Home Again, No Worries!!

Our bucket list is shorter by one item now that we have completed our trip to Australia and New Zealand. We saw more than we ever could have imagined and experienced so many things, yet we only scratched the surface in both of these countries. We had great travel buddies and we laughed and enjoyed each other's company more than can be expressed. Below are the pals we shared this experience with during our flight from San Francisco to Auckland and then to Sydney.

Chris and Earnie...

Pat....

Pat's husband Ken....

and Connie and Wayne who are shown in pictures later in the blog.

We spent two nights in Sydney taking in a sightseeing tour on a bus like the one below, as well as exploring the city a bit on our own and visiting Taronga zoo that we reached by ferry boat.

Norm and I had an up close and personal visit with a koala bear (as we had promised Claire and Chloe we would do) but that sweet little creature decided to sleep through our visit. I had envisioned holding it for a picture, but they absolutely do not let you disturb them if they are sleeping, which they tend to do most of the day.

After our time in Sydney we flew to Cairns in order to experience the Great Barrier Reef area and take a train ride to Kuranda. Norm and Wayne wait patiently for their dinner at the waterfront Barnacle Bill's in Cairns.

Our trip out to the reef was pre-scheduled so even though it was raining and storming we still got on the boat to travel 40-50 minutes out to the reef. Below is the pontoon platform where we spent most of the day and then did little mini trips to see and experience particular things.

The guides apologized for the murky water caused by the rain and winds, but we were still amazed by what we saw. Ken, the most adventuresome that day, went scuba diving. I took the easy route and used the glass bottom boat and the small semi-submersible submarine for my view of the reef. We all did our own thing that day, and some of the group experienced some discomfort from the rough waters and just enjoyed the lounges and fresh air. I can tell you it POURED while we were there but it was a great day anyway.

The following day we took a train ride to Kuranda. It was great fun. Here Connie and Pat wait in the station for our train. It was a beautiful tropical area.

After the train ride we toured a rain forest in an Army Duck vehicle and took the skyrail for a 40-50 minute trip back to meet our shuttle that would take us back to the hotel. The tram was a great experience, high over the rain forest and once I relaxed, I really enjoyed it.

The following day we met our bus at 3:30 AM in order to catch a 5:00 AM flight back to Sydney. We boarded our cruise ship around noon and sailed away in the early evening. Goodbye Sydney !!

After a day at sea, we visited Melbourne, took another train ride and a short sightseeing trip around the city. We truly didn't experience as much of Melbourne as we would have liked.

The next day we stopped in Burnie, Tasmania. Norm and I took a bus through the countryside and then browsed around the little town for a short time.

After three days cruising the beautiful Milford Sound and the Fiordland National Park, we were very happy to disembark in Port Chalmers. Port Chalmers was a very small port area and the nearest town of any size was Dunedin, a town that we fell in love with. It was a University town and we walked extensively to see as much as we could.

A view of Akaroa, pretty hillside town where we had to be tendered in because the waters were too shallow for the ship.

Each port town had something special and unique. At one port the mayor was at the gangway to have his picture taken with anyone who wanted one. In Picton, we were greeted at the gangway by citizens with small corsages for each of us. Picton also had beautiful gardens in the center of town as well as a wonderful play area for children.

Some evenings our group preferred to not dress for dinner but just use the casual dining room where a buffet was available and you partially wait on yourselves. This was one of those evenings.

Next stop was Wellington, the largest town we had visited to that point in New Zealand. Upon the recommendation of a friend who lives in the area, we visited an incredible museum called Te Papa and then took a cable car ride to the top of a hill overlooking the city.

The port of Napier was a busy little town. We were there on a Saturday and they were having an antique car show as well as various street musicians in the area. It was referred to as the "art deco" town and prior to our afternoon departure, many of the cars and a band were driven out to the port to entertain the passengers. We certainly felt a warm welcome from them.

Our last port, Tauranga, before our cruise ended in Auckland, was really a great area. A few from our group hired a private driver who took us to some of the highlights in the area. One of the places we visited was a large Kiwi fruit orchard and plant. Our group was familiar with the growing process of Kiwi so we spent more time in the gift shop than anywhere else. I assume most visitors to the area would not know much about Kiwi. They had great Kiwi wine and fruit samples for tasting. A new Kiwi berry that has not been marketed out of NZ as yet, was available for tasting. It is about the size of a large grape and very sweet. You eat the skin as well as the fruit part. I say, bring it on...I think Americans will love it. New Zealand is known as the Land of the Long White Cloud, and day after day we did see long white clouds. This one I found particularly pretty.

More of the Tauranga area.....

On our final day of cruising, we spent 2-3 hours cruising around this volcano. It was so lovely, rising right up out of the waters in the Bay of Plenty. I believe the last eruption was in 2000, we all found it quite fascinating.

Our cruise ended in Auckland, NZ. New Zealand is very supportive of anyone who has served in the military. Our guide, bus driver, was quick to point out that New Zealand does not have any enemies. The country has only engaged in military activity to assist their "friends". Below is a huge military museum that also houses several floors of collections about the Maori people. What a thrill it was to visit that museum as well.

A view of Auckland's skyline.....

We met great people both in the countries visited, and on the cruise ship that was our 'home' for 14 days. We regularly, daily, maybe even hourly, heard the expression, "no worries" as we interacted with the Aussies and Kiwi people (as the NZ folks call themselves). What a great outlook and attitude to have as you go through your days...."no worries". I am hopefully going to tuck that away and use it frequently.

Our travels were unforgettable but we were happy to come home, see our family again, and settle in until the next adventure. It may be a while, but we always need something to look forward to. I am so thankful to God for safe travels and good health while we were out of the country. Norm's limited mobility made some days more difficult than others, but overall he did incredibly well. What memories we made !

Hopefully next week I can get back to some tales of the grandchildren. May your week be full of "no worries".

Uh-Oh!!

Chris' most frequent word that he uses is "uh-oh" and that is what I would say to this picture. He loves to pull hair. Claire and Chloe insisted on wearing their Halloween hair clips when we were there one day this week and that is what Chris is grabbing on to. Chloe was a good sport about it this time.

When Chris took a nap we played some games with the girls. Handling the wins and losses is a learning experience. One of the girls won the Ladybug game we were playing by finishing the path on the game board but didn't get as many ladybug tokens as she thought she should have. Her disappointment of fewer tokens outweighed the honor of winning. She bounced back quickly. The next game was dominoes, a younger version than I had played before.

Today after church the family went out for brunch. Mike gave Chris a lemon wedge to keep him occupied and he proceeded to eat it. Shocking! He kept wanting more. I didn't get a good picture of his pucker but it was quite funny.

This week is our long awaited trip. Will miss these precious faces more than I can express!

G'Day mate!

Friends, Fresh Air, and A Sleepover

We had a full week of special times and events. Our long time friends, Susan and Billy, from the coast, visited for a couple of days. We always have such a great time with them, and even though we don't see them as often as we would like, we are always able to "connect" again so quickly, as Susan put it in an email when she returned home. Our friendship started when we were both young married couples finishing up the last two years or so of college. We were neighbors and Susan and I were co-workers at the University Library. What memories! Before they came I asked Susan what she would like to do while here. She replied that the only thing she really wanted to do was see our grandchildren. When I relayed that message to the girls, Chloe replied, "That would be us!" Paula graciously brought the three C's to the park and we played and played and had a picnic.

On Friday evening after our guests had left for their home we met up with the girls and Paula for a quick dinner. We had planned to take Claire and Chloe to an African Young People's choir that was presenting a concert at our church. The girls loved it, we sat in the second row so that they were able to really take it all in. Claire hardly moved a muscle except to sway and move her shoulders to the music. Chloe loved it too and whispered to me after the third costume change how much she loved purple which was what most of the members had on. She did tell me the next day however, that one of the boys had purple on and "boys don't wear purple." Who says they don't? I'm thinking that maybe her Daddy doesn't wear purple. :) Following the concert Claire and Chloe got to come home with us for TWO nights. They were so excited as they both told us how it was going to work, that they would stay one night, and one day, and then another night, and meet up with Daddy and Chris at Sunday School on Sunday. Saturday morning Claire asked me if we were going any place today. I answered that we hadn't made plans yet and she said she would like to just stay at our house. That sounded wonderful to me! They had such fun going through my jewelry and accessories, playing pony on the stairs, and just enjoying the full two stories of our house. I have no idea how many times they were up and down the stairs but they had a ball. After lunch we played at the park and then they helped me do just a little yard work. I can honestly say they were as good as gold and we had a wonderful time with them.


Claire found a dandelion.....

And so did Chloe...in a bit of a different form....

They played on the slides, swings, and spent quite a bit of time trying to master the monkey bars. I am betting that on the next trip they will make it clear across without dropping down.

After they helped cook dinner they had some quiet time with Papa. Papa's favorite book as a child was a book called The Wolf King. He decided to start reading to the girls from that book. They seemed to enjoy it and had lots of questions about the story.

This morning we went to the early church and for the first time took the girls into the service. We were only 10 minutes late, and they sat quietly through the whole thing. Both Papa and I were shocked. A ball-point pen and paper goes a long way with Chloe, and Claire decided to go through my Bible page by page and just look at it. Whatever she was looking for occupied her for a long time. After their Sunday School class the teacher told me how great they are to have in class and what leaders they are for the other children when it comes to sitting quietly during story time. It was a proud moment but I think a lot of credit goes to the pre-school they attend three days a week where they clearly are having a great learning experience.

Papa and I are preparing for a long trip in about a week. I am so glad we had some extra time with the girls this weekend and I can't wait to be able to have Chris come too. The hardest part of leaving on our trips is knowing how much we will miss our family.