City to Bay

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning and a perfect day to do something I had never done before - take part in my first fun run!  City to Bay is an annual event which is over 40 years old.  Participants can sign up for 3 km, 6 km, or 12 km walk or run.

Being my very first time, I decided to go for the 6 km run, with a goal of running the entire thing (no walking/resting).  It was actually easier than I thought and I feel really good!  I have already entered a 5 km 'Colour Me Rad' run in November so that should...hopefully...be a piece of cake now that I've got the first one under my belt.  My goal is to run the 12 km City to Bay next year which I should be able to manage if I stay consistent with training.

I joined a group called Step into Life upon my recent return from Canada and it is truly one of the best things I've ever done.  The picture above shows several SiL members who completed either the 6 or 12 km run.  It is such a supportive group and very motivating.  For the last 12 weeks I've been doing training which includes cardio (running/speed drills/circuits), tone up (weights/resistance band/core ball) and box kick (my favourite, a great cardio and strength work out for the entire body). I have managed to get there at least 3x a week, generally 4-5x a week, and sometimes even 6x a week if I'm extra keen (and don't go away for the weekend).  It's not even a struggle to get there, and I've met some awesome people so it's a social activity as well which has really proven to be exactly what I needed while Jeremy has been away.

The girl standing next to me wearing the purple shirt is Pam, one of Jeremy's co-workers at the QEH. She is from Brandon, Manitoba.  She studied medicine in Adelaide and has decided to stay in Australia, as many of us have. I told her about my group and she decided to give it a try and is also really enjoying it.  We are going to work toward our 12 km goal together - possibly trying for a 'sub-60' finish (under an hour).

The remainder of my weekend has actually been rather sports themed as well...it was the preliminary AFL finals and Port Adelaide was playing against one of the Victoria teams.  This game would decide which team would make it to the Grand Finals.  I was invited to watch the game at a friend's house and then eat yummy BBQ food.  Sadly, Port Adelaide lost by 3 points - ask Jeremy, he will tell you how close of a game that is!  Speaking of Jeremy, do you even recognize the guy in this picture???  He went out to 'barrack' for the aboriginal football team that many of his coworkers play on.  I think it's pretty awesome that he is getting so involved with local events in Port Lincoln.

Only in Australia...

The title and subject of this post is related to the 'Expat Blog Challenge' which I participated in during the month of February.  Since the challenge ended we have had monthly prompts, the one for September being to "Tell us about a story from the news or current events in your country, and explain why it makes you say, "only in (x country)..."

I have mentioned a few times that I joined a book club last year, which has ended up being a really wonderful part of living in Adelaide.  The girls are so lovely, and whether we love/hate/like/are indifferent to/don't finish the book, we always manage to have a good chat (much of which is actually book related).  Beginning with the Fringe this year, we have started planning regular outings and always have a great time trying new things.

I'll go a little off track from the original topic and introduce 'the girls'.

Jess - at my first meeting, she was also brand new to the book club.  She had actually just moved to Australia from the States (Connecticut) with her family (husband and two boys) because of her husband's job.  She owns a make your own pottery business back in the US and continues to run it from here.  She is lots of fun, a great mum, but also enjoys girl's nights out and cocktails!

Maeri-Anne - originally from South Africa, she had been living in London for a number of years before moving to Adelaide.  Her brother lives in Newcastle, NSW and she attempted to get permanent residency in that area without success before giving South Australia a try.  She works as an executive assistant.  She's always coming up with unique ideas for outings.

Hilary - she can always be counted on to have a very definite opinion of the book we have just read and likes to do internet background research as well.  She studied acting and has actually met many Australian celebrities.  She lived in the UK for many years, but is now settled in Adelaide with her husband and two sports obsessed boys.

Ngan - the only other true Adelaidian (along with Hilary).  Her background is Vietnamese and she is one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen.  She has an awesome sense of humour and we often find ourselves laughing together.  She was studying Psychology at university but then ended up advancing in her administrative role and has put her studies on hold.  She is also the person to go to for food recommendations!

Sara - originally from New Zealand but has a lot of family in Adelaide including her dad.  She is a dietitian and understands a lot about speech pathology as well.  She likes to try new things and usually has lots of good suggestions for activities.  

Aimee - Oops, I lied.  Another original Adelaidian, she joined the group a little later than all the others.  She is a paediatric nurse who does home visits.  She is about to have her first baby within the next month which means that she will probably have a bit of a book club hiatus.  Since joining, she has been an enthusiastic member of the group and has joined right in on the outings.  I will be missing her baby shower this weekend since I'll be out and about in Melbourne!

Amy - Joined at the same time as Aimee, which is a bit confusing!  She works as a medical physicist and does a ton of other stuff including triathlons, soccer, etc.  When the World Cup was on, she sacrificed many hours of sleep to watch the games (unfathomable to me!)  She shows up to about every second meeting and I don't really know her all that well yet.

Okay, back to the "Only in Australia" bit...

As a book club activity, we decided to check out an ice hockey game.  Yes - I do have to specify 'ice' hockey because here if I just say hockey, it's assumed I'm referring to field hockey.  This outing actually was not my idea.  We were talking about sports, I threw in a reference to Canadians/hockey, and then someone decided that we should go see a game.  It was actually a pretty big undertaking - everyone (except Ngan, who was on a skiing holiday in New Zealand) bought tickets and a couple of ladies were planning to bring their kids/other family members/friends etc.  My good friend Jen was unexpectedly in town that weekend and accompanied us as well.  The plan was that we would all meet at 4:30 pm at the arena for the game, and then the people who had brought kids and husbands would ditch them and we'd all go out for dinner.  Jen and I decided to go earlier and have a skate before the game.

So all of these plans have been put into motion.  Jen and I finish skating and have an hour to kills before the game so we wander off.  We return, and being very organized have already bought tickets online.  I know the people who run the games, so I feel quite comfortable waltzing right in and we walk purposefully up to show our tickets.  Before we get too far, a teenager runs after us and says "You know the game has been delayed, right?"  Well...no, we have no idea the game has been delayed.  There are no notices on the front door - why would I assume the game has been delayed.  And...furthermore...WHY in the world would the game be delayed?  Remember, this is the Australian National Hockey League...

Well...apparently the other team's equipment didn't make it onto the same flight as the team.  So...we were waiting for the equipment to get to the airport and be transported to the arena so that they could play.  Hilarious!  With two more hours to kill, we all headed back to my house and ordered pizza.  We did return to the area to watch the Adelaide Adrenaline smash the Canberra team and everyone had great fun.  Oh my goodness, I just remembered that I also won $172 in the 50/50 draw!  So it was a great time.  It's just that I don't believe an NHL game would ever be delayed for this reason as I imagine they have private jets etc whereas since ice hockey is not a huge sport here, many of these players have to finance themselves or find sponsors, and it's economy class all the way!  Below, a bit of a comparison between Adelaide hockey vs Ottawa hockey - both at the national level.  See if you can pick which is which ;)  That being said though, it's awesome that they have a league here and I'm sure anyone playing cricket or AFL in Canada has the same kind of thing in reverse!

Loving life

So a few things have happened recently, the main one being that Jeremy has moved to Port Lincoln for three months to work in the Aboriginal Health Centre.  He is really enjoying it and as usual, everyone loves him. He has started asking the patients "How's your guni?" instead of asking about 'bowel movements' or 'poop' since this is the aboriginal word for it.  He has really been loving the kids in particular, especially the ones who don't scream and wriggle around! Hehehe.

I went there last weekend for a visit.  I was looking forward to seeing his new surroundings and I had heard great things about Port Lincoln in general.  He picked me up from the airport and before we headed to his place he took me up to a lookout.  One of the things that stood out is how green the area is.

This is his home until November.  He is enjoying having a modern kitchen with lots of counter space and a really nice shower!  The view out the back door to the marina is not too shabby either.  Strangely I didn't take a picture of that - I will next time!

On Saturday, we drove out to Coffin Bay (which is famous for oysters) to go for a hike in the national park.  We were treated to the gorgeous scenery displayed below.  I'm quite sure that I saw an emu on our hike, but it was only fleeting so I'm not 100% sure.  Otherwise the only sign of wildlife we saw was lots of different kinds of poop (mainly herbivore).  It's too bad Tracee wasn't with us - she is quite good at identifying herbivore feces ;)

Here's a little blurb about Coffin Bay oysters - Coffin Bay is the premier oyster growing region for South Australia, producing the ever popular ‘ Coffin Bay ’ Oyster, well known for its quality, flavour and size, and marketed all over Australia and overseas.

We weren't really feeling like oysters - neither of us are big seafood eaters but we are slowly improving.  Jeremy has made a vow that while he is in Port Lincoln, he will sample any seafood given to him.  He has already had a prawn and calamari.  When I was there we went out for dinner and our appetizer was scallops wrapped in bacon (YUM).  Jeremy had two of these, and even tried a bite of my main, which was a tuna steak.  Port Lincoln is also famous for tuna, so I figured I should give it a go.

Finally, I also ended up in Brisbane for Jess' 30th birthday.  We had dinner and then went to a 'secret' bar (a room in a larger bar/restaurant with its own private bar, reserved just for our party).  It was here that I had my dream drink, a cocktail in a coconut.

Jeremy came home this weekend for the first time in a month and we had the best time!  It was absolutely gorgeous weather...spring has definitely sprung in Adelaide.  We went for a walk along the beach and had a snack at a place overlooking the ocean.  Then we went for the most amazing burgers of life at a place called "Bread and Bone" and caught up with some lovely friends for cocktails.  I dropped him off at the airport this evening, but wasn't too sad because he'll actually be back on Wednesday as we are off to Melbourne Thursday for his (belated) birthday outing to see the stage production of Les Miserables.  

Life is fantastic, but very very busy and we're not home much with makes it quite difficult to Skype.  So just in case we don't get in touch, a very happy birthday to my fabulous mother-in-law Kath!