Another Amazing day in Tasmania! Here is my host family Bill and Rosanne out in front of the Runnymede mansion that was build in 1840 by a Scottish born lawyer. There is alot of facinating history with the mariners of whaling to the convict history as well. We spent the day driving about the country side looking at quaint little towns with lots of character.

This is the oldest wind mill in the southern hemisphere that still grinds grain into flour. It has two large stones that grind the grain and all the local bakeries use it to make fresh bread. It is like nothing you have every tasted. Delicious!

Here is the mill again in the English inspired town called Oatland with it's lovely gardens that surround each cottage home.

My team and I visited the local cheese factory named Wicked Cheese. Love their logo! :) Tamoo enjoyed it as well.

Day 2

I woke up this morning after a solid 10 hour sleep. The morning was beautiful. It was fairy warm and sunny and I had a nice breakfast with my host Anne as well as her mother, Claire. Their house is on a nice hill in Kingston, just outside of Hobart. Looking out the window there is a lemon tree surrounded by wild roses everywhere. Everything was perfect until the worst thing happened to me….I plugged in my hair straightener and it sizzled and smoked until the red light went out on it! Anyone who knows me well knows that this is my worst nightmare! The voltage converter that I picked up from Canadian Tire prior to leaving failed on me. Oh well, on the flip side Gary got a nice a lesson on hair appliances  while we had to shop for a new one. The sales lady at Cyber Hair got a real kick out of us as Anne took many photos of Gary and I with all the hair products (photos to follow). 

After breakfast Kathryn, Gary and I along with Anne and Kathryn's host Gerry spent the morning at a local newspaper 'Huon News' for a quick tour and photo op for the paper next week. It was very nice to see. Later we ventured an hour south to the Temperate Rain Forest. Some of the Huon Pine trees here are 2500 years old!

For lunch we ate pie at a small cafe and then met up with the Montana GSE team that are also touring here. Surprisingly one of them works as a ski hill equipment supplier that supplies quite a bit of the machinery to Loch Lomand where I ski back home…small world!

I look forward to seeing the rest of the girls tomorrow to hear about their day with host families. Everything is amazing here and everyone is very friendly. The local Rotary clubs have been wonderful with making such a great itinerary for us. Tomorrow morning we do our first presentation to the breakfast club at Salamanica Rotary Club. Wish us well!

  

In Australia!!!

The team has safely arrived in Australia. We are sitting in Sydney airport enjoying coffee after a long but pleasant flight. We board our flight to Hobart in less than a half hour. We are so excited!!

Canadian Mountie

While leaving Canada we ran into a Canadian Mountie. We think we will bring him along in the overhead bin to keep us out of trouble.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Sioban, Kathryn and I have 1 flight down and 4 to go (1 hour down 30 to go) We have landed in Winnipeg (Who Winnie the Pooh was named after). Next we are off to Minneapolis to pick up the American half of our team.

2 weeks to go!!!

We are currently at the 2 week mark until we take off!  Which also happens to be the birthday of our team member, Heather!  Happy Birthday Heather!

Tamoo has been with me (Ashley) in Detroit Lakes since our last meeting and I wanted to give an update on what he's been up to.

We've had fun "monkeying around" Detroit Lakes! 

And causing mischief at a local sporting goods store.  Tamoo is itching to go out kayaking!

And we had to stop at the Minnesota Famous Zorbaz Mexican and Pizza Joint for a ride in the Beach Buggy!

We even got to hang out with inbound GSE Team Tasmania when they were in Detroit Lakes on May 1st. (Tamoo is hidden in this picture, but definitely there)

We stopped at the famous Detroit Lakes Sailboat for some fun.

 

After a long day, we stopped off at a local park and did some swinging.

Tamoo has had a great time and is meeting friends wherever he goes.
We look forward to May 18th when we reunite and head off on our destination to Tasmania!  Keep checking our blog for updates while we're in Tassie!