All Aboard!

NANUQ of Alaska- nanuqofalaska.com









All Aboard for the Diamond for the Princess Cruise! Bye Bye Anchoridge! But before I go.....a photo shoot please.....=)

Cara the Alaskan Moose Hunter

Hey All!

Welcome to Anchoridge, Alaska!

Random Alaskan facts:

- Alaska is known for it's abundance of single men! (Oh la la!) Gold miners, oil workers, hunters, trappers and fishermen moved here for the 'rugged life on the frontier'. Census data shows there are 114 single men for every 100 single women in Alaska (compared to 86 men for every 100 women in the USA in general) and so the saying goes 'The odds are good but the goods are odd'...lol

-Ok, get this...it's so cold in the empty and desolate North of Alaska (eg: Fairbanks) that in winter you can hold out a cup of water, pour it onto the ground and it freezes on the way down! And you have to be carfeul not to leave cans of soda/soft drink in your car as they will explode!! Explode I tell you! So, empty for a reason wouldn't you say? Extremely sheltered from the harsh realities of freezing soad by growing up in California and Melbourne wouldn't ya say!

-Alaska Pride: Alaska is a very proud State in SO many ways! They have their own state song 'The simple flag of the last frontier', the Alaskan flag (not the American) with its Big Dipper (Ursa Major) pops up everywhere, Youth sport Alaska pride jumpers (they are petty cute) and the Randall's car is decked out wth Big Dipper Seat covers and bumper stickers proclaimng 'Alaskan Girls Do it Better'.

-One of the Randall family memeber's planted broccoli in their backyard and cow and a calf MOOSE came and devoured them! Moose eating broccoli in your backyard! Imagine! I am determine to see a Moose before exiting Alaska!

-There are active volancoes in Alaska! Alive!

-When the tides goes out it exposes mudflats which are made of fine silky glacial silt. The muflats are bit dangerous and kinda like quicksand, the sand particles lock together and trap people. They are actually a colloid (switch). There are some scary stories...a famously sad one involving honeymooners n the 80's. Emergency services uses high powered water hoses to get you out, if your lucky. When the lovely tide comes in however it is called the boretide and it's the second hghest in the world, 30 feet.

-Anchoridge is a very active city! It seems everyone here is into some sort of Sport. Aussies would get on very well here! They are even into sports you've never heard of like Roller Ski (roller skating on short little skis with poles) and Disc Golf (it's golf wth frisbees). In winter when it is dark so much of the time the trails are all lit and the paths are groomed by volunteers. I think my impession is probably aided by the fact that Mr. Randall works for the Munciplaity of Anchoridge and is the Outdoor Recreaton Co-ordinatror.

-Alaska is full of cute names: Chickaloon (a town), The Bear's Tooth (a theatre) and

-In winter time, the Moose wander onto the roads because they find it diffcult to walk in the snow, therefore, sadly there is A LOT of road killed Moose (250 last winter) and there is a group which cuts up the roadkill Moose and feeds it to the homeless shelter!!! Moose burgers, Moose steak, Moose jerkey...anyone?.....anyone?....guys?


A Mexican in Anchordge...??

So long Sewing and Singing

The dreaded solo- 'So in Love'



Comical Cara as Freddy looking enamored.



Cara the put you to bed maid!



'After party' at Adele's with Christina, Mark, Sandra, Mark, Cara and Matt.


Hey y'all!

I am finished with Sewing and Singing! YAY! Gawd, the last week has REALLY been stressful!

The concert last night went very well (I had to run to my sewing class beforehand, submit my work and do a test! talk about juggling). I was in 3 of the solo numbers! The first song I sang was my solo, 'So in Love' from the musical Kiss Me Kate by Cole Porter (if you've seen the movie 'De-lovely' with Ashley Judd and Kevin Kline you may have heard it). For the second song, 'Show Me', I tied up my hair, wiped off my lip stick, put on my best brown suit (lol...girly rip curl cords, a 50cents garage sale jacket and someones brown shoes I found in the corridor) and green hat. I played the adoring Freddy from My Fair Lady who adores Eliza Doolittle and Eliza sings to him to stop talking about love and show her). In the third song I was a maid to Eliza Doolittle (a different girl playing Eliza this time...all of the songs were chosen randomly and so it was a bit of a mix). The maids singingly interject into Eliza's song and we had to do a lot of work on the timing! Besides my solo the other 2 were mainly acting.

Then after the intermission came the chorus songs. We sang 5 songs, all musical theatre pieces that I had never heard of! Lots of acting and moving about the stage. I had one solo and we were all pretty happy. People said I sang my solo well.....but I think everyone said that to everyone else! I mean I definitely sang better then I did when we first started this class and I managed to get confident enough to un-glue myself form the piano and prance somewhat about the stage during my solo but improved and good are 2 very different things! It's hard to get confidence in your singing ability when your range is faulty due to your jaw (TMJ). Send in the specialists.

All in all we were euphorically happy at the end and a few of us went to Adele's (a very cute typical American coffee shop). We chatted about our futures, religion, socialist medicine vs. American's disastrous medical 'system' and when it was midnight and we were booted out we went to Sandra's house to watch the comedian and British transvestite Eddie Izzard! We laughed hilariously until 3am when we retired!

So now, the day after, I go to work as a fit model at 2pm for Marmot and then it's off camping to lake Tahoe with my Dad, uncle, grandmother, cousin and his wife and several family friends! Gotta go pack!

America's top Marmott and Go Nutty Girl Go!

HELLO EVERYONE!

I am alive! I am sorry I have disappeared!.....


Cara and Tony hangin' in the city by the Bay...San Fran!



The Golden Gate Bridge and it's constant companion...the FOG! I frantically took this photo while Tony and I were driving across the bridge in his rental car!



Cara and Tony sightsee the coast near San Fran! Oh how perdy! (see the fog!)



The Wine Country! Smell the wine...taste the wine...be the wine. Taste the wine again...



Cara the nut girl! Go nut girl go! Lots and lots and a little more nut jokes to be made here!?! Are you nuts? 'They're all natural and they're made in California' was my favourite line. They're suitable for diabetics, cholesterol free, no trans fat, no hydrogenated oil....lol...need I go on...



We found a kitty! She is so soft! She is a very vocal choc point Siamese mix, right up my Dad's alley (his last kitty was a Siamese)! Cats just love baths! Look! Doesn't she look overjoyed!



Cara's first week of classes! Chumbing it up with my fellow singers out for lunch...Mexican food...oh, we're in California now!


THE STORY THUS FAR:
I have just been so busy since I made the change from southern to northern California, LA to San Fran! It's supposed to be more laid back here but I have just had so much to do! Trying to establish myself here! I didn't even call my friends in the area until today! I know...Cara, the traveling social butterfly, shunning people? It’s just not right!

So to make a very long journey/story shorter: My grandparents and I drove north from LA while my Dad drove south from San Fran and we met smack in the middle of no where! No where, more fondly called the 'Apricot tree' (it’s a restaurant whose gift shop could be described as 'charming' if one is being kind), was where the prisoner exchange took place (prisoner...who am I kidding...try rare valued family member!). My Dad and I then drove home and stopped in San Fran city to meet up with my friend Tony!

I met Tony in Madrid, Spain in May of 2006 where we traveled a bit together. Tony lives in Arizona and was pondering a trip to San Fran when I called! Hence, we rendez-vous-ed on a bustling San Fran Street corner and it didn't even seem odd...so it was odd that it didn't seem odd really! We ate dinner at the notorious ‘best cheap eats’ in San Fran (ironically, not as cheap as it should be due to its celebrity status) Chinese restaurant ‘House of Nanking’ and walked Chinatown. A few days later, Tony paid Santa Rosa (the current habitat of the Cara and her Daddy) and we did some drive by wine-ing! Sonoma County really is a beautiful place.

Tony returned from whence he came and it was Cara vs. Daddy's house! Organize, alphabetize, sanitize and make some Cara space available! Progress was made and achieved! I was prepping for my classes at the Junior College (which from now on shall be referred to at the JC...its suave! lol) by collecting my student card when I overheard a girl handing out flyers. Marmott, 'one of the best-known and respected names in outdoor clothing and equipment' if they don’t say so themselves, was looking for a fit model. So I barged in a got myself and flyer, had the girl measure me then and there, called her the next day and by the end of the day I had gotten paid for standing around looking pretty in a quality outdoorsy kind of way! Really boosts your self esteem I tell ya to have people stand around telling you how fabulous you look, in the clothes which they designed of course! So now I am the new medium size fit model for Marmott!

The same day as the Marmott flyer incident, I was walking through Costco (aka: store that sells giant warehouse size everything and if not the origin, then a contributing factor of obersity(?). That's right folks, you can pick up a handy 5L jar of mayonnaise, 36 rolls of toilet paper, throw in 2 pound box of cereal and a crate of fruit to snack on. So, in Costco I walked past a nut stand and the guy asked me if I was from the area. I lied and said no, because that’s what you do to protect yourself from mass murders in the USA…just say no! And then before you knew it I was employed for Friday and the weekend selling nuts! Long hours but ok money and a small amount of novel fun. On that same day I got a secret shopper job! So here here to random work 3 jobs in 2 days!

And this week I started classes...and it is there that I’ll leave you since you must be tired of reading by now...if you have made it thus far! xxx to you all!

Cara at the Apple Campus

I visited the Apple Campus with my friend Tony(left) who is visiting from AZ. His friend (middle) works there and gave us a bit of a tour. We took these photos on one of the Mac's in the employee store. =)

Sunny Cal-lif-for-ni-aye!

Hello from Los Angeles, California!

Today I have been here for one week! One week! Feels like a month! So far I have spent time with my family in 'the Valley'. I have visited The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanic Gardens (one of the largest and most complete research libraries in the US containing British and American history, literature, renaissance exploration and more) and spent time with my cousins watching a lot of weird American TV shows that I never knew existed! I have also decided on my classes for summer in Santa Rosa (North of San Fran). I am doing Fashion Design, Singing and Thai Cooking (my Dad is going to take this one with me)! There were so many things I wanted to do but the majority of the courses are really intense and I want some time to spend with my Dad, work on his house and other projects for myself.


Goodbye Australia! Lisa takes Cara to the airport...Cara looks smashing!


The Huntington Library and Botanic Gardens. Beautiful Japanese gardens, amazing and wacky bonsai.


Posh afternoon tea buffet in the Rose Garden Tea Room...sooo nice! Sooo nice! Look at those cute little French desserts!


Off to dinner in my cousin Jason's BMW . The lovebirds-my cousin Kaylen and her boyfriend Brian-are in the back seat!


Welcome to Famous Dave's- Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que! Brian's Father Manages the Famous Dave's restaurants in CA...therefore he gets endless free food for him and his guests! Let me introduce you to our meal the....

All-American BBQ Feast® (serves 4-5)
A full slab of spareribs, a whole chicken, ½ pound of either Texas beef brisket or Georgia chopped pork, coleslaw, Famous Fries, Wilbur Beans, four corn bread muffins and four corn-on-the-cob.

My favorite was the corn bread muffins (I am still harboring one in the fridge) and the pink berry lemonaid slushie...both remind me of my childhood I guess. After our meal we took home 3 left over boxes and of course pecan pie, brownies and ice cream!

The Plan: To CALIFORNIA...and beyond!!

Hi everyone!
I am in the Sydney airport waiting for my Jet Star flight to Honolulu. 
Security has confinscated my Cream of Mushroom soup becasue little did we 
all know that 'cream'is the same as saying 'dangerous liquid explosive' 
apparently! Now honestly, who would eat 'dangerous exploding mushroom soup'...not 
my idea of a good time and I'm not sure Campbell's will be using it in their next advertising campagne! 'Campbell's soup is too hot to handle'. 'Campbell's soup... a creamy mushroom explosion!'...ok...just silly now...must get on the plane!

So after flying to Honolulu I am straight off to LA where my grandparents will be collecting me much to their excitement! The plan is to be in LA for about 2 weeks and then head up to San Fran to live with my Dad for a while where I will study and work a bit....and find some life balance and a career hopefully....not too much to ask for is it! So 'See you all soon!' if you are in the USA and 'Love you and Miss you' if youre crying in Oz! xxx

PS. Tell you how JetStar is at the other end...I called yesterday and it's BYO food, pillow, blanket and tv...so why not folding chair and plane as well hey?

Welcome to Kakadu!
Kakadu National Park is listed on the World Heritage List both cultural and natural 'universal values' and covers a total area of 19 804 square km (half the size of Switzerland)!


The Kakadu crew and a big pile of poo...I only wrote it beacause it rhymes! It is actually its a Cathedral termite mound and an amazing structre housing a termite colony.


Swimming in a blissful pool and sitting under the pounding rush of a waterfall. That's me on the right!


Cara attempting to play the digerdoo! Interesting! I must say that digerdoo playing is not a foreseeable career change! Can be compared to spitting in a log really.


Aboriginal Rock paintings at the Anbangbang Art site in Nourlangie Rock.

"Namondjok, a Creation Ancestor, with underneath him Barrginj, his wife, and to his right Namarrgon, the Lightning Man, responsible for the violent lightning storms that occur every wet season. At the bottom is a large group of men and women with elaborate ceremonial headdresses."-http://www.ozoutback.com.au/



And so the 3 day Kakadu Wilderness Adventure was over....so we went out and partied it up in the extremely small metropolis of Darwin (when I arrived at my hostel I asked how far it was to get to the city centre...they replied 'you're in it')!

Go skippy girl! Go! To Uluru? Again?

So why have I ventured to Uluru again...for the second time in 2007 you ask?

Because I won a trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... and that is the best reason I ever heard!

I visited the Melbourne Backpacker's and Travel Expo in March because I decided if I was going to attend an expo (we have them all the time here in Melb and for everything...like the motorcycle expo, the bridal expo, the home and garden expo, the foreign pink elephants expo!)

that I would find interesting, this would be it! And it was! Fruitful too! I collected more brochures then one person ever needs about traveling EVERYWHERE (one of Cara's goals in life). But here's the fun part, there was a competition! I entered into a game of 'musical brochures' rather then the more commonly played musical chairs (the expo was fresh out of 40 chairs in the middle of the travel stalls). The comptetition was fierce and so, to avoid expulsion, I developed a strategy to win! 'Stay light on your toes and win the game' was my motto. And to stay light on your feet you better skip! So skip I did. To the music around and around, again and again. The competitors steadily declined until it was down to only a few and then items of clothing were being requested! 'An item of clothing to stay in the game' (what kind of game is this you ask? administered by men of course!).

This turn of events was not unfavorable for one wearing only shorts and a top with under garments! So I had to used my strategy, 'skip theory' to its full potential while other contestants gave up expendable socks, shoes, belts, and jumpers (I had none of these items to give you see!). I stayed in the game until the last 3 when I had to give up my bra. The crown giggled as I persevered with 'skip theory' with my hand graciously placed over my chest. "Go skippy girl Go!" they cheered! When narrowed down to the last 2 contestants I gave up my underwear...better to be in your clothes without under garments then be in your under garments without clothes I always say! And then I won! I won! I won!

So as the winner I won: 2 nights accmodation at a backpackers in Aliice Springs. A 3-day safari to Ayers Rock, the Olgas and Kings Canyon. A greyhound bus ticket north to Darwin and then a 3 day Kakadu (and amazing National Park) camping safari with 2 nights accommodation in Darwin! YAY! Hooray! I added in a stop over in Katherine to see the Gorge and a day in Darwin to see Litchfield National Park (who could miss termite mounds and waterfalls)!

I just returned to Melbourne this evening at 7pm! What an amazing trip! I met some great people, as uaual! The world is full of them and if you haven't met any lately you just have to get out there!

So here's some photos from the first leg of the trip!

SAFARI 1:




Cara and 'The Rock!' Isn't it pretty? Isn't it grand? Isn't it...red!?! The red is from the oxidation of iron in the exposed surface of the rock. It actually has a chewy black/grey rock centre!


I actually got to see the illusive throny devil! How cool! Now that's thorny...not horny....its definitely not horny (that would be painful!) and it doesn't move much! Too hot in the desert to move much you see!


The tour group at the Olgas walk of the winds second look out. A BEAUTIFUL view!


Kings Canyon is magnificent! I swallowed not one but 2 flies on this hike! Luckyeee meee!


Toasting marshmallows over the fire! Awwww! The 4 Chinese businessmen really didn't understand our excitement over this one! I guess marshmallows are not a cornerstone of culture over there! Poor guys!


Cara looking sleepy in her swag! That's right...slept under the stars with the bugs! The 'with' in that sentence may imply that we both slept, but in fact they didn't sleep...they nibbled upon me, aka: the conveniently placed naive snack packaged in a swag!

melbourne_babe@hotmail.com

Hi from Alice Springs!

Hello everyone!

So I am in Alice Springs! Again! I won a trip up here with the Melbourne Backpackers and Travel Expo! I played musical brochures! For the last 3 days I was on an Uluru Safari and now I am off to Darwin via Katherine! Write to you from there and photos soon!

Lots of Love!!!

Cara

Beautiful Outback

The trip in Summary

THE TRIP:

We saw ridiculous landmarks!

Welcome to South Australia!

Hahndorf in SA...hehe

Sculpture in Adelaide

Spectacular sights near Port Augusta

We made it to the NT in summer, unbelievable! Very Very HOT!

Uluru...a big bump in the road 

Hiked the Olgas

Hiked Kings Canyon

Kissing camels. This one was a sweetie

We swam in gorges

We saw termites mounds! It was serious stuff.