Maybe in Oz

by Maria Farrer and Anna Walker The Arctic’s cold, with ice and snow, And that’s where Santa lives, you know. On Christmas Eve he flies so fast We rarely see him whizzing past- But he keeps a lookout on his way For a place to take his holiday. Each year he likes to have some fun, A chance to get some rest and sun; He spins his globe for inspiration And finds a perfect destination. A big smile spreads across his face… Australia is the perfect place! He packs his bag, his surfboard too, And lands his sleigh at Australia Zoo. He leaves his reindeer in the care Of friendly locals who live there. He hires a ute and takes a ride To town – to buy a tourist guide, A t-shirt, thongs and bushman’s hat, Stubbies – and Aussie things like that. He heads to Fraser Island first, The heat, it gives him quite a thirst! He cools off in the champagne pool And learns about the dingo rules. And after going four-wheel driving, He heads up ...

Pinterest costs me a lot of money.  Every time I see a pretty picture from somewhere in Australia, I figure out a way to go there and see the picture in person.  This time, it was this stunning picture from the Whitsundays. Jetstar was certainly an enabler when earlier this year they introduced a Melbourne - Proserpine/Whitsunday Coast flight.  The day they introduced them the prices were ridiculously cheap so I quickly jumped in and picked a weekend in October.  That was in March. Finally October came and we took the 2.5 hour flight North.  We stayed near Airlie Beach and explored the town centre when we landed.  We strolled around the Saturday morning market, and the mix of beach ware and coconut oil made me think for a minute I was back in Bali.  Then we walked down the main drag and stopped in The Great Northern Brewery for some beers and lunch.  Our plans for lunch were soon thwarted when we realised we had an hour until the kitc...

When the Victorian government declared a public holiday for the Footy Grand Final Parade last month, we very quickly booked tickets back to Tasmania for the long weekend.  We had been wanting to explore the North East region of the state and figured that was the perfect opportunity to do so. We flew in to Launceston on Friday morning and headed straight to some wineries along the Tamar Valley Wine Route.  Some were new to us, some we had been to before, and we excitedly stocked up to ship some back home.  It was a rare warm(ish) October day - two of our previous trips to Tassie had also been during the month of October and we were snowed on during both of those adventures. Josef Cromy Winery The adorable dog at Moors Hill Wines The resident pot belly pig at Holm Oak Winery After lunch we started the drive over to the East Coast, taking crazy country dirt roads along the way. It wasn't exactly intentional, but we seem to always end up on dirt roads someh...

September 12 2015 Bali was fun in its own peculiar way.  Thanks for inviting me to go with you.  Now we have to get busy and sew all of those fabrics!  The Lion King was fabulous today.  What a lot of work that was to produce.  Now I'll have to watch the cartoon version!  See you next time -  Mom I had a lovely restful week after George and I had a difference of opinion and he tried to remove my left thumb.  Hopefully I'm not bringing some sort of contagion back to the US which will land me in quarantine for 90 days.  The trip to Marysville was great! Dad Going for a walk Reading the Wombat Goes to School Snow at Mt Donnabuang Redwood forrest near Warburton My dad hiking with Glenda and John My dad and Glenda at Stephensons Falls Hiking with Glenda - after a week being sick from my stupid cat's bite, this was the only day of fun he got to have while we were in Bali My mom at our hotel in Bali In fro...