Featherdale Wildlife Park and the beach

Ray and I had another eventful weekend. On Saturday we went to the Featherdale Wildlife park in Blacktown, NSW. We were able to view just about every animal that inhabits Australia. Ray and I enjoyed looking at a variety of birds-big and small, multi-colored and plain brown. It's amazing still, the time God spent with each and every detail on one individual bird. And each bird had their own song to sing. I welcomed the noise yesterday because I was not trying to sleep! Ray loved watching the Tasmanian devil. No zoo in the U.S houses a Tasmanian Devil. What a funny creature. He knew exactly when feeding time was. He was running around, standing on its haunches, and looking around for who had the food.
There were a variety of Wallabies wondering around the park. You had the opportunity to pet and feed them. There were also a few smaller kangaroos that we also had the opportunity to pet. In the back of the park, were the larger Kangaroos that Ray and I saw when we were in the Hunter Valley. They also had Kangaroos from Kangaroo island.
Dingos were also a favorite of Ray's. For those who don't know, Dingos are basically like dogs, accept they do not bark and they only breed one time a year. But they are really friendly, and love to play, at least the domesticated ones do. :)
And we can't forgot the adorable Koala bears. Koala bears sleep anywhere between 18-20 hours a day and only get up to eat! We were able to pet a Koala, and hear their unique way of communication. It sounds like a mix between a snore and an asthma attack. Unfortunately, I know what both of those sound like, you are fortunate if you don't have a clue!
At the end of the day we spent some time in the souvenir shop buying more fun stuff for family and friends.
In the evening Ray and I enjoyed a new resturant, again down by Castle Towers. We sat outside, and enjoyed the pleasant evening. I of course had a beef steak and Creme brulee for dessert. Ray had a Chicken and Bacon pizza, and a beer for dessert. :)

Today-Sunday, Ray and I decided that we would head to the beach again since it was going to be quite warm out. On our way we tried a new church. It was actually a Christian Reformed Church of mainly South African's. The church was very small, and every knew we were visiting. The service was not anything to get excited about, but Ray enjoyed it much more than Hillsong. After church we headed to Manly Beach. The coast again was gorgeous, and the beach was crawling with surfers! We ate some lunch, then went and laid on the beach. The water was freezing, but eventually felt refreshing once we got used to it. After we took a nice walk along the beach, the wind really picked up and sand was blowing all over. We decided to pack up our things and head home.

We are home now, and Ray just finished getting dinner ready-rice and dumplings. So, I'm going to go eat! I hope everyone had a great weekend and a great week ahead!

Today at work

The very first day Ray and I arrived in Australia, we went on a tour of Amway Australia. While we were walking down the Watch 24 hallway Ray asked the HR representative to confirm that Watch 24 was going away. The HR person turned around in shock and put his finger to his mouth for Ray to hush up. No one knew that Amway was looking to sell Watch 24. The only thing that the employers knew was that W24 was under review. When I got hired in I signed a contract for 3 months, with the idea that no one knew what was going to happen in the future. I was told that I needed to keep it a secret till September 23.
On Saturday when we were at our friends for dinner, I thought it was funny to find out that people within the W24 business thought I was hired in as a spy. I was even called "the spy"- behind my back of course. Obviously, I was no such thing, I just had inside sources-Ray.
Well, today the annoucement was made that W24 is going away. It was a sad day for many. The office was quiet, and many contemplated where their life was heading now. I know this was a difficult choice for Amway as well because they do not like to be put in this position where employees no longer have jobs. They are going to their best though to find other work within the Amway community, so hopefully not too many people will be left jobless. W24 was not producing the figures that they had hoped, and so they needed to make a business decision.
The good news for Ray and I is that my contract has been extended to the end of January, so I will have work up until the time that I go. I will be busy scanning and filing for the next months to come!!!! Brainless work...
Ray continues to stay busy with work. The other day we were driving home from work and he states, "Janell, I love my job!" He has definitely found his nitch here in Australia. I think he dreads (may be too strong of a word, but) the idea of going back to Ada where he is no longer the manager of things, but merely the "data analyst." He enjoys being at the core of things, and meeting with the big kahunas...like the CEO, and the head man of the Atlas project (Huge global project) to name a couple. Ray seems to have the respect of many around the office, and seems to be doing a good job at easing people into the change that is taking place.
Just wanted to make a special "Shout-out" to the September birthdays!!!
Happy Birthday Grandma and Grandpa Prins, Cole DeJonge, Mom Frens, and Eric!!! We love and miss you guys, and hope you had wonderful birthdays!

Dictionary of Australian words translated to U.S.A:

"There are some really great bush walks!" Australian
"There are some really great forest walks!" U.S.A

"I love fairy floss!" Australian
"I love cotton candy!" U.S.A

"Do you have a texter?" Australian
"Do you have a marker? U.S.A

"Would you like some lollies?" Australian
"Would you like some candy?" U.S.A

"If you drive west a few hours, you will find many wheat paddocks." Australian
"If you drive west a few hours, you will find many wheat fields." U.S.A

"Call the fire brigade!!!" Australian
"Call the fire department!!!" U.S.A

"I put an order in for a smokie to be installed." Australian
"I put an order in for a smoke alarm to be installed." U.S.A

A few phrases heard often:
"No worries!"
"Not a drama."

Weekend-dinner w/ friends/fishing

Well, Ray and I had another great weekend, along with great company. On Friday night we did not do much, but stay at home and relax on the couch watching Showtime movies. On Saturday during the day it was really hot again. It reached 93 degrees. There was a nice breeze which helped a lot. Ray and I were invited to Julie-Anne's and Eric's house for dinner, and I was to bring dessert. So, Ray and I got up on-time, and I ran to the mall a couple of times to buy stuff to make dessert for after dinner. I made cream puffs from a mix. They were actually really good. I think I will be buying more cream puffs from a box! (Not as good as Jackie's homemade Cream puffs though!) The rest of the day I sat outside and read a book, and Ray hung around and chilled. We then headed out for dinner. We had such a fun time. We stayed out too late though, for our 5:30am wake-up call on Sunday.
Today we got up on time, despite feeling exhausted, and a man from work-Rino, came and picked us up to go fishing for the morning. Ray and I throughly enjoyed ourselves. We had blue skies, sun, and about 75 degrees out. We began on a river, that opened up to the ocean. We began reef fishing, catching a variety of fish. Ray was not feeling too well out at sea, and so we tried to move inland a bit where the swells would be smaller, but even that did not help much. But there we caught another species of fish called a flathead. We mainly caught those and leatherjackets. We then moved again, and took a nice long boat ride up and down the river.
The views around the ocean were spectacular. Ray and I were both so bummed that we forgot our camera!!! (Our minds don't function as well at 5:30am).
We arrived home around 2:30pm and took a nap. :) Now, I am going to go get ready for bed and get to bed on-time so that tomorrow will be a little easier for me!

Work at Amway

Well, I am again apart of the working world after three weeks of doing nothing but grochery shopping, cooking dinner, making muffins, and playing on the internet.
I have five days under my belt. I work with Watch 24 security system, which is owned by Amway. I have spent the week learning about Watch 24, and what everyone's job roles entail to keep the system going. My role there is going to be writing up cancellations, filing, some data entry, billing patrol calls, sorting and delivering the mail to people within the department, sorting faxes that come in, and the fun role of scanning documents into the computer.
This is a nice job to have for now, it is definitely something I do not want to do forever, but it works for now. The people that I work with are very kind. They made me feel welcomed right away. The people who answer the phones for customer service help are all around my age, a few years older maybe, so that has been fun getting to know them. Then there seems to be a large gap in age, and the others are much older in their 50s maybe (just kidding, 50 is so young). :)I
Sometimes I feel like I am being talked to as if I were a child, and that I do not understand the computer system, but Ray keeps reminding me that they are not used to having masters level people work for them, and that it is probably not personal. Overall, the job is going fine and the day seems to go by fast-a lot faster than it did anyway.

Hunter Valley

Yesterday, bright and early, we headed up to Hunter Valley Wineries with a few people from work. We took the scenic route there, crossing the Hawthrone river on a car ferry. The ride there took about three hours, but it was really nice. On the way home it only took about and hour and half, since we took the highway home. We had a random hot day of 90 degrees, but there was blue sky, sun, and a slight breeze.

We had an enjoyable time sipping on different types of wine, and joking around with friends. There are over a hundred wineries available to visit, overlooking fields of bare grapevines at the moment. Don't worry we did not even come close to visiting 100 wineries! :) One of the couples are members of three different wineries, which allowed us to buy wine at member prices, and at one place (Peppertree) we were able to have a private tasting in a setting that was all to ourselves. This time was very relaxing, with great company.

In the midst of the wine tasting, we also visited the BlueTongue Brewery and tried a taste of six different types of beer. Ray really enjoyed this part of the day.

Each winery was a bit different than the next, all claiming that they do something different with their wine. At the Gartelmann's, there was a gentleman there named York, who walked us through each type of wine available, and explained how each one was made. He was a talker, and caused us to be late for our last appointment at Blueberry Hill. All of the wineries close at 5pm, and we past the man on the road who owned Blueberry Hill. This man (John) was kind enough to come back, and share his wine with us. Throughout the day Ray and I picked up a few of our favorites, and we headed off to a nice dinner at "Shakey Tables."

Ray and I were excited to see our first live kangeroo! We actually saw at least a dozen of them. It was pretty neat seeing them in the wild. We really felt like tourists then! Unfortunely, our camera went dead so we did not get any good pictures! Maybe next time.

Australia rules football-AFL

HAPPY FATHER's DAY!!! (in Australia)

On Saturday night, Ray and I had a treat. We enjoyed an Australian Rules football game at Olympic Park, where they held the 2000 Olympics. Amway has season box tickets, so we had free drinks and food all evening, with great company. We were actually hanging out with the "big guys" from Amway. The new CEO of Australia/New Zealand was there, as well as the gentleman right below the CEO. The Sydney Swans played against the Malbourne Kangaroos in a single elimination match towards the finals. This game was a mix between hot potatoe and American football. Once Ray and I caught onto the rules of the game, it was very entertaining to watch. The men were out there tackling each other with no padding. According to the fans the injuries can get quite bloody at times. We watched "Big, Bad Barry" literally take people out to win his chances at a "mark" (when the player catches the ball after it has been kicked by their teammate, they have a free kick to try and score between the four posts). If a player kicks the ball between the middle two posts, the team gets 6 points. If the ball misses and goes through the side posts, the team scrores 1 point. The Swans started out slow, but gave us some great entertainment in the 3rd and 4th quarters. The Sydney Swans won, 110-75.

Today was Father's Day here in Australia. Ray and I were invited to a delicious BBQ at a woman's house who works for Amway's human resource department. There were five small dogs there, so Ray and I got our dog fix for awhile. The food was delicious! We had lamb, chicken, and sausage grilled on skewers, and some side salads. For dessert we had homemade cheesecake and an apple dessert, along with a fruit salad. The fruit here is very tasty! The green grapes are very sweet!

We have had one weekend now where Ray and I have sat back and relaxed, otherwise our weekends have been full of adventure and we are enjoying the people and the activities. Everyone is so kind and very welcoming.

I start my new job tomorrow. I am ready to see what I will be doing exactly, and will be anxious to have every day tasks that I can come in and just do without having to ask too many questions. In a few days I will be sure to write again and let you know how it is going, and what I'm doing!

Next weekend we have plans to go to Hunter Valley all day on Saturday. We are hoping to see some wild, Kangaroo, that are actually alive, finally.

A little change in plans...

On Tuesday, I wrote to you all thinking I was going to have a babysitting job during the duration of my stay here in Australia. Well, on Wednesday Ray came home for lunch, and told me I needed to "get ready, because I had an interview at 1:30pm." I was a bit confused, but Amway is extremely busy right now, and has a lot of extra work laying around for someone to do, and they offered me a full-time job there. I decided to take this opportunity and run with it, because the logistics of it all makes sense. I will be able to ride to and from work with Ray, and there will be no long commute or tolls to pay. I felt terrible yesterday afternoon having to call Nina, the mother, and tell her that I have changed my mind. She understood, but was really disappointed. I am sure she will be able to find someone new, seeing that she still has three more weeks before she returns to work. The Amway job just made sense to Ray and I, so I took it. I start on Monday doing administration work, and other odds and ends. That is what's new with us. Hope all is well in the states! Miss you all!

August 31, 2008-The coastal walk-way

It's Tuesday right now, at 2:30pm in the afternoon. I have found baking to be a nice past-time-having made chocolate chip cookies and fresh blueberry muffins. I'm sitting on the couch enjoying a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin that just came out of the oven.

On Sunday, I had an appointment to meet with another woman about babysitting. She lives on the coast in Malabar, and has a beautiful view of the ocean from her living room. Her baby is 15 weeks old, and was very cute. This woman was interviewing one other girl either on Monday or today (Tuesday), and said she would let me know after that. We are both concerned about the long drive (about 40 minutes). I think if this other girl will accept less money, and lives closer she will get the job. Otherwise, I think the woman likes me, and apparently I have some wonderful references out there (thank you so much!!!). So, today I am once again home by myself, talking to myself (which began last week), and waiting to hear back from either one of the women who interviewed me.

Ray and I just booked a short vacation to the Great Barrier Reef for November 2-5th. We are both excited, and we seem to have gotten a pretty good deal. We are staying on Green Island, with breakfast every morning, and a snorkeling tour of the Reef itself. I may enjoy the beauty from inside the boat, while Ray swims about and encourages me to come in, as his leg is being eaten by a shark. :) We shall see if I am feeling brave that day. It's crazy to think that while you guys will be wearing your winter coats by then, I will be in a bathing suit on the other side of the world, and not JUST for that weekend either. I have a nice pool right outside my balcony to lay out by. :) It's only getting warmer here.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed hearing from my better half. He has taken on quite the responsibility down here, and I'm very proud of him. I think he will do an excellent job, but not too good of a job so they don't keep tacking on more months to stay down here. I was warned actually, once I arrived here, that no one has ever left Amway Australia, that once here, your here for a VERY long, long time. Hmm...

Well, Ray told you about our day in the mountains, and since we were near the coast on Sunday, Nina (the woman with the child) suggested we head to Coogee, a small upbeat town on the coast about 10 minutes from her house. Along the way we stopped at Maroubra Beach where many people like to go surfing. We made it to Coogee, and decided to eat brunch. There were little restaurants everywhere. We picked the busiest one, thinking they probably had really good food. And they did. I enjoyed blueberry pancakes and Ray had an "open sandwich," with avocado, lettuce, tomato, ham, bacon, and some other goodies on it.

We walked up and down the streets there for awhile, excited to find a cheap souvenir shop. We were going to start trying to find our way back to Castle Hill, so we stopped a bus driver to ask for directions. The bus driver recommended the coastal walk to Bondi Beach (the most popular beach in Sydney), said it was only a 30 minute walk. After Ray practiced his non-existent Australian accent with the bus driver, and I laughed hysterically at him, we decided to go on the walk, thinking it would be a nice, relaxing thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. What we did not realize was that the walk went up and down hills and there were more steps. The walk was much longer than 30 minutes as well. We felt like we were sent on a wild goose chase. In this picture you see Bondi beach off in the distance-we didn't make it. Despite not making it, the walk was beautiful, with crystal clear water. Ray and I definitely got our exercise this weekend.

No plans yet for this coming weekend. But we will write again soon. I am going to see about uploading more pictures to the site, so you can view all of our pictures that we are taking, not just these select few. I'll let you know so enough.

Also, Nina, the woman I interviewed with on Sunday, just called me a few minutes ago and offered me the babysitting job. So, I have something to do for two-three days a week and a little extra cash coming in. I will probably still keep looking for maybe one other babysitting job as well, or hope Amway needs some extra help, but I am thankful for this job, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers on this matter.