Springtime in Korea = Cherry blossom festivals a plenty!

We had heard more than once that spring in Korea is the best time of year to be here. We've been pretty happy with fall and winter so far, but we aren't going to complain about spring either! Every weekend and in every town, there seems to be some sort of spring festival going on. Most of the festivals celebrate or recognize something greater, but all seem to attract visitors mostly for the blossoms.

This week Milton and I went to the "cherry blossom" festivals at the University of Mokpo in Muan, and at the Wang-In birthplace and historic grounds near Yeongam. We can't deny that it wasn't the Wang-In Cultural Festival that attracted us, but the renowned display of blossoms lining the road kilometer after kilometer leading into town and on the historic grounds themselves, and we were certainly not disappointed!

Above: The university's cherry blossom festival.

Cherry blossoms at the Wang-In culture festival, with Wolchusan mountain in background.

I spotted a 2 little frogs in the puddles - so cute! They were hardly bigger than the tip of Milty's index finger.

The tree lined streets leading in and out of Yeongam.

La nuit en rose... (my pink bday party)

I decided for my birthday that we should have a theme party, and what better theme for a girl than pink?! Milton was happy to go along with the plan and did most of the work to get our house "pinkified" for the event. Our friends we very enthusiastic about the theme and it turned out to be quite a night! Ah, la vie en rose!

Pink Ladies for the ladies in pink :)

The pink enthusiasts gather for a group shot.

Lots of pink gifts for the birthday girl :)

It came down to a close vote as to who had to wear the pink rubber gloves for the duration of the party. And the winner is...

Lucky Matthew!!! He looks so thrilled about his win!


The boys decided to play a drinking game.

their opponents (and the losers of the game):

A few accessories where sent from home - thanks Emma for making it really clear just how old I am this year!

What good party doesn't end with the arrival of the cops to tell you to shut up?! at least I think that's what they meant by "Bipa. Sleep. No."

It was a pinktastical birthday party! and the rest of the weekend wasn't so bad either. Milton took me for a bike ride Saturday and a surprise picnic. Sunday was a nice lazy day spent in the sun at a cafe terrace where we read some books, wrote some letters, and took in some of the fresh spring air! We didn't make it to the cherry blossom festival but that leaves us with something to do next weekend and something to write next week... so stay tuned!

New Caledonia Pictures

It took more than a little while ( a month to be exact) but here are the pictures from New Caledonia I promised. The beauty of the islands is indescribable, and the pictures barely do the islands justice, but they give you an idea of just how breathtaking New Caledonia is.

February Vacation in Australia et la Nouvelle Caledonie!!!

Life's a beach!

I've been away from my blog for the past month enjoying the sun and sandy beaches of Australia and New Caledonia. I'm going to keep the typing to a minimum and post mostly pictures as they will be a better testimony to what I saw and experienced than what my words can probably describe.

In brief though, the trip was FANTASTIC! We started off with a week in Mt Martha outside of Melbourne (like Guelph to Toronto in size and distance) where and met up with Scott and Emma at the airport and stayed with Allyce, Alan, Riley and Carly. We spent the week at the beach and also popped into the city for some exploring. That week we experience one of the hottest days on record for the last 100 years -- about 42 degrees where we were and 46 in Melbourne!

Our second week we took off with Scott and Emma on a coastal drive from Melbourne to Sydney. Some of the major fires started breaking out that we and we had to dodge a few along the way, but weren't detoured too much. We stayed in Lakes Entrance, where we got out to Raymond's Island to see the koalas, Merimbula, Bateman's Bay, where we saw the kangaroos at Pebbly Beach, a night in Kiama with a trip to the Minnamura rainforest, spent Valentine's Day in Bondi beach and ended our week at the Rocks in Sydney .

Emma and Scott Flew back to Canada from Sydney and Milton and I got on a plane to New Caledonia where we spent 10 great days exploring the "Paris of the Pacific". We stayed in Noumea for the first 5 nights and then spent a weekend on Ile des Pins, and finished our stay at Anse Vata. We had great luck and only had one day spoiled by rain even though they are in rainy season this time of year.

We got back to Australia for 4 last days of vacation which we spent back in Mt Martha with the fam. We did a bit more exploring in the city and in Mornington and ended on a lovely last evening out at a really nice Indian restaurant taking advantage of the variety of foods that exist outside of Korea!

Now it's back to reality - official vacation is over and the new school year started today. It's not so rough though, I have no classes to teach this week until they work out a schedule for the school.

So enjoy the photo journal and feel free to leave comments (following the link just at the bottom of this posting).

The little beach sheds at Mt Martha

Melbourne skyline at dusk taken from Southbank outside of the Crown casino.

Family dinner on our last night all together in Mt Martha.

Dodging fires!

Sleeping koalas on Raymond's Island.

The blowing sand and Scott at Merimbula beach (bay side)

Kangas at Pebbly beach.

Hyam's Beach , a little hidden paradise-- whitest sand and bluest water!

Sista's and bro at the falls in the rainforest.

Bondi Beach a day after the two shark attacks!
Sydney

note: check back in a day or two for the New Caledonia pictures... I'm still in vacation mode and too lazy to upload anymore today ;)