Tag Archives: Australia

Random Thoughts

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Departure Pending

My husband’s boss has agreed to let him finish the project this month, as well as take two weeks’ vacation. We’re going to New Zealand in two weeks and returning to the USA at the end of the month. Hallelujah! It’s not that we don’t like it here; we’re just ready for the next stage. We’ve kind of been pulled back and forth since May. (I never thought I’d miss all of summer! We’re going from winter back in to autumn.)

Old Stuff

My husband has a shirt with a rip by the wrist. He wears it almost every week. I told him he needs to throw it out. Really, what will people think about me as his wife?! That I can’t keep my husband from being shabby? Then he pointed out that I keep my brown shoes.

My brown shoes were bought before my mission (in 2003). They were very nice for a few years, and I took pains to polish them regularly. However, polishing the shoes no longer does any good, as the leather has worn through. The company no longer makes that style, so I can’t replace them. They are very comfortable, so I still wear them nearly every day. I guess I never wondered what people think. They are just comfortable shoes to me.

Hmmm. Now I have a dilemma: My shoes or no more old shirt?

Medicinal Matters

My husband got ill for the third time in the 13 months we’ve been here. Of course, then both Paul and I got sick as well. My husband rarely gets ill in the USA. Why are there so many bugs here?

I’ve determined why: they don’t have proper medicine easily accessible. If you go to the supermarket, they have three small shelves. One the first row, every bottle says “All Natural Ingredients.” On the second and third rows, there is no such notice on the bottles. No matter, as soon as turn it over to look at the ingredients, you realize all three have Echinacea, Zinc, and Vitamin C. Nice things to take if you’re sick, but hardly a Cold and Flu remedy as the bottle proclaims. You’re still going to be coughing on your co-worker all week.

To get real medicine (the kind that actually suppresses your coughs, stops your nose from running, or makes your coughs productive; the kind with lots of chemicals in it), you have to go to the chemist (pharmacist), which might have them behind a special counter. You have to ask for them. And then it’s a very small bottle. If you want to have more, you must visit the doctor and get a prescription.

As for the doctors, General Practitioners are pretty useless. They should be call LPs, Limited Practitioners. Among other things, I was told I just had muscle cramps and it turned out to be gall stones. Yeah. GPs are worthless. (They are essentially free for Australian citizens under Medicare, so maybe socialized medicine is not such a good thing, huh?)

So why are there so many bugs in Australia, and why do we keep getting sick? When people get sick, they take natural ingredients, which do nothing to stop the sneezing and coughing. Bugs are spread, and more people get sick. That’s my philosophy.

If you like the natural route for medicine, you’d love Australia! That’s what it is. Personally, I like medicines that work when I’m ill.

Sniff.

Procrastination

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  • “Let’s go to lunch next week instead of this week.” I say to my friend. “Or we could go the week after that if it’s better.”
  • Why don’t we invite our visiting teaching sisters for lunch next month? This month is so busy.”
  • “Oh, I’ll read that book later,” I tell myself. “I can always renew it.”
  • “I’ll do a major pantry clean out next month,” I tell myself.
  • “We’ll go to the temple next Saturday.”
  • “I’ll take my Sunday School class members treats next week.”
  • “We can always see New Zealand on the next family vacation. Let’s just take a short trip this time.”
  • “No, we’ll go see Tasmania next month. Let’s stay home this weekend.”

And then we get a call: We want you to come to a new assignment in three weeks. In New Jersey. Nothing for certain yet, but will you plan for it?

Obviously, three weeks is impossible for an international move. But all of a sudden, the next weeks are limited; the next months are gone.

Last June, we entered Australia on a three-year visa. The project’s paperwork said through “September 2008,” but we hoped for two full years. I figured I’d have a walking and talking little boy. I figured we’d have visited all of Victoria and parts of Tasmania and New Zealand and maybe Sydney and the Gold Coast and maybe Ayers Rock. I figured our savings account would have grown (although those two dreams don’t really follow, a girl can dream!). I figured the housing market wasn’t going to tank and that the dollar would be worth a little more when we transferred our money back. I figured I had more time before I had to move my home across the globe again. I figured I could enjoy being cozy in our new home.

Of course, I am excited to be near family again, within a four-hour flight of both sets of my baby’s grandparents and all of my baby’s aunts and uncles. I’m excited to be able to get more variety in terms of consumer goods. I’m excited that things will cost less (relatively). I’m excited to choose a new car for myself. I’m excited to re-enter summer. I’m excited I might be able to go to my friend’s wedding in August. I’m excited that my family might actually call me when my phone number isn’t international. I’m excited that I don’t have to wonder how long we’ll be here (things have been a question mark for a few months).

But now I realize I have to start all over again: the third home and the third ward and the third search for friends in two years of marriage.

I’m realizing now that I shouldn’t have procrastinated being a friend. I shouldn’t have procrastinated making home cozy for my family. The end can, and does, come at any time.

What are you procrastinating? What “end” do you dread (and/or hope for at the same time)?

Apostasy?

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We traveled to see the Twelve Apostles this weekend because we had a holiday. (We might not get Thanksgiving, but we do get ANZAC day in April!) Apparently, some of the Twelve Apostles have fallen away. I think that’s apostasy, isn’t it?

Here’s a picture of Mommy and Paul. You can see one of the “fallen Apostles” in the surf below. (Pardon my wind-blown hair. It was windy and I didn’t have a hair tie.)

I’ll try to get my pictures up by the end of the week, but we’ll see.

Road Warrior

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Paul was a great sport on our super-short road trip this weekend. We drove for about six hours along the Great Ocean Road on Friday. Unfortunately, Paul couldn’t see the beautiful scenery as we drove. I think he was wondering why we didn’t let him out of his carseat! We only took two breaks as we drove. Friday night and Saturday morning we spent some time seeing the beautiful rock cliffs off the coast of Southern Victoria. Paul didn’t seem too impressed out in the wind and autumn breeze. But Mommy kept him warm!

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Saturday we drove (the non-scenic) four hours home. It was a very nice short jaunt to see our country. Paul won’t remember any of it, but he sure was a great sport.

Why I Like Photoshop

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In August, I went to visit the Mornington Peninsula. I took pictures, and I didn’t feel very satisfied with any of them. The sun was too bright, and nothing did justice to the beauty of the scene.

Since then, my husband helped me install Photoshop CS2 on my computer, and we got more memory (the computer often froze if I tried to use Photoshop). This week, I revisited the Mornington Peninsula photos.

Before Photoshop

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After Photoshop

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Before Photoshop

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After Photoshop

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What did I do? I cropped out distractions, I straightened the horizon, I adjusted the exposure, and I removed the the smudges. I also ran a macro that found the edges and made them a little sharper.

It’s amazing to me what a little bit of tweaking can do to a photograph. They are the same shots, and I took them, but it looks so much nicer in the after-shot.

Because I like to review the photos I’ve taken, I’ve created a photography journal. I have the photos in the order that I’ve taken them — if you click on Archive, you can browse through them by year and month or by category. Currently, I have my Australia photographs posted. I’m going to add some of church history sites and France and Italy once I process them in Photoshop. I don’t have most of my others–Bolivia, Jerusalem, etc.–but when I eventually get back to the USA, I’ll scan them, revisit them in Photoshop, and post those as well.

I’m not sure the point of creating a site like this, other than I want to share my photographs with the world. Amateur that I am, I like them.

Aussie-American Translation Guide

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I’ve been in the country for more than nine months now. I’ve been picking up some of the language they use. For your convenience, here is a handy guide for your study.

Disclaimer: While I hear these terms on a daily basis, I do not use them. I will not be held responsible for how ridiculous you, as an American, will sound when you try to speak Australian slang. We Americans just can’t pull it off.

Australian English American English Sample Sentence
Aussie citizen of Australia (pronounce Ozzy)
bench counter Put the refreshments on the bench.
bubs a nickname for a baby Bubs is getting so big!
car park parking garage There is a car park around the corner from the library.
Cheerio! So long!
cot crib Paul only sleeps well in his cot.
dummy pacifier Paul thinks his dummy is yummy.
hamper basket The week before Christmas, bring some fruit for hampers for the poor.
heaps a lot Last week, it rained heaps.
How you going?/How are you going? What’s up? or How are you doing?
mozzies mosquitoes There are so many mozzies tonight!
nappy (-ies) diaper(s) Paul has a wet nappy!
supper a light refreshment in the evening After the baptism, we’ll have supper in the foyer.
tcha OK/the end of a conversation
tea (1) The evening meal; (2) mid-afternoon snack; (3) a hot beverage (1) Would you like to come to tea Sunday after church? (2) She said she’d bring some rolls for tea for new mum’s group Tuesday. (3) do you really need an example?
trolley shopping cart

Home Again

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Before I left Australia for our visit to the United States, I was telling my friends that I was I finally going home.

Then we spent 19 days living out of suitcases, living in other peoples’ houses, and driving other peoples’ cars. We enjoyed overwhelming hospitality and we had a lovely time visiting with family. But now, 20 days later, I can honestly say that I am finally home.

Home is no longer where my parents live — it’s where my family lives. And my family is now my husband and child.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

I am so glad for this aspect of Heavenly Father’s plan, for I truly feel that my husband and I are one.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us — that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:21-22)

I realize that the Savior is speaking of our becoming one with the Father. However, I feel myself becoming unified with my husband in a similar manner. I understand how the Father and the Son are one, even though they are two beings: my husband and I have become one, even though we are two people. I understand how the Father wants our relationship with Him to be. United in purpose: One.

Moving across the world and having a child brought me closer to my husband. I found that traveling for 19 days also did. And now we are home again. Home. United: One.

Australia Christmas 2007: Mt. Buller Area

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Note: This post was originally posted April 12, 2008. I have posted dated it to be closer to the Christmas holiday when the photos were taken.

I have taken quite a long time to go through my photos from Christmas. It is very interesting to revisit these photos long after taking them. I find that, while my husband enjoys the landscape photos, I prefer the more abstract close-ups of things: tree stumps, flowers, posts, fences, windows, etc. I don’t feel like the landscapes are my favorites. I don’t know what one does with a photograph of a post (one probably won’t put it on a wall in a frame) but I like that photo the best.

We spent Christmas Eve near Mt. Buller (pronounced Bull-er; we kept saying Bueller and getting weird looks) in the High Country.

The idea was that we’d get to the summit of Mt. Buller in time for sunrise Christmas Eve morning. Well, we got there in time; however, it was completely foggy. We could barely sense the clouds lightening as the sun came up. We drove back down the mountain. It was beautiful coming down out of the fog. By 8 a.m. or so, we were driving by a lovely spot in the road so we stopped for photographs.

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After a while there, we headed to Pickerings Hut. This is a cattleman’s hut, much like Wallaces Hut. It is on the side of a river. I thought the hut was quite ugly. That’s one reason I kept it in black and white. I kept finding other things to take pictures of there. I don’t know why, but there was a random clothesline with clothes pins on it right behind the hut.

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As we drove back to Mansfield (where we were staying), we saw a beautiful field, called Sheepyard Flat. I didn’t take many pictures (because Paul required attention) but I did see kangaroos hopping down the hill to the right. I took my favorite picture–the post.

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That night we visited Craigs Hut for sunset.

The next morning, Christmas, we were too tired to get up for sunrise. We had a great day relaxing at the apartment. That night, we headed back to Mt. Buller for sunset pictures. This time it was clear and beautiful. I’ve included our family picture, too, even though I know you’ve seen it before.

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We had a wonderful Christmas. I’m glad Paul was such a great sport with all of our photographing. He got along really well in the carrier, and he slept a lot.

I suspect he won’t sleep quite so much next vacation!

Australia Christmas 2007: Wallace Hut

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Wallace Hut is the oldest of the cattleman’s huts still standing in the High Country. It was built in 1889 by the Wallace brothers from slabs of snowgum trees. The roof has been replaced, but otherwise, it’s still the original building.

I think this is a beautiful hut, out in the middle of the snowgums in the High Country. We visited Wallace Hut on Boxing Day. (I know, I’ve been holding them for a long time! And I still have more pictures from our Christmas road trip.)

As I processed the pictures, I couldn’t decide which I liked better: the color versions or the monochrome versions. I am not a very experienced photographer. My understanding is that monochrome is preferred when there is contrast in the frame: when the photograph is left in black and white, the textures are better revealed. I think there is delightful contrast on the building and reflecting in the windows. However, as I look at these pictures, I also like the contrast of the green grass with the reddish-brown building.

Here are four pictures in both color and monochrome.

Which do you prefer for each shot: color or monochrome?

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Australia Christmas 2007: High Country, Victoria

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On Boxing Day 2007, we drove up the mountain and entered the high country, which essentially is the plateau on top of the mountain. There, the trees were naked. At first glance, I thought it was still too cold for leaves; it was the beginning of summer, but maybe at such a “high” altitude, it was still early spring. The trees still had to bud.

But the further we drove in the high country, the more I realized that these naked-looking white-barked trees were the famous snow gums I had heard so much about. They were supposed to be undressed.

In August, we visited the Dandenong Ranges, and I mentioned how much I liked the naked trees. I liked these even more.

When I first moved to Australia, I asked some Relief Society sisters what it is that Victoria, Australia is famous for:

“What do you have a lot of? When you think ‘Victoria,’ what do you think of?” I asked.

“Well, we have a lot of gum trees,” one sister said.

“And we have koalas,” another answered.

I mentioned kangaroos, surprised no one had mentioned them.

“Well, yes, those too.”

I guess Victoria is to kangaroo the way Illinois is to deer: there are lots of them, but that’s not what they want to be “known” for.

Gum trees are another name for eucalyptus trees.

While I really don’t know anything more about these plants, I found them incredibly fascinating.

I like viewing my pictures in black and white because that is the general mood I had looking at these trees: since the trees themselves were only black and white, color didn’t seem to add anything to the composition. Rather, the contrast between the black and the white provided most of the interest.

The one color exception in this batch is the moment, during the sunset, when the light rested on a tree across a small valley. I didn’t have an appropriate zoom lens (so it’s probably out of focus), but I took the shot anyway.

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