drive on the left in australia.

the road signs in australia make me laugh....and i end up repeating them for at least 10 minutes.

this week has been absolutely non-stop.
sunday morning, i went shopping with leigh for my christmas present - my own ghetto hat so i'll stop stealing every one else's.
it's black with white writing, a DC symbol and lime green underneath.
i might like it...but only a little bit. =)

monday morning started EARLY.
4 am early to be exact.
ian and i left around 5 am and began our trip to see the 12 apostles along the coast.
we got to bells beach around 7-ish, stopped there went for a quick walk in the sand then back into the car.
drove through torquay, angelsea, lorne, apollo bay, and finally made it to the apostles near port campbell around noon-ish.
followed the path to each viewpoint and took more photos that i thought i did. (i always have a tendency to do that....)
finished all the stops on that path, got back in the car and drove a bit more to loch ard gorge.
another good viewpoint and there was a cove that you could down and swim in!
so we hit the viewpoint first, then headed down to the sand.
i wasn't expecting the sand to be blistering hot but it was and i kind of skip/hopped to the water to cool my feet ASAP.
the water was clear, blue, turquoise, and absolutely beautiful.
if i could bring it back with me i would...it just isn't the same in the states.
after a couple hours of seeing the apostles and the cove we got back into the car and headed back to monbulk.
we stopped in geelong for more petrol and that's when we realized just EXACTLY how hot it was that day.
being next to the ocean for most of the day we had a breeze, but in geelong there wasn't anything.
it was 44.9 when we stopped, translated to fahrenheit that's 115 degrees.
IT WAS HOT and we couldn't wait to get back to monbulk for cooler temperatures.
got back and went out to dinner with robin and meagan, and then called it a night.

tuesday was semi early.
left monbulk about 10:30 and headed to healesville sanctuary to see the aussie wildlife.
i was excited about this...it meant that i was going to finally see koalas and kangaroos!!
we got there, grabbed a map and started our trek through the wildlife tour....
koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, dingos, birds of prey, tasmanian devils, wombats, lyre birds, reptiles, the wildlife hospital viewing rooms...you name it we saw it most of the afternoon.
i think i was most excited to see the koalas.
when we went back to see them again there was a handler there talking about them, so of course i wanted to hear everything.

she was holding a 14 month old male and he was squawking/squeaking...it was real cute.

he was also really adventurous and moving all about on the ground out of the trees.

i got a good video clip that i'll post up either on youtube or facebook when i get back.

after that stop we were pretty much done, so we called it for the day because we were leaving early again for canberra.

wednesday morning began super early again....

ian's done a lot of driving this week.

he's estimated over 2,000k = 1,200 miles - ish.

we left for canberra around 4 or 5, i can't remember.

stopped a couple of times, but made it there around 1:30 pm.

found a place to camp, and yes it was my first time camping.

i didn't get much warning...it was a "hey, we're camping!"

and by the end of the night i was already liking it.

thursday morning we headed into the city to go the national gallery of australia.

met with the assistant curator, gwen, and she had selected 60 works to be viewed in the collection study room on the ground floor.

it was amazing.

here ian and i were, getting a personal exhibit of 60 works from josef albers, roy lichtenstein, frank stella, ellsworth kelly, and david hockney.

the works were in large portfolio case books, each work separated by a thin sheet of paper as she went through each one.

the texture of the paper, the vibrance of the colors, or how some of albers works looked liked the ink from the print was velvet.

each one was absolutely stunning.

we spent about an hour and half with gwen viewing the works.

she had even put together a print out of the works she had selected, a few pamphlets, and a magazine with a current article about the online collection.

it was definitely worth the wait to see the works, and also worth the emails back and forth.

but really, the credit goes to my professor julia.

she is the one who suggested i email the museum to see if a tour was possible.

if i've learned one thing out of the visit, is that it's worth a try to ask and see the opportunities that are available.

after the that museum, we went to the national portrait gallery - it was filled with famous australians.

so i learned about various people from ian, and the difference between the prime minister and premier.

later that night we went out to one of the skateparks for ian to ride around.

the first night we went to the skatepark in the city.

friday morning we went to weston skatepark and it was the best session by far of the trip.

part of the deal for canberra were the skateparks.

i figured it was a good deal because they light up the skateparks and ian lit up like a kid on christmas morning.

headed back friday afternoon, stopped in benalla to see one of his mates and had dinner and then we got back on the road to be back in monbulk before midnight.

needless to say we've had busy week....

today was for sleeping in, learning about cricket and updating the world on where i have been the last week.

below is a link to my album on facebook with photos from the week and a bit before.

i've been trying to put up photos on this but it's not agreeing with me.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020325&id=151800021&l=dd26b3c266

the places i go, the things i see...

OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT.

after christmas, hamish, ian and i went to the movies.

except in belgrave, they have an outdoor movie every few days!

i loved it.

bring your blankets and snacks, pick up your chair and headphones once you hand in your ticket and pick a spot on the lawn.

watching sherlock holmes under the stars was a good night.

THE WALL.

a walk from monbulk to olinda, up a thing called the wall to the view from the arboretum.

no joke...it's like walking up a steep wall.

a word to the wise, it's a killer if you're not used to it...lol.

but after the 2.5 hour trip to and from it did feel good.

i have a feeling i'll be doing it again before i leave...

the photo for this was priceless.

i finally made it up the wall and ian

took this while saying "you're halfway done!"

my face just says it all. =)

PORT PHILLIP BAY.

the other day, i went with hamish down to edithvale and spent the afternoon at the bay with a few of his friends.

enjoying the sun, clear warm water, and beautiful sunset.

this time i remembered to wear sunscreen...lol.

we got dinner at this little place called bayside pizza and ordered something called the secret pizza.

it's like a hawaiian with lasagna folded over into a calzone.

sounds strange, but it was actually quite good.

i ended up bringing the rest back to ian and his friend james because i couldn't finish it all!

i couldn't put just one photo up of spending the afternoon here...it was just so beautiful.

it's new year's eve here...

warm, sunny and windy.

a think we'll venture out to watch the fireworks at burkes lookout tonight and then tomorrow we're going to leigh's house for a new year's day barbeque.

so be watching for more photos and stories to come....

love to you all.

hello christmas.

here are some photos of christmas and making the biscuit houses to start off this lovely entry...

candy (aka: lollies)? check.

frosting (aka: royal icing)? check.

cookies (aka: biscuits)? check.

welcome to the translated world of making biscuit houses.

a wonderful tradition i learned from ian on christmas eve.

he and his sister sarah learned it from their nanny when they young and have continued the tradition ever since.

i was honored to learn the tricks of the trade.

we made a five and handed them out yesterday for christmas.

two for friends, one for the aunt, and two for the macphees.

i celebrated christmas with michelsons on the 24th.

then did more celebrating with ian's mother elspeth's side on the 25th.

it was a crazy fun filled day of playful yelling, laughing, playing games and trying more desserts than i thought possible.

ian and i then headed to the macphees for more desserts and i again tried more there.

i swear i try about three or four new kinds of sweets a day.

i secretly love it. =)

here are some photos of making the biscuit houses and then christmas.

i hope everyone in the states is having a wonderful time with their families.

i send my love and hellos from the land of oz to all of you.

the ada tree.

this is the ada tree.

hamish and i went on a hike through the forest to make a visit here.

beautiful.

the hike in reminded me of a part of the northwest and it was beautiful - green every where i looked.

actually every where i look it's green and there are trees.

go figure right, monbulk is nestled in the dandenongs.

update central.

bah...here i am the queen of communication and updates and i have neglected it for almost a week!

i have seen so many things, and been to a few places and i've only been here a week!

christmas is in a couple of days so things are starting to get busy, but a good busy.

i've spending time with the michelsons and macphees - it helps that they only live 5 minutes from each other.

it's great being able to spend time with just about everyone because each person has a different place to show me.

every day is a new adventure, and i learn something new.

so let the updates begin and enjoy the photos.

love natalee.

aborteum.

this is my second visit to the aboretum.

i couldn't resist taking photos.

one center shot just wouldn't do so i took about eight or nine and complied them together to get this.

because if you're going to view this photo right, this is the way to do it.

welcome to the aboretum.

welcome to australia mate!

technically, i'm a couple of days late starting this but i've finally got some time to sit down and begin sharing the life of australia.

i woke up at 5:30 am on december 15 and arrived at 8:50 am on december 17.

yes, it does that long to get here and yes, i time travelled to the future.

for most of you who will check this, i am 17 hours ahead.

so it being 7:44 am saturday, it is 12:44 pm friday.

somehow it's easier to count forwards than backwards....go figure.

well, anyway back to my flight.

a beautiful 16 hours on VAustralia.

best flight of my life thus far.

the seats had a teal design on them!

i knew instantly that it was going to be a good trip.

i slept for most of it, as i was told that was the best thing to do.

i was awakened though, about 4.5 hours before we arrived by the most beautiful, i mean

BEAUTIFUL sunrise i have ever seen.

after waking up to this, i didn't want to miss anything else.

so i stayed awake and watched movies until we landed.

the the routine, go through customs, wait for my baggage, have it checked again, and then head to the exit.

there were so many people there...the best way i know how to describe it is like from the movie love actually.

when it starts out and there are all the people meeting and finding each other...kind of like absolute beautiful chaos.

imagine that, and you have the arrival section in melbourne airport.

it only took me a couple of minutes to find ian, and we were out of the airport in no time because of the craziness factor.

drove by the city, over a massive bridge, and in between some cool sculptural art pieces and headed to hamish's house.

we got to hamish's and gave him his much needed hug from not only me, but i swear the entire population of graceland.

spent some time there, and then headed out to see more of the area.

met most people on thursday, the michelsons, a couple of the macphees, leigh, and i know there are more to follow over the next couple of weeks.

i'll post again later today with some photos of the arboretum.

beautiful view....stunning really.

i will try to keep this up daily, but more than likely it will be every couple of days.

but nonetheless, keep watching and waiting for entries!

if you are a friend of mine on facebook, you will be able to find most of my photos there.

love from australia.