Sunday, 24 August, 2014

Dad and I took the sister missionaries on a picnic this week.  I noticed on Sunday that they didn't have many people signed up to have them for dinner, so I talked with one of them on Sunday and asked if they would be able to come to dinner this week at our place.  They are only given a certain amount of kilometres to use each month and they were getting tight for this month.  I then suggested we come over to Maryborough and bring lunch with us.  We picked them up at their place and drove them to a lovely park.  We bought a roast chicken, salads and watermelon.  One of the sisters had never been on a picnic and she thought it was so nice.  The day was absolutely perfect and it was really nice getting to know the sister missionaries.

Our sister missionaries

On Thursday morning, I drove Dad to the airport - he flew off to Newcastle (two hours north of Sydney) for five days to teach a hands-on course with another instructor.  After I dropped him off, I drove up to a little place called Burrum Heads to spend the day with my friend, Haidi.  She and her family had just moved into the rental house and I was hoping to help her get things in order, but she wasn't feeling up to it and so we just spend the day sitting and chatting. :-)

Haidi and me - notice my bare feet (in winter) :-)

I had something planned for every day that Dad was going to be away so that I was being kept busy, but then the weather turned horrible on Friday and Saturday - pouring rain - so, not good for going for a walk or a bike ride.  Robyn and Geoff invited me over for lunch today which was really nice - it does get lonely without Dad here - so it was nice to spend the afternoon with our friends.  I am looking forward to Dad coming home tomorrow.

Sunday, 17 August, 2014

I have been doing a lot of family history this week.  Dad and I started off the week spending Monday at the Family History Centre at church.  My friend, Robyn, has been quite sick and, as she helps out every Monday at the FHC and couldn't go, Denise (the Family History Director) asked me if I would come and be there for the day.  It's been an interesting week with doing my family history.  I am trying to make  sure that the info that is online is correct for my ancestors.  I have input my own info received from various sources, but others have put stuff on there which does not have the source for their info.  So, I have spent quite a lot of time this week trying to find sources.  My cousin, Rosie, who lives in Sydney, is very much into family history, too, and so she has been helping me along the way.

Dad had a 'top and tail' procedure this week (that's the nickname for an endoscopy and a colonoscopy here in Australia).  He had to go on a special diet for three days before the procedure and it was a very boring diet - he is glad that he only had to be on it for three days.  He could basically eat white toast with honey for breakfast, chicken on white bread for lunch and chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner.  The procedure went very well.  I waited at the clinic while Dad was in having it done.  Most patients have their carers go and come back later when the procedure was over, but I didn't want to leave.  So, I brought a lunch with me as well as my book and knitting.  We got there around 12:30pm and left at about 4pm.  Dad said that when they put this thing over his face that he thought it was the anesthesia, but that when he started counting backwards from 100, he didn't think it actually was the anesthesia as it didn't seem to be working. Next thing he knew, though, someone was shaking him awake. :-)  We go see the doctor a week Tuesday to get the results of both tests.

Dad has been trying to resurrect our lawn this week.  It is looking so sad in the front that I told Dad that the neighbours are going to kick us out of the neighbourhood. :-)  It used to look better, but since we have been away so much, the lawn hasn't been getting enough water and the weeds have been allowed to run wild.  So, Dad has spent time this week pulling weeds and putting 'Weed and Feed' on the lawn.  He has also been watering it regularly at night and then we had a lovely rain storm last night. We'll have to see how it goes this week.  

Sunday, 10 August, 2014

A new employee has been hired at QAC (Queensland Aerospace College) who will be instructing the basic courses and is also the quality manager.  His name is Gary and he came to stay at the unit this week.  He was teaching during the day and so Dad and I got to talk with him in the evenings when Dad wasn't working.  We got along really well and it's always nice to meet new people who work for the company.  We love that Dad is working for a small company with such a family feel to it.  It sort of reminds us of when Dad first started working for Wardair.

I thought that I was going to have very little to write about this week as most of the time was taken up with Dad teaching (six days this week) and me knitting and going for walks.  But then.......Dad came home from work on Thursday and told me to get ready right away to get in the car right then.  I was confused as to the urgency of the request.  When I got in the car, he filled me in.  There had been a theft at the hotel where Dad teaches - one of Dad's company's laptop computers and five of their ipads had been stolen - and Dad had to go and make a police report at the police station.  The computers are left in the conference room overnight as it's a hassle to have to set them up each morning.  The conference manager of the hotel was unlocking the door to the conference room in the morning when she got in and leaving it open so that it was available for whenever Dad and the guys got there.  Sometime between when she opened it early in the morning and when Dad got there at 9am, the items were taken.  Judy, the conference manager, told Dad that in all her 17 years of working for the hotel, they had never had anything taken out of the conference rooms, and she was quite distressed about it.  Dad and I went to the police station and spent about an hour and a half being questioned about the incident and waiting while the constable wrote it up.  QAC will be able to claim the items on their insurance, but it sure was a hassle to make the police report and for Dad's boss to make the insurance claim.  Dad thinks it was a crime of opportunity as the conference rooms are on the third floor where there are no guest rooms and QAC were the only ones who were using the conference rooms at the time.

On Friday, I went to talk with the administration person at the local primary school.  Since we are going to be in Melbourne so much with Dad's teaching, I thought I would like to volunteer in the primary classes at that school.  I miss teaching and this will let me keep my finger in education.  The school is also within walking distance from the unit which is handy since Dad will have the car during the day.  When I spoke to the woman at the school, she told me that I needed my 'working with children' card which requires a police check.  I told her that I was a registered teacher in Queensland and that I also had my 'blue card' from Queensland which is a 'working with children' card.  However, each state requires you to get a card from their state even though the police check is national.  I went onto the website that the woman at the school said I needed to go on to apply for the card and wrote an email to the contact address given.  I needed to find out how I would fill out the form as it asked for my Victoria address so that they could do the police check, but since my name wouldn't be associated with the company unit, I didn't know whether or not I could just put my HB address in and they would then do the check, but give me a Victorian card.  I have not received a reply from that email, so I might have to give them a call this coming week so that things are in place for next time we are in Melbourne.

Sunday, 3 August, 2014

This week was much like last week - Dad working hard at teaching his course and Faye and I relaxing, shopping and eating. :-)

Dad's course in the classroom went well, but the visits to the airport were not as much fun.  The weather was sooooooooooooo cold this week (comparatively speaking) and the guys had to go to the airport in the late evenings (finishing around midnight).  Dad says that we need to go and buy him some gloves and a hat for future visits.

Faye and I went out for lunch again on Tuesday (chinese food this time) and hit some more shops (again more looking than spending was done).  Faye and Bill left on Thursday, so it's been a bit quiet during the day since then.  

Dad had yesterday off and we decided to spend the day out.  We drove up to a city called Epping which is about 15 minutes from the unit here.  My great great grandfather (according to the info I have received) was born in Epping, but I have not been able to find a birth record for him.  My friend, who is a family history consultant, suggested I go to the local church in Epping to see if they had any baptismal records for him.  He was buried in a Presbyterian cemetery and so Dad and I went to the Presbyterian church in Epping to see what we could find out.  No-one was there, but there was a phone number on the sign there and so I called it and left a message with my inquiry. Last night, a fellow from the church called me back.  He told me that the records had been destroyed in a fire - I was so disappointed.  He said that he has a few other ideas to see if he can find me any info and that he would call me again.  I love doing family history, but it's so hard when I run into a wall like this.  I have a few other ideas, so I will continue to look for my great great grandfather.  

Presbyterian Church in Epping, Victoria

Closer view of Presbyterian Church

After Epping, Dad and I drove up to Kinglake National Park.  By this time it was lunch time and so we stopped at a little bakery/cafe called 'The Flying Tarts' which had been recommended to us by a woman at the Tourist Information place in Epping.  She said that they don't normally recommend one place over another, but that the food at the bakery was so good and that she was still working off her last visit there. :-)   She was so right - the food was A-MAZ-ING!   I had a sausage roll and Dad had a lamb meat pie (both award winning) and then we totally splurged on the baked goods.  I had a raspberry lamington and Dad had an apple turnover.  Dad also decided he wanted one of their huge muffins for breakfast, so we bought two of them.  Later on, we went back for a caramel slice.  They were also sooooooooooo fresh - it was unbelievable - I have never had such fresh and yummy baked goods - we are so going to make another trip up there.  Oh, and since it was Saturday, the food was calorie free!  

Typical Aussie farm

View coming over the hill

Sheep in the field

Snow in 'them thar hills' :-)

More snow

and more snow on the vehicles

Hard to see, but those dots are sheep - such a typical Aussie scene

Holding my sausage roll at the Flying Tarts Bakery/Cafe

Dad and I then drove into the national park and stopped at Masons Falls - what a pretty waterfall - and a nice 700 metre walk to get there.  The weather was 'fresh', but the sun was shining.  We then drove up to Mt. Sugarloaf (more like a little hill to us Canadians :-)  But, we were greeted with a lovely view, so it was worth the trip.  I love being out in nature and we are definitely going to return to this park when the weather is nicer so that we can go hiking on some of the trails there.

In the park

Tree burned by the devastating fires in Victoria in 2009

Path to Masons Falls

Dad checking out a burned tree

Masons Falls - hard to see how beautiful it is from a picture

Me in front of Masons Falls

Dad in front of Masons Falls

Close-up of part of Masons Falls

Lyrebird wood carving in the park

View of the valley through the trees (from Mt Sugarloaf)

View of the city of Melbourne in the distance (from Mt Sugarloaf)

View of a farm in the valley (from Mt Sugarloaf) - the dark parts are shadows from clouds

Wood carving of Ned Kelly - famous Aussie outlaw

Wood carving of a penguin and its baby

Our last stop for the day was in a little place called Thomastown which used to be called Westgarthtown.  In the 1850s, may German immigrants moved there.  The main industry there was dairying.  There is a heritage walk around the town stopping at various buildings which still remain from that time.  Since it was too cold to walk, Dad and I drove around to each of the sites and I got out and took pics.  I love old buildings and architecture.

Ziebell's farmhouse

white sheep who came right up to me at the fence

Siebel's farmhouse - it seemed so strange that there was a motorcycle on the verandah of this house :-)  - the little outpart on the right of the house was where the oven was which they used to bake bread in

Thomastown Lutheran Church

Thought it interesting that many of the graves in the cemetery had bricks around them and were filled with plants

 

Dry stone walls which define the open land