BULA

Our View from the Plane

Our View from our Room

Sunsets in FIJI

Picturesque in every way!

One of the places that we really wanted to visit while living in Australia was Fiji.  Fiji is just a 4 hour flight from Sydney and a favourite holiday spot for many local Australians.  Beautiful beaches and aqua blue waters are some of OUR most loved destinations so we knew we must go.

The trip was a DREAM!  The beaches, water, food and hospitality did not disappoint,  We learned that FIJI TIME is awesome and you can literally have no worries.

The girls fell in love with the generosity of the Fijian people.  They learned to say hello (BULA) and thank you (VINAKA).  The Fijian approach to life is much more simple and yet they are incredibly happy.

Once again, we were reminded that stuff (material possessions) doesn't make us happy.  Our relationships with each other and Heavenly Father should be paramount in this life.  Tom and I want our children to be reminded often that there are many people in this world that live without all of the stuff that we think is necessary.  We want them to see firsthand that there are people that are working hard and only being paid $3.00/hour for their labours.  They are doing their best and not complaining about their situation.  

Fiji gave them many examples of this.  We were able to build some wonderful relationships with some of the locals and they definitely left a mark on our children.

In addition to immersing ourselves in the culture of Fiji we were able to do a little sea kayaking, snorkeling and water sports.  The girls were in heaven.  HEAVEN, according to my girls, is being able to wear a swimsuit 24/7!  I don’t know that swimsuits are my favourite attire but, I do love warm weather so I guess that is a win/win.

It was a fantastic trip!  If you ever have the chance to go to FIJI - TAKE IT!

Church in Nadi - we loved the ward!

Water Aerobics each morning.

One of our snorkel spots for the day.

We love Catamarans!

Janie girl loving the water slide.

One of our Coral Cats Captains - TY.

Fijian Drum - BULA!! 

Bishop Eli

HUMPBACK

This is what we hoped to see but, did not see up close - photo courtesy of the web.

Ever since moving to Sydney, we have wanted to go whale watching.  Humpback whales migrate from the Antarctic Seas to the warm waters off the coast of Queensland, Australia each year.  About 20,000 humpback whales make this journey during the months of May to August.  

They are headed to the warm waters of Queensland to give birth and nurse their young.  Once the baby whales have put on enough blubber to survive in the arctic cold waters they will travel back down south.  Because of this great migration, it is really easy to go whale watching and most often see them.  We have a good friend that lives on the coast here in Sydney and a whale came into his beach for a rest not long ago.  Our friend was able to sit on his surfboard and watch the whale up close and personal.  

The girls were feeling quite jealous and wanted to be able to see whales in their natural habitat.  When the opportunity presented itself to go on a whale watching trip, we jumped at the chance.  We were so excited despite of the fact that this would require a few of us to board a boat.  It was a relatively calm day on the ocean so we did not have the seasick feeling that some of us have had in the past.  We keep ourselves outside and staring out at the horizon because it does get a little bit rocky on the open sea.  But, we saw WHALES!!!

We were able to follow a pod of 3 humpback whales (a mother, a calf and a male) as they traveled up to Queensland.  They were about 75 meters off the starboard side of our boat for about 3 hours.  It was fascinating to watch and learn so much about them.  During the entire tour, we had a whale expert, from the Taronga Zoo, on board our vessel filling us with every humpback whale fact you could think to ask.  It was an awesome day.  We felt so blessed to see them.  No one felt sick and we stayed warm - SUCCESS!  

The only thing that we did not get to see during our whale watching tour was BREACHING.  This is when a humpback whale jumps out of the water and basically backflops into the water.  It is NOT something that they do often, however, the day before we happened to be on the shore of Dee Why Beach and we saw a pod of whales that were breaching like crazy through our binoculars.  It was unbelievable, however we would have like to have been closer.... 

COOL YULE

We are living in winter and missing the warm days and nights.  Considering we lived in COLD Michigan for 5 years, winter in Sydney is relative.  However, I can safely say that because I have experienced both, your body does adjust.  Tom and I are not big fans of the winter so the weather in Sydney is definitely a plus.

It is unique to think that many of our friends and family on the other side of the world are swimming, having beach days, BBQ's and summer activities as we are bundled up in our warm weather gear here in Australia.  This last weekend we decided to embrace Sydney's cooler weather and head down to Darling Harbor where they hold an activity called the Cool Yule.

They have set up an ice skating rink complete with Swiss ski village (selling concessions), igloos and a winter wonderland.  The girls love the idea of ice skating however, they have only been one other time.  They were looking forward to being able to  ice skate outside because it would be warmer in the sunshine but, we did not even think about the fact that the ice would be melting as they skated.  The sun in Australia is very strong due to the fact that there is a HUGE hole in the ozone layer that happens to be placed directly over this lovely country.  The ice was melting away and when you fell you got quite wet but, overall they had a great time.  It was an adventure and the girls have a great appreciation for those AMAZING Olympic figure skaters!  They are awesome!

This little penguin is Claire's "ice skating helper"....she eventually got the hang of it.

Jane had a few "free" loops from Claire.  Big sissy is the BEST!

EIGHT LEGGED FRIEND OR FOE

Ours was a baby, about this size.  However, I hear they can be larger!  YIKES!

Australia in addition to its beauty is full of wild animals and creepy crawly things.  Many of them are poisonous, threatening human life, but many are NOT.  I am not really a person that loves creepy crawly anything whether it threatens my life or NOT.  Spiders, bugs, cockroaches, snakes....etc I HATE them!  

I am always one to check my shoes or my surroundings when I partake of the great outdoors.  I worry about seeing such creepy crawly things in the wild.  When we first arrived, I would have terrible dreams about it.  Many of my dear Australian friends have warned me that I am not to worry about it because most of the dangerous wildlife on this continent (excluding sharks) has not killed anyone in many years however, I still think about it often.  

Well two weeks ago, we had our first encounter with one of the biggest creepy crawly spiders I have ever seen.  It was Sunday morning and we were preparing for church.  The girls were in their morning stupor and wanting some breakfast.  I asked Claire to go to the garage and get a box of cereal (BOY, do I miss my LARGE pantry in the USA).  She opened the door leading to the garage and what did she see but a Huntsman Spider right in the middle of the wall straight ahead.  She quickly closed the door and stated that we would not be having cereal for breakfast.  She also let me know that church was definitely out of the question this fine day.  SHEAR PANIC filled my heart because I was on my OWN to catch or kill this spider.  Tom had already left for his early morning meetings.

We have lived here for over a year and I have never seen a Huntsman Spider in person (we have heard that they are good luck - I have to say that they are definitely NOT good luck in my eyes).   I have been told that they are large and scary looking but, they will not hurt you.  They are more afraid of you then you are of them.  However, this did not give me much comfort with a spider the size of my hand that was sitting on the wall of my house.  I consider myself to be intelligent but, I can honestly say that the shear size of this spider knocked all of my good sense right out the window.  

I tried to think about what to do....DO I CAPTURE HIM or DO I KILL HIM?  I have a lovely friend in Australia that is so peaceful and calm.  I was trying desperately to channel her spirit as I debated what to do.  I decided that I would try to capture him and return him to the wild.  

After 35 minutes of chasing a HUGE spider up and down the walls of my house with three girls scared to death but, close enough to watch the debacle, I caught him with my pool noodle and a Tupperware bowl.  Once I had him pinned between the bowl and the ceiling is when the real dilemma began.  How I was going to get a lid on the bowel without the spider getting loose?  I tried many different techniques which ALL resulted in the spider getting loose and then I was starting over to capture him.  It was one heart pumping action after another.  Ultimately, I accidentally broke 3 of the spiders legs and ended up needing to kill him after all.  Once he was dead we promptly returned him to the great outdoors and within minutes a Magpie swooped down to eat him up.  I contributed to the circle of life and felt quite good about it.  

I learned a few things about myself during this adventure/crisis----
1.  I REALLY hate creepy crawly things more than I ever imagined.
2.  I REALLY don't think clearly when faced with danger.
3.  Next time any spider comes into my home, I don't capture it but, KILL it straight-away!
4.  Spiders are NOT friends but, Foes especially when they are the size of your HAND!

SCENIC DAY & NIGHT

The last couple of weeks we have had the opportunity to see many gorgeous landscapes.  We have immersed ourselves in the picturesque beauty that surrounds this iconic city - Sydney.  Every weekend that we are in Sydney, we try very hard to take the girls on an adventure.  There is so much to see and do that it is difficult to decide what to experience.  One of the many adventures that has been recommended to us countless times is a coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee.  It takes about 2 hours one way and follows the rocky coastline around each point.  At every inlet, it drops down to a stunning beach.  We had a glorious day and the weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold.  They girls admired the many dogs that were on the path and the cooling ocean breeze.  They were thrilled to see one of their favorite lifeguards from the Australian TV show, BONDI RESCUE, sitting in his tower at Tamarama Beach (also know as "Glamarama Beach").  Whenever you take a walk along the beaches surrounding Sydney, you never know what you are going to encounter.  You see people of all ages, all walks of life and many of them are wearing some interesting outfits or lack there of.  We have had the opportunity of having many conversations regarding modesty and its importance - life lessons can be so valuable.

The girls thought this looked like a CROC's large head.

In addition to our coastal walk, we decided to venture into the city for VIVID.  This year we wanted to see Vivid again but, we thought it would be great to see it via the water.  Tom has a colleague who invited us to experience Vivid on his boat. Vivid via the water is a fantastic treat.  It gives you a completely different perspective especially as you are cruising the Sydney Harbor by night.  We were able to have dinner on the boat, listen to some wonderful music and admire the colorful lighting display.  The girls were loving the boat - no motion sickness this time. 

Overall we had a incredible couple weeks experiencing the scenic vistas of Sydney.  We have not been disappointed because Sydney is a STUNNER!

Thanks Brian, we had a wonderful time.