Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!
We started the celebrating on Friday night with a little party… complete with red-and-white streamers (we’re keeping them up permanently), some Canadian Club rye, and Canada flag tattoos. We don’t get any fireworks, or a long weekend, and it’s just about the chilliest Canada Day we’ve had yet, but there was a fabulous full moon (a blue moon, meaning the 2nd full moon in a month!) to enjoy from the beach. Hope you’re all up at cottages/boats enjoying the 30-degree weather, eh!

Things we’re excited about these days:
* Kangaroo meat: Adrian tried his first kangaroo steak last night, and he loved it! Check out the video, which we’ve posted online (from Our Videos link). He is definitely our food guinea pig for the trip.
* Champagne: Dayle’s fallen in love with what they call “champagne” in Australia. It’s probably not even the real stuff, or the fanciest stuff (we’ve heard it’s really just sparkling wine), but people here drink it on every occasion they can. We got some free from our former housekeeping gig, and sipped it at a lovely beachside picnic yesterday. Yum!
* The newsagency: Oz has them everywhere and it’s the place to buy newspapers, magazines, souvenirs, greeting cards, lotto tickets, and stationery items (possibly replacing the convenience store, at least in Port Douglas?). Adrian gets his Web Designer magazine there every month, and Dayle has discovered a fantastic Aussie magazine called Frankie. They even had Adbusters there yesterday! We’re going to have quite the traveling library in our van.
* Contests: Since making the Finalists list in the Lonely Planet video competition, we’ve entered some of our trip photos into Verge magazine’s (a Toronto-based travel mag) photo contest. We’ll see how that goes! This photo below is one of our entries.

* Getting a van: It’s getting ever closer. The road trip to top all road trips is coming… we still have about a month left of work in Port Douglas, but we’ve had a couple of close ones where we nearly put down the cash for a sweet set of wheels. We’re almost ready to commit… the trip plan at present is to do Queensland really in-depth, from top to bottom and inland a bit to the Outback; surfing, snorkeling, camping, sailing, and fossicking for gems… we’ll eventually land in Brisbane and plan to stay there for a bit if we’re into it. But if we still have heaps of money and are “over” Queensland, we’ve talked about heading to the big red centre and checking out Uluru before coming back to the coast. So many possibilities!

Neglecting the blog...

Hey everyone!
OK, don't hate us for neglecting you and the blog. Adrian and I have been fairly busy lately... just with work and trying to get a bit of sleep and stuff. We're slackers! Adrian's off checking out a van right now (yippee!) and I just helped put a fourth issue of the Gazette to bed (yay and phew!). It's time to have a little relax and say hi to you at home.

What's happening here? Still colder than ever. Raining lots. Our friend Hanne is leaving Port on Friday (and heading back to Denmark this week... we're very sad) and said she LOST all of her fabulous South American tan in this crazy little Aussie beach town. It's true! We won't be making anyone jealous with our beachiness, it's been anything but suntanning weather. Fingers crossed it gets better in time for the big road trip (July/August).

Adrian's still working at the construction site and is amazed they measure everything in millimetres here. I survived last week as the only reporter at the Gazette, and nearly died but got it finished with much help from my amazing editor, Susannah. But now I'm about ready for a vacation!

We went out stalking Pink last weekend, sort of on assignment from the Gazette. Rumour had it she was in Port Douglas (staying with friends) and people thought she might hit up a couple of local spots. Adrian, Mark and Karen and I were out late looking for that cheeky singer who just never showed up. Instead, we used the newsroom camera to take funny pics of ourselves. So much for being the papparazzi!

And we have to recommend a great Australian movie to everyone-- it was recommended to us. It's called Gettin' Square... quite a funny action/mobster/Ocean's 11 type deal that takes place on the Gold Coast (which seems to be the Oz L.A.). Sometimes you have to put the subtitles on (the accents!) but it was a really cool flick. Fairly new, too. Check it out and tell us what you think.

Hope you're all celebrating Canada Day this weekend... we're gonna get out the beer and have a proper barbeque, don our Jays caps and Canada flag tattoos and say "eh" a lot. Cheers!

Working life

Hope the weather is still fantastic back in Canada. It's actually gotten a bit chilly here lately (yeah yeah, laugh at us if you want- chilly for us is now 22 degrees or so). One girl at work even came into the office last Monday in a puffy, fur-trimmed vest. But, it seems to warming up, just in time for our first day of winter!
Life at the newspaper is busy, crazy, getting insane. This coming week I am the only reporter there (yipe!) and I also have a work experience student (think high school co-op) to "show the ropes". Ha! I don't even know the ropes myself. It's going to be an adventure. If you want the hottest news here, well, I'm right on top of it. I get to cover exciting things like the start of sugarcane harvest season, the birth of a tree kangaroo (actually, she just stuck her head out of the pouch, which I learned was a big deal), and the election of a new fire station officer (like a fire chief, to Canada). I got to try out this really cool "hydrotherapy massage bed" for a story... it's like a waterbed/Jell-O/bathtub thingie that has water jets and coloured lights inside and you lay in it and afterwards feel fantastic! In fact, I couldn't get any work done on friday after my 5 minutes in that thing. I was that relaxed. We all need one at home! (It's called an Ocean Wave)

And the other funny thing about Port is that it's SUCH a small town it's ridiculous. Just a few examples...
a) Needing to find a model for the photo shoot of the spa bed, I ask my roomie Karen. She's OK with it but not sure if she has to work. I interview the spa owner, Renee. She says she'll try to find someone. I get a call from Karen later that afternoon... turns out she works with Renee at another hotel (where Renee is opening another spa) and the whole model/friend/co-worker relationship is just all over the place there. So we all had a good time Saturday at the photo shoot, and laughed about the small world we live in...(and of course I run into Renee at the grocery store tonight)
b) I run into my good buddy the fire station officer, who I talk to on the phone about 3 times on Friday, that same evening at the bar. I also find co-workers from the Gazette there at a table, with his daughter who I worked with at a one-off waitressing gig, not to mention all the people we know from Dougies Backpackers.
There's more... it just keeps on going. Maybe it's time to leave once you know everyone in town! more later.... luv, D

Old creepiness in Port

Spooky pirate-ish tombstone... yarrrrr
Originally uploaded by bigquestionmarks.

Adrian thinks I'm morbid for having a fascination with this particular gravestone in Port Douglas Cemetary. Maybe I am, but I ride my bike by it every morning and am totally drawn to it. And now I know why. Everyone and everything seems to have a connection in Port Douglas. (Much like a Stephen King town, come to think of it!)

I've finished 3 days at the Port Douglas & Mossman Gazette now, and the paper we just put out today has an article that very much relates to this grave... and maybe it's since I had to spend yesterday in Mossman court, hearing about smallish crimes and fantasizing about the drama that could be happening instead...well, here's the deal:

This so-called "treacherous murder" of William Thomson was allegedly committed by his wife, Elizabeth Thomson. And though she claimed innocence to the end, Elizabeth became the only woman ever hanged in Queensland, back on June 13, 1887. The story goes she was executed with her supposed lover, John Harrison, and now they're both buried side by side in unmarked graves in Brisbane, while William gets a fancy, dramatic monument in the graveyard here. And now a local actor/artist/director here is making a play about it. Cool! (Makes me think of the Salem witchhunts). I'll definitely have to go see the play. And that's my weird tidbit of the day... hope you enjoyed a little piece of Australiana!
Love D.
PS. I'm about to start reading "Crackpots, Ratbags and Rebels: A Swag of Aussie Eccentrics" by Robert Holden. I'm sure there will be some more tales to come... :)

Weird twists of fate

So lately we've had trouble keeping up with our new schedule of power walks, canasta, and shuffleboard. Time for an update!

Thanks to everyone who voted & watched our monkey video on Lonely Planet's website. We made it to the finals, thanks to you! Winners are announced on June 11-- time to get out our four-leaf clovers.

After finishing a superfun couple of days with our German "Echucan" friend Birte, we flitted off for an awesome weekend in Cairns-- shopping and gallavanting around "the big city." We even got to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3... which Adrian thought was "delightfully entertaining" (thanks, Ebert) and Dayle, of course, fell asleep in (but just for a minute!). We felt like real road trippers and even managed to get the very same room-with-a-hammock at Travellers Oasis. We even snuck in a snack of McDonald's fries, and a little Baskin Robbins. Ah, civilization!

In other news, Adrian helped complete a huge deck at a soon-to-be opened beachside restaurant, and usually comes home covered in paint and sawdust. Dayle was about to move onto a better housekeeping job in the Sheraton's villas, when fate came a-knockin'. By Friday she landed a 6-week contract at the local newspaper (The Port Douglas & Mossman Gazette) as a reporter. Sweet! She had to quit her new housekeeping job before even starting, and today was her first day back in the newsroom. It all began with a cool photo op of the beach finally opening up for swimming and a huge pissed-off crab. (But no more stingers!)

Port Douglas is still hot as hell in "wintertime," so we got a DVD player... and Adrian is silly with glee over getting to rent Aussie classic The Proposition.
Off to watch some more movies...Love, D&A
PS. Check out our pics of Koh Tao (our dive trip in Thailand) on Flickr. Bat videos and more Aussie photos to come!

Feels like Florida

Yep, it's been four days now, and apartment life is bliss. Our complex is all painted in cheesy pastel colours and our view is of the tennis courts. The pool is a short walk through the grass, and the beach is just down the road. It's almost like we skipped the whole "real-life" thing and have retired in Florida. Maybe on Friday night we'll whip out the backgammon and reminisce about the good ol' days...

Check out some pics from our new place! And come on over for a visit, while you're at it. (We're the orange townhouse in the middle)

Movin' up

There will be no more drunken dinner serenades of "Sweet Caroline" for us-- we're officially moving out of Dougies Backpackers!

Thursday is the big day, where we pack up all of our worldly belongings and head a little further away from the tourists and more with the locals, to a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-storey, furnished townhouse with our cool Canadian friends, Karen and Mark. We're all very excited to not get bug-bitten (me), not get our brand-new bottles of Coke stolen from the fridge (Adrian) and not have bandicoots rummaging through our tent (yes, one snuck into Karen and Mark's, and was caught red-handed, eating all of their bread). We're also very excited to have a TV we're in control of, solid walls (although Adrian and I had a good giggle when we heard one night, loud and clear, a real ripper of a fart emitted from a nearby tent), oh yeah-- and an oven and a freezer! First thing we're going to eat is hot apple pie with ice cream... mmm, have been dreaming about it for ages!! And in other news:

1. New address to come, and of course, photos!
2. We've been [finally] putting up pics on Flickr from Koh Tao, Koh Pha-Ngan, Hong Kong, and our first time in Melbourne. Sorry about the confusion... but we thought it was about time to make everyone drool over Thai beaches (and show you all what we did for the last bit of our real "vacation").
3. The Lonely Planet video contest deadline was extended to May 31. So help a traveller out and give it a watch/rate it if you have a chance! http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=1AFA989A02E84BDC .... Thanks everyone! xoxoxo, A&D

There's a Bandicoot in our Vestibule

It's always scary when you go to unzip your tent and you hear something -from inside- WHAP! against the tent wall beside your hand.

That's what happened last night when I went to get a sweatshirt. "Oh my God!" I shrieked, as a funny little rabbit-sized creature scooted out from under the front vestibule fabric (or, as I like to think of it- our porch) of our tent, and disappeared into the woods. I don't know what he was doing to our shoes, and I really don't want to know, either.

He's pretty fast (hence I have no picture of my own) and runs/hops like a bunny, digs like a groundhog, and rummages like a raccoon. Some of our camping neighbours have given him French names. The bandicoot that hangs around our campground is usually really cute and tame, but sometimes he just scares the crap out of you.

The bandicoot is just one of the creatures we'll miss if we finally leave the campground... but good news is we may be getting an apartment in Port Douglas. My legs are very happy, because maybe they'll get just 3 or 4 bites a night instead of 14.... And it's not mosquitoes (or mozzies, in Oz speak) that are the problem here, it's pesky critters you can't even see, called sandflies. We've had to coat ourselves nightly in bug spray, and I'm not even sure whether it's working. (Where's my 95% DEET when I need it?) Adrian doesn't get bitten as much as I do, but he's still appreciating the best Australian product we've discovered since Tim Tams- Itch Eze cream. It's like Afterbite, but instead of stinging your bites, it's got anaesthetic in it so your skin actually goes numb for a bit so you can actually get a decent night's sleep (or get through a job interview without looking like you have fleas). Maybe we'll start importing it into cottage country!

In other news... we have been following the Jays, thanks to their website, our people at home who send us news (thanks Dad, Bliss, Laura, Graeme, Neil, and everyone else!), and a cool podcast we found on iTunes called Jaycast. We love listening to it for a little nostalgia, and were absolutely thrilled when Jayscast hosts Colin and Steve read our email and said hi to us on the air! (Download Episode #6 to see how famous we are ;) Somehow the world feels smaller all the time.

Finally- the Lonely Planet video contest closes on Tuesday, so keep watching our monkey video.... pretty please! Miss you all, and keep in touch. And a big Happy Mother's Day to our moms and any other moms who may be reading (except down here you're a "mum")
-- Love D & A xoxo

Thoughts on behalf of Captain Planet...

Being in such a naturally beautiful place like northern Queensland definitely gets you thinking more about the environment. Last Thursday, Adrian, I, and a fellow Canadian hit an environmental forum at the town's community centre about the climate change and its effects on the Great Barrier Reef.

While some of what we heard was very much along the lines of the film An Inconvenient Truth (if you haven't seen it yet, now's the time!). Sure, we all know that climate change is happening, but what can we do about it? While we're trying to do our best to recycle and not litter along our travels, how do you deal with living in a hostel (ie. Dougies) that only recycles cans and corrugated cardboard? And worse, our workplace doesn't recycle anything-- and when we asked the office manager on our second day, she pretty much shrugged it off and said that even though Port Douglas residents have different bins for garbage and recycling, she's heard they all end up in the same truck anyway and are sent off to the dump. And while individuals in this country seem to be fairly eco-conscious, Australia (along with the U.S.) has still not signed onto the Kyoto Protocol. And then there's the masses of old cars idling and polluting on the roads (and the guilt we're feeling from wanting to buy a van and add to it...)

We also learned at this forum about coral bleaching, a phenomenon that's been happening more and more in the past few years. Basically, coral gets stressed out from water temperatures rising (as well as from changes in salinity, disease, pollutants, etc.) and bleaches, and if conditions don't normalize soon enough, a good portion of the coral dies. Apparently it's been happening all over the world, including the Caribbean, not too far from home. So, enjoy it while it lasts...

But despite all the doom and gloom, there are good things happening-- we hear more about green energy sources all the time here, and there is a lot of land (and water) being watched over by national parks. One great thing happening here in Oz is the progression from plastic shopping bags- grocery stores encourage shoppers to use eco-friendly reusable bags, and at $1 apiece, it's a small price to pay to reduce plastic use. I thought Canada was a little behind with this, but I just received an email from President's Choice promoting their own "green" grocery bags, and offering PC bonus points for shopping with them. Hurray! Maybe we'll return to a plastic-bag free country!

Extracurricular reading (c'mon, you're not on summer holidays YET!):
--> Info on coral bleaching from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

--> More about coral bleaching

--> The debate on how good these "green" bags actually are

--> Good job, Canada! Green bags by President's Choice

We need your help!!

Remember me?
Originally uploaded by bigquestionmarks.

Hey everyone!
Now is that time in our trip we need REALLY your help (and no, we didn't get all our bags stolen, and we didn't go broke at the casino... not THAT kind of help)

We entered a Lonely Planet's contest for coolest travel video, and we need you at home to watch and rate our awesome video as many times as you can! (pretty please :) At stake is a prize pack of everything Adrian needs to become a superstar travel videographer (Macbook & software, video camera) and money to buy our van!

We have until Tuesday, May 15th to get tons of votes. We're a lot behind since we just found out about the contest yesterday... tee hee but we have faith in our Angkor Wat monkeys! (and we've brought 'em back for the contest)

Please tell everyone you know to vote/watch (a few times is even better). Just click on the link and follow the instructions:

click here for our awesome monkey video!

Thanks so much to all of you for reading and watching!
Love Adrian and Dayle xoxoxo