Home Again Home Again Piggly Wig

Well folks we're home!

We heard Saskatchewan was forcasting warm weather and sunny skies so we headed home.
Endless blue skies never looked so good and for the first time in our lives, we noticed how clean the air is here.

We had a remarkable journey to every continent except South America and Antarctica. We're already talking about a trip to South America with our friends the MacDonalds, but that won't be this year.

In the upcoming weeks, we'll be summarizing what we've learned and we're convinced we're now experts on what NOT to do. For anyone who is interested we're happy to share our experiences and tell you what we've learned and what we'd suggest for the next time. Thank you to all our new friends who've invited us back to visit in New Zealand, Sweden, Phillipines, South Africa, Thailand, Montreal, Germany, San Francisco,Denmark and France. We'll look forward to seeing you again when you come here and when we return there.

Erik and Dieter have adjusted to small town life. Erik's making money with his lawn care and yard cleanup and he's looking forward to being a Junior Lifeguard in Pangman at the pool this summer. Georg is busy installing furnaces and air conditioners with Dad (Glen Svedahl) and he's also going to be on a commercial for workplace safety that will air starting May 9 for 13 weeks. I'm working on a new line of handbags with sisters and nieces. I'm also looking forward to speaking at the Women's Dinner/Fundraiser on May 29th here in Pangman.

We're scheduled to return to work in September 2008. Erik is hoping he'll be accepted at Luther High School so he will no longer be in French Immersion this Fall. Dieter will return to French Immersion in Regina.

We're thrilled to be back and looking forward to a beautiful Saskatchewan Spring!

In Hawaii for a few days then on to SNOW in Banff

We left Australia and headed to Hawaii for four days before heading to Banff for a few days of skiing at Sunshine Village. I guess we just needed to feel the cool air and see some of that white stuff. Erik and Dieter have asked if we can go spring skiing instead of Hawaii next year. Whose kids are they we're wondering?



We were fortunate to have great ski conditions.

Farewell to Australia

Sydney Harbour



A special thank you to Marianne!




We have enjoyed our time in Australia and are sad to be leaving so soon. We'll miss our Aussie family and will hope to see them again one day.


The Pavlova recipe is travelling with us and we'll try to recreate this famous Australian dessert at home.



Easter in Australia was GREAT!


We LOVED the Opera "Carmen" and are still wondering just how they managed to have live horses, chickens, a donkey AND three campfires on stage. Dieter sat spellbound for the entire performance, so we realize the performing arts are really for all ages.

And we even have FISH stories from Australia! Celeste's father-in-law is a noteworthy outdoorsman.

Jenolan Caves, Blue Mountains and Three Sisters (yes in Australia)

Thanks to Marianne we had a most unforgettable day. We left Wahroonga and headed toward the Blue Mountains. After a couple of hours of traveling we stopped at a picnic area in the rugged outdoors. It’s amazing how good a hot cup of tea and sandwiches taste when you’re traveling.


In the early morning from a distance the hills looks blue. This is because of the eucalyptus trees.


Upward winding roads eventually gave way to cultivated plains and before we knew it we had arrived at the Jenolan Caves.


The crystalline limestone formations were deposited by running water over many centuries. It was strange to learn that the current geography dates back to over 600 million years ago. That’s almost incomprehensible!





The Three Sisters are located in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. These strange rock formations are composed of stacks of horizontal Hawkesbury sandstone, laid down in the Triassic period. The Blue Mountains are not mountains at all, but an elevated plateau, pushed up from the surrounding level in the Tertiary period. The plateau has been chiseled and eroded by nature into a series of spectacular gorges and valleys. Already these valleys occupy much more space than the ridges; with every rock fall they get larger, and in time the ridges will disappear. As we stood at the edge of the plateau we couldn’t help but compare the magnificent expanse to the Grand Canyon and in fact, Marianne told us this IS Australia’s Grand Canyon.


Hunter Valley, New South Wales
The higher edge of the valley, rising perhaps one or two thousand feet from the floor, is often miscalled a mountain, because when seen from below, it looks like one. Actually it is the outer edge of a plateau.

Koala Park

It was a “cold” day here in Wahroonga so that means we only reached about 20 degrees C today. This was a perfect day to head over to Koala Park to meet some of Australia’s local wildlife. Up close and personal with koala bears, kangaroos, wallabies, dingos, fruit bats, kookaburras, cockatiels, emus, and the legendary cassowary bird. Legendary because it’s one of those creatures that demonstrates the evolution from dinosaur to present-day birds. The feet and bill are something worth noting.

Notice the dinosaur-type feet



Note: We were not disappointed that this small wildlife park was not host to any snakes.




The wallabies and kangaroos were fun to pet and Dieter made friends with a little one he named “Max.” We were amazed to see the little one tucked inside the mama’s pouch.




Later on the family took up another game of Mench Arge Dich Nich, Onkel Dieter continued our living history lesson and we went for a walk. Oh we also munched on fresh rhubarb cake and cheesecake (we will never want to leave this heavenly place!).