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.