Australia

Shin and I went to Australia for 9 days just before Christmas while Jazz and Dixie had their own little holiday at Dog Inc. The day we arrived we got the BBQ in my grandmother's back yard going and cooked up flathead fillets, steak and sausages. I miss being able to have barbies in the back yard!

The next day we headed out of Melbourne to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary and the Yarra Valley Winery area. While at the sanctuary we saw various Australian animals and then sampled some good Australian wines on the way home.

While out and about we noticed a lot of other dogs and contantly thought of our Jazz and Dixie back in Japan. This beautiful dog was tied up outside a hairdresser and was very gentle.

We also headed out of Melbourne to the Hepburn Spa area famous for all its mineral spas. We stayed with my mum and grandma in a self contained apartment. We ate well while we were there!

We also tried our hands at fishing at a local trout farm where we caught trout that were later served to us at lunch.

We then travelled to Brisbane where we spent the last few days of our holiday. It was quite hot in Brisbane after Melbourne's very changeable weather. We had a great time although it all seemed to go by so quickly. However it was good to come home to Jazz and Dixie who were so glad to welcome us home.

While we were away...

While we were in Australia on holiday Jazz and Dixie had their own little holiday at Dog Inc where it looks like they got right into the festive spirit!

Jazz did her usual getting between the covers trick to keep warm.

There were many friends for Jazz and Dixie to play and socialise with so they didn't even have time to miss us!
We battled our way through 3 hours of traffic jams from the airport to make it just in time to pick up Jazz and Dixie from Dog Inc. The girls were so excited to see us we got almost got licked to death! Thank you to everyone at Dog Inc for looking after my girls so well. They looked very happy and fit and I could enjoy my holiday knowing they were well looked after as usual. We are off on a little weekend getaway with the girls tomorrow so I will post some pics from Australia and our holiday next week. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

We are leaving for Australia tomorrow and won't be back till after Christmas so we wanted to take this oportunity to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. Jazz and Dixie would also like to say a huge thank you for all the Christmas cards we have received from so many blogging buddies from all around the world. It has been very exciting finding mail in the mail box everyday. The postman must be starting to wonder who Jazz and Dixie are! We are renting and not allowed to attach anything to the walls so I am making do with the projector screen and speaker tops!

Weekend Getaway

Yesterday we visited a place called Mother Farm complete with all your usual farm animals. Living in Tokyo its not everyday we see these animals and its the first time Jazz and Dixie have seen some of them including this very big pig!!

Included in this farm compond there were also some dog runs for Jazz and Dixie to enjoy. The weather was great and it was nice to be out in the fresh air with the girls.

Jazz had her first ever encounter with a rabbit which is quite funny considering she is a beagle! She was very curious and strained to get her head through the fence to get a better look at the cute little bunnies. Dixie on the other hand was very busy following scents of other animals and people.

And then came the pièce de résistance - soft serve icecream - made from the milk from the farm. The girls, especially Jazz were beside themselves with excitement. I had to fight to hold onto the cone and get a lick myself!

Our accomodation and a little more about our holiday can be seen here at my Holidays in Japan blog. We all had a great weekend away!

Our First Car!

After years of hiring cars to take the girls places we finally decided to buy our own car. Its a first car for all of us and today was a very exciting day. Jazz and Dixie were a little scared at first of their new seating arrangements. Usually we put their crates on the back seat and they sleep quietly there. However the car came with a pet carrier option that attaches to the seats so we got one for Jazz and one for Dixie so they can be safely transported side by side to dog runs and weekend adventures. We got the car in late afternoon but raced home to pick up Jazz and Dixie to take them to Yoyoji Park just as the sun was setting. They got to run around like crazy in the dog run until we got too cold! Now that we have a car equiped for the girls we can get out of Tokyo on the weekends and discover new dog runs and other dog friendly places!

Crunchy Cucumbers and Christmas Cards

Jazz and Dixie love cucumbers and are quick to share a few bites with me. I love the crunching sound they make when they eat them.

We have started to receive some of the DWB Christmas Cards and would like to say thanks thus far to Lorenza, Noah and his Sisters, Amber Mae and her sisters, Simba, Homer,Bolo, Faya and Dyos, Lenny and Arabella for their wonderful cards. It has been so exciting opening the mail box each day.