Category: General

Just a little recap for any new readers to my blog. I have been traveling for 4 weeks and writing about my adventures with my beautiful wife. Our first week was in Hawaii. The second week was spent in Sydney, Australia. You can go back to read my earlier notes. Now, this is our 2nd week in Australia where we spent the whole week with relatives in and around Brisbane. Though I have never met these relatives from my wife’s side, I feel a very close connection to their whole family through a book I read before this trip. The true story of a heart breaking loss of a child and the community strength of the whole Northern Territory plus all of Australia is written in this book called the “The Lost Boy” by Robert Wainwright. I will not try to cover the story here but encourage you to read this book to learn more about the heart of Australia.

Before I get into my 2nd week, I think it should help you Americans to know some common words not easily understood. Here is a brief list.

1. Piddle means to urinate so replace with “muck around”.
2. Tire is heard as “tar”.
3. Bible is heard as “barber”.
4. Pearl is heard as “pill”.
5. Meat is heard as “mick”.
So do not piddle in a person’s shed as they may hit you with a tar or a barber and say what a pill mick head you shella.

Also, concession is not snacks instead it means benefits for old age pensioners.

We landed in Brisbane and immediately felt at home. We met children and grand children as if they were our own. We took family photos overlooking Brisbane and Mt Coot-tha then traveled to their home in Caloundra. Currimundi is a suberb of Caloundra as I understand where we saw beautiful beaches with nice walks along the beach for shops and restaraunts.  What a beautiful drive along the Sunshine Coast! We met my wife’s aunt and heard stories of old. New stories were added to our memory bank. The next two days we had more walks along the beaches, walked in a protected rain forrest, sampled local cheeses, viewed McCarthy’s Lookout to see the Blackall Range and the Glass House Mountains, and Gerrard’s Lookout. What a great time to be with family seeing sights we would not have seen otherwise!

The next day we spent all day at Steve Irwin’s zoo. Most people know Steve in the USA for his daring stunts with crocodiles but visiting the Australia Zoo home of the Crocodile Hunter was awesome. I wish I could show my grandchildren the passion for his dreams. It is a first class exhibition of God’s unique creatures. I encourage the reader to research yourself.

Back at our home away from home in Caloundra, we continued to share our family stories with more children and grand children. We swam, ate some awesome meals, fished for crabs and actually caught a few for the barbie.

The weekend was spent more of the same and Church included. This brings me to another observation about the Auzzies. Their Christian faith journey is strong. We witnessed our family’s personal health struggles and their refusal to believe in man’s prognosis over faith in God and His miracles.

The next day we headed back to Sydney for a cruise down to Melbourne, Tasmania, then back to Wollongong and Sydney.

The memories we made with our Brisbane family will last a lifetime and hopefully will be past on to the next generations in these words and pictures.

T

The magic continues as we go to new adventures in the large island called Australia. In fact, Australia has about 8000 small islands around her coastline making it a great attraction for any beach lover. The most noticable attraction I found fascinating was not the beaches but the people. They are all friendly with a great sence of humor and all seemed to speak a similar dialect. We spent one week in Sydney, one week in Brisbane, back to Sydney to cruise south to Melbourne, Tasmania before heading back to Sydney with a stop at Wollongong. What a trip! I started writing this blog while we travel through calm seas to Wollongong. I put this trip in chronicle order by weeks. This is the first week.

We met two Australian couples on our Hawaiian journey that are now forever connected with us as friends. It is amazing how God works to connect his people. Just a breif encounter to offer a group picture turned into a wonderful friendship. We exchanged emails and planned a meeting in Sydney. A few days later, we found ourselves planning a week end together outside Sydney to the blue mountains to the west and south to Gymea. Before I get ahead of myself, let me share the beautiful sites of Sydney.

We saw “My Fair Lady” at the iconic Sydney Opera House and toured Bondi beach on our first full day. Our second day was a climb up to the equally iconic Harbor Bridge which took about 3 hours but the narrative and scenic view was well worth the climb. Our 3rd day was spent on a ferry to Manly beach. Great place to shop! We finished with more shopping around the Rocks and a nice meal in the sky tower restaurant. The next day we walked more around the Rocks and in Hyde Park, spent a great time at an Asian Noodle Festival finishing our 4th day hanging out. The adventures continue with our new friends.

The Blue Mountains are called blue because of the vast eucalyptus trees that are very toxic and when together in mass, cause the blue affect from a distance. It is amazing how these trees are the Koula staple diet. They will eat 5 kilos or about 10 pounds of its leaves daily. Their digestive system is so complicated and takes most of their energy to break down the toxins. No wander they sleep 20 out of a 24 hour day! Our new friends picked us up on the 5th day in Sydney and drove us to the Hydro Majestic Hotel founded in 1904. It is an Icon of Australia located atop an escarpment in the blue mountains. It was built by a retailing magnate named Mark Foy as a lavish hydropathic establishment for the wealthy and influential of the period. He believed in the miracles of water to cure along with the pure air of the mountains. Interesting to note that the hotel was opened on the 4th of July, 1904. The extravagant sanatorium lost its fashion shortly after construction but the Hydro Majestic Hotel remains a beautiful site to see.

We then went to ride a very steep railroad incline originally for cole mining now for site seeing of the three sister mountains, falls and bush walks. We met up with the second couple later that evening for a wonderful blessed meal.

On our 6th day, we had breakfast and walk around the beach near Gymea and a lovely drive out towards Wollongong to see more beaches and cliffs. People actually hang glide off these cliffs! We had a great picnic along the Hacking river. Did you know that a Kookabura is a very tricky bird? He flew down and took one of our freshly cooked sausages. Cheeky bird!

We left our friends with sadness that we were departing but gladness that we now have new friends forever. May God grant them peace and joy. Thanks for such a great time!

T

It has occurred to me lately that life is one great big game. I love history and find myself sometimes in the stories of old. I have been traveling with my wife of 37 years with close friends to the Highlands of Scotland meeting family and other friends along the way. Now, that is a land of events that have changed history forever! How about those McDonald’s and Cambel’s! The McDonald’s were massacred in Glencoe region because they were too slow to claim allengence to William of Orange. Ok, I may be historically challenged but makes the Hatfield and McCoy dispute look tame. What about those Jacobites and Rob Roy? Research the life and challenges of Scotland’s family histories if interested. Even my own last name is linked with the ancient clans of Scotland. I believe we are led by our desires to seek the unknown and devine guidance to point us into our own historical storyline. It is a game! The Wars of the Roses was a series of wars for control of the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, those of Lancaster and York. Did you know the war of roses is where the author of the game of thrones got his inspiration? There is a lot of parallels between the Lancaster and York families in the English history and those of the fictional series. Lannister is to Lancaster as Stark is to York. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is an exciting twist of fiction and facts to make history come alive in our imaginations. I will leave to your own explorations for further discoveries. Did you know early American patriats battled barbaric tribes of Muslim pirates along the Barbary coast in North Africa before we even had a formalized navy? Also, will leave that up to you to discover fundamental truths that history does indeed repeat itself. It is all a game of life. It did not matter that Henry VIII had a daughter to carry on his lineage. He wanted a son and was determined to revise traditional values to suit his purpose. The world have fought battles for centuries on some of these revisions. What does that have to do with the here and now? As human beings in the game of life, we move along the flow and swept into history. We should strive to keep our values pure and our traditions unchanged but the course of history is full of events out of our personal control. I believe it is how we handle the changes as they come that make the difference in our lives. Afterall, it is all in the game. I pray you get in the game of life and not simply float along the tides of change only to wake up one day saying what happened?

T

History was made in the year 1066. Anyone other than my British connections know why? Okay, I will let you know. The Battle of Hastings in October led to on Christmas Day, 1066, William being crowned the first Norman King of England in Westminster Abbey. Some may say this was the beginning of the British Empire. Now, before I get hammered for getting my facts historically incorrect, I stand corrected if slightly off target. But what about Brexit today? Britain exited the European Union this day, June 24, 2016. Now, I have heard that today marks the beginning of the end for the British Empire. On the other hand, some say they are now much stronger by declaring their independents. Didn’t the USA declare independents in 1776 or dare we forget? I am excited that today we witnessed a historical event and I for one say good for you Britain. I hope you all the best in your decision. I look forward to this country becoming more involved in our own history as we celebrate our independence. May we never forget our history and the price we paid for our freedom.

T

Plans are subject to change. After a long career where planning was a large portion of my day, I know that we all need to make contingency plans when things happen not to plan. Take this weekend for example. I had no plans to drive 6 hours to tear down a storm damaged cover before the next storm but did it anyway. I had no plans to get the tractor stuck in a mud hole but guess what happened? Now some call me stupid and in their eyes perhaps I am but its just mud that can wash off. Right? A popular song has lyrics saying “you got mud on your face you big disgrace”. Yes, I did get mud on my face. O well, its just mud that can be washed off. The best laid plans are subject to change. I could have been upset by this turn of events but why? Its just mud. Life is sometimes full of twists and turns that can make a person feel down but do not let the material things in life prevent you from achieving a greater purpose. I drove another 6 hours home feeling sad then this Sunday morning I had a great Communion Service where we recognized several graduating seniors. The mud was gone. Later, I drove through a terrible storm to take my wife to meet my youngest daughter for a mother-daughter cruise after her hard work to accomplish her dreams. There was mud on the road and some may call me stupid for going down this path but I did it anyway. As I drove home, it was still raining but all I could see was sun shine. Life is full of risks but do we stop or do we move forward through the mud holes of life? Look at the brighter side of every situation and when someone tries to lay down there problems or hang ups just say, no thank you. Keep on trucking through the mud holes and look to the brighter side of every situation.

T