA, but man that stuff is awesome!! I was able to assemble everything all by myself with only two blisters! I still have the second bed frame left to go, but I'm saving that for tomorrow.

Today I didn't have any deliveries coming, but I hung out at the house anyways (I've been staying with Kelsey all week, and I'll stay there until Ryan gets back on Tuesday/Wednesday). It was finally a beautiful day so I basically just sat outside and read, then raked the lawn. Oh, then had a nap in the sun. Life is hard.

Tomorrow is our last delivery - the fridge and washing machine. Then the house will be almost complete. I'm hopefully going to get a barbecue this weekend! We still have to get our internet hooked up, a guy is coming to fix the front door, and an electrician has to come and fix the light that exploded during the house inspection (funny story...the sparks hit the inspector! Everyone is fine though.) Yesterday someone came to mow the lawn, which I wasn't expecting, so seems like the real estate agency is really on top of things. Should be a great year!

I know everyone is excited for more pictures, but I can't post the finished product yet - I want Ryan to be surprised. You'll just have to wait until next week, but believe me, you won't be disappointed!

Now What?

After a week of hard work dealing with properties, banks, phone, internet, gas, electricity, and watching the full first season of 30 Rock, I'm not really sure what to do with myself.  Luckily tomorrow's Saturday so Kelsey and I are going shopping!  I've got a whole house to furnish!

Walked 40 minutes to a Salvation Army today...turns out they don't sell furniture at that location. 

I think on Monday I will start applying for jobs.  You all know me...I can't sit still for long.

Reality Sets In

Since this is not technically a vacation, by day 2 reality sort of set in...we actually have to live here. This means that we have to take care of all of the boring stuff: banking, phones, grocery shopping, finding a place to live… I won't bore you with all of the details, except for our adventures in finding an apartment.

On Day 1 we had already set up a viewing to see an amazing place right on the beach. It was beautiful and we did everything possible to get it. Justin warned us that the market was tough, so not to get our hopes up on the first place we saw. So, after that we went to a few more open houses and submitted some more applications. A few days later we saw another great place right down the street from Justin and Kelsey. The two places couldn't have been more different. The second one was actually a house with a yard, but a 10 minute walk to the beach. We loved it though, so we submitted the application.

Meanwhile….

Ryan met with Euro, the exploration contracting company who hired him. They were happy he made it and wanted him out in the field right away. After only being here for 4 days, he was off to work for 2 weeks. He's about a 5 hour drive (I think) North-East of Adelaide near a town called Broken Hill.

I haven't really heard from him much since he left, so I can't really tell you how he's doing. He told me "the rest of the country is really beautiful" and "there are tons of emus here" via text message, so that will have to do for now!

Back in Henley Beach…

I was eagerly awaiting phone calls from our two favourite places. Whichever one accepted us we were going to take. That is, until they both did! After much debate, we decided to go with the house because it was closer to a grocery store and to Justin and Kelsey. Also, it had a covered area in the yard so I can have a BBQ! Here are 2 pictures. More to follow once it is furnished. It's not as big as it looks.

So, there you go, officially one week since our arrival date, and I have keys to a house. Turns out the housing market has crashed here recently and they are having a much harder time renting and selling places. Either way, one week is pretty impressive if I do say so myself!