Adventures in Hervey Bay

Sunday, December 29, 2013

It's been a lovely week - a wonderful time to remember the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ - and to 'spend time' with family.

On Monday, both Dad and I had to have our annual eye check-up. The optometrist was new to us (she only came 7 months ago), but she was very nice (much friendlier than the previous guy) and very thorough. It turned out that Dad's eyes had gotten better and my one eye had changed just a tiny bit. We both ordered new glasses (Dad got two: one regular and one sunglasses) - Dad got very similar frames and mine were a bit different in colour (when we get them in the new year, I will send a pic of us wearing the new ones).

That evening, we drove around HB to look at the Christmas lights - the local council sponsors a Christmas lights competition and the location of the entries are posted in one of the local newspapers. (note: Warren, you were right when you said that not very many people decorate up their houses with lights here in HB - we noticed that right away as we began our drive). However, the houses which did light up did a fabulous job!

We wanted to do something special for Christmas Eve and decided to start our own tradition - a mixture of Canadian and Australian - so we decided that we would have pavlovas and eggnog in the evening. We didn't want to get a large pavlova and so we bought small pavlova bases and then bought whipping cream (they call it thickened cream here) and strawberries and bananas. We looked for eggnog at the grocery store and couldn't find any left - so, we hit every other large grocery store in HB and FINALLY found one 500ml carton at the last store. Eggnog here is very different - it's not as flavourful or yellow as the Canadian kind. But at least we had some (note to ourselves: search for it sooner than the day before Christmas next year!). The pavs were very yummy - I am liking this new tradition! :-)

Christmas Day was very relaxing. We started out with a yummy breakfast of poached eggs on toast (and made a note to get bacon next year). We had planned on going down to the beach for lunch around noon, but realized (too late) that we hadn't taken out the steaks to thaw, so we ended up going down to the beach around 3pm. We found a barbecue and picnic table empty close to the ocean and set up there. Dad and I cooked the steaks (medium) and the prawns (shrimp) on the barbecue and then sat down to a delicious meal (we also had potato salad and fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, rockmelon and grapes). We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day - the temperature was about 28C, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. After eating and cleaning up, we went for a very long walk along the beach - we love to walk just at the edge of the water (it was so warm that day). By the time we started our walk, it was 4pm (a great time to walk) - and so, even though we didn't get to the beach when planned, we have decided that the time we did go to eat was a better time, so next year, we will do the same. Since we ate lunch so late, we didn't want anything for dinner at the regular time and ended up just having soup later on. We also had bought a Christmas cake from the Lion's Club (community service group) which we had for dessert - we ate it with custard and a caramel sauce which Dad made from Grandma Gall's recipe - most delicious! We read the story of Jesus' birth from the scriptures and then called Terri-Ann and family via Skype so that we could see the boys open their gift from us (a GPS so that they can go geocaching) which they loved and can't wait to use.

Dad preparing the prawns (peeling them)

Dad showing the size of the prawns

The view from our picnic table for our Christmas Day barbie at the beach

Another view from our picnic table

Blue blubber jellyfish stranded on the shore

Pelican enjoying Christmas Day at the beach

Dad wanted our usual 'Canadian Christmas dinner' and so we decided to do that on Boxing Day. We bought a frozen turkey breast and a fresh lamb roast and kept both in the freezer. Again, we were not on the ball and forgot to take them out of the freezer so that they were ready to cook on the 26th (another plan foiled). We had planned to have the missionaries over for dinner on Friday and so we had our Canadian Christmas dinner yesterday (Saturday). Besides the meat, we had roast potatoes and carrots, peas, sweet potatoes (for Dad), stuffing (from a packet - not anywhere near as good as Stuff 'n Such), gravy and tomato juice. Everything (except for the stuffing) turned out perfectly and we enjoyed our dinner very much. We have made a list of all the things we want to remember for next year's celebrations and so we should be a little more prepared compared to this year.

We haven't had the missionaries over for ages since we have been away for so much this year, so it was nice to have them over for dinner and to get to know them a little better. We were planning on eating outside since the sun doesn't go down until 7pm now since it's summer, but after cleaning our outdoor set and patio, it turned out that things were too wet to sit on and so the meal moved inside. Dad did a yummy barbecue of chicken, hamburgers and sausages - we are really enjoying all the use we are getting out of this barbecue! During dinner, we were talking to the missionaries about how we used to play Cribbage with the missionaries in days gone by. They asked us if we could show them how to play and so we played a couple of games. They caught on really quickly and we had a lot of fun (just for the record: Elder T. and I skunked Elder Packer and Dad in the first game [I taught Elder T. how to sniff sniff like he was smelling a skunk ] and then we beat them in the second game, but not a skunking :-)

Elder Packer and Elder T.

We also enjoyed a Skype time with Jennifer and Sienna on Christmas evening (so Sienna could show us her many Christmas gifts) and with Terri-Ann and the kids so they could tell us what else they got for Christmas. We also Skyped with Krystal and the boys on Thursday so that they could tell us what gifts they received from Santa (and from Krystal and Jesse). We were also able to talk with both of our moms via Skype to telephone. I LOVE Skype!!! So, even though we weren't in Canada for Christmas this year, we were still able to spend time with our families - and for that kind of technology, we are very grateful!

Look what showed up at our house this week :-) Dad bought these for me when we were in Canada and surprised me with them on Christmas morning. I LOVE giraffes!!!

I only got in two swims this week (Monday and Friday), so I am hoping to get back to three swims this week. Dad and I also got in some more cleaning (we're doing our spring cleaning now as we are both off work and will be in the future, so we thought that doing it at this time of year was a good idea and an easy time to remember to do it each year). We slacked off on our walks this week - I think we only got in the one on Christmas Day - and so we need to be more diligent in that as well. We have both put on weight since we got back and I was hoping not to put on any over this period - ah well, after New Year's, we will get back to it.

Sunday, 22 December, 2013

Well, this week was rather uneventful. How uneventful, you ask? Well, let's see..............Dad had two chiropractor appointments, the car had a maintenance appointment, Dad and I both got our hair cut, Dad mowed the lawn again, we spent time cleaning out the office (a ways to go yet), we went grocery shopping............I'm sure you get the idea.

I did get to go out on Tuesday for lunch with my teacher friend, Bronwyn. I did two teaching contracts for her before she retired from teaching. We like to get together every now and again to catch up - she and her husband went on a trip to Spain and Portugal earlier this year, so she brought pics of that trip to share with me. They started their trip off in Madrid and it reminded me of our trip there, Krystal. I loved visiting Madrid - we had such a great time there going to the El Prado Art Gallery and seeing 'The Phantom of the Opera' in Spanish (good thing ONE of us understood spanish, eh, Krystal :-) I also shared with Bronwyn about going to a restaurant there and having tapas (a very spanish thing to do) and then you saying, Krystal, that you weren't fussed on them and could we eat at McDonald's. :-) Good memories! :-)

We also went on a couple of beach walks and a walk in the neighbourhood - the weather has been amazing this week (although, I do have to say, that it's pretty amazing most of the year here) - it's been between 27C and 31C this week. We love walking along the beach - we most often walk just at the edge of the water - this week the water was quite warm. We saw a few blue blubber jellyfish washed up on the beach or close to the shore - we thought they were all dead, but we walked around them just to be sure. They can give you quite a nasty sting if they are alive. Last year, when Nana and Warren were here, we saw hundreds of them floating in the ocean close to the shore - people kept out of the water during that time, for sure.

I also went swimming at the aquatic centre three times this week - I am now up to swimming a kilometre (40-25 metre lengths). I sure noticed a difference in how much harder it was after missing swimming while I was in Canada. I even find a difference if I don't go every other day - like this week, I went Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, so Saturday was a bit of a struggle. But, I find that I can make it if I count the lengths in sets of four. I am going to work my way up to swimming two kilometres now.

My new haircut

Dad's new haircut

Sunday, 15 December, 2013

Life is good in Hervey Bay! :-) The sun is shining, the temperature is warm and there is a gentle breeze blowing - can life get any better than this? :-)

Our plane trip back went well - being able to get up front and sleep during the sector from Vancouver to Sydney is so nice - it's hard to get our internal clocks back to HB time when we first get here, but it sure helps when we can get some sleep along the way. We tried to stay awake as long as we could Thursday night when we got home, but we only made it until 8pm. Of course, that meant that we were awake at 4am Friday morning. We did fall back to sleep at 6:30am and got a few more hours of sleep before getting moving.

Qantas replica of a B-737 over the moving sidewalk in Sydney's airport

We didn't have a lot of energy that first day, but we did need to do some grocery shopping and we also stopped at the library to pick up a couple of books. I am going to try and read 'Cutting for Stone' which is the book Terri-Ann's book club is reading this month - I'm not sure if I will be able to get through it, though - it's definitely a 'Terri-Ann' book - it's over 500 pages long. But, I'll give it a go.

Dad dropped me off at Kawungan School on his way home - it was the last day of the school year and I wanted to go in and see the teachers before they headed off for their summer vacation. I talked with the grade one teachers and asked them how they had managed for this term - they told me they still had 1 hour and 10 minutes to go - you can see how much stress those kids put the teachers through this year. One of the teachers made a cake which said 'we survived grade one 2013' - I thought that was very appropriate. Another teacher wanted to get a t-shirt made with that slogan on it, but one of the other teachers didn't think it would be a good idea to do that. :-)

I went and saw the grade two teachers after that. On the way to their port-a-pac, a bunch of grade two kids who I had taught at the beginning of the year, ran up to me and hugged me - they told me that they had missed me - I was so surprised since I had not taught them for eight months. They continued to hug me as I walked into their classroom to say 'hi' to their teacher and a couple of other grade two teachers. One of the students gave me a balloon and a cupcake. It felt so good to be missed by the kids - they were really a nice bunch of students - I wish that all classes would have students that were that easy to teach. I am going to get together with some of the teachers over the holidays so we can catch up.

Saturday morning, I was awake at 4:30am, but Dad was able to sleep in until 7am. Again, we didn't do a lot - I mowed the back lawn and Dad did the whipper snipper. That evening, Dad and I went to 'Carols by Candlelight' down at the Seafront Oval (a large open-grass field) - it was a fabulous evening. We started off by buying some food to eat - a bunch of different organizations were fundraising and we wanted to support them. They didn't have any healthy food, so it was sausages, steak sandwiches, and french fries for dinner. They had a variety of choirs singing Christmas songs while we were eating. Then, afterwards, they put up the lyrics of different Christmas songs on two big screens and everyone sang along - there were hundreds of people there and a lot of them had battery-run candles which they waved in the air as they sang. After the sing-a-long, there was fireworks - there was a little girl sitting behind us and it was so cute as she said 'ooh' and 'aah' as they went off. :-) I've put some pics below as well as the lyrics to 'Jingle Bells' Aussie style.

It was nice to be back in our ward today - the Bishop even welcomed us back from the pulpit. In Relief Society, the President asked me how long I was back for this time. When I showed her six fingers, she said "six days". When I said "six months", I think everybody just about fell off their chairs. They haven't seen us much in the past 6 months! :-) It was really nice to be welcomed back and it will be nice to be around for a little bit.

Australian Jingle Bells

Dashing through the bush,

in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It's Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Engine's getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family's there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.

Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce,
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes 'round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.

Stage for 'Carols by Candlelight'

Crowd getting ready to sing Christmas carols

Stage when the sun went down

Fireworks

Sunday, 10 November, 2013

On Monday, Dad finished up his teaching and he was happy to be done since he had been full-on for eight days straight. He was very pleased with how the course went - he also got some really nice comments about his teaching style, which he really appreciated. After each course, the students are asked to fill out a questionnaire about all aspects of the course. They can just fill in E, VG, G, etc., but they can also write in comments. Dad's boss read the comments and talked to some of the guys on the course afterwards and told Dad that he (Dad) is creating quite a reputation for himself to live up to. :-)

On Tuesday, our friends, Rosalea and Rob drove us to Fremantle which is south of Perth - our friends, Robyn and Geoff had told us that it was a lovely city to visit. We spent such a nice day with Rosalea and Rob - pictures below.

On the way to Fremantle

Cottesloe Beach

Where we ate lunch - their sign said "WA's Number 1 Fish and Chips" - Dad said the fish was excellent

View from the table where we ate lunch

In Fremantle

Above and below: some of the beautiful architecture in Fremantle

'The Round House' - a former prison

I was put on trial on 2.4.1832 for 'larceny of a looking glass' (I stole a mirror). My sentence was 14 days imprisonment and 5 dozen lashes in front of the jail on 7.4.1832 at 12 o'clock

Our friends, Rob and Rosalea

On the way back from Fremantle

Dad and I in front of the Perth skyline

At Hillarys Boat Harbour where we ate supper - Dad and I had some delicious ribs - yummy!

Great fun for the kids at Hilllarys Boat Harbour

On Wednesday, Rosalea and Rob picked us up again and took us to King's Park and Botanic Gardens - another beautiful day - more pics below.

Kangaroo statues on a street in Perth

Dad and I in front of the State war Memorial

Picnicking at Kings Park and Botanic Gardens

Above and below: scenes from the park and in the park

Thursday was our looooooooooooong day of travel. It's a five hour flight from Perth to Brisbane. Then, we had to wait for five hours in Brisbane before we could catch our flight to HB. It was nice to be home (if only for a little while). Since we only had a couple of days home before heading back to Brisbane (where we are now), Dad and I ran around on Friday doing errands and keeping appointments. Then, we relaxed at night - we had Robyn and Geoff over for dinner - a wonderful evening of food and friendship. :-) On Saturday, I was able to attend the Relief Society Christmas activity at church and it was such a lovely afternoon. I love these kind of activities because it gives us time to spend with our 'sisters' - it was so much fun talking with each other for a couple of hours. :-)

I got some sad news this week - my Aunt Beth and my Auntie Norma both messaged me to let me know that my Aunt Janet had passed away. It was such a shock - I had just spent a day with her and Aunt Beth a few weeks ago. Aunt Janet had a mild heart attack and then a major stroke - she was in the hospital at the time of the stroke and she was gone within a day. Her funeral will be in Brisbane on Wednesday, so I am grateful that we are down here at the moment. I am also grateful to have the gospel in my life which teaches that there is a life after this one and that Aunt Janet is with her family (including Poppy).

Sunday, 3 November, 2013

The week has flown by again - that saying 'time flies when you're having fun' really does apply to us, I think. :-)

Dad is quite enjoying teaching this group of students - he says that they are so keen and ask lots of questions. He really likes that - it makes his teaching much more interesting. On Thursday, another employee of QAC (Queensland Aerospace College), Munir, joined us here in Perth. Dad taught the group the theory stuff behind the airplane and Friday to Sunday was the practical hands-on part of the course and so, both Dad and Munir did that part. Munir worked mainly in the cockpit and you can't fit any more than six guys in there at one time (and even that is really squishing it) and Dad took the rest of the guys and did tasks on the rest of the airplane. The course will finish tomorrow (Monday) - Dad will ask each of the guys a question about the airplane just to make sure that they are able to apply the things which they have learned on the course. Then, there's a couple of hours of paperwork to complete before they are done. Dad has had to work eight days straight and he is quite tired, so he will enjoy being able to relax at the end of it.

While he was working, I mostly just relaxed in our condo. On Monday, Dad and I walked to the casino (about 15 minutes away) to check it out. It's quite a big complex with a really fancy hotel which even has a theatre attached to it - they are playing 'South Pacific' beginning next week - I was really hoping that it was playing this coming week while we are still here, but no luck. Dad and I did see this musical when we were in London, but that was years ago. We didn't actually go inside the casino itself, but there sure were a lot of people on the premises.

They have a pool here at the condo complex and I was looking forward to using it on Tuesday, but when I went down and put my foot in, it was freezing. I asked the guy who takes care of things in the complex what the temp of the pool was (he was working on it) and he said 21C - no wonder the water was so cold. He told me that things would be better by the weekend as the heating would be on by then. So, Dad went on the internet and found out where the local pool was and I swam there on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, there were swimming lessons going on in the part of the pool which is 25 metres long, so I had to swim in the lanes which are 50 metres long. I can tell you that it's much harder swimming 50 metres at a time compared to 25 metres! On Saturday, the pool here at the complex was open and heated and so I was able to do my swimming routine in there. It's shorter than 25 metres, but still long enough to get a good swim in.

On Wednesday, Dad and I went for a walk to a park across the road from the casino. While on our walk, we saw a turtle (with the longest neck I have ever seen on a turtle - kind of looked like a snake), a huge pelican and some ducks. We also came into contact with the Perth flies which are very annoying. While we were walking, we did the 'Aussie salute' many times. What is the 'Aussie salute', you ask? The definition found in Wikipedia is "the waving of one's hand in front of the face at regular intervals in order to prevent bush flies from landing on it, or entering one's nose or mouth." They are very persistent flies, I can tell you, and we have been told that they aren't even at their worst yet. Ugh - there's no way I would want to live here!

On Friday, I went for a walk by the river (about a 25 minute walk from the condo) and it is such a beautiful place - I wanted to take some pictures of it to show you, but Dad needed the camera to take some pictures of the airplane - I will try to get some pics of the park before we leave. I walked along a path beside the river where ducks and swans were swimming. The park has a playground, lots of benches, picnic tables, barbecues and trees. The day was warm and sunny with a slight breeze, so it was a perfect time to go for a long walk and I enjoyed being outside in nature.

Dad worked yesterday and today and so our friends, Rob and Rosalea (who used to live in HB) invited me to spend the weekend with them. They picked me up on Saturday just before lunch and we began our tour drive. We made four stops before lunch: a chocolate factory (with taste testings), a grape juice farm (with taste testings), a nougat store (with taste testing) and another chocolate factory (with taste testing). Do you see a pattern here? :-) So, after our morning snacks, we headed to a place called 'Hillarys Boat Harbour' - what a beautiful place! Here's the write-up on the internet about it: "Since opening in 1988, Hillarys Boat Harbour has been a premier recreational destination for Perth locals and visitors. In addition to boat pens, the Harbour offers a wide range of restaurants, attractions, activities, shops, and services catering to fishermen, boaters, beach goers, tourists and local residents." There were some cute shops there which we had a sticky beak in as well.

Before church, Rosalea and I made home-made scones and put the ingredients for a lamb stew in the slow cooker. Dad came for dinner and we enjoyed delicious food and good conversations with our friends. We are looking forward to spending Tuesday and Wednesday with them seeing some more sights of Perth and surrounding areas. This time I will have the camera with me and I will take some pics to put on the blog next Sunday.

Sunday, 27 October, 2013

I thought that this week would go really slow until I joined Dad in Perth, but the days actually went quickly (although the evenings when I was alone were boring).

Dad said that the course in Adelaide went really well. The guys on the course were really keen and interested in learning about the engine Dad was sent to teach them about. All of them passed Dad's portion of the course, so he was happy about that. On Thursday afternoon, Dad flew to Perth and on Friday, he began teaching his next course with a new bunch of guys. On Friday, they spent the day at the airport on the airplane doing various tasks - this course is a practical one, although there is going to be some classroom instruction involved.

My week in HB was spent eating healthy and exercising: walking on Monday and Wednesday and swimming on Tuesday (on my own) and Thursday (with my adult swim class). When I went to the class on Thursday, there were only two of us, but we still had the class which I was really happy about. The instructor told me that my front crawl technique was really good which I was really happy to hear. Now, she says, I need to work on my breathing. One of the way to build on that is trying to swim as far as we can in a rocket position (hands clasped and arms out straight in front of me and kicking like crazy while holding my breath) - my goal was to get to the middle point of the lane and this week I made it three out of six times so I am improving.

On Thursday, Robyn and I got together to spent the day hanging out. We went to the beach to have a swim and read our books while sitting on the shore. Well, we ended up doing neither. The wind was really blowing fiercely, so we gave the swim a miss. We set up our beach chairs on the sand and started chatting - two hours later, we still hadn't opened up our books. :-) Robyn invited me back to her place for lunch, after which I treated her to an iced chocolate at a local cafe (an iced chocolate is like a chocolate milk with a scoop of ice cream on it and topped with whipped cream - they are so yummy). :-) Robyn and Geoff invited me back to their place for dinner after my swim lesson - good food and good friendship is a great combo.

On Friday, I had my doctor's appointment. He wants to keep track of how I am doing on my weight loss - when he saw the number of kilograms I have lost, he got a big smile on his face and said 'Magnificent'. :-) I love that word! :-) He was very pleased and told me to keep it up - he also told me that I had motivated him to get back to his weight loss. I was very pleased at how well I had done, as well - so, I need to keep it up.

My flight to Perth on Saturday was long and I was happy to finally arrive here. I was met by Dad and our friend, Rosalea. Rosalea and her husband, Rob used to live in HB - they were the first ones in our ward to invite us over for dinner to welcome us to HB. Rob works in the mines and so he was not home - it was really good to see Rosalea again. After church, Rosalea invited us to her place for dinner - she invited her son, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter to join us. She made a feast for us (steak, lamb, salad) and we enjoyed the food and the time with Rosalea and her family.

The condo which Dad's company is renting here in Perth is very nice - and wonderfully decorated. It's a two-bedroom, two bathroom condo with beautiful furniture and great decor. It's about a ten minute drive to the downtown area of Perth and about a ten minute drive to the airport. The only thing within walking distance from the condo is a casino and a large park. At the condo, however, they do have a gym and a pool - the pool is not heated at the moment, but will be starting on Friday. I plan on trying it out on Tuesday - not sure how cold it will be, so not sure how long I will last. :-)

Sunday, 20 October, 2013

A week at home has been nice - some relaxing time and some busy time. :-)

It turned out that Dad didn't go to Melbourne this week. His boss was able to get an airplane down there for them to do some training on, but most of the guys couldn't get the time off work, so they are going to do it at a later date. Dad spent a lot of this week prepping for the course in Adelaide and then for the Perth course. He spent a lot of time organizing his pictures of the different airplanes, so that it's faster to access them as he is talking about them. He also spent a lot of time organizing how he will use his time in Perth as he will have to share the time with another instructor.

On Tuesday, my friend, Maureen took me out for morning tea to a cute little cafe in River Heads which is about a fifteen minute drive from HB. We sat on the patio and had an amazing view of the Mary River (pics below). We had a slice of cake (I had a Mars bar slice) and a hot chocolate and just sat and chatted. We ended up talking for over three hours. :-) When I got home, I went off to the pool so that I could get in another 30 lengths. I was still tired after I was done, but it felt good as usual. :-)

On Wednesday, Dad and I met up with Robyn and Geoff down at the beach. We had a barbecue (steak, salad, fruit) and then went for an hour long walk along the beach. The day was perfect and we had a great time catching up with our friends.

On Thursday (at 5:30pm), I went to the pool for my first time at the 'Adult Swim Class'. Jo (a woman) is our instructor and she is really good. She actually teaches swimming as her job, including teaching a swim club after school. There were five of us at the class and basically Jo told us what to swim and we did it. We started off by 'warming up' - swimming six lengths (that was more than just a warm-up for me, I can tell you :-) We continued to swim lengths for the rest of the hour (some with legs only, some like a 'rocket', some using a flutterboard to practice breathing alternately to the right and left). As Jo watched us swim, she gave us suggestions on how to better our stroke technique. It was a great workout and I was exhausted by the end of it - and I am looking forward to next week's class. :-)

On Friday, Dad and I went out for lunch to celebrate our anniversary - we decided to go to the same cafe which Maureen took me to on Tuesday. We sat out on the patio and Dad loved the view as much as I did. Dad had the seafood basket (which he really liked) and I had the quiche (pretty ordinary) and we decided to buy a mud cake (chocolate cake) from the grocery store to have for dessert. The mud cakes here are just so yummy - we hadn't had one for over three months (the whole time we were away in Melbourne and Brisbane) and I just relished each bite. :-)

We didn't get to stay too long at the cafe as Dad had to get home to put a warm pack and a cold pack (alternately) on his shoulder/neck. He had gone to the chiropractor on Tuesday for a regular check-up and she asked him to come back on Friday. When he went in Friday morning, she did the regular routine and then asked Dad if he minded her doing some acupuncture on him because he had a really tight knot in his neck. After his session, the chiropractor asked him to go home and put a warm pad on his shoulder/neck for 20 minutes and then a cold pack for ten minutes and to continue doing this all afternoon and then to return to her office again at 5pm. At that time, she massaged out his neck a little more and he finds it is a lot better now.

While Dad was at the chiropractor's, I went into Kawungan State School to see the grade one teachers. I especially wanted to see Fiona again (the teacher whose class I was supposed to cover) to apologize again for not taking her contract. She told me that she was actually happy that I didn't take it - she said that she was really glad that I decided to take care of myself - she thought that was way more important than teaching her class. I was so happy to hear that - everyone was happy to see me - they are such a lovely group of women - and it was so nice. I asked Fiona how the teacher coped who did take her contract and she said that she did not have a good time - in fact, she told Luise (another grade one teacher) that she would not come in for any of the grade one teachers at Kawungan for the rest of the year. When I heard that, I was VERY glad that I did not take the contract. Luise also told me that she will be teaching only half-time in two years and asked me if I would be interested in teaching with her. I would LOVE to do that as she and I get along really well and teach in a very similar style - and, even more importantly, discipline in a very similar style. I don't know if it will work out, but it was very nice to be asked. :-)

On Saturday, Dad needed to do some more prepping (just making sure that he was ready for both Adelaide and Perth) - he will be in Adelaide from today until Thursday (exam day for his students) and then will fly to Perth that evening and begin teaching the new course there on Friday - so he will have no time to prep for that Friday before he gets there. While he was busy doing that (and packing for his trip), I went to the pool again. Jo (the adult swim teacher) suggested that I get a swim cap, so I bought one on Saturday. I couldn't believe how much further I could swim before getting tired out. I guess having to deal with hair in my face every time I breathed was taking it out of me. I tried to remember all the different things which Jo had had us do on Thursday - I ended up swimming for 50 minutes and got a very good workout. I was very tired and worn out, but it felt great! :-)

Dad headed out to Adelaide this morning - he emailed me once he got to Sydney safe and sound and then skyped with me once he arrived in Adelaide. The flight from Sydney to Adelaide was delayed because an airplane blew some tires on the landing and so one runway was closed until it could be cleaned up. Dad said that everyone had to sit in their airplane for an hour until they were given the clearance to take off. He was happy to arrive in Adelaide finally. :-) He picked up his rental car at the airport and drove to his hotel (a very nice large room, he said) and was heading out to get some supper (by the time he got to his hotel, it was 8pm and he was starving! :-) We both wish that I was in Adelaide with him, but I am sure that this week will go fast and he will be picking me up in Perth on Saturday evening. :-)