It Has Been a While!!

Well, it has been a while since we last blogged. I blame it on the fact that it takes forever for pictures to download into the blog (probably because I am doing it a totally lame way) but we have also been very busy! My parents came to visit in October and it was amazing to see them and show them some of this amazing country. We went to the Hunter Valley wine region of New South Wales,  the Blue Mountains (which really do look blue in some light), and Jenolan Caves.

Hunter Valley

Blue Mountains

Three Sisters

Jenolan Caves (over 900 stairs and the girls did them all...so did the grandparents!!)

Blakely's first birthday

 The girls and I took Grandma and Grandpa into Sydney to see the harbour and Opera House. Then we took a ferry to famous Manly Beach!

One of our favorite beaches in Jervis Bay!

 All good things come to an end and we had to say good-bye to our company. We then spent a weekend in Sydney and a weekend in Bateman's Bay.

Hyde Park

Bateman's Bay

Of course there are several other pictures...these are just a few that we are boring you with now. You will have to wait till we get home to see the other 2000 plus!!! Not long now and we are getting excited to be back in the land of ice and snow....our beautiful (in a different way)  CANADA!

Taronga Zoo

Aussies celebrate Father's Day on Sept 4 and so we headed in to Sydney to go to the Taronga Zoo. The zoo is situated on a prime piece of real estate, right on the harbour with views of Sydney Bridge and Opera House. It was a gorgeous day and because my second cousin works at the zoo, we were given the grand tour and were able to get some great pictures (thank you so much Lynn)!

That's right, a baby koala cuddled up to momma!

Babies are sooooo adorable.

Echidna

Tasmanian Devil

View from the bird show theatre.

Took the train

and the ferry to get there. (McKenna took this cool photo)

And some more random shots from around the house!

Beautiful wattle blossoms, entire trees covered in them!

And finally Blakely, clapping her hands and dancing :)

August Highlights

Both David and I celebrated our birthdays this month. For mine, we stuck around home but made an entire weekend out of it. We went on a date for the first time in Australia and then celebrated all the August birthdays with a few good friends. For David's we went to Jervis Bay for the weekend with the Bonertz family (another Canadian family on exchange in Canberra).

Blakely loved the white sand beach at Green Patch in Booderee National Park. The older girls got to hand feed wild parrots and kangaroos.

See the baby joey in the mamma's pouch!

Trying to get Brookie to come join the picture.

We also had an amazing day in Kangaroo Valley. We joined 4 other families for some canoe fun on the water and a sausage sizzle. Other than the great company and spectacular scenery and weather, we finally succeeded in seeing a wombat!

one scruffy wombat...we saw several but this is the only one around when we had the camera handy

This photo was taken on a gorgeous spring day.

How we keep busy while the others are at school.

too cute not to include


And finally, Blakely has learned to wave....here is proof!

The countdown is on for my parents to visit in September. We are looking forward to sharing our experience with someone first hand. Thanks for all your love and support from back home!

Bye for now,

The Basistys

Fiji Adventures

Bula! The Fijians are a friendly bunch, shouting this greeting everywhere you go! We were lucky to spend 7 days on the Coral Coast at the Hideaway Resort. This is the place that we called home for the holiday!

We started the trip with a walk up the beach to explore.



The girls had fun finding coconuts, coral of all shapes and sizes, shells and crabs.



A dip in the sea was next on our agenda. The water was calm and warm.

Blakely's first taste of sand!

We found several of these blue starfish in the water!

A water babe.

A beach babe!

Time to get out of the water and go eat! 

Back to the beach as the sun was setting.

We visited a local village on Sunday and attended the church service. The homes were made of cinder blocks, most did not have windows. There was little if any furniture inside. The conditions were what we would call poor and yet the Fijian's are happy. Family is extremely important and they take care of each other and share what they have. It was very eye opening. They are also very faithful people and the church service was filled with beautiful song!

This picture was taken minutes before David and Blakely went around the staircase in the distance and were hit by two rogue waves that came up and over the stroller wheels. The first pushed them against the sea wall and then splashed on top of them. The second soaked them again and then pulled them out into the ocean. David was able to get the stroller back to the safety of the beach, but they were both soaking wet and very shaken up. Blakely was holding the digital camera so that got wet and was wrecked. A lesson on the power and unpredictability of the ocean was learned by all!



We became friends with a family visiting Fiji from Adelaide. Their daughter Chelsea became good friends with McKenna and the girls spend the rest of the vacation together. Because our camera was toast, they sent us several pictures of the kids that they had taken :)

New friend Chelsea!

 One morning the girls went horseback riding on the beach. It was a great experience and little Brookie couldn't stop smiling and petting the mane!  

Blakely and I with some locals!

Great trip with many memories made!

Missing home and friends,

The Basistys!