A Busy Week...

We went to Lake Alexander in Mittagong at the beginning of the week for a picnic with 2 couples from church. The kids got to feed the ducks, play in the playground and try skateboarding. We also got to enjoy the best chocolate cake ever!!

Off to Canberra to see the National Capital! We were lucky to stay with the Pears family (our exchange partner's sister). We checked out the Australian Institute of Sport, went on an evening hike to see the wild kangaroos, biked around Lake George and spent a day at the National Museum. The museum was fantastic and the girls got to see some aboriginal art and then try to paint their own!

Parliment Building

Australian Institute of Sport

Just hanging out taking in the museum!

On Friday we went to Donna and Roden Mauger's cattle farm, outside of Robertson. The views were once again outstanding! The girls got to pet a 2 day old calf that was laying out in the pasture.

This is the view out their kitchen patio doors. Babe the pig movie was filmed on their farm!

Off to see the calf.

Roden Mauger

The Centenial Winery, just outside of Bowral, was our last adventure of the week. David and I sampled a few red wines while the girls pretended they were princesses in a castle with a secret garden!

It was really sunny, hard for the girls to look at the camera. The vineyard is in the field behind us.

We tried to pack a lot into this week as David has to be at the school starting Monday. Hope you enjoyed the update and we look forward to hearing from you all soon! 

Fitzroy Falls

We took advantage of a sunny morning and headed off for Fitzroy Falls. It is about a 15 min drive from Bowral in Morton National Park. After a brief hike through the forest the first viewing platform emerged and it was amazing! We were beside the waterfall on a platform that overlooked a plunging escarpment. David could not come close to the edge, I say scared of heights and he says he doesn't trust the metal railings and rotten wooden boards. The view was amazing. We then hiked to a platform across from the falls. Again, spectacular!

Looking down from platform #1 (of course it doesn't do it justice)

View from the second lookout

We have landed in paradise.....

Love and blessings to you all!

Jervis Bay Trip

We headed to Jervis Bay on the eastern coast. It is an hour and a half from Bowral. The white sand beaches are so powdery that they squeak when you walk (like the snow in Canada at -40!). We met up with the Sloan family...Paul and Janine, Joshua, Nick, Ben and Lily. David will be teaching with Paul at the end of January. They have a beach house and were extremely generous in allowing us to bunk in for a night.We went right down to the beach when we arrived!

We then went searching for kangaroos in Booderee National Park. Our first stop was the Booderee Botanic Gardens. We went on a hike through the rain forest. It was extremely hot and humid and we didn't see any wildlife. The trees were huge and beautiful and David appreciated the fact that they were all labeled so he could verify their species!

Next was a stop at Murray's Beach. This was our favorite part of the trip as we went on a long walk around the cove to the beach. The kids were fascinated with the tidal pools, shells, snails and crabs. We would like to go back and spend an entire day there! Still no kangaroos though.

This is Ben and Lily with McKenna and Brooklyn. Ben is going to be in McKenna's class!

Murray's Beach

We finally got to see a kangaroo while driving on the way back to the cabin. It hopped across the road in front of the car. The next day we went back to the local beach and then headed for home.

McKenna is getting better at her body board.

Beach baby!

It was a fantastic trip with wonderful company! I think the next week we will stick close to Bowral and do some more local exploring.

Bowral Countryside

We have been busy the last few days exporing the countryside around our town. We drove to the top of Mt. Gibraltar and walked around checking out the views. It was 32 degrees outside!

 

The next day it was very misty and foggy. We went for an evening hike on Wombat trail which begins about 200 m from our front door. 

Today we visited Megan and Phil Moore. David is going to be teaching with Megan. They took us to Bellemore Falls in Morton National Park but we will have to return. It was very foggy and we couldn't see down into Kangaroo Valley and we could barely see the falls. They have an amazing acreage and we were spoiled with a lovely meal followed by a walk in the forest behind the house. 

Not sure what comes next but we will keep you posted!

We are finally in Australia!

Hello everybody...here is the first attempt to blog our adventures while we are here in Australia. I'm sure we will learn as we go!

It all started with a very long plane ride. The girls did great!

 

We are loving it here. The yard is beautiful. There is a tire swing hanging from a gum tree, lots of amazing flowers, and tropical birds in an array of colors. Here is a picture of our car in front of our house.

We have already ventured to Kiama to go to the beach. The drive was amazing, on winding mountain roads with the trees and ferns coming right up to the sides of the road. The weather was in the mid 30's.

I don't know how to rotate the picture but isn't she cute!!

Oooooo that water is cold!





Every day has been an adventure....we will keep you posted!

The Basisty Family