Tornado damage in Alabama

Last month one of the deadliest storm systems ravaged a huge area of Alabama, sending hundreds of tornadoes through the northwestern part of the state and causing over 300 deaths. Relief efforts are underway, but the damage is still overwhelming and there are people left with nothing. The towns of Phil Campbell and Tuscaloosa were particularly hard hit, and here's some pictures of the damage below. Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers!

If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair!

Unfortunately, I don't think flowers would have made it through customs on the way home from Sydney! Although I must say, customs in Australia is a much more rigorous examination process than the US. Regardless, I ended up in San Francisco but with no flowers in my hair. No matter, I had a great time!

I had never been to San Francisco on a non-rugby-playing trip, so this was a trip to visit friends and just enjoy it. I hung out in Berkeley and walked around the university, had lunch with a friend at the famous Bakesale Betty's, stopped by the Mission district a few times for some meals, ate at a dive diner called Tee Off, saw the Golden Gate Bridge from just outside of Presidio, and took a trip up to Sonoma for a friend's 40th birthday celebration!



I was also lucky enough to be out in the Bay Area when the collegiate national rugby championships were going on and got to watch PSU play in the national championship! They lost to Army in the final, but it was great to catch up with older alumni, hang out with alumni I played with, and meet the new alumni and current players!



The Bay Area is beautiful (when not raining) and a huge thank you to my friends NM and AW for hosting me!

Sydney!

Well, Sydney is fantastic and I didn't have enough time there!! The city is situated on a harbor that's protected from the Pacific, but just east of the city are the beautiful alternating cliff and beach coves of the coast (including the famous Bondi Beach).





I was fortunate enough to get a tour from a Penn State connection - the most fantastic tour ever! I got the entire history of the first arrival of the English (and there seven boat loads of convicts!) to what is now Sydney. We went to the New South Wales Waratahs Super 15 game versus the Western Force - Waratahs pulled it out in the end. And I also got a chance to go to Manly Beach in the north as well. What an amazing city and I'd love to go back soon!

Perth

I didn't spend much time in Perth city, which is mostly just business-y and pretty modern. But I did spend a lot of time on the beach! There is a fantastic dog beach south of the city stretching for a couple miles, lots of running/biking trails along the wonderfully undeveloped dune coastline, and heaps of cute cafes overlooking the Indian Ocean.


Fremantle (aka Freo) is also just south of Perth and is home to a cute little main street, harbor, and museum. We stopped for a drink and some hot chips at Little Creatures, one of the first breweries there, and now expanding.




We also went to a Super 15 rugby game - Western Force v Canterbury Crusaders. The Force were winning up until the last 10 minutes, but then the Crusaders turned it on and scored 2 tries to win!


Perth does have a fantastic parkland - Kings Park - on a hill overlooking the city, complete with visitor center, botanic garden, treetop walk, and 100+ year old boab tree trucked from way up in the Northern Territory. Pretty cool place Perth!

Beautiful Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Thursday I flew out to Perth to visit some friends out there and see the sites. Western Australia is beautiful! I took a ferry to Rottnest Island, just off the coast of Perth, where you can ride a bike around the 11km long island and snorkel in its many bays. So I did just that! I'll let the pictures do the talking!

LOCATION

LANDSCAPE

ANIMALS AND THINGS (including the cute little quokka!)

The Fantastic Long Weekend

This past weekend, Easter Weekend, we all went up to the Barossa Valley for my friends' wedding celebration. The Barossa is about an hour north of Adelaide and produces some of the best wine in the world! This weekend also marked the beginning of the Vintage Festival in the Barossa and also was an extra long weekend because of ANZAC Day, sort of like Memorial Day in the US.

Friday was a picnic at Bethany Reserve - much like Cooks Forest with its shelter, huge fireplace, grass play area, and stream. Then we caught a last minute winery tasting at Simpatico before it closed for Good Friday.


Saturday, after a jog through the wine country, I headed to my friend's parent's house where the wedding was taking place. It was a beautiful, unique and perfect ceremony followed by a fantastically fun reception at a winery down the road!!


Sunday was brunch with the newlyweds, then some more wine tasting. This time we went to Two Hands winery which actually imports some of its grapes from Napa and other areas in South Australia. Some delicious stuff!!



Monday was filled with a competitive game of putt-putt and Lyndoch Family Fun day where I was in a grape stomping competition! Fittingly, the newlyweds won the whole thing, stomping 1.2 liters!!


We finished up the weekend with a trip to the Whispering Wall, a dam where you can stand at one end and whisper, and the person standing on the other side can hear you perfectly!



It was an excellent weekend, catching up with old friends, making new friends, meeting the families and just generally relaxing in the beautiful wine country!