Mood:  a-ok

Okay, so we still have two hours to go, but I don't want to stay up and then have to blog, so....

We just got back from the Canberra New Year's celebration which was really well done!  We were out at dinner (we found Chinese Buffet!) and on the way home we realized the celebration was going on, so we parked and went to see what all the fuss was about.  We heard a lady on the main stage that sounded an aweful lot like Suzanne Vega.  She was followed by an old time rock band that sounded like a cross between the Stray Cats and Elvis.  Then we watched the 9:00p fireworks display (New Year's for the kids), which were absolutely fantastic! And then we heard another guy play a few 70s and 80s dance tunes.

It was a really nice evening, but we wanted to get home and watch the Sydney fireworks, and figuring that we'd already seen the 9:00p show, we thought it was time to bolt.  Besides, after two hours, the concrete and bricks we were sitting on were getting sorta hard...

So now we are home.  Two hours to go. 

Happy New Year, everyone!  May it bring joy to us all!

- Ryan

Posted by kisajaja at 11:55 AM CET

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Mood:  happy

So, after sitting around for a short while after our walk this morning, we decided to go out and hit a few of the local attractions that we haven't done, yet.

We started off at the National Canberra Exhibition, which is a small museum that tells the history of how Canberra was planned and built, and how they are still not done with it.  It had a cool gift shop, which was made cool by the nature of they we having a 40% sale on their entire stock.  Kimberly and I got new hats and Jacoby got another boomerang.

Yes, Jacoby throws the boomerang.  Yes, they really do come back.  In fact, if we had a video camera rolling, we could have won $10,000 yesterday as Jacoby threw it out there and it came back to him!  - At mid-level!  -Which he didn't catch with his hands!  He swears it hit his leg.  Right.  We were there.  That was $10,000.

Anyway, after the museum, we went to the National Botanical Gardens, which was pretty boring.  Unlike in D.C., the whole thing was outside, so they couldn't keep flowers and such on display.  It was all various types of trees, which honestly all looked the same to me...  There was a cool rainforest section, though, and we took some pictures of that.

 We also saw some cool birds and reptiles wandering though the gardens, as well.

After that, we went to here the Carillon play its bells, but we were a little late.  We heard it from the car on the way in, though.

Posted by kisajaja at 5:33 AM CET

Updated: Saturday, 29 December 2007 5:48 AM CET

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Mood:  cheeky

Friday, I went for a run along a new and differnet route.  As I went along, I found myself climbing a local mountain called Mount Taylor.

Now, before you get too impressed, the whole "mountain" is only a mile and a half round trip.  After running to the mountain, up-and-then-down the mountain and returning home, I still had to add more than a mile to the run to make it to 10km (6.2 miles).

Anyway, on this run I must have sen about 30 Kangaroo.  They were everywhere I looked!  So this morning (Saturday) I took Kimberly and Jacoby on a short walk up the mountain.

We saw probably 25 or so Kangaroo.  Four of them were off by themselves (2 groups of two), but the rest were in a mob of about 20, mostly eatting and laying about.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the Mount Taylor walk.   have no idea what we are doing with the rest of our day...

- Ryan -

 I'm not sure which neighboorhood this is, but itis the view that is generally south.

This is our neighborhood.

This big building complex is the Woden mall, which is where we do most of our shopping.  Also, in the distance up near the top left-hand corner of the picture, you'll see Telstra Tower. 

Posted by kisajaja at 12:07 AM CET

Updated: Saturday, 29 December 2007 12:22 AM CET

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Mood:  a-ok

So today we went on a day trip to Sydney.  It's really not too far.  Just a little over three hours.  We had two goals with this trip.  We wanted to knock out a few of the "touristy" things, so that next time we can hit the markets without being awed by our surroundings, and we wanted to see the start of the big yacht ract, from Sydney Harbor to Hobart.  It's a big deal here, and tons of people showed up to watch the beginning of this four day race.

 Kimberly and I at the Opera House.  I kid you not, we have about 30 pictures of this building.  It's the one that everyone thinks about when they hear "Sydney, Australia."

 Here's the Harbor Bridge.  It's the other MAJOR landmark.  You can pay $200 and climb to the top of the arch for pictures.  We didn't do that...

 This guy was jammin'.  He played really well.  I'm not embarrassed to say that I bought his CD for $10.

This is an "overview picture" of "the Rocks."  It's what's left of the first European (read:  White folks) settlement in Australia.  There's several trendy sort of tourist shops and museums in there.  It's a really neat place.  Small enough to walk through without consuming your whole day.

 Here's just one of the harbor shots we took.  There were boats EVERYWHERE as people were fighting to get close to the racers. 

 Not all of the spectators where on boats...

Some of the other stuff that we did:  We took the harbor ferry to Manly Wharf, which is where we got most of these pictures.  We were going to shop around and get lunch there, but right when we got off the boat, we were told that the ferry would not run between 1200p and 3:00p due to the race.  It was 11:40a, so we literally just turned around and got back on the boat.

We ate lunch at Circular Quay (metro center, if you will) and then walked through the Rocks, and then around town a bit until we came to Darling Harbor.  That's a nice place, too.   We need to go back and spend more time there.

Then we road the ferry back to the Quay, walked up to get our car, and then drove home.

All in all, it was a nice day.  We will certainly be back!

- Ryan -

Posted by kisajaja at 12:06 PM CET

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Mood:  happy

The Tree, such as it is, before Jacoby got to it.

- Or as the Aussies say, "Happy Chrissy."  For what ever reason, they don't say "Merry" very often, and they like to shorten words and add the "y."  Even on TV commercials and such, Christmas becomes "Chrissy," breakfast becomes "Breaky," etc.  Those two are the big often used ones, but there are others.

Jacoby poses with "loot."

We had Brian and Heidy Schott over for Christmas Dinner/Lunch.  Kimberly went all out...Again...And we had turkey, ham, homestyle mashed potatos (yes, SHE mashed them, corn, dinner rolls, turkey meatballs, the Christmas Tree (3D), the Christmas Tree (2D), baked "party pies," cookies, and fresh fruit.  Heidy and Brian brought two desserts, one kinf of like fruit cake, only good, and the other was a Mango Crisp, but also good. 

3D

2D

 I was a large meal, and we have plenty left.  It's a good thing it was all delicious, because we will be eatting it for days to come.  :)

All of this was served BEFORE the meal...hmmm...the meal...You know, the BIG part.

 Again, Merry Christmas!

Posted by kisajaja at 8:20 AM CET

Updated: Tuesday, 25 December 2007 8:36 AM CET

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Mood:  a-ok

I want to take a second and answer a few questions I've gotten, mostly from the Chianettas, because I think they are the only ones reading this thing...  :)

How is life different?  This answer may be a little sad.  It really isn't.  It's a lot like living in Arizona or New Mexico.  The Australian's seem to struggle with their past, much like the Americans do.  The Aussies dealt with the Aboriginese (spelled horribly) while the Americans dealt with the Natives (Indians, if you will).  So, as Europeans settling on foriegn soil and displacing the people who originally lived there, the two countries are identical.  They try to celebrate the cultures of the Adoriginal people in the same way as in Arizona or New Mexico you will see totem polls and gift shops dedicated to Native American tribes. 

-But that is cultural comparison, not a practical one.  Kimberly wrote about the practical side in her Christas letter, so I must tread softly, here. 

The townships are sort of "self contained."  You can go to google maps and zoom into the Canberra area and see all of the names of the little townships, but you don't really get the feeling of this place while doing that.  Each township has its own set of shops.  It doesn't seem like too many people venture far from their township, except to go to the major centers, of which I've already named a few.  Fyshwich is just a suburb, except that they've made a name for themselves as being THE place to get farm fresh produce.  Woden built a shopping mall.  Red Hill has Jacoby's private school.

Because of this, you sort of feel like you are "going places" even though you are really only driving ten minutes up the street.  It's all considered "Greater Canberra" the way the cities in Northern Virginia are all considered "Greater D.C." but they are MUCH MUCH smaller.  To put this in Chianetta terms, think of Little Rocky Run as it's own town, with it's own post office and it's own small grocery store and shopping center.  Anything outside of Little Rocky Run "Ain't us..."

The radio and TV are literally no different.  They have local bands and shows that they play, but by-and-large, TV and Radio are huge American exports.  Turning on the radio today, they were talking about Britany Spears' sister being pregnant (news that they have discussed for a few days, now).

Food and drink are incredibly expensive.  Soft Drinks in a restaurant or even the food court in the mall are about $3 to $5 per cup.  Don't even ask for a bottle or can.  Food is roughly $20 per person at a restaurant, but cheaper in the food courts ($10-$15).  Today's Turkish lunch was $35, but we didn't get drinks.  It was a cheap lunch.

Not all the food tastes the same.  In fact, really none of it does.  Even Old El Paso salsa tasted funny.  We figured if anything would be consistant...It wasn't. 

And don't let anyone tell you there is no Language Barrier.  There is, and it's pretty big.  Especially over the phone, where hearing is impaired anyway.  I find myself asking people to repeat themselves often...

In the grocery store, Kimberly couldn't find shortening.  She wants to make cookies, but just couldn't find the crisco, as it were.  We asked a guy where it might be, and he said he'd never heard of it.  Finally a lady walked by and said that her husband had been to America and had heard of Shortening, but they don't have it here.  She said her husband wasn't sure what it was while he was in America!  She then said that she uses plain butter or margarine when she bakes.  We'll see.

We tried to by some grenadine (cherry juice) to make the McKaskills some Shirley Temples.  They'd never heard of it.  Grenadine is only sold in liquor stores.  They've never heard of Root Beer, but do drink Birch Beer and Sasspirilla.

There's plenty more, but we'll get to all of that...

Man, my spelling sucks...Please feel free to keep whatever mistakes you find...

- Ryan -

Posted by kisajaja at 4:24 AM CET

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Mood:  not sure

So this morning, we had two decide between three things to do.

1)  Go to the Outlets and see what was there.  There was supposed to be an Uggs factory outlet shop.  I like them!

2)  Go to a village about 45 minutes out from the house called Bungendore that is supposed to be fantastic.   Woodworking and leather shops, artisan displays, excellent food, all of which are at it's best right about now!

3)  We were going to the Fyshwich food markets, which is mostly fruits and vegetables.  We go every few days to buy everything fresh, as does pretty much everybody.  There prices are much lower than in the commercial grocery stores.  It's basically a farmers market like you'd see along Pennsylvania country roads, with lots of vendors selling there fruits and vegetables.  We need stuff for Christmas, because we have invited Brian and Hiedi Schott (the other US Army couple) to our house for Christmas, as they are still in a hotel.  See my earlier post about the housing market...

So, three choices...What to do.  I figured we have some play time before school starts, so really no rush.  We'll get to them all in then next two days, so no big deal.  We decided to hit the outlets today.

The outlets weren't bad...as long as you needed clothes.  They really didn't have much beyond clothes.  It was about the size of a decent strip-mall, which is smaller than I expected.  It's much smaller than, say, Leesburg or Gettysburg.  We were done within 30 minutes or so.

So then we decided to just make the drive to see the Bungendore.  This place was supposed to be neat!  They had brochures and even a website talking about how people come from all over Australia and even internationally to see their shops and buy their products.  The place was disappointing.  The big "Train station markets" was three stores, all of which were antiques.  Not really antiques, just really old stuff...They did have a really neat leather store, but it was still expensive.  They did have a neat wood working shop, but it was entirely spit-polished and "New Yorky."  A cutting board there cost several hundred dollers.  They had a few cigar/pencil boxes that were beautiful, right beside signs that said "Don't Touch!"  If I ever wanted to pay $400 for a pencil box, I will certainly touch it before doing so!  We lasted about an hour, there.

Thinking that today was a bust as far as adventure seeking goes, we started back home.  Now at this point, we are cracking up in the car.  About the only thing that we can tell the Australians can do REALLY well is marketing!  We definately hear about these places and how great they are.  We go!  Then we find out that it's not all that...  Bungendore is actually in the "10 things you must do in Australia" guide book...  We are glad we went, because we saw all of it.  We've experienced it.  If nothing else, there is some goodness in that.

While we were on our way home, we drove through a town outside of Canberra called Queenbean.  It turns out that they have a nice shopping center very similiar to the Woden Mall near our house.  We decided to park the car, get some lunch, and walk around their shopping center.

We had a Turkish lunch.  Since we left Germany a few years ago, we have been wanted to find a place with really good Turkish Doner Kabobs.  Anyone who has been there knows what I'm talking about.  Anyway, at this mall, we found a Turkish place that advertised Doner Kabobs!  Were they like the ones in Germany?  No!  But they were very good and we will be back, anyway.

The shopping mall was okay.  Nothing special, but certainly worth the time.  They have a Target!

On the way home, we decided to stop into Fyshwich, merely because it was along the way.  We got the fruits and veggies we needed, and are now home.

No idea what we will do tomorrow.

Posted by kisajaja at 4:02 AM CET

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Mood:  a-ok

The zoo is close and isn't all that big, so we've walked through that, twice.  Now that we've seen pretty much everything they offer, we can but a check in that box and move on to something else.

The zoo is nice enough, although small.  Pictures of animals in a zoo is cheating, so I'll only include these few...

 Not a great shot, but this is a Tasmanian Devil.  I'd never seen one before.  They are about the same size as a piglet (farm animal, not Pooh friend).

Giraffes have long purple tongues.  I didn't know that!

The Wombat.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but he's about the size of a really really fat Boxer (dog).

Posted by kisajaja at 8:22 AM CET

Updated: Saturday, 29 December 2007 5:33 AM CET

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Mood:  a-ok

Tidbinbilla is a nature reserve about half an hour out from the Defense College (my school).  It's a pretty drive out in the country, over the river and through the hills, as it were. 

While there we walked on a few trails and saw some wildlife (emus, wallabies, looked for Koala, but didn't see them this time). 

We finally went on a trail that took us to the Gibraltar Rocks.  One the guide, it said this trail was "Challenging."  I rate this trail as, "I never want to do it, again!"  Holy crap, the thing went straight up in some places!  (okay, not really, but it was steep enough that I lost my footing a few times...)

Kimberly wrote about the flies, so I'll skip that part, but you will see them in this photo.

 Now pictures of the climb, and the top!

Posted by kisajaja at 8:01 AM CET

Updated: Thursday, 20 December 2007 8:21 AM CET

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Mood:  a-ok

Now this is EXACTLY my "sort of thing." 

This tower is visible from almost everyplace.  It's just plane big.  While standing on the observation deck we could see everything we've done in Australia, so far. My next post is about the trails we walked in Tidbinbilla, but I'll say right now that despite being well over thirty minutes out of the city, we could still see this tower from the Gibraltar Rocks.

This picture is of Peter and Jo McKaskill, and of course Kimberly and Jacoby.

 The McKaskills are currently enjoying their holiday season in New Zealand, which we are likely to do next year...

Posted by kisajaja at 7:51 AM CET

Updated: Thursday, 20 December 2007 8:00 AM CET

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