the middle...

Following our trip to the beach on Tuesday, Bryce and I decided it was time to start looking for a suit for him to wear at the wedding - that turned out to be a lengthy task, and so we turned it into a trip to the city as well, which allowed me to do some shopping and see Melbourne again. It was a lot of fun, and now I know much more about suits than I did before (which was basically nothing).

Here is Bourke Street Mall where no cars are allowed and pedestrians rule the street except for the occasional tram:


A musician performing, but the real star was the old gentleman dancing away:

One of the historic shopping arcades in Melbourne's CBD:

The Royal Exhibition Centre at the Carlton Gardens:

In the end we did find Bryce a lovely suit and I got to see a bit more of my other home away from home!

beach day - Tuesday May 30

aerochuting: the world's next olympic sport?

Yesterday I went Aerochuting. What is that, you ask? Picture a go-kart with a large propellor on the back and a parachute on the top that allows you to fly. The whole idea still makes me chuckle, but it was actually really fun. Bryce's dad has taken this up as his new hobby and is in the process of getting his full license, so I flew with his instructor Steve. It's actually pretty cold here, and I was grateful for the snowsuit they gave me to wear, because being a few hundred feet above the ground creates a significant drop in temp.

Here I am looking like the Michelin Man (or from a scene from Top Gun? No?):

Just before takeoff:

Taking off:

and finally, flying high! :

the beginning...

Firstly I'd like to start this post by congratulating my cousin Jen and her husband on the first addition to their family - a beautiful baby girl named Jamie Lynne Matto! I look forward to meeting her upon my return to Toronto.

So... the flight from Toronto to LA was boring - they played a bad movie and wanted to charge me $2 for a headset to hear it, so I chose to stare out the window instead. I think my decision was the better one too, since I could actually trace our route across the states', and thereby do a backwards version of my 2004 roadtrip with Bryce. We passed over Chicago, then Des Moines, Omaha, Lincoln Nebraska (yeehaw - I love the word Nebraska), then south over Colorado, Utah, over the Grand Canyon (it was sunset by the time we passed over and it was lovely to see again!), then west over California into LA.

I called my grandparents from LAX but could only talk a short while since my cell phone's roaming fees are really expensive - but it was worth it to speak to them again. I tried getting a calling card from one of the airport's kiosks, but they were $10 for 30 minutes, even for Orange County, and 11 of those minutes were taken away as a 'user charge'. Figures. I felt really guilty being so close - maybe a 45 min drive from them - and yet there wasn't an opportunity for me to see them. It's the first time I've been to California (albeit briefly) and not seen any of my family. :(

Waiting for the Qantas flight to Melbourne felt like forever. Firstly I was so worried that LAX was going to lose my luggage since I had to change terminals and that airport is so busy. Then there was only 1 food kiosk in the entire terminal once you checked in. 1 food kiosk for the international flight terminal!!! Maybe they figure we'll be fed fairly well during the flight, I don't know. The flight itself was better than I had anticipated - the movies were descent, there was an extra seat between me and another passenger, and there were no screaming kids or people with colds nearby. The time did drag on, however: after falling asleep, taking off, waking up and eating a meal, watching an entire movie and sleeping for about 4 hours, there was still 9 hours left in the flight!

After being held at immigration for a while as the officials scratched their heads in regards to me (they couldn't come up with any other reason than my middle initial wasn't written on my Visa, so they had to clarify things for about 10-15 mins... sure...), I was able to wait another 30 minutes for luggage delays (yes, mine did arrive) and go through security / customs. Apparantly the rules have changed since I last arrived in Australia - they now send all luggage through the x-rays to see if what you wrote on your customs form is accurate to what you are bringing into the country. Would they be able to spot an apple in my bags if I said I didn't bring in any fruit? Not sure, but these Aussies are thorough!

It was so nice to see Bryce again after almost 5 months since our January visit - it's even more exciting to see him now since we're finally able to enjoy our engagement in person, instead of doing the long distance thing. The first order of business: shopping! ;) Next item on the list: a long nap. I woke up to the sound of Bryce's neighbours coming over to see me - I'm sure I looked positively stunning with my messy hair (ok, messier than the normal messiness), and inability to focus for about 10 minutes. In many ways it fels as though I never left Australia - I can remember where the shops are, general directions, road rules, etc. The only thing I found funny to get re-acquainted to was the slang - fair dinkum, tucker, etc. Silly Aussies...

Instead of going up to the mountains to a cabin as planned (it's winter here, and as much as I love snow...), we decided to go and see some of my favourite places nearby. First we went on a hike in the Dandenong hill ranges about 20 minutes away from Bryce's house:

A cool fern shot:

We then went on a drive through the Yarra Valley wine region and stopped at Badger's Creek (same place we took Haran when he was out last year). We walked around and Bryce took some water shots with his new camera, and then he proposed to me 'properly' with a ring and everything! I was actually surpised, since I didn't think he'd do it for several more days, but I'm certainly not complaining! :)

Yarra Valley:

Badger's Creek, pre-proposal: ;)

The Black Spur region:

one more day

I'm at work right now and can't wait to get home and start packing (late, as per usual) for my trip to Australia!!! I leave Tuesday afternoon and get back on June 7th - only 2 weeks I know, but I can't take any more vacation time at the moment because of certain events taking place at the end of the summer. I'm really happy that I'll be able to see Bryce, his family, and Australia again so soon after leaving (it's been a little over 9 months now). It has felt like a really long time in terms of seeing Bryce of course (2 weeks of the past 9 months), but I hadn't expected to return to Oz for at least another 6months to 1 year. Oh well - I'm certainly not complaining!!

I'll try to post photos of new and interesting things so that I won't repeat my earlier blog entries - I'm sure I won't have any trouble finding such things to post.

See you all again soon, and this time I'll have my other half with me too!!! ;)

a little bit of Australia

Bryce's cousin Clare was here this past weekend for a short, but excellent, visit. It was so nice to see Clare again, as I haven't spent a great deal of time with her since I was living with her in Sydney in 2004. I had forgotten how well we get along! Saturday was spent doing touristy things around the city, which was surprisingly fun since I hadn't done that in a long time. We walked around downtown, stopping at the CN tower / Skydome (Roger's Centre, whatever), King St, Spadina, Queen St (aka shopping!!), the Eaton Centre (more shopping), and then down to the Distillery District which I had never visited before. It's a neat place, but still has a lot of space in which to grow. Saturday night we headed to the Panorama bar at the top of the Manulife Centre so that Clare could have a good view of the city, since going up to the top of the CN Tower has become a little too pricey. It was fun, but cold as we were out on the patio.

Sunday was spent relaxing and going out for lunch with my mom and sister (Clare has now met her future aunt and cousin-in-law... he he), and then she was off to Calgary to do a 5 day tour through the Rockies. It seems that every member of Bryce's family will have seen the Rockies by September, and yet I have never been there myself.

My Visa was finally approved thanks to some hassling on Bryce's part, and so I'm getting ready to go in just over 1 week! Right now I'm working a lot to make up some missed shifts while I'm gone, which I suppose is a good thing because it makes the time go by faster.

coincidence?

Sometimes I start to think too much about things like fate, luck, and coincidence. Eventually the topics get me really confused and I end up ignoring my inner monologue in order to stay somewhat sane. For example: after work last week, I walked from the hospital to Union Station where I was catching a train home to Mississauga. Instead of walking straight down Yonge St as I normally would, I decided on a whim to walk across King and down Bay. Half way down King St I looked up and saw a friend of mine (Haran and Bryce, you would appreciate this - it was Dan), so I stopped to chat with him for a few minutes before continuing on my way. It's just interesting to think about the possibility that there may be many people I know right within the same vicinity as myself at any given time, and it's just chance or fate or something that I choose a certain path and happen to run into them. If I had continued down Yonge St, would I have run into someone else I know? Is another friend of mine 5 minutes ahead of me down Bay? Who knows?

On a totally different note, I would like to comment on the fun I had on Saturday night for the housewarming/St Patty's Day party Heather and I had. Thanks so much to everyone who came out - I hope you had a good time and were able to meet many new people. I'd like to try to have another gathering sometime during the summer so that more of you can attend. And hey, maybe Heather's friend will bring that dip that kept Paul from leaving for a whole 15 minutes. :)