Kangabums: July 2012

Aborigine termite mountain statues in Cairns, Queensland

The last few weeks have been a visual extravaganza! I will heavily rely on my family’s photographic talents to convey the wonderfulness of it all.

Alrighty Mate! On with the news of the day!

Glorious Wattle tree

Winter Blooms and Wattlitis

This is a newly discovered disease that afflicts people who love trees in bloom, especially Canadians who can’t believe that each season in Australia IS a growing season to some lovely chlorophyll filled friend. Within the last week or so, there’s been an abundance of secret things happening in the yard. Wandering around with Frog was like a treasure hunt for me. You just had to go into different areas and BAM there was another plant in bloom! But, the one with the most drawing cards for me is the wattle tree. The leaves are feathery and small but when the yellow blooms started exploding last weekend I went a bit feverish with smelling them and admiring them. I got to know the bees by name on a certain branch down the channel. Really pretty and slightly fragrant, a deep inhalation of their glory will send you to the chemist for antihistamine. That’s wattleitis and I’ve discovered it first. Sniffing and itchy eyes are almost worth the fix. One can also end up with wattlitis by devouring too much lemon pudding and vegemite on white bread.

Arum Lily

Don't know her name, but love her anyway
(Camillia)

Sweet purple violets outside the window

This is Daphne

Something so sweet about underpants from the line

That moment of Birthday cake anticipation

Frog's 13th Birthday
Every dog deserves a party, even if it lasts only a couple of minutes! Our dog Frog's birthday was written up on the calendar so Emma and Bons made her a splendid ginger bread cake with cream cheese icing. Frog was especially excited when we brought the cake out, mostly though because she's a fire eater. There were some untouched bits of cake left for us to enjoy after she bit out the candles. We all sang happy birthday and savoured the moment with her. Hey, 13 dogs years is a pretty dog-gone darn growling accomplishment!

Jingo, Jango
If you are a sook, you're a poor sport or a whiner which is also known as a whinger. If you are cold, you must rug up! Don't pop off in public as you'll get weird looks and the smell is not to be shared. If you are feeling crook, chuck a sickie and stay home for the day! I didn't spit the dummy when I got beat in squash AGAIN, even though I felt like it. (A dummy is a soother and babies spit the dummy when they are mad!) If you are a bloke that overcooks the goose, you are crying for attention when you are crook (also known as MAN FLU---give me sympathy!) Oh yea, and call an ambo if you are REALLY sick!!

ALL SHOOK UP!!

In the winter nights, low and behold, it got cold. In turn, the family closeness increased as we would spend our evenings in front of a stoked up fire wrapped in blankets! They said it would get cold, but I guffawed like a galah and said, Na. Can’t be that cold. Indeed the temperature dropped, and the all time record of -2 degrees Celcius in Shepparton felt like -40 with a wind chill at times. Mostly because it was cold INSIDE too! One must turn the heater on when you get home from work, or get your domesticated husband to have a roaring fire on display.
In any case, June was supposedly the coldest month and we got through it with a few hits to the local Vinnie’s and Salvo Shop to get some warm sweaters! These are the Salvation Army shops and are the best at helping you ‘rug up’ as they say. The first time someone told me that I was all ‘rugged up’, I thought, ‘Oh my GOSH! I look like I’m wearing a rug?!’ But, it means to be dressed warmly.

So, on Saturday night, whenst the sun had set long ago, around 8:30 pm, Emma and I were rugged up in front of a nice blaze just chillin’ in the dark, talking about her class on World Wars and whether or not the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs were worth the outcome when I asked Emma to get up and put another log on the fire. She did, but it fell out.
Suddenly, I got mad because Bonnie was shaking the couches and then I heard Bonnie screaming from the other side of the house! She came running down to us, I heard all of the blinds moving in sync and suddenly I realized that we were having a shake up! I screamed at Emma to close the fire place as the other logs were moving! It all only lasted about 9 seconds, but how very weird!!
Emma, Bonnie and I were all huddled on the couch, shivering out of fear now, and I said, Hey, I think that was an earthquake. Now, this is where technology precedes real life. Bons had her Ipad in hand and I said, ‘Quick, check your Facebook and see if anyone else knows what’s happened.’ Maybe a minute passed, Bon’s and Emma’s facebook was vibrating with messages about an earthquake near Melbourne! But, in the end, thankfully no one was injured. It was Shepparton’s first ever tremor of 5.2 ish. This was the one picture posted that basically said it all…

Black Caviar

In a little town about an hour away from Shepparton, a fine horse grew up eating lovely Australian hay! Yes, Black Caviar was born in Nagambie, Victoria. I don’t really follow horse fame all that much, but this was a great story about a small town start. Black Caviar and rider, Luke Nolen, became racing legends, following in the footsteps of Phar Lap. The thing I find most intriguing is how they transported Black Caviar to England for the Royal Ascot Diamond Jubilee (which he won by a worrisome horse hair). He had a Lycra form fitting suit to help his blood circulation during the flight! This reminds me of my morning winter routine here of getting myself into my fleece lined tights.

Frog, the Fire Inspector

Canada Day, Independence Day, Bonnie’s Birthday and BONFIRE Day

Why not combine a whole whack of fun on one night and just call a ‘big as’ party? Well, on July 4^th, which fell into our second term break, we decided to do it ALL! We piled the yard blown branches to a pretty large pile by our standards, made some down home cooking and called a gang over. Actually, we lighted the bonfire early because we were pretty sure that it would burn for 4 hours, but after about 15 minutes, it quieted down, most likely due to Frog barking at it. Food, fun and a little to much frolic perhaps made for a splendidly fun night!

Shake It!

Here in Shepparton, the primary schools get some great opportunities to get together with each other for sporting events. One incredibly organized woman plans and runs all of the events. Each school practices at home base and then they all get together to compete or show off their newly acquired talents. It’s surprising how many students know others from different schools which I guess really ISN’T surprising in a city of 40 000. There are a few little country schools as well which add to the mix. Recently, the Grahamvale 5/6 classes would head out to the tarmac area for dancing practice. They had been expertly coached in their 45 minute sport class (one per week) and we were meeting as a large group to practice various dances.
There’s nothing like watching 100 preteens dancing in the sunshine with some funky groove tunes blasting out of the speaker. I was actually very impressed at how good they all were! Lots of shaking line dances, a bollywood dance with complicated hand movements, La Troika, some good ol’ barn burners and some folk circle dances put to pop music like ‘You gotta moooove like Jagger!’ I loved watching them, especially when there were reeeeaaallllyy tall girls and mini short boys!
Weirdly, they can go through all motions of dances without TOUCHING ONCE!! It must take so much effort to keep your hands 3 cm apart, or 3 cm off the waist of another. In the end, we all met at the Shepp Stadium with 5 or 6 other schools and everyone did go to showcase a dance and then all schools grooved together. Nothing like seeing 500 kids all dancing in sync in colour coded outfits!

Feliz Navidad

You know how some things just seem uncomfortable? Like wearing pink to a funeral? Jumping on a trampoline in high heels? Eating undercooked chicken? Ya, these are just weird. But, let me tell you of a couple of occurrences that pushed us out of our comfort zone in recent weeks.
First of all, it was a late Tuesday night, and Emma informed me that she needed a certain notebook for school for tomorrow. Typical example of ‘Oh yeah Mom, I need a concert costume by tomorrow morning!’ In any case, I acquiesced, with the promise that it would be a quick in and out of the shop. We drove downtown to Kmart and being a little tired from my day, I didn’t question it when Scooby-Doo walked by. The pirate tidying up 'Ahhh bras' seemed a bit odd, and then when we went to the check out, the presence of Dora the Explorer was just too much. And freakily, suddenly I noticed that all of the clerks were wearing some children’s character ‘get up’. Seemed very strange for the end of June.
The flyers in the mailbox the next day explained this unusual phenomenon. It was TOY SALE seaon! Buy all your toys NOW, six months ahead to be the Christmas rush! It wasn’t just Kmart, but EVERY department store. Okay, I can maybe see that. Spend all of your money when you HAVE money and the lines aren’t too long.

But, the next occurance took me by surprise like being knocked to the ground by a GREAT Collingwood footie player!! A simple trip to the supermarket ended in a terrifying experience. First, the tinsel wrapped entrance seemed unusual. I stared in disillusionment. Ok, proceed. The girls and I walked into the produce section to witness what only a few on this very heavily populated earth might see. A blow up Santa on a motorbike catching air over the cauliflower.
Then, in the meat section, Rudolf and his friends were on display. This was enough to send me into ‘seasonal confusion shortness of breath’. All the cashiers were smiling at us waving ‘Merry Christmas’ with their Santa hats. I thought, Whatever I did in a previous life that was bad, this is probably my punishment. Fair Dinkum!

It turns out that Christmas in July is becoming more popular here. Brian and I decided to go to the Christmas in July dinner which was being put on by a lovely teacher on staff. With our tacky gifts wrapped, we headed off to the restaurant. If you opened the window, you could almost smell the crispness in the air. When we got into the restaurant, it was evident that all the guests were almost in the Christmas spirit. The warm atmosphere, the little lit up tree, silver decorations on the tables and shiny snowflake glitter made it almost feel like it could be real.

I asked how they all felt about this, a six month early faux Christmas celebration, and they justified the experience to say that, ‘Here in Australia, in July it gets cold. We always wanted to have a cold snowy Christmas like the Europeans and so this is as close as we can get!’ Their December Christmas is a sweaty heat fest! So, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, had some great wine, splendid dinner and with special people!

Shopping in Melbourne

Cold Rock Creamery with Bons, Keenan and Emma

Term Break #2

Second term break came on June 30, much like being home so I didn't feel cheated about having to work on July 1st. We filled our days with some cool trips! First was a trip to Melbourne with our Canadian friends to watch their beloved footy team, St. Kilda Saints. We decided to make a weekend of it, shop, eat, snooze, eat, shop, goof off. You get the idea. Instead of driving though, they suggested that we hop on the train in a town called Seymour, and boot it into Melbourne at a fast pace! The train turns into trams and buses. So, you can basically get to where you want to go on a VERY CHEAP family pass of 32.00/ return! No car parks at $19.00 per second, hook turns and stressed out moms and dads. All good fun!!

The Cats

Comic Convention
The girls are taking some seriously way too fun courses at Wanganui Secondary College this term. Bons is in Pottery, Fabulous Foods, Shady Places (an area of maths concerned with area) , What Goes Bump in the Night (Scary Shakesphere stories), Disaster Zones (Environmental diasters facing the world), and Jurassic Park (You guessed it, dinosaurs). Emma is in Photograhpy, Advanced Ceramics, Philosophy, Environmental Care, Biology and Maths. Sheesh..I wanna be a teen again!

Alice in Wonderland

Keenan's brother with...I dunno actually!

So, when we went to Melbourne, the Wanganui students were heading south too for the Comic Convention for another seriously fun field trip. Our girls and their friend, Keenan, didn't get to go, but we watched from the sidelines anyway. Wow! There are some serious comic addicts and superior costume designers out there!

Me and the ST. Kilda Saint

Keenan's little bro and Emma

Then we headed to a St. Kilda vs. Melbourne Kangaroos footy match. It was awesome! I finally figured out the game, but the most entertaining part was listening to the blokes behind us! What TOILET MOUTHS! Right, you are probably thinking that it was a few slightly boozy guys yelling at the players. Wrong! It was a grandad, his son and a grandson!

Catching the train home from the Footy

Kangar

They talked like trained professionals. Insults being hurled! Hand gestures! And a few arguements with some opposing fans sitting around. But, the greatest event of all time was when they decided that their beloved Kangaroos were losing with no hope of catching up. They decided to pack up and leave early. WELL!! The insults that erupted, the vocal violence that ensued! The winning fans were unrelenting as the threesome started up the stairs. What brilliance with word use! The three evacuees had a few good exit lines and I laughed. I wonder if that little boy can at least spell some of those four letter words he used so eloquently?

Torquay

Bell's Beach

Ceiling shaped like a wave

We also ended up on an extended drive and stayed over on the south coast of Victoria. Torquay is a surfer town, home to a few big names of surfer gear--Ripcurl and Quicksilver.

Sunny and warm in the dark winter months of July, we had a great time beach combing and shopping. Emma and Bons are destined to be on boards of some kind, either snow or surf. Unless we decided to move here permanently though, it will have be snowboards of course! Plus, a decent surfboard will put you back 1000 buckaroos!

I wonder what was left if it was 50% off?

We ended up staying in a beautiful case of serendipity! While looking for a hotel in Torquay, a little place popped up on the internet. Freshwater Creek Cottages. It was less expensive, and seemed like a good place to drop for the night. But, were we surprised! A little out of the way, this stunning, quiet and starlit hideaway was a tranquil serene place! We drove into the 'Lavender Cottage' and unlocked the door to find a warm toasty fire waiting for us in a 2 bedroom home!

There was a kitchen, sitting room and all the essentials.
Very sweet. Emma and I ventured out into the dark and lay on the grass admiring the darkness of the night. You can see SO MANY stars here! And a galaxy to boot! In the paddock next to us lay a snoozed out mob of big red kangas!

Then, the next morning, we wandered out and met the owner who has my DREAM JOB! She, her husband and their two boys bought this estate and are in the process of moving in.

They run the 4 cottages, along with all of the wildlife that hang out which include horses, echnidas, kangaroos, many different birds, dogs, ducks, chooks, geese and a newly aquired trio of naughty goats. She invited us over to the new goat enclosure which was like a goat heaven. We walked through the gum forests, and while she pointed out the echnidas' hang outs and snoozing stations for the wild kangamobs, we came across the three goats. She had bought them from a run down petting zoo and these goats were used to being fondled and handled to the point of exhaustion. They had lived in a cement enclosure and now were surrounded by nature. Anyway, we helped her fetch them and lead them to the grassy paddock, each with his own leash and SASS-itude!

Cairns, Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef
I always stared at the pictures in the 'National Geographic Under Water Treasures' book that my mom and dad gave me when I was a wee lad--ess. I gazed at them before closing my eyes at night whilst living in Butte, Landlocked, Montana, warm and cozy in my bed. Underwater life is as foreign to me as making REAL Chinese food. I always wanted to experience it, see the world beneath the waves and discover that hidden treasure! Well, I can tell you that it exsits in the Great Barrier Reef, and if you can manage not to barf up your breakfast on the ride out, you are definitely a chosen one!

We managed to secure our spots on the QuickSilver Cruise that left at an early 8:00 am. It almost didn't happen because when we got off the plane in Cairns, it was cold and windy! Our hotel receptionist was lovely and determined to make our trip as worthwhile as possible. When we told her that we'd be going out on the cruise the next day, she said, Oh! Not with the forecasted 35 nautical mile winds you won't!

After loading up on Seasick pills, we all went and in fact, the wind was tolerable and I'm proud to say that my family sustained from hurling overboard. But the most challenging part was definitely coming to a stop, taking in a 360 view and realizing that there was no land in sight. 'Okay, everyone in their wet suits and jump in!'

My idea of walking the plank

Seriously, being out in the Coral Sea for reef snorkeling was BEING OUT AT SEA! Each each jumped off of the little platform, and I simply freaked. The waves were huge, no land in sight and I was worried about my family members who were somewhere floating around!
It takes a few minutes to figure out your snorkeling routine, but the 4 foot waves were freaking me out! I saw the other members of our trip attach their masks and disappear over the waves. Well, it helps that they were a bunch of American marine biology students who had done it before.

Finally I found my groove and my girls and husband and we all went face first into the abyss. It was deeeeepp ocean and you had to swim a few metres away to get to the reef parts which were much shallower. But, seriously, once you find them, you are floating in a state of wonderment. All sizes of fish, colours, textures and gorgeous waving sea anemones.

We were asked not to touch, as tempting as it was, the corals or chase after beautiful fish. All I could do was float in silence and behold the beauty of the deep. Extraordinary!

Nemo is an Imposter
Sorry Disney fans! There are a couple of things we must clear up about Nemo and his dad. I saw lots of clown fish snuggling down into their sea anenomes and coral beddybyes. They DO squish, duck and seem to roll in the soft, yet stinger laden, tentacles. Right, that part's true. And wierdly enough, they do NOT get stung being all cutsy in their stinger domain due to the fact that they secrete a gellatinous goo that protects them. But, here's the real scoop on their happy Disney life, and you heard it here first, FOLKS!
Right, the marine biologist on board told me that they have a strict hierarchy in their families. The female egg layer (Nemo's mom) is the top clam. What she says goes. Then, the oldest male (Nemo's dad) is next, then any surviving and hanging around teenagers (Nemo). If the mom gets eaten, the dad suddenly experiences a hormone raging change...that of becoming a female, and thus the top mom. Then to fill the dad's departure, the next fish in line fills the dad's shoes. So, essentially, Nemo should have become his dad's egg laying partner....ah, whatever. I still love Nemo and will always see him as the little lost fish who went too far past the reef. And that part IS TRUE!

This guy snuck up on me. He and his friends were the size of large turkey platters!

After swimming around at the first reef spot, which by the way is only one of over 5000 in an area the size of the England, we headed for a little cay of sand. The sun came out and it was HOT! This cay is home to the migration and nesting of thousands of seabirds. We were only allowed to be on a very small part of the island for that reason which I am grateful for. It is a challenge to host all of the world's visitors and keep the coral reef intact. I felt guilty as a tourist, adding to the stress of the reef.

Our tour company was one of the best ecofriendly conscious companies for a few reasons. But still, the reef is stressed and not heading in a good direction. The guide told us that they have to keep an eye on the coral's colours because this is an indication of the health of the environment. You see, coral is a bit like a mood ring. If it is stressed, it kicks out the algae living on it. The algae is largely what gives the beautiful colours. So, the corals become white and this is a HUGE sign that they aren't feeling too good. So, investigations follow. It can be many things, temperature changes, weird chemicals passing through, or even just a bad cold. Well, I made that last one up.

Disney clams are huge and hundreds of years old!

The cay that we snorkled around is not actually sand. It's made of tiny bits of broken down coral. And the hard working parrot fish are just doing their job. These guys swim vigourously around in splashy groups, eating bites of coral, sucking out the algae and then spitting in out. If you are swimming behind them, you will suddenly not see anything due to their big mouths of chewed coral being spit out! The coral settles and shifts, thus making the island.

Where the reef end and the deep dangers lurk

Crocs and Jellies
Heading to the coast of Cairns and to Port Douglas is a gorgeous drive. It is one of the only places that has two Natural World Heritage sites, the Wet Tropics of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Because of this, there are some interesting species of plants and animals too.

Sea Wasp

I'm glad we visited in the winter because the Box jelly fish, also know as the Sea Wasp, was not present in the beach waters. They usually hang around in the hot summer months of December and January. In anycase, these seemingly innocuous creatures are deadly. A speeding bullet aimed at your heart is the only other faster way to die. Lovely.
And then there's the salties. These laid back looking reptiles are presently in their most docile state due to their cool body temperatures. But, give 'em a few months,

and they'll be quick to snap down on anything with their 3000kg pressure bite. And, since they're 'salties', they lurk around the water's edge in the mangrove trees. We didn't see any wild ones but saw a few biggies at Hartley's Crocodile Park. My favourite was Paul. He roamed freely in North Queensland until a farmer got sick and tired of finding beheaded calves.

Many crocs are heading to becoming purses in Japan

Upon Paul's capture, he ended up at Hartley's and now lays despondently in a rain forest enclosure with a few friends.

Paul chillin like a croc in his home

Me chillin' like a croc on the beach

How Sweet is this?

This is a magpie goose--all the more reason to barrack for Collingwood Pies

A gentle cassowary at Hartley's

Mossman Canyon

Hey, what the hell just bit me?

How silly! Who would venture into the waters of a rainforest in the winter months? Canadians. Too sweet to say no and seriously, it was HOT! We took a little trip up this gorgeous canyon through an aboriginal town and ended up soaking up the sun and watching lizards and wild turkeys. Brian succumbed to an eel bite though.