Good bye for now, Melbourne!

Our last night in the Bible House, and we both look at each other and comment how hard it is to leave Melbourne. 6 months have flown by as we grew to love this city more and more. We thank God for this unique opportunity here and will definitely be back!

Below are a few photos from our last week in Mel.

Picnic dinner along the Yarra River

Our church home in Melbourne- Cross Culture!

Can you spot the "K" that's been to every house we've lived in? We treat it like the traveling gnome. :)

Melbourne's Town Hall

Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

We've been on holiday for the past week in New Zealand and it's been very relaxing. Our first stop was Queenstown, the closest airport to the famous Milford Sound on the west coast of the South Island. (Milford will require a post itself!)

Queenstown is very much like Interlaken, Switzerland, but better. It's a gateway city that offers the best of both worlds in our opinion- beautiful scenery (lakeside town with surrounding "Remarkable" mountains), sport options galore (hiking, mountain biking, jet skiing, sailing, & you can bungee too!), and a quaint, modern town with good eats and church options. Did we mention that it's overall affordable as well? It's now our #1 choice for a holiday home, topping previous favorite (South Lake Tahoe). I mean, how cool would it be if our grandkids can one day say to their grammar school friends, "I'm going to visit grandma and grandpa this Christmas... in New Zealand!" :)

An Aussie Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving being an American Holiday, Thanksgiving dinners are quite rare here. So rare that when Debbie decided surprise Whit with a traditional turkey-day dinner, many items were absent from supermarkets (e.g. fresh cranberries, canned pumpkin). Nevertheless, the modified Thanksgiving dinner (e.g. turkey breast loaf instead of a whole bird- way easier to "carve" though) was a success with the stuffing being the biggest hit of all. :)

It was a rainy Thanksgiving evening- perfect for staying inside and eating! This photo was taken from our upstairs study during sun set.

Cherry Pickin' Fun!

I'm not talking a bout the basketball term, but the real thing! We went cherry picking this past weekend in the Mornington Peninsula. It was a lot of fun, but hard work (somebody had to taste test those cherries!) and very warm. We're thankful we're not farmers, but it was a good experience while it lasted. The real treat was afterwards- days of enjoying fresh picked cherries, yum!!

With Whit's height and the ladder, we were able to get the good cherries up high. Debbie played supervisor during this process.

Whit taking a squatting break- very typical of Asian farmers in the motherland.

Debbie picking cherries with one hand, and holding the camera in another!

Whit, taste testing- the biggest perk while picking these sweet little guys

Straight off the cherry trees!

2 kg later- done!! (Anymore and we would have been sick.)