Merry Christmas From Down Under

It's Christmas for us, and we're here down under;

Our year in Tassie's been filled with travel and wonder.

With the flora and fauna we've been amazed,

And the adventures and friendships have left us dazed.

At Latrobe Primary Ellary learned a chocker amount -

Infinitely more than just learning to count.

She lost a tooth, had a sleep over, made friends wherever she went,

And now she eats Vegemite and talks with an Aussie accent.

Risa had fun in her first year of "school;"

She especially thought arts and crafts was cool.

Her teacher was great and her patience long,

When dealing with our unique girl who's so headstrong.

Nikki quickly created a home from our hospital house,

Despite battling ants and giant spiders, but no mouse.

During our stay she met a few really good mates,

And, although she's enjoyed the adventure, is homesick of late.

Bill worked his butt off, the ER's "flat chat,"

But he, too, loved the travel and his new kangaroo hide hat.

The patients in Tassie, beat the US's all to hell,

But the administration of medicine here ain't so swell.

We loved the whole year and have no regrets,

But we're looking forward to our return to the US

From our sunny Christmas we wish you all the best;

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, G'day, and all the rest.

Love,

Bill, Nikki, Ellary, and Risa

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Hope everyone has good food and company on Thanksgiving. We've been flat out for the last 3 weeks. This is the first week back from vacation with Bill's' family,(need to blog about that fun experience) and before that the first ever Latrobe Halloween party (need to blog about that too), with 28 kids and a fair amount of parents. So, since Thanksgiving is not an Australian holiday, AND Bill is working the late shift, AND we're a bit exhausted we are taking a pass on the big celebration. So, we'll just count our blessings and save a few thousand calories.

We made and shared pumpkin pie on Halloween, something they don't generally eat here. They eat lots of pumpkin, it's just roasted with other veggies and usually some sort of roasted meat, so eaten in a savory fashion. A few Aussies commented that they assumed pumpkin pie was a savory dish served up with the turkey.

Anyway, here on the day before Thanksgiving, the girls had an athletic carnival at school, which involved all the grades being divided into 3 houses, with names and colors. Each class had races with the winners scoring points for their "house." Risa and Ellary were both in the red house, Paloona. Ellary won one of her races. Always looking around at the others whilst racing, and once keeping her eye on the mob of red teammates that were watching. Not sure what that was about. She had fun, a day off from academics.

Risa and her classmates(the youngest at the school) all had their eyes and mouths wide open watching the event. Risa, as some of you may know, is a gentle soul, not very competitive, and not the most coordinated child. My hope for her was that the noise and crowds wouldn't overwhelm her to the point of non-participation. With lots of prompting from the teachers she finished her 4 races, a dash, a hopping race, a partner race(running while holding the hands of one of her classmates, thankfully someone equally non-competitive), and a teddy bear race(a dash while holding her teddy). She finished all with a smile and a pose for the camera at the finish line. YEAH for Risa! One of the boys in her class dropped his teddy bear halfway through the race, hesitated but was prompted to finish without it. As he got closer to the finish line his frustration mounted and erupted in tears and a red face at the finish line. He dashed back with a teacher to retrieve the lost bear and was comforted by his mother. Oh, to be five!

I got roped into a potato sack and sprint relay, made up of teachers and parents. My teammate and I did the traditional potato sack hop. Others, meanwhile, decided to think outside the sack and ran with the sack on their arms or their head, enabling them to move much faster than us roo wannabees. I tied for last place, but got a laugh out of it. If I'd of known ahead of time I would be hopping I might have worn a bra and maybe a Depends.

It's late spring here and are enjoying some late spring garden delights. A friend shared cilantro and a mix of salad greens from her garden, all freshly picked and beautiful. My neighbor gave me a bunch of broad beans(fava beans). Since I never really even see the mailman, as the mailbox is down at the end of the street, I decided to make felafels made with favas and the fresh mint and cilantro from my friends garden. Jamie Oliver has a show on here, (they're mad about Jamie in Australia) and the broad bean recipe was from his show. Anyway, we had Aussie lamb from the local butcher, felafels with yogurt/mint/coriander raita, and fresh green salad with garden peas. I think that counts as a feast. And as I ate I was thankful for the local connections to the people who grow and share their bounty and friendship. And since it was my first time making felafels, I was thankful it seemed to turn out just like on TV and tasted good, even though it kind of looked like a turd.

Alice Springs - The Red Heart of Australia

Bill (and family) just had the pleasure of attending an Emergency Medicine conference (compliments of the Australian government) at a place called Alice Springs, almost dead center in the continent of Australia. The whole family went and contributed to the "kid soup" in the hotel swimming pool, along with 24 other conference attendees' offspring. A look at a map would suggest that the climate should be miserably hot and, hence, the surroundings barren and devoid of life - which couldn't be further from the truth. There are many "upside-down rivers" where the water flows on the surface during floods, but then 1-3 feet under the deep orangy-red sands during drier times - so a plethora of unique plant life abounds, in particular beautiful Red Gums and, higher in the 800million -year-old rocks, surreal white-barked Ghost gums (Eucalyptus trees). Some day trips included the dessert center with an abundance of plant and animal life, the reptile center where Ellary and Risa got up close and personal with lizards and an Olive Python, a trip to a local watering hole "Ellery Big Hole," a local Chasm steeped in Aboriginal custom and lore, and, last, but not least - a one day bus trip to Uluru=Ayer's Rock - 500km from Alice Springs. It's quoted as being the longest organized day trip in the world. We left at 6am and returned at Midnight and the temperature at Uluru was an unseasonably warm 39C (103F !). Everywhere we went we learned of Aboriginal legends, local geology, and the early exploration of the inner continent which led to the settlement in the middle of nowhere. En route to Uluru, we stopped at Jim's Road House where we saw a Dingo named Dinky who can "play" a piano and sing and is world famous - has been on radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines the world over. At magical and breathtaking Uluru, we heard fascinating accounts of Aboriginal legends and their explanations of various geological features of the rock and how this was passed from generation to generation to teach them the location of watering holes, etc. At sunset, we went to the sunset viewing area to experience, in an intimate setting with about 500 other people, the changing colors of Uluru as the sun went down.

Bill found the Indian Jones/Australian Cowboy (Kangaroo hide) hat of his dreams, hence his life is now complete.

We'd recommend a visit to anyone (only NOT in summer - it gets to 45C -116F).

BNER

Sailing in Paradise - The Whitsunday Islands

In mid September we all flew to the Whitsunday Islands - a collection of beautiful tropical islands at the south end of the Great Barrier Reef. After meeting up with our friend, Rick, who flew from the US to sail with us and hang out in Tasmania afterwards, we took a ferry from the small island we landed on, and hopped aboard the Morning Mist - a comfy 11 meter catamaran.

It was a magical week - perhaps our best family vacation ever - with a leisurely day sail from mooring to mooring in beautiful coves and bays, with fun snorkeling a splash away from every anchorage. There was a three mile long white sand beach, short walk to a cave with aboriginal paintings, plentiful sea life including breaching whales, dolphins, and sea turtles, and not too many other boats around competing for moorages. Sunsets were postcard colorful. The kids had fun bobbing around in the water and laying on a mini surfboard with a clear plastic bubble - so they could see the fish and coral. The weather was perfect and the water an amazing turquoise. Our eyes were bigger than our heads in our initial purchase of alcohol and snacks so we had some Boag's left over which we donated to some other sailors about to head out.

When we returned to Tasmania, a brief visit to a nearby National Park treated us with a look at some new little Joey's in their Mom's pouches.

A great week.

BNER

Blood Moon

The girls and I(Nikki) were able to watch the lunar eclipse tonight out our back door and windows. It's still blood red as I write, and it started to show the shadow of the earth around 6:50 pm here. It took about an hour to have the full effect. So whilst(see former blog entry) the girls were doing their bedtime stuff we would stop and gaze at it getting darker and then redder. The girls seemed impressed by the lunar changes. Bill was working tonight and I hadn't mentioned the eclipse to him so I called the ER to tell him to stick his head outside if he had the chance. So I called up the main ER number and it was answered as follows, "Emergency Room, this is Bill." With a great cheerful phone voice, I should add. He was having a slow night so would have time to do some moon gazing, as long as the phone to the ER didn't ring too much, of course.

I am not sure if the eclipse is a southern hemisphere phenomenon or everyone gets a chance to see it. If you can check it out, it's cool. And no special viewing box needed, which makes it easy with small kids.

All day I have had the Queen song Another One Bites the Dust in my head. It started after I heard about Roberto Gonzales resigning.

take care,
Nikki and BER

Local Lingo - ehStralia Speak

Ellary is developing a lovely Australian accent, when surrounded by Aussies. I said "Ellary do you still speak my language?" She just smiled, then asked for a vegemite sandwich.

The following is merely an incomplete collection of unusual expressions and customs we’ve noticed after 7 months of living in Tasmania.

“ehStraahya” = Australia

Fair Dinkum – on the up and up; trustworthy. “John Howard’s offer to save the Mersey wasn’t fair dinkum.”

“Keen” – you really like a certain activity. Used a lot in the newspapers – e.g. picture subtitle – “Melissa Smith, who is a keen swimmer.”

“Flat out” = “flat chat” = “chockers”= “chocker block”= very busy. The ER is chocker block and we’re flat chat at the moment.

“Jumper” = coat. E.g. “The weather is cool in the winter – you’ll need to wear a jumper.” The kids wear their jumpers to school in the winter.

“How you going?” = How are you doing?

“Mad” = crazy. “She’s mad.”

“Frog and toad” = road. “I think I’ll hit the frog and toad.”

“This arvo” = this afternoon. “Oh, are you working this arvo?”

“Bickies” = short for biscuits – cookies. (There is no such thing here as “cookies.”)

“Scones” = biscuits. Usually served with whipped cream and jelly. YUM.

“Lollies” = candy, except for chocolate which may be shortened to “chockie.”

“Is that the lot, then?” – Cashiers ask this (quickly) when you’ve taken up your articles to purchase – usually all slurred together so you have no idea what they just asked and you just stare at them blankly for a second then nod your head ‘yes.’

That will be ____ dollars, thank you. (Rather than please)

You go up to the register to pay when you’re done eating – even in fancy restaurants.

“Toilet” – NOT bathroom. This actually makes some sense since most houses have one room with a tub and/or shower and sink and a separate room with the toilet and sink.
Aussies who visit the US mention the shock on their hosts face when they ask “where’s the toilet?”

“Tissue” – NOT Kleenex. A 6 year old clarified this for Nikki while she was visiting Ellary’s class.

“Crook” = really sick – could be from medical causes or from an injury. “I hurt my back and was really crook last week.”

“Giddy” = dizzy, weak, lightheaded, etc

“Mmmmm” = yeah (i.e., an affirmative to an answer) = yes. It’s much more drawn out than “mm.” It can also be used to reemphasize something you’ve just said.
This is distinctly unhelpful when combined with “crook” and “giddy” in the ER. E.g.:
Me: “Can you tell me what happened this morning?”
Patient: “I got all giddy, then went really crook – mmmm…yeaahh…”
Me: “Oh, OK, now I have a clear understanding of your problem. Thanks.”


“Whilst.” They REALLY use this a lot. Even the web page for online banking shows a message after you’ve entered your password – “Please wait whilst we connect you with your account.” Similarly, “learnt” replaces learned.

“Tea” = evening meal. Not dinner – “tea.” Can also be used for other meals. Nikki has to pack a “morning tea” for the kids to eat at around 11am whilst in school.

You don’t have a bowel movement; you “open your bowels.” E.g., (in the ER) “When was the last time you opened your bowels?”

A “Ute” is a small pick up truck with a flat bed attachment on the back – very popular, always white. Weird.

You don’t go on vacation; you go on “holidays.” Sounds a lot more festive.

“Sickie” = a sick day. E.g. “So many fish, so few sickies…”

Surgeons are referred to as “Mr.”, not “Dr”

The letter “Z” is pronounced “zed.” Honest. The bank with the name “ANZ” is pronounced “A-N-zed Bank.”

The letter “H” is pronounced “haich.” No shit.

“Partner” = significant other, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, whatever. Many people about 50 years old and under use this to describe their significant other or spouse.
Nikki appreciates the neutrality of it.

Cars drive on the left, the steering wheel is on the right. The rules of the road also apply to walking on the sidewalk or in a stairwell – always stay left – people get pretty insistent about this. Similarly, even on the waterways, things are opposite – here, the red markers are on the LEFT when returning from sea. In the US, it’s “red, right, returning from sea…” here it’s “port to port returning to port...” (A little catchier, isn’t it).

That's all for now. ENJOY.

BNER

Quick Postal FYI

Thought I would pass on the postal website that outlines Australian quarantine requirements. It is www.aqis.gov.au. Most things have made it through but apparently pumpkin pie spice poses a national threat, because of the cloves and allspice of course. In all seriousness, I've heard a few radio programs about some horrible bee mite that is wiping out bee populations all over the world. Bees are hard workers and help with agriculture in ways that are more obvious now that they are falling prey to this mite syndrome that is not well understood. Anyway, it hasn't hit Australia yet, so they are doing what they can to keep it out. On a related note, the honey down here is delicious, especially the leatherwood honey. Has a very distinct taste. So to bring it to full circle, no need to send us honey through the mail.

Rubbing Shoulders with the Prime Minister

Yep, you heard right.

Our little community hospital (Mersey)has been repeatedly dissed over the years and recently we lost our ICU in decisions made much more at a state political level than with patient care in mind.

The Australian prime minister, John Howard is way behind in the polls (and belongs to the "Liberal"=conservative party as opposed to the Tasmanian state majority "Labor"=leftist party) and needed an attention grabber, so he decided to do an end run around the Tasmanian State government and propose a FIRST EVER federal takeover of a hospital (OURS).

He flew in to Tasmania and came to our hospital and stood out in the parking lot for about 30 minutes talking to reporters. Nikki and I happened to be driving by and stopped (so we had no camera - dang). We parked and walked right up to the crowd and stood about 15 feet from the guy. No metal detectors. No $1000 contributions to the party. Just walk right up and watch. There were a few policeman meandering calmly about and 2 or 3 tough looking guys in dark suits and black glasses, but that was it. WAY cool.

The proposal, by the way, has caused a heated national debate and photos appeared the next day in all the local and even national papers.

I wanted to stay and shake his hand, but Nikki wouldn't let me for 2 reasons:

1 We had stuff to do

2 The guy is a friend of George Bush.

Vegemite Musings

Jesse came over to play with Ellary after school today. She is in Ellary’s class, she’s tiny, strawberry blond, very energetic and gave us a lesson on Vegemite. I had decided that quesadillas would be a good snack for after school. Even if Jesse had never had one, it’s basically a grilled cheese sandwich with a tortilla instead, and I know they eat grilled cheese sandwiches here, but, not Jesse. She informed me she didn’t like melted cheese, only triangle cheese, which she couldn't explain in any greater detail so we had to leave it at that. She did offer an alternative, “I like Vegemite sandwiches,” she cheerfully said. So I pulled out the little single serve packets of Vegemite the hospital had initially stocked for us and pulled out the bread. She looked at the bread and said, “I think your different type of people, I don’t like that kind of bread.” The whole grain bread with seeds wasn’t going to work. So we came to a compromise. She would have butter and Vegemite on a tortilla. I told the girls this was true fusion cuisine, perhaps the first Vegemite quesadilla in the history of Tasmania. She helped me put the proper amount of Vegemite on, quite liberal I must say, compared to the other Aussie who had us try it on toast in Melbourne. Jesse makes a kind of yummy slurpy sound when she talked about Vegemite, she really seems to love the stuff. Her Mom later told me she even eats it on pancakes.

She tasted it, liked it and enthusiastically encouraged me to have some. I did, and I couldn’t let her down so I made a face like I liked it. But, it was way too much Vegemite for me. Bill tried it too, but I think he felt the same way. [No, I actually thought it was OK - just in small amounts]. She ended up only eating ¼ of her vegemite quesadilla, which I thought signified our failure in our cross-cultural food experiment. But, at dinner she only ate the very tip of her pizza (again, with the melted cheese) and ½ her ice cream cone. How many children don’t finish an ice cream cone? I had to ask her if she would have preferred Vegemite on her pizza. She thought that was just silly. So, she’s really is just a tiny eater and maybe our experiment worked, despite us being a “different type of people.”

As an aside, after much campaigning on the kids' part, we obtained a new pet bunny (from friends who have several). This one is about two months old. In the week run up to us actually getting the rabbit and purchasing the necessary stuff, we asked Ellary and Risa numerous times what they thought the name should be and Ellary always said "Fiona." Risa never had a suggestion. Just as we were picking up Fiona, Risa decided the name should be "Chimzey," (?!?) and was quite distraught when anyone suggested otherwise. Hence, the bunny's name is Fiona Chimzey Lockwood.

We've only had her two days and she already seems to be enjoying herself and the kids attentions and seemed to like being on the leash today, for the first time. The girls had a snack of celery at 9:30 am while watching the bunny eat her celery breakfast. This could be good for their overall vegetable consumption.

Tasmania's Beautiful East Coast Beaches

Hello All,

We took a 4 day, 3 night trip (with Bill's "study" time off) to explore the East Coast of Tasmania.

The itinerary was loosely based on an article Nikki's friend gave her from a Tasmanian magazine called "Delicious" where the author took a similar trip eating his way down the coast.

The drive out of Launceston was twistier than a ski hill road but took us up through rain forests with ferns as big as a truck. Then it was down into a beautiful fertile valley for some locally produced homemade ice cream in Pyengana (the cows were about 50 meters away being milked while we ate). Bill and I had pepper berry, a local and/or native plant, flavored icecream. It was subtle and good.

Our first night was in a standard tired hotel in St Helens but things improved considerably the next morning when we took a short jaunt north to Binalong Bay and ate at Angasi's - a European style breakfast place with a view of arguably the prettiest beach I've ever seen. The ladies had porridge which was full of big chunks of figs, apples and pistachios, yum. We all took a long walk after breakfast - some of the pics above. Ellary and Nikki walked/jogged to the far end of the beach with big rocks. They thought one of the rock pictures included looked liked giant's toes. Risa had more fun playing in the waves and sand and hanging out with Papa.

We then traveled down along the East Coast to Cole's Bay - a slightly touristy (although not this time of year) little resort town with a fantastic view of the Hazard Mountain Range across the bay. We were only going to stay one night, but liked it so much we stayed two. We were in a nice little rental home with awesome views fr0m the deck and a short walk to a secluded beach with lots of shells.

The second night we had our best meal so far in Tasmania at a place called Madge Malloy's. Owned by a husband (the fisherman and chef) and wife - the server and pastry chef. They were closed our first night there because he was out catching the fish in near gale force winds. He has been involved with fishing or undersea research his whole life and it was slow enough that she spent lots of time talking to us and even showing us pictures of the different fish on the menu. I(Nikki) had a fish called wah-hoo, although it wasn't spelled that way, but it was pronounced that way. It was delicate and delicious. Bill had wrasse, or something like that. We had to go for the fish we had never heard of as we may never pass this way again, so the song goes. Also Bill ordered oysters and it was the first time I liked them, they were mild, sweet and salty, not at all like a loogie.

Just as our meals came, the hostess distracted the kids into an adjoining room with some coloring books. We had our best Tasmanian white wine - Spring Vale pinot gris (2005) - altogether an amazing and memorable dining experience. The second day there we hiked up to a viewpoint of the famous "Wineglass Bay" - named after the way the water looked in the days of whaling when whale blood would stain the whole bay red. As we left the Coast, we stopped at the Spring Vale winery for a case of wine.

Now Bill's back to work for most of the rest of the month. The medicine politics are heating up as the Tasmanian government's minister of health will be releasing a paper outlining in great detail which services are to be continued and which are to be cut at various hospitals - due out on May 25. we'll see.....:)

Easter In Tasmania

Well, Easter has come and gone and I'm just getting around to talking about it. I'm still very busy at work; kids are still liking school (Ellary's spelling up a storm); Nikki's still good-naturedly enduring the lack of usual support systems, not the least of which is me working all the time.

Although it seemed like the weekend festivals had come to an end, shortly after Easter, there was a Thomas the Tank Engine festival at a nearby railroad yard museum with a life size Thomas, train rides, etc and a good time was had by all.

On Easter (I had a day off!), after an exciting Easter egg hunt in our modest yard, we all went to a nearby National Park with spectacular beaches. It was a beautiful sunny day, slightly windy, and about 20C (70F). We all had a relaxing day lounging in the sun and watching the waves, with very few other people. Ellary and Nikki ran along the beach for awhile, following horses hoove prints. Risa prefers to do a variety of yoga moves right in the waves, thus being soaked by the end of any beach outing. Evening was a treat as all the wallabies came out - they were as thick as flies. There were two shy wombats, also. Up until then, most of the wallabies we'd seen were in the zoo or dead at the side of the road and wombats are very elusive, so we all loved it.

About our Easter egg hunt. We went with the traditional American custom of coloring eggs, (my mom in Boise sent some color tablets with some Easter treat.) They really only have brown eggs here so it's not the custom to color eggs. I saw a Better Homes and Gardens, Australian version, that encouraged people to paint the eggs white with acrylic paint the then decorate them. Our eggs turned out okay, the girls had fun coloring them. So, as I was figuring out they didn't color Easter eggs I wondered if they even had Easter egg hunts and if so what do they hide?

Easter is really big down here. They just use chocolate eggs wrapped in foil. They come in all colors and sizes, mostly chicken egg size to ostrich size. One Dad I know makes it a custom to buy a dozen huge chocolate bunnies during Easter, the Cadbury Elegan Rabbit, and works on them himself, not including what the Easter Bunny brings. They eat more of those Cadbury eggs (you know the ones that are chocolate on the outside and some kind of runny sugary stuff that looks like a raw egg on the insisde) than any where else in the world. Needless to say, we fit right in. We took no chocolate with us to the beach as the girls had already eaten in one morning what they would normally get in 2 weeks.

The weather here has been gorgeous all through April - the driest April on record - but it's now turned to Fall and there's been some rain with a little cooler temperatures, but still frequently sunny afternoons with highs in the 60's F. As it's now officially "Autumn," the kids have switched to their new, warmer winter uniforms (see picture above). The feijoas in the backyard are ripe and falling off the bush. We are trying to figure out what to do with this fruit also called pineapple guava. They are a bit tart with a perfumey smell, similar size to a kiwi but harder and a good source of vitamin C.

Ellary and I(Nikki) have been closely following Dancing with the Stars, Australia's version. The female host and one of the judges were in Strictly Ballroom, which makes me want to watch that movie again. Ellary loves the dancing and suspense but has no desire to try out for the show. She probably loves staying up late and watching TV on a school night more than anything.

This Sunday we're leaving for three days to explore the Freycinet Peninsula and see Wineglass Bay in the South Eastern part of Tasmania. The pictures we've seen of the area are spectacular.

More later.

Love,

BNER

Our Melbourne Visit

Wow,

A month since the last blog -I've been too busy with work! I had hoped Tasmania would be different, but, alas, it isn't. I can say with confidence now that we definitely won't be staying longer than a year here.

Oh, yeah, Melbourne.

I have an old friend in Melbourne who I met in 1994 in Yosemite Valley while we were both climbing. I travelled to Australia (1996/97) and he to the US (1998) for subsequent climbing adventures. Since then we both married and stopped climbing. :) But we've kept in touch, he now has a 14 month old daughter, and we went to visit them in Melbourne.

Melbourne is across the Bass Strait - about 150miles of ocean - and so you either fly (boring, but quick) or take a ferry - exciting, but slow. We chose the latter. In mid week, the only option was a night cruise which means you board at about 7pm, depart at 8pm, cruise around the ship for an hour or two, an then retire to your cabin. At 7am, you depart in Melbourne (after a nice breakfast on board if you rise early enough). It was a lot of fun. The kids loved the cabin's bunk beds and the accommodations were relatively spacious, and very clean. The food in the restaurants was good.

In Melbourne, we visited several playgrounds, the Melbourne Zoo (where some of the highlights included a Red Panda and Tree Kangaroos), and the National Gallery of Victoria where there was a hands-on Lego exhibit. We had some good Thai food along with Jack, Risa's friend from Kinder. Jack is a stuffed bear with his own carrying case and accessories - lots of changes of clothes, pajamas, toothbrush, umbrella, etc. When a child is going somewhere exciting - they loan Jack out an he travels along on the adventure (see photo in the Thai restaurant).

It was great seeing Mark and meeting his new family and we even got a half day of climbing in (his first time in 5 years) He's told me since he's been bouldering twice - he may be rekindling his career.

We miss Spokane, but are enjoying our adventure.

See Ya,

B,N,E,&R

Festivals in the Sun

It seems that, at least in Summer, Tasmania loves festivals. Every City seems to sponsor them, but we live near a relatively large city (?30,000 population) so it has some really good ones.

Last weekend was the "Regatta" with boat races, ski demonstrations, a swimming race (if only I'd known), bike races, and performances.

Two days ago it was "Taste the Harvest," and we did (and ran into Emanuel Benjamin, a nice Tasmanian who moved form India 25 years ago to play professional cricket - he took the photo of all of us together).

Yesterday our own little town of Latrobe threw an "8 Hour Day" (US's equivalent of Labor Day) Festival with 8 hours of good music - we only made it through 4 hours - the kids got restless and the music got progressively louder - we're too old. There was a really good singer song writer who took lots of jabs at the Bush Loving, Big Business Promoting, Down-with-the-little-guy PrimeMinister, John Howard, adn the "labor" crowd loved it. The kids had a great time getting their faces painted.

School's going well for both kids, Nikki's meeting friends, and I'm getting more comfortable in the challenging position.

Hope all are well and enjoying Spring.

Love,

B,N,E,&R