Coming home from New Zealand

Hola everyone! Bill has a proper blog to post but we have had trouble with internet access, time to do it, so this is a quickie. We are on our last stop before heading back to Christ Church. We've been driving around the south island of New Zealand, which from the back seat seems very windy. We have seen some gorgeous land, mountains, beaches and lakes, as well as lots of sheep. The girls are doing well with travelling and we are lucky to have Michigander friends Viv and Doug Fahle along for the adventure. Highlights include Bill's bungy jump, our helicopter ride from shooting spots for the Lord of the Rings, seeing the "one true ring", gorgeous lakes, staying right next to the largest "holiday"(aka trailer) park in the Southern Hemisphere, seeing seals and pancake rocks of the west coast.

We will be heading home February 25th and be home a day later. Our phone number will be different as we had to surrender our Spokane phone number when we left, so that is to be announced. Take care.

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