My 5-year BC Citizenship – Check!!

British Columbia, Canada, is a land of adventure, varied landscapes, has the world’s only inland temperate rainforest, and much unique and fascinating industry and history that I continue to learn. I was thrilled to move here five years ago, to share life with the man of my dreams. Along with Mike’s warm welcome, I was embraced into his beautiful family, for whom I am grateful and enjoy spending lots of time with. I have also met and made many friends, acquaintances, and colleagues in Prince George, BC.

It has been a busy five years to be sure! And I was always on my toes – alert for any opportunity to earn “points” toward my “BC Citizenship application.” As I have mentioned before, when I moved here, Mike gaily informed me that I would not truly be a British Columbian until I had passed the exam after five whole years of living here. (If you have not previously read my blog about the move and introduction of the BC Citizenship, please feel free to sidebar, here) And I quote: “Mike tests me regularly. I frequently 'lose points,' but then I get them back in sneaky-smart I'm-gonna-be-a-BC-girl ways ha ha - so fingers crossed for the five-year test.”

We’ve driven to the Yukon, the Shuswap, the Okanagan, the Kooteneys, the Bowron Lakes chain, and the Island. Have touched the geographical centre of British Columbia, as well as BC’s Pacific coast in four places – Stewart, Prince Rupert, Bella Coola, and Tofino. Multiple trips to Vancouver of course, via the Fraser Canyon or the Duffy Lake road – both equally entertaining! Also hit up a place called Sasquatch – no joke.

I know where the Fraser River begins. Have camped boondocking. Touched ancient petroglyphs. Skinny-dipped in the midnight sun.

I have my gold miner’s license and know how and where to pan for gold. We hold annual passes for Barkerville, and we’ve explored Likely, Quesnel Forks, and the historical mines of the area.

We’ve adventured countless lakes, rivers, water falls, trails, back roads, dams, hot springs, hoodoos, gondolas, suspension bridges, and even a rodeo ground after dark. We’ve seen glaciers, bears, moose, deer, elk, caribou, bison, eagles, and the most incredible night skies – stars stars stars and of course the aurora borealis.

I’ve met Mike Hall, Claudia Bunce, Caden Fanshaw – and Mr. PG! I’ve written a blog for the City of Prince George, and I’ve gotten myself on three local radio stations as well as the CKPG Today television broadcast. And Mike and I were featured in and on the cover of our neighbourhood magazine. 😁

I’ve gotten my photo taken with a Conservation Officer.  And most recently, I have registered a business in BC, to renew my entrepreneurial vigor and be in BC Business. (More on that later)

 

And drumroll please…..  

I got my BC Citizenship!!!

 

On the 5^th anniversary of beginning our adventure together, Mike threw me a crazy impromptu surprise party with a bunch of our beloved family and friends! I was so shocked, walking in to the party with so many special faces (and a secret surprise guest I’m not allowed to reveal but whose photo you can find elsewhere in this blog), a huge cake, a BC flag, and all the love I could possibly imagine flowing around the table.

In classic Mike fashion though I had to work for it LOL – there was indeed an exam! I had to answer five questions about British Columbia, standing in front of everyone, still so shocked but also thrilled.

I aced all the questions except for a brief phone-a-friend moment for the year that BC joined Confederation – my Ontario showed when all I could think of was 1867 – BC became a Canadian province in 1871. Whoops – I knew that from all the great presentations at Barkerville! I did make up a few points by over-answering a couple of the other questions, and my smarty-pants friends even challenged me with the suggestion of a couple of real stumper questions – thanks guys!

My ever-flowing tears really burst forth when Mike announced I had officially passed the citizenship test and was now declared a British Columbian, and all my loved ones around the table waved little BC flags! 

Mike left no stone unturned in this process, and I am grateful for his thoughtfulness and caring, and his love of fun and shenanigans. We laughed and cried and partied on, so freakin’ wonderful I can’t even put it into words. ❤️ Thank you Mike!! ❤️ And everyone, for making that crazy surprise happen, for being there for me that evening and in the last five years, and for the promise of more love and laughter in the years to come.

So, as a real live BC Citizen, I’d love to share with you some photos of our last five years. Thank you Mike, for being who you are, and for sharing with me. I love and cherish you so much and appreciate every moment we spend together. -- AND I’m extra super glad I passed my citizenship as I truly don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t!! I’m glad you’re keeping me, but I’ll still always work extra hard for the points. 

To close this blog, I’ll leave you with the tidbit that I will soon be officially launching our new business: Allan Events Co.  Mike and I are partnering on this venture, which will encompass business event planning, but also our writing and speaking engagements. Very excited to return to entrepreneurship and support the business community and medical education sphere in Prince George and the province!

Allan Events Co.: corporate event organizers planning, coordinating, and executing business-related conferences, summits, networking events, meetings, education events, and CME accredited programs. Whether it’s an industry summit or a grassroots networking event, we create space for ideas to flourish and people to thrive.

Our work is also deeply rooted in the oncology patient support space, where we’ve helped lead advocacy initiatives, global education campaigns, and professional development events for healthcare providers.

In-person, virtual, or hybrid - we’ve delivered impactful events in every format—from networking events, training sessions, and roundtable meetings to CME-accredited conferences and symposiums. Event idea? Let’s make it happen!

Working Toward My BC Citizenship

Over the last few days (months) I've been toying with how to title this particular blog - it could easily be "The Evolution of the Journey I Didn't Plan to Take... Ex-Motherhood, Melanoma, and still no Maserati" LOL  but I'll go with the move to BC header. :-) 

I do recall earlier this year promising to blog more - a promise to myself as much as anything - and here we are, a bit late but it is still 2022 after all. A health update from that same promising blog - I am happy to report that since hysterectomy and (occasionally reluctantly) increasing my iron intake, I have been determined no longer anemic! Cool! My hemoglobin is higher that it has been since my late twenties, and that feels like a really neat medical success. 

On the "Ex-"Motherhood front, as I've mentioned before, the girls are all grown up, living together in the GTA, both have graduated their college programs and are working toward apprenticeships in each of their fields. They finished high school the spring that covid took over our lives, and then they worked, bravely moved out on their own, completed college programs (one by online education and one travelled via the TTC every day - eeek) and found their next-step jobs all in a little over a year, and during the height of covid 2020-2021. 

I am so proud of them every day I almost burst! It was a really difficult transition to move apart from eachother, as our bubble of three was literally our way of life for 18 years. But as baby birds are supposed to do, they were ready to fly out on their own, so I sold our nest and we now chirp to eachother on skypes at least weekly if not more. As life goes, my new nest is across the country.  But they are so supportive.  And though we miss eachother greatly, we know we are only five hours apart (well.... plus an hour and two planes and airport time, but we won't get picky, I'm just saying, technically I can be to them in half a day if needed).  

They haven't yet been able to come to BC since I've been here, but I have gone to Toronto a few times to visit, be there for their birthdays, help them with mother-daughter and life things, augment the parent-from-a-distance that successful young women baby birds don't mind having the odd time, and in the most recent visit - get a tour of the Toronto Islands, which I had never done before. 

After living in a small town for 17 years then moving to a different province (a.k.a. planet) having my girls be my personal tour guides around their new city is really neat - though I'm NOT proficient at the TTC!! 

They do say that eventually the parent-child roles reverse - watch Cass try to get me on the subway and you have real-life evidence of this grown mother throwing a tantrum. With real tears. Not sure why I excel at any form of public transit in all the foreign countries I've visited, but the Toronto Transit system makes we quake with confusion. Blech! Anywaaayyyyy....

BC - British Columbia! About that! 

Also during the height of a global pandemic, I chose to move across Canada. Well to East-coasters I realize Ontario to BC isn't exactly across country, but with "TorOntario" being the centre of the universe and all, I'm taking creative license and calling it across the country. Meaford to Prince George - just a bit of a switch! 

I will share with you some fun facts in the next few blogs, such as: Prince George is "BC's Northern Capital", and it is also an hour away from the geographical centre of the province, check me out in the picture proof below. 

PG has about 80,000 people, a Costco, Home Depot, all the essentials - and most recently even a SEPHORA! The two main highways in the north, 16 & 97, intersect here - where you can find Mr. PG (more on him later) - and in any one of the four directions you go on those two roads you will find the most gorgeous mountains, trees, lakes, wildlife, history, camping spots, gold-mining opportunities, and even an ancient temperate forest with the giant cedars like on Vancouver Island. 

I have learned there are some language barriers between left-coasters and Ontarians (shrimp = prawns, rubber boots are gum-boots, escarpments don't seem to be a thing here...and don't even get me started on "ATV'S" vs. Quads and "Side by Sides" !?). I have learned that sometimes a miscommunication can simply be a language thing, and I often stop to ask Mike what something means, just to make sure we're actually talking about the same thing. 

And the time difference, OH THE TIME DIFFERENCE. You wouldn't think three hours would be that big a deal, but... it's just enough to make communication with home needing a strategic planner on it's own. You'd think I would have known that already, having worked from Ontario for a west-coast organization, I was always planning meetings based on the Eastern - Pacific time zone differences. Shoe on other foot when I got here and ugh.... 5am Pacific meetings suddenly became a norm. And on the days I'm not rollin' by 5am, half the day is already gone for the girls and my Mom by the time I've just woken up. We're slowly getting used to it, but it is challenging to keep in touch, especially with my friends who also work and have busy lives.

So I just realized I said "home" a second ago - this brings me back to the title of this blog and my reference to a BC Citizenship. There is not actually a citizenship change required to live here, it's more like a Mike-approval-phase I have learned I must pass before I can truly consider myself a British Columbian. 

Something about having to drop Ontario chip from shoulder, become a little more hardy in the wilderness (get 8,000 pairs of hiking shoes!?), drive according to their weird little road rule differences (and not complain about it - oh and probably not call it "their"), and in general just chill the eff out. Oh and stop telling everyone I meet that I'm from Ontario. 

Mike tests me regularly. I frequently "lose points," but then I get them back in sneaky-smart I'm-gonna-be-a-BC-girl ways ha ha - so fingers crossed for the five-year test. After being here for five years I should quite capably be able to call BC home.  

This is us with Mr. PG, the city mascot

It is super fun here, there is adventure around every corner - I totally give Mike credit for that. He is lovely in general of course, hence the being swept off my feet and moving here to be with him! But he is also a thoughtful personal tour guide, super fun and adventurous, knows everything about the area and still loves to explore everything. We have gone so many places after I tell you about all of them I really will have to re-name my blog - I won't have time for melanoma or Maseratis at all!  

We travel quite a bit around the area up here in northern BC and Alberta, either with our little RV, or in Mike's Camaro, depending on the destination, and the goal of the trip. Last year we camped almost every weekend May-October, and we did not go to the same place twice! There is so much to see and do camping all around here - waterfalls, hiking, checking out historical spots, and kayaking too. We are also quite interested in gold panning and there is a tonne of that here. 

(yes, for my Ontario friends... gold-panning - I didn't quite know if Mike was joking-slash-language-barrier when he first told me about it but nope - it's true! And we now have our miner's licenses and spend some of our spare time gold mining/panning, and checking out spots to potentially get a claim of our own. True story!)

The move itself to get here was super fun too. I had shipped my belongings on crates in advance from Meaford to PG, and then Mike flew to Toronto, got a few days whirlwind tour meeting some of my family and friends, we moved the girls and Reese to Toronto, and then we started driving west, in my Jeep, which is now a BC Jeep. (LOL that's become a big joke here as my cute little SUV is "not a real Jeep" - compared to the crazy tricked-out off-roading vehicles all over the place here, my Jeep is a dinky car)

Mike bonded with the Jeep over the six day drive from TO to PG, it was so cute. Being the trained race car driver Mike is, having the dinky power of a 4-cylinder grocery-getter added a particularly comical element to all that came with his inviting me to come live with him in the wild northwest, beginning with the looooong drive there. 

In any case, neither of us had done that full drive before; we had a great time, and of course hit a few of the main tourist spots that make Canada what it is - giant nickel in Sudbury, giant goose in Wawa, giant Ukrainian Easter egg in Vegreville. The Terry Fox monument of course too, and we also stopped to explore in the cities where we were born - the Sault for me, and Winnipeg for Mike. It was an awesome trip! 

And when we approached the BC border and drove through the mountains wow... I knew my next chapter was on a road I had always dreamed of, but thought I'd never find.

So now I keep at it, am learning the BC lingo, have chilled out considerably (which I especially notice when I visit Ontarionto), and have also learned to identify my BC drivers license from my Care Card (Health Card) - they look the exact same, it's painful. Honestly!

We camp and explore, and live every day to the fullest, and I have SO much to fill you in on... 

Patient First

I woke up this morning to an email from youTube that my favourite account had posted a new video.  Naturally, I clicked on it, watched the video. Then I snuggled back down, and spent an hour lying there watching more and more (great job youTube, just as you intended!).  As I lay there daydreaming about my favourite car, I thought about how I have had little time to write on my blog anymore.  I rarely have a quiet Saturday morning to myself anymore, and I rarely put money into the savings account that is to fund the lifestyle which is portrayed in my video-watching guilty pleasure this morning.  But today I was brought back into the room, so to speak.  

Hearing the rumble of the subject in the video reminded me of why my blog is named what it is - and thinking of blogging reminded me of why I started in the first place.  

I am a patient, first.  I am a writer, patient advocate, and now full-time Managing Director of a fabulous Canadian skin cancer patient support organization, but I am a patient first.  Almost four years ago I was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, and I remain at high risk for recurrence of the disease. That will never change.  In the time that I am here I feel it is my responsibility to talk about this, share it, help others the way I have been helped.  

But there is also a natural progression that comes with all of that. I am learning so much about the disease, and about the landscape of treatment access (or lack thereof) in Canada, that I sometimes find it difficult to separate my work from my personal, especially in a public forum such as this blog on the big ole' world wide web.  I don't want to become one of those advocates that becomes just another name in the melanoma world that can't relate to those who are newly diagnosed.  

I am now farther along in my journey and one would have to use the tags to the right side of this screen to go back to see all of what my family and I went through.  Not many people want to do that, which is okay, it's there if they change their minds, but I still want to stay relevant, let others know they are not alone.  

Though I am now working in the field and traveling a bunch to further this work for Canadian patients like me, and haven't had time to write about it as much, I am still dealing with the every day challenges of being an advanced melanoma patient.  

I still parent my kids 24-7, I still have CT scans (and Scanxiety!) every six months, I still have bloodwork every six weeks to monitor my health (because I have proven inconsistent in taking my prescribed meds and supplements - tisk!), I still have the very valid fear that the next mole or bump or swollen lymph node could land me back on the surgeon's table, and I still really fear the possibility that I won't get treatment if I need it, because my government doesn't deem it (but I digress..). 

I follow several well-known melanoma advocates and bloggers around the world that were a huge support to me personally; we went through a lot "together," they helped me so much (though they are not aware of me LOL).  Actually in October in Australia after one session I was on Twitter and realized that I had been sitting LITERALLY two seats behind one of my fave Aussie bloggers!! I missed my chance to meet her but we did have a brief Twitter conversation afterward, where I could adequately fan-girl over her presence in the room I had been in. Yah, you remember me Naked Gardiner, I know you do. ;-)

But sometimes I read their articles and feel they are harder to reach than normal people, normal patients.  These blog celebrities shared their painful experiences, their challenges and their triumphs as they encountered them, as I have, but they have moved on to the higher-level advocacy that comes with the territory.  When I was first diagnosed I didn't understand those things, and I felt they weren't entirely accessible.  
Now I do understand those things, and I want to remain accessible. That's part of why I don't post as much as I used to, the stuff I talk about on the advocacy front is perhaps more applicable to those who seek out an organization like Save Your Skin, not necessarily "regular people" like myself, who are simply melanoma patients.  But I still am that regular person, and I still want to speak to melanoma patients.  Give hope.  You too can survive.

Recently I have been in the situation where my blog has come up, and I have told my story, and shared tears with the new friends I made in that conversation, and I remembered that this is where it all started.  My blog to keep friends and family updated, turned place to vent my whiny fears and frustrations, turned dream career, is still the mainstay of my goals for my future and that of my kiddos.  

I still want to move to Italy and live in my Maserati. Just saying.  (and my boss says no problem - I can work from there just as well!)

But in the meantime, I will stay here, get the girls through high school in the town they have lived all their lives, and continue my work in the Canadian melanoma space, as an advocate, as a patient.  

Actually there are a couple of opportunities on the horizon where I will be sharing my story in a public space again.  Both happen to be in Montreal (poor me, I know, having to randomly fly to this lovely city); one is a speaking engagement in which I will share my story with a room full of pharmaceutical industry representatives (who are wonderful people by the way - don't let the tree-huggers make you think they are the evil in the world) (THEY saved my life).  

The other is a filmed interview for a website that was launched in 2016 in conjunction with our patient project "Melanoma Through My Lens."  More to come on these, I will be facebooking them etc. as well as sharing them through the Save Your Skin Foundation website - shameless plug - on which I spend a lot of time writing and updating. 

In the meantime I'll be working on our report from attending the Canadian Melanoma Conference in Banff last weekend.  Since I have heard that there is such a thing, I have wanted to go, so that was a very cool experience.  I was fortunate to meet in person many of the Oncologists from around the world that we work with on a regular basis, plus, from Sunnybrook, my very own Medical Oncologist AND my Surgical Oncologist (who I haven't seen in a couple years!) were there and presenting on the agenda.  It was an unspeakable honour to be in the same room as all of these melanoma experts and to be able to bring back their teachings to our knowledge base. 

Was awesome too, to be having lunch with my Surgical Onc. and she recognized me, I certainly didn't expect her to.  I had spotted her name on the program and planned to stalk her at the conference teehee - She said she saw my name as an author on the scientific poster displayed at the conference and wondered if I was the same one as her patient - sure enough it is me. :-)  We had a nice chat to catch up.  

And yes we did just complete our poster, we are working to have it peer-reviewed, and possibly published at the Society for Melanoma Research Congress in October in Manchester UK.  I am making that a personal mission.  The poster is based on our patient survey results from last Fall, about the mental wellness of patients after a melanoma diagnosis.  Feel free to check it out here.  We are continuing work on this project so I'll keep you posted.  hehe  posted... on the poster... get it  ;-)    OK time for me to stop rambling and get to work on the report.  

Happy Saturday All, and thank you again for your interest and support (extra thanks if you have made it this far in yet another long blog post).  

For your viewing pleasure, here is a photo of my future Maserati.  Mine is the black one, although I haven't yet decided whether or not it will be a convertible... I'm leaning toward not, to help protect myself from gratuitous sun exposure (for which I used to be a glutton, hence the melanoma blog).  

PS - Eleven years ago I spent a week in Florence, and next Tuesday my daughter is going there on a school trip.  Emotions are high in my house at the moment, as this is the first time the twins will be so far apart for so long.  And because I am jealous as hell. LOL  I want to go too waaaannhh 

About that week I spent in Australia...

So this happened...

You know me well enough to know I don't usually post photos of myself, but... me with this little cutie is worth breaking my rule.  Flattering pic it is not (my hair reacts to sub-tropical climate humidity, I digress...) but lovely moment in my life captured on film, I must share.  I got to cuddle this little beauty for a few minutes.  Her name is Vinnie, and yes she does have sharp-ish claws so I was grateful for the advice to wear long sleeves.  She did not smell bad, contrary to popular belief, and she did not pee on me.  Her fur was incredibly soft - like a cross between chinchilla hair and sheeps' wool, if I could describe it that way... super soft and fine on the surface, but very deep and floofy, my hand sunk in a bit when petting her.  Totally worth the 20 extra AUD dollars at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, just outside of Brisbane, Australia.  :-D

I also got to feed kangaroos - like real live hopping huge kangaroos.  Many of them were lying around just chillin', and they preferred their food to be delivered by hand directly to muzzle, but they were cool to observe, and pet.  Unbelievable experience!  One large 'roo hopped right by me and it shook the earth a bit... they are clearly very powerful animals.  I also saw a platypus swimming around like a mad man, couldn't catch him on camera (bought the post card though!), and hung out with the cutest Tasmanian Devil I have ever seen.. Oh wait, that was the only Tasmanian Devil I have ever seen.  Australia's largest predatory mammal didn't look too predatory to me - until it yawned and I saw it's razor-sharp teeth large enough to notice in a quick glance.

Not even an intro for this blog LOL - just STRAIGHT to the Aussie animal experience! :-)  

To say this trip was a dream come true is an understatement, but I'll try to keep the gushing and gratitude talk to a minimum, just give you the scoops on the trip itself.  Many of my friends know that I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Australia, but I had taken it off my bucket list a few... oh at least three... years ago when I thought my life was over.  #cancer  

Another time, I will write more about the reason for the trip itself, my attendance at the World Congress of Melanoma, and the Global Coalition for Melanoma Patient Advocacy annual meeting, but for the purpose of this blog I will share the personal stuff and highlights of photos.  For those of you who know me on facebook or instagram you have already seen a couple of these.  

Blogger's Lounge at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.  

A TRUE blogger, I suppose, would have posted notes and photos as they were happening, but frankly, I was too busy with the conference to be able to do that, so... you'll have to trust me now that I am home, comfortably sharing my stories, reminiscing from my couch.  

My flights were largely uneventful, and not nearly as bad as some had warned, I highly recommend Qantas, totally great food and staff, and every consideration.  Individual movie screens make the flight pass quickly between naps (of which I had several) - I even watched Crocodile Dundee on my way to Australia!  Yes, I am a tourist.  

I flew through Los Angeles from Toronto, so after that first flight and the few hours connecting, my Qantas flight to Brisbane finally took off around 4am Toronto time, so I was pretty beat.  I fell asleep for a couple hours immediately after take-off.  Funny part of this is that I woke up at one point, looked out my window, and saw lights below!  I was like - WHAT - did I just sleep 13 hours? No, couldn't be... but city lights? We're flying over the ocean!  I turned on my seat-TV thingy to the flight tracker and lo and behold, we were flying over Hawaii.  LOL!  I fell asleep again, pretty pleased with myself that I woke up just long enough to be able to say I saw Hawaii.  Amateur traveller I am not.  :-P

Got to Brisbane, uneventful trip through customs - I watch Border Security, so I certainly know what NOT to pack to Australia!  Made my way to a taxi to the city and, dead stop, cars and drivers of cars are on opposite side!  Enter my first tourist moment of the trip - taking pics to send the kids of the taxi driver driving to my right and our car careening around on the wrong side of the road!!  My first time, yes.  

My Aussie friends did warn me to look both ways before crossing any streets - like really - look the opposite way!  Which was helpful, and by the end of the week I did get used to it, though on day two I was almost taken out by a bicyclist.  Not for lack of signage though, it should be clear to any foreigner which side is which.  Even the roads and pathways are marked (they all walk on the opposite side too, which makes sense, I guess):

I did manage to take a few modes of transportation while in Brisbane, happy to say.  Taxi, uber, ferry, bus, bici-taxi, and I did walk a tonne.  The Conference Centre was on the opposite side of the river but not far from my hotel, so it gave me lots of chances to walk around and explore "South Bank."

 

Hotel was nice, and situated on the North Quay as it is called, a short walk to downtown and the Queen Street Mall, a pedestrian shopping/eateries area, totally safe for Canadians walking around oblivious of the side of the sidewalk.  I had a few meals there, and did most of my shopping there, got the touristy Aussie swag in the open-air shops all around, got a new plug adaptor as the one I brought from home conked out on the first night, hit the currency exchange booth, and brought the girls some treats from Lush Cosmetics LOL.  

 These birds, called Ibis, were everywhere! ---^

I tried lots of different foods, had the local "Moreton Bay Bugs" which are like large shrimp, but from the bay directly off the coast by the city of Brisbane.  The food in general was varied, all fresh, quite a bit of "fusion" food, Asian influence but also lots of English/British; it felt quite European to me.  Lots of staples like avocado toast with poached eggs, oh and grilled tomatoes with every breakfast. 

 Australian coffee speak: 

above-pictured espresso is called a "short black," 

a normal-sized coffee coffee is called "long black," 

and a "flat white" is a coffee-milk latte sort of thing but small.

(Aside - it is Spring in Brisbane now, so the temperature was pretty warm and humid. And rainy!  It rained every day that I was there, was cloudy most of the time, and that made great fodder for the presenters at the skin cancer conference.  After all, almost 2,000 people were gathered for four days in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, the "melanoma capital of the world" - and none of us were in danger of getting any sun all week.  Many jokes were made over that, but it also gave me a great excuse to buy a local umbrella haha - why would I have brought one with me to a sub-tropical climate?  Silly traveller, always pack your umbrella, just saying)

(Chocolate Lab photo bomb- I just took this pic at home today, 

I was too busy using this umbrella in Australia to take pics of it then LOL)

Back to the food - yum, I love to explore local food when traveling.  In addition to the British pub fare and fresh sushi and Thai, I found an Italian restaurant making Napoli pizza, YUM.  Mine had buffala mozzarella and braised beef cheeks - and a glass or two of local Shiraz on the side.  for a long time my favourite wine at home has been Aussie Shiraz, I just like it.  It's a bit spicy, and the weight of it is perfect for me, not watery bland like a Zinfandel or heavy like a Cab, but right in the middle.  Going into the trip I made the mistake of thinking I would be able to enjoy lots of Shiraz while in the land down under, but it's not like traveling to a Caribbean country (or even the States) where the local booze is cheap and easy to bring home.  HA!  Not in Australia it's not! 

I drank the same wine in Aus that I buy at the LCBO here, but for the same price if not more.  In fact, I did manage to seek out one liquor store, and I did buy one bottle to bring home, but there was not a Shiraz for less than $28 AUD!  I was shocked; we pay half that for an everyday Aus Shiraz here.  I'm thinking maybe they send their cheapie stuff to Canada, and save the good stuff for in Australia  haha  

Most of the items I saw or purchased were very expensive actually, I would venture to say it was even more expensive than in Europe.  I'm not criticizing, it was just an experience I didn't expect.  The rate on currency wasn't bad, but the prices of things in restaurants and stores were quite high.  Oh and you don't leave tips at restaurants - Australian wages are quite a bit higher than ours, my friend told me that their minimum wage is $22-ish or something like that?  They are paid more, and valued more, from what I observed.  Which is nice.

  

One thing I did notice was cheaper there - passion fruit.  LOL  One day on my way to the conference there was a Farmer's Market setting up in Brisbane Square, so I got a few photos of what a tropical outdoor vendor market looks like.  Bags upon bags of passion fruit at one stall, and for only a few bucks!  Here we are hard-pressed to get passion fruit in the grocery store, and if we were to be able to, it would be about five dollars for one. 

One night after the conference sessions of the day I did manage to find a local grocery store.  YAY - one of my mandatory excursions when traveling.  At the direction of an interesting guy I met in the afternoon, who happens to be part of a macadamia nut farming family, I walked to the neighborhood "Woolies" or Woolworth's, to get some Vegemite, Timtams, and check out the fare.  I got a few things and a grocery bag, so now when grocery shopping around home I can casually pull out my Woolworths and Koala Sanctuary re-usable cloth bags and reminisce about my Australian grocery shopping.  Here is some of the stuff I bought (minus the TimTams, those did not last - apparently the "TimTam Slam" is a thing for a very delicious reason! The girls were very happily my official taste-testers):

Ahem yes, that is kangaroo jerky... I bought it for a friend. I did not eat any kangaroo meat while in Australia, though some of my colleagues did, as it was an option on the menu at one of the dinners we attended.  Apparently it is common to eat kangaroo meat there, and I am typically an adventurous eater in foreign countries, but this I just couldn't do.  They are too cute for me to eat.  (I'll spare you the details of the conversation I had with an Aussie on the topic, about the "cute" Bambi-deer (we consider pests) that Canadians are known to eat)

Speaking of the girls, they did a great job while I was away.  It was an emotional time for us, as that is the longest - and farthest apart! - we had ever been away from each other.  They were proud of me, and I was ambitious to go, but we were always on each others' minds and we were quite conscious of exactly how far apart we were.  Timezone-wise it worked out fairly well, as with my roam-like-home cell package from Rogers I was able to call home as much as I wanted for only $10/day, so the girls and I could talk anytime (except when I was flying of course). The 14-hour time difference worked with their school schedule, I was getting ready for bed when they were getting ready for school, and we could also talk when they got home from school in the afternoon, I was getting ready for work.

   

 (a few of my snapchat story pics keeping the kids posted on my whereabouts)

It helped that I didn't really sleep much, I suspect jet lag was minimized by adrenaline, and the incredible honour I felt for being invited to this event, plus my typical zest for exploration when I travel all caused me to check out everything I could from 6am to 10pm.  I knew I was one lucky SOB just to be standing on Australian soil, and I was going to make the most out of every moment I was there.

I feel I was able to cover a good portion of the city, though my photos aren't stellar for the most part due to the cloudy skies and my old/crappy phone camera.  I got a thorough feeling for Australia's "new-world city," Brisbane.  I went on the giant ferris wheel, put my feet in the sand on Streets Beach, sniffed the flowers all through the South Bank Parklands, and talked with everyone who would entertain conversation with me.  

 

Much of the city is open-air, restaurants and stores all wide open, but many many covered walkways or funky roof-type structures - all in the name of sun protection! That's truly what they are for, though I found them handy for rain protection the week I was there

 The Wheel of Brisbane

 City Hall Tower, downtown Brisbane

 Brisbane Square

Australian people are truly lovely.  I was impressed - Canadians have a reputation for being very polite - well in my experience, Aussies have us beat!  Sweet people, helpful, open, well-travelled, intelligent, and progressive.  I felt humbled but also very much at home, if that makes sense.  They were very welcoming, and proud of their heritage.  I was worried that Aussies might think me very touristy to be so ga-ga over the koalas and stuff, but no, they really seem to embrace it.  They are openly proud of their unique land and they seem genuinely happy to share their culture and specialties with visitors.  Lots of kangaroos and koala souvenirs all over, and koalas in every logo and crest around.  And so many Aussies I spoke with had either been to Canada or wanted to go.  Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal were all popularly named Canadian destinations for them, so I was happy to be able to reciprocate some patriotic descriptions of my country, especially since having been to each of those cities within the past year.  Yes, maybe now I'm bragging a bit.  ;-)  

Polymer bills like ours, and toonies and loonies but also a 20-cent coin!

I will wrap up with saying this trip was the most amazing experience.  It was the trip of a lifetime, and I am so very grateful to have had it.  I got to work in one of the most unique places in the world, on a topic that is very close to my heart.  I met many amazing people, and have made connections and friends that will last a lifetime-- shout out to my new friend Di - looking forward to a home exchange vacation in your lovely home in Tasmania!!  (hope you find Meaford as exciting as I will find Tazzy hehe)  :-)

A few more random Aussie wildlife photos for you.... and a major THANK YOU going out to my life-saver in many ways, Save Your Skin Foundation: thank you for making this possible. Thank you to everyone also, who helped make this trip feasible for me, who helped check in on the girls - and the pooch! - while I was away, and who supported me in the emotional and psychological ways it took to get me across that big wide ocean and back in one piece.  Love you. 

There is a eucalyptus plantation on the sanctuary grounds, so they can feed all these koalas - they eat tonnes of the stuff!  Fun fact: eucalyptus has very low nutritional value so koalas sleep 18-20 hours per day to conserve energy.

 Saw lots of these!  ----^ 

 Sculptural art in the street

Oh and LOL.... more snapchat anecdotes that I sent to the kids....

I made every effort to support the Australian economy, including the purchase of a couple Didgeridoos (spelling negotiable?), and one boomerang:

 And flying out of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: 

...and into Los Angeles... I saw the Hollywood sign from the plane: