Tom, Gwen and Gili Air

We met a fabulous couple during our roadtrip around Bali. Tom is a software engineer (who also bears a striking resemblence to James Taylor) and Gwen has had lots of experience working for different organisations like CIDA and VSO. She's been everywhere, man! They are both from San Fransisco, but Gwen is originally from the Guelph area in Ontario. I guess it is a small world after all.
Okay, so the point is, is that they were the catalysts for us taking a boat trip from Bali to a tiny little island called Gili Air. They had just visited and sold us on how small and quiet it is. After bombing around Bali and crashing through the Kuta chaos, this island sounded like just what we needed.
And it truly was. There is absolutely no traffic except for the tinkling of horse-drawn buggys and squeeking of rusty old bicycles. The obligatory snorkelling, sunning and cocktail drinking were on the itinerary for sure but attending a local wedding was not something we expected to be doing. I've never crashed a wedding before, but people seemed to be happy to have us there. Well, everyone except the bride and groom who, if you take a look at the picture, are looking bored at best.

Bali

Bali is a relaively small island... you can drive around it in a day they say! So, starting in Kuta, we decided to take them up on the offer and rented a litle Jimmy. Wow! Driving over here is insane! I swear we were passed by 1000 scooters with families of 4 on them in laneways that were actually smaller than our car! After geting lost many times trying to leave our town, we decided one day around the island was unlikely. We eventually got into the open (relatively, still a whole lot of scooters!) and saw some of the countryside, and it was gorgeous. Terraced rice patties lined the volcanic mountains as far as we could see. And, like the stupid tourists we are, we decided to go see the biggest temple in Bali, during the biggest festival of the year! We didn't even get close the traffic (or parking lot) was so heavy.
Nothing a little kicking back, surfing and $5 massages won't fix though!

Finally Sydney

(working on getting a few more photos added!)

After our whirlwind tour from corner to corner of the Island Continent, we finally landed in Sydney. For about $7 a night, we found a bed in the smallest 6 person dorm we have seen yet. We have learned that the "cool and hip" areas where backpackers generally find a room are also the "grungy and sketchy" red light districts (known as Kings Cross in Sydney). After sleeping (or trying to sleep at least) we headed off for the Sydney harbour. Miranda described the first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House the best: "It's like meeting a celebrity!" After seeing so many photos, we were finally able to see the building in person... which led to us taking way too many photos ourselves. We did get to see a ballet at the Opera House, and spent the rest of our time searching out some of Sydney's beach districts.

Cairns (aka. "Cans")

I have no idea why they spell the city with an 'r'...no one pronounces it! I guess with that logic we should spell Toronto, "Trono".
But I digress...

So, Cans...its hot, its rainy, the ocean is murky...not much going for it. Take a boat about two hours away from the coast and "ahhhh". You have mostly sunny skies, beautiful clear water and, really, the only reason to go to Cairns, The Great Barrier Reef! We went for a dive/snorkel on our last day there and it was really...well ...great!

We spent Easter weekend just relaxing at a place called (now get this) Nimrod Resort Apartments. Yes, Nimrod.
I think one of our favourite moments was when the shuttle bus dropped us off at the hotel. He's going, "Nimrod? Nimrod?" and we reluctantly respond "Yeah, that's us."

Kiri and Doug

Our first stop after leaving Melbourne was on the far west coast. We flew in to Perth to visit my cousin Kiri and her new Fiance, Doug. They treated us so great and we had such a good time. We even had the chance to represent the Donald Clan at their engagement party... good thing too, Doug managed to get a brother there as well! Over the weekend they took us down to Margaret River and I will list all the things we did, just on the Sunday!

Woke up camping in a National Park.
Got some coffee and breakfast.
Went to watch a Pro Surf Contest.
Went to the beach for some swimming and lazing.
Went to 2 different wineries for some tastings.
Back to another beach for an afternoon jog up a sand dune.
Into the car for the 3 hour drive home.

Needless to say, we were tired when we left!

Sleepover in the Airport

We left Perth at 7:30 pm (we'll post some photos from there soon!) and arrived back in Melbourne at 1:00 in the morning. Our next flight to Cairns was scheduled to depart at 9:40 am so we decided to not to worry about a hotel that night. A whole night in the airport is quite an experience! We searched for a place to sleep for awhile, wandering in between terminals. One guy beat us to some nice leather couches, so we settled for a carpeted floor in the deserted international terminal. We woke up at 5 am to a busy airport and never felt more like backpackers!
We waited around until 9 and boarded our next flight, only to sit on the Tarmac for 2hours before getting off again... something wrong with the fuel filter, so it was good we didn't fly. So we finally got a replacement plane and were herded through the airport to a different gate.

Needless to say, we made it to Cairns eventually and slept from 9:30 at night until 12:30 the next day!

Our Melbourne Friends

So, it may come as a surprise to you but, we did manage to make friends while in Melbourne! I'll sum it up quickly as to say, most of the guys are Mike's friends and most of the girls are Miranda's friends. (What can I say? Mike grew up with brothers, and my household was mostly female dominated...we stick with our kind!)
I do want to make special mention of the cute blonde sitting in between Mike and I in one of the photos. Her name is Alyssa Gourlay and she was our flatmate for 4 months! She was a whole lotta fun, and we really did create a wonderful friendship with her!
We miss all our friends back in Melbourne so much, and want everyone to know that if they're ever in Toronto in the future, look us up! You'll always have a place to stay! (Moms? You don't mind right?)