Sunday, April 30, 2006

Sydney Pics

Me infront of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney from the Royal Botanic Garden
Aboriginees Performers on the street, bought a great cd from them.
The world famous Sydney Opera House
Sydney at night from Darling Harbour

Photos from Downunder

Me and the dangerous Big Red Kangaroo
Mentos the Breath saver! Actually Australian Mints called "XXX"! I had to buy!
Rasta Frank!
Frank and the Kola! I've been told, "It's a Kola, not a bear!"
"Which way to the USA?"

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Back to Blogging!


Hello Everyone,

Thanks for all the comments and checking in on me. As always, please check out my other blog, group6630.blogspot.com . It's been hard keeping up the blog with out internet access, but I was able to keep info on my Australia blog. The work part of my trip is over. I have another week in Australia to vacation and see some sites. I think I've been here too long, because Americans sound funny to me, driving on the left side of the road doesn't feel wrong anymore, and seeing kangaroos and birds bigger than deer isn't weird.

I'm off to Sydney, Cairns and Brisbane this week. I'll physically be back in the on Saturday, May 6th. I hope to see and talk to all of you soon. I believe I have over 1100 photos so far.

Thanks for reading!

Frank

Sunday, April 16, 2006

The Adventure Continues





Had a great Easter Morning! My host family is friends with a local pilot/airplane enthusiast. Went to a private airfield and saw hangers full of airplanes that looked like they should be in the Smithsonian Institute. Ended up flying around South Australia in an authentic 1940's US Army Bi-Plane! I hope everyone likes the pics, I loved the ride!

Friday, April 14, 2006

Chillin in Australia





Hello Everyone,

I haven't put much on here lately with me running the other blog. I'm having a great time in Australia. This trip has been a great experience so far. I'm learning a lot and I'm looking foward to making a few changes in my life when I return. I'm loving this international travel thing and I really hope to do more in the near and far future. Many of the Australians I've met have seen so much of the world. The stories and the experiences make me very envious. The stories are also very motivating. I'm near a big city, so I should be able to keep up regular postings on both sites for the next couple of days. Be sure to click on my Australia Blog link to the right for more stories and pictures. I plan to post a lot in the next couple of days.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

I'm Alive

Hi Everyone!

New posts and pictures are on my Aussie blog! I'm keeping super busy and have little access to computers right now.

Thanks for all the e-mails and comments!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Read my other Blog!

I'm in wine country, I need to some pictures of grapes!

Hello Everyone!

I've been trying to maintain two blogs. I have this my personal blog and I also have one I'm running for the local Rotary to let people know what's going on for my trip. I don't want to type the same thing twice, so when you get a chance, please check out the other blog.

Group6630.blogspot.com

You can also click on "Australia Journal" under "other blogs" on the right side of this blog.

I'm on the move tommorrow. I'm heading up into the real outback. I should be able to post some great shots. I have about 300+ photos so far. I have some really amazing ones. They're keeping us super busy, so when I find time, I get some of the better ones posted.

I need to get to bed. I have a 3-4 hour trip by car tommorrow! Thanks for reading!
When I get some time, I'll type some info on what I've learned about Australia so far. The people here love my accent! That's funny! I had a group asking me to say different things today so they could here my accent more!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Australia Update

Lost in the Outback! Took a little tour out into the outback and took this picture.
Blue Wate Lily at the Royal Botanical Gardens
Me and my teamate Dave searching for Kangaroos!
5 days in Australia and the only roos I've seen have been at the zoo!
I visited a local vinyard that growns grapes for sultanas (raisins). Ate a few off the vine, they tasted great! The ones I sampled later at the factory were even better. The place smelled like fruit rollups! The Australians dry their rasins on the vine.
A great picture from downtown Melbourne. We had just had breakfast and I joked that the crosswalk signs look like Micheal Jackson moonwalking. I wanted to get a shot for my funny photos collection. Just as we took the picture it stopped raining and the sun came out. The reflection of the sun made the sign glow! This picture was not altered or enhanced! I repeat I did nothing to this picture! Amazing!

Sunday, April 02, 2006

On the move


It is Sunday, April 3, 2006 about 10 PM (8 AM in Cleveland). I just got to the city of Mildura today. The real work has begun. Over the next 4 weeks the team I'm with will visit over 7 different locations. We'll give presentations to local civic leaders, receive tours of the community and particpate in job shadowing programs with professional in similar fields. I wrote my best friend Scott and told him I definately know what a Ambassador feels like! There was a ton of PR stuff today and lots of picture taking with local leaders. There was a lot of food too. My mom and a few other people will be happy to hear that I'll probably come back from this trip a few pounds heavier!

Here's a quick review on what's happened the last day or so. I think I've taken about 200 pictures so far. Melbourne was a great city to visit. The Australian Grand Prix was in town, so got to expereince a lot of the events and festivities. People think soccer fans are crazy, wow!

I got carded at the Crown Casino and lost $10 on roulette. My luck didn't change on another continent!

One of my teamates had contacts with people at the Melbourne Zoo and the Royal Botantical Gardens, so we got VIP tours of both. I have some amazing pictures of both. Talk about some amazing places. Once again Melbourne is beautiful, I can't wait to post some pictures.

There was a really interesting thing that happened here over the weekend. With it being Fall here in the southern hemisphere, we set the clocks foward an hour this morning. Back home in Cleveland set their clocks ahead an hour, so now I'll be 14 hours ahead versus 16. Thats weird. In 3 days I cross over to a new time zone in Australia, the time will be 30 minutees behind. Yes 30 minutes "behind", so by the end of the week and for almost the rest of the trip, I'll be 13.5 hours ahead of Cleveland time. Talk about different!

Thats all for now from Australain Wine and Citrus country. I'll post pics soon. Thank you everyone for your comments!

Day #1

I have a hand written journal I'll be keeping on the trip. When I can I will transfer what I wrote to the website. This is what I wrote on the airplane:

We just got the message that we are one hour away from Melbourne. The trip has been long and short. Here are a few things I've learned so far.....

#1 I'm traveling with a great group of people. They are funny and smart at the same time. I'm going to learn a lot, just by being with them.

#2 747's and all airplanes are not made for people over 5 feet tall. If you're over 5 feet tall, you're in trouble! Sitting 15 hours in one spot isn't good for the "rear!" I stood up and walked around for a bit, so the feeling is starting to return to my backside. 350 people shoved into a metal box with wings....Nice!

#3 Qantas is a great airline! I'm going to have a tough time flying domestic in the future. The food has been really good and the in flight entertainment can't be complained about. I love the little toothbrush, socks and eye mask we got.

#4 I'm getting used to the Australian accents. The people I've met on the plane have been friendly and shared a lot of information about their country. There is a very diverse group of people on the plane.

#5 Watching the sunrise behind the plane this morning was beautiful. I took a few pictures ( I posted a few on the my other page)

#6 It takes 25+ hours to get here. Cleveland to Los Angeles took 5 hours. We waited in Los Angeles for another 5 hours and the flight to Melbourne is 15 hours.

Thats all for now, more to come soon!