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Bula from Malolo Island
Fiji is awesome, true paradise!

JUNE 09 - First Wedding Anniversary

Wow, one year has passed by!

It is true when they say "time flies". I can't believe that it has been one year since our wedding and one year since we've moved to Australia. This year for us certainly has been filled with lots of love, fun, adventure, many new experiences, lots of learning, meeting great new people, and of course some bumps alone the way (which I guess is to be expected when moving to another country).

Quite some time ago I made up a slide show of the highlights of our wedding day. I wanted to upload it into our blog but have not found a way to do that. I had to compromise. What I was able to do is to save each slide in a different format and insert each slide into this post. The writing maybe hard to see so I will include the writing from each slide below its perspective picture. If you click on the picture you will be able to see it in a larger format and thus see the writing as well.

Hope you all enjoy the highlights of our Wedding as I have (with wonderful memmories ) while creating this post.

Our wedding was held at the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Club. The weather was on our side for the day. Couldn't ask for a more beautiful day! This picture shows a few of our wedding guests as they wait for the ceremony to start.

Bryan's son Adam played the saxophone while Bryan and I walked to meet each other.

Wedding party: (left to right) Paula Mason, Gail Finley, Bride, Groom, Adam Willett, Andrew, Willett

We met up together half way down the path and together walked up to the alter.

Both Bryan and I wrote our own wedding vows.

At the signing of the marriage licience we had our two moms sign as witnesses.



This slide says it all. First kiss as husband and wife and a very happy Bride and Groom.

A slide showing a few of our guests at the reception.

Bryan's Andrew and Karissa bought us each a "Saskatoon Rough Riders" t-shirt and presented it to us at the reception. Very fitting. A few guests mingling and having a good time.



More pictures of guests having fun.



Just before the wedding dance, Adam had his own personal gift for us. He wrote and composed a song that he sang for us at the reception.

Our first dance. Bryan and & took dance lessons for a while before the wedding. This was our chance to put into practice what we learned. Must say that my dress did get in the way.



Deepak was up to his usual tricks at the dance. Crazy guy, but a lot of fun! My four sisters dragged Bryan up and had their own personal dance with the Groom. Brave man! Crazy Sisters!



Mom and Dad Willett enjoying the dance along with other guests.

More guests trying out the dance floor.



OUR WONDERFUL PARENTS



Bryan with his two boys Andrew (left) Adam (right)

Bryan and his family (left to right) niece Olivia, brother Jeff, sister-in-law Susan

Bryan with his parents, brother and sister-in-law.

Jerry & Gloria Reimer. Gloria married us. It was also Jerry & Gloria's wedding anniversary too.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our parents, family & friends for their love, support and their helping hands.

Your presence & steadfast love you have all shown us, we are truly greatful and thankful for.

Without your gracious love and assistance we would not have made it to where are are today.

Also, THANK YOU, to everyone for their hearfelt gifts and words of encouragement. They were all greatly appreciated and we have utilized your gifts towards making our new place in Australia feel like HOME!

All our love

Bryan & Maureen

MAY 09 - Shark Dive & Coonabarabran Bike Run

I'm baaack!

WOW! Am I ever making ground. Only 3 months worth of posts and I'll be all caught up, again! It is really nice to review the past few months as I am blogging. It really makes me feel that we are truely blessed to be here and to experience the beauty and the adventures that this part of the world holds.

Well, here comes May 2009. We had a couple of highlights this month. One was my birthday present to Bryan. Yes, I know that his birthday is March 30, 1960. (which by the way March 30th 2010 will make him the big 50 ) But don't tell him I mentioned it. The month of March and April Bryan was out of town quite a bit so I had to wait until May to give him my present. We went for a drive to Manly Beach, Friday May 1 2009, where I told him we were going for coffee, a walk on the beach and then lunch. We walked to Manly Aquarium and went to the front counter and I told the girl who we were. She then responded by saying, 'Oh you are here for the shark dive'. That was one surprise. The other one was that I was going with Bryan. (I surprised myself as well).

We had a blast! Or I should say Bryan did anyway. I was scared spitless! It was really neat and now that it is over, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The ocean life that we saw were just awesome. There were several different kinds of fish, a manta ray as big as a queen size mattress, and of course several different kinds of sharks. The grey nurse shark was the biggest of all. The largest grey nurse shark was 12 feet long. Huge! The sharks would come within inches of you just to see who was visiting. The sharks were fed the morning before we got there. Good thing!

















Left: Me hanging on to Bryan's hand with al my might. Note, the shark coming in from behind.

Right: Bryan and I holding our hands up to tell the instructor that we're OK!

This is a picture of two of the grey nurse sharks. Mean looking creatures aren't they? We only purchased these three pictures and the video. They were a bit expensive. The video is pretty long so it is not possible to upload it, sorry. The sharks are very sleek animals. Wonderful to watch as they glide through the water with such ease.

Coonabarabran Bike Run - May 16 & 17 2009

On the third weekend in May we hooked up with the Ullyses Blue Mountains Chapter for a bike run to Coonabarabran, NSW. It was about a 6.5 hour drive one way. We took one way on the way there and a different way back.

Left: Our first pitt stop. Some of the bikes on the trip. Our bike is the 1st bike on the left side of the picture.
Right: A view of the road with the mountains in the background.

Another pitt stop was that of an observatory centre near Coonabarabran. It is named the "Star Gazing" capital of Australia. The stars you can see from here are phenomenal. We, unfortunately were there before it was dark and it was cloudy out as well.

The view from the top of the observatory.

A group photo taken in front of the hotel where we stayed. Bryan is in there somewhere!

Well, that finishes the month of May. Next on the list is June and our first wedding anniversay. Keep checking for the next post. I'll get caught up yet!!

Take care everyone.

All our love,

Bryan & Maureen

APRIL 09 - Easter at Shoal Bay NSW

Well, here is the highlight for the month of April 2009. We both had a long weekend so we took advantage of it and went North to a wonderful beachside resort called Shoal Bay. This is where we spent our Easter weekend. Enjoy the pictures!

Usually at Easter we are used to getting chocolate "Easter Bunnies".
This year was a little different. Bryan bought me an "Easter Bilby"
It is a type of a bandicoot, endangered species in Australia.

Photo taken from internet.

And you guys think that the traffic in Saskatoon is bad! For quite a long time the traffic was bumper to bumper and just crawling along. It is a bit hard to see from the picture but believe me, I've never been in traffic this backed up before. People were right when they warned us to leave early to avoid the traffic. I guess we didn't get out early enough!

















Well, we finally made it to our destination. "Shoal Bay Hotel and Resort". Very nice place. But even a nicer view. The beach was just across the road from our hotel room. It ended up being a nice weekend. Not really really hot but just right! Warm enough to enjoy a cold one on the balcony and just sit, relax and enjoy the surroundings and views.

About 30 minutes after we arrived someone knocked at our hotel room door. To my suprise a man was holding a huge bouquet of flowers and asked for "Mrs Willett". That's me! Bryan pre-ordered flowers to be delivered to me once we arrived. What a sweetheart! The flowers, as you can see were beautiful!

We went for a walk along the beach shortly after we arrived and Bryan found rocks again. Man, he really loves rocks. I don't blame him for they are truely amazing. Many different shapes, sized and colors. Amazing how water can erode such massive pieces into true art.

The next day we went for a walk just to investigate what was all around us. We stumbled across this quaint little place. Henry, they have a place here just waiting for you!

We saw many many beautiful flowers. I was able to snap the camera quickly to get this one.

The wonderful "Birds of Paradise" flower with a "Myna" bird using it for a resting place. These flowers are absolutely everywhere. They grow in huge bushes with the flowering stems towering from the branches. The myna birds are everywhere as well.

In the afternoon we went for a walk. Picturesque Shoal Bay lies at the foot of Tomaree Headland, offering one of the best lookout spots on the East Coast of Australia. From the summit, we had a 360 degree view as far as the eye can see - north towards Seal Rocks, south towards Newcastle and inland across the Tomaree Peninsular and Port Stephens.

One of the views from the top of the lookout. This picture shows "The Spit". It is two sand dunes which connect to an island when the tide is out. You can walk across 'the spit' at low tide with care. We were there just before the tide was starting to come in. It was late afternoon and the weather was starting to cool off a bit.

We made it about 1/2 way and with water waist deep and the tide starting to come in. I told Bryan that this is about as far as I was going to go. Bryan, I am sure would have gone the whole distance, but then there is the task of trying to come back when the tide was coming in. Not a good idea we were told, because people have lost their lives trying it. We will go back another time and cross the spit when the tide is low and the weather a bit warmer.

Fingal Bay. We walked and walked along the massive beach. It goes for a long long way. This is the beach that you walk along to get to "The Spit". There are massive amounts of sand and huge sand dunes everywhere. The picture on the right shows me amongst the sand.

My "Footprints in the Sand"
.

It was one fantastic weekend. God's beauty was all around us. The sights and sounds we experienced were breathtaking. An area we will surely visit again.

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of our Easter weekend.

Everyone take care and take care of everyone!

All our love, hugs and kisses!

Bryan and Maureen

Radio dish at Cowra NSW

The blog and picture were sent from my mobile phone as a test.

This picture was taken during a recent business trip to Cowra. I took 5 minutes (maybe a bit longer) after the work was done to stop in and see this historic site.

Famous for it's use for communication during the first moon landing.

Also the subject of documentary in the move "The Dish".

The dish is huge, very impressive and is still in use today.

We hope to blog from Fiji in August, so the text amount will be less, but you'll be able to see some good photos without having to wait until we get back and start updating the blog.

MARCH 09 Trip to Lithgow & Ulysses Club Show

Hello again. Here we go with our continuing adventures down under. Let's back up a bit and start with where I left off March 09. As mentioned in my last post a more detailed view of the last few months we've been here.

In March we took a real nice bike ride to Lithgow, NSW. It is a beautiful ride through the hills and mountains just North of here.

On our way we stopped at a quaint little restaurant for lunch. We ate outsisde (it was pretty warm that day) and had a great view as well.

















On our travels we stumbled across the 'Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens'. We stopped and smelled the flowers and took in the views. A must to see in Spring or Summer to capture the flowers in full bloom.

Bryan standing among the flowers. Me among some small tropical trees. Boy, doI feel even shorter!


After we took in the magnificant gardens we went on our way and continued our ride along the 'Bells Line of Road' and just took in the breathtaking views and sites around us.

This is just one example of the views that we saw along this bike trip. The road twisted and curved all along the way. Jeff you would love this ride on your bike.

Another event we took went to in March 09 was to take in the Ullysses Bike Club Annual General Meeting which was held in Penrith, NSW about 30 minutes Northwest of us. There the shops displayed all their latest in bike paraphernalia and of course the latest in motorbikes as well. We did find a wonderful cruiser bike that we put on our wish list. Maybe the bike for us come retirement or sooner, we'll just have to see!

There is fellow rider that rides his bike here for and raises a lot of money for charity. He has a special passenger on his bike. A four legged passenger. Yes, man's best friend, a dog. This dog does literally ride with him everywhere. The name of the man and his dog I cannot remember but he raises a lot of money for charity and is quite the spectical on the streets. The government is trying to get him off the road unfortunately for they say it is not safe for him, the dog or other people on the road. He was at the show and was very happy to pose for pictures.

Picture above shows a few of the bikes that people rode to the show. Impressive turnout!

Well, that concludes our March here in Australia. Hope this post finds you all well and enoying your Summer. We've heard you really haven't had much of a summer weather wise. Let's hope it improves for you and lasts right into Fall. Keep watch for April 09 post will be coming soon.

All our love,

Bryan and Maureen