For those of you who occasionally read the blog and also like consistency and chronology, I apologize - my brain currently feels like a super-charged and mixed-up mess.  My posts jump from life in Holland, to past adventures in Australia and to current road trips in Wyoming.  If things don't make sense and don't appear to follow any particular order it's because they don't; I feel so messed up in time zones, trip preparations and the busyness and fun of seeing friends and family that we've missed for so long that I can barely keep my head on straight.  These days I am feeling a little overwhelmed and I'm blaming the high altitude and lack of oxygen here on the inability to calm down and breathe (or is that just another anxiety attack? Ahh!)

The beach at Gibson's Steps

Blogging is especially fun during these crazy transition times because it reminds me that once you decide to click "Buy Ticket" on the Expedia webpage it's always worth it.  Sean and I weren't sure we would be able to swing Australia but looking back I am so glad that we made the decision to go.  One of my favorite parts of our Australia trip was doing the Great Ocean Road tour and the last stretch of scenery was pretty terrific.  It included dramatic limestone cliffs, blue sky and aqua-green water.  Many of the rock formations have eroded away from the shore and the more famous ones are part of the Twelve Apostles. 

A few of the 12 Apostles

Loch Ard Gorge - site of two survivors coming ashore of a major famous shipwreck in 1878

This is how the waves slowly erode the cliffs and separate them from the mainland

London Arch (formerly called London Bridge where some tourists were stranded)

Our guide stopped at all of great viewing spots of the beaches and cliffs that the GOR provides.  He also told stories of shipwrecks, survivors and political scandal.  He relayed that one of the formations used to have a thin bridge of rock leading out to it.  A prominent Australian political figure was out on the rock one day with his mistress (not publicly known at the time) when the rock bridge broke leaving the embarrassed couple stranded for hours until they could be rescued in front of a crowd of very curious onlookers.  We learned quickly after only being in Australia a few days that you could always count on the country for tales of death, scandal and intrigue.

I'm currently sitting in an empty classroom (taking advantage of the free 'guest' WiFi) at the University of Wyoming while Sean is attending his first Portuguese class.  I'm ridiculously jealous, but at least I can eavesdrop.  After these next two hours, Sean is going to know more of the language than I do; this is going to have to change before February 17!



How did I end up in crazy-negative-temperature-cold-middle-of-nowhere-Wyoming?  Originally, Sean was going to drive out here and get settled but at the last minute about a week ago I decided to come along.  This was mainly because I'm going to be able to visit my brother and his family in Florida on the trip as well.  Sean and I drove out last Sunday, are getting settled in Larmie at the beginning of this week and then are spending the weekend with friends in Fort Collins and Denver.  Then I fly out to Florida on Sunday, the 20th.  I am so excited! So far the trip has been a lot of fun and I am so glad that I was able to come along.



We arrived in Laramie to plenty of snow and ice at about 7pm last night and already it feels like a different world.  Being in the West, even when you've grown up in the Midwest, is quite a unique environment by comparison.  It's a bit like studying abroad in your own country.  First of all, there's nobody here.  Laramie has a booming population of about 30,000 (and that's when the university is in session - otherwise it drops down to about 15,000).  Secondly, everyone knows everyone; when we went to deposit the rent/bond at the bank we weren't sure we were at the right one.  Our teller assured us that we were given that she was close friends with 'Hank' and that he was a great guy.  Thirdly, everyone is in Carhart and Camouflage but more importantly everyone is dressed for the weather which means lots of long undies peeking out, big boots and warm hats.  Also, Sean is quickly realizing that the manliness factor of driving a Honda Civic is pretty low when compared to all the other guys' (and gals') trucks.



What I like about the city so far is that everybody is very chatty and friendly.  People drive slow and give you the two-fingered-hands-on-the-wheel truck wave.  What I'm not that excited about is that it seems very popular here to start drinking at about 1pm and also that everyone has a cigarette in their mouths.  Sean's roommates are both strict vegetarians who also happen to be serious smokers.  Interesting.

Roommate's room

Sean's room

Sean's living accommodations involve sharing a rented house with two other WCC workers.  It's a three-bedroom-one-bathroom little ranch near the university and town and has absolutely no furniture in it.  My first glimpse of the house involved stepping out of the garage into the main hallway only to be met with a large tub of Red worms composting away happily.  The other two bedrooms were already set up with the roommates' tents; it looks to be a house full of outdoorsy hippies.  It's going to be an interesting experience, to say the least.

"Boa Sorte, Sean!"

Our guide helping us to spot koalas and attract birds

After morning tea we had quite a bit more driving to do before reaching the more famous and super scenic sections of the Great Ocean Road.  To break up the time in the car, our guide introduced us to a few beautiful species of common birds in Australia.










 They landed on our heads, shoulders and arms - anywhere that they could try and steal some bird seed and/or fight other birds off from getting the seed.  Most of the birds we saw were types of parrots -  there were  wild Cockatoos everywhere which was amazing as they sell for thousands of dollars in the States.  After the fun feeding frenzy with the birds we hiked a little more to see if we could find more koalas and then it was back in the car for a bit more driving to the limestone formations of the Twelve Apostles. 

Whenever I talked to Australians who were visiting New Zealand they always recommended seeing two things in their country: the Great Ocean Road and the Great Barrier Reef.  Melbourne is a good base from which to see the GOR and since we didn't want the hassle of renting a car we booked a day trip with a small tour company that received a lot of good reviews on Trip Advisor.  The company was called "A Tour With a Difference."




What's so great about the Great Ocean Road?  It's one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world and winds around some pretty amazing scenery.  The 150 mile road was built as a project by soldiers returning from WWI and is one of the largest war memorials to soldiers in the world.  The route also takes you by Australia's famous Twelve Apostles, which are really just huge limestone rock formations just off the coast.



We really enjoyed our tour because it was a small group, we took lots of breaks and we did a few activities other than just snapping pictures of the beach.  We were picked up quite early in the morning and then headed straight to Bells beach which was quite dramatic against steep cliffs.  We were more interested, however, in the scene opposite the coast: a field of kangaroos grazing and hopping around in the morning mist.  I couldn't believe that they were so easily seen from the road!




Our first coffee break was held at Blacks Beach in the city home to the birth of companies like Quicksilver and Rip Curl.  We had a 'traditional' Australian morning tea which consisted of "Billy" tea, crackers and Vegemite and lamingtons.  Billy tea is tea made in a bucket, Vegemite is a salty yeast spread and lamingtons are chocolate covered jam biscuits covered in coconut. It was only about 10 in the morning and it already felt like a whole day but the best views were yet to come.

 You might be surprised to hear that winter is actually quite beautiful in Holland not only around downtown, in the parks and on the sledding hills but at the beach as well!  If you don't believe me, let the pictures my sister took on a recent walk to "Big Red" (the local lighthouse) convince you otherwise.  It's a chilly hike but it's worth it!

This would be the first time in my life that I used a turkey baster

 One of the things that Sean and I consistently miss while abroad is Thanksgiving.  This year we decided to have Thanksgiving during Christmas (Thanksmas).  Since our last Thanksgiving was spent together with Sue during our kayaking trip eating lame camp food, we welcomed the thought of a turkey with all the trimmings.  I was especially interested in learning how to make everything because some of the most common questions I get while abroad pertain to Thanksgiving and how to make everything.

Sean trying to get the heavy bird out of the pan with some coaching from Mom

 We got up early to prepare the bird and put it in the oven.  Along with the turkey we had mashed potatoes and gravy, squash, cranberries, stuffing,  and green bean casserole.  I didn't find anything to be too overly difficult but I know that once I try this on my own I'm going to have to get Mom on the phone.  The hardest part of the meal was making sure we had everything and the timing of everything. 

Let the feast begin!

Of course the time with family was special and all of the learning was fun, but everyone knows what really makes having a Thanksgiving meal worth it . . . the leftovers!