Witchety grubs , flat whites, and a new Prime Minister

This witchety grub (moth larvae) was groovin' in a potted plant right outside our front door.  Looks nice and meaty, don't you think? Eaten raw or slightly cooked they are  high protein bush tucker for aboriginal women and children, which leads to the question, why don't the men eat them?? We opted not to cook it up, but reportedly it tastes like scrambled eggs with peanut butter, or almonds, and when toasted the outside is like crispy chicken skin. Yum-yum.

Coffee house culture rivals California, with Australian brands like Gloria Jean's and Coffee Club dominating. Recently I read 61 of the 85 Starbucks in Australia have closed. Lattes and cappuccinos are popular, with a lessor focus on all the fru-fru syrupy concoctions that have become so popular stateside. A flat white is almost like a latte, just a little less milk. If you'd like an ordinary cup of joe you're going to have to make that at home, as the baristas only serve up espresso.  I thought folks around here would follow the English tradition of tea but the cuppa of choice seems to be the bean.  At school the break around 11 is called morning tea, but no one drinks tea.

Tom and I ventured onto another kind of surfboard this week, SUPS (Stand Up Paddle Surf). It would be imaginative to call it surfing as we were in the river on quite flat water, definitely a prerequisite to maneuvering one of these honkers in the salty water. Our wetsuits were handy only when it started raining as we actually stayed upright for the entire hour plus! Heaps o' fun, good exercise, and a nice way to do some sightseeing on the river. We're planning to get up to the Noosa everglades someday (a crocodile-less beautiful stretch of river up the road a bit) and we can rent these boards and take them there. Alternatively we could go in a canoe but then we would miss the adrenaline rush of an ever possible spontaneous swim.











So Oz is in the news again, as the first ever woman prime minister took office this last week. Politics are politics in lots of ways (haggling over new tax schemes, will we ever get out of the war in Afghanistan, issues regarding refugees, rising utility costs, etc, etc......) BUT Australia has quite a different way of handling how the party in power (presently Labour)deals with sinking popularity of the person holding the highest office. Just a few days ago, Kevin Rudd "stood down."  This means he didn't object when the caucus voted to replace him with Julia Gilliard, the Deputy Prime Minister. So, in a blink, Kevin is out and Julia is in. Parallel situation in America would mean the upper echelon of the Dem's could vote to replace Obama with Biden. Can you imagine? ! The fact that Obama's popularity is in the toilet partly because he hasn't fixed the huge travesty in the gulf is a mystery to me. Is he an elected leader or do people think a fairy godmother can grant him supernatural powers??

Saturday I helped out at our local Cancer Council of Queensland Walk 4 Cancer event registration. Around 700 of us walked some 20 kms along our beautiful coastline. I was thinking of my dear departed friend LuAnn, sister in law Katie, and mother in law Julie, who all recently lost their hard fought battles to this horrible disease. You might notice I am not either one of the people in this photo as I'm not a costume queen, but I can appreciate those who are....

Here's Eli and his mate Jakob, an international student from Germany. Eli's trying to talk him into coming to Arcata High next year.They have gotten on well and spent a lot of time surfing together. Unfortunately Jakob is headed back to Germany next week. Coolum High has an influx of 16 new internationals this next term, and Sunshine High will have 49, including Melissa! We have her new uniform all ready to go for the first day, July 13. She has predictable trepidation about being the new kid (again!) but is looking forward to being in their orchestra. The Ar-Mac orchestra at home is just around the corner and she has her sights set on being in that number.
 

Here's Melissa's 13th birthday dress we made last weekend, and the best looking of the tomato plants on the back deck. We are in the process of giving the house and yard a much needed scrub.....our visitors will be here in a matter of hours!
We are all QUITE excited...we'll  be taking in the local sights this next week and then July 5 we are all headed to............................................................................FIJI!!!!!

fifty plus one

Me thinks I am showing some signs of homesickness. If you're going to be sick, I guess this is a good one as no kleenex are needed, it is not contagious, no aching joints, and your face doesn't get splotchy. I know I am homesick because recently every other person  looks like somebody at home. I went to the grocery and oh look there's Kim! (no) Hey, look that looks like Pete! (nope) Isn't that....? (no again) So this too will pass,  it's all part of the experience. If I didn't miss home something would be wrong. Arcata is dear to us in so many ways......but we do feel special we missed out on a REALLY wet winter and spring.

Thank you  everyone for the birthday wishes.  I am now officially 51 it seems. I am continually grateful I know so many superb women (and men!) ahead of me in the *collect the years* game. I have nothing to fear but more wrinkles and gray hair. Oh goody. I'm still sticking to the same story, I have earned every one of these wrinkles.

To celebrate the big day, Tom and I enjoyed an early morning jog on the beach, followed by a cuppa (one of my favorite aussie expressions)  then we were off like a herd of turtles to Brisbane. We took in the Ron Mueck exhibit at the Queensland Modern Art Museum. He's the guy who makes Big People (not to be confused with the other big things of Australia) I had seen his work some years back in Washington D.C and was quite impressed/bemused. He is Australian born and currently living in London. His work is phenomenally life like. One in this exhibit is a newborn baby that's bigger than a baby sperm whale.

Following a particularly gastronomic heavenly event known by the common name dinner,we skidded over to play we had booked. It was billed as a comedy but the plot had gone missing and no one in the audience laughed. Thankfully it was over in 75 minutes! Sunday morning Melissa and I attempted to take the train to yet another dance competition her studio was participating in. Didn't quite work out as we were on the train for a little too long before I realized we were headed in the wrong direction.  Stressed is not quite a strong enough word to describe the ensuing emotions. In the end we made it to the appointed theatre with we thought  about three minutes to spare, but she ended up not going on stage for another hour.  It would have been a very long day for all of us had she missed her performance!

Sunday afternoon was a rugby league game at Suncorp Stadium. (capacity over 50,000)  The Brisbane Broncos pummeled the Rabbitohs, a South Sydney team. We ended up sitting mostly among the Sydneysiders, near a rather loud fan screaming "Go Bunnies!!!!"  The cheers when the Broncos scored were deafening.  My how those 250 pound guys with thighs like fire hydrants smash into each other. We watched some poor soul  dragged down the field several yards as he hung onto an opponent's shirt. As we were leaving our seats a woman approached Tom and said " don't I  know you?" he said no, she said " are you sure? from the movies? T.V.?" He missed his chance to impersonate a famous actor. Must be his new sevelt figger.


Monday was a holiday.  Happy birthday Lizzie!  (Queen Elizabeth that is) We drove to the glass house mountains, not far from here, and hiked around admiring these lava plugs, cores of ancient volcanoes. They have been here awhile, about 25 million years.  Named by Captain Cook in the 1770's, he thought they looked like glass furnaces.

Here is a photo of my favorite piece from the fused glass workshop I attended last week, a couple of shots at a magnificent place called the Buderim Forest Park, and, courtesy of Melissa Ryan, a photo of the scoreboard at the Giants' game in San Fransisco over Memorial Day Weekend. (which she arranged) I'm sure it was a bitter sweet occasion for her friends and family to be together there without LuAnn, watching the team she loved. I miss her. We are so excited Scott, Cindy, Conner and Jaycee will be here in less than two weeks!!

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!

Big Things

Australia is home to over 150 Big Things. What kind of big things? All kinds....  a  bicycle, wine bottle, pineapple, bull,  lawn mower, avocado..... and 144 others spread over the 7 states and territories with New South Wales claiming the largest number and Queensland close behind.These huge surprising sculptures sit at the side of the highway in front of corresponding establishments.  They've been built as tourist attractions, I guess, to give reason for a road trip. Now this is truly an Australian line of thinking. "Hey George, let's pile the kids in the car and drive (double digit number of hours)  to see the Big Banana."

It's  a kitchy place. Provincial, garish, laid-back,  and quaint come to mind when describing  this part of the country. Add to this leafy, serene, tropical, lush, sandy, and  forested.  Western in customs and culture, dress, social mores, and habits. The longer we stay the easier it is to forget we are half way around the world. We begin to not notice the differences in language and intonation. "How ya gowing" spills out of us as easily as natives. The newness of being here is harder to hang on to,  much as we try. So many delights and surprises those first few weeks; the joy of discovery.  We're loving  this amazing opportunity to live here... not just visit. So far away yet so much like California, sort of. If we don't open our mouth nobody even knows we're fereners.....


 Match the word to the translation:  answers below

1.jumper    2. boots       3. woolies            4. popper            5.  bubbler

 a. If he takes these off after a game or practice in the same room or in the car (gads! please no!) the smell will make your eyes water
b. fruit juice or some facsimile in a box with the little straw attached
c. the Aussie equivalent of Safeway, without the uber friendly staff
d. turn the handle and quench your thirst
e. We are donning one of these in the mornings as our house has no heat                                                                             

We're living in a sporty place. The state motto is "Getting more people active through sport and recreation." I picked up a directory of sporting clubs here on the coast and  found all the usual plus racing pigeons, orienteering, horse and pony clubs (not sure about that one) table tennis, darts, croquet, vigaro (what?)and paragliding. Heaps of choices. The set up for soccer here is quite different, and easier to navigate! The club is all centrally located...playing and practice fields, the secretary and office, uniform storage, function room for meetings/events, and changing rooms for the teams. Last weekend Eli played forward and got the first goal of the game, a header.  Yeah Eli! Spectator sports are really big too, there was a footy(rugby) game on last night and I think we were the only ones who missed it.

Recently Melissa made her first loaf of  bread. Next we're going to try pretzels and bagels, although we may not approach the nirvana quality of Los Bagels. Joan and Steve brought us a dozen and the kids immediately drooled and consumed two each. If they could only change one thing about Australia it would be to have Los Bagels. I miss Larripen dill sauce.

I'm now sporting a new 'do, and these are some chocolate lamingtons, sponge cake covered with chocolate and coconut. Almost as popular as sausage rolls and Vegemite, but you won't find either of those in my shopping trolley!! This is a photo of the Noosa river (not far from the Big Pelican) This morning at 6:30 I was a  spontaneous substitute coxswain... I managed to keep us from crashing into anything. Thank goodness!

answers:1.e; 2.a;3.c;4.b;5.d.

More to tell

Joan and Steve returned to their suite on Wunnunga Crescent here in Yaroomba last night and are on their way to Brisbane today and then to Sydney for 3 days. It's been fun to hear of their adventures north...they spent 3 days on this 1902 sailing ship in the Whitsundays snorkeling and beachcombing with  30 or so other adventurers from 'round the globe. Here's Steve with a friendly lorikeet, and their pirate ship the Solway Lass. I don't know if we are going to get a chance to hop of one of these so we're living a little vicariously through our visitors.......

Frazer Island was awesome. We were on a two day tour which was a great mix of riding on the bus, hiking,swimming, and relaxing. Kevin, our driver, was an easy going Aussie bloke. We could even understand his ramblings, stories and jokes (mostly).There were huge bumps in the 4 WD track across the 80 mile long, 10 mile wide lump of sand. We were amid rainforests, spectacular clear freshwater creeks(see above),saltwater pools, dingoes, a shipwreck, lakes, and the most absolutely stunning vivid double rainbow that made the intermittent rain SO okay. This is lake McKenzie, an aqua blue gorgeous piece of liquid, here displaying Kodak moment visuals. As a special treat for Mothers's day we said yes when a biplane pilot asked if we would like to hop aboard for a 20 min. scenic tour of the island and the coast. From the air I swear we were looking down on a broccoli forest.........


Last weekend we added a new member to our household. Tom continues to be concerned "Willy" is about to go sideways as he (she?) spends a lot of time gasping  but I hold the view that this is normal goldfish behavior. Pet ownership here has brought up again Melissa's plea for a dog,to which my answer has drifted towards "How 'bout chickens?" She is game, Eli has no comment, and Tom is NOT on board. I think the field next door could sport some chooks quite nicely and fetching fresh eggs certainly has a greater appeal  than dealing with dog doo. But to reiterate what I heard from my mom and dad about a thousand times....."we'll see."

Perhaps you have heard Australia in the news in the last few days as we have a new national hero. Jessica Watson, just turned 17, is a plucky, phenomenal teenager who just finished her solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 30  foot sailboat! She left 7 months ago and arrived in the Sydney harbour Sunday escorted in by a huge flotilla. The  PM Kevin Rudd was waiting for her, in addition to a crowd of thousands. She's still in Sydney celebrating her birthday, but soon will return home to Buderim, which is about 20 min. from here! I've never been much of a celebrity chaser but seeing her would be a bit of a thrill. Melissa, inspired  by Jessica's accomplishment, announced she was going to ride her bike to school Monday. She did, but there were more hills and it was further than she thought, so when she got home she decided enough of that, the bus works just fine thank you.

She (Melissa not Jessica) is learning to juggle in her drama class, and Eli is getting an inch taller every month it seems. He is in the water most afternoons making the best of our oceanside digs. I'm happy for him to have this time to"play" after school. I have fond memories of vacant lots, dirt, creeks, and neighborhood kids.  Many of today's kids(including mine) are driven to and fro their organized sports/lessons etc. To be able to come home from school and walk down to the beach for a surf with his mates is frosting his Aussie cupcake. 

We are enjoying the beach, a bit of gardening, the occasional fishing adventure, hiking new trails, and planning our next adventure. Since 4th of July falls on a Sunday, we're throwing a party, figuring winter in Yaroomba certainly can't be much colder than July in Arcata........more than once we have shivered  in our fleece on our deck on 11th st watching fireworks. 

Events in Bangkok have been on our radar lately. Tom's associates there have stayed safe so far but we are worried as this is much more bloodshed than has ever been seen in Thailand's recent history. We are hoping for a peaceful resolution to this crisis in the not too distant future. Tom is scheduled to fly to Bangkok in two weeks. He is completely at ease in traveling to a city with tanks in the streets but for the record I am not! 

We have missed out on some annual events already, and will miss more before the year's end, but so it goes. In place of the kinetic sculpture race, farmer's markets, and the labor day bash at the cabin, we have an indigenous festival called the dreaming ( my birthday),Fame, the musical ( Melissa's birthday), and ongoing new adventures in this beautiful, kitchy, expansive, and welcoming land down under. Keep in touch....we miss you all.

A quiz

Ah, Autumn is in the air. I haven't heard anyone call it fall maybe because there are no leaves falling, we're not in deciduous country here. The days are getting shorter and the nights cooler, might have to break out a sweater soon.

For a change of pace, I have written a little quiz. See how you go....

1. We are considering sending the kids up the road a bit to a different school for the second half of the year because
a. Since we live in the Sunshine state of Queensland and on the Sunshine coast, it seems a shame to not also have them attend Sunshine Beach High School.
b. The uniforms are snappier and we want them to ride the bus for another 30 min a day
c. It will help Eli with his goal to have 500 facebook friends by the time we leave, plus all the girls at Coolum High are now bored with his accent.
d.If we don't get a little more academic rigor going on we are afraid they will forget what homework is.

2. For a while we were considering sending Melissa to a private school but we aren't going to because:
a. She couldn't abide by the long plaid skirt, dark stockings, tie, grandma shoes, and brimmed hats
b. Eli cried and whined so much about not going to the same school as his sister, we couldn't bear his discomfort
c. I forgot to read the fine print and the reason they agreed to take her was not an altruistic desire of the school to diversify the student body but because of the exorbitant fees for international students

3. The best part of our deep sea fishing adventure last weekend was:
a. I caught the first fish, and I wasn't the only one to lose my bikkies
b. Apparently the pair of Perretts hooked a pair of parrots (fish)
c. We caught enough fish to bring the price per pound to below 10 bucks

4. While Joan and Steve were here, we saw the following animals, not pay per view:
a.   goanna, ring tail possum,  swamp wallaby, fruit bat,and koalas
b. Kangaroos, fruit bats,dingoes and cane toads
c. Echidnas, lorikeets, pelicans, and kukkaburras
d. We saw no animals, we watched T.V. all week

5. The Kingaroy Eisteddfod is
a. Thankfully not an occasion that required false eyelashes for Mel as was seen on some 6 year olds
b. Perhaps the only time a dance studio uses a chain link fence for warm ups
c. A dance competition which allowed me the opportunity to drive 6 hours for Melissa to be on stage for 2 min 45 seconds



6.This is Joan and Steve's Hippie Camper. They love it because
1. Secretly they have yearned for the opportunity to drive a colorful vehicle
2. They were relived to find out the configuration of 6 separate bolsters in the back which make up the bed actually are comfortable for sleeping
3. Everyone else who has one of these things is 25 years younger than they are,so their image is preserved



7. Joan and I went to Brisbane for the day on the train. One of the best things about it was
a. finding a place to rest so Joan could soak her aching feet in the water after traipsing about the modern art museum and the botanical gardens
b. eating in not one but two food courts.
c. watching the traffic cross the street as a mob; the cars stopped in all four directions and the entire intersection filled with humans for one minute. This was so entertaining we watched it three times.
d. getting home early enough to get in on the barbecue Steve and Tom had made for the poker
guys.

8. We had a great trip to Fraser Island but the reason I'm not writing about it this time is:
a. My camera pooped out half way through so we have to wait for Joan and Steve to swing back through to get the pictures off their camera
b. I haven't finished getting the sand out of my hair yet
c. the kids made me promise not to tell anyone how much fun it was


Tune in next week for stories of Joan and Steve's adventures in the Whitsundays, answers to the quiz, and other undisclosed rantings.........