Monday, September 22, 2008

Extended Stay!

   This has been in the works for a while, but I've been putting off posting on this until everything was official - I'll now be staying in Perth until the end of January.  I just got my visa approval today, my flights have been changed and I have support to stay on as an intern working on my thesis research at CSIRO until then.  It's all very exciting, albeit a wee bit sad as I do miss my friends and kitty and it would be nice to only be one time zone away from my parents, but a good experience nonetheless.  This will be my first time in a foreign country for more than three months!  Wow!  Thankfully, it is starting to feel a bit like home and the adjustment isn't as pronounced as, say, Japan or Austria…
   So, stay tuned for several more months of updates from Down Under and start planning your Christmas/New Year's vacations in Oz! :)  I will return to Fairbanks on February 6 (LATE) after a brief visit to New Zealand.  Sorry, only a 2.5 hour layover in Seattle!

Yard work extravaganza

Phew - I wish I had before and after photos of this weekend's amazing efforts in the back garden. Rob and I spent nearly 5 hours pruning, ripping, sawing and dragging a pile of vines, branches and overgrown vegetation the size of a VW Bus out of the back corner of the yard. I swear there's 1/2 again as much backyard as I previously was aware of. I learned a whole lot about the appropriate way to prune a lemon tree and unearthed about a half billion centipedes - eeew.  Rob was a total Super Star!Thus, a day's rest was required to recover from our efforts and the massive storm forced us to stay inside. What a perfect opportunity to go out and see WALL-E! (yes, it's only just come out here) Absolutely loved it, although was a little disappointed by the limited chuckles.

Now we're gearing up for a big three-day weekend away - more adventures ahead!


Friday, September 12, 2008

Wildflower Weekend

    


                            

    




A little 4WD-ing, off-roading, wildflower fun.  Woo hoo - we were only lost for a few hours…  Rob and I found a fantastic abundance of wildflowers blooming in the bush north of Perth, took tons of photos, did a little car camping, and saw a bunch of cool sights.


Sunday, September 7, 2008

City to Surf - 12 km fun run

It's taken an awfully long time to get the results back from the race I did last Sunday, but I suppose anything involving tens of thousands of people could take a while to process.  There were several runs/walks on that morning - a half marathon, a 12 km run/walk, an 11 km wheelchair race, and a 4 km walk.  All were to benefit special needs programs in W.A.  

I don't have any photos of my own, but there are some online at http://citytosurf.activ.asn.au/1/3250/3179/photo_gallery.pm

Out of 24,570 finishers in the 12 km run/walk, I placed 2,179th, which sounds rather crap, however I was the 230th woman and 94th in my age category (female 19-29).  Considering how little running I've done since last May, I don't think 58 minutes and 37 seconds is too shabby.  Now, had I actually managed to find my friend Leah at the starting line, I may have fared much better with someone to run with - she finished 431st as the 29th woman and 12th in our category with a time of 51 minutes 18 seconds.  Way to go, Leah!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Araluen Botanic Park



    Originally established in 1929 as a holiday camp for the Young Australian League, Araluen is a little piece of Eden just outside of Perth.  Rob and I wanted to get out and enjoy the great outdoors this weekend, but I was worried that a long hike would trigger my plantar fasciitis and leave me pretty miserable for the City to Surf fun run on Sunday.  So, we pulled out the Lonely Planet and worked out that this is pretty much prime time for flowers in WA and headed to this little gem less than an hour's drive away.

   Since I'm a total sucker for gardens wherever I travel, I always try to keep 
my expectations low, so as not to feel that it's been a waste of time/money - Araluen, however, wasn't in any danger of disappointing anyone's hopes.  Rob, being even more of plant aficionado

 than I, was truly in heaven, pointing out all of the native Australian varieties and savoring every blossom.