Belly Dancers and Fire Batons!

 There is a large Indian population here in Brisbane and so when we saw Diwlali being publicized we were super excited to go check it out!  Diwali is the celebration of the Indian New Year, the Hindu Festival of Light.  It was a really cool night.

 They held the celebration at Chinatown in downtown Brisbane, so we took the train in.  There were all kinds of booths set up selling souvenirs and fancy Indian jewelry etc.  The Indian people in attendance were all wearing their beautiful saris with jewels pressed into their foreheads and sparkling designs on their shoes.  It was so colorful and beautiful.

  The people were so happy to share their culture with us.  There was a stand painting free temporary henna tattoos and women all around willing to fit you into a traditional sari or sell you a shimmery scarf.  They were all so friendly and I think they were

 truly happy to have us there celebrating with them.
  Probably similar to how the Mormons feel
 when guests  of other faiths attend our
 Hill Cumorah Pageant  or visit the streets of Nauvoo.


  It was fun to feel their pride in their culture and hospitality!

There were all kinds of performers on the street and on the stage.  Lots of belly dancers and because it is the Festival of Light, they traditionally do a lot with fire.  So we got to see lots of belly dancers with fire batons.  It was pretty awesome.  We ate some yummy Thai food (we ordered curry to at least "pretend" we were eating "Indian"...we couldn't resist the Thai.  It's an awesome restaurant in Chinatown.)

The night was so much fun.  It has been really great to get to know so many different cultures here.  Brisbane caters to many nationalities and cultures that we don't see as often being on the side of the planet.  The kids have participated in lots of different Mulslim, Indian and Asian traditions and holidays.  That is something I will miss so much about Brisbane.  And of course...getting to taste the different foods that go along with these traditions--that's been fun too!!!

So raise your glasses and sing "Auld Lang Syne"...here's to another fabulous New Year in India--or anywhere!

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here...

Hmm, I better explain, "lolly" is the word for "candy" here.  And after I picked the title of this post, I realized some people may not have such fond memories of the School House Rock movies that I do.  I so remember watching those videos in elementary (videos...good old fashion, bulky VHS tapes) of School House Rock.  Teaching me all the basic fundamentals of grammar-- like the Lolly, Lolly Adverbs song and Conjunction Junction What's Your Function?  And many other educational ditties that gave my teachers (I realize now) a much needed 30 minutes to collect themselves and hopefully have a cold Coke-- or perhaps something stronger :) to get through the rest of the day!  Anyway, back to my post.

 Ok, so Halloween here is strange.. and not in a spooky strange Halloween way.  Halloween is in it's early stages of growth here.  How weird to be witnessing the beginnings of holiday traditions in a nation?  It's so odd to hear people say, "Yah, Halloween is just kinda starting to catch on here in Australia.  It's never really been an Aussie holiday.  But in the last few years it's kind of started to get recognized."  Anyone who knows me well, realizes there would be no love lost for me if Halloween disappeared...but alas, my children.  I have to love it for them!  I normally love it only for the traditional neighborhood soup party I host in an effort to more fully enjoy the holiday, but I didn't even have that here.  Halloween here is warm and tropical.  And Aussies ONLY know about zombies and death and blood when it comes to celebrating the holiday.  To start us into the Halloween spirit, we carved....our watermelons!  It's spring/summer here, remember?  So pumpkins are out of season and very expensive to buy as such.  So, we went with the more seasonal fruit and carved a melon. Why not? When I bought it I told the cashier what I was doing with it and she laughed and laughed and said, "You Americans and your carving at Halloween!"  She then proceeded to give me all kinds of advice on how "she" would carve a melon.  She gave me a very novel idea, "I would cut a hold in the top, like a hat, and remove it to scoop out the insides. Then you could put the top back on like a lid.  It would be so much easier to scoop the fruit out the top rather than through the holes you make for eyes and nose."   Thank you oh wise and ob-wan carving one!  She, my friends, is ahead of her time in this Australian world of Halloween traditions!  I just nodded to her and thanked her for the advice....saved me tons of headache trying to scoop watermelon out of Syd's jack-o-lantern star eyes ;)  Oh Australia...you have a ways to go to catch the morbid Americans that love the season of the dead.   And fyi... watermelon is 1000 times more fun to carve!  Softer rinds, and way, way, better guts to eat!  If I can find watermelons, I'll be carving them every year.  

 

 We ended up borrowing "dress ups" from a family in our ward, who laughed and said, "You're kids are wearing our dress ups for Halloween?  Don't spill red blood paint on our princess dress!"  People here don't think it's a Halloween costume without some death and gore involved.  Or at least a broom to make it a little witchy.  Oaklee was just thrilled to have some new lovely locks.  And may I just say-- this wig was ten times heavier than her.  It only lasted about half of trunk or treat.  She could barely hold her head up.  And Syd opted for a kimono we found and some bamboo sticks for her hair.  There is such a huge Asian population here, I wondered how it would go over...hopefully they are as flattered to see a Caucasian blondie dressed as a geisha as I am to see their children in cowboy hats and chaps dressed as an American Western cowboy!!!  :)  Parker was really on the fence this year.  He said, "Man I so don't want to dress up but I really want the lollies!"     

In the end, he couldn't leave the idea of the lollies and opted for your basic construction worker.  Just enough to get some lollies not enough to draw attention.  Except that here...if you weren't a zombie, vampire or witch...you were standing out.  It was so funny to see little 3 and 4 year olds at a church sponsored trunk or treat (we finally found one about 30 minutes away from us) dressed as zombie cheerleaders (blood dripping from red lips on white faces) or a witch and if you wanted to be a princess...you could, but wear a pointy hat with your gown and carry a broom.  There were princess witches, superman witches, batman witches etc. It was hilarious.  I couldn't believe the gore at the church function.  My kids were the only ones not in masks, not carrying weapons and not having gory make up...boy did we feel sheepish!  Lex and I were just chuckling the whole time.  The lady in the car next to me ran out of lollies and said to me, "I cannot believe how much bigger it is this year.  Trick or treating is really catching on here.  I mean I bought 80 pieces of candy and they are gone!"  I thought about last year in Albuquerque buying 500 pieces and knowing I'd run out.  In Brisbane I bought 200 and felt nervous.  I knew trick or treating wasn't big so I was hoping 200 pieces would be enough.  I guess I'm ahead of my time still.  In fact, trick or treating doesn't really happen here at all without a lot of pre-planning. Some wards (those with American families) set up a trunk or treat.  Like I mentioned, I could only find one that was within 30 minutes of us.  There were tons of Aussie families there too getting in on the action.  But trick or treating in neighborhoods usually doesn't happen.  I was told, "If you want your kids to trick or treat, you usually have to ask your neighbors if they want to participate.  Leave a balloon with them, then if they decide they are willing, they will blow up the balloon and tie it to their porch so you know they are up for the trick or treaters.  Also, you would need to provide the lollies for them to give your kids."  Wellllll, that's way too much work for one that is not a true lover in the first place.  We opted for trunk or treat.  It was funny to see the treats my kids got.  Some unwrapped gummy worms, big gum balls (no wrapper) and homemade cookies-- yah, the new "rules" for Halloween still haven't reached the Down Under.  It was just like being back in the good old days when people handed out homeade doughnuts and hot cider or hot chocolate to warm you up at the doorstep.   I guess at the end of the day, Halloween was a night of memories for us.  And let's be honest, it was worth it just to see Oaklee's tiny little face peering out of that sea of blond, Dolly Parton curls--synthetic locks swallowing her whole!  Hooray for last minute costumes!

Celebrating Our Own Kind of Fall!

 

Well it's usually around this time of year that Lex gets homesick for Utah.  He misses his true Fall season.  When the mornings are crisp...I call them "cold" he often uses words like "crisp" or "brisk" to kind of take the edge off.  He misses getting ready for the hunt and of course the anticipation of what the season will bring to the mountains.

But, I have to say it was hard to feel homesick for Fall this year.  Mostly because it's very much Spring here.  Our trees are changing colors just like those in the states...only different hues!  This Spring has been incredible. Definitely going down as the most beautiful, transformative Spring I've ever seen.  The trees in these pix are called Jacaranda trees.  They are very popular here and literally line the parks and the streets.  They are huge and when they blossom, it's called "Jacaranda Season".  There is park just a block from our house called Jacaranda Park, named for the trees that line its edges.  The Jacarandas have just painted Brisbane.  They are bright purple and they splash color everywhere.

Around the big buildings downtown, you'll just see these bright blobs of purple mixed in with the concrete business landscapes.  I think it's a good reminder to all those stuffy suits that yah...we live in Brisbane-- don't take things too seriously!  The blossoms on the Jacarandas fall just like leaves in Autumn. So the roads, yards etc. are covered in purple too.  And yes...they get tracked into your houses just like fall leaves do!  It's just sheets and sheets of purple.  Even my car gets sprinkled every night!

But Jacarandas aren't the only beauty of Spring. Everything is flowering!!!  There are just massive amounts of color everywhere.  Purples, reds, yellows, oranges, pinks-- it's crazy and the smell...it's so incredible.  The air is hot and getting a little humid so the smell just hangs around you.  It's so fragrant, sometimes I feel like I'm going to pass out from breathing in so much through my nose on our bikes to school!  I just can't get enough of the smells!

On our way to school we pass heaps of these huge flowering shrubs.  They just take over yards!  We have loved walking through the botanical gardens in Brisbane.  They have a couple different gardens and they are all so beautiful, especially this time of year.  It's so weird having Halloween and Thanksgiving upon us and yet...the weather is warming up and life is starting to bloom even more.  The switched season thing makes it hard to miss home.  I just cannot picture anyone putting on layers of flannel and an orange vest for hunting right now!!

 Just on our driveway and admiring our neighbors blooms.  Of course...NO ONE has sprinkler systems here.  Unheard of!  Coming from Albuquerque, NM-- that's pretty crazy.

 This is the view on our way home from school.  If you look just above the flowering orange tree you can see a bit of the Brisbane sky line.  It's a great ride home-- climbing this beastly hill on the way there....it's a killer!

On our bikes and carriage on the way to school

We love how the blossoms fall off the trees and line the streets, sidewalks, lawns and everywhere just like leaves in the Fall.  There are literally heaps and heaps of blossoms everywhere.  And of course once Oaklee gets her hands loaded I will be picking them out of her hair all day!  

I still don't know what this blossom is.  It's one of my faves.  It's so weird and interesting. They grow all over the trees here.  Gorgeous!

I wish I could capture the brightness of the Jacarandas.  They really do kind of take your breath away.

We have loved Spring in Brisbane!  The colors and the smells will be one of the things I will miss most when we leave.  I'm so sad to only have one Spring here!  Simply Beautiful!!!!

Camping on Straddie! **WARNING: Ridiculous amount of pictures...couldn't help myself!**

Well, I'm always one for a great camping trip...but wow-- camping on the beach just trumps it!  It was so much fun.  It was different than any camping trip we've ever done.  We took the ferry out to an island called Stradbroke and everyone here calls is "Straddie".  It's relatively small, but has enough people to necessitate a school, a grocery store and a handful of touristy shops and cafes.  It was a great weekend.

We had to drive our car right onto the ferry because we knew we would need 4 wheel drive to get on the beach for camping (required by the island).  We actually just drove right along the beach to pick our spot.  Driving along the beach on the sand was awesome.  It was kinda surreal.  The first night we camped at Amity Point.  It's a rocky shore line known for great fishing.  We put our tent right on the beach and woke up to some awesome views the next morning.  The girls found all kinds of strange caterpillars and creatures to explore.

The next day we spent checking out the island.  We headed out for Brown Lake.  This was an amazing fresh water lake.  It's called Brown Lake because the water is brown, but not dirty brown.  It's brown because the lake is surrounded by Malalueca trees (the mineral oil found in lots of moisturizers and natural healing oil lines).  The leaves on the trees are constantly falling into the lake and shedding the malaleuca oil.  You can actually see the oil on the surface of the lake.  People come to soak in the waters and get a moisturize for their hair and skin. When you scoop the water up it's crystal clear-- kinda like swimming in tea with a lot more health benefits!

We found some great trees to climb and jump off!

Our second night we decided to set up camp on a different beach a little more secluded and quiet.  It was called Main Beach (I love the names on the island...so creative.  Main Beach and Brown Lake.  Someone really put their thinking cap on for those 2 titles!)  Main Beach was gorgeous.  The waves were awesome.  We did some great boogie boarding and the kids ended up eating some delicious fried rice...well not really but I thought they might.  They dug and dug and dug til I thought we might've dug a passage to China!  Wait...now that we're on the other side of the world maybe that joke has changed?  Maybe people here dig holes to Finland?  Or Canada?  Shoot...that blows my fried rice joke all to bits!

At Main Beach, the tide comes in quite high every night so you can only drive until a certain hour than you are pretty much stuck on the beach til morning when the tide has receded.  So pitching a tent takes thought.  We ended up hiking up a sand dune and pitching our tent above the shore so we wouldn't get washed away!  Here's Oaks at the top of our dune.  Pre-tent set up!

Here's the kids in their efforts to reach...Finland!  They really wanted to see what would happen to their pits when the tide came in and sure enough the next morning...they were completely washed away.  No trace of a pit even though they were enormous!  The ocean is so big and undeterred.  It can totally overwhelm me if I sit and think about it.

Each night we had to hike up the dune to get to our camp.  Luckily we had some trusty vines to help us down and up the sand dune.

My Boys...2 peas in a pod!  Love these guys!

Our camp site was covered with these beautiful yellow flowers.  Beautiful flowers for beautiful girls!

During the day we drove up the beach and found a surfer's club.  It was awesome to watch the pros.

We ended up finding a new beach the third day.  It was called Cylinder Beach.  Very kid friendly  They even had a naturally made kiddie pool behind the beach.  A hole in the shore that had filled with ocean water from the tide.  It was perfect for Oaks while the others went boarding.

Holding our boards down!

Of course we had to take a little walk/hike around the peak so we could get a good view of the island and the shore line.  These trees are everywhere and just an Australian favorite of ours.  So weird and perfect for climbing!

While we were walking we saw some people looking out over the ocean and pointing.  We realized it was whales.  It was incredible.  It's whale watching season here as they are coming back to Aussie during our summer season and warm waters.  They were splashing their big tales, shooting their spouts.  We even saw several them jump completely out of the water.  It was awesome!  They are so massive.  What luck!

Princess of the camp site!

Pretty awesome, waking up to this view in the morning!

What a great camp spot!  We sure loved camping on the beach and all it entails.

Finishing off the night and watching the tide come in from the safety of our sand dune campsite! All my precious things lined up watching the waves!

All in all-- Straddie was awesome!  We loved it and it is definitely something we will do again while we're here.  When our weekend was up (this was our Labor Day here), we drove our car back onto the ferry and headed back to the mainland.  But now that we've had a taste...we'll be back for more Straddie!