Heading toward half way

Today was celebrity day here on the Sunshine Coast. Our local globe sailing teenager Jessica Watson floated  into the harbour in Mooloolaba. The papers declared over a hundred thousand  turned out in Sydney a few weeks ago on her arrival. Her hometown welcome audience was a bit smaller but no less enthusiastic.  The town was afloat in pink!  Her boat, the Pink Lady, was named  in honor of  a cosmetic company called Ella Bache which was her main sponsor.  Anyhoo,  the pink balloons and streamers were everywhere along with plenty of pink clad fans. We arrived in time to see her ushered in by 30 or 40 yachts, kayaks, speedboats, fishing boats, and any other vessel anyone had access to.We peered over huge crowds to get a glimpse. Of course the pictures were better on the news....
For those who missed my introduction of her a few blogs ago, this is the gal who recently completed a seven month solo circumnavigation of the globe, all before her 17th birthday. I am so impressed. I love to hear about people doing amazing feats of courage and determination, especially someone so young!
Here are a few of the snaps from our afternoon:

Life is cruising along swimmingly for the  Perretts as we coast toward the half way point of our adventure here in Oz.  We're well ensconced in the daily life we have carved out, still finding differences which delight and astonish. Our most recent OMG epiphany was at dinner the other night. We patronized a Japanese restaurant with sushi conveyor belts. I had seen one of these before in San Fransisco, when the plates floated on a little canal. It was  fun treat and certainly nice if you are in a hurry to eat. We noticed  some of the dishes had a white sauce drizzled on them. California rolls with, uh, icing? No... news flash: Australians like their sushi with mayonnaise.

Yaroomba Bushland Park is a lovely seven minute stroll from our door and one of my favorite slices of aussie heaven. (Another  is the raspberry crumble bar from the bakery downtown.) Here in our neighborhood park  is a boardwalk over the ferns, bush turkeys, a swamp, these gorgeous huge palms, a beautiful understory vine called the red fruited palm lily, and solitude aplenty. A bit of bush just down the street. I've been going several times a week, and just like redwood park in Arcata, I love it every time.

As the end of the semester nears (June 25) and we ponder our educational choices for the second half of the year, it seems likely we will have a son continuing at Coolum and a daughter going up the road to Sunshine Beach High School. Melissa is just a school changing sort of gal. Assuming she attends only one high school at home, (given our track record for this issue it almost seems unlikely) her school career, counting preschool, will span nine schools! Sheesh. Thank you all who have listened and will continue to listen to my angst/dilemma about schools. It has been my obsession since they stopped drooling, why did ever I think it wouldn't follow me here??

Tom returns from Bangkok on Thursday, and he will not be missing the 100 degree wet humidity. His trip was touch and go for awhile before he left due to the political instability, but it has subsided now as the thousands of protesters were effectively cut off by the government forces and they surrendered. The Red Shirts were protesting the removal of the deposed and corrupt prime minister. Thailand has historically been a peaceful country but has become increasingly divided since a military coup in 2006. Tom says a shopping center near the hotel he stays in was partially burned, and the curfew imposed slowed business to a crawl for several days, but things are getting back to normal.

Mama and Joey spotted this morning when I was helping out at the World Environment Day at the university, Eli having a go as a midfielder, and an autumn sunset, Coolum Beach style. Thanks for staying tuned!