Day 3 & 4

Watch out fish, here we come!North Arm Richmond River, Ballina, Australia

Australian Outback Spectacular - Yee Haw!
Could you help me with my camera?

Joe Bill & his Bride at Dangerous Palm Cove

Wednesday was a beautiful day in Ballina, so Murray & Joe Bill went to the sand bar on the river and got some yabbies to use as bait. Sandy & I sat on a bench and watched them for awhile, and timed it just right to witness Joe Bill pull in a small whiting fish. We then took a drive into the country, accompanied by my 85 years young Aunt, and had lunch at a delightful restaurant called Eltham Pantry. We then drove 1.5 hours north to have afternoon tea with my younger sister Loretta and her husband Peter who live on the Gold Coast. A late decision saw us getting tickets to attend the Australian Outback Spectacular (Aussie version of the Dixie Stampede) and we donned our ten gallon hats and took our seats in the arena. The background scenery of the Australian bush was beautiful, but then I am prejudiced of course. The horses put on a great display and the riders were very talented. I loved seeing the riders wearing their Drizabones and looking very much like our traditional stockmen and women.

After the show we drove up to Brisbane and checked into a motel which was only 15 minutes from the airport for our flight to Cairns this morning. As we drove into the grounds of our motel late at night, Joe Bill thought he was experiencing deja vu. The motel reminded him of Bates Motel in the movie Psycho, and he was a bit wary, but did not mention his concerns until this morning. Fortunately he had no complaints. Cairns was a very smooth 2.15 hr flight away and despite the recent cyclone and residual tropical depression, we were greeted by blue skies amid the threatening clouds. Our motel overlooking the ocean is spacious with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a kitchen & laundry. Our taxi driver recommended that we catch a bus to Palm Cove to enjoy the lovely beach. Well, none of us thought much of the beach for a start, but when the female lifeguards said it was a very dangerous beach due to deadly jellyfish, we were glad it was windy and spitting with rain and therefore we had not been tempted to go in for a swim! Joe Bill espied a pretty young Japanese lady and quickly came up with an excuse to chat with her - he thought he had a Japanese Nikon camera and went over to seek her assistance, but she pointed out it was a US Kodak camera! Oh dear, Joe Bill!! But yes, she was cute....

Gold Coast, Australia

DAY TWO Speedo Mate in Caloundra
Grant, Audrey, Murray, Trish Sandy, Joe Bill

Murray, Audrey, Grant, Trish, Joe Bill, Sandy, Tony, Yudian at Mt Tamborine
Joe Bill and Sandy in Surfers Paradise

Overlooking a beach south of Byron Bay

Scarlett & Betsy Help...they won't give me time to do up my blog! Day two of the Meador visit and we started with breakfast overlooking the sea inlet. As we walked outside a guy wearing his speedos offered to take a photo of us all, but we took one of him instead! Just under an hour south and we were at the Gold Coast - Joe Bill and Sandy stood in the entrance of the tourist capital - Surfers Paradise. We then called in on friends Audrey & Grant who have a stunning 1 acre property with their own billabong (waterhole) and picturesque view. From there, we drove up into the hinterland to Mount Tamborine to have lunch with Audrey, Grant, my brother Tony & his wife Yudian. The view back to the Gold Coast with the Pacific Ocean behind it was delightful. A kookaburra (bird) flew in the show off to our US guests, but as he didn't laugh for us, Audrey gave them a realistic demonstration instead.

After a pleasant sojourn we said goodbye to our lunch companions, and drove down south of the Gold Coast to check out the view from Crocodile Dundee's hotel on the ocean front at Byron Bay. The sun was getting lower so the view was muted, but beautiful. We drove past the chaps playing cricket on the oval, then checked out the lighthouse above the million dollar homes overlooking the ocean. After we drove through Lennox Heads we saw the surfers sitting on their boards waiting to catch the waves. Didn't see any dolphins today though. We arrived into Ballina around 6.30pm and we were ready to relax, so just picked up a rotisserie chicken and some fresh bread rolls and sat on the verandah and had a quiet dinner. After some discussions on our itinerary for the following day, we went to bed to rest up for another day of activities.

Visit to Australia Zoo

Joe Bill Rescues his Darling from the Jaws of the Croc

Sandy meets Aussie Hunk

Our Arkansan friends Joe Bill & Sandy flew into Brissie today, touching down at the airport at 7.45am after 13 hours 55 mins in the air! They had a good flight on Qantas, were rested and ready to see the Australian sights. We thought we would start of with Australia Zoo, so a one hour trip north and we were there - that was after Joe Bill went to sit in the passenger side only to find Murray was behind the steering wheel on the right hand side of the car. Being in a car driving on the left hand side of the road took a bit of getting used to. We had a very pleasant day patting kangaroos, seeing a baby koala on his mother's back, fighting crocodiles (thank goodness Joe Bill was there to rescue Sandy from the jaws of this huge croc) and and checking out dingoes and Tasmanian Devils. There were platypus there too, but as they are nocturnal, the staff have them in a separate enclosure slowly converting them into diurnal creatures so that they will be awake during some of the day.


While we were visiting Joe Bill & Sandy in Arkansas in August last year, we had about 3 days of heavy rain as a result of a hurricane Gustav in Galveston. So guess what, they arrived in Queensland to hear Cairns was hit by a cyclone earlier today - as part of the tropical depression in this area, we had a shower of rain so decided to call it a day at the Zoo and head to our overnight accommodation at Caloundra on the coast. Sandy met a very nice young man and he was keen to take her for a ride on his wind surfer, but she hastily declined. Joe Bill made a sigh of relief as the wind had picked up and he was thinking he might never see his Sandy again if she took off with the young hunk! We had a lovely meal overlooking the ocean, had an icecream at Baskin Robbins, then returned to our apartment for an early night. So endeth their first day in Oz!

Beach Scenes

Young lads surveying the surf
Our car and 'our' seat by the beach
Shelley Beach

Many people ask me how I fill my time now that I am retired. I cannot believe how much fun stuff there is to do now that my 38 years of working 'for the man' and raising 3 kids are behind me. Most days involve a walk to the local library to read the day's paper, and then I might think of some book to look up, or a DVD to borrow. Yesterday I read and worked my way through a few modules of a book writing course in the afternoon and again in the evening, and didn't turn the computer off until it was almost midnight. I am also spending some time surfing the internet looking for interesting things to do while our American friends are visiting. Other friends of ours from Florida are hoping our next RV itinerary can fit in with an RV trip they are doing to Charleston, South Carolina, so I have been working out distances and dates to see if that will work - I have a bit of juggling to do for the first 3 weeks after we arrive in the US, but we have now sorted our dates for South Carolina, and even identified the park where we will park side by side for a week. My friend was going to book the park this week.

Each day in retirement is a bit different for us here in Ballina, but the first thing I do when my feet hit the floor is to give thanks for the fact that I have actually woken to another day! Another day to have a crack at those things that always seemed to be put off until I retired and had some time, like writing! Whether I will actually write a book I have no idea, but it sure is fun trying. It is also a bonus to be able to read until you want, which is something I could not do when I was working full time and needed to set the alarm for 6am. We are also keen to do some voluntary work and enquired in a soup kitchen in the CBD, but we are coming and going so much in the coming weeks (up north to Cairns, down to Sydney & Melbourne) that we can't get that organised at this time.

Yesterday Murray & I decided to check out the view from a small country golf course a few miles away. They have a cafe overlooking the first tee and the green stretches out several feet below - a moderate gradient to get down to play the second shot. We had a coffee there and enjoyed the vista. On the way home we drove though a seaside town and as it was Sunday and holiday season, there were huge numbers of board surfers out catching the waves. A beautiful sight. We continued on to Shelley Beach which is a few miles up the road from our place and decided to park the car and do a brisk walk along the sand. I am very keen to improve my general fitness level. When we finished our walk we sat on a seat overlooking the beach and just enjoyed watching the waves and the cloud formations. Things we never had much time to do until now. Just as we were about to leave, two young lads (about 15 years old) turned up and surveyed the waves before choosing the area they were going to body surf. Next minute they were running down to the water and we watched them bobbing in the waves before we hopped in our car and drove home.

This morning I had a CD to post off to my brother in Japan, so I walked about one and a half miles to the post office, then walked along the river to the library to read today's newspaper. I noticed the high water level in the river (close to the sea mouth) which reminded me of reports that tonight the moon would be the closest it has been to earth for 15 years, and so the tides were supposed to peak as well. Although it was 2 hrs past high tide, I walked home, had a health smoothie for lunch with Murray, then I jumped in the car and drove to the same beach where we were yesterday. The waves were really rolling in, and I went into the water to take some photos back towards the headland for you. I then went and sat back on the same chair as yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, the same two lads turned up again to survey the waves; so I took a picture of them for you!

I had arranged to drop in on my sister, so we sat at her place and chatted for awhile before I invited her to join me for a quick foray to the grocery store - we are preparing dinner for friends up on the Gold Coast tomorrow night, and I needed to pick up some supplies. Now I am back home and thought I would add an entry to the blog before doing some more work on my writing modules - or will I read a few chapters on my new book on Digital Camera Photography or shall I design some bead jewellery for a market stall I plan to have in America? Decisions, decisions...After dinner this evening when it cools down a bit, my sister and I are doing a brisk walk on the path along the river.

Odyssey 2009

Andre Rieu Concert in Brisbane

Sister Loretta (Ret) & cousin Claire at Andre Rieu

Murray & my daughter Kim

Me with Kim at the beach

Son Mark, me & Kim out Christmas shopping

Wow - over 1 month has passed since I last blogged...so much to do, so little time. I never thought retirement could be this busy nor this enjoyable. Who would have thought I would get to have front arena seats at an Andre Rieu concert in Brisbane and share the evening with two of my sisters, my niece (who generously donated my ticket) and my brother-in-law. Wonders never cease!

In December my girlfriend Caren who worked at the hospital where I did my nurse training in 1970 drove down to Ballina and spent a night at the motel across the road; we had a nice evening to chat and catch up. Just before Christmas our friends Bev & Ross left for a year or two (or three) sojourn in Canada renting a stunning property in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Ross is there stuydying at uni and has started up a blog which will bring their adventures alive for their friends. I have no doubt some nice bottles of red wine will loose their corks when we drop in on them during our upcoming US/Canada RV trip.

Christmas was very exciting for me as I had 2 of my 3 kids home for the celebrations. I knew my youngest son Mark was flying down from Darwin, and I knew my eldest son Benn was one of the pilots on a Qantas flight to Los Angeles and had planned to spend the day in the snow at Big Bear Mountain, but I was very pleasantly surprised when my daughter Kim (who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada) arrived in Ballina, as a surprise, the week before Christmas. Benn and Kim had contrived to get her here as a surprise, but she had to spill the beans a few days before her flight in case I read about it on her Facebook! My last remaining Aunty joined the 4 of us for a special Christmas lunch. The next day my mum, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, a sister and a brother-in-law, Aunt, Kim & Mark joined Murray & I in a family Christmas celebration at my sister Ret's place on the Gold Coast. Murray also had the pleasure of catching up with his 3 kids in Melbourne in early December - we will see them again in March before we fly back to the US. While he was in Melbourne Murray also got to spend an evening with an American friend of ours who now lives in Melbourne but was leaving a few days later to fly back to the USA to visit family. Hope you had a great time with them Scott! Enjoy the snow there as it is hot, hot, hot back here in Oz.

A few days later my girlfriend Jen who I did my general nurse and midwifery training with came to visit with her husband. They stayed a night at a Ballina motel and we had afternoon tea and dinner together, then her & I sat on a bench by the river and chatted until midnight. It was gerat to see them again. No sooner was Christmas over before the New Year was upon us and we watched the fireworks explode at midnight on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Then 16 hours later, the ball dropped in New York City.

Tomorrow my girlfriend (a nurse who entered the Air Force on the same day as I did 20+ years ago) is coming to visit and will stay the night at the motel across the road (they are getting a bit of business out of our visitors). We saw Heather when we first got back to Oz, but I am looking forward to seeing her again.

An exciting start to the new year included news that friends of ours from Arkansas have decided to make a visit downunder, arriving on 2 Feb. We are looking forward to showing Sandy & Joe Bill some Australiana - first stop is the Crocodile Hunter's (recently departed ) Australia Zoo - we have never been there before, so that will be a first for them and us! I am sure there will be further accounts of their visit in a later blog. Until then, I trust your new year is starting on a good note, and that I have lots more wonderful adventures to add to this blog...

House Hunting, Weddings and Yabbying

My brother Tony and his wife Yudian at canal home

Pineapples, Rainbow Lorikeets and Mango tree (click on the photo to appreciate)
Wedding Marquee with Brisbane skyline

It is only two weeks since my last entry, and we have made a few trips up to the Gold Coast and Brisbane. I was about to say the weather is stunning, but then remembered we have had several days of rain which have been much appreciated. In fact Tamworth (Country & Western Capital) is flooded at the moment – the farmers there must be pulling their hair out – they have poor crops for several years due to drought and this year they had bumper grain crops ready for harvest, but now most crops are lost.

One of the trips to the Gold Coast was a visit with my brother and he took us to look at properties along the river. Some very nice properties indeed. We were invited to join his friends at their property on a canal. They have their own white sand beach, and lovely rainbow lorikeets fed in their garden. Tropical fruits such as pineapple and mangoes grow in their garden. Check out the photos.

The son of one of my girlfriend’s got married in Brisbane last weekend. The wedding reception was held in a large marquee complete with crystal chandeliers and overlooking Brisbane skyline. Very picturesque. We danced all night and had a fabulous time.

Yesterday Murray got an early Christmas present when I bought him a yabbie pump. He checked it was low tide, then packed up his fishing tackle including his shiny new pump, and walked down to the river to try out his new toy. I wandered down a while later and put into practice the skills my father taught me, and in no time at all I had two wriggling yabbies to offer him for bait. Sadly, no fish were interested, so we ended up having pork chops instead of fresh fish with our salad!!

Ending with a good news story: Qantas had a 2 for 1 sale last week and we were able to book our return tickets to the US for half price. We arrive back in Los Angeles and Kansas City on Sunday 29th March for another 6 month trip. I daresay many companies will be offering discounts in the months to come – airlines, cruise lines, department stores, as they try to stay afloat in these troubled financial times. Now we just have to hope the aussie dollar picks up a bit so we don’t loose too much in the conversion to greenbacks.

Driving Trip Ballina Canberra Sydney Ballina

Route from Ballina to Canberra to Sydney and home to Ballina

Jacarandas in bloom throughout trip

Country Friends

Murray & Benn (my son) at Coogee Beach, Sydney
Benn with his mum at Coogee Beach, Sydney
Aussie Country Road

On Tuesday last week, Murray & I drove my sister’s car to Canberra (750 miles), as she needed to swap it with her newer car left in Canberra. It was lovely driving along the country roads and seeing the countryside in the spring when it is still nice and green. I daresay the green will have turned to yellow or brown come the end of a hot summer.

While we were in Canberra we caught up with family and friends which is always enjoyable. Another couple we met up with are heading to Canada for 18 months, and are talking of buying an RV trailer and traveling the USA. We hope to visit them on our next US RV trip.

We stayed in Canberra for 4 nights before driving 3 hours East to Sydney where my eldest son Benn lives. We arrived on his 30th birthday and celebrated with a lovely lunch for the three of us, then a dinner with 8 of his friends. Both venues were overlooking the scenic Coogee Beach. His girlfriend joined us for breakfast the next morning before we drove out of Sydney and headed 450 miles north to Ballina. Only 2 hrs north of Sydney we stopped in to visit the daughter of a dear American friend of ours, and had lunch overlooking the water. The East Coast of Australia has some very pretty beaches with surf rolling into light, sandy beaches. The famous Bondi Beach a lot of you ask about is the second beach to the north of Coogee Beach.

The only downside of our trip was that it coincided with the US election, and we were aware that we were missing all the media highlights. I know many of you are very happy with the outcome of Obama’s election, but I’m just as conscious that there are some of you who would have preferred McCain. Hopefully Obama and his team will provide the US with sound steering in the turbulent times ahead.

End of First Month Home

We live at the end of this streetPandanus Plant with Fruit

On my river walk looking out to the sea

A layout of the area (oops - this one won't optimise with a mouse click!)

It is now November, so we have been home in Aus for a full month. You would think that would have been plenty of time for us to get settled, but we are still a bit discombobulated. Don't you love that word - I first heard the word when a dear American friend of mine used it. I find it is perfect to describe how I feel at times...a bit dislocated or disorganised I guess.

While we are in the USA, we have everything we need for the RV lifestyle we live there, but over here, we are trying to live a normal lifestyle without our own place and without our usual things. If we could only decide where we wanted to buy a place everything would fall into place...until then, we will simply give thanks for our health, family & friends and be grateful for the opportunities that we have.

When I went for a walk along the river a few days ago, I took some photos for you. It really is such a beautiful location, the photos just don't do it justice. The Pandanus tree photo was taken of one growing along the river path I walked along. Wildlife including birds take advantage of the spiny leaves by living in the tree for protection and they also eat the fruit. Aboriginals use the fibre of the leaves to make string for dillybags, baskets, mats and shelters. The leaves can also be mashed and tied around the head to cure headaches. Some tribes use the plant to make fish traps. The large, pineapple-like fruit turns red when ripe. The fruit's seeds can be extracted and ground into flour.

Love hearing from you all, so keep the emails coming.

Australiana for our US Friends

Standley Chasm, Alice Springs, NT
View with a Cockatoo, Eucumbene, NSW
Uluru (Ayers Rock), Central Australia
Ghost Gum, Central Australia
Whitsunday Islands, Great Barrier Reef, QLD

My apologies for the lack of blog updates. Our settling into Ballina has been hampered by what I thought was a viral infection that had me laying low, but yesterday the doctor thought I may have an allergy to the local flowering trees and prescribed an anti-allergy med. Time will tell. In the meantime, here are some photos from my collection to share some of Australia with you. Enjoy the scenery, and keep in touch now you hear!

Safely Home in Aus

Home with Friends Amongst the Gum Trees
Heather & I with our Rav4
Sugarcane Field
Caloundra QLD
Yamba NSW

We have been home 11 days now, and this is my first chance to update the blog! Our days have been filled with catching up with family & friends and taking care of a few administrative things including regular health checks, collecting our car from a friend who lives 5 hrs up north, etc etc. Out of 11 days, we have been home for dinner for only 2 nights. Busy, busy...

Our flight home was the best ever - I mentioned previously that our bags were checked through from Kansas City to Dallas Fort Worth to Los Angeles and onto Brisbane which was wonderful. Because we stayed within the internal airport security, we did an initial security check at Kansas City and didn't do another one for the rest of the trip. Our 14 hr flight from LAX left on time and was smooth & comfortable, and allowed Murray to catch up on the latest movies. It was exciting to see my youngest sister and eldest brother waiting in the crowd as we exited customs.

The weather has been perfect spring weather - nice cool nights and warm, sunny days. We caught a train up north to collect our car, and I caught up with my dear friend Heather - we are both nurses and joined the Air Force on the same day over 20 years ago - she is out now too and works in a hospital in Bundaberg. The 4.5 hr train trip from Brisbane to Bundaberg allowed us to sit back in comfort and check out the aussie countryside - mostly nice and green, but it got drier the further north we got. I have to say it was nice to see the familiar gum trees (eucalypts) along the way. Once we picked up our car, the drive back to the Gold Coast allowed us to note the difference in crops...in USA we were seeing corn, hay and soya beans, and here we were seeing sugarcane, avocadoes, olives, paw paws and mangoes. This state also grows ginger, macadamias and pineapple, but we didn't see those on the route we took. During the trip back we caught up with friends Barb & Bruce who are also just back from a 6 month RV trip around the USA, and another friend from our Air Force days who we had lost touch with for many years.

Tomorrow we move into our 1 bedroom cottage in the seaside town of Ballina, which is 1.5 hrs south of the Gold Coast where we are living at the moment. It will be nice to settle in and kick back for a few weeks, before I commence one month of Air Force reserve work at Canungra, which is 20 mins from the Gold Coast. I will live in the Officers' Mess for the duration.