More birds!

The birds here continue to fascinate us. The kids went out on the veranda with bread to try to lure the cockatoos in for a snack. It worked. Sam just sort of held the bread up and a couple of birds landed on a near by roof to check him out and soon they were over for a nibble.
As you can see, they are good sized birds. Sam is having a great time!
Kait got in on it too. I think they had about 6 different birds come to visit that afternoon. We also learned bread is not good for them --that we should feed the sunflower seed--I just didn't have any. John found out at work if you get in the pattern of feeding them often, they will come and wait on the railing for you to come out and feed them. If you don't come however, they are known to destroy wooden houses. Our building is all concrete. I think we will only feed sporadically!!

It is Fall and the weather is turning colder. The mornings are in about 16 c(58f). I think it got to 68 f today. A typically winter day here (July) is in the low 60's. So it should not be too bad. At the beach, the water is getting cooler. Sam has a wet suit that he wear when surfing. It helps his body not get so banged up from the fins on the bottom.

Sam had another rugby test (scrimmage) on Sunday. He is playing for the Collegians League rugby. There are two types of rugby league (Sam) and union. I did not know this but league is more rough--yippee!! Anyway, there are different rules. The Collegians are a Catholic mens club sort of like the Knights of Columbus. They support the team that has boys in age groups under 8's up to adult. They play other league teams. We travel to other towns to do this and the season goes through September. He practices on Tuesday and Thursday and has games on Sunday. We are learning alot. John has figured out some of the rules--but, I am a bit clueless. I am trying though. It is quite rough. Tackling with very little protection. I will get some photos this weekend.

Kait is doing a drama class on Saturday afternoons at the Performing Arts theater. She really loves it. I have seen nothing so far. She goes in the door and comes out 1.5 later happy. Apparently this weekend they were filmed doing a number of different performances.

Well all of this keeps us from traveling much right now. We did go to the Nan Tiem Temple on Saturday morning. It is the largest buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. It was a very peaceful place. We had a vegetarian lunch and lotus tea. I forgot the camera--I am sure we will go there again.

On Sunday after rugby we went to Bulli beach to have lunch at a place with water views, Ruby's.

It was a perfect place for lunch.

I am trying to keep us visiting new places--but life is getting in the way. Mom and Dad are coming April 25th to May 10th. We plan to visit a lot of places with them. So I will keep you posted--no pun intended!

Cross Country Carnival

St Francis Xavier, Kait and Sam's school, had thier cross country carnival. This is not like we do it in the States. Instead of our PE, they have sport. Sport is every Tuesday and Thursday and the kids wear thier sport uniform on those days. They do different sports throughout the year. (They were doing swimming when we arrived.) So, every kid (grade 2 to grade 6) must train for 9 weeks and participate in a 2K run. The younger ones run a shorter race. I think this is for all schools in New South Wales(our state). The training every Tuesday and Thursday for 1st term culminates in a all day carnival. I helped so I did not get the best pictures--but I will do my best to descibe it. The photo above is the park really close to the school. Just beyond the trees is South beach. The course is mapped out by colorful cones(called witches hats here) and volunteers pointing the way(that was me--post 6!). The kids were divided into age groups for the running. So Sam was in the 9 year olds and Kait in the 10.
For special all school events, the kids are divided into "houses". (kind of like Gryffindor, Slytherin, etc in Harry Potter) Kait and Sam are in the Yellow House(Loyola). Each class consists of an even number of kids K-6 and siblings are kept together. There are 3 other houses--Red, Green and Blue. They wore shirts in the appropriate color for thier team. So beyound the individual competition, there is a team competion. The winning team gets thier name on a plaque that goes back alot of years. Blue has been the reigning team for the last 5 years --so the pressure is on.
Here is Kait with her good friend Edwina. Thrilled to be in the same house. They met thier goal and finished! They jogged alot, but walked some too.
Sam, holding the flag, did well. He got 3rd in his age class. It was a tough race and it was down to the last second as to who would get 1,2, and 3 spots. He was quite proud of himself--he has one more sport he loves--long distant running. The Blue team won again! So now they have a six year winning streak. Next term they do Track and Field--and have another carnival. I am sure I will help then too.

South Beach

Saturday, late afternoon, we went to South Beach. We can walk to this beach also. We have just been going to North beach. John gave Sam the surf board he bought for him used on Australia E-bay. Sam was so excited to receive it. He wants to use it all of the time. South Beach is a bit calmer when it comes to the waves and therefore , calms some parental fears. So here is Sam with his board. He has it waxed and decorated with stickers.
This is why I am not the biggest fan of South Beach. Looking North you have the beautiful view of the lighthouse and outer edge of Belmore Basin. Looking South, you have the steel works. John believes it is beautiful and a sight to behold. I don't necessarily agree.
Kait didn't get in the water much this evening but enjoyed a good book on the sand. I got this shot of them together though. In the distance you can see the 3 of the Five Island of the Illawara. Kait is officailly 1 inch taller than Sam. She has not been taller than Sam since she was 3 years old. Have a happy Easter. The kids and John have Friday and Monday off. We may so some day trips. Of course, I will keep you posted!

Jervis Bay

Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree--remember that song. Well we saw one! A Kookaburra that is--I don't know if it is sitting in a gum tree or not. It most likely is.

This weekend, we had a lot of fun. Kait and Sam went to a Disco birthday party on Friday night. Saturday we did errands and Kait went to Drama Class. Saturday night we went to Mass and then to dinner at an outdoor cafe. On Sunday we left early for Jervis Bay. A 2-hour drive south. We first arrived in the town of Huskisson. A little seaside village catering to the tourist with boat trips to see dolphins and whales. We walked around a bit to stretch our legs. Then we came to this park over looking Jervis Bay.

This shot shows the entrance to to Bay from the Sea. The bay is huge the entrance is far away. The bay was is 15 km long and 10 km wide. It is deep too--27 meters deep. The aquamarine water gives way to pristine white beaches.

This small cove is called Shark Net cove. This entire area belonged to the aborigines for 20,000 years. Captain Cook sighted it in 1770 on St George Day (April), he did not land. It was not until 1811 before it was explored by Europeans from England.

I bought an acrylic painting of Shark Net bay from this man.. The younger guy in the photo is from Seattle. He is on holiday in Australia and was so excited to hear American accents--he bought a painting too.

Ray, the artist, was really nice and happy to share information with us. He directed us to the Booderee Royal National Park. He suggested we have our lunch and a swim at Green Patch and then visit the historic lighthouse. He was a great guy and we headed off following his advice.

Birds Green Patch Booderee Jervis Bay

After we had our picnic lunch, Kait and Sam found bird seed on the ground and began hand feeding the birds. The red ones are either Rosellas or King Parrots. We have heard them called both--I think I need to get a bird guide book.

Kait is sharing the seed treats too. Of course at this point, John and I see the sign that clearly says "DO NOT FEED BIRDS" Oops!

Sam found a lorikeet who was hungry. There is very small grouping of trees behind Sam. He looked over into the trees and saw a wallaby (a small relative of the kangaroo). Of course he bounded into the trees yelling "Kangaroo! Dad! Kangaroo! The wallaby I am sure was scared beyond belief --took off towards the beach!

Green Patch Jervis Bay

After our picnic lunch we walked down a path through the trees and came across the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. It was so much like a picture postcard. The water is an intense turquoise blue. The sand was white and very fine. It "whistled" as you walked because of the friction of our steps. There were only a few people around. It was extremely beautiful!!!!

The beach is lined by trees and typical Australian bush.

John looking quite aussie in his Kangaroo leather hat that Santa brought.

Green Patch Jervis Bay

Kait enjoyed the sunning on the white fine sand!

Sam is snorkeling in the clear water. Behind him there are 2 military ships and between the ships is a submarine. There is a small naval base called HMAS Cresswell.

This photo is showing the opening between the large cliffs to Tasman Sea--Pacific ocean.

Kait and I had a great time snorkeling. It was quite an experience swimming amoung the fish. the water was so clear and blue!!

St. George lighthouse Wreck Bay

We left Green Patch and drove to wreck lighthouse. We were told it was a spot not to miss. We drove on a gravel road for what seemed like forever. The drive proved exciting because we had a rather large kangaroo hop out in front of the car. Then we round a bend and we see this ruined structure in the distance. Click on the picture to get a better view.

Once we walked up to the site and around to the front this is what we saw. A broken down lighthouse. The story goes that there were a number of shipwrecks near Cape St George as boats were looking to get into Jervis Bay. So in 1857, it was erroneously decided to put a lighthouse at the this location. Apparently the architect and surveyor based thier decision on location largely on ease of construction and not on where the lighthouse should be for maritime use. The lighthouse only worked for 38 years as it caused more wrecks as it directed the ships into rocks not into the bay. So a new lighthouse was built in the better location in 1860. The moonlight caused the golden sandstone lighthouse to glow so it continued to cause navigational problems so in 1900's the lighthouse was blown to rubble. The best thing is that the road allowed us to get to this beautiful spot with cliff views of the sea.

This is the southern view from the lighthouse.

This is the northern view. The eastern view is equally amazing view of sky and sea and nothing else. From May to November you can apparently have views of migrating whales. One whale species is described as the Southern White Whale. It weighs 20 tonnes and is 50 feet long. I hope we get a chance to see that this winter!