Tagged!

Ok, so Kristi tagged me to write 6 things about myself on my blog. I saw something like this on facebook recently as well, except that you had to write 24 things about yourself. I'm not sure I could think of 24 things to write, well at least not 24 things that I want just anyone to know! But, I figure 6, I can handle, so here goes...

1. I'm losing interest in my blog. I know I've been doing it for years and it's an awesome way to keep record of all we've been experiencing in our life, but lately I'm just not that into it. I'm not sure if it's because I'm just going through a stage where there isn't really anything I want to share, or if I'm just finding other creative things to do instead, that I enjoy more. I'm wondering if I have just got to a point where I want to spend my free time living life and not just writing about it at the computer. Whatever the reason, I guess time will tell and in the meantime, I'm only going to post if I truly feel like it. I'm trying to take the word "should" out of my vocabulary. I'm always pressuring myself with all the things I "should do" and then if I don't get them done, I feel guilty. I don't want the blog to be another "should".

2. I don't like the word "hate" and try to never use it. I remember my Mom telling me once when I was little that the word "hate" is a very strong word and that I should say "strongly dislike" instead. For some reason that stuck with me and I have always tried not to say it. I think I might slip up sometimes, but I catch myself when I do and make a mental note to try not to use it again.

3. Having said that, I strongly dislike being too hot or too cold. I don't do extremes well. I think if I were to live in the perfect place, it would be 25 degrees everyday and no cooler than 15 degrees at night. That would be great!

4. I am so in love with my dog, Jesse. I have always liked animals but never really understood the whole "Man's best friend" thing until I had my own dog. I understand this more and more as Jesse gets older and closer to us. I remember my cousin, Kathy and her husband, Joe telling us that we'd notice Jesse getting more affectionate with us as he grows older and it's so true. Jesse is a bit spoiled, doesn't always come when called and loves to do inappropriate things at the most embarrassing times, but he's just perfect for us. He's taught me so much about love, and patience and just the importance of enjoying the simply things in life.

5. I love cleaning my house. Not just the feeling of having the house clean once I've spent hours doing it, but the whole process of it. I find it cleanses my mind and soul. It really changes the energy in the house and me! I just wish I had more time in a day to happily do it!

6. I really wish I could eat anything I want without getting a tummy ache. I'm not even talking junk food, but it would just be so nice to go to a restaurant and pick anything on the menu without having to triple think about how I'll feel later. I miss living like that, when food wasn't something I had to spend so much time thinking and worrying about.

Okay, that's my 6. I just wrote them as they came to me, so there's no particular order. What's your 6 things? Feel free to share if you like...

Quick update...

It's been a busy week this week, but a good one. School started this week in Australia (weird to get used to that!) and so work has been really busy, but it's been good. I like being busy at work, it makes the time fly and feels much more challenging! Having the kids back at school means back to working split shifts, which I find pretty exhausting. Long days that get you up early (5:45 am) and home late (6:45 pm), so I've been pooped getting used to that routine again and have really enjoyed lazy evenings of movies, walks with Steve and Jes by the river and early bedtimes. BUT, I chatted with my boss today and we both agreed the split shift thing stinks AND...we're changing it!!! I'm going to be working much better hours starting next week, which is awesome!!! It's been a good week for sure. Looking forward to a great weekend! Oh, and I am DETERMINED to finish posting our Tasmania trip this weekend, so stay tuned:)

Inspiration

I haven't been feeling very inspired these days. There's been a lot going on with Steve's work and we've both been feeling pretty drained. But, today I feel more motivated than I have in awhile. I have been reading the cutest little book called "Living Juicy, Daily Morsels for your Creative Soul" by an author named Sark. It puts a smile on my face and makes me want to rush outside, swing on a swing and laugh out loud. Great little book.

I also saw a naturopath/nutritionist this past week who think I may be allergic to food with histamines in them. That's things like tomatoes, citrus fruit, alcohol, bananas, vinegar, etc...Could explain why I still get headaches, sinus pain and tummy aches. I've cut them out of my diet, along with going gluten free rather than just wheat free and for one month I am completely avoiding sugar. Even natural sugar, so no fruit, honey or maple syrup. It's kind of fun and I love that it's making me get creative with my cooking again! This morning for breakfast I made dairy free buckwheat pancakes with mixed berries (I can have berries, just not strawberries) that I heated on the stove and sheep's yogourt, which is surprisingly delicious and doesn't give me a belly ache like cow's milk! Give it a try...sheep's feta is also yummy! I like it better than cow's feta in salads!

And lastly, this morning I had a pretty good laugh when my number one inspiration and I had a little conversation while snuggling on the bed, as it poured rain outside. Here's how it went...

Cari: "Isn't it interesting to think that we will never live this exact moment ever again?"
Steve: "What do you mean?"
Cari: "Well, this exact moment in time right now, we should make the very best of it because it will never occur again. Ever."
Steve: "Should I fart?"
Cari: Bursts out laughing at the simplicity of the thought and has absolutely nothing to say in return.

What guy, that Steve of mine:)

PS. Hopefully, this attitue means I'll be motivated to start posting again!

A must read blog!!!

I really want everyone to have a look at this blog...

http://www.sarahlk.blogspot.com/

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Sarah at my current job and have really found her to be a true inspiration. She has a passion for helping those in need in Africa, and after starting her own charity to raise money that she puts directly back into communities there, she has visited a couple of times, ensuring that the money goes where it is meant to. She has just left to go back to Africa at the beginning of this year and is writing of her experiences on her blog. It's absolutely amazing the work she is doing and the difference that she is making to so many people. She is such a ray of sunshine and I so admire her strength and positively.
Be sure to check it out, it's worth the read!

I just posted day 5 of our trip, but because I had started it a few days ago, and only just edited it today, it posted it further down on my blog. Scroll down to see...:)

FYI

In case you were ever wondering what the fine is for "failing to stop at a stop sign" in Brisbane Australia......its $300....

Now you know, and so do I.

Steve (thank you officer) Dickinson

A work in progress...

I haven't forgot about the blog but it's been very busy and very tiring adjusting to work this week after such a lovely and relaxing holiday! I still have lots to share and hopefully will get a chance to do some more over the weekend. Part of my new year goal for 2009 is to relax and rest when I feel I need it and not push myself to do things that can wait, so I figure the blog can wait for now...

Videos! Take a break from reading and pictures and enjoy some videos!

Found this little Echidna on the side of the road
on the way back to Hobart.

Wombat! Saw this huge guy in Cradle Mountain....They were everywhere.



Tiger snake at Cradle Mountain.






Wine Glass Bay, it was amazing..... The video doesn't do it justice.



The videos below and the one above were all taken during our Tasman Island Wild and Rugged boat tour by Sealife Experience.
http://www.sealife.com.au/
It was a fantastic tour we both really enjoyed it and highly recommend it to anyone that is in the Port Arthur, Tasmania area.

Tasmania: Day 5: Christmas Day, Coles Bay, Wineglass Bay, Penguins!

We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning on Christmas Day. Steve and I exchanged presents and had a nice Christmas breakfast before heading off to Freycinet National Park for an 11 km hike. We bumped into Santa on the way, who was riding the back of a fire truck and throwing candy to the kids who had gathered in their pjs at the end of the driveways to greet him. He even threw us some candy that landed in our van. It was pretty cute:)

Of course the hike was beautiful...amazing views.

Steve?

We hiked to Wineglass Bay...the beach was rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world by a US magazine...it was gorgeous!

Just as we walked onto the beach, we saw a wallaby munching away. He was just chilling out...it almost seemed staged, it was just so perfect!

The water was very cold, so I only put my feet in...

...but of course, Steve went snorkeling...

We continued on our hike, which lead us to another beach called Hazard Beach...

...it was just as beautiful, Steve actually liked this beach more than Wineglass...

Not sure if I was supposed to but I collected lots of beautiful shells with perfect holes in them for jewelery making!

We met a little old lady from Holland, who was traveling alone. She was doing the same hike as us, all by herself. She must have been at least 75 years old and I swear she was in better shape than me!!! We walked a little of the way with her and she was fast! Steve and I couldn't believe it!!

We saw a tiger snake on the path, but it left pretty quickly when we came around. I read in my Tasmania book that there are only 3 kinds of snakes in Tassie (tiger snake included) and they are all very poisonous!

Christmas dinner...nachos! Yum! I was just super impressed that we could make nachos in a camper van! It had a grill!

After dinner we took a drive to a town called Bicheno. Dan and Amy told us we could see penguins there at dusk, so we found the town, found a beach, asked some locals where the best spot would be to see some (they said anywhere...the penguins go right through the town!), found a spot and waited...

The beach was deserted and cold! I can not tell you how much it felt like home. I could have been sitting on an East Coast of Canada beach! It reminded me a lot of when Steve and I first started dating and we would go to the beach:)

I bundled up for the wait! After staring at the ocean for awhile and wondering what we should be looking for, we suddenly started to see little black bird like shapes popping up on the water. Then, as we were watching, they started waddling out of the water, gathering together in groups on the beach and making their way up the beach to their burrows. Steve and I sat so frozen on the rocks, right in the middle of them! They would walk right past us and snuggle in the rocks we were sitting on! It was absolutely amazing. By far the best part of our entire trip. Steve and I were snuggled up so close, trying so hard not to move and risk scaring them, that minutes would pass and I would realize that I had hardly breathed! I just loved that we were able to be a little part of nature and experience a piece of the penguins nightly routine, so first hand! Those little penguins were so, so cute! The perfect end to our Christmas Day! We have no pictures because we didn't want to use our camera and scare the little guys, but it's definitely something we will never forget!

Tasmania: Day 4: Doo Town, Tasman Island Boat Trip, Port Arthur, Christmas Eve

Day 4 of our trip was a busy one, so this is a long post! Just a heads up!
We left Port Arthur and drove 30 minutes to a town called Doo Town. The name has created quite a theme in the town and all the houses there have a name on them related to the town's name. So, for example...Doo Mee (like the sign above) and Wattle-I-Doo (below). These were just a couple, every house had one.

Even the fish and chips place was called "Doo-Lishus". They also claim to have the best fish and chips in the world. It was pretty good! A fisherman catches the fish each morning and brings it to them, so it's fresh each day. I liked the way it was wrapped like a bouquet!

In Doo Town, we took a boat cruise to Tasman Island and back. It took about 3 hours but seemed to fly by because there was just so much to see! The coastline was absolutely amazing, with caves in the rocks and we saw hundreds of seals, lots of birds and dolphins, who liked playing around our boat.

Getting ready to leave...not too cold yet...

The coastline. It looked like this pretty much the whole way, except it got taller!

We saw the tallest cliff in the southern hemisphere.

Sea kelp.

The boat was able to go inside some of the caves. That was pretty cool! This was taken from inside one of them...

This is one of the fishing tour boats. If you look closely, you can see that the boat is named "Big Pig", apparently after his ex-wife. Charming.

Waterfall. We saw a couple of them, but nothing like what they used to have years ago, many of them have dried up.

These rocks were called "Thumbs".

"Candle stick" (big one in the middle) and "Totem Pole" (small one on the right, just sticking out). People do rock climbing on these.

We saw both New Zealand fur seals and Australian fur seals...

The shorter one in this picture is the "totem pole" again...better view of it, from the other side.

We saw a few albatross birds. They can get absolutely HUGE!

The boat tour guide said that every 5 minutes, somewhere in the world, an albatross drowns getting caught in fishermen's long lines that have bait on them. Sad.

Tasman Island.

They call this area the bachelor pad because it's where all the male seals hang out. There were hundreds of them there! They were fun to watch dive into the water and struggle their way up onto the rock! So cute!

Tasman Island used to have someone living on it to run the lighthouse. Of course, today it's all done mechanically. They used to have to go out by boat and then put people and supplies in a bucket to get to shore and then they would have to take a rail car up the side of the island. From there, they would have to walk to the other side of the island to the house. Can you imagine living like that?! Imagine doing it with your kids?!

The lighthouse on Tasman Island. It would have been very cold living out there! The winds can be extreme. The people who lived out there used to have keep their chickens inside or they could blow away!

It was really chilly! I have about 4 layers on!

You can see the old houses on the island...

A wreck that was sunk on purpose...

An eagle's nest that is 80 years old! They can be up to 140 years old! They said that if you were to hike into the woods and look directly under the tree that holds the nest, you would find a huge pile of fish bones, that they drop out of their nest once they have ate the fish.

A love heart or a dog, depending on what you see. Can you see anything else?

After our fantastic boat trip, we headed back to Port Arthur and went to the Port Arthur historical sight. This is where convicts who had committed further crimes in the colony were sent between 1830 and 1877. They did hard time in Port Arthur and were treated very poorly. The location of the prison made escaping pretty much impossible. It is so beautiful today that it's hard to imagine people lived such horrible lives there, yet there is a bit of a heavy energy present that feels a bit sad. This is also the place that a man opened fire in April 1996, killing 35 employees and tourists and injuring about 37. He is now in prison in Hobart, never to be released. On the brouchure that we were given, it asks that you do not ask questions about that day, as many of the employees lost family and friends and it is still very difficult for them.

An old cell...

I look like I'm undercover or something!

I thought that bush was just beautiful against the bleak rock!

If you're interested, you can get more information at
http://www.portarthur.org.au/.

From Port Arthur we drove to Coles Bay, where we slept at the Iluka Holiday Centre for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day night. We weren't able to make chowder but we did have quite a nice little Christmas Eve feast of crackers, cheese, meat, olives, dips, shortbread, etc...

It was yummy!

Steve trying his hand at festive...

I think it's obvious who has the Christmas cheer in this relationship:)