For the Beauty

I’ve been trying to take pictures of all the beauty that surrounds us. I don’t want to forget any of it. I feel like we should be outdoors enjoying it whenever we can. Today on a run I was higher up in state forest looking down into the valley only about 2k from our house and I had to pause and take in the view. I wish I had my camera!

The recent rains have greened up the grasses and farmlands and even though we are heading into winter, there are a number of bushes and shrubs that have flowered. We have some rhododendron type bushes flowering in our garden and our roses have new buds. That with the autumn colors (mostly in the non-native, ornamental trees), the town is really a vision right now!

Fall flowers at Maren's school:

Roses on our church grounds:

Apples, plums and butternut squash are big at the farmers markets right now. It is strange to have these in May but I’ll take it! We have a lemon tree in the backyard with branches drooping from the weight of nearly ripe fruit. I am going to need some lemony recipes soon.

The forest land next to us brings in heaps of wildlife. We regularly have a mob of kangaroo in the evenings and many types of large birds including galahs, cockatoos (white and black varieties and the gang-gang), king parrot, alpine rosellas, kookaburra, and magpies (with the most beautiful call). The sulfur-crested cockatoo are really loud and like to be social. I don’t know much about their grouping habits but recently we have noticed the flocks getting larger. There were around 140 (!) in the field one evening – it was difficult to talk over the racket. I’ve heard them referred to as a “cacophony of cockatoos” when they are plural and this seems an apt description.

The buildings in town are also beautiful – I would describe the appearance of the homes and gardens as tidy and proper. Many homes are single-story Victorian style (even new-build) with a large veranda, metal or tile roof, ornate wood or metal decorative trimming and a well-manicured flower garden – often with roses.

Even the school grounds are impressive. The big kids’ school sits on around 16 acres with mature trees, river, and natural play area (large rocks, paths through trees, hollowed stumps to climb). Maren’s daycare has more outdoor play space than indoor and they take full advantage of it – they have constructed a dry creekbed, tunnels through grass hills, and cubby houses tucked in every corner. As long as it is not too wet the kids will be outside.  

Asher wants to stay and play at Maren's school:

We keep getting warned that it gets really cold here but town does not get snow so I’m not going to worry yet! I’ll let you know how I feel about that in another month or so.

More Festivals

It seems like there is a festival of some sort in one of the small communities every weekend. Last Saturday we had the hard choice between “Drive Back in Time” old car fest in Beechworth or the Autumn Festival in Bright – we opted for Bright as did it seems most of the Alpine Shire (our local government unit like a county) and a good portion of Melbourne. This was the most people we have seen at one place in ages!

There was a bush market (hand-made & local goods), food stalls, buskers on every corner, and bagpipe and marching bands performing up and down streets. A park had been converted into a kid’s zone complete with (free!) bounce houses and a balloon-blowing clown. And to top it off there was a parade.

Bagpipe band from a secondary school (high school) in Albury:

We enjoyed pies (savory pot pies) and local plums (Maren ate 3 before we even found a place to sit). And ice cream of course. We ran into a few friends, which made us feel like true locals (as compared to Melbourne weekenders or those blokes with funny accents J).

Pies and plums at the Autumn Festival:

Ice Cream dripping down our arms in true Australian fashion:

In the late afternoon we made our way up Mount Buffalo and took the road to the very end (Maren needed a nap) where there was an outlook hut. 

Hut at the horn on Mount Buffalo (temperatures about 15 degree C lower than in Bright with a wicked wind):

It was cold and windy so we chose to go a little ways back down the mountain to the “Galleries” walk – a short hike to an area of large boulders that created caves and crevices to climb around in. It was sheltered from the wind and a really beautiful hike. In some places I felt like we were in a slot canyon of southern Utah except the walls were granite.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place:

Sunday evening we visited friends to have dinner and return their canaries that we had been watching while they were out of town. 

Kids were sad to see the birds go:

Eric had let the friends know it was the day before my birthday and so “surprise!” they had flowers, decorations, and cake. My birthday was great – other friends brought chocolate cake and brownies to church for me and Eric and I went out to lunch on Monday. It was so great that I don’t think I need to celebrate another. I’ll just stay this age (39) for the rest of my life.

Chocolate, my love language:

Autumn

Although it was a little strange celebrating Easter with leaves changing colors and without spring buds, we have really enjoyed the autumn festivals and cooler temperatures. We have even had to wear knitted jumpers (sweaters) a few days.

Beautiful colors on MP12 School grounds, waiting for big sis and bro to get out:

Cooler temperatures and rainfall mean that the fire restrictions have been lifted and farmers are burning off their waste piles and the land managers are scheduling prescribed burns. Eucalyptus trees contain a high amount of oils in their bark and burn easily and hot. To try to avoid large, devastating fires, land managers (government and private) burn off portions of land every year in controlled burns. These are kept low and “cool” to burn off the undergrowth – fuels that could help wildfires reach the overstory. The state forest to the north of us was under a controlled burn for about 4 days, creating a lot of smoke for us and impressive sunsets and sunrises. One night we were able to look out and see flames on the hillslope.

Controlled burn on the hillslope north of us:

Kangaroo silhouettes in the morning smoke and sunrise:

We have had to have our own fires as well. Our home is heated by a wood stove! Most homes in the area are. When night time temperatures started to dip into the 40s just after Easter we realized we needed heat. This means we (Eric mostly) have been busy loading, chopping, stacking, and moving wood.

Our friends, Al and Marg, have been kind to share wood with us and we won a raffle at the kids’ school for a trailer of wood! It is amazing how much we can go through in a week.

When we picked up the wood, Al took the older kids on a mushroom picking adventure as well.

Farm life could grow on us all:

Last weekend we went to the Giant Pumpkin Competition and Festival in nearby Murmungee. I entered a pumpkin pie but had a hard go of it – stores here do not sell tinned (canned) pumpkin so I pureed my own using the only pumpkin I could find: butternut squash and kent squash (green and orange and kind of pumpkin shaped). The judges liked the flavor but said it wasn’t orange enough. hehe.

Tuesday, April 25 was ANZAC day and the kids did not have school. This is a national holiday to remember those who have served in the military, similar to Memorial Day in the states. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and is celebrated on the day that the ANZAC soldiers landed on Gallipoli in World War I. We went to a service held on the main street of town near the town’s cenotaph – a monument/empty tomb for soldiers whose bodies are buried elsewhere. The main street of town was closed to traffic and it was a very somber ceremony.  

Town out for ANZAC day services in the rain:

The Cenotaph with remembrance flowers:

Another part of ANZAC day is eating ANZAC biscuits (don't call them cookies). I’ve been asking around for a good recipe and tried out 2 already. This is our favourite so far but if you try it out, remember that 1 cup (metric) is NOT equal to 1 cup US – just use the weights instead of volume measurements.

http://www.foodtolove.com.au/recipes/anzac-biscuits-16607

Mount Kosciuzsko

A goal of ours whilst living in Australia was to hike to the top of Mount Kosciuzsko (pronounced “cause-ee-aus-ko”), the highest peak in Australia. It is only 2228 m (7,310 ft) at the summit but the base of the mountain is at 1365 m (4,478 ft) so it is a good distance up! We watched the weather and traveled from Canberra to Jindabyne, a small town near Kosciuzsko National Park, on Thursday with the hope of summiting the next day. Winds were supposed to pick up in the afternoon and so we asked the kids to prepare for an early start. As all epic mountain climbs start pre-dawn, ours began at 4:30am with the dulcet tones of a toddler yelling – she was ready to take on the mountain. We will be more careful what we ask the kids for in the future.

We loaded up Eric’s backpack: water, morning tea (snack), lunch, afternoon tea (another snack), bandaids, snake bite kit, jumpers (jackets), hats and gloves. I can’t believe we fit it all into one bag! Poor Eric had a heavy load. We did end up taking another small backpack for the kids to carry and transferred some of the hats and gloves to it. Then off to Thredbo, a ski resort in Mount Kosciuzsko National Park. As it was Good Friday, a federal holiday here, many people had the same idea. The resort was crowded already and our parking location easily added 2 km onto our daily walk total. We boarded the Kosciuszko Express chairlift for a 1.8 km ride up the first 560 m elevation gain of our journey. The weather was about 8 degrees C (46 F) at the top of the chairlift with some snow patches. Already, we were above the tree line and the views were spectacular. From here the trail was 6.5 km (4 miles) to the top along a walkway that was mesh in some places (especially over the boggy areas), metal steps in many places, flat rocks toward the end and covered in snow on the backside of the mountain. It was slow going for a while with the toddler excited to run around and the little boy wanting to start a snowball fight at every chance he could get. Just after we stopped for morning tea Maren fell asleep in the baby carrier and then we were able to make really good time. I’m very impressed with how well the older kids picked up the pace and marched up the last climb without a single complaint. We reached the summit around 11:30am. Although it was COLD and windy, there were quite a few people eating lunch and hanging around. We snapped a few pictures and then turned around to go back down – Maren was still sleeping, our runners (running shoes) were getting wet from the snow, and there were too many steep places for little boys to fall from. Maren ended up sleeping for more than 2 hours in the carrier and we made it down the mountain quickly– the 4:30am wakeup turned out to be a blessing. All in all I walked almost 28,000 steps that day! It was an incredible experience and when Eric and I talked about it afterwards, our favourite part of it was sharing it with our kids who really did a fantastic job. And now finally, some pictures:

At the top of the ski lift, ready to start the walk!

"Mum - I've got something for you!"

To the top of that cone shaped peak far off on the right is where we are headed (can you pick out the trail?):

Nearly there: the rock pathway up.

Success! And someone built a tiny snowman on the summit marker:

It was windy, cold, and bright at the top:

Maren still asleep, keep moving, no time for pictures!

The sleeping giant awoke and we had lunch at a trail junction:

Headed back down the ski lift with big smiles and awesome hat hair.

We spent the next day exploring Jindabyne, stretching our legs with a walk around town and then had an afternoon in a canoe on the lake. Or at least most of us did – Maren enjoyed the canoe for approximately 15 minutes and then she and I got dropped back at shore where we threw rocks into the water and took in the scenery. 

At night we joined the rest of the Easter break vacationers at a lighted sculpture show along the lake. There were some really neat entries that incorporated lights and smoke into the art pieces as well as some amazing metal sculptures of birds and bugs of the region. The kids got free beanies (knitted hats) and voted for their favourites for the “people’s choice” award.

We were too far from our church services on Easter Sunday so we celebrated at our cabin in Jindabyne and then took our time traveling home. I have become a huge fan of books on CD to keep the kids entertained – our favourite this trip was a book from the “How to Train your Dragon” series. The leaves were changing colour, the air was crisp, this really was a delightful holiday!