Tag Archives: awesome

I found out long ago, that it’s a long way down the holiday road…

Oh hot damn. Here it is, in living colour and frozen frames, the part II to the Tasmania adventure! (bonus points to the cool kids who can guess where I got the title!)

beautiful beach in an odd little town.

What to say about Strahn? Not too much was happening. It’s a nice enough wee town, and a lovely place to see Penguins, if you feel so inclined to take a boat tour. However, we were told we might see them from the beach! mmm no such luck. Another night of camping, with another night of incredible camping food:

Sean's plate, but seriously the best meal ever.

One night was enough here… and off we go to Hobart!

We took a  trip over to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), also a winery! We tested all the finest and took in a day of culture.

It was a bit too much for us, I think.

we're an interesting bunch.

But we can pull it together when necessary…

lovely

We stayed in a YHA and had some really nice brekkies around Salamanca, before heading onward to Launceston!

a cute boy's hands. and a delicious coffee

To be honest… I don’t remember much from Launceston. This is why I should write these things closer to having actually DONE the trip. However, I recall… Sean driving slowly as I held a bubble wand out the window of the car…

bubble!

I remember this Echidna, or as my Dad called it, the EchiNda.

And I remember this MOTHER of a spider in our room at the bed and breakfast. Yes. It was bigger than my entire hand with fingers spread. and NO Sean did not capture it and set it free outside. So YES I slept with one eye open all night. (and No. I’m not kidding about that last part. I also had a pillow over my ears, and a blanket over the remainder of my face.)

Man, this picture hardly does it justice.

Anyway, after Launceston, back to Devonport and onto the ferry!

just pretty.

Watching the sunset...

the silhouette.

Another delightful night in a forth berth cabin and we were back in Melbourne!

After some further gallivanting, which included (but was not limited too) rooftop movies, more visits to the Vegie Bar, and some LITTLE PENGUINS…


…we drove upwards along the coast to Jervis Bay for some finals nights of camping!

Wildlife was a plenty!

A curious wallaby and a STICK bug! Awesome.

A curious wallaby and a STICK bug! Awesome.

There was a beautiful beach, some friendly dolphins and a school of jumping fish that frightened me. I think they were jumping cause there was a shark near by. That’s what me and my mom decided anyway. I think there is some truth in it.

Greenpatch Beach and an approaching storm!

It was such a fun trip! I was really excited to be doing so much camping… and I think we all learned moreee than enough about each other. 🙂 Haha. From camping in the pouring rain, to resorting to caravan park cabins when the thunderstorms hit, to cooking multiple breakfasts, dinners and cups of coffee over a gas stove or campfire, to cramming everything and everyone into a car and driving for 6 hours straight, we really covered all the bases of a good family vacation.

🙂

xxx

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Vegan Eats, Sunsets, Cradle Mountain and one Alpaca

In all honesty, I could probably write 2 or 3 more posts on this Tasmania adventure. However, I feel that people might liken it to a vacation slideshow, ya know? Like I tell you every detail of our vacation and you sit there reading my endless rambles, but really only wanting to look at a couple pictures here and there. Cause that’s all anyone really wants, right? The pictures? And not EVERY picture, (organized chronologically and explained in length by your truly…) No, you want a highly edited photo journal of just the highlights and best moments. Maybe with a point form note here or there. I understand. No offense taken.

I will spare you any further sneezing escapades and just get down to the good stuff. The good stuff being: Wombats.

But first… Melbourne!

Sean and I at half price cocktail hour!

Hostel bar...

Then on to dinner. Melbourne has the best selection of vegetarian food I’ve ever seen.

the vegie bar...

and the best Vegan food I have ever tasted. Eva.

all vegan, all awesome

So much deliciousness.

Next up: Jazz bar in an alley!

jazz... only it was contemporary... not really our scene.

The next day, the Spirit of Tasmania awaited us.

cabin and sunsets!

We had a great time getting used to our sea legs… and then I went mental on out of focus sunset shots. Cause the colours were pretty.

...

Once in Tasmania, first stop was Cradle Mountain. but before we got there… we found a random man with a lovely lama. Or was it an Alpaca?

Once at Cradle Mountain, we opted out of camping and into a delightful little cabin smack dab in the middle of the national park.

Waldheim Cabins

Wildlife everywhere!

how is this NOT adorable! Love.

Shweeet…

On the second day, Sean and I conquered Cradle Mountain. Ha-mazing.

CONQUERED!

After Cradle… well there is more to come, but I’m sorry. After spending the better half of two days editing down images and still having about 60 odd that I wanted to post… well I’ll have to split it into two. But I promise that’s it!

🙂

See ya soon!

xxx

 

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City2Surf…

This past Sunday was the long awaited City 2 Surf 14 km run in Sydney.

city2surf

I have been waiting for this run for ages. Literally, over a year. I was so excited to register this year and I was determined to train and run a really good time. I was aiming for a time that seemed almost out of reach; 75 Minutes.

bibs... lucky number (665)11!

The last race I ran was in… 2006? I think. It was the Toronto Half-marathon. I finished a couple minutes over 2 hours and I was shattered. I reallllly wanted to break 2 hours, but such is life. I was super stressed that year, starting university, working 30 hours a week and training for a half marathon. I took on way too much…

Well anyway, when the City 2 Surf came along, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to train up and set a rather ambitious goal. This race has got to be one of the biggest in the world. (But don’t quote me on that.) (No wait… you can quote me on that. I looked it up.) They had to cut off the entries a couple of weeks ago because 85,000 people had registered. And I was one of them. The race starts in the Sydney CBD and winds its way down to Bondi Beach. It’s kind of a big deal.

I didn’t actually end up training as much as I wanted to. True, I’ve been running about 6 days a week, however I haven’t ran more than 10km at a time. Usually, I would just do 5kms and call it a day. Needless to say, I’ve been a  little bit anxious the last couple days because I knew my goal time was slightly out of reach. I quietly changed it to ‘I’m aiming to break 80 minutes.’

Suddenly, the day was upon us. On Sunday morning I woke at 6am, had a cup of tea, a date stuffed with peanut butter, braided my hair, laced up my shoes and we caught a bus into the City.

pre-race jitters

My stomach was a little bit in knots. I needed a bathroom about 3 times before the race even started. Just to be safe. And even then, I had to pee from kilometer 1. Oh jeeez.

Sean and I crossed the starting line together, started our watches and then we went our own ways. As in – he sprinted ahead and I sneakily followed him for about 1/2 km.

The biggest challenge of this race is what the Sydneysiders affectionately call ‘Heart Break Hill.’ Basically, it’s a 1km long hill that promises to break you before you’re even half-way through the race. Well Heartbreak my ass. I came and I conquered that mofo. I give credit to all those stairs I climb at work. And to Sydney for being a very hilly city in general. Every single run I go on has a heartbreak hill. Pft, child’s play.

Besides, the biggest challenge for me was the 85,000 people. I mean… that crowd didn’t thin out ONCE. I was constantly weaving through sweaty men and women. It was kind of annoying at first but it sort of turned into a game. I only shoulder checked a handful of people – BY ACCIDENT. And in true Canadian fashion I turned around and apologized profusely.

I didn’t look at my stopwatch at all during the race, but I felt strong and before I knew it I was at 10 km… then 11… and then I saw Bondi.

Bondi...

So the final result?! An unofficial time of 70 minutes and 4 seconds. DAMN YOU FOUR SECONDS! damn you.

the final time (ignore the fact that my ipod is still on toronto time)

Needless to say, I was pretty happy with these results. We’ll see what the Sydney Morning Herald says on Tuesday with my official race times according to the chip in my race bib.

weee...

After the race, Sean and I met up at a pre-determined spot, slightly out of the way, and drank some complimentary Gatorade and water.

why does my left eye squint more than my right eye?... MOM?! I guess it's not just my eye... this picture is unflattering in a lot of ways...

After a brief walk around Campbell Parade and a couple more bathroom breaks, we somehow managed to grab a table at one of the best cafe’s in Bondi. Trio. It was deliciousssss. Seriously good eating. Or maybe that was the 14 kilometers of hunger talking, I can’t know for sure.

trio coffee

However, I burned it off before we even made it home and I was hungry again.

carrot-sourdough toast, avocado, roast toe-ma-toe and jam...

All in all, it was an excellent day. I’ve had that running high for over 24 hours now, and I’m itching to do another race.

City2Sea anyone?

November 13th in Melbourne? Sign me up… This time I’m aiming for a sub 60 minutes.

bahahaha I kid I kid…

xxx

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