Hokay so! we went to portland on wednesday! yay! We had a really fantastic time with the Mibuses, even though our stay was pretty short. We left Melbourne around 9:00 am and took the train to Bacchus Marsh where Jessica (who is now an inhabitant of this city) picked us up and drove us the rest of the way to Portland, and we all arrived around 3:30. That night was super cool. We went to the beach in Bridgewater (apparently famous) and went swimming in the waves with Stuie! It was a good time! It definitely satisfied my craving to go to a beach! Anyway, the water was so nice and it was around +25 out so we were happy campers. Then we went home for some tea (supper) and after a couple beers (Stuie calls me 2 can Lisa) we decided it would be a good idea to teach me to drive a manual! YAY! well, it sort of worked.. We went in a big farm truck and drove around on the paddock (they love how i say "paddock" by the way for some reason..) and the objective was not to spill jessica's wine (why did she bring it anyway? haha) anyway, i only spilled her wine twice, and more importantly, i only stalled twice. ayyyy! we also watched stuart show off his dirt biking skills on the track he built. and I admit, he's pretty impressive on a bike. Let's see what else...I think that's all we did that night.

We woke up pretty early on thursday to drive with Jessica to Mount Gambier (which is in South Australia) because she had an appointment. While she was busy getting having a practice run on her makeup for her wedding, Jean Michel and I wandered around town, and we saw the sunken gardens, which was really beautiful. It was a garden that descends into the ground and at the bottom, there's this huge cave and it's amazing. When jessica was done, we went out for a scrumptious lunch and then took a drive to Blue Lake, which is, literally, a very blue lake. It's incredible! The area of Mount Gambier is a volcanic area and blue lake was formed after there was an eruption and it formed a crater. I don't remember why the water is so blue though. After that, we all headed home (about an hour drive) and we cooked supper together. Jessica made Jambalaya with Jean Michel and I made fattoush salad (look it up. it's delicious!) That night, they taught me to play "500", a super awesome fun card game. (Parents of Jean Michel: I heard you would be happy to know that I learned this game!) Anyway, the important thing is that my team won. :)

The next morning...oy. we got up at 6:30 to go for a polar bear swim. This involves us, swimming in the southern ocean at 7:00 in the morning. Neither of us know how we got talked into this. Anyway, it woke us up to say the least! holy guacamole. They SAID it gets warmer after 5 minutes in the water, but it really didn't. we got out after ten minutes of water-treading, teeth-chattering fun. Jean Michel's lips we blue, literally! I was scared for a few minutes. Well, it's good that we got out when we did! Anyway, it took us until 2:00 that afternoon to get warm again. At least it was a beautiful morning and we saw the sunrise and now we can say we did it! Later, we went to town and wandered around a bit while Jessica visited her grandparents. Then we went home and helped Sue cook dinner, and finished off with a game of scrabble. Oh I forgot to mention the legendary game of 500 that we played that night as well, this time with Martin and I on a team, and we kicked the other team's asses. Sorry, just thought I would mention. not important.

We left on Saturday, and took the 4ish hour train ride home. Since we got back, we have been stocking up our groceries (all we had was one egg and some rice when we got back) and getting some sleep. Oh! yesterday we spent the afternoon with Shannon and Libby and Tom and Kevin (who is the last member of team canada to arrive! woo hoo!) and we went to a latino music festival on lygon street, we drank some beers, got some pizza and hung out. it was a swell time.

That's all I have for you! I will write again (As always) when i have more exciting news from oz!

Miss you lots!!!! really!

love

Lisa and Jean Michel!

written by  jeanmichelisa on November 16, 2008 from Portland, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Just a quick note to let you all know that Jean Michel and I are heading to Portland on Wednesday with Jessica to go see Sue and Martin for a few days, returning on Saturday! I'm sure we will have many exciting stories to tell when we return! They came up this past weekend with some of Erin's things and we went to Erin's for a barbecue yesterday so we finally got to see Sue and Martin! but, it was too short, so we're going to see them!

To be continued...

L & JM

written by  jeanmichelisa on November 9, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

I am trying to remember where I left off in my last entry...

Well, I will do my best to inform you of our recent activities! I did not end up getting the part time job that I applied for, but it turned out to be a good thing because the more I stewed over it, the more I realized I wasn't very interested in the first place. So, I applied at a couple bookstores, and we'll see what happens with that. Jean Michel still has a laboring job that our housemate helped him to find. He works on an on-call basis, and Tony (his boss) has been very impressed with his work, so he has been working quite a bit.

Another fun time was going on a picnic on november 2nd! I made a mental note to remember the exact date because it was the first time i have ever been outside in shorts, having a picnic on november 2nd! Well, I would still do it in Edmonton, but it probably would have been in protest of the coming wintery winds. and I would have been wearing something ridiculous. Anyway, it was a good time! On our way home, it started pouring (the weather is weird here sometimes), so we stopped in a bar called "the comfortable chair" for a drink (tequila at 3:30! why not!) before heading home. This bar indeed lived up to its name! Although they were couches not chairs..

And finally, we had the Melbourne Cup barbecue. The Melbourne Cup is a big horse race held here every year, and these crazy australians make a huge deal out of it and make that day pretty much the biggest holiday in Victoria (Jean Michel and I think they did it just to have an excuse to drink in the middle of the day). Anyway, Libby and Shannon were having a bee bee queue, so we headed over around 3:00 (just in time for the race to be over...) and we ate and...drank. mostly drank. I won't give any more details, because you can see the facebook pictures and imagine where the night took us. All you need to know is that we eventually made it home (with a little help) and we spent the next day sleeping. but all in all, it was a very fun day!

In the next 2 weeks, I will be going to Jessica's hen's party (I think it's in the next 2 weeks anyway), and tonight, Sue and Martin (Jessica and Erin's parents) are coming to town from Portland, bearing furnishings for Erin's new house, so I look forward to finally seeing them! We also plan to go to Portland sometime this month. we were going to go back with them this weekend, but Jean Michel has to work, so we will probably make a trip in a week or two.

That's it for now I believe! We do still miss you and love you!

You better miss us! haha just kidding!

love,

Lisa and Jean-Michel

written by  jeanmichelisa on November 6, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...

How are you all?! I wish you could answer that...
well you should send me an email!

Well, i'm trying to decide where to start! Since our last blog entry, the highlights have been taking a trip to the infamous victoria market, getting jobs (maybe not such a highlight..) and having our first house guests!

First of all, the victoria market is completely nuts! I have never ever seen a market like this one! It's massive for one thing. But the atmosphere is really what makes it CRRRRAZY. it took us about 2 hours to get through the whole thing (and we didn't really stop at very many booths). Vendors are shouting out to shoppers from every direction. It's really a vicious competition between each vendor! It's quite funny actually! When the market is about to close, they really pump it up. Anyway, this market is awesome. You literally can get anything you want there. Well maybe not a...blimp. but who knows! anyway, we bought some quinoa, some produce, some chorizo sausage and some loose tea. We also had our lunch there, so we bought some hummus. We had a delicious dinner that night with our findings! we made tibbouleh salad and the chorizo sausage, and we had the leftover hummus and we had some olives we had bought at the italian market that week. it was wunderbar!

We also have both (sort of) found jobs! Jean-Michel found a part time labouring job through Gian's friend, but he will probably be looking for another job because this one is an on-call kind of job. I potentially found a part time serving job at a cafe called the Carlton Paragon. Everything on the menu looks delicious, and I actually went in for a trial shift yesterday! It's hilarious how many people want to talk to you when they find out you're a foreigner. I served a table of pure bred australians, and I know this because their main interest was insulting new zealand. The one man at the table proudly told me: "I have been to New Zealand 19 times and I've never left the airport!"
Australians are weird.

Last night, we had our first house guests! none other than Jessica and Erin! And they cooked us dinner! I was so mad! haha just kidding. It was an amazing dinner! Erin made some steaks, asparagus, roasted taters and some ratatouille (all ingredients that she bought at the market!) We had some beers and wine and got hammered! haha no i'm kidding again! but twas delicious!
Next week, we are going to Erin's house for a barbie! she just moved into her new house as well, so we're all having parties! Jessica will also be moving in to her and Jon's new house shortly! Yay houses!
Another upcoming festivity will be Jessica's "hen's party" (stagette). good times!!

Well, Jean-Michel is working his first day today, so I get to be lazy and check my email and explore until he's done!

I will update y'all soon with all the exciting details of our lives! (maybe not all...)

we love you all a lot!

Lisa and Jean-Michel

written by  jeanmichelisa on November 1, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

2 comments...

I am keeping up with my blog entries! I can't believe it! I don't have tons of exciting news to report, but I should probably say that we're all moved in to our mansion! and by mansion, I mean house. I don't know why I said that. Anyways! It's a great place! Most of the houses here are very old and pretty small, but this house is enormous! We spent Saturday helping Gian (our roommate - pronounced "John") unpack boxes and build shelving units, while getting our own space set up. It was a productive day and we're very happy to not have any pressure to find a place! The house is not only incredibly spacious, but it has a lemon tree, peach tree, olive tree, fig tree, tomato plants, various herbs and rose bushes in the front. We're trying our best to put up with such horrid conditions. :)
Other than getting settled, we did some grocery shopping and made our first homemade meal (yay!) and we have been exploring the streets (and getting lost a few times)..
We also plan on seeing more or jessica and erin, once jessica is done uni and erin has found a place of her own! We are also excited to check out the famous victoria market! Jessica and Erin's parents (Sue and Martin) will be coming to city in the next few weeks and we will hopefully plan to make the trip back home with them and spend a weekend or a few days with them (they live in Portland - about 3 hours from here).

Well, that's it from me! Please send either of us an email to let us know how you're doing on the other side of the planet!

Once again, we miss you beacoup!

xoxo,

Lisa and Jean-Michel

written by  jeanmichelisa on October 26, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Finally I'm back on the internet! I hope you didn't miss me too much! Jean-Michel and I have been pretty busy this week! We have been hostel-hopping (a very competitive australian sport) and house hunting (another complicated sport) and seeing the city! Jean-Michel is feeling spiffy once again and is back on his feet, so we have been doing lots! We have eaten a lot of delicious food (and some not-so-delicious food as well...ask me about the every flavour soup.) and doing our best to see the sights on our budget. but most importantly! DUN DUN DUN..
we found a house!!! It was a bit of an ordeal, but it's all sorted out now! Finding housing in this city is ridiculous with an uppercase R. We posted a wanted ad outside of a bookstore and we called a lot of people, and the best one was an italian-american guy by the name of john. we went and saw the house and he liked us, so we're moving in tomorrow! YAY!!!! we had lunch with him today (he made us some pasta - of course! and we had some wine and it was a tasty treat) and he showed us more around the house and gave us our keys. Pictures will be up soon!
Other than that, Jean-Michel and I have been doing as many free things as there are to do in this city (like...taking the tram. which isn't actually supposed to be free), but yesterday we spent our money at the museum which was a good time! And last night we had a hankering for some vietnamese food, but, to our disappointment, we didn't find one (that's so weird!) but it turns out we ate one of our best meals so far at a thai place and we didn't regret it. other highlights of the week were picnicking out with jessica, jon (her fiance) and erin, hanging out with shannon, libby and tom and figuring out this crazy city! It is very busy and nobody seems to notice if you're in their path, so we must look hilarious always getting out of everyone's way. We both agree that this city is like West Edmonton Mall..but outdoors. so...really busy.
anyways, we miss you all in a terrible way! and if you were here, we would be giving you all enormous hugs and smooches!

I will write again soon! (I know I said that last time..but I will!)

love love love,

Lisa and Jean-Michel

written by  jeanmichelisa on October 23, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

2 comments...

After over 35 hours of travel time, I have finally arrived in sunny Melbourne!! It was a very long, tiring trip and it felt like I would never get here (and it didn't help that the plane food was revolting and my tv was pretty much broken), but I did! Its about + 30 and i'm loving it! Jean Michel was happy to see me and i was about 400 times happier to see him after my long 2 days! Since yesterday, he has gotten quite sick and we're going to go to a doctor tomorrow. he's in bed right now with a terrible fever. We tried to get him to a doctor today but had no luck (saturdays are bad days!) and so we'll go tomorrow. He thinks it's food poisoning from Bali...and he's not having a good time! but as soon as we get him some medicine, everything should be good.

Today we did a lot of walking (looking for a doctor) and we took a few trams to check out a house that we were interested in, but we had to reschedule. So, we visited Shannon and Libby (who happened to live nearby) and then Jean Michel was too exhausted to any more, so we came back so he could sleep.

I love it here though! Jean Michel and I both agree that the city is almost like Edmonton, but so different at the same time. If that makes any sense! I noticed the buildings are all very different and the trees are different as well. Not to mention the population!!! Wow, you can't go anywhere without almost being trampled by stampedes of aussies! but i'm not complaining! It's beauuuutiful!

Sorry this is so short, but my internet time is ticking away, so I will have to continue this next time. I haven't taken many photos, but I will put some up soon!

Stay stuned!

I miss you and love you all! And i'm speaking for both of us!

Until next time!

Lisa and Jean-Michel

written by  jeanmichelisa on October 17, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

2 comments...

Well it's my last day in Edmonton and I spent my day saying my goodbyes to friends in faraway places, eating chinese with my family and packing (oh, and voting of course!) I have been counting down the days since there were 104 to go, and at last I am can say that I am departing tomorrow! I get to count hours now! I have worked it out that almost all of tomorrow will be spent in an airplane or waiting in a terminal. I fly to Vancouver first, where I have a 3 hour layover, then I will fly for 13 1/2 hours to Hong Kong (good thing I'm bringing 3 books!) There I will have a 3 1/2 hour layover and then I finally fly on to Melbourne, and I have no idea how long that flight is, but I am guessing anywhere from 5-7 hours. All will be worth it when I arrive at 2:00 in the afternoon in sunny Australia! It is supposed to be +28 on Friday! Jean-Michel has informed me that is has been "cold" lately (+15) which I find pretty humorous, so it's good to know that even if I get +15 weather, that will still be warmer than here!

Well, I will sign off for now, since I have to finish getting all ready to take off tomorrow! Hey that was a plane pun! haha!

Anyways! My next entry will be in Australia, so I will see you there! Wish me luck!

love,

Lisa! (Soon to be Lisa and Jean-Michel)

written by  jeanmichelisa on October 14, 2008 from Edmonton, Canada
from the travel blog: Australia, Bali and New Zealand adopt Jean-Michel and Lisa!
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...