Pests and Peculiars

We hiked in the Apline National Park this weekend and came across 5 copperhead snakes (the 7th deadliest snake in Australia) but they were all small and got away from us as fast as they could.

Small Copperhead (probably around 9 inches long)

We also saw a large (~5 ft) common brown (the #1 deadliest snakes in Australia) crossing the road! We were safe in the confines of our car. The only other snake we have seen our entire stay was a smaller common brown DEAD on our road.

Far more bothersome have been the Australian bugs. And they seem to prefer the females in our family. Cady was bit by a bull ant on her foot (inside a water shoe), Maren got a bite on her arm at school (bug unknown), and I was bit/stung by a buzzing bug – likely a European wasp – on the forehead as I was riding my bike. The side of my face was swollen for a week.

Swollen E

The bugs that really bug me are the spiders! I’ve stopped leaving any clothing or bedding on the floor for fear of having an unwanted friend creep in. We’ve disposed of 4 white tailed spiders (the 6th most dangerous spider in Australia), 2 huntsman spiders (9th most dangerous), and had numerous orb weavers (10th most dangerous) in our yard. The orb weavers create these HUGE webs – seriously over 6 feet across – across sidewalks, I stick to the roadway for morning walks/runs. Of course we have to document all of these.

Small but aggressive white tailed

UGLY and BIG (about the size of my palm) dead huntsman

Orb weaver hanging across sidewalk

There are also cool looking other bugs that Asher asks me to take a picture of whenever he sees them. I’ve got a phone full of these.

Stick bug and moth with Asher’s hand for comparison

The other type of picture that is taking up large volumes of space on my phone is signs. The peculiar street signs and funny things people post make us smile. Some good ones:

Watch out for old people!

And for kangaroos, wombats, and the lyre bird because, you know, there are other things to beware of besides snakes and spiders...

Anyone need fertilizer?

Finally, there is the legend of the “drop bears” that locals like to tell. This one was posted at a warming hut in Alpine National Park.

Myers Visit

My parents came to visit! They spent a few days in Sydney before coming to us for a short 5 days and then got onto a cruise boat bound for New Zealand and again we cried.

We started our touring in the Beechworth historical museum (kids were in school) where I learned more about Ned Kelly than I ever needed to know but we got to try on a cool Ned Kelly replica helmet!

We introduced Opa and Oma to all of our favorite places and foods including meat pies, rail trail burgers, and “death by berries.” We also tried a new hike at Mount Buffalo National Park up to a large rock monolith on a high overlook. It was a fun hike with evidence of wombat activity everywhere (did you know they like to leave their droppings on high points?) and amazing views.

They planned their visit for a holiday weekend – the kids had Monday off of school for Labour Day. It also happened to be the weekend of the Myrtleford Festival! We had no idea what awesomeness awaited us: citywide garage sale, BMX competition, sausage sizzle, local bands, festival princesses (and crowning a queen) and a parade! The school had a float with a Dr. Who theme so I googled “easiest Dr. Who costume” and found something for us (Asher asked me to walk with them).

Myers listening to music at the town sausage sizzle:

The "silence" and a couple of normal kids who have seen the silence:

Myrtleford P-12 College parade walkers, "We are the time travelers":

We ended their stay with a relaxing afternoon at Al and Marg’s farm – an absolutely beautiful day with a picnic on the lawn and the kids moving the cattle to different paddocks. 

The day they left, Maren came home from day care asking for “bapa” and looked in all the bedrooms for him. She has been trying to imitate Opa’s “Hoppe hoppe reiter” (lap riding poem) with all of us since they left.

Opa with two "reiters":

Who will come visit us next? Please come!

Ordinary Fun

We have been involved in activities that are worth remembering, although probably not with their own blog post so I’m throwing them together as an “ordinary fun,” ie: another rather boring, post. Things will get more exciting next week as Grandpa and Grandma visit!

Swim lessons: All three kids are in swim lessons and we now understand why the Australians are always a fierce presence with swimming events in the Olympics. Swim lessons start at an early age and are serious business! But now we have a 21-month old who is comfortable getting around the pool on a noodle and knows how to hold her breath under water and older kids who are perfecting their form and learning new strokes.

These skills came in handy for Cady for the school’s Swim Carnival last month. Years 1 through 6 spent an entire day at the pool with students divided into three houses and competing in races to earn points for their house. Cady was in “Barwidgee” house and swam freestyle and backstroke. Eric and I stopped by around lunch to watch a few heats. I could not believe how quickly the year 1 (6 year olds) could get across the pool.

Horse-back riding lessons: We are surrounded by “farms” – mostly cattle for meat but also heaps of sheep and horses. The older kids started horse-back riding lessons and now want a pony when we get back to Ohio (hah).

Asher’s favorite horse is a Shetland pony named “Shrek” who likes to drink fruit cordial straight from the nearest glass (watch out!).

Even Maren enjoys brushing the horses and occasionally gets to be in on the action (sitting on Shrek).

Toy Library: Each of the communities around here operates a “toy library” that is much like a real library except with toys. The idea behind it is brilliant – kids love playing with new (to them) toys but tire of them quickly – and it has been a godsend to us as we were not able to bring many toys of our own. Our town toy library is located at the senior center where the indoor toys are stored in a large closet and outdoor toys in a shed. The library is open for a few hours each week for check-out/return of toys. We paid a small ($10) annual fee and I have volunteer duties as the “librarian” for 2 hours once quarterly. We have borrowed some really fun toys and games; even an electric keyboard (going on 2  months of loan) so that Cady can keep up her piano lessons (although she is not a fan of piano teacher mom).  There are government grants available to communities for purchase and upkeep of the toys but the libraries rely on the members to keep them going. If I had more motivation, I’d love to start a toy library back in the states. 

Even Eric found some toys to keep him occupied:

Oz Life

I was looking through the photos on my phone and found a few that I had taken from our everyday life here. While some things are very similar to life in Ohio, there are definitely some differences.

I had one friend (Hi Elaine! are you out there?) ask what was the most challenging thing living here. I said driving on the opposite side, but I’m over that now. I change my answer: laundry.

Our washing machine is smaller; it is a stretch to fit a set of queen sheets in one load. And we line dry everything. For most days this is outside on a rack attached to the shed (garage) but we have indoor racks for rainy days.  This is a time-consuming process and requires consideration of the weather, sun light hours, and remembering to not leave clothes outside overnight. I will say that our whites are much brighter and I like reducing our energy usage. But I’m not quite sure how this will all work in the winter.

Getting around: We bought a (BRIGHT!) green Ford Territory (pronounced “tear-i-tree”) our first week in Melbourne and it has been a great car – it is similar to the Ford Escape with a third row. 

I’m not sure this town of 3,100 is big enough for TWO bright green Territories!

But for the most part we can get around town on bikes. Our morning commute involves the entire family riding to the big kids’ school and Eric helping them park their bikes whilst Maren and I continue down the road to daycare. Also involved: The “lollipop lady” (crossing guard) blowing a whistle and stopping traffic for us to cross the road at the zebra stripes (crosswalk).

Food: Some delicious additions to our meal rotations include pies. These are not dessert pies but dinner pies – filled with meats or vegetables and different sauces. My favorite so far has been a roasted vegetable pie that our friend Marg made (and, yes I got the recipe).

Despite the calorie expenditure with my daily bike ride, I am not likely to come home any fitter due to the amazing chocolate options available at just about every store. The milk chocolate here seriously rivals the creaminess found in Germany (in my opinion) and there are so many fascinating chocolate combinations. Cadbury has a large presence in my heart and stomach.

Protection: The sunshine is serious business here. UV rays are fierce thanks to a hole in the ozone above us. Hats are required at schools (including daycare) and we lather up with sunscreen every morning before leaving the house.

We also wear full shoes and socks when we go trekking (walking off pavements) or playing in natural areas to help protect us from snakebites. Unfortunately, venomous snakes are common here, including this (DEAD!) common brown snake we found on the road in front of our house. Yes, this incident induced nightmares (me). If I am not safe on the pavement in front of my house, where am I safe?!? Yikes. At least we don’t have crocodiles here? 

Micah and Paige

My brother Micah and sister Paige came to visit! They are doing a whirlwind tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti and managed to squeeze in a four-day detour to see us. The kids were in heaven with all the attention and it was really nice to have company and show them our favorite spots.

While they were here we hit our highest temperatures yet: 106 degrees (41 degrees C)! Yikes! We escaped to Mount Buffalo where it was 10+ degrees cooler and took a short hike, jump in the lake, and then down the mountain to the water park in Bright and the river slide (even Maren got in on the fun).

View from the top:

Hike in the gum trees:

Swim in Lake Catani:

Eric and Maren getting dumped in the river:

We also found some new favorite spots including a three-room lolly (candy) shop and a fruit farm that serves fresh fruit pies and sundaes (it is all about the food with the Myers family).

It was hard to let them go. Come back! And, we are extending an invitation to everyone, come visit!

First Week of School

The big exciting event this past week was that Cady and Asher started school. They are super brave and although it was something they were both excited about (Asher kept asking how many days until school starts!), it was also a nervous time for all of us. I won’t lie: the mornings were rough, especially day one when Asher, screaming and stretching out his arms toward us, had to be held by his teacher as we walked out of the classroom. But each day the kids came home chattering non-stop, excited to retell the events of the day. They love their teachers, they are making new friends, and every morning drop off gets a little better.

Every school child public and private in Australia wears a “uni.” At our school the colors are red and black. The girls can wear a dress or polo shirt, the hat is part of the uniform- kids can’t go outside for recess without it (too much UV radiation here), and everyone has to have black leather shoes and bring “runners” for PE.

Our school is very small. In total there are just over 300 kids from Prep year (kindergarten) to year 12 (senior year of high school). Although they are all at the same campus together, it is an outdoor campus – there are buildings for every cluster of years and so there is not much interaction between the high school ages and the primary ages and there are even different playground areas for the different age clusters. The “canteen” (cafeteria) and “toilets” (restrooms) are also their own buildings. Asher is in one of two prep year classes, with a total of 23 kids in his year. Cady fits in age-wise with the year 4 students but only had 4 months of 3^rd grade before we left Ohio. In consultation with the principal we put Cadie in a split level 3/4 class. (Year 3 and Year 4 have one other classroom each that are not split).  

The kids have “specialist” periods throughout the week where they go to different teachers: Art, Italian, library, PE and Sport. We haven’t exactly figured out what the difference is between PE and Sport although we suspect they will actually be focusing on a sport in “Sport” – including swimming!

Year 12 in Australia is not mandatory for high school students and usually is more like a trade school training year. There is a metal shop as well as an electrical shop on campus. Other students participate in 4-H type activities including taking care of the “chooks” (chicken) on campus!

On Thursday, one stage of a professional bike race, the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, rode through town. The defending champion, Chris Froome (also 3-time Tour de France winner) and his team were racing. The year 3-6 students got to walk down to the course and watch the race go by. The students made posters and brought flags. Cady made a poster for the American team, Team United Healthcare (UHC). 

We met Cady and her class and got some fun pictures of the cyclists racing through.

This picture shows the yellow jersey followed by a smiling Luke (from Australia and probably seeing kids holding "Go Luke" signs) followed by Chris Froome!

The other exciting thing that happened this week is that we secured a pedal bike for Asher. In Ohio he had only ridden a balance bike but he was able to hop right on this bike and take off. 

We did some practice trail and road riding across the street at the fair grounds and then on Saturday took a family ride to the library and park. Asher and Cady tried out the BMX park – we will have to get elbow & knee pads and lots of pillows before I feel comfortable going back.