Quick Dorrigo Update

I'm now sitting in the Dorrigo Hotel after a couple of days of roughing it in the Aussie bush. We met up with Erin and the rest of the gang - about 30 people - in Dorrigo on Wednesday. From there we went to Platypus Flats campgrounds and pitched a tent and a party to toast the bride and groom. We woke up Thursday and headed out on the river for an awesome rafting trip with cliff jumps and everything! Stories and pictures to come...

Road Trip

Here's us setting out on our random road trip from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay. Blogs go backwards forwards, remember that...

Here's the team in Nimbin, a cute little hippie village where we stopped for lunch.

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Christine and Keith chilling on Ole Powdie, our cute and adorable powder blue bubbly car.

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Keith soaking up his Scottish heritage in the town of Maclean.

Our Car, "Powdie"

"Powdie" in the parking lot of the Dolphins Motel - how cute!!

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Loving our car

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On the Run

Christine and I have really hit the ground running in Oz, trying to outrun the jet lag.

Tonight will be the first night we are sleeping in the same place twice. After a six hour walk/hike to the Byron Bay Lighthouse, I think we will sleep very soundly.

So far it's been:

Night One - Sydney

Night Two - Armidale (Erin's apartment)

Night Three - Coffs Harbour (Hens Night)

Night Four - Emerald Beach (Bro-in-law's house)

Night Five and Six - Byron Bay

More updates to come after a good night's sleep.

Emerald Beach

Erin's new brother and sister-in-law live in a community in New South Wales called Emerald Beach which is a national park and protected habitat for a lot of wildlife including kangaroos.

The kangaroos are everywhere and usually don't mind you getting close, they share the path. Every once in a while, a male stands tall on his hind legs or slightly beats his chest. This is when I was sure to go clear around them slowly with lots of distance.

Though kangaroos are not agressive, they can stand on their tail and kick you with their hind legs hard enough to break ribs. This is something I don't need to experience firsthand.

Here are some pictures of a picnic and walk on the beach in Emerald Beach before we split off to let Erin get ready for the big day.

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A mob of kangaroos on the horizon

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Mrs. Cannon having a mom to mom chat with a roo

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Erin and her parents enjoying a pizza picnic on the beach.

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Me with Erin and Christine, still struggling a bit to recover from the Hens Night

Wallabies, Roos, and Hens

Mama Roo with Joey in pouch

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Kangaroo having dinner

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Close-up of the baby wallaby

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Mama Wallaby with a little one

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One last Hen Night shot to embarrass Erin thoroughly

Adventures with "Powdie"

Currently Christine and I and our new pal Keith are finding adventures in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Keith used to be a raft guide with the Cork brothers in Canada and it's also his first trip to Oz.

We set out yesterday from Coffs Harbour and got a really adorable bubbly powder blue car to take us up through Maclean on to Nimbin (or as Keith says it Niiiiimbiiiin, note hippie accent) and pushing along to Byron Bay.

It was very fun to be driving on the left side and I only turned the windshield wipers on 5 times when trying for the turn signals. Pictures of Powdie and the adventurers are to come.

Now we're off to hike up to the historic Byron Bay lighthouse and see some dolphins and sea turtles.

Tomorrow we head back to meet up with the rest of the wedding crew for a night of camping in Dorrigo!

Our first days with Erin

The girls at Erin's Mardi Gras Hens Night.
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The Raleigh Winery, on our way to Coffs Harbour for Erin's Hens Night. Dee and Kath, the Aussie party planner extraordanaires.
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A stop overlooking the Cork family farm and wedding site on our way to Coffs Harbour for Erin's Bachelorette, AKA Hens Night.
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Cheers the first toast on Erin's last night in her Armidale apartment after picking Christine and I up at the train station.

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Meeting Erin in Australia, March 2011
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Aussie Wildlife - Bachelorettes and Kangaroos

We've finally caught up with Erin!

After a quick zombie-like stop in Sydney, Christine and I headed by train to Armidale to meet up with the bride-to-be. It was a great reunion after years of not seeing each other. Wine was quickly flowing as fast as the conversation and we were all quickly up to speed on our daily lives and every juicy bit of wedding planning drama.

The next day we woke up a bit fuzzy but Rob, the groom, provided us with a delicious breakfast to fuel us up before Erin's Aussie friends whisked us off to Coffs Harbour for the very mysterious Hen's Night - the Aussie equivalent to the Bachelorette Party. Erin's friends Kath and Dee, with a little help from Christine and I, planned a fabulously over-the-top Mardi Gras themed girls

night, complete with boas, beads, and masks. We did a great job of fully embarrassing Erin and competing with other Hens in Coffs. Pictures to come!

Now we're in Emerald Beach at Erin's new brother and sister-in-law's place. They live just on the edge of a national park that includes pristine beach and kangaroo land. On our walk down to the beach for a picnic dinner, we ran into a mob of kangaroos who were happy to pose for us. Our first kangaroo siting ever was very exciting - they were eating and hopping and boxing with each other. There were dozens of them. Here, Christine and I are posing cautiously near these two who were nibbling on their dinner. We definitely were not disappointed.

Tomorrow, Erin heads off to Dorrigo to prep for the wedding and Christine and I are off to find new adventures in Oz!

San Francisco Pit Stop

On my way to Australia for my good friend Erin Cannon's wedding, I took advantage of an extended layover in San Francisco to see the city and visit my sister and friend Kelly.

I had never been to San Francisco before and whenever I told anyone that, including my 88 year old grandmother, they would say, "What? That's unbelievable!" So, needless to say, I knew I was missing out on a great city and had to soak up as much as I could in the 36 hours I had there.

Sadly, Pegs found out she had to work late for a special work event there was no getting out of. However, she armed me well with guide books, maps, and great suggestions of sites to see in the city. Kelly, being from Sacramento, also had a good idea of some fun to be had in San Francisco, so together we set off and found ourselves some of that fun!

First, we stopped at Fisherman's Wharf and got some much touted chowder in a bread bowl. This is the quintessential tourist stop but was well worth it, delicious chowder and great views of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay.

We then took a pedi-cab upon Kelly's insistence, over to the Enbarcadero area and stopped for a drink at the Ferry Building. After drinking wine only out of the box in Costa Rica, a carafe of some yummy California Zin was scrumptious and I savored every sip.

Then it was my turn to be insistent, and I insisted we go in search of Annie Street which I saw on the map. I made Kelly take a picture of me and a man passing chuckled and said, "Her name must be Annie." I guess I am not the first Annie to be proud of my street.

The next day, Kelly and her friend Hilary took me over to The Mission for some yummy authentic and very over-indulgent Mexican food. To walk off my 3000 calorie burrito, I then headed out alone in Peg's neighborhood, going up Union Street to the Presidio and coming back Chestnut. Then, Peg brought sushi home for a dinner in before heading off to the airport.

All in all, it was a very action packed but short trip that tired me out to sleep soundly on my 15 hour flight to Australia.

Down under

I arrived in Sydney yesterday safe and sound after 15 hours of travel and losing Wednesday, March 23, 2011. I will never get it back. The flight was amazingly empty though and I got tostretch out over three seats and really get some good snooze time in before landing in Australia.

I met up with my college friend, Christine, just off the plane in baggage claim. After navigating customs, we headed to our hotel in The Rocks neighborhood of Sydney and hit the ground running. Okay, well, I'm still not exactly running, but walking fast, oh and in a zombie state.

The Rocks is situated on the water just near the famous bridge and the Sydney Opera House. We went out to lunch and for a walk around the area. Luckily, we have some more time in Sydney at the end of our trip because I have no idea what we really saw yesterday.

We crashed for an afternoon nap and forced ourselves up and out to look for some dinner and a possible nightlife scene. Dinner was found - a fabulous tapas place with yummy sangria. The nightlife was a bit harder. We kept hearing about how everyone has to work on Friday so no one goes out Thursday nights. This was a shocker to me because I've never lived in a city where this is the case. Just as well, we had a few cocktails, luckily for us on the the Aussie doctor who struck up our conversation. (The Australian dollar is killing us.) Then we tucked ourselves in for a rich night's sleep.

Today, we're off to Armidale to meet up with the bride-to-be for some quality girl chat time. It's been somewhere around four years since we've all been together. I hope we find something to talk about and don't just sit awkwardly staring at each other.

Then, the big event for the weekend is tomorrow's Hen Party - my first, should be a good one!

As they say here (all the time), "Cheers, no worries!"