Christmas 2011

Well Christmas 2011 has been like no other. We were able to spend it with our new Grandson Ronyn Jonathan Conohan who came into the world on Dec 20th, 2011 at 10:14 am in Ottaw, Ont.

John, Ronyn and Amanda

Amanda and Jay are doing great and are going to make wonderful parents. We have been very fortunate to be able to be here and enjoy this time.

The Christmas Boy

Ronyn was in good company for December as his Dad was born on the 10th and his Aunt Melissa on the 26th. So here we are also celbrating today the birth of Melissa who turns 25 today.

Life does not get any better than this.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Ward Falls Hike - Parrsboro area

Well lets see, Melissa arrived home from New Zealand the end of October so we get to enjoy her company for a couple of months before she heads back to Auckland where she will meet up with Tane and make their move to Australia.

So we decided that we would take some time on a sunny fall day and head down to the Parrsboro area and enjoy a hike out to Wards Falls. This is a hike that we have never done before so it was a nice change. 19 bridges to cross as you work your way up along the river bed to the falls but it is a nice hike and quite enjoyable.

Wards Fall Trail shot

Ward Falls Trail

Stream along Wards Fall

Melissa & John  at Wards Falls

Summer Holidays

Well summer has been slow in coming and the weather stinks to say the least. We have taken a couple of weeks off and decided to head out to Ottawa to visit Amanda and Jay. The new expectant parents are getting excited about the new arrival coming at xmas. It will be a big year.

Having arrived Thursday night we took Friday to rest and then Saturday we headed down to New York State for a little shopping and siteseeing. Everyone picked up the deals they wanted on Saturday and on Sunday we headed for Watkins Glen State Park to hike the Gorge and view the 19 waterfalls along the way.



Jay & Amanda



Into the Cave we go!

The hike was great going up the gorge and extremely interesting to see the different levels of rock and the way they are all layered. The power of water!

The start of the trail.

Watkins Glen

The first trip of 2011 - Gala event in Ottawa.

Well 2011 has been a slow start for travel but everyone has to catch their breath every now and then. On that last trip to Ottawa in the fall, I was reading the Ottawa Citizen and came across an advertisement for the Business Women's Network for the Ottawa and Capital Region. They were looking for nominations for women who had made significant advancements in three areas. One of those was the corporate area and I felt that Amanda fit this category so I nominated her. Low and behold she got selected as one of the finalist in the Corporate section.

The web site for this group is http://www.womensbusinessnetwork.ca/  .

Well April 18th saw us flying to Ottawa to attend the Gala being held at the Hampton Inn & Convention Centre. John and Anita Conohan also flew up and Amanda's bosses Diane and Martha joined us at the table. It was a great trip and wonderful to see Amanda recognized for all of her hard work. Now she did not win the award but was honored and very excited to be there.



Jay & Amanda



Cheering Section getting ready.





Wow what a crowd.



Frozen Sherbet Desert you say.



Where have we been since New Zealand and Australia!

After the big trip last year I felt I had no reason to continue with the Blog so it has been sitting for a little while and then recently I decided that I would continue with the posts for all the other little trips that we have been able to get in.

So thought I would just throw in there a few of the trips from last year to catch up with and then I will try and keep things posted in a more timely manner.

In July last year Donna, Dianna's sister came to visit us for a few days and we got a chance to do a little touring around our area. We took a day and drove down to Advocate Harbour through Joggins and Shulie and area she had never been to before and then a great lunch at The Wild Caraway Restaurant in Advocate Harbour. Great spot if you are ever in the area. The food is fantastic and very reasonably priced. We then took a run up to Cape D'Or Lighthouse to view the Bay of Fundy and then home for a BBQ that night.

Top Left - Dianna and Donna at Cape D'or    Top Right - Dianna - Betty - Donna
Bottom Left - View of Cape D'or                   Bottom Right - The Point at Cape D'or


In August of 2010 we hit the road for a visit to Ottawa to visit the kids. They seemed to have an event planned for us everyday, such as riding Harley's around Ottawa, to renting bicycles to tour the trails along the Ottawa River, flying in a 1936 Waco Bi-Plane it just never stopped. We ended with a great day at the Nordic Spa in Quebec lounging around in the pools and sauna's. We had a great time.



Pedaling this should be an experience.



Di - Amanda - Jay along the Canal











Great Day!



Great Tour Guides





 Now let's add a little power to a set of two wheels!!!



The Harley Man - Jay.







Zoom - Zoom





Me and my biker Babe!

Now all we need is a set of wings and away we go!!!!

1936 WACO Bi-Plane - Red Baron move over.



Couple of Aces!!



Jay





Relaxation at the end of the day.


September - Labour Day Weekend in Woodstock, Ont.

Well it had been awhile since we made it up to visit Donna so we arranged for a quick trip over the Labour Day Weekend. We had a great visit even though it was short and made a trip to Point Peelee Park to see if we could catch any of the Monarch butterflies getting ready for their big flight south. We also got to enjoy the bird feeders in Donna and Rennie's back yard.





Monarch Butterfly



Feeding Time





 

 

The most Southern Tip of Canada - Point Peelee

 

Donna & Dianna



 

Last Trip of the Fall

Back to Ottawa we go.

 

 

Well we could help ourselves so we took one more trip to Ontario to join the kids for Thanksgiving. We had a great visit and went hiking in the Gatineau Park and took it easy.

Great fall shot.



Mushroom shot.



Great day hiking the park.









The Final Days

Melbourne is a great city to see and we really enjoyed ourselves sight seeing. We decided that on Sunday we would head out and see some of the landmarks around Melbourne so we hopped on the tram and headed downtown. To be able to head out the door and hop on a tram to go anywhere you want is a great way to get around and something that we are not used to. When you are living close to the city center there is really little need to have a car. By taking the tram you do not have to worry about trying to find a parking spot or fighting the traffic.

Our first stop was at Victoria Market. This is a one stop shopping destination for sure. From vegetables to meat, fish, you name it, and you can find it here. The market place is large and you could spend all day there if you wanted to and have lunch and coffee at all the different locations throughout the market.

Girl's shopping for Fran's Baby Boy

Outside Victoria Market

After the ladies had enough shopping, we headed across the CBD towards the ANZAC Shrine. ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand is like Remembrance Day here in Canada and they have built a very large Shrine to commemorate those who lost their lives. It is a massive structure and is situated so that when you are looking down the street it is all you can see at the end of the road.

Michelle,Colby & Di at ANZAC Shrine

Time flies and before you know it and we will be off to Sydney soon and the ending of our trip. After we had finished sight seeing for the day we decided it was time that we had a few cold ales to keep us going so we hit Michelle and Colby's trap line of pubs in the area, tested a few Carlton Draught and Tui blondes. We had a great meal at one of their favorite Italian restaurants and then found another pub to finish the night off. The Canadians took on the Aussies in a pool game and the Canadians came out victorious with a 3-2 win over the Aussies. It must of been the beer and wine that gave us the edge.

On Monday, Michelle and Colby did up a great BBQ and Abe, Adama and Elias were able to come in and join us, so we had a great afternoon with friends. Tuesday we headed to the airport and caught our flight to Sydney for the final 4 days so we had to say our goodbyes with the hopeful knowledge that everyone will make their way back to Canada again soon and for some for the first visit.

Sydney is another large city with lots of activities and things to see. We have been extremely lucky throughout our trip and have only had the odd day of showers, but something is telling us that we are pushing the limit on our luck. Sydney greeted us with some soft showers but nothing that would keep us in doors. After getting settled in our apartment we struck out to explore. Chinatown was quite close so we headed over there and grabbed a bite to eat along the way. We came across the Capital Theatre and and checked out what was playing in case we needed a backup plan. The Broadway Musical WICKED was playing so we thought if the weather is bad we will come back and catch the matinee tomorrow.

Guess what, we woke to rain so we decided to head down to the theatre. As we were trying to buy our tickets the fellow told us to go around to the main foyer where we discovered they were holding an auction for front row seats. We both entered out names and 10 minutes later Dianna was called as one of the winners, so we got front row seats for $30 each. The show itself was very entertaining and well worth the viewing.

The next day we headed down to the Opera House and took the tour. It is a large facility and has 7 different areas that are used for venues. They host over 2500 events a year at the Opera House. There was nothing show wise during that we were interested in that day but during the tour we were able to watch and listen to a school practice for a musical event. All the kids playing their instruments and a choir of about 20 girls sounded pretty awesome in that theatre.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The tour itself was interesting and informative and we learned the entire story of the design and construction of the Opera House. We thought about doing the walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge but at $200 a head it just did not seem to have the same thrill as the Para-gliding.

Opera House from the ferry

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Friday was our last day and we got lucky with a hot and sunny day so we struck out to see another area we were told about called Manly Beach. We headed down to the Quay where all the ferries are located and took the ferry to Manly Beach which is about a 30 minute boat ride. The beach was long, fine sand and hot and it did not take to much imagination to picture how busy it would be in the summer at this location. Dianna and I sat on the beach and watched all the surfers trying to catch the big one so they could test their skills.

Manly Beach

Surfer riding the curl

After a great afternoon at the beach we caught the ferry back to downtown and headed back to the Apartment in Surrey Hills while walking through the Botanical Gardens. We had found a couple of great pubs in the neighborhood and decided we needed to wet the whistle and have a bite to eat as tomorrow would be a early and long day flying home to Canada.

Our flights were good and the return trip from Sydney to Vancouver was only 14 hours with a 1 hour lay over in Vancouver to clear customs and then 4 hrs to Toronto. After 3 hrs we caught our flight to Halifax and were greeted by Paul and Kathy who drove the weary travelers home. Thanks again guys for the pickup.

Well that ends the current travels of the Berry's who now have to face the cruel realities of going back to work tomorrow. But that won't stop us from planning our next great escape so you never know where we will end up.

Melbourne

Melbourne and area has over 6 million people so that gives you some idea on the size of the city. After spending a few days with Abe and Adama, Dianna and I hopped on the Train and headed into the city to look around for the day. We met up with friends and say the Central Business District and sampled a few beers and sights.

The Central Business District

The following night Michelle had arranged a special evening for us all so the six of us headed into the city and caught the Dinner Tram that drove around the city while you had a fabulous meal. Great night with good food and friends.

Left - Inside the Tram Car  Right -  The Dinner Group

Nice drink of Whiskey  -  Right - Great Dinner

The following day Michelle and Colby picked us up in Frankston where Abe lives and we went down to the bottom of the bay,caught the ferry to the otherside and headed down the Great Ocean Drive. 

Left & Right - Along the Great Ocean Road

Colby and Michelle had arranged a holiday home at Seperation Creek which was just the ticket. With a tour guide that knew where to go we saw some areas that I would never have driven into.

Left - Entrance to the Great Ocean Road - Right - View from Home at Seperation Creek

We located Koala bears , Kangaroos and various birds in our travels.

Left - Cuckodoo that ate lunch with us.  Right - Koala Bear sighting.

Left - So what do you have for me!!  Right - Just taking a rest.

We are back in Melbourne to explore for a couple of days and then fly off to Sydney for the last leg of our journey before heading for home on the 29th.

Time to go see some more.   Cheers