Sunday, 14 June, 2015

Well, it took us almost a week to get over the jet lag this trip - I couldn't believe it - we just couldn't seem to get back on track time-wise and kept waking up around 4am cuz we kept going to bed around 8pm - we just couldn't seem to keep our eyes open past that time.  So, we did very little for those first days back in Australia.

Robyn gave me a sweet gift this week - she is such a thoughtful friend - she saw this material at the store - it has giraffes all over it - she made it into a cushion for me.  I love it - it has a place of honour now on one of our chairs in the front room.

 Front of the cushion Robyn made for me

Back of cushion Robyn made for me

We invited Robyn to dinner a few times this past week - it's lonely for her on her own and she loves getting out of her house every now and then.  It was so nice to get together with her and to catch up after being away.  We also had the missionaries over this week for dinner - they are both new ones since we left HB last - it was nice to eat with them and get to know them a little.  One of them is from Utah and the other from Japan - we have never had a Japanese missionary in our ward before - it would be nice to have them over more often so that we could learn more about life in Japan.

Elder Kishi, Elder Twogood, Dad, Robyn and me

On Friday, I met up with my friend, Denise - it was her birthday on the Thursday, but she wasn't home on that day, so I took her out for an iced chocolate at 'The Coffee Club'.  It was great to catch up with her as well and it was fun to turn someone else on to iced chocolates. :-)

Denise and me with our iced chocolates at 'The Coffee Club'

Saturday, we had our friends, Thea and Martin, over for dinner - they are friends from church - along with Robyn.  We always enjoy having friends for dinner and it was great to spend some time with them and get to know them better.  I wish that I had remembered to take a photo of them - next time.

It is nice to be back in our ward again, if only for a few Sundays.  Everyone always makes us feel welcome every time we come back home. :-)

Sunday, 3 May, 2015

Dad finished his course on Friday - yay!  He was very pleased with how things went overall.  All of the guys passed and Dad received some really nice reviews of his teaching style.

We took a lot of walks this week including one where we walked to a gym nearby (well, a 35 minute walk 'nearby' the unit).  I had seen a sign last time we were here advertizing that there were classes for $5. at the gym and I wanted to find out more about that.  It turns out that you don't have to join the gym to participate in these classes which is great for me since we are here only sporadically.  I am really interested in the yoga classes, so next time we are here, I am hoping to be able to try one of those out.

Yesterday, we decided to go to another movie.  I had seen a segment of a show about a new movie called 'Boychoir' - they were interviewing one of the main characters in the movie on this show and I recognized him from a tv show called 'Glee' that I used to watch.  The movie also starred Dustin Hoffman and Kathy Bates.  The movie is basically about a troubled young boy who is given an opportunity to join the 'American Boychoir' and how he grows into a fine young man.  The two young male leads were not great actors, but Dustin Hoffman was fabulous!  It was a really nice movie.

We packed up our suitcases today and are ready to fly to Sydney tomorrow and then on to Canada on Tuesday.

Sunday, 26 April, 2015

Dad's course started this past Monday - he is teaching about the A320 aircraft.  He has 10 guys in the class and they are very familiar with the airplane, so Dad is finding it an easy course to teach.  The course itself has been changed quite a bit since Dad taught it last and so he has spent a number of hours after work each day prepping for the following day.

I have spent most of my time this week preparing for the talk which I gave today at church.  It takes me ages to get a talk together and then usually I write it and rewrite it and rewrite it again and again.  I then have to practice it tons of times so that when I give it, I can keep eye contact with the congregation as much as possible.  Dad fine-tuned his talk yesterday.  After we gave our talks today, we received some very positive feedback which was nice to get.  My favourite quote in my talk was from President Thomas S. Monson........."Not a day has gone by that I have not communicated with my Father in Heaven through prayer.  It is a relationship I cherish - one I would literally be lost without.  If you do not now have such a relationship with your Father in Heaven, I urge you to work toward that goal.  As you do so, you will be entitled to His inspiration and guidance in your life - necessities for each of us if we are to survive spiritually during our sojourn here on earth.  Such inspiration and guidance are gifts He freely gives if we but seek them.  What treasures they are!  I am always humbled and grateful when my Heavenly Father communicates with me through His inspiration.  I have learned to recognize it, to trust it, and to follow it."

I have been reading a lot this week (at night just before bed) and I am quite enjoying it.  It's great having my e-reader and being able to download books from the library (thanks, Jennifer! :-)  I am reading books that I found good reviews for on goodreads.com (I could spend ages on that site) and are not the usual books I read (which are usually crime novels from authors like Mary Higgins Clark or James Patterson).  I am currently reading 'Big Little Lies' which was chosen by the online book club that I joined.

Dad and I went out for dinner on Friday to a local hotel.  We had been there before and had had a nice meal, so thought we would go there again.  We both had a chicken meal and, although the chicken was cooked beautifully, there was not much flavour in the meals - a bit of a disappointment.  After dinner, we decided to go to a movie - Dad was able to get cheap tickets through our mobile phone provider.  We had seen the movie 'Paul Blart - Mall Cop' a number of years ago and had laughed our heads off through the whole movie.  So, when 'Paul Blart - Mall Cop 2' came out recently, we were looking forward to seeing it.  It was a little bit disappointing as there weren't many laughs during the first half of the movie, but the second half was full of laughs, so it redeemed itself a little.

On Sunday, we invited our Canadian friends, Trevor (the Bishop of the ward we go to) and his wife, Debbie, around for dinner.  We made 'chicken broccoli divan' (thanks, Krystal) and it went over very well (as it always does).  It was great to have a chance to catch up with Trevor and Debbie again since it's been ages since we were in Melbourne.

Sunday, April, 19, 2015

Today at church we met up with our Canadian friends, Trevor and Debbie Coates,  in the ward here.  We were surprised to find out that, since we were last here, Trevor had been called as the Bishop of the ward.  After Sacrament meeting, Trevor asked us if we would meet with him in his office.  When we met up with him there, he asked us if we would each give a talk in Sacrament meeting next week.  He told us that things had not worked out with the people who he thought should give the talks and he felt that we were here in this ward often enough to be counted as part of the congregation.  He said that when he saw us he felt it was right to ask us to give the talks.  Of course, we readily agreed.  Trevor told us that the theme of the meeting was 'Continuing Revelation'.  I have decided to give my talk on personal revelation and Dad has decided to give his talk on 'Revelation from the Prophets and Leaders of the Church'.  Neither one of us is nervous about giving these talks next week as the members of this ward have made us feel so welcome and a part of this ward right from the first time we came here.

Saturday, 18 April, 2015 - Day 7

Today was a driving day back to the unit.  We woke up late and took our time getting ready before heading off on the three hour drive back to Melbourne.  We did crossword puzzles and I read articles from a Good Health magazine to Dad along the way and the time went really fast – we were home before we knew it.

Dad and I had a fantastic time on our holiday.  We walked a lot every day (over 7 kms each day), we were outside in the fresh air, and we relaxed every evening.  It was just what we both hoped the trip would be.  We have decided to do more of these trips whenever Dad isn't working.

Friday, 17 April, 2015 - Day 6

We drove to the Tower Hill State Game Reserve this morning.  Tower Hill is an enormous volcanic crater rimmed by beds of volcanic ash.  The swampy floor of the crater is punctuated by conical hills which, after good rains, virtually become islands surrounded by a shallow lake.  The inside of the crater, and the island-hills are now a wildlife reserve and there are lots of native birds and wildlife there, including koalas, kangaroos, and emus.  It also has an important place in local Aboriginal history. The centre is managed by the Worn Gundidj Aboriginal Co-operative - they sell aboriginal arts and crafts and provide guided tours.  Our guide, Chris (an aboriginal) took us and a German couple on the tour.  He was very knowledgeable about the plants and animals we saw along the way.  He told us what the plants were used for by the aboriginal people and also had us taste a couple of them (not to my taste).  We didn't see many animals, but we managed to see one koala (high up in a tree), a copperhead snake, a wallaby and a skink.  At the end of the tour, Chris showed us how to throw a boomerang.  We all threw one a number of times and although the two Germans and I were able to get the boomerangs to curve a little, Dad actually got his to come almost all the way back to him – I think it has to do with his aeronautical skill. J

 Emus at the reserve

 Emu looking at us

Copperhead snake

 Wallaby

 Emu at a viewpoint over looking the volcanic crater on Tower Hill Reserve

We had made such good time on our holiday that we actually had half a day not filled and so we decided to drive to a little town near the reserve called Port Fairy.  After checking at the Tourist Info Centre to see what there was to see and do in Port Fairy, we decided to grab some lunch and then take a walk along Fisherman’s Wharf.  While we were walking along it, we noticed some fishermen were cleaning their fish – they had caught the biggest fish (tuna) I had ever seen.  The cleaning station was right beside a canal and in the water, waiting for the leftovers, was a seal and two stingrays.  We then took a walk to the Griffiths Island Lighthouse.  On the way to the lighthouse and back again, we saw a wallaby.  It seems that they are solitary creatures and a bit skittish, too.

 Fishermen cleaning their catch of the day

 Seal waiting for the fishermen to throw him some leftover fish

 Stingray and seal waiting for scraps from the fishermen

Me in front of the Griffiths Island lighthouse

 Waves crashing in the surf near the lighthouse

 Showing the solar panels (on the left hand side) of the lighthouse

Wallaby on our walk back from the lighthouse

 Me in front of the wallaby

 Interesting birds we saw on our walk back from the lighthouse (above and below)

We finished off our day with another swim in the hotel pool.

Thursday, 16 April, 2015 - Day 5

Today was the day we saw the main attraction along the Great Ocean Road – the Twelve Apostles.  Before we got to the twelve apostles,though, we walked down the Gibson Steps – 86 steps which take you down to a beach and a view of the rock stacks known as Gog and Magog.  When we looked at them from the cliff before we walked down the steps, we thought they looked amazing.  But, when we got down the steps and walked up close to them (as close as we could since they are in the water), they looked magnificent.  I can’t describe the feeling we got looking up at them – just incredible!

 View from the top of the Gibson Steps

 The Gibson Steps

 Me 'leaning against' the rock stack

 Dad in front of Gog and Magog

Beach at the bottom of the Gibson Steps

 Me sitting at the base of the limestone cliffs

The twelve apostles are wave-sculpted landforms (they called them ‘rock stacks’) – the limestone stacks tower 45 metres above the ocean.  These stacks were originally called 'The Sow and Piglets', but in 1922, they were renamed The Apostles for tourism purposes, later becoming known as the Twelve Apostles (despite only ever having nine stacks).  They are the most photographed attraction in the area.   These can only be seen from the cliffs, but they are still spectacular!

The Twelve Apostles

 Gog and Magog from the viewing platform where the Twelve Apostles can be viewed

 Me in front of the Twelve Apostles

 Dad in front of the Twelve Apostles

Dad and me in front of the Twelve Apostles

Explanation of how the Twelve Apostles were formed (click to enlarge if you want to read it)

A little further down the road is Loch Ard Gorge.  It’s named after the clipper ship the Loch Ard which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on June 1, 1878 near the end of its journey from England to Melbourne.  We took a walk around the gorge and the views were fabulous!

 Thunder Cave - part of one of the Loch Ard Gorge walks we did

View from one of the Loch Ard Gorge walks

Our next stop was the ‘Bay of Islands’ – part of a 32 kilometre long coastal reserve - more coastal views, cliff formations and rock stacks.  This whole part of the Great Ocean Road has been beautiful! 

Our final stop was in Warrnambool where we splurged a little bit and stayed at a nice hotel with an indoor pool which we took advantage of when we arrived.