Let's hear it for Ningaloo!

There was a documentary on Oasis last night that brought back many happy thoughts.  Jaclyn, now 14, was particularly fond of this remarkable reef in West Australia, where the water is as warm as a bathtub and the fish school in abundance.  Here, she had the amazing experience of gliding with the Mantas.

We hired a day tripper to take us out from the Coral Bay docks up north toward the reef.  This area of Australia is virtually uninhabited, as the desert is merciless and the sun extreme.  We had traveled for a full day to reach this destination, to experience the sense of swimming in an aquarium with the tropical fish like Nemo.  We got that, and more.

The whale sharks are the real attraction at Ningaloo.  The biggest fish in the sea, they open their four-foot wide mouths and calmly swallow everything that swims in their path.  But after we arrived, we learned we were too early.  It was January, and the whale sharks are only visiting Ningaloo from March to June.  The Manta Rays, however, frolic here year-round.  The largest of the Ray family, they grow over eight feet across and though able to sting, they are not aggressive.  Dive boats take tourists out to their "play place" daily.

Our first stop was a brief snorkel to get used to the equipment, at an area abundant in cabbage corals and massive clams, which would close when we cast our shadows.  All six of us jumped in the water, Katie with a floater to help her navigate in the waves.  We partnered up and followed our guide as she pointed out her favorite spots, then had a bit of time to explore on our own.  The two boys came back with a tale of spotting a reef shark off in the distance.  Travis was excited.  Derek was not.

"Sharks?" Jaclyn asked.

"You like sharks?  Great, have we got a treat for you then.  On to Asher's Gap," she called up to the Captain.

Whale sharks are out of season.  Those are the harmless kind.  I'm here swimming in the deep blue sea with my four kids.  Did she just say she is taking us to swim with the sharks?

That is not what we signed up for.

The Book is Almost Complete!

Almost a year has passed since we have returned from our incredible adventure, and our life has returned to the normal routine, with the exception of incredible stories and photos to share.  I think, too, that all six of us has been changed by the experience.  I would say that yes, it was life-changing.

The blog itself began as an on-line journal.  I wanted to be able to document our travels and the stories of the "road trip", since the details and possibly entire events could be easily forgotten with passing time.  I also wanted to share our experiences with family and friends both back home and those we met along the way.

The project has grown, and I now wish to encourage other families to take a page from our story, and dare to try something like this themselves!  Yes, there will be obstacles since everyone comes from a different situation, but there are also many solutions, many opportunities that can be embraced.

The key is to remember that how you live each day is how you live your life.  You have the power to make a change.

Lots of things happened along the road that I didn't post, due both to security and in order not to alarm our "Moms" back home.  I am looking forward to sharing our story (in its FULL version!)  If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, please let me know and I can put one aside in your name.

Thank you for your encouragement.   It's so good to be home!

Re-entry

Gone for that long, there was a list of items to get back to where we left off.  Cell phones to reconnect, cable tv off stand-by, where is the silverwear drawer again?  Our vehicles needed to be retrieved from the farm, but first the driveway needed to be plowed to get them out.  And food, yes, I think Chris (our wonderful house-sitter, college boarder) was happy for the inevidable re-stocking of the shelves.  Poor guy, he had more than he bargained for when he was left with the "shovel the driveway" request this year.  I think one of the worst snowfall years on record.  Man, it is still waist deep, and still snowing.

On the way to dance class last night I asked the girls their impressions of Edmonton, our fair city, now that they have other places in the world to compare.  Jaclyn said:  Clean.  Wealthy.  Katie said:  Good bathrooms.  We all  laughed.

The boys?  Derek has vanished - in his room with friends, over at the neighbors, on his cell texting away.  He had hockey at school yesterday, and proudly held a shutout.  Said it was like he never left at all, and shocked his classmates, as they thought they might be able to score on the rusty goalie.  Not a chance.  Travis and I had an appointment with the guidance counsellor at the high school on Tuesday and he will start school again after Spring Break.  His rugby coach has asked him to help with the team, since he can't play this year - his knee surgery is booked for April.  He is looking into summer school to catch up on missed classes, but in likelihood will graduate at 18, rather than 17.  We are all good with that.  He's enrolled in a course to learn how to edit his video clips into a movie, so is excited to start that.

We have lots of stories to share, and it is great to listen to the kid's versions.  They have gained a lot of maturity in the past weeks.... and we are very proud of them.  They have grown, in many ways.  The world has been their classroom, and they all passed with flying colors.

It has been, undoubtably, the greatest field trip ever.

Jet Lag

Flight Day:  Mokolele Kauai to Honolulu 35 minutes
                  Air Canada Honolulu to Calgary 6 hours (overnight flight, 4 hours time change)
                  Air Canada Calgary to Edmonton 1 hr (prop plane, in a blizzard, landed at 7:30 am)

Bags packed, we headed to Mike and Deb's for a farewell breakfast.  We gave them the last of our food stocks, except for the mac chocolates, which we had for dessert - everyone should have chocolate for breakfast I think.  We hope to catch up with them again in the summer, as we have been promising a trip to visit them for 12 years, and still haven't followed that one through.  Jaclyn has qualified to dance at Nationals in Nashville so maybe we can do a loop of that part of the States in July... been around the world but not sure how far it is from Michigan to Tennessee, will have to look that one up...

We returned our last rental car, and went through our airline procedures.  One bag per person, one carryon no liquids, laptops out through security, shoes off, pat down (lucky Rick) and board another plane.  Quick up, quick down, shuttle, another line, another security (lucky Rick again), and hey!  Canada eh!  When we landed in Calgary, the first thing we saw was Tim Horton's..... and yes, it tasted awesome.  And, we had to walk outside to board our plane to Edmonton.  Boy, do we live in the bush. Calgary airport (which I hope is under renovation) had a plywood walkway, not heated and the wind was whipping the snow right inside.  We were still in shorts and flip flops.  Frozen toes!  Static charge! Welcome home!

Janice, Paege and Chris, and mom, and Anita were all waiting at the gate when we walked into Edmonton International.  We stand out, being very brown in this white world.  The snow drifts are still 8 feet high in places, and there were a lot of cars in the ditch... freezing rain makes for slick highways.  It was wonderful to see everyone, and even exhausted, we were charged with energy.  Derek was the funniest.  We had only walked in the door and moved in the bags, and he was already in and out of the shower and dressed for school.  He must have ran there, because he arrived only 20 minutes late for class, and apparently caused quite the stir in the hallway.  He was the most anxious of us to resume his social life.  Travis has a weeks worth of dates lined up.  Jaclyn is dancing non-stop, trying to gear up  in a hurry for Nationals, and Katie is in doll heaven.  Rick and I just needed a nap.

We're Going Home

Last day.  Wow.  As we packed our bags for the last time, I was overwhelmed by the reality of our trip.  It has been such an adventure, and I know the kids are excited to get home, see friends and family, but myself, I feel sad.

I can truly say that I have loved the family time we have had together.  That for me is as great, or even greater than seeing the world.  Five months with my children and my husband, not distracted by school, friends, sports, work, any commitments that takes us in different directions in our normal life.  For five months, I have got to play, too.  We have learned together, experienced common events, laughed at the same jokes, and now have these memories that will bond the kids together, and to us, forever.  We have learned about the world, and we have learned about each other.  It has been amazing, and I am sad it is coming to an end.  A part of me doesn't want to give them back to their "real" lives.

We have been working on our slide shows so that we can share pictures and video once home, so that has given us time to reflect.  Hawaii was a great "in between" - culturally similar yet not quite engaged.  There will be "heaps" to do, I am trying not to think about all that yet!  I am looking forward to family, friends, my own bed!   And I am so incredibly grateful that Rick enabled this trip to happen for us, and that we took the leap.  It was so worth it.  And off we go.

Home.

Pigs.... and Pig Hunting

When most people visit Hawaii, they don't have a hunting expedition in mind.  But, when you come from a farm in Western Canada, and have an interest in the more traditional arts of tracking, archery and skeet, well, a good pig hunt is what you might call fun.

There are many feral animals on the Hawaiian islands.  With no native predators, introduced species like mongoose, cats, turkey, goats, donkey and pigs have gone wild.  They have multiplied in the lush jungle environment, and have no natural controls so are truly destroying the natural environment.  The pigs, in particular, are an extreme nuisance as they root up the soil killing vegetation in swaths of destruction, and they are vicious when approached.  They are no longer the cute little piggy with the curly tails, they are instead big and black with large tusks and think nothing of killing dogs and would attack children or even small adults if cornered.  They need to be controlled.  The pig hunt is on.

By special invite, our Hawaiian friend Stan invited Rick and our boys as well as Mike and a few of the Michigan mates to join them Saturday to their ranch.  With the dogs wearing kevlar vests, they headed on foot up Ma'kai (mountain side) to track their prey.  I know they sighted at least five, and had some good "fishing stories", but no luau for dinner.... still, a very unique experience and they saw some country that is normally inaccessible to tourists.  Maholo Stan, what a great day!

Reading Lists.... "world schooling" for us all

I love to read, and on this trip it was great to choose titles that were set in our places of adventure.  Here are a few of the novels and children's/youth books, as well as movies, we tackled along the road...

The Voyages of Captain Cook
The Chronicles of the Inca by Garcilasco de la Vega
Eat, Pray, Love
The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson
The Social Network, the story of Facebook
The Beach
The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCoullough
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
Only Two Seats Left, The Incredible Contiki Story by John Anderson
The Touch, Colleen McCoullough

Katie's (age 6)
Magic Treehouse Chapter books - Afternoon on the Amazon, Vacation under the Volcano,  Mummies in the Morning, Dingoes at Dinnertime
Bindi's Wildlife Adventures, Trouble at the Zoo - featuring Bindy, Steve Irwin's daughter
Dr. Suess - Oh! The Places We'll Go, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop

Jaclyn:
The Diary of Charlotte Doyle
The Murder of King Tut (she loved it too)
The Clan of the Cave Bear

Derek:
The Lost City of Z
The Hunger Games series
Tomorrow, When the War Began, John Marsden (also a movie now, just released)
The Dead of the Night, John Marsden

Travis:
Guinness Book of World Records 2011
PADI Scuba Dive Course manual
Lonely Planet guidebooks:  Peru, Egypt, Thailand

Also enjoyed these classic films:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (set in Peru)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (set in Petra, Jordan)
Crocodile Dundee I and II
The Castle - great Australia film, and I'm not dreamin'!
Emperor's New Groove
Finding Nemo