Yet another Wonderful Day

Time flies so fast. This was my second birthday in Adelaide. As I had so many things to do, we didn't plan anything special, however this day was still a wonderful day to remember. 


I started my day by visiting the dentist. It's not the best start to a Birthday, right? But as I had a painful tooth, it needed to be done. 


It was also the last day of the second term, so we had a class party. But before we celebrated, we had a small presentation about many kinds of popular diets. How ironic, having a party after talking about diets. ^_^

At home, a bunch of beautiful red carnations were waiting for me. 

All the good wishes I received made me feel so blessed and loved. No matter how old we get, we always need the support of our friends and family. Thank you so much for all your loving messages, you made my birthday special. 

Winter Trip

When we received this invitation last month, we were so excited but also a bit unsure whether we could make it. I was so busy with my assignments and in the final processes of applying work experience with The Smith Family. But then David found a good deal at the Limestone Caravan Park at Mt Gambier, so we thought it's a good sign to give it a go and it would be a nice break for us too. 

We left Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon after my class, because I don't want to miss too many classes ^_^. After stopped a couple times and stopped at Hungry Jack for Whopper. We arrived at Limestone Coast Caravan Park at around 8.30pm. The cabin was big, clean and had a separate kitchen which was so complete that made me think I could bake a cake there. 

The next day we went to Aldi in Hamilton and did some shopping. On the way back, we stopped at Coleraine and bought some delicious, home-made chocolates. Then we stopped by at David & Karyn's place in Casterton to see if there was anything we could do to help with the party preparations.

As this was not the first time we visited Mt. Gambier, we did not visit any of the local tourist attractions, instead we just looked around the City of Mt. Gambier. I got some more books and some nice clothes. 

In the afternoon, we went to The Princess Margaret Rose Cave, which located around 30 minutes from Mt. Gambier. The cave first discovered in 1936 by Keith McEachern and John Hutchesson and was named Princes Margaret, to honor the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Later on in 1941, the cave was opened as a tourist attraction taking 40 minutes to explore the cave 

The tour reminded me of the tour I took in China a few years ago, when we went to the Reed Flute Cave in Guilin city. The guide there, as here kept telling us to use our imagination when looking at the stalagmites and stalactites to see how they were named.

The next day was the party day. It's a beautiful day. We saw a rainbow on the way to Casterton.

It was a nice little party, with around 30 people (I say 'little'...well little by Indonesian standards). There was a lot of food and a lot of laughter. Family and friends had a great time together.

Happy 50th Birthday, David. Wish you all the best for the next 50!

WITL 7 : Portland

We planned to have a day out with David and Karyn, which isn't easy because David was the ranger "on call" over the Easter long weekend. We thought it was best to go to Portland, so it shouldn't be too far for him to go if he did get on call. The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in Victoria. Located around one hour from Casterton. Nowadays, Portland is the home of a varied professional fishing fleet.

As usual, it took us sometime to decide what we were going to have for lunch. While we were looking around the city when we found these old cars. Karyn was very interested on them.

Finally, we decide to have Indian food for lunch. It was nice but as usual, I couldn't finish it.

On the way back to Casterton, we stopped by at Darryl's Glass Studio and Gallery. Darryl's is a very talented glass artist. He works with  pieces of glass and using  modern techniques and equipment, he creates spectacular jewellery, kitchen-ware and stained glass. Here, David bought a beautiful pendant for me.

The tour was not yet finished. Darryl invited us into the church that he bought and turned into a very beautiful home. He designed and made all the lead lights, 22 in all which truly showcase his incredible talent.   

To know more about Darryl's stained glass, patterns and his "church" which, by the way is up for sale, please visit his website
http://darrylsstainedglasspatterns.com/
http://www.darrylsstainedglasspatterns.com/churchhouse/

WITL 6 : Casterton

Casterton, a small town in western Victoria, 42km east of the South Australian border, has become our annual Easter holiday destination. We always have a great time there with our great friends David and Karyn Bothe. When we have good weather, we sit outside enjoying the bird songs and watching what their cat, Tigger and the chickens are doing.

After breakfast we went to Cheryl's, David and Karyn's daughter's, farm. There is always something interesting to do here. Playing with the kids, walking to the dam to catch yabbies and this time, I learned to feed their cows. ^_^

In the afternoon, Karyn and I walked to the lagoon. Her David was on call so he couldn't be too far from home and my David was too lazy to join us.

WITL 5 : on the way to Casterton

Today we left the caravan park heading to Casterton, our favourite Easter holiday destination. It was around 2 hours journey, however we stopped at several places. The first stop was Horsham, the biggest city by population in the Wimmera region of Victoria. With population of around 20,000, Horsham was quite a busy city. As usual, when we visit Victoria, we look for an ALDI, a supermarket chain that offers cheaper prices on all their product lines compared to other supermarkets. It is so disappointing that we don't have ALDI in South Australia.

After having lunch at a Chinese fast food, we continued our journey stopping here and there to take more pictures and make a donation.

We then stopped at Coleraine, a small township just outside Casterton. This picturesque little village has a very good chocolate factory and we bought Easter chocolates for all our friends and family.

Finally, at around 4pm, we arrived at Casterton to meet our wonderful friends, David and Karyn.

WITL 4 : Ararat

In the morning I took some pictures around the caravan park, hoping there might be some kangaroos still on site, but David told me that kangaroos are a nocturnal animal which avoid the daylight and are most active during the night. Knowing this, we should make sure we're back in time to the feed then again.

Our next destination was Ararat, the only town in Australia founded by the Chinese in 1857. A group of 700 hopeful Chinese immigrants from Guangdong province in southern China, made the slow trudge from the South Australia port of Robe to the central Victorian gold-fields. One of the main tourist attractions in Ararat is the Gum San Chinese Heritage Museum.

Designed in traditional Southern Chinese style, this unique heritage museum offers a look back at the regions colourful history and tells the stories of many of it's famous inhabitants. This is an important base for the understanding of the influence of Chinese on the development of Australia, economically, culturally and socially.  A series of exhibition spaces, state of the art presentations, and rotating displays of Chinese artefacts and period pieces provide a record of the rich colour and history of Chinese culture in Australia.

It was very interesting that the roof of this museum was donated by Ararat's sister city, Taishan in Guandong Province of China. Four tradesmen from Taishan took four months to fix the tiles into place. The roof was estimated to be worth $400,000 in the year 2000. 

On the way back to caravan park, I saw something quite amazing. As we passed a field close to the National Park, we saw literally hundreds of kangaroos. It was the first time I'd seen so many kangaroos.....

I felt like I could just stay there and watch them all night, but I had to feed the kangaroos waiting for us back at the caravan park! 

Arrived at the caravan park, it was just in time for feeding the kangaroo and today David filmed it for me. However, this evening there were not too many kangaroos coming. 

WITL 3 : The Grampians

The Grampians is a national park in Victoria, Australia and is located 235km west of Melbourne. The Park is listed on the Australian Heritage list for its outstanding natural beauty. There is a wide range of outdoor activities on offer such as, walking and hiking around the park while stopping at the many scenic lookouts,   rock-climbing, kayaking or canoeing at remote mountain lakes and much more.

Our first day here started with "breakfast with emus", as the grazed in front of the park. Too bad they were aware of my presence and ran away as I was trying to take their picture.

Our first destination was Lake Wartook, the reservoir in the Grampians National Park. Bordered by many wild flowering plants and the majestic mountain in the background, Lake Wartook is one of the popular scenic spots in the Grampians. There are many species of native birds and animals on display throughout the ranges that have to be seen to be believed.

Around 10km from Lake Wartook is McKenzie Falls, the most visited waterfall in this area. The walking trail from the car park to the base of the falls is fabulous. We stopped at several lookouts which offered a magnificent views. With a height of around 25 meters and measuring 20 meters across, it is the largest waterfall in the Grampians.

Our next destination is Stawell ( pronounce Stawl), a small town located just around 30 minutes from the Gramphians National Park. With the population around 6,000 people, the town which enjoyed the gold mining boom of the 19th century, is now famous for the countries oldest and richest professional sprint race, the 120 metre Stawell Gift.

On the way back to the caravan park, we stopped at the Giant Koala which situated at small community of Dadswells Bridge. Inside the Giant Koala there is a gift shop which sells a large range of gifts and souvenirs for all ages. As Dadswells Bridge is regarded as the gateway to the Gramphians Ranges, Sam the Giant Koala, is their guardian.

The excitement had not finished yet. Back at the caravan park, we saw a kangaroo in front of our cabin...then another and another until they had invaded the caravan park. Garry, the owner of the caravan park feeds them every evening, so they know when there is a free feed on offer.

As Garry came out with a basket full of bread, I followed him and helped him feed the growing mob. We counted 35 of them! Although I was a bit scared at first, I really enjoyed being so close to these wild animals. It was a fun and exciting experience.