The Stuff Legends are Made of

Family Legends I mean.

Here is a pictures of my Grandpa on the farm.

Now if I have anything wrong, feel free to let me know.

Kununurra, Western Australia.

It took 2 days to get to Kununurra. We had a 4 hour flight from Sydney that got into Darwin late that night. The next day we took a 45 min. single engine jet from Darwin to Kununurra. Now, I have to say it, Darwin is not my favorite place. It’s probably because we didn't do much there except sleep in a cockroach infested room. Now, if you know me, you know I am freaked out by bugs of any kind, but most specifically cockroaches. They are disgusting! Our night in Darwin on the way back I was sharing a king sized bed with Kristen. A huge, and really it was huge, cockroach fell off the wall onto the pillow. Kristen and I shrieked liked little girls and ran from the room without brushing our teeth. We used a water bottle and spit in the bushes outside. My recommendation if you are ever in Darwin, do NOT stay in the Darwin Airport resort. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, but that does not make up for giant cockroaches stalking you while you sleep.

We did spend the day in downtown Darwin and walked over to the beach, but well, it wasn’t that exciting. Our 2^nd trip through Darwin we got some beautiful pictures on the beach that I will share later.

I said earlier that I loved Sydney and could live there, and I really did mean it. I loved the city atmosphere and the pier and the beautiful weather and the people. It was amazing.

But, Kununurra felt like coming home.

There is a tradition in our family to take a picture under the Welcome to Kununurra sign at the Kununurra airport. Unfortunately, for us, the airport is being remodeled and they took down the sign. I am sure this is a great thing for Kununurra and the airport will be awesome when it’s done.

We were disappointed not to get a picture, but absolutely thrilled to be there. I have heard so much about this place and its people, and the farm it was surreal to finally see it. We did get pictures at eh Kununurra sign. So, here's proof we were there!

Kent rented a car and we headed towards our hotel. In Kununurra we were able to stay in an apartment-like building which had 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and living area. It was the most comfortable place we stayed in Australia. We got there too late to see the farm the first day, but we made it to the grocery store and were able to make a wonderful spaghetti dinner. After eating out so much, home cooked food tasted fabulous.

Now, I haven’t talked about the prices of things yet. Let me tell you, it was a shock. For instance, I am a huge Diet Pepsi addicted. I admit it, and that’s the first step right? Well, I shop sells pretty well and never pay more than 2-3 bucks for a 12 pack. In Australia a 12 pack runs around 13 bucks for 1. That is just 1 example to give you an idea what we were up against. To add insult to injury, the US dollar is weak, so we lost around 20 cents per dollar. Now, before I sound like I am whining, I just wanted to show how grateful we were to be able to prepare our own meals for a few days. Every other meal I have shared with Kristen, and it was great to not eat so much, maybe I should make sharing meals more of a habit.

With jetlag rearing its ugly head, we crashed around 7 pm that night and were ready nice and early the next day to see the farm!

I can’t explain exactly the feeling of actually being there. My entire life I have heard about Australia. I have heard the stories of the tree my Grandpa slept under. How he ate pork and beans and canned peaches, all about his life in the outback of Australia.

It took an hour and a half flight to Phoenix, 1 hour flight to LAX, a 14 hour flight to Sydney, a 4 hour flight to Darwin, and a 45 min. flight to Kununurra. We were finally at the farm. It is family tradition to take jumping pictures at the farm. After all the travelling, we finally made it and we are jumping for joy!

The farm is so amazing and beautiful.

I have hit a bit of writer’s block. I think it’s because I was trying to write about Kununurra all in 1 post, but that just isn’t possible. There is so much I want to remember and write down. So, we’ll start here, and I will post more later




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Australia Trip Ad Nauseam Post 1

This is going to be long. I am writing this for my reference and memories, so if you don't read it, as the Aussie's say, "No worries."

So, I am going to start at the beginning.

I get asked all the time why Australia. I will start by sharingthe story. It all started back in 1965. My Grandfather, his Brother, and Uncle were given the chance to homestead a farm in Australia. How did some men from Arizona get this opportunity? Well, another relative heard about the farms and suggested that they apply. The Ord River Scheme in the early 60's built a Dam and created Lake Arygle. It also allowed for irrigation to the 30 farms that were created. The original purpose of the farms was to grow cotton. (To read more about the Ord River Scheme click HERE) My Grandfather was an elementary school teacher, who also was a cotton farmer. Because of his experience with farming cotton and his eloquence as a writer he was given this chance. Unfortunately the cotton failed. It could not survive the pests in the Australian outback. The farm went on to produce, among other things, sugar cane, until the processing plant was shut down, and alphalpha. Currently it is growing rice, because of the abundance of water. My Grandfather and his Brother are currently the only original farmers to still own their farms. They are stubborn and stuck with it through all the hard times.

So, this leads us to now. I have heard about Australia and the stories of living on the farm, under a tree my entire life. I feel like it is a part of me and it is most definitely a part of my family

history. So, thanks to my Parents and Grandfather, Kristen (my sister) and I were given the opportunity (finally!) to visit the farm.

We traveled with Kent (Our cousin) and some friends of my Grandfather's. Kent was a real trooper and amazingly patient to escort 4 woman on a tour of Australia.

We started in Sydney. I love Sydney. We arrived after our 15 hours (should

have been 14 but we spent an hour grounded in LAX) plane ride at 7am. We dropped our

luggage at the hotel and headed out to see Sydney.

We wanted to go to the Opera House first, so we headed to the train station. Kent has been to Australia before on business so we relied heavily on his knowledge. Of course, it was still overwhelming to be in a strange city, and 1 that Kent had only been in 2 times before. My first impression of Australians, and more particularly Sydney residents is that they are very

nice and helpful. On our way to the station we got stopped several times by people asking if we need help and directing us as needed. Obviously we looked like clueless tourists, but everyone was so kind.

This was the view right off the train. The Sydney Harbor Bridge. Excuse how we look, we didn't have a chance to freshen up after our all night traveling.

The pier was beautiful. My Mom had suggestion we take a ferry to Manly beach, so we did. It was amazing. I love the ocean and the beach and boats (it helps that I have an iron stomach). What was so great about the ferry was that it went directly past the Opera House and gave us an incredible view and picture opportunities.

I was able to purchase my new camera (I posted about this below) in time to learn how

to use it specifically for this trip. I had be

en wanting that camera for a long time and w

as excited to get it before. So, I took

well over 2000 pictures. Don't worry I won't inundate myblog with the pictures, but will try to share my favorites.

At Manly Beach we stopped first for Fish n Chips. Kristen and I are not historically the be

st fish eaters, so we took a picture of us actually eating the fish to show my Mom. Imagine us saying "Hi Mom!"Here we are on the Ferry as is sails past the Opera House. Its such a beautiful building with and interesting background. To read the Story of the Sydney Opera House click HERE.

While we were eating

the seagulls were having a brawl below us.

Our vote was on this little guy to come out victorious.

We also visited the Botanical Garden that first day. It was so

beautiful. We didn't see as much as we would have liked. We'd been walking all day on little sleep so we were pretty exhausted. We made our way back to our hotel after that and crashed super early.

The next day, Kent decided to do something that he hasn't had the chance to do before. Climb to the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge. If you are an Oprah watcher, which I am not, I understand she climbed it for an episode all about Australia. So, for Oprah fans, Kent walked the same steps as Oprah. His guide was there with Oprah as well.

He had to head out earlier than we were ready, but Kristen and I made it out to the Harbor later to wait for him. We walked along the bridge, which was a huge thing for me because I am horribly afraid of heights. I got some amazing pictures of the Opera House and people on the Bridge. Kent is up there somewhere!

I will post about our 2nd stop, Kununurra soon!