Author: angie

  • Day 7 – Wandering Around Melbourne

    We basically wandered around Melbourne.  Yep.  Really all we did, not much else to tell.  Not even any pictures.  We crashed early since we had to get up early to catch the first of the three flights we needed to take to get back to Portland.

  • Day 6 – Bunyip Tour and Penguin Parade

    Today we are doing a more traditional wildlife tour in wildlife parks and conservation centers on Philip Island.  The one true wild experience will be the penguin parade.    So we wasted time in the morning until we had to meet our tour bus at 10:40. Our tour bus driver was Graham, and he came with…

  • Day 5 – Off To Melbourne

    We are off to Melbourne today.  We really won’t miss the Menzies hotel, and we wouldn’t stay there again.  Pros: good location, comfortable bed. Cons: so many, where to start.. The room never got cool, it was worn out, a little grungy in spots, the furniture had seen better days, and the bathroom was bizarre.…

  • Day 4 – Wandering Around

    Day 4 in Sydney was a free day, no tours scheduled, just Matt and I wandering around with no pressing goals.  We got up and headed to The Rocks, which is an older area of Sydney that has a weekend market much like Portland.  Portland’s market is considerably bigger, but Sydney’s market had better stuff,…

  • Day 3 – Wildlife Tours

    One of the goals of this trip was the opportunity to see budgies in the wild. We haven’t. But we have seen a ton of wildlife. Today we went on a wildlife tour run by Boutique Tours Australia. As opposed to a giant bus traveling through a wildlife park, this tour was small, just ten…

  • Day 2 – Coast Walk and Darling Harbour

    Friday the 21st dawned bright and early for us, since we had to catch a ride to our tour transport. Our travel agent booked us a 3 1/2 hour coast walk in Bundeena. We picked up one other person for the tour, another American, and drove to Cronulla to meet our tour guide and take…

  • Day 1 – 24 Hours On a Plane

    I suppose I chose to ignore the basic fact that getting to Australia, by the fastest means possible, would take about an entire day. It did. It was unhelpful that the Delta flight we were originally booked on had mechanical problems. Note to self, when the plane has to go visit the “garage” before departure,…

  • I Give You…. Giant Pillow Thing

    I have a confession to make.  I’m not proud of it, but here goes.  I have wanted, for several years, to be the owner of an adult sized bean bag and/or ridiculously huge pillow.  Yes, there it is, I have been salivating over the thought of owning what amounts to a sack of cloth filled…

  • The Owlwedge Quilt

    So… After it took me somewhere around 3 years to complete my first quilt, because I just had to make a queen size one and then hand quilt each little piece.  I figured I probably wouldn’t make another one.  Well, never say never.  I present to you the Owlwedge quilt. I did a few things…

  • The Emergency Survival Ottoman

    About a year and a half ago, a work buddy of mine and I decided to put together our FEMA recommended 72-hour emergency kits for our families.  This wasn’t just a trip to the Red Cross website, oh no, we put together our own First Aid kits, bought our tarps, our rope, our water, our…