limeyboy

First I have to say that I have always wanted to visit Australia, and I have always wanted to live there. Ever since I was a little boy, something about Australia has always intrigued me, and it is the place I have always wanted to be.




Over the past 25 years I have always said that I am going to Australia, but unfortunately I never took the initiative to take time to go and visit. With many family vacations under my belt, distance, money, jobs, vacation time, coaching soccer, and children, all seemed to get in the way in making the excuse for not visiting.



Over the past 18 years I have been a soccer coach for California Youth Soccer Association North with several clubs in town. And the past 6 years a high school girls soccer coach, inbetween club teams, which has made the last 6 years, year round soccer. This has given me the opportunity to coach my son and two daughters. Ryan, Michelle, and Trisha.



When it came to naming our teams, I always had one name only in mind, and that name was the "Kangaroos". Everyone always got a chuckle out of it and shook their head. When asked "why the Kangaroos" my reply was always the same! "Because I have always wanted to go to Australia! The Kangaroo legacy goes back to 1989, when my men's outdoor soccer team was the Kangaroos, as well as my men's indoor soccer team. Adults weren't too keen on the name but since I was the coach\player and it was my team, I could name it anything I wanted. Once my children were old enough to play, they were all on the Kangaroos. Sunrise Kangaroos, Roseville Kangaroos, and the Antelope Kangaroos. I still have a t-shirt from 1991 with my oldest daughters team when she was 9 years old. I figured that if I can't make it to Australia, then this was the next best thing.


















My son and oldest daughter are grown up and married now, and my youngest daughter is 17.




















In 1986 I started the process of trying to immigrate to Australia. I actually recieved paperwork back from the Australian Consulate General, and the City of Perth. There was boat loads of paperwork, and the Aviation Field as well as Nursing, was wide open for my wife and I to immigrate. I tried in vane to get my wife Gina to go. She would not fill out the paperwork. She just did not want to move so far away from family and friends. It was much easier for me as I was already 3000 miles away from my family.







I am also crazed over the Australian Rules Football Game. I just love that game. I am a club member of the West Coast Eagles. I had hoped to see a game but have not done so as of yet. It is in my future plans and that is why I am a member of a AFL team. So fun to watch, and so exciting!



I had spent 4 years in the US Navy living in Japan, Iceland, and Adak Alaska, as well as Moffett Field California, and not to mention the countries I visited. While in the Navy at Moffett Field, our home base, we had the P-3 Orion, a submarine chaser. I was in Patrol Squadron VP-46. The RAAF also had the P-3. The Ozzies would come to Moffett Field for excercises with the US Navy, and in the evenings we would all meet up at the club on the base, drink beer, laugh, talk about Australia, and have a great time. I would share my desire to go to Australia with the Ozzies and they would tell me all about where they were from. Brisbane always stuck in my head as the place I would visit first. Not sure why, other than hearing about it. We also had a guy in our sqaudron who was from Australia, and still had the accent.






The only other way I could keep Australia in mind was that Fosters Lager was my favorite beer. With the commercials for Fosters, and it being the only Australian beer you can buy or even find, it was just another Kangaroo to keep my dreams alive for that one day when I finally made my way to Australia. I just recently found out that Fosters is actually a beer brewed by Budweiser and is not really Australian. And in Australia, you won't find many places that sell it. So, I guess you could say that I have never seen or touched a Kangaroo, or an Australian Beer!


This past year, I fulfilled a life long dream, my wife Gina and I finally made it to Australia! I have to say that we had the time of our life! I took the camcorder and camera everywhere. I have one and a half hours of video that I took from Perth, Fremantle, Rottenest Island, Sydney, and the Hunter Valley. Not to mention the 170 photos we also took.





And, if you see my wiki web page, you can see that we were adventurous in visiting as many places as we did in 12 days. The trip to Australia meant the world to me, and it has made me want more than ever to go back. If I could I would pack my bags and move their, but I am sure my better half still would not go. She really enjoyed the trip, and her photo with the Wombat and the photo she took of the Kangaroo with the little joey in the pouch, is something she proudly braggs about.







This now brings us to the question of who would you bring with you on your trip to Austalia if you won? Well, I don't have to think twice on this, because I know someone who also has had a life long dream of wanting to visit Australia,

and who also had paperwork in order to immigrate to Australia. MY DAD!






Years ago, my dad was going to immigrate to Australia, his paperwork was set! At the last minute, he changed his mind, because he met someone from Canada who said they could get him a job their. Another reason why Canada was so inviting, was because his parents, my grandparents, and his two sisiters had all immigrated to the United States, and Canada was much closer to the US than Australia. Also, he had to leave the family behind for a year to prove he could find a job and support a family. I still remember the year he was gone to Canada.



We could very well have been living in Australia today, and maybe since I was a young boy at the time, this is why I have always wanted to go to Australia. We only lived in Canada for a year, and we have lived in the US for 38 years.





My dad is from Winchester, England, and he was in the Royal Airforce stationed at RAF Binbrook. He met my mother their and that is where I was born as well.






RAF Binbrook England has some Australian History! The Royal Australian Air Force flew bombing missions in the Lancaster over Germany out of RAF Binbrook. There is a very nice monument commemorating the Australians of the RAAF from the 460 Squadron who served in World War II in Binbrook from 13 November 1941 to 2 October 1945. There are also a lot of grave sites with a RAAF headstone of men who lost their lives for Australia bombing Germany. You can find information on the Internet about Binbrook, but make sure to put RAF Binbrook because there is a Binbrook in Canada.



The excitement I felt when I visited Australia for the first time this year, is something that I want my dad to feel.

He has worked extremely hard all his life, and jobs, money, distance, vacation time, and children have always been in the way. My dad and grandad ran their own foreign car mechanic shop, and they were always extremely busy. They had so much work, that I would miss school to help out when my grandad was sick. I also would go down on Saturday's with them since they worked 6 days a week and 10 to 12 hours a day Monday through Friday.



It was in the cards that I would take my grandfathers place and work with my dad as a mechanic, but I just could not see myself doing that for the rest of my life, so I joined the Navy. A few years after that, they sold the business. Since then, my dad has had to work hard doing different jobs at a low salary and minimal vacation time.





16 years ago he was able to become a Sheriff and works at the county jail.
My dad is still very active and like me, he wants to get out and see everything.




He has been working hard at building a retirement so he could retire, and at 69 he is still working.






Because we are 3000 miles away, we don't get to see each other very often.
A few years back I told my parents that I was going to visit them every 6 months.
I had a habit of not visiting for years at a time, one span was 5 years or more.


I have not kept up with my promise, and it has now been 2 years since we have seen each other.






This trip to Australia with my dad would be a good father and son getaway. A pint at the pub talking about the good times, and a chance to explore a country that we both share the same dream for visiting.





We both like a good pint, and after experiencing it this year, I can tell you that he will enjoy a good Australian Beer! I myself am into wine tasting, but I also like my beer. We are both very adventurous and like to get out and walk and visit the sites. Exploring Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane would be right up our ally.





My dad has a cousin who lives in Australia, she lives somewhere north of Sydney, I think! She came to visit him five years ago. Just out of the blue she showed up, and they had not seen each other in over 30 years.

My dad and I have missed out on a lot over the years because I moved so far away, and spending time with my dad in a beautiful city such a Sidney, Melbourne, or Brisbane, and in a country that we both may have lived in, would somehow bring back some of those years, and give us some special time together.



The photo opportunities in itself would make for a beautiful and everlasting memory.

Now the question, "Which city would you most like to visit, and why" ?

It is very difficult to choose one city over the other, because I am happy to visit Sidney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. They all have a lot to offer, and they are all beautiful cities.

Sydney, I just visited Sydney this year, and I have to say it is by far the most beautiful city I have ever visited, and there is so much to see and do. The photo opportunities are endless! I would not turn Sydney down as my number one, two, or three choice. I am sure it is a city my dad would love. A tour of the Olympic Stadium, a play at the Opera House, a visit to the Botanic Gardens, eating fish & chips at Doyle's in Watson Bay and seeing Gap Point, riding the ferries on Sydney Harbour and stopping at Darling Harbour, strolling around Hyde Park and visiting the War Memorial and museum. Also enjoying a ride on the red and blue Sydney Explorer Buses. Just to name a few! so first, second, or third choice, Sydney is a great place to visit.

Brisbane is a city that I thought would be my first choice to visit when I finally went to Australia. The beaches, the tropical paradise, being close to the Great Barrier Reef, the night life. The home of the late great Steve Irwin. It reminds me of Florida where we spent a lot of our family vacations when I was a young boy. Climbing the Story Bridge sounds like fun, taking a cruise on the Brisbane River, visiting the Botanic Gardens, and maybe venturing out to the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, or Fraser Island would make for a memorable trip to Brisbane. Southbank and Queen Street Mall, sound like the top attractions, so I would definitely try to make them both a place I would visit. First, second, or third choice, I would not turn it down either, because it is a city I do want to visit.

Melbourne, well, this would be my number one choice! You read the stories of who is better, Sydney or Melbourne. You have the history of the Olympics in both cities. Melbourne, a city with I believe 6 AFL football teams. A sport I would give anything to see live at the Stadium.

The show that was on television "The Age of Love" with Mark Phillipothis the Australian tennis star. He is from Melbourne, and the show gave glimpses of Melbourne and cruising down the Yarra River. The night life, the wine, the restaurants, the sights. Visiting the vineyards of Victoria's Pyrenees wineires sounds like fun, maybe a Phillip Island tour to see the penguins, koalas, and kangaroos. I hear Melbourne has a very nice zoo. Going to the Rialto Building and seeing the city of Melbourne is something my dad and I would enjoy, and also a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens is a must see. We would definitely have to go to Queen Victoria Market, and possibly take in a show at the Princes Theatre. Definitely would have to check out Federation Square.

Melbourne intrigues me. This is a place where my dad can enjoy the beauty of a city, and the ambiance of Australia.

Thank you for giving me the chance to enter the contest. I have had a great deal of fun putting this together!
If you have visited my wiki web page on Pete's Ozzie Trip, Finally Made It! Which I am not done with yet, I can promise you the same and more if I win this trip with my dad. I love doing this, because I am passionate about Australia, and the Australian people! I love Australia!

limeyboy