Ah, the Pageant!

*Melissa*

With the windshield wipers going full-on, we drove along the beach back in to town. It wasn’t hard to spot the collection of cars, and spot the goofy looking characters marching along the streets. We parked, and quickly made our way over to watch the pageant.

“Pageant” here in Australia is a fancy word for parade. Not kiddos on a stage singing songs or performing renditions of Shakespeare, or beauties trying (usually unsuccessfully) to prove that they are more than a pretty face. Just a good old fashioned parade with a marching band, decorated floats, people throwing candy to the little ones, and even the fire-truck tooting its horn. Yes, all in the pouring rain. It was fantastic!

It made me feel all warm and fuzzy to see the festivities – everyone smiling, dressed in soaking wet penguin costumes, and prancing around in elf outfits. My favorite was the 60-year-old marching bandleader who kept stopping and stomping in the rain puddles to splash the players behind him in time to the music. And what parade would be complete without a waving Santa at the end of the line? they need more Christmas parades back home!

All warm and fuzzy – and a bit homesick – on the inside, and cool as a frozen cucumber on the outside, we sped back to the comfort of our cozy hotel bed and lucked out to find an amazingly intriguing movie on TV. But our luck didn’t stop there. Just as we got to the crux of an intriguing movie we discovered on TV, everything went black, followed by the familiar whir of dying electricity. It was silent. And Dark. And it lasted for over an hour, causing us to miss the end of our movie.

So, there we were: No snorkeling, No penguins, and not even the pleasure of finishing a good movie. Not a single tan line to show for our weekend getaway!

On the way home, we visited the lovely – but utterly small and relatively empty – McLaren Vale, and topped off our trip with Mission Impossible 4 in V-Max. Quite a different lot than we had planned for!! With Christmas just around the corner, maybe fate is just saving up the good stuff for the holiday weekend!!

A Winter Wet Christmas

The wettest year for…years. Many of them. HEAPS of them. Queensland has seen it’s wettest month in the last 123 of them. Wet. Rainy. Grey. It sounds closer to Christmas weather back home than I would like, given the fact that we are in Australia. I love how all these “rumors” about the hot weather, boiling summer days, and sweaty, sunburned Christmases are all starting to seem like “hearsay” - like the rumors you tell your best mates back home in the states to make them jealous while the snowstorms roll in.

After our exciting jaunt in the hills, we decided that this past weekend we would “get away from it all” – leave town for the night, and escape to the sleepy little town of Victor to see some penguins, catch some sun, and maybe do a bit of snorkeling. We booked a room that boasted about its ocean views and the pictures looked impressive. So, when Friday came, we decided to fore-go the late-night movie so we could get an early start and catch the Saturday markets along the way.

Much to our incredible disappointment, we woke up to another morning of grey skies, thick moist air, and the promise of rain. We packed the car, swung by the bakery for breakfast, and hit the road.

The Willunga Market was our first stop. I have a strange soft spot for Weekend markets, and the Willunga Saturday Market is boasted to be, quite possibly, the best Market in South Australia. After a bit of directional upheaval, thanks to Adelaide’s lack of street sign postage, we found our way to this tiny little town on the outskirts of famed “McLaren Vale Wine Country”. When I saw the little white tents of the booths, I couldn’t wait to go see what Willunga had to offer. Aside from the typical fruits, veggies, honey, and breads, I was thrilled to try some Lavender Brownies, and Lavender Fudge – which is exactly what it sounds like. Brownies and Fudge infused with Lavender. Chad found them a bit too strange, but I couldn’t believe how tasty they were!! Perhaps when I find time to experiment with my cooking again I will have to seek out a recipe.

We also tried Dessert Limes – tiny itsy bitsy limes about the size of a pea. You pop the whole dang thing in your mouth and chew. About the tartest thing you can imagine as it pops against your cheek! I didn’t know that limes could possibly form in such a tiny package!

We rolled in to Victor Harbor about an hour later. Much to our dismay, as we parked the car in front of a pub with the intention of having a Butchers (“Browse” for those of you who have forgot lol), the refreshing drizzle transformed into a downpour. We must have browsed through every shop in town before turning up at the restaurant with a name out of Chad’s Dreams- Schnitzel Encounters. For those of you keeping track, mark another one that doesn’t live up to our good ol’ Seaview Chicken and Fish standard.

With no end to the storm in sight, we decided to check in to our room in hopes of catching the lightning rolling in over the ocean. We got our keys, were given directions to the room, and threw open our curtains to the most gorgeous view of… the building across the way- which was about 3 meters. Exasperated, we had no other choice but to nap.

Because of mine and Chad’s incredible indecisiveness when it comes to eating out, we rely on recommendations and reviews quite heavily. So when the hotel manager started going on about this great eatery that Chad and I had already decided on from its online reviews, we were thrilled to go. A quaint little place called the Beach House, with superb wood-fired pizzas. Coincidentally, a great place to eat in a storm – we watched the rain pour down in buckets, and heard the pitter-patter of rain on the tin-shed roof, and listened to the grumble of thunder rattle the windows. It wasn’t snorkeling, but I love me a good thunderstorm!!

We were all set to return to the hotel for a lazy night with a TV movie, when the cashier made a comment about the weather. “Well,” he said, looking at his watch “the pageant started off around 6, so just imagine how they’re goin’!”

Once we scrambled into the car, Chad and I looked at each other with the same expression. Pageant? We’ve got to see this!!

Oh, The Lights!

*Melissa*

While Chad experienced something spiritual with his Darwinian brother, I cooed at the sight of all the other furry, prickly, and downright adorable creatures – that was until we entered the “typically Australian” roo pen. All sorts of roos were to be fed in this enormous fenced in area that you could wander through at your leisure. Some fat, lethargic lazy yellowtail roo welcomed us just inside the gate, finding the strength to hoist himself up from the ground and waddle over to fetch the crackers from our hands. Great start! We thought. The other roos, however, seemed to be resisting our crackers – even the fancy albinos, much to our disappointment. That was, however, until we found the fluffy roos congregating towards the other end of the enclosure. With faces resembling my beloved great Danes, I had to coax them into letting me pet them. Within minutes, the little guys had caught on that we had something tasty, and one of the big ones was trying to win my heart with a hug. Ok – so this hug may have resembled “mauling” or “trampling” or even “groping” – as his paws dove down my V-neck shirt, and scraped along my hips. His giant bunny feet stayed on the ground, so I was safe. I counted myself lucky to walk away with only a scratched up chest.

As we strolled out of the park, we found that we were the only car left in the entire parking lot, and I was pleased as a peach, feeling like our admission was some of the best-spent dollars in our whole 6 months!

Our next stop was Lobethal – a site I was equally excited about. Lobethal is renowned in South Australia for their Christmas Lights. Even my travel book mentioned the “Lights of Lobethal” in December, where the whole down gets decked out with Christmas Spirit (and lights, of course!). Chad seemed to be less enthused, not quite grasping the whole idea of it all. I, having been feeling a bit homesick with the holiday festivities, was determined to change his attitude about it… that was, until we rolled into town at 6… and the whole shindig wasn’t to start till 8:30. To make a long story short, we ended up acquainting ourselves with Lobethal better than any other South Australian town (i.e. the one main road about 3 blocks long). We visited the Christmas market where we bought some local berries, we ate some hotdogs, and some hot sugary donuts. I gobbled down some delicious local berries with homemade ice cream and whipped cream, and we waited until 8:30. And then the magic happened. We were impressed that Jesus was making a personal appearance in such a small out-of-the-way town, as advertised on the billboard: “Baby Jesus here LIVE! TONIGHT ONLY!” We watched the streets light up. We drove around with the Christmas Playlist on, gawking at the festive decorations. It was a bit chilly, but we had the windows rolled down, and there wasn’t a snowflake in sight. The sight of the lights made me feel all warm and fuzzy, and for the rest the ride home, all I could think of was home, and the traditional drive-thru of the neighborhoods Dad had always insisted on to see the lights when I was tiny; and the smell of wood smoke drifting up into the freezing night air as families nestled down for the night.

My Australian Ancestors

*Chad*

This blog posting is a bit late and I have to take complete responsibility for that fact. I can’t say I have a good reason for it, but I guess I just let time get away. I digress.

A few weeks ago Melissa and I took a Sunday and went for a bit drive to find out what lies just outside the Adelaide area. Melissa had found an interesting drive that included a lot of interesting and uniquely Australian sites but little did I know that this seemingly innocent day trip Melissa had planned would actually turn into a shocking glimpse into my own ancestry.

We packed our cameras, a few snacks, and headed off out of town towards Hahndorf (a sleepy German town a few kilometers outside of the city in the Adelaide Hills). The drive always reminds me of Southern Oregon. Granted the trees are different and we drive on the wrong side of the road here in Australia, but I still think the feel and the overall appearance is strikingly similar. Once off the main roads, you drive through sweeping fields of green and brown, past homes that seem strangely removed from the modern world and through forests that appear suddenly only to be lost again in the rear view mirror. The roads narrow, the traffic thins and you know you’re in the country. Our first stop was in a little country town called Balhannah. It had been a good few hours since brekky and, naturally, I was famished. We pulled into a small shopping area that consisted of a Coles grocery store, a bottle shop and a few restaurants. Melissa and I stood for a few minutes trying to decide which café to try when a group of local kids rolled by on push-bikes talking about how they had just enough money for “chips” at a shop around the corner. I heard chips (French fries to us Yanks) and was instantly committed. The café was small but busy. The menu boasted a list of local ingredients and a few Australian style desserts. One thing I have really grown to love about South Australia is that they are very much into eating local, fresh and organic meats and produce. Brad would be proud to know that I have been eating free range eggs, fresh fruits and veg since arriving in Australia. No canned or frozen foods here (except, of course, the occasional can of Dr. Pepper)! After a delicious lunch we jumped back on the road and headed to a South Australian institution: Melba’s chocolate shop.

Melbas chocolate shop has been producing sweets for years in a few different places in South Australia but this particular shop was old, very old. Because Melissa is a fan of anything with the word chocolate involved she as excited as a kid in a…well…candy shop, to see a real, old school, operating chocolate shop. The building was a large open room with a lot of smaller rooms around the perimeter and bins of various as sundries lining the center. Each room was a different stage in the sweet making process; some rooms had chocolate some had hard candies while others were packaging. The center of the room was filled with chocolates, hard candies, gummy treats and other odds and ends. A lot of the candy seemed strange to me and some of it just down right terrible. I will never be into chocolate covered gummy snakes or chocolate apricots. Aniseed flavored things are very popular in South Australia; another sweet that would never agree with my taste buds.

After leaving the chocolate shop, we drove a few more kilometers to a nature reserve were we hoped to see some native Australian animals. After paying what I consider to be a massive amount of money to see animals in cages we started out by watching people line up to hold a chunky little koala. Melissa and I decided that the que wasn’t worth the photo op and we headed off towards what sounded like a bird being violently eaten. We rounded the corner past a few peacocks and a small pond housing two small gators over to a small bamboo walled enclosure. We immediately found the source of all the strange noises. Inside we watched three otters sprinting from one end of the cage to other chasing a small black and orange bird that had gotten trapped in the enclosure. It was by far one of the more hilarious things I have ever seen. The bird was safe as long as it stayed on the far side of a small wire fence, but the otters intently watched the birds every move chasing after it as it ran around trying to find a way out. In the rest of the park we found various birds, different kangaroos, wombats, and a couple echidnas. What I found most interesting was the flying fox area. I had never seen a flying fox that close up before but they are awesome creatures. Hanging from the ceiling by their feet, they would hang upside down eating a bit of lunch with their hand like wings.

Although I found the flying foxes very interesting, the next cage may have changed my life. The next cage was home to a group of capuchin monkeys. Now I have always considered myself a fan of climbing trees, swing on ropes, and jumping around on various structures so I already had a connection with monkeys. As Melissa and I walked up to the cage, a couple monkeys wondered over to get a closer look at us. We had bought a package of “animal crackers” before entering the park and Melissa and I had a few left over. I held out a cracker to see if I could get a monkey to take the thing out of my hand, and then it happened. Instead of taking the cracker from my hand, the little fella reached out with his miniature human hand and grabbed my finger. He didn’t just grab my hand and pull away in a mistaken attempt to get food. No no! He reached out purposely, grabbed my hand and looked into my soul! It was like my long lost ancient ancestor was holding my hand and saying “hello mate”. It was just fantastic. Here I was in South Australia, thousands of miles from home, and here was this little ancient relative holding my index finger. Then, just like that, he let go, grabbed the cookie from my hand and swung away. It was amazing. The rule of thumb here is that you will never know what’s around the corner or what sort of connection you’re going to make. The park was fantastic and I was grateful to have met a long lost member of my family in Australia.

Christmas Celebrations with the Flinders Family

*Chad*

We got a bit sun burned in December! That just sounds strange to say as an American but that’s what’s goin on; Australian sun burns for Christmas. Now that the weather has gotten markedly better, Melissa and I have been venturing out to the beach (with the rest of South Australia) for some sun bathing and a quick splash in the bay. I am really looking forward to the long days of summer and shark season! Someone told me the other day that sharks tend to come into some of the bays around here during the summer months. That’s exciting and a bit scary all at the same time. Even though I have had a chance to see a great white shark during a cage dive (http://sharkdiver.com/) I did a few years ago, my dream is to be outside of a cage while in the presence of a shark. At this point any shark will do but in the long run I have a list of sharks I would like to see in the open. Anyway, I’ve begun rambling.

Melissa and I have been going to a lot of Christmas celebrations lately. Our South Australian hospital family has gone out of their way to make sure that Melissa and I are included in everything possible this holiday season. We have been to a radiographers Christmas party, a South Australia Institute of Radiography Christmas party and even a Pain Management Clinic Christmas party (and we only know a couple people from the Pain Clinic). Even though I am extremely grateful for everyone’s hospitality and for the invitations, the Pain Clinic party this past weekend was the best of them all. No screaming loud music or super high end restaurant, just some people gathering at the bosses house for an early dinner, good company and some live music. People brought the families and different types of foods and then just sat around eating, chatting, telling stories, playing music and watching the young ones go nuts in the pool. And for those of you who know me well, yes it was really hard for me to stay out of the pool! The party was held at a doctor’s place up in the Adelaide hills just outside a German town called Handorf. As we pulled off the road onto the long dirt driveway, Melissa and I noticed a field of highland steer coming over to greet us. I had never seen a Highland steer and I assume Melissa hadn’t either. Consequently, we instantly burst into hysterics. Here is this massive animal with large white horns protruding laterally from the most ridiculous looking head you could put on an animal. The things walk around with a huge head of bangs that hang down over their eyes. They just stood in the field, chewing away with their ginger bangs obscuring their eyes. It was hilarious. The food was a plethora of different types of meats, pizzas, fruits and breads. Truly a carnivore’s meal if I have ever seen one. We had chicken tandoori, lamb chops, garlic prawns, pork fillets and spicy beef all cooked in a homemade pizza oven! I have decided that every red blooded male should have a wood pizza oven. Later in the evening Edmond, Monty, Lachlan, and Dilip all took turns playing various guitars. It was great to sit back, relax and eat my weight in food. We are both very thankful to have been invited to spend the afternoon on “the ranch”.

Melissa and I forgot to write about a little surprise we had a few weeks ago. At about 2:30 in the morning we awoke to what sounded like a train rolling past the front yard. A few nanoseconds after that, the windows and doors shook violently for a very brief second. Then, it was done. I was sure that Australia didn’t have earthquakes but after checking a web page, it turns out that this area has a lot of really small earthquakes on a fairly regular basis. In the end nothing broke and no one was hurt, just another cool little something to add to our list.

I think that’s about it for me. Thanks for checking in and we both hope that you are all happy, safe and enjoying your holiday season. We will be missing you all from the beach this Christmas.