What fun we had today Skyping with Boys and Girls Club back in Seward. Olin and Alta prepared a list of things that they wanted to talk about and they did a great job explaining all the new things that they've experienced here in their new home. We gave Seward kids a tour of the house and yard and even showed them the 'bins' (garbage, recycling, and garden waste bins) and mailbox! I don't know how it worked out so well, but we had two Rainbow Lorikeets come visit during the Skype session and let us get really close with the computer so that Seward kids could see them. My kids had been really missing friends and it was a really great thing to be able to see them chatting it up with their buds!
This morning I got up really early and walked to my new school. I clocked it and it came out to be just under three miles one way. It was a beautiful walk, and I met up with some of the teachers that I had met at coffee who showed me around! (Thank you!!!) They have a farm at the school with a cow, sheep, chickens, citrus trees, and a garden. They have no hallways, as it is always beautiful, so you can just walk around outside to get to the next classes. I noticed as well that there is not a lunch room. Kids eat outside - picnic style! I'm looking forward to all that I will learn in my new work place! Finally, after a morning and afternoon of rain, the sun came out and we headed to the beach. The waves were great and Olin and Alta had a blast boogie boarding. Off to Sydney tomorrow!
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I met my co-workers today! Lesley organized a coffee date at the SurfClub Cafe in Terrigal and we met with about 8 other lovely women that I will be working with when school starts. It was so nice to find that teachers both in the US and in Australia have the same 'feel.' They are welcoming, strong, encouraging, people that like to laugh. I felt at home!
Soon after meeting them I knew I would need their help. I've always struggled knowing the right terminology when ordering coffee at a coffee shop. State-side coffee places always have crazy names and the sizes are never simple. I just want a small cup of coffee with room for cream. Nothing fancy! So I figured it would be the same here and asked them what I should order if I just wanted a cup of coffee. Answer: "White flat." It worked! I got a nice cup of coffee. :) As I chatted with the ladies, Tom had the kids down at the beach. It was a cloudy day and so there weren't many people at the beach swimming. We were all a little cautious about the possibility of blue bottles in the water because it was our first time in the water since I got stung. We were made to feel better though because it was a patrolled beach, and the lifeguards would have said something if there were any out there. Olin spent his time in the water trying to get the hang of boogie boarding. He kept at it - determined boy! Alta enjoyed playing in the sand. In the late afternoon I took the kids on a hike behind our house. There are all kinds of trails back in the woods that are walking distance from our front door!!! Olin, Alta, and I went and explored part of one and then we went and played at the local park. Today we also decided what to do for Tom's birthday which is Saturday (inauguration day). We are going to go to Sydney and the kids and I are going to go to the Women's March (see details here: Women's March-Sydney Australia) and while we are there Tom is going to explore parts of Sydney that's he's interested in doing solo. When it is over, we are going to go see things as a family like the aquarium. We are going to take the train there! I'm excited for the adventure to the city! Today I'm thankful for:
Our first trip! We finally got on the road. After registering our new vehicle and packing it up we headed on the road to Mungo Brush Campground. It is a large campground located on a brackish lake. Our first Australian camping experience was wonderful. The camp spots were grouped in fours, and the other three families that shared our quad were lovely. One was an elderly couple from Forster camping with their two grand children. Another was a Sydney couple with their 15 month old, and the other were two families with 4 kids all in Kindy (Kindergarten) or younger. We spent two nights at this campground. The kids loved swimming in the lake and swinging on the rope swing. We saw Australian Black Swans, St. Andrews Cross spiders (venomous but not deadly) and Huntsman spiders (not venomous). We also learned about Bull Ants and Jumping Jack Ants - both of them have a bite like a bee sting. On our first night camping there we went on a walk around the campground after dinner and saw hundreds and hundreds of "flying foxes" or large fruit bats. After the kids went to bed in the tent, Tom and I had a large one land in the tree right over our heads. We also had a dingo run by. It was hard to see, but was no more than two meters away from us. We didn't have a camp light on, so I think we surprised it as much as it surprised us.
On our full day at Myall National Park we visited Dark Point which are some dunes that we had visited 8 years ago when we came to Australia to visit my sister-in-law Grace. It is a beautiful area that the local native tribes have been using for food gathering and a meeting/trading place for different tribes for the last 4000 years. There is even a whole area of the dune that is roped off because of all the artifacts that are still being found in that area. On the third night we took a tip by the Sydney couple and drove to Yagon Campground out by the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse. We washed some clothes in the ocean and watched small hole-dwelling crab on the beach. The campground had a lot of Bush Turkey, Goanna, and horseflies. It also had a lot of aggressive Kookaburra. We had a couple sitting on a branch right over the kids' heads when we were cooking dinner. As soon as Olin stuck his fork in his sausage and took a bite, one of the kookaburra flew down and snatched the remainder of the sausage off his fork! The day after our night in Yagon, we hiked out to the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse. It was beautiful. The pictures below can tell the story there. The kids kept asking to go swimming and Tom and I knew that we needed to get on the road, so rather than swimming at a really inviting swimming hole, we drove on to Booti Booti National Park and pulled over at the Ruins Campground for some swimming and showers. We went out to the beach and noticed immediately that there was only one other couple in the water swimming. We figured it was because it was hot and lunchtime so everyone else was back at their campsites. It didn't take long for us (and the other couple) to realize why no one was in the water. The water was full of blue bottles. No.... they aren't a cute little blue creature like their names might suggest or pretty blue glass bottles.....They are also known as (and more appropriately called) Portuguese Man of War and they were in the water... with us!!! (They are a creature that are very much like a jelly fish. And they are poisonous.) I was the first to get zapped, but only on the ankle by a stray tentacle, so was more confused by the experience than alarmed. "Tom," I said. "Can jellyfish be blue?" He said he didn't know. Suddenly I got smacked HARD on the leg by one of the blue bottles. "Get out of the water! Get out of the water!" I yelled. I was impressed with how quickly the kids and Tom got out. My whole leg was on fire. It was like I had burned myself on the wood stove. I ran over to the couple in the water, who were clearly just realizing the blue bottles were in the water, and yelled at them to get out. They acknowledged and joined me. "Are we going to die?" I asked them? I felt like my leg was on fire! They laughed. "Oh no! These are just blue bottles. They're pretty harmless." Um.... My respect for Australian pain tolerance and ability to not get worked up about things that hurt just rose incredibly. I can't remember when my skin had been in so much pain last. I asked what I should do and they said to put hot water on it - as hot as I could stand it. So we said goodbye and went to our car to start heating up some water. Seriously.... Putting hot water on something that burns seems ridiculous, but it really works. For about 20 minutes I dabbed a pair of Alta's clean undies into a pot of hot hot water and laid it across the angry welt on my leg. I just kept saying over and over how happy I was that my kids didn't get stung. I never want my kids to experience that. After a little while the pain went away and I put some medicated creme on it, and we kept driving. I did mention to Tom though that it felt like the poison was traveling up to where my leg attaches to my body. The couple (and the internet) said I wasn't going to die, though so I stopped worrying about it. We also learned a valuable lesson. If no one else is in the water, don't go in! Another note on the blue bottles is that I told two different people that were suiting up to go surfing that there were blue bottles in the water, and they just shrugged it off and said they'd "give it a go." Um.... Australians are by far either the craziest or toughest people I have ever met. After a lot of driving we made our way to Crowdy Bay National Park and to the Indian Head Picnic Area and Campground. Upon driving in we were greeted by two black tailed kangaroos - and a really talkative woman and her son! She lent us her camp stove to cook our dinner and talked to us all about the history of the area. The kids joined a pick-up soccer match with some of the other campground kids (yay)! And we spent an uneventful/restful evening listening to the goanna in the woods and watching the stars. We were going to head to another campground the next day, but I did not feel well. All my lymph nodes were telling me I was getting sick.... but it was a funny sick, because other than feeling a little nauseous there were no other symptoms. After looking up some side effects of being zapped by blue bottles, I realized that I was probably experiencing some and so we decided just to head home. So.... there we have it. Our first camping adventure. Dingos, spiders, oh ya.... we saw a huge python on the road, and one of the ladies at the first campground said that their was a red-bellied black snake in our camp site earlier that day (augh! They are venomous- but arn't the 'chase you' kind of snakes.) We saw goanna (pronounced go-anna), death-angry-man-of-war-poisonous-jellyfish-like-monsters, and black swans. We were treated wonderfully by all the beautiful people that we met. This land is bipolar. Great day at the reptile park just nearby our house. We got an annual membership so that includes a free pic with a koala and half off entrance prices for all our guests. There a couple things I noticed today, one is that kids everywhere where hats to protect their faces from the sun. In fact, it is part of their school uniform! The other, is that these spiders and snakes are damn scary. The two spiders I think we have to worry about the most are the red back and the funnel web spiders. The snakes that scare me the most are the ones that chase you. I told Tom that I'm pretty confident when I hike because the animals out there (in Alaska) are more scared of me than I am of them. But here, there are some deadly snakes that actually chase you. Ya, there are plenty that will slide away when they hear you coming as well, but... I don't know... it something about being chased (or having my children chased) by a deadly venomous snake that makes me really uneasy. After seeing those snakes face to face (and the spiders too) at the reptile park I was left with a feeling of caution. A feeling of unease - though it is probably a good sense of unease. The last thing you want is a cocky Alaskan out there thinking they can own the bush. On a positive note, at least I now know what they look like!
We also went and visited the hiking trails in the Rumbalara Reserve right behind our house. No pics of that. Sorry. I'll let the reptile park pics tell the story today. Final note before the evening is over. I heard the first Australian lilt in Alta's voice tonight. The first inclings of an Aussie accent. :) That is the question I asked Lesley yesterday. Well, she gave me a good answer. She said that people go to the mall. It has AC there. Now, those of you that know me know that the Mall is the LAST place I would ever want to go, but today I didn't care. It was hot... and humid. Tom pulled out the AC for the house this morning, which made things bareable. Then we headed to the mall to go to the movies. We saw "Sing" (highly recommend by the way) and then walked around the mall. Other noteworthy things today are that we returned our rental car and picked up our "new" car. It is nice to have our own wheels finally. Also I found a french press. Turns out they don't drink much pressed coffee here so it was hard to find. Found one at a Robbin's Kitchen (a small kitchen store). They don't call them french presses here. They call them 'plungers.' We discovered that they also don't call popsicles that. I can't remember what they call them, but the lady I was inquiring about the location of the popsicles at the store had no idea what I was talking about. A couple other things that I've noticed but haven't mentioned before is that a lot of the cars here are white. I'd say about half. It makes sense now that I've seen how hot it can get. Another thing is that you can walk into a store without shoes or a shirt (guys) and no one has a problem at all! On another note, we've had a lot of really positive interractions with strangers here. There is a lovely Scottish woman that works at Commonwealth Bank that always comes to say hello to me when I stop in. Today she offered some ideas of places I can take the kids. We also had a great encounter with a woman at the movies. Tom's seat was all wet from having soda spilled on it by the last movie-goer, and a lovely Aussie woman offered to switch seats with us because her daughter was sitting on a plastic booster seat and wouldn't be bothered by the wet seat. Finally, we went to Kanagroo Tent City at the mall, and we met a great guy who is an expert of coffee. He recommended some good coffee shops in our area and steered me in the direction of where I could pick up a 'plunger.' We've met such nice people! So it is 6:30pm, and still super hot. The kids are grumpy. I'll set up the sprinkler for them in a bit. And.... we're having Kangaroo Schnitzle tonight for dinner! So that'll make it all better!
We had a wonderful day today at our first Aussie BBQ. We went over to Lesley and her husband Chris's beautiful house and met and chatted with some of their friends. I have learned so much in the last five hours! Here is what they taught us. (We had lots of questions!)
1. The household furniture and junk piled up in front of people's houses is not people being evicted from their houses. Instead, NSW has a system where you can call up the gov up to 6 times a year and have them come to your house to pick up your garbage that won't fit in the bin. Some people just put stuff out early, and that is why it has been sitting there since we arrived. 2. The "pinging" sound we hear out the window when we drive through certain forested areas are called "bell birds." Watch the video below. Enchanting. 3. The lizards Olin and I saw on our walk to the store this morning are called water dragons. 4. Non-Aboriginal Australians do not hunt and eat Kangaroo. Aboriginal tribal people do though. 5. Australians do not have a road-kill charity program like we do in Alaska where roadkill meat is donated to charity. 6. When you go to an Aussie BBQ you bring your own meat and your own drinks. 7. Beer is not the go-to drink at a BBQ here like it is in the US. We're bringing a bottle of wine to share next time! 8. If you encounter a bull red-kangaroo who is agressive back up slowly without losing eye contact with the roo. 9. The bull bars in front of cars here are also called "roo bars" and they are to protect your car from collisions with kangaroos. 10. Koala are really loud when they mate. So are possum. 11. When it is this hot, people come HERE to the Central Coast to get away from the heat and to go on holiday. 12. It is going to be 40C tomorrow (104F). 13. My kids CAN get sunburns! Up until today Olin had burned an ear and that was it. Today they got toasty. They had an unexpected swim at Lesley's pool (she told me she had one but I forgot). The kids were already in the pool before I had a chance to put sunscreen on, and then with all the great conversation I just forgot. (Lots on our minds I guess!) 14. There is a dead wallaby at by the roundabout of Chittaway and Pacific Hwy. 15. "It is important to put sunscreen on." - Olin. 16. Australian Brush Turkeys (Olin and I saw some young ones today) are not liked much by people here because they get into your yard and make huge mounds. 17. Red kangaroo really do punch! 18. Some venomous snakes are agressive and will actually attack you, or your vehicle (like a tractor if you are riding on one.) 19. Some venomous snakes are actually desired by farmers because they only make you sick if they bite you, but they hunt the kinds of snakes that will kill you if they bite you. 20. People are sometimes called "galah" which means that they are "stupid." It is a word that also describes the bird that we saw when we left Lesley and Chris's. 21. Australian hospitality is wonderful! Thank you Lesley and Chris!
We bought a car today! Wait.... What? Didn't we already do that? So turned out there were some major issues with the car we were going to purchase and so we decided on another vehicle. Mistubishi Pajero. It is the same kind of vehicle we toured Australia in the last time we were here (2008). Still seats 7 so we are all set for visitors. We hope to pick it up tomorrow morning or Wednesday morning.
On another note, we slept in the tent again last night and before we went to be (and all night long) we were visited by two Brush Tailed Possum! They chased each other all over the trees on our bakyard. Very cool. See video of Brush Tailed Possum below. Today was HOT HOT HOT, so after we went to the car dealership (which by the way I don't recommend when the temps are in the 90s, we... went to the beach! We've got this spontaneous beach action down!
It is at the end of Maitland Bay Track! Di, one of Bron's friends recommended a secluded beach for us to escape the near-90 degree heat, and it was wonderful! We spent about 5 hours swimming and hanging out in the shade on the sand and just relaxing. One of the things that makes it a less-visited beach is that there is a 1.2 km hike down to the beach, which means a hike up at the end. It wasn't too bad as we waited until after the heat of the day to make the treck back.
Other notable things about today were the birds. We woke up in the tent to the strange sound of the cat-bird (recording is linked below) and later at breakfast were visited by two large Australian cockatoos! As I listened to the cat-bird I just couldn't help thinking how much my friends Naomi and Tasha would love to sit here in the backyard listening to those birds - both of course for different reasons! (one loves cats, and one loves birds) Finally, I found out that the original tribe from this area are considered a 'first contact' tribe so they got the full impact of the diseases, relocation to missions, etc. which decimated their numbers. Now the Darginyung people claim, in a sense, the Guringai people's lands, as the Gurinagi are no longer an organized tribe. Keep in mind that these were nomadic peoples, and it is very possible (though I still have more to learn) that they, like indigenous peoples of North America, did not consider land ownership in the same way that Europeans did. 10 Things I'm thankful for today: 1. My awesome husband who, dispite his sore knees, hiked that hill like the tough guy he is! 2. The sun. 3. Australian cultural history (thank you Di!) 4. Kids that know how to swim. 5. That Olin and Alta are SUPER into doing chores right now so that they can make Australian money! 6. The "Rivendell stairs" that led from the beach. They looked just like they should be out of Middle Earth. Sorry! No pictures - I'll get one next time we go to the beach. 7. Cold white wine (great prices on white wine here!) and cold ginger beer for the kids at the end of the day! 8. Skyping with Bill and Gay Lynn (Tom's parents). It was good to talk to them. 9. Waking up in a tent! 10. The sun. We bought a car! Toyota Kluger, which is like a Highlander. Automatic. We bought from a dealer as the one from the private seller was already long gone. He added a bunch of stuff to the deal including a fantastic 12 month warranty and said he'd buy it back at the end of our exchange if we need a buyer. He's getting it detailed for us and we can pick it up Wednesday! Fantastic! Feeling good about it - even though it was from a dealer which is something we weren't necessarily super excited about!
Also, We bought a tent!!! Thank you Lesley for the tip on Kangaroo Tent City in Tuggerah. We bought a four person on sale for $100 Aus which is about $75 US. We just put it up in the yard and are camping in it tonight. It was in the mid-to upper 80s F and decided the beach would be packed. So we spent the afternoon at home in the backyard. I made my own beach canopy with a tablecloth we picked up from a local Salvos (Salvation Army) and the kids found some tubs in the garage to make their own swimming pools. I spent the afternoon exploring national park annual passes and some different campgrounds in my new NSW campground book! This is my element. After it cooled down a bit we decided to explore some local culture and drove about 15 minutes into the bush. We went to the Bulgandry Aboriginal Site in the Brisbane Water National Park which is just behind us in North Gosford. It is a cool little tucked away place that has aboriginal art in sandstone. I took a bunch of pictures so you can check it out. I also took a picture of a map of the local tribes in the area. Directly in the North Gosford area was the traditional homelands of the Guringai. I plan on learning more about them and their current status. Do they have a tribal office? Are they an extinct tribe? What is the history of their first colonial contact? Here's to a day of no stress and purchases that will officially allow our Aussie adventures to take off! Another morning spent trying to get ourselves all settled. Tom now has a phone! I can't get international calls but he can. I'll try to remember to post his phone number on our "contacts" page. By the way, if anyone wants to Skype - just let me know! That is the cheapest (free!) way of communicating. We just Skyped with my parents for the first time since we've gotten here! Great fun!
We also went to look at cars. We stopped at NRMA which is an organization that offers services like inspecting used cars before you buy. They confirmed that the types of cars we are looking at are good ones. We even went to look at a car today. Some people have suggested looking at used car dealerships, and others have told us to avoid them. So.. we are just going to look at both and see what we find. Today we went to a place that had a Toyota Kruger which is a vehicle that we are interested in getting because it has fold-down seating in the boot (trunk) so that we can seat guests that come visit (7 people total), but also store our stuff in the back for when we are exploring on our own. We weren't sold on the vehicle we looked at but have made an inquiry to a private seller about his vehicle. Hopefully he will get back to us and we can go check it out tomorrrow. After the car exploration we.... headed to the beach again! In addition to the cars, today was also a day of rediculously cool bugs. They just happened to both be on the sidewalks we were walking on! Rhinocerous Beetle and a Praying Mantis! See pictures below. (by the way... the Rhinocerous Beetle was dead and the Praying Mantis was alive.) |
AuthorThe Liljemark's enjoy exploring the world. This blog chronicles our adventures. Archives
December 2017
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