Happenings

I love Australia!! Sometimes it feels really surreal that I'm here.  Sometimes I have to look at a map to put in perceptive where I am.  I think I have settled in pretty well, but I am still working on my internal clock.  I think the first week I was just so excited to be here that I was just running on adrenaline.  I'm feeling the effects now of the time change.  I swear I could go to bed and sleep for 3 days before feeling well rested. Hopefully that gets better soon.  I think I am adjusting more and more to the climate change.  It's definitely hot (though Matt claims it has been pretty mild, and that we should consider ourselves lucky), and I have my sweaty, yucky moments, but it isn't so bad anymore. 

This last week was fun!  Last Saturday we went bowling with Matt's cousin Craige and his wife, Kalli.  They have an adorable 5-month-old little boy named Caiden.  Craige's brother Aaron and his wife Kerryn also came as well.  We played two games.  Let's just say, I did not represent the ol' US of A very well in my first game, and came in dead last.  I stepped it up in the second game and at least kept pace with the other ladies.  Afterwards we all went over to Craige and Kalli's house for a BBQ.  It was so fun hanging out with them.  We spent a lot of time making USA vs. Australia comparisons.  Craige seemed to particularly enjoy that and has claimed he'll have a new question for me every time we see each other. 

Tuesday was Valentine's Day, which I was happy to spend with Matt, but it was also Matt's birthday!! We made a stop at his mother's house so I could meet her, and then enjoyed a yummy feast on Chinese food.  Their Chinese food here is WAY better than at home....I'm just going to say it's cause we are so much closer to China.  I think our Mexican food at home wins. 

Yesterday I took my first drive behind the wheel of a car here in Australia.  We were just running to a store a few blocks away, which was fine by me.  It was a little unnerving having to be on the other side of the car AND the other side of the road.  The weirdest part was having so much of the car to my left...I came very close to the curb quite a few times.  Turning was weird as well, since it goes against all my instinct to be turning into a lane where at home, a certain head-on collision would be waiting for me!  But we both survived, and I'll have another go at it soon.

This week was also our trip to Aqwa, the aquarium here in Perth.  You can go have a look at the pictures, since this outing got its very own post.

I hope everyone at home is doing well! Love and miss you all!!

Love, Kelsey

Aqwa

I'm sure several of you have read the title of this post and assumed that I am a terrible speller, but Aqwa is indeed the correct spelling for the aquarium here in Perth.  Matt and I headed back to Hillary's Boat Harbor where Aqwa is located for a day of air conditioned fun! Matt hadn't been for about 15 years (back when it was creatively called Underwater World), so it was fun and new for both of us. 

This place was so cool! Tons of exhibits, from aquarium tanks, to open pools, to touch pools, to outside pools, to an amazing tunnel aquarium.

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!! 

I couldn't decide which ones to leave out.  Just be glad I only picked 30 out of the over 200 I took.

From the steps of the aquarium.  Hillary's Boat Harbor.

That blue sedan is Matt's car...I wish one of the boats was his!

She does exist! I associated many of the creatures here from their character in Finding Nemo

This may look like a clump of seaweed, but its a Sea Dragon! Similar to a sea horse, but with these awesome leafy bits.  If you're having a hard time seeing it, it is facing the camera.

In the tunnel aquarium.  It had a moving sidewalk, so you just stand there and it takes you around.

First shark sighting! These are Grey Nurse Sharks.  Scary looking, but supposedly harmless.  I guess they can't let Great Whites and other killer sharks play with the other fish.

Sharks were zooming past us everywhere.

I decided I'd just die of fright if I saw one of these things in the ocean.

These sharks were buddies.  I imagined they were having a meeting of the "Fish are Friends, Not Food" club.

Crush was taking a nap.

Mr. Ray cruising around.  They seemed to like the glass on their bellies, so they zoomed around us a lot.  These things are massive....this guy is about the size of a queen sized bed.

This fella gave me the creeps.

This turtle ain't scared of nothin!

Good shot of a ray's belly. Gills, Mouth, and Nose.

I hang with sharks!

Check out those teeth!

Kelsey in the tunnel!

There were lots of little fish too, but lets face it...they aren't as cool as the sharks, rays, and turtles. This group reminded me of the school of fish in Finding Nemo that all talk in one voice.

Their eyes are very cool looking. They always looked happy to see me.

Jelly Fish!

You can't really tell from this picture, but this sucker is huge!

This guy looks cool, but his spikes sting!

Matt just can't resist.

Found him!

Sea Horses

This sign should be in every airport in Australia.  Also, I love that the touch pool is in this section.

That is comforting.....

An innocent shell? Nope! I cone shell has an animal in it that lunges out when its prey gets close and gobbles it up nearly whole.

I'm so sad this picture is bad....baby turtle!

Doesn't seem so inviting anymore!

 Touching a ray! I touched if for about 2 seconds before it twitched...and I freaked out accordingly!

Over all, I loved this place!!  I've always had a healthy fear of the ocean and its creatures, so it is fun being able to see and learn about it when I know it can't kill me.

Sushi

I just want to take a moment to brag.  Matt and I really enjoyed the sushi that we had while in the city, but it can be quite expensive, so we decided to have a go at making our own.  We bought supplies and cooked away, and this is the result.

For those of you thinking "Ew, gross" (mom)...it was so tasty!!! We didn't go true sushi style with raw fish.  We used chicken and cooked crab, carrots, celery, avocado, and bell pepper (trivia: in Australia, bell peppers are called capsicum!)

We have had a go at making sushi again, but we can't quite capture the magic of this first batch. Hopefully we'll figure it out!

Caversham Wildlife Park Videos

Here is a video of Matt having a chat with a nice bird at Caversham Wildlife Park

Koala Time!! This is when we returned to the Koala exhibit during their feeding time!!

Caversham Wildlife Park

I wasn't in Australia long before I was itching to see some Australian natives other than Matt!  We drove to Whiteman Park, not far from his house.  It's a great park with pools, playgrounds, tons of walking trails and 'bush' (or forest if you're speaking American!) to explore.  We'll probably go back and explore further on another day, but on this particular day, we were on a mission!  We headed to Caversham Wildlife Park (which is at Whiteman Park, to avoid confusion) to see some animals.  Make sure you check out the previous post with pictures of this adventure!

Think of Caversham like a zoo, but only with Australian animals. We spent several hours here looking at everything from birds, Quokkas (google it....they're cute!), possums, wallabies, sugar gliders, turtles, dingos, and crocs to petting koalas, kangaroos and wombats!  It was everything I hoped for! They have a huge open area where Kangaroos roam free!! There were probably somewhere between 50-70 kangaroos in this area, from huge ones to brand new Joeys.  They had food available to feed them, so we took our time wandering, feeding, and petting.  This is where I also experienced the rowdy nature of native Aussies, as an amorous pair of Roos had no problem showing their affection for each other in front of everyone....shocking! We headed over to pet an incredibly cute, fat wombat before heading to the koalas.  These things are beyond cute.  We went into their habitat, and were able to pet them and get pictures with them as they chilled among the eucalyptus branches.  After spending time with the koalas we wandered around to look at other animals.  Before we left we had one more stop to see the Koalas.  When we got there, they were closing the habitat, but we were lucky enough to be let in, and we had the place to ourselves! They had just brought out fresh eucalyptus for the critters (there were about 12 of them, ranging from just 6 months old to 6 years!) so they were all active and munching!  We are so lucky that we went back, because (for reasons I can not figure out) non of the pictures or video from our first encounter with them are on my camera! I'm bummed that I don't have a picture with me in it, but I'm so happy to have the last few pictures and videos that we took.  I loved this place so much, that I wont mind going back and getting the pictures I really want though!

I have some fun videos, once I figure out how to upload them! That is my next mission. 

Since we missed out on some of our Koala pictures, we tried to recreate one with the most stunning native Aussie of them all!!  Floyd is Matt's dog, although he is basically mine since he adores the ground I walk on!  He didn't really appreciate that we tried to exploit his good looking mug for this picture, but it'll do!

Floyd

Love, Kelsey

Picture Catch Up!!

Saying my last goodbye! Derek and Shandice were off to Seattle while I zoomed away to Australia.

I watched 'Up' on the plane to compliment my journey. Adventure is out there!

Just one of many tasty meals I enjoyed on Singapore Airlines.  I can't compliment this airline enough!

Behold!!! RUSSIA!!!

This is the flight tracker on my personal entertainment screen.  It would also show zoomed up views, tell me how fast we were flying, how far we'd come, and how far we had left to go.  We flew up over Alaska, and down over Russia before landing in South Korea.

I snapped a picture of my airport hotel room after I had enjoyed an amazing, and much needed, night's sleep.  Thank you again Matt!

The amazing Sunflower Garden at Changi Airport in Singapore. It was so humid, so I didn't linger to enjoy it.

The Changi Airport was full of fun things to see and loads of education about Singapore.  This is a station where you could do crayon rubbings.

A small part of the Orchid Garden at Changi Airport.

More beautiful orchids at Changi Airport.

They had this awesome display of the Sydney Opera house made out of plants and flowers.  They also had one of the Eiffel Tower.

One of many Koi Ponds at Changi Airport.  Those suckers were MASSIVE!!

The view from the SkyTrain that traveled between the terminals at Changi Airport.  Beautiful trees and gardens everywhere!

My last flight! I was so happy to know that this was the last leg of my trip!

This is how Matt picked me up from the Perth Airport. 
Actually, this is down at the 'shops' (as they call every store in Australia) where we went to do some shopping on my first day in Perth.

Stunning Scarborough Beach in Perth.  This is about a 15 minute drive from where I'm living. Walking back up this sandy pathway is where I burned my poor feet on the sand. Walking through that beautiful water up the beach is where I got my first Aussie sunburn!

Another picture of Scarborough Beach.  Matt spent much of the day pointing out anti-shark safety precautions, such as this lifeguard stand, in hopes of getting me in the water on our next trip to the beach.

Windy and Sweaty.  We were lookin' good at Scarborough!

The drive from Scarborough Beach to Hillary's Boat Harbor.  The harbor is on the other side of that peninsula on the left side of the picture.  I didn't take pictures at Hillary's, as I was too busy wiping away sweat, but we are heading back there soon, and I promise pictures. It is a beautiful place.

Kangaroos!! We were lucky to hang out with this crew at Caversham Wildlife Park.  You can read the post about this adventure!

Matt thought this little one could use some affection.

This little fella didn't want our pellets, and opted to get a drink from his momma instead.

One of the lucky Roo's that made friends with Matt.

This lazy bum had no problem taking the pellets I had to offer him!

I reckon this guy is dreaming about being a rap star some day.

One of the Keepers at the park mentioned that one of the Joeys had made his first appearance out of his pouch that very day.  We were on the lookout, and were lucky enough to find him!

Matt: "Kels, grab the camera, cause if this hurts, I'm not doing it again."

Do you see why he was nervous?  This guy ended up being lots of fun, and gobbled down heaps of food, right out of our hands.

Wombat!! This guy was so cute!  I like to imagine that when he isn't on display, he sits on a throne and demands that food be brought to him.

There were countless birds at the Park that are native to Australia.  I've seen some amazing ones flying out in the wild.  We live right next to a park with a pond, so we're lucky to see some pretty ones.

A Dingo!!  It wasn't as exciting as I had hoped...it's just a dog! Though, this is the only animal in the Park that was behind an electric fence.

Koalas!! These fuzzy things are just about the cutest things EVER! Pictures simply can not do them justice.

That's the life!

Matt is quite the photographer! Better than a postcard!