A Trip to Canberra

This past week we spent in Canberra, the Australian capital city.

While my husband worked, the children and I explored...

We made a trip to the National Botanical Garden... a wonderful learning opportunity, as well as, a beautiful and soul filling day.

Sarah and Thomas in front of a Wattle Bush 

The Wattle is the National Flower of Australia

They happened to be in bloom the week we were in Canberra!

Within the Botanical Garden, were sections planted to show off the 
various climate zones around Australia... 

The Rain Forest was one of our favorites.

Kangaroo Paws

Fuchsia Heath

 Banksia

We just happened to stop and chat with a lovely woman who ended up giving us a tour of the garden.  She was a tour guide for the Garden... but was on her day off...enjoying the garden on her own time.  Yet, she could not help but share her wealth of knowledge regarding Australian soil, native plants and birds.

Sarah had a fabulous time naming birds she had been studying in her new Australian Bird Guide.

 Splendid Fairy Wren

 

Crimson Rosellas

We also had our first wild Kangaroo sighting as we were walking about.

The following day,  we enjoyed the National Zoo...  lots of interesting animals.  One particular exhibit allowed us to walk freely with Kangaroos, Wallabies and Emus.

After the zoo, we headed over to the Australian War Memorial. This was a highlight for Thomas.

He enjoyed all of the restored and preserved war vehicles and airplane's from various past wars to present, as well as amazing and detailed dioramas of the battles fought during World War I. 

Another day was enjoyed at a nature reserve known as Tidbinbilla.  It is a nature park that has been working to protect animals that are unique to Australia that are at risk of extinction.  Many of these animals are already extinct in the Canberra Capitol Territory.   



We enjoyed amazing sitings of  birds, kangaroos, wallabies, and emus.

While searching for the elusive platypus along a lakeside trail, we noticed we had a curious Emu following us.  As we continued down the trail, we realized that the trail ended and that we would have to turn back.  Unfortunately for us, the Emu was not going to back up.  It stood right in the way of our path ... starring at us.

My husband tried to "shoo" him away... with no luck.  The children were becoming a bit frightened... this large bird was not going to move and was appearing to show signs of irritation.  Not knowing what else to do, my husband picked up a very large branch on the ground with leaves still attached.  He began to walk toward the bird, shaking the branch and soon we were all chasing the bird down the trail!  That awkward bird ran for it's life!  We all got a good laugh after that experience.

 Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo

Australian Pelicans

As we continued on our bush walk through the Eucalyptus forest, we searched for a Koala... another very elusive creature.  Apparently, there was a terrible fire in the past few years that killed many of the Koala in the reserve.  Only one survived and they are currently working to acclimate a few more into the area again.  They did have one that was fenced off so we did get a good look at our first Koala.
 

 The Kangaroos were plentiful... mobs everywhere we went!

There is so much beautiful countryside to explore all around Canberra... and, lots more to explore in the city itself.  We are looking forward to returning for more adventures!

Exploring

The past few weeks have been both exciting and rather difficult at the same time. As with any move, there is a time of adjustment, setting up, and nesting... with an International move this process is spread out over several months... and so it takes patience and an enduring spirit to walk each day.

Our Little Cottage in Crows Nest

This is not easy when your comfortable bed is floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!  Yet, keeping things in perspective,  I am thankful we do have an adequate bed, for now, and a lovely home to keep us safe and warm.  

After three weeks, we finally got our house phone connected!  We are still working on the internet but we are hopeful by next week that will be resolved.    

We have been busy setting up our place... getting quotes for curtains, making appointments with Doctors, learning our way around our neighborhood, making new friends and meeting our neighbors.   We don't have a car... so we are daily walking to the grocery store for our meals... very much like Europe!




This weekend we ventured out to Manly. (A 25-30 minute bus ride from our place).  It is a famous seaside town located near the headlands, just north of Sydney.  It was a fabulous winter day... many people were out sunbathing and swimming in the ocean.

The children enjoyed investigating into the tide pools and digging in the sand... we enjoyed a fabulous lunch overlooking the beach...

A Walk along the hillside in Manly...

 

 

A Sea Dragon

We then jumped on the Ferry and headed down to the Circular Quay (the main Ferry/Train Station in Sydney.)  We got some great views of the city and the famous Opera House as well as the Bridge...

 It is hard to believe this is within a half hour of our doorstep!  

Finding Our Way

We have spent the past few days getting adjusted to the time... Crows Nest is our home for the next few years.  It is a vibrant little village full of coffee shops and restaurants.   We are currently enjoying a cup of coffee at our local coffee shop (literally one short block from our home).  I am having a difficult time getting onto my e-mail.  For some reason, I cannot access it through the public internet connection.  This is a bit discouraging as this is one of my main forms of communication with friends and family.  If you have the time, drop a comment on my blog to let me know you are out there! 

Our new house is great... looking forward to making it a home.  We visited a Baptist Church yesterday... it was truly wonderful to worship and feel connected to the body of Christ even so far from home.

Photos to come! We are just finding our way through all the details...

Rest

The past few weeks we have enjoyed visiting with my parents in Palm Springs... It has been such a joy to visit with Pop Pop Jake, Grandma Linda and Great Grandma Joan.  Lots of good food, swimming and fun. 

Today, we traveled from the Coachella Valley floor at sea level up to the 

San Juacinto mountain tops at 8,600 feet!

  

 We rode the tram up to the top and enjoyed a lovely hike in the mountains. 

  
 

 

We leave for Australia in just two more days!  

An Unexpected Trip

Just a few weeks ago, we found out that we needed to make a special trip to Washington DC in order prepare for our move to Sydney...

After a busy week of packing out of our home, we headed East to take care of some last minute details.

 
While over in the DC area, we were able to get together with my husband's Uncle David and Aunt Brenda. We had a fabulous time laughing and catching up since we last saw each other.  The children enjoyed getting reacquainted and we cherished the opportunity to spend this sweet time with them.

During the week we have been busy with appointments in the mornings, but have had the opportunity to wander about the area and take in some of the historic sites and museums.

 

 

It has been a whirlwind of a time and we are now looking forward to heading down to visit our family in California for a nice rest.   Then off to our new home in Sydney!

Happy Birthday Thomas!

We celebrated Thomas' Birthday today! 

He has just turned 8 years old.  

He spent a fun filled day with his Grandparents and

enjoyed a wonderful cake decorated with lots of

John Deere green! His favorite color.

He had a wonderful time...

in spite of our overseas move happening over his big day. 

I think he felt pretty special none-the-less.

Happy Birthday Thomas! 

WE love you.

Moving Day!

Today we finished packing up our overseas shipment.  Our items were packed up in boxes and then packed into wooden crates... which are then to be packed into a sea container... which will travel for approximately 75 days by boat to Sydney!  


This weekend we, will work to clean the house and prepare for another week of packing up the rest of our storage items... what an adventure!

I have moved a bunch in my life... this move has been rather interesting and in some ways more demanding of us to let go of stuff... things that we like... Australia has a lot of restrictions on the importation of goods... so we have had to sift through and weed out restricted items...



We have purged over half of our books... put many in storage... and STILL the movers comment on the fact that we had a lot of books!  I guess a home school family values the written word...  Perhaps we should consider a Kindle for the next move?  It would save us literally hundreds of pounds.

 

Of all the moves we have had... this seems to be the most planned for and by far the most complicated.  It has also been one of the most prayed over...  Things are running smoothly and we are so thankful that our Heavenly Father is walking side by side with us through it all. 

Happy 4th of July!

The past few weeks have been a blur preparing for our move to Australia... saying good bye to friends and neighbors... sorting through and packing our things.  Selling off our cars and many pieces of furniture... finding a home for our Oscar kitty....We slowly are simplifying and letting go.  There is lots still to do.  The moving truck arrives this week to pack and load the things we will carry with us to Australia... all will be loaded into a shipping container which will travel on a 75 day journey over the Pacific Ocean.

As we were packing up a few toys, Thomas shared some new found wisdom...packing up his beloved Legos he announced,  "Mommy, I thought this was going to be hard.  But it's really not.  It's kind of fun!"  It is an adventure of grand proportions for our family... to leave the comfort of our life here behind and prepare to set up a new "home" in a foreign land.
 
There are a lot of details still to unfold, but one thing is for sure, our Heavenly Father will guide and direct all the details and we need only trust in his sole provision for us.  This is where we will rest today.  In His sovereignty.