Fluffy, Graz, Austria

chrissini


Posted Mar 3, 2008, 7:18 am
hi!
my name is fluffy, i'm currently staying with my mommy in graz, austria, but i'm ready to pack my bags and leave home for the whole wide world!! :)
i would be so happy if you would like to host me, i think we would have a really great time together!! ;)

chrissini


Posted Mar 7, 2008, 1:36 pm
hey there,
it's chrissi, fluffy's mom. he is now on his way to the netherlands. i hope he will arrive soon and that he will have a great journey ;)
greets,
chrissi
magicwoman


Posted Mar 11, 2008, 5:12 pm
Hi mum
Today I arrived in Holland,
i'm very tired ,but Meleleuca and pebbels the other Toyvoyagers who stayed here,were so nice to me.
I'm big friends with them now.
Holland is a bit cold but it doesent matter to me
I'm gonna have a lot of fun here in Holland
bye bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 11, 2008, 5:22 pm
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0127-1.jpg
I was waiting to get out of the enveloppe

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0128-1.jpg
and Pebbels and meleleuca waiting to,the were very curious to see me offcourse :)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0129-1.jpg
and ....here I am,Yea finally :)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0130-1.jpg
Just 1 three of us,and now i'm ready to sleep :)

more updates soon
bye bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 14, 2008, 11:38 am
Today we said goodbye to our good friend Meleleuca
Tomorrow she leaves Marije,and she goes to Eryah in Alkmaar the Netherlands
Ofcourse we've cried a  bit ,cause we hate to say goodbye

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0132.jpg
me and Meleleuca giving each other a good bye hug

Bye Bye Meleleuca
we are gonna miss you!!
magicwoman


Posted Mar 15, 2008, 6:07 pm
Hi Mum
Today I went to Alkmaar,I visit Eryah and Lejow.Marije is became friends with them.
It was really pleasant.I also meet a lots of toher TV's the ones from Lejow and Eryah.And we say our last goodbye to Meleleuca.
And we welcomed a new TV it is Emil.


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0135.jpg
Here we are going to Alkmaar cause Marije wants to have a nose piercing

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0137.jpg
Alkmaar

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0138.jpg
with all the toyvoyagers
from the left to the right
Pebbels,Nelly,Palmeke,Emil,Meleleuca ,I and Chompers


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0140.jpg
I have to go in the bag again cause Marije was going home


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0148.jpg
Waiting for the train at the station

Bye Bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 17, 2008, 7:41 pm
Hi mum
Last Wednesday Marije gets a Playstation from her boyfriend
So we played on it today,we played a game called "bugs bunny"
I played with Pebbels
It was so much fun

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0153.jpg

And Marije has a real electric guitar
I tried to play on it but it was so difficult to do
But it sounds really cool
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0156.jpg


Bye Bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:31 am
Lejow has send Marije some pictures from us,she made them with her camera last saturday in Alkmaar

this pictures are made in the car

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/magicwoman/P3150028.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/magicwoman/P3150029.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/magicwoman/P3150030.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/magicwoman/P3150037.jpg

Eryah has a puppy dog,he was so sweet,his name is dharma.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/magicwoman/P3150062.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/magicwoman/P3150079.jpg
me and a dutch train

Bye Bye
fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 20, 2008, 10:04 am
hi mum
Today we did some funny things in and around the house

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0170.jpg
I climbed in a tree

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0171.jpg
We played a game who is first on top of the tree,Look likes Emil wins this game

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0172.jpg
Marije has a really cool moped,it looks like a motor cycle but it isnt,and offcourse she invites me for a ride

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0175.jpg
we eat some dutch candy called "drop"
I really really loved this stuff so I dive into the bag

Bye Bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 21, 2008, 11:41 am
Hi mum
Today we say goodbye to Pebbels
Pebbesl goed to another host
and she brought some chocolate for us ,as a goodbye treat
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0177.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0178.jpg
and giving each other a big hug

bye bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 23, 2008, 12:19 pm
Hi Mu
Today it's easter,and we celebrate it at Marije her house
Marije has hide eggs for me ,and I have to find them

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0186.jpg
Me and Emil with a yellow egg candle

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0195.jpg
Were is the Egg??? can't find him??

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0196.jpg
after a long search for the egg ,I finally find the egg :D *yay*

And I ride a bike togheter with Emil
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0191.jpg

Bye Bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 23, 2008, 12:39 pm
Hi mum
here i am again
Marije forgot to showed a picture she made from me friday
big grey clouds are on the sky in Holland
and suddenly there was snow,lots of snow.
Thats so strange snow with easter days.Its not a white christmas but a wiht easter ;)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0181.jpg

bye bye Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Mar 26, 2008, 11:15 am
Hi mum
Today I was bored,so I looked something I can climbed on
It play some games,and suddenly Marije came in.She really laughed about me cause I was climbing in the lamp.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0204.jpg
here I am ,its amazing you can look so far in this lamp :)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0206.jpg
sitting in the pumpkin

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0208.jpg
Marije let me paint a painting today,I really liked it but paiting is very diffycult

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0211.jpg
I've met some new Dutch friends today,The came and visit Marije this morning.They were really friendly and offcourse we make soms fun.I hope they visit Marije more in the future

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0212.jpg
Playing a ball game with Emil

You can see we made a lot of fun this day

Bye Bye
Fluffy

magicwoman


Posted Mar 29, 2008, 3:34 pm
Hi mum
It is very cold in Holland,and no sunshine (except for today)
So Marije has an great idea to warm me up,she puts  me under the solarium thats how I get my tan,and i was great cause it was very warm :)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0222.jpg

I've reading the news paper today,cause I wanted to know whats on in the world these days
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0225.jpg

Enjoying the view on the fence
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0226.jpg

Marije has a french bulldog unfortunately he died in august 2007 thats so sad,but she had a great French Bulldog stattue in the garden
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0230.jpg

we had some tea visit this afternoon,it was a bear and a pony,they were so nice,the tea was delicious :)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0231.jpg

Bye Bye
Fluffy
magicwoman


Posted Apr 1, 2008, 9:58 am
Hi mum
Last Sunday I went to the "betuwe"thats an area in Holland,lots of fruit grows there ,and there are also a lot of apple and pear trees.
It was great and we went with a small ferry boat.Cause we had to cross over the river thats called "the Rijn"
Unfortunately the weather was really bad,a lot of rain :(

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0233.jpg
This is still Ede,approaching a cross over

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0240.jpg
Dutch grassland

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0243.jpg
Wating at the ferry boat

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0246.jpg
on the ferry boat :)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0254.jpg
This was on the way home,you can see the boat

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0259.jpg
a picture with me,Emil and scooby doo


When we were back Marije took me to the local bar,to drink something
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0261.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0263.jpg

Bye Bye Fluffy




magicwoman


Posted Apr 4, 2008, 11:27 am
Hi Mum
Today I said goodbye,cause i'm leaving to my next host.
I said goodbye to Emil cause we became big friends.And I say goodbye to Marije my host ,it was such a great stay here in Ede.And now i'm going to Den Haag the Netherlands.I'm sure I have a great time there.

On this picture you can see i'm giving Emil a big and warm goodbye hug
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/marije22000/100_0264.jpg

now i'm saying goodbye
goodbye magicwoman and thanx for staying here

Bye Bye
Fluffy
panienka
dagmaradominicus@gmail.com

Posted Apr 23, 2008, 9:08 pm
Hi there folks!

I’m so very, very sorry for not having updated my log. My host really apologies for it and she feels really crappy about it. But I can explain why she got so busy :)
You see, she got a new job in April and then she got a new cute, really fluffy Bunny…and after all, at her work they’ve decided to block toyvoyagers, so she can’t update anything from work any more!
But hey, that doesn’t make up why I haven’t let hear anything. So, again sorry!
When I arrived a couple of days ago, I was welcomed in a house FULL of TV’s! There was a flat traveler Peter Rabbit and there was this cute doggie Yuri, but unfortunately he had to go toward his next host soon after I arrived. And there is Burrimull the Emu too! He is so cool, and big! And well, I’ve met such a cool, cute, real bunny called Mascara!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00165.jpg (here we have Yuri, Burrimul and me, Yuri had to leave...:( )

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00163.jpg (this is me with the bunny!)

Well, in the day’s I’ve been here, I’ve seen many things here in The Hague! I’ve seen (from a distance) the place where the Dutch prime minister rests (his name is Jan Peter Balkenende and he looks like Harry Potter). He works there in the far distance, where you see a little tower!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00151.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00154.jpg

We've seen the house of Queen Beatrix as well. Unfortunately she wasn't home..that was a pity!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00145.jpg

and across the street, was some guy with on a horse, so we wanted to have a photo with that one too!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00142.jpg

As we walked through the city centre, we went to see some more things too! We've seen the city weapon, and some of the province flags too! (did you know holland has 12 provinces?!)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00148.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/DSC00155.jpg

Well, and we've made maaaany more photo's, but we've got some troubles uploading them!

By the way, my host told me she will send me along after queensday, if you don't mind? But we'll keep in touch about that, OK?

hope you like my photo's so far! A new update will come soon, i promise!

take care and a big kiss,
Fluffy!
panienka
dagmaradominicus@gmail.com

Posted May 5, 2008, 8:55 pm
Hi there back home!

I'm so sorry again for not updating for a while, but i've been very very busy here! First of all, my host had her birthday this weekend, she turned 24, and we had to do loads of shopping! And besides that, she got sick too! But, as a birthdaypresent, she got herself a very new digital camera and a really neat dress for a promm.

As it was a really beautifull day, my host took me and Burrimull Memu out for a tour in the city centre! But, before we were in the centre, we took the Tram, like a subway only this one doesn't go underground. So, we waited for the tram close to the house of my host!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0069.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0084.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0085.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0086.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0087.jpg
here we were enjoying the sun. today it was around 23 degrees Celcius and we got a little tan too! Oh and you even see a dutch tram.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0090.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0091.jpg
Although we weren't hungry, we asked Panienka if she could make us a photo in front of a "viskar", which is a little stand where they used to sell fish (haring). Nowadays it's a little shop!

We also went to take a look at the Binnenhof. This is where the Dutch Government rests. It looks very pretty in there but it was very busy! Partly because of the weather and partly because today (5th of May) is the day that Holland got freed by the US and Candian Soldiers, in 1945. So there was a lot going on!
Anyway, we took some photo's with a nice fountain but the boyfriend of my host wasn't very comfortable with the new camera yet...so they're a bit unsharp :)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0095.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0094.jpg

The building here has some waco tent, we think it was something with bulletfree glass so the important politicians could walk safely from one building to the other.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0099.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0101.jpg


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0105.jpg
a nice Dutch flag :)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0104.jpg
and again the Dutch flag with a lot of tourists coming by!


Remember me having a photo taken last time, with a little tower on the back groud? I said that the Prime Minister had his office there. Well, here you see the same office from the other side :)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0118.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0119.jpg
normally the Prime Minister is at home, but this time he wasn't there. He was somewhere in Holland, to put on the fire of freedom...it has something to do with the fact that Holland was freed exactly 63 years ago!

Well, our tour in the Hague ended here. We had a drink on the terrace and after that we went home :)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0135.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/panienka/toyvoyagers/IMG_0136.jpg

Well, I've got a little more photo's made. But they're somewhere on an other digital camera of which we don't have any cable nor cardreader. So my host will look for the photo's and update the photo's as soon as possible!

Meanwhile I am going to be prepaired to go to my next host! I'm really looking forward meeting new people!

big kiss!
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted May 19, 2008, 6:03 am
Wow! That was a long journey, or what seemed like a long time... well I guess that's expected because now I'm in Australia!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffyarrives.jpg

It was kinda dark so Sara opened up the windows after I got to see some of her pets... first I got to see the mice... sadly they seem all to be sleeping so I couldn't actually see them, but they sure have a big cage! Mouse paradise I'm sure!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_mice.jpg

Then I got to see her fish, they all seem to be pretty camera shy, except for that big guy, that's their sucker fish, he's probably like 7 inches long Sara said... that's crazy! She said she got him when he was like half an inch long... at that point they were just introducing this species of sucker fish (catfish) into the country!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_fish.jpg

...and then last but not least, some birdies, or some more than a few birdies... crazy! I went over and looked at them and they gave me funny looks and even looked at me upside down, it was pretty crazy! I wonder if they recognized me as one of their own?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_birds.jpg

They're all native Australian birds Sara said to me, so I already have seen a bit of Australian wildlife. Sara says they're more native to Queensland and the warmer rainforesty areas of Australia. The bright colored ones are gouldian finches, the black and white one is an owl finch, the grey one is a zebra finch (a baby - one of four that one of her finch parents successfully raised) and the red faced bird is a star finch... there are also yellow faced star finches and spice finches of the finch category. There's also diamond doves (smallest doves in the world) and button quails at the bottom. There's so much to see and so much to watch and I haven't even gone outside!.. I love hearing the birds sing, they've all got such pretty songs!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_looksoutside.jpg

Finally Sara opened up the windows, and I had a stare out the window, I didn't see any kangaroos - but, I did see a huge eucalyptus tree right outside her front door! Crazy! Sara said that I was lucky, the last two days it's been raining, which is really needed lately but now it's all sunny. Back to normal Orange weather... :-( Sara hopes for more rain!

...and then after I had a bit of a look outside Sara told me to turn around... and then that's when I saw it...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_meetstheothervoyagers.jpg

Some other toys! Awesome! There's Toothy Walrus, Gracy and Coop they told me all about their exciting journeys so far, and their time in Bathurst and at Mount Panorama... I wonder if I can do that? We'll see how we go Sara says... :-) I can't wait to start my journey! Talk again soon! <3
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted May 22, 2008, 4:30 am
Sara hasn't had a chance yet to take me out much. They've been crazy cleaning the lawn and everything since I got here - they say they're getting a dog so they need to make the lawn a bit better for a dog and fix up the fence and everything. I've been just sitting back and watching because it sure looks like a lot of back breaking work.

Yesterday we said goodbye to Coop he's on his way to gingermuggins in Victoria and today were saying goodbye to Gracy, she's "hitching-a-ride" with Gentle Ben to Japan today. I had a lot of fun with them but I'm going to have a lot of fun watching their travels from now on...

I've been promised a bit more of a trip around Orange to do some sight seeing, although Sara says there's not much to see, but she'll do her best. :-) I cannot wait to see what's in store for me next! :-)
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted May 25, 2008, 3:24 pm
Hello! Today we've just been cleaning a whole bunch like normal lately - and I helped Sara mop the ceiling so they can repaint it where some nasty stains have formed. They're in a rental house, so it's not perfect she says... oh well. :-) Anyways, today I helped her make some sweet banana muffins...

First we had to gather all the ingredients...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking1.jpg
bananas, butter, vanilla, milk, sugar, muffin mix, cinnamon, egg and butter... quite a lot of ingredients for just a simple muffin!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking2.jpg
Next we had to preheat the oven to 200'C

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking3.jpg
...then we had to butter the muffin pan... and now were ready to work with the ingredients... :-)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking4.jpg
First thing we do is mix cinnamon, muffin mix and sugar together...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking5.jpg
...now we have to mash the bananas... normally you're supposed to use 2 medium sized bananas but Sara used 3-1/2 bananas and that worked out just perfectly...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking6.jpg
...all mashed!... kinda looks funny all mashed up....

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking7.jpg
Now you add the mashed banana into the dry ingredients...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking8.jpg
Then you put all the wet ingredients together. So we mixed vanilla and egg... we have yet to put in the milk and butter...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking9.jpg
...after cracking the egg I got to give it to the birds. It's a good source of calcium and they eat the egg shells as they are... isn't that cute? :-)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking10.jpg
...then we put in the milk... now it's time to melt the butter...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking11.jpg
...around 40 seconds in the microwave did it pretty well...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking12.jpg
...and now that's all done... now it's time to mix both parts of it together... how much fun that was!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking13.jpg
Now all mixed up together! :-)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking14.jpg
...and now put it evenly into the muffin pan... and by now the oven is preheated!...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking15.jpg
Sara put it in the oven for me because the muffin pan was quite heavy...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking16.jpg
...now set the timer for 10 minutes (until were supposed to turn the muffins so they don't get burnt)...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking17.jpg
...10 minutes later... we're turning the muffins. They look so good already...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_cooking18.jpg
...and another 10 minutes later they're out of the oven! How exciting! They look quite yummy but I can't have them until they're a bit cooler! :-)

Well that was quite fun... and the muffins were very very yummy. Although I was only able to eat a little bit because the muffins were so big!... Sara said we were supposed to do some exciting stuff this week but everyone wasn't feeling great. So we've delayed it... on the itinerary is Mount Canobolas, Lake Canobolas and Cook Park. I'm quite excited! :-) Talk again soon!
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jun 7, 2008, 6:57 pm
Wow, today was a big day! We had to do some errands in Bathurst which included some mystery shopping and well, some other boring stuff... but we got to do some fun stuff, and I even got to see some interesting sights...

First thing we had to load up in the car, Sara decided to show myself and my mentor what Orange looks like, and the outskirts of Orange on the way to Bathurst. So lots of photos were taken of the road... this tells you how dry this area really is and how much we really need rain.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/roadto_bathurst060608_1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/roadto_bathurst060608_2.jpg

As you can see it's mostly dry, mostly farm land and quite a few hills... although it isn't too much...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/roadto_bathurst060608_3.jpg

Shortly out of Orange you see a very small town, what you see is what it is... literally... a one street town. If you look to both sides of the road you can see some strange looking objects sticking out of the ground. A bit of background information... Lucknow used to be called "Luckno" because people came here to mine gold, and after a long long time they found nothing - so hence why they named the town Luckno, the one day, someone came in and found some gold in the mines where people weren't looking before, so the town was renamed to Lucknow. Kind of funny, but they're abandoned mine shafts obviously as just a reminder to the past of the Central West.

Now back on the road to Bathurst...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/roadto_bathurst060608_4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/roadto_bathurst060608_5.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/roadto_bathurst060608_6.jpg

...as you can see, as Australia is very known and famous for, eucalyptus trees, and red dirt... there is a lot of red dirt in Sara's area, and especially a bit farther East in a town called Dubbo (which is 6 hours drive from Sydney) and that's more "outback" like... very desolate, dry, and very HOT!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/entering_bathurst_060608_1.jpg

...finally... after 45 or so minutes we are now entering Bathurst... this is what the town looks like...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/entering_bathurst060608_2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/entering_bathurst060608_3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/entering_bathurst060608_4.jpg

...not much... first stop was a few pet stores... we couldn't go in nor could photos be taken, but Sara and Daniel are looking for a little puppy to bring home and she's been showing us some of her options. The puppies she's thinking about are so cute! Then afterwards we did the mystery shop, of course we stayed in the car and took a bit of a nap because it wasn't that interesting for us toyvoyagers...

...but then the fun started... we stopped at a park called McCattie Park in the middle of Bathurst.... here we are in a really weird tree near the entrance of the park...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_1.jpg

...and in the middle of the park was a huge duck pond...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_2.jpg

there were lots of people were out feeding the ducks, and we had a close encounter, one of the ducks popped up looking for food. When they realised we weren't food they went back into the water.. we saw some pretty interesting ducks...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_3.jpg

...some black swans, how weird is that? I guess they're native to Australia. Sara said she never saw any black swans before coming down the first time either, and she says she's never seen them besides in this exact park. Strange!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_5.jpg

...next stop was this weird little abandoned fountain, it was kind of cool looking so we stopped for a little bit of shade... don't we look comfortable?...

...and last but not least in McCattie Park we got to stop and see a huge statue...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_6.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_7.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/mccattie_parkbathurst_8.jpg

...this statue is to commemorate the discovery of the Bathurst Plains and "opening of the West" in 1813. This is a very interesting and well crafted statue if I do say so myself...

Next part of this trip was SO much fun, I couldn't even imagine I'd ever have this opportunity in my life... Sara took me out to the outskirts of Bathurst where it's common to see some wild life, and what did we see?...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/kangaroos1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/kangaroos2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/kangaroos3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/kangaroos4.jpg

...we didn't get too close, and because they were being so cautious we had to watch from a distance and Sara couldn't put us in the photos as we'd be a blur because of the zoom in distance that Sara had to do... as you can see in the photos the kangaroos are very curious of us... but yet, in some of the photos there's someone standing behind the kangaroos... not even noticing them standing there...

Sara says that sadly they're trying to build up that area of the grasslands between Bathurst and Blayney so the kangaroos might be in a bit of trouble! :-( I hope not! They were so awesome!

...and it fits well, on the way towards our next trip, we got to see this sign... how fitting...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/kangaroo_sign.jpg

...and now were going to visit Bathurst most famous area... Mount Panorama... it's a very famous race track within Australia and even in other countries it's displayed on TV every October... it's open to the public to drive on at anytime so we got a chance... so we got to first learn a bit about it...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama_sign.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/fluffy_panorama.jpg

...as you can see this is me posing in front of the sign, how exciting is this going to be?...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama_track.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama_info.jpg

...and here's a bit of information about the track...

...and here we go... there's the starting gate..

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama_beginning.jpg

...and here's what the track looks like as were traveling along it... it was so much fun!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama5.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama6.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama7.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama8.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama9.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama10.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama11.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama12.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama13.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama14.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama15.jpg

...as you can see it's a big track, and around half way through the speed was a bit much so we rocked around a little bit but it was so much fun! Some of those turns are crazy and it's amazing to think some of the people go around those corners at 200+ kilometers an hour... crazy!

...and this is the sign as your exiting the track... and back onto the road... time to go home! It's been a very busy day!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/panorama_exit.jpg

...on the way home it looked really stormy out so Sara got a nice photo of the sun coming through a really dark cloud... isn't this a pretty shot?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/bathurst_toys/wayhome_frombathurst.jpg

...well when we got home I pretty much crashed I was so tired... and the 8th is Sara's sons birthday so that's going to be fun! I'll update again soon! Talk soon!
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jun 14, 2008, 12:30 pm
Today was a very special day, today was the day Sara was getting a puppy, so we all tagged along, we couldn't sadly go into the area with the puppies as we all probably would have been played with way too roughly, there were 2 females and 4 males to choose from and we even got to meet the parents. They're so cute...

We drove all the way to Canowindra, which is about an hours drive from where Sara lives, on a HUGE farm... sadly I didn't get any photos there - but I did get a photo of the puppy Sara picked out... introducing Anni... she's an 8 week old beagle puppy...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers2/fluffy_beagle.jpg

As you can see she's very small and so cute! She thought I was a bit of a play toy so Sara had to command her to sit down for the photo, she almost got me but Sara had quick hands... she wouldn't have hurt, but Sara didn't want me to be injured at all... but isn't she just adorable?
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 3, 2008, 9:30 am
Hello! Sorry I haven't updated in so long, the weather has been miserable so sadly we haven't gotten to go out much yet... although recently we took a trip to Dubbo... although because it was raining we didn't get to see anything, but it's way more "outback" than Orange... and the dirt is a LOT more red, which Sara says means there's lots and lots of iron in the dirt...

It was a very long drive of around 2 or so hours, so there wasn't much to see sadly we just listened to some music, and then we entered Dubbo.... finally!...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers_dubbo.jpg

...we had a few things to do in Dubbo which included some mystery shops, so we got that done and because it was raining so much we decided that sadly we couldn't do much else...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers_in_dubbo.jpg

...so then we headed back home!... :-/

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/dubbo_rain.jpg

Thankfully Sara says though because it's been a bit more sunny lately we plan on taking that trip up to Mount Canobolas. Another thing she says stopping her is the price of petrol on top of being extremely broke the last few weeks but she says I'll definitely be able to see more before continuing on my journey. I promise I'll update again soon! <3
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 4, 2008, 9:43 am
Today we got to meet a new toyvoyager Percy his mentor lives in Okinawa, Japan, but is an American as she lives there because her husband is in the military - Percy had a lot of interesting stories to tell us, he had just come from Germany so that was pretty interesting to hear about... I hope I get to travel that much!...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/percy_toyvoyagers.jpg

Besides that today was pretty exciting (at least for Sara anyways) for MONTHS she's been trying to finish up her bedroom and today we all got a chance to help her finish it... it was just a day at home today - her first day at home in days so it was a... well, kind of relaxing day - there was a lot to get done while Andrew was at daycare...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/fluffy_bedroom.jpg

...and we all after finishing Sara fix up the room collapsed on the brand new shag rug they put in - it's a lot brighter than it looks in the picture (just like the bedroom picture) but it matches and looks really good in real life... :-) We all had a bit of a nap on the rug before moving on...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/toyvoyagers_rug.jpg

...once we came out of the bedroom Sara noticed someone fly over our head... she looked up and thought it was one of her quails, instead it was one of the gouldian finches. Mr Colors had recently met Percy and obviously didn't get a good enough hello, so he came out and greeted all of us, to our surprise.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/colors_escape.jpg
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 11, 2008, 10:39 am
I wasn't quite sure where we were going today. It was quite unexpected even for Sara... but we packed up the car and took a little bit of a drive...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_3.jpg

After a bit of the drive it because really woodsy, there was a lot of eucalyptus trees, and the road started to get really slippery... it's amazing the temperature change too, pretty shocking...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_5.jpg

...and then we got there - well, not really got there as we never quite made it to the summit... but we got close... a whole 2 kilometres away, but Sara took us to see what she could without having to walk 2 kilometres in the freezing weather...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_6.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_rd2cnbls_7.jpg

...as you can see it had snowed up there, this is only a little bit of the snow... but the summit of the mountain was covered in snow... Sara didn't think there would still be snow as on the lower ground there was no more left... but there was so we got a photo with it. Who knew it snowed in Australia?
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/fluffy_snow.jpg

I guess it's not that common because there was a LOT of cars parked where we were, people had come from all over New South Wales to see the snow at the top of the mountain. It doesn't snow as often as it used to, so it was quite amazing to see...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/snow_falling_canobolas.jpg
As you can see with the whiteness of the trees that's all snow on them... and on the ground... it was REALLY cold... and to top it all off it was snowing from the trees onto us and the wind was blowing really hard as well... brrrrr!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/back_in_the_car_canobolas.jpg
This is a picture after we ran back into the car, that shows how much snow was coming off of the trees... it's weird that it's snowing in July, how backwards is that?

...we got to stop on the way back down the mountain though and see a bit of what we would have seen at the top... here are me with the mountains surrounding where I was standing... it's an entire mountain range the tallest one in the photo is called 'Little Mount Canobolas'.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/fluffy_mountainbkgd.jpg

...and then we got to see what was behind me in that last picture, an idea of what it would have looked like at the top of the mountain... this is a higher view of Orange... at the top of Mount Canobolas on a clear day you can see very very far. Especially since Mount Canobolas is the highest point until somewhere in South Australia on the Perth side of the country. Crazy isn't it?
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/fluffy_citybackdrop.jpg

...but that's not all we did... wait for the next update. :-)
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 11, 2008, 11:06 am


...next stop was Lake Canobolas, only a short distance away... when we got there we were the only ones there... because of the recent rain (which we've really REALLY needed) the lake was overflowing over the dam wall... looks cool doesn't it?
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/lk_cnbls_overflow.jpg

....and then we got to pose in front of the lake, it looks quite cold doesn't it?...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_lk_cnbls.jpg

...here's some more photos of the lake... isn't it big?...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/lk_cnbls_1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/lk_cnbls_2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/lk_cnbls_3.jpg

...and just as we were about to leave, a huge bird, Sara says it's called a magpie came to us to pay us a visit. Obviously he didn't feel safe enough to come closer to us, but it was still cool, he's quite big!
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/toyvoyagers/tvs_magpie.jpg

...well I'll update again soon! With the recent freezing temperatures I wouldn't be surprised if we'd get a bit more snow in the lower lands. I hope so, maybe we can make a snowman this time! A snowman in July, haha the thought of that is so funny isn't it?
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 17, 2008, 2:54 pm
Well Sara took us on another trip to Bathurst, and we all got to see some kangaroos again, this time it was a much closer shot than before... it was pretty awesome. Since the kangaroos were much calmer than last time Sara tried to get us in the shot but it wasn't possible with how far zoomed she was, we would have just been a blur so we just sat back and watched... :-)

Seeing the kangaroos seriously has to be the best part of coming to Australia! I'm glad I've been able to see that! <3

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/kangaroo_bathurst1.jpg
...this was pretty close to the fence line maybe 15 feet from where Sara and us were standing... how crazy is that?...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/kangaroo_bathurst2.jpg
...whoops... I guess we got too close, she didn't feel that comfortable obviously...

...just as Sara saw the last kangaroo bounce off, she saw around 5-6 others pop out of the long grass and have a look at us...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/kangaroo_bathurst3.jpg
...you see the joey in the pouch? See how the dad is so much bigger than the mom? He's bending over and he's almost as tall as her, crazy!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/kangaroo_bathurst4.jpg
...and here's the baby and the mom again with another kangaroo they're very interested in what I was doing... Sara actually made a few loud noises to get them to look up at her. They seemed to be getting pretty comfortable with her around...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/kangaroo_bathurst5.jpg
...and here's the last photo of the kangaroos and the baby... aren't they just the cutest? :-) I'm so glad I got to see some real wildlife in Australia! :-) It's been so much fun! <3
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 17, 2008, 3:17 pm
Today we took another road trip... although not as long... we went to Molong. Molong is a town around 30 minutes drive from Orange towards Dubbo, but obviously not as far. It was another mystery shop... and sadly enough, Molong is pretty small, one street town, so there's not really much to see... so Sara just got a shot of us on the main street. :-)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/fluffy_inmolong.jpg

Molong is a town with just over 2,000 people. So very small... we even saw a horse riding through the main street... people seemed to know each others name... it was pretty crazy! lol Sara said that Molong is a historic town with all the buildings in the picture all all original even if they've been changed a little bit they're all very very old... Molong was the site of the first copper mine in Australia... so that's pretty interesting. But not much to see sadly... :-)
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 17, 2008, 3:35 pm
Well... after a busy week we got a new visitor, this guy is called Misko and he's all the way from Slovenia... he's very new to the travel scene like we all seem to be (besides Fluffy of course... so we told him all about our travels so far and what we've seen, I think it impressed him a bit... this is going to be heaps of fun!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/misko_toyvoyagers.jpg

...I just know that understanding him is a bit hard since he only knows limited English at the moment, but I'm sure we can teach him a bit of English as well as maybe a few other languages... :-) It's going to be great...

Sara let us know that we'll be traveling to Parramatta on Monday morning. It's going to be a busy day, and she doesn't think we'll be able to see the famous parts of Sydney like the harbor, the bridge and the opera house but she'll do her best to let us see that. As I know she wants to see it herself. Anyways, we'll at least say we've been in Sydney anyway... :-) Better get a restful weekend it's going to be a big day on Monday!

Write again soon! <3
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 23, 2008, 3:59 pm
We had to take a trip today, on the way there we of course had to pass through Bathurst. Some of us had been there - some of us - not quite yet. But I'm sure will make a trip there again soon to see more of the sights, but we were on a tight schedule and were already an hour or so late. Whoops!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/allothertvs_roadtobathurst.jpg
Here's us on the road to Bathurst, as you can tell it's very rainy and cloudy, and the windscreen is foggy. No matter what Sara and Daniel did it didn't help it, it's crazy sometimes how foggy the windscreen of their car gets (from what they were saying anyways)...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inbathurst.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inbathurst_roadtolithgow.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inbathurst3.jpg
Well, now we're in Bathurst, but it's only a pass through - no time for breakfast - onto the next stop... I think this time we might be stopping for a bite to eat... :-)
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:09 pm
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtolithgow.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtolithgow2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtolithgow3.jpg
...around half way now to Sydney just outside of the 'Blue Mountains' which are at the outer edge of Sydney and we've been on the road now for a good 90 minutes. My legs are getting a bit sore but we're almost there... as you can see it doesn't look *too* much different... but Sara couldn't get some photos to show the main differences. They have a huge power plant and a huge lake or something next to it... pretty crazy.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_lithgows_minerlamp.jpg
...as we're now entering Lithgow, we see something really strange... what... is... that?...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/lithgows_minerlamp.jpg
...that is Lithgow's famous "Miner's Lamp", it's a huge version of it obviously... next stop was McDonalds to get something to eat. I couldn't get any photos obviously since we were a bit late... next stop... something a bit more exciting... yay! I wonder what it's going to be...
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:20 pm
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtobluemountains.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtobluemountains2.jpg
...in route to the Blue Mountains now... lots of people visit this area anytime they go to Sydney because of the beautiful nature that surrounds them. Since it's just on the extreme outskirts of Sydney it's a popular destination for tourists...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inthebluemountains5.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inthebluemountains.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inthebluemountains2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inthebluemountains3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inthebluemountains4.jpg
Now that we've entered the Blue Mountains, as you can see there is LOTS and LOTS of trees and lots of hills... and lots of small little towns... the driving up and down, up and down, our ears popped a lot. It was quite uncomfortable. But closer to the Sydney side of things is a small town called Katoomba. Katoomba is known as the 'Heart of the Blue Mountains'. It's a gorgeous little town, and it seemed quite touristy at the time we went there... Sara said she thought it might be because the pope just left town the day before, and therefore all the tourists now decided to take a bit of a tour around the famous parts of the outskirts of Sydney...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtokatoomba.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtokatoomba2.jpg
...as you can see lots and lots of cars...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inkatoomba.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inkatoomba2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inkatoomba3.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_inkatoomba4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/threesisters_tvs.jpg
...finally we got to our destination... sadly since it was so busy Sara couldn't take individual photos so Sara just got a photo of something called the 'Three Sisters'. It's a very famous rock formation, if people go through the Blue Mountains they have to stop off and see them. There's also lots of trails to take around, one of them Sara said was extremely steep and hard to climb down, let alone up. So we only spent a little bit of time there, and then we were back on the road...
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:35 pm
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/sydney_welcomesyou.jpg
...Welcome to Sydney... after 3-1/2 to 4 hours drive we're FINALLY here. Sadly Sara says we can't really see anything famous like the harbor bridge or anything... but we suprisingly got pretty close to the famous CBD of Sydney... we had an appointment at 230pm, so it sadly was just that. We did see the famous hospital called "RPA" which is known as Royal Price Albert Hospital that's got a TV show named after it, and is obviously filmed there as well. One of Sara's favourite TV shows. But this wasn't at RPA but more a smaller clinic that is owned by RPA... anyways, here's us navigating around Sydney...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_roadtosydney2.jpg
Although it seems like it should be pretty simple and straight forward... you can easily get lost, especially if we're getting close to the CBD. Sara told us about the story a few years ago that Daniel and her were trying to make it to Cronulla (South Sydney) and ended up in Glebe (which is near where we were going - in South Sydney). She told us how they ended up going over the harbor bridge around 3-4 times since they couldn't get off it and had to go back across before turning around. I'm so glad we didn't get lost though... here are some sights from around Sydney... :-)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney4.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney5.jpg
...and now, we're in Parramatta, we have to get on Parramatta Road which is a huge major road, we've technically been driving on it the whole time but it was called the "Great Western Highway" it goes all the way to Dubbo, so it's a main highway through the state... it was amazing to see the difference between Orange and Sydney, I mean, I knew Sydney was big... but man, there are sure a lot of palm trees as well. :-)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney6.jpg
...and now we're almost to the appointment, so here are some more sights around the area we were driving around...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/tvs_insydney7_cbd_background.jpg
...oh wow, we're getting close... although we couldn't personally go and visit it there's the CBD in the background, can you see it? It's pretty small but you can see the huge buildings on George Street (which is the main street and most famous street along with Pitt Street in Sydney... how cool! I just wish I could have seen a bit more... maybe someday...) here's a close up... :-)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/cbd_closeup.jpg

...sadly when we got out of the appointment it was almost 530pm and we couldn't stay much longer. With a cranky child in the back seat and to be honest we were all a bit worn out... it was time to go home... here's the traffic on the road just as we were leaving Sydney...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/saragoescrazy3/tvs_sydney/sydney_nighttime.jpg

Well it was a long and busy day, but I hope to go back here some day and visit the more famous parts of Sydney. Maybe my next host will take me on a ferry even around the harbor? Who knows, it was pretty awesome anyways. :-) I hope you enjoyed my trip, I'll update again soon! <3
sararingham
sara.ringham@gmail.com

Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:38 pm
I had so much fun here, I just wonder what is next for me to see. I hope I get to see as much as I've seen already, and maybe some beaches and pretty sights. Who knows... :-)

I've moved onto my next host, I'll update again soon! :-)
Yillup


Posted Aug 1, 2008, 5:06 am
I am safe and sound at Kylie's house on the Central Coast of NSW now. It is very very cold and it's been raining a bit lately. Hopefully we can go out soon though. I'll upload some photos when I can.
Yillup


Posted Aug 1, 2008, 5:30 am
We went out shopping today. As a bit of a break from the boring bits of shopping we dropped in to Borders - a big book store here. It was nice and warm, and we got to read lots of interesting books.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/118/002bk2.jpg
Yillup


Posted Aug 1, 2008, 5:44 am
Kylie went to her mum's place today as it was SO cold in her house to do some nice warm cooking. We cooked choc chip cookies, brownies, pumpkin and fruit loaf, apple and berry pies, ice cream, cheese biscuits and omlette.

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/9582/003ua4.jpg
Yillup


Posted Sep 1, 2008, 12:59 am
Hi there. I am sorry I haven't been writing home too much lately, but my family here has had some major dramas in the last month. They have had to start moving home as well as having some very sick children. There were even feral mice running around and bit the poor little baby here! Luckily I was safe and sound with my other toy voyager friends and not anywhere near the mice!

So much of what has been happening around here has been packing boxes. Here I am with a pile of the boxes all ready to help carry them downstairs and into a truck. I think I'll need some help carrying it though!!!

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1579/003ut7.jpg
Yillup


Posted Oct 4, 2008, 8:16 am
I am still here, safe and sound. I am very very sorry I haven't updated in a month. Kylie and her family have been moving and things have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. There have been sick kids, many many different little things to be done to the new house, and a lot of cleaning, packing, unpacking and everything else that goes along with moving house. Things have finally settled down now though, so hopefully I'll be able to move on to my next place very very soon.
chrissini


Posted Dec 23, 2008, 8:26 am
hello everybody,
i just wanted to let you know that i FINALLY arrived back home. i'm so happy, i was afraid i would never come back.
thanks to all my hosts!

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