Goodbye Friend!

Mikaela's last day :(

Well I'm officially flying solo in Melbourne. Yesterday my other half left to start YWAM in Townsville. But not to worry, we sent her off in style!
Good Friday was Mikaela's last official day in town. We began our day with one of the most amazing Good Friday services I've been to, courtesy of Hillsong-Melbourne. Coming out of church the city was the most energized I've ever seen. The area where Hillsong is held is full to the brim with churches, and every single congregation was on the streets celebrating, singing and spreading the message. It was a pretty incredible thing to be a part of.
What a way to start the day!
After church we met up with the friend we had made at our hostel, Ndola, and wandered down to the CBD (central business district). There's been a comedy festival going on in Melbourne for the past few weeks, and at town hall they had a free event going on Friday afternoon. Of course Free is our favourite word, so we stopped by for a couple chuckles.

All Canadian Crew
(Mikaela, Ndola, and I)

Last stop of the day was to the FREE Ian Potter museum. We got there with about 30 minutes left till it closed so we had to motor, or risk the wrath of the coat check lady! I will most definitely have to go back when I have a little more time. Probably the most fun exhibit was a techno dance floor that we stumbled upon. I don't know if I personally would qualify it as art, but it was fun nonetheless.
After our trip to the museum, Mikaela and Ndola went for dinner, and I went to, wait for it.... Sign my lease! That right folks, I am officially a resident of Melbourne. But I must say, Hamilton's insanely low rental prices has kinda ruined me forever. Still, nice to be out of the hostel and into somewhere a bit more homey.
This upcoming week is all about tying up loose ends so I can start work. Guess I should also brush up on my uno game, I hear nurses have started playing a lot of cards since I've been off ;)

Queen Victoria Night Market

Queen Victoria Market

Last night we met up with some friends Mikaela had met the previous year in Germany. There was a night market happening in the city, so we promptly loosened our belts one notch, and set off to indulge in tastes from all around the world. The Queen Victoria market is a two block historical market in the north end of Melbourne. It opened its doors in 1878 and was primarily a livestock and vegetable wholesale market. Today, it boasts tastes and crafts from around the world.
After a quick look around to the various cuisines I settled on some delicious Paella and tiramisu for dessert. The line may have been miles long, but this food was well worth the wait!
There were many smaller shows and performances going on as we ate, but perhaps the most entertaining was the silent disco. We first noticed them by their flashing blue LED headphones. A giant crowd of people, who could only have been tourists, came dancing through the centre of the market, all grooving to some melody that only they could hear. It was spectacularly cringey. Needless to say we opted out of that experience.

Paella

One of the girls we met at our hostel (who happens to also be from Hamilton), joined us for the market and it definitely completed the group. Three aussies (Mikaela's friends), three Canadians, and a whole lot of good food! Perfect Wednesday.

The Canadians <3 

The Great Australian Pass Time

Last night I experienced my first every game of footy, Aussie rules, Australian Rules Football, the game has many names, and many rules (or so it seemed).

Now, before I begin, I will insert a humble brag here. I'm not a complete novice to the game of footy. Back in Grade 9, we had a couple Aussies come to Oakridge, and, to the delight of a cluster of 15 year old girls, teach us how to play their sacred game. As their final lesson, they hosted a kicking competition, and yours truly walked away with the grand prize. But after that first taste of victory, I put my footy cleats on the shelf, and decided to leave it to the professionals. It's only fair to everyone else.

Aussie rules is probably closest resembles rugby, although I don't I have enough knowledge of either sport to really support that claim. It is played with a footy, and on a round field with four posts at either end.
We went to see North Melbourne vs Adelaide, and as per the two guys behind us "both teams suck", so we were "just [there] for fun". Works for us!

In actuality, the basic game isn't so hard to understand. Both teams goal is to score by kicking the ball through the goal posts at the other end. If kicked through the goal posts (middle two) without being touched by another player it is worth 6 points; if it kicked through the outer or "behind" posts without being touched it is worth 1 point. The game consists of 4 quarters, each 20 minutes long.  (for full rules click here).

After being in the game for two quarters with no idea whatsoever of what was a foul, or a goal; what to cheer for and what to boo, we just sat back and listened to the fans for direction.

Footy fans are on emotional par with hockey fans in Canada, American football in USA, and occasionally reach the emotion of European soccer fans. One things for sure, Aussies are equally ready to let the opposing team, as well as their own know when they've made an error of judgement.

Perhaps one of the nicest surprises of the night was getting there with our general admission tickets, and being told GA for footy is right up near the field. We sat three rows back from the field for less than $30. Not too shabby! Had we not eaten ahead of time, I would have had enough left in the budget to indulge in a classic Australian delicacy: meat pies. But alas, gotta save some experiences for tomorrow.

In the end only one team could win, and at the eleventh hour North Melbourne rallied and brought the win home. Go Kanagroos!

Great Ocean Road/Adelaide: 4.5 day Caravan Adventure

map of the whole trip

**Warning, many photos ahead
Day 1: Great Ocean Road

Jucy Lucy and Mikaela

This road trip has been on the top of my must-do list for Australia for a while now. You can do the Great Ocean drive in a day or two if you are moving quickly, but since we had a car rented anyways, we stretched the trip into a five day roadie to Adelaide and back.

We packed up our car (affectionately known as "Jucy Lucy", and/or "The Loser-Mobile"), which is quite the attention grabber. We were stopped a few times and asked if we needed directions/help. I guess this thing does look a bit like a cry for help.

Our first day consisted was from Melbourne to Port Campbell. This part of our road trip encompassed the whole of the Great Ocean Road. And let me tell you, this place lives up to the name! From Bells Beach down through Apollo Bay you're pretty much sandwiched between mountain and ocean, with stunning view after stunning view.

There were also a handful of little side beaches that we stopped off at to rest and take in the scenery. We did this so frequently that I'm not 100% sure where these pictures were actually taken. Although I think it was around Apollo Bay area.

This is when I experienced my first language barrier. I entered one of these lovely establishments, and asked for a coffee.

Barista: Okay, but what kind?

Me: Just a normal coffee

Barista: Okay, like a flat white? Cappuccino? Latte?

Me: No like a normal black coffee

Barista: Oh, okay, a Long black?
Me: Sure?

Turns out folks, brace yourselves. They don't have coffee in Australia!? This may be the deciding factor that I will one day return to Canada. Everything is just an espresso based drink. To which some of you (like Mikaela) may respond "well isn't that better?". No. I require my generic, run of the mill, Seattle's best coffee. Okay, end rant. I'm sure this is only a big deal to me, a hat tip to my caffeine addiction. Time for good ole cold turkey quitting!

The last stop of the day was twelve apostles. Each view before this had been breath taking and amazing, but this topped them all. And it just so happened we got there right at sunset. I could talk endlessly, but I think I'll let the photos speak for themselves

Here's a quick explanation of their formation. I'm sure with a bit more research you could find out lots more neat information about this natural wonder:

Click Here

Twelve Apostles

Twelve Apostles

Twelve Apostles

Day 2/3: Adelaide and the Wineries

Day 2 was mostly driving up the coast towards Adelaide. It gets absolutely pitch black at about 6pm so we weren't able to do too much.
We did have our first wildlife spotting while driving through a forested area! We noticed something awkwardly walking on all fours down the middle of the road, and low and behold it was a Koala!

After recovering from the Koala sighting, we continued to Southern Australia and into wine country!

Frank Potts Reserve-South Australia

Penfolds Winery

We had planned to visit a couple wineries on our way into Adelaide, but we quickly found that many of the wineries here are not actually open to the public. So, after a brief stop in at Penfold winery, we continued into Adelaide for a half day of museums.

Penfolds Winery

Southern Australia University

There are several free museums  in and around the university in Adelaide. We elected to visit South Australian Museum. Which was a natural history museum. It was excellent until we entered the ocean and sea section and they had a three story (not exaggerating) giant squid. (insert mini panic attack). For all those who aren't aware, giant squids are the one and only animal that can put Shannon in a fetal position. BLECK.

Hi Matt

After my near death experience with the squid, we moved onto the university's art gallery which was also free to enter. This museum had a collections of aboriginal, modern and various other styles of art. Featuring a particularly haunting doll painting (which I have already traumatized a one, Matt Dengate with), and some stunning, shall we call it abstract?
 This is why I shouldn't go to arsty places without Rachel....

Our last little photo-op of the day took place on the way back to the campsite where we stumbled upon this very photo-genic staircase (you go staircase!).

Port Noarlunga

Day 4/5: There and Back Again: A Shannon's Tale

So folks, picture this: Day 4 of no coffee (we don't count espresso drinks here), long car ride through outback, borderline lost, with gas just over 1/4 tank, and no gas station in sight, and a campsite that doesn't exist. This is a list of all my least favourite things, and all of which happened on our last day.

There is  a very handy app called Campsite, which up until this point had not steered us wrong. Unfortunately, not all these places are kept up to date on the app. The goal of this day of driving was to situate ourselves within an hour or so of Melbourne to make the car drop off as seamless as possible in the morning.

So with that in mind we loaded up the map for an inn north of Melbourne which promised a free overnight parking spot. "Great! That's settled, now we can just enjoy the drive and take our time!" (more on this later).

Dimboola, Victoria

Coming away from Adelaide we saw signs boasting a pink lake, so of course we adjusted our route and went to behold said lake. Up until this point, I had been under the impression that there was only one pink lake, and that was in Perth. After a quick google search, I learned that there are many many of them, even one just outside Melbourne! We opted for Dimboola, Victoria. Unfortunately, because of the time of year, our pink lake had all but dried up. It turned out to be quite the cool experience though, walking out onto the pink salt of the lake bottom. 

After that cool little pit stop, we continued on our long drive to the campsite. Now, as has happened with many road trips throughout history, our GPS decided the fastest route was through the middle of nowhere. About 80% of this drive we had no, or spotty service and were just kinda hoping that it was the right way. Our only companions were the thousands and thousands of cattle and sheep grazing in the hundreds of farms. I don't think I've ever seen so many sheep!

After a long day of driving we arrived at the stay over, after a dark and twisty drive with many kangaroo xing signs, we at last made it to the inn. Completely exhausted and ready for bed.... only to be told the owner had stopped letting people stay there on account of general messiness of prior patrons. After a couple deep breaths, we got back into the car and strained our phones to pick up a signal, and tracked down a campsite nearby. Thank you thank you thank you to the lady at Macedon Caravan Park who picked up the phone after the office was closed, and allowed us to park there! 

Needless to say we both passed out at 7:30 on the dot.

A little silver lining to the stress, was our little visitor on the way into the camping park (see video)

A road trip is not a road trip without a little adversity and ups and downs. Overall, the gorgeous landscape more than made up for a few hours of stress. We dropped Lucy back at the rental car place this morning, and are getting ready for a week together in Melbourne before Mikaela moves on to bigger and better things!

Lucy looking out over SA

Day 4 (and Final) in Oahu

Day 4: Surfs Up!

Surfing Waikiki

Today was all about doing the classic surf of Waikiki, we got blue skies but not the best waves today; mostly only little short-lived guys. But that did not deter us! The copious rock formations however, those cut my surf trip a little short. At the end of my first stand up I bailed and landed directly on a patch of decently sharp rocks. Thankfully, I had fallen feet first, and left with only a couple banged up toes, and a renewed awareness of my surroundings. It still proved to be a nice refresher of surfing. This was also the first time I've surfed in warm water, and it was quite a nice change! No wet suit dance required.

BURN UPDATE: in a world that has proven consistently to not be "tall people friend", I have once again endured injury due to my height, or rather, my length. The stylish rashy I donned for this experience was not quite long enough. And due to its black colour, attracted all sun to my wrists. The thing about wrist burns is, you can't really hide them from the sun once you've gotten them. Seriously considering investing in some nice arm sweat bands. 

Hula Dog: Bacon Taro Bun
with Garlic Lemon Sauce

We've taken to relaxing and escaping the sun for the rest of the day. Trying one more of the local delicacies, Hula Dog.

As our 11 hour flight is tomorrow, we opted not to risk making our burns any worse with a hike. Melbourne right now is about 20 degrees which will suit me just fine. Hopefully this clear weather follows us Down Under!

Well Hawaii, you've been a treat, and I'm sure I'll be back in no time! But its onto the main event: Oz!

Day 3 in Oahu

Day 3: Shark Bate Hoo Ha Ha

For this first part, Mom please look away!

Look out behind!

Hawaii is unique in many ways, and its wildlife is no exception. As the most isolated island in the world, it has created quite the unique ecosystem. A significant player in said ecosystemis of course the shark. The Galapagos shark in particular can be see off the coast of North Shore. And how could we pass up an opportunity to see these guys up close and personal? North Shore Shark Adventures treated us to the most amazing way to observe these beauties, side by side in a (fingers crossed) SAFE and STURDY cage.

This adventure was worth every single penny. Not only did we get within arms reach of the sharks, we were also accompanied by hump back whales, and spinner dolphins who treated us to a little show. Of course I was looking the wrong way when it happened, but the dolphins lived up to their name, doing a little flip above water before retreating to hunting. Can't stress this enough, try to overlook the steep ticket price, if ever in the area this is a MUST.

OKAY MOM YOU CAN LOOK BACK!

Sunset Beach

North shore is also the epicenter for Hawaiian surf, this is where the pros do it. Which is why you will notice all of the pictures are of us on the shore. We're not quite up to tube riding yet, but check back in a few months! Our trip to North Shore would then, of course, not be complete without a trip to the iconic Sunset Beach. This may be the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I haven't edited any of these pictures, the water is actually that blue! Unfortunately, due to our delicate Canadian complexions we couldn't stay much longer than a half hour.

Which brings me to...

BURN UPDATE: as you can see by the pictures I have smartened up and upgraded to the long-sleeves for outside. But I think I will have to take sunscreen application off my list of special skills. I have no idea how this is happening, but instead of a regular burn I seem to be burning in small patches. One on either wrist, a patch on the neck, ankle, et cetera. It seems to me I have two options here: accept defeat and remain inside for the remainder of the vacation, or upgrade to SPF 200. I'll keep you updated.

Pineapple Whip

Our final stop today was the Dole Plantation. Which, for a pineapple lover, was heaven. I've never seen so many pineapple products in my life. It's a good thing I've already got a full suitcase because otherwise I'm sure I'd be the owner of a significant amount of pineapple memorabilia.

We have handed the keys back in for our Jeep (miss you already Jeep), so it'll be a more chill day in Honolulu again tomorrow. Hopefully  90% surfing!

Day 2 in Oahu

Day 2 Jurassic Park Edition: Life uh Finds a Way

The jet-lag is still very much a thing. Although, on the upside, getting up at 7 am every day does mean we are fitting in a ton more activities!

We couldn't go to Hawaii
and not get a Jeep

We picked up this beauty ( →) promptly at 8 am, and headed off on a little road trip of the eastern
side of the island. Unfortunately, our first stop on the way, which was supposed to be Crouching Lion, was closed due to a "newly formed cliff". Curiosity of what exactly that meant was quickly overpowered by the small mom in my head telling me not to be an idiot.

Enroute to Lanikai

Lanikai Beach 

With the subtle notes of the Jurassic park theme humming in our heads, we carried on towards our next spot, Lanikai beach. This place looks like something off of a post card, but then so does every single inch of this island. I wonder if the beauty ever wears off, like one day you're walking down Lanikai at sunset sipping a Mai Tai, and thinking to yourself "meh, I've seen better".  Anyways, that is so NOT the case for me. We soaked in some more of that gorgeous Hawaiian sun, and took a quick dip in the ocean before continuing on with our tour.

BURN UPDATE: I am pleased to report that by some miracle, I have managed to slow the  progression of my Rudolph burn with copious amounts of SPF 60 and a hat. I unfortunately chose fashion over function with my outfit choice this morning, and the tank top I was sporting did NOT do so much for the shoulders. What can I say guys, I'm a work in progress.

Views from atop Makapu'u Lookout

Our last little stop before returning home was Makapu'u Lighthouse. I would like to issue a formal apology to the universe on this one. When Mik and I were initially researching this trip, I saw this trek, and thought "I don't know, it looks a little too easy". Now, I'm not what you would typically call an "athlete", but I do consider myself above average in my ability to walk up a hill. The hill obviously sensed this, and with the addition of the glaring sun (no I am not complaining about the hot weather, the sun just seemed a little extra"glarey" today) made for quite the little hike. I'm going to throw a shout out to Mik, my lil trooper who has been ill for the first part of this trip, but stared down this hill and thought to herself "it'll be worth it for the Instagram likes". Instagram likes aside, this view was, you guessed it, GOREGEOUS! And well worth the work!


Now we have returned to our little cave, as all introverts must after a long day of exploring. I think after a little water and a little Netflix we'll be game for another day of adventures tomorrow!

Day 1 in Oahu

After a 14 hour day of travel, we arrived to the beautiful island of Oahu!

Day 1:
How to Recover from Jet Lag: A Tour of Honolulu's Best Eats

After some much needed sleep, Mikaela and I awoke promptly at 7 am to start our day. Sounds impressive until you do the math and realize that's about 1pm Toronto time. But I'm on vacation, so I think a little sleeping in is allowed (right?!).

Hawaiian Crown Plantation

Today was all about the beach, the food, and the atmosphere of the island. Coming from the go go go of the GTA, we needed a crash course in relaxing, so we started off our day with an Acai bowl (to the right) and a trip to the famous Waikiki beach to get our tan on (or in my case, burn--thanks Dengate genes!)

Ono Seafood

As avid fans of good food, Mikaela and I had done a fair amount of research into the best places to eat in Honolulu. It would have been an absolute crime to leave the place without a little taste of Poke (diced raw fish served on a bed of rice). In Honolulu, this means going to the little hole in the wall with the best Poke in town, Ono Seafood. I'm sure the idea of raw fish is a bit off-putting to some of you guys, but let me tell you, this stuff is UNREAL.

Mikaela modelling the proper
 technique for pastry eating

Last snack of the day (although it's only 4pm, there's still room for more!!) is the Portuguese dessert Malasadas. These little pockets of heaven are deep fried dough filled with custard (where could you go wrong??)

I promise this hasn't been a paid advertisement for Hawaii's food industry, it really is just that good! Also have to make sure my mom knows I'm not starving to death without her ;)

Tomorrow we're off to see a bit more of the island!