cheerios

As we walked through the local grocery store in nearby Gympie my mother suddenly attacked me from behind saying, "here, take your daughter and her cheerio." It sounds harmless enough, but a cheerio in Aussieland is not a small oaty cereal, but rather a cocktail weenie stuffed into kool-aid red casing. num num. Well, Ella thought so, but my mother wasn't too thrilled with the idea of Ella devouring a cold sausage over her shoulder. Oh the things we learn when we travel.

My mom is slowly losing the deer-in-headlights look about her, and warming up to the pace of life here. We're now at David's house, by the way, which is in the clouds, literally. David is Chris's dad who bought 66 acres in the sunshine coast hinterland along with a beautiful, though quirky house; an "American barn" which doesn't seem remotely American to me, the silly American in town; a pool, though it's mostly empty apart from the goannas; a pond, or dam as they call ponds here; a small gum tree plantation; and any number of native critters. The daily routine here involves checking the water level on the multiple tanks that catch rain-water, starting a fire inside for warmth, starting a fire outside for fun, taking a walk down the driveway which doubles as a rally car race track, taking a bath or shower after the trek back up, checking the water level again, walking up the 4-wheel drive track to the bush lemon tree and the peak of the property (I must admit the lemon tree might be more enticing to me), having a drink, having another shower, checking the water levels again, having another drink by the fire, and going to bed. My mom and Chris get a little antsy, but personally I love the view of the macadamia plantation below us, just beyond the clay stove on the deck. I don't mind just sitting there and staring out for hours on end, so I guess it works for me up here, at least while I'm on holiday.

***

Okay, we just ate dinner, hence the *** interlude. I've also had a couple gin and tonics and several glasses of superb Australian Shiraz, so things might start to get a little hazy at this point. In fact, instead of writing any more, I think I will simply leave you with a few choice pics from the last couple days up here in hinterland and hope you might feel a touch of the sublime life that is lived here.

the view from the front deck of "The Moore Hilton: Hinterland Abode" (the dark trees in the middle are the macadamia plantation belonging to one of his neighbors)

even the kangaroos are cheeky here

Chris got tired at the beach, but luckily Ella came to his rescue

Chris is being silly and telling me that actually that's not the beach, it's the river. Hello, the water there is still salty. We still ate fish and chips there. There are still scary animals everywhere! It's totally the beach. Doesn't he know anything about this place?

woolamaboolama

Obviously I've been MIA for a while. Sometimes I feel bad about it, because I shouldn't have started this project if I couldn't have kept it up, right? But I do want to do this. I want to write. I want to find my voice, and learn how to project it. I just have a hard time saying no, that's the problem. Well, when it comes to anything that sounds like fun at least. Should we go for a drive? Yes. Should we play in the garden? Yes. Should we have a gin and tonic? Yes. Should I stop doing all of that and lock myself inside in front of a glowing box which constantly demands me to think? Gee, that doesn't sound like fun! Maybe if we got a router and I could play on the computer outside, maybe that would motivate me. We only just got internet about a year ago though, so I better not get ahead of myself here! I've already got a blog people, I'm climbing a steep learning curve! Oh well, I'm here again, so you know I'm not ready to give up yet.

Actually, I have been very busy. The end of the school year is always riddled with chaos, and on top of that, two days after it finished we hopped on a plane for 30ish hours of fun with a 14 month old. Chris, being from Australia, has lots of family in Australia. Actually all his family is in Australia. Chris's parents hadn't even met Ella yet. So we packed up her, a bag of diapers, several sippy-cups of milk, and my mother, to venture around the globe for a month of fun. And here I am now, coming to you live from the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

It's winter here, but the funny thing is that it's pretty much the same as Minnesota weather at the moment, except sunnier. My mother keeps saying that all she needs is the beach, the veranda, and a beverage. The fact that we've been to the beach every day should tell you how awful it is in the miserable miserable place. Ella has decided that the waves are scary, but all she needs is the soft sand and some sunnies and she'll be 'right. Sarvo we ate snags and bickies while pushing Ella in the pram after a nap in the cot...oh sorry, you don't actually know what I'm talking about, do you? Welcome to my world.

Woolamaboolama is actually a nonsense word I made up when I was trying to remember the name of an Aussie town many years ago. All the names here have as many double letters, usually including at least one set of double o's, as possible, so it's not even that far fetched. Here are a couple examples of real towns in the immediate vicinity of our current location on the Sunny Coast.


Noosa.
Coolum.
Caboolture.
Maroochydore.
Mooloolaba.

See what I mean?



Here's the real shocker--my baby has become a Vegemite kid. Chris nearly included a line in our wedding vows requiring me to promise that I would always allow, if not encourage, our children to eat Vegemite. I fully agreed, as I have no concerns with it other than the fact that it tastes like concentrated bullion paste. Who wouldn't want that smeared over toast, honestly? I'll admit there are worse things in the world, though I'll tell you I didn't foresee the potency of the Vegemite diapers. Oh well. It happens to be "One of the world's richest known sources of Vitamin B", which one specifically I don't know, but it sounds healthy, that's for sure. Australians are big on winning national and even international competitions, so maybe I should be skeptical actually. There are bakeries on every corner here claiming to have the countries best meat pies. And I know you've been dying to eat meat pies coated in Vegemite! Seriously, if I hadn't given birth to Ella, you'd wouldn't know she was my kid, yet anyone off the street can glance in her direction and know she's Chris's. Too funny. In all seriousness though, I love that she looks like Chris, acts like Chris, eats like Chris, and is absolutely adorable, just like Chris. And if she winds up with his legs, that's a bonus. I wish Chris's family could spend time with her (and us) more often, but while it may not be a great quantity, there's no doubt that the time we're spending here now is quality. Let's just hope Ella doesn't end up with Chris's hair!


Ella and her gorgeous Gramdma, Dianne, in the hammock on the veranda