Our First (And Possibly Last) Australia Day

Before I begin, I just need to say (and this is not intended to be either mean nor gloating), I am sure glad that we are missing the current weather back home in West Michigan. Nancy has remained in Brisbane - flying solo - while I am in the U.S. for a conference and some additional business. While I am in North America, I have to admit that I have been in Orlando and they are having some spectacular Florida winter weather this week. (However, as I post this entry, I am stuck in the JFK airport due to weather so maybe the jokes on me!)

Also, before I get to the Australia stuff, I need to say that Disney continues to amaze me. During this conference, one of the things we were able to do is tour the "Disney Underground" to see what it takes "off stage" to make the magic happen for you and me; it was actually quite underwhelming. By that I mean, there's really nothing that would knock you socks off from a technology or engineering standpoint - the magic is really about the flawless execution of a million ordinary details. My dinner Thursday evening at "The Flying Fish" restaurant was one of the best meals I have had anywhere, ever (with the exception of having to eat it without Nancy at the table) and that is sort of amazing since they have me "captive" here on the property. But I digress....

Last Saturday was "Australia Day" and Pastor Charles and Christine invited us for a breakfast on Mount Glorious and a quick walk to through the rain forest there (culminating in a beautiful waterfall). Little did we know that this was going to be a full scale Aussie breakfast feast including a variation on flat bread called "Damper" cooked on the wood fired grill and some kangaroo meat sausages! Since we have (finally) been getting some rain, our cookout was slightly delayed as Charles and I worked to get the fire going (inhaling way too much smoke in the process) but when it was done, it was well worth the effort. Charles and Chris were so gracious to invite us out on this special day for Australians and we had a wonderful time together. Not only did we feast and explore but we also received a very comprehensive Brisbane history briefing and some arachnid hunting pointers from Charles (kind of an expert on both). The evidence (below) is the photo of the trap door spider nest we located, after much searching - I’m not sure if anyone was “home” but they would have been rather large. The "sad" part of the day was knowing that this was probably our first and only Australia Day celebration ever but we put that out of our minds as we joined in the spirit of the holiday.

I was scheduled to travel up North on Friday and had to make a brief detour to the Orlando Premium Outlets Wednesday since I sort of forgot my winter coat when I departed Brisbane. I will be spending the majority of the weekend in Boston with our dear friends, Jim and Jan Palatine, and then continue north to Montreal for the majority of the following week - kind of sounds like a Lewis and Clark trek! The team I will be working with for the next 6 - 12 months has been formed and I'll be getting acquainted with "what's next" for me and then - we're heading home to Michigan in March! At this point, I will precede Nancy by a few weeks since I need to get into this new team role but we're planning on some vacation before we leave for good; planning is now in progress.

We want to thanks everyone who has been so faithful at reading and responding to this effort to stay connected; it has meant a lot to us. There will be more news soon so, in the mean time, please continue to correspond with us and let us know what's going on in your world.

And now, your video content: Lighting wet wood isn't the most exciting activity but necessary if you are going to enjoy the kangaroo sausages (they taste better if you don't think about where they come from).