Spider in the Hole!!

Good Morning!

It's been a good weekend Down Under for us!  First, let me say, that at the end of this post will be a picture of a redback spider so don't scroll all the way down if you don't care to see it.  The red mark on them is strikingly red, so they are easy enough to recognize, but they are quite lethal, so having them building webs on the shed is not something we want to encourage!  The one you see in the picture is no longer a threat thanks to a large can of Raid.

Last week was fairly uneventful, school days and swimming at the town pool.  We went a bit early to swim lessons on Friday to have free swim, and Jones ended up having a reaction to the chemicals in the pool and had to sit out for the swim lesson.  He started getting a rash around his eyes and it was spreading, so we had him shower off and just watch the lesson.  It has been over 100 degrees F every day, so its hard to do much except go to the pool.  They do use tons of chemicals.  We will try to go less this week and hopefully we won't have problems with the rash.

Saturday we drove a couple hours west to a little outpost resort for our Thanksgiving dinner.  It was held at Glen Helen "Resort", which was a historic station (that is the term for "ranch" here).  The dinner was at 3:00 pm and there were 30-40 of Trent's work people/families.  We got there pretty early, so walked around a bit, took a family picture, and hung out in the sitting room playing games until it was time to eat.  The meal was fairly good with turkey, potatoes, gravy, bread, cranberry sauce, green beans and corn.  Of course they had salad too, a huge bowl of beetroot (they call beets "beetroot" and it is very popular here...can't imagine why), and cold ham with mustard sauce.  It was so hard to wait until 3:00 to eat, and then we were eating outside in the heat!  We were under a covered patio, so in the shade, but we found it a bit sweltering to be eating Thanksgiving dinner while so sticky ourselves!  After we were through with the dinner, it was another hour or so until they brought out the pies, which looked more like tarts.  There were pumpkin and pecan for choices, and the crust was quite as thick as the filling, if you can imagine.  The crust was a bit waxy, and most of us just scraped the filling off and enjoyed it that way.  By this time, the kids were ready to be out of nice-ish clothes and on to somewhere to get wet, so we changed and strolled over to the Glen Helen waterhole to have a swim. 

It was gorgeous and the water was very warm, so the kids were able to really get in and swim.  Jones and Jax saw a dingo come down and get a drink, but when it saw them watching, it ran up to a tree a bit away.  The rest of us caught a glimpse of that one, and then we saw another from the car on our way home.  They are really pretty blonde/orange dogs that have big ears, almost looking like german shepherds, but for the color.  Supposedly, they aren't dangerous, but can be very bold coming into your camp and stealing food, etc. 
After a bit, the kids wanted to try the "resort" pool, so we walked back over there and they swam for another 45 minutes or so before it was time to start heading back home.  I say "resort" because although the term implies a bit of polish, Glen Helen doesn't really have any.  It is a pretty remote location, so I am sure it is hard to keep up, but most of the church camps I have attended had better accomodations and food.  Lots of the work people that came for the Thanksgiving dinner were staying the night there in the rooms, which would be fun, but fairly expensive for what you get.  They did have a nice menu for food in the lodge, but the cheapest thing for breakfast was coffee or juice and toast for $10.  Yikes.
Sunday morning we intended to try the Markets and then attend church in the evening.  Unfortunately, there were no Markets at the Todd Mall that day!!  I am told now, that since it is getting hotter, they won't be every week, but they will have several special markets before Christmas, so we will try to find out when they are and go then.  We did find a small market south of town called the Heavitree Gap Bush Market, which was more a garage sale type market. The kids got some silverware from a lady selling kitchen items and we found a Christmas tree for $10!  It is a "Pacific Pine" and is a nicish artificial tree, a little over 2 meters (or metres, if you go with Aussie spelling) tall.  So, the morning was not entirely wasted.  Papa and the kids spent the afternoon playing nerf dart tag outside in the yard while Mama made real pumpkin pie in the house!  Then early dinner and off to the night service at church.  It was a smaller crowd, and no kids classes, but very nice atmosphere and better music than the morning service that we usually go to.  We had been concerned that we would be late to bed, but were home by 7:15, so still had some wind-down time before hitting the sack. 
And that brings us up to date!  It's Monday morning and time to wind-up again...Love to all and hope our messages find you well and happy!  We are certainly thankful for each of you, on this week of thanksgiving and always.

Hilary

P.S. They call cotton candy "fairy floss."  Swim suits are "bathers."  Reservations are "bookings."  People ask if you'd like a "cuppa" which could be coffee or tea.  Did I already mention that markers are called "textas?"  In the U.S. we say "Check the box" when me mean to put a checkmark in a box, in the land of Oz they say "Tick the box."  Porches are "verandahs."  They really do say "Good on ya!"  Electricity is really expensive here, so most people use clotheslines to dry their clothes.  "Tucker" is food.  People who live out in the country are said to live "out bush."  We are still coming across little fun things...

P.P.S.  Here's the redback...

Bush Bike Ride

G’day Mates (just kidding, we’re not going to start saying that),

 

Jones on walkabout

Hard to believe so many of you have already seen snow this year!  We will definitely miss seeing the white stuff.  Did I already tell you that all the Christmas decorations over here have snowflakes and cold weather pictures on them?  It’s pretty funny when it is so warm out, but it does help it seem more like Christmas.  Still need to get a tree, but don’t want to decorate Christmas until after we celebrate Thanksgiving.  A few weeks ago some Australians at a lunch party asked us what Thanksgiving is all about, so we got to explain the pilgrims and Indians history in the US. They were intrigued, but had never heard why we celebrated it before.  That gave us a chance to ask what Boxing Day celebrates, and they all looked at us blankly and said, “Nothing really, just getting rid of the boxes from Christmas I guess.”   I guess it is the big shopping day of the year over here, similar to our Black Friday after Thanksgiving.  (I looked up Boxing Day online and there seems to be a more noble historical reason to celebrate Boxing Day, giving boxes of goods to the poor/servant classes on the day after Christmas.)

Jax on a climb

Let’s see, this week…Monday and Tuesday seemed pretty normal, Wednesday we went to dinner at a family in the church’s house.  We were to bring “starches” and drinks.  I tried to make Missy’s rolls from the Bleakney Cookbook, but we have a forced fan oven and it just blew all my pretty raised rolls into flat ciabatta style ones.  L  They tasted pretty good, but looked strange, so we stopped by the store and got a few packs of dinner rolls to bring.  I had also made mashed potatoes and bought juice boxes and lemonade.  The mother had made two corned beef silversides (roast beefs), which were very good and a white roux type sauce to put on them.  They have five daughters and the mom teaches at a local Christian school and the dad stays home and teaches the girls.  The daughters are ages 17, 15, 11, 8, and 7.  They have a pool so the kids all swam first and then we ate and talked and played.  We didn’t get home until 10 pm…on a school night!!  That’s just crazy.  It was doing a pretty cool lightning show in the distant skies that night and all the kids were gathered outside to watch the sky light up every few seconds.  Their oldest daughter loves photography, so climbed up on the roof with her guitar and tripod (and a pillow, I believe) to wait for that perfect shot.  The family is from South Africa, but has lived in the US and England before settling a little over a year ago in Alice Springs.  The wife’s brother lives here with his family too. 

Aboriginal art - The Caterpillars (in ochre and lime)

Then, Thursday I got a migraine and was out of medicine, so I was laid up Thursday and Friday (until Trent came home early from work to get me a local rx of the medicine).  Finally got to feeling better Friday evening.  The kids had an unexpected couple days off of school, but they got super creative while I was sick and made seventeen tons of construction paper  items:  megaphones, airplanes, binoculars, telescopes, more megaphones (seriously, we must have twenty), puppets, …you get the picture.  I had to put a stop to it after two rolls of tape and the stapler ran out of staples.  Sweet babies, they originally made the first megaphone for me to be able to still yell at them from my sick bed.  So thoughtful.  J

Three Joys in the Bush

Saturday we did a bike ride from Flynn’s Grave to Simpson’s Gap (about 17 kilometers or 10.5 miles).  We met the family we had dinner with (Lionel and Eunice with 5 daughters:  Rebecca, Elizabeth, Domlouise (that’s how they say it, not sure the spelling), Rachel, and Hannah) and the brother’s family as well (Rupert and Wendy and their two girls: Ellie (7ish) and Jade (4ish)).  The kids all did really well for that long warm ride!  Jax, Jones, and Beaux were the only ones without a mountain bike with gears, but were in the lead for most of the trail.  The other three smaller kids had bikes that hooked onto their parents’ bikes (like a tandem).  It was really very fun to ride all through the outback like that.  We stopped every 4 kilometers for a break and snacks, so that was something for the kids to look forward to, and the trail was paved and each kilometer marked with a little sign.  There were picnic tables along the way and a few shade trees, so we could rest for 15 minutes or so before we started off again.  It only took a couple hours and we were pulling up into our shelter to cook some hotdogs and have some lunch.  It was a very fun time, and our kids all loved being with these other families.  Trent and I took all the kids over to the water at Simpson’s Gap while the sausages were cooking (American hotdogs only take minutes, but sausages take much longer) and they all took off their shoes and waded and played in the seaweed.  One of the girls caught one of the long-nosed dragon lizards from the rocks!  She was the 15 year old and seemed very interested in animals.  All in all a very fun time.  And nice to know the kids can ride that far.  We didn’t take the camera because we were so focused on snacks, camelbaks, water, lunch, bikes, sunscreen, etc.

Kookaburras in a Gum Tree (or Koalas?)

Today was church and then after lunch we went to the markets in town (which are Sundays from 9-2 or something).  We didn’t get anything today, but are gathering up our ideas for Christmas purchases!  Haircuts and tidying up this evening…back to the grind this week, can’t afford to be just getting sick and skipping school at every whipstich.

Cheers (just kidding, we’re not going to start saying that either),

 

Hilary & Co.

Halloween




Loving the pumpkins!

Halloween ended up being quite a bit of fun around here.  We definitely were not used to going out trick or treating when it is 95 degrees - we are usually barely able to stay warm on an Idaho Halloween!  But before we get into much more, I will write a bit about the first part of our week.

Hilary was going to have the kids take the day off from school on Halloween, but since our final shipment of household goods came a bit unexpectedly on Monday, we opted to take Monday and Tuesday off instead so we could get a little better organized.  So, to the dismay of the kids, school was in session on Wednesday, Halloween morning.  I was able to take off of work to help unpack on Monday and Tuesday, so that was good.  By Wednesday morning, we mostly had the school area tidied up enough for school the next morning.  Hilary had been teaching at the kitchen table, so everything had to be moved and set up in our new school room.

There are a few pieces of furniture that we are going to give back/exchange, but other than that I think we are pretty settled and have gotten most everything put in a place.  We've crammed every nook and cranny.  It is hard to move from a 2400 sq. ft. house to a 1300 sq. ft. house even though we don't have half of our stuff!  That sounds horribly American, doesn't it?  We (especially the kids) have noticed that it is MUCH harder to keep the house and bedrooms clean when there is so many things to play with!

We ordered the kids' Halloween costumes several weeks ago, then about one week before Halloween, we received a second delivery of the same costumes again!  I checked my credit card and we had also been billed twice.  So I called the company and they told me that they had a computer glitch that day and it accidentally sent the costumes out again and charged again.  They were very good, and we got an email a couple of days later from the CEO saying they were sorry and that the charge would be removed.  I called back and told them thanks, but we still have the extra costumes.  So far we haven't heard back, so not sure how that will go...

Beaux was a "sweetheart skeleton girl" with a light-up heart on her shirt.  Jax was Wolverine and Jones was a sheriff skelebones.  Wolverine is the only known character.  We went out at about 6:30 to take some pictures and then headed out for some trick or treating.  There were a ton of kids out on our street, so the kids just kind of got in a pack (with the adults trailing) and went down the street that way.  There were probably 15-20 kids, we only knew two of them!  The Australian folk would typically have their candy and be sitting in a lawn chair at the end of the drive.  That made it real easy.  There are a lot of gates here, and Hilary and I are still trying to understand "gate etiquette" - it can be a bit awkward.  The kids seemed to tire quickly, due to the heat, so we got a lot less candy than we would have in the states, so that is good.  We got home around 8:00, so started handing out our candy then.  I am sure it was gone by 8:30!  There were more and more kids as the night wore on!

I guess this is one of the few places in Australia where Halloween is so big, due in part to the large American influence.  But the Australian kids love it! 

Australians often say "How are you going?" which usually makes us do a double-take.  We are expecting "How are you doing?" or "How is it going?" so we are taken aback when we get an apparent mix-up.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Trent

P.S. - for those of you with a weak constitution when it comes to bugs, there is a picture of a Black House Spider I found on our house one night at the end of this post.  It is about the size of a 50 cent piece.  They are venomous (probably similar to a Black Widow).  So don't scroll all the way down if you don't want to see it!



Moving paper pile

Box Pile

Pumpkin carving

Beaux and her pumpkin



Trick or Treators

Candy Time!!

 

Venomous Black House Spider - fitting for Halloween!

Trephina

Kids with "Fourbys" on John Hayes 4x4 track

Trephina

Last weekend we tootled over to Trephina Gorge and John Hayes Rock Hole, Monday we received our final shipment of household goods and Wednesday was Halloween.  I was able to take off of work to help unpack on Monday and Tuesday, and we have been at it most of the week.  It is mostly done, but it has been a challenge to fit all of our junk in this small house.

Trephina from above

Saturday we went to a birthday party for a girl (Emily) across the street who just turned 8.  It has been a busy week!

Trephina with Marty on cliff

Trephina Gorge was very awesome. It is hard to believe how many interesting things are so close.  The Gorge itself isn't substantial in size compared to gorges in the states, but very unique with some great scenery.  We went with several folks from work again, a couple of them went with us to Ruby Gap last month.


Kids on upper portion of Trephina trail

There were also a couple of new faces, including a couple of little girls with their family who actually live across the street from us - the same family that the kids went to the birthday party for yesterday.  The drive to Trephina is about an hour, mostly paved with some gravel.  Once we turned off the main road to get to Trephina, there is another turn off to get to John Hayes Rock Hole.  This road was for high-clearance 4x4 vehicles only, although one of the guys that went with us drove his motorcycle in.  He has a BMW that is one of those on road/off road bikes.  He did dump it once and one of the other guys had to help him lift it.  I guess the bike weighs about 500lbs!
 We all went to Trephina Gorge first and did a hike and got some good pictures.  The kids played in the sandy riverbed and we just did a leisurely walk through the gorge.  The first part is actually kind of scary with the kids.  The trail takes you up to the top of the gorge along the edge and then back down into the gorge.  After that we headed over to the Ghost Gum, which is supposed to be the largest known Ghost Gum tree in central Australia.  Not sure how they know...  Then we headed to John Hayes Rock Hole where we ate lunch and then started a new hike.  We brought our propane camp stove to cook hot dogs for dinner, but our neighbors only brought hot dogs and weren't hanging around for dinner, so we decided to eat hot dogs for lunch too.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring matches because I was thinking our camp stove is self igniting, but it isn't.  So we had fun over the next 20 minutes using car lighters, phone book paper, diesel, dry grass and tissues trying to get the propane stove lit.  We FINALLY got it going.  I made a "note to self" to add matches to our supplies list. 

John Hayes Rock Hole was amazing, and definitely the best part of the day.  The hiking trail goes up on top of the mountain and then you walk back down  to the parking area via a small gorge.  I believe it is John Hayes creek that flows through the gorge (when there is water), but the gorge is narrow and basically is made up of great slabs of stone that step down through the gorge.  When the water flows, there are hundreds of waterfalls down to where the parking area is.  Right before the parking lot (carpark in Australia), there is the "rock hole" which is about a 75 foot sheer drop into a big rock "bowl" and then another 50 foot drop from there to the last two "holes".  Both the bowl and last two holes still had water in them.  Obviously the trail goes back up out of the gorge at the end because there would be no way to navigate the cliffs without climbing gear.  In one area, we caught a nasty smell and came across a dead kangaroo.  We theorized that maybe it fell into the gorge or was bitten by a snake, but obviously don't know for sure.

After the rock hole, we went back to Trephina Gorge and everyone else headed back to town.  On the way back to Trephina, we saw a Perentie lizard (about 4' long) at one of the river crossings.  We stopped and got out and it let us get very close and just sat there while we took pictures.  We were probably about 5 feet away from it.  Jax and Hilary stayed in the car, but Jones, Beaux and I got out.  We hiked around for another hour and the kids did some rock climbing - they love that.  Then we headed home and at our dinner in the car on the way back.  We saw another Perentie lizard on the way home that was a bit larger the the first one (about 5' long), just sitting in the road.  We only stopped so we wouldn't squash it, but didn't get out for that one.

It was a good weekend all in all.  It was only about 87 degrees on Saturday, which is nice and cool.  Today was 105 degrees.  I will probably write again very soon and fill you in on Halloween, including some pics.

Take care and enjoy the pics,

Trent



Jax and Beaux - Trephina trail



Jax and Beaux - Trephina trail



Jones and Kelly



Trephina



Kids inside Trephina

Inside Trephina






Inside Trephina

Rocks to climb

Climbing those rocks!



Land Rover commercial

God's artwork

Ghost Gum



Five kids measuring the base of the Ghost Gum

John Hayes creek from above

On the way to the Rock Hole

A small break - the first of the steps

Imagine these rocks with water running down them...

Boulder alley

Kids managing the boulders

Nice shot Hilary!

Stone slabs that made up most of the gorge



Dropping in...

Don't be deceived - that is a long way down.  This would be an awesome waterfall!

Bowl dropping into rock hole

Our friend the Perentie



A little evening rock climbing