A Busy Weekend!

After an entire week of ridiculous heat and being stuck indoors, Jer and I decided to get out and see the area a bit. We didn't have a ton of funds and no ideas, so we decided to use our GPS to get us lost and then back home again! Nothing better than aimless wondering with the one you love :)

So . . . we started our adventure by heading up to Dandenong Mountains - mostly because we liked the name! It was an AMAZING drive up cool little dirt roads on the edge of cliffs and such, and in no time we were at the top! Their mountains here are pretty whimpy, more like hills, but B-E-A-UTIFUL! There is this Sky High place at the top, complete with a Giant's Chair, statues, and gardens.







Their trees are so cool here and they have a way huge variety - including palmy ones with big leaves and the awesome one in the pictures above (with vines and such all intertwined). No offense to lovely Utah, but I like the trees here a billion times better. They also have this cool tree where the bark peels off and then hangs down to the ground.

After we were done there, we travelled down the mountain to this idyllic little town with cafes and antique shops where, unfortunately, I didn't take any pics. Next, we travelled to Yarra Wine Valley and explored the vast vineyards found around every corner. They are so . . . just so . . . i don't know. They are perfect, and beautiful, and just amazing. If you haven't seen a vineyard, you should put it on your list of things to do.



These pictures don't even show half of this vineyard - they are HUGE! I think I like them because of my OCD - they are perfectly ordered in compltely straight lines as far as the eyes can see!

The next day, we rode the train to downtown Melbourne, where we explored the Melbourne Museum. Now, I LOVE art museums, so that's kinda what I expected. But, to my great suprise, what we encountered was WAY different and cool! The Museum is HUGE and includes giant exhibits for Science, Aboriginal Culture, Rain Forest, The Mind, The Human Body, Evolution, and Melbourne History. It is so big, that we didn't even have enough time to see it all! Unfortunetly, pictures were only allowed in a couple areas, so here are some pics of the Science exhibit:



They have tons of LIVE and dead bugs - including ants, walking sticks, bees, and SPIDERS!



I loved this. It's like dead bug art!



And here are some pictures of the Rain Forest Exhibit. It was so cool because it is inside of the Museum!








Stay tuned in the next couple days for a HUGE list of trivia questions!

Blogging for Idiots?

So . . . for all of you creative bloggers out there, HOW in the world do you post pictures in cute little squares or right next to each other? You know, some of you all put multiple pictures together into, like, a picture square. Do you use a different program? I am slightly blogger-illiterate and need the help of you geniuses out there! Thanks a bunch blogger awesomers!

Trivia #1 Answers!

Thanks for the fun comments . . . here are the answers! Most of ya'll didn"t do very good! Hahaha!

Docket- bill at a restaurant
nappies- diapers
trolley- shopping cart
bather- swim suit!

Hungry Jacks- Burger King (same logo, whoppers, and everything!)
Big W- Walmart
KFC- KFC! It was their VERY first fast food place in Australia, which I think is way interesting since they originated in Utah!

And it is really hard to find Turkey here! Let me just say how grossed out I was when I walked through the grocery store to see all kinds of kangaroo meat for sale!

There you have it! Boo to those who didn't play my fun game - shame on you! I expect a better turn out on the next trivia set or I will with hold pictures! Love you all!

Aussie Photos - Beach, Bugs, and Buildings!

Pictures of our amazingly adorable apartment - so cute! We are the 3rd one back.

Jer at Mornington Beach - such a cute little town about an hour from our place.

Beach houses at Mornington Beach - they come from the 1830's!

Driving on the left side of the road - scary!

Australia has been great and has presented some interesting adventures - one being creepy crawling bugs! We are currently fighting an ant infestation and I had to kill a coachroach this week! EWWWWWW! The ants are my main concern, though, because they get everywhere (including INSIDE of our pantry!) Any suggestions? It is getting a bit better, but still a pain in the rear!

So . . .

Australia trivia number #1:

See if you can answer the following:

What is a:

docket

nappies

trolley

bather

What is the U.S. equivallent of these stores:

Hungry Jacks

Big W

KFC

Which kind of meat is hard to find in Australia:

Ham

Lamb

Kangaroo

Turkey

Chicken

Beef

English Blog

Quick shout out to all my English Ed friends who are student teaching - I hope it is going fan-freakin-tastically! I want to let you all know that my newest blog, UVU English Teachers, is up and running and needs your comments and posts! There isn't a whole lot on it yet, but hopefully it will be rockin soon. So, please check out uvuenglishteachers.blogspot.com and share your brilliant ideas! Oh, and if you want to be an author (and I know you do) shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment and I will add you right away. I can't wait to hear your stories - so comment now!

Australia!

We endured the plane ride and FINALLY have internet again (seriously, I thought I was going to die without internet - who knew I was so dependent upon it!) and now we can't wait to share AUSTRALIA with you! We have only been here a few short days, but already love it! We have so much to share, so here is just a brief overview:

Our apartment is amazing! Jer's work is fronting the bills for this beautiful 3 story, 2 bedroom apartment. It is sparce in furnishing, but that is coming slowly! It is a mess, but I promise more pictures soon!

There is a mall about 3 min walk from our place, which is great because we don't have a car yet (but are getting one soon). Still, we aren't quite comfortable with driving on the wrong side of the road yet - so walking is our friend! The malls here are different from ours - they have full size grocery stores INSIDE of the mall - ours has a Safeway, KMart, and others plus a movie theater, restaurants, and all the normal mall stores. But (weird) the stores here close EARLIER on Saturdays! Most things close by 6:00 pm!

We are about 30 min from downtown Melbourne, which I would compare in size to Boston or some Cali towns.

They have great public transportation here, so we took a little trip to the city this weekend.

We went to the aquarium and the

casino (no, we didn't gamble!)

It is a way cool city and there is still lots that we want to see there!

The weather is HOT (over 100 degrees) but it cools down quickly. Everything seems a lot like the U.S. until people open their mouths and then there is a HUGE difference - I love their accents! They have really funny words for things - more to come!

Anyway, I apologize for anyone who gets bored of my Australia info, but this is the way I am gonna keep up with my family!