The New South Poettckers: Summer in December...

Here we are, nearly at the end of the year, and even though everyone told us it would go quickly, we can hardly believe how fast it has all gone by! Kevin and I hope that we can somehow hang on to the memories of our adventures, our thoughts, our feelings, and the things we have learnt (haha Kevin, "learnt") this year. We would like to fight the fact that this year will likely end up being just a little "blip" on the radar of our family's life. This blog, as well as all of our photos, will hopefully serve as a reminder. And so, here I am, writing and posting photos yet again. I am feeling a little uninspired (and emotional - i.e. I was feeling 'feelings' whilst grocery shopping at Aldi this morning, thinking that it will probably be the second last time that I get to shop there - sniff, sniff) at this particular moment, thinking of what needs doing before we fly back to winter, so a recount of our recent activities will have to do this time.

Summer in December: It feels weird, and yet, so good. The kids and I have been spending a lot of time at the Dubbo Aquatic Centre, and Joey is doing a pretty good job of learning to swim.

Calla performed her last show, Peter Pan, with the Dubbo Drama Club. Once again, we were so impressed with how these shows come together with people of all ages performing together. It was amazing!

Rylan joined an Environment Club with an environmental education centre called Wambangalang (I have used every excuse I could to say this name as many times as possible) that is about 30 km outside of Dubbo. He was privileged to be a part of a pilot group and it was a huge success in his mind; right up his alley.

The kids found some huge leaves that look like our beloved Canadian emblem.

I just love these jacaranda trees (the purple ones). They are literally all over Dubbo. I thought they were dead and dry, as they were not sprouting leaves in Spring with the rest of the trees. But then they all started blooming with purple flowers which lasted so long. Gorgeous!

I have been seeing roos on my walks every morning now. I still get a kick out of them (thankfully, not literally).

Kevin's coworkers. They have been a very bright spot for him this year, as he has really enjoyed working with them. They threw our family a lamb roast dinner (in lieu of a lamb spit, due to fire bans) a couple of weeks ago, and we all had a great time.

I will miss our pub Tuesdays with Kevin's work-mates - mmmmmm chicken schnitzel with pepper gravy for 7 dollars 50!!!

K to 2's sang a lovely song for Joey's "Thanksgiving Service". It's basically the school Christmas concert / end-of-year farewell. We had heaps of fun with friends, a yummy sausage sizzle, and marvelled at having a Christmas concert outdoors, in shorts, with a BBQ. So good.

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Recent Weekend Fun:

Our new Canadian exchange teacher friends who came from Ontario to coastal-Australia decided to come to country-Australia for a weekend visit. We have really appreciated these new friends of ours, as our families connected so incredibly well. We are so thankful to have met them and hope that our paths cross again some day in Canada.

Dubbo was hosting the National Sheep Shearing Competition when they were visiting, so we decided to have a little cultural experience and check it out. It was fascinating to watch how quick and how skilled the shearers were. However, since we did not have a clue what was happening, or how scores were being tallied, and we had five kids itching to get to the pool, the fascination only lasted so long.

These guys were competing the old-fashioned way - with hand scissors.

The pool! Finally!

Zoning out after the pool.

What is a trip to Dubbo without going to the famous zoo?

And what's a trip to the famous zoo, without getting Macca's frozen Fantas afterward? We had our first sad farewell in the McDonald's parking lot. Until we meet again, Gilbert family!

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Blue Mountains Weekend:

We made it to Katoomba for our last weekend get-away this past weekend. I had planned a visit here over a year ago, when we first found out we were going on this adventure, and my plans finally came into fruition. We passed these lovely canyons and blue-hazed forests (the blue haze is from the vapour that the eucalyptus trees emit) a couple of times, by train and by car, and were certainly intrigued.

Unfortunately, parts of these lovely forests are currently burning, so nearly all of the hikes were closed. The popular tourist trap, Scenic World, was also closed the week before we went (the first time it has been closed since 1945), but opened on Saturday; just in time for us to enjoy it. We were also able to enjoy spectacular views on Friday and Saturday, as the smoke was blowing towards Sydney and away from us. Our grand finale of weekend getaways turned out to be truly wonderful as we avoided the crowds which often flock to this particular area of the Blue Mountains. We enjoyed the quiet, the kookaburras (there were so so many), the views, and the lovely Grand Canyon Track (the only hiking trail that was open).

We saw these ultra hard workers all over the place over the weekend. They sure do have a tough job. I am thankful for them.

The three sisters - Aussie style.

More firies.

Can you spot the helicopters? We were entertained by watching these guys drop water on the fires from their buckets. It looked like such a small drop in the bucket when we could see the whole picture from our viewpoint.

Calla being Calla...We found a park to have a BBQ for dinner (certainly not hard to find in Aus) and had one of the best dinners ever. So good, in fact, that it warranted a mention in this blog post. And we got to share a yummy burger with a man we met who is temporarily living in this park. I should also mention the burger we almost shared with a kookaburra who swooped down to the table and snatched a burger right from under Rylan's nose. The kookaburra dropped the heavy burger, probably to the benefit of its own health, and the burger promptly made it into the bin (garbage) safe from the grasp of any other aggressive Aussie birds looking for a heart attack.

On Saturday, we were able to find the one hiking trail that was open to the public; the Grand Canyon Track near Blackheath. It was amazing - a bit tough with steep sections, and 6.3 km in length, and the kids did not complain even once, often stating that this was the best hike they've ever been on. Success!!!

Views up the top.

Going down, down, down...

...and into the beautiful rainforest.

A well earned lunch break down the bottom.

We spotted seven water dragons. The one below is the biggest one we saw. He was trying to steal someone else's lunch.

And of course, we saw skinks. Skinks are everywhere!

We even got to walk through a tunnel!

After our hike, we picked up frozen Calippos and headed to touristy Scenic World. We were able to ride on the three different attractions, as they reopened that morning, but were not able to walk on the trails down the bottom. The kids were super excited about the different "rides" that included the skyway with a glass bottom hanging high over the valley, the cableway which went down the valley like a gondola, and the railway (the steepest railway in the world) which basically went straight down into the valley. Since there were hardly any other tourists around, we rode these attractions as many times as we wanted without having to wait in line. The railway was voted scariest by us.

The skyway.

The cableway.

The railway.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to a lot of smoke in the air, and were thankful that we got to enjoy a nearly-smoke-free window during the rest of the weekend. On our drive home to Dubbo, we made an urgent bathroom stop at a small organic farm / winery, and it ended up being our most expensive bathroom stop yet, as we left with wine and olive oil in hand. The farmer who let us use his toilet was a rather sad man who was clearly showing his age. He told us sad stories of the drought, and how birds had very recently taken much of his apricots and nectarines and were currently working their way through his grapes. And he told us how during the last drought, in 2003, there were three farmers in the area who took their own lives and that none had been lost during this drought. Yet. What a hard life farming can be in some areas of the world.

We stopped to support a local cherry farm and do something we have never done in December before. Check out how dry it looks in the photo below. The cherry trees are irrigated, and I can only imagine the cost of keeping them watered. Needless to say, we will all have cherry-belly for the next couple of weeks. It will be well worth it!