A Proper Send- Off

June 17th, 2014

Monday was a very busy day. I was working on a scholarship application, while studying, doing laundry, packing and cleaning. I finally got a break at dinner time. Instead of bible study we decided to all go out together to celebrate Jenny's time in Australia. We went to a Thai restaurant called "Brown Rice." The food was alright and the company was great. Beck and I laughed together most of the night, even when we were in Frost Bite for ice- cream. I stayed up late to finish my application and to skype with a friend from home.

Tuesday (Today)

I had the best morning talking to Eric. It is the last time we were going to be able to Facetime until I get back from my holiday. We ended up talking for a few hours just laughing and being goofy, just like how it is when we are together!

<3 <3

I was able to get about an hour of studying done before Nick started packing up his room. He is transferring to another Deakin campus for the next trimester.

 Nick packing up his car...

All of us, girls sat outside and watched him pack up the car not helping. It was our way of protesting.

Will came over and we devised a plan to keep Nick here... well at least slow him down from leaving. 

 Cling Wrap... don't worry we were not destructive in anyway.

Will trying to steal his stuff to put back in his room. 

Even the plovers wanted Nick to stay...

 They chased him back into the house

One of the maintenance men had to stop by a look over Nick's room before we left. We jokingly asked him to find something wrong so he wouldn't be allowed to leave, however he checked Nick off. As he was leaving he saw Nick's car. He stood outside our house staring at his car in bewilderment for about a minute then walked away chuckling and shaking his head. Lauren and I were laughing uncontrollably.

Some final photos....

We sent Nick off with a promise of visiting him and helped him clean off his car so he could drive safely home. The only evidence that was left behind was a paper towel weaved into the rim of the tire, courtesy of Will. 

I studied for a couple more hours before I headed over to Holly's to pick up some things she is leaving for the next group of international students. It is her last full day in Warrnambool, so I took a ride with her and Maggie into town for her final tour. It is incredible how time if flying. Here are some photos of the Timor Walkway we found for the first time today.

When I returned to uni, I studied for the rest of the evening and finished up my laundry. Tomorrow is my last final exam for the trimester! Two hours after my exam I will be getting on the train to catch my flight to Cairns. I cannot express my excitement in words, I do have a pretty funny happy dance though! I am going to be fulfilling my childhood dream of SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef in less than a week. How amazing is that!?!?! I won't have any blog posts for the next two weeks, but when I return I will hopefully have amazing photos of my adventures in Cairns and Sydney!!!

Musical Weekend

June 15th, 2014

Saturday morning started off with my usual visit to the gym. Afterwards, I was getting ready for my performance with Sonia and the Gideon's Auxiliary meeting. Sonia's aunt was one of the organisers of the event and asked us to play a couple numbers. We did a flute oboe duet of "Low, the Way is Low," "Over the Rainbow", and "Pie Jesu." It went very well. We were also able to eat lunch with the ladies. I met some wonderful people and they were excited to know that I was from the United States. 

Right after this event, I was on my way to church to practice the songs we were singing on Sunday. Practice went very well. I do have to say it is very strange to hear myself singing. By the time rehearsal was done, I needed a nap.

Sonia invited me to come with her to a Chaplaincy fundraiser dinner. Her brother was unable to make it so they had a spare ticket. So I was the "cuter version of Jacob for the night." It took place at St. Brigid's in Koroit. It is in the middle of no where really. It used to be an old Catholic church but when the numbers become to small the Vatican tried to sell it. The community of  Koroit ended up purchasing it to preserve its history. They now use it for different community functions. 

For the beginning of the night, we started off in the hall across from the church. We got a schedule for the evening and shared the first part of the meal. The meal theme for the evening was Moroccan. The soup was a shredded beef stew with a sweet and savoury pastry. It was delicious... or as the Aussies say "beautiful!"

While they prepared for the main course, we went over to the church to hear some local singers perform.

This choir sings about the environment and social justice. 

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/XNSydsnJ1Fs

The part in the video where everyone starts laughing is when the begin singing the lyrics "Don't frack around in our backyard, our backyard, our backyard, don't frack around in our backyard, our backyard is green.

After the performances, it was time for the main course. When I was being served he woman asked me what my name was and how I spelled it. She immediately picked up on my American accent and said that her name was Katy like the Katydids we have in America. At the table I asked Sonia if my accent was really that strong. She said yes.

I cannot tell you want the names are of the different foods we tried, but I can describe them. We had a chicken drum stick with a yellow sauce (turmeric), beef strips with a dark spicy sauce, carrot covered pineapple, couscous, and a salad. For dessert, it was a it cream and fruit jelly over coconut fibres. The meal was... "beautiful!"

The end of the evening entertainment was a raffle and auction. The auctioneer was very funny. He must have had friends at the front because when things weren't having bids he would put the bid on them and up the price $20 at a time until some one else bid. There was also a man that sat in front of us and bid on an item. When it was sold to him, the auctioneer knew his name, but asked for his number. The man replied "007." I was laughing so hard! This event is definitely unique, but lots of fun!  

Sunday

At four in the morning, the rain was pelting down. It seems to rain everyday now. I was very dreary when my alarm went off so I stayed snuggled up in bed until the very last moment I could before getting ready for church. Ben could tell I was still waking up when I was warming up for singing. The service went a lot better though.

When I got home, I Facetimed with my family for a couple hours. It was Father's Day so I wished my dad a happy day.. early. It isn't Father's Day in Australia until September, so I will have to find a cheeky card then and send it home. 

The rest of the day I spent studying and working on a scholarship application. At dinner time, all my housemates took a break and had a family dinner. Nick is going to a different Deakin campus next trimester so we thought it would be good to have one last family dinner with him. Then it was back to studying until bed.

Friday the 13th

June 13th, 2014

This morning was my first morning on Whale Watching duty. I got up early to run to the platform to meet Jenny, Ben, Corie, and Jason. A kilometre into my run my legs really tighten up so I had to slow the pace but I eventually got there (luckily on time). Ten minutes in we saw...

 Dolphins!!

https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/GAcHzvEJbjZ

We think they are common dolphins. There were four of them moving east. 

We watched for the rest of the hour and didn't see anything else. Unless, you count a bird watching us watching for whales.

 I got a ride home with Corie and Jason. When we got to our house at uni, we cut through the front lawn to get to the door. The plovers were not happy. We realised they have laid their egg.

Mum and Dad... I don't know how to tell the difference between male and female plovers

Here is what they sound like when something is too close...

The rest of the afternoon I studied for my next exam on Wednesday. In the evening, after tea, Sonia came over and we practiced for our performance tomorrow. Nick and Robyn came a listened to the end. They said it sounded really good. 

It wouldn't be Friday the 13th without a thunderstorm. Nick, Robyn and I talked for an hour or so and watched the lightning strikes. The relaxed a bit before heading to bed to rest up before all my activities the next day. 

Coonawarra Wineries

June 12, 2014

Ben and his family invited me to come along with them to Coonawarra. It is an area in South Australia that has over a two dozen wineries. It was a early start on a gloomy day, but good conversation made the trip there feel short. It is about 3 hours away from Warrnambool. 

The first winery we stopped at was Rymill. It is winter here, so all the vines were cut back but the area still was beautiful.

 We were able to go on a platform and look in the cellar. The horizontal vats are for red wines while the up- right ones are for white wines. It was pretty chilly in this part of the winery.  

The Rymill family has a "long and important connection with wine  and horses [and] is honoured by the presence of  our Stallions Rampant." - Brouchure. This statue is image on the winery's labels. One of the wines we tasted was call the Dark Horse. It was a Cabernet Sauvignon. It is names after Judy' Rymill horse Adlai. "He was the most handsome steed in the Victorian mounted Police, he always led their parades, until he developed the unfortunate habit of bucking his commanding officer off at the most inappropriate moments." Judy saved him from the knackery and began a riding career with Adlai. They went to the Rome Olympics in 1960. I did like the wine but I didn't love it. I am still not in love with red wines. I did love the Botrytis Gewurztraminer! I am a sweet wine kind of girl right now.

The next winery we went to was... 

I had had one of their wines, "The Musician", before with Ben's family. Their sparkling Shiraz was my favourite wine that I tasted there. They also had the cutest little lambs outside! 

We took a break for lunch. We needed something to eat after all the wine we had already had. We went to the Royal Oak Hotel and Restaurant. The food was really good. I had a gourmet chicken burger and chips (how American of me). The restaurant's design made you feel like you had dropped back into the early 1900s. I thought is was funny how it is the Royal Oak hotel yet the moulding had red maple leaves. 

After lunch we were off to the next winery...

 8 liters of wine... this is what Ben get excited about!

The woman who was serving us the samples was so excited I was from America. She was asking me I had all been so far and giving me some other places to look into. She was very excited for me. 

My favourite wine from this winery

Next stop...

This winery had sooo many wines to try. I have actually seen some of their wines in Dan Murphy's and almost bought one, but I never did. Now I know which ones I like! I really enjoyed the Sauvignon Blac, 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Jessie Botrytis Semillon. By this winery, I was starting to understand and taste the differences in the wine. I began to be able to predict was it should taste like based on the variety. 

The next winery is what Ben describes as the BEST winery in Coonawarra.

 My favouite wine here was the "Cheeky Red" for the taste and the name. It is a Cabernet Sauvignon.

This winery was also impressive for the beauty. There were roses all over the estate and at each end of the rows of grapes. I would love to visit it in the warmer months when everything is blossoming and the grapes are green.

The final stop was at his Dad's favourite winery...

My favourite wine here was the Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This area of Australia is sometimes called the Red Wine capital. The soil type is "Terra Rossa" (red earth). In the winter time is is hard to see how red the soil is because of the green grasses. This soil type is conducive to growing the cabernet sauvignon grapes. These wines are some of the best in the world. So at least I caught on to the good wines. Many of the wines we tastes are given scores in the high 90s. It was a very interesting and yummy experience for me. I at least feel I kind of know what wines I like and the I know the wines I don't like.

These are the two wines I bought

We made our way back to Warrnambool and ended up ordering pizza for dinner. Ben's mom and I went through the songs I will be singing in church on Sunday. Even Ben made the comment I am starting to sing for my dinner. It is fun to be getting back into music again. Then we watched Dark Shadows. It was not what I was expecting it to be, but it was a good movie.

  

Winter Flowers

June 11th, 2014

Today was an easy going day. The Antarctic winds were blowing in making it a good day to study and relax with my housemates. In the afternoon, I took a break and walked around campus taking pictures of the flowers that are in bloom right now. 

The rest of the evening... I relaxed and studied a bit more. Not much excitement today, but at least it was a good day for photos.