G'Day! I'm writing on a warm, sunny and beautiful day here in TAS. In this blog I'd like to recap how Rob and I spent our Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday here in AUS. I know its already February, but better late than never!
Rob and I decided to take our honeymoon in Fiji the week of Thanksgiving. We thought being in a happy, gorgeous place like Fiji would distract us from the Thanksgiving tradition of a big meal, family and friends. Alas! We missed the tradition anyway! Greg, Alicia and family were happy to host us for the grand meal one week following American Thanksgiving at their home. Rob was in charge of the turkey and oyster dressing, Alicia made mashed potatoes and strawberry daiquiris, Anita (Alicia's mum) made the best turkey gravy and I made corn casserole, traditional stuffing, butternut squash salad, a pumpkin and brown butter pecan pie! Alicia's two sisters with their partners joined us as well as Alicia's nephew and mum. We started the meal with a Misoni tradition of each person sharing what they are thankful for around the table. From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful for the Tucker/Stanton (Alicia's & Greg's) family for being so welcoming and kind to Rob and I. Friends like these are lifelong and dear to our heart.
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Here we see Rob, Greg and "dinner"
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Brown Butter Pecan Pie!
I'd eat you everyday if I could. |
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| Rob with Edgar, the newest addition to the Stanton family |
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Alicia, Ed, Griffin and Greg Stanton
We decorated the Christmas tree while the turkey cooked in the oven |
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| Sweet pic of Alicia :) |
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| Caught red handed! Rob having a nibble as he carves the bird |
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| More suspicious activity going on here. Why do I feel like a band of dogs are going to crash through the house and tear the turkey into pieces... wink (The Christmas Story) |
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| The spread! |
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A table full of love and food...
this is the best. |
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| The next day I bought a live tree and decorated it with Maggie's help. Now we are ready for Christmas! |
Celebrating Thanksgiving helped us feel more like Christmas was on it's way. There was talk of Christmas, decorations were seen in stores and people were out shopping more frequently, but Christmas music was hard to find on the radio and Christmas lights were less common, at least in Tasmania. We slowly transitioned from spring into summer with longer, more beautiful and warm days. Christmas lights wouldn't be turned on until they could be seen at dusk, which was around nine o'clock at night. Rob and I have grown up with "white" Christmas's so it was a bit disorienting to have a summer holiday. Once we had our tree and decorations up throughout the house, we were able to anticipate the holiday more. We also looked forward to hosting our first American guests to Tasmania. Justin and Stephanie are friends from Fort Collins whom I met at the local Steeler's club. Our friendship grew beyond the Steeler atmosphere and being world travelers themselves, Justin and Stephanie promised us a visit once we announced our plans to live in Australia. We could not be more excited to show off our little hometown. Justin and Stephanie arrived in Sydney and spent a few days in the big city to acclimate before flying down to Hobart. We spent a week in Hobart, over Christmas and Boxing Day, then the four of us flew up to Sydney to celebrate the New Year together. Rob had to work Christmas Eve through Boxing day, but had the rest of the time off for our friend's visit. We were very fortunate to purchase tickets to the Sydney Opera House New Year's Eve party. We stood outside, between the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the great white sails of the Sydney Opera House to count down the year's end. Between the fireworks, food, music and fun... we had an amazing time! Rob and I were a little sad to say goodbye to 2013. It's been an exciting and wonderful year for us. We think, however, we gave it a proper send-off. Two days into the new year, we bid Justin and Stephanie a sad farewell as Rob and I flew back down to Hobart. They continued their AUS trip by flying up to Brisbane, renting a camper van and driving back down along the coast to Sydney where they finally departed. From what we heard, they had a great trip!
I'll let the following pictures recap our vacation with Justin and Stephanie. I cannot take credit for all the pictures, we swapped photos at the trip's end and both Justin and Stephanie are talented photographers.
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Welcome!
A toast to the arrival of Justin and Stephanie out on our balcony |
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| Sorry this picture is a bit fuzzy... It was taken by our bartender at the Lark's tasting room in Hobart. The first day that Justin and Stephanie were with us, we introduced them to Rob's favorite, local single malt whiskey - The Lark. |
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| Here Stephanie is ordering meat pies from our favorite bakery in Richmond, Tasmania. Rob was at work this day but we made sure he saw pictures of us indulging in flaky, meaty pies! |
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| The Richmond bakery has pies, cookies, biscuits, scones, breads, angels... j/k :) |
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A meat pie picnic aside the oldest functioning bridge in the world.
You've seen Rob and I here in an earlier blog. It's a beautiful spot we like to share with any of our friends. |
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| On Christmas Eve we were all invited to Alicia's family dinner. About 30 adults were in attendance along with many children running about. Friends and family all gathered at Alicia's parent's home for turkey and all the fixings. Here is a picture of Mazy, Alicia's sister's dog. She was "guarding" one of the two turkeys prepared by Anita for the feast. Mazy was rewarded for keeping her post. |
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| Alicia's mum, Anita. Isn't she cute!? |
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| Being an excellent cook herself, Alicia helped her mum in the kitchen with food preparation. |
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| Seated next to me is Zoe, Alicia's sister who has been a good friend to Rob and I. |
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| Rob arrived to dinner a little late since he was working however I made sure he'd have a plate full of food. |
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| Each Christmas Alicia makes a ginger bread house and fills it with candy. This year, in honor of Dr. Who's 50th anniversary, Alicia made a Dr. Who telephone booth (which Dr. Who uses to time travel) and filled it with lollies (candy). |
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| The dessert table was also set with fruits for dipping in a chocolate fountain, raspberry tarts and pumpkin pie. Suz, heaven is calling... |
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| A count down by Alicia lead to ginger bread house destruction, all happening so quickly. The children filled bags with candy from the broken house. |
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| A tradition here is for two people to rip open a "popper" together. The poppers always hold little prizes inside their packages. When ripped open, a popping sound is heard while prizes fly into the air. The prizes are paper crowns, a small toy and a tacky joke. (Wine not included). |
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| Mistletoe was in the air! |
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| Rob worked Christmas day so Justin, Stephanie, Maggie and I took a hike along Mt. Wellington. It was a perfect summer day! Other Tasmanians had the same idea as we passed several people along the trail. Behind Justin and Stephanie, the city of Hobart! |
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| Neat trees along the walking path. I'll take a moment to showcase my muscles. |
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| Wow! |
We came home from our hike, washed up and once Rob got home from work, invited Greg, Alicia and kids over for a quick gift exchange. Shortly thereafter, we fired up the grill to have a seafood cook out for Christmas dinner. Our friends, Darren and Martina joined the four of us for scallops, shrimp, potatoes and salad. We topped the meal off with Christmas pudding ice cream cake and whiskey infused pecan pie! We had great time with our friends; a special Christmas we'll always remember.
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| On Boxing day, Justin, Stephanie and I went to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) here in Hobart. We worked up an appetite and had a nibble at the restaurant on the museum premises. It was a lovely time. |
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| While in Hobart, we visited a few Tasmanian wineries. This is Frogmore Creek in Richmond. |
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| The four of us drove up the coast of Tassie to an area called Freycinet for more wine tasting. |
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| A toast to great wine tasting! |
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| Rolling wine valleys in the Freycinet area |
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| What a cute couple! |
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Freycinet is home to wineglass bay.
Behind Rob and Justin, you see the bay in it's beauty.
This a popular tourist stop on the east coast. |
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The Girls!
It's a short walk from the parking lot to overlook wineglass bay. You can also hike down to the bay but it takes a few hours. Next time! |
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| While leaving Freycinet, we stopped at an oyster hut. Rob was in heaven. |
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| Justin and Stephanie were in town for the Saturday Salamanca market. We did a bit of shopping and grabbed lunch here. |
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| Stephanie arranged for a private wine tasting at Stefano Lubiana vineyard. Co-owner Monique Lubiana delighted our wine senses with their impressive selection. We enjoyed a tour of the vineyard and wine cellar as well as getting to know Monique. She was very kind and passionate about producing excellent Tasmanian wine. |
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| Within Stefano Lubiana cellar - wine maturing in barrels. |
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| After our wine tasting and tour at Lubiana, we stepped into the Hog's Breath Cafe back in Hobart. This restaurant is one of the first places you see in Hobart. It's atmosphere and menu is similar to TGIF at home. Rob and I had never been inside to experience the Hog's Breath... Justin thought it would be fun to give the place a try. The four of us had fun :) |
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| Here we have finally made it to Sydney! |
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| A large shopping center in Sydney showcased a giant Christmas tree with crystal ornaments. |
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| We took a ferry out to the Sydney Zoo, and along the way passed the Sydney Opera House. |
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| I'm using an enhanced feature on my camera for this picture. Drama! |
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| At the zoo, there is a mountain goat exhibit that features the Sydney Harbor bridge beyond it. There is also a bird flying into this shot. |
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| Oz is home to some large reptiles |
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| Oz is also home to fuzzy Koala bears |
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| The city of Sydney behind them! |
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| It was a beautiful day for the zoo. |
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At first glance, you think, are these lions really live?
Yes. |
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| Again, yes. |
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The warm day called for a "golden gaytime" with friends.
Golden gaytimes are tasty ice cream bars. |
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| Dressed up and ready to head out to our New Year's Eve party |
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| Justin and Stephanie just outside party central |
Needless to say, the first day of 2014 was a recovery day for the Doyles and the Davis. We kept the day light and easy as we explored Sydney a bit more and took in a movie at a local theater. As mentioned above, we said goodbye to Justin and Stephanie the following day, before returning to Hobart. We really appreciate our friends for being here during the holiday season. It helped us not miss home and family at the time. Rob and I also felt like tourists again, being with American friends and sightseeing once more. We look forward to taking another trip with Justin and Stephanie in the future! We also very much look forward to additional visits from friends in the upcoming months!!
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Maggie just wanted to say "Happy New Year" to you all!
Rob, Maggie and I took a short hike along Opossum Bay - not far from Hobart. Her fur is damp from doing one of her favorite things... fetching her ball from the shoreline :) |
