'They don't call it the Great Barrier Reef for nothing!'

Last weekend, I headed north to Queensland with my friend from work, Erin, and her brother, Marc, who is here visiting for 6 weeks. Our destination was a little town called Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns and our main mission...to snorkle the Great Barrier Reef!!

With all of the devastation that Queensland has had in the last few months...massive flooding and a cyclone...we were a little worried about the weather and the conditions of the area. We did see some trees branches down and a bit of debris and we had quite a bit of rain both nights that we were there, but no rain during the day! The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas was absolutely beautiful...gorgeous and lush tropical rainforest and mountains on one side and ocean and beach on the other! I was glad I wasn't driving, so that I could enjoy the pretty scenery...and because I don't know how to drive on the wrong side of the road, ha! We could even see lots of waterfalls and trickles of water coming down from the mountains on the rainforest side...my family knows how much I love those!

We checked into our cool Port Douglas Plantation Resort and got ready to head out to dinner. Port Douglas is a fairly small town, mostly filled with resorts. There is one main street with lots of restaurants, pubs, shops, etc and it was a really cute, sleepy little town. Just very laid-back and easy going, very relaxing! We had a nice dinner out and some drinks and then headed back to get a good night of sleep before our snorkeling adventure!

We were picked up at 7:30 in the morning and headed to the marina to get checked in. Our snorkeling tour was with a company called Wavelength and I can't say enough good things about them! We headed out to our boat and right away, they tell us to ditch our shoes in these buckets and we won't see them again until the end and they hand us each a wetsuit looking thing. Oh boy, a lycra bodysuit, exactly what I wanted to wear! They were lighter weight than wetsuits...they actually called them sunsuits. They say that sunscreen is very damaging to the Reef, so they have everyone wear these instead...to protect ourselves and the Reef. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be getting any sun at first, but I am sure I wouldn't have worn enough sunscreen and gotten fried, so it was a good thing to have the suits!

After we all got settled, we headed out! It was about a 1 hour and 45 minute boat ride to get out to the outer edges of the Reef. The boat was not huge and the water was pretty choppy...I was glad I had taken some sea-sickness medicine! The views were just beautiful though...Erin and I decided that the rainforest-y mountains that we were heading away from looked like the scenery from the tv show, Lost...so pretty! It was a bit cloudy at first, but cleared up throughout the day.

I was starting to get pretty nervous as we were getting closer to our first spot...but I didn't end up needing to be nervous at all! We snorkeled in 3 different spots throughout the day...an hour at each spot. That first time I put my face in the water, I just knew I was experiencing one of the coolest things I will ever do in my life! I was a part of this whole other world under the water and I loved every minute of it. Now, time for some pictures...

Looking good!! ;-)

At our very first site, we saw a beautiful sea turtle! She was laying on the sea floor for a while and then she got up and swam away! (We did buy the CD of the pictures that one of our guides was taking underwater, so that is how we have these next pics!)



Oh my...can't believe I am posting this of me!





Here is Marc, Erin and me at our last spot! Shortly after this photo, the guide told us that we were about as far out as they like for people to go and to head back to the boat. I think that freaked us out a bit and we swam for our lifes back to the boat! At this particular spot, the Reef came very close to the top of the water, so the boat was anchored kind of far away. As I was swimming back, all of the sudden, the Reef stopped and I was just in the deep, dark ocean...kinda freaky!

Goodbye beautiful Great Barrier Reef!

When we got back to the marina and were paying for our CD, we were talking to some of the guides and people that work for this tour company. I was telling them how much I loved my first snorkeling experience and that I can't imagine any snorkeling ever being better than this. That is when this cute older worker said to me...'Well, doll, they don't call it the Great Barrier Reef for nothin'!' Amen to that!

(This blog took too long and too much room, so stay tuned tomorrow for our second day of adventures in Port Douglas!)

Busy week

Uh oh...not good to get behind in blogging because then it is hard to catch up. Luckily, I only have last week, plus these next 2 weeks left in Australia and then it is back to my boring life with nothing to blog about!

Things are going really well in the office with my replacement, Lili. We are busy busy trying to transition everything, but we have a great time together and just laugh and laugh. We will certainly miss each other when we are no longer sharing our small office together!

The week of February 7th, we had 2 very special visitors come to the office from our headquarters in KC. One of the company's top few executives, our Chief People Officer and Sr VP of HR, came to visit, along with the VP of Recruiting. It has been about 5 years since anyone from the top exec leadership team in KC has been to visit the Australia offices, so it was a big deal to have them here. And an even bigger deal for me because they were my executives and the agenda was all HR topics while they were here! So, I was very busy preparing for their visit, very busy while they were here and very busy playing catch up the rest of the week!

The work stuff is pretty boring and no one cares to hear about that (but it did all go very well!), but we did have lots of fun while they were here too! They arrived in Sydney on Saturday, the 5th...which ended up being one of the hottest days in Sydney history! I know that most of you reading this have been bombarded by snow and are sick to death of the cold temps, but extremes in either direction aren't very fun. That week literally ended up breaking records here and went down as the hottest week in Sydney history...ever. Awesome, so happy I got to be a part of history, ha ha! It was about 108 on that Saturday and felt like about 115 out in the sun. Oh yeah, and humid. Yuck. I tried not to do too much during the day, but did get out for a fun dinner. My two execs had offered to take me out to a nice dinner on Saturday night to thank me for making this commitment to come down to Sydney for 6 months. We had a few drinks at their beautiful hotel first and then headed to a wonderful seafood restaurant right across from the Opera House. Although a bit warm, we had a wonderful evening catching up and enjoyed our lovely meal.

On Sunday, we met up around noon and did a few things in The Rocks and Circular Quay areas before hopping on the ferry out to Manly. The hot spell broke finally and the temperature literally changed about 3 seasons...all while we were on the ferry! We were all in tank tops and shorts or capris and we had to go inside in the ferry because it got so chilly, windy and rainy. Our visitors even bought sweatshirts when we got to Manly! We still had a great time walking around and shopping though and met up with a few others from the office for a fabulous dinner at the Manly Grill, right across from the beach.

Lots of work meetings on Monday and then I had organized a nice dinner out for the local leadership team with our 2 visitors. We went to one of my favorite spots, Ripples, right down in my area, and across the harbour from the Opera House. Everyone had a great time and we all just sat around mingling and finishing our drinks and desserts for hours!

Tuesday, I got spoiled by my execs yet again. We put in some good time at work, but then me and one of the execs headed out of the office at about 3. We went down to The Rocks where she let me know that they wanted to purchase this beautiful Aboriginal painting (that I had previously seen and fallen in love with) for me. It was so incredibly nice of them and I can't wait to find the perfect spot for it back in my PV home!

Then, the most exciting part of all...I got to go do something that I had set my heart on doing before I left Sydney. We did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!!!!! When I first got here and saw people doing it, I said...no way, I will never do that. But, the more I saw people doing it and the more I heard about it, I knew that I had to conquer my doubts and fears and just do it! I am not horribly afraid of heights, but I don't love them, so I was a little nervous. However, I had very little reason to be nervous, as it was so wonderfully run and organized and it felt completely safe the whole time. You have to wear a special jumper suit and you are connected to a cable the entire time. We had a small group on our climb...it was only me and the 1 exec, and then a father and son pair from China. I am not sure they spoke much, if any, Englist, so it was basically like me and Angie had a private climb with our guide...who was adorable, by the way!!

We headed out along the underneath part and got to learn a lot about the history of the bridge. I was already having so much fun and was almost giddy with excitement at this point. We were also very lucky in that we got to see a HUGE cruise ship leaving from Circular Quay, so it was fun to watch as they prepared and finally took off. Once we got to the big pylons and the actual start of the bridge, we did have to climb up about 6 or 7 flights of 'stairs' that were straight up and down. It was more like a ladder. I did great on that part again though and was truly enjoying every minute of the experience. Once up there, we started up on the actual top arch. Again, it was basically like following stairs all the way up. I can't even describe how stunning the views were from way up there. It was sunny to one side and party cloudy to the other side. We could see all the way out to the ocean on one side and up to the Blue Mountains on the other. It was just breathtaking to stop along the way and look at all of the sights. I really took it all in and remembered again how lucky I am that I have had this great opportunity. The way down was a tiny bit scary, as it was pretty steep at times, but I still did great. I just kept my eyes on the next step when we were walking and enjoyed the views when we would stop. All in all, it was about 1,360 stairs and took 3 hours. I am so incredibly happy that I finally went for it and did the Bridge Climb before I left! It was totally worth it and it was about the coolest thing I have ever done...well, at least up until this past weekend...stay tuned for my next post!

Lots to celebrate...

I had a birthday last week and there were several odd, but fun, things about it. First...having a January birthday, I have always been used to having a cold weather party, wearing big sweaters, just cold cold in general. So, you can imagine how fun and different it was to have a 'summer' birthday after all these years!! It was also a little odd and a little sad to not be with my family and friends on my birthday...they always do such a nice job of making me feel loved and special. To my surprise, my new friends here in Australia made me feel just as loved and special!! I got cards from several friends at work, candy from a friend, a little individual cake from Sarah and Jeremy...and then, my friend, Lisa, insisted that we do something fun to celebrate, so me, Lisa, Erin and Sarah had a girls night and went to get pedicures and then to my favorite outdoor Italian restaurant in The Rocks! It was so wonderful to spend the evening with good friends and I am so thankful to have met them all!

Lisa did such a great job of making me feel special...she even called over the little band and had them play for our table. The waiter brought out a dessert with a candle, the band played and before I knew it, the whole restaurant joined in and sang happy birthday. (Pretty sure my face was bright red of embarrassment...hopefully, it was too dark for anyone to tell!) Here are a few pictures from our fun night out...

Thank you again to my new friends for making me feel so special! I am so lucky to have met you all and my Australia experience wouldn't have been the same without having you as friends!

On Saturday, I checked two things off my list that I have been wanting to do. Lisa and I met up pretty early and headed into the city to go to Paddy's Markets. Paddy's is in the China Town area of the city and is definitely a fun place to experience here. It was in a big enclosed building and was basically rows and rows and rows of stalls of cheaper goods and merchandise. They were selling everything from t-shirts and souvenirs, to makeup, to knockoff bags, clothes, sunglasses, etc, to umm, other interesting things! Was definitely fun to walk through and I did make a few small purchases. In the back, they have a large produce and fresh flower market and it is known to have some of Sydney's best and cheapest produce. I bought quite a bit of fresh fruit...just can't get enough of it here, yum! Here is a pic from inside the market and then one of China Town from outside...

Next, we walked over to the Sydney Fisk Market for lunch and Sarah and Jeremy met us there too! I had been wanting to go to the Fish Market for a long time, so was very excited to finally have the chance. Lots to see and do there...the main building has lots of specialty food stores and lots of the different fish producers have their own little cafes where you can buy the fish already prepared. We walked around there first for quite a while and saw what all everyone had to offer...and took a picture with a prawn! We picked out a great place to sit and share some fresh fish for lunch...yum!!

After lunch, we headed outside to look at all of the fishing boats and the other action out there. There were literally just people everywhere...all eating fish! We headed into a few of the big fish sellers stores too...that part was pretty smelly and yucky. The floor was wet, the fish smell was strong, and I'm pretty sure I walked by a few buckets that had extra fish heads and parts sitting there, yuck. It was cool to see all of the different fresh, raw fish they were selling though!

Another great Saturday in Sydney!

This is what I did on Sunday...

It was a breezy day at Manly Beach, so felt a little cooler than normal. It was wonderfully relaxing and I enjoyed people watching, reading and just relaxing! The only bad part...I stayed there a bit longer than I intended and I am paying for it now...sunburn, ouch. It is starting to turn into more of a tan now and someone at work today told me that I should start hanging out with the Aborigines, ha! Just goes to show how strong the Australian sun is...even on a beautiful and breezy day! Next time I will just be smarter and will wear more sunscreen...

Happy Australia Day!

What an incredible day! January 26 is Australia Day, the official national day of Australia. It is a public holiday, so no work (yay!) and they celebrate it in a big way here!

I spent the day on a harbour cruise with some friends from work and it is definitely one of the coolest things I have done in my time here! It was a hot hot summer day, but what better way to spend a hot day than out on the water watching the festivities! At about 11 am, the harbour kicked into high gear with a boat parade and then a ferry-thon, where some of the Sydney ferries race each other. All of the boats kind of line up behind the ferries and follow them as they race. There were literally just boats and people everywhere and everyone was in such good spirits and happy to be celebrating their national day! I will let the pictures do the talking now...

Here come the ferries...we were cheering for the one decorated with the whale tail and it won!

People lined up on the bridge to watch the festivities down below!

Me with my Luna Park and my apartment building (tall, white top, to the right of the ferris wheel) in the background...I love my location!

Yummy lunch buffet on the cruise...and yes, Mom and Dad, I did give the prawns with the heads another chance, ha ha!

We didn't want our harbour cruise to end, but we did finally get off and we spent some time walking around Darling Harbour and then took a ferry over to Circular Quay and The Rocks to see all the action down there. The Rocks had some of their markets open and there were about 6 different stages with live music. Again, just an awesome party atmosphere on a hot summer holiday! We all hung out for a little while, but then decided to head our separate ways because we were beat from the heat. As I was walking back across the bridge, I took one last picture of the action on the harbour...not as active, but still lots of boats out cruising around!

I am so happy that I got to be here for an Australia Day because it is definitely a day of celebration and was so much fun to be right in the middle of the action! This is truly just an unbelievable place and I still sometimes feel like I am living in a dream. Happy Australia Day...Australia, I will always remember you and your beauty every year on January 26th!

PS...As I sit out on my balcony writing this, I have seen 4 different fireworks displays...love this place!

PPS...Happy happy birthday to my dear friend Maggie Goss and my little Swiss girl Elizabeth Paulson! I miss celebrating with my birthday buddies, but I was thinking of you both today!

Aussie traditions

On Monday night, I headed out for a traditional Aussie dinner with some work friends. The Lord Nelson is a pub in The Rocks that is very well-known for their Australian Meat Pies and they have them at a special price on Monday nights...only $7 for the meat pie! The Lord Nelson is also a brewery, so they have awesome beer too! A pile of mashed potatos, meat pie, smashed peas, brown gravy, a Quayle Ale...and then a nice walk home across the bridge after all of that heavy food...not bad for a Monday night!

Dad, sorry that we didn't find this place when you were here...you would have loved it! And Matt, you would have been in heaven reading about all of the different beers!

And now, I have a confession to make...I think I like Vegemite?!?!?! The new HR Partner started in the office on Monday morning and we went out to get coffee shortly after she arrived in the office. She hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so she got some toast and vegemite with her coffee (she is a true Aussie). She got 4 big pieces, so offered me a piece and I don't know what came over me, but I tried it. And I liked it! The way they eat it here is much more appealing than the previous time I had tried it...a piece of hot toast, dripping in butter, with just a very thin layer of vegemite on top of the butter. Really not bad...like, I may even order it for myself sometime! What is happening to me...5 months in and I am starting to pick up some real Aussie things!!

Time is ticking...

Had another great week in Sydney this week, but the time is definitely starting to tick away. The new HR Partner that I hired has been in training for 2 weeks in KC and will start in the office with me on Monday, so this truly does kick off my official count-down...less than 5 weeks. I have some mixed emotions about that, so we won't discuss now...lots more fun to be had in my remaining time here!

My week started off great because they replayed the Golden Globe awards show here on Monday night. I love awards show season, so was happy to get to see the show in its entirety!

I headed out to dinner in a new area with my friends, Lisa and Luke, on Tuesday night. We went to a great water-front restaurant at Balmoral Beach. Balmoral was a really cute area with some gorgeous homes leading down these windy roads to a quiet and small beach area. I got there a few minutes before Lisa and Luke, so took a few pictures of the beach (and the rather attractive Aussies playing rugby on the beach!)...

This beach was almost directly across from the big opening in the harbour out to the great wide ocean...here you can see 2 of the Manly ferries passing the opening in the distance...

Our restaurant was called Bather's Pavilion and was right on the water...every table has a water view. One side is a very fancy restaurant and one side is what they called a cafe...what I called just a little less fancy! Very worth it though...we had a great meal, great wine and great conversation!

The rest of the week was pretty nornal...filled with lots of good coffee runs and lunches with friends in the office and nice walks and jogs outside at night.

On Saturday, I had a markets day with my work friends, Sarah and Jeremy. We headed to the markets at an area that none of us had been to yet...Balmain. I headed over there on the ferry (had to literally run at full speed to catch the ferry, ha!) and then took a nice 15 minute walk up from the ferry through Balmain to the markets. What a cute area! Lots of great architecture and adorable homes in Balmain. The market was a little smaller than we were expecting, but we had fun walking around their main street and going in and out of stores along there. We also had to stop at a very famous patisserie. They are well-known for their little cakes and this place gets lines out the door. We went there early and they suggested that we pick something out and pay for it then and come back to pick it up later when we were done shopping. I was so overwhelmed at the selection, but felt a little rushed to pick something out. I went with something much more chocolate-y than I typically get...

It was like a double shot-glass size and was filled with different chocolate mousses and chocolate pieces and the middle layer was even liquid! All of it was made with milo, a chocolate that the guy in the store says they don't have much of in the US, but is something that all kids here grew up with! I enjoyed it after dinner on Saturday night and umm, yum!!

After Balmain, we headed back to my part of town because Sarah and Jeremy had never been to the markets right by me. We had a great time looking around there and stopped for a bite of lunch. Was a lovely Saturday at the markets!

I had a relaxing Sunday today in preparation for what will be a wild week here. Lots of fun plans, so lots of fun blog posts to come!

This is the life...

Had a great week in Sydney this week, despite it being my first full week back at work since the holidays. I am really taking this opportunity to heart and trying to live up every minute of the remainder of my time here! Part of living it up includes all of the wonderful food that Sydney has to offer. And because I want to be able to enjoy the food, I also need to remain very active for my last weeks here. This week, I alternated each weeknight and took a lovely walk/jog either around Lavendar Bay or across the Harbour Bridge. Both are about equal distance and equal challenge...oh yeah, and amazing scenery! Somehow, these just aren't quite the same as my walks in PV at home...especially in some of the parts right around my house, in PPPV, as my brother-in-law calls it! So, I think I will continue to enjoy my endless options of gorgeous places to exercise outside here while I can!

Friday was a fun day at work. Not only did we end with Beer Friday, but we also had a Morning Tea (everyone brought in treats) in the office to help raise funds for the Queensland Flood Relief Efforts. The damage in Queensland is just devastating and we do have some associates that live in areas that have been impacted. So, the office in Sydney and the office in Melbourne decided to all chip in and donate some money to the Red Cross-like organization here. We had a great time with wonderful food that everyone brought in and we ended up with $2500 to donate!

I hadn't been to Beer Friday in a while because of the holidays, so it was fun to be back with everyone again. A group of about 12 of us headed across the bridge and to The Rocks after Beer Friday. We were going to walk around The Rocks Night Markets, but stopped in a bar shortly after getting there...and then didn't leave the bar until the end of the night. Was a good time with fun friends!

Saturday was cloudy and a bit dreary, so I just ran a few errands and had a relaxing day around here.

Today (Sunday) started off really cloudy and misty again and I was pretty disappointed because this was not the weather that had been predicted. But no fear, it finally did clear off and, although a little later than initially planned, I headed to Bondi Beach to have a beach picnic with a few friends from work!! And it is now official...I LOVE the beach! We all put our towels together and had an awesome picnic right when we got there...dips and crackers, cheese, salami, olives, fruit, veggies, tim-tams and beer...YUM! And then we just alternated between laying on our towels and watching the action and going to actually be in the action! All of the clouds from the morning had disappeared, so it was a hot day and that meant quite a bit of time in the water to cool off. It was really cold at first, but we got used to it quickly. They were also filming some pieces for a show here called Bondi Rescue...was really fun to watch that action, but don't worry, I did try to stay far away from the cameras, ha! I am definitely going to try to get to the beach at some point each weekend that I have left here...it just doesn't get old!

I forgot to take a picture during our picnic, but here are the girls at the end of our beach afternoon!

Hope you are all enjoying Winter and staying warm! ;-)