AUSSIE NEWS

Since I’m not feeling particularly creative these days, I thought I should ‘re-start’ the creative blogging juices by talking a bit about our trip to Australia. I will add some pictures to make this December blog a little more exciting, and hope to blog more frequently than I was able to in November.

First of all, I would not recommend a trip to Australia unless you’ve going for 2 or more weeks. I do not normally mind travelling and am not scared of aeroplane trips (unlike my mother) however, I found the whole down and back travel to Australia awful. The trip itself was fantastic but the travel was very tiring.

From Ottawa, we first flew to Vancouver – a 5 hour flight – not bad. We then waited for SEVEN hours in Vancouver. DH (he’s converted from SD (Sugar Daddy) now that I’m no longer in school) is from B.C. and his parents and sister were going to visit us from the island. Unfortunately, the wind was up and the ferries were cancelled so, instead of a mini reunion, Pete and I hung out at the Fairmont Hotel at the airport. It’s very nice, here’s how to visit in cyberspace.

Being the true designer that I am, I had to take some bathroom pictures as their bathrooms are stunning. Check out these sinks! AND, all motion controlled. You walked in the room, and a fawcett would start! We would have MUCH preferred to spend the day with family, however.

After a fight through US Customs (we had a 1.5 hour stop over in Honolulu and, despite the fact that our luggage wasn’t even hitting the ground, we had to go through Customs) which I won’t go into detail about because it still makes me mad, we settled in for a 6 hour trip to Hawaii. The flight wasn’t bad but having to get off the plane (they were refuelling) and go through security again was a bit of a pain. I can’t say anything about the Hawaiian landscape because both times we were there it was 1:30 AM and dark but nice and humid and warm. They also have many places in the airport that are completely open air with just the roof and the fresh breeze blowing through. Very nice.

The next leg of the trip was 10 hours worth of flying drama and we staggered into Sydney at 7:30 AM South Australia time. It was a beautiful bright sunny day and our shuttle bus driver told us the first nice day of Spring! Australia has had the coldest spring on record for over 100 years and we were there to experience it!

Our hotel room wasn’t ready so early in the morning and, we were told, the view from our allocated room was worth waiting for, so we went exploring the Sunday market in The Rocks area of Circular Quay, a short walk from the hotel.

Here’s Patty after 30 odd hours of flying, no shower and little sleep, in Circular Quay. The gorgeous purple tree just to my left is called a ‘Jacaranda’ and Australia was full of these beautiful blooming trees. They were amazing and my favourite new Aussie word.

And here’s the view from our hotel room. Worth waiting for?

I’m now off to run errands. I’m getting a ‘pre-Christmas’ gift from DH and am starting the first of four cake decorating classes tonight at Michael’s. I can’t wait!