Weekend at the lake

We spent this past weekend at the lake. It is actually a salt water and a fresh water lake. Supposedly, you can walk across it as it is not very deep. I am going to let the pictures do the talking....


R.T. got to take a catamaran out on the lake


we introduced smores to our friends. I ordered the graham crackers and the Hershey bars as I cannot get them in the local market. They seemed to be enjoyed by all.



a wild roo. We still get excited when we see one

just a good picture of a good looking kid

These are our dear friends. I think that we are going to kidnap them and bring them back to the states.

the kids - learning to Kayak. It was a great place to learn. When they were having struggles, R.T. could just walk out and help them

The next few pics are of the queenlander that we stayed in. We were disappointed to learn this weekend, that they take a lot of up keep. R.T. and I really enjoy the design.

Natural Disasters

We have been getting some questions about the natural disasters currently happening in this country. The word that we are getting is that 60% of the state of Queensland is under water. We live in the state of Queensland, but we are still experiencing a drought. North Queensland (approx 12-20 hours from here) has been having rain every day since Christmas - some days it is up to 7-8 inches. Please pray for this situation.
Down south in the state of Victoria (this is about a 2.5 hour flight from us) there are forest fires. The news we hear from them has been devastating. Many have lost their lives. A town called Maryville was completely vaporized. Unfortunately, this town has many close connections to our friends at church. Our pastor lived there and took care of a camp for kids...it is gone. This town has river walks, cute candy stores, business etc. It is all gone. Our friends have a friend who saw the fires coming and he jumped in a ditch to save his life; unfortunately, his wife and child died. This is so tragic. Please pray for our adopted country and our dear friends who are saddened by such great loss.

Slip, Slap, Slop

Cas and his board


Abbie taking a break from the surf

R.T. caught a big wave

Abbie is coasting after catching a wave

Letitia enjoying the surf

Cas and his wave

Three cheers for the Aussie lifeguards

Helicopter rescue demonstration

This is the Aussie Skin cancer motto. "Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat". 1 in 2 people get skin cancer. We have found that we put on sunscreen and have to reapply every 1 -2 hours to prevent getting burned.

This past weekend we went to another beach. We arrived in time to see the lifeguard rescue demonstration/practice and then Abbie got a bad cut on her toe and the lifeguards got to practice on her. Daddy saved her from getting stitches by going down to the local newstand and getting some super glue.

Going back to the lifeguards....we have been impressed with how serious Aussies are about keeping their beach goers safe. When Abbie got her injury, we had 4 lifeguards around us within about 2 minutes. They have a swim area marked on the beach and within that area they have guards in the water, on the shore and on a tower with binoculars.

While at the beach, we perfected the art of boogie boarding. You can see from the pictures that we all enjoyed the surf....maybe a bit to much.

Speaking Australian

R.T. and I have always made it our practice to learn a few words of the language of the country in which we are travelling to. Once we arrive, we try to experience as much of the culture as we can, even if this means we don't see as many "touristy" attractions.
Since being here in Australia, we have tried to use australian words as much as possible. We do not expect the australians to learn "american" as they did not choose to have americans in their town. With this said, sometimes it is a bit exhausting to always be thinking of the proper thing to say, such as........a lightweight jacket is called a jumper, a shopping cart is called a trolley, a bicycle is called a pedal pusher, a pick-up is called a ute, a swimsuit is called a tog, a hot drink is called a cuppa, McDonalds is called Macca's, a Mocha is pronounced mocca (as in moccasin), a meal is usually referred to as tea, people say "how are you going" instead of "how are you doing", bangs (on your forehead) are called fringe, underwear are called knickers, there are no "physicians" - only doctors. gas is called petrol, Abbie does not say that she is in the 3rd grade - she is in grade 3, glasses are spectacles, if you do a good job - you are told "good on you", and if you are correct - you are "spot on"..etc...I need to end now as I am completely buggard out(o.k. there is a very small percentage of people that might say that is a borderline bad word) I think that it is a fun word to say though.
Sooo, this all becomes difficult, when I am jogging with my group of friends and I have to not only remember to breathe and not fall over my own feet; but I have to pay attention to their accent, think about what I am saying, look the right direction for cars and run on the correct side of the road, then calculate my distance in kilometers.....phew, no wonder why I go to bed completely exhausted!!

Didgeridoo

Either you are more up on your Aboriginal musical instruments than I was or you are very good googlers. Most of you knew what a didgeridoo was, but did you know how to play it. It is a very difficult instrument to play. I equate the sound to a boat's horn when leaving the harbour; or possibly a sound that it usually accompanied by an "excuse me". It is not a sound that goes well with a well tuned violin. It fits better with an orchestra of drums. To play the instrument you need to relax your lips, turn your tongue to the inside of your mouth, breathe in and breathe out while continueing to make the instrument play. R.T. will have it perfected by the time we get home and will give a concert to all who are interested.

The instrument is made by from a hollow piece of timber, due to termites eating through the center of the branch or trunk, which in general is Eucalyptus. Once the bark has been removed from the outside of the Eucalyptus, and the termites removed from the inside, the Didgeridoo is ready to be played. Often beeswax is placed over the rim of the Didgeridoo to act as a softer mouthpiece. It is then decorated in Aboriginal art that tells a story using pictures. R.T.'s tells a love story. Even though we have the words that go with the pictures, we cannot interpret the story...sorry.

Lastly, did you know that the didgeridoo is used for treating Sleep Apnea. It has to do with th way that the instrument is played. It exercises the muscles in the mouth and supposedly makes it easier for people to breathe while sleeping.

celebrities ???

A man from the newspaper came last week and interviewed us. Little did we know that it would be a 1/2 page article with our picture. It was an article that included everything from how R.T. and I met to why he is called R.T. and not R.C. to R.T.'s view of medicine in Australia. We were a bit disappointed that everything that had to do with God leading us to where we are now, turned out to be "just fate".

It has made things a bit difficult this week. Yesterday, I went to the market and butcher. I opened my mouth to say "I will take 8 of those". The lady next to me said "oh, you are the new doctor in town...." Five minutes later, I was able to leave with not only some food but a new friend. R.T. was leaving the hospital on Monday when a couple, whom he had never met, said "how is your wife, Letitia, enjoying Kingaroy and your kids Cassim and Abbie...." They had completely memorized the article. People here are so friendly and they really do "give a care" about the person next to them. So, yes, while we have been inconvienced, had a few more stares them normal and felt a little like our privacy has been invaded; it is nice to know that there are people who really do care.

melbourne

One of the many trams

feeding leftovers to the birds

Australia's coat of arms

We recently returned from a very quick trip to Melbourne. A couple of weeks ago, R.T. noticed that he had four days off, so he googled last minute trips to Melbourne....and off we went. We ended up being there 3 nights. Melbourne is Australia's city for arts and theatre. An hour after arriving in the city, we were able to obtain tickets for "Wicked" This was a play that we had wanted to see in the states, but were not able to . We were all blown away by the performance. We spent the entire following day at Queen Victoria's Market. Girls....this is where it is at. Vendors come and "set up shop" and sell their goods at rock bottom prices....that is if you know how to barter them down (some of us got better deals than the others :-). We were able to buy a lot of souvenirs and a few clothing items - oh yes, we bought a duffel, so that we could get the stuff back to King*roy. Cas was very excited about his purchase of a roo hide. We are praying that we can get it back into the states. R.T. also got his Australian souvenir (see poll). The next day, we went to the Melbourne Museum. It was quite impressive. We were able to learn about some of Melbourne's history; as well as, some more history on Aboriginals. R.T. and Cas enjoyed all the science and nature exhibits as well,; while Abbie and I enjoyed the gift shop.

We are still in awe of what we have been able to do while we have been here. We do not feel like we are deserving and we are constantly reminding the kids and ourselves that this is truly a blessing from God.