These last three weeks have been kind of crazy! Many trips to the airport, welcoming and sending off some of our family and missionaries. Early in the morning of Friday the 13th, we went out to the airport to meet Sister Orro, from the Townsville Branch, who had just finished her mission in Birmingham England. Gathered her up and then drove back into the city and over to Kangaroo Point where President Henderson was instructing our new golden missionaries. He took some time away to release Sister Orro and then we were back in the car to return her to the Domestic airport and the final leg of her journey home. Only a few minutes later we slipped into the International terminal to meet Elder and Sister Bates from Bundaberg, returning to our mission from the New Zealand MTC. They were so excited and ready to jump right in their missionary work with both feet. President Henderson assigned them to Mt. Isa which is 20+ hours driving time from Brisbane. They were going to stop over at their home on the way to Isa, but that would take precious travel time away and Sister Bates was bound and determined to be in there by Sunday morning, in time for their first meetings with the Branch. After not being able to communicate with them by mobile phone we became concerned, but "no worries" they had just trucked on and on, reaching the chapel at 8:55 am Sunday morning. They are dance instructors in their past lives and hope to share some instruction with the members, plus learn an Aboriginal dance or two from some of the members in Mt. Isa!
Trying to keep them awake after church, by walking around the temple and chapel grounds, plus having their picture taken across the street from the church and overlooking the spectacular Brisbane skyline.
Monday morning, we shared the fun Southbank pools and beach areas. The boys jumped right in, but Alyssa was't too sure and really didn't want to get her hair wet! On the weekends and the upcoming school holidays (summer vacation), the areas are packed. Families come down and spend the entire day and then into the evening with bar-b-ques and picnics.
Tuesday morning another member of the Mickelsen family (Nathan) arrived in Brisbane to spend time with us. He has always told us that wherever we were called as missionaries, he would come to check out that part of the world and he has! The plan was to visit the koala sanctuary to help fight the jet lag and it worked.
It is always so much fun to watch these little animals and their sleeping habits with all of the unusual poses and sleeping positions. Even though they look quiet and peaceable, they can move quickly from tree to tree if they decide there are tastier eucalyptus leaves elsewhere.
One item on the Australia "bucket list" was to cuddle a koala and we were able to check it off! Everyone got a turn and then they had the family portrait taken with Jonathan's family.
Nathan's koala was a little more lively and he commented on how heavy they were compared to how they looked.
Another item on the list was feeding the roo's. Each grandchild had a bag of food and spent an enjoyable hour running from kangaroo to kangaroo, feeding, petting and watching - we even found a mama roo and her joey, but he was in the pouch upside down and so all we saw were hind legs and a tail sticking out - very strange looking to say the least!
While driving around, trying to find a beach for the grandchildren, we discovered Redcliffe was the home and former stomping grounds of the Bee Gee's. The city has dedicated an entire side street to remembering this group with video presentations, boards with information and their music being broadcast,
Permission was given to us to leave Brisbane and travel to beautiful Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. A two hour plane ride on the 18th dropped us into the most coveted spot to be transferred to by our young missionaries. It has been said that they think they have "died and gone to heaven" in being able to serve in almost the most northernmost spot of the mission. There is one senior couple (Boyce) and five companionships of young elders and sisters serving in Cairns and other close communities.
Kuranda was our first stop after hitting the ground in Cairns - the shops close up at 3:30, so we hurried in order to take in this tourist shopping area. Jonathan had also done some googling and found that Frogs Restaurant, was our go-to place where we could find a sampler plate of kangaroo, emu and crocodile. Most of us enjoyed our small tastes and then had a great lunch with a very friendly waiter successfully meeting all of our varied meal requests!
The wee ones loved our flat/hotel with the walk-out pool directly off from our living room. Just beyond the trees to the right was the beach/harbour and it was a busy spot full of people.
Thursday (19th) morning, we all boarded the ferry to head to Green Island, part of the Great Barrier Reef (another item on the bucket list). What started out as a calm morning, quickly turned into a rough and windy day, which didn't make for smooth sailing. Those of us who took the motion sickness meds were very glad that we had, as many of our fellow travelers really didn't have a pleasant trip over and back. Barf bags were being handed out very freely. The day was spent snorkeling, playing in the water and watching through the glass-bottomed boat some of the amazing fish swimming in the gorgeous aquamarine ocean.
Jonathan, Kristi, Kobe and Devon enjoyed the snorkeling in water close to the beach front because the winds forced a cancellation of their snorkeling trip further out on the reef.
White sand as fine as powdered sugar.
Another sign for Sandy's collection - some might have wanted to ride the turtles, but no one was even interested in a sea cucumber salad! Stinger suits were rented by most swimmers, even though we don't think there was a sighting of any while we were there, but no one wanted to take any chances. All day we had hoped to see the turtles and then as we were lined up on the wharf to catch the return ferry, they started coming to the surface and we had a fun time watching their playfulness.
Friday (20th) was our day to drive up the coast and take a cruise ride up the Daintree River in search for crocs. Found two - this is a male right out in the open and the other was a female with her mouth wide open ready to gobble us up.
Thornton Beach in the Daintree National Park. There were coconuts in the trees and others on the beach were trying to crack some of them open, without success.
Sandy has been waiting for the day for these visitors to arrive so she could "be brave" and get on The Wheel of Brisbane. So after flying back from Cairns, we took the Citycat back down to South Bank, waited until dusk and filled a gondola with Mickelsen's to see the city lights as we were making our three revolutions. Our pictures of the views didn't turn out because of the reflections on the glass sides of the gondolas, but the views were spectacular and we will just have to remember them in our minds. This is a borrowed photo showing the gondolas up close - they were air conditioned and all eight of us fit just fine.
Since all of our company was going to be off in Sydney for Thanksgiving day , we opted to have our feast on Sunday (22nd) with most of our familiar menu items. Stuffing was the hardest to find, but a very helpful grocery store manager found a mix that worked, even though it wasn't quite the same. Nathan made a decadent Oreo cookie and two flavors of ice cream dessert.
These kids loved getting this close to the crocodile - had to pry Alyssa out of jaws because she loved the comfy seat in the shade.
Watching for whales, dolphins, and anything else that might pop up in the water. As we were seeing only tips of dolphins, suddenly they could be seen leaping through the clear water waves.
It was a beautiful day on the island and we were so happy to share it with our family. Many families come here and spend holiday time together and we know why!
The water on all of the beaches was crystal clear and the water temperature was in the mid 70s. It was really hard to get everyone out of the water in time to catch our return ferry.
The kids wondered why there were these types of signs all around when they never saw a koala or kangaroo hoping near the road or swinging in the trees.
Thanksgiving dinner that Sandy and the Senior Sisters prepared for the Missionary Leadership Council to celebrate since it was on our real Thanksgiving. The majority of our elders are not American and so it was a new experience for them and plenty of food was consumed. Costco helped with the pumpkin and apple pies.
A few of the best sisters in the mission serving as sister training leaders, all from the United States and missing their homes on Thanksgiving, but so happy to be serving in the Brisbane Mission.
Our third full-fledged Thanksgiving dinner of the week was on Saturday afternoon, after we bid farewell to our family to fly back to the United States. The American members of Brisbane Ward decided to get together and celebrate and we were invited to join. The bishop and one member of the Stake Presidency and their families are part of the group. Dinner was out on the deck with homemade root beer, a family tradition for the host family. Our summer temperatures have skyrocketed and the ice cold root beer was a real treat!
Our hearts are full of thanks for the two senior sisters who helped cover for us during the times we were away from the office sharing time with family.
Love "seeing" more of your fun week through pictures! My girls would love feeding those kangaroos. (The plane ride to get there though...they wouldn't love so much!) Love you!
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