The Best & Worst of OZ!!!

Okay. It is now 3:08 in the morning in Australia and we leave the country at 3:30pm the afternoon. This is my last post on the continent of Australia - and sorry that I've updated all four of these last posts at the same time. It just didn't happen for me before now, so we'll see if I can stay awake long enough to finish this list in its entirety. After hours of thoughtful deliberating on the ride back from Sydney, we, Jonathan & Amy Hook, have agreed on our top ten lists. We'll start with the "worsts" first...

The Ten Least Desirable Things About Australia (according to the Hooks)

10. Vegemite. Okay, we know it's a bit lame. No one forced Vegemite down our throats or anything. We were just having a hard time coming up with #10 and thought we'd give our opinion on the soy sauce-type mixture that people like to spread on toast around here.

9. Lack of Drip Coffee. Although the espresso here in Oz is great, the availability of drip coffee is a huge bummer. I love lattes & flat whites, but I wish the plain ole drip was an option as well. It's quite a bit cheaper too. Those lattes hurt the budget & the presence of the filtered variety could have helped out a bit!

8. Drivers & Their Pedestrian Etiquette. I think it may say somewhere in the law books here that drivers should yield to pedestrians, but one trip across the street will prove otherwise. Without fail, we'd hear the vrooms of the engines as cars passed instead of stopping for us. We justified their actions by saying they were just trying to pass faster so we could cross sooner:).

7. Aussie Foul Mouths. I think that during our time in Australia we heard more profanity on the streets, in the shops, and on the beach than in our entire lives combined. Seriously.

6. Unfamiliar Groceries. Going to the grocery store was fun at first, and I do appreciate some of the new foods over here, but it was also a nightmare at times! I can't tell you how many nice old ladies I stopped in the aisles when I couldn't find a certain product (black beans, egg noodles, half & half, whipped cream, corn chips, molasses, the Mexican section - which doesn't really exist, cornmeal, corn syrup, etc!).

5. Australian Tax Law. I didn't earn much of an income to begin with, so when I found out a week ago that as a non-resident I owe 29% of my income back to the Australian government because I'm a foreigner, I was not pleased in the least!

4. Closing Early. I really like the idea of shops closing early. All the employees go home to their families and snuggle up by the fireplace for some hot cocoa and a bedtime story. Or...I guess it's Oz. They go home to a cup of tea and biscuits or scones. Anyways, we just hated that there was nowhere to go after five pm when all the shops closed. We miss the coffee shops in Denver that stay open late!

3. Internet/Phones. Both of these services are a bit sketchy (or dodgy, they would say) in Oz. Everyone has to pay so much for Internet (even wireless - you pay per download) and therefore no coffee shops offer free access. Similarly, our cell phone plan here was pretty bogus. Even Martin & Romana, on their family plan, cannot talk to each other for more than five minutes or they pay 40cents/minute. Ridiculous, I know!

2. Poor Road Signs. This one is near and dear to Jonathan's heart right now especially since his $250 ticket (thus the reason we slept in the car, as explained in our Sydney blog)! It might not be entirely fair to blame the road signs in Oz, but we have noticed considerably different (that's a euphemism) signs when it comes to clarity, size, and the degree to which they give advanced notice.

1. Expensive EVERYTHING. Or almost everything. We had to get over this difference pretty quickly or we'd go crazy. We did the best we could, but it was sure hard not to wince each time we checked out at the grocery store or paid at a restaurant. It would have been better if the exchange rate were a bit more in our favor (the American dollar reached an all-time low while we were here and continues to decline!) A couple random prices we saw recently (Maybelline mascara: $14.30, one powerbar: $4.52, vitamin water: $3.48. You don't believe me, do you? Here's a picture:

Now that you are probably thinking that we don't like Australia, we'd better follow-up with all our FAVORITE things.

The Ten MOST AMAZING Things About Australia (according to the Hooks)

10. Muesli & Pineapple. It's a tie. We love muesli for breakfast. It's quick, healthy & delicious and I've been recently inspired by Romana to make it myself, like she does, when we get back to the states. I don't know if it'll be the same. Pineapple is a huge love of ours & we definitely ate our share during our time here, both fresh & frozen in smoothies! Delicious.

9. Friday Night Footy. Almost every Friday night, we'd cozy up to the TV and enjoy a little Australian rugby. Jonathan was hooked right away, both for it's similarities to football (or gridiron, as they call it) and it's sheer insanity. Although we still don't know all the rules, we've improved in our understanding of the game. Going to the live match in Brisbane was a definite highlight as well.

8. Seafood. Coming from the land-locked state of Colorado, it has been wonderful to be close to the ocean and experience fresh & delicious seafood. We've enjoyed our fish & chips experiences, our yummy restaurant seafood selections, and our amazing crab day!

7. McDonald's 50 Cent Cones. Yes, you read correctly. A soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone is 50 cents (it was only 30 cents in Sydney!!!). With food prices sky-rocketing all over the place, the cone has somehow come through unscathed:). We never could figure out how everything else on the McDonald's menu was much more expensive than in the states, while the cone was so cheap. We weren't complaining though. I have no idea how many of these cones we consumed during our four months here! :)

6. Wildlife. It has been so fun seeing the abundance of wildlife Australia has to offer. In the wild we've seen koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, snakes, lizards, geckos, dolphins, kookaburras, dingos, and countless other creatures that we can't even begin to name (plus many more animals in the zoo like the wombat, another personal favorite). There is nothing quite like waking up each morning to the crazy calls of the birds in the rainforests surrounding us! (ironically, as I write this the first kookaburra has awoken. It's 4am)

5. BBQs. Aussies truly do know how to BBQ. They NEVER "throw a little shrimp on the barbie" because they only throw prawns (we were set straight on this right away). We've especially loved the clean, efficient, accessible BBQs on all the beaches and parks. They are everywhere and people use them all the time. We will miss that.

4. Scooter Rides. We have loved scooting around the coast in our little adventuremobile. Although it was a bit of a nightmare on rainy days, it was so glorious to zip along the coastal roads while feeling the wind on our faces, smelling the salty sea air and soaking up the sun:).

3. Surfing/Swimming/Reading. This is a large category, I know, but it's basically "beach activities". Jonathan fell in love with surfing during our time here and it was really fun to watch him improve (except on those four-hour days when I couldn't catch his attention to make him come in:)!). Swimming in the ocean was just heaven (most of the time), and reading was a huge highlight for both of us. I wanted to make "reading Harry Potter" a category of its own, but Jonathan said it wasn't very "Australian" and I suppose he's right. We both read the entire series for the first time while over here (in about a month and a half) and it was a serious highlight!

2. The Beach! This category, unlike the last, is just the general presence of the beach. It's glorious! Granted, you can't really separate the beach from the beach activities listed above, but it was just too big a category to all fit together. Since neither of us have lived near a beach before, we loved every second of sunsets, walks along it, beach sports, and just the general beach atmosphere.

1. Relationships/GoodLife. As great as everything else was in the country/continent of Australia, relationships easily top the list. We have been absolutely blown away by the amazing people we've met here and their kindness, generosity & loving nature (above is a scanned copy of the front of the church bulletin last week - a funny picture of our home group). It's impossible to think about our time here apart from these relationships. We'll certainly come away from this experience with a bigger view of the world and of the body of Christ. We only pray that our paths will cross again someday with all the people we've come to know and love!

Wow. It's 4:40 and I am heading to bed for a few hours at least. I hope that my strategy worked & that I sleep through the entire plane ride!! We'll be on American soil in just a few long hours.

Differences

It is sad that it has taken me this long to document some of our favorite differences about life in Oz. It's now or never, though, because we're leaving the country in just over twelve hours. So here it is, in no particular order, ten things we've found amusing in the continent/country (two-in-one!) of Australia...
Powerpoint switches (powerpoint = oulet)

In Australia, there is an additional switch to turn the outlet on our off. The current only runs through the powerpoint when the red side of the switch indicates it's "on".

Pro: Energy is saved because appliances that are not in use can be turned off.

Con: Those forgetful-types have another step to potentially forget. Forget to turn the powerpoint on when making your roast in the crockpot = ruined roast.

Accents/Slang

Everyone already knows about this one. Aussies have a language of their own. Although we usually understand 95% of what is being said around here, we still find ourselves going "huh? What did you just say?" all the time. Just a few recent ones: jumper = sweatshirt, singlet = tanktop, mozzie = mosquito.

Pro: Cultural experience and vocabulary building, plus just plain listening enjoyment.

Con: Awkward moments of phony laughter when you have no clue what you're laughing about.

Reusable Grocery Sacks

We love this one. Aussies do their part. You regularly see people use these bags for beach bags/purses as well.

Pro: Save the world!

Con: Again, the forgetful ones lose out. You must remember them when heading to the store.

Money!

The currency here is bright and colorful and also waterproof! No bills under $5 exist either.

Pro: Bills are distinguished easily and won't get ruined in your swimsuit pocket during your morning surf.

Con: As a foreigner, you feel as if you are playing with monopoly money. "Change" takes on a whole new meaning ("I only used change to buy that latte" when it was $4.10!)

Electric Tea Kettles

Maybe they have these in the states and I'm just oblivious? Everyone has these around here and they're great.

Pro: tea in seconds + hot water for cooking pasta. Just boil & transfer to a pot.

Con: another appliance? (if that's a con...)

Weather Reports
Maybe it's just the fact that we moved from Denver where the weather is constantly changing and the weather report on TV is a must-see (you could easily wear shorts on the day of a huge snowstorm that comes out of nowhere!), but here on the Sunny coast, the weather report lasts maybe thirty seconds from start to finish. "Tomorrow it will be fine, with the rest of the week looking mostly fine" (translation: tomorrow will be mostly sunny and the rest of the week will be partly cloudy)
Pro: Catching up on the weather report has never been easier.
Con: After you're done watching it, you're not sure if you learned anything new.

Double Flush Toilets

Almost every toilet here in Oz has this feature. You can probably infer the function of the double flush. Small button for small load, big for the larger load.

Pro: Smaller flushes save water.

Con: Not quite sure. If the large button doesn't do it, maybe it's more humiliating.

Tight Tuesday

Here on the Sunshine Coast at least, Tuesday is the day to buy gasoline and go to movies. Gas is substantially lower on Tuesdays (why? I have no clue) and movies are half-price!

Pro: Save $ on important things, of course.

Con: LONG LINES at the petrol station (see pic)

Left-Sided World

Yes, Aussies drive on the "wrong side" and this permeates all traffic situations. Running especially got to us when we first came, as the road rules apply to the sidewalks too. Try crossing a street! It's so hard to look right then left & then turn into the correct lane. Jonathan even mastered driving a manual with his left hand while here. Amazing, I know!

Pro: You get to see the world from a different angle (is that a pro?)

Con: You are in perpetual confusion and often make a fool of yourself, if you're from the "right" way of looking at the world:).

Mailman on Motorcycles

Don't you think that more people would have ambitions to become mailmen (or women) if they knew the job involved riding a motorcycle? Yes, Aussies here deliver mail by scootin' right up to the front door. This gentleman agreed to have his picture taken after he delivered me a package for my birthday (thanks, Anna!)

Pro: Mailmen can easily maneuver the streets & look pretty cool doing it.

Con: Kids could get deterred in their quest to become doctors and lawyers from the appeal of cruising in a motorcycle with a bright orange vest.

Sydney Splendor

After spending our day Friday at the beach and the Ugg shop, we caught a plane to Sydney where we spent the last week celebrating the end of Jonathan's academic career (or so we hope...), enjoying new sights & experiences, and processing all the changes that will take place in our lives over the next few weeks! It was an incredible five days in the most beautiful city in the world (in our opinion, that is). It's like Seattle meets San Diego: gorgeous water views with prestene white sand beaches.

We stayed in the northern suburb of Manly and took the thirty-minute ferry ride each day to downtown Sydney. It was a perfect spot: ocean beach on one side and harbor on the other with plenty of darling shops and restaurants. The unfortunate thing was the place we stayed. I would tell about it but I'd rather forget about it, so I'll focus on the more pleasant parts of our trip:). I will say, though, that I slept in a long-sleeved shirt, socks and pants because I wasn't sure our sheets had been washed (actually I was pretty sure they hadn't been)...but on to better things...this was one view from the ferry each day...

On Saturday, our very first day in Sydney, we met up with a friend of a friend (my cousin's friend's cousin) named Bethany. She's originally from Indiana and is working in Sydney for the year; she proved to be the most wonderful tour guide (thank you, Rachel!). She told us history, helped us map out all the must-sees, and took us to some unique spots that we would have never found on our own. A few shots from day #1:

Later on that evening we went to the Sydney Opera House to watch the symphony (this was another b-day present to Jonathan, seriously). I found this great deal online for young adults (under 27) in the choir section of the opera house. We faced the wrong direction but ended up in row B and got to watch the conductor & see each individual hair on the head of the tamborine player. Not too bad, huh?!

We spent the remaining days exploring different areas in the city: markets, Chinatown, the botanic gardens, St. Mary's cathedral, museums, Hillsong church, the harbor bridge lookout, parks, shops, beaches, Olympic park, and Ikea (yes, we ate at the cafe & roamed aimlessly through the displays). We feel like we must have walked at least a Bloomsday/BolderBoulder distance each day. We were certainly tired when we climbed into our dirty bed each day. Here are a few more pics...

Sunrise on Manly BeachBotanic gardens = beautiful!

Yes, that is a bat. They infest a few trees in the botanic gardens. Yuck!

One of our favorite films, The Matrix, was filmed in Sydney. We had to have a little fun w/ the phone booths/fountains. The following might just be the last jumping picture of Jonathan while in Australia, so savor it:)!

After our full days in the city, we rented a car and hit the road. With just our backpacks and a few maps, we headed north on the Pacific Highway with the intention of making it back to the Sunny Coast on Friday the 10th (today!). We took our time, stopping at coastal towns along the way. We decided to stay the night Wednesday in our car, splitting the time between a truck stop and this lovely overlook where we watched the sun rise. It looks pretty, but let me tell you that we both got about three hours of sleep total that night and were freezing! Why did we stay the night in our car? We got a lovely speeding ticket on the way up. More on that later. All in all, though, it was a lovely drive. We had an awesome pancake breakfast in Byron Bay before taking the ocean walk up to the light house. After a little swim in the ocean, we climbed back into the Hyndi Getz and cruised through the Gold Coast, stopping at Burleigh Heads & Surfers Paradise. We made it back to Martin & Romana's late last night and enjoyed one more day at our favorite beaches today. Here are a few more pics during our trip up the coast...It's hard to believe, but we leave TOMORROW to head back to Denver!!! Actually, since it's almost two in the morning here, we leave TODAY! I am up trying to catch up on our blog since I know I won't do it in the states. Two more to go! Plus I figure that if I stay up all night, I will sleep better on the plane. Jonathan disagrees. He's sound asleep. We'll see who wins the challenge tomorrow:)...

Freedom!

Jonathan had his last day of his internship yesterday. After twenty years as a student, he is just two weeks from becoming Dr. Hook! His internship here in Oz (as the very purpose of our trip here) was a great and growing experience, but he is ready to graduate and get paid for his efforts. As the "sugar mama" and sole provider for the last three years (with the exception of Jono's brief work as a ski instructor & running coach), I am ready for this next phase as well!

As a bit of a celebration, we spent the day at the beach. Okay, I guess we didn't really need to call it celebrating since we head to the beach regularly. It did have the feel of glorious bliss though, so I'd still call it a celebratory day! Another cause for celebration came as I finally captured Jonathan standing today. The waves were a bit smaller, but just imagine him with an eight meter swell and you'll get the accurate picture of our daily lives here in Australia:)!

We also made it up to the Ugg shop and purchased those Uggs that Jonathan got me for my birthday. Jonathan even broke down and bought a pair of wool slippers for himself and a real Aussie outback hat as well (made w/ kangaroo leather). We called it his birthday present too. Then we realized that we've been calling about the last seven purchases over here "birthday presents." At the rate we've been going, we won't be buying each other birthday presents for the next six years at least:).

Jonny's Birthday Weekend

On Saturday Jonathan turned the big 27! We were so thankful that it fell on the weekend so we could celebrate together. Since Jonathan gets every Friday off, we hit the beach early that morning for a little sunrise breakfast. If you've followed our blog at all, you've seen these BBQs on the beach before. We've enjoyed lots of dinner cookouts. On Friday, though, we used the barbies to make a little breakfast scramble. I also arose at about 4:30 am to make some pumpkin scones to go along with it. Add two large skinny extra-hot flat whites to the picture, and we're talkin' a breakfast made in heaven! Here are a few pictures documenting our breakfast.
It's just too tempting...I am going to share my Montana Eggs recipe because it is the BEST! I am more of a pastry/sweet breakfast person, but this egg dish is to die for!

Saute:

red potatoes, diced (I give 'em a good zap in the microwave first so they're mostly cooked)

zucchini

red onions

mushrooms

fry some eggs to layer on top of potato scramble

sprinkle with fresh tomatoes & feta cheese & enjoy! I'm not kidding: this dish is fabulous!

After enjoying breakfast on the beach at Mooloolaba, we headed north to Maroochydore beach (better surfing) and Jonathan got to spend his day doing what he loves best. He seriously surfed for four hours straight. I spent the time reading on the beach and swimming a bit. Not too bad a day, if you ask me! Here are a few attempts I made at capturing Jonathan surfing. My arms started getting tired from holding the camera, so I didn't actually get one of him standing. I still have a few more days to capture that:).

Once we took in about as much sun as we could handle, we returned home and loaded the car for Brisbane. One of Jonathan's birthday gifts was tickets to a Friday Night Footie game (rugby) of the Brisbane Broncos vs. the South Sydney Rabbitohs (what is a rabbitoh? I'm still not quite sure!). Romana headed down with us and we grabbed dinner at a little Italian place before heading to the game. Let me tell you: rugby is a brutal sport!!! I kept thinking about how glad I am that we won't be living permanently in Australia and we won't be having any kids that play rugby:). In all seriousness, we watched a player tear his ACL in the first few minutes and then watched others leave the game because of concussions and other various injuries. Jonathan reminded me that it is games like rugby that will keep him in business as a physical therapist:).

After an amazing Bronco victory over the Rabbitohs (who are owned by Russel Crow = random), we took the train up to north Brisbane where we stayed the night in a Queenslander house (a raised house typical of early Queensland) owned by one of Romana's friends. Here's a picture of the home.

After a stop at the outlet malls in Brisbane, we headed back to the sunshine coast where we enjoyed a few more hours at the beach and a lovely dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant (sadly our last amazing pad Thai experience!). It was quite the birthday weekend for Jonnycakes.I will add here that I am absolutely blessed beyond belief to be married to this man. Seriously. He is amazing in too many ways to name. We were laughing the other day as we thought back to the days we met almost nine years ago...when I would go to the Mead/LC football games and "accidentally" stand in the path his team would take to run by:). Who would have known that this many years later we would be living in Australia and celebrating his 27th birthday on the beach. God is so good!!!

Tagged

Okay, so I’ve never done one of these “tagged” things, but I’m going to try it out. It’s a rainy day here on the sunshine coast and so it’s a good day to spend indoors. Here goes…

10 Years ago…
I was a freshman in high school, a scrawny fifteen-year-old. This particular year was one I wouldn’t care much to forget. It wasn’t as if anything bad happened, it just was a year of awkwardness & insecurity. My sophomore year was huge in terms of gaining confidence, building better friendships, getting the drivers license, and eventually meeting my future husband (at the end of that year – woah!)….yeah, I’d prefer to recall my sophomore year and the ones after them than my freshman year.

Things on my to-do list today:
*Call the Australia business bureau in order to file an Aussie tax return
*Finish collecting addresses to send Jonathan’s graduation party/moving from CO invitations
*Start a slideshow/powerpoint to show my 4th grade kiddos when we return
*Work on Sydney plans (we leave in two weeks)
*Plan Jonathan’s bday weekend
*Work on job applications (yuck)
*Grab sushi at the Sunshine plaza
*Make lasagna, spinach salad + bruschetta for tonight’s dinner w/ Martin & Romana and their friends who will be visiting
(sadly, yesterday my “to dos” involved simply “beach” – can you tell it’s an “inside day”)

What would I do if I became loaded:
I know this sounds totally lame, but I am terrified at the thought of this. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about money and how we will actually have a paycheck (hopefully two if I can get a job!) for the first time upon our return. It’s not as if we haven’t had paychecks in the past (I did teach for 2.5 years, of course), we just have been forced to live simply because one/both of us have always been in school full-time. The thought of being a good steward of just this small thing makes the thought of being “loaded” quite overwhelmingJ. Here are a few things I’d likely do though…
1. Pay back all our student loans!
2. Meet with an investment person
3. Give money to Krochet Kids International (http://www.krochetkidsinternational.com/) + buy plane tickets to visit my sister in Uganda next year:)
4. Buy a scooter for us to use in the states (and, I suppose, a house too!)

Three of my bad habits:
*Coffee, coffee, coffee! I seriously have a problem. When we moved here, I said “why don’t I try to give up coffee while we’re in Australia, just to see if I can do it”. That lasted about a day. Actually it might have been two days. Even with our freeze-dried rubbish situation, I still drank a cup (or two) every morning. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever get pregnant.
*I make “to do” lists way too much! Not only do I like the whole organizing myself part, but I find way too much satisfaction checking things off my list. Now, you may be thinking that it’s not too bad of a habit. The problem is that I can get way overboard! Sometimes I end up with so many lists going at the same time (all under different categories “school things”, “errands”, “other important things”) that I end up making a list to organize my lists. Here in Oz I have had to let go a bit too, as I had a list that looked like this:
1. go to the beach
2. read a book
3. get coffee
4. smile at a few strangers
Yeah, I realized right away that I should put my pen & paper away for a while and just relax!
*I have an over-active imagination when I’m worried. I am really not that much of a “worrier”, but when I start, I always think of the worst possible scenario. Example: Jonathan will be late from work. I won’t even think about worrying for over an hour, and then once I start thinking about it, I’ll convince myself he’s been hit by a hydroplaning semi-truck, has been discovered dead on the side of the road, and the police will call any minute. Morbid, I know. Horrible. It’s just how my mind works sometimes.

Five Jobs I've had:
*Cleaning lady in Oz resorts
*3rd & 4th grade teacher
*Starbucks barista
*Volleyball coach (x5)
*Whitworth “Campus Visit Coordinator”

5 Things people don't know about me:
*I always have a song stuck in my head. At all times (almost). When it gets inside, I have a hard time getting it out and it usually can only be replaced by another song. Jonathan is kind of like me and one of us will hum a song, we’ll have a conversation for ten minutes, and a few minutes later the other will start singing the same song, while the other will say – “how did you know I was singing that same song in my head”. Weird.
*Along those same lines…I grew up in a musical family. I can’t tell you how many times we had to do some sort of kid singing thing in church. I guess we were never “forced”, yet my dad said things like, “it would just mean so much to your mom if you, Dev & Leah could sing at church for Mother’s Day…” and that’s how it would happen. It didn’t help that our last name was Vaughn (we got all kinds of “VonTrapp Family Singer” jokes). As a side note, I am sandwiched in between an amazingly musical brother, Devin, who writes songs & plays the guitar, and an amazingly talented little sister, Leah, who plays the guitar as well and sings beautifully. This has always made me feel pretty pathetic, though I love my talented siblings!
*I have a small scar on my forehead from four stitches I received as a child (I think I was eight or nine?). My mom went out of town for the weekend and my dad decided to set up a miniature golf course in our backyard. It was a bad idea. My little sister, having only seen real golf swings on TV, took a huge wind-up and clubbed me in the forehead (on accident, I think) as I stood behind her. My poor father had such good intentions:). (Sorry for another embarrassing one, Leah)
*I have never missed a meal in my life. Seriously. Some people can get busy and “oops” they just missed lunch. Not me. I have to eat breakfast within about a half-hour of waking up or I feel like I’ll puke. I try to blame this phenomenon on my roommate from college (the beloved Andrea McDivitt, who kept hundreds of snacks under her bed for moments she felt she might “keel over and die”), but it’s probably just part of my nature too. This last fall I had to get my blood drawn and therefore had to restrain from eating until 2pm one day. I had to teach that morning and my class kept asking, “Mrs. Hook, are you okay?” – they knew the gravity of the situation:).
*I have really long toes. I think one of my mom’s first words when I was born was “oh my, she has toes as long as fingers”. I think I could probably grip a tennis ball with them and fling it across the room!

Well, there it is! I responded to my first “tagging”. I know it has nothing to do with our time here in Oz really, but there you have it. I am going to tag: Rachel, Janelle, Katie Ryan, Kristen, and Jessica Chase. I dare you.

(Side note: There are many of you I would tag IF you had a blog – and you don’t. So, I hope you feel really left out – and that it motivates you to get your act together)

Fraser Island

From the very beginning of our time here, we’ve been given one piece of advice over and over again: “go to Fraser Island”. In fact, we were initially told about Fraser by a group of backpackers during the first few days of our trip in Fiji! It has been on our list of things to do for a long time and we were finally able to get up there this weekend. I say finally because the whole undertaking involved a lot frustration in planning. We changed our reservations three different times due to changes in transportation issues. We even considered bagging the whole thing at one point. Thankfully that didn’t happen and I can say with confidence that all of the madness involved in planning this weekend was well worth it! Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world (Fraser Island). There is just one resort on the island and you must travel by boat/barge to get there. There are no paved roads so it’s only accessible by four-wheel drive vehicles. Our pastor Tim & his wife Donna let us use their 4x4 (incredible, I know!) and we thankfully brought it back to them in one piece:). Their vehicle is a Holden Jackaroo, a true Aussie-made vehicle, which only added to the experience. I feel like a broken record here saying “there’s just no way to explain how beautiful…” over and over again, but Fraser is definitely one of these places. It is seriously hard to put it into words. As we bumped along the sandy roads in the Jackaroo, I couldn’t help but feel like I was on some sort of exploration safari, on a mission through the jungles to bring some medical supplies to a never-before-heard of tribe:). Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that remote, but it felt like it to me. This was as close as we got to capturing a picture of a dingo (a wild dog). The dingos of Fraser Island are actually quite scary. We know a girl here who was attacked by a pack of them on Fraser as a child and was seriously injured. There are signs everywhere on the island about staying far away from them and keeping an extra close eye out on small children. We saw this little guy from the security of our car. Not too scary looking, is he? (it's a bit blurry, sorry!)

The coolest features of the island, in my opinion, were the crystal-clear lakes. Since there is no soil on the island (except for the kind produced by the decomposition of trees/plants), the rivers & lakes look almost fake. Most of the ones we saw were really deep and I overcame my fears of deep, dark water and actually swam across two of them:). It was probably the assurance of shark-free waters that helped make up my mind about swimming! Another bonus was that we got to take in a few sunsets! Living on the east coast of Australia, we get sunrises but not sets. It was wonderful to get to experience a sunset on the ocean again. Here are a few pics we took that night (of the nearly fifty pictures - we had a tripod and got a little bit carried away!)...