Trip to Portland and Houston

Three days after we got home from Tokyo, Matthew and I left again, this time for the U.S. M had to be in California for a business trip, so we flew in early to spend some time in Portland, and afterwards we went down to Houston to spend Thanksgiving with M's family. We had a great time seeing friends and family, and miss everyone already. Photos from the trip are below.

Trip to Portland and Houston

Anne and Tom's Visit to Australia

Matthew's parents were just here visiting Australia for the first time, and we had a lovely time together! We showed them around Sydney, then we went to Melbourne for a few days, drove the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, then headed to Adelaide for three days, then back to Sydney. It was fun showing them places we'd been before and also exploring new places together (it was our first time to South Australia).

We visited four different wine regions: the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley in South Australia. 

We saw heaps of animals at Healesville Sanctuary (near Melbourne) and Cleland Wildlife Park (near Adelaide). I even got to hold a koala at Cleland, which was very exciting for me, and was one of the highlights of my entire time in Australia so far! :)

We also saw wild koalas for the first time while driving near Cape Otway, Victoria. Matthew spotted the first one, and we pulled over immediately and took pictures, but he was quite off in the distance. Then we got back in the car, drove a bit further, and started spotting another and another; it was pretty awesome! Here's a video of one of the wild koalas eating some dinner.

A few photos from along the Great Ocean Road.

Anne and Tom at Cape Patton Lookout

At the Twelve Apostles

At the Twelve Apostles

Here's the album with the rest of our photos from the trip.

Anne and Tom's Visit to Australia

T.N.N.

Sleeping furiously!



Update: It appears I can't rotate the image. Tilting your head 90° to the left may work.

The Americas! Part II

Saturday was spent hanging out at L's house with the family, alternately holding The New Nephew and chewing the fat. Tulsa isn't without charm but it's been storming* on and off since our arrival and haven't seen very much of it.

T.N.N. is about as mellow as they come, just spending his time sleeping and looking cute. I've been told that he looks like L (and thus, me) and that's pretty awesome.

We've also got to spend time getting to know L's in-laws and they are lovely people.

*Golf ball sized hail!

The Americas! Part I (The Beginining)

Day 1 was full of travel: 12.5 hours SYD > LAX, 4 hour layover in LAX then 2.5 hours to TUL.

After landing, T. picked us up from the airport and whisked us straight to L's place to see the new nephew. He's as cute as a button and did nothing but sleep during our (short) visit.

We crashed out at 23:30 and managed to get 6.5 hours of sleep, which is about as good as can be expected.

Help a Sister Out!

My lovely sister, Diana, has a fundraising campaign up with Indiegogo.com - please check it out! She's been unemployed for a while, and is fundraising to attend a program at the School of Visual Arts this summer. Check out her video, and even if you're not able to make a contribution, please consider passing the link along. Thank you!