Australia Day 2007

January 26 is Australia Day and if we didn't experience it in 2007 we might never get another chance. So, on Australia Day Eve (yes, the Aussies start celebrating the day before....) we headed to Parliament Hill to the big outdoor Australia Day Eve Concert, where the Prime Minister, John Howard, conducted a citizenship ceremony for "Australian Idol" Damien Leith (from Ireland) and awarded the various Australian of the Year awards. This was followed by a great concert and the atmosphere was electric. We ended up among a group of very friendly and generous Australians who shared their food with us - man Australians really know how to pack for a picnic or outdoor event! (We didn't have a clue!) It was great. Here is what the view looked like from our vantage point.
















Here is William with his newly purchased Australia bucket hat that conveniently matches his "Oilers" sweater. (My cousins from Calgary are going to kill me for that sweater!)




















The next day we were up early to watch and participate in all of the Australia Day goings-on. We started out at Commonwealth Park where we watched as a team of paratroopers sky-dived into Lake Burley Griffin......
















followed by a military parade.......

















We have no pictures of it but there was an F18 fly-by as well - wow!

Then we moved on to a display of many old fire trucks organized by a volunteer group. William was in heaven - as would all of his grandfathers if they had been there. (This reminded us of our good friend Barney DeLong who used to take William on rides in the old firetrucks of the Hartland Volunteer Fire Department.)























That's William at the controls....










Later that evening we returned to Commonwealth Park for the fireworks - Australians really know how to do fireworks! Here we met up with our good friends Pat, Jodi and Grace Cooper - Pat did Staff College in Toronto in 2006. Here is Grace.....




















Grace and William showing off their Australia Day tattoos...yes, he's getting a little hyped by this point....















Ian with Jodi (left) and Pat (right)....oh yeah, and some beer. Did I mention that the Australians really know how to party?
















Here is the crowd we are sitting among as we await the fireworks. That's Lake Burley Griffin in front of us.

Happy Australia Day! (Oy! Oy! Oy!)

Ian's back to school

Ian started classes on Monday, January 15 at the Australian Command and Staff College. Here he is on his first day of school....with his proud son!





















Here is Ian with Major Christian Lalande (Cdn Air Force), the other Canadian student at Staff College. All dressed up for a mess dinner!

Abby joins the family!

On Saturday, January 13, we were able to pick up Abby after her 30 day quarantine at the Eastern Creek Animal Quarantine Station, just outside of Sydney. We only had a 30 minute window to retrieve her that morning, so we made the trip the day before, staying in a nearby motel; we were missing her horribly and didn't want to muck up getting her home with us. Here she is getting to know our "new" car....
















Shortly after we moved to Cargelligo Street, construction on a new house began across the street from us. This provided endless entertainment for both William and Abby every morning before heading off to school......















Just another shot of William and Abby.....

For more pictures of Abby's adventures in Oz (we never knew how much she liked the water!), check out our trip to Kioloa Caravan Park. It should soon appear in the February publications of this blog.

Bateman's Bay

In early January we began settling into our house in Canberra, but we did some "local" exploring before Ian would have to start school. Day trips to Bateman's Bay became very popular with us after this trip to the coast, which is only a two hour drive from us. Here is just one of many beaches in the Bateman's Bay area.
















It was very windy this day (making the air feel a bit cool) and the water wasn't as warm as it had been in Noosa and the Gold Coast (which are 12 hours north!) over Christmas, but there were great waves and Ian and William caught plenty of them!




















I, on the other hand, enjoyed but stayed fully covered/protected from the sun and wind. I know, I know, I look like Katherine Hepburn in "On Golden Pond"; I'm just missing the turtleneck!
















The sight-seeing included......some Surf Lifesavers....!

Susan's big "Four-Oh!"

Just as Ian experienced his first "winter" birthday in Australia, I experienced my first "summer" birthday! I turned 40 on January 2nd. I started the day in Brisbane having a pedicure with my dear friend Tracey Barker. After a surprise birthday cake with our lunch, it was time for Ian, William and I to hit the road and begin the two day journey back to Canberra. Our ten days with the Barkers were almost surreal; another incredible memory to cherish.

While the temperature was beautifully warm, it ended up being a very rainy day. We made it as far as a town called Ballina - on the coast, about four hours south of Brisbane - where we managed to find supper and a cozy place to stay.

Ian has cringed many times about that actual day. The restaurant in particular was not exactly what he had envisioned for me on my 40th birthday, but (thankfully, from his perspective) he had actually gone all out with the surprise party-of-a-lifetime, two months earlier. As you can see from these pictures, many of our family and friends celebrated with us! And those who couldn't be there sent letters and emails of congratulations. I was "gob-smacked" as they say here. I can't begin to describe how surprised I was! (If you were there, you would have seen it by the very confused look on my face as I entered the room). There was no way I could have seen this coming, given that it was two months early! The most special part was the opportunity it created for us to see so many friends and family before leaving for Australia. It was awesome.

Rob, Lois and John Minchin, Duncan

William's favorite part - the cake!

The blanket...just like the ones that my great grandmother Minchin wove for her ten children....

Karen always wondered how Bill would react to seeing another man in a "skirt"....now she knows!

....that's better...!

I'm glad William's first trip to the bar was with you Laurie

Not everyone gets a Charlie's Angels guest appearance at their birthday party!

Raquel and her youngins....

Big brother John and little brother Rob

Aunt Lois, Uncle John, William and I

A big thanks to all of you who worked so hard to pull off this great party - you know who you are!

Cheers

New Year's Day at the Australia Zoo - Crikey!

We spent the first day of 2007 (a very hot day!) at the Australia Zoo, in Beerwah, about forty five minutes north of Brisbane. You've all heard of Steve Irwin - the Crocodile Hunter. Well, this is his zoo (started by his father), and we were very surprised and pleased to have had his wife, Terri, host the crocodile show - in the Crocoseum! - that day. Terri had just started hosting shows again since Steve's death in September of 2006 (that's not her in the picture). Her daughter Bindi was there as well!















When Steve Irwin's father started the zoo, it was basically an animal rescue facility. Now, it covers 72 hectares or land in Beerwah, and the plan is to expand to 315 hectares over the next 5 to 7 years. It is an amazing facility and if there is one message that clearly gets through while you are there, it is how to help protect all of these incredible creatures.

We learned a lot at the snake show - what to do when and if you encounter a dangerous snake - which is highly relevant to us. Ian has come across one on a bike ride home from work, and William crossed paths with a small one on a bush walk near a beach!

That's a wombat - William's favorite Australian animal.

After a very hot and long day at the zoo, we took a refreshing dip in the Barker's new pool....aaahhhhh! Then the adults ended the day with supper at the famous "Brekkie Creek" restaurant (that means "Breakfast Creek - the Aussies shorten or nickname everything....!).

New Year's Eve in Brisbane

Continuing on from our Gold Coast Christmas.....we saw the New Year in with the Barkers in Brisbane. First we headed to the South Bank (downtown) where families were treated to movies on a giant big-screen, and William took his first ferris wheel ride. The best part was the man-made beach! Real sand, lifeguards, palm trees..... it was amazing! I must say, Australians really know how to celebrate in a family-friendly way. They put on two sets of fireworks (set to music!) - one at 9 pm for the young families and another at midnight for everyone else who wants to stay up late!















William's "Australian cousins" - from bottom left, clockwise -Dominic Barker, Daniel Barker, Joseph Barker, and of course, William.

After the early fireworks, we went back to Tim and Tracey's house where our families were joined by their friends Jenny and Andrew and their children. A few short hours later we had a beautiful view of the midnight fireworks from Tracey's verandah, in the company of dear friends, champagne in hand. It could not have been better!

Happy 2007!

Contact Us!

We'd love to hear from you and there are a number of ways to reach us! Our mailing address is:

48 Cargelligo Street

Duffy ACT 2611

Australia

You can also contact us by email. Our family address is chillywilly@grapevine.com.au. The grapevine account is our main email account, but we each (with the exception of Abby!) have our own gmail accounts as well. They are ian.ronanderson@gmail.com (Ian), s.daviesanderson@gmail.com (Susan), and wilandmac@gmail.com (William loves to get his very own emails!).