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Happy 18th Birthday Marissa!

There is magic in the number 18.

Especially when it is your Birthday and you are officially an adult. Marissa has been waiting for this day for an extended amount of time. Most of us who have passed this threshold probably remember what we did (or possibly didn’t do) on that day. Marissa likes the idea of being older so she can finally ‘look’ older, we try to remind her that one day she will be thrilled to look younger then her peers but that doesn’t seem to matter today.

Because she was away from her family and friends back home we wanted to make it special. Although she adores her parents (we took liberty with that, although we are sure it is totally accurate:), it is nice having her friends to celebrate with also.

She had made friends with a local Aussie, Brendan, who decided to organize a party for her. We were thrilled that she would have a few others to celebrate with for this big day!

Her first birthday melody came from Elvis!

We told her that we would be taking her to lunch (because dinner and afterwards was a surprise) she was to decide what restaurant she wanted to enjoy from all the ethnic and culinary food wizards in So. Yarra. Would you be shocked that she picked an American Icon, 50’s diner, ‘Soda Rock Diner‘. And all because of the barbecue sauce. We do not know where this girl really came from as she could eat BBQ sauce on almost everything, possibly even ice cream. She must have been missing it!

Your food is delivered by a skating waitress who is then proceeds to do a whirl or two leaving your table. Impressive!

Following her total barbecue indulgence (you can even see the extra bowl next to her plate), we headed off to the ‘Australian Grand Prix’. We couldn’t miss this opportunity since we were already this close, right?

Brendan met us there and the three of us ‘competed’ for the win. But of course, it was Marissa’s birthday, so we let her think she was the campion. What else could we do?

Dale was super hyped to see a ‘Formula 1’ car but while he was looking around, I decided to just ask a few questions (I know, I am super shy that way:). Would they allow Marissa to sit in the ‘Formula 4’ for just a few photos because it WAS her birthday, after all? The guy in charge said that they don’t ever let anyone sit in the cars BUT he would make an exception. This is her lucky day!

The young single adults in the area surprised her with flowers to start off the night, what more does a girl need? Along with a full Aussie Barbecue with a little bit of an american twist, a artfully decadent cake from a celebrated bakery, “Le Bon“, and games. She seemed elated by the friendship that was shown to someone not only new to the area but leaving the next morning.

Here is a special tribute by her dad:

Today in Australia, tomorrow in the US, is this beautiful girls birthday. What an incredible 18 years it has been, from the time we brought you home from the hospital at just under 5 LBS to now, a beautiful healthy young woman. Thanks for letting us drag you all over the world! I’m not sure there are many 18 year olds that can say they have had their birthday on four continents! I hope today is as special as you are and that there are even more adventures to come. Love you Marissa!

The next morning a few Melbourne friends came to say ‘Bon Voyage’. We will miss our newfound home.

Farewell Melbourne!

Melbourne Graffiti meets Marissa.

What more is there to say?

*Pictures taken by Dale Bartlett

Free Tour…. our favorite word ….FREE.

Marissa was so excited to watch, “Into the woods” at the

Moonlight Cinema at the Royal Botanical Gardens,

Melbourne. We soon realized our zeal to see an outdoor movie fizzled a little as we were ill prepared, arriving without enough blankets and no pillows to be comfortable. However, we still enjoyed the adventure of watching a movie under the stars… and big bats. It also helped that with our Telstra cell phone discount we only paid $11AUD instead of $20AUD.

Here is our colorful feathery friend who sat posed for us while we attended the, “I’m Free” Melbourne tour. The tour guides are fantastic as they navigated a huge crowed for almost 3 hours through the historic streets of Melbourne. They share the rich (and sometimes not so flattering) history of Melbourne.

“O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Where is Juliet, we might ask?

Graffiti is both a huge problem and beautiful art in Melbourne. It is against the law to graffiti anywhere in Melbourne with the exception of a few areas where both business and the artists work together to preserve the beauty of street art. In some places it is typical tagging and is an eyesore, but as demonstrated here it can help create both a visual and cultural delight.

Eat Vegemite… to live or die?

We have landed in the ever prodigious country of ‘Vegemite’. They eat it on so many culinary delights, we are sure their desire for this, ummmmm, “spread” sprang up early in their lives… perhaps even as infants before they were allowed ‘solid’ foods. This somewhat bouillon/yeast smelling concoction is a national treasure, surely not to be missed plus it is suppose to have many health benefits – (well that’s good right?). Where have you been all our lives ‘Vegemite’? Or are we just glad it stayed in the land ‘down under’?

Marissa had the opportunity to finally try this time tested gem. You can see how much she embraced this culinary treasure in the above video when Brendan and Dale talked her into taking ‘just a little taste’. Or do you dare find out what you are missing?

Our kids jab me a bit on how much energy I have and that I plan far to much. I love having people over and would much rather have a huge group around to enjoy which translates to a dinner party or two a week. ‘More the Merrier’ as they say! And this goes for wherever we might be, Australia is not exempt.

Brendan and the Missionaries humored us by coming for dinner but to also test our gaming skills…. they had nothing to worry about, hours later (shockingly not uncommon to Monopoly) the missionaries walked away with almost everything on the board. Maybe they won’t be invited again?

We had a great start to the week by volunteering at the sacred Heart Mission, in St. Kilda. We probably did over 30 loads of dishes, that sure makes our pile at home look great! The Sacred Heart Mission usually serves over 200 people breakfast and lunch daily. It was wonderful talking with those coming in and other fabulous people that we served with.

Monday afternoon brought us to the, “Australian Center for the Moving Image” in Melbourne with some friends. We had previously been told about this on our past trip and wanted to make it a goal to get here before we moved on to Sydney. Where did this month go?

The video above changes with weird configurations around your limbs and body as you move, we would like to know in which movie this technique was used, it would probably be used in a goulash film that would not make it on our family friendly list.

Dale was very intrigued by this elaborate moving device which went from a merry-go-round to full animation when the lights went low and they turned on the strobe lights. The creative imagination that came up with this must have spent many nights planning and scheming on how to create this magic.

This handsome fella found Marissa in the crowd.

The Moomba Festival was going on at the riverbank. They had a stream of Festival rides and foods that you could enjoy along with entertainment, we made it for the water skiing jump competition. Dale might be getting ideas on starting that up in Utah as he was ready to jump on some ski’s, Marissa apparently thought the shopping cart relay was a better fit for her (unless, of course, Dale is driving!).

Nothing from these activities actually cost us any money except needing to try the infamous English and Australian’Chips and Gravy’ after the Moomba Festival with Brendan’s prodding. Everything else was Free and Fun.

The famous 12 Apostles on The Great Ocean Road and more….

Now that Dale was back from a quick trip to Perth, we were off for another weekend of touring and fun. After driving for a little over an hour to reach the beach house, we were thrilled as we opened the door and saw our lovely surroundings for the weekend in Torquay… maybe we should stay a little longer, such as a week or two? We can dream.

We were excited to get a small dose of the surf culture in Torquay, because we have so much talent when it comes to surfing (ok, maybe just watching surfing but that is a talent in itself right?).

Torquay is the start of The Great Ocean Road, birthplace of iconic brands such as Rip Curl and Quicksilver, and home to Bells Beach, which is one of Australia’s most famous surfing beaches.

On our way to see the 12 Apostles we decided to take a detour to a beautiful lighthouse. Anyone in the market for a new house? This lively piece of art and home sits on the top of the hill next door to a beautiful lighthouse and overlooks the ocean. The view must be incredible from the back deck…. we will just have to wonder on that one.

Marissa and Dale were both taking a photography moment so I loved capturing them as they were lining up for the perfect shot. The love of photography has certainly been passed down through the family. Only Dale likes taking pictures of things more then people and I constantly love giving him a hard time for that…. but if I didn’t who would?

The 12 Apostles (another FREE activity) should probably be renamed to 10 Apostles as two have crumbled to the sea below. These majestic sandstone rocks, rising from the truly stormy sea surrounding them are so alluring it is hard to stop taking photos.

They will only allow you to look at these from a walkway far above the ocean floor but we really wanted to see them from the beach… unfortunately not an option unless you want to scale down the cliff wall (Dale thought about it -we know this shocks everyone:).

The difference in lighting really changed how they look. Take a look at how rich and beautiful the first photo looks, that is more true to what we witnessed.

We are surrounded by baby Emu’s!

By Torquay they had an Aboriginal Center (also Free) you can browse through their gift shop where most of the items were made by Aboriginals and the proceeds go back to them. They truly like dots. Dale had his eye on a Didgeridoo, a wind instrument developed by the Indigenous Aboriginal Australians, to be precise and there were a few that looked interesting. If you buy one, then you have to learn to play the Didgeridoo which is much more difficult than it looks. Apparently it is like blowing bubbles in your drink with a straw (blowing out with your mouth) and breathing in at the exact same time…. hummmmm.

At the Aboriginal Center you could walk out back and see many named plants that could help almost any ailment, if you know how to use them, this was very interesting to me. In addition to the variety of native vegetation, we got up and personal with these cute Emu’s which quickly made friends with us.

Apparently this handsome fella (Dale or the Emu:) wasn’t afraid of getting his photo taken or maybe he just wanted a kiss?

This guy wanted to bite of Dale’s shinny ring, he tried and tried.

Marissa wasn’t so sure she wanted to get that close to the cages and then the Emu figured out how to get a little closer to her… he just stuck his head out of the fence. Smart guy.

We decided that we were heading to the beach as Dale wanted to try his hand at surfing, even though he had never attempted it before. To keep the water out, the collar was quite tight around his neck and he HATES the feeling of anything that tight around it. He kept moving the neck piece away from his throat as it felt like someone was trying to strangle him. Marissa and I were on the floor in hysterics because it was so entertaining. Can you feel the love?!

Knowing that Bells Beach was internationally known for it’s surfing I decided (single handedly that we should go there for Dale’s very first surf). This would be like never skiing before and taking the lift to the top of the mountain to the hardest Black Diamond, because skiing is skiing, right?

Dale protested a few times stating that he might want to try something a little more tame for his first time and I kept pushing on about going to this amazing beach. We found out differently (1/2 way down the stepped walkway that descends hundreds of feet) when a few of the surfers coming up said that it was, “quit dangerous” or “you should have some experience”, and that there was no beach for us to have a lunch at so we turned around and made made our way to another beautiful beach in the area.

Dale was grateful to try on a calmer surf. You can see him heading for the wave in the distance.

Dale was really sad he missed trying out!

Travel Saving Tips:

1- Wherever you travel look for Free places to visit. For this trip The 12 Apostles, the Aboriginal Center, and going to the beach (the beach house where we were staying had the wet suit and surf board) were all Free.

2- Buying food at the local farmers market or grocery store can save you from eating out.

3- Look for houses, apartments, etc… to rent instead of getting a hotel room. Not only do you get a greater feel of the place you are visiting but you will have a kitchen to cook your own food and generally have lots more room to move around in. It is usually less then the cost of a hotel. Check with: airbnb and VRBO or in our case, we talked to some locals who had a place and let us stay at an incredible rate. Don’t be afraid to put it out there, you will be amazed at the opportunities that come your way.

When Dale is away, the women will play!

Dale needed to fly to Perth on business so what are us girls to do?

First, the least amount of cooking possible, right? We ate at a fun little vietnamese place which had a yummy noodles dish. This of course made Marissa happy, she LOVES her noodles.

Second, go to a movie!

Marissa and I thought we would have the theater to ourselves -YAY….until the last minute when a few people came in.

The comfy seats in this theater rivals anything you would find in a home theater… WOW! But for the price they charge you for the tickets ($20 AUD) they better be amazing (at least better then chocolate- and that is hard to do). We actually bought cheap phones just to use here but that company offers a discount so we were able to get the tickets for $11 AUD. I just googled discounts for that particular theater and up it came.

Third, serve and get to know the locals.

We spent a few days working at the Sacred Mission Opt shop which has been a blessing to do together and in meeting new people.

Fourth, eat out some more!

We spent our last night forcing ourselves to eat out again (just to try something new of course) and we found the most incredible steamed dumplings. Pure yumminess….. we enjoyed them so much we had to order two plates!

Fifth, relax!

We spent the last night watching a show together at our apartment while painting up a few ‘masterpieces’. Even though I am the one that owned a decorative painting business for years, Marissa’s playful art was much better then mine and you can tell her I said that.

DON’T RUN IT OVER!

We were off early the next morning to see what we could find at Wilsons Prom (which is FREE to enter) and after seeing many of these road signs, Dale was determined to find each one of these animals on our drive over. Finally I hear him say, “I think that must be a Koala” but he had to quickly slow down to see if he was right and guess what? He was!

We had found our first little wild Koala which we sat and watched scamper up the tree and watch us like we were the strange ones. He was absolutely adorable. And to see one in the wild is beyond breathtaking!

How shocking to find this written on the beach … they must have known we were coming.:)

In Wilsons Prom we specifically went to Squeaky Beach to see what all the talk was about and if it is really truly named. Apparently the sand is made of rounded quartz and that is why it squeaks. It is also one of the softest feeling sands we have ever felt, digging your foot in felt like a foot massage with every step.

Marissa braving the extremely cold water… she would do anything for a beautiful beach… well almost!

The entire beach was so incredibly beautiful and with very few people, Marissa and I could have stayed all day but Dale was ready to go find more animals, and look what we found…

…..emu’s and kangaroos. This National Park has wild animals that live in their natural habitat although they may be tagged they are free to roam anywhere. We decided to go on the Prom Wildlife Walk and we ended up being the only other people there next to another family.

We had to walk a little ways back into the bush, at times we were surrounded by Kangaroos which seemed like wildlife heaven. To see them up close and personal with no gates or cages… a zoo will never seem the same!

Dale was also really ‘keen’ (I am getting my Australian accent on a bit) on seeing an Emu and then it appeared. This one has a beautiful blue neck and seems so graceful almost like he was posing just for us. And why wouldn’t he?

At Wilsons Prom you have many options for extended stays such as camping, cabins, cottages and the like. They have a little grocery store, eatery, showers, washing machines, etc… to help make your stay more comfortable.

This was our farewell.

P.S. This day of fun cost us nothing but a little gas and food. That is pretty good for exploring the outback!

Could we just adopt this cute furry animal?

We decided we needed another weekend adventure that involved some cute little Australian animals… and what could be better then a few little baby penguins? We had no idea what we were in for. We hoped to see some but not like this!

We drove out to Phillip Island with the intention of watching the penguin parade but we had no idea we would be seeing them ‘up close and personal’.

Once are arrived at the island we had a few hours to spare so we checked out the visitors center and rode down to a little beach close to where the Penguin Parade takes place.

After hiking around some of the shoreline, catching a few sprays of the ocean, spotting a few wild kangaroos, and seeking a few shells we then stumbled amongst hundreds of baby penguins waiting in their burrows for their mothers to return from the sea.

It was an incredible site!!!

Dale captured these Kangaroos in mid-air… they almost look like they are flying!

Amongst the shoreline we found so much natural beauty we could hardly tear ourselves away to get to the Penguin Parade. Besides, after seeing all these baby penguins up close, we almost didn’t go to the Penguin Parade.

But our ‘Chauffeur’ was ready and willing to drive us to our next destination. Marissa was excited to have a few minutes to drive like an Aussie but who really looks more scared?

The Penguin Parade is truly remarkable as you watch hundreds of adult penguins swim then waddle up on the beach for their nightly strut back to their babies and burrows. After spending an exhausting day at sea looking for food – they are back. It is really inconceivable to us that they return home every night at almost the exact time, day after day. Apparently they have a built in time clock that is always right on time (I could certainly use this some days!). When you go to their website they actually have a count down as to how many hours and minutes until the penguins arrive.

As we stated before we weren’t sure if we wanted to watch the parade because we had already seen so many baby penguins BUT this was a great way to not only witness the amazing natural spectacle and help support what they are doing to preserve their natural habitats. This is a non-profit organization that does much to take care of the penguins and give them refuge but it also controls the masses of people that come to see them so that their homes are not destroyed.

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Because we did not leave until after 9 pm we arrived much later then we wanted at our fun little hotel… The Fish Creek Hotel.

Built in 1939 this gem from the past has a great garden area surrounding it with picnic tables and lots of grass for kids to roam. We actually stayed in the little hotel units in the back which where clean, comfortable and inviting. Unfortunately because we arrived late and left early we were never able to sample food from their scrumptious lunch or dinner menu. We would highly recommend you stop if you are near by as they use fresh local produce and seafood, as often as possible. This charming place is only 25 min. from the gates of the next part of our adventure….Wilsons Promontory.

Travel Saving Tips:

1- For the Penguin Parade were able to get a 20% discount but we already had found a coupon for 20% off at a local hotel. Most hotels have travel books with coupons for the areas where you are staying – even if you are not staying in a hotel you can stop and see what pamplets they have to offer. They are free to anyone.

2- We found that the most exciting part of our day was walking on the beach for FREE and watching all the baby penguins and wild kangaroos. No cost for this ‘tour’.

3- Always ask when you call or arrive at a hotel and want to know pricing, “Is that the best you can do?”. We LOVE this question (which we got from a great friend of ours, Richard Paul Evans), we have saved thousands of dollars over the years!

A few bumps….

Saturday night while we were gone to ‘White Night’ we had accidentally left the gas stove on (we didn’t notice because the flame had gone out but the gas was still going on high). Once we returned home ….snacked…. showered we went to bed, around midnight Marissa came down and said that she had an extreme headache and stomachache. She proceeded to let us know that she looked around and noticed that the stove was still on so she turned it off. YIKES! How could we have done that?! We opened windows, turned on a fan, and made her come downstairs as her room was upstairs by the kitchen. She woke up not feeling great (of course) but as the day went on she got worse and worse. We were very concerned, made a few calls to find other ideas for help and took her for a walk for more fresh air.

Monday was like magic…after she had a long night but she was at least a bit more herself. It is Friday now and she is still fighting the headaches and stomachaches but nothing like the first day or so.

Here are the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens. We made her take a walk in the fresh air… she could barely make the short walk.

Have you ever had a scary life changing experience and you know that there must of been some heavenly intervention, divine inspiration, or whatever you want to call it? We sure feel like this was one of those times. We feel blessed!!

Dale and I had a great ‘date night’ out this week at the LDS Melbourne Temple.

We are settling in quite nicely along with a ‘few bumps in the road’ but isn’t that life wherever you live?

Living in Australia or a vacation?

We have always loved to travel but is it really so different living in another country? Even for a short while, it is much more like living everyday life back home but you get to miss and APPRECIATE all the

people and things you left at home while taking the time to love new people, new customs, and embrace other cultural distinctions. We haven’t done as many ‘Touristy’ things while here, as we would on vacation but we fit in what we can.

Here is one of the amazing things we are missing back home. Our little grandson is jumping to his Dad singing to him… too sweet!

We found that being in Australia in most respects isn’t much different than the USA, other than driving on the other side of the road and trying to figure out what they are really talking about, even though it is suppose to be English.

Marissa and I stopped in for lunch after a few hours of working at the Op Shop. Marissa thought this was one of the best veggie sandwiches she has ever had… score!

They had their herbs growing in a box next to where we were sitting… yep, I did take a taste or two.

Marissa and I wanted to have some real Aussie experiences while Dale was working so we volunteered at the Sacred Heart Mission. What they really needed most help with was at their Sacred Heart Mission Op Shops (which is a 2nd hand store filled with clothes, household items, furniture, etc… almost anything you might need). They use the $ donated for the homeless that they serve at their mission. It has been a great to work with these diverse and fun people! Marissa and I not only get to enjoy working with them, feeling like we are making a difference, but also meeting so many different people from countries all over the world that shop there. Marissa had the opportunity to train the new volunteer today on the sales counter… even though it was only her second day.

Marissa working at the Op Shop

You would be surprised at the difficulties of getting cell phones, finding food markets and the like. This however is all part of the experience and a whirlwind it has been. Luckily people in Australia are very friendly and willing to lend a hand.

This little boy was so intent on his photography, I couldn’t help myself in capturing a photo of him.

Simple things may be a bit different, even like the mail person… I just had to take this photo because there was such mix of colors.

We took a little walk on a back walkway after dinner one night and found this fun wall of graffiti. We didn’t ever think we would say graffiti was beautiful but Melbourne has proven that it can be.

So far the transportation system of trams, busses, and trains make it easy to just about anywhere. We do have a car but many times it is easier to not fight traffic or pay for parking. I finally drove on Sunday to church…. I think that Dale and Marissa enjoyed watching my expressions (and of course, they made sure their seat belts were on!).

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