Mount Kosciuszko-10/12/10

WOW! what a coolio mountian! SO very bizzare to be in a ski lodge in winter- yet im in australia and its summer!!! Quite an experience! haha! So we left Lakes Entrance at 6.30am - ventured through some cool towns, some of which were like ski towns, Freders was one of them! I counldn't tell you the long name as Australians shorten every word!!
Mount Kosciuszko is named after some polish dude I believe, and it is situated in the town of Thredbo! Nice little town. We arrived around lunch time- and after some munch when straight up this beast. Took the ski lift and everything. It was super windy up there. BUT lots of fun!! Got some nice pictures :D

And guess what we found??
SNOW!!!! it is christmas after all! whoop whoop!!:D :D :D :D

Me and Emma walked back together- and boy oh boy was it fun! we went rock climbing and everything! Once we were back at the lodge- Charlotte was in bed watching some crime movie! This is awesome! The lodge had tv, soap, shampoo and conditioner and most importantly TEA in the room!!!!!!!! We were in Heaven! haha! We watched a couple of movies and lazed around until dinner time! And wait for it, after dinner us four girlys got in the hot tub!!! OH YES!! Living the Dream!! HAH!!

Australia is an extension of the UK

So I reckon!! You drive on the left hand side, road signs are green, motorway- blue, tourist- brown! Its just bigger and there are some funky animals but all in all it just feels like im in the UK but with more to see. Maybe it would be different if it wasn't raining all the time!!!!!!
AND there is always British and American TV on all the time!!

OK SO- MELBOURNE
8th December 2010
Im staying in St Kilda- Its pretty awesome here- loving the trams, and the funky shops, bars and cafes remind me of Brighton. This area inparticular feels quite hippie/bohemien which is awesome!

Had a walk around St Kilda, sun set on the beach and saw the cute penquins on the Pier! :)
As I was leaving the next day I didnt have time to go into Melbourne itself which is a bummer- BUT theres always next time!

Wednesday 9th December
Melbourne - Lakes Entrance= amazing!
Oz experience pick up at 7am and we meet our tour guide Guido! Super cool guy- very entertaining and full of energy- DID not stop talking! which is good and bad! LOL!!
There was 7 of us on the bus- small group

Through Victoria- lots of telly tubby hills!
Into Willsons Promontory National Park
Such gorgeous green rolling hills here- like Scotland! reminds me of the road from Stonehaven to Banchory!!
And then we came to Squeaky Beach- WOW!! Perfect white sand- better than Fiji!!!! haha!and turqoise waters....I wish I could stay longer!!!

I was in my element- took A LOT of photos!! soo happy! wish it didnt feel so rushed though.

We met at the other side, near Tidal River- after our 1 and a half hour walk. BBQ time!! woo hoo!
We cooked up a storm on the barbie- Guido even did bubble and squeak! no fricking salad cream though! lol!
After lunch we hopped back on the bus!!!
2/3 hours later we arrived at an EXTREME slide called THE WORM!!!!! Guido was banging on about this slide for the past hour- but in the end it turned out to be a kids bumpy tunnel slide! pretty extreme!! LOL! it was a nice break though- and we played around for a bit!! haha!!!
We arrived at Lakes Entrance at 7ish- just in time for some fish and chips! And then a romantic walk on the beach for sun set!!! awww....

-For more photos see http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellyball/

Fly to Brisbane

Thursday 2nd December 2010
8.15am Depart Fiji
9.15am Arrive Brisbane, Australia

Train to Varsity Lakes when my cousin Jodie is coming to pick me up- YIIIPPEE!! Very excited to be here, although it is chucking it down! Isn't it SUMMER???
It's wierd how you picture a place and it is completely different in reality. I did not expect Australia to be tropical- I suppose I thought it would just be hot and dry. But its really humid and there are lots of tropical birds and plants- palm trees :D very cool!
Jodie's house is soo lovely- finally got to meet her kids Jake and Brooklyn and her hubby Mick. My Aunty Sue came over later as well- soo good to see family.

Friday 3rd- Finally saw Harry Potter- WOW I cannot wait for the next one
Saturday 4th- Jodie took me to work with her and I got a free facial and pedicure. WINNER! :P haha!
Walked around the area of Burleigh Heads- nice beach and you can see Surfers cityscape from there. It would have been doubly cool if the sun was out and I could take some pictures, but NO it was still chucking it down. Its like monsoon weather here! mental! The bad weather keeps following me I swear.
Later we all went out for dinner- I finally met with my uncle (that sounds funny doesn't it?) Uncle Keith- and we all went for a mexican in Coolangatta.
Sunday 5th- shopping :D
Tuesday7th- Aunty Sue picked me and Jake up and we went to her housee! DOUBLE WOW!!! the back of her house looks out over the most amazing view! I will take some photographs when the rain stops I promise! But WOW OH WOW!!! There were parrots and cockatoos flying about as well! I did take some photos in the end, but seem to have misplaced my uploader wire thingy!
Its crazy- Sue lives over the boarder into New South Wales and there is an hour time difference here! How mental is that? I was scared I was going to miss my flight the following morning.
Wednesday 8th- Fly to Melbourne to start my Oz Experience adventure!!

It's Christmas!!- so Eilidh thinks!

1st December 2010
Last night we arrived on South Sea Island, the sun was setting and it was soo cute! the smallest island ever- we walked around it in about 7 minutes! haha!! We had a yummo-ish dinner and purchased a bottle of red!
At midnight Eilidh whispers to me- It's Christmas!!! eeeee....

Today- it is SOOO HOT!!! like too hot it's amazing! Heard our first christmas tune of the year on Fiji radio- very cool! out to the sun loungers at 9am! :P
We had an awesome fun filled day- lots of activities including a submarine ride, snorkling with more jellyfish stings DOH! some tribal entertainment from the Fijians, sarong tying, bracelet buying, you could even plant coral cos it was eco day! how funny! we didn't do that though! ooo and we both got a hair braid and matching Fiji bracelets :D

submarine fun!!

We finally said goodbye to South Sea Island and headed back to Nadi Bay Resort for our last night in Fiji.

Port Denarau-and the Yesawa Flyer (yellow boat)

Goodbye Fiji! It's been fun! :P

Scott's Birthday!

So its the 30th November in Fiji today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT BAXTER!!!!!! hehe!! love you!
Todays forecast- SUNSHINE!! hello! i've bloody well missed you! haha!

I woke up at 6am- saw that it was sunny and got straight to the beach with my camera. haha!

bit squint- need a wee bit of photoshoppy i think! haha! :P

Such a gorgeous walk along the beach and no one around! :) happy days! I even had to sit down and take it all in- AWESOME!
After breakfast me and eils went straight back to the beach and set up our sun loungers for the day! I got my goggles out- (no need for $20 to borrow snorkle gear when i can wear my ever so trendy gogs that were a 5er and let water in-LOL)
The fish were amazing out on the reef though- i felt like i was one of them swimming about- finally felt like a mermaid! HAHA! or something from finding nemo- i was super happy! the fish were so colourful- didnt see any nemos though- that was pretty upsetting. i saw a couple of HUGE bright blue starfish though- they were the best- it was funny to see them all curled round bit of coral or just flat oot on the sea bed! I couldnt help myself and think of finding nemo quotes the whole time- thought of jill and i just couldnt stop laughing bubbles under the water to myself! hahaha! idiot!

To dry off I took another walk by my lonesome- well i had my wee buddy d90! he's so cool! although should have thought about taking the lens cap as poor lens got a bit mucky from all the salty water windyness! heres a few snaps from my walkabout Mantaray Island-

I liked photographing the rocks over the beach- the sand wasnt white like i thought fiji sand would be- instead it was pretty corally- sore on ones feet!! :O

had to be done :S
now back to my rocks-

not very good photographer am i? bloody squint photos- haha! Andy would not be happy! :P but i was sooo snap happy i just wanted to take lots and lots of photos and didnt get all perfectionist about them! hmm- will sort this out on a later date!

Later....after luncheon we were off on the boat to go to another island, however...we were waiting in the smaller boat for over an hour. Some of us decided to go and jump in to cool off- it was bloody hot and we were all burning i tell you!! it was definately a good idea to begin with- we were all happily swimming- just keep swimming, just keep swimming- you know how it goes! AND THEN....JELLOFISH!! I mean jellyfish- i just got excited and carried away just then!! Yep first i heard it, then i felt it. little nips on my skin. we all swam as quickly as we could and get back on the boat! Although I felt the stings- i didnt have much of a mark- little ones on my knee. RUBBISH! i wanted some war wounds to tell the grandkids one day! LOL! --NAH!
Anyways- goodbye Mantaray Island. (WAVE)

Dutch girl- who (not so much here) i think looks identical to the girl in parent trap. NO not lindsay lohan- the old parent trap!! doesnt she? yes!!! me- looking all fresh from the salty waters and jellofish stings, and brazillian guy. All three of us were having a good chat about our cameras at this point :P two thumbs up, fine holiday fun! i think i've said this before! doh!

Mantaray Island

28th November 2010-We arrive at Mantaray after a VERY bumpy ride on the Yasawa Flyer (boat). OH and we saw sun today..YIIPPPEEE!!!! I even burnt my shoulders :D LOL!
Mantaray is different- very cool in fact! lots to see and do. OH and the best thing here- THE FOOD! we had a MASSIVE buffet for dinner with loads of salad, different types of meat, yummo soup, and loads of fresh fruit! no mangoes for eilidh though :(
They have ECO friendly toilets here- no flush! like being at a festival but you dont see or smell whats beneath so thats good! HAHA! AND we get to sleep with mosquito nets- i like!! this was pretty fun- felt like i was on safari...or something! lol!

The next day, it was still pretty overcast. Me and Eils made bracelets out of coconuts with help from our friend Kenny! He was super cool- he they took us across the island to find more coconuts and then to a different beach where the SUN CAME OUT!!! YAAAYE!! and we all jumped into the wavy waters! FUN!

Kenny to the left- and the closest guy is who proposed to Eilidh with a cocnut ring! very romantic!!apparently he is the son of the chief of the local village- get in there Eils!! ;)

<---Kenny picking coconuts at the other side of the island!





AND THEN THERE WAS BLUE SKIES! :)

Eilidh loves Mangoes!!!

Yes she does!
Awoke early Friday 26th November- bus pick up at 7.30am
Depart Port Denarau and journey through the Yasawas to arrive at Tevawa Island for 3pm ish. Sounds beautiful but sadly me and Eils couldn't appreciate the awesomness as the weather was bloody awful! Miserable, windy and rainy :( BOOO!!! To be in one of the most beautiful places in the world and have british weather is soo NOT cool!!

Cards were played- A LOT!! They didn't have much indoor activities for us which was ashame- could have done with scrabble or monopoly or that mexican train game! super cool! but sadly we only had cards and alcohol! All was not lost! We still made the most of it!
The second night the winds got scary- cyclone im told by passed us- i thought the roof was going to fly off, sooo scary! I kept thinking about where I would hide if it did! haha!
Me and Eilidh did write a beautiful love story with our time:
there was a young girl who lived on an island in the sea, her name was Telluta (Eilidh I prefer Telluta OK? lol) and she hated Mangoes. But on Mango Island all her family ate were mangoes so one day she found a boat and escaped Mango Island but was captured by a cannibal called Bob She knew the legend of Bob the cannibal and was very scard. As soon as Bob saw Telluta he fell in love but couldn't stop his thirst for her edible body. He took her back to his cave and asked her what she would like to eat, she said "Mangoes" because she knew mangoes would make her meat be allergic to Bob. Bob said "I dont eat mangoes, I only have special meat that tastes like gorilla", Telluta knew this would be human meat so kindly refused. This made Bob mad, and so he picked her up and wrestled her to the ground so violently that she feared for her life, he was just opening her mouth to take a bite of her chin, and stopped, looked into her eyes and kissed her so passionately she knew he loved her and would never again try to eat her. She decided to stay at the cave with Bob and she persuded him to eat other things like goat and chicken, and so they lived happily ever after and never ate humans nor mangoes again.
written by Elly Ball and Eilidh Whyte

How'd ya like that? LOL!!
truly bored at this point as you can tell!! Fiji was not living up to the dream as yet, so me and Eilidh decided to do some laundry- we hung it out to dry and left it for the night- the morning after the supposed cyclone-haha- we went outside to find out underwear all in muddy waters all around our Bure (dorm building). OH DEAR!

As none of my landscape photographs of this place look any good, I thought a coconut would sufice- (is that the right word? LOL!) The best thing we could do here was try out the fijian beer. blue?green? or gold? mine was the blue- although they all tasted the same! DOH!?

We were joined by Eilidh's frineds she met in New Zealand who were from Holland- Christine and Sebastian. That was a good night- we played dares where Seb had to run round the resort and I danced on the table.We also took part in a massive conga doing leap frog and playing musical statues where me and Eilidh lost our balance when we had to touch nose to nose and hold one leg up! It was hillarious! Seb and Christine one though so they got some free booze! two thumbs up, fine holiday fun!

Wednesday 24th November 2010

As this day did not exist for me this year I thought I would pay it tribute as the title of this blog.
21 hours ahead of LA- I arrived in Nadi at 5.15am. Taxi to Nadi Bay Resort where Miss Whyte is waiting for me at the check in desk! MAN was I super happy to see her! Love you Eils! Yiippeee!!

It is so very humid here yet only 22 degrees C.
Through the tourist info- we decided to go into the mountains to the mud pools! VERY COOL! We took the local bus at 9.30am (green and white bus to Sabeto), 1 hour along a dirt road- very strange but we met some local people and they were very friendly and happy we were there :)

The manny showed us the mud pool and then the HOT SPRING temperature 72 degrees C, he then went on to tell us a story about a boy who fell into this pool, swam to the other side and got out- he was not affected by the heat and had no burn marks. Both me and Eilidh looked at eachother- surely he's joking and wont make us go in!! it was SCOLDING hot!!
he then laughed it off! THANK GOD- I was thinking it might have been one of those walk on hot coals type of things! Jeese!
The man then took us to the other hot spring- 35 degrees- MUCH better! This is where we would wash our mud off.

After our marvellous mud bath, me and Eilidh continued for sometime lathering ourselves up and had a bit of a mud fight! We were mud monsters! LOL! It was hillarious!
It was so beautiful with the scenery- like something out of 'Lost'. Lots of foliage.

After our mud pool and hot spring fun- we were given some yummy mangoes! Then we walked to some 'gardens'- this turned out to be a VERY VERY bad idea! the humidity was hurrendous, and we were eaten alive by mosquitos! AAHHHHHHHHHHHhh!!!! We both must have had at least 50 bites each- MINIMUM!
(NOTE: MUST REMEMBER TO REAPPLY BUG SPRAY AFTER MUD BATH)

Later- cocktails for dinner- prawn curray and baked lemon cheesecake - living the dream eh?! haha! minus the mozzie bites :(

Listened to some music, the staff sang for us and we tryed Kava- a local drink made from a root of a tree that makes your tongue go numb! haha! its supposed to make you feel chilled out! We both liked this a lot! haha!

Backpacking lifestyle- NAH!!

Arrived in Ontario at 12.56 local time on November 22nd 2010.
Diane picked me up from the airport and she took me to Mindrum Precision (her business) and showed me around. We then went shopping at Victoria Gardens. We saw Santa (freaky), he was looking through a window so Diane curiously went up beside him and peered through the window to see what he was looking at! CLICK! Santa was set up for a picture with a little boy inside his wooden house and Diane was now in the photo too!! LOL! it was so funny!
I tell you- I had forgotten how amazing the mountains are here- really something. I wish I had more time here so I could go out and get some great shots.

4pm- we drove to Cable Airport and after a quick plane ride with my two personal pilots- we were in Santa Monica for a lovely chinese dinner. AMAZING!
Taken from my window-

 
My personal pilots HAH!! Diane and Ken

Looking like I have something stuck up my bum!! :O

Back to Cable Airport and a drink at Chucks hanger/bar! very cool! like somthing out of a movie! Met with two photographyer ladies :)

Back to Diane's place and a couple more beers.

Tuesday 23rd November

Woke up early and straight back to Cable Airport for breakfast. Diane's dad joined us.

Once Ken arrived ( Diane's co-pilot/ instructor dude who flies for an american international airline) we departed for Santa Barbara. MASSIVE houses there- I would have loved to nosy round them and take some photos. Apparently this is where Opera lives! hah!

We had a lovely lunch on the beach and a walk on the pier- very windy day!

Back to Cable- then straight to LAX for my 10 hour and 55 minute flight to Nadi, Fiji.

Lots of fun in such a short stay :)

Buttered Rum Cashew Ice-cream

20th November 2010
Awake in fathers gorgeous hotel in Bandera, Texas. Had the wierdest dreams about zombies-haha! don't ask! freaky though! boiled egg for breakfast and overcast weather outside! NOT FAIR! its supposed to clear later though! I arrived at San Antonio airport at 5pm yesterday and straight to dinner. Havent been back to Bandera for a year or so, so its nice to be here, see the changes and see Dad and Linda. Theres a cat here now too, although dad wont let her inside the house! HAH! typical!

I bummed around the house- took some photos, not too inspiring with the overcasst skies. Although did manage a good one here when the sun popped out and the blue sky opened up!Went for coffee at the new coffee house Dogleg Coffee House! haha! bizarre name hey! (is that how you spell bizarre? LOL!)
The sky had cleared completely now- so I scarpered off leaving Dad and Linda to look at some antique shoppys. I thought I would take a walk down the river! It got HOT!! I think 78 degrees. Wish I hadnt worn jeans.
The river was beautiful.

I think I have this new found fetish for trees and water!!!! LOL!!

I tell you- I didn't want to leave the sun was just perfect and soo warm- bliss!! but i had to go back to the house! I needed to pee- and i wasnt gonna drop me brechs out here- somethin' might grab me!! haha! I know Liz would have though! any excuse for a bit of outdoor nature living eh Liz?? haha!!

Got back in, grabbed myself a book and read out on the porch!

I know what Scotts doing right now!! laughing!!! and yes I did take a photograph of myself! LOL! but Liz wanted to see me here in these places! haha! Finally started that book too! Its a bit wierd Lizzy- but I shall persist!

Dinner at Mac and Ernies- NOT burt and ernies OR mac and cheese!!!!!!!

It was a really cool place, really casual, plastic plates and forks!! BUT the food was sooo GOOD! me and dad had steaks (we were allowed steak knives for this, although not so good on the old plastic plate) i had yummo jalopeno gravy on mine too. BUT the best part of this dinner-dessert! as always!ICE-CREAM! i am in luck with all these strange ice-creams lately. It was Buttered Rum Cashew flavour- wierd salty ice cream with this alcoholic liquor twist- crazy wierd but BOY OH BOY do I want some more right now! haha!! LOVED IT!!!

Sunday 21st November 2010

Today we went to Queen B's - an English Tea rooms in Ingram, Texas. It was the wierdest experience ever! It was like some old ladies house where she had hoarded all her junk over the years- soo many tea-pots- on the walls, the shelves, the floors, on the drive way on the way upto the little house, hanging tea pots! really crazy! like a cat ladies house! haha!! and the funniest thing was that the old lady who ran the joint, she looked like Helena Bonham Carter- an old lady version- crazy hair- white, pale skin, big cheek bones and piercing eyes! she was great!

We had Roast Lamb, yorkshire puds to start, and i had pumkin cheesecake for dessert! haha!! it was pretty yummy! very large portions though! but what they hey im not going to be able to afford real food for a while so i'll fit it all in!! YUM YUM!!!! YES Scott- fatty fatty boom boom! I hear ya!!



"Honey I found you"

My last week in Chalfont was filled with planning my next adventures, watching the kids play soccer!!!! haha!! Eating some goooooood food- 'Honey' in Doylestown has the most amazing ribs with ginger ice cream! seriously deelish! something you would find in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant for sure! Alex you would LOVE it!! sewing Maddies brownie badges on her sash, playing some scrabble, some mexican train (dominoes) and drinking some red wine! not to mention- watching some paint dry!! haha!! actually!!

This was the day Scott lost his Saint Christopher on the field. We went back later searching for around an hour. I was thinking about how in "Honey I shrunk the kids" when the dad walks right near them, then turns just as he comes close and walks away. At this point of my thought I turned back to the direction I was facing and I saw it!!!! woo hooo!! spooky though huh?!