Jet Boat fun with Darran

While Darran was in Queensland filming jet boat races for another TV show that he is helping with, I got an excited call late one night from Darran telling me that we were buying a jet boat. He said that he had just had a ride in one that afternoon, and they were so fun that he wanted to get one. I couldn't wait to see the footage of his ride, I'm so glad that they got it on film! After watching it, I could see why he wants one! And after watching it, I could easily become his navigator! As you watch this, Darran starts out commentating for the TV show, but as you soon find out, the motor is so loud that you can't hear what he is saying, but if you listen carefully, you can hear his screams over the engine!

Philip Island

The last weekend my mom was in town, Pam and Russ came down to spend the day with us. Darran was working against a deadline, so he needed to stay home and finish editing. Pam, Russ, mom and I packed a picnic and decided to head over to Philip Island. We all got out to the car, and Russ put away all the picnic supplies in the back of the car, I jumped in and assumed that while he was back there, he would throw my crutches in too. So when we got to our picnic spot, it was a surprise to us all that we had driven off without my crutches. So I got out of the car and hopped to the picnic table, but was sad because I knew that any shopping we would have done on the Island would not include me hopping from one store to the other. So, they didn't do any shopping. On Philip Island there is a colony of penguins that live there. They attract many thousands of visitors each year. We decided that we wouldn't go see the penguins this trip with mom, but we would wait and take mom and dad when they came back. As we explored the island, mom, Pam and Russ were able to see quite a few nesting and taking care of their babies. Where was I? In the car in the parking lot waiting for them! This outing was a good reminder that if I want to go any where, I need to make sure I take my crutches! :)

We had so much fun on our picnics with Pam and Russ! We are definitely going to have to go on more picnics in the future! What fun!!! Thanks Pam and Russ for such a great time!

Retail Therapy

Welcome to Chadstone mall, the largest shopping mall in the Southern Hemisphere! It is by far my favorite mall here! And it's probably a great thing that it is about two hours from my house! :) But we just had to take mom to "Chaddy" while she was here. They have great stores here and cover a broad range, so everyone can afford to shop at Chaddy. This picture was actually taken in the "posh" section of the mall, where all the couturier stores are found. We had a wonderful day, and as I've always said, "Retail Therapy is good for the soul!" Don't you just love the wheel chair?!?!?!

Cooking with Pam and Jan

Since David's call about cooking Australian, we have had a fun time going through Pam's cook books and listening to Pam share some wonderful Aussie recipes! So when Pam and Russ came down to our house before mom left, we had cooking time with Pam and Jan. To make sure we knew how to make a few Aussie treats that mom could take back and show family and friends.
These little beauties are called Caramel Delights. Okay I don't know if they are really called that, but I call them that because they are so..delightfully yummy! We had so much fun making these and going over recipes! Pam loaded mom up with several different recipes to take home and share with the family! Can't wait to hear how they all turned out!

Fairy Bread

While my mom was here, my cute nephew David from Washington called several times to talk to Jen Jen, Mr. Wiggles and Dram-ma. (You've got to love skype!) Anyway, one of the days he called he wanted to let us all know that he had gone to the library to look for a book that would teach him how to "cook Australian". They did find an Australian cook book, but Jill wanted to make sure that some of the stuff in there was really what Aussies ate. She was also looking for a kid friendly recipe. So we told her about fairy bread. This is served at children's birthday parties. It's an easy recipe. Take a piece of bread, butter it, add Nutella spread then add sprinkles. David tried it and loved it. So since we told him about it, we thought we should try it too!

Melbourne Temple

While mom was here we were able to take her to the Melbourne temple, which is about an hour and a half from where we live. It was a beautiful night and she and I were able to get some great pictures while waiting for our friends Tim and Sharon to arrive.
The Melbourne temple is one of the newer, smaller temples. It actually shares the parking lot with a stake center for the area. It has been open for about 6 years. It is such a blessing to be able to go to the temple here! Before this temple was built, people here either had to travel to Sydney or New Zealand to attend the temple.
They are building a new freeway here in Victoria, and it runs behind the temple. I just saw footage the other day of the whole new freeway route, and you will be able to see the temple as you travel along that freeway. It kind of reminds me of travelling down the belt route in Washington DC and as you turn the corner there is the temple.

Mornington Peninsula

We took a leisurely drive down the Mornington Peninsula after a couple busy days of shopping and seeing all the wildlife Australia has to offer. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was so fun to travel along the coastline of Victoria and see all the beautiful beaches.
These beach boxes line some of the beaches here in Oz. I think they are darling! What fun it would be to go to the beach and have all your stuff already there and not have to pack it all down from the car! These beach boxes are hot property here! They cost anywhere from $25,000-$40,000 depending where they are located. They have been here for years, and no one can build anymore of them, if you want one, you have to buy one that rarely comes up for sale.
As you can see from the third one in (white one) some have been built up and have little decks on them. Many family parties are held in these little beach boxes. And on hot Aussie summer days, they are great for shade. I love how bright and colorful they are!
This is Sorento, a beautiful spot at the bottom of the peninsula. On this day there were para-sailers and hang gliders sailing through the sky over head. It was a bit breezy but boy was it pretty!
I am loving living near the ocean. I didn't think I would ever say that being a girl from the mountains, but boy, each time I am by the water, smell the sea breeze and listen to the waves crashing on the beach and rocks, I absolutely fall more in love with the beach each time I am there! And this day was not an exception!

Healsville Santuary

Healsville Sanctuary is a short 10 minute drive from Badger Creek, so that was our next stop on our animal adventure. The sanctuary is a reserve for animals, which keeps them safe and in their natural habitat. There are several different animal species there. One of the things mom wanted to do most was see kangaroos and koalas. There is a local kangaroo mob that lives about five minutes from our house, but each time we went to see them, they were too far away for her to get a good photo, so I knew taking her to Healsville would be a great opportunity for her to get up close with several of the Aussie animals. The first stop on our trek through the sanctuary (mind you I am now back in the wheel chair) was to the koalas. We were there at a great time as there were four of them that were down on eye level so that you could easily see them. Some were more active than others, which is amazing as they mostly sleep during the day. I was excited to get such great pictures!
After the koalas, we headed toward the kangaroos, but ran into this guy...the emu. As you can see in the bottom right hand of this photo, Russ put his hand over the fence and within seconds we had this guy coming over to us. Russ even petted him. I however, had flash backs of the emus chasing some of us in a sanctuary up in Sydney trying to get our sausages off us when I was here with my basketball team, so I was happy to stay where I was!
The kangaroos were taking it easy in the shade of the old gum trees. Lounging and happily eating some of the wattle bushes. This is a little brown kangaroo, the big gray kangaroos were at the other end of the kangaroo section, but there were too many people up that way to get my wheel chair over there.
At the sanctuary they had a native bird show that we stopped to watch. They had incredible birds and showed just how vicious some of them could be. At the end of the show some of the sanctuary staff brought this dingo through for a little socialization and to work with him on obeying commands. It was quite fun to watch just how well he was learning!
One of the coolest things about the sanctuary is that they have an animal hospital there in the sanctuary. When we went into the hospital they were actually doing surgery on a wombat that had a perforated bowel. It was pretty cool as we sat and watched for a few minutes. Then one of the nurses came over and told us what they were doing and what had happened. It was a wonderful day seeing all the different animals that call Australia home! I'm just sad that I couldn't get pictures of them all!

Badger Creek

The next adventure we took with Pam and Russ was to Badger Creek, which is a brilliant nature park about 45 minutes outside of Melbourne. It was absolutely beautiful! In Australia their parks have these beautiful brick barbecues, which are wonderful! There are barbecues all over Australia that are taken care of so well. Barbecuing is a way of life here, and the Aussies love their barbecues so these public barbecues are in such great shape! So we had a picnic at Badger Creek, a typical Aussie sausage sizzle. The major reason we went was because the natural birds who live in the park love to come and eat out of your hands. We spent a few hours feeding the birds and having a wonderful barbecue.

Victoria Market

Let me introduce to you the Victoria Market in Melbourne. It is an awesome outdoor (but under cover) market, which sells anything from fruit and veg to man thongs, ugg boots, souvenirs, clothes , bonsai trees and so much more! It is a great place and the last time I was there was when our friends the Whitaker's came to Australia with me before Darran and I got married. So, when I knew my mom was coming, I mentioned to Pam and Russ that I would love to take my mom there. Well, right after we stopped at the gift shop in the hospital so I could get a strong drink (Pepsi)we headed over to the Vic Market. The only way that Pam and Russ would take me was if I was willing to go in a wheel chair. At this point, I was happy just to get out of the house and off the couch, so a wheel chair was nothing for a bit of freedom! It was a new experience for me that is for sure! I was the one always used to pushing the patients in their wheel chairs not being the patient pushed, so that was actually an eye opening experience. I have a new appreciation for those who are in wheel chairs and at the mercy of other people pushing them! As we cruised along all the rows of shops it was amazing what a different view point you have from a wheel chair as opposed to standing up and looking down at things! I was grateful to have the wheel chair though as I would have never made it around the market on my crutches.
As we were strolling along the stalls, looking at all the fun goods, a man approached me and seeing my new cast asked, "Wow, is that new?" I smiled and said, "Yep just got it today." He smiled and walked away. A few minutes later after doubling back, he came back up to us and asked, "Are you in pain? I have stuff you can have if you are in pain." I told him I was actually fine and had all that I needed. At that he walked away. I looked at Russ and started laughing and said, "Wow, was he trying to sell me drugs?" We both just laughed about it. Chalk it up to another first for me while here in Oz! :)
I think one of the most fun things about being at the Vic Market in a wheel chair was that I was at the same level as all the little kids in their strollers. It was hilarious to watch them get pushed by me and try to figure out why an adult was sitting down on their level. The looks I got from some of them were priceless! Some in absolute wonder and awe, others just totally baffled. I had so much fun saying hello to all the little kids as we passed. But probably a bit more fun making faces at them!
It amazes me though how many people are totally clueless to those things around you when they are shopping! I can't tell you how many times we had to stop, Russ had to alert them that I was around, or how I put on the breaks because someone wasn't watching where they were going. It was amazing. I hope I am never like that, where I am so engrossed that I don't notice the things around me. I have to say that it was mostly just one nationality, but still...hello I was there!
We got a lot of shopping done, mom picked up some great things for the grandkids and I was just happy being out of the house and doing something. But after the hospital and being out and about at the Vic Market for a few hours I was getting tired. So we packed it in and called it a day. Little did we know what the next day had in store for us. Pam and Russ did a wonderful job planning a first rate weekend outing that's for sure!

Leg Update

**WARNING!** If you have a weak stomach you may not want to look at the pictures in this post!

I finally got my stitches removed about 2 weeks ago! Yippee! They were a week late coming out but we got them done! Darran was on a film job in Queensland, so my mom and I went and spent that weekend with Pam and Russ, who had planned a weekend full of adventure...but first thing on the list was getting my leg taken care of.

I had an appointment at 9:15 am at the hospital to get them taken out. When I was finally seen it was 11:00ish. When my name was called I followed this cute girl into a room. We got to the room and I found out she was the med student that would be taking care of me that day. She was super nice, really cute and way young! As we chatted, she asked me how my leg was feeling, if I could wiggle my toes and if I was in any pain. I told her that the only pain I was in was an uncomfortable feeling that I had because I knew that a suture was caught on the cotton inside the cast. She left the room after gathering the information, came back a few minutes later and told me that we would go to the cast room and get the cast off, take out the stitches and then put another cast back on for five weeks. UGH!

So down to the casting room I went and waited for a few minutes until they were ready for me. My mom came with me to see what the scar was like. As I sat there on the table waiting for the cast to be sawed off, I could tell that my little med student was a bit unsure of what to do. There was another resident there who had been in on my surgery, so she was going to walk this med student through how to cut off a cast. It took about 15 minutes for the cast to come off, because the student was worried that she would saw through the cast and then into my skin. The resident had to reassure her several times that the blade would not cut me if it went through the cast. Finally I was free from the cast!
As the med student pulled the cast off my leg, I think she forgot that I had mentioned that there was a suture stuck to the cotton inside the cast...because well, it really hurt when she removed the cast. After removing the cast, and being in shock at how hairy my leg was (what's it going to look like after 8 weeks in a cast?) Gross, I really hate to think about that! Can you say dredlocks? :) Anyway...the med student looked at my leg, and the gauze that was still stuck to my stitches, and I could tell that she was trying to figure out what to do...so if all else fails, pull...right? Ouch! She pulled and tugged, but the stitches just wouldn't come off the gauze, so then she went to the resident who was in charge of the casting room and asked what she should do to remove the gauze from the stitches. He told her to get some saline and to saturate the whole scar and then it would be easier to get the stitches off the gauze and the stitches out of my leg. Well, she came back and just saturated the gauze and the stitches that were stuck, not the rest of the scar.

So after waiting for a few minutes she started tugging at the gauze and with a bit of effort it came off and she was ready to start taking out the stitches. Knowing that she was a med student, I was being really nice, and really supportive of her. But as soon as she started to take the stitches out (which she had never done before) I could have reached across the table and punched her lights out! My skin had started growing over the stitches (because they were left in a week too long) and so every time she picked up a stitch to cut it pulled my skin with it. It didn't feel particularly nice, but of course I was too nice to say anything. As she continued to try to cut the stitches loose, I started to feel light headed and clammy...two signs that let me know that I am on the verge of passing out. I guess at this point (my mom tells me later) that I was a very nice shade of white. Anyway I grabbed the magazine that my mom was reading and started fanning myself while I laid back on the bed. At this point the med student stops and wants to know if I am okay. I told her I was fine, but just to keep working to get out the rest of the stitches. Finally it was finished and I had a look at the scar...it isn't pretty, and I'm hoping a lot of vitamin E will help it once I get this cast off!

So now I'm free of stitches and the med student stands there looking like she had just accomplished climbing Mt. Saint Helen's. But again starts looking lost and wondering what to do next. So she walks back to the resident and asks, "Do I have to clean the wound or anything or can we just start casting her again?" Hello, I even know that the wound needs to be cleaned...by now, I am still being very nice, but just praying madly that this will be over soon, and that when I come back in 5 weeks I won't have to see her again. The resident tells my med student, that yes we need to clean the wound and then cover it to get ready for the next cast. So she comes over and starts to clean the wound, and preparing it for casting. So once that is done, she again stands there and looks lost. My mom and I both thought, "Oh no, please don't tell me she is casting too!"

But thankfully just then, a great plaster person comes in and says that she is here to help walk the med student through casting. The med student looks at her and says that she has never done it and would just like to watch this time so she knows how to do it for next time. Thank heavens!!! Anyway, this plaster gal was awesome, and I was in a new plaster cast in a matter or minutes. It is so pretty, so streamline and about 10 pounds lighter than the last one! After we got finished, and the med student was still alive we left the hospital for a day of shopping and fun with Pam, Russ and mom!

Look Who Came To Visit!

Well, one of the greatest things about rupturing my Achilles and having surgery is that my mom has come down under to help us out for the next month! Darran and I are both so excited that she is here! Darran is excited that there is someone else here to help take care of me while he is out working on the TV show, which has also decreased his stress levels. I am excited to have her here to help out, but also I get to have my mom to myself for a whole month, which I don't think has ever happened! She flew in a week ago and we have just loved hanging out (literally since I have not been very mobile) laughing, talking, catching up on what is going on in Utah, cross stitching and watching movies! It has been so fun to have her here!!! My dad who underwent a total knee replacement in January couldn't come because his doctor wouldn't let him fly just yet, so he was nice enough to send mom over to help us out. Once dad is cleared by the doctor to fly, we'll have to figure out an excuse to get him over here! I don't think we'll have to try too hard. The first week mom was here the weather was terrible! Victoria experienced one of the worst storms it has had in the past 10 years. Massive wind blowing, power outages, rain galore. Darran had gone out on a fishing trip with a few of his mates when the worst part of the storm hit Archies Creek, so mom and I were stuck inside, without a car, without power and praying madly that the wind wouldn't rip the roof off the house. It ripped off the roof on the chook (chicken) shed and caused a bit of damage to a shed we have, but other than that we were safe and sound. We had a great time laughing, talking and reading, but were grateful when the power came back on. Where Darran was fishing with his mates, they hardly had any weather at all.
Since yesterday turned out to be such a beautiful day we decided to finally take mom down to the beach just 5 minutes from us so she could see the beauty of it...(on a nice day) so we trekked along the rail trail (me on crutches slowed everyone down but I was glad that I went) that runs along the coastline, and had to take the advantage of the lighting and take some great pictures along the way.
With all the rain that we had things are starting to green up and the farm lands and rolling hills in the area are starting to look really nice. This is just a small example of the surrounding rolling hills and farm land. We do live out in the country, but we sure love it!
Now that I ventured out and actually went grocery shopping and then out on this little walk with Darran and my mom, I feel like I can do anything...hahaha I came home utterly exhausted from both the store and the walk, and needed all evening to recover, but boy was it great to be out and about. I think this is just the first of many more adventures for my mom and I while she is here! We are loving having her here! Just hope she doesn't get too bored being out in the country.