Some Highlights

The last few days have been full. Even with less than perfect weather over the past few days, we've made the most of the rain-less moments. The forecast calls for sunshine for the next few days, so we're hoping to get in a few more beach days before Andrea departs! Here is a little medley of what we've been up to lately...

Eumundi & Ginger Factory

Although we don't have any great pictures to give you an idea of the magnitude of this place, let me tell you that this outdoor market is amazing! We spent a few hours enjoying the local crafts (including these Aboriginal instruments). We stopped by the ginger factory on the way home for a bit more shopping and some delicious ginger cinnamon ice cream.

Surfing

Yes, we did surf. Yes, we did "get up" even if for only a few seconds. That's surfing, right? We definitely got throttled, but we had a blast doing it:). Our amazing pastor, Tim, took both of us plus his daughter, Holly. We think he is probably the most patient man in the world! We celebrated afterwards with coffee & chocolate muffins.

Australian Meat Pies & Fig Tree Park

Andrea experienced her first ever Australian meat pies yesterday. We went to Beefy's, a recent winner of the Brisbane pie contest. After eating the frozen Wooly's 80 cent pies and practically gagging in repulsion, I was happy to find these pies quite tasty. We both agreed that meat pies might not make it onto our list of "must have foods" but they were still quite good & certainly no Aussie experience could be complete without them. Oh, and I'm convinced that all food becomes infinitely better when consumed in this fig tree park (I forget the name) in Buderim. Amazingly beautiful.

Groceries on the Scoot

We took a little trip to the grocery story (Woolworths) on the scooter. It was wonderful to share this experience with another American who can appreciate all of the differences & nod in agreement at some of the ridiculously expensive prices! Andrea insisted on posing with the vegemite (basically the equivalent of spreading soy sauce on bread) - and when it was all said and done, we used our excellent spacial skills to fit all the items in the two storage compartments:).

Mt. Ngungun = Fabulous

Today we hiked one of the Glass House Mountains, Mt. Ngungun. The humidity in the air here makes for some incredible sweating opportunities and the overcast weather didn't inhibit this in the least bit. It was yet another quick, steep climb and the view from the top were gorgeous. Australia is so green and lush!

The Golden Day

The 25th will go down in history as one of those days. You know what I mean. The kind of days that you look back on years into the future as pretty near-perfect.

I want to stop right there and tell you that not everything has been perfect over year. The adventures of the Hooks....blah blah blah "everything is always perfect for them" we've heard repeatedly. So, for fun, here is just a small list of not so wonderful things we've experienced in the last few weeks: frustration, lonliness, anger, sadness, sickness, cold sores (a big fat juicy one), dissapointment, fatigue, homesickness, grocery store rage:), stomach aches (I keep trying to eat bananas despite the fact that they make me sick).... Yeah, I could spend more time on this, but you get the point. We don't tend to blog about these things. Maybe I will, just for kicks, blog about one of these things sometime, although there probably wouldn't be as many exciting pictures to go along with them (except for maybe the cold sore).

Anyways, with that said, I will proceed to tell you about the golden day. Yes, it was "golden" because the sun was shining. It was also "golden" because I was with my friend, whose presence is worth more than gold:). But what really made it "golden" was quite literally that it was my golden birthday...turning the big two five on the 25th of March. Pretty exciting stuff.

We set off on our day of gold at 4:30am, trekking north towards the Mount of Coolum. Using but one headlamp between the two of us, we scaled the cliffs with anticipation (There is nothing like the "beat the sunrise" mentality when it comes to making a climb quickly). Thankfully, we made it in just enough time to find the perfect rock to absorb the brilliance of God's creation. After spending a bit of time enjoying this scene, we asked some friendly Aussie lads to take our picture. Then we headed north to Noosa for a breakfast on the beach. Beach front view + coffee = paradise!After enjoying our fabulous breakfast (above), we took a hike in Noosa National Park. The path took us along the ocean and through the rain forest. We even spotted a koala in the wild (actually some other people pointed him out - I doubt we could have made the discovery on our own).

We then enjoyed an afternoon on the beach. After at least a week of cloudy weather and rainy conditions, it was amazingly clear!

I wish we could have captured some of our body surfing feats on the camera. We spent hours in the water, trying our best to catch the waves and ride them to shore. We were actually quite successful a few times. We were even more successful, however, at being tossed and flipped by the waves, flailing about as we tried to distinguish up from down. Andrea, especially, was pin-pointed as a "tourist" and was kindly guided by an older Australian gentleman to "duck the waves since she didn't know what she was doing". When she staggered onto shore a few waves later complaining of a bleeding shoulder and a headache from hitting the sand with her head, we decided to call it a day (Don't worry McDivitts, I will not jeopardize the health of your daughter). We returned to Buderim soon after, went for a lovely birthday meal, and collapsed into bed before nine. What a day!

The Royal Dreness Arrives

My dear friend Andrea arrived here on Easter Sunday! She boarded her plane in Denver Friday evening and arrived at 7:30 on Sunday morning, completely losing the 22nd of March from her life. Thankfully, she'll leave Brisbane next Monday at 11:00 and arrive "one hour later" in Colorado. Traveling sixteen hours ahead is quite crazy and she has surprisingly adjusted quite well. But could I really expect any less from my dear friend whose response to every question I present her with is "I'm up for anything!" Mix that with a few "what could be better?'s" and we're talking A & A adventure time.

After experiencing a few blogging "lows", I am newly inspired to capture our adventures this week. Keep a look out because I'm hoping to update each evening:).

We picked Andrea up at the airport on Sunday morning and Jonathan took us on a detour to a real Aussie sheep shop on the way home. He told me to pick out my early birthday present: real Australian UGG boots! There is a long story here in regards to "ugg" and the controversy over the American company stealing a common name in Oz that has been around forever. Anyway, I couldn't decide on what pair I wanted most, so we'll return to actually purchase them. Needless to say, I'm excited :). After that minor detour, we made it back to our home for a big brunch (we missed church sadly because Dre's flight was late) and then headed to the beach. The day was finished off nicely with an Aussie-style BBQ.
The only pic outside the sheep shop courtesy of Andrea

A beach pic at Mooloolaba

Today was quite the day. Due to the extremely busy holiday weekend, it was a big cleaning day at the Chateau Royale. I agreed to clean today and then asked for the rest of the week off to spend time with Andrea. Since Jonathan had the day off, I offered for Andrea to sleep in or hang out with Jonathan. Instead, she said she wanted to clean with me! And oh, what fun we had as cleaning partners. Although tempting, I'd never brought a camera along to work in order to document my ventures :). Since Andrea is the picture taking queen, she made sure we captured each exhilirating moment. Almost as great as the rain forest pics, here are some of us in action...

After spending a big portion of the day cleaning, we headed on the Buderim rain forest hike to the waterfall. It rained this morning so it was a bit of a muddy trek. Kind of like how the Rockies never lose their majesty (even when passing the continental divide views each day for work they never lost their "wow" power), the forests here continue to amaze me. Of course Andrea was equally "wow"ed. We only had one minor catastrophe when she saw a jumping lizard and screamed, scaring me to death. I guess we had just been talking about the most poisoneous snake in the world living in Oz, so she was a bit jumpy. We'll work on that:). Following the hike we went for a run and made some amazing chicken curry as well as lamingtons, an Australian original coconut and chocolate-covered cake. Here is Andrea having fun with the powdered sugar as she mixed the chocolate sauce! They turned out to be quite good. Maybe I'll post the recipe sometime (as I have been known to do that) but for now we are heading to bed because we're serious about the sunrise adventure that awaits.

The Hinterland

We took a break from the ocean today (it was tough to do, but it had to be done) and headed west. The hinterland along the sunshine coast is the mountainous area that lies between the sandy beaches of the coast and the scorching desert of the outback. It had been calling our names for a while now and we decided to finally make the trip. Along the sunshine coast, the hinterland is absolutely picturesque: rolling hills, sparkling lakes, creeks, waterfalls, and plenty of wildlife. Since it is much higher in elevation than the beach, it offers amazing views as well. Our trip west certainly had to wait until we had another transportation option besides the scooter. I can't imagine had we tried the trip on the adventuremobile. We probably would have had to get off and walk up some of the steep grades:).

We took off pretty early and were the first cars in the parking lot at the Mary Cairncross Park. At the park we took a 3K trek through the most amazing rain forest. I don't think words will do the place justice, so you can just check out the pictures. I will say, though, that it sounded like we were listening to one of those rainforest CDs where you hear all these crazy calls of birds and water rushing. So, just for fun, close your eyes and pretend you have one of those little headphones on. You've pushed the button marked Rainforest and now you have some pictures to go along with it...

This view is from the parking lot - You can see the Glass House Mountains in the distance

Ready to depart...
You can't read the signs well, but the one on the left says Rainforest Walk and the one on the right says Toilets. We found that kind of humorous...I'm not sure why
The Rain forest
We saw dozens of wallabies. This one is a bit blurry (sorry) but it came bounding across our path.

I have to put a quick word in, at this point, about finishing up our hike. We were walking towards our car when Jonathan realized he had a leech stuck on his toe. He had a hard time pulling it off, and it grossed me out immensely. I think leeches might be on my top ten list of grossest things in the world. When he was still bleeding as we started the car, I decided we might want to look ourselves over and make sure we didn't have any more leeches. Sure enough, I looked my toes over and realized there was one stuck in between my littlest toes on my left foot. I (of course) started screaming really loudly, wripped off my chacos, and yanked the leech from my skin. In all reality, it wasn't that big of a leech. It was just the thought of the leech, sucking the blood between my toes as I walked through the rainforest obliviously. Ugh! I documented the occurence with this slightly blurry photo:

After finishing the hike and surviving the leech incident, we visited the nearby town of Maleny, best known for its art galleries and its dairy products. We had coffee at a cafe and enjoyed walking into a variety of shops. Then we made our way to the cheese factory and split the best cup of mango yoghurt that I've ever tasted (we decided to pass on the cheese since we didn't have refrigeration, but vowed to return after tasting the samples). Then we headed to two more towns: Montville and Mapleton. The drive between these small towns was unbelievable. We were riding the Blackall Ridge. To the left were green rolling hills and the ocean. The the right were more hills/rain forests. Here is just one picture of the view and it definitely doesn't do it justice.

In Montville we split the most ridiculous Australian meat pie. It was covered half in gravy and half with a creamy pea concoction with a mini Australian flag piercing through the center. I kicked myself for forgetting my camera in the car at that point:). It was quite delicious, actually. After far too much shopping (or boutique wandering to be more precise), we decided to stop and take another rain forest hike. This one was beautiful as well, but far more traveled. I've always had this thing about wanting to feel like I'm the only one in beautiful places. I know it's silly, but I hate feeling like there's a thoroughfare to the top of the mountain, or the waterfall in this case. Here are a few pics from our second hike of the day.

After a LONG day of hiking, shopping, eating, and driving, we made it back home. I took the dog on a run, made a little Indian curry for dinner, and now am trying to keep my eyes open as I finish documenting our day. More to come later...

Australia Zoo

This weekend we finally made it to the Australia Zoo. Located just a twenty minute drive southwest, it is the birthplace of the crocodile hunter. If only we had made the trek over here a few years ago, and we could have possibly seen Steve Irwin. Bummer! We did get to see the fruits of his labor, though. He was the visionary behind some of the park's recent improvements, as well as the designer of the Crocoseum, the outdoor arena where the snake, bird, and crocodile shows took place. His wife still owns the place and there are pictures of the family everywhere.

One of the interesting things about the zoo is that it focuses almost entirely on native Australian species. There are certainly no polar bears, lions, or giraffes (although there were elephants = random). Instead, we spent the day enjoying koalas, crocs, kangaroos, dingos, wallabies, echidnas, kookaburras, and snakes (among other animals, of course).

Another fascinating aspect of the park are the Steve Irwin-like descriptions on each cage (especially the snakes' cages). In the U.S. I would describe zoo signs as being "child-friendly science textbook-ish", not necessarily dull, but factual. A typical sign on the snake cage at the Australia zoo, on the other hand, starts with something like..."This bloke is a rare treasure. You wouldn't want to cross her on a hot day..." (As you read the signs we can just picture Steve Irwin crawling through the jungle, talking to the camera about the snake he's hunting) Because of these interesting signs that emphasize the amazing qualities of the snakes instead of "facts" about the snake, it is especially funny to notice the small stickers on the corners of each cage giving the deadly statistics about the snake's venum. Some of the deadliest snakes in the world call Australia home. I'm trying to remove that piece of knowledge from my mind for a few more months.
Posing at the entrance

The croc show! I would have paid a lot of money to take home a koala - they're so ridiculously cute!!!

We got to go right up and pet both the koalas and the kangaroos

Here's Jonathan on the way out of the park. Yet again he is showing just how many incredible moves he's got up his sleeve. I think I will keep this picture forever, just in case I ever have second thoughts about marrying him and need a good reminder why :).

Aussie Home #2

Here are a few pictures of our new "home" in Australia. Martin and Romona have been so incredibly gracious to us, offering their home to us during their travels. We feel so spoiled! I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to have a full kitchen again.

Here is the view of the dining area and living room... The kitchen: glorious isn't it!?

The living room (yes, they have a Play Station = trouble)

I whipped up a little first night at the new place "celebration meal". I have been on this huge domestic kick here. I am developing this new love of different kinds of food, and I spend way too much time looking at recipes in cookbooks and online. This meal wasn't particularly new, although I did try the bruschetta for the first time and the dessert. Just for fun, here's the meal with the recipes. The shrimp orzo salad especially is my favorite!!! The table...
Here is the salad recipe. It's from Gold N' Delicious, the Spokane Junior League Cookbook that happens to be my favorite (thanks to my wonderful mother):)

Salad:
1 lb. shrimp, cooked & peeled
3/4 c. cooked orzo, chilled
3 1/2 oz. feta cheese
12 kalamata olives (optional)
2 green onions, sliced
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing:
3 T. fresh dill (or 1 T. dried)
1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. olive oil
3 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper


Wisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Chill & serve for a perfect summertime meal (or anytime, really). It's great for a picnic or a Rocky's game! A close up of the finished product:

Here's is the bruschetta recipe. Of course I can't find it online anymore, so I'll copy it from my notecard:


4 roma tomatoes, seeded & chopped
1/4 c. red onion, chopped
1 c. fresh basil, shredded
1/4 c. olive oil (or a bit less)
1 T. red wine vinegar
salt & pepper
1 baguette loaf
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half for rubbing on baguette


Combine tomatoes through salt & pepper and let stand at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. Turn on oven broiler and slice baguette diagonally into 1/2" pieces. Broil until tops are toasty and remove from oven. Brush the top of each slice with olive oil and run with garlic clove. Top with tomato mixture and serve. Delicious! Here's the finished product:





Here is the easy lemon cheesecake recipe:


250 g. sweet biscuit crumbs (hmmm...in the US I'd use graham cracker crumbs, 1.5 cups maybe)
125 g or 1/2 cup butter, melted
250 g. cream cheese (8oz)
can sweetened condensed milk
2 t. grated lemon rind
80 ml lemon juice
1 t. gelatine powder
1 T. water


Combine crumbs & butter and press into the bottom of a pie plate. Beat cream cheese, condensed milk and lemon until smooth. Dissolve gelatine powder in water and add to mixture. Pour over pie crust and refridgerate. Pretty much the easiest recipe ever, huh!?


Raspberry Sauce:
50 g (or about 1/4 c) butter
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 t. cinnamon
300 g. raspberries (I used a frozen bag)


Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and cinnamon. Add raspberries and stir gently for 1-2 minutes.


Okay, after spending far too long doing this, I realized that this is an "adventures of the hooks" blog about our time in Australia, not a "recipes with Amy" blog. Sorry about that:). Like I said, I'm just on this cooking/baking kick over here...

Our Church

We've made reference to the awesome church we've been going to for a while now, so here is the long-awaited saga:)...

As soon as we arrived here we were anxious to get plugged into a church and we didn't want to spend all four months church-hopping. I (Amy) went ahead and called a YWAM base here, having known a few friends involved in the organization, and hoping they might have a church suggestion for us. The lady on the phone told as about Goodlife, a church meeting at Goodlife Community Centre in Buderim. A week after arriving, we showed up at the Sunday evening service.

As soon as the service started we noticed a woman up on the podium during worship was wearing an Estes Park t-shirt (Estes Park is a small mountain town in Colorado that both Jonathan and I grew up visiting as kids, and where we currently have family living; it's one of our favorite places). We, of course, looked at each other in shock - each of us thinking that we might just be "seeing things". As soon as the service was over, we approached the "lady" and were anxious to talk to her. Of course, we weren't sure if she even knew of the place herself (it might have been a shirt from a friend's mom's aunt or something). As we casually waited for her to finish a conversation, a man next to her began talking with us. He actually was the pastor - and also turned out to be "her" husband. His name was (and is, of course) :) Tim. We asked about her (Donna's) t-shirt and found out that Tim & Donna had moved to Australia three years ago from Denver, where they had lived for the past seventeen years!!!. We couldn't believe it. We spent the rest of the evening down at the cafe (located within the Goodlife complex) sharing stories, talking about the differences between Oz & the US, and learning more about the church. During the converstation they invited us to be a part of their home group each Tuesday evening.

That converstation was just the beginning. We've been going to Sunday evening services since then as well as a few morning services. Tuesday nights have also been a huge highlight for us each week. Donna prepares an amazing meal and we just spend time enjoying great food, conversation and fellowship.

We have been absolutely blown away by the generosity shown to us by the Lovells (Tim & Donna and their kids, Holly & Caleb)- and by some of the people we've met through home group. My job, in fact, is a direct result of meeting Jason & Katie at home group. After hearing I needed a job, they hired me immediately as a cleaning lady for their business. I'd like to think that I'm helping them out - but I can't help but face the reality that it's the other way around (they are accomodating days off when Jonathan has time off, as well as during the busy season while Andrea & the Hooks visit in late March/early April). Also, it was through home group that we met Martin and Romona, another great couple, who offered their home to us during their six-week vacation. We are currently residing in their home until we depart. After living in shared accomodation, it is so wonderful to have a place to ourselves. It'll be great, too, to be able to stay here for three weeks with Martin & Romona until we leave the country.

Looking back over our lives in the last month and half, we can help but stand amazed at the blessings we have been given. We definitely have a greater sense of the global "church" and of the power of giving/serving. We both can't believe the way we have been taken-in and cared for -especially since we were complete strangers upon our arrival here. We just feel absolutely lavished in God's love here; it makes us want to bless others in the ways that we've been so clearly blessed. We're looking forward to being on the other end of the blessings - it feels like we just continue to be on the receiving end. I could go on and on, but I think I'll wrap it up and post a few pics:).

Here are a few pictures taken at our latest home group.

One of all of us...

Jonathan, Holly, Caleb & Tim

Donna & Bridget dealing Uno cards