Happy New Year!
Trip Start
Oct 13, 2007
1
14
17
Trip End
??? ??, 2009
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park,
Northern Territory,
Australia
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Lot's to report here, so get ready for a read....
Well, this holiday season has certainly been less hectic than last year. I remember being pretty stressed out trying to pull together the boys' birthdays last year with Christmas right around the corner. But having been here a year now, it was a piece of cake. I knew where to shop, how to get there, and even managed to get some deals! And with the help of friends at home, even got some things sent from the states. I even got out some Christmas cards and had kid parties for the boys. So I feel pretty accomplished this time around!
It's been pretty busy for us the past couple of months. We are officially on summer break here, with the school year ending on 12/19. Max is all registered for high school, starting Year 7 at the end of February. Sam will be in Year 5. However, both boys will start these years over when we get back home.
The boys are more than halfway through their baseball and cricket seasons, with a break now for the summer holidays. Both are enjoying these new sports, and I'm even scoring Max's baseball games, so I get the best seat in the house, right behind home plate. Sam attended a cricket clinic during the last term break and not only improved his skills, but won a cricket bat and gloves!
The end of the school year was marked with various concerts and parties, both for kids and parents. The boys had their "showcase" (i.e., recital) where they take piano and guitar. Sam played In the Hall of the Mountain King (you'd know it if you heard it) and Max rocked it with Sweet Child O' Mine. Both boys had end of the year dances/parties. This year, I understood that "fancy dress" meant costume party, so Sam was appropriately dressed as a "gangsta" with his mates. A phenomenon that I still shake my head at is the fact that each grade at our school has a "parent drink night" to celebrate the end of school/holidays. That just wouldn't happen at JB Nelson, but I certainly think its a fine tradition. Plus, it allowed me to get to know more of the parents.
One highlight of the school year for the boys was their camps. Sam had an overnight stay in the Blue Mountains with his grade and visited the Jenolan Caves, something that we want to do as a family. Max had a 4 night stay at a sports camp which is on an island near Sydney. He did all kinds of activities such as archery, canoeing, ropes course, and even had to work in the canteen a couple times! A great experience for both of them!
Jim's work is progressing well, although he still has some very long days. He goes to Melbourne about once a month. He continues to train his replacements and he's being strongly encouraged to take about a week a month off beginning in January! So we hope to see more of the country before we come home (which looks like end of June at this point, but we'll keep you posted as we get closer).
We just got back from central Australia--the Red Centre, as they call it. We visited Uluru, which is the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock. This is a monolith (not a rock really, as we learned) that is over 300 millions years old! It's right in the middle of the very red desert--just over 9 km around the base. Also nearby is Kata Tjuta, meaning "many heads" and you'll see why in the pictures. With the pureness of the sky in the middle of nowhere, the colors of Uluru can be quite spectacular, especially at sunrise and sunset. So, on our trip, we had sunrise and sunset tours and Jim got some great pics, especially of sunset. We also participated in the "Sounds of Silence Dinner." They took us out to the middle of the desert where we started with champagne and canapes, while a guy played and explained the digeridoo. Then, we walked a short distance to an Aussie buffet. It was very cool--nothing around you but the night sky and the vast desert. After dinner, there was some stargazing, despite a lot of cloud cover. Lots of fun and we sat with people from all over--Italy, Viet Nam, Canada, the Netherlands. I was feeling it the next day, but we ventured out for a 45 minute camel ride nevertheless. Otherwise, we spent most of the days at the pool, as the temp was over 100. And I've complained about the flies before in my blog, but they are nothing in Sydney compared to the desert. We were warned about them, especially during this time of year, but you can't really appreciate how bad they are until you're there. I teased Jim about the fly nets he bought us before the trip, but they were a savior. And they make for some pretty funny pictures. Pretty much everyone wore them when you were out on tours. I felt sorry for those that didn't have them!
We said we weren't going to do it again, due to the crowds, but decided that we just couldn't miss out on our last New Year's Eve in Sydney. So we (and a million others) went down to the Harbour Bridge last night and were not disappointed. We think the fireworks were even better than last year.
Next on the list is the bridge climb on Saturday! I'm excited and nervous. Jim is just nervous I think. After that, Jim is back to work for a week and then we're going to Melbourne to travel the Great Ocean Road. I'll post pics when we get back.
Hope you like the pics--there's a little bit of everything from the past few months. If you're in a hurry, choose the slideshow, but if you want to see a little more description on some that I elaborated on, I think you have to view it in photo album mode.
We hope that 2009 brings you all good health, much joy and better economic times! We miss you all and look forward to seeing you in the new year!
Love,
Barb and the boys
Comments
Happy New Year!
Barb, what a great entry! Can't tell you how much I enjoy getting 'caught up' with the Glore Family Australian Adventures. Certainly sound like you are keeping busy and really experiencing Australia. Give Jim my best. Can't wait until you guys are back here in the States--I'm guessing June will be here before we know it. BTW--I caught the fireworks from Sydney and they were indeed AWESOME! How fun you were able to be there again this year. Take good care.
Maureen