Pics Bunya Mts

I hoped this would be a better pic of the view.  It is mind boggling.  Then you have Bartman going for the gusto, all the way to the top.  Sorry Mom P, no way to stop him.

Of course I had to get the actual jump.  

We were shocked to realize that gorgeous pink flower was  a bloom on a Eucalyptus tree.  We took a lot of pictures of this one little tree.  Hope you love it.

There's Bart with a Bunya.  Bunya Bart. Did we mention that they're big?

Bunya pics

This is the Bunya tree.  It is a monsterous pine that grows only in the Bunya mountains.  Those three pine cones are filled with Bunya nuts!  They are huge and tasty when baked. 

The pink flowers were growing all along the side of the road.  It's a grass that is abundandt because of all the recent rain.  Fortunately we are enjoying a very green, lush time.  On the last day this foot race happened as a result of what I don't know.  Riley kept winning and Bart kept insisting on a rematch until finally they tied!  Of course, now Bart can hardly walk for the pain in his hips.  Sprinting is, well, painful even under the best of circumstances.  I can assure you he was in no way in shape for all out sprinting with no warm up what so ever.  

And can you see the little wallabies out for breakfast?  They didn't give us a second look!

A few pics from The Bunya Mountain Trip

Too much fun?

Is it o.k to have too much fun?   To have too many sweet friends?  To see too many beautiful things?  To have too much opportunity be inspired by the loveliness that life has to offer?  To miss church in order to have one more day of the mountains?  To miss early morning seminary in order to have one more hour of sleep? (o.k.  I realize I am fuzzing the lines here!)  

Life requires a certain ability to, shall we say, justify.  Looks like I am managing very well wouldn't you say!

We have been off playing again.  If it's just making you sick with envy sign off now, meanwhile, I'll  do my best to throw something unfortunate into the mix of what must sound like a never ending vacation.  Surely I mentioned my washer breaking down a couple of weeks ago?  The mud all over the boys new white tennis shoes?  The fall Jeremy took at the water falls?   Lest I forget, this most recent excursion had a nice whack of stinging nettle in the calf region of my right leg that was most unpleasant.  There was a spider the size of a full bloomed peony in the kitchen at the condo, along with an array of spider webs loaded with a nice variety of dead bugs hanging in the corners of every wall.  The wallabies pooped on our sidewalk and we forgot the ice cream for the birthday cake.  Oh, and the birthday candles, too.  Riley and Jeremy had to do some babysitting for the two little ones and they got bored.  Um, what else?  We got lost going out to the swimming hole so we had to, horror of horrors, ask for directions.  No one was home at the first two houses where we stopped.  The roads are narrow out in the country and sometimes I sorta yelled at Bart to slow down.  He didn't like that. The water at the swim hole was brown.  Several people were smoking which is something you won't see in the pretty pictures.  I gained weight and Bart pulled muscles.  We all smelled like bugspray.  We ran out of milk.  Hmmm,  maybe there's more, but that' about all the bummer stuff I can think of right now.  I promise there's always more where that came from. It's just a matter of putting some real energy and focus into it.  Looking for the negative takes practice, effort and time you know!

So, back to the good stuff.  Bart works for/with a man named Kevin.  Bart refers to him as his client/customer.  That's how we are connected originally but I can truly say that now he, his sweet wife Julie, two little ones, Jonathon (5) and Michael (3), are our good friends.  You either are or aren't going to be bonded after 4 days and 3 night together.  We are.  And you would be too.  These are delightful people that know how to enjoy the simple goodness of life.  They are gentle souls and have managed to blend the South African (him) and American (her) cultures in their 12 year marriage.  Throw in Kenya, Malowi, Virginia (they were with Delta T at one point as well but left about 5 months before we came on board)Wisconsin (hated it), Florida and Brisbane and this last move to the Australian country side and  you've got the recipe for some great stories!  We enjoyed learning about them and getting to know them better.  We all felt so much happier and relaxed after sharing time together as families in the beautiful Bunya Mountains.

We actually started at their home out in Dalby.  They graciously hosted us overnight on Thurs. and then we all went up Friday to a great condo with 2 master rooms and a 3rd room with 2 sets of bunkbeds.  It was a super arrangement for us.  Julie had rolls and meats and cereals and milk and had also brought up her goods for her "tea time".  She even brought me some Rooibus!  The first day was feeding the birds, a hike to a scenic overlook and home for lunch.  Unfortunately I left the camera home for our quick walk over to the local "Tea House" so there are no inside shots of the gift shop, balcony out to the trees or gorgeous food.  The big boys tended the little boys for that one.  (They would much rather that then sit in a restaurant of any kind, hee, hee)  It was great to see and remember what happens when a man and a wife take that first step out of the house for a little free time.  Ahhh, the relief was visible!  They are amazing parents and the boys are at that age of requiring lots of physical attention, plus, Kevin is quick to inform us that at 47 he just doesn't have the strength to keep up all the time like he used to with his two older children from a previous marriage.  We think he still does great after watching him ferry each of his children across the swimming hole and chase them around the rocks!

After lunch we were all HOT, HOT, HOT so we found out about this little swim hole about 40 minutes away from the lady that runs the place.  The directions were a little sketchy and we did get lost but eventually joined a nice group of locals at this hidden swim hole.  The water was so refreshing, thank goodness, and the big boys had a total blast jumping off the rocks on the other side.  Despite being on high alert (Mom Packer would be so proud.  I promise, I watched every jump to make sure they came back up!) for drownings and falls on the rocks I still enjoyed the time there so much.  You felt privileged to be with all these "real" Australians enjoying their cooling off treat with them.  

We hiked out of there and back for dinner which was, again, delicious.  Our favorite has to be the Pickled Bunya Nut relish on brushetta.  MMmmmm.  Plus I had some Aubergine (eggplant) that was very yummy.  Usually it's thin cut but  this was thick and loaded with a cheese and tomato sauce.  Of course now there's no money for this week's groceries but I don't think anyone will mind!  He, he (Just kidding.  We still had some old milk and Bart found a  moldy piece of bread in the pantry.  Hee, hee)

I think this was one of the most laid back outings we have had since we arrived.  It was just enough time to let down your hair and stay awhile versus our customary drive and drive, arrive, eat, sleep, hike, get dirty, wash off, load up, drive home.  Playing is sometimes harder than staying, if you know what I mean?

Highlights for me?  Carrying little Johnathon (Johno) back up the trail and having him use his little baseball cap to brush hanging vines and foliage out of my face.  Listening to Michael call for the turkeys, all of the eating (as ususal), witnessing Bart race Riley in a short sprint until he beat him (whew, that was a close one - thus the sore muscles), my run through the trees, chocolate cake for breakfast, seeing Jeremy let Michael drag him around by his pinky, having Riley take on Michael as his one and only responsibility for our lunch, the  talk about religion (who knew Kevin is practically a preacher?), celebrating Julie's birthday, the flowers on the little Eucalyptus tree, breathtaking views, the Glass family that we met at the scenic overlook who's teenage son introduced our kiddos to all sorts of bugs he'd collected and then gave Johno the cup with a millipede, beetle, and a grub.  

O.K. time to pick up the boys.  

Do I really need a title?

O.K. here we are on my Thursday morning which is your Wednesday late afternoon.  Just think, I am finally one step ahead of even the most ambitious of my high achieving friends, ha ha!  Even with that I am finding ways to dawdle away just enough time to leave myself in a bit of a need to hustle to "get it all done" today!

Bart will be on the curb at Brizzy (Another cute Australian shortcut for Brisbane) by 1pm meanwhile I have been up since 5 am for the run (making up for the dozen of the best chocolate chip cookies I ever shouldn't have eaten!) then off  to seminary with R, home with 10 min to spare to wake up J (no working cell phone right now) who MUST be 100% ready to go by the time I'm back with R so we can  pile in and off to school.  Feels like I am driving for 3 hours by the time 9 am rolls around.  I have a name for ride possibilities and prices for the bus.  Can you believe they want $33/ week because it's not state funded, just a private company bussing the kids?  Yikes.   With Bart home I may just take R  and stay to run around the neighborhood while Bart gets J ready for the day.  In fact, if he travels again I might just give R the seminary lesson myself!!!  Whew.

In spite of all that, my life still feels like a vacation, minus the maid.  Part of my "work" today is packing for the next trip to the mountains.   There are palm trees in my yard and a pool!  What kind of a fantastic deal is that?  I would have died for that all those years back my family lived in hot, hot El Cajon, California with NO AIRCONDITIONING!   On my runs I am looking at the ocean with the sun just coming up and islands off in the distance.  Everything is just different enough to be stimulating and interesting for now.  I even answer the phone to telemarketers and enjoy the way they talk before I tell them, very nicely, no thank you.

And, to top it off, we have a great neighbor family across the cul de sac.  They have done so much for us, ie.  internet connection (he's and IT guy), turning us on to the school the boys attend, having us over for a bahbie (bar b q), sending their kids over to play, taking R and J to school AND giving them lunch money when I got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it back in time.  If all they had done was be kind to Bart while we were away from him that long couple of weeks he was here at the house alone it would have been enough, but they have been 100% since day one.  And they are the only ones.  No one else has come over to introduce themselves or say hi or drop a goodie or anything.  

So I wanted to say thank you, the only way know how, by taking cookies over.  It's taken awhile but I finally got over last night.  You would all love this woman.  She reaches for me and kisses my cheek and says thank you over and over, asking me how I am doing, offering to do more.  Heavenly Father always sends me the best of the best.  You know who you are my friends and family.  I love each of you so dearly.  Thank you.  Lee Anne reminded me of the gift you are.

Jeremy has a friend or two he's made at school.  He's pretty proactive when it comes to the social scene.  Morgan came over yesterday to swim and hang out in wet bathing suits on the couch hee, hee.  When we picked him up he introduced us to his dog, AhhChee.  I thought is sounded very vogue and odd for a freckle face Aussie boy.  Then it hit me, "Duh, Archie.  Not AhhChee."  It catches you off guard just enough to make you feel a little silly.

But nothing makes me feel more conspicuously ridiculous than throwing my stuff in the car then going around to plop myself in the driver's side only to realize there's no steering wheel.

There's no cool way to recover from that one.  Or the other one, when you flip the wipers on instead of the blinkers and the sun is shining high in the sky.  Oooops.  Oh and this one, when the person tells you their address and even though they are standing next to you spelling slowly for you you're writing down some strange word.  It was Iron Bark but I could have sworn she said Iron Baik.  Of course I had the same problem one morning when my cute neighbor with the southern accent instructed me to head on down "Ionbond".  She was gone and I was eating dinner before I realized it was "Ironbound".  I think I am losing my hearing.

Well, I hope you are all "going" well today.  This is eating up lawnmowing, laundry hanging, packing time but before I go, CONGRATULATIONS TO MY 1 year old NEPHEW BENNETT WHO IS WALKING CIRCLES AROUND HIS FATHER  in the latest video from home.  Can you believe just weeks ago his mom was slightly wigged out that he wasn't crawling yet.   Can't wait to get home and chase him and Duncan around!  Can't wait!

More pics and crazy Monday.

First pic, boys are looking for anything that might wiggle, crawl, or scoot through the rocks and tide pools.

The second pic is Jeremy getting ready to let Dad have it - back, that is.  Bart started it.

Third, what it looked like on the little island to which the sandbar led.

Last, the kite boarding crew exploded into action on the way back.  The day started with just 3.  I counted nearly 20 in all by then.

Now, if you will, forgive the humdrum content of today.  (It's for our moms, ya know how that goes!)

We got up early to get Bart off to the airport (My running buddies will be proud to know I was up at 5 for a nice run and then, inspired by my Maria, jumped in the pool).  Unfortunately the traffic was thick.  What should have taken 40 min. took close to two hours.  Guess we learned our lesson the hard way.  One of those little glitches. 

 We needed to call the very nice neighbors to see about a ride for our boys.  She was darling about it so as long as they were able to find the lunch money all should be well with them at the moment.  Happy to say Bart even made his flight!  I told him so.  I am a believer ever since the "10 minutes till take off and 13 pcs. of luggage" miracle (thank you Maria and Kristyn!!!!).  

On the way home I found shopping nirvana.  It's called the mall and it's in Capalaba.  I already knew that but was iffy about directions.  Needless to say I was thrilled when the very nice navigator lady on the little computer told me to turn right and I saw the mall.  Poor Bart.  Now I can get there all by myself.  He, he.

The best part of the day so far was finally getting over to the little fruit store which is right next door to the butcher there in Vic. Point.  My neighbor, Steve (or Stevo as they nickname here) recommended it right off.  Boy was he right.  The fruit is in great shape, much less expensive than the supermarkets and they had fenugreek (funky spice for some odd recipe I found on the net)!  I had been looking everywhere for it.  Plus they have my favorite yogurt.  Mmm.  Thick and rich and mango-ey.  And the meat place was big and beautiful and clean.  Everything was laid out nicely and the fish is easily accessible and up close on ice.  

So now it's put all the stuff away.  Clean and get ready to get the boys from school.  Later we'll go to the skate park if the weather cooperates.  We have had storm after storm after storm.  I put the clothes out to dry yesterday but I keep forgetting to pull them off before the next rain hits!  

Love you you,

Kelli

First pic from Wellington Point

      

Hey, it worked!  I'll do some more later.  This one took FOREVER!

Way off in the distance you can see the island.  It took about an hour for the tide to go out

completely.  At this point it looked like people were walking on water out in the middle of the bay.

Last words for today, I promise!

O.K., dinner was fabulous.  I might have to put the recipe down here for ya!

I wanted to tell you about school.  We have the kids in Kimberly College.  The principal, Paul Thomas, quite a character might I add, has strong negative feelings about the word "alternative" but that's the best way to describe it.  Very little is traditional.  I have never seen anything like it though he claims he was inspired by educational programs from the states?  The class sizes are larger with 2 - 3 teachers plus and aid.  It saves moving from class to class thus saving time.  Each group has multi-aged students.  The reasoning?  Children shouldn't be learning at grade level.  They should be able to study at the appropriate level for them all the time.  They do testing that helps gauge that.  I am not sure how it works.  He insists they learn creative, critical thinking.  He wants them to know why and how to use what they are learning.  No bullying, whatsoever, is allowed on campus.  There is a strict uniform code with grey dress shorts, black belt with a custom Kimberly College button down dress shirt and tie.  They wear black shoes with, get this, grey knee high socks!  And a hat!  Oh my gosh am I ever excited to see the day that all happens.  Believe me there will be pictures!  They are short on uniforms so it will be a couple of weeks...

The important thing at this point is that the boys seem very happy there.  The other children have received them well.  The teachers seem to be kind and funny if a little strict here and there. It's a beautiful area and once they are finished with all the building plans it should be an impressive looking school.  It's not extremely expensive, except for the uniforms!  We'll see.  The jury is still out.  Once we get out permanent visas they can go to the state school.

Hey, we also made it out to church this week.  Last week we missed the time and the week before we went to a building that was under construction so we (Okay, it was actually just me) were really looking forward to meeting our new friends in the Capalaba ward.  They were lovely of course.  You could plop them right into the Jamestown Ward or Idaho Falls 19th but then they would all be taken into the heavens what with all their being too darn  perfect!  Hee, hee.  Let's just say it was a relief to be well received and see that there are young people for Riley and Jeremy.  Riley found out that he gets to start seminary.  Hee, hee.  The start them the year they turn 14 here.  Let the early mornings begin!

But not tomorrow, Bart flies out early and we only have one car so guess who's his taxi driver?  Yup, and aren't I lucky?  You betcha!  So the boys will be on their own for getting up and getting ready but I'll make it back just in time to get them to school.  Thank goodness it's only for 2 days.  We have gotten used to him being around now and we're not about to have that change without a fight!

In fact, they are in the pool playing Marco Polo as I write.  It's cold and they want me to come out.  Yikes!

Love to you,

Kelli

Albondigas Soup

one carton of beef broth

1 pound ground hamburger

1 - 2 slices bread, torn into small bits

1/2 onion, fine diced

3 large clove garlic, shredded

1 egg plus one egg white

1 - 2 T water

1 tsp chili pwdr (or less if it's  hot)

1 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin (I used a little more)

1 green pepper, diced

3 - 4 carrots (used 4 large), sliced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 can stewed tomatoes with juice ( I just dumped in a can of crushed tomatoes instead)

1/2 med cabbage, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Serve with sour cream, cilantro, nachos.

Blend meat, garlic, onions, egg, water, bread for meatballs.  Form into small, bite-size balls.  Bring broth to a boil, add meatballs, cook 5 minutes.  Add spices, veggies, including tomatoes, cover and simmer at least 30 minutes.  Not more than 40.

Oh man was that good.  The boys scarfed in down!

The 3 wet amigos after the crazy jet boat ride through Circle Quay and Darling Harbor in Sydney.  Dripping!

To All the Girls on the Go

Well, I beat ya to the Sat morning run as usual since we're 17 or so hours ahead of you and boy was it a hot one.  If you wait till 8am (wimps, hee, hee) to run in Redland Bay your asking to leave this world in a pool of your own sweat on the side of a road next to a dead wallaby.  It's like running in a microwave oven switched on high.  

So, you'll  be proud of me!  I was off by 6:17 am.  I ran the whole way except for a short talk with a super cute retired couple out for a morning walk.  It was slow and mostly miserable just like all of my runs without my running group girls and my amazing running/workout boss, friend Maria.  But seriously, it does motivate me to know that all of you will be up and at'em Saturdays.  I can picture you all chatting and beginning to breath a little harder as you start down the hill.  Leah making up all sorts of lame excuses for why she'll be slow and then racing up the hill to sprint the finish.  Kristyn will be running at whatever pace she likes for as long as she likes because as one GOG mentioned, according to her "It's all mental  baby!"  Anna and her long legs will be keeping stride with whomever is running fastest that day.  It will look effortless but she'll claim to "really be feeling it".  Ya, uhuh.  So many are coming back after babies.  (I LOVE MY "AFTER" PICTURE, BY THE WAY!  JUST THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES ME SMILE)  You are the most amazing of us all!  

O.K. I am going to  haul my sweaty, stinky self off to the pool.  You guys stay warm.  I wish I could blink you all here along with all my Idaho buddies and every lifetime friend for a gigantic slumber party with a swim and bar b q and trips to the beach and the city and whatever else you would like to do.  

By the way, Leah, I guess being pregnant would be a legitimate reason to slow it down.  But I swear if I find out your fibbing me on that 12 minute mile story, you're in grande troubl0!

Bit of a back track and a catch up on the day!

I have uploaded a couple of pics from our first trip to a "real" beach.  You know, one with waves.  This took place a week and a half ago.  It's on Stradbroke Island.  Just hop on a ferry, take a bus to the other side of the island, hike a mile down to a gorgeous, completely empty beach.  Realize that the beach is OFF LIMITS.  Hike back up the hill and up another mile to the first open beach you find.  

You are supposed to swim between the flags.  We don't.  Bart's idea.  We lived.  Had a wonderful time swimming in the perfect surf, playing frisbee and eating melted chocolate cookies.  Mmmmm.  And I didn't see one shark!  

The trip home was a bit more of an adventure, waiting for an hour to be crammed on a bus with the other 100 people trying to catch the last ferry of the day.  What did we expect on Aussie day? Not the Packer's most brilliant move but at least we'll have the Stradbroke Island Excursion all figured out for the rest of you.  When you come.  Hint, hint.  We have decided the car is key, as well as an ice chest, blanket for sand, an umbrella for shade and a few chairs.  Even better, bring the tent and stay the night.  Ahhh.  

Well back to the present.  Today is counted as one of our more productive.  We have a school that will take us.  We finally received the money for the cars.  We have actually come close to practically almost deciding on maybe which one we might possibly want.  Wow!  (I like the red one!) I was able to do 4 loads of stinky laundry at the laundromat. (Washer broke 5 days ago!) and ....hmmm, I guess that's it.  Sounds boring but these are all biggies for us this week.

I can think of so many things to tell you all when I am out and about, but, funny, it all eludes me once I sit down to the big screen and keypad.  

For now, just know how much I love and appreciate you.  I live on your replies and chocolate at the moment.   At some point it will be time to "get a life".  In fact, I may be getting close to that  tipping point now.  You know you're getting desperate when you don't want to leave the family who's car you are considering buying because you can't quit talking to the nice wife and you wave goodbye as your driving away wishing she lived next door instead of an hour away.  Oops.  Sorry nice car lady.  Don't worry.  I could never find my way back alone and Bart's not the stalker type.

Love to each of you.

JUST BEACHY!

Wet and Wild

Hey, how yoa goin? It's incredibly difficult to copy an Aussie "o". It has a bit of a 'ya' to it?

No worries.

We had quite an adventure today. I thought I would put on my Amazing Mom hat, rarely used I am afraid, and take the boys off to a museum in Sydney. Let me back up.

It's another business trip. Last minute just like the trip to the outback only this time we are in a lovely hotel, Sheraton on the Park, in downtown Sidney. Believe me, when you come for your visit (yes, I am expecting LOTS of company!) you'll definitely want to add a skip over this way. This is tourist season and the tickets were about $350 each on short notice so...

O.K. so we head out walking. We buy breakfast and eat it in the gigantic park across the street before the big museum attraction. I might add that neither Jeremy or Riley were the slightest bit interested in going to a museum but since they are truant (as in, NOT ATTENDING A SCHOOL because of visa problems) and their mother is worried about their intellectual future, and going to jail? - they were going along with this great "field trip" idea of mine.

It was a long walk. They were thrilled that it was closed except for Sat and Sun to the general public. And yes, it hurt to hear that they only allow schools for their field trips during the rest of the week.

We ended up down at the harbor, Circle Quay. It was a nice and warm and the friendly agents at the boat ramp looked good hearted enough as they joked and teased us to come along. It wasn't 5 minutes later that we had handed over an outrageous amount of $$ for a jet boat outing. The seat belts and rubber ponchos should have alarmed me but it only lured me in further. I mean how bad could it be? And who needs a poncho on such a grand day on a boat? Wimps. Not us!

Soaked, I tell you. Sopping, dripping, squishing we were. He purposely drenched us, let us dry out some and then started the whole process over again. Was it awesome? Yes, it was. We had such a view of the bay and the beaches (inluding a darling cove with rocks and, hmmm, did I mention the nudists?) I have never had such ride! The boys had the prime seats right at the front. I don't know how they survived. It was constant waves washing over their heads with the occasional breath of air. You know it was extreme when Jeremy tell me later that he almost raised his fist (the universal sign of "STOP THE BOAT") but didn't want to ruin the ride for the rest of us. We all decided it was a must have but only once life experience and the view of the coast and activity of ships moving throughout the harbor was the best. Well worth it!

Well, the boys are waiting up in the room and some old guy is hanging over my shoulder waiting for internet access.

Much love too you all from Sydney and the Packers.