Attack of the Klohns

In order for Dave and I to really live up our Aussie experience to the max, we have always made a conscious effort to dive into the culture and lifestyle that surrounds us here. Of course we have no problems trying new grub, sipping fine wines and taking in all of the markets and festivals...but we were a little slow to change our hearts over to a new sport, especially with the hockey playoffs starting to get interesting this time of year. We’ve hooked up every cord we could find to stream the hockey games from the laptop to the TV at 10am each weekend but that’s really just not cutting it!

So we decided to start up a Social Sports team at work recently. After some crazy busy weeks at the start of the year, Gretch, our fearless leader, informed us that we had missed out on all of the league choices except for Touch Footy. Sweet... what’s that? Contrary to my belief, it’s not really like our CFL/NFL football at all. I had never before seen a footy match, none the less played the game; all I knew was that it involved some running. So where do we sign up?! Now that we are in full swing, I’m pretty stoked that we get to learn a totally new Aussie sport. 

 

We had a couple ‘team practices’ over our lunch hour at work, which consisted of six people running amok in some form of a 3 on 3 scramble (keep in mind that we actually have about 15 people on the team and play seven on seven in a real match sitch). Our first official game was rained out and since then we’ve had three games. It’s actually hilarious and I crack up most of the time because the whole concept of the game is completely foreign to us foreigners...go figure! But seriously, we take for granted how much we learn about a sport just by growing up playing with a ball here and there. Then someone hands you a footy ball (if that’s even what you call the honkin’ oversized football) and you have to learn to spin it underhand style?? Another strange concept of Footy is that you can only pass backwards, whilst still trying to run forward to make a try (aka point). Needless to say, it doesn’t take long to pick out who the Canadians are on the team when the ball goes flying forward (there are 4 of us). 

We’ve been off to a slow start losing all games so far, but I know a win is coming our way because we’ve made big strides even since the first match. The team we just played last night was sharp and I’d say we held our own considering some of us are newbies, having never played before. Unfortunately for old bones here, I over exerted myself on the first play of the game when I darted sideways to tag a guy at lightning speed. I felt something really stretch in my lower left side of my back. I thought I had covered all bases with our pre-game warm up stretches... apparently not though because granny herniated a disc. Well I’m not entirely sure yet (hopefully will find out tomorrow) but I couldn’t get out of a laying or seated position without my main man’s assistance and the sharp pains were ...well painful! Up until now I was feeling pretty chipper about being 25!

 If I can keep up with the sprints and somehow manage to tame down the loud ‘girly’ shrieks (as my teammate has already pointed out and told me to can it) that come out whenever someone chases me when I have the ball ...then all will be good! Hopefully the athlete in me springs right back into action for next Tuesday’s game!

xo Tegs

Take me on a trip, I want to go somewhere...

 

Hi friends!

I hope you all had a lovely (long - for my Canadian mates out there) weekend! We had a very spontaneous one and it turned out to be so so gorgeous! We had originally planned to head to the Gold Coast this weekend, however our best laid plans got bumped to next weekend so it was decided that we'd just chill at home instead...like that was going to happen! Be forewarned, this post is overloaded with beach pics but I really just couldn't get enough of the natural beauty that surrounds us.

On Friday night we had an ‘almost BBQ’ at Mel’s place...she’s a Uni friend of mine. We met in 2009 when we were both sent to Toronto to attend an engineering conference together, representing the U of A with a few other friends. Now she’s here in Brisvegas to live it up while completing an internship (similar to what I did the first time I was here). Anyways, she moved into a new flat last week and we celebrated with a get together to meet her new flatmates and check out her flash pad over dinner and drinks. Dave and I were pumped for a BBQ as we have been starved of anything charred since we don’t have a grill at home...but ironically their BBQ fizzled out right when we got the grub on it, so it was back to the stove top. In the end it didn’t matter, because supper was tasty and the wine plentiful! Conveniently, Mel only lives about 15 min walk from us at the Regis, so I’m fairly certain we have many more BBQ’s in store. We also hit up the Greek Food Festival, Paniyiri, to sample some new cuisine...like baby octopus, and some more familiar fare...hellooo Haloumi!, It’s all about the food, the smiles, the dancing and Brissy’s warm winter sunshine.

On Saturday morning we woke up and Dave asked what we had planned for the weekend...when I thought about it, there was ab-so-lute-ly nowhere we had to be. So, seeing as we can’t sit still for long, we decided to throw an overnight bag together and head to the Sunshine Coast for the weekend. Here are a few snaps of our weekend retreat, enjoy!

Noosa is my most favourite place in the greater Brisbane area. It’s a stylish yet laid back little town with a posh vibe about a two hour drive north of the city. The town is full of the nicest boutiques, fine dining and fabulous beaches which make for surf heaven-on-earth. We stayed at a super relaxing resort and enjoyed pizza and bevys by the pool that evening.

On Sunday, we woke up before dawn to watch the gorgeous sunrise over the ocean at Sunshine Beach. 

Looks like our friends, of a furrier variety, enjoyed the view as well!

It’s so peaceful when the world is still and calm, this is Dave’s favourite time of the day so I’m glad we got to take in all the beauty together. We had a quick brekkie before hitting the 7km beach trek through Noosa National Park. The trail winds through the headlands with stunning views of the crashing ocean below and made for the perfect surf watching spots. Being here reminds us exactly why we came to live Aus, its close to perfection! 

All in all we walked over 20,000 steps according to my trusty pedi...for a grand total of about 20kms...that’s almost a half marathon peeps! But who can complain when the journey is spent meandering along the seaside (and through one nudie beach!) Ahhh, such a brilliant weekend getaway and just what we needed to forget about the busy work week ahead of us. Too bad Monday always comes so quickly!

xoxo Tegs

Indo Dreaming

My mind has been drifting to a not so far away place lately... and that place is the luscious land of Indonesia. Indo is the next country on our crazy two year 'Australasia' agenda and we are starting to plan the trip! I’ve been brushing up on all things Bali and let me tell you, it's gonna be tough to squeeze in all the wonder that this country has to offer in two short weeks! So I thought this would be a good forum to ask all of you out there in blogland what you would recommend, if you’ve been lucky enough to see this gem in Southeast Asia.

Here are my thoughts so far: Surf by day & party on the beach at night in Bali, absorb the culture amongst endless fields of rice patties in Ubud, explore the breath-taking beaches of Dreamland, and visit gorgeous Orang-utans in their natural jungle habitat. Of course there is no way I will be missing out on the shopping madness in Singapore, when it’s just a hop, skip and a jump from where we will be!

And so with Indo stuck on our brains, Dave & I have recently began dabbling in Bikram yoga. If you haven’t tried it before, I’ll try to paint a realistic picture for you. There are about 40 people lined up on their mats in a room that is heated to about 40 degrees. We go through a series of 26 postures twice each. The sweat starts pouring pretty much right away, and your whole body drips like a leaky tap for the next hour and a half. That’s how long the class is. I’m not sure if its standard for all Bikram studios to have this carpet-like flooring but ours does and the stench instantly takes me back to the days of Dave’s hockey bag smells knocking me out! The nastiest thing is that Dave doesn’t mind the smell at all and says it doesn’t faze him, in fact he likes that it reminds him of hockey! Meanwhile, I’m trying not to pass out. From the nastiness to the heat, the combo is enough to knock a brotha out. The workout is really intense and at some points you get a bit nauseous, but after it’s all over you leave feeling fantastic! The benefits to your body are endless from the deepest of stretches into every tissue you never knew existed to the mental challenges that you overcome just to get through the class.

Now that I’ve terrified you with that, you must be wondering why the heck I bothered to go back...but the truth is I usually wait just enough days that I forget how challenging the last class was. We signed up for the 10 day introductory course, and went every three days to get a rest in between. Dave was super keen to keep up on our classes so we are now on a new 10 class pass that will last us for the next two months...which means that we should have our zen polished just in time for Indo! I’m on a mission to find a fabulous yoga haven to retreat from the hustle and bustle of our busy bee life.

This post is lacking in the photo department, however, since I will be in photo heaven on our upcoming trip, I will make up for it then! Here are some snaps from this weekend out on the ocean at Moreton Bay, stand-up paddle boarding. We'll definitely be out on the boards again soon! 

Peace,

Tegs

I'm fairly certain that, given a cape and a nice tiara, she could save the world!

Since I can't squeeze my mama this mother's day, I wanted to share this link with you all! These snaps were taken during my parents visit to Aus in February, and I think that the photographer captured us perfectly.

Check out a few more at: http://www.carlycostello.com.au/blog/2011/03/a-mother-and-a-daughter/

 

I love you mom,
xo Tegs

New Zealand...New Adventure!

Hi Friends!

I hope your Easter break was wonderful! We have just arrived home from New Zealand and our trip was amazzzing! What a beautiful country, and I can say that because it reminded us so much of Canada! And just in case you were itching to know...No, we did not eat any kiwi fruit and No we did not see any kiwi birds (actually we really thought we did but when we were snapping the pics a local informed us we were sadly mistaken!!) Here is a super duper long post to tell you all about our kiwi adventure!

We flew into Wellington ...or should I say Windy Welly, on Friday evening and the city definitely didn’t fail to live up to its name! Remember my last post where I boasted that we would be staying in the “ritzy Mercure Hotel”?  Well...yeah that wasn’t as spectacular as it was advertised but hey, we were ready for our vacay!! We walked the streets lined with old Victorian houses to funky Cuba St and checked out the iconic Te Papa Museum. After lunch on the wharf we hopped the 3 hour ferry and sailed south across Cook Straight and through the scenic Marlborough Sounds.

We spent our first night on the south island in Nelson, a pretty sleepy town aside from the local rugby game that caused the main drag to be closed off entirely. We could hear the riot from our restaurant and not a single room in the town or that adjacent to it was available.






On Sunday we set off in search of adventure down the surf battered coastal highway with spectacular views of the wild Tasman Sea. The winding single lane highway took us through the inland stretches and around peaks of the Southern Alps. We stopped at Ruby Bay surrounded by the grape fields and vineyards of wine country for lunch on the bay. It is now autumn here in our sphere of the globe and all the trees were changing colors from golden yellows to deep reds.

Abel Tasman National Park is NZ`s most visited national park and it’s no wonder with its end-of-the world beauty. We hopped out for a coastal trek along the beach, the scenery was postcard perfect. We ended the day at an old tavern in Punakaiki and spent the night at Te Nikau Retreat in a little cabin in the rainforest.

Monday morning began with freshly baked chocolate chip muffins and another stroll along the ocean. The waves were massive and just being amongst the crashing wall of water we couldn’t help but be reminded that Mother Nature really is boss.





We stopped by the Pancake Rocks to marvel in nature’s beautiful fury. From Punakaiki to Greymouth, the road was flanked with white capped waves and rocky bays on one side and the steep green mountain ranges on the other. The highway along coastline offered spectacular Tasman Sea views, so fine that our trusty old Lonely Planet guide dubbed it one of the planets top 10 road trips...and we must say we agree!

It felt like we stepped back in time to a century gone by as we drove east through Lewis Pass on route to Hamner Springs for some R&R. There were endless fields and ancient farmhouses and sheep...oh the sheep. I heard once that there are more sheep in New Zealand than people...I can now confirm that it is a fact! We were starting to feel cold and soggy as the rain had been on and off for most of the day. The thermal pools (reaching a soothing 40 degrees) at Hamner Springs were the perfect remedy. That night we settled into a cozy little homestay for the evening.

On the last day of our NZ journey we took in the devastating destruction caused by the recent Christchurch earthquake that that swallowed the entire city`s downtown. Dave and I were shocked to see the piles and piles of cement, bricks and debris and all that was left in the aftermath of such a tragic quake. And to top off the trip, we experienced our first tremors, when the hotel room started to shake on three occasions. We read in the paper the next morning it was rated as 4.8 on the Richter scale!

I have to say that the south island of New Zealand is a sight to be seen. Sadly there just wasn’t enough time over the Easter break to see the North Island too, so we will just have to plan another trip back someday. Another country off the bucket list; Check!

Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the pictures that I took along the way!! There is still SO much to learn about my camera. Lucky for me, my handsome fiancé (have I mentioned how wonderful he is??) gave me a fabulous Easter prezy – a photography lesson on the gold coast, so I will be taking full advantage of that in the near future. I hope you all had a blessed Easter holiday too, what did you get up to?

Xo Tegs