News from Canberra

Lori just rang me, very happy and excited to be here, at last! She mentioned that it was very cold in Canberra (too right!) and the family were very much looking forward to coming up.

I assured her it was a lot warmer 'up here' as we are so much further north. They were having a lovely time exploring different restaurants and so forth, and have a family to meet them at the airport and drive them to their accommodation. woot!

If you would like to speak to Lori and her family on Skype, please download it now, and we can ring you (for free!) from my place. You will need a microphone, of course. See what you can do, go and drag a teenager to the computer and sort it out, so you can catch up on the news. Here’s the link to download Skype. http://www.skype.com/download/

They made it to Canberra

I got an email from Doris, (Lori's Mom) Lori called her about 6:30 this morning, I think that is 8:30 P.M. in Australia, Lori said all the Aussie's had coats, hats, and gloves on. Temp is 44 there now. They all had to get in there suitcases and get coats out. I think they are going to be in Canberra for a few days, but the Internet hookup is very expensive, maybe on Monday the Embassy could get something cheaper. Lori said as soon as possible she would update everyone.

Day Four (final day)

Mark and Audrey went to breakfast at the Terrace Grill for their buffet. Lots of goodies were enjoyed in the (once again) open air restaurant.

I went to the international market place intending to get fresh fruit bowls for Emily and myself, but they were not yet open. That's ok, we'll just grab a bigger lunch later.

When Mark and Audrey returned from the buffet we all got ourselves ready for the beach. Emily wanted to get in some surfing, Audrey wanted to build sand castles, I wanted to spend some time lounging under an umbrella, Mark didn't want us to finish up before the strong sun time. He went out with Emily while she surfed.

When our 1 hour was up (rental time on the surfboard, umbrella and chairs) we headed back to the room for a quick shower and change. We went to Duke's on Waikiki restaurant. Really cool, check out the link below!

http://www.tsrestaurants.com/hawaii.html

http://www.internationalmarketplacewaikiki.com/index.htm

The rest of the day has been pretty laid back. I went to the international market to get the fruit bowls and smoothie. Now we are gearing up to repack our bags for our departure to the airport. The flight departs at 11:50 p.m. and arrives in Sydney at 6:30 a.m. (10 hour flight). Once we claim our bags and clear customs, we'll head for our connection to Canberra on Qantas. We've rented a minivan and will attempt to drive to our Hotel http://www.griffinhotels.com/
Just remember "stay left". It should be easier for Mark the three of us will be there to "help" him.

Well----next post from Down Under!!!
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Thanks Patty for the educational post about Brisbane and Dayton. I'm sure my friends and family will check it! They are a curious bunch!

Look what Patty put on her blog about Dayton:

Notable facts on Dayton, Ohio, USA

Notable facts

The city has a rich heritage of inventions and innovations, with more patents per capita than any other city in the nation. Some of these inventions include the cash register, the stepladder, microfiche, waterproof cellophane, pop top beverage cans, the movie projector, space food, parking meters, the airplane supercharger, the automobile self-starter, gas masks, and the parachute.

Dayton has received the All-America City Award three times.

The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton on August 19, 1934.

Day Three

Today we rented a car and drove away from the big city of Honolulu in search of ocean vistas and small town Oahu. Along the way we stopped at Hanauma Bay. I heard about this spot from a military mom in Huber. We were thrilled with the experience. Check out the link below for images of the bay. http://images.google.com/images?q=hanauma+bay&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

After the stop we continued on past the bay and found exactly what we were hoping to find. The video of the views won't do it justice. We then drove on to a small town where we found an ice cream spot, Dave's Hawaiian Ice Cream. Yummy!

Emily found a seafood place in the map/magazine called Haleiwa Joe's Seafood Grill at Haiku. http://www.haleiwajoes.com/

More later---time to go to the beach!!!

XOXOXO!!

Brisbane

Lots of information here on Lori's new home, Brisbane. Have fun reading.

Day One & Two

ALOHA!!

We began our journey from Dayton thanks to Andy and Melissa who drove up from Cincinnati. They took us (and ALL of our bags) to the Dayton International Airport at 7:00 a.m. Our flight to Chicago was a mere 39 minutes in the air. We landed a bit ahead of schedule which was a good thing as our flight to Hawaii was already boarding as we finished our dash from the F concourse to the C concourse. We were on a waitlist for frequent flyer point upgrades for the four of us, but were told the flight was essentially full. Just as we were handing over our boarding passes "Hagenmaier party see me" was announced over the PA. Being the last in line, I dashed back to the desk and was told that only 2 seats (not beside each other) were available for our use. Mark graciously said for me to go ahead and Audrey did not want to sit next to a stranger, so Emily grinned as she was given the second seat.

Nine hours later we arrived in Honolulu. The approach to the island and airport is beautiful! We took a taxi to the Hyatt and before too long we were back outside and making a beeline for the beach! We enjoyed the sites and sounds of Waikiki beach. Our goal was to stay awake and active until at least 8:00 p.m. as was advised by a fellow 1st classian from Honolulu. We made it by walking along the beach, watching a Hula show and stopping for a quick snack at the Hula Grill (Mark thought the info guy called it the Hula Girl~~huh--he immediately thought it would be a great place to stop at). Back to the hotel and we all eagerly went to bed.

Day Two: Since the girls were enjoying lazing in the hotel room, Mark and I went to the hotel's breakfast buffet. It is an open air restaurant. The buffet was very nice and we were able to be seated outside at a table for two that over looked the beach scene.

We checked back with the girls and decided to go to the Ala Moana Shopping Center. An open air trolley bus took us there in about 20-25 minutes. The ride took us through the streets of Honolulu--at times was very picturesque, but was mostly city views. We used the time at the Ala Moana to shop for rash shirts and board shorts. It also served the purpose of being out of the searing beach sun during the day. Back to the hotel for a rest, phone calls (gotta use up the US cellular phone minutes!), and internet-fix. About 6 p.m. we headed back to the beach for the sunset and surfing lessons for the girls. The sunset was really great and the girls were having a great time surfing. Back to the hotel at about 7:30 to change and go find something for dinner. We ended up at the International Market Food Court. We shared fresh fruit bowls (papaya, watermelon, kiwi, grapes, and pineapple), a crab sandwich, and a gyro. It was all really tasty. The walk to and from dinner was very entertaining. All the "acts" were out. There was the metallic robot guys, the sax player, the banjo player, the pan flute players from Peru playing Beatles songs, the juggler, the basketball spinner, the artists, the magician,...... Back to the room and crash to bed!

Plans for Day Three? None yet......

YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS

TODAY IS THE FIRST PLANE RIDE OF YOUR WONDERFUL JOURNEY...WHAT FUN ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE. LORI BE SURE AND HAVE ONE OF THOSE LITTLE UMBRELLA DRINKS FOR ME. WHAT THE HECK, HAVE SEVERAL. TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES, WE WILL ALL BE THINKING OF YOU

Web Cams Down Under

Want to keep track of Lori and her family in Sydney? You can control this cam which overlooks Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the famous Opera House. Have fun.

Here is another cam at Brisbane's Southbank, with lots of cafes, shops, gardens, outdoor movies in summer and so on. It looks east to the city skyline, watch for the City Cat ferries passing by.

EMPTY HOUSE!!

Hi everyone! The movers came today at 8:30 a.m. and moved like lightening! They finished and were driving away at 3:30! They estimated that we had 5,000 lbs. I imagine if we hadn't gone through all the "big rid" phases we would have had 15,000 lbs. today alone! okay I'm exaggerating. The house is empty except for items we are going to attempt to pack in our baggage or carry-on. We found out recently that we can ship (at least once) some remaining items to an APO in Ipswich--about 1/2 hr. west of Brisbane. Mark is hopeful that he'll be able to arrange a regular APO address in his name.

Audrey is amazed at how her room echos---it's NEVER been this clean before !!!!! hee hee hee:)

Mark had Emily counting and wrapping all of the spare change that he had until 2:00 a.m. this morning. She had started at 11:30 p.m. As grandma Hagenmaier has professed, Emily probably came across the first nickel Mark ever made!!!

More later~~we're pretty tired, stinky---but not grouchy!! Humor always carries us through!

Hugs and kisses to all!

Pee 'n Fart Soup

This is how we Aussies cook Pea and Ham Soup, great fillers for those cold days.

Pea and Ham Soup

1 x bacon hock
1 x large onion, peeled and studded with at least 5 cloves
Some whole black peppercorns
1 x potato cubed into 1cm pieces (1/4 inch)
1 x parsnip as above
1 x turnip as above
1 x carrot
1 x cup of dried yellow peas
1 x cup pearl barley
Water to cover well and truly.

Leave in fridge overnight to chill and 'set' and then take meat off hock the next day, remove any cloves and perhaps peppercorns. Heat and serve with crusty bread.

New Feature Added with Instructions

I've added a link (left hand side of blog, below "Contributors") named "Our Calendar". I've begun by putting in our flight departure and arrival dates. Hagenmaier Friends and Family can also put their events into the calendar to let us know what you're up to! Let's see who is the next person to contribute to this. Hmmmmm, who will it be?

Instructions for use: Click on "Our Calendar". Click on a date. Enter an all day event on the left side or enter a timed event on the right side. Click "Return to Home page" (located below the word Happenings)

Thanks to Bob for the inspiration, thanks to Patty for the pointer, thanks to Emily for helping me do it!

Instructions to comment on an entry:
1)Click on the tan colored word "Comment" below an entry. It will take you to a screen that has a space to type your comments.
2)You'll then need to "choose an identity", and type in the word verification. (This is probably the easiest way to get something entered, but readers won't immediately see it upon viewing the blog--they'll have to click on Comments to read them)

Instructions to contribute:
1)Click on the orange square with the white B next to the word Blogger in the upper left hand corner of the page. This will take you to a page that you will need to log in (look for the username and password boxes)
2)Type in your username and password. If you click on the Remember me box, you won't have to re-enter your password.
3)This will take you to the Dashboard. You should see "Keeping In Touch" listed. Beside that a green plus sign labeled "New Post".
4)Click on the green plus sign. Here you'll see a screen with a space for a Title for your entry, and a box with space to type your entry. Make sure you are in the "Compose" tab. (if in doubt click the word "Compose") There are some basic word processing tools included. You can also click on the blue square (it kind of looks like a picture) to add an image--THIS IS WHERE WE CAN ADD PICTURES!!
5)When you are finished typing your post, click on the Orange box to Publish post or if you want to work on your masterpiece some more later, click on Save as Draft.

Thanks for hanging in there while reading this. I certainly hope you can follow these instructions to become regular contributors!

Calendar

http://pub44.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=3745105323

does this work?

testing out a link

Ok, now how do I have this as a permanent link in the margins of the blog, i.e. not a part of an entry?

Road Rules Down Under

Thought you might like to know some basic Road Rules for Queensland Lori. When we were in New Orleans, someone said that the car had right-of-way at all times (hence we were nearly skiddled) but here you must give way to pedestrians at all time. Oh, and keep left! (Lots of tourists get nearly run over when they forget to look over their right shoulder when crossing the road.)

Read more here

WHOA!! Time is flying!!!

The mover is here today packing up our first shipment. Mainly we have clothes, bedding, towels, kitchen gear, games and entertainment-type items. These items we feel will make that time in a hotel/temporary housing situation a bit more bearable.

I'll post a pic soon of the boxes in the garage.

Hugs and kisses to all our friends and family!