25 October 2020 Another Road Trip!

Don was extremely disappointed this week when his beloved Atlanta Braves lost the National League Pennant.  Listening to the game only made it a tougher week for him!  But after all his legal work, my ESL classes and other responsibilities with missionary phones and humanitarian projects, it was time for another road trip.  And of course, this time I made the hotel arrangements right on the beach!  Sadly the weather was uncooperative, but we loved getting to visit Port Macquarie and spend time with the Hargreaves, another missionary couple that are working there.

    There's always next year!

We left Friday around noon for the four hour drive up to Port Macquarie.  We expected the weather to be warmer which is was, but it has been a wet and blustery weekend.  The city known for its beaches and coastal waterways along the Tasman Sea boasts a population of about 50,000.  We stayed across from Town Beach where a large caravan (RV) park is located in addition to part of the 9km coastal walk which we planned to take until weather changed our plans.  It was originally settled as a penal colony for second-time offenders.  Behind our hotel, we saw two wells still visible from those early days.  I couldn't imagine a better place for convicts to do time than looking out over these waters and beaches.

We still were able to get in a partial walk Friday night along the breakwater by the mouth of the Hastings River where it flows into the sea.  The breakwater boulders are painted by people or families to remember their holidays, loved ones, or just something goofy.  Even our Australia Sydney Mission missionaries have painted one.  The walk starts in the central business district and extends clear to Tacking Lighthouse.  After a rather forgettable Italian dinner, we continued exploring and walking through the city and back to the hotel. 

In the morning the rain and wind were out in full force, but that did not deter us from our day of exploring.  The city is pedestrian friendly, with sculpture of koalas everywhere.  Instead of a hike, we drove to Tacking Lighthouse and Lighthouse Beach.  The lighthouse was build in the late 1800's since the water were extremely treacherous for sailing ships.  After more than 20 ships wrecked in these waters, a line of five lighthouses were built on several outcroppings claiming to line the water like street lights.  However, a ship still sunk and on a clear day you can still see it where it went down.  Interestingly, the crew was able to get everyone to safety.  We didn't see it on this day. 

We laughed watching this trio of youth.  They had fishing poles in the water, but their shoes were left on the path supposedly so they wouldn't slip.  We've seen lots of kids fishing, but have never seen them catch anything. This is Lighthouse Beach where the shipwreck is still sometimes seen.  The beach is fairly popular for surfing and swimming and even on this raining day, we could see the "Clubbies", the volunteer lifeguards manning the 50 meters where the currents were less dangerous and the flags were posted designating where to swim.

The Tacking Point Lighthouse is just over 8 meters high due to its elevation.  Across the way one can still see the foundations and outline of the Keepers Cottage.  

Port Macquarie is home to Billabong Zoo which is a wildlife park and a renowned Koala breeding center.  So we spent the afternoon out at the zoo and then took part in the Koala Encounter where we got "up close and personal" with the koalas.  First, we wandered through the park, walking and feeding the wallabies first.   Free to roam, this one wasn't that hungry apparently since others fed him before I did.

Wallabies aren't just small kangaroos.  Though both are marsupials, their coloring, size, teeth, body configuration, and coloring are generally much different.  

Little joey legs and heads sticking out of the mama's pouches.  Lots of differing coloring of their fur too. The emus were found also throughout the park, but you didn't want to get too close.  Due to the weather, there were just a handful of families about, so it was like having the animals all to ourselves. 

                                   The Australian pelican and jabiru, the only Australian stork.  

The jabiru has black and white body plumage, but it's head and neck are dark green and purple, almost iridescent in color.  It has a massive black bill and long coral-colored legs.  The Australian pelican is medium sized compared to other species of pelicans.

Oh, the mighty wombat! I didn't know these marsupials have a "backward" pouch so when they burrow the soil doesn't get inside the pouch and on their young.  With rodent-like teeth and sharp claws, they dig extensive burrows.  They also spend most of the day in the burrow and sleep on their backs where they can lower their metabolism to conserve energy. We could walk down into an enclosure where their burrows were lit enough to see their burrows.  They are a close cousin to the koala we were told.

Time to feed Shrek, the 15 foot crocodile.  

We wandered around viewing all the other animals and birds but were anxious to get to spend time with the Koalas. Very sedentary they will also sleep up to 20 hours a day.  The leaves of the eucalyptus have little nutrition and caloric value so they have to eat quite a bit.  Most of their water intake is from the leaves they eat. 

                

Marsupials like the wallabies and wombats, the koalas keep their young in their pouches for about 6-7 months.  The little ones stay  close to their  mamas for about a year. Koalas are not social animals and live primarily alone except for mating.  

We were able to give one of the males, Ozzie, his supplemental protein drink through syringes.  He took quite a bit.  The koalas weren't skittish, but we only rubbed and scratched their backs.  The keeper explained that due to their bone structure they don't lift them from under the arms but will pull them up by their paws.  Koalas have 2 "thumbs" and then three other digits on their paws with their sharp claws perfect for climbing.

Our assignment was to speak in the Port Macquarie Branch on Sunday morning.  The Hargreaves had told us that kangaroos are all over the area around the church meetinghouse.  But a fence has been put up so they are not often seen on the church grounds anymore.  But across the road, I walked up to an enclosure to see quite a mob of kangaroos.  Interestingly, as I approached to take a picture everyone of them stopped, turned their heads to stare.  And I stared right back. There were probably about 15 or more grazing right alongside the horses in the field.  

 Port Macquarie meetinghouse.

The return trip was through non-stop rain which is the forecast for the week.  Driving in rain is never fun, but when it's on the left-hand side of the road and the blind spots in the car are opposite, it makes for a nerve-wracking drive at least for me.  Don drove half-way and I battled the traffic the rest of the way.  Fortunately, only one near collision!  But we made it safely home in time for more wind and rain.  Still, a great little get-away.  

18 October 2020 The first infringement!

As we have tried to get out to a few places, we also find that cameras are everywhere!  Don received his first Australian infringement notice this week for speeding when we took our little get away last month.  Now, he will pay a fine for his first speeding infringement and receive points on his driving record.  Since he has to provide a copy of his own license, passport, visa, we are betting that we will be paying over $400 AUS.  As annoying as I may sound to him, I am constantly repeating the speed limit whenever we are driving and he doesn't complain.  We leave on Friday this week for another assignment to Port Macquarie so I am certain I will once again not just help navigate the route with the help of Siri, but will also keep an eye on the speed limits.

Shopping in Australia is very much like the US, especially when I can go to that Big Box store and find some familiar looking things.  And just like home, the holidays aisles are already set up.  But here is something I would never find at home, a giant Christmas Roo lawn decoration.  For the price of our speeding ticket you can have one too. Yes, we are not in Kansas, let alone the Pacific Northwest, anymore.  Most of the kangaroos I've seen so far are outside this same store at dusk on the the nearby soccer (or footy) field.  That doesn't count all the road kill we saw going to Mudgee. 

Ten of our Samoan missionaries were finally able to go back to their islands earlier in the month.  They had to be in quarantine again just as they did when they first arrived in Australia and then again here in NSW as a reassignment from their African missions. Some will have spent more than 6 weeks in isolation but at least they are in familiar territory.  For many of our other islanders, they still cannot go home.  Some covid cases showed up when they borders were opened, so the governments have closed it down again.  The missionaries that are arriving here are all from Australia.  

Last week we were busy as missionaries were transferring to new areas, the senior couples were training new arrivals, and President and his wife were hosting the good-bye dinner for those who were leaving.  One missionary was to fly to South America.  Arriving at he airport early the next morning, he found out the flight had been cancelled.  We feel for these young people that have willingly sacrificed so much, spent two years and more during this crazy time only to have some disappointment face them pretty regularly.  Happily, he was booked on another flight and left for his home on Saturday.  Some of these missionaries have already served over 30 months instead of the normal 24 and the months just continue to accumulate.

I started leading the ESL classes again.  I am tutoring two individuals by Zoom one day a week, teaching a woman and her friend who want to improve their skills at another time, and then doing another Zoom for all of our other non-native English speakers.  We have around 40 that do not speak English as their first language.  I was even surprised when a number of them reported to me and others that they missed our weekly classes.  "Really? I thought.  The expectations must not be very high!" So, here I am still trying to assess what they really need and guiding it online.  I have such empathy for all teachers trying to motivate and guide learning by remote settings.  It works, but I am wondering just how effective it will actually be in the long run.     

We took a little hike around Mona Vale to Narrabeen and saw lots of other beaches along the way.  The coastline is just magnificent and it is such fun to look for whales and dolphins.  We haven't noticed any sharks though there have been some sightings and unfortunately even a death recently.  The beaches along here were less crowded and seemed even a bit more isolated than others.  

We watched this paraglider for awhile.  Though the day was overcast and a little windy along our trail, he made landing look so easy.  Maybe our friend, Tony Barton, will give us lessons up in Newcastle!

At the Narrabeen Sand Dunes, we laughed along with parents watching their kids sand surf.  Many ended up in the lagoon which was just part of the fun.  I could see all my grandchildren loving that also.  

 

11 October 2020 Absentee ballots sent!

We were able to send our absentee ballots in a week ago and are hoping they reach the U.S. in time.  We sent a birthday card to our granddaughter in March only to have it returned to us here in Australia 6 months later!  So who knows?  At least we've done what we could.

All around us and in our garden we see bottlebrush shrubs and trees.  Native to Australia it's easy to see how they got their name with the shape of the blooming flowers.  We have some small bushes outside our house and then one can see rows of trees also where the blooms are even larger.  

Then, there are the kookaburras also.  All around us on our morning walks several wait to be seen. Beautiful flowers and delightful birds make life here so enjoyable in spite of the Covid virus.  

Last weekend we decided to have a girls day.  Elise is back in Cowra, so it was just Nina, Theresa, and myself starting the day early to head into Sydney.  We had no agenda for the day.  We wandered through some familiar areas around Circular Quay and The Rocks.  We spent some time on Pitt Street where there is a Pedestrian mall and visited the Strand Arcade shopping area and ended in the QVB, Queen Victoria Building.  I picked up a few Christmas presents since I want to get them sent this month.  Like our ballots, who knows when or if they will arrive on time for the holidays.  So I'm thinking ahead. 

Waiting for the Express Bus into the city. 

Up close and personal

Eating at the Fortune of War, we found this  sign outside which we thought was great.  Shout out to my nephew Stephen who's former company was the originator of the Vegas slogan!  I think he'd really like this. Around the Quay was literally Dog Day for owners and their favorite canines.  Yoga with the dogs was entertaining and then lots of booths with specialty items for the dogs surrounded the area.  We stopped by the Police Museum for a quick photo op after eating and shopping the markets in The Rocks-one of the oldest neighborhoods of Sydney. 

The Queen Victoria Building is getting into the holiday spirit already.  The three story tree has been decorated and more lights added since Don and I were there a few weeks ago. Lots of shops to window shop and food courts in the lower levels and above.  It was a fun day to be relaxing with friends.   

This Saturday, Don and I decided we could use a visit to another one of the other northern beaches.  We went to Dee Why.  The water is still pretty cold but lots of swimmers were out.  The day was warm, but no waves to entice surfers.  We loved just sitting on the beach, wading in the water, listening to the surf, and watching all the other beach goers. We walked along the beach around to the ocean pools where the little ones can swim in a more protected environment with parents nearby.  

It would be great to have a house like these on the hill with a view of the ocean  as far as you can see.

One of the Aldi carts that didn't get returned for the quarter.

We headed back into the city to attend Church with the young single adults on Sunday and found this sign at the bus stop.  I hadn't thought about this before, but I'm sure it's true of us!