Tom's sis Jill and her partner Angel arrived yesterday and we took advantage of some sunny weather and made an afternoon jaunt to the Noosa National Park. It was a lucky day for Koala sightings as this little guy was perched in his eucalypt only a few feet above our heads! He even confirmed he was alive by imitating a newborn: opening his sleepy eyes briefly, stretching a little hand, and defecating.
Australia's first women Prime Minister was appointed a few months ago, and the media has been quick to fill us in on her private life. She has a male partner, but they are not married. She also describes herself as an atheist. Me thinks these two qualities would keep her out of the highest office in land in the states. Seeing the need for a public mandate as she was appointed not elected, she called for federal elections. She had three years to do this, but jumped on her tide of popularity. Australians will vote for the party of their choice on Saturday Aug 21. Voter turnout plummeted years back, so the powers that be decided voting would be compulsory so they say 95% of enrolled (registered) voters turn up, but as in America heaps aren't registered. Shame. Julia Gillard represents the Labour party (whose views seem to be aligned with American democrats) and her main opposition is Tony Abbott (representing the Liberal party, republican-esque)In addition to the Greens party, other voter choices include the fishing and lifestyle party, the Australian sex party, and the climate skeptics.
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| At Kondalilla Falls with Kim and Anjie |
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| Mah Jong |
The Perrett clan hosted some guests recently... travelers Kim and Anjie, from Hong Kong and Germany respectively. They had been working for Julie and Gary, our friends who live nearby, as "woofies" which is short for WWOF (world wide organic farm) association. This outfit matches folks willing to work for room and board, usually on farms! Gary and Julie don't have a farm, and our tiny tomato patch hardly counts, but none the less it worked out just grand-- in return for a bed and vittles, they did a smashing job washing our windows, re-organizing the pantry, helping with dinner, and cleaning our barbecue. Plenty of time to wash the sheets before Jill and Angel arrived less than 36 hours later.
Last weekend was a treat for me, I was down the road 1 km for a yoga retreat, my first ever but not my last. It was blissful to do so much yoga in one weekend. The Ayurvedic food was delish, company fabulous, and the teaching superb. The most astounding participant was a petite power house named Vivian, always dressed in fetching purple togs.Somehow she could accomplish a myriad of poses requiring strength and flexibility far beyond my scope........and she is 37 years my senior!
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| new uniform for Sunshine State High School |
Melissa has now finished three weeks at her new school, and the report is all thumbs up. She is really enjoying her new classes, but I still don't quite understand how she has so many.... in addition to the four traditional core subjects she somehow also has manual arts (she's enjoying making a wooden pencil case at the moment)sport, Italian, art, and music. She has already made new friends, as she was at a girlfriends house Friday night, and then onto a slumber-birthday party Saturday night. It sounded quite familiar.....a whole room of giggling girls eating junk food, watching movies, and gabbing until it was almost light. She was one tired puppy on Sunday!
The door was open a few days ago and in flew a magpie. He hopped around for quite awhile and seemed to consider staying but after he got a good look at the place out he flew. Finally, Here's a snap of a spectacular sunset we had last week. G'day mates!
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Especially Mel, she's looking quite the picture of good health and happiness in Oz.The koala is pretty cute, too. (I'm glad my newborn didn't come with claws like that!) Thanks for sharing.
Sonya
Your visitor is actually a male Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis). They can be rather fearless and will come back if you feed them
ReplyDeleteI am also an expat (Brit girl moved to Oz) and I am creating a blog about the Australian visa process.
ReplyDeleteI am writing articles to help others who are looking to move to Australia.
If you would like to submit a story to my blog I would love to hear about your experience of the Australian visa process, especially if it can help others.
I would love to hear about whether you did it yourself or if you used a Migration Agent to help you, and what problems or pit-falls (if any) you experienced.
Thanks a lot and I love your blog.
Australian Visa Advice
Hello brit girl in Oz...I looked at your site but could not figure out how to contact you so I am assuming you will access this. I would be happy to write about our visa process...it was long and convoluted, and SO much more complicated than I anticipated. I have a student guardian visa, my kids have student visas, and my husband just has an ETA. We didn't use an agent. Let me know where you would like my to submit my story.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteAnother great blog - Thanks! Several questions though: 1). can I sign up for the Australian Sex Party 2). where can I find some "woofies" to wash my windows?
Great to chat with you yesterday. Have fun with Jill and her partner.
Love and hugs,
Cheryl
Always a pleasure to read about your doings. Hey Melissa, I do like your uniform blouse. Great Palm Fronds! The kind of fabric I would have made into a sundress in Bequia.
ReplyDeleteVivian is 37 years your sr which makes her in her late 80's. Maybe that is the benefit of frequent yoga retreats. I'm still trying to figure out how to get to D's class at HSport. and to do 2 hrs with her would be heavenly.