The Upside Down Day

Today was one of those days where you aren't quite sure if it was a good day or a bad day. Where you want to cry but other times you can't stop laughing. We are still waiting on our work permits from China which is dragging things out a lot however I did fix the "japanese water torture" leak noise in the shed that has been waking us up for the past few weeks. I was lucky enough to watch my Aunty Kate ride in a competition and help hand out the ribbons, but I got an agonising headache from being out in the sun (yes, i had a hat on and a bottle of water).

I got a great laugh watching Bryan hide behind a door waiting for my Aunt to come out so he could scare her, particularly since she was hiding on the other side waiting to scare him but when I went to bed a millipede dropped on me.......I think this picture of my niece sums up my feelings.

The Jobs

So here's the big news. We have accepted jobs at Shaoyang University near Changsha in the Hunan Province of China. We will both be teaching conversational English to University Students and they are looking forward to us starting asap. Our contracts include a two bedroom apartment and meals. The school year has already started so they are keen for us to arrive but the visa process will take another few weeks. Therefore we may not be able to leave until early April - but once the visas come we are off!!!

The Country Trip

We spent a few days in the Clare Valley this week. We enjoyed the lazy time we had and also took some time to explore the history of some of the local towns. Bryan took some amazing photos and even won Scrabble twice. We solved the Mintaro Maze and had dinner at the Taminga Pub where we resuced a Border Collie and got her back to her owner. Still deciding where our next holiday may take us......

The Medicals

We had our medicals (for our visa applications) on Tuesday. Lot's more needles, chest xrays and even ECG's - quite an extensive testing procedure. Got the results today and all is good. We are disappointed by the time it takes to organise everything, could be a lot longer than we thought before we leave. So with plenty more time to fill in, we went to the beach with my niece Madison and fed seagulls.

The Best Thing for Her

We finally found a home for Pepper. We know now why we couldn't find one before, it's because she needed to go to this one. She is going to be sooo loved there and left yesterday to join her new family and new doggy mates, Milly, Molly and Oscar. Obviously we are quite sad and I still keep looking for her or thinking I can hear her but we know we have found a fantastic home for her and she will be really happy. We have been fortunate to rehome both Jedi and Pepper with fantastic families who were really grateful to have been chosen to take care of them.

The Quote of the Week

Definitely only funny if you were there and could hear the funny voice Bryan was putting on and see him struggling to put his sneakers on...

"A shoehorn, a shoehorn, my Kingdom for a shoehorn....the Devil considered Bryan's offer but soon realised that Bryan's Kingdom consisted of not much more than a small black dog".

The Seaside Trip

We spent the last few days in Robe, a 3 hour drive from the Adelaide Hills where we are staying. Naturally, Pepper came along too and we found a dog-friendly motel. We enjoyed some beautiful walks on the beach and coastal scenic drives, watched the sunset and fed the seagulls and basically just chilled out. It's a beautiful little town and made me want to live in a place where i could walk the length of the main street and back from my house. Each morning when we opened the door, Pep would go straight to the car and wait to get in. She seems to have resigned herself to the nomadic lifestyle we have adopted and now just goes with the flow. It's going to be very hard to leave her, the three of us have been having some wonderful adventures and doing everything together. She even followed Bryan up these steep rocks, we are still wondering how she did it.

The Weekend

Having finished all our teaching requirements we got to relax this weekend. We went to the Uraidla show and enjoyed the wood chopping and sheep trials. We walked under the native animal marquee only to look up later and get quite a surprise as you can see in the photo with Bryan. We ended the weekend with a game called Buccaneer, where at the end when it was realised that my landslide victory came about by blatant cheating I was condemned by the group and told of how "disappointed" they were in my actions. Yeah right, the game is called "Buccaneer" guys, as in PIRATES. Since when did Pirates play fair???

The Prac Teaching

We have both now completed our 4 hours practical teaching. Despite being sooo nervous before it began, I really enjoyed it and I love planning lessons that are fun and encourage my students to speak a lot. Here's some photos of Bryan teaching his students. They were all in their early 20's, of different nationalities and really keen to learn. The observer passed us both which means we have completed our TESOL requirements.

The Adelaide Zoo

Fantastic trip to the zoo today - got to feed the Lemurs and hold a Bilby and a Rufus Bettong. Saw a very active Echidna and Tasmanian Devil and realised how much I will miss Australia's diverse wildlife. Saw the Pandas too - they were much smaller than we realised.

The Drive to Adelaide

We made in in only two days it was amazingly easy and even Pepper traveled well. Now it's time to prepare for the prac-teaching and get rid of even more things. By the time we leave Adelaide we need to have just one suitcase each - nothing more. Pic shows us leaving Brisbane for the last time.

The InClass Course Component

Back in Brisbane and just completed our in-class component - both passing and receiving our ceremonial certificates. We're taking a few days to finish up some assignments and then off to Adelaide for our prac teaching.

The Stinky Town

We spent 3 nights in Rotorua at a backpackers - a new experience for us both. We went luging, fed seagulls, visited Huka Falls and got pretty wet as it rained the whole time. The smell was pretty overpowering - Rotorua is known for it's geothermal pools and they don't smell too great. We drove to the largest lake in Australasia - Lake Taupo, where we played golf, into the lake!

The Caves

On our way to Rotorua for a few days break we stopped at the Otorohanga Kiwi House and the Waitomo Caves. A beautiful glow worm tour and a 2 hour walk around the caves showed some amazing sites, not all photographable unfortunately.

The BBQ

GU Bob organised a family BBQ today. Great food and great company made for a great day.
I was thrilled to catch up with Lydia, the creator of Pedro, which she gave me when I was 3 and I only recently passed to my niece, Madison. See pics of Pedro then and now:

The MOTAT

We spent the day at the Museum of Technology and Transport with GU's Bob and John. It was like having personal guides because their stories were far more interesting than those the Museum had! Photo shows us enjoying an "Earthquake Experience". After Motat we went to Sylvia Park - a 1km long shopping centre!

The Greats

Today we caught the bus to Auckland to be met by my Great Uncles Bob and John. They looked just as I remembered them and it's been 18 years since i've seen GU John!!! We went up the Skytower for a great view of Auckland and then were treated to a "tiki tour" around everywhere. We were taken back to GU Bob's where GA Cherry had made a marvelous dinner for us and our room even had fresh flowers in it! We were thoroughly spoilt.

The Lake Walk

After a fun afternoon of playing with the nephews and niece we went for a lovely evening walk around Hamilton lake. It's only about 2.5 kms and there was plenty of bird life to look at and learn about. The weather has been great and not too cold!

The Arboretum

I still don't know how to pronounce the place but I loved it. We visited the Waitakaruru Arboretum and Sculpture Park. It's an old quarry which has been replanted and open to visitors. There is a 2km walking track along it that has art sculptures along the way. It was beautiful to walk through (although I struggled with the steps!). I thought of my Uncle a lot and think he would have really enjoyed it. We had a booklet that told us about the art and the artist and had a very enjoyable time. I'd highly recommend it. The scenery changed from deep rainforest to open meadowland with plenty of water ponds filled with lillies. It was very relaxing yet we were active. The fresh air here is great. See here: http://www.sculpturepark.co.nz/

The Catch Up

So what's been happening? Well the surgery went ahead and has been declared a success and the recovery was made much easier by a wonderful husband and a god-sent Aunt. The process of selling everything began and went remarkably well. Jedi found an amazing home, perfect for him and has already established himself as part of the family. We had a few minor hiccups, with poor little Pep getting cancer and needing an operation - which thankfully removed it all but meant we couldn't find a home for her. Then Bryan went and got an abscess in his tonsils that required surgery 2 days before we were due to fly to NZ and kept him in hospital. Thankfully again, he was okay.
The house has settled, the money paid and everything we own packed into our car, including Pepper. We are in New Zealand on holiday and Pep is holidaying at Amanda's Palace for Pets. Everything is on track.