Ben's trip to Australia

From September 10th to 27th, Ben was in Australia to do two weeks of uni prac subjects on campus at USQ in Toowoomba. It was a frantically busy time for him, as he not only had assignments to do for his two prac subjects, but also for the two other subjects he was already studying externally this semester. And since he's still pretty bogged down with all of that (12 assignments and 1 exam in total this semester!), I'm going to do his Australia blog entry for him! :)

His flights were with Air Pacific, Fiji's international airline. This is the plane that flew him from LAX to Fiji, and some of the sights he saw during his few hours at the airport in Nadi, Fiji...

He landed in Brisbane on Saturday morning, and spent that first weekend with his family.
Jim, Fraser, Merity, Leo, Jenny
Leo, Fraser and Merity (Ben's sister)




The first week, his prac subject was called Professional Practice 1. This consisted of lectures, student seminars and classroom sessions, so he didn't take any photos. He stayed with our friends Tim and Chany from Sunday to Thursday. (To help our non-Aussie readers make the connections: Tim was the best man at our wedding, and he and Chany met through us.)

On the middle weekend of his trip, Ben stayed with our friends Trevor and Valmai (Tim's parents... in fact, parents of the grooms at the last two weddings we returned to Australia for!). He spent most of the weekend working on assignments, but went out for dinner with a group of friends on Sunday night.
Trevor and Valmai

Tim and Chany
Lycie and Kimberley
Lachy C
He also had time to go shopping for lamingtons, and send me a photo of him eating one just to torment me...


The second week, his prac subject was called Soil and Water Practice 2. This time he took a few photos...









During that second week, he stayed with our friends Russ and Kate in their newly built house.


View from Russ and Kate's home
A table centrepiece from our wedding on display at Russ and Kate's
Kate, Russ and baby Clint
Clint
He also got to briefly see Kate's sister Steph (who is married to Ben's mate Glen/"Bill") and kids, Laura and Lachlan...


On his last Saturday morning in Australia, Ben hung out with some of his mates while they flew radio controlled airplanes in a paddock at some friends' cattle farm near Gatton (Delle's parents' farm, for those of our readers who've met her).
Dexter

Glen and Dexter

Lachy B (Delle's brother)


Alex (Delle's other brother)
Tim








Back at his parents' home for the last couple of days of his trip, Ben got to meet his new, day-old nephew, Archer!


Fraser, Archer, Merity, Leo
He also went Monday night walking at South Bank in Brisbane on his last night in Australia...

Ben arrived back in Canada on September 27th, and I was very glad to have him home!
And this is what AUD $130 of Aussie junk food looks like...

A big thanks to those of our friends who gave Ben a bed, food, and/or fun new Aussie memories during his crazy busy trip. We really appreciate it!

Going Ballistic...

We have some very exciting travel plans coming up! At the end of the year, we'll be visiting friends on Kwajalein Island, home to the U.S. Army's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (aka Reagan Test Site)!

Earlier this year, our friends Peter and Marissa (seen in our blog posts about DC, Virginia, Montana, and diving in Mexico) moved to Kwajalein Island ("Kwaj"), a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean about halfway between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea.

Kwaj is the largest island in Kwajalein Atoll, one of the 29 atolls and 5 single islands that form the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The island is leased to the U.S. Army for missile testing activities, and is home to 1500 people - mostly U.S. expats and their families. Kwaj is so small that there are no private cars - everyone rides bicycles around! In the aerial photo below, you can see that the airstrip takes up half the island (and those are some of the Atoll's other islands in the background).

There is no tourism on Kwaj, and in order to visit we have to be sponsored by someone who lives there, and approved in advance by the U.S. Government. Peter was told this would take a few weeks to process due to the "extra research on foreign nationals"! Anyway, we received our written approval earlier this week - complete with a signed statement by Peter that he will be responsible for the conduct and locally incurred debts of his visitors - and have booked our flights! Getting there involves a four leg flight: Seattle-San Francisco-Honolulu (staying overnight)-Majuro-Kwaj. Only three commercial flights land there per week!

During our 2.5 weeks on Kwaj, we hope to do lots of scuba diving. The diving there is apparently amazing... known for sharks, huge clams, and WWII ship and plane wrecks! Hopefully we can also fit in some kayaking and sailing. We are SO looking forward to visiting P&M in their new home - and they seem thrilled to be getting some visitors too!

Anyway, we are so excited about this trip that we just had to tell you about it a few months in advance. Visiting friends on Kwaj is such a rare and unique opportunity... we can't wait!!

My first earthquake

I experienced my first earthquake today... but it was a bit of an anticlimax!

Click here to read a CBC article about the earthquake

Around lunchtime, my boss noticed a rattling noise coming from the windows of our office, which is on the 4th floor of a 28-storey office tower. She thought at first that the window cleaners were outside, but then realised the rattling was on the inside, caused by the Venetian blinds swaying slightly and hitting the metal window frames. We couldn't feel any shaking, but by this time everyone was wondering aloud whether it was an earthquake and whether we should get under our desks as per the recommended procedure (no one did!).

After about 30 seconds of blind rattling and slightly nervous but calm discussion as to whether it was in fact an earthquake, the rattling stopped. Everyone went straight for their phones/ Twitter/ Google and established within a minute that it WAS an earthquake!

About half an hour later, they announced over the office loudspeakers that a "minor earthquake" had occurred off the west coast of Vancouver Island, and that we should all continue working as normal. By the third time they made the announcement, the general sentiment in the office was: "we're trying to, but someone keeps interrupting us!"

Roxy was at home in our basement suite (3 kms away), and didn't feel anything. Subsequent news articles indicated that, in Vancouver, people felt it more the higher up they were in their building (which makes sense). However, there are no reports of any injuries or damage so far. Ben missed it altogether... he had just departed Fiji (en route to Brisbane) when it happened!

Anyway, that was my first earthquake. I'm rather glad I don't have a more dramatic tale for you! :)

A chegada da Roxy

As some of our readers will know, my sister Roxy arrived in Canada 3 weeks ago (after spending the last 6 months in Brazil)... and moved in with us!

Here are a few glimpses into what we've been up to so far (the fun stuff, not all the getting-set-up-for-life-in-a-new-country stuff!):

A potluck and sing to introduce Roxy to some of our friends...

A bike ride around Stanley Park...

Playing squash...
Dinner at a Brazilian restaurant (churrascaria) with Andrew...


Lots of singing and harmonising...
Canoeing at Deer Lake with Conrad and Chantelle...

Amazing Malaysian food afterwards...

More socialising with our friends...
Sunday pancake lunch at Juanita's...

...And that's just the first 3 weeks! :)
**All photos in this post belong to Roxy**