Hot Days

Early December brought the heat of hell upon us! We live in a gorgeous location, but the house sits in a little bit of a depression and the breeze is blocked frequently. So when the temperature climbed into the 40s Celsius (104 Farenheit!) we really started to melt.

On one day, the temperature outside reached 48 degrees (118.4 F) and it was 40 inside! We spent the days wearing wet sarongs and putting our heads inside the freezer. Yes, it's true! We even spent part of one day sitting in the car with the air conditioner running!

It was unfortunate timing when Susan developed a cold and started running a fever. I drove to Tweed Heads and bought a portable aircon for the bedroom. What a difference it made. (And yes, Susan did get better.) The heat and humidity were finally broken by huge rains. Yea! The beginning of the wet season was finally here! We'd had no rain for nearly 8 weeks and the lawn and plants were dying. We were so excited to see the rain as our water supply had reached critically low levels and we had no water for any plants. Domestic queens that we are, we celebrated by doing tons of laundry!

Buddha Goes to Boot Camp!

Buddha all packed with his favorite toy and food dish, on the eve of his boot camp training!

Our little Buddha is a very smart, active 9-month old puppy who has a desire to please HIMSELF, not us. So when Buddha constantly refused to "come" when called -- well, actually, it was not even that he would not come, he would bolt and run the other direction when called -- it was time to call in the big guns.

It all came to a head when there was a bushfire down our road and I wanted to get out until I knew what was happening. Buddha thought it was a great game to avoid getting in the car and it took me 30 minutes to catch him. (I was on the verge of leaving him on his own.) We found a woman who trains police and military dogs nearby and we signed up Buddha for an 11-day/10-night reprogramming experience. (While Buddha was in Boot Camp, we were relaxing in Byron Bay again. Ha ha!) He did very well, but we were briefed that he was truly a Jack Russell in a Pug body!

We got him home with our own DVD of his training and more skills to work with him. The choke collar and frequent behavior corrections will be a part of our lives for quite awhile. While we still have our "moments" with Buddha, it is much more enjoyable having a (mostly) obedient pooch! We love ya, Buddha (most of the time).

Susan Turned 40 with American Friends

Susan had big plans to celebrate her 40th birthday. She wanted a party at our house then to spend the following 7 days in a big, beautiful house we rented in Byron Bay, as a thank-you to her friends who travelled so far to help celebrate -- Xavier, Kathleen, Cheryle, David and Jeff. With Susan's dad (Woody) passing on the day of the party, our plans shifted a bit, and her 40th essentially became Woody's wake. It was a great night nonetheless, with friends of ours and Woody's arriving to honor his passing. Thanks James for all the beautiful songs you sang that night! Woody made it known he was at the party in spirit.

We still all took off the next day for Byron Bay anyway. The local Aborigines consider Byron to be a power place of healing and we were just three blocks from the ocean. It was nice to get away and shift energy a bit. Susan had lots of down time away from her computer. So soon after losing her Dad, she said she felt best whenever she was on the beach.

The group of us spent the week fixing each other dinners, taking long walks to the lighthouse, swimming, boogie-boarding, surfing, suntanning, kite flying, drinking water, beer and wine, and getting a lot of rest.

Cheryle came prepared to bellydance at Susan's 40th, so when the party didn't happen, she was a great sport and gave us all the gift of her wonderful dancing one evening in Byron. Thank you, Cheryle! We love you!


On our last day, Susan, Gary and I drove to Ballina and listened to some great Aussie rock music outdoors. One of Gary's mates was the lead guitarist and man, he was really, really good! It was hard to come home and back to the reality we had left, but we forced ourselves to return. Once home, it was so great to sleep in my own bed. You know the feeling!

Here are some photos of our dear friends. We miss you all already!

Xavier and Kathleen

Susan and me

Gary and Susan at The Rails ("The Friendly Pub")

The gang flying kites

Jeff in his sexy new Aussie hat!

The gang (minus me, taking the photo)

David, Susan and Cheryle at the Beach Bar

Animal Life in the Bush

Morning in OZ

Most of the time when I get up in the morning at the Kunghur house, there are many wallabies hanging around outside our windows. I feel like I'm in a Dr Seuss book sometimes with the snakes, echidnas, birds, cows, calves and the wallies. Susan describes it as us being in the fishbowl and the animals peering in, wondering what we're doing, what we'll do next, etc. I feel truly privileged to be living in this spot and am enjoying true bush living.

Echidna curled up in backyard

Wally bouncing along. Bounce... bounce...

A family of cows, frequently around the house like a Gary Larsen cartoon! We do have a fence around our yard, so the cow pies stay just outside the gate and fence. Come to think of, it does smell like a barn out here.

One rough mama!

Cutie!

Woody Died October 24, 2009

Woody telling a joke in Chillingham...

Woody happy at our gathering of friends for a BBQ at Woodstock

As most of you know, Susan moved back to Australia in 2007 to care for her father, Woody. He had a terminal cancer diagnosis and died early in the morning at the Murwillumbah Hospital on October 24. Both Susan and I lived out at his property, "Woodstock", to care for him at home.

As we reflect on our time with Susan's Dad and the fact that our care allowed him to stay home until the very end, we are blessed with a little more peace knowing his wishes were honored and that we made a huge difference in the quality and quantity of his life. We all learned a lot from each other over those many months. It was all a big gift for Susan, Woody and myself. Susan set up a blog for Woody at woodydavid.blogspot.com Please take a visit there.

Where Did October Go?

October came and went like a cloud on a hot day. Speaking of hot days, we had a lot of them and NO rain until the very end of the month- it is so good to be able to flush the toilet when you want to! Our month was filled with packing, moving and trying to readjust our lives away from Woodstock. Major tasks like gathering furniture from friends, markets and the "OP Shop" (like goodwill) were top of the list. Our house is very spacious and we now have furniture in most rooms. Most of my month was spent outside trying to survive the killer magpie attacks, and heal my scalp from the laceration he gave me fc#%x@! while I redid the back patio. Susan wanted to have a BIG 40th birthday party and the back patio which was a disaster when we moved in. I don't think anyone had ever addressed the water runoff issues, sealed the concrete or cleaned the mud off in ages.... so this became my task. I bought self leveling floor filler, concrete, etc and tried to patch as many holes as possible. It took me two weeks to get it a bit improved... it still could use a ton more filler, but I lost interest in getting it to look all even and settled for filling the holes that you could sprain your ankle on. After all of that, I painted it a Terra Cotta color in hopes of distracting any critical vision away from the many irregularities still in the concrete. The next improvement was to put up some bamboo arches over the top of the patio. There are some very established grape plants at the top of the retaining wall and the bamboo will give them a great place to attach to. All in all, I enjoy sitting out back now on the patio. Oh by the way the orange walls in the bedroom, living room and kitchen are now neutralized! We did have to sign an agreement with the landlord, that we would repaint the walls orange when we leave! What is up with that???

We are hooked up to public power, no solar out here, but I must admit it is great to have a full size refrig and a small chest freezer.

Before and After Photos of the Patio....

We're Moving!

Susan and I have signed a rental lease on a new house!!

     Front of our new home

We've enjoyed the opportunity to live on Susan's dad's property (Woodstock) and to be surrounded by such intense beauty and critters. However, we've been dreaming about moving into our own, bigger place, and last week, we found it!

      Side entrance 

       Back of house

Susan has been living at Woodstock for nearly two years as her father's caretaker. As anyone who has been in that role can attest to, it can be an exhausting job. It's time for a change, to say the least, and to claim some personal space and freedom to move forward in life.

Woody's good friend, Gary, will move into our caretaker's cottage in early October to help look after Woody each day. Bless his heart, I know Susan needs the break. We will continue to visit Woody several times a week to help with medical appointments and the multitude of other tasks required.

Anyway, back to our new home... We had put feelers out to find a rental house in the nearby village of Uki. We figured it would be a good way to test the area before committing to buying a property. A day after my return we were called to look at a rental there. To make a long story short, it wasn't what we were looking for, but while in Uki we saw an ad for another house in the nearby village of Kunghur (pronounced "caang-err"). Kunghur is an Aboriginal name which means "meeting place". Well, we fell in love with the house. It's a huge 1950s "Queenslander" style house that sits on 200 acres, plus we have access to the adjoining 200 acres.


Weird alcove for the stove. There is a window on the right side. The orange paint is going bye-bye.

Half of the living room

Kitchen and part of dining room


Yes, we are out in the bush still! I don't know about any resident snakes or lizards yet at the new abode. At least at Woodstock we know where they live. I'm hoping we are the only tenants in or on the new house. :) Oh, and there's a big fenced yard for Buddha, our little dog who is now six months old. He'll be sharing it with resident wallabies.

Behind our new house, literally out the back door, we have access to endless hikes and great bush camping spots. We took a long walk to the top of the hill and were blown away by the 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains, rock formations and valley. It's very ancient and beautiful and the feel and spirit of the location sealed things for us.

Back of house from hill above

I will post some more photos once we move out there. On our hike we saw wallabies and an echidna and were dive bombed by magpies! Susan kept saying "cover your eyes" as the birds fly so close they occasionally touch your head. (Not quite as bad as the birds in the movie "The Birds", but I see where they got their ideas from!) Apparently the magpies are only this aggressive for a few weeks each spring as they nest. Rumor has it you should wear a hat with eyes painted on the top of it to scare them off or feed them to make them your friends. I must admit I was a annoyed at first, but then got so fed up I picked up a stick in self defense. (I didn't take a swing, but it felt good to protect my vision!)

Echidna, rolled up in a hole right behind the house

When our American friends come for a visit, Susan is ready to fix you a damper and billy tea bush breakfast on an open fire. :)

Two weird Australian rental facts I've learnt:
1. Rentals rarely come with refrigerators. It's strange for me to picture all the Australians currently moving into and out of rental properties around the country with fridges in tow
2. Rent is due and paid each week, not each month. Makes no sense to me!

So, for now, we are in the process of buying, borrowing and stealing furnishings from generous friends and local furniture restorers. More soon!

Part of the view from the hill

Up Over (opposite of "Down Under")

I have returned to my old abode in the states for six weeks.  Five of my weeks here are being spent working full time, which is a god send.  After having lived in Australia, unemployed for five months, a few full paychecks are going to be like winning the lotto.   This trip back "home" to Olympia has been scheduled since March.  As a Nurse Practitioner I need to keep my required clinical hours up in order to maintain my active license in Washington, so I figured if I spent the Aussie "winter" in the Olympia summer, I could have the best of both worlds.  My original plan was to stay here for 3 months, but at this point in my move to Australia, it 

 just felt like too long to be gone (with input from Susan!), PLUS, I want to get back to Susan, Woody and Buddha.   So far it seems like the right amount of time.  I have been back here for two weeks+ now and I will be heading back to Oz the end of August.

I have my house rented out so I have moved into my 37foot 5th wheel RV which is parked behind the house. This trailer is OK for me and is working out great.  I have satellite internet and satellite TV access from the renters.  I am true White Trailer Trash for this 6 weeks, and proud of it! 

  The weather here has been unbelievable, a week of temps in the upper 90- low 100's!(32-40.6 C')  The rest of my time here it has been in the 80-90 F'.  Thank god my white trash trailer has AC. Thank you god, thank you god..

I am enjoying seeing the deer out grazing behind my place in the woods every morning.  Of course they do take a toll on my very young fruit trees which have not grown much in two years.

Returning to work has been great, I have really missed direct patient contact. The old folks are who I have the pleasure of seeing.  I think part of the reason I am enjoying the work so much is that I know it is short term.  How did I ever work full time all of these years and keep my sanity? I don't know if I could go back to the same level of intensity now that I have had a break from the rat race, especially the freeway traffic congestion.

Well, I have a few more weeks to reconnect with family and friends here and look forward to any opportunity to drink wine, relax and chat... 

A Weekend in the Village of UKI, and Breakfast with John Hurt

Two weekends ago, Susan and I spent the weekend staying with two friends (Sara and Karin) in the Village of UKI.   The main draw was the reggae band playing at the Uki Hall and an opportunity to let our hair down and go dancing.  The event was called the "Glo Dance".  The music was good, but got much better after a few glasses of wine. The dance was open to all ages, as no alcohol is sold/served - it is fairly common to BYOB to most restaurants and events here.  I would say this dance reminded me of a dance that would take place at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA., but I think there were far more dreadlocks per capita in Uki!  I imagine about 25% of the dancers were on "E" as well.  It made dancing with everyone really fun to say the least.  

The next morning we went out to breakfast at the local Uki Cafe.  Both the food and coffee where excellent.   OK, I exaggerated about having breakfast with John Hurt, but he was eating at the cafe that morning also (along with about 10 other diners) and looked a little rough, like perhaps he was at the dance as well.

Uki is a great little community and Susan and I will look for a house to rent or buy there.  I think the population is around 800 and they have a community dance about once a month to which half of the community shows up for it. They also have "trivia night" every thursday evening -  we still need to give this a try.  The people in the village seem to be very organized with planning a "sustainable community" as well.  Planning on growing enough food to support the population, alternative power, water conservation, etc.  There is even an organic brewery on the docket for consideration!  

Australian Drivers License

Two days ago I managed to get my Australian drivers license.  I was very thankful to not have to take a test!  I am much more relaxed about driving on the left hand side of the road these days.  I don't have to repeat "stay left" like a mantra any longer while driving.  I do go back the mantra when making a turn onto another street, especially a right turn.  Most of the time I find myself walking to the correct side of the car to drive it, but when I make a mistake and walk to the right side of the car in public, I just  casually pretend I am checking something on the passenger side, then go to the drivers side :)  .

I wonder how long it will take me to adjust when I come back to the States this summer?

It Feels Like Fall in the Pacific NW Here!

The beach after the storm!

It is nearly winter here, but it feels like fall in the Pacific NW.  Grey skies, lots of rain and temperatures in the 50's  when there is no sun.  When the sun does make a rare showing, it can shoot up to the 80's.  I am praying for sun.  We just lived through another big flood.  It was a "40 year flood " in the region.  We get cut off from the outside world very easily and there are at least 5 causeways that we have to cross to get out of the valley.  The first one is right outside the gate :)  It makes going anywhere impossible for days at a time.   We just need to be sure to have enough wine on hand at any given time!  Drinking wine and playing dominos is not a bad way to pass the days of rain and being cutoff here!!

Our quiet little Crystal Creek becomes a raging river!  This is the water (not at the peak of flooding) going over the causeway next to the driveway.

The roads are in constant need of repair from getting washed out.  The shire is pretty good about getting crews out to patch the damage.

There seems to be little "normal" stuff here!  Either too much or too little water!  Forget standing in the basin to save water, at least this week! 

Another Resident Snake

OK, I have finally seen the resident Red-Bellied Black Snake (poisonous) .  Susan has been telling me there is one that lives under Woody's house, but until now it was just another "Australian bush" story.  Susan went out to cover up the generator with a tarp and the Black snake was under it.  She left it alone and came for reinforcements!  I grabbed my camera and a long handled shovel.  We talked about if we should kill it or move it away.  Apparently these snakes have a territory and it would return if simply moved. We now have this little puppy who likes to explore all spaces outside, and this snake would kill him right away if bitten.  In the end, I simply took photos, and shooed it away.  He crawled under the washing machine I think, which is under Woody's house.   I hope the snake can live peacefully under the house and leave us alone and I hope it was not a mistake to not kill it.

Internet Facts:

The red-bellied black snake's head is barely distinguishable from the body as there is no obvious constricted neck area. This snake is dangerously venomous but bites are rare because it is usually a placid and fairly docile snake, preferring to enact a lengthy bluff display with flattened neck and deep hisses rather than bite. It grows to a length of 2.5 metres, and is a very distinctive snake because of its simple and unvarying coloration. The upper surface of this snake is glossy black while the belly is light pink to brilliant red.

Our New Dog!! Little Buddha ...

Hi everyone ... So, here's what happened. Melonie and I were in Tweed Heads 10 days ago and stopped by our favorite fruit and vege store, which happens to be in the mall up that way. When we were unloading our groceries into the car, we found this little guy in one of the bags:

What could we do? I mean, he just appeared there and looked up at us with his big brown eyes and furrowed brow, and said: "Please take me home and cuddle me and feed me and let me be yours".

So, of course, we did:

We read that pugs (he is half pug, half jack russell) were the favorite pets of Buddhist monks, so Melonid suggested Buddha for his name, which I love. OK, maybe those who know us will think that's a predictable name, however, it's also reasonably original, right? Know any other dogs named Buddha? When he's being a pain in the ass, we revert to his nickname - Grub.

Of course, neither Melonie nor I had an ounce of pragmatism about this whole occurrence. Things like vet bills, potty training, obedience school, clipped social lives and how we will fit Buddha in our backpacks when we travel never entered our heads in the moment. We are dealing with all of that now ... A few less than ideal nights of sleep, but, for the most part, Buddha is very well behaved. And very smart. He is sitting, lying down and pissing outside on command at eight weeks of age. It's been three days since he took a dump under my desk.

And the fact is, we adore him. He's more affectionate than the Bagworm. :)