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Walking my little feetsies off!

My feet are tired this afternoon!!! I think I must have walked a million miles today---well not really but it feels like it right now! Chris left for the mills early and I got up and walked the Strand--made it to the Rock Pool again but I think I did it a little slower today than I have been doing it. I was having some shin splint issues I think---guess I didn't warm up enough or something but I made it back and showered and chilled out a bit before heading back out. We had filled out all of our paperwork for the house so I wanted to drop that off and give them the bond money so that we had that all taken care of. Once I gave them all the stuff I gave them my ATM card to do the bond and 2 weeks rent and it was declined. Now I had just checked the account before I left to make sure what we had available and there was plenty in there so I couldn't figure it out but the girl said that maybe there was a limit on it so I walked to the bank to figure it out.

She was absolutely correct and now that I think about it I remember they told us there were limits per day but I thought it was just for ATM withdrawals and not for using it!!! Gee whiz. I guess all the big purchases we have done we have used the credit card so CSR can reimburse us (since Chris negotiated an "allowance" of sorts for furnishings) so we hadn't run into that. I think it is most inconvenient !!!! I am going to have to see if you can get it raised because I am used to the American debit cards which as long as you have the appropriate funds you can use it for any amount. So I did learn something. And so I got cash.....and walked several blocks with $2500 cash in my bag...oh well. But the other good thing was I got a quote on renters insurance today while I was at the bank. They are full service banks here and do insurance of all types too so we will probably just do that since it is easy and all I have to do now is call her and tell her yes.

Made it back to the realtor and plunked down my cash and the poor girls had to count it about 5 times to make sure it was right. I think they are not really all into work here from the looks of it and while I was there I talked to our realtor and she set me straight on a couple things I had questions about. I just got an email from the owner and he has already made sure the gas tanks are filled and is doing all the final work on it and said if we needed delivery of any of our furniture before the move in date that was fine so he is really great about everything. Now if we could just get rid of the green frogs in the toilet.....i told Angela and she shook her head and said she told him not to tell me!!! but she says she has them occasionally in her house too and you just keep the lid down (note to the men out there) and it isn't too bad because you contain them....oh the thrills of living in Australia.

I walked down to Flinders Mall and found a couple bargains---some throw pillows for the couch which we need now but they will be perfect for the new furniture, a pair of sandals and a couple of cheap baskets. But I ran out of arms to carry things so came on back. Tonight dinner is going to be one of those already cooked chickens which have been calling me everytime I have been in the store---I finally broke down and got one and hopefully it will be as good as it looks and smells!!!

So another exciting day---oh and I got an email that our house in Iowa has a massive leak in the upstairs bathroom......going down to the basement......so the realtor is getting a plumber out there asap. Sigh. At least here if something happens like that it won't be our responsiblity. So life goes on!!!

Sunny with a Chance of Cool

A little bit cooler today but with the sun being out it does not seem that bad---everyone here is all bundled up but it is just plain nice out!!!

Today was another day of adventure. It is sad but true that I have more of a life here in 4 weeks than I had in a year in Iowa.....not quite sure what that means but I won't complain. The lady that hosted "craft" yesterday invited me out today to go with her and another lady to a local nursery to look at plants and then to lunch. We had a grand time and I totally enjoyed myself. She is quite an avid gardener and Australians are very passionate about their gardens. She was able to find a shrub that was perfect for a spot she had cleared out and was quite happy with her purchase. I asked a lot of questions about the plants and there were some really beautiful ones---the gardens at the house are very nice with many beautiful plants thriving so I think Rod is quite a gardener himself. Hopefully I will be able to take care of them!!!

After the nursery we headed to an area along the river for lunch and had a wonderful meal at Cbar which also has a location on the Strand that Chris and I ate at on Sunday after church. We had a great lunch and time flew by!!! These two ladies are great conversationalists and so interesting. The question that I always get when I meet people here and am in conversation with them is my opinions on the upcoming election in the States. I guess they are very interested in how we think the election will go and I find that very interesting. How many Americans really take an interest in the politics of Australia????

After lunch we went to the little art museum in the complex to see a contemporary edible (YES) sculpture by Ayelet Anush. It was to honor the sugar cane industry and all the sculptures were made of sugar though it was not from sugar cane but sugar beet as that would hold up a little bit better. There were really delicate sculptures hanging from the ceiling and more solid ones arranged on the floor---it was really pretty neat but of course I did not have my camera with me so I could not take pictures! Ah well. Maybe Chris and I will go back sometime before it is over.

Looks like we just got all the paperwork emailed for our lease agreeement so I am happy that we are making headway on our rental house. Now to fill it up with furniture!!! Woo hoo!! I am excited!!!

Long day, I am cooking dinner tonight which hopefully will turn out okay---hard with the limited cooking items I have here but I am making it work!!! And I feel very European because I shop for fresh stuff every other day!!! With my little green bag!!! Life is good!

A Bit of "Craft"

I think I missed a day of blogging but not much was happening here yesterday except Chris had "drama" at work!!! He has been here a month now so I guess folks feel comfortable enough to "share" with him. I won't go into details but let's just say that he had some emotional people to deal with and was just rolling his eyes when he got home over the "drama" going on!!! I love it!!! I always used to be the one with all the drama so it is nice to share it!!!

Today I had a full day!!! The past 2 mornings I have gotten up and walked up to the Strand and walked the whole Strand and then back which is a pretty good hike--probably if I had to guess 3 miles and a good workout. I am seeing a lot of the same people walking and running including some guys in Speedos running on the beach.....some men should NOT wear those. Lorrae came and got me to go to "craft" at Jillian's house which is a bunch of ladies ( a lot of them are CSR related somehow) who get together on Tuesdays to work on various crafts. Of course I did not have any of my stuff to take since it is all at the house in the Burdekin but some of them knitted or did embroidery but mostly they just talked. I was kind of not looking forward to going for some reason but since Lorrae was being so gracious to take me when she usually does not even attend this group I was appreciative and then after I got there I had a great time. There were 10 of us altogether I think--people kept coming and going, and we ate lunch together and just sat and talked about everything under the sun. The main topic was around medicine and the medical profession, chiropracters being quacks, Scientology and how ridiculous that is, etc. It was quite interesting to say the least but I had such a great time!!! I keep trying to think of some of the words that they say differently and the one that took me a bit to figure out what they were talking about was skeletal which they pronounce with a long e sound and emphasis on the second syllable I guess. It just sounded funny!!! We went at 10:30 and I just got home at 3:30 so it was quite a day!!! Whew! Too much fun for me!! They did tell me I had to teach them how to do iris folding so thanks to my mom I have something to share with them that they don't know about!!!

I had missed a call from the realtor and she has had a busy week and said she was the complaint department today and had to deal with a lot of stuff. I won't write what she really said.....she uses colorful Australian language at times! We decided that it might be just as easy with our schedules for us to do all the lease stuff through email and I think that might be the best idea yet so she is going to try to get it all together for us and send us what we need to fill out and give us the bank info so we can put our money down. Hopefully this will all work out with no "drama"!!!!

It is beautiful today---Lorrae said it was 13 C earlier this morning and it was only about 16 C ---15 C is roughly 60 F and 22 C is roughly 70 so we were somewhere in the low 60's I guess. I imagine Aaron is freezing because Melbourne is much cooler than we are. All I know is that I had a great walk this morning but come summer months I will be walking very early in the morning I would imagine! But for now I will enjoy winter in Australia and be grateful for the cool breezes and the sunny sky.

Oh and in reference to the picture from a couple days ago of the sand which had little balls all over---resident expert biologist and brother Mark has confirmed that this is some kind of crab that makes that as they extract goodies out of the sand but he also said he had never seen such an elaborate display!!! So I will have to investigate more once we get there!!!

That is enough for today!!! G'day to all!

Sunday sonata

What do you think that means?? Sunday Sonata??? I don't know!!! I just couldn't come up with another S word!!! Got up this morning and went to church ---went to Central Uniting Church for their 9 am service and it was quite a mix of things today!!! When we got there there were only a few other folks there and their equivalent to "Mr. Bill" came and asked us who we were and where we were from---somewhere along the line it came out that we were from Iaho so i guess that is a new state!!! They were very welcoming and the service was lively --there were tons of kids!!! They did a lot of praise songs (projected--no hymnals) and had a band and it was great music. The Uniting Church is a union of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches and this church was a Methodist church at one point according to the plaque on the outside. Anyway, there were a couple of kids who had gone to Thailand and they did a presentation and they were very mature in their faith and it was a pretty incredible experience for them you could tell. The kids all go off to SS and then it is time for the message and I really liked the minister. He was very challenging and preached on the supernatural and how as Christians we should be expecting the supernatural and not just the natural. It was a good sermon and he was very engaging and we felt that God was moving to do powerful things in the church. Afterwards they have tea but we opted out as Chris had his report to submit and we hadn't eaten and it was almost 11 --there will be plenty of time for that later!!! We will probably try several churches but I did like this one.

We went to Cbar on the Strand and had lunch/brunch. Chris had some corn fritter things and I had yummy thai salad which I have everywhere here trying to find the one I like the best. A lot of the seafood dishes have scallops in them and i am not going there!!! Scallops = Beth getting really sick. We were both exhausted for some reason --gee could it be the guys outside making noise till 3 or the luggage rolling down the hallways or doors slamming??? So we came back to take a nap and then all we heard was "housekeeping--service your room?" and so the napping thing did not turn out too well! So we got up and walked to the theater to see "Hancock" which we enjoyed!!! A funny lighthearted movie that made us laugh and we decided that we needed a day to not worry about what we needed for the house and not shop and stress out but just enjoy being outside a bit and walking around. All in all a great day so far and now Chris is mad at his computer because it is not working right and he has to get his mill reports sent, etc. etc. Some things never change no matter where you live. He always had trouble with the IT stuff at Graham and it is the same here it seems.

So that is the day in a nutshell--if you hear screaming it is most likely Chris yelling at the laptop.....not a pretty sight!!! At least now I can use my phone as a modem and get online that way anywhere I want to!!! The internet here is kind of flaky and very expensive and we had bought a certain amount of usage and we have used that up so now I will be usiing the phone which works great and is much faster. Technology--it is great when it works!!!

Kangaroo Sighting!!!!

1, The front of 95 Cay Street---faces the beach.
2. View of Saunders Beach
3. Sand---we are trying to identify what creatures make the little balls of sand all over the beach.
4. View from the back yard of the house
5. Coconut catchers!
6. Looking out at sunset as we ate dinner on the Strand

This was another long day but a great day!!! First of all----we saw a LIVE kangaroo--not one dead on the side of the road!!! We were coming back from going to the house and meeting Rod, the owner, and a kangaroo hopped across the road. I was so excited! Up until now we had just seen dead ones on the side of the road so this was great!!! But I see why you have "roo bars" on cars---they could do some serious damage!!!

As I mentioned we met the owner of the house we are going to rent and he is very nice. His dad was there too and he was a sweet old man and we stood around outside and talked a long time. His dad fought with the Americans in WWII so he was an older gent and they were both very gracious and welcoming. Rod showed us around, told us how things worked and what "renovations" he had done and I think we will be quite comfy there. It is definitely not the fanciest house but it will be so nice to sit on the veranda and watch the waves and hear the sounds. He is going to leave some furniture there for us to use until we get it all furnished and is just being really great about everything. We told him we wanted to move in August 15th and he was fine with that so I guess this week we will have to sign all the paperwork and settle everything up. He did tell me that the one toilet especially gets green frogs in it.........you can bet I will be using the other one!!!! YIKES!

We also shopped (again) and picked out a nice leather "lounge" suite as they call them here! A 3 seater and 2 recliners and the couch has 2 recliners in it so we should be doing a lot of reclining!!! We have always wanted some leather couches and these were comfy and the saleswoman was so low key, no pressure, let us lay around on them and try them out and was not trying to sell at all which was nice. We were the only ones in the store most of the time so it was nice. Tomorrow we are going to go pick out the washer, dryer, microwave, small appliances and maybe tv. Whew. Then I will have to concentrate on the "manchester" (bedding) and towels, kitchen stuff, etc. it really is fun but I have a lot to buy to put it mildly!!!

We stopped at a gas station and got one of the best burgers ever---they load them up with all kinds of veggies like shredded carrot, beets (yes!!!), eggs, bacon, couple kinds of cheeses and of course we got chips too but no ketchup. You usually have to ask for that special on the side and it is "tomato sauce" though I did see some in the grocery store and it said catsup on it. Funny the things that Americans use that they would not think of using.

So....we are now back in the apt watching "The Simpsons" of all things. I think Chris is going to watch Aussie Rules Football which he loves but does not understand the rules to. They kick, pass, dribble, tackle and do all kinds of weird things that I can't figure out! But they are very athletic boys....let's just leave it at that. Oh...the landlord said that the neighbor sometimes mows his yard in a G-string so I might have soemthing to look forward to there.......and on that thought I will leave you for tonight!

The Sounds of the Night

YAWN!!!!!!!!! I didn't do what I said I was going to do last week. And I remembered it at midnight when the fire alarms went off again. I had vowed to always have a set of clothes to throw on right next to the bed.....so once again I was scrambling to find something to pull on. Once we got outside they turned the alarm off and said to go back to our rooms. Then a few minutes later the fire truck comes screaming in. Then about 10 minutes later the sweet little voice comes on the PA system apologizing for any inconvenience for the disturbance of the false alarm. I won't miss this part of the experience.

And speaking of disturbance...I keep forgetting to write about this funny phrase or at least I think it is funny! When we were buying our mattress and trying them all out the phrase she kept using was that certain types of mattresses have little or no partner disturbance.....yeah, right!!! I guess what she really meant is that the mattress does not move when your partner moves but everytime she said it it made me laugh.

Chris is headed to the Herbert region today and we are looking forward to the weekend. More shopping, haircut for Chris, looking at the house and taking measurements and finalizing hopefully the rental, maybe making it to church on Sunday, maybe walking to the Strand tonight and taking in the market they have there on Friday nights, etc. Life is good!!! More exciting news later!!!

The Simpsons and Paul Newman!

Thought you all would like to see my lastest grocery store purchases!!!! Simpson Cup A Soup and Paul Newman ranch dressing!!! I was told before I came that there was no ranch dressing here but I found this at least--not Hidden Valley but it will do!!! Haven't tasted it yet but I am sure it will be yummy!!!

It has rained and rained the past couple days but the sun is out today, thank goodness! With the rain comes the shut down of the sugar mills because the farmers can't harvest the cane. I think Chris said most of the mills will be down at least a week while things dry out and the farmers wait so the rain is not a good thing at this time of the year. I didn't mind it but I do need to buy a couple of umbrellas. I had an itty bitty one packed in my briefcase but it is not for torrential downpours and it was coming down pretty hard yesterday for awhile.

I decided last night that I needed to conquer the convection/grill/microwave! I have been using the microwave and our two little tiny burners but I really wanted to do some oven stuff so I think I figured it out. It is hard for my tiny little mind to bend around the thought that this thing can function as 3 different types of cooking machines and that I can put metal in it!!! I made some ravioli last night in my two llittle pans ( it boiled over....) and made garlic bread in my combo oven thingy and it worked great!!! There is also a tray called the "crispy tray" which I did not use but I bet it would have made it better! Oh well--next time!!! I am trying to figure out what else I can make in the apt.----I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff to have it in here but I may have to get a few more cooking things. The can opener here has a plastic blade if you can imagine and I was about ready to go out and find a rock to beat the lid in the other night in order to get to my beets!!! Thank goodness I did ship my Pampered Chef canopener. I think I am going to wish I had sent more of that kind of stuff.

I got all excited because I went onto Amazon.com and found out that they will ship to Australia. I put in a trial order of a set of $29 pots and pans so I could figure out what the shipping and handling fees would be and guess what.....it isn't cheap!!!! Big surprise but the total cost of the order would have been $124!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I don't think I will be doing that! I am a member of a Yahoo group called Americans living in Australia and I have asked them if there are any good online ordering places in Australia and so far no one has much advice on that----they say it is not a big thing to do here which makes me sad! I think I will have to change that!!! Somehow!!!

Today I am doing the ironing since the little washer/dryer combo has one setting---wrinkle---and then Lorrae is picking me up for a lunch out so that will be nice. Chris says it is my Lorrae Day Play Day.....

Speaking of Chris----he is off to the mills in the Burdekin today. He is amazed at how far behind these folks are in things and how they just need some common sense things put into the system so even though the process will be slow I think he thinks he can make some pretty significant changes along the way. But it is going to take some time--that is for sure. He feels good about the folks who work for him so that is good! But it is certainly a different culture!!!

I haven't given you a word of the day for a bit so here you go!!!! Know you are waiting on those!!!

Bathers--swimsuits (though the admin assistant in Chris' Townsville office calls them "togs")

Whacker--someone you have no patience for

Tickety-boo----good, ok

Tasty---cheddar cheese

knock shop--brothel (where all the pilgrims who were here for the Pope's visit went I guess)

hob---stovetop

Tuesday from Kalamia!

I am sitting on the veranda of the "company house" in my UNC Chair---the NCSU one holding all my cords and camera and other necessities!!! Chris dropped me off here while he goes to 2 of the plants down here and I happily opened our boxes and discovered that from the looks of it everything arrived in great shape!!! I didn't totally unpack the kitchen box yet but the pictures, the clothing, even the windchimes that we brought that came from Mom's funeral made it unharmed!!! That was one of those items that we wanted to bring to make us feel like we had some parts of home with us. We had about 20 items/boxes shipped and I am just amazed how good of shape they arrived in considering all the miles that they traveled! But I am happy to have some of my clothes and shoes and pictures now that I have missed but they will stay at this house till we can figure out what we are keeping where!

We had a great time in Airlie Beach--we actually walked into the town when Chris was finished at the Plain Creek plant and found a little Italian place to eat dinner. Their wait staff was either from France, Belgium or Canada so that was funny and of course we had to talk to the waitress about things! Most of these kids come over on work/education visas for a year or so and they make money and then they travel around. Airlie Beach is another huge backpacker haven so there were tons of them there and a lot of really rowdy bars with security guys standing on the perimeter when we walked by. We stopped at a good old Baskin Robins for dessert. YUM! Almond Fudge Mocha....

On the way here today we stopped in Ayr to pick up Chris' shirts so now I don't have to try to get his one shirt clean every day. The ones we picked up have his name on them in case he forgets who he is....not likely. He had phone call after phone call on the way here so I got to hear all the business! In Australia you have to have hands free headsets --it is funny how rigid they are about some things but then other things like passing school buses when they are loading/unloading does not appear to be a no-no. I have to check on that one. And they are really strict on "drink driving". I can't get used to that phrase either. I think their legal limit that you cannot be over is something like .05 or maybe even less. I think that is why there are so many taxis around......

So I guess that is about all from here. I will post some pictures of some of the sights we saw yesterday. Carl asked if we had seen any koalas or kangaroos and the answer to that is nothing alive......most of those guys are out at night and I have not really been out of the city at night. Have seen a lot of dead wallabees and one pretty big dead kangaroo on the road today.....made me sad. Oh and a neat feature on Chris' car----after you drive 2 hours this picture of a steaming coffee cup comes on and beeps at you 3 separate times reminding you to stop to take a rest break!!!! I love it!!!

Sunday news!

1. View off our balcony here at the Coral Sea Resort
2. Truck seen at a service station with 7 dogs in back, loaded to the gills with equipment and a very pregnant girl aboard with a tight black t-shirt stretched halfway over her belly that read: "Go Hard or Go Home"
3. One of Chris' 7 sugar mills
4. empty cane truck traveling down the road

We trekked on down to Airlie Beach today after getting a slow start out of Townsville. It was a beautiful, if somewhat long drive, and the Coral Sea Resort we are staying at is WONDERFUL! This is our anniversary present to stay here and it is really beautiful. We have a bay side suite with a lovely balcony overlooking all the sailboats that are harbored out here and it is so peaceful right now. We just got back from a delicious dinner at their restaurant---I had my new favorite--Coral Trout and Chris had some yummy chicken ravoili. We splurged on a chocolate tart and cappuccino for dessert and now Chris wants to crash at 8 pm!!! He has an early day tomorrow but gee whiz!!! We have the doors open to the balcony and I wish you could hear the water---it is so soothing and wonderful!!!

On the way down we saw a lot of cane trucks (will put a couple pictures in there to show some sights along the way) , possible parts coming through for the clarifier that collapsed right before we left America for Australia which we had to get off the road so the loads could come through, an interesting truck filled with people and dogs at the service station---the one had 7 dogs in the back so I am not sure what they were hunting, and some beautiful sights once we got to the resort. Tomorrow while Chris is at the Plain Creek mill I am going to walk into town and explore and hopefully he will get back early enough that we will be able to do some sightseeing before it gets dark. All in all a great day even if a little tiring!!!

You know you are going to have an interesting day when......

So you know it will be an interesting day when you are awakened to the sound of the fire alarms ringing, you throw some clothes on and the firemen are outside your building walking around trying to determine what the problem is and all the occupants are hanging out on the balconies trying to figure out if they need to go find the stairwells or stay put!! And the little Red Hat Society ladies are all hanging their heads over the edges trying to yell at each other from the different floors!!! What a trip!!! Lesson learned....have a quick set of clothes very handy to throw on .....

Our day began with that rude awakening and we decided that we needed to just kind of go with the flow after that! We ate breakfast and I enjoyed reading the article in the paper pertaining to the pope's visit to Sydney for World Youth Day. A brothel (yes, you read correctly), was offering a 10 % discounts to people associated with World Youth Day and the owner had hired 5 extra workers and business had doubled since the event began. Not sure quite what that means and they weren't able to say that it was the "pilgrims" who were using the services but that business had indeed increased. This is bringing a lot of media and extra folks into the area I guess so perhaps that is who is taking advantage of the slashed rates??? Who knows. I just found it an interesting article.

We set out for our day of shopping and spent another entire day looking at beds and washing machines and dryers. I am very weary!!! We did select a bedroom suite at the one store we went to last week after getting some prices quoted at another store. They were able to match our prices and we felt that we had a decent deal---and I loved the salesgirl---she put up with us for 2 weeks in a row and we had a great time. We have made a name for ourselves without trying I think because when we stopped off at the realtors' office for Chris to give them a copy of his license the girl said "Oh you are the Americans!!!" with a grin!!! Oh well. Anyway, our new set is made of Tasmanian oak---looks Australian and will be a nice set to have!! That was about all the decisions we could make today but I think we have narrowed it down to another big store where they will work deals with us on a lot of the small appliances and washer and dryer that we want to get. It is all a little bit overwhelming to be buying all this stuff and I have to think and make a list of exactly what I want right off that bat. We really need to be able to go back to the house and measure spaces and then it will narrow things down a bit.

We made it to the mall at 3:30 and grabbed something to eat in the food court since it would close at 4!!!! The cool thing in the malls (what we call a mall at least) is that everyone has trolleys (shopping carts) inside the mall so they have these "travelators" which are escalator things with no steps that go up into the mall so you can take your trolleys loaded on them to your cars. I was going to take a picture but then it was just way too weird to take pictures in a shopping center with all these people around. Parking garages/lots are called car parks and they are the most difficult things to park in!!! There really is not a lot of space and there are concrete posts everywhere and for some reason they seem much worse than parking garages in the states---not sure why--maybe it is the whole right handed drive thing or something.

We came home and decided we had hit the wall and collapsed. This shopping stuff is wearing us out!!! I guess it is just our age?????? Or that we have so many things to choose and decide and everything is spread out...I don't know. Anyway...I am closing for now....tired...so tired....

An invasion of sorts...

I bet you are wondering about that title, aren't you??? Well, let me explain.....when I came back from lunch at Lorrae's today there was a gaggle of ladies checking in. Not just any gaggle mind you....Red Hat Society ladies! Masses of them...all staying here in our building....all basically clueless about life and the niceties of moving out of the front of the doors so others can get through!!! Tonight when we came back from dinner there were gobs of them everywhere....and I do mean everywhere. The good thing is that they are "older" so hopefully they will go to bed early and not party and keep us awake late!!! Let's hope!!

Weird thing has happened today also----the folks that are renting our house were a little late on the rent so we contacted the realtor and he got right on it. The company had set up an automatic payment but for some reason it didn't kick in like it should so their secretary took care of wiring the money. However she got a little overzealous and added 2 extra 00's to the number and so we had 10 months worth of rent wired into our account instead of 1!!!! Imagine my surprise when I checked our balance and saw what amounted to a lot of extra money!!!! So now I am trying to get the overage sent back to them and make sure that we are all even!!! Crazy!!!

Went to lunch at Lorrae's today and one of her friends came up from the Burdekin region and we had such a nice time. Lorrae always has tea and some sweet thing afterwards so i am living high!!! For supper tonight we went to one of our favorites---Scirroco which is just down the street. i had some funky prawn dish and the bodies were all in there so I wasn't all that thrilled about it but I managed to eat most of it. I just don' t like to see all the antennae and eyeballs looking at me!!! We had a fabulous wine and dessert and the nicest waitress from Seychelles who was really great. We always try to talk to our waiters/waitresses and find out a little about them when we go out and we have met some really interesting folks that way. It was a great way to celebrate our 26th anniversary---(thanks to all who have sent their best wishes today, too!!!) and now we are going to relax in our "unit" and watch some footie and chill out.

Tomorrow will be more furniture shopping and maybe even sleep in a bit if we can!!! That will be nice for Chris---he has been going at it full tllt all week so a day or two of down time will be good. Oh and our shipment of about 20 boxes got delivered safe and sound today so we are happy. We shipped our golf clubs and forgot all about their rigid standards of not bringing foreign soil in so they called Chris and said either they could clean our clubs (for a price) or destroy them. We opted to have them cleaned.......

Happy Anniversary to us and happy weekend!!!

Drinking tea....eating scones....

I have quite the enviable life, don't I? As I sit here drinking a nice cuppa Darjeeling tea accompanied by a fresh chocolate scone from the bakery down the street I am thinking exactly that!!! The sun is shining brightly today and it is around 74 degrees outside right now and beautiful!!! Makes up for the gloomy rainy day of yesterday where I walked in the rain with no umbrella (and I doubt I shipped one..) to the grocery store to get milk and oj and stuff for dinner!!!

Chris is off to the Herbert Region today, found his bluetooth earpiece which he was stressed about yesterday morning right where he had put it in his briefcase!!! I think he is a little over organized or something. I walked up to the realty office to put in our application but of course I needed Chris' driver's license to complete it and he kind of needed to have that with him today so once he can get there with that they will start processing it. The problem is that he may not be able to get there until Saturday but oh well---that is life. It will all work out.

I decided to do a little bit of Flinders Mall when I walked back---when they talk of a mall it is not quite the same as our concept in the States. A mall is a street that they have blocked off and closed up to traffic where there are shops, restaurants, etc. down both sides with a common area in the middle where they have seating, fountains, even a stage where they hold events. I found a newspaper stand that had cards so I got one for Chris for our 26th anniversary (tomorrow!!!) and ventured on to look at clothing, etc. I am not sure I have their sizes figured out----I seem to take a size larger than in the US which DOES NOT make me happy! I did find a skirt for quite inexpensive so I got that. I also went to the Salvo store (Salvation Army!!) and found some books and some coasters which we kept saying we needed here in the apt for cheap cheap cheap!!! Not much else there but at least I can keep stocked up on reading material. The lady there was very nice, helpful and engaged me in conversation which of course was because I guess I look so non-Australian!!! The funny thing that happened at the clothing store was a little older lady came up and asked me if I knew if they had changing rooms---now that was the blind leading the blind. She then proceeded to joke with me that if they didn't she would just find a spot in the back and slip her pants on and if there were any pervs around they could have at her!! And maybe she would find a partner! I told her that might work but it might not be the kind of partner she wanted and she just laughed.

They have a big information booth in the middle of the mall so I stopped there and Iris gave me a couple of maps and even a packet for new residents so now I have all the phone numbers and info I will need for when we do get into a house which will be great. She was quite helpful and said she had just helped a lady from Canada and i told her we were kind of from southern Canada....that is Chris' line. They like Canadians more than Americans and the Canadians hate it if you mistake them for a US person I guess. Funny stuff you learn.

Tonight if Chris gets home early enough we may head back out to look at furniture since this is the one night that places stay open later than 5 or 6 pm. We will see how tired he is. He has been running on not a lot of sleep---neither of us have slept very well here but last night was better. Not as noisy outside I guess.

So that is the excitement from here! I know I am holding you all on the edge of your seats!!! More soon!

A Rainy Day in Townsville

G'day!!! It is a rainy dreary morning in Townsville---I think it rained a good part of the night which makes everything look great but is not good for the cane crushing......and since our lives revolve around cane crushing now or the inability to do cane crushing when it needs to be done we don't like the rain today!!! Chris just left for the southern mills after a fruitless search for his bluetooth hands free headset for his phone. I do not remember seeing it on the counter where he keeps all his "stuff" and he insists that is where it was. I did organize some stuff here yesterday but I would have left that alone. My suspicion is that he left it in one of the billion of places that he has been in the last couple of days but that does not help at all. They are very strict about using hands free if you are driving so I guess he won't be making many calls on his trip there and back today. He was a little bit in a tizzy or as much as Chris gets in a tizzy!!

So I guess today I will wait for the rain to stop to go out since I don't even have an umbrella---guess that should go on the list that is ever growing!!! I also have lost a pair of shoes that I was positive I packed so i think I have to pull everything out today and search all the nooks and crannies, suitcases, bags, etc. When we checked in in Detroit my own suitcase was over 70 pounds so I was cramming stuff in Chris' duffle and I have a feeling that they might be lurking around in there or at least I hope so!!! They are a favorite pair!

Yesterday Lorrae came and got me and we went to her house for lunch and conversation and tea. We don't seem to run out of things to talk about that is for sure!! We talked a lot about the words that they say differently than Americans and how the language is changing a lot here because of all the American tv and influences. Last night I saw advertised Australian Idol so I guess that is universal! We had a nice couple of hours--she is taking such good care of me!!! One of her friends who works in the mill in the Laboratory (one of those words that we say differently) is coming up on Friday so she wants me to meet her so that will be another person to meet!!! The kids went back to school yesterday so she went to pick them up and they came in in their school uniforms complete with the floppy hats which are a required part of the uniform and they looked very Australian!!

I think that Chris is trying to plan a nice weekend for us since it is our 26th anniversary on Friday----he has a mill (maybe 2--can't remember now) in an area near the Whitsundays Islands and Airlie Beach so we are going to go there on Sunday and I wlll hang out at the hotel on Monday while he works. He was there in March when we flew down and said it was beautiful. We went out to dinner with a couple that lives there last week so we might get together with them while we are there outside of the work thing--we will see. Anywho---it will be nice to have a change from being here for a couple of nights.

Well the day looks like it might clear off a bit out there so I had better get a shower and get my day started!!! More later!!!

Just chilling!!!

Here I am relaxing with a cup of "real" coffee....well except they don't have those cool Coffee Mate creamers that I have come to love in the US...enjoying the view off my little apt balcony of the marina and harbor of the Ross River. What a life I have right now!!! I am sooooo blessed I can not believe it!!! But once we get into a house I will have a lot of work to do to get it in shape I think so I had better enjoy this life of leisure now while I can!!!

Yesterday I walked to the realtor's office and got our applications for the rental of the house so we will be filling those out, getting together our documentation that we exist (everything here is based on a point system of having a total of 100 points to verify you are who you say you are) which would be passports, birth certificates, pay stubs, etc. I also have to figure out how we put the deposit down---I assume we just give them cash since we have a savings account with a debit / ATM card and I don't think they even use checks here or I sure haven't seen anything about that. Guess I should read my bank info a little bit today!! That might help!!! If I can figure it out!!!

Chris had a good day yesterday--I think he is getting into the groove of things but it is definitely a huge responsibility and they are really counting on him to make some changes and move things along that need to be moved along. I have to learn to let him have some down time when he gets back at night and not start "yammering" at him right away. I have always missed this part of the new job because I usually moved well after he started a job so I was not around for the "intense" part and believe me--this is intense. I don't know how he is learning a new culture, new industry, new job, new names and all that he is doing but he seems to be doing it well from what I can see. The CEO and one of the finance guys are flew in last night for their 5 year strategy meetings this week so we got elected to eat dinner with them which was fine---no problem but I must say I was a little nervous about it. They walked from their hotel a couple streets over the bridge and we met them and took them to the one restaurant that we like here that is open on Mondays. A lot of them are closed on Mondays. We had a nice meal and conversation and I think they just kind of want to make sure we are making the transition okay. I think everyone worries about the Americans!!! But the dinner was nice and we had good conversations along with work talk which I am learning more about sugar than I thought I could ever know!!!

Just checked our account and the good news is that Chris got paid! Once they get his tax file number filed he will get more in the bank ---they kind of take a big chunk out of your money here to say the least until you get established with a number which should take about a month. Now we have to make sure that our renters in the States wire their money into our States account on the 15th so I will have to check that tomorrow to make sure it got in. I am sure I am forgetting something---I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps some of our mail that is going to Mason City is not getting forwarded but I hope I am wrong. I tried to get everything changed over to the South Dakota address but most of the stuff that Terri is forwarding to us is the stuff I had already changed addresses on so.......maybe the rest is just junk that isn't forwarded anyway. But I ramble on....

Not sure what I will get into today--it looks like it might rain today which would be odd. It is in the 70's and humid and our little Aaron is freezing in Melbourne---said it was 40 when he woke up. He only has a little thin sheet and cover on his bed and needs a blanket so hopefully he will get that today. I guess they do have space heaters in the apts so he can use that but I think he should have come over in summer and not winter!!! He is not used to the cold that they have in Melbourne. What a difference in where we are and where he is!!

I guess I have bored you all enough so I will quit for this morning!!!! More tomorrow!

Saunders Beach house

The first pictures are views from the back porch of the house---it has a really nice eating area, plenty of room for the bbq and the beach as you can see is just past the fence. The next views are of the back of the house and then the front---kind of hard to get pictures. I have included a few pictures of the inside---didn't take as many as I thought I had, of course, but it gives you the general idea of the layout. We will see if this one works out!!!

Sunday

We both feel like we have put a full day in today already and it is only 1:30 pm!!! Time for a nap!!! We got up early---we were able to talk to Dad and then I called my sister and chatted for a little bit- Mother was there so I could talk to her too for a few minutes before we headed out. Of course I called right at dinner time (sorry) but I was on a time crunch and it was kind of then or never. And of course I messed up the Skype thing and muted it...dumb!!! But we managed to talk a little bit and it makes it better if you feel like you can talk to the folks back home!

We left for Saunders Beach and met the realtor, Angela, at the house I had found online. It is right on the beach, beautiful views, fairly decent kitchen and bathrooms and it will be good for us to have a place we can relax in and not be right on top of other houses. The houses are fairly close but with all the foilage you don't see the neighbors I don't think. We shall see. We had pretty much decided no city life and this will be a great place to be outside most of the time enjoying the beach and the views. Sounds like the owner wants to sell but the market is bad so he is renting to recoup some money so it might be an option down the road to buy if we like it and want to buy. We shall see! It needs some cleaning, of course, and it is definitley more of a beach retreat but what it lacks in character it makes up for in the views!!! I think the process is kind of a lengthy one to get the application put in and all that so I am going to go to the office tomorrow and pick up the application so we can get working on it. It is partially furnished which works for us right now and we can buy and add to and work something out with the owner---sounds like he is a pretty agreeable guy so hopefully that will hold true. Down side--no AC so we will have to talk to him about that possibility--there is a window unit in the back bedroom and ceiling fans throughout but i have a feeling in the summer months it might be pretty hot. So we will see what can be worked out. It is hard to tell how much breeze you will get without having lived there. But I feel good about it----I can spruce it up and make it home and there was a lot more storage there than in other places so that is good!

We left and went to the mall to try to get someone to look at why my phone wouldn't let me get on the internet on my laptop and found a very helpful young IT geek at one of the phone stores who told us what we were not doing right and then it was very simple so I can use my phone as a modem and get on line without having to have another internet service. Chris did all the research on this and got it all figured out so I trust him. And at least now we both have cell phones so we can call each other!!

We found the Big W which is kind of like a Walmart or Kmart and I think for housewares I can get all the basic starter stuff there without much problem. They use the whole duvet system here---the quilt covers that you stuff your comforter into --so I am checking out all of those!!! And they have Correlle and Pyrex though the Pyrex is really expensive compared to the US because it is coming from the US. A lasagna pan was about $25 AU. So I am just going to have to figure out what we need and add it bit by bit----thank goodness Chris negotiated a nice amount of money to be used for household items but it will go pretty fast by the time we buy furniture and white goods. And we will be getting a few items for the company house---just probably a bed, table and chairs for the veranda and a small fridge and microwave and maybe a couch....not sure. We haven't gotten it all planned out quite yet.

Just got an email from Aaron and he is in Melbourne. He said his apt was crappy so i am not sure what that means. He said some of the students got into really nice housing and his is awful so he is going to talk to "the people" and see what the deal is. Hopefully they can figure something out. he is already feeling the pinch of the internet usage restrictions......said he can't Skype because it will take too much. I think it is going to KILL him!!!

Well I need to get something to eat so i will close and post a few pictures of the house we looked at today. We may try to go to church tonight---they have a service at 6 we may try to see if we can make it to that if we aren't too tired!!!! It has been a long weekend!

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now when I say VICTORY what I mean is that we found a coffee maker!!!! I know in the big scheme of things it isn't that big of a deal but it really is!!! We got on the road this morning fairly early after talking via phone to Micah and via computer (Skype) with the Marshalls including Snickerdoodle who even waved goodbye to us!!! Being able to see each other makes a huge difference and we were so happy to be able to hook up with them. We need to set up more of a schedule to be able to chat with everyone but when you have to figure the 14 hour difference it makes things a little bit more complicated.

We set out for Domain Central which is this huge shopping plaza with a bunch of furniture, white goods, and electronic stores in it and started going through them. The first one was where we found the coffee makers and we ended up getting 2 of them because we will most likely be in 2 different places. The price was right---she gave us a deal and i think that is what you do, especially if you are buying a quantity of items. We spent the whole day there----went from store to store trying to figure out price ranges and what we would like. The girl in the one bedding store was very helpful-----showed us all about the beds (Micah could have given her a run for her money though) and explained the springs, etc. I just got caught up in the "joey pocket spring" idea which was kind of a spring within a spring. Anyway, we tested out a bunch of mattresses and found one that was reasonably priced that we liked so we will see when we decide on a place what we end up with. Whew. It was exhausting. Then we looked at furniture and found that they have teak and mahogany for really really inexpensive compared to the US so we may end up with those types of woods in our decor. Then on to talk to the man about washers and dryers----we probably spent an hour learning about them!!! They have a lot more front loaders which are more economical and water savers. Then they have the combo washer/dryer things which take a looooooonnnnnggggg time to run loads in. Then there were condensing dryers which don't put out the heat that the other dryers do so that your house stays cooler.....which is an issue in the tropics. Most people hang their clothes outside but I don't think you can get away without a dryer....so it was all very very confusing but this guy helped a lot to help me understand.

So we were tired after the day of walking from shop to shop but at least we got some ideas and I think we entertained some folks with our questions!!! They aren't used to Americans obviously. We headed to the mall to see if we could get my cell phone or mobile as they call them (Mo byle) . The one I wanted they did not have but I got a Nokia that will work as a modem for my computer .......if we could only get it to work. Chris came back and spent 2 hours trying to get it to work and was unsuccessful. he called Telstra and got no satisfaction so I think we are going to take my laptop and my phone into the store tomorrow and let them figure it out!!! He was getting pretty mad at the whole situation!!!

Aaron should be about halfway to Melbourne by now----I am nervous for him but I am so glad he has Tom to travel with him. They will be fine I am sure. And Micah is in North Carolina picking up my car so everyone is busy!!!

It is getting noisy outside---but then it is Saturday night!!! This is kind of a lame blog but i am tired and our food just got delivered. Oh--I did cook a meal here last night!!! Finally got some stuff to cook and it was nice to eat here so I am going to try to figure out some more things I can cook with the limited stuff I have here. It is better than eating out all the time though we do usually do breakfast and lunch in. Okay---I am really rambling now.....talk to you soon!

It's Friday!

I I I I guess it has been a few days since I last "blogged" and I didn't realize it. I think the jet lag has hit me in week 2 of the adventure as I have just been dragging the past couple of days. Not quite sure why but hopefully it will go away pretty soon. I have been walking and walking and exploring the areas that I can walk to. There is a lot to see. I have spent a lot of time looking in and around the shops on Flinders mall --when they talk about a mall here it is not a mall like we have which is a closed in building. It is a street which they close to traffic and have a middle section where you can sit, hang out, talk, etc. lined with shops and restaurants on either side. It took me awhile to figure that out. They do have "malls" as we know them but they call them shopping centers I guess.
I am about ready to give up on the coffee machine and get a french press. I know that it really shouldn't make a difference how I make my coffee but you know you get used to what you are used to!!! Lorrae took me to a really nice kitchen store which had tons of french presses and ones that you use on the stove top but noooooo electric type ones at all. They suggested maybe Kmart (and I think I detected a little bit of disdain in their voice.....Maybe I dreamed it) so we will have to see if that works. If not I may have to just get a french press and be done with it. You wouldn't think this would be such a big thing for me but it is!!! And they really dont' drink coffee like we do anyway---most of it is espresso and strong. I guess American coffee is probably not the way to drink it!!!
So Lorrae took me to the grocery store yesterday and I got some tips on practical things like laundry soap, what brands are good, etc. The thing that I still can't get over is that small size of everything! In America you have the mega size--influences of Sam's and Costco I guess---and here it is all very small packages of things. I think they must go to the store every other day but then after looking at their pantries and general lack of storage area that makes sense. I think I have too much of my mother in me of buying ahead when it is on sale, etc. to be able to move past that!!! I will definitely have to adapt!
We also went to a couple of kitchen stores and a very nice furniture store---pretty pricey but very nice stuff and very nice owner. I think Lorrae and Mark have given them a lot of business. The other thing they do is curtains/draperies/upholstery so it will be a great resource if / when we need that kind of stuff. We ate lunch at a great little place and then she brought me back to the apt. I keep telling her she doesn't have to "look after" me but she is so gracious and I am probably a bit of a curiosity to her!!
When we were driving around there is construction everywhere in Townsville---it is growing really fast and roads are closed off everywhere. Those orange construction cones are called witches hats here and there were a lot of them that we encountered yesterday.,
Aaron leaves today for Melbourne so we are hoping to catch him and call him on Skype before he leaves---I need to double check his flight times. I have to do a little rigging on my computer to use Skype since I don't have the built in camera and microphone so we usually use Chris' but it works great to be able to talk to folks. I need to get more of my family on it!! The boys and Colleen and Chris' dad are good at it so it isn't that hard to learn how to use it!
Chris is going to another one of the mills this morning and then coming back to get me so we can look at this beach house together. We are just going to meet the realtor there so that will be good. Then we can go from there and shop or whatever!
There is a beautiful sunrise this morning and it is a little chilly out---looks like only around 49 degrees right now but it will get up to 71 degrees as the day goes on so that won't be bad. After all---it is winter here!! I do think Aaron is going to be a little bit chilly where he is going to be so he has to pack a lot more warmer stuff!!!

Today is the first day Chris has gotten to wear his "mill outfit"!!! Isn't he reflective??? You can't see them but there are CSR patches on the shirt and jeans along with the high vis stuff!!! You see all these guys walking around and driving around here wearing this high vis stuff so I guess he is just one of the guys! Today he is heading off to the Pioneer plant where they had the big accident with the clarifier right before we left Iowa. It is kind of a mess because they can't run that mill now and have to direct all the cane to other mills which is costing them a lot of money to say the least. I think he is also going to look at another house that is available down there while he is there so we will see what that one is like. We are going to go together on Friday with the realtor to go back to that beach house in Toolekea to see if he likes it and then I guess we will be figuring out what to do!!! Seems like we have been here longer than just 10 days in some ways.

I spent yesterday morning walking ---took a really good hike to the Strand and walked and actually got a bit of a workout since there are a few little hills to go up to get there. Probably should get my act together here and get dressed and go do that in a bit again this morning -----I think I have lost a couple of pounds which is good!! And later I am going to go check out some of the shops up on Flinders that might have some home furnishing items that are worth looking at. I saw a pretty interesting looking international type shop that i wanted to check out when it was actually open instead of peering through the window!!!

Not much else to report today---we ate at Benny's last night and had some great Asian food. Micah would have loved it because they had a huge sushi bar. Ugh. We are slowly going to all the restaurants on Palmer Street and close by. A lot of these places you can charge back to the hotel so it makes it easier to do it that way than to run your card or cash through and have to get reimbursed, etc. At least I assume that is what Chris is doing. We met for lunch yesterday and had a "take away" meal on Flinders since we had to take something to the bank. We had applied for a credit card over here and they needed documentation of Chris' salary (though he tried to give them that when we applied and they didn't want it then!) . Not sure if they will give us one this early on since we have no credit history here and he has yet to get a paycheck but we really need one based out of Australia at this point so hopefully that will all get approved and go through okay.

i keep forgetting to do my word of the day so i will post a bunch today!

Jumper--sweater

sook--wimp

singlet---tank top, clothing

sloppy joe---sweatshirt

mad as a cut snake---very angry

good on ya---job well done

That's enough for today!!! Have a great one!

A busy Monday!

Pictures above: Master bathroom and master bedroom

Kitchen and stairs to the upstairs where master suite and lounge area is
The back of the house which faces the beach and the view from the top porch

I had a busy day today and it was wonderful!!! Walked to the grocery store in the morning with my little red eco bags and bought a few things that we needed for brekkie and some other items. I am getting better at running my trolley (cart) on the left side of the aisle. Of course I got a trainee as my cashier so she was really slow and had to ask me what some of the fruit items were (like golden delicious apples!!!!) but we muddled through together. Got back to the apt and unloaded things and Chris called to say that he had set me up with a realtor to go look at this house up on Toolekea beach so I got ready and walked to their office. The realtor was an interesting guy---still kind of trying to figure him out but we drove to the house --took about 28 minutes from the middle of town so that isn't bad in our standards. The house was interesting to say the least ----it is a newer home made to look old i guess because they used old materials inside it like really old looking doors. I am still deciding if I liked it or not! I loved the porches---one opened up off the master bedroom and then the whole downstairs opened up to a huge porch and you can see the ocean from both. It has 3 bedrooms and not quite the level of ammenities that we are used to as far as bathrooms ---I guess you could say it was a little rustic---so we would have to figure out if we could live in that type of house. I really want Chris to see it too---the pictures on the internet and the pictures I took made it look a lot brighter and lighter but then the realtor didn't really turn stuff on for me. Soooo---I liked it, i loved the beach, I could live there definitely but it would be different than living in a "suburb" but I would just have to find opportunities to meet people outside, you know?? I think we will probably go look at some more properties on Friday if Chris can swing the time. We will see.

I made it back in time to meet Lorrae and her neighbor Karen for lunch and the place we wanted to go to was closed. A lot of places close on Mondays so we found another place to eat and headed there and had a nice lunch and a nice time. Afterwards we went back to Lorrae's for tea and "date slice" and talked and talked and it was so nice but I must admit I felt a little out of my element. Karen is married to an American and they are semi retired I guess and do a lot of traveling to the California and back so she is knowlegeable about the west coast at least. We talked a good couple hours about stuff and i am learning more about Australia, that is for sure. She and her husband go to a church so she invited me to that and drew me a map and everything so we might check that out this weekend if we can find it!!!

Lorrae brought me back to the Quest and I had a little time to tidy up and put things away before Chris came home. We met a couple for dinner and walked over with them. Ray and Jannette---Ray actually works for Chris and is at one of the mills that now I can't remember which one. We had a very nice dinner and I really liked Jannette----she was very open and easy to talk to and I think I have more in common with her as their children are all older---20 - 24 --and they are kind of in the same time of their lives. They love to travel and have been a lot of places and it was nice to hear about some of their adventures. I think it helped the work relationship a lot for Ray and Chris to be in a casual setting and not just in the work environment. I think there is some fear on the part of some of the CSR folks because Chris is an "unknown factor" so the more we can do to be down to earth folks the better I think.

The birds keep waking me up ---there are some really really loud birds here!!! I am kind of dragging this morning so I think I need to get dressed and go walking before it gets too busy out. Maybe I will walk to the Strand today--the beach. it is a little bit of a hike but I think I can get there and get back without too much trouble.

I will add a couple shots of the house I looked at yesterday so you can see it!! Would welcome comments!!! What do you think? A keeper or not???? It would be a differnet kind of living---much simpler---think that is what I need!!! Let me know what you think!!!