In the jungle.......the crocodile sleeps tonight....

Yep, Dad wanted to make sure that we saw saltwater crocs while we were in Australia. And they seem to be prolific in the Daintree area (North of Cairns)... So we found this; 

So we got in our little ferry and boated down the river. The first thing we saw was a bird (croc food). It was some kind of egret or crane, the guide named everything, birds, trees, specific crocs. It was pretty awesome.

Then we saw this little guy: a little kingfisher. The smallest kingfisher in the world. These little guys would shoot right across the river, they were ridiculously hard to shoot... with a camera I mean.

I think this is a Brahminy Kite (it may have been a osprey) he followed us around, and near the end two others (not the two at the bottom of the picture) joined him.

Another Crane of sorts....

And the first croc we saw; For some reason I can't remeber her name, but she was a Mom, she had several little crocs around her as well.

This little one was from last year's litter, he hing around next to mom for a while.

I think this is Schute. He apparently lost a schute at one point. He is covered in mud to keep him from getting sunburned.

And the last croc we saw this was a big one, bigger than either of the other two we saw that day

Beej and Essie both got to drive.

Well that's all I've got, talk to you all later,

The Tall One.

Heading North

The final leg of our journey took us North up the coast. It was a long drive, so we stayed at another Holiday Park on the way.  This would be our third Holiday Park, the other two were beautiful and large and comfortable…. Here is our unit.  Yes, if you look carefully, you will notice that the van is very close to the same size.... 

They did have a fun little 'clog barn'.....

 

On the way to Surfer's Paradise, we saw lots of beautiful scenery, a lone surfer...

banana plantations...

And even Elvis! Evidently Elvis IS alive.. and is living in Australia! We met a young lady at an Animal sanctuary, who will be travelling across America for about 6 weeks with some friends. We asked what they were going to see and although the land in San Franciso and end in New York, the only thing she was sure of is that they were going to Graceland!

Guest Post: Phillip Island, Australia

I've noticed that guest posts are all the rage on these blog things right now. Soooooooo...

Here is a post from none other than  myself, "The Older." This is taken from my blog:
www.theramblingstone11.blogspot.com

At the request of "The Mom" ;)

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Time to show all you guys the other place we went last weekend, and that was Phillip Island.

Phillip Island is most famously known for the penguin parades which occur every evening on the island. The only problem is... you aren't allowed to take pictures during the parade.

However, you are allowed to take pictures everywhere else! So I did. :)
It was really cold and rainy during the day. At lunch it was pouring. So while the weather was not the most enjoyable, the sights more than made up for the cold wetness.

 This beach was one of the first ones we saw upon entering the island. these beaches are a lot more... turfy (not a word I know). Meaning there are shrubs and rocks almost right up to the water. Looks quite nice, but makes you think twice about pulling off your shoes and running down the beach. :)

Phillip Island has really pretty rolling hills covered in short bushes. In some ways it does look like a desert, but in others a tropical landscape. I liked it. :)

 Another image of the landscape, stylized in sepia tones...

 One thing you immediately notice about this island's beaches, is the enormous amount of surf that is present. There were tons of waves that looked great for surfing... I say that no because I surf, but because surfers come to this island to catch some waves in the summer. It was rather cold to be doing that now.

 During lunch at a cafe, this old car pulled up and parked right outside where we were eating.  I don't know what kind of car it is, but thought it looked pretty cool. :)

 The bird you see here is called a Purple Swamphen. There were several of these milling about on the grounds. They moved a lot though, so it was difficult to finally get a pic of them.

If you are thinking "Goose!" you would be correct. This is called a Cape Barren Goose. They make the funniest low grunting noise without opening their beaks. We saw one goose with a little group os goslings. They were very fun to watch.

One place we went to while waiting for it to become dusk, as that is when the penguins come in from the ocean, was called "The Nobbies" This was on the very southernmost tip of Phillip Island, and had TONS of seals on the rocks. Unfortunately they were so far away, we had to use a special made camera to zoom in on them. It was also awe inspiring to see surf hitting against the rocks.

God is so good to us. After it had rained all day long, we went to the penguin center and prepared ourselves for a long outside wait in the 40 degree weather, in the rain, with ocean winds... to see the penguins come home.
   Right as we stepped out of the van, the sky started to clear, and this double rainbow appeared. It remained clear for the most part the entire rest of the evening. So while it was still cold, it wasn't raining like it had been the whole day.

This little box is a penguin house! Rangers and community groups in the past have come down to the island and built these little boxes so the penguins have a place to live. They are about 2 feet wide and 18" tall. 

So, you already know that picture taking of the penguins was a big nono... However, here are some pictures I found online... so you can see what we saw. :)

This one is really old, but we were really that close!

If you would like to see more, just google "Phillip Island Penguin Parade" :)

So that was our trip to Phillip Island! We saw some incredible stuff and made a lot of good memories. 

~Austin~

A few little differences...

Although it is wonderful to be travelling abroad in a country where we can understand the language and safely use the water, there are some small differences we have noticed- the accent, the animals, even the signs are just a few! So, we are going to back up a bit and, in true homeschooling fashion, share some of these oddities. There are a few signs we noticed immediately and the funny factor was greatly influenced by our age and fatigue factor. Bear with us:

*In the airport:
There are no restrooms… there are TOILETS


(Lesson on sanitation –I believe the Indus valley dwellers were the first to have a central sewage 
management system).


There are exits, but most of the time …. WAY OUT











(Lesson on direction and mapping skills)
*We could speak extensively about driving on the left side of the road .It was really unnerving- no, frankly it was terrifying in the beginning, so we won’t dwell on this. Suffice it to say, we are ALL very grateful for God’s provision and deliverance! (By all I mean ALL of the drivers in ALL of Australia!)

Some interesting traffic signs:

We don’t yield… we GIVE WAY

(Great opportunity to pull out scripture and apply a lesson on submission)
In Australia, we don’t pass another car… we OVERTAKE


The Oldest thought that sounded a little more aggressive than passing…. (another potential Devotional- and honestly when we got to this sign, after driving on the LEFT side of the road through town, we had all said multiple arrow prayers! You know - the prayer you shoot up when you need to be refocused on the Lord quickly!!)

There may be deer crossings at home, but here there are KANGAROO CROSSINGS and WOMBAT CROSSINGS here. YIKES- these rodents are huge!




(Insert lessons on habitat and God’s amazing creation)

*And at the grocery store:
They don’t have carts or buggies at the grocery store, they have TROLLEYS.


(You could do a physics lesson on these babies; they will slide in any direction- not just forward and backward. Way cool!!)




*The Money is also really different… it has a little window.

(This might be a good opportunity to do a short lesson on exchange rates, beginning with the development of the bartering system which grew into currency and how that went on to influence the industrial revolution. This influences our culture today…sorry, got a little carried away).

We learned there are nicknames for their money… $10 note is called a Smurf (it is blue), a $20 note is called a Red Back (clearly it is red J), and the $50 note is called a Pineapple (it is yellow). Just for the record, we have not used these terms in conversation- but it is now on our bucket list. HA

*And finally... We LOVE the accent. We love it! Although there are not pictures, Essie has begun talking in a really bad Aussie accent. It started as a bad British accent, and then somehow morphed into something really disturbing… I am sure she will have it down by the time we get back home.

Some slang terms: Parent's please note: there seems to be a large number of inappropriate Australian slang terms... please do not let your children search for Australian slang terms without supervision.

Billabong- it is a creek that changed course and left a little pond – ish
Billly – a teapot
Bikkie-biscuitBoomer, Buck- male kangaroo- huge
Brekkie- breakfast
Footy- Australian rules football- a game with a ball similar to our football, but similarities end there- no pads, very large men crashing into each other.
Jumbuck- a sheep
Lollies- any candy (you see Lolly shops everywhere)
No worries- response to thank you, No problem
G’day- Hello
Cheers- kind of like goodbye… but different
All the Best- it’s like ‘have a nice day’… except they mean it. ;)

(Of course a language study could ensue....or the evolution of slang.)

All the Best...

Relaxing Adventure

Our Traveler Extraordinaire (aka Dad) spent many hours searching and researching as he looked for the perfect place for us to ‘land’.  He found the most wonderful resort… with breathtaking views, amazingly friendly and helpful staff and very comfy sleeping arrangements.  We were ready for a long rest!

We had a deck off the back of our bungalow, and from there we saw beautiful sunrises like this one:

And sunshiney afternoon views like this:

And glorious evening oceans scenes like this:

I wish you were here to hear the sounds of the waves and gulls and to feel the stiff ocean breezes blowing in the fresh salt air. There was dolphin that came to play in our ‘backyard’ each morning. We tried to get pictures of him, but he was too quick. J We heard that in a few months the whales will begin moving up the coast and you can just step out on the deck and see them. What an amazing country this is!

We will show you our adventures ‘in town’ soon.

Here we go...

Here we go...

Many of our friends and family have asked to join our latest journey- which just happens to take us down under to Australia. It seems like a good time to enter the cyber realm with our adventures.

We began with a car ride to a large city, an overnight hotel stay, juggling a ton of luggage....

and an extensive delay (so extensive we had to take a later flight) at check in before Essie's first airplane ride. She was pretty excited. After a quick bite in the connecting airport, we were on our way to Sydney. It feels a little surreal- we never dreamed the Lord would open doors for our whole family to travel to Australia. But here we are!

We made a quick stop at a little coffee shop. The mochas, hot chocolates, meat pies, quiche and muffins were amazing!(my tall children tell me that foodie pictures are required on blogs so here you go...

We drove down to Merimbula on the Sapphire coast-Not a trip for the faint of heart (total travel time from home... about 38 hours), but the rewards are amazing!! We can't wait to show you more pictures and share more adventures!