Thundereggs

A thunderegg is a geological structure, similar to a geode, that is formed within a rhyolitic lava flow. (Whatever that is...) Thunderbird Park is down near Mt. Tambourine. At the park, you can climb on a tree-top adventure playground or trail ride on horses. Also, there is a mine where you can dig for your own thundereggs. You can get yourself a mining permit and head out with a small pick axe and a bucket to dig around in the "mine." It wasn't quite what we expected. It was more digging around on the slope of a hill really, than digging inside a mine. I had been warned that the thundereggs at Mt. Tambourine were inferior to the ones found in North Queensland, but we still thought it might be interesting.

We lasted about an hour and half I think. It was back breaking work and it was rather hot. Tim and Elliott were complaining about the blisters they were getting. I pointed out my hands were aleady tough from the work I do around the house, but they thought it was more the case I wasn't doing enough digging. The trick with the thundereggs is that they don't look like much before you cut them open. We found a few interesting rocks that we took back to the mining shed. They sort them for you and tell you what might be worth cutting open and seeing what's inside. So, of course, everyone has to have a look in a few just to be sure they didn't miss anything. We walked away with a few things that look nice-ish, but I'm not convinced they are even really thundereggs! But, I think the day was instructive. We learned it's probably not worth driving 12 hours to dig at another place we were considering.

We also stopped at a new tourist place called the Sky Walk. They built a walk way over the rain forest. We paid 45$ to go in. Of course, I'm so afraid of heights...I was grabbing onto Tim's arm so hard he claimed I cut the circulation off to his hand. We finished the walk across the walkway within record time since I wouldn't let anyone stop to admire the view. Keep walking! Don't look down! Needless to say, that's probably not another experience we'd repeat. Plenty of lovely walks around Mt. Tambourine that are free and remain on the ground.

Hope you used pencil in your address book!

Yes, we are officially on the move again. After 3 years in Australia, we will be returning to the US in May. It's been an interesting experience here, but I am looking forward to going back. When people ask if I'm excited or sad or nervous...I reply that I'm all three at once.

We hoped we could get something in Tucson because we would eventually like to retire there. When we were back in the US, we stopped there to check out some houses and the school for Elliott. We got stay with my aunt and uncle - it will be great to have family nearby. Luckily, Tim was able to sort out some work there. He'll work at home and then travel a bit. After being a housewife for so long, it will be weird to have Tim hanging around at home all day. Already, I'm thinking of how I can go back to school or work...

Of course, "The Move" is taking up all our waking thoughts. Also, we are now following the US economy with obsessive interest. Australians seem to think they will be immune to any downturn. Considering you still can't find a parking space at the mall in Brisbane, consumer spending still seems pretty good so far. Maybe that should be a new economic indicator - how long it takes to find a parking space at the mall.

We have done a lot of nothing now we are back in the school term. The only pictures I could come up with are ones of bizarre things that have wandered in our garden. One - a giant stick insect. Two - a blue tongued skink (a kind of lizardy thing with a blue tongue). The skink went into the pool and couldn't get out again so he was just hanging out on the pink raft. The bug - Tim found it already dead and put it somewhere to scare me. It didn't work though - it was so big I didn't realize it was a real bug.

With all the rain we have had over the last few months, things have settled down a bit in terms of water restrictions. You are now allowed to wash your car between 4 and 4:30 pm on Saturday afternoons - with a hose!! So, this was very exciting. We had to teach Elliott how to wash the car. It had been so long he had forgotten how it was done. (Yes, he has grown about 2 feet since we moved here!)

The only other thing I've been doing lately is sewing. I brought a lot of fabric from the UK to Australia and I decided I better use it up. I couldn't see dragging it all back to the US. I had come across a woman who collects quilts for the Linus Project, so I made some simple scrap quilts for the charity. I just dropped off eight quilts in all. I'm sure the Linus Project will find nice homes for them.

Last thing I'll say...3 YEARS on this blog and I still can't move the pictures around properly. My apologies - I hope you can tell the difference between which one is the skink and which one is Elliott.