The time change is still hard to adjust to but I'm slowly getting there! Every morning I wake up to kookaburra's laughing in the trees outside and other random new bird noises as well. It's kind of nice being up so early as it gives me quiet time to reflect and appreciate everything that is happening. I just wish I could manage to stay up a little later.
The current temperature in the Gong is 42F which is just a little colder than I expected but we are prepared with layers!
Nance and Hed have been the best hosts and we are so thankful for them! Really we have seen so many great things since we have been here and its only been a few days. Every morning we have a breakfast of Wheat Bix and toast with coffee and sit around the table together. Astrid the cat sits in front of the little heater on her mat (I was told she's gotten too close and lit her tail ablaze a few times) and waits for us to finish so she gets her little piece of toast with vegemite. We figure out our plans for the day and get going.
Friday we were dropped off on Mount Keira and hiked down through the jungle-like mountain side and back to the Akhursts house. On the hike we saw mice, a lyrebird, parrots and lots of neat plants. We missed a turn walking back and went a little far out of the way but Hedley came to the rescue right before it started dumping rain and brought us back. Whoops! Nance had beef stew and creamed potatoes cooking when we got back which was pretty perfect :) oh, and the Toohey's too.
Earlier that day we got a prepaid emergency cell phone set up and got Turkish Gozleme which was DELICIOUS! Tim Mendenhall- you'll be impressed I've eaten mushrooms twice here and actually liked the taste.
Saturday morning we picked up Carolyn (the Akhursts daughter) and her dog lulu to go for a coastal walk. The walk is along farmland and ocean cliffs with crashing waves. Apparently it's a great place to whale watch but it was very windy that day so the ocean was a bit choppy. Right at the end of our walk Jeff and his eagle eyes spotted an Emu not too far away grazing which was pretty awesome.
Later on we were picked up by John (the Akhursts son) and went to grab a few schooners of beer at The Figgy Bowl and watched the first half of NRL Wests Tigers vs Melbourne Storm. They call it "footie" here.
Today is Fathers Day in Australia so we are having tea late morning with the Akhursts family and we will see what the rest of the day brings!
So far some of the different forms of expression are:
"give it a go" instead of "try it"
"toilets" instead of "restrooms"
"rubbish" instead of "trash"
"mind the _____" instead of "watch out for the ___"
"good on you" instead of "good job/one"
"how you goin" instead of "how are you doing?"
"cheers" in the place of "have a good day"
"I'm right" instead of "I'm okay/alright"
Tomorrow we head north for Byron Bay, then Brisbane, then Cairns for a few days where we will see the great barrier reef and possibly hire a car with Carolyn and Jen to drive to Daintree Rainforest.
Love to you all!
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