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.

New Zealand

For our annual Christmas trip back to the United States, we decided to make a stop over in New Zealand. It was a busy morning – closing up the house for an entire month is always a bit fraught. Tim added to the drama by breaking his toe on the bike stand just as the taxi to the airport was pulling in the driveway. The whole flight he kept telling us the toe was dislocated and Elliott and I were going to have to pop it back in place upon arrival at the hotel. Luckily for us, the toe did seem to pop back into place on its own, but poor Tim was a bit hobbled for the remainder of the trip! I will try and do more photos this blog, but I’ll spare you the ones of his purple toe.

Auckland itself was an interesting city. We had read the city was surrounded by many volcanoes, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We were slightly disappointed to realize they really were inactive and the grass had grown over them. Still, it was all very beautiful, but just not as thrilling as we first thought it might be! We went out to see a few of the higher volcanic areas – Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill. It was lucky that the Governor’s gardens were open to the public on the one day we happened by.

We also enjoyed the Auckland Art Museum. It had a very interesting display of Maori artifacts, including a meeting house and a war canoe. We were struck how different the Maori culture is from the Aboriginal culture in Australia. There were some very unusual Maori textiles that I had never seen before.

New Zealand is known for exciting and dangerous adventure holidays. A trip to the Sky Tower in Auckland is a good place to start. At 328 meters, it’s the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. We rode up in a glass elevator to the observation deck. My palms were sweating the whole time! Looking down, you could see a giant red bulls eye that serves as a target for the bungee jumpers. Tim threatened to do it, but I told him he’d have to make sure his life insurance covered it before he jumped. Elliott and Tim both enjoyed freaking me out by jumping up and down on the glass floor.

After exploring Auckland, we headed south. We had to stop in Matamata to check out Hobbiton. We felt we had to at least get a photo of the place for Uncle Shane – a big Lord of the Rings fan. Upon arrival, we found out you had to have a tour of the place, or else we really couldn’t see a thing. Luckily a tour bus was just pulling up as we arrived, so there was no time to debate the exorbitant price we would have to pay. The Hobbit scenes were filmed on a sheep farm so far in the middle of nowhere. There was only one tiny hay barn roof you could see in the distance. Other than that, there was no sign of anything man made as far as you could see in any direction. Lovely spot! We enjoyed the guided tour very much and loved hearing all the gossip about the director Peter Jackson. The tour ended back at the sheep farm where we got to see a sheep shearing demonstration. But the funniest was getting to sample the Hobbit beer. Peter Jackson realized the Hobbits would get quite drunk during the filming if they drank real beer. Another problem was that a lot of Hobbits were played by little kids and they couldn’t be giving little kids real beer. So he bought a brewery and had them make a 1% alcohol beer just for the movie. The beer is called “Sobering Thought” and is only available in Matamata. We had to try it out for ourselves of course…tastes just like the real thing!

I planned to stay in Rotarua just for one night. I had heard the town was quite odiferous due to all the thermal activity. I booked a hotel right on the lake thinking how nice and scenic it would be, not realizing that it was the lake itself that stank. If you stay in Rotarua yourselves….don’t choose the hotel with a view of the lake! They say you get used to the smell, but I’m not convinced. It was stinky, but it was interesting! We saw a lot of bubbling mud pools and hot springs.

Rotarua has a large Maori population. There are many opportunities to visit Maori villages and eat a Maori feast. We went one evening to Mitai Maori Village where they prepared us a ‘hangi’ – a feast prepared in a pit. They also did some traditional songs and poi dances where the women do some twirling thing with flax balls. It’s hard to describe, but it was fun to watch. The highlight, of course, would be seeing the Haka, the traditional Maori war dance. The All Blacks Rugby team still does this before every match to intimidate the opposition. The next day, we went to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village. Yes, that is what it’s called – no typo. It is a Maori village with a lot of thermal activity. I think we would have enjoyed that day more, had it not rained quite so hard!

On our way to Lake Taupo, we stopped at Waimangu Volcanic Valley. This was created during an eruption in 1886, so it is relatively new in geological terms. There is a lovely walk that heads down into the volcanic valley. You walk by all these thermal hot springs and geysers. The photos will do it more justice than my telling about it. Luckily, there was a free shuttle bus that picked you up at the bottom of the hill and took us back up to the top. To be honest, by this point, Elliott was getting a bit fed up with all the walking. Seen one hot spring, you seen them all!

We stopped in Lake Taupo for a few days. Luckily, the weather did clear up. We have gotten soft after living in Australia. We have realized tramping about in the wet is not nearly as fun as in the sun! One highlight of the area was “The Craters of the Moon” – yet another hot springs, volcanic area. But this one was relatively unspoiled by over-development and we enjoyed a good hike around.

Our guide book was a second hand Lonely Planet that Aunt Becky had used a few years before. There was some confusion about her notes in the margins. Did the star mean she had been there and it was good? Did it mean she had wanted to go but hadn’t made it? What was the X? Too expensive? Or fully booked? Well, we went to one starred place in the guide book: Taupo Hot Springs and Health Spa. It turned out to be a public swimming pool where most of the pools were fed by hot springs. It wouldn’t have been so awful if there weren’t signs posted everywhere saying “Keep Your Head Out of the Water to Prevent Amoebic Meningitis.” Yuck! There was a water slide that Elliott and Tim couldn’t resist, but Tim got a bit worried when he kept getting a nose full of water every time he crashed into the pool! We had a few worrisome days wondering how Amoebic Meningitis would present itself.

Next stop was Tongariro National Park. This park was another Lord of the Rings filming location. Mount Doom in the movie was really a composite of several of the mountains here. Some of the Orc fighting scenes were filmed at the Whakapapa Ski Field. The first afternoon we arrived, the weather was clear and we had some great views of the mountains. Sadly, the next day, the mountains were barely visible under a heavy cloud cover. We had only one day to try to do the Tongariro Crossing – an 18.5 km hike that takes you over the rim of the crater and down over some spectacular lakes. We hiked in for about 8 km, but going thru the South Crater visibility was very poor. As we climbed up the rim, it was very windy and rainy. We couldn’t see anything over the side – very scary for a person afraid of heights at the best of time! We turned back at that point, figuring there was not much point in torturing ourselves for a great view when there was going to be no view in the fog anyway! It was disappointing though to only have one day scheduled to do it.

The next day, we went to Waitomo Caves. We went to check out the Black Water Rafting thru the glow worm caves. After I read the waiver and something about jumping backwards over a waterfall, I decided to let the boys do this adventure on their own. I was still shaken from the Tongariro Crossing! I stayed dry up top while Tim and Elliott donned wet suits and got into inner tubes. It sounded like I missed a great trip with spectacular scenery, but when they mentioned floating on their backs thru a tiny little cave opening – faces an inch from the rock wall – I think I made the right choice.

In Waitomo, we stayed in a hotel listed in the outdated guide book. It was possibly the worst hotel we had ever stayed in for a variety of reasons. When we got to the US, we checked out the latest Lonely Planet guide book. Sure enough, the hotel review had been re-written. It was something like…If the Bates motel from “Pyscho” and the hotel from “The Shining” had a bastard child….this hotel would be that offspring! Too right! Note to self….buy an up to date guide book!

On the last day in New Zealand, we went to see a Kiwi bird. As they are nearly extinct, there are very few around in the wild. We really enjoyed the Otoronhanga Native Bird Park. Kiwis are a very strange looking bird. It is easy to understand why they struggle in the modern world. They just aren’t equipped to fight off any introduced predators. On the way back to the Airport in Auckland, we stopped at the Hamilton Botanical Gardens. It was a lovely sunny day and the gardens were very well done. The last day was totally unplanned, but we were lucky to stumble across two great things to see.

If you look at a map of New Zealand, you will realize we didn’t cover much ground. We stayed only on the North Island, and didn’t even see all of that. New Zealand has so much to offer that we didn’t want to rush it. That leaves us with another trip to plan someday…a tour of the South Island.

*Editor's Note: The pictures are a pain to move around in this blog format - so I apoligize they're not exactly in the right place. No matter where I moved the photos - I still get a wierd paragraph format!

Thanksgiving Lawn Bowls

First off, I'd like to say hello to anyone that read a Christmas Card and decided to check out the blog. I picked out those cards in the sales after Christmas last year. After looking at them now, I can't imagine why I ever thought they were funny. After 3 years, we are heading into the end of the blog. I imagine one more post about New Zealand, about Easter vacation and maybe one to wrap it all up. Seriously, I think we are moving back to the US next June. It will be 16 years abroad by that point.

Several of the Americans that have been in Brisbane with our group have gone back to the US already. So we were a smaller group for Thanksgiving this year. Someone decided Lawn Bowls would be fun to try. It was a bit of a hard sell to get Elliott to go, but in the end, I think we all enjoyed it. Elliott won a bottle of wine, which he dutifully turned over to me! A couple of the families leave in the next few weeks, so it was a bit of a good-bye celebration as well.

The Lawn Bowling itself was harder than it looks. There is a little round ball, but it is weighted so it will always curve. First, you throw a white little ball down the perfectly manicured lawn. Then you take turns rolling your ball, trying to get it the closest to little white one. The gentleman who gave us lessons and supervised us split us into two groups - men and ladies - so the ladies could have a "shorter game." I guess he was worried we wouldn't have the strength to roll the little ball far enough. The length wasn't really a problem, but I should have paid more attention in physics.

The other exciting thing I've been doing, besides lawn bowls, is Bridge. I am now taking up all activities suitable for those over 60. If we end up in Tucson with all the "snow birds," I want to be able to fit in with the Senior Set. It has been really good fun. I play with a lady I know from tennis. They say you should play with someone that is smarter than you are...I chose well! We've been playing once or twice a week. I would like somehow to indicate we have won 2$ on several occasions, but I'm worried about tipping off the IRS.

Well, that's all the news really. For the next few days, it will be scramble to get everything sorted for our Christmas trip. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Carnarvon Gorge - Central Queensland

Well, we finally exhausted all the easy day trips from Brisbane and were forced to travel a bit further afield. When this school holiday rolled around, we decided to head to Central Queensland to visit Carnarvon Gorge. It takes about 10 hours to drive there so we broke the trip in Roma.

Luckily, on the way out, Toowoomba was having the Spring Festival of Flowers. We stopped in and it was absolutely fantastic. After 3 years of being in constant draught, to see such amazing flowers was so lovely. Sweet peas, delphiniums, iris, foxglove, pansies, petunias...so many favorites from our time in the UK. Really, it was only 2 medium sized gardens. But after not having seen those flowers for so long, I was in heaven!

After the flower stop, back in the car to carry on to Roma. Queensland has a huge problem with car crashes and fatalities on the highways. After this trip, you could definitely see why. For a major highway, it was only 2 lanes and pretty poorly maintained. Plus, there we so many over-sized trucks driving along and it was dangerous to pass. As we were headed directly West, the sun was so blinding. It was just the time of day for kangaroos to jump out in front of the car. We did make it safely to Roma, but it was a bit tiring. Roma...let's just say the one of the few restaurant listed in the guide book was called "The Bake-o-Roma". We did hit "The Big Rig Museum" which was pretty interesting about the history of oil and gas exploration.

Finally, we arrived at Carnarvon Gorge. This was billed as Queensland's Grand Canyon. Maybe not quite on the same scale, but it was still great. One difference was we were actually at the bottom of the canyon and spent time walking up it, instead of being on top and walking down into it. Plus, it was smaller...and not the same color rocks...and...well, not really the same at all. At first Tim and Elliott were skeptic - our luxury accommodation turned out to be a tent. A fixed tent with a bathroom - but still very tent like.

We spent 3 days hiking around. Our longest hike was just over 20 km. I am thinking that might have been about one of the longest hikes I have ever done. It was lucky I have been doing a bit of quilting again - I had stuffed some quilting wadding in my shoes to ease the pressure points! It was a gorgeous walk down in the gorge - criss-crossing the stream running thru. There were 2 sites of Aboriginal rock art that were very interesting. The best side canyon was probably The Amphitheatre. This was about what it sounds like - a big area with great acoustics that was carved from erosion. Luckily there was a pool back at the Lodge where we could soak our feet afterward.

Another highlight of the trip was the wildlife. Around the lodge there were so many birds - Kookaburas, Apostle birds, lorikeets. Wallabies and kangaroos were hopping around. Tim got up every day at 6 am to look for the platypus in the stream. I have to say, I didn't join him every single day, but I managed a few! Elliott was able to make some of the viewing expeditions at 6 pm - but didn't manage to make the 6 am ones. But the exciting part is - all the standing around quietly at the creek's edge getting eaten by mosquitoes paid off! We did manage to see a platypus. They are very shy, so it was a lucky sighting. Sadly, no picture really - there is one of a bit of brown splashy water that I'll spare you. We also saw an echidna which was so CUTE! It looked a bit like a porcupine. We felt really lucky to have seen so many things.

But today is Sunday, and Elliott is back to school tomorrow. Last day of freedom for him. I'm sure we'll be lucky to pry him off the computer if he ever bothers to get out of bed.

Stanthorpe

Well, it gets longer and longer between each post. My New Year's Resolution didn't even last half the year. I wonder what the average is? It isn't that I've been too busy - just apathetic!

Elliott has been on his Winter break from school. Tim has been very busy at work, but he did manage a few days off. We went down to Stanthorpe for a few days. It is on the border of New South Wales and is known for being a wine producing region. It is one of the few places in Queensland it ever snows. The weather wasn't great - it was pretty cold and a bit rainy. Luckily, the Girraween Country Inn was very cosy and served hot soup with dinner.

The hiking was a bit scary in Girrween National Park. The park is known for giant granite boulders. There was one route to the top of "The Pyramids" that became a bit slick in the drizzle. I stopped somewhere up towards the top. A bit further along, Tim left Elliott somewhere on a slippery ledge as the wind picked up. Needless to say, there were a few cross words exchanged on the way down!

The next day, we went to Bald Rock National Park. It was interesting because this park hardly gets a mention in the guide books. There is a giant granite monolith - second in size only to Uluru/Ayers Rock. There was a relatively easy path up to the top for some fantastic views. We were lucky enough to see a female Lyre Bird. I have been hoping to see one for 2 years now - so I was very excited. Have yet to see a male one, but they are even more elusive.

We have been thinking of moving back to the US sometime next year. Things are always a bit up in the air with Tim's job and future opportunities, but maybe our days overseas are numbered. We always said we would move back in time for Elliott to go to high school and the time is really next year or never. Australia has felt very far away from our families. I would look forward to owning my own house again - feeling more settled. Plus, I may be able to talk Tim into another dog....

Has it really been 2 months?

What happened to the time?!

First things first - that bizarre fungus? We still have it - it's a mushroom that stinks to high heaven. Haven't been able to hang out my wash since it sprouted. Not sure we'll ever be rid of it. But we do hope to get rid of the rats in the attic. The guy has been out twice so far. Little scritch scratching at night. Ewwwww. Cockroaches, deadly spiders, rats and a smelly fungus....remind me why we're still here?

We have had a few short trips to the Gold Coast Hinterlands. It's just south of here and a little inland. Natural Bridge is a park that has a lovely waterfall and lots of glow worms and interesting bats. We spent a few nights at Binna Burra in Lamington National Park. It is very near O'Reilly's Guesthouse, but there is no road access between the two parts of the park. On one of our bush walks, I'm almost stepped on a 10 foot long carpet python sunning itself on the path. As I remember it, I was in front with Elliott behind me. Tim had stopped on the path to zip up the back pack. I screamed, turned and pushed Elliott back up the path to safety. To hear Tim tell it....well, he says I just about knocked him off a cliff to get away from the snake. Elliott swears he had to run or I would have trampled him. Believe who you will! It was rather exciting once the dust settled. Too bad about the photo - the snake slithered partially off the path before we could get a snap.

Our thoughts have been back in the US as my dad has been very sick in hospital. It is difficult to live so far away. I felt I needed to stay here to get Elliott off on his school trip, but felt I really should have gone back. Elliott did go off this week, but now the crisis seems to have passed. Dad is working hard getting back his strength and hopes to be back home as soon as possible. We have really been sorry to be so far away.

The Love Affair is Over

Well, be careful what you wish for, because you might get it. I was hoping for some bright clear days so I could finally get in my next golf lesson. Yesterday, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was gloriously sunny. However, the downside (and with me...isn't there always a downside?), was it was 40 degrees. For those of you still in old money, that's 102 degrees. I stood outside in the broiling sun for an hour practicing my "half swing". I've never been neither so BORED nor so HOT in all my life. Probably, I should add DEHYDRATED to that list. I'm afraid my brief love affair with golf may be over for good. Two more lessons to go - let's hope there is some middle ground between flooding and parching.

For next time, I hope to investigate a bizarre mushroom like fungus thing that has now sprouted in the back yard. It stinks to high heaven and attracts the flies. Will try and find out what on earth this thing is and how to get rid of it. The excitement never stops!

Monsoon Season

Well, after my last post, I was all excited to get going on my golf. But, sadly, I'm not sure it's meant to be. We have had so much rain here, my golf course is underwater. The golf practice area is near a little stream and it has flooded several times lately. Two lessons in a row have been a wash out! So disappointing! I was also looking forward to playing tennis again this week, but even that was rained off one day.

As a result of all this rain, I have discovered a new product in the grocery store: Damp Rid. Everything in the house feels damp - the sheets, the sofa, the clothes in the closet. I now have had to buy little packages of desiccant to put in the cupboards and around the house. It's amazing how much water can collect in those little tubs so quickly. When I first moved here, people told me how you had to spray the clothes in your closet for mildew and finally I can see the point. It wouldn't surprize me to open up a trunk of winter clothes to find them covered in mold. It doesn't help to have a drier that has no vent to the outside. Just what we need - extra moisture!

I have made a point to find some new things to do this past week with my outdoor plans thwarted. I went to see the Andy Warhol Exhibit at the Modern Art Museum. It was a great exhibition with 300 works of art. It was like a blast from my youth to see all the 80's memorabilia. There were several of his movies there as well with warning labels on them - unsuitable for young children. Intriguing! It was a shock to discover I couldn't figure out what was going on in the movies. After I came out, I read the blurb....Ah, so that's what they were doing! Getting so old.

I even went to some regular movies this week. I went to see "Charlie Wilson's War" and really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to see the whole build up in Afghanistan in light of where the world is now. I saw the previews for "Dan, In Real Life" and thought that would be fun for all of us a family. Ooops. Not a bad movie, but it was a real Chick Flick. Probably should have seen the war one with guys, and saved the Dan for a girl's day out.

We've been following the US news quite a bit with the Superbowl and then Super Tuesday. There was a funny article in the paper pointing out how many more Americans watched the football than actually went to vote. I've subscribed to Newsweek now and it is nice to feel a little more connected to the US. I've had more time to read it as I'm back in the school run again. All this talk of Super Delegates is interesting. If Obama wins more regular delegates and still loses the nomination due to the Clinton lock on Super Delegates, I will be well and truely disgusted.

On a brighter note with all the rain, we have some lovely flowers in the garden. We also may see some easing of water restrictions. I think they should keep severe ones in place. Everyone has gotten used to them by now, so why go back to using more water. Personally, I may use a tad more water. I have gathered my materials together to do a little fabric dying again. I won't feel so bad doing an extra load of laundry or two with so much rain.

First Golf Lesson

Last Saturday, I had my first golf lesson. I have already made quite the impression at the golf club because I had gone the week previously...only to realize I was a week too early. How keen is that!? But this time, it really was the correct week. Luckily, the weather held off and it went off without a hitch. We have still had so much rain every day, but sadly it is not raining in the dam as much as we had hoped.

Anyway, the golf lesson. It was great! The class was made up of 7 people, all of us total beginners. I chose a club near Elliott's school that I have been to quite a bit for coffee and lunch. It is in a lovely setting with kookaburras and sulphar crested cockatoos flying around. We didn't do too much really - just learned the grip and hit with a 7 iron. I was able to send a few nice shots up in the air to the little green 110 metres away. It was such a nice sound and a great feeling. I think it's like tennis - the one lovely shot almost makes up for the 10 mediocre ones. I had such a nice hour. I'm looking forward to going to a driving range and hitting a few balls this week sometime. I'm not sure I'm ready to buy some clubs yet, but it was a very fun first lesson.

Back to School

Not even January 31, and I've fallen down on my New Year's Resolution of more photos. I can't figure out how to use my new camera and my technical advisor is away on business. Will try to edit the blog to add a photo at later time.

Well, luckily school started back this week. It was very relaxing to be off for several weeks with nothing to do. The most challenging thing we did was to see if we could cover the entire surface area of the pool with all our new rafts. We got pretty close I have to say. However, all this having nothing to do left us waaaayyyy too much time to play on the computer. I'm afraid I have given myself ADHD or early onset Alzheimer's. I think it really must make you stupid all that gaming. In order to stimulate my poor brain, I have taken up doing an on-line Jigsaw Puzzle at JigZone.com. Great fun! I'll try to learn how to embed a puzzle in my blog for you all to try. We are also working on a proper jigsaw puzzle of some termite mounds that has been a challenge.

Elliott started back to school on Tuesday. He was dreading it, of course, but I think even he was ready to see some more of his friends. I had my first Tuck Shop duty of the year yesterday. I am now prepared for a career change if we move back to the US. I could be the milkshake maker at Steak and Shake. This is a new product sold at school and it is wildly popular along with toasted sandwiches. I was lucky to have the claimed the milkshake job. The toasted cheese sandwich maker job was awful. It was already 30 degrees and incredibly humid - but to stand over the 220 degree hot grill machine didn't look fun. I was a bit nervous I would explode the milkshake machine all over me in front of Elliott's friends, but everything went off without a hitch.

It's nice to be back at the gym again and my activities will start up over the next few weeks. I signed up for Tennis on Tuesday and Thursdays this term. It has still been raining a fair bit, so I hope the rain showers confine themselves to afternoon so as not to interfere with my plans.

A Vacation from our Vacation

After seeing all the snow, we were ready for a vacation from our vacation. Luckily, we had been invited to the Bahamas with Linda, Michael and Amanda. We had been before and we excited to go back. After having been to the Great Barrier Reef, we realized just how spectacular the snorkelling is in Cat Cay. Because this time we were going in December, we bought some 3mm wet suits. I will spare you photos of me in the shop trying on the wet suit - I spent about 15 minutes squeezing into one and then the clerk told me that the suit was way too big. Elliott had the least luck with a wet suit because he has grown so tall. He's too long for the kid suits, but too skinny for an adult suit. We settled for a top and shorts set for him, but it wasn't nearly so warm for him.

To get the Cat Cay, we took a little 7 seater plane from Fort Lauderdale. Everyone has to say how much they weigh and then the pilot tells you were to sit. As we were waiting at the terminal, I repeated my mantra..."anywhere but the front seat, anywhere but the front seat..." so of course, I got the front seat. It was fabulous after all, beautiful clear sky and a smooth run.

The whole week was fantastic. It was so fun to spend time with a big group as both Linda and Michael had extended family staying on the island at the same time. There was snorkelling, tubing, golf, and tennis. Adults vs. the kids in keep away at the pool. Puzzles, Dvds, and many board games. And we can't forget the Cat Cay Olympics - with the cocunut toss and champaign relay. I only played a few holes of golf with Linda, but I did enjoy it enough to sign up for a few lessons starting in February. (I'm sure it be cause for much hilarity if not the cause of a slipped disc.)

The last few days turned cooler and windy. It made for a white knuckle trip back in the plane. As it was a different pilot, we had new seat assignments. Tim got the front seat this time. He was loving it! He was talking and laughing with the pilot as the wind gusted to 25 mph. Meanwhile, I was in the second seat gripping on for dear life. I was wearing my travel sickness bands, sucking on ginger tablets and clutching on to the open sick bag. But of course, as I am writing this blog, we lived to tell the tale.

We have now been back in Brisbane for almost 2 weeks. It has been raining every day since we returned. The dams are filling up a bit - I think we are about up to 25%. Still no relief in terms of the water restrictions, but things are slightly better. Elliott and I have been playing on the computer way too much. The Australian Open Tennis is going on - so that's been fun to watch. It's the only Grand Slam Event that we can see without getting up at 3 am to watch. Few more weeks till school starts. It will be nice to have my little routine again - I am missing my tennis.

One last note - with our new camera Tim was able to take underwater pictures and video. He had a great time trying out all the new features. The upshot of this is...we have about 3 days worth of video of a jewel fish, but sadly no good ones of our friends. Must do better! Also of interest, Tim took a picture of a shark. We had seen nurse sharks previously, but this shark was a bit bigger and swimming around. At first glance in the picture, we couldn't see a thing. But with the digital technology, we could keep zooming in the image. I guess that doesn't sound very technical - zooming in. But, anyway, the point is - you can see it quite clearly at closer inspection. There may be hope for a Loch Ness Monster sighting yet.