Halloween in Australia

Halloween is just starting to catch on here in Australia. They still focus more on the scary side of things but have started bringing in pumpkins to carve in the last two years.

I made witch hat cookies, one of the pros to staying home with the kids is that I have time to look up cute ideas and then make them!! Izzy was a purple fairy and Miles was a construction worker.

Here are the kids we went trick or treating with. The Kitchins four boys and the Annos son and daughter as well as the Betts two boys.

Trick or treating is about the same except only every 5th house or so participates. A neighbour on our road actually sent out a short note a week ahead of time saying she was bringing 8 kids around to trick or treat so people were prepared with candy!!

Clint had to help Izzy out after about 4 blocks of walking!

Ned and Izzy love spending time with each other. We didn't even have to ask them to hold hands, they did it on their own for the last block!
I'm sure you noticed the lack of warm clothes, I think it was about 20 degrees and since it was spring it was still light out at 7 pm. Probably the only time Izzy will ever be able to wear a sleeveless costume.

Tasmania

On October 1sst we flew to Hobart, Tasmania and met Clint's parents for a ten day driving trip around the island. On day one we drove an hour and a half to Port Arthur to see the old jail. Along the way we stopped at a few nice spots!

It was a beautiful day for a walk around the huge settlement. The jail was close to the ocean and surrounded by lots of incredible gardens and old buildings.

Miles and Grandpa in between buildings.

Izzy and Grandma checking out the flowers.

Walking through the gardens on the way back to the car.

We spent our second day exploring Hobart. This is a view of the bridge into downtown Hobart.

The Botanic Gardens are always worth a visit, and they are free!

It was time to head east to Bicheno on the third day. We stopped in Freycinet National Park to do a hike into Wineglass Bay which is supposed to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world. In the parking lot we saw a wallaby with a baby joey in it's pocket, so cute! Unfortunately, after hiking 2 hours over a mountain with two preschoolers our camera decided to break so I bought postcards of the beach since we couldn't take any of our own! That night the hotel we stayed at had free penguin tours so we got to see the fairy penguins in all their waddling glory as they came in from the sea at night, very special!!

Two nights in Launceston were next. We visited Cataract Gorge, the Platypus House and Seahorse World. Platypuses are really neat but no pictures turned out so you'll have to travel here yourself to see one!!

Cradle Mountain was our next stop. The landscape was very different here, not beautiful but interesting. We saw wild wombats and pademelons (related to kangaroos).

We saw the Tasmanian Devils get fed. They do make a scary sound when fighting over fresh kangaroo meat. There were some babies as well which looked very small and sweet.

A boat cruise in Strahan including a stop on a rainforest island and another stop at a convict island finished off our trip.

Coober Pedy- The Underground Town

Since first arriving here Clint has wanted to go 5 hours north to a town called Coober Pedy. The last two days of term three saw that dream come true!His Assistant Principal, Snake, took him up for a school visit and a couple of holes of golf.

This is a bedroom in an underground house. You can see the lines left by the tool used to dig it out!

This is the golf course. Check out the drive, the approach shot and finally the putt!

Clint golfed with the Catholic priest who took him back to the local church which is also underground.

Victor Harbour

The first weekend of September we made our own long weekend weekend and headed five hours south to Victor Harbour in the Friday night. There is another Canadian exchange couple living there so we stayed with them.

The kids woke up early on Saturday and after checking out the farmer's market we walked across the wooden bridge to a small island called Granite Island.

Once you are on Granite Island you can walk around it in 30 minutes, of course it takes longer with two little kids! It was a very windy day!

After a quick nap the Beers took us out to a beach where whales had been spotted earlier.

After being at the beach less than 30 minutes we started seeing two right whales, one just stayed at the top of the water while the other one kept showing off it's flukes!

We took in the view from a place called the Bluffs before heading home for a bbq.

On Sunday we spent the day on our own starting with taking the horse tram across the bridge to actually make it around the island followed by some ice cream. Then it was off to Horseshoe Bay for some fish and chips and more time at the beach before a dinner out at a little Italian Restaurant.
Monday morning we took a slight detour so we could go through a little town called Hahndorf. It is a small German based town with a few cute shops like a puppet shop and a cuckoo clock shop. Clint bought the world's smallest pocket knife measuring in at about one inch! I bought a koala puppet to use in my classroom when I get back.
A stop at Mt. Lofty for a view of Adelaide before hitting the beach once again and then driving the three hours north back to Port Augusta.

Aussie Animals at Kindy

Miles Kindy had Animals Anonymous, a special group that brings Australian animals for the kids to see and touch and learn from every year. This year there were snakes, a sugar glider, a bettong, a green frog but luckily no spiders!! Miles is usually very reluctant to touch new things so we made a deal that if he touched five animals he would get a little toy aussie animal that we have been collecting. That was all it took, he was pumped on the big day!

This is a bettong. It is a relative to a wallaby and very soft to feel.

Izzy loved touching all the animals. This is a green frog which breathes through it's skin in case you didn't know.

Miles started with the fuzzy animal(bettong)and then it was smooth sailing through the rest of them.

Here is a baby python that Izzy enjoyed holding.

Miles took his turn and didn't squirm at all.

This lizard walked right up to Izzy while the instructor was telling us about him and Izzy just started to pet it!

Izzy is sitting on Keeasha's knee (a family friend). Her plan was to see what animals were going around and then visit both and return to Keeasha to pet one animal a second time. She especially loved the tails of the snakes and lizards.

This is a sugar glider that flies between trees. We got to see it jump from Keeasha's shoulder to the trainer which was very cool.

It wouldn't be autralian animals without a baby croc!

The grown up python really caught Izzy's attention! She loved hoding her part! It took 5 kids to hold the entire length of this snake. Miles on the other hand drew the line at the big snake and refused to touch it!

Even I conquered my fears and held the big python! Another incredible Australian experience that I'm sure I will never forget!

A Weekend in Adelaide

After being here for almost eight months we decided to finally spend some time in Adelaide. It seems we only seem to go there when we fly in or out of the airport. It is three hours south of Port Augusta but it's on the ocean with beautiful beaches, lots of green park areas and all the shopping and activities you would expect in a major city.
We started Saturday with lunch at the beach before heading to the museum which had animals, aboriginal artifacts and a cool room with shells and bugs that the kids could look at through a big microscope. We checked into the hotel and had a swim before meeting another Canadian couple for dinner.
On Sunday morning we got up early, of course! We went to a great open range zoo called Monarto.

This baby zebra is only one week old. Apparently her mom turms her back to her for 24-36 hours so the baby can memorize the stripe pattern and then the baby knows which zebra to follow when they move or run in the wild.

There had to be at least 12 giraffes here and the bus we were riding on went up close and then would stop so we could take pictures.

I think there were 4 grown lions but the best part was the baby cub who was so playful, wrestling with it's mom and pouncing around.

The chimps were our favorite, they are so cool watch. There were rhinos, bison, wild dogs, and lots of conservation projects to help animals on the verge of endangerment.
After lunch we drove back into Adelaide while the kids had a nap in the car and then we met up with Sheena and Paul from Edmonton. The boys went to the footy game (think a combo of football and ultimate frisbee in Canada) and the girls went shopping.

Miles got his jersey from Snake (Clint's deputy principal from school) at our Canada Day birthday party. He and Clint both dressed up and Paul wore a Crows scarf (the opposing team). Geelong Cats vs Adelaide Crows.

This is the team Clint has been cheering for all year. Geelong Cats

The game ended at 7:30 pm and then we had to drive three hours home in the dark. The good news was the kids were so tired that they slept all the way home!