All posts by Sara

Can we camp? Yes, we can!

Since we needed to stay in Brisbane for our citizenship ceremony on Australia Day, 26 January, we decided to do a trial run of loading up Suz (our hearty 4WD) and camping. Jon and I are not exactly sure when we last went camping, but we’re pretty sure it was a long time ago and it was definitely not in the middle of summer.  We decided to head back to Bribie Island where we learned to drive Suz on the beach. We went on Monday, 20 January and returned on Wednesday, 22 January.

Packing the car went pretty well. Then again, there wasn’t much room to spare and we’ll have more stuff for our 2+ month trip so we’ll see how loading up goes tomorrow! The drive out on the beach to our camp site was blissfully uneventful. We went straight to our camp site and setup camp. It was a bit earlier than the official check in time of 2 pm, but no one was at the site so we moved in. It took over an hour in the midday heat to get things sorted which left plenty of time for some afternoon relaxing.

The way into the camp site
View of our camp site looking away from the water
View of our camp site looking toward the water

We decided to use the cold showers 2 camp sites away for a rinse off just as the skies were darkening. We quickly took showers and scrambled back to our site just before a massive thunderstorm hit. I’m still not sure if it was the biggest thunderstorm I’ve been through in a while or if it was just that we were out in the wild in a tent during it, but I think it was a pretty big storm. We had the tent all sealed up with ourselves inside wondering what was happening outside as the rain poured and the wind blew. Finally it passed and we’d escaped unscathed. Phew.

Camp dinner after the storms

The next day we walked from our camp site up to an area of historical ruins from a fort established to protect Australia from attacks in WWII. It was a beautiful walk up and back along the beach and through the wetlands behind the ruins. The bugs were only super bitey for a little bit.

Ruins of Fort Bribie

We had some rain showers in the afternoon, but nothing like the thunderstorm the night before. We were able to just sit under our beach umbrella and relax.

Wild life!

Our camp site was over the dunes from the beach and I knew that high tide didn’t even reach the dunes, but that didn’t stop my sleep addled mind from thinking that some waves were going to come crashing over the dunes in the middle of the night when the wave crashing noise got significantly louder. Luckily that was just my imagination. We survived and mostly loved our two nights of beach camping. Woohoo!

Unfortunately, the worst part of the trip was yet to come as I bogged Suz in deep HOT sand about 100 yards from getting back to the regular road. One guy stopped to help, but ended up not having a hook attachment to be able to pull us out so we were digging away in order to use these tracks we have to drive out, but we needed to do a lot of digging and the sand was hotter than I knew sand could get and we were both wearing flip flops and sweating buckets. Luckily another stranger stopped and this guy was able to pull us out and into the parking lot very quickly. Such a champ and now a fellow Aussie…

That’s right, yesterday, we officially became Australian citizens by attending a ceremony and getting our citizenship certificates. It was quite an elaborate ceremony at Brisbane City Hall with 592 fellow immigrants getting citizenship.

Citizenship Usie (photobomber unknown)
An attempt to give a feel for the crowd
The Royal Australian Navy Band, Queensland provided musical entertainment before the ceremony
Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Troupe welcoming us
For some reason the mayor wears a lot of bling (foreground) The Australian Girls Choir performed (background)
It’s official!

 

Random post

As with most things in the “new” economy, I don’t understand how people monetize blogging. I get that they sell ads, what I don’t get it how they blog all the freaking time. I can barely make myself type two sentences if not under duress or strangely inspired. Count this as a strangely inspired point in time.

Here’s everything you maybe sort of wanted to know about what we’ve been up to…

We bought a place! A condo, or unit, as they say in Australia. We’d been renting an older apartment with all sorts of annoying everyday issues like the pipes making a high pitched screaming noise when the hot water in the kitchen sink was on. It was habitable and cheap, but we wanted something a bit more comfortable.  In a typically decisive fashion, we looked at houses on the Sunshine Coast and units around Brisbane and decided not to buy anything because we only sort of liked this one unit. The rest were a disaster of various awkward layouts such as having 3 separate living areas and other assorted nonsense, giant jade Buddha statue anyone?! When we got back from our trip to the US over Christmas, it sank in how annoying our rental was and the unit we sort of liked kept coming up in our brains so we decided to see if it was still for sale. A contract had just fallen through so we made an offer. After much back and forth and an attempt to get our best and final offer up a smidge (it’s called best and FINAL for a reason) we thought we weren’t going to get it, but then the realtor called and just like that we were property owners on two continents. Our unit has two bedrooms and two baths and a lovely view of the Kedron Brook which also has an amazing biking and running trail along it.

Sold!
Greenery around the Kedron Brook

That took up quite a chunk of time at the beginning of the year, but we still fit in a few comedy shows and a few sporting events, Brisbane Heat, Brisbane Broncos and Brisbane Lions, oh my.

Brisbane Heat (20/20 Cricket)
Brisbane Lions (AFL)

And we went on a great long weekend getaway to North Stradbroke Island. Straddie, as they say, is a gorgeous, mostly undeveloped paradise. Our Yarris got to visit too.

Yarris’s 3rd Island Visit

Unfortunately, on our first day just moments after we got to the beach, Jon got stung by a bluebottle jelly fish.

Bluebottle sting

Ouch. It packs quite a wallop, but Jon was stoic and though he claimed he was fine to stay at the beach, we packed it in and headed back to the place we were staying so he could run the sting under hot water – the recommended cure. We managed to get over being too fearful of the water after that and got in a few good beach days in the end.

One of many gorgeous beaches on Straddie

Jon can’t get enough of super long distance travel so he went back to the US in May AND June.

Loooong Distance

May was Jon’s annual golf trip with a side trip before and after golf to catch up with his mom and brother and stop to see Mike as well. I had the good fortune, ha, to do some short distance work travel to Canberra, the capital of Australia during one of the weeks Jon was gone. Jon got to go on vacation to warm weather while I had work travel to cold weather hmmm…

We both traveled back to the US again in June. This time for our 20 year UVA reunion which Jon did not attend because he didn’t express interest in doing so until after I’d already made it a girls trip – woo 🙂

Class dinner moved into the basketball arena (home of the National Champs!) due to rain
National Champs Wahoowa!!
Becky, Holly, me and Amy

While I was at the reunion, Jon took a short trip to Austin to visit his family. In typical Jon fashion, he didn’t remember to take any pictures!

We got to catch our nephew Adam in super sporting action, beating the Dodgers in his Little League game and kicking butt at a swim meet.

We also had two festive pool days at my mom’s house, hosting my oldest bestie and fam and later Father’s Day fun for my brother-in-law, Lyon, and his dad.

Sara and Adam enjoying the pool
Jon and Lyon enjoying the pool

And because all of that just wasn’t enough togetherness, my sister, nephew, mom, Jon and I road tripped up to Binghamton, NY in one car to celebrate my great aunt’s 85th birthday.

Happy Birthday Auntie Lorrie!
SUNY Binghamton

Now we’re back down under for a while, enjoying the mild Brisbane winter but still feeling a bit jealous of those of you enjoying the Northern Hemisphere summer.