Canberr-Huh?: Canberra

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Winter in Canberra

4 October 2015

Kristen says...

It never ceases to amaze me how the weather can differ in different parts of the world.

In Honduras, it was hot almost all of the year, getting down into the 50s in winter (which felt pretty cold when you were used to 80s most of the time, but was clearly NOTHING compared to Russia.) In Russia we had maybe a month of the 80s, then long stretches of comfortable 60s-70s, and 6, long, hard, FREEZING months of winter.

And then there's Australia, where everything is on it's ear and winter at home is summer here...so while I was talking to my family in their tank tops and shorts, we were "braving" the chilly (we're talking 20-40 degrees F here) Canberra winter throughout June, July and August.

But never fear, we kept busy with some winter activities.

First of all, we painted. These type of painting parties seem to be popular everywhere (according to Facebook) but I'm pretty sure they're not painting many kangaroos in Iowa!

Artists we are not... :)

Speaking of Kangaroos, we continue to see them, which is pretty awesome.

We went to a cultural/tourism event one night and had all kinds of fun with this one. :)

We also brought home a Koala.

And saw some sheep...which reminds me of a story I'll tell you very soon:

I also had my FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Yes, I'm back to teaching, which is REALLY awesome and I love it! Of course, even the school year is sideways here--I started work in July which was actually the middle of the school year. We're on our term break right now (2 weeks off!) then back for 9 more weeks before the 6-week summer holidays start in December. Weird.

And, to prove it really was winter here, we even got a bit of snow in the capital:

I was at school when it snowed, and we actually let the kids out to run around for a few minutes--yes, snow is so rare here that school disbands for a bit so everyone can get out and enjoy it.

I was told it usually only snows for about 5 minutes, but this kept up for at least 20. It didn't stick, but it definitely happened!

We also participated in a fun winter-time event here: truffle hunting (the mushroom, not chocolate)!

The pigs are the traditional truffle hunters, but since they love truffles so much that they don't stop to let the people get the truffle once they've found it...a problem for people who are trying to sell the truffles.

So now they've trained truffle sniffing dogs!

We were out on the last day of the truffle season, but we still managed to find quite a few, including one that Chris dug out of the ground worth about $50:

Mine which was worth maybe $75-100

And this massive one worth at least $300!

By the way, did I mention we paid for the privilege to tag along and watch the dog find truffles for someone else to sell and make money on. These Aussies, they know what they're doing! :)

At any rate, we had a lot of fun and learned more than I think either of us wanted to know about truffles.

Wineries, Easter Break, Rugby and a New Diet

6.5.15
Kristen says...

Happiest of Easter/Passover to those who celebrate those holidays!

And warm greetings from Australia, where the days are getting shorter and the weather cooler, but so far not any less busy! :)

We have had a particularly large amount to do the past few weeks, what with weekend events, the Easter holiday, our HHE (STUFF!) being delivered, and of course, multiple trips to the chiropractor...le sigh.

So let's start with our winery trip a couple weekends ago...a friend of a friend is leaving soon, and so wanted to buy some wine to take home with her...and since I am a firm non-drinker, I became the much appreciated designated driver. :)

There are many wineries in the Canberra District, in large part due to the cool climate. We visited four, and Chris and our friends sampled (and purchased) a wide variety...

Chris contemplating a red

Most of the wineries use netting to try to keep the birds off the grapes before they are picked

Christmassy wine barrel art

Wine bottle art

A llama

It was a beautiful day and we had a really nice time!

The following weekend we went out for breakfast across the street from an apple orchard--it's fall here, and we're enjoying being in the middle of the local apple season!

More netting!

Visiting the apple orchard was particularly good, since our chiropractor has put us on an inflammatory diet, which has outlawed: sugar, wheat, bread, potatoes, milk...basically everything I eat. On the approved list? Fruit, vegetables, beans, eggs, cheese (thankfully, or I'd have starved to death!), yogurt, and things I can't eat like nuts (allergies)...

So we've had fun experimenting with recipes this week. So far I've made flourless brownies (made from dates) and pudding (made from oats), as well as quiche and grilled cheese with a cauliflower crust/bread and a delicious veggie frittata...

So, clearly we're not starving...I do REALLY miss bread, though, and I'm not going to lie, we totally cheated on this diet on Easter Sunday when we went to the Pancake Parlor after attending the 6 am Sunrise Service...

Also on the schedule for Easter Sunday? A trip up Red Hill for an amazing view of the city:

Beautiful!!

What else did we do over the Easter weekend? Well, our stuff was delivered at the end of last week, so we have been spending a lot of our time unpacking and putting things away...I finished the library (much smaller than it was in Vlad, unfortunately) last night:

And we gave ourselves a reward for all our hard work by attending our second-ever rugby game!

And were met by singers!

Fun fact...there are two types of professional rugby in Australia, Union and League. The Raiders, the first team we watched, are rugby league, while the Brumbies (an Australian horse), the team we watched this weekend, are union.

They both play at the same stadium, but the style of play is quite different.