SW coast of Australia ... absolutely SPECTACULAR!!

very tall karri trees in Warren National Park


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

What can I say ... the SW coast of OZ is absolutely spectacular!!

marvelous moving water at Beedelup Falls



You can finally see my pic's from the November posting that was not showing the pic's I had added ...

Over the past week (Nov. 13-21, 2007), I have immensely enjoyed wandering along heaps of stunning beaches with aquamarine waters melding into deep sapphire blues while the waves perpetually crashed and rolled up against rocky & sandy shores

... & now you can have a look at some of the amazing pic's I got from my SW Aussie adventures back in November. Just scroll down to the November postings I have finally been able to reload the pic's that were not successfully embedded when I first created them ... as well, here's more pic;'s from that posting, I decided to split them out into a new note.

So much to see & explore ... what a TREAT!!

Mikey & Me ... "Happy Birthday Mikey"

Kate, Tanya, Erin, Fi, & Scott enjoying the end of season WW BBQ fun!

Jean-Michel & I ... two of the Canadian ROMEO's

Tanya aka "OBA's Dancing Queen" ... Mikey cheering her on in the back

OBA Rockettes ... Fi, Tanya, Mikey, Erin, & Jean-Michel ... Bustin' a Move!

Kate & I in the Team A kitchen

I'll post more pic's from the amazing SUNRISE that I woke to at the OBA Walpole base (yes, sunRISE in western Australia!!)... & the other great forests, beach walks, waterfalls in one of my next notes ... I'll add in the pic's of Scotty, Mike P., Constantine, & Kris & Rob ... the blogger set-up is giving me grief to add more pic's ... I'll also upload some good pic's onto my facebook page when I get a chance as well ...

In the meantime, I wanted to extend an extra special bouquet of hugs & love to everyone who made this trip to WA so extra special & full of all kinds of fun, great visits, & excellent food. I am ever grateful for your kindness! Among the lovely friends I wish to thank, is Sandra, what a lovely time we had together. Thank you, thank you dear Sandra, I am so grateful we were able to reconnect as we did both on my way down to the SW coast & when I returned back from these most splendid adventures!!

Sandra & her beauty-full native WA birthday bouquet ... "Happy Birthday to you too Sandra!"

lunch with Sandra & Janet ... sooooo glad we could at least meet up for lunch Janet :)

Janet & her happy dog with me ... "noses into the wind everyone"

Sandra & I on my last night in Bunbury ... (hidden fr. view is Bessy, Sandra's happy dog). I will miss you heaps my dear friend!!


I'll be in touch again after I have made my way back to Tharwa to my Outward Bound home away from home

... & more up-to-date, after I have landed further along my travels with my North American Rail pass, which has me currently in California, after ~5 days visiting with my dear friend Joan & her lovely friends Judith, Melody, & her daughter Tracey & grand-daugters, M, K, & T :) What a most splendid visit this was my dear friends! Thanks heaps for welcoming me as you did & sharing your kindness, energy, & great hugs :)

Tomorrow afternoon, I will be in & near Santa Cruz reconnecting with more dear, wonder-full friends before I hop on the Amtrak train for THRREE nights!! ... to head over to Maryland to visit with my family & a few friends en route back to Canada through Toronto & then all the way to Edmonton.

Big hugs & lots of love to all of you for a blessed new year in 2008!

Teresa

Teresa's Aotearoa & OBA adventures Down Unda almost over ... & Homeward Bound journey almost complete!

sunset over the Indian Ocean fr. Monkey Rock, WA

Kia Ora my dear friends & family,

Amazing as it is, my time here in Aotearoa & "down unda" is about to wrap up ... only ~6 hours until my Air NZ flight is set to take off ...

Just a few more things to finalize in packing up my bags, then get showered, eat some lunch, & call my shuttle to take me & my gear to the airport.

Cheryl or Joan, if you happen to read my BLOG today (so sorry I haven't yet connected with you, things have been pretty full on with my travels about Aotearoa), ... I have a layover in San Francisco for 7 hours ... any chance you come by for a little visit??

I arrive with Air New Zealand flight #8 fr. Auckland, NZ on Dec. 10th at 10:45 a.m. & leave for Edmonton at 6:55 p.m. that evening on United Airlines flight #6502.

~~~

The second half of my adventures here in Aotearoa were most excellent!! The kayaking at Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) & tramping about Aoraki (Mount Cook) were definite highlights!! As was connecting with the OB Cobham folks at Anikiwa, New Zealand ... in the Marlbourough Sounds of the South Island.

I'll post pic's as I recover from my jet lag back in Alberta ... only time to post this brief update right now!

I've totally enjoyed the 10 days I've had over here back in Aotearoa (New Zealand). A great boost for me given how travel weary I was starting to get toward the end of my time in Oz.

Looking forward to chilling out & reconnecting with many of you back home ...

enjoying the peace & tranquility of Wilson Inlet at The Cove (November 2007)

... & to those of you here "Down Unda" ... thanks heaps for all your friendship, kindness, good humour, & all that I have learned from each & every one of you :) I will hold you close as I journey forward ... ROMEO"s & other OBA friends, Seed Mates (that includes you now too, Tathra), & other new friends made along the way ...

Also, a big "kia ora" to my kayaking buddies Sam, Wil, & the Iowa & Colorado mobs, tramping mate Paul, beading buddy Julia, & other kindred spirits whom I have enjoyed crossing paths with.

SUN RISE over Nornalup Inlet fr. the OBA WW base in Western Australia ... absolutely GORGEOUS!!

... "tomorrow", I will experience my first sunrise for 2007 back in the northern hemisphere ... & my journey will continue ...

Be well my dear ones,

Hugs 'n' Bugs, love,

Teresa

p.s. it's been great sharing my adventures "Down Unda" along the way with all of you & I look forward to adding on the missing updates to this travel journal, ... & keeping you posted as I transition back to the Great White North from my year here is Oz & Aotearoa :) Until then, happy holidays & do connect out my way, I'd love to hear from you in person ...

you can reach me through my family in Fort Saskatchewan 998-7154 or Laurelie in Edmonton 450-4227 ... they'll likely know where to track me down as I continue for a while longer in a nomadic existence sorting out where I'll live & work back in the Great White North, more on that soon, as I sort out a few remaining details ...

... of course, there is cyberspace too but I am keen to get back to the more personal reconnecting once I am back in your neck of the planet ;)

Teresa's Aotearoa adventures continue ... (+ a few farewell to friends in Oz pic's)

Kia Ora Everyone!!

the most decorative house along Auckland's version of Candy Cane Lane ... on Franklin Road, near the hostel I stayed at my 1st couple of nights in Aotearoa

... very bizzare to see such X-mas decor with not trace of snow or cold weather ... as I walked about in my shorts among a couple hundred people on the 1st night the lights were lit (e. 1, 2007)

First & foremost ...

"Happy Birthday" KATRINA!!!! ... & Deanna too! ... also to Mary-Frances & Claudette!!

Sorry I haven't been able to give you a call, my travel mode is more full in high gear, so haven't had a chance to reach out until now ... hope both of you had a splendid day.

It was also lovely to reconnect with a few Dharma friends (Lizzie & Rebecca) up in Auckland before I headed to the South Island :)

Yesterday, I enjoyed a great day kayaking out at Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) yesterday under sunny, blue skies :)

Tonight, I am in Queenstown, which is set wonderfully on Lake Wakatipu (imagine Canmore spread out around the bottom curve of a very big lake & add a variety of British botanical gardens, bowling greens, but then add heaps of Aotearoa's charm).

What a treat it is to be travelling around New Zealand where the hillsides are so green & the sheep are so white & the landscpae sooooo incredibly beauty-full!! The drought that continues in Australia (into its 8th year at least) sure pales much of the places where I have been living in Oz, in comparison to the lush countrysides & rainforests of Aotearoa!

I head to Aoraki (pronounce Aorangi), also known as Mt. Cook, & if the weather forecast holds on with sunny skies & a high of 20 degrees Celsius, then I will have a chance to finally see Aotearoa's highest peak towering overhead. It was very overcast & rainy my first time to Aoraki but still managed to go hiking in the rain with Margaret :)

It is great to be visiting these very splendid places around Kiwi land but I am growing quite travel weary & am looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces & people :)

Here's a few pic's fr. my final days in Oz (& Canberra) reconnecting with a few Seed Mates & with Fumi & John & their daughter Julia :) ...

Marie at the National Botanical Gardens in Canberra

I had a very lovely visit with Marie, at the Botanical Gardens, where we heard a Tibet Buddhist monk share some teachings & then was joined by about 4 others & they shared some chanting, accompanied by a few long horns and cymbals.

John & Fumi outside their very lovely home in north Sydney

... thanks heaps for having me over again & for the lovely visit. I am so glad we were able to meet up again before I headed home & you headed for your trip to SE Asia.

Simon & I enjoying our much too brief visit on the bus back into Sydney from Maroubra Beach.

ALL the best to you Simon & your new fiance Viv as you get yourselves moved up & settled in to Newcastle! I'm sending you heaps of love to you & your family as well.

Noel & I, truly splendid Seed Mates :)

What a most splendid time it was to spend my last day in Sydney hanging out with you & Sherpa Dog ... do take care of her my friend & send her back my way when you find you don't need her by your side ... I'll miss you heaps my friends!!

a few of OBA's zany womyn

a few of OBA"s daring superheroes (each of them superhereos to me indeed!) ... M. Whiskey, Charlie Sierra, & M. Papa ... you look MAHVELLOUS!!;)

... here they are ready to join the new recruits for their 6:30 a.m. run to the Namadgi Visitor's Centre

Lastly, here's a few cutie pie pic's fr. my travels to Phillip Island SE of Melbourne (more Melbourne pic's sometime soon?? or after I have landed back in Canada ...)

Teresa feeding a baby wallaby ... sooooo CUTE!!

Lucy the baby wombat ... what a lovable ball of fun!

~~~

Nadia, it will be great to see you at the airport on the 10th, my flight arrives just before 11 p.m. (sorry it's soooo late). United Airlines flight San Francisco to Edmonton (I don't have the flight # handy but it's likely the only San Fran flight that evening.

Remember, I have my bike in a box & my big back pack, plust my carry on stuff. I'll call you to sort out the details for transporting me & my baggage away from the airport ... if anyone else is keen to meet me at the airport, it would be a great surprise to see you there too, perhaps give Nadia a call 998-7154, since you might be able to help us transport a few of my bigger items as well & of course, I do love surprises!

Baba, I hope you check on my BLOG sometime soon to see that I am not arriving today, Wednesday! 6 more sleeps, before I am back in the Great White North.

Glad I had a chance to bug into cyberspace with the free wireless at the backpacker hostel I am staying in tonight. Now it's time for me to get some sleep.

It was a most lovely bus ride from Piopiotahi to Queenstown but about 5 hours of driving ... with more in store for me tomorrow & the next day ... I visited with a new friend, Jana, from the Czech Republic on the bus. Such lovely people are often appearing & making my travels more interesting & fun ... thanks Sam for the fun day kayaking yesterday!!

Be well my friends & family & stay warm,

Teresa

Western Australia (pt.2) ... Geographe Bay to Denmark & Albany

"Oscar" the 9 week young pug puppy, who joined in on the National "Walk against Warming" to raise awareness about the effects of Global Climate Change



Hello Dear Ones,

I have some very excellent news ... it's been 1 day short of 2 weeks since I received my new orthotics in the mail down in Denmark, Western Australia ... & over the past week (the past few days especially) I have been sensing things feeling better for my feet with these new inserts. I am not in the free & clear yet, but I am soooo very relieved to be experiencing the relief that has been arising so far :) :) :)

I have one more day here in Melbourne, after a two day excursion southeast of here to go see Phillip Island, famous for the adorable little blue penguins that come onto land every night after 4-5 days out fishing in the ocean ... & a day at Wilson's Promontory National Park ... the little blue penguins were absolutely adorable & Wilsons Promontory was very, very splendid!!

I would have liked at least a week there, not just one day ... we also saw some koalas, wombats, emus, kangaroos, wallabies, a variety of coolourful & songful parrots & sea birds. The closer encounters with the wonderful koalas & the other critters I listed were at the Maru Wildlife Centre, where we were able to walk among the roos & the wallabies, feed them some of their grain food ... some of which the very BOLD emu I was trying to take a picture of lunged forward to peck into my little bowl, scaring the BEANS out of me, which then caused me to let out a very funny scream, ... followed immediately by laughter of course!! We got to feed a baby wallaby & pet a baby wombat too.

When I was over feeding the little albino roo, the big male that I had fed nearby a few minutes earlier came over & proceeded to push his way in & push around the poor little white roo with some of his kangaroo boxing moves. well, the big guy for sure didn't get any more from me & I followed the little blind/low vision roo to where moved off to give him more food.

I even went along with purchasing the very commercially organized picture (that they take of every visitor that goes in to see the koala for all of 5-10 seconds) of me & an adorable koala in his photo perch tree, which swivels to help get the best photo! It was all quite funny since the koala really doesn't give two beans worth of a care that we are coming & going & that the staff are using a flash on their camera!!! Oh well, amid doing my bit to support the local economy of south Gippsland, the $$ from this photo will go to help plant trees that the folks at Maru need to feed the koalas they are caring for. I went along with this for you Auntie Carol Lynn, since I know you would have loved to be the one to get so close to a koala.

Even more GREAT NEWS ... I enjoyed the 7 km hike we did up to Mt. Bishop at WPNP, which involved going up & then coming down, not too steep a trail (with no pack on) ... & my feet/toes travelled quite well, with the exception of the last 15 minutes or so & then they seemed to recover shortly after (within a couple of hours). This feels like a great step forward in my recovery :) :) :) ... the new orthotics seem to be doing there very good work for me, thanks to Dr. Tom!! YIPPEE!!

I wound down my travels in the SW, difficult to leave such an amazingly gorgeous part of the country & such delightfully wonderful friends. Here's a quick update on my most splendid, amazing, spectacular adventures around SW Australia ...

dear, sweet Jarrod's birthday at Jo Vallentine's backyard in Perth, WA ... it was marvellous to reconnect with both of these splendid Seed Mates!!

Not long now until the big election Jo, then you can relax!! It was also most excellent to see Jarrod in action at one of his EPYC workshops ... I have added a link to Jarrod's EPYC webiste under my Aussie links, along with heaps of other excellent ones connected to my dear Seed Mates. I know there's more to add & I will get them on sometime soon ...

Phoebe, it was soooo great to hang out with you & Ilka, do let me know how you are doing :) It would have been great to have more time to muck about with you for sure! Thanks heaps also for enabling me to do my SW roadtrip with your little purple car. It was great to go where I wanted & to do so in a very fuel efficient way. Looks like I have to share my other Perth pic's with you in my next posting, looks like I can't add more as I go back through to finalize this note ...

near Point Piquet on Geographe Bay ... absloutely GORGEOUS!!!

deep blues of the Indian Ocean at Cape Leeuwin

how cool is this??? I really enjoyed my time out on the rocks at the base of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse :)

I also really enjoyed my visits with Margaret Whittle in Denmark, WA, the place where we had our Seeds for the Future intensive with Joanna Macy almost 3 years ago now at The Cove!! I joined Margaret for a bit of fun with the nice older children she was taking care of in the evenings & the Saturday I was visiting ... Samuel joined us for a field trip out to Albany to see the Albany Fair ever so briefly, but even more fun was the stop at Lowlands Beach on the way ... what a most spectacular WILD beach!!

Sam enjoying our intertidal beach hopping fun!!

Basil Schur & I at the Albany Wind Farm

The Wind Farm, which is quite amazing, is right alongside a most spectacular section of coastline of the Southern Ocean ... & the start or end of the Bibbulmun Track ... that runs all the way up to Perth.

Teresa in awe of the Southern Ocean coast!

majestic wind turbine in the sky

Basil was involved with the planning of the Wind Farm as one of the Community representatives. Basil has been involved with heaps of other very excellent & important community, environment projects in SW Australia through his work with Green Skills & the Centre for Sustainable Living ... I've added a link to Green Skills on my BLOG, I'll have to check on the link for the CSL as well ... thanks for your kind hospitalitiy Basil, it was great to reconnect with you while I was in your hometown!

Margaret Whittle & I in front of Margaret's most recent & most splendid quilting project to-date ..."labyrinth"

It was a real treat to reconnect with Margaret, a fellow Canadian & our lone Seed Mate not surfing the waves in cyberspace, good for you Margaret!! We had a lovely visit indeed & I am very grateful we were able to meet up again before I head back to Canada.

Teresa enjoying the serenity of Wilson Inlet at the base of The Cove ... among the "paperbark", malaleuca trees ... the beach is mostly covered in water now, since the sand bar at the end of the inlet has not been opened up yet.

I saw heaps again on my way back to Bunbury from Denmark (more stories & pic's on this in another posting) & I also had a chance to reconnect with some of my fellow ROMEO's & other OBA friendsat the WW base near Walpole ... more on this in my next posting, since I think that this blog set-up can only handle so many pictures in one posting ...

Hugs 'n' Bugs, love,

Teresa

something odd going on with the pic's fr. my last posting

Teresa up in Cooleman ... enjoying my morning walk & photo fun in the splendid forests while my OBA friends were buzzing about with their course work at the Cooleman mobile base (Nov. 25, 2007)

... it was a great one day trip to see this area I hadn't yet been to :)

Hello Dear Ones,

I am not sure just what's up with my pic's fr. my last posting ... they were there after I posted it & I think a few days later as well .... no time to sort that out just now ... need some sleep as I continue to wind things down back here in Tharwa with my OBA mates & getting ready to head to Sydney quite likely the morning of the 28th for 3 days.

... then off to Aotearoa (New Zealand for Dec. 1-10

... then, Auckland to San Francisco to Edmonton on the 10th

WOW!!!

Nadia, Dad, & Cecilia, I'll try to connect with you on the phone from Sydney or early December to sort out airport pick up possibilities, etc.

Be well,

Teresa

p.s. It appears that this posting is having success with the couple of pic's I just added in, so am not sure what's up with the other ones ... will sort that out sometime later this week hopefully!

this is the only picture I was able to get that shows what the adorable, little, blue penguins look like ... from my visit out to Phillip Island east of Melbourne ... they are keeping penguins from being harmed by any flash photography ... it was great to see them come ashore & waddle their way up the big sand dune to get to their burrow homes :)

more from Terania Creek ...

Teresa with Nan & Hugh in their splendid Terania Creek home

Hello my dear friends & family,

I have made my way over to Western Australia (WA) again, to reconnect with my Seed Mates & OBA Mates over here, and to visit some of the amazingly splendid coastal regions in the SW.

I finally had the chance to post this update now that I am over in WA, chilling out at Sandra's in Bunbury. We already greeted the sun as it rose this morning ~6:30 a.m. ...

Sandra & Bess enjoying the morning's first rays

walked "Bess" the red cattle dog, and had breakfast before 8:30 a.m. I thought I'd hop into cyberspace before I go do some exploring for the day, ... beaches & dolphins await for my adventures today!

Here's a little more on my Terania Creek fun ...

I also posted a bunch of other pic's on my facebook site ... just click on the link for my Facebook page on the upper right hand corner of my BLOG page to get to it ...

My time at Terania Creek wound down, with a few days to visit with Nan & Hugh after their return from central Queensland. I had the pleasure of helping Nan transport 9 new little "chickens" (what we would call 'chicks' back to their farm, I held them in their little box to make the ride much less bumpy for them.

9 baby "chickens" heading home to Terania Creek

pesky magpie, looking more majestic than when it is diving down at me :)

Tanzia all brushed up & shining in the sun

Solaan cooling down from the heat of the morning

Solaan & Tanzia enjoying their lush green pasture ... what a difference 2 months makes!

waterfall part way up Terania Creek to Protestors Falls

rainforest canopy over Terania Creek

Nan & Tahlo on the "bison" rock

Protestors Falls (fr. behind) ... coutesy of Tahlo's excellent guiding :)

In my next posting ...I'll let you know how the dolphin & beach fun go, plus more on my visits in Perth & Fremantle (Freo) over the past week & the great adventures I had with Bobbi to see Minyon Falls, more beach walking at Byron Bay ...

Hugs 'n' Bugs, love,

Teresa