Beach at Hervey Bay

Traveling northward from the Butterfly Cottage, the first campground we stayed at was in Hervey Bay. There, we enjoyed a walk on the beach and then let the girls play on the camp playground while chatting with some Aussie locals. :) - Connie

Winner's pancakes :)

James and I have been playing cards in the evenings. The loser has to make breakfast the following morning. Here are some "I Love Constance" pancakes that James made for me. :) - Connie

Goodbye, Butterfly Cottage!

We snapped a few photos of the cottage (and Seona, our host, with the girls) just before we left. :) Connie

On the road again...

Tomorrow morning we'll be leaving the Butterfly Cottage and heading northward. It will take us 6 days to get to Cairns, which is by many accounts a tropical paradise on the northern coast of Australia. After a couple of days in Cairns, we'll take a plain to Alice Springs to see the famous Uluru giant rock formation in central Australia. After that, we're heading to Syndey, LA, and home (August 4). I'm sure we'll have many more adventures during our last two weeks down under; please keep us in your prayers for safe travels. We'll be posting more photos and updates along the way! :) Connie

Cool Playground

We've found a really big playground with lots of cool swings and things to ride on. We've been going there regularly, often with a picnic lunch. :) - Connie

Anna's tooth

Well, Anna is bringing home a $700 souvenir in her mouth (yikes!). About 4 days ago, she started complaining of a toothache. Admittedly, the girls have missed some tooth-brushings and have had more sweets than usual since we've been traveling (a lollipop is a great thing on a long car ride). Since the toothache was persistent over several days, we decided to take her to a local pediatric dentist. Unfortunately, the poor girl needed a root canal (immediately, as there was high risk for infection). So, we spent yesterday afternoon at the dentist's office.

As a mother, I felt horribly guilty for allowing her to skip brushings, and just awful when I had to hold down my crying child so she could get the nerves drilled out of her little tooth. I'll not be able to look at her mouth without cringing for a long time. I feel as though I've ruined her beautiful smile. On the bright side, she is *delighted* with her new "princess crown" on her tooth, and admired it in the mirror for some time! And, she doesn't remember much from the experience due to the happy gas (she was conscious and *not happy* throughout the procedure though). Now the girls brush their teeth a *minimum* of 2 times per day, without fail. Live and learn, I guess. - Connie

Hangin' out at the cottage

Anna and Jamie warm themselves by the "fire" each morning (as you can see, it's actually a space heater... it's meant to heat the whole cottage, but the bedroom gets a bit chilly on cold nights).


"Here's a flower for you, Mommy!"


I hope all is well back home!
:) Connie

How's that again???

One of the things that has been fun on this trip is noticing all the subtle differences in language between "U.S. English" and "Aussie English". Here are some examples of differences:


It's not a shopping cart; it's a "trolley"!


Don't ask someone where the bathrooms are, or you'll get a funny look. Ask for the "toilets".


It's not a trash can; it's a rubbish bin.


It's not a mailbox; it's a post-box.


Follow the signs for a chemist, and you'll find a pharmacy.

All the little differences add up to a unique experience, to be sure!
:) Connie

Daily life in Beerwah

We do our grocery shopping at the Woolworth's in Beerwah, just a few minutes drive from the cottage. The selection and quality of foods is very different from grocery stores back home. For example:
- the bread is generally fresh-baked and delicious
- there is a HUGE variety of nuts for sale... on almost every isle
- the selection of cereals is very limited (maybe 20 kinds?)
- don't even bother with your milk or meat if it's past the sell-by date... it will be really foul
- there are hundreds of varieties of sausage, but almost no chicken
- quite a few cheeses, but no cheddar or meunster!
- some things that are common in the US are very hard to find (such as pretzels)
- the cookies are much more "biscuity"
- every variety of orange juice is very tart


Here's a photo of the laundromat where we wash our clothes. I really really miss my washer and dryer!!!
:) Connie

A waterfall day-trip

There is a nice waterfall about 30 kilometers north of the cabin, so we decided to make a day-trip out of it. Once we got there, we hiked about a kilometer down the boardwalk and found that the entrance to the waterfall was closed.

No worries, we ate our picnic lunch and hiked back to the camper.

The girls really loved the apple portion of lunch ;)

Once back at the camper we drove to the south entrance and hiked a few hundred feet down to the waterfall. Not bad!

As the beach is never more than a few minutes drive away, we also were able to fit in a quick walk on the beach. The wind was really gusting though which made it a bit chilly for the girls. Also, we're looking for whales now as they migrate down south along the coast. No sightings yet!

Money

One of the things that takes a bit of getting used to is the money here. Coin denominations come in 2.00, 1.00, .50, .20, .10, and .05. There are no pennies, so if sales tax adds up to a non-even number, the amount will be rounded. I truly thought I was being short-changed the first time my bill came to $15.79, I handed the woman a $20 bill, and I only got 3 coins for change! :) Connie

A few more pictures from the Big Pineapple

The girls really wanted to pet and feed the Joey, but Mommy wouldn't let them :)

Anna learned the hard way not to hold her bag of animal food too close to the goats ;)

One day, I too will grow a Pineapple this size. Sandy soil is the key!