Australia Sunday Jun 22, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
It is hard to believe it is the middle of winter here, the
temperatures have been 5-6 degrees above normal, around 65 every day. We really need rain, everything is really dry
and they have had to put water on the ground around the Temple and Buckland
House. They are also worried about bush
fires when it is this dry.
Last Monday was Family Home Evening, we came home around 4
to put together the trifle. I had all
the fruits washed and cut. We made 2 big
bowls, and they really looked pretty in the glass bowls. We were just hoping they tasted as good as
they looked. We went to Buckland House
to help set up the tables, and Dad could get the computer set up for his
lesson, and help Sister Moore with dinner.
We are now setting tables up in the big room and keeping everything in
there instead of using 3 rooms plus the kitchen. There are so many of us we can’t all sit at
one table so this way we can all visit with one another. Sister Moore fixed a Mexican dish that one of
her sons brought home from Mexico. You
put rice, then lettuce, onions, and then a hamburger mixture with salsa and
taco seasoning. After opening exercises
the Moore’s went in to get dinner and something had happened with the rice
cookers and the rice wasn’t done. They
turned them on again and we decided to have the lesson first. Dad asked for names of any who had relatives
in the Mormon Battalion, Sister Feil had 3, Elder Archibald had 1, (Ephraim
Hanks from Ephraim’s rescue), Sister Archibald had 1 and Dad had 3. I put their names on the board. Dad then gave the history of the Battalion and
went through to California and then back to Salt Lake or Winter Quarters. He had done a power point with pictures. It was very interesting, we even gave some
jerky out. He did a great job and
everyone enjoyed it. We then ate and
just visited, and then we brought the dessert out and just put it and the bowls
on the table. Everyone really enjoyed it
and there was only a little bit left. It
was hard as they just don’t have angel food cake, so we used an orange pound
cake. I just had to find a recipe with
the things I could get here. Anyway, it
was another very fun night.
Tuesday Paul Pardon was in the office all day to train the
Smylie’s, Kailee, and Elder Cumming’s, and the new Elder that will be in this
week. His name is Jared but I don’t
know his last name. He served his
mission to Ireland. The Smylie’s got
lunch before they started training, Subway and chips. It is always good not to have to fix lunch.
Friday was Birthday Morning Tea, instead of next week
because some of the management will be out of town. They had little meat pies, little pasties,
cheese, fruit, popcorn, lots of sweets, cookies, pastries, and assorted
juices. It was good as usual. Another day we don’t have to have lunch. This week we sent in 20,000 images which
surprised us and Mark. That averages
4,000 a day. We have decided to go in at
7:30 and stay until 5 each day we can to make sure we get them project
finished. Tuesday we leave at 4:30 to go
to the Temple but other days it should work.
That could give us 1,000 more cards a day depending on the type of box
we are working on. Some just go faster
than others.
Saturday morning we left about 8:15 as we had a really full
day planned. We drove about an hour to
the Royal National Park. You can just
drive thru the park for free, but we wanted to stop at the visitor’s center and
see what they had so we paid $11.00. The
park was established in 1879 making it the world’s second oldest national
park. A little history, for many
thousands of years the Dharawal language speaking people have lived in the area
and enjoyed the diversity and abundance of the land and sea. Today the Park protects a range of Aboriginal
sites and artifacts, including rock paintings.
There are over 80 historic remnants from the park’s Victorian-era
including ornamental trees, many fascinating plants, birds and animals. The park is perfect for bushwalking, cycling,
surfing, picnicking or whale watching and this diverse park offers everything
from beaches to rainforest. It was just
beautiful driving through it. Leaving
the park we were on the Grand Pacific Drive that is 86 miles right around the
ocean. We stopped several times to take
pictures. We then drove over the Sea
Cliff Bridge that was about a 1,000 ft long.
After crossing the bridge there is a place to pull over and walk back on
the bridge for pictures and to look at the ocean. Dad got some great pictures,
and we were probably there for about a half hour. A little history of the bridge, it took 18 months
to build at a cost of 49 million dollars.
The piers are protected from corrosion by an electrical current. For some fascinating history on the bridge
google “Sea Cliff Bridge, NSW, Australia.
We then went into a small town and found a fish and chips place right on
the ocean, and could watch some surfers.
The tide wasn’t really big at that place. The fish and chips were really good.
We then got on the Princess Highway to go to Hyams Beach
(yes I spelled it right). This is
supposed to have the whitest sand in Australia, and as we pulled up to it the
sun was on it and it was really white.
We parked and walked down to the beach.
We picked up a lot of shells, bigger ones than we have found before, and
some pure white ones. We talked to a
couple who are working in Sydney, but their families are from the town there so
they come as often as they can. He was
in shorts and a tee shirt. We never put
on our jackets the whole day it was so nice.
We then drove to Ulladulla getting there just as it was getting dark
about 5. We checked into our motel, and then went and found something to eat,
just around the corner. We shared a
pizza that was really good in a cute little Italian café. We then went back to our rooms. We didn’t have to study talks so we watched
tv. Not much was on so we ended watching
Harry Potter, at least it wasn’t one we had seen before.
This morning we left for Nowra at 8 as it is an hour drive
and their Church starts at 9:30. The
Moore’s were assigned to be there but they didn’t have to talk so we all sat
together. They had been to Canberra for
meetings Thurs. and Fri so they just came down from there. Most of the members remembered us so it was
fun to see them again. There was just a
few from the Ulladulla Branch, and we got to meet the Branch President. He got out of the hospital last week. He broke his ankle when he fell off a ladder
while trimming branches. He was in the
hospital 4 weeks and had 3 surgeries and is now in a wheel chair. He said he will be this way until
December. They have found a new place to
meet, in the Civic Center, but they can only have it on Sunday’s. They still want us to come and talk so we
gave them the little cards Dad made up with our contact info on it. They said they have about 16 people come to
Church. We will have to go on a Sunday
other than the 4th Sunday of the month because we are scheduled to
talk that week in other Branches. We
came home through rain forest and Kangaroo Valley. It is a beautiful drive and everything was
really green. It was such a great
weekend, and wonderful pictures. We will
try and stay late one night and post some on the blog. It is getting late so we will close for
now. Talk to you all tomorrow we hope.
Happy 1st Birthday to Eli tomorrow, that means we
have been here a year this week. Hard to
believe!
We Love you All and you are all in our prayers daily.
Love, Mum and Dad
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