December,14 -tis the season

Well, it's Christmas-time with an Aussie twist.  Poor Santa's been sweating up a storm, the kids are sliding down hills on the slip-n-slide instead of sleds,we're riding bikes instead of skiis, wearing flip-flops instead of boots, and we're firing up the grill rather than the fireplace.  The monsoon rains cool us down once or twice a day, but we feel as hot and humid as rice in a steamer most of the time.   We opted out of the whole tree decorating thing for ourselves this year, but had a great time helping  Franky and Gurty and Detroit and Shelby (our now neighors) with theirs.   Also in line with the season we were able to catch "carols by candlelight" along with about 3000 other folks in Darwin--a terrific free event at the Botanical Gardens complete with Santa and a spectacular fireworks show.  Santa reappeared at the firefighter kids Christmas bash, play group, and Jordan's school.   We went to the end of the year school disco.  The kids had a groovy time dancing to the hokey-pokey and the like, but I still don' t know how to express how I felt about the whole experience.  I can't remember ever feeling so strongly equally old and young at the same time.  Anyway, it was the last day of school on Wednesday, and I know one little girl who can't wait for the new year.  As Laraine next door said, "you almost feel sorry for them not knowing they have at least 12 years more of the same to go."  But, for now,  the enthusiasm is strong and we're grateful.  Bryson, has gone through some serious growth spurts in between runny noses and we're discovering one of the other advantages of a warm climate-shorts fit a lot longer than jeans.  Well, we'll keep you posted after the holidays--have fun this season wherever YOU are!

December 1

It's finally starting to rain!! The humidity is still intense, but the storms are amazing. Lightning and thunder, heavy rains--all gone in less than an hour.  Some times you can see the clouds.  You can smell the rain, you wait expectantly for the pitter-patter on the roof, but the clouds pass by just teasing you with a release from the heat. Regardless of actual rain the clouds have been bringing some beautiful sunsets so we're sharing a few.   Not too many outings lately, but we did have one fun filled day at the farm with Nick and Laura. The kids saw it all--tractors,farm trucks, cows, horses, ducks, chickens, rabbits, fish, farm dogs, and one dead snake.   Last week Matt went on a pig hunt, unlike his first trip he managed to get a few this time. Then last Saturday we ate our fill on the Thanksgiving feast with about 15 other Australian/American families.  This week we've been lazing around with a few of us getting over some head colds and Bryson working on potty training.   M+M's seem to be the secret to success, but time will tell.  Our other excitement was that the kids and I managed to see our first frilly lizard.

November 7-the latest

The heat and humidity are building so we've developed a survival pattern this week: School and errands in the am. Midday inside. Pool in the afternoon. Evenings outside.  We managed to to still break it up with trips to the parks, the movies, and the water park.  We also went to an Australian Halloween party--those are pretty hard to come by.  There were a dozen little fairies and princesses so Jordan happily joined the flock.  While Bryson managed to win first prize for the best costume in his clown get-up.  They had a great time in their costumes and, of course, manaaged to eat themselves silly on candy and hot dogs. Another good thing to come out of the night was meeting some new friends--Korin, Doug, and Kiera who invited us along on a family sail with Korin's aunt and uncle--Ken and Karol.  We went for an incredibly beautiful, relaxing early evening sail--fair winds, good company, and another lovely sunset--couldn't have asked for more.  

October 25 Our road trip to The Red Center

file:///Users/Dukie/Desktop/DSCF1481.JPG

It's been a while since I've updated, but with good reason.  We returned from our road trip a little over a week ago.   It took me this long to get organized, and try to put the whole experience together to share, while moving on at a ever frantic pace during our day to day lives.  I could write a novel on all that we saw and did, but I don't think anyone would want to read it except me in my old age.  So what I'll tell you instead,  is that we saw everything we had hoped to see.  The beauty and history found at Kakadu and the majesty and massiveness of Ayer's Rock and the Olgas did not--could not-- fail to impress. We zigzagged off and on the main road all the way there and back, and managed to see some of the Northern Territory's less visited treasures.  (And Matt had a chance to drive some true outback routes, corrugated, rutted  dirt roads that the tours busses couldn't or didn't want to traverse.)   We were lucky enough to have several chances to view the wild life to include wild camels, horses, kangaroos, wallabys, burros, birds,  lizards, and 1 echidna.  The weather was kind to us, the children were shockingly well behaved  (after a few days of figuring out our routine and the convenient purchase of a dvd player), and we made some wonderful new friends.  We laughed a lot, ate a lot, drank a lot, walked a lot,  got filthy dirty, and slept hard (in our cozy pull behind trailer camper--thanks Sean and Aaron). The trip was undeniably a success by our standards and we are already talking about our next adventure, hopefully Tasmania.  On our return home to Darwin, our new friends Johannes, Sabrina, and Hugo, whom we met along the way at several different camp sites, came to stay with us for a week before continuing their trip across to and through Eastern Australia. Once more we ate a lot, drank a lot, and laughed a lot, but it was time for them to go on and time for us to settle down for a while.  Jordan has especially been needing a little routine now that our girl is going to preschool!   Well that's the gist of it.  The pictures should tell the rest of the story.  The movies are  titled: 1.fun in the car, 2. Burro Lullaby, 3. road train  And the pictures of the signs I had to throw in because they made me laugh.  I love the way they go a step further than the American signs and give the dramatic graphics to get the point across.

the past 2 weeks

We've had a mix of things to keep us busy these past 2 weeks--inside, outside, and everywhere.  It started with our official welcome from the Darwin City Council.  We were introduced to several members of the Council, representatives from the US embassy, and several other individuals who's names, admittedly I should but can't remember.  No surprise, everyone was incredibly friendly and supportive about the exchange program.  Over the next few days, the Darwin Festival events kept us busy.  We went to a concert and acrobat show--Cirque du Funk-- just right for the kids.  Then we went to a free for all kids day at one of the neighborhood pools. Here we swam, the kids learned how to belly dance, and Jordan got picked from the audience to help in the magic show.  She was one enthusiastic helper!!  We also went to a nighttime show at the Botanical Gardens called Strange Fruit.  Can't say that we understood the story, but the show mostly revolved around these giant chinese lanterns on 20 foot tall bendable poles. Inside the creatively lighted lanterns, the performers made them bend and sway while the audience got to lounge around watching from their picnic blankets.  The next day we took a break from culture, gave Matt a day off, and I took the kids camping. We went to Douglas Daly Hot Springs. We found a stretch of river water which was warmed just enough to keep the chill off--the kids swam for hours in water which mostly was no higher than Bryson's middle.  Then we had another week of play group, swim lessons, parks, and swimming in the pool.  To end this week, we headed back to the Hot Springs for another camp (with Matt this time.)  The adventure continued the following day when we went down the road a little further to see Butterfly Gorge - accidentally went off trail and ended up shuttling the kids over some cliffs until we had to admit that it was best to turn back.  After that adventure, we felt a little defeated so we weren't ready to head home yet.  Instead we camped for another night.  This time it was Lichfield National Park.  In the morning, we hiked up to the top of Wangi Falls--Bryson and Jordan getting piggy-back rides lucky little tykes.  Spectacular views and a refreshing swim to the falls with the kids made the trip complete.   

August 24, some older photos

We finally got our film from the Butterfly farm/petting zoo, and the Ambon yacht race-only had  black and white film left when it was time to reload. 

August 24 this week

We slowed it down just a little this past weekend due to a few runny noses, but then we started up again.  We took the passenger ferry to Mandora and were rewarded with a visit to a fun little b
each bar, a picnic, and our first view of the Darwin skyline. The following day the family went for a walk through a monsoon woods.  We found all sorts of plant life to examine.  Jordan found a whole family of twirly twigs to cherish.  Meanwhile, Bryson did his best to destroy any leaf or stick he could grab, but undeniably enjoyed every minute of his demolition.  We tried the great outdoors again the following day, and were rewarded with one absolutely terrific day.   We headed to Litchfield Park this time.  Paul, Sean, and Eddy from B watch led the adventure along with Tommy and Cooper--Sean's boys.   The plan for the day was to show us a few of the places in Litchfield where you can go swimming--a watering hole tour.   They showed us three spectacular swimming hideaways complete with cascading falls  (some several stories high) that I'm certain have graced more than a few postcards.   Jordan made us proud by swimming through some of these waters on her very own.  She's still pretty raw, but she's come a long way since the hot tub back home.  Several of the swimming holes close in  few months during the rainy season, so we'll have to make it a point to go back soon.  

Friday we had our first taste of lawn bowling, a pretty popular past time around here. The B watch came out in force with about 30 fire fighters and their families. Matt and I didn't discover any hidden talent for the game, but we didn't humiliate ourselves too badly.  That night we stayed at Paul and Sue's who, generously opened their home to us despite the fact that Bryson clocked their little girl in the chin with one of the bowling balls. They live near the bowling greens right on the golf course, so we were chauffeured home in a golf buggy in the stealth of night.  The next morning Matt took the kids while I got to go the second ever "Hit and Giggle".  A ladies only event for those of us who don't know anything about golf.  80 women showed up!   They divided us into  groups of 4-7 and placed each group with a woman who knows a bit about the game.  I  joined 6 other women who also knew Sue--my host form the night before and our resident golf pro.  We each received hands on golf lessons throughout out the day.  Since we played off the best shot in our group, we made it through nine holes with a pretty fair score.  I was the weakest link, but grew stronger through the day (despite visits from the beer cart).  I had so much fun, I put my name for the next event-a half golf/ half  lawn bowling day.  

Today brought us to the Teddy Bear Picnic.  Hundreds of kids and teddies showed up to this great extravaganza of kids crafts and entertainment.  Bryson was entranced by one of the entertainers in a bug costume, he kept following her everywhere, while Jordan's favorite part was the teddy bear hospital.  She made up an elaborate story of how her bear was run over by a car and continued to find injuries that required, bandaids, dressings, lots of love, but no shots!!  Hmm, maybe there's  been too much shop talk in front of the kids?

August 15 we've been busy

We've been doing so much, I had to pull out our home made calender to put it all in place. (Some things are the same no matter where you go--try finding a calender in July wherever you live.)   Anyway, we started out on the 4th of August--our 1 month anniversary in this adventure, with a trip to the races.  We were generously treated to passes to the member's lawn at the biggest horse race day of the year Day 8 of the Darwin Cup. Many of the women were dressed to kill in cleavage bearing dresses,  outrageously high heels, and  these amazing hats that I've only seen on runway expos. Meanwhile, the men mostly wore shorts.  No matter the attire, everyone seemed to be having a tremendous time.  We discovered that the distinct advantage of the member's lawn was 1. no lines at the beer garden,2.  no lines at the bathroom,3.  a track side view of the finish line.  All 3 advantages being of equal importance throughout the day--Thanks Paul for the tickets and thanks Gurty--who watched the kids for us.  Without them, the day would not have been possible. Well, at the races we finally worked up the courage to ask how to  and then actually place a few bets.  We won some and lost some, but mostly lost--but not much.  Regardless, the day was fantastic fun!  For the next few days, I kept busy with the kids.  We went to our first Playgroup where we created octopuses, music, and a couple of happy kids.  Then we discovered McMinn's Lagoon--a picnic hideaway  just minutes from the house.  Next came more swimming lessons, Bryson and Jordan were literally bouncing in their seats on the way to the pool.  Thursday brought us to the Fun Bus again where they created some art.  In classic Jordan style, a masterpiece requires nothing but speed.  Her average project must be completed in 1 minute or risks being abandoned.  In addition to the art projects, they played with their friends and once again had a good time.  Friday we tried out the Leanyer Water Park.   This place is kiddy heaven with  water slides, pools, fountains, and a whole additional park right there--and, unbelievably, it's free!  We slept hard again that night, and the next day we headed out of town. After missing out on the fun during the week, Matt was able to join us on this adventure.  We met up with a couple of other families at a camp site at Robin Falls.  We picnicked and the kids braved the cool creek.  Later the women and children went out for a hike while the men "collected fire wood"--for those who don't know -- that's code for sat around and drank beer.   The hike was a success with a pretty little waterfall as the destination(--evidentially it's a pretty big waterfall in the wet season).  Jordan hiked as well as the big kids while Bryson hitched a ride on my back for most of the rocky trail, enjoying his view from up high. We aren't set up for camping just yet,but we hope to be soon.  So we came home that night. Sunday morning Matt headed out of town for a boys fishing weekend.  When he came back Monday there was no fish, but he did have some great pictures. I never get a lot of details out of him when he goes on these rugged retreats--sacred manly rituals I'll never know, but he did manage to reveal that he had a good  time and that the place was beautiful.  They went by sea, camped at a mangrove island, and everyone but Matt managed to catch a fish.  While Matt was gone, we had a visit with friends here at the house, and the kids recovered from another busy week.  Monday we headed to  a new park at Humpty Doo--yes that is the name of the town.  They have a terrific park there with some spacey looking slides and a silly looking Humpty Dumpty that lets you know they have a sense of humor about the goofy name of the place.  Monday night we headed to  a  movie at Jinglii Water Gardens.   Bryce, Jordan, and I watched  Finding Nemo under the stars and bats.  Amazingly, they both sat through the whole movie.   Tuesday's Playgroup brought  a special appearance by the Amazing Drumming Monkeys--a puppet show that had about 30 kids up jumping and dancing.  That afternoon I begged off and had a day at the beach by myself.   I spent the day beachcombing, walking when I wanted to, and stopping when I wanted to. I ended the day with fish and chips on the wharf watching the sky turn from blue to pink.  When I came home I found the kids in bed and Matt wore out.  Tuesday Matt was back at work again, while the kids and I headed to the swim lessons then to the beach where we did some beachcombing  at their speed.  We collected many treasures and built three sandcastles. 1 for Jordan and her extended imaginary princess family, 1 for me so I could feel like a kid again, and 1 for Bryson so he could squash it over and over again.  Wednesday the kids and I headed to the fun bus, but we were  a little lazy, so we left early to picnic at Jinglii park again.  This time we had a chance to explore the playscape and the fountains in the daylight.  Today we took a day off and spent the day at the house, swimming in the pool, and watching a movie--which is why I finally had a chance to write this all down.  Meanwhile, yesterday, Fiona let us know that Matt received a summons for jury duty in the mail.  To think of all the fun we could be having if we were back home. 

July 28 our latest outings

We started out this batch with with The Royal Darwin Show.  (The Darwin equivalent to the state fair.)  The kids were pushing the envelope on tired before we even started, but we pushed on through for all the excitement this event had to offer.   We went with our friends Gurty, Detroit, and Shelby,  (and Franky who spent his time at the NTFS booth).  We are now up to 3 cameras, but forgot them all this day.  So thanks for the photos Gurty.  The kids had their first intro to the Bananas in Pajamas-at first they both seemed a little overwhelmed by the 8 ft high singing fruit, but later on after Shantell the fairy had entranced them, Bryson was boogeying with the "bunch"

The next day we headed out of town to Batchelor where we spent the day at the Butterfly farm and petting zoo--This charming little oasis was complete with  the fore mentioned attractions and also offered up great food, good music, beautiful mahogony tables, a gated playscape, and a group of staff or maybe guests that made the place feel like a backpacker commune.  This is possibly the most relaxing meal we have ever had at a restaurant (post kids that is)---What did they put in that chicken curry?  

Saturday found us at the Stokes Hill Wharf where we were able to watch the start of the Darwin to Ambon Yacht Race--oh to dream!   (The photos from the race and the butterfly farm will hopefully be on here next week) We worked up an appetite watching the race and trying to keep the kids from diving into the wharf.  The turquoise water did look pretty inviting even considering the 15 foot jump to get there.  So we headed to the Parap market where we found plenty of delicious food to eat.   Sunday we headed to the Botanical Gardens where our rambunctious children seemed to sap away the serenity, but then we realized the gardens were attached to a beautiful children's park so they got to be the kids that they are.  We could hear the music from the Mindil Beach Market from the gardens so we headed there next.  There we got to see yet another beautiful sunset and hear some extremely talented musicians. (To include our first didgeridoo performance.  I was surprised by the diversity of the rhythms the musicians were able to create.  

Then it was back to work for Matt.   He finally met his first grass fire, and was impressed by how different the firefighting is around here-everything from gear to technique.   Lots to learn and loving it.  That night he got his first whopping dehydration headache (Jordan and I already had our turn with one of these--ouch!!), but all was well the next day.  The kids and I kept busy during the work week  --  Jordan riding her bike with Bryce and I on the scooter.  Then it was off to our first swim lessons and our first time with the fun bus.  We found the bus, our friends, and loads of preschool toys and supplies at the park.   The next day it was the park and Howard Springs Nature Reserve where Bryce managed to lose his hat in the protected fish habitat (and snake feeding habitat-yikes!)--that was enough for that day.  Matt's first day off he took the kids to the Territory Wildlife Park with Ben, Sophie, and Tom while I got an afternoon to myself--Thanks Matt.  Everyone had a great time that day, and everyone slept well that night. Today we headed to Casuarina Beach.  The wind was going and the kite surfers were out in force. We picnicked, rock climbed(kid version), and beach combed for hours.  Another day well spent and another night of sound sleep awaits us.