The Plunge Down Under

Resurfacing: Memorial Day

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It's Memorial Day in the United States.  Flags are flying over many of the front doors on our street, thank you's and remembrances have been posted on facebook status updates, and picnics are in full swing in many of the backyards in our neighborhood.  Like the Australian and New Zealand ANZAC Day, it is a time of remembering and honoring those who have died while serving our country.  There is not an emphasis on any particular war, however, at least not in the same way the WWI is remembered in Australia on ANZAC Day.  Later in the year, on the 11th of November to be precise, Americans will celebrate Veterans Day.  That day exists to honor all who serve in the military.

Our own celebration has been a quiet one.  I am recovering from a two week illness, the worst I have experienced in at least five years.  It stands to reason, I suppose, that there would be some sort of fallout from the emotionally draining process of packing up a family and moving from one side of the world to another.  Thankfully R has been spared, and the children have experienced only minor versions.  

Resurfacing: Pittsburgh Welcome

Expat Blog Monthly Challenge for May:

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Moving to a new place almost always brings with it an element of excitement.  We have certainly found that to be the case with this most recent move. As most of you know, I have devoted several posts to the grief of saying good-bye to Melbourne.  Today I focus on ten things that we have found to love about our return to Pittsburgh.

Considering that we were arriving to our fifth time zone in three weeks, after travel which included two overnight flights plus one middle of the night departure, it is amazing that we got smiles out of our crew at the Pittsburgh airport. But we did, and here they are, posing with a Pittsburgh icon, a Steelers (gridiron) football player.  

Here is my list of what we are loving.

1.  Familiar Faces.  After exiting so many airports without anyone to greet us, what fun it was to have my parents and grandma waiting for us at the other end in Pittsburgh.  Not only did they drive two cars to accommodate all of us and our eleven suitcases and ten carry-ons, they also brought homemade bread, pear jam and applesauce.  Yum.

Remembering Melbourne

Looking Back … or Looking Ahead?  

Today I look back at the city we have left behind.  It is hot and sunny in Santa Monica, California as I sit and type.  It's a beautiful day, and we can't help but enjoy the bright beachy colors, the warm ocean breezes and the friendliness of nearly everyone that we enounter.  

The weather and the colors present an interesting contrast to what we saw during our last two days in Australia.  We returned to Melbourne from Perth almost two weeks ago to find that summer had completely disappeared.  Boots and scarves had been pulled out of wardrobes, and nearly everyone was wearing black. It was cold and dark with frequent rain showers.  The wind was bitter.  It was almost as if  Melbourne was doing its best to make it easy for us to leave. And yet it nearly broke our hearts.

Resurfacing from the Plunge Down Under: First Impressions

As I hit the compose button to begin writing this post, I happened to notice that this post will be number 500 since I began blogging four years ago.  It seems an appropriate time for that mile marker since today marks our first day back as residents in the U.S. of A.  "Why so many names for one country?" our seven-year-old wanted to know today when our pilot welcomed us to the "United States."  We had become accustomed to referring to "America" when we lived in Australia because that's the common term there.   "I don't know," was my lame answer.  I never know which one to use---Is it America, the U.S., the States, or the USA?

Post Cards from WA: Carnarvon to the Ningaloo Reef

 

 

8.45am.  Leaving Carnarvon the next morning, we appreciate the attractions of this sleepy coastal town. Yachts and small fishing boats line the harbor.  Trees with white trunks growing out of the ground at a 45-degree angle dot the roadsides. 

I run into the local Woolies for provisions while R fills the van up with petrol.  The store is mostly empty, but I walk up and down the aisles with an Aboriginal family.  I smile to hear that one of the boys is named Lachlan.  I think of the dozen or so Lachlans we have met in Australia and wonder what makes it such a popular name down under.  It’s a good thing we have filled up our water bottles and stocked up on food.  As we leave town, a sign warns us that there will be limited water for the next 400km. 

Post Cards from WA: From Cervantes to Carnarvon

 

This is the second post in a series about our road trip through Western Australia.  The first one described the drive from Perth north about three hours to the town of Cervantes located in the Numbung National Park.  Today's post describes the second day's drive north to the only town of any size between Geraldton and Exmouth.  All the other dots on our road map turned out to be roadhouses only.

9.30am. As we leave Cervantes it occurs to me that I might need to book ahead for the whale shark boat tour that we are hoping to take.  When I finally get through to the Exmouth Visitor Center, the receptionist informs me that all tours are booked out for the week.  She does some searching and comes up with just enough seats left at the end of the week.  I snap them up in spite of the steep price.  We have been in Australia for four years, and I still haven’t learned to book things well enough in advance.

Driving north the next morning from Cervantes, we take the turn off for Leseur National Park. A pair of wedge-tailed eagles is the only sign of life that we encounter, despite our hopes of encountering a reptile or two.

Post Cards from WA: Perth to the Pinnacles

We have returned from a whirlwind two week tour of Western Australia.  It's a big state:  We barely scratched the surface in spite of driving 4200 km (3000 miles).  In fact, if WA were a country, it would be the tenth largest in the world.  For the next series of posts, I have typed up some notes that I took during our travels.  I hope you join us for a tour of this fascinating, beautiful and remote part of Australia.

Perth to the Pinnacles

After spending a relaxing three days and four nights in Fremantle, known locally as Freo, we begin the long drive north toward the Ningaloo Reef on the afternoon of Easter Sunday.  Fremantle is a port city located 19km (12 miles) south of Perth.  Its colonial architecture, abundance of cafes and interesting history make it an attractive place to spend a few days, so it is with some reluctance that we leave it behind.  The highlight of Fremantle was our day trip to Rottnest Island, where we met Australia's cutest marsupial, the quokka.

Heading north, we soon come to Joondalup, a suburb community on the outskirts of Perth.  Joondalup is the counterpart of Fremantle on many ways. With good highway access to the city, beautiful beaches and new development, R reckons it's the place to go if you are relocating to Perth.