Where Does the Time Go?

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Well the time between Tasmania and as I sit here at the end of May has been a blur, only because I haven’t been keeping up on my blogging. However, a unique experience that I will not be witness to again was the 100^thanniversary of Anzac day. I awoke at 4:45 am to pounding rain and wind and was tempted to bail and then thought well if I were a soldier I wouldn’t have a choice. I got out of bed, got on my woollies, grabbed my umbrella and headed out the door to meet Simon and another friend of his. Luckily, the rain had stopped and it still remained chilly, but we made it to the Port Noarlunga RSL to pay our respects as the sun came up. It was a very unique and touching experience. They also put on a breakfast for everyone, but due to the overwhelming turn out we decided to skip the lines and head home. We were walking to the car when we met up with Beck and Slick. We decided to walk to their place for coffee and Anzac cookies.

This evening I also experienced a first and a great and exciting experience it proved to be. Simon and Kym were kind enough to treat me to a seat at the Anzac Day Port Adelaide Power vs Hawthorn Hawks AFL game. It was a very cool experience as the two teams came out through the banners together to show unity; they played the last post, and paid their respects prior to the beginning of the game. The “J” family was charged up and a little nervous about the game seeing as Hawthorne won the premiership last year. The seats were great, covered and close to the bar, food, and toilets. It proved to be a shocker of a game as the Power were destroying the Hawks in the first half of the game. The “J” Family was ecstatic! I must admit it was action packed and I was thoroughly enjoying it. The atmosphere was electric, the drinks were flowing, and good times were being had by all. After half Kym and I went for food and to the toilets only to return and find that the Power were losing their significant lead. It was devastating; it was as if they had gotten too cocky and had given up, it was like watching a different team. The vibe in the seats had quickly changed from excitement to anxiety! The long of the short, the Power managed to barely hang on and came out on top!

After the game the plan was to head up the hill toward North Adelaide and stop to have a coffee and pie/treats at the Café bakery on O’Connell that is open 24 hours. We did end up there and did just that and it was well deserved as we had quite the situation between exiting the oval and the arrival at the bakery. Simon decided to kick the footy around with A and in the meantime managed to get the footy lodged in the tree branch. We tried a half full Coke bottle, a boot that was part of a costume, kids on shoulders, and in the end other than the kid, all items were now stuck in the tree. Luckily for all of us involved some men who worked for the grounds showed up and were able to go and get a ladder and were successful at retrieving the ball, Coke bottle, and boot from the tree and have them returned to their rightful owners-too funny! What a great night with the J Family!

Well, realizing it is mid-May and time is slipping by, it is time to step it up a little around town. Taking control of my drinking habits, it is time to do something on Sundays other the wine tours and hangovers, for the time being. The weather has not been fully cooperative as winter has arrived early which is chilly, damp, and windy! Time to get on my July trip to warmth and that is proving to be difficult as tours are selling out-ugh! Again, time is slipping away and I need to get on it!

I had the opportunity and was thankful to be invited to K&K wedding reception in Mc Laren Vale. I was lucky enough to head out early to help Kelly with some prep and I met Michelle, who happened to be a travel agent. We had lots of food, lots of laughs and then I headed home early to get a good night sleep for Sunday. I was up at the crack of dawn, yes really I was, I drove to V’s to meet her and G to volunteer for the Mother’s day race to help make money for his daughter's running club. It was a cold, rainy day but we survived. After that we stopped at Burnelli’s for a late brunch and then headed to the Art Gallery. That was interesting and checks it off the list. Yes!

Weather has warmed up this weekend and time to get out on the town again. V, G, their daughter, Teresa and I headed in to the Flinders market for an afternoon browse and hopefully some good eats. It was quite busy; there were some cute trinkets and such to look at, and some decent foods. There were some gluten free and sugar free options which was nice. We got there a bit late and all the food trucks were sold out in terms of things I wanted to try. In the end our choices were oat free granola with coconut yogurt and clean eating fudge! Both proved to be delicious.

Sunday morning Teresa and I headed to the city to Rent “Free City Bikes, “well after I peer pressured her as the other option was a hike up Mount Lofty and I wasn’t feeling it. It was a beautiful day and I thought a cruise around the city was a better option. We headed to the city, parked the car at the Thebarton Ice Arena where Teresa used to work, and walked across the street to “hire” the bikes at Bonython Park. It was totally my style, lol, comfy seat, upright, back pedal brakes, and a few gears. We set off along the paths along the River Torrens, past the Oval, up to the Botanical Gardens, past the Zoo through the grounds where Womadelaide was, and up to the parks where the Garden of Unearthly delights and Gluttony were during the Fringe. From here we pedalled past Victoria Park Racecourse- it’s an old race track where low rider pedal bikes that have covers on them to look like cars are racing round the track and they are built by high school students to compete in the Pedal Prix. Running alongside this track is the Victoria Park Fitness Trails that has permanent fitness circuits along the pathway-different idea! From here we decided it was time to eat!

Teresa has a friend that is a bartender in the area so we headed to his pub. We had some delicious appetizers and thoroughly enjoyed an ice cold cider, first one in twenty-one days! What a great way to enjoy a sunny day! From here we headed to the cemetery- it is giant and the plots are different than at home and it is actually a very beautiful place, if that is possible. Then headed back to return our bikes and ran into Lindsay, another exchange teacher, who was coming back from the market and blew a tire and didn’t have a spare. When we got back to the car we headed to Harbour Town to shop and were looking for her on the drive there to be sure she still wasn’t walking. Poor gal!

The end of May consisted of making sure to see the neighbor's kids in their element, R at Netball, and A at Oz Kick. Also, an Art showcase the students put on at Port Noarlunga Art Centre which was a great display of student talent and nice to see some students in their element and a different light than at school. Lots of talent! I then hit S&K's house for a coffee and to let them in on my nine day camping Kimberley Loop Tour that I booked for July! Woot woot! Knowing my lack of like for camping and hating being cold, they also made sure I had all the gear needed to be comfortable and warm for my Outdoor Ed Adventure for work. I figure it will be a good test to see how I will go on the nine day camping adventure.

Saturday morning Simon was kind enough to head to my place and shed some light on the dining room by repairing the light so I am not totally in the dark at night. He also took a look at my car as my window winder is broken. I am so lucky and grateful to have such supportive and caring neighbors and best of all we have great times together as well. We have developed quite a great friendship. Saturday night was a first as a few of us from work got together to bond at the Seacliff Pub. It was refreshing and nice to talk and get to know some staff outside of school. Unfortunately, I had a migraine and was feeling quite ill, but powered on until midnight and gained a typical rhyme time nickname, I guess. It was also nice for Teresa to meet some of the peeps I work with as well.

I was so fortunate and counting my lucky stars as out of all the camps that have gone out this month, ours was one of the only ones that had sunshine, decent temperatures, and no rain in the forecast. Thank the lord for that! My job was to drive the support vehicle with all the gear, which I did for a few minutes, then I was recruited to ride a bike with the students. We were headed to Kuipto Forest to camp for the night. The ride was stunning as I had never been to these parts and was taken back by the scenery. Everything at this time of the year is bright green, which is refreshing as when I arrived everything was dull and brown due to the weather and high temperatures of course. Considering all the rain we had I shouldn’t be surprised at the greenery. There were plenty of hills and of course sheep and alpacas. We finally arrived to the entrance of the forest where we stopped to have lunch. From there we headed up, up, up and into the depths of the treed forest. Of course I didn’t have a clue where we were and at times either did the students. However, although I am the non-outdoorsy Canadian in the middle of who knows where situated somewhere in SA, I did know that if all else fails and we were lost to head to the road. Survival 101 and luckily for us it is unlike the Canadian Forests where the wildlife poses a threat and quite frankly I felt ok as I didn’t have to worry about anything deadly other than spiders of course, they never leave the back of my mind.

We eventually made it to the campsite and set up our tents. The kids made their food, built a fire and played some games. This group of students was a great crew with positive attitudes and absolutely stuffed from the ride. I crawled into my small, one man tent and was a bit cold at times, but was more bothered by the fact that I couldn’t stretch out completely on my back without my feet or head touching the tent. I managed to fall asleep and then woke up in the middle of the night in a complete panic-the tent was too small and I needed the F out! I did get out, bothered the other teacher to unlock the SUV so I could get my water, and eventually succumbed to the claustrophobia and slept in the passenger side of the SUV for the rest of the evening. Well lucky I found this out prior to leaving for a nine day camping trip, and made a mental note to contact the tour company regarding tent size! In the morning the kids made breakfast, tents came down, and the trailer was packed. We all got on the bikes, sore butts and all and started riding home. I rode the whole way back and got to experience the ride down the Old Willunga Hill where the Tour Down Under goes and what a hill and experience that was. Not sure if there are brakes left on the bike! Back to school, unpacked and then I left early as I had a meeting with the Exchange Department. What a great trip and experience and off to do it again next week for 2 days!

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Photos

Anzac Day
Big Game!

Free Bikes!
Love this idea!