Tag Archives: road trip

What I Will Miss

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One sunny 50-degree winter day last July, I walked to the supermarket. I was 7 months pregnant and brand-new to the country. Outside of the supermarket fly six Australian flags. As I walked by the first of the flags, the flags flapped in a light breeze. I looked up to see a beautiful, blue-sky backdrop for the Australian flag. I decided then that I was home, and I loved it.

Today I walked up to the supermarket again, as I have many times in the past months. It is now fall, and I crunched leaves as I walked down the street, pushing my almost eight-month-old in the stroller. As I walked under the flags, I felt a sense of sadness: I’m leaving.

What I will miss: Being 10 minutes from the temple.

The temple is open for about four sessions a day Wednesday through Saturday, and it is such a lovely, friendly temple. Saturday morning at 9:25, I decided to go to a session. I made the 10 a.m. session (I don’t like to rush to get ready; it just worked out well this week). I will miss being so close.

What I will miss: Being a short drive from mountains and empty fields and little traffic.

Sunday afternoon we went for a drive. We didn’t go anywhere in particular: we just drove. Because we live where we do, we could drive for 10 minutes and be away from traffic, among fields with cattle grazing. It is so lovely here. I will miss the scenery of Australia.

What I will miss: My husband walking to and from the train station every day.

My husband comes home every night. When we return to the USA, he’ll go back to flying to his work Monday and returning home Thursday. We’re obviously looking at other options; I’ve been spoiled by his presence this year. I will really miss being so close to a train line, with his job on the end of it.

Sigh. Still no departure date, but it is certainly going to happen.

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.

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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Australia Christmas 2007: Craigs Hut

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“The Man from Snowy River” is a well-known Australian poem. In the 1980s, the story from the poem was made into a movie. I admit, the movie is cheesy and the special effects say “low budget,” but it is definitively Australian.

When we first decided to come to Australia, my husband and I watched the movie. As I watched it, I awed at the beautiful landscapes. The main character, Jim Craig, has a house that overlooks a beautiful range of mountains. Part of the story is that the other mountainmen won’t let Jim, who is still a teenager, stay in his mountain house after his father died: only men who have earned it can live in the mountains. (Spoiler alert! By the end, he’s earned the right to live there.)

As I watched the first time, I felt sad that we would be so far south in Australia: if only we were going to Brisbane, we’d be near to where this movie was filmed and we’d be able to see the beautiful mountainscapes.

To my surprise, at the end of the movie, a note told us that this was filmed in Merrijig, Victoria. I told my husband we were going to see the mountains.

The house that Jim Craig lived in was built as a prop on the side of Mt. Stirling. Many people visited it to see the same view that is seen in the movie. Unfortunately, it burnt down a few years ago (there are often brush fires in the area, especially during droughts). But because so many people wanted to visit the place, the hut was rebuilt. Last January, it burnt down again in a more serious brush fire.

I was sad that we wouldn’t be able to visit it — until my husband found out that they are rebuilding it once again! The hut that we visited December 24 is still under construction; in fact, standing right in front of it is a huge dumpster. Because one side of the house has been completed, we could still take some nice pictures. I could avoid the dumpster, but I was unable to get an extra wide view.

To get to Craigs Hut, we drove on a washboard road winding up and down the mountains for about 1½ hours. Our Toyota Corolla did not like it! Then we walked 2 km up and down a very rutted path (we could have driven if we had 4-wheel drive). Finally, we arrived at the scenic overlook where Craigs Hut has been built.

It was a chilly night. Paul was fussy in the carrier until we put the snow suit on him. I carried him and finally he fell asleep just as we arrived. (My husband was the trooper that carried both of our cameras and both tripods.) The wind on the top of the mountain was horrendous.

It was so windy and I was so chilled that I only really took pictures for about 10 minutes. I was afraid that none of them would turn out, but with a little bit of adjustment to the exposures, I think I got some good shots.

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Spring Ride

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Despite the carols echoing through the mall, we can’t go on a sleigh ride this year. I keep hearing from you about all the snow and the snowmen and snowballs and how much fun all the kids are having and it sounds like so much fun!

Actually, it sounds cold. I don’t really miss it.

Last weekend, we celebrated the season by taking a long drive through the Yarra ranges. We were scouting out photography spots, but nothing grabbed our attention so we didn’t end up taking any pictures. Our drive to Noojee back in August was much nicer. Instead, we drove and talked and listened to Christmas music and stopped for a spring picnic in a park. Paul was a great sport. We’re glad he’s little enough to not complain about a long drive!

One disadvantage of an Australian spring picnic: There are LOTS of flies in this country.

Our Christmas season will be celebrated by another picnic this Saturday. It will be our ward Christmas party. If only there weren’t any flies!

Reid Family Update

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Growing Baby

I am starting to feel like I am seven months pregnant. Baby keeps on kicking all night long. It is so great, in some ways, to know it’s a baby down there. On the other hand, I know this means that from now on I’ll never get a good night’s sleep again.

I’m still not ready to send pictures. You people keep asking for a picture–and I’m not sure if you are teasing me or if you just missed the point (that point being that I’m not ready to hear your comments, good or bad!!!). Maybe in a few more weeks when I start to feel more miserable I’ll feel like sending a picture. I’ve only been marginally uncomfortable for about two weeks now. Give me some more time…

Getting to Know Australia

My husband and I went on some photography journeys to see this great land we live in. A few weekends ago, we went to the Dandenong ranges, which are only 30 minutes from home. Then the next weekend we went to Noojee, which is a part of the Yarra Ranges, about 1 1/2 hours away. We had a good time. I was going to post pictures from those excursions, but I don’t really feel good about any of my photos. I’ve got my tripod now, so maybe our next trip will end up nicer. I’m still learning how the camera actually works.

Setting Up Home

We got our shipment from Chicago last week. So far, we think they only missed one box. I guess $200 of stuff is an okay loss when consider you just shipped $9,000 of stuff across the world (amazing how it adds up!). The major thing we are missing is our HP printer. We know we handed that over! Also noticed missing is my husband’s ice cream maker and a few oval bowls–but we can’t be sure we ever packed those; they may be sitting in our storage unit. We could live without those. But the printer is sorely missed. We’ll see what happens: the Chicago warehouse says they’re “looking for it.”

Staying Busy

During the week, I’ve been volunteering at the local city council volunteer office, helping with filing, data entry, and reception. (I think I’m much better at entering data into Access than I am at answering telephones. …I’m an awkward receptionist.) I volunteered there 1 day last week and 1 1/2 days this week. I may do more as needed in the next few weeks. It’s nice to feel needed.

(My husband says I’m finally making what I’m worth. “Nothing?!” I asked. “No. You’re priceless.”)

Other than that, I’ve been learning to cook some easy meals (some turn out better than others), I’ve been reading certain novels that have recently been published, and I’ve been growing a baby.

Hopefully in the next few weeks we’ll get our rental baby furniture. I can’t wait to set up baby’s room. The Big Day is some day in the next two months. I’ll feel more ready when baby’s room is ready!