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.)

"We traveled 'round Australia on Hwy No.1, we traveled 'round Australia just to have some fun, & then we went to Hobart & there we met someone . . ."

. . . and they said, "Come back soon!" :)

We did, indeed travel to Hobart earlier in November, but it was via plane, not the famous Hwy No. 1. The "someone" we met there was the Sypkes' family who graciously hosted us for the weekend. The weather was a bit crummy, but that didn't stop us from going to the Salamanca Market and the park. We had a great time playing with the kids indoors, and an even better time sharing good wine and food and talking with Sarah and Andrew. Thanks for a wonderful weekend, mates!

(Some of you might notice the title of this posting, as it's a part of the fun "Hwy No. 1" song I taught my kids last school year shortly after finding out we were moving to Australia. It's a very fun song by the Shenanigans that you can listen to part of it here from iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/highway-number-one/id336866087?i=336866122 )

Too much fun! :)

Can you believe this little girl was our flower girl over 2 years ago?

Whit borrowing Daniel's scooter . . . the 5 yr. old had to give Whit a quick crash course in operating the breaks

Jumpin' Keuer's!

This last weekend we went to Manly Beach in Sydney to soak up the sun and experience a surf festival. We discovered the "sport" setting on our camera and took these fun jumping pics at the beach. It took us a few tries at first to get the timing right, but once we did, Whit turned paparazzi on Debbie!

So we really came for the surfing festivities, & the tandem surfing (above), but soon got distracted . . .

. . . with taking these action shots! Debbie's hair went crazy in the wind!

Look how much air Whit got! Who says white men can't jump? :) In fact, it looks like he almost hit that bird with his left hand!

Whit refers to this one as superman . . . I like to call it flying squirrel

We asked a guy on the beach to take a few for us . . . he tried 4 times, and this was the best one, and his first attempt, go figure.

Melbourne- A Summer Christmas

Christmas is definitely in the air here in Melbourne! More specifically, a summer Christmas as some call it, but what exactly is so summery about the cities' decorations? It just seems odd to me to be looking at beautiful window displays of snow flakes falling and kids caroling, bundled up in scarves and jumpers. Something makes it hard for me to connect that while Christmas is traditionally known as a winter celebration, we are clearly enjoying it at the cusp of summer here in Australia.

So weird! No, Starbucks, I do not feel like a "cozy winter warmer" drink when it's tank top and shorts weather outside. And what's with your snowy landscape display amongst the heat wave that's about to hit??

Out and about in Sydney

With Whit working in Sydney for the past couple of months, we've been splitting our time going back and forth between Australia's 2 biggest and best cities. (Though our preference really still is Melbourne- sorry Sydneysiders!) Here are some photos from our recent time exploring Sydney.

Debbie outside the Chinese Friendship Garden in Sydney . . . it actually costs money to go inside, which then prompted us to appropriately look at each other and say, "What's so friendly about that?"

This big Christmas tree next to our hotel (where the clock tower is) in Sydney reminds us of the one in Union Square in San Francisco. And did I mention that there's a security guard to watch it 24 hrs. a day? I think we just found out where the Australian tax payers' money go!

Ahh, gotta love those night markets. This one in particular is in a historical area of town called "The Rocks." I've been wanting to go to this Friday night market ever since I saw it advertised- "Warm balmy nights, live music, food stalls and crafts" I'm so there!! :)

HP- no, not Highland Park for you Texans, but Hyde Park here in Sydney. The trees are amazingly tall for a city park, and I love the purple flowers in bloom right now. With a picturesque church and close proximity to water and running trails, it's our new favorite city park. This is the view we enjoy from our hotel.

The Red Center

For Halloween/Reformation Day weekend, we journeyed to the interior of Australia, more specifically, the dead center of the continent, otherwise known as the Red Center for its burnt dirt/sand. Exploring the Aussie outback in the Northern Territory was a very different trip that included a 50 km bike ride, 20 km of hiking, camel sausages, kangaroo meat, and bush camping in just a few days. Highlights included Kings Canyon, the Olgas, and of course, Urulu. Urulu is the aboriginal name for the big red rock in the middle of the desert (it's otherwise known as Ayers Rock). It might sounds silly to travel so far to see a solid piece of rock, but trust us, it is well worth the trip. Urulu is truly unique as this sandstone formation is mostly still underground, similar to an iceberg. It appears to change colors depending on the light of day. Sunset over Urulu was our favorite part of the trip.

Urulu at Sunset

Urulu at sunrise . . . with a 4am wake up call that morning!

The Ogals (Kata Tjuta) 16 miles from Urulu

9:30AM- 3.5 hr. hike through King's Canyon- DONE!

We biked through the desert near Alice Springs to the Simpson Gap, pictured behind Debbie who was looking to hitch hike back (no luck)

3rd time's a charm!

After months of indecisiveness, and Whit talking Debbie out of a full one ("Don't put your body through that torture! You're not going to be able to do anything for months afterward. Remember what happened to me after the SF one?") she ran in her 3rd half marathon on Oct. 10. the race went very well and she's up and running again!
The Melbourne Half Marathon had over 7,800 participants and a beautiful scenic route through the city and south Melbourne. Whit was lovingly supportive, especially on the days where she wants to throw away her runners. (Aussie term for running/sport shoes) . . . He even biked to various points during the race for some action shots.

Just getting starting at mile 2 . . .

Debbie trying to pose for a shot as she rounds mile 12 :)

The finish line was in the MCG after completing one lap inside the stadium- very cool!

We did it! !! :)

Tyler Keuer's come to Australia!

We had a great 2 week visit from Whit's parents, who traveled over 24 hours to visit us. They were full of life upon their arrival and a lot of fun was had as we toured them around Melbourne, Sydney, and even a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns. We miss you Mum & Dad!

First night with the Tyler Keuer's included a seafood dinner on the beach in St. Kilda

Whit and his dad in full snorkel gear at the Great Barrier Reef

A few days in Sydney before heading back to Melbourne . . . not too sure why Whit looks so much taller than everyone in this photo . . .

The Debbie's at the Botanical Gardens where you can have a view of both the Opera House & Bridge

Back "home" for a bit . . . behind us is the Melbourne's Southbank skyline

Australia, size-wise

In case you're wondering about the size of Australia, here's a helpful visualization we got from Andrew Keuer. Thanks, mate!

Mornington Peninsula

We found a new weekend getaway spot we'll sure be returning to! This past Saturday we drove down to the Mornington Peninsula. Located south-east of Melbourne, it's surrounded by the calm waters Port Phillip Bay on one side and raging ocean water on the other. The Peninsula has the best of both worlds for us- wineries in the interior and water/hiking on the exterior. The drive along the bay is beautiful and we can see why this is a popular weekend destination. We'll be back next month for some strawberry picking!