Our LAST day in Australia!

We had a fabulous last full day in Australia!!! The best part was that Chris had the day totally free from CSR stuff so we could do whatever we wanted to do!!! We started out the day by walking down to Flinders Street and finding a coffee shop that I had scoped out earlier in the week---had great strong coffee and muffins and enjoyed the open air and watched customers which is always fun. It was kind of a scroungy place but i am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were renovating...

We walked down to a couple of shops and picked up some things to take back for little gifts including a small digeradoo for Aaron---his request---and it is tucked into my duffle bag. I KNEW we got those long duffle bags for a reason and now I know why! It fit perfectly! Now if they only do not lose my luggage on the return trip!!! We loaded down with stuff and Chris got a great hat which he is wishing he has had all his life!!! And he looks very nice it it to boot!!! So our shopping was complete!

Then we headed to the Reef Museum which was as cool today as it was yesterday. I think Chris enjoyed it as much as I did---there is just so much in the sea that is amazing!!! And the colors are marvelous. I took pictures but they do not do it justice, that is for sure and I know it is not exactly like the Great Barrier Reef but at least it is kind of a simulation.

We headed back to the hotel and rearranged out plans since it looked like it was going to pour down rain all day. Ended up chilling by the pool, having lunch poolside and hit the spa for a bit before we came back upstairs to nap!!! Chris is pretty exhausted---it has not been the relaxing week that I have had since he has had to be "on " and "nice" so much! LOL Not easy for him to behave himself that is for sure!

After naps we walked down to The Strand again---the big beach area. Lots of families picnicking and partying and a few folks swimming in the netted areas but not many. The box jellyfish are really bad from November to May so you can not swim in areas other than where they have stinger nets set up. They have little canisters all over the beach with vinegar in them which is what you put on your stinger bites if you should get them. I think the best advice is to just stay out of the water!!!

We ate at the same place that we ate at on Sunday and had some yummy prawn eggrolls and Queensland smoked tuna with ginger along with these huge salads. If we had known they were going to be that big we would have shared one! And they were not the main so we thought we would be just fine since we weren't that hungry but we left a lot of food on our plates.

We enjoyed a leisurely walk back and Chris is watching a movie while I am doing this. I am basically all packed up but why do dirty clothes not fit in like clean clothes??? I guess you spend more time folding clean clothes and putting them in just so! I am a firm believer now in the little bags that you can pack in and squish down. They worked great on this trip and kept things really wrinkle free and nice. Okay, my commercial is done!!!

So are we sad to leave tomorrow??? Yes. And who will know what this trip will end with--maybe a job offer and maybe not but in any case we had a fabulous week and were able to see some of this beautiful country on someone else's dime!! Can't say life gets much better than that!! We are blessed that is for sure!

Our flight leaves at 8:50 am or so tomorrow (Sunday) morning and we should get back to Minneapolis if all goes as planned by 9:30 pm Sunday night and then have the 2 hour drive back to Mason City. Chris will have to go to work the next day so he will have to be in good shape. We did really well with the jet lag coming over---didn't feel fuzzy or bad at all after we got here Saturday night so I hope if we do the same thing on the way home we will do as well. I miss my kitties and they will probably be crazed by the time we get home!!!

Will add a few pictures from today---I think they end up at the top of the blog so you will have already seen them!!! That is it from Down Under!!!

Is it REALLY Day Six?

Wow--I can not believe it has been 6 days already!!! I had a great day and Chris had a good day too so we are chilling tonight. Got room service and he had prawns and scallops (makes me sick to just type the word scallop) and I had lemon herbed chicken with pear salad which was delicious. Micah likes pictures of food so I took some for him! And we had creme brulee for dessert--I don't think I have ever had it before and I liked it!!!

So my day started at 10 when Lorrae picked me up and took me to the Reef Museum which was very neat. It is basically a replica of what kind of fishies you can see at the Great Barrier Reef without diving! It was incredible and so peaceful. I could have stayed and watched a long time. I think Chris and I are going to go back tomorrow as I want him to see it. I didn't take pictures but will tomorrow. We also went to a museum with indigenous artwork which was pretty neat. After that Lorrae asked me if I liked tea!!! What a question! She has a favorite place she goes for tea and they make it properly in a pot (no teabags) so we went there and shared a pot of tea and a slice of this luscious orange cake. YUM! I have eaten some good food here that is for sure. We talked and talked and then she offered to show me their home which I was hoping she would show me!!! It is beautiful with the most wonderful view of Townsville and the water. Guess Mark always wanted to live in this area and this 30 year old house went on the market and they were able to get it. But not without a lot of work and renovations!!! And they are still going on ! I told her I thought she won the wife of the century award because she told me all that they have gone through to get it to the point it is at now and it still is not done. But it is wonderful. The thing that strikes me here is that Australians don't have the clutter that we Americans have! Very little "things" sitting around. Very clean and uncluttered. Makes me want to go home and start throwing stuff out!!!

The highlight was meeting their cat---Phoenix who is a Bengal cat which is a domestic cat bred with an Asian leopard cat. It is AWESOME! Aaron would love him!!

http://wilderside.homemail.com.au/aboutbengalcats.htm

I fell in love with him!!!! He was simply beautiful!!! And very vocal!!! We shared cat stories and found out that he has been more costly than Buddy and his string incident because he has some bowel thing that they have to treat him for!!! So I guess we got lucky!!!

anyway, she dropped me back off at the motel and I read almost an entire book while I waited and waited for Chris to come back. That has been the hardest thing with not having my cell phone---we can't text or keep each other up to date on where we are or what we are doing!!! He finally made it back around 5:30---I was on the balcony and he had been banging on the door because his key didn't work! And I didn't hear a thing so he had to go to the desk and get them to redo his card. Well the tables turned because I left to go get ice and then MY key didn't work and I was banging!!! I heard him flush the toilet so I just waited a bit and he came to let me in then!!! Not quite sure what happened to our key cards but something! OH and they were testing the emergency system this morning which was a bit annoying after the 15th time!!!

So his day was long but good and he is feeling better about things. Spent some time with the CFO and got the real story about what is going on-----he will have to tell about that but I think he thinks there will most likely be an offer coming. But then we have to figure it out....pray about it....see if it makes sense....etc. So start praying about that if the offer does come. Nothing will move quickly though---it takes up to 2 months to get the visa and then he would give a month's notice so we are looking at a good bit down the pike if and when it would happen. I again, am taking it one day at a time and just going to pray that it is really really clear to us!

Tomorrow he is finally free!! YEA! We are going to sleep in, (yea, right) and then hit the Reef museum and then hopefully make a trip to Magnetic Island which has all kinds of great hiking trails and wildlife and something crazy like 160 species of birds! That should top off our trip. We have yet to buy souvenirs--there just has not been time for that so we will see if we can scrape anything up to bring back.

So that is the end of our Friday---hope this finds you all well!!! Final installment of the actual trip tomorrow.....

Various Pictures

Various shots----man playing a didigeridoo, Chris exhausted, shot from the place Chris stayed in southern part of Australia on Wednesday night and Chris' new favorite breakfast food!!!

Day Five in Townsville

I am a little late in posting this but I was waiting for Chris to come back last night --he got back to the hotel around 8:30 pm and the first words out of his mouth were "I am about Aussied out". It was a long two days! This must be the world's longest interview period ever!!! And he is already off this morning (it is now Friday morning here around 7:30 am) to go to the CSR offices and meet with the CFO and some others. Gut feeling at this point.....not sure. He says the mills are pretty messed up because they have not put much money into them for a years and years and not sure if they would be able to put the money in to make the differences that need to be made.

He went to a long meeting yesterday with the cane growers and said that it was pretty bad because they really got all over the CEO and it was a little embarrassing to be a guest there while he got raked over the coals. I think he was just so tired last night that he is not very positive about anything at this point so I am not going to hold my breath about moving here. He was told yesterday that there were 2 others they were considering for the job (Australians) but they had not even done the assessments (testing) on them so he isn't really sure if that is the case or not but at this point he cares! He hopes that today he will be able to come back at lunch but we will see!

Yesterday I slathered on the sunscreen and read by the pool for a bit and then walked down to the Flinders Market and shopped a bit. I found a couple stores that had some neat stuff that I want to take Chris back to if we can but we are running out of time. The shops don't stay open past 5 so if he is tied up tomorrow will be our last chance!!! I found a little place to eat and once again.....service is slow. That would take a bit of getting used to. And I had to figure out how to pay the bill by watching everyone else---they just filed it at the cash register and you told them what table you were at. Of course the waiter did not tell me a thing but I muddled through! But first I had to make sure they took credit as Chris had taken all the money we had exchanged with him and there is no need to exchange more. It is better with the dollar being what it is to charge things --less money.

I did find a bargain on a cute little white shirt and some t shirts for all you bargain shoppers out there!!! And I found a pharmacy and got some more bandaids as we are going through our stash now that Chris has a huge blister! What a mess we are! Mine are much much better.

Today I am going to go with Lorrae to the Reef Museum at 10 am which looks like a neat place to go since we won't actually be able to go to the Great Barrier Reef itself. And she said that if Chris and I wanted to go later it would still be a neat thing to see twice so that may be what we do. I think he is ready for some non business stuff about now. Let's face it---he has seen Mark every single day since we have been here and basically will have spent 4 days straight with him so I think he is about tired out!!! Poor guy! He is not as excited as I thought he would be but I think there is a lot to contribute to that---the condition of the mills being the primary thing and trying to understand the Australian culture and how they do things. It has definitely been a learning experience!!!

So I am off to hit the shower and will tell you more tonight what our day was like!!! Sorry if this is boring you to death!!! Will post a couple of pictures also so you can see some more sights!!!

Pictures of The Strand and other views!

A few scenic pictures!

Day Four in Townsville

Just got back from lunch with Lorrae and we had a fabulous time. She is quite an interesting person and I totally enjoyed our time together. We went to a great restaurant that is just down the street from the hotel--we could have walked but we drove. It was The Pier and is totally on the water which is a pretty neat thing. It is the blue building in this picture. There was one other diner while we were there the entire time so we had the best seat in the house! I dined on a salt and pepper calamari salad which was delish and sampled a drink that Lorrae drinks with lime and lemon (no alcohol) and club soda I think which was yummy too! http://www.pierrestaurantandbar.com.au/

The one thing I have learned is that they are not in a hurry here in any way! Dinners and lunches take a while---maybe 15 minutes for them to come take your order and up to half an hour to receive your food. Entrees are what we call appetizers and the main is your main course. Eating is a leisurely experience and the wait staff does not hover ---they check on you but not nearly as much as in the States which takes a little getting used to. The meal is an experience----no hurries!!!

So our conversation over the 2 1/2 hours was from talking about aboriginal people to families to shopping to racial issues ! She is a voracious reader and it shows and it was just fun to talk to her about a variety of things. We did not lack for conversation that is for sure! And when I went to pay she said that Mark told her this was a CSR lunch--no arguments! They are investing a lot into us during this trip--hope it is worth it for them!!!

So since I am a little bit toasty I am going to forgo the pool side reading and stay in room and hope that tomorrow I am not as red! The blisters are healing and now Chris has one so it was good I found some first aid cream!!! I imagine he is having a grand time walking around the plants today. I will report more later on that!!!

Day Three in Townsville

Wow---day 3 already! i hate that the picture of the shower and the toilet are turned sideways in my earlier post but I couldn't get them turned once they got posted!! Oh well. You get the idea!

Today I spent a little bit of time by the pool---well actually not even close to the pool but in the vicinity. It was very deserted which suited me just fine---put in the ipod and started reading. Too bad the book I got is one I had read before but with my memory it is brand new!!! LOL The weird thing is that the electricity went out in the room this afternoon for awhile. Even weirder is that one section, the bathroom, still had electricity but the sitting room and the bedroom were without. Very strange. The AC went on and off and finally kicked back on or else it would have been very hot since it was in the high 80's here today. I decided to just let things progress and see what happened before I got panicked and in an hour it all came back on ...very strange.

Chris had an interesting day....said the 2 plants he went to were really really messed up and if the other ones are no better there is no way he would take a job if they offered it. He said the plants were filthy and that is one of his big pet peeves. And the machinery is very old and has not been maintained well so it would make things really difficult if they were not willing to invest the money in it to fix it. Should be interesting. And Mark was not in good spirits as he had put a huge hole in his bumper of his BMW earlier in the morning as he was hooking up their Sea Doos to take them in for servicing.....guess it was an interesting ride.

We walked to a nice restaurant called SugarTrain and had garlic prawns (YUMMY) and I had a delicious Mississippi Mud for dessert with raspberries. Chris had a orange and almond cake and it was yummy too. We walked back and found a little mini mart where I got bandaids and antiseptic for my festering blisters on my feet (doesn't that conjure up images?) and some drinks and Doritos!!! Woo hoo. Figured with Chris gone for the next 2 days I needed to set in some provisions.

So since it is about 5 in the morning in Iowa I guess I will close for now. Only 8 pm here and Chris is about ready to hit the hay--poor guy.. The day did not turn out like he thought it would and he is thinking and stewing about how to fix the plants....time will tell if this is something he can do or not.

So tomorrow he heads out and I have 2 days here alone but will be going to lunch with Mark's wife sometime --probably tomorrow. Will keep you posted!!!!!!

Things that make you go...hmmmmmm

Toilets with button flushie things! oops that one is sideways!!

Water that goes the wrong way down the drain....

Outlets that you have to turn on....will the electricity leak out??


Showers that only have half doors---how does the water stay in?? Sorry the picture is sideways...I couldn't get it right!

Day Two in Townsville

We had a great day today!!! Grabbed breakfast at one of the restaurants here in the hotel and tried Vegamite. Nasty stuff in my opinion but at least I tried it! Chris pretended to like it but I noticed he only ate about half a slice of toast with it on! Mark picked us up and we headed to Billabong Sanctuary which is most likely quite a tourist place but it was the closest place we could go to see koalas and kangaroos and sea crocs so he was happy to take us. He lightened up a bit and I guess it is a good thing that we had a couple of "fun" days before they head into the plants tomorrow. So.....I got to pet a kangaroo and feed it and that was pretty cool! They are small ones--not like the big red ones that are a bit beefier. The neat thing was that the joey was in the pouch and legs were sticking out but finally a head popped out so I got to see that too!
There were all kinds of great animals there and we spent a little bit of time walking around the place. Kind of reminded me of Gatorland Zoo in Florida....
Mark was a great sport and allowed me to be a tourist---said as long as I didn't climb into the pools or anything he was okay with it. After our visit there we drove to see Townsville from a great vantage point and took some pictures. We ate lunch on the Strand at a pretty nice little cafe---they line the street and the beach and there is no shortage of places to go that is for sure. Chris and I both had the Thai Salad--not real Australian but it was what sounded good!
We decided to walk back to the hotel from the restaurant and Mark took off to finish up his "holiday" at home. It was very kind of him to spend time with us on his day off and I think it was good to for him to interact with us not in the "work"sense. At lunch he cracked me up because he opened up a sugar packet and was examining it---seeing if it was CSR sugar or not and it just reminded me of how many times Chris looked at headlamps when he worked at Corning, at glassware when he worked at Anchor Hocking and at doors most recently.
We walked back and are probably going to eat at the motel tonight and maybe hit the spa after dinner. I have huge blisters on my feet from the pair of sandals that I had to wear before my comfy ones came in my suitcase so I have been borrowing bandaids from the hotel every day! Typical.
Tomorrow starts Chris' official work / interview but of course he has to keep it "under cover" with what he is really doing and pretend that is doing consulting or else things would really be in an uproar!!! Mark made a point of emphasizing that today and we assured him that we understood! Anyway it was a fun day filled with touristy stuff but he was a good sport about dragging us around.
So another day, another blog. Not that exciting maybe but a lot of fun for us!

This is a view looking down Flinders Street where they have a market type thing on Sunday mornings that we went to. Kind of a weird thing to do on Easter morning but since my luggage was lost and all I had was one set of capri's we decided to forgo the church service and hit the town! Lots of things to buy and see--street musicians and more! Fun morning.

Our hotel in the first picture. The view out our hotel room balcony with Castle Hill in the background---we went up it yesterday--in a car! A lot of the locals run or walk it daily which makes my heart pound just to think about it!!

Day One in Townsville

We made it!!! We are here!!! After about 44 hours in airports and on airplanes we have made it to Townsville, Queensland, Australia!!! Our flights were all pretty much non eventful and we managed to sleep a little bit on the way---especially on the LA to Auckland flight which was good. Qantas is very good about feeding you and making sure you have everything you need, water, snacks, blankets, pillows, etc. so we didn't need a thing. All of the flight attendants were very nice---kind of different than flying NorthWest where I have encountered quite a few not so great flight attendants.

We all were herded onto a bus to take us to the plane in LA (after 4 gate changes) and when we crammed on we actually were talking to a guy who lives in Townsville which was actually pretty amazing since it isn't that large of a place! He and a colleague were in Las Vegas for a convention and they were both financial planners. It made me laugh-- a bunch of financial planners gambling away their clients money! He was very nice and helpful and couldn't understand why anyone would go to Townsville on holiday as there isn't much here in his opinion. Chris told him he was doing a little consulting and of course was then asked who for, etc. And since CSR is a fairly big company he tried to be vague but there was to be none of that!!! It is all good--he just told him he was helping a buddy out and looking at some processing plants for him and that seemed to satisfy the guy. I guess I didn't think that we would have to really explain anything to anyone on the way here!! Bad enough that we can't really tell anyone or be excited about it at home.

So we got into Townsville Saturday night about 9:30 pm without my suitcase which had been left in Auckland. The tracking tag came off and they were able to locate it when we were in Brisbane but of course we couldn't get it . I actually think I handled it very well----I was just grateful it was not Chris' bag! I had packed a pair of capri's and a polo shirt and sandals in my carry on along with a few toiletries so I thought I would be okay and I was! I was too tired to really care I think! Mark Day picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel where he had made sure we had one of the best rooms and a bottle of champagne greeted us which was very sweet. He is a very soft spoken man and it takes a bit to figure out the way the Australians talk but he is a very gracious man and I was just grateful he came to get us.

He brought us to our home for the week--Jupiters which is actually a casino also right on the Marina and we have fabulous views! I will try to include some pictures in this but right now it won't let me do it for some unknown reason. The hotel is very nice and after we both took steaming hot showers we fell into bed and slept until about 7 this morning which was glorious!!! We both woke up feeling really good and hopefully we won't be too jet lagged.

We ate breakfast in the room and then walked about town for about an hour and half. We had planned to find a church to go to Easter services but my lack of appropriate clothing kind of nixed that so instead we wandered down Flinders Street and took in the market that they hold there every Sunday which was pretty neat---street musicians and lots of stalls set up with things for sale and things to look at. It was a grand morning and by the time I was done I knew that yes--- I would need bandaids as my feet have not seen a pair of sandals for months and the ones I chose to stick in my carry on were not ones that were totally broken in yet---big mistake!!! Oh well.

Mark and his wife Lorrayne ( or some such spelling) picked us up for a late lunch and we went to an open air restaurant where Chris had this HUGE fish with a head on it---barramundi which he said was excellent. I chose more of tartlet with mushrooms and pine nuts and had a much easier time eating it along with some prawns. Yummy. We had good conversation but it is definitely different than US conversations plus there were a few awkward moments---like when Mark asked me if something were to happen what questions would I have about living in Australia. Hmmmm---don't really know!!!

All in all a very nice lunch and they are definitely a much more laid back culture than we Americans are. They do not seem to be in a rush and especially since it was Easter holiday I was surprised that they wanted to spend so much time with us but it was greatly appreciated. We then took a drive (and yes driving on the wrong side of the road does take a lot of getting used to---don't know if I could ever figure that one out with all the round abouts and all) and went to Castle HIll which looks over Townsville. It was beautiful and quite a sight but of course I had not stuck a camera in when I left so the pictures are in my mind!! We drove around a bit and chatted and Mark seemed to lighten up a bit----he was so willing to take us anywhere and do anything which was very kind. Tomorrow he is going to pick us up and take us to the Billabong Sanctuary which I am sure is a very touristy thing to do but he asked me what I wanted to do and I do want to see kangaroos and koalas and crocs!!! Hopefully it will be a good experience!

And the good news is my luggage showed up here around 5 pm so I am ready to roll with clothes and toiletries and shoes!! YEA!

I know I probably am boring you all to death but post some comments if you like!!! We are having a blast and I think Chris is pretty relaxed about the whole week at this point and will just see how the mills are and how much work they need!!!

More tomorrow from down under!!!

We are ready to go!!!

The suitcases are packed and we are doing the last minute things to get ready for our trip to Australia. The cats are running around trying to figure out what is going on and I am marking off the lists!!! It is going to be a looooonnnngggg trip but one that will hopefully be wonderful. I am so glad that Chris and I are going to be able to do this together----it would be a bummer for me if he went by himself and I got left behind so I am grateful that I get to tag along.

I amazed myself and was able to pack in one suitcase and a carryon. Granted it is a LARGE suitcase but still. It helps that it is going to be in the high 70's and 80's so there is not a big need to pack sweaters!!!

I will try to keep this updated, take pictures and will post them here and on Picasa for those of you who would like to view them! Keep us in your prayers, please!!!!

This is where I am hoping to spend some time while Chris is interviewing!!!!

Townsville

Thought I would find a couple of pictures of Townsville so that you could have some idea of what it looks like. These pictures won't do it justice I am sure but maybe it will give you some idea of where we will be in a few short days!

Palm Sunday

So today is Palm Sunday and we didn't have too much of a triumphant entry in church today and it makes me wonder why!! I always thought that was the great part of Holy Week was the beginning of it so I guess I was a little bit disappointed in that. Maybe it is because a lot of people don't participate in the other services during Holy Week and so they want everyone to understand it today or something. I don't know.

Buddy and Holly were in the paper today----slow news day in Mason City. Article was on empty nesters and their pets and of course they were a result of our empty nest. Buddy was very photogenic and Holly did not cooperate so she is in the very background of the picture. I am sure Chris is going to get ribbed at work tomorrow. I tried to keep him out of the article but I imagine there will be some who see and comment to him on it.

Getting ready for our trip-----lots to do,lots to do!!!

And not be outdone...

Buddy and Chris

Special Cat

Our "special" cat...

Let's Try This!!!

So I am going to try this whole blog thing so that I can chronicle my life for you all. Of course that is going to take all of about 2 seconds but I thought with our exciting trip coming up it would be a good way to journal all of our exciting adventures. Let me know what you think!