A year later...
- I've finished my studies
- I moved to Brisbane
- I got a job with the Department of Child Safety
- I traveled overseas to Canada, Europe & Japan
- I got engaged
- I quit my job
We first flew out to Canada. We stayed in Vancouver for a few days. While there, we went to Stanley Park and walked around, it was beautiful. We also went up Grouse Mountain, where it was snowing hard! That is also where Clinton and I became engaged.
We then took the bus to Salmon Arm where we stayed with my relatives. We experienced Tim Horton, The Home Restaurant, snow angels, hot tubs in the snow. More importantly, we saw the Adam's River, which is the site of the largest Salmon run in the world. They had finished a few weeks before we arrived, but were were lucky enough to see a carcass at the bottom of the river, which was around 70cms long!
We then flew up to Prince George to visit Clinton's relatives. In Prince George we learnt how to find a Christmas Tree in the forest, how to cut it down, carry it home on the car, and then decorate it. We tobogganed and skated in the snow and enjoyed a white Christmas.
We then flew to Rome. There was so much to see and do! Vatican City was most amusing. We climbed the top tower (yes, all the way to the top of that spike on the left), Clinton saw the Pope's hand when he waved out his window to bless the people. Statues and water features were everywhere.
After Rome, we caught the train to Pisa, and yes... we climbed the tower. What is not usually mentioned is the Baptistery. It was beautiful... After our visit to Pisa, we again hopped on the train to Venice.
Venice was pretty. It was amazing to be surrounded by water. We saw the water ambulance, taxi's, delivery boats... You could see the places where the water would have flooded the pathway. The Gondolas were beautiful... but way too expensive!
After Venice, we hopped back on a train and went to Croatia. We stayed in a friend's house while we were there. It was a beautiful city, however, some of the 'politics' involved in being a visitor annoyed us... After Croatia, we visited Salzburg, which was beautiful. We saw Mozart's birthplace. After this, we hopped again on a train to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt we went to the Zoo. I saw a hippo and rhino close up! That was amazing!
We then flew from Frankfurt to Tokyo. In Japan we visited a home stay of mine from school. We glimpsed Mt Fuji once. We saw many beautiful and amusing things! As usual, we encountered some "Engrish". A building had "Health & Communication" on it, and it was explained to us that it was a Drug store. We weren't too sure where the communication came into it. Our homestay also found it an amusing translation.
After 6 weeks of excitement and lack of sleep, we came home to sleep. And then work.