People watching in Singapore airport

A little girl sleepily pulls up her fuzzy pajama pants, lagging being her dad who is hurriedly finding their next flight. Two women share texts and news of home as they charge their phones beside me. In four flights on this journey home, I'm feeling the bigness of our world, but also experiencing it's smallness in the individual people who I meet today - each with a unique story woven into our huge story of humanity.

A lot has happened while we were travelling these past few weeks. While we were flying over the pacific, grandma was in the operating room, and mom and dad were kindly sending me updates. Her metaphorical heart was in top notch condition, but her physical one needed a triple bypass. The surgery was successful, and I am looking forward to (careful) hugs soon. Grandpa has been spending these weeks getting back on his feet after a broken hip, and I'm hoping for a (short) walk together when I get back.  During the week before I left, we were ferrying love notes between the two as they were in different hospitals, and I am sure my family has been kept quite busy coordinating visits these past few weeks.

A lot has happened in our global story too. We were pausing for coffee in the Brisbane city square when we saw a news ticker with headlines about a plane - MH17. At first, we assumed this must be some new information on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight from earlier this year, but slowly we realized that this was a new tragedy. At dinner after church on Sunday, I overheard a passionate discussion about supporting Israel vs supporting Hamas. I understand so little of the politics, but i can't help but wonder - what could possibly serve as a good reason to fire a rocket at another human being? Each of these global stories is a collection of individual stories - perhaps of a little girl in her pajamas in Gaza, who wonders where her dad is instead of sleepily following him through a bright and busy airport.

It seems that visiting the layer of our atmosphere above the clouds has turned me into a philosopher who writes blogs about complex tragedies without knowing any good solutions. But there is also something exceptionally hopeful about the golden sun dancing on clouds above the vast expanses of ocean and mountains. And maybe something even more hopeful in the sleepy eyes of a little girl in pajamas, who - despite the rush and stress around her in an unfamiliar airport - knows that everything will be alright.

Our last day in Sydney

Our new friends from the church by the bridge suggested that we spend our last day in Sydney doing the coastal walk from Coogee to Bondi. It was a great suggestion.

The walk took us first across Coogee beach where we saw a couple taking wedding photos. From there we walked along a rocky and beautiful coastline, looking down at the powerful waves and colourful rocks. The path occasionally had fitness stops with simple suggested workouts such as chin-ups or inclined sit-ups. Lots of people ran along the path - it would be a fantastic place to run.

When the path didn't wind along the top of the cliffs, it took us down to the multiple sandy beaches on the coast. There we had fun watching the crazy surfers and the rolling waves. One section of the walk took us up through an old cemetery that covered a wide section of the hillside by the coast. It is quite likely the best view I have ever seen from a cemetery.

We arrived at Bondi beach with a very hungry Jeremy (we only had a small snack before starting the 6km winding walk in hopes that we would come across lunch en route). A delicious Chinese restaurant hit the spot, and Jeremy was saved. We watched more daring surfers on Bondi, did a bit of shopping (I bought a warm and huggable hoodie), and we watched a spectacular sunset. The sun lit up tiny cotton ball clouds across the entire sky with a golden pink. A perfect way to end a wonderful trip.

Sea Kayaking and Sydney

Waking up early, we made or way down to the wharf to catch the ferry to Fitzroy Island. On the ferry, one of the crew rather humorously acted out the safety instructions - including holding his nose while pretending to jump off the site of the boat if given the disembark command.  The views were lovely including a rainbow over the mountains as we boated over.

Shortly after arriving on Fitzroy Island, we embarked on our kayaking tour which turned out to be led by the fun crew member, Malcolm - who was actually an ex-physics teacher. We paddled about halfway around the island, through shark fin bay (which was actually only named for the fin-shaped rock on the shore... but that doesn't make as good of a story). 

As we continued to kayak toward the side of the island that faced out onto the open ocean, the waves became large rolling ones, very unlike any of the choppy lake waves that I had paddled on before. At that moment, I discovered that an anneke stomach can even get woozy on a kayak if said kayak is on the ocean.

We made it to our destination - a beach across from an island called Little Fitzroy. The beach looked like it came out of a children's story about a deserted island. The powerful waves carried thousands of pieces of broken coral up onto the beach between red rock boulders. The waves proved a challenge for swimming,  however. I made it just three or four meters in from the shore before I discovered that I simply wasn't strong enough to swim in the channel between the beach an Little Fitzroy. Jeremy actually managed to do a bit of swimming, but cut his hand on a rock. However, it makes for a far better story to say that the cuts came from his heroic efforts defending me from a shark in shark fin bay. Feel free to choose your preferred rendition of the tale. (Don't worry mom and Mrs Gretton, both of our cuts are small and we've kept them clean and thoroughly polysporined). While Jeremy braved the waves, I explored the large rocks behind the beach. I found that the pumice quality of the rocks made then quite easy for gripping and allowed me to climb more easily than I expected. There, I found some speedy geckos who dodged under the crevices in the rock. And I felt a bit like a gecko myself.

After about forty minutes, we paddled back to the main beach and retuned or kayaks. We then had three hours to walk a bit around the island and find pretty corals and shells on the beach.

The ferry took us back to Cairns, where we happened to walk by an Aboriginal art festival on our way home. A dance and music troupe was doing an impressive performance, and I purchased a card with printed artwork from a painter selling her work.

It was another early bed as we had to get up at 4:25am for our flight to Sydney the next day. The flight was a particularly beautiful one as we took off through the golden clouds of sunrise. In front of us were two very cute and very excited kids, who I think we're taking their first flight.

When we arrived in Sydney, we caught the train to our hostel and then set out to explore the city more. We started with the national art gallery, which was both free admission and absolutely fantastic. They had a large section of Australian painters in addition to Ruben sculptures, Van Gogh, Picasso, and other well known artists.

Next, we walked to the state library which held a moving exhibit of journals from WWI. The stories of Australian soldiers were powerful and tragic. When we peeked outside again, we saw that the sun was about to set - perfect timing to cross the harbor bridge. So we made the beautiful walk across the bridge, and I took a hundred photos of the lovely 4:45pm light on the opera house.

On the other side of the bridge, we found an Anglican church called "church by the bridge" - a rather fitting name. We attended their evening service, which was so uplifting and challenging. The congregation was also very friendly, and we were invited to go out for dinner with a number of folks from the church. We enjoyed a delicious Thai dinner, and - perhaps for the first time ever - I ate more than Jeremy! I believe this crazy event occurred only because the world is upsidedown in Australia.

Arriving in Cairns

We got up this morning to catch the free shuttle from Port Douglas to Cairns from our hostel. Today, the owner of the hostel was the shuttle driver and he quite literally and humorously pulled out the red carpet for us (he had a red carpet that he rolled out into the sidewalk leading to the shuttle bus).

The drive back to Cairns was as beautiful as the drive to Port Douglas, but this time with dark grey clouds pouring over the mountains like molasses. We were kindly dropped off right at our hostel in Cairns, where we left our bags. From there, we found a grocery store to buy our standard lunch - hummus, pita, and tomatoes... but this time with the fancy edition of celery and tzatziki. Then we sorted out our plan for tomorrow and found the dock where or ferry to Fitzroy island will depart.  We will be going on a kayaking tour around the island, which is quite mountainous and was a lookout point during the second world war.

After finding the dock, we hopped on a bus to the botanical gardens. They were amazing! In addition to the more designed gardens, they have built trails and boardwalks through a beautiful bit of rainforest. Across from the rainforest was a little lake, where we saw several lovely birds including a pelican!

After wandering through the rainforest, we came across a sign that pointed to "the tanks". It was an unusual name, so we followed the sign and found tanks! Huge circular buildings that looked to have been built to store massive amounts of something or another. Today, however, the tanks are used for art! At the particular time that we dropped by, there happened to be an artist workshop in one tank. It was filled with easels and artists, painting or critiquing each other's work. No one seemed to mind the random Canadians who wandered through, enjoying all the art. In the next tank, there was a stage and it was evidently set up for a performance. On the stage, a dancer was practicing his routine. It was mesmerizing.

Finally, we caught the bus back to downtown and found dinner for a hungry Jeremy. We even contemplated going to a film, until we saw that tickets were $17. Things are quite a bit pricier here. So we returned to the hostel, and now I'm about to sleep. It'll be an exciting day tomorrow!

The Oldest Forest in the World

We got up early this morning to catch a bus for the Daintree rainforest, which is thought to be the oldest forest in the world. Being an old home, it has old inhabitants... including crocodiles! We started our day with a river boat down the Daintree river where we met (at a bit of a distance) a large male crocodile who was pretending to be a log in the water, a lovely female croc warming herself in the sun on the bank, a shy female in the water, and an adorable baby croc on a little branch. On the opposite side of the river, we came across a little yellow bellied snake, who looked rather cute and innocent, but our guide informed us that this little snake was actually quite deadly. But it stayed in the tree and we stayed in the boat, so all was well.

After the cruise, we enjoyed a delicious morning tea with scones at a restaurant near the river. The whipped cream and jam filled me up too fast, but Jeremy saved the day and ate my second scone.

Next, we took a short but rough drive in a rather ridiculous zebra painted truck through the rainforest, crossing several streams and a lots of rough road. Our guide told us that in one square hectare of the Daintree, there are more different kinds of trees than in all of north America and Europe combined. There is amazing life in the trees - ferns grow in the branches, creating a life on life effect.  There were a few sharp vine-like palm trees that are very strong and were once used as knifes to fillet fish by aboriginals. We saw ginger plants and all kinds of fancy trees - some that you might recognize their names from an expensive bottle of lotion at the body shop.

The bumpy road through the rainforest eventually took us to cassowary falls! Jeremy braved the cold temperatures to swim in the water under the falls. I nearly jumped in until I saw the giant eels and got a little creeped out. So I waded and photographed Jeremy instead. Then it was time to leave the beautiful rainforest behind, and we drive back to Port Douglas.

In addition to the beautiful views of the forest covered mountains and the sea, the drive home took us past many sugar cane fields! There was also a banana plantation, a cocoa farm, and lovely rolling fields of grazing dairy cows. In summary, Australia is simply one deliciously sweet chocolate banana milkshake.

Back in town, Jeremy and I enjoyed a nice walk along four mile beach (though we didn't quite make all four miles) and then through the downtown to a tasty pie shop. There, we ate crocodile pie flavored with lemon and ginger. It was delicious! We also stopped by a restaurant on the wharf that feeds a grouper named George. He was huge!

Along the road, we spotted a Tarzan-style root hanging from a tree, and I couldn't resist swinging. After taking a silly photo, we walked over to a nearby tree that had an interesting flaky texture to its bark. A friendly local fellow evidently noticed we were newbies (I suppose something about me excitedly exclaiming that I was Tarzan at sight of a rather common Australian tree in my Canadian accent may have given us away as tourists...). This fellow was very kind and explained to us how the incredible trees grow - from the top down, with birds carrying seeds into the top branches. Then the seeds grow roots like the one I swung on to the ground, eventually strangling the original tree. He also told us that the flaky tree we saw was actually called a paper tree, and explained that the aboriginals used it as a cooking surface and as a baby carrier (I assume not both functions at the same time).

Finally, we watched the sunset at the point and walked back to the hostel for our last sleep in Port Douglas. I have all new roommates tonight, and they are nice. One girl played classical music while I wrote this blog post.

Port Douglas

Our early morning flight and a bus ride with Steve, our bus driver who pointed out lots of interesting things while taking the crazy corners of the winding road, took us to the quaint little town of Port Douglas!

We spent our first day in Port Douglas exploring the town. We explored an little church on the beach called St. Mary's, and walked up to a lookout from which you can see a lovely view of the town. We meet a nice fellow fishing who suggested we go to sunset point, so we watched the sunset there. It was lovely - a couple was playing guitar and another group was slack lining between the palm trees.

After dinner, we returned to sunset point to watch the stars. They were phenomenal - there was no moon and Port Douglas is a long ways from the big city lights, so the milky way and the constellations (the few that we know) were bright and beautiful.

The next morning, we took a tour out to the great barrier reef! The ride out to the reef was beautiful - Jer and I sat on the front of the boat in the spray. It was almost a two hour trip to the reef, so after a bit, we got chilly and I was rather seasick. The first snorkling location that we stopped at was called beautiful mooring and it was beautiful. The fish and corals were fantastic colours and everything was shallow and easy to see. The tour we took had about 20ish people on board, so we had lots of space to explore the reef. Unfortunately, I got a little scrape from a coral there (don't worry mom! I hydrogen peroxided the cut, applied an antiseptic cream, and I'm keeping it clean). The corals look so soft and squishy, but they feel like shards of glass unfortunately.

After about an hour, the boat continued onto a second and completely different part of the coral. There were huge walls of coral and a tower of coral that protruded up 50m from the ocean floor. It looked like a beautiful castle of coral with a million kinds of brightly coloured fish swimming in and out of the coral walls. We made use of Andrew's gopro, but I don't think the video could possibly capture the feeling of swimming in the middle of a school of giant parrot fish or swimming over a coral table to see a deep drop-off with all kinds of fish popping out from under the ledge. It was amazing.

Next, we enjoyed a delicious lunch while Joanna, a lovely woman who is working on her PhD on sea turtles gave a talk about coral and conservation of the reef. And then we were at our last site of the day called turtle bay. It was or favourite of all the locations where the boat stopped. Giant towers of coral twisted up from the ocean floor making little paths like gorges that we swam through. The larger fish liked to hide in these gorges. Then I noticed a very smooth rock under me... with a head... It was a sea turtle! A few people in our group also spotted a shark, but I must admit, I would have been pretty nervous to see the shark myself. For the trip back, I was thoroughly zonked with gravol and I slept most of the way, sadly missing the fancy cheeses offered by the crew. But when I did get back to the hostel, I made myself lots of delicious crackers and cheese from our grocery run yesterday.

Jeremy and I cleaned up from the day, and walked downtown to the chemist (pharmacy) to buy the antiseptics. On our way back to the hostel, we watched the huge fruit bats (which I think are also called flying foxes)  from palm tree to palm tree as the sun set over the ocean. It was amazing to see in an eerie sort of way. They are actually the size of small foxes - but with bat wings.

Back at the hostel, I chatted with my roommates - who are all teachers!  And now it is time for bed :) goodnight!

Platypi, Koalas, and Cassowary

Yesterday, Akello went into the lab while Jeremy and I traveled out to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We met Perry the platypus and his friend, other platypus. They were exceptionally adorable in their fast paddling as they chased after crayfish.

There were so many koalas! We met mother koalas with their babies on their backs, koalas in kindergarten, and koalas in retirement. They were pretty adorable, but we didn't pay 16$ to hug them for a photo op. Instead we posed with little koalas in the gift shop :)

My favourite animal there was the cassowary. He was so majestic and such a vibrant blue.

After meeting so many animals, we went to dinner to eat them. We didn't have kangaroo though this time - we went for sushi at an amazing restaurant! Then it was an early bed for us as we had to wake up at 3:40am for our flight!

Adventures with Akello... Part Two!

Today we planned a quick hike up mount Coottha, followed by a walk through the botanical gardens, followed by church in the evening. Mount Coottha proved to be a bit taller than expected, especially when we got a little bit lost. Fortunately our lostness was entirely made up for by the fact that we stubbled upon a lovely picnic area where seven sneaky kookaburras sat on a branch in an old gum tree and one stole a sausage from local picnickers. It was sad for the hungry picnickers, but pretty cute too watch the kookaburras. When we realized the time, however, we had to run down the mountain in order to make it to church on time, and skipped the botanical gardens.

Church today was at Hillsong in the valley of Brisbane. It was a smaller Hillsong campus, which we discovered is actually located in a night club (the person doing the announcements humorously commented that pamphlets with information on their small groups was "on tap"). It was a very welcoming bunch, a great pastor, and of course beautiful worship music.

After church, we ate all the food in Brisbane (we had missed lunch since our hike ran late). First to a Turkish pizza place which was quite tasty. Then to Macca's (the Australian version of McDonald's) for Jeremy's second dinner. And lastly to The Three Monkey's for delicious mango cheesecake that Akello and I shared and cookies & cream cheesecake for Jeremy (and for me to sneakily steal). So much deliciousness!

Adventures with Akello

We've had a great few days with my fabulous friend (and expert tour guide) Akello! Jeremy would particularly note Akello's knack for finding delicious places to buy less expensive and delicious food. In addition to eating, however, we have also explored the lovely town of Brisbane. On our tour of the Brisbane city hall, we learned that city was actually settled as a secondary punishment center. Those who committed crimes in England were sent to Sydney... and those who reoffended were sent to Brisbane. But you wouldn't guess the town's history from the people who live there now :)

This morning, we departed Brisbane for the Gold Coast, which is a beautiful city on the ocean. We rented two stand up paddle boards and a kayak, and we paddled our way around a little inlet where we found a jelly fish! I've never seen a living jelly fish before - it looked quite squishy, but I resisted the urge to touch it given its ability to sting. From there, we took the bus to surfer's paradise, a beautiful beach with rolling waves. After a dinner of fish and chips (and ketchup... which we were rather surprised to learn was 2$ extra), we caught the train back to Brisbane and explored Southbank, a lively area where there is currently a food festival! We stopped at an incredibly delicious chocolate cafe before catching the bus home - sleepy and happy.

The Great Ocean Road

It took a while to thaw out from our penguin adventures in St. Kilda. But when the ice melted from our joints, we made it out to the great ocean road! Jeremy picked up a delicious chicken, brie, and cranberry pie while I enjoyed an overpriced coffee and we were on our way.

We saw many incredible views of the rock formations above the ocean around the many crazy turns. A few issues with the rental car were resolved with the help of a fellow Canadian from Manitoba who lent his phone and expertise.

After staying over in Apollo Bay, we drove out to Cape Otway where we almost blew off a lighthouse. The wind kidnapped my camera lens cap (we bought a new one today), but it was worth it for the spectacular views.

On the drive out of Cape Otway, we found the most adorable baby koala in a tree! Jeremy did not hug the koala, though it was hard to hold back. But he did take some pretty great koala selfies. Shortly after, we rounded a corner to see a wallaby looking at us while munching on a bit of grass! We kept driving through Anglesea, where we were told a family of kangaroos was living on a golf course. The family of kangaroos was very friendly and photogenic.

When we got back to Melbourne, we flew to Brisbane where we found the best Australian inhabitant of all - Akello! Today we had a fun day exploring Brisbane and visiting the clock tower of the city hall building. Akello is also an expert on where to find delicious food in Brisbane, so we enjoyed some very tasty sushi and bubble tea before heading back to Akello's place.

Kangaroos, People, and Penguins

We ate a kangaroo! After arriving in Melbourne yesterday, Jeremy and I walked around downtown and found a delicious but surprisingly empty restaurant where we had kangaroo tortillas! Then we met our new friendly Melbourne roommates, and went early to bed.

This morning, we explored the interesting little streets of downtown Melbourne, which are filled with quaint coffee shops and friendly people. I tried my hand at doing a "humans of melbourne" photography starter for meeting interesting people. And it worked!  I met a lot of neat folks and heard some fascinating stories.

We spent this afternoon/evening in st kilda, where we saw a family of penguins! They live in the rocks on the breakwater there. By the time the sun went down, we were pretty chilly, so we caught the tram back to downtown. We'll make an early night of it as we will be picking up a rental car and driving to Apollo Bay along the coast in the morning!

The Opera House and the Mountains

Our first few days in Sydney have been wonderful. We meandered through a lovely park that we assumed was the botanical gardens with fantastic view of the opera house and the harbour bridge, enjoying the variety of birds and trees... And then arrived at the gate of the real botanical gardens! We spent a few hours attempting to distinguish between the call of a bird and that of an Australian kid... Surprisingly similar ;)

Then we grabbed an over priced bite to eat by the wharf and walked around the magnificent Sydney Opera House. At 2:00, we watched a ballet called Patyegarang, based on the true story of an Aboriginal woman who taught a British scientist, Dawes, her language and culture. After the ballet we went to St Mary's to attend Mass. We weren't pro Catholics as we couldn't figure out the words to the songs, but it was a lovely service to watch.

The following morning, we took the ferry over to the Mitchell's where we had parked or rental car and drive out to the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was a hiking loop involving the National Pass trail, Wentworth falls, and a number of look outs. It was a phenomenal hike. Though the signs warned that the walk takes 4-5 hours, we found that it is actually closer to 3. We assumed that they over estimate the hiking times so that people don't get into trouble running out of daylight. It is one of the best hiking trails I have walked - it was carved in 1908 along the side of the mountain with steep rock steps that take you down under waterfalls and up over them. The views of the valley below are phenomenal and the orange rock of the cliffs curves above you. Near the waterfalls, everything was lush with a wide variety of trees. After the hike, we drive up the three sisters lookout. It was beautiful to see as the sun was setting.

Arriving In Sydney

We made it to Sydney! Jeremy wore his Netherlands orange and was quite easily spotable in the airport. I was sneakier having told Jer that I would be wearing light pink, but changing my shirt when I decided that I could no longer stand my own smelliness after 32 hours of flying.

Fortunately, all those flights went well. Jeremy's flight was a bit turbulent which unfortunately made it harder to sleep, but the food he tells me was great. I was worried about my flight for a while - since the last leg of my journey (Beijing to Sydney) was more than 24 hours from my Toronto departure, I couldn't print my last boarding pass. However, without that boarding pass, it appeared to the computer system that I was ending my trip in China, which required a visa that I didn't have. I managed to get it all sorted out at my second stopover in New York, but I admittedly spent the flight to Beijing wondering if I'd be in trouble when I got out of the plane. Fortunately, there was no trouble at all in the Beijing airport - it was well signed and the people we all very helpful to a sleepy anneke.

Arriving in Sydney, we picked up our rental car and got a few groceries. Jeremy was exceptionally patient navigating an often faulty gps and we drove out to the Royal National Park. We knew it was beautiful from pictures, but we still weren't expecting it to be that beautiful! The waves were incredible and the cliffs that overlooked the ocean full of character. We met a fellow fishing in the  surf who told us that he'd show us his fish if we promised not to tell his wife how small it was. There were a few people tossing a rugby ball on the sand and others just watching the surfers who somehow kept their balance on the huge waves that were breaking on the shore.

When it was sadly time to leave the beautiful park behind, we picked up a key at our hostel and parked the car at the Mitchell's place - a very kind and generous family who are friends from the Grettons. Michelle fed us a delicious dinner and dropped us of at the ferry to make our way back to our hostel. Where we meet our friendly roommates.... and slept. At very long last and very well :)