The Gum Tree for 2006 April

Hi everyone. We're about to perform a devious operation... We 're jetting off to Australia to make a surprise visit to my family. Fun times! It'll be a nice long visit before joe starts medical school, and probably the last chance we'll have for quite a while. We'll return in time for Dave's wedding.

Other news is that Joe has been accepted into the MD/PhD program!! So as well as going to med school, he will also be doing a PhD in radiological sciences. This also means we'll be hanging around San Antonio for 7 years. This suits us well. The only thing left is to figure out where exactly we're going to live. We hope to buy a condo.

See you all soon!

On Monday we left for Australia at about 5:45 P.M. from San Antonio. We stopped off in L.A. to transfer to our Quantas flight, and by about 11:20 P.M. we were off to Australia. They had no good movies on so I just listened to my MP3 player mostly (listening to Phyllis Shlafly’s “Feminist Fantasies” and “Les Miserables”). It was about a good night’s sleep that you can expect to have sitting in a not-fully reclinable seat with about a hundred other people.

We arrived in Brisbane (Day 1) at 6:00 in the morning after about 14 hours of flying. After customs Louise’s sister Becky picked us up from the airport and we went to her home. Louise took a shower, but I had sufficiently powdered myself with Gold Bond powder, and after applying copious amounts of deodorant I felt that I was still comfortably fresh.

After breakfast, which consisted of boiled eggs on buttered toast, we took off with Louise’s brother-in-law Paul and Paul’s brother, John to go for an hour long drive to Warwick, where Louise’s Parents were staying with Louise’s brother’s family—Lorin &co. They live in a nice home that is built on large stilts that cool the home. They have a nice flower garden in the front and back. I walked into the home (and as John, Louise’s Dad, was the only one who knew we were coming we gave Lisa, Lorin’s wife, a bit of a surprise) and Lisa saw me, and then saw Louise. Astonished, she said hello and we had a good reunion. Then Lorin came in and Louise surprised him, and finally Julie (Louise’s Mom) arrived and Louise had a good time surprising her.

That was Wednesday; you may realize that we left on Monday, and skipped Tuesday altogether. Wednesday night we went rock climbing at the Warwick Rec Center, and that was about when I started to hit the wall. Andrew our 12 year old nephew revelled in the fact that he could climb the wall faster than me, but he didn’t realize that it was 5:00 A.M. Texas time, and I was dog tired. Jet lag was knocking me back. When we got home around 8:45 P.M. (or 5:45 A.M. Texas time) I got ready for bed and that was about all I remember.

Thursday (Day 2) was Andrew’s 12th birthday. He got a new bike and we also had a lot of the family over for lunch and a dinner barbeque. First thing that morning I went for a good 50 min run along the river, and I marvelled at the warbling, cooing, soft and strident calls of the different birds here in Australia. If there is one thing about living here, it is the manifold birds of all sizes, colours, and dispositions. I am amazed at the wildlife here with its tall trees and beautiful flowers, the butterflies and shrubbery. The lifestyle is also very strenuous. All day Wednesday and Thursday there was abundant music coming from the homes of the people we visited. I heard the drums, Guitar, Cello, Violin, Viola, Piano, etc all going on. People here also work and exercise regularly. On my run I must have seen at least a dozen people of various ages out walking at 8:00 in the morning. It was good fun

We had dinner and a birthday celebration with the Donaldsons and the Nicholsons. Then, since Lorin is leaving for Dallas, TX Friday, we all gathered at the church for Andrew’s Ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood. I had the opportunity to participate in the circle because of my avuncular standing in the family, and I was happy to do so. Then Louise’s parents left for Queensland, but Louise and I are going to stay in Warwick with Lisa and the Kids (Andrew, Emmalyn, Harriet, and Tom Teancum [love that middle name]).

Oh, for our 3rd wedding anniversary I gave Louise a wedding band with 10 small diamonds in it. I was walking in the mall, and they had this sale going on, and it was exactly what I had been looking at getting her, but at a fraction of the cost that I had seen over in the states. I think she is happy with that.

We are still in Warwick. It is great being here with the kids and all. Yesterday we mostly shopped and hung around with Lisa—Louise’s sister-in-law. That night I went to bed at around 8:30 P.M. I just conked right out. As a result, I woke up at 5:00, and Louise and I decided to go for a little walk before everybody else got up. So, we walked through the town of Warwick with all of its meticulously gardened streets and corners. The birds started stirring and we enjoyed a continuous stream of song as we watched the sun rise higher in the morning sky. The city is one of those that is inhabited by people who enjoy nice public spaces, and don’t mind a little community effort to plant and maintain city gardens, parks, streets, recreation centres, etc. I felt like I was at BYU with all of the sidewalk cleaners driving past us in the early morning and the gardeners out pruning the bushes and trees in the island at the median of the road.

All of this reminded me of my mission where there was a small grocery store a block away where we could buy all of our baked goods, meats and milk. Walking in a town like this is far more enjoyable. There are no big box stores, and hence something that you could get for $20 (e.g. a power inverter for the car) in the states costs $100, but there is the internet and postal service.

I made a breakfast of bacon and eggs for everybody, and I added to that some freshly-baked fruit bread that I had bought during our walk. Then after cleaning the house it was off to Leslie dam. We had a nice walk out there, and after a little bit we had lunch which consisted of sausage rolls and meat pies. After Leslie dam we went to watch the two girls, Emmalyn, and Harriet play Netball (which is a game in which you cannot dribble or walk with a ball, but you must get into a goal area and score by putting the ball through a hoop similar to basketball—except without the backboard).

After that we went swimming at the local rec-centre. It was a nice facility. We had fun, and after that we ate dinner (pizza) and I went to priesthood session of Conference (they just got the DVD this week) with Andrew. When we came back home, Lisa and Louise were watching Cinderella Man and I watched a bit of that before I went to bed. It was a nice day!

Today we spent the majority of the day watching conference at the chapel here in Warwick. We also sat around and conversed about the reasons why not to immunize kids and parenting as a blind parent (since Lorin--louise's brother is blind). After a lovely dinner we spent some time watching videos of Lorin in concert. It was a day spent together as a family.

Louise and I left for Brisbane this morning, so after our last farewell to all the Nicholson children we were off with Lisa to meet the Nicholson Grandparents (John and Julie) half way. The half way point was Cunningham's Gap which is situated by Main Range National park; which is Australia's version of America's Great Divide. We hiked the roughly 4 Kilometers to the peak of one of the mountains through beautiful rainforests. I snapped some fifty pictures; some where close up and others were wide scenic shots, and we had fun. When we came back down Louise's Parents were there waiting (as before mentioned). We said our last goodbye to Lisa and were off.

Lunch was next on our Itinerary. We went to a country off-the-highway cafe and fruit stand. I had a huge hamburger with the works (including egg, beetroot, and buttered buns). After our satiating lunch we were off again on the road to Brisbane. The trip was uneventful except for a random stop in which the police had John breath into a Breathalyser--which read 0.00, and I commented that such a stop was likely illegal in the states. I have notice that there is much more regulation of behaviour here in Australia compared to the U.S. by THE STATE. Of course, litigation in U.S. may regulate behaviour privately just as much as it is regulated by government in Australia, but I think I prefer to have my behaviour regulated by my fellow man democratically then bureaucratically by the amorphous monolithic STATE.

In any case, we had a nice evening at Paul and Becky's place.

ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. It is analogous to the Forth of July in the U.S. with a little of memorial day added. Paul, Becky, John Julie Louise and Myself all went to the ANZAC day parade in downtown Brisbane. That was very fun. We got to see some tanks roll down the street (All American Made) and we had fun with the piper bands.

One observation that I made was the fact that the dozens of Jeeps and Armored vehicles were all American--with Left-hand drive and all. Not only that but the Hummers and Jeeps, most of them, had U.S.A. Army written on them. I was standing a little taller knowing that our armed forces helped keep Australia from becoming Japan and France Germany. Can they stop the upward invasion of the nihilistic barbarians within their own borders (in the form of our listless only-interested-in-ME Generation)? Only time will tell.

We also spent some time in the South Bank sector of town. That is a beautiful gardened area where there are little pools, and artificial beach capable of accommodating hundreds of people, shops, street performers, a Tibetan Bagoda, and more.

After that we came home to regroup before going off to Mount Coot-tha (aboriginal), the highest mount in Brisbane area. It has a beautiful view of all of the Brisbane planes and River. I was able to pick out the University of Queensland where the Medical school is situated. There is also a romantic restaurant that overlooks the city. Surrounding the Mountain is a large reserve of botanical gardens.

Tommorow I will visit Australia Zoo--where Steve Irwin the Crocodile hunter works.

Today we all went to Australia Zoo which is Steve Irwin's magna opus. It was quite fun. The zoo is really focused on giving people a good hands-on, up close and personal experience with animals and nature. As such there were "encounters" with Tigers and Cheetahs, Elephants and Emus, Wombats and well, you get the picture. I was suprised that we were able to hold a Koala and get our picture taken. Unfortunately the Death Adders were off limits today.

The zoo was great. It wasn't the largest zoo I've been to, but it was certainly more of an educational experience for kids. They even had a Kids farm animal section where you could pet younger cows, piglets, kids (goats), and feed them. That was in addition to all the other picture opportunities with wedge-tailed eagles, macaw parrots, and kangaroos. The zoo is located on the Sunshine Coast near the Glass House Mountains, majestic mountains that jut out from the flat plains all around it. It all sounds like it came out of a Mario Party video game, but the beauty is striking.

Tonight we will watch Cinderella Man with Becky and the Grand-Nicholsons.