On the Road Again...

Now that you know our news, we can let you in on what it was like to do our three week trip with an 8 week (and counting) pregnant member of our party. We arrived back from it a few weeks ago, but will throw a few blogs up over the next few weeks, so it's almost like you were right there! Just pretend that it's happening live... :D

***Time warp!!***

Greetings all!

So we're up to our old tricks again.

Bit different this time though, coz we'll actually be heading back to Darwin for "real life" again when we're done.

Destination: the Kimberley. I always say "Kimberleys" but I don't think there's supposed to be an "s". We're tackling the legendary Gibb River Road which has claimed many lives in the past but it's so touristy these days you could get away with being an ill-prepared European youth and still survive. Let's hope I don't have to eat those words. ;)

Here's a video I posted so I didn't waste time explaining all in typing. Robyn says I still have toothpaste all over my face. I can't see it.

(BTW, I say week and a half because we were without reception for most of it... that was just my estimate. ;)

J.

Our BIG announcement

Hello there!

Apologies for the long break between blog posts but believe me there has been no shortage of action and adventure. We're keen to share about our 3 week travels in the Kimberley region swimming in fresh pools and traversing gorges, as well as our much appreciated visits from family in Victoria (which we will share soon), but this blog is dedicated to one piece of news only... (drumroll)

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child! I am now 12 weeks pregnant and we both feel so blessed to be granted such a beautiful gift.

We wanted to let our faithful blog readers know before the online world finds out via Facebook, so please keep it as your little secret until you see it published on Facebook later in the week.

Thank you for your support and prayers and for sharing in our joy!

Love always,

Robyn.

You know you're in the Top End when...

You drive with both your Air Conditioning AND your windscreen wipers going full ball (in the Wet at least).

You've realised for the first time that lightning can actually be beautiful.  And a daily event.

The population of your "city" is a six figure number.

You can't remember the last time you wore pants.  Or shoes.

You have two AFL games a season that you can go to, but they're virtually VFL quality because it's always between the worst teams in the competition.

Gazza.  They just needed to kick it to him more.

It goes Darwin, Palmerston (15 kms out) then Katherine (311 kms out).

Faraway Downs from "Australia" doesn't feel too far away.

You watch guys play basketball for several hours without even taking a drink, having already consumed 3 litres yourself.

23 degrees = cold.

32 degrees = average.

Nothing like a refreshing walk through the streams of Buley Rockhole.

You live across the road from the beach but never swim in it (which is why you head inland to the rivers).

Somehow, a croc manages to make it into the paper EVERYday.


You pick up coconuts just randomly off the ground and husk and eat.

I'm Filipino.  Of course I know how to husk a coconut.  That's totally not true.  I couldn't have done it without my father-in-law's knowledge and skills.  Speaking of which...  It was fantastic to have them come and visit!

And the winner is...

For the second time in my life, I’ve walked out on a teaching degree.

No that’s not true.  But boy have I come close to doing it several times over the last few weeks!

Long story short, I only did the course to teach out bush which is looking like it won't happen anymore.  And I definitely don't want to be a Primary School teacher so why continue?

But I persevere.  Mostly because my wife wants me to.  Just kidding.  (*whispers* I’m not kidding!!)

Anyway, regardless of whether I end up finishing this Grad Dip completely or not (I'll at least get to halfway and reassess from there), here's how the year is panning out and what could've been, as well as what still could be...

So we get a message from our Pastor from Tokyo to see if we'd be interested in helping out a church they're planting in New Delhi.  In August.  As well as looking towards doing some church planting in the Philippines beyond that.  We were definitely interested and thought and prayed about it for most of the week.
In the end, we felt that the timing was not quite right and that, although no longer heading into outback NT, felt called to remain in Darwin.  We feel God's call here for now and that from here we can think further and work out questions about the future.  Not to mention we're really enjoying going along to Darwin Baptist Church and think that it's the place we want to settle and sow into at this time.

But beyond that, it's all about the Philippines.  Last time I wrote I talked about the passion we had for the place, and it's only intensified since touching down on Australian soil.  Before the trip it was an intangible possibility for us (to spend a year or something there...  maybe) but that has now been brought forward.  I don't know if it'll be long term or just a season, but all the signs are pointing in that direction now and we'll see what God opens up.  Darwin isn't the long-term option really...  just the jumping off point.  :)

So there you have it.  The trip's on hold (for who knows how long), we'll see out 2012 in Darwin and we should hopefully be back in Melbourne for Christmas.  Whether we'll stay...  at this stage not sure.

Next blog will be light-hearted I promise.  ;)

Much love,

J.

P.S.  Here's a tour of our new place:

A belated update and a change of plans.

First let me fill you in on what we've been up to lately. 
Well, we have settled in well to Darwin and have quickly adapted to the change in lifestyle and weather.  The cyclone that came through Darwin missed us and so it seems we have survived the wet season - which was actually beautiful! We've both been getting plenty of work and I've been having fun teaching prep to 12, including taking some Indigenous classes.  Lots of on-the-job learning!  As part of JR's work he spent a couple of days on the Gove Peninsula (about an hour away by plane) hanging out with the Indigenous kids there which he absolutely loved.


Birthday celebrations with a difference 
2 days before my birthday I was at work and was approached by the education support officer regarding whether or not JR and I would be available to step in as house parents for the weekend for a couple who were sick.  We worked out a few details (still having no idea what being house parents meant!) and decided that we were happy to help out.  So we packed a few things that night and then started the 2 hour drive to the remote homeland school straight after work the next day.  And so began a weekend of fun adventures and eye opening experiences...  In short, we were in charge of looking after 7 indigenous teenage girls for the weekend, including providing meals, monitoring mobile phone use, washing clothes, cleaning and generally making sure that they didn't get up to too much mischief. It was such a great experience for us to spend the whole weekend with these girls and while there were many challenges, overall it was a great experience for us.  We took the girls shopping in Darwin and had a ball swimming with some of the girls in a local waterfall.  JR convinced a couple of the girls to sing me happy birthday and I felt privileged to spend my birthday weekend with our new friends.

Beautiful waterfall just near where we looked after the girls

NTFL grand final 
And so we made it to our first footy match since leaving Vic and it was one of the best games we've ever been to!  Not only did the NTFL footy final happen to be on while we were in Darwin, but it was the TIWI BOMBERS who were fighting for their first ever flag.  To give you an idea of how it differed from an AFL final at the G, tickets were only $15 and we bought them at the gate and then found a grassy spot on the barrier right behind the goals with all the mad Tiwi supporters.  I was the only white female supporter for the Tiwi Bombers (apart from the odd one or two sitting up in the stands) and had a ball cheering with the Indigenous kids and families beside us.  I'll never forget the little kid next to me who looked up and said, "oh no, here comes my mum, she's so embarrassing" as his mum walked towards us screaming for the Bombers.  I loved the way they'd shout out, "that's my son," "see number 19, he's my family!" in support of their relatives. It was like being at a country footy match! Bombers were down at half time, but came back for a massive win and it was an incredible experience to run on the field after the match with all the other supporters and families as they danced around their players and celebrated their victory.

Change of plans 
It's funny, since I first wrote the draft for this blog (admittedly, while we were in the Philippines) our plans have constantly been changing. Life is a fun journey of trusting  God and following His lead! Up until a week or two ago we were seriously considering doing some remote teaching in the NT, but have put that idea on the back burner for the time being. Given our thinking at the time, JR started the first semester of his online graduate diploma of teaching and learning (they managed to squeeze him into the course the week we arrived in Darwin - a week after the course had already started!) and is deciding whether or not it is still worth pursuing to the end of the year. We've had all sorts of opportunities arise in the last week or so regarding our next steps, but I'll let JR    tell you fill you in on our latest thoughts in the next blog. Either way it is looking like we will be putting the rest of our trip on hold.

So as we put our trip plans on hold for now, we have just moved into a place of our own to rent. We absolutely love it and it is right on the foreshore of a beautiful part of Darwin and is conveniently situated right next door to Rachel and Adrian's (who have been amazing in accommodating us!). I've been offered 3 days teaching a week (plus relief work on the other days) for the rest of the term and we have settled into a great church up here. Life is one amazing adventure!

Take care and God bless,
J & R.

So we're in the Philippines.

Actually, we've been here for 2 weeks and are about to leave, but you know how it is when you're with family.  :)

I know, it's not technially part of Australia so it shouldn't really qualify for our "Around Australia" trip.  But funnily enough, it's only about 4-5 hours from Darwin which makes it a little more justifiable compared to if we were in Melbourne.

Sorry about the dearth of blog posts lately, we've had a pretty hectic last few weeks living and working in Darwin that I'll let Robyn fill you in on another time.  For now, I wanted to talk about my home country.  And I should probably inform you that this post is a little "introspective."  I promise I'll still try and keep it entertaining.  :)

The beautiful bride

My cousin Dan modelling

So we're here for my cousin's wedding.  She's actually about my age and her favourite colour's yellow so we get along like a house on fire.  I don't actually know how that metaphor works but my sister uses it a lot so I'll go with it.

Best colour

Fantastic moment to be a part of

The wedding was gorgeous (all yellow of course).  She had it on the beach - both ceremony and reception!  It was actually one of the most beaufitul weddings Robyn and I have ever been to.  They prayed for clear skies and thankfully the Lord answered with a yes as it had been raining several days before.

Our gorgeous little niece.

It's been 11 years since I was last here and it's amazing how your perspective can change in that period of time.  Since then I've finished High School, started and dumped a uni course, done nothing for 8 months, worked and started a theology degree, deferred said theology degree, lived in Japan for a year, met, dated and married my wife, finished aforementioned theology degree, been blessed to work for a fantastic charity for 4 years, witnessed the addition of our family's first two grandchildren and completed half a tour of Australia (spearing the biggest fish I've ever speared along the way! ;).

Back then, I was still working out who I was, what I wanted to do (pretty sure at that time I wanted to be a famous singer - like 97% of all teenagers who can hold a half-decent tune) and was still growing in confidence.  Now, I'm still doing all those things but have progressed a little further down the track.

Had me a couple of thoughts in the last few days that I wanted to share.

The other day we were talking about some members of our family and the history of how they were taken in because essentially, if they hadn't been they would've died from starvation or lack of medical attention.  To give you a bit of context, the Philippines is a 'little' lower than Australia in Global Economic standing.  At the current exchange rate, if you were earning $7 flipping burgers at Maccas you'd be making more in an hour than the average Filo makes in a day.  I don't want to take that out of context, because living expenses are also lower, but it gives you an idea of the nation's standing in the world.

My family that we've been hanging out with... and that's only half!

Anyway, as we discussed these things I came to realise how easily my fate could've been different.  My dad's dad (Isaias Snr) died when he was 12, and he and his 6 siblings were scattered among their aunties and uncles to finish their education and enter the workforce.  There was no way my grandmother could've supported them all.  Instead of being the upper-middle-class Filipinos that my family was and receiving the opportunity to migrate to Australia, there's every chance that I could've been born and not live to see my teens.

It's funny.  Robyn and I for as long as we can remember (even before being together) have always wanted to work in poverty-stricken areas.  We've always wanted to share about the Great Leveller that is the Gospel whilst working towards lifting people out of poverty.  But now more than ever has it been so close to home for me.

I've been given an opportunity.  A chance.  From being near the bottom of Global standing to near the top, I can do so much more than I could've possibly dreamed if things went differently in my bloodline.  My cousins are actually doing OK for Filos, yet what they have access to is severely limited.  Robyn and I can save up and go on a trip around Australia and fly to the Philippines without hardly needing to think about it.  For these guys, overseas travel is possible only if supported by family and probably once or twice in a lifetime.  Whilst we can contemplate all sorts of vocational pathways and options, my cousins have got to work out what job is going to give them consistent enough income for everyday living.

Robyn tries her first ever BALUT
(duck embryo)

"With great power comes great responsibility" (don't all the best quotes come from movies? ;P).  Even though none of us are Spiderman (except Tobey McGuire and that new guy of course - if somebody could explain to me why the heck you'd reboot that so soon that would be excellent), for each of us in the western world we have great power.  For me, I don't want to feel guilty about the opportunity that I've got, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't understand the opportunity that I have. And make the most of it.

We're trying our best to work out how that plays out.  Where God is leading us in our lifetimes.  Some of that Robyn will talk about in the next post.

For now, my prayer is that God continues to challenge me and keep these things at the forefront of my mind everyday.

Much love!

J.

The boys go all macho

Our new home!

Well for a little while anyway ;)  

It’s amazing how quickly a place can feel like home.  After spending a few nights in the same rest area back in Carnarvon our little patch of gravel became our home.   Giving JR time to recover from his illness, the park in Exmouth became our regular afternoon hangout before we headed ‘home’ to our rest area just off the highway each night.  And now, having travelled the 3000 or so kms required for us to cross the border and arrive in Darwin, we have made it to the city we will call home for the next 4 months or so.

...on our way across the top were breathtaking.

The stormy skies...

We did make one stop over on our way to Darwin and that was to enjoy Broome for a day.  The highlight for sure was watching the sunset on Cable Beach on camel back!  I think it was probably my first ever camel ride and it sure was the place to enjoy it. 

We're on the 4th camel from the back...you can't miss us!

Since arriving in Darwin, we have spent the last week at Rachel and Adrian’s place as we settle in.  It’s been so nice to spend time with family again!  The days of the rare shower and no access to movies, TV, couches and a kitchen feel like a world away.

We both started work this week and are looking forward to all that this Darwin experience will bring.  Will keep you posted.

Love R.

This is us up a bit closer!

to Darwin!

Well, we knew this leg was coming.

I'm back - many thanks to those that prayed (not that we asked for any, but I know there would be those out there that did).  Russell is no longer being used a patient transport vehicle and I'm back sitting in the front instead of lying in the back with a sore gut.  Robyn was absolutely incredible at this time and looked after me the way an incredible wife would.  I am immensely thankful.

Catcha later Exmouth!

We left Exmouth Saturday with one goal in mind: get to Darwin.  Up to this point we'd just been taking our time, knowing eventually we still had to "skip" across from the top of the west to the top of the middle.  I knew it was a long way, but was slightly dumbfounded when I had a look at the map in its entirety.  Australia is a BIG country.

Allow me to provide a bit of perspective:

From Perth to Exmouth is 1265 kms.

From Exmouth to Darwin is 3175 kms.

We've spent about 4 weeks getting from Perth to Exmouth.

We've given ourselves 5 days to get from Exmouth to Darwin.

There's a reason for this madness.  Robyn's availability as a replacment teacher begins on the 1st of March.  She needs a few days to settle in, get all the gear she needs and generally feel prepared (not to mention wash off the smell of 4 months' travelling! ;).

It's funny actually, we've been listening to the Bible on the road (great opportunity to do so!) and we just capped off Numbers the other day - Robyn tacked our story onto the end of the Israelites' in Numbers 33:  "They left Ramses and camped at Sukkoth.  They left Sukkoth and camped at Etham.  They left Etham and camped at Karratha.  They left Karratha and camped at Broome..."  That's pretty much what the rest of this week holds for us.

Mmm...  Roadies.  I promise
we don't eat that much Mi Goreng...

So with our 4 bags of Roadies ($1.80 on sale in Exmouth - bargain!  Given the long road ahead, it just made sense...  On the Road/Roadies...) we're all set.

Three thousand one hundred and seventy five kilometres later, we'll see you in Darwin.  Ready for four months of work!

J.

P.S.  How do you occupy yourself with this many kms to cover and a whole lot of straight roads?  Here's one way...

Entering the North West

Here it is.  The “proper” update.

Well, since we left Perth time has just flown by.  We have been slowly making our way up the west coast and are officially in the North West now.  I won’t bore you with all of the details, but will instead fill you in on some highlights.

J enjoying South Beach

SOUTH BEACH, PORT DENISON.
One of our new favourite beaches.  There is something about driving onto the beach and choosing anywhere you like to pull up the 4bie and go for a swim.  Something we still haven’t gotten over yet.  We spent almost two full days at this beach watching kite surfers, swimming, playing scrabble, kicking the Wahu footy and enjoying the dunes.  If you happen to be in the area, definitely worth checking out!

Geraldton foreshore in the cyclone waters

BUSHFIRES AND CYCLONES
For a little while there we were warned of Cyclone Yasi coming south meanwhile we were detouring 150ks to get out of the way of a bushfire heading north.  Praise God that being in the middle of the two turned out to be the safest place and we weren’t directly affected by either of them.  Mind you, the Geraldton foreshore was spotted with locals taking photos of the mighty waves rolling in on their usually calm water front.  It was quite a sight to see!

Lookout over the Murchison River

KALBARRI NATIONAL PARK
Gorge-ous!  For a stunning view of the Murchison River as it winds its way through rocky gorges, we found ourselves admiring God’s creation just before dusk in the vastness of the Kalbarri National Park.  It was very hot even so late in the day.  We decided to leave the 9km walk up to other fit and keen tourists and stuck to a couple of short tracks instead.  Hopefully the photos will give you some idea of how impressive it was.

MONKEY MIA & SURROUNDS
A beautiful little corner of WA.  We spent a couple of days exploring the tiny town of Denham and spotting bilbies on the sides of the road (well we spotted one!), including a trip to see the dolphins at Monkey Mia and then a 4WD exploration of Cape Peron National Park and a lookout over the infested waters of Shark Bay.  The highlight of the dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia is where they choose a number of volunteers to hand feed the dolphins with a fish.  I was keen.  I stood in prime position, loaded my handbag and camera onto J in the hope that I might get picked and the volunteer stepped forward and picked... J!  Haha.  He very kindly deferred the honours to me - What a husband! - and so I grabbed the fish and put it right into the friendly dolphin’s mouth.  Check this out:

Russell exploring the coastline

CARNARVON & THE QUOBBA COASTLINE
The impressive rugged coastline and deep blue ocean immediately demanded our respect.  Not only was this the place we had our friendliest shark encounter, but the outrageous cliffs and powerful waters prone to king waves and dotted with bursting blowholes are reason for caution for any bystander.  While we waited for the relevant parts to be freighted to Carnarvon to mend our challenged air conditioner, we spent every spare moment taking in the awesomeness of the Quobba coastline.  We managed to dive the waters on two occasions and were astounded by the number of sharks (!), variety of fish and huge turtles that we saw. On top of this, just driving along the tracks we saw dozens of goats, horses, lizards, a wedge-tail eagle, sheep, kangaroos, cows, a thorny devil and emus.   Accessible by 4WD only and well off the main roads, it was a hidden gem.

CORAL BAY, EXMOUTH & NINGALOO REEF

JR's Gold-spotted trevally

Australia’s largest and most accessible fringe reef borders Coral Bay and heads up towards Exmouth.  We had an absolute ball diving the waters just south of the bay and managed to get ourselves a couple of nice fish for the freezer too.  We swam across beautiful staghorn and plate coral and with schools of tiny shimmering blue fish and entertained a couple of small reef sharks as they followed us right to the edge of the shore.  We seem to be attracting them!  It was quite a thrill to watch from shore as they fed on the fish carcasses we threw them and it wasn’t long before they were joined by 3 massive manta rays and then an enormous 1.5m+ Queensland Groper!  Spectacular!

By the way, you know it’s hot when your husband is wiped out for a few days from heat exhaustion!  Valentines Day was spent in the Exmouth Regional Hospital attending to JR’s raging fever, upset stomach and overall feeling of weakness.  The good news is that he is improving and even managed to squeeze in a dive today in Australia’s best game fishing waters around Exmouth.  From here we’ll make our way to Broome and then head straight to Darwin to begin work in March.

Ok, I think I’ve said enough.  If you want to see more photos, click this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3303922998596.293171.1283635428&type=1&l=8412ca7150 


Hope you are well!  Until next time,

R.

The Pinnacles, WA

Deej you owe me a beer (not that I'd drink it)

But the principle remains...

Allow me to start from the beginning.

This morning Robyn and I arose nice and early to go for a dive, knowing that the Quobba coastline had some fantastic species of fish in there.  It's a rarity to find pelagics (big fish like mackerel) straight off the coast, but along here it's totally possible.  Some guys who spear this area have gotten some big'uns just diving in off the rocks, and we were hoping to replicate that.

We found a great spot to get in even though it was a bit choppy.  All we had to do was get out a bit and we were set.

So we got out a bit.  To the edge of the little channel we were swimming out of.  I looked to my right as we approached the edge of a rock and saw a massive school of Black Drummer (about 100) - they were like a wall of fish!  My immediate thought was "Sharks love this sort of thing!"  And sure enough, after about 8 seconds...

This photo was actually taken afterwards...  when I had the camera in hand.

I jumped.  He was about 2 metres away from me.

I turned to Robyn (we swim holding hands in foreign waters) and saw there were 2 more on her side.  I looked back around and another one had materialised on my side.  We floated there almost back to back with spearguns at the ready for defence.  They weren't charging at us (thankfully), but they were circling.  Every now and again they'd dart at a fish or kick abruptly which made me think it was probably feeding time.

They took off which was a relief, and we kicked on a little for a few minutes.  Unfortunately, that big school of Drummer came back which meant the inevitable was to occur.  Good thing I had the camera out this time...

Same sort of movements, similar temperament.  When Robyn turned around and saw the tale of one whip around about a metre away from her, we decided it was probably time to get out and not worry about pulling the trigger.

There's two in this one...

We didn't come out with lunch, but it was certainly a breathtaking experience!

Robs'll get onto that "proper" update soon enough.

Much love,

J.

P.S.  If sharks freak you out, don't worry too much.  Some of the guys around here dive with them constantly hanging around - one group last week had about 30 getting in their way, and those were "real" sharks!

P.P.S.  We also saw a big turtle.  Robyn reckons you can just make it out in this photo.  I can't.

Turtle?

Heat!

With our slew of 40+ degree days last week I thought it was high time we did our first "you know it's ... when ..." list for the blog.

NB: the following may or may not have been actual occurrences on our travels that may or may not have been told exactly how it was/exaggerated/completely made up for the sake of feeble attempts at being entertaining.  I'll let you separate fact from fiction.

So here goes.

You know it's hot when...

You don't even bother taking a towel with you to the shower.

Ice cream is just a bad idea.

You drink 6 litres of water a day and still don't feel the need to go to the toilet.

Your bread goes dry as you're eating it (that is, if it doesn't while you're making the sandwich!)

Food goes off in a day unless it's in some form of packaging, in the fridge or from McDonald's.  In which case it would probably outlast a nuclear holocaust.

Soup, coffee and curry just don't make any sense to you anymore.

Sunrise after a restless night

You have a restless night trying to sleep and decide the better hours for slumber are between midnight and 8AM (provided you're in the shade somewhere).

You have a restless night trying to sleep and go to 11 different stores in search of a battery-powered fan, only to discover they all sold out when the heat wave started.

You contemplate becoming a nudist coz clothes are just overrated.

Shopping Centres or the beach is the biggest decision of your day.

Setting up the fridge in the car park
while we chill in the Shopping Centre

Meat that has managed to stay cold overnight is cause for celebration.

It's still 40 degrees in the shade.


I'll leave the next proper update up to Robyn (whose contribution to this blog was indispensable).  She'll probably do it soon too, seeing as this post was ready to go up three days ago!

Have a fantastic week!  I can't believe it's February...

J.

Looks rainy and miserable?  We decided to brave the 39 degrees...

Breakfast with friends

Gross.

So we pull up in Lesueur NP (gorgeous views and quite underrated if you ask me) for breakfast.  Robyn says, "Ah, a spider's crawling up my leg!" and briskly brushes it off.  Odd, thinks I, that a spider would be so bold as to do that.

Minutes later I look down and also see a spider-looking insect crawling down my singlet.  A moment later Robyn notices another crawling up her leg.  I sit down for breakfast and feel something on my leg, glancing down to find three of them struggling to negotiate the bushy terrain of my left shin.  What's going on?

It is then that Robyn remembers something she read on the board at the entrance to the park.  Something along the lines of: "There are ticks present in this park.  Be sure to check for them before leaving.  If one is embedded in your skin, use a pair of tweezers to extract the parasite."  Maybe not in those terms but I kid you not about the tweezers.

Ticks.  My memory flashes back to the display we saw the day before at The Pinnacles.  These things bear a striking resemblance to the critters depicted on that info panel.  I remember reading something about how they bury themselves inside a host's ear and sit there comfortably sucking blood until they're full, at which point they drop off.  The hosts don't feel it because they inject a saliva into the bite that numbs the sensory receptors.  Hosts can include kangaroos, mice and (casually noted) passing humans.

Ew.  Ew ew ew.  I nervously start rubbing my ears.  I laugh at how my sister Ann would be handling this situation.  Robyn looks down and spots one trying to bury itself into her singlet.  Pretty sure they're not spiders.

We throw everything back in the car after breakfast, checking it for any unwanted excess baggage.  There's only so much you can do though.  Oh well, if some managed to hitch a ride into the interior of our Troopy, we'll find out by morning.

I'm still rubbing my ears.

One of the numerous critters that were on our fridge. Any entomologists out there that can confirm our fears?

Perth.

Gotta confess, we actually really loved this town.  If overseas missions doesn't work out for us, we'd probably consider relocating here we loved it that much. Not least because there's some of the most amazing spearing we've ever done only a few hours away...  But the whole town beckons you so enticingly, which is probably due to a number of factors:

The River. I kid you not when I say that I have seen no prettier city. The only other contender would probably be Putrajaya in Malaysia, which is beautiful more for its architecture than its setting. Perth, on the other hand, looks majestic as its skyscrapers tower over the banks of the gorgeous Swan river. And there aren't too many cities that acually have a park (King's Park) that allows you to drink in this view from an unrivalled standpoint.  We went back a few times and were still marvelling at its picturesqueness.

Climate. It is HOT. I think there's a heat wave right now so we're talking consecutive days of close-to-40s. But apparently even in the winter it's still not too cold, and a friend of mine who moved from here to Melbourne for a while, came back and realized she'd never need a jumper again! Makes sense though. I thought Perth was actually further south than it actually is. If you look at a map of Oz, you'll see that it's about latitudinally level with Coopernook on the east coast (which I hear has amazing weather in the summer...).

Vibe. Obviously a fairly subjective observation, but there was something I couldn't quite articulate that I liked. The sun rises quite early, which lends itself to people being out and about a lot earlier.  It's like everything gets going before 9am.  You'd think that's how businesses should operate, given that they're three hours behind the east coast.  I'll remember to implement that when I'm the CEO of the Perth KPMG branch.

Size.  Melbourne is starting to become a bit of a metrolopolitan mega-centre these days, which brings with it both ups and downs.  Perth seems to be big enough to still be able to do whatever you like (bar, perhaps, creative pursuits...  which many of my creative friends in Melbourne who moved from Perth will testify!), but still not feel like an overcrowded urban behemoth.

On a side note, did I mention that it is stinkin hot?!??!  We drove around to 11 stores today trying to find one that sold a battery powered fan.  It was at least an hour before we could get to sleep last night and we decided it wasn't worth a rerun.  Go Supercheap Auto 12V fan!  I think I can I think I can!

At least 38 degree+ on a daily basis is good for beaches and ice cream.  Now to find both.

Perth to Melbourne and back to Perth again...

With 2012 under way, we found ourselves jumping on a plane to head back to Melbourne for a flying visit.  Our six days consisted of JR performing his Best Man duties at David and Tarryn’s wedding, meeting my 2 week old niece (who is absolutely gorgeous!), a quick trip to Bairnsdale to see my family, a couple of movies, dinners and Dominion hands with JR’s family and before we knew it it was time to board the plane again.  (Apologies if you didn’t know we were in town or if we didn’t get to see you as our time was limited.  We still love you!).  We treasured every moment we spent with our families and discovered that saying goodbye the second time around was a little harder than the first as it is a longer time until we will see them again.  Thank God for today’s technology!

Upon returning to Perth, we admit to have fallen in love with Western Australia’s glorious weather and pristine beaches.  A week straight of 30+ degree days, a coastline of inviting (though supposedly shark-infested) waters and balmy summer evenings...

While JR has spent the last week putting a smile on Perth’s children’s dials at the Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital, I have been catching up with old friends, preparing for the North West Coast and have found one excuse or another to get outdoors at least once a day to enjoy the glorious weather.  We are both sun-lovers (if you hadn’t gathered) and have had fun enjoying some of Perth’s popular beaches such as Cottesloe and Hillarys.  A massive thanks to our friends James and Katelyn for your generous hospitality during our stay!

Next destination:  the famous Coral Coast!  We are looking forward to some more spearfishing adventures, spectacular landscapes and delicious beaches.

Hope your summer has been as enjoyable as ours!

Until next time,

R.

P.S.  I thought I’d put up a few of our favourite pics since our last post.  Enjoy!

(Click here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3109708823363.290002.1283635428&type=1&l=76a17f6ce6)

Seeing in 2012

Happy New Year!  Two days late...

I really am getting old.  The prospect of staying up until 12 really didn't appeal to me last year.  I don't htink it did the year before that either.  My wife, on the other hand...  she was kinda keen to see what was happening about town at midnight.

Thankfully, after driving through Bunbury in the afternoon her curiosity was sated and she no longer felt the need to do it.  I don't know what it was, perhaps habit or the gravity of the occasion, but we still felt the need to see in the New Year at midnight.  I was working until 9pm so that took care of that portion of the evening.  At that time messages and greetings started to stutter through from the eastern states, even though we still had 3 hours to kill...

So we did what we always do.  We played Boggle.  And as usual, Robyn dominated.  Thankfully, I still got a few wins in to keep me interested.  Most exciting of all though was this little beauty right here:

By FAR the best Boggle "board" either of us had ever seen.  I don't know how many games of Boggle you've played where you've scored 37 on a four-and-up and still lost, but that happened to me.  We both had super long lists of words and hardly any of them crossed over!  Unfortunately we found what we think must be the longest word on there (8 letters) after the 2 minute gong.

For all the word-nerds, enjoy.

Much love,

J.