Australia from brooke taylor on Vimeo.
Last Sunday: Crazy morning! Something went to town after my legs. I have itchy bites all over both of them. Trying to get out of the house, get the Nash boys somewhere, walk our baggage and selves down to the ferry and check in for our flights. Upon checking they asked for our etv. We didn't have an etv. Missed our ferry, used the computer behind the counter as as quickly as we could applied for 7 electronic visas. Just grateful we chose the 845 ferry instead of the 10, because we would have missed the entire flight had we not. On the way there we passed a MAN, pants completely down, pooping right on the sidewalk. Flight was about 8.5 hours and they served Haagen daas which we promptly put in our orange juice and they had a big selection of good movies so no complaints. Brisbane reminded us of California in weather and cleanliness. Driving on the left side reminded us we weren't anywhere near home. Our van is a white Hyundai and it is tall and has lots of legroom and cargo space. We laugh when we see it-there's nothing wrong with it.
Monday: slept in for a while. Girls had ants crawling on their toothbrushes and bathroom counter. The owner said when it rains the ants come in. Oh, about this house we rented, it was on airbnb. It is tucked down in off the street down three levels of stairs. Three bedrooms and two baths downstairs and one big great room with patios on three sides upstairs. Nice kitchen. It's built around a tree that pops up through the upstairs balcony so it's called the "tree" house. There is a possum that lives on the roof. There is some plexiglass and we watch him curl up in the corner and hear him scamper all around. We headed out this morning for the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We made one wrong turn and ran into the Brisbane Temple overlooking the river. When we got to the zoo it was rainy so crowds were light (anything is light compared to China I guess ). We saw platypus, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, koalas, emu, dingoes, lizards, merino sheep, played and fed kangaroos and held Cinnamon, a cuddly little koala. We found a Target that wasn't a real target like we were hoping, totally disappointed, Krispy Kreme and a grocery store called Coles. I wanted to move in to the produce and dairy section. Cottage cheese, a whole deli cheese section, shredded, bars and wedges. The produce looked familiar. I hadn't realized how much I missed those things. Eggs and milk in the refrigerated section. Roasted chickens in the deli without heads still attached. I remembered what it was like to have all the ingredients I needed to make a meal in one spot instead of going to three or four places to gather things. We had Pizza Hut for dinner. Sophie kept saying, "they made two whole pizzas in ten minutes!" There were bats flying everywhere. We snacked non stop all evening, played ticket to ride, spoons, and speed with a Chinese face painted mask deck of cards we bought at the Hong Kong airport. We were sad to hear about Elder Bailey who was serving in Ally's same mission and was hit by a car and killed in an accident. His mother is so strong! She keeps popping on to the Swedish missionary mom page and giving us all updates. Amazing lady.
Tuesday: Todd had a work call and then we headed to the Brisbane mission office. We had an 11:00 am meeting with President Henderson. President Henderson mentioned the following: "these missionaries are from 30 different countries around the world. They are asked to have a cultural change, to the culture of Christ. They are asked to workout hard each morning, study the scriptures even harder and then go about doing good"....he also told Chase how much he loves him already. He teared up when he saw Jane getting teary-eyed. He has 280 missionaries in the mission and the area is similar to 1/4 of the continental US, so a huge area. He asks his missionaries to memorize Moroni 10:3-5, D&C 4, D&C 13, Hel 5:12, Purpose of a Missionary and a few other things. Next Elder and Sister Miles gave us a few suggestions of things to do. We went to one of their recommendations for lunch, a fish and chips restaurant. In Australia you pay for all condiments except "tomato sauce" at McDonald's. Also, the driver is not allowed to be holding a phone or gps device while in the driver's seat or a $350 fine and 3 points on your driving record. After lunch we headed down to the Gold Coast and stopped at Main Beach. It was windy and warm, squeaky white sand and beautiful teal water. Brooke did a back flip on the sand to remember that she could, then took videos of everyone else enjoying the water. We haven't seen this color of blue in sky or water in so long that we didn't want to leave. When we move back I will not take for granted a blue sky with fluffy white clouds and pretty sunsets. We drove home in traffic, changed clothes at our place and headed down to the Maritime Museum to catch the city hopper ferry. It was free and quick and we got to see the cityscape all lit up. Brisbane really is a pretty city. We headed down Queen street, where they told Chase he would be working. We ate at Healthy Burger. I even ordered a hamburger patty without worry. The kids all had a raspberry fanta slurpee type drink from Hungry Jacks and we hopped back on the ferry and headed home. Brigham heads up the nightly game night. The kids were up late playing spoons and hot dog. Even little Sophie knows what's going on and wins once in a while.
Monday: slept in for a while. Girls had ants crawling on their toothbrushes and bathroom counter. The owner said when it rains the ants come in. Oh, about this house we rented, it was on airbnb. It is tucked down in off the street down three levels of stairs. Three bedrooms and two baths downstairs and one big great room with patios on three sides upstairs. Nice kitchen. It's built around a tree that pops up through the upstairs balcony so it's called the "tree" house. There is a possum that lives on the roof. There is some plexiglass and we watch him curl up in the corner and hear him scamper all around. We headed out this morning for the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We made one wrong turn and ran into the Brisbane Temple overlooking the river. When we got to the zoo it was rainy so crowds were light (anything is light compared to China I guess ). We saw platypus, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, koalas, emu, dingoes, lizards, merino sheep, played and fed kangaroos and held Cinnamon, a cuddly little koala. We found a Target that wasn't a real target like we were hoping, totally disappointed, Krispy Kreme and a grocery store called Coles. I wanted to move in to the produce and dairy section. Cottage cheese, a whole deli cheese section, shredded, bars and wedges. The produce looked familiar. I hadn't realized how much I missed those things. Eggs and milk in the refrigerated section. Roasted chickens in the deli without heads still attached. I remembered what it was like to have all the ingredients I needed to make a meal in one spot instead of going to three or four places to gather things. We had Pizza Hut for dinner. Sophie kept saying, "they made two whole pizzas in ten minutes!" There were bats flying everywhere. We snacked non stop all evening, played ticket to ride, spoons, and speed with a Chinese face painted mask deck of cards we bought at the Hong Kong airport. We were sad to hear about Elder Bailey who was serving in Ally's same mission and was hit by a car and killed in an accident. His mother is so strong! She keeps popping on to the Swedish missionary mom page and giving us all updates. Amazing lady.
Tuesday: Todd had a work call and then we headed to the Brisbane mission office. We had an 11:00 am meeting with President Henderson. President Henderson mentioned the following: "these missionaries are from 30 different countries around the world. They are asked to have a cultural change, to the culture of Christ. They are asked to workout hard each morning, study the scriptures even harder and then go about doing good"....he also told Chase how much he loves him already. He teared up when he saw Jane getting teary-eyed. He has 280 missionaries in the mission and the area is similar to 1/4 of the continental US, so a huge area. He asks his missionaries to memorize Moroni 10:3-5, D&C 4, D&C 13, Hel 5:12, Purpose of a Missionary and a few other things. Next Elder and Sister Miles gave us a few suggestions of things to do. We went to one of their recommendations for lunch, a fish and chips restaurant. In Australia you pay for all condiments except "tomato sauce" at McDonald's. Also, the driver is not allowed to be holding a phone or gps device while in the driver's seat or a $350 fine and 3 points on your driving record. After lunch we headed down to the Gold Coast and stopped at Main Beach. It was windy and warm, squeaky white sand and beautiful teal water. Brooke did a back flip on the sand to remember that she could, then took videos of everyone else enjoying the water. We haven't seen this color of blue in sky or water in so long that we didn't want to leave. When we move back I will not take for granted a blue sky with fluffy white clouds and pretty sunsets. We drove home in traffic, changed clothes at our place and headed down to the Maritime Museum to catch the city hopper ferry. It was free and quick and we got to see the cityscape all lit up. Brisbane really is a pretty city. We headed down Queen street, where they told Chase he would be working. We ate at Healthy Burger. I even ordered a hamburger patty without worry. The kids all had a raspberry fanta slurpee type drink from Hungry Jacks and we hopped back on the ferry and headed home. Brigham heads up the nightly game night. The kids were up late playing spoons and hot dog. Even little Sophie knows what's going on and wins once in a while.
Wednesday: having a hard time getting out of bed. I found a hill that I wanted to conquer so Todd and I headed out the opposite way as a warm up. Either direction you leave from this house is uphill. That's ok though because you always finish going downhill. We passed a bunch of eclectic houses, which I love. We got to the base of the hill and there was a sign with a 25% grade "warning". Todd went first and then I went. It seemed like my knees would hit the pavement. I couldn't breathe at the top. We got the kids in the car to go and drove down and up the hill to show it to them. The car almost couldn't make it up and it was super scary riding downhill. On to southbank. Southbank is a river walk with a man made beach, grassy picnic areas overlooking the water, playgrounds, shops, restaurants and shops. Nice and clean showers and restaurants. Flower lined walkways They even provided toilet paper, soap and paper towels. I found a gift shop that sold Australian flag tie pins, which were on my list, so we got those, some Australian playing cards for nerts, and some tea towels. We ate at Nando's, which serves grilled chicken pitas, wraps, salads, and paella. Sophie chased the birds away for us as we ate outside. We hurried back to change and headed to the Brisbane temple. I chatted with a lady from New Zealand who just sent her son on a mission to the Cebu Philippines mission . Grocery store to get conditioner. I hurried up and down the aisles trying to see everything. My family in the car probably thought I would never leave the store. I hopped in the car, asked the kids if they wanted popsicles. They said yes, so back I went into the brightly lit store with Brooklyn. "very much happiness" as our Chinese friend would say. Card games, cheese & crackers & fruit platter and quesidillas and called it a night.
Thursday: Stradbroke island to catch the ferry for scuba diving and island tour. The ferry ride was about 25 minutes and then we caught the bus to the dive shop. Nasty sandwiches with mounds of miracle whip AND butter and shredded cheese. We let the seagulls take those. Todd, Chase, Brooke & Brigham took off on a boat pulled to the ocean by a tractor with all of their scuba gear. From Todd: They took us out to a point not too far away, dropped anchor and we geared-up and flipped into the water. We saw everything we hoped.....leopard sharks, reef sharks, guitar sharks, manta rays, sting rays, tons of fish, octopi, eels,...really a great dive. I always get sick and this was no exception. Brig and Brooke did as well. We're going to have to stick to beach dives from here on out :) All the kids were brave enough to pet the sharks.
The girls and I spent the afternoon on a mostly private beach. It was heaven. We ventured into town for popsicles and water, caught a bus back to the dive shop, spent a bit more time on the beach and watched the divers come back about 4 hours later. Only got sunburned where I didn't spray and on my left side. Sophie love, love, loves the ocean. They made sand men and hunted for seashells. We hopped back on the bus and then ferry and went to hungry jacks for more fanta slushes. Apple store in a very California like mall, then grocery store for steaks and fresh bread. We ate that with salads and bow tie Alfredo and mint chip ice cream. More card games and Todd started a new book so I kissed him goodbye.
Friday: Sunshine Coast for lunch meeting with Elder Chase Hansen (his companion was also Chase, so three boys named Chase at lunch). We ate at Jow noodle shop. The family running the shop was from Guangzhou (close to us) so I got to practice mandarin with the cashier. She was so happy she gave us free shrimp chips. Chase said "people always give you free food, first the donuts at krispie Kreme and now this." The missionaries, both from Utah, had Australian accents. It was pretty funny hearing them talk. They each acted surprised that we thought they had accents but there was no mistaking. They were having a conversation with a guy on the street before we even got into our car. Hard working, happy, bright eyes and big smiles. They are doing good. Next we went to King's beach. The secret to staying a while is to make Todd as comfortable as possible. We found a sign that provided a 3x5 foot patch of shade and Brynn dug out a recliner chair for him, lined it with a towel and water bottle. It worked! We stayed until 5pm. Sophie was in the water the most, and Brooke and Brigham spent most of the time out in the waves. Brynn built a castle. Chase, Todd and I went out once. My eyes and Chase's eyes were burning. We stopped by another beach to watch the kite surfers for awhile and then headed back. Stopped by a fruit stand and grabbed some things for smoothies-pineapple, kale, peaches. Bought sandwiches and pasties and meat pies. It was a great, relaxing, beautiful scenery filled day.
A couple of things we noticed today. There is hardly any car honking. It seems strangely quiet. None of the bathrooms, even public park bathrooms, smell bad and they are so clean. The city we were in today, Caloundra, even had a billboard that said "Australia's tidiest city". Chase was loving that! We also passed by an under construction Costco and we thought Todd would pass out at the wheel. It was pretty funny, he scared us all.
Saturday: today everyone except Chase and Sophie headed out to "the hill". We just ran around the block and up "the hill" and called it good. If I lived here, that would be my go to workout spot. We headed to Lamington National Park. It was one of the prettiest drives I've been on. Rolling green hills, blue, blue skies and big, bright, white clouds (like teletubbies) mixed with tropical plants and trees as well. At two points along the drive we heard the most annoying squawking. We looked up and saw hundreds of BATS hanging upside down, squirming and trying to get comfortable. I don't know how they could sleep with all the noise they were making. We hiked to the Kweebani Cave in the Binna Burra section. It wasn't too hard, shady for the most part, and had lots of steep edges that dropped straight down, so a thrill element for the boys. Drove home planning on shopping to take things home that we can't get in China only to find that all the grocery stores close at 5pm on Saturdays. We stopped at 4 or 5 and it was lights out. Totally bummed. I had a big list.
We all decided that Australia wasn't as we had pictured in our minds but we were pleasantly surprised and loved our time here. Chase is going to be just fine in his new home.
Madly packing and cleaning so we can get up and pack into the car and be off to church by 8:30 am. We have to check out at 10, so we will say farewell to the treehouse and be on our way.
Made it out and to church. Very international. There are 4 or 5 sets of missionaries in this ward, 8 missionaries mandarin speaking, in the ysa ward that meets in the same building. Chase was able to meet 4 who will be here when he arrives. One in particular, from Woods Cross, Elder Tribe, knows of our friends the Browns ( Erica and Matthew), and also Elder Brian Hall from Shenzhen. We are sitting next to a Persian man (thinking of you and your Persian friends Ally!). Love the Australian accent. I'll end for now since this was so long.
We can't wait to see you all! Todd thinks, and I agree, that this country has the closest feel to the US, than any we have visited. We miss the USA!
Love from Australia!
Jane
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