Out with 2007 in with 2008!

Well cant believe that 2007 is over and it is already 2008. All of you back home are getting ready to celebrate your new years eve 07 and in Australia we have already celebrated last night and are recouperating the next day!! I still find that weird. We had a really nice quiet christmas, xmas eve we barbequed a chicken and had mash and gravy aswell as cauliflower and cheese sauce. It was our attempt at xmas away from home and tasted great. On xmas day Hans arrived and we had a barbeque it was weird having a barbeque on xmas day in the sun. We even spent the afternoon at the beach.:) Kendra arrived on the 27th and we have been drinking and eating everyday since, we are starting a detox tomorrow when they both leave! Last night we celebrated new years eve. The fire works unfortunately were cancelled due to cyclone weather. Actually since Kendra and Hans have arrived the weather has been awful, i think they jinxed it or something cause it has not been this bad since we have been here. For New years eve, Kendra took us for dinner to a restuarant called the "Captains Table" we had kangaroo which actually is amazingly good, tastes like really lean steak, Crocodile which is a mix of fish and chicken. Flaky like fish but tastes like chicken, and lobster. It was a feast fit for kings! After we hit a few club/pubs and drank, drank, drank! It was alot of fun. Tonight we are spending our last night together before they both head out in the morning. I think Glenn and i are going to have alittle empty nest syndrome we have had visitors since november. All in all things are really good, 2007 is over and we are in to 2008. I hope every one has an amazing New Years and we are thinking about you all everyday. Love you and miss you bye for now.
Love Jen and Glenn

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PICTURE: Christmas in Australia! Me and my man!
PICTURE: Our Christmas tree!(You have to look at it side ways! It adds to the beauty of the tree:)
Well i just wanted to wish everyone a very merry christmas! I cant believe that it is already that time of year. How 2007 is already over is beyond me! Im sure everyone is busy as bees, running through the crowded malls picking up last minute gifts and such. We have no definite plans for xmas day, have been invited to a few barbeques and may just do a little bq crawl and hang out on the beach. Ohhh... rough life!!
We miss everyone tons, hope you have all had an amazing year and cant wait to see you all in 2008!
Merry Christmas Love Glenn and Jen in Australia:)
XOXOXO

The last "Schimpf" goes home:(

PICTURE: The crew!
PICTURE: The Sisters:)
Well its been a month now i cant even believe it but Kelsey has to go home. She leaves this 30 degree climate to come back to the snow! We have had a blast having her here and are sad to see her go. Saturday night we went out on our last big drinking night with Robb and the boys. Lets just say "YagerBombs" were involved and we all were feeling pretty gooood....! Yesterday we went to the "Wet 'n' wild" water park and took on the water slides. We all know we have gotten older because our patience for standing in lines is definitly not there anymore. Today we are spending her last day on the beach before she leaves. I hope all of you are doing well we miss you tons!!!
Love Jen and Glenn

Less than 25 days till Xmas!:)

PICTURE: Lazy life for a Koala!
Well, life continues on the gold coast. It has absolutely been gorgeous weather. Both Glenn and i are getting into a little more routine but have been keeping up the drinking with Kelsey still here! I have heard from a few that it has been very cold in Calgary so i can for sure say that iam not missing that.
I sure cant believe that it is already december, how time flys. We are trying to decide our plans for xmas which can i say is super weird @ 30 degrees! There are decorated xmas trees on the beach! Our friends Kendra and Hans will be here for the 25th so we might do our own thing, or we have been invited to Robbs uncles for a luncheon. I may have to try and cook a turkey with mashed potatoes though cause i dont think Glenn will let me get away with no turkey for xmas. Men and there food! But we are very happy and enjoying our trip. But thats all for now, and i will talk to you all soon! Love Jen and Glenn

Aussie aussie aussie oyoyoy!

PICTURE: Glenn, Jen, Kelsey, Julie and the Irwins
Well, life continues down under. My mom has gone home but kelsey is still here. Had to go back to work last monday which was hard after 10 days on the beach. Its weird that christmas is on its way and it is 30 degrees out side. Kendra is arriving on dec 3rd and we will see her around xmas time and another friend hans is actually coming to visit us too. He arrives xmas day so we will be partying it up with the canadians on new years! And also at the end of january glenns mom is coming too, so we have lots of company until we begin our final travels of australia.
Glenn kelsey and i are all hurting today since we went out on the town with robb last night. I think we had a weee... too much. My liver has definitly taken a beating on this trip. But this was just a quick note to say hey we miss you all and will chat soon.
Love Jen and Glenn

Life with the "Schimpfs" downunder!!

PICTURE:Us with a camel at Australia zoo
PICTURE:My mom attacked by birds at Mount Tamborine
Well, 10days have just flown by, my mom is already going home on sunday:( Things have been just great, we have had a blast together. Last monday i took the crew to Sea World, i had never actually wandered around and seen the shows so it was alot of fun. We had absolutely gorgeous weather, and they had a chance to see where iam working right now.
Tuesday, glenn worked but kelsey, my mom and i went on a day tour of O'reillys and Tamborine mountain. It is the mountain/rainforest range right near us. We had another beautiful day and were able to get in a few walks through the rainforest. Yesterday, we rented a car and i drove us to the Sunshine coast where we went to the "Australia Zoo". It is the zoo that Steve Irwin the crocodile hunter built. It was awesome definitly one of the best zoos we have ever been too. My mom was really happy cause she was able to pet kangaroos and koalas, she was in heaven. We had to pull her away! The zoo is very hands on and allows you to get right up close and personal with the animals, we got to feed elephants, pet koalas, kangaroos and wombats and lots of others. We watched a live feeding of crocodiles and learned lots about the wild life. The concept is that when people get to be close to the animals they will want to do more to save them. It was super cool!!!
We have lucked out the weather has been really good for all of our day trips and we have also gotten in lots of beaching. It has been a very fun filled busy week and iam sad that it is almost over. I have to go back to work on Sunday:( Kelsey is here till dec 12th so we get to visit with her lots more before she goes. Tomorrow night we are headed to watch Willy play at one of his gigs before my mom leaves. Well thats the update for this week, hope all is well with everyone back home, we miss all of you, and think about you everyday!!! Chat soon!
Love Jen and Glenn

More Schimpfs in Australia!

PICTURE: Jen and her Mom!
Well, my mom and Kelsey have arrived in the great down under. They went sailing in the whitsundays before we met up here on the gold coast and they had a blast. It so beautiful no words can describe. We have lucked out the weather has been beautiful and we were able to go to the beach yesterday and do some body surfing. The waves here are killer they can knock you right off your feet. It was kelsey's first hot beach experience and she is pretty impressed!
Iam officially off work for 10days so iam excited, i think it will be hard to go back. Its super exciting to have my mom and kelsey here, we still need to pinch ourselves to make sure its real. We will be doing some beaching and keeping busy but all in all things are really good. We are going to go to the lansdowne to watch rob play tonight so that should be fun. But i love you all and miss you and make sure to keep warm!
love jen and glenn, kelsey and julie:)

Employee of the week/dive comp winner!

PICTURE: Jen, Glenn, Saud and Willy, a night on the town!
Hello,
Well, cant believe its already November man how time flys. November 12th we will have been gone six months and we only have six months till we have to come home. I do have to say i love hearing about snow back home while im on the beach it sure makes me feel good.
Well this week, Glenn and i both had good things happen at work. Glenn won a dive competition that his boss holds for the person to sell the most dives and he won a hundred dollars, and i got employee of the week! How funny is that i now have my picture on the wall and i got a huge fruit and vegie basket as well as a stuffed polar bear. I always used to joke at the salon that i was employee of the month and now its official! haha
Saturday night glenn, saud, willy and i went on our own little pub crawl around town. It was alot of fun, we went to the casino and won enough to pay for our drinks for the evening and also stopped at a couple places to hear some bands. We also met up with Robbie at the mermaid tavern for a couple drinks as well. He had his last exam so he was out for a celebration evening. But things over all are good, we miss everyone back home tons and hope you all stay warm!!!!!
Love lots and talk soon.
Jen

"Justin Timberlake" Future, Sex, love sounds!

PICTURE: Our Rental Jeep!
Well, i drove on the left side of the road and it was the weirdest thing i have ever done. Its hard to explain how it felt, but it just didn't feel right.
Yesterday, Glenn and i took a road trip to Brisbane. We spent the day shopping and wandering around down town. Then we had dinner at a restaurant called "Sizzler". It was pretty good, they even had ice cream sundays for desert. After we went to the Brisbane entertainment center and went and saw "Justin Timberlake". He was awesome, he put on an amazing show with laser lights and all. The stage was really cool, it moved and changed shape through out the concert. It was really good and we are so glad we went.
It was a really wonderful day and we are going to relax and have a "LOST" marathon today since it is rainy and cloudy out. The weather has been really nice here but they get some pretty wicked thunder storms. I was jolted right out of bed from a storm last night. We have not had thunder storms like this in calgary. But we are having a blast, hope all is well with everyone and we will chat soon!!
Love Jen and Glenn

My Birthday!

PICTURE: Rob, Jasmine, Jen and Glenn
Well its already alomost the end of october, how time flys. Last friday for my birthday glenn and i went with Robbie and Jasmine and we went to a place called mermaid beach and went mini golfing and then to the pub. It was alot of fun and my head was sure feeling it saturday when i went to work. There is nothing worse then having to go to work hung over, unless you have to first bike to work hung over. We have had a good week, the weather is gorgeous as usual. On sunday we are heading to Brisbane for the "Justin Timberlake" concert, so we are mighty excited for that. Then monday we are going to "Wet and Wild" Water park so that will be fun. A very busy fun filled 2 days off. Tomorrow is my first day off in 8 days so i will be sitting by the pool or on the beach with my book. We are busy and happy, i officially love it here! Nothing better then looking at the ocean and being able to go swimming in it everyday. Well thats about it for another week, hope all of you are well back home. Love you and miss you,
Love Jen and Glenn

Donegals with Willy!

PICTURE: Jen, Willy and Glenn at willys gig at Donegals.
Well, another week has past! We are both working lots and bringing in some money which is really good. Iam off for 2 days and then work for 8 days straight, ouch! Yesterday we went and booked a car for the 28th when we go to "Justin Timberlake" in Brisbane. Shall be interesting, my first attempt to driving on the left hand side. I think it will be ok though everything is backwards, the drivers side is on the right so it probably wont feel that weird after all.
Friday night Glenn and i went and watched our room mate Willy play at a pub called "Donegals". It was lots of fun, really nice evening of jazz. And certainly a very interesting evening of people watching!
And this is a big week, i turn 23 and it is my last official birthday as a Schimpf, because next year i will be a married lady! Weird when you think of it that way. This is the first birthday that iam starting to feel old!:)
My mom and Kelsey are officially coming to Surfers on the 14th of november. They are going sailing in the whitsunday islands before they come to see us and they will have a blast. I think the sailing was still our favorite thing we have done in Australia so far! All in all things are really good, to all those going to Kellis baby shower on sunday i wish i was there but make sure you take pics for me! Love you all and miss you tons.
Love Jen and Glenn

Happy Thanksgiving!

PICTURE: The rainbow after the big storm!
Hey,
Well as all of you at home enjoy your turkey dinners, we are just having breakfast and checking our emails. Things are good here, we had a couple of really good thunder and lightening storms the past couple of nights but no snow!!!
I cant believe it, we have been gone for 5 months now, man its flying by! Once my mom and sister come, we will be on the last 6 months of our trip.
Work has been good for me, last week i got a exceptional work in customer service card, they say iam there best worker! go figure!
Glenn was off work on saturday and i was a little annoyed with the job so i took a sick day and we went to the pool and the beach! It was such an awesome day. I had never in my life taken a fake sick day so i thought why not now while im travelling!
This afternoon we are going to the gold class cinemas. It is a movie theatre but they have lazy boys and alcohol. Should be pretty good, you all know what movie buffs we are and we have not been to a movie in over month so we shall enjoy it. Well hope all is well back home, miss all of you and we will chat soon,
Love Jen and Glenn

Enjoying Life!

PICTURE: View of the moon reflecting off the ocean from our deck
Hey Everyone,
Well life in Surfers Paradise right now in good. We are both really enjoying our jobs (even though we have been working alot of hours)and it is starting to get really hot here. It has been 30 degrees and sunny for the past week and it is only going to get hotter. Last night we went to a pub called the Lansdown and watched a couple of our friends who are in a band perform. Glenn has got the day off today and tommorow and is going to get in some serious beach time. Glenns job is able to get us our scuba diving license for practically nothing so we are probably going to be getting that within the next few weeks.
Anyways all in all things are good and we are having a great time. We miss you all and will talk to you soon.

Movie World!

PICTURE: Movie World with Superman rollercoaster in the background
Hey,
Well the weather here seems to be getting warmer by the day, and from what i have heard from home, winter is coming to calgary! To tell you the truth it makes me happier to be here on the beach.:)
Well another week has past, we are both working lots and am able to save lots of money. Last Tuesday, i worked so Glenn went whale watching with his company. He had lots of fun and got to see lots of whales. Yesterday Glenn and I went to Warner Brothers movie world. It was fun, we did lots of crazy roller coasters and saw a couple of shows. The best one was a police academy stunt show, It was hillarious! The park was fun, but not quite as good as Universal Studios Hollywood. The Gold coast where we are is like Australias Los Angelos where people come to see theme parks and the beach, it is a very busy place..
Well, my mom and Kelsey have booked there tickets they are arriving in Brisbane November 11th. Iam super excited, i cant wait to see them, it will be so nice to see a familiar face!
We are still enjoying ourselves and i thank everyone for the email updates, they are a nice treat. We miss you guys and hope you dont get to cold, haha we will be thinking of you as we sit on the beach in the sun!
Love you all and thats all for another week!
Love Jen and Glenn

Sunny Surfers!:)

PICTURES: Whales that Glenn saw while Whale Watching in Surfers
Hey,
Well once again another week has past. Glenn has worked alot of evening shifts this week but he is back to days again today. Thank goodness!! I had my first official week at Seaworld which went pretty good. I worked at a restuarant in the park a couple of days and thats was ok, i really enjoyed getting the experience. I rode my bike to work all 5 days this week which was really good. There is a path along the ocean all the way to work so its a pretty nice view. Glenn walks the path to work as well and he loves it!
Next sunday we are going to Movie World so that should be alot of fun. The weather here is starting to get hot, i cant imagine what it will be like in the summer, we may melt.
We are really enjoying the apartment, i love having the pool! Its a nice treat to be able to go to the pool for a quick swim after work. But, all in all things are really good, we are enjoying life down under! Hope you all had a really good week and we will chat to you soon!
Love you and miss you,
Jen and Glenn

Apartment in Surfers Century!

PICTURE: View from our balcony!
Well its official, we have finally moved in to our new apartment in Surfers Century. So far so good, Willy seems really nice and he mostly keeps to himself he plays his saxophone in his room pretty much all day. Its like a free concert all day long! The first night we stripped the room and cleaned it from top to bottom. It feels alot better now that things are atleast alot cleaner. The view from the balcony though is worth it completely. When we wake up in the morning we can see the waves splashing up on the beach. Its also really close for Glenn to walk to work so he can walk along the beach all the way.
On friday Glenn bought me a bike so i can ride to work. We got a really good deal, its a really nice bike and it came with a lock and helmet for only $120. So i will officially be riding to work as of tomorrow.
On saturday we were able to go in the hot tub and have a barbeque. The building has really nice facilities. All in all things are good, we are making some money and enjoying the coast. Hope all is well back home! Love you guys and miss you.
Love Jen and Glenn

Surfers!:)

PICTURE: Surfers Paradise main beach
Well hello all,
Its is once again raining in surfers, not so bad if we had a car but it is a little annoying with lots of groceries and trying to hold an umbrella. I guess it is winter. Its weird that i am going into summer and you all are going into winter just have finished summer. I will be thinking of you when iam sunbathing on the beach in december!
Sunday afternoon Glenn and i went to a pub called O'Malleys. It is an irish pub and Rob was playing there with his band. They were really good and played a wide variety of old school rock songs. It was alot of fun. His parents came in for the day from the farm since it was fathers day here. Weird that it is 3 months later here but mothers day is the same. Go figure! His parents are super nice and have invited us out to the farm whenever we can so we will definitly have to take them up on that.
Yesterday was my orientation at Sea World. I have never worked for such a humungous company before so was a little taken back by all the policys and such that they have to got through with you. It was a long day! Today i worked my first shift, i am working in a cafe called cafe east. I make cappuccinos etc and they do pastries as well as ice cream. It is pretty easy and will do for the time being. I work 11-530 most days so good hours. It sure is good people watching though!:) Surfers in general is full of a different breed! But we are well, still in love and loving life. I think the thing i like the best is being able to go for a walk on the esplanade beside the ocean and sun tanning every day i want. Cant say i will be doing this in calgary when i get home! Well gotta run love you and miss you all.
Love Jen and Glenn

The Working life in Surfers!

PICTURE: A Koala at dream world.
Hey,
Well we are both officially employed! I will be working at Sea world. Im not sure exactly what my job description is but i go in for my orientation on september 4th. It entales something with food, possibly a cafe. Maybe i will be a dolphin or shark feeder? (in my dreams!)
On tuesday Glenn was off work so we went to White water world and dream world theme parks. One day when we were walking a guy on the street offered us free passes because he was leaving and would not be able to use them, so we went and used the free passes. It was alot of fun, white water world is water slides, kinda like sylvan lake water slides, and dream world is a wanna be disney land. Dream world also had a section called Australian wildlife and they had Koalas, Kangaroos and crocodiles etc. That was the best part. We saw the biggest croc we have ever seen!!
All in all things are good, the sun is shining and Glenn is really liking his job. Were still having a blast. Miss you guys and hope you had a beautiful summer.
Love Jen and Glenn

Surfers Paradise:)

PICTURE: Surfers Paradise Beach
Hey,
Well the rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining in Surfers Paradise. The beach is still closed (you can still go, but not in the water) due to the huge waves but things are definitly looking up!
Today Glenn started his job. He is working at a tour desk in the mall selling tours. Its easy enough and should be ok for our work period in Surfers. I have an interview at Sea World tomorrow to work in a cafe, (Yes! Sea World...) Should be fun, Sea World of all places. It pays pretty good and is definitly something new and easy, so cross our fingers!
We are really liking Surfers, there is lots to do. Friday night we actually went bowling with the couple that we are taking there room from in the new place we are moving into on the seventh. I kicked ass! At ten pin too! After bowling we went to a pub and actually met Willy the guy that we are renting the room from. He seems nice enough and by the way things sound he wont be around much. If i had to say one person that he looks like, he reminds me of einstein. Nice guy!
Well all in all things are really good it will be nice to put some money in the bank. We plan to work here till about Christmas and then just travel till our money runs out and then come home. So hope all is well back home, miss you all tons. Love you and we will talk soon:)

Life in SURFERS PARADISE!

PICTURE: Us on 75mile beach, Frasier Island
HEY
Well we have arrived in Surfers Paradise on the gold coast, safe and sound. After looking at a number of expensive, rather disgusting apartments, we have found an apartment to settle down in for the next few months. We will be living on the 24th floor of Surfers Century apartment building. It has a balcony view to the ocean, pool, hot tub, barbeque, gym and is right on the formula one gold coast Indy track. Glenn is not happy about that at all!!!(ha,ha) We will be living with a 60 year old jazz musician, and it costs only 190/pw which is quite reasonable around here. The couple that is living in there right now is from england and say that Willy (the jazz player) is never there so it is like having your own apartment. The bedroom is the master bedroom with attached ensuite bathroom so it is quite a decent size. It is a little messy but Glenn and i will get our little hands on it and shape it up to our standards in no time! Only down fall is that we dont move in till sept 7th so we will be staying in Sleeping in Surfers hostel till then.
We have started the job hunt so are hoping to be working within the next week or so. There seems to be alot more job opportunities here than in Cairns.
The first night we arrived we met up with my cousin Alexis's ex boyfriend Rob that lives here just 10mins from Surfers. It was really good, we went to a Irish pub and had a few drinks. He introduced us to a couple of buddies who seem to never leave that pub so we always have somewhere to meet up with a few people. All in all things are going well, it has rained for 3 days straight here and yesterday they had level 2 cyclone winds over 120km/h which caused waves of 7m high. Just crazy!
But we love you all and miss you and will keep you updated as life continues here in Surfers.
Love Jen and Glenn

Travelling the East Coast!:)

PICTURE: Sunset off our balcony in Airlie Beach.
Well it has been a very busy week, almost 30 hrs on the greyhound and we have covered the tourist traps on the east coast.
After we last blogged, we took a night greyhound at 11:59pm from Airlie beach to the town of 1770. There we stayed in a very cozy little backpackers which was clean and mostly outdoors so it made you feel like you were camping. We had breakfast at a cute cafe and then took a wander down the beach. It was really beautiful! After the beach we took a hike (yes a hike!)up a discovery trail to a lookout. The view was amazing and the sky was clear so you could see for miles. We really enjoyed 1770, but a day was enough o see the whole town which only consists of roughly 3000 people.
The next morning we got up at a very early 5:00 am and caught the early bus from 1770 to Rainbow beach which is about the same size as 1770. There we stayed at a place called dingos where we actually got an ensuite with our own bathroom. Yeahh! Its funny the things you really enjoy when you are travelling. We spent the afternoon at the beach in rainbow and body surfed the waves. The waves are getting much bigger and the surfing is much more popular as you travel down the coast. We have not taken lessons yet but we will be when we get to surfers. After the beach we took a bus up to a place called Carlo's sand blow to watch the sunset. It was so cool, its really hard to explain but the sand has literally been blown up between 2 large hill peeks and you can look out to the ocean and a beach below where the sand has come from. The sunset view was awesome not a thing in the way we watched it go down the horizon. So romantic, ahhhhh! The next day we did a day trip to Frasier island which is an island completely of sand with no roads you just drive on the sand with a 4wd. On the island we went to a lake which is 10m deep and surrounded by absolutely beautiful white sand. The water was so fresh. We took a hike through the middle of the island which is covered with rainforest so there were tons of different types of birds (parrots) and vegetation. The islands main animal is the dingo, and they are getting quite viscious because people have been feeding them so now they have a $3,000 dollar fine if you do. All afternoon we drove down 75mile beach and saw a shipwreck and took a walk at eli creek. It was a really nice day and we even saw some more whales.
The following day, which brings us to wednesday morning we caught a 10:00am bus to Noosa which is where i am currently writing to you from. We are staying at a place called Dolphins beachhouse and we have a tv!!! We will be here for 2 days and then friday we leave at 10:25am to Surfers Paradise.
Well i think i have written enough for now hope all is well back home and we will chat to you all soon. Sooner then the last time!!!
Love you lots Jen and Glenn

The Whitsunday Islands

PICTURE: Hill Inlet at the Whitsundays
Well we survived our sailing trip with no sea sickness at all. It was really awesome, the first day was really sunny and beautiful and the second day was quite cloudy but no rain so it was ok.
The first day we stopped at coral bay for snorkelling and it was so beautiful, the coral was so colorful, and there was tons of fish. Next we went to Dumbell island where we had lunch and another snorkel. This spot was by far the best snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef that we have ever seen. The fish were huge and the coral was absolutely sparkling. Our last stop for the day was at White Haven beach, i have never felt such amazing sand in my life. It felt like walking on flour it was so fine. The reason it is so soft is because it is made up of 99.8% silica and not fine rock like most sand. When we walked on it, it made a squeeking noise like snow boots on new powder. It was weird! We docked the boat in the inlet there for the night and did a little drinking and sleeping.
The next day we went to the White Haven beach lookout. We had seen postcards of it but we never believed that it could be this beautiful. We have decided that it is the most beautiful beach we have ever seen.(We post pictures of the beaches we see on bottom right hand side of the blog!) We spent a couple hours at the beach there, i went into the water for a swim and for the first time was graced by the presence of a rather large sting ray. A little too close for comfort!
All in all we had an amazing trip and would for sure do sailing again, even the food was really good and the crew even better. It sure makes a difference in a trip when the crew is young and fun. Any way we are in Airlie till tomorrow night and then we are off to 1770. Love you all,
Jen and Glenn

"On the Road Again!"

PICTURE: Us at Karla and Emilys for our last supper!
Well after six weeks in Cairns we have began our journey down the coast. We had a lovely last weekend in Cairns, friday Emily and Karla cooked us dinner.(home made Quiche:))And then saturday we spent another day on the Great Barrier Reef. The weather was absolutely awesome, we could not have asked for a better day. The snorkelling was absolutely amazing.
Last night (monday)we hopped on the greyhound bus at 1225am and travelled to Airlie Beach. The bus ride actually seemed quite short cause we were both able to sleep for the majority of it. We arrived here at 11:00am tuesday morning and am staying here for 1 night and then we are boarding a sailing boat for a couple of days to sail the Whitsunday Islands. It should be amazing! We are then coming back to Airlie for a couple days and then we are taking the bus to a town called 1770. We spend a day there and then we go to Rainbow beach where we will be taking a tour on Frasier Island. After Rainbow beach we will take the bus to Noosa heads and then we have not quite decided what shall happen from there. But it should be a very busy and fun week and i think that we are both looking forward to some new scenery other than Cairns. Airlie Beach seems really nice but it is quite small it only consists of one main street, kinda reminds me of White Rock. Well we will definitly post when our week ends. Hope everyone is enjoying there summer and if you haven't dropped a comment in a while, definitly do we love to hear about the hapennings back home. Love you and miss you,
Love Jen and Glenn

Road trip to Cape Tribulation:)

Picture: Jen with Karla and Emily in Cape Tribulation
Hey
Well only one week left in Cairns. On Saturday we rented a car with Karla, Emily, and Lore and we went on a road trip to Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and the Dane tree rainforest. It was really beautiful and it was nice to have our own car and no bus. We were able to stop whenever we liked. We had a really nice lunch at a cafe in the rainforest and then we went to all the beaches around the cape. It was alot of fun and really nice to see some sand beaches.
We have booked another reef trip for saturday so we hope that the weather will be very nice and sunny so we will have one more beautiful day at the reef before we leave. Things are really good, we are enjoying Cairns but dreading a little having to pack up again. It has been really nice being able to keep things out of a suitcase for awhile. But we are getting excited about seeing some more of Australia. We miss you all and hope you are enjoying your summer back home. Bye for now!
Love Jen and Glenn

Enjoying the unemployed life in Cairns!

PICTURE:Glenn with Emily,Karla,Ronny and Matt on the deck enjoying drinks
Well less then two weeks for us in Cairns to go. It feels kind of weird that we are moving on again since it seems like we just settled in but that is a travellers life. All is well we have been enjoying the fact that we are both not working and are enjoying sitting out on our patio every night with drinks and friends. August eighth we will be catching a bus to Airlie Beach where we will head out to the Whitsunday Islands. We are really looking forward to that! On saturday we will be renting a car with Emily and Karla and we will be doing a day trip to Cape Tribulation so that should be a blast. It has rained a bit over the past couple of days but we hope that it will clear up so we can go on another dive at the reef. Over all things are well we miss everyone tons and think about you on a daily basis. Well thats all for now we shall chat soon:)

Finished work and Scuba Diving at the Reef:)

PICTURE: The two of us on our first scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef
Hi,
Well i have thrown in the towel. I quit my job today, it was the worst most horendous thing i have ever done and i can not rid myself of it fast enough. It was horrible, but its over. This means that we will be moving on very soon, down the coast to go to a better job life in australia. But when i have not been at work, it has not been all bad. Yesterday we went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. It was absolutely amazing. If you have never been scuba diving you definitly need to try it, it is the weirdest thing being able to breath under water. And oh the wetsuits, they can make any one look so sexy!! It is amzing though that the equiptment is so heavy, the oxygen tank is about 15kgs and then they put a weight belt around your waist yet when you get into the water you can hardly feel the weight at all. We looked ohh so graceful getting in to the water with our fins on!! We saw tons of cool things, Turtles were the most amazing and we even got to touch one. No sharks though, but there is always next time:). It was quite an expensive day but all worth it we may even go again! Well we are still surviving our travels and hope all is well back home. Love you all and miss you tons.
Love Jen and Glenn

The Job Hunt in Cairns!!:(

PICTURES: Of our new apartment in Cairns
Well hello all,
It has been a rather busy, very interesting week in Cairns. We started the job hunt and it is definitly not as easy or what we had hoped it would be at all. Both Glenn and I dropped resumes at a various amount of retail outlets and coffee shops as well as restaurants and to our surprise, there are so many backpackers looking for jobs in Carins that hardly any places are hiring right now. Needless to say we asked around at the hostel and i got a job doing house keeping (7am-3pm) and Glenn a job as a kitchen hand (4pm-12am or actually 3am). He only lasted one night! Mainly because the hours conflicted but he says it is the worst job he has ever done in his life. For myself, i definitly can say that this hopefully is the first and last house keeping job i will ever do in my life, but it is surviveable. I have been able to cut my hours to only 4 days a week, which has made things much more bareable. Glenn has still been unable to get a job, but we are still looking. Alot of the businesses dont want backpackers because it takes time to train new employees and backpackers have a bad name for leaving to soon and with little notice.
The day before yesterday, we moved into 300 Draper street. The place is really nice and the people seem really good too. I now live with 6 boys!!! It seems like it will be a really good place for us to be right now.
Surprise, surprise Glenn, Carla and I went to see the new Harry Potter last night. It was really good.
Well all in all things are good, this was definitly our busiest week filled with many new experiences, but that is what travelling is all about!!!
We are going to go to palm cove on saturday and then we are planning a trip to the reef for next wednesday. We cant wait, it is what Cairns is all about. Well love you all and miss you tons.
Love Jen and Glenn
P.s I had always said i had hoped for an australian accent well abroad, but we are having a good laugh since i have picked up an english accent!!! ahh bloody hell!!!

Life in Cairns!:)

PICTURE: A walk on the Esplanade overlooking the ocean(see any crocodiles?)
Well we are in our second week in Cairns. Things are good, we are still at the global palace hostel till tuesday and then we check out and are moving into the apartment.
We have started the big job hunt, which has been alot harder than we thought it would be. There is just alot of people looking for jobs in Cairns, and more people than good jobs i guess. Its the opposite of Calgary. The hard part for the two of us is that its mostly the coffee shops and restaurants that hire backpackers and they of course want you to have experience, which neither of us have in those fields. How ever there is a few accounting and hairstylist jobs open that we have seen so instead of something new, i think we may be doing the norm well we are here in Carins and then maybe something different in our next destination. The nice thing here though is that the stylists get paid hourly so it wont matter that i dont have a clientele yet.
We have found out though that there are quite a few beaches and areas like Port Douglas and Palm Cove around Cairns that you can go into the ocean and enjoy the beach life again, so we may just have to go give those a try. They are not to far away so you can just take a bus.
Well all in all we are still doing well, still in love and have not killed each other yet if any one was worried! But we love you all and miss you tons and hope to hear from you soon. Good Day Mates!!!
Love Jen and Glenn

Arrived in Cairns safe and sound!

PICTURE: Cairns swimming Lagoon on the esplanade
Hello,
Well we have found the sun and warmer weather. This is what we were looking for. We arrived in Cairns after a plane delay of 2hours on tuesday moring at 1:00am. We stayed at the Serpent hostel just for the night, since they had a late check in. We than moved into a new place called Global Palace. It is really nice, it is very roomy which is nice since our last place was a little crowded. The Kitchen here hardly has anyone in it and the tv room is almost always empty. We will be staying here till July 10th and then we are moving into a shares accomodation apartment not to far away. It consists of 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room with tv and a deck. The nice thing is that there will never be more than 7 people living in there at a time. The hostel we are in now is costing about $392 per week and the shared accomodation will only be $250 per week so much cheaper, but you have to stay atleast a month. Were ok with that we are both ready to have a little home away from home, we have been on 9 planes since we left calgary and could do without a little flying for awhile.
We both have decided to maybe get jobs here since we will be here for atleast another month. We have not decided quite what we want to do yet but something fun and easy, not too much work, seeing as we are still on a holiday! Over all things are good, the only thing that kinda sucks about Cairns is that you are not aloud to swim in the ocean due to Jelly fish and salt water crocodiles ehhhh.... They have a man made swimming lagoon right on the beach but, it is not quite the same. Well all is well, we love you all and miss you tons and hope to chat soon! :)
Love Jen and Glenn

On to Cairns, AUSTRALIA! :)

PICTURE: Karla and Jen, a familiar face abroad!
Well we are on the move again, a little farther up north to Cairns. We have been in Brisbane this week and have really enjoyed the hostel we have stayed in. The people are nice and there is even an on site pub with 7 dollar jugs. We have been able to cook for ourselves everyday so that has saved us some money. The hostels though are really good for cheap food, they have a barbeque every night if you dont want to cook for yourself with 3 dollar burgers. Yesterday we went and saw the movie Oceans 13th. We really enjoyed it and were surprised how good it was for a threequel.
Well monday night we fly out of Brisbane to Cairns and we are probably going to settle in there for a month or so. We are staying at a place called World Palace, a place that was recommended to us by my cousin Alexis. We have both got phones and a bank account now so that is all dealt with. We have also been in contact with Karla Wilkinson as she is in Cairns and we plan to meet up with her while we are there. But all in all things are well, we are definitly enjoying ourselves. Anyways we miss you all and will talk to you soon.
p.s. Aunt Janice the travel alarm clock has come in really handy as there has been no clocks anywhere we have been since LA. Thanks again
p.p.s Mom We have been using your towels that you got us and they are amazing, who could have thought something so small could work so well. Thanks Love you
Love Jen and GlennP

Arrived in Brisbane, AUSTRALIA! :)

PICTURE: Jen and Glenn above the Brisbane river.
Hi,
Well after alot of thought and planning we are finally in Australia. Yeahhhhh! We arrived in Brisbane at 6:00am yesterday morning(wednesday 20th)very tired from the overnight plane ride in which sleep never happened. We caught a cab to the hostel Brisbane City Backpackers. We have rented a privete room with a double bed for 60 dollars per night. It is about 20 dollars per night more expensive to get a private room but neither of us is adventurous enough or feels like a bunk in a room of 8 other messy travellers! It has a kitchen and showers so we are able to cook for ourselves again, which suprisingly enough is a real nice change from eating at restaurants all the time. It is clean and in a good location so it is a good place to start for our first time in a Hostel.
We opened a bank account yesterday at the australian commonwealth bank, but we dont get our cards till a week friday. We bought Glenn a cell phone in Singapore so we both have phones now and are going to get sim cards for them today. We have found that it will be cheapest for us to just use our phones locally and use calling cards to call home, since they are cheaper.
We are booked in the hostel till Sunday and then i think we are going to head north to Cairns. We have friend from highschool Karla Wilkinson that is going to be there so we thought it would be really nice to see her. Well we are safe and sound in Brisbane, we love you all and miss you and will keep you updated as our journey continues.
Love Jen and Glenn

To Australia we go!:)

PICTURE: Jen & Glenn In the mouth of the Merlion on Sentosa island, Singapore
Hey,
Well off to another destination we go! We have finished our stint in Singapore and are off to Australia. We have enjoyed Singapore, it is alot like Vancouver. Overcast, but so beautiful when its beautiful. Most people are of chinese decent but most all people speak english, its there second language. It is an island surrounded by ocean but not white sand beaches, alot more like vancouver.
The first day we went on a tour to there (vancouver island) Sentosa. We took a cable car over to the island and went to the aquarium. Then we went to there monumental Merlion and went to the view point at the top, 40m high. We then went to the beach side to a new show that they are presenting, called Songs of the sea. It is a laser light show with ocean water, and music. It was very cool to watch.
The next day we went to the Singapore zoo, it is one of the top 3 zoos in the world. We ate breakfast at the zoo and were able to get up close and personal with an orangutang and her baby. It was cool, they have a new open concept where the animals are not in cages but they have built habitats for them with only a mote(like around a castle) in between us and them. It allowed us to get really good pictures since there was no bars inbetween. Today we are going to go shopping for awhile and then our flight leaves from singapore at 9pm and we arrive in Brisbane at 6:40am. We have booked a hostel for 4 days and we will go from there. We love you all very much and hope to talk to you soon.
Lots of love Jen and Glenn

Goodbye Thailand, Hello Singapore!!

PICTURES: Jen and Glenn in Grand Palace Bangkok, Thailand
Hello All!
Well we survived Bangkok, Tuk Tuks and all. On Thursday we flew from Phuket to Bangkok. We got a taxi to our hotel, The Royal hotel which was very central in china town and only a 5 minute walk to the grand palace and many other central tourist outlets. The hotel was very old but clean. After settling in we took a walk and met an old man that set us up with a tuk tuk that took us too the big budhha, first temple and another look out point that you walked up 400 stairs. The tuk tuk took us on a tour and then back to hotel. We went to a couple of his stores so he could get free gas voutures. All in all we saw all the sights for 20baht and it was are own personal tour. We had to go in a tuk tuk just to see what all the fuss is about. It wasn't so bad for us because we didn't really have any plans set, and we knew what to expect, but if you had somewhere to go it would be annoying.
The next day we toured the Grand Palace, it was beautiful but too hot, 36 degrees and we had to where shoes and pants. We then went to MBK mall and did some shopping. It was fun but we are glad we went at the end of the trip, it made it less overwhelming. If we went there first we would have probably wanted to go home. We are now in Singapore, it is much more like home. English is very well known, but we realize how cheap Thailand was now. Funny though in Singapore, it is illegal to sell gum! Strange hey? But you are still aloud to chew it. We are safe and sound and miss you all. We will post some pictures when we get a chance.
Lots of love, Jen and Glenn

A day at the Khai Islands!

PICTURE: The love birds at KHAI NOK,Island
Hi,
Well today we took another trip to visit 3 more islands. They were the Khai Islands, Khai Nui, Khai Nok and Khai Nai. All of the islands were small enough that you could walk around it no problem, the biggest one was probably the size of a football field. They were beautiful, the snorekeling was amazing, much better than the last trip, so good that we did it all day and our backs can prove it with the burn. We even applied SPF 30 atleast 3 times and we are still both nicely toasted. We have done really well though considering that this is the first burn we have gotten in our month away. This time we took a speed boat to the islands, it is a lot smaller and faster. The last boat held about 150 people and took 1.5 hours to get to the islands and this time there was only 20 of us and it took 30 minutes. Much better! There were tons of fish of all different colors and shapes, we even saw one that looked like a mouse. The tour guides would give us bananas and bread and you can put it in the water and the fish just swarm you, it was pretty cool. We also met a guy from Perth, Australia and he was able to give us some tips on getting our scuba diving liscence and other adventures in Australia. All in all it was an amazing day, but we are both tired and our bodys are a little hot! We love you and miss you, Love Jen and Glenn

Our Thailand tour is almost at an end!

PICTURE:Back from the beach, Getting ready for a night on the town!
Hi,
Well it has been a month since we left and it has flown by. We are almost finished in Thailand and are on to a new adventure. We fly on thursday the 14th to Bangkok and will spend a couple of days there, we plan on seeing a couple of temples and do a little bit of shopping. Then on saturday the 16th we fly to Singapore. We will be spending 4 days there seeing the sights and then we fly to Australia. We land in Brisbane and are just trying to decide where we will go from there. We think we might head up to the great barrier reef and spend a month in hostels touring around there and then into Alice springs and ayers rock. It seems that it will be much cheaper for us to rent a room in an apartment then trying to do hostels so we are going to lay down some roots for a couple of months in various places. Over all, things here have been great but i think we are both ready to move on to something new. We met a really nice couple from South Africa last night that is moving to Atlanta and they were able to give us some good travelling tips. All in all we are loving life, it doesn't get much better than spending a month sitting by a pool or the ocean. It will be hard to get back to the real world! Well thats all for now, we love you and miss you all and will chat with you soon! Love Jen and Glenn

A day at PHI PHI islands!

PICTURE: Glenn and i at PHI PHI DON ISLAND
Hello all,
Well where to start. Today we did a day trip from Patong to Phi Phi islands. It was beautiful. Phi Phi ley has a bay called Maya Bay and that is where the movie the beach was filmed (the one with Leonardo Dicaprio). The beaches were amazing and we stopped at a beach called Long beach for lunch on Phi Phi don island. The boat we were on was quite, shall we say broken in, the bathrooms were the most disgusting i have ever seen in my whole life. There were numerous creatures travelling about that Glenn had to save me from, but none the less the people were once again very friendly and the beaches were as beautiful as any postcard which made it all worth it. Well things are still great, we are having an amazing time, we are starving though so we are off to eat dinner (possibly pizza!) Miss you all tons and we will chat soon.
Love Jen and Glenn

First night in Patong beach PHUKET

PICTURE: This is a picture of a main night club street in Patong, PHUKET
Hey,
Just wanted to say hi after our first night in PHUKET. Things here are a little crazier than KO SAMUI but none the less some of the best people watching i think you can get. The night life here is alot crazier than where we have been. There is probably atleast 3 hookers per corner and they close down some of the streets from traffic so people just wander down the middle of the streets. The best way to describe it is a cheap trashy VEGAS! The beaches here are quite busy and have way bigger waves then KO SAMUI. When we were in Chewang, our hotel was right on the beach so you had a little section for each hotel but here we have to go to the public beach. We spent time at our pool yesterday and that was good. Glenn liked it especially since i was the only girl there with a top on! Glenns oakley sunglasses broke so we bargained him some new ones with a case last night, the starting asking price was 650baht for the sunglasses. After 10 min we got him down to 200baht and glenn then got cheeky and asked for a free case. We met half way at 250baht with a case, which is about 7 dollars canadian. What a deal!!! I think the bargaining is Glenns favorite part, he will buy something he doesn't even want just so he can bargain. But things are good and we will keep you updated. Love you all and miss you tons.
Love Jen and Glenn

Arrived in Patong, PHUKET

Hey all,
We can finally view our blog! It must just have been because we were on KO SAMUI. Now we can finally post some pictures!!! And view all of your comments so comment away!!! We have added pictures to all of the previous posts, so check them out down below. Well we thought Chewang beach in KO SAMUI was developed but PHUKET's Patong beach even more so. Maybe even a little too much, but it is our first day hear and we are open minded. We found a internet shop that we can view our blog, in the airconditioning and it is still only 1baht per minute. We are staying in more of a hotel style resort called the "Patong Pearl Resotel" Seems clean and nice enough and it is the same price as the other places we have stayed. The only downside is our last 2 places were right on the beach but this place we have to walk a couple blocks to the beach but there are not many on the beach here pretty much all of them are off the beach. And we will have to try the chinese food to see how good it really is! The weather has been good, a little bit of rain today but it does not last long. But things are good and im sure we will have even more adventures in this crazy town!! We love you all and miss you tons and will chat soon!:)

A week of Pampering:)

PICTURE: Chewang beach at Seascape resort in KO SAMUI
Hello, everyone! Just wanted to say hi. We had a good week, this week we pampered ourselves. Tuesday we went for massages, Wednesday facials and today we had manicures, pedicures and foot scrubs. The spa treatments here are sooo... cheap. We had all of the above for only $50 dollars total for both of us in 3 days. Pretty good hey! Today it was really overcast so we decided to take a day from the beach and we went to a movie,(big surprise even when were not at home!) We saw pirates of the carribean 3. Glenn was missing his popcorn and needed a fill. The movie theatre was nice very similar to home, except that the theatre seats are set up in price ranges and you have a designated seat. You pay either 120, 140 or 300 baht depending on where you sit. Then after the previews it announces "please stand and pay respects to our king!" So you stand and sing the anthem before the movie starts. Not quite what we were expecting but none the less another experience. Things have been really good it has been fun and we are enjoying every day. But hello to all and thanks for all your emails it is nice to hear about what is going on with everyone at home. We will chat with you later. Lots of love Jen and Glenn

Enjoying KO SAMUI

PICTURE: Our pool at Seascape beach resort in KO SAMUI
Hey all,
well we are still in KO SAMUI on Chewang beach and have decided to stay here till saturday June 2nd and then we will be moving on to the Phuket/Krabi area. Our place here is in a perfect location to the beach so thats why we have decided to stay. We went to a restaurant across the street and met a couple of australians that own the place and they gave us some good ideas for web sites that we can search jobs on so we dont have to pick fruit while in australia. We have yet to meet any canadians, all either australian or european, tons of european. Alot of the restaurants here are owned by people from england and they commute back and forth. We went shopping the other night and were able to pick up a couple of things. Most of the stores carry the same stuff so you can play them against each other and get the cheapest price.
We are still having trouble viewing our blog. While we are still able to post things but we are unable to read comments that people have written so if you have anything you want to talk about please email us for now and we will let you know when we can properly view the comments on the blog. We will still be posting so make sure you still take a look.
love you lots and we will chat soon.
Jen and Glenn