Walking, walking, and more walking

that is basically what we spent our weekend doing . . . can you imagine why?? No baby yet so we spent time close to home doing things that required alot of walking. On Saturday we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (Zoo) with Evan so we could go feed the kangaroos. Now that we have a family pass for the year we get free kangaroo food and can feed them as much as we want. Well, Evan all of sudden has a "no fear" attitude and will just walk up to the kangaroos and shove a hand full of food straight at them . . . it's quite the site.




On Sunday we went to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens at Mount Coot-tha near our house. Evan actually enjoyed walking amongst the flowers, plants, and trees. He even fed the ducks at the lagoon. We spent a couple hours just walking and taking pictures so it was a nice leisurely afternoon. Unfortunately the walking hasn't induced the baby to come so I'm sure there will be more walking in our future for the next few weeks.


Also, here are some pictures of Bryan's recent trip to New Zealand. Alot of beautiful scenery that he wants to go back and explore further . . .

Australian Education: This may not be considered "education" for you but it is definitely something I need to learn to deal with while living here. Australia is known for lizards of all kinds . . . and these lizards are NOT contained. We have Eastern Australia water dragons that are near the lake in the park by our house, as well as running around the zoo and gardens where water can be found. Large, kinda scary looking, but very interesting creatures. We have also discovered small, opaque gecko's . . . on our front and back porch, in the garage, etc. I have asked around and these creatures actually get in your house and climb on the floors and walls. We currently have towels shoved under the door leading from our garage to the house because I have found that I dislike the idea of these creatures coming in our house about as much as I dislike mice in the US. I have included recent pictures of a few that we have found in/around our house.

We are desperate . . .

we spent our Sunday watching the USC/Nebraska game . . . live . . . using our Slingbox connected to a friend's TV in the US. Now, you may not think that sounds desperate, you're probably thinking that it's pretty cool that we can actually watch US TV in Australia. Well, I classify it as desperate because the picture quality was very grainy and fuzzy and you could barely make out the blobs running across the screen. But hey, it's Nebraska football!! As Bryan said, "it's like radio with color." So, Evan and dad were dressed in their Husker garb, and Evan was cheering "Go Big Red" and "touchdown" (even when not appropriate) throughout the game.



Bryan spent half of the previous week in New Zealand finishing his dealer training. He forgot to take the camera but a co-worker of his took several pictures so hopefully we have some to share with you next week. Bryan has already decided that we need to make a family trip back to New Zealand soon.

Australian Education: As I have explained to many of you, the Australian medical system is VERY DIFFERENT than the US. In Australia there is free medical care/insurance through Medicare so all Australian citizens have public insurance. On top of public insurance some choose to also pay for private insurance. Although I have "private" insurance, it is US based and therefore doesn't qualify for the same benefits as Australian private insurance. Which is unfortunate for me because when having a baby in Australia with some private insurance companies you get: 4-6 nights in the hospital following the delivery, a nurse that comes to your house weekly for several weeks following the delivery to check on things, and either a bulk supply of NAPPIES (diapers) or a cleaning lady for 2-4 hours. Several mothers in our playgroup told me this and were amazed when I told them I could only stay in the hospital 48 hours following the birth of the baby and that in the US you usually only get a phone call following the delivery to check on things.

5 Cities in 5 Days

Although Bryan didn't get to do much sight-seeing on his whirlwind trip covering the entire continent of Australia he was able to get a few interesting pictures. I'll let him tell you about his trip and what he saw:

These pictures all come from a 3 hour commute to go 209 km (120 miles) west of Sydney to our training site in Bathurst. It turns out Bathurst is a famous place in itself...it's home to the "super bowl" of V-8 racing (AUS version of NASCAR). Mount Panorama is more like a road race than the usual oval racing we know of Nascar as it's about 3.7 miles in length. The bigger difference is that it climbs pretty steep and has sharp corners to get to the top of the "peak" before again descending to the flats. Regular pedestrian vehicles are also allowed to drive on the track, as you can see we did during this excursion.







About halfway back to Sydney we stopped at Echo Point in the town of Katoomba. It's an awesome view of a very abrupt canyon wall. Unfortunately clouds impaired our view that afternoon, but you'll notice the picture I snapped of the "Aboriginal" man playing an instrument. It was interesting to watch as he was using circular breathing to continue a solid note between percussive strikes with a wooden stick. I say Aboriginal in quote's because the folks I travelled with say he must have been modernized as most Aboriginal's have similar beliefs of the American Indian that if a picture is taken of them, it will rob them of their soul.


We spent the weekend at the park with Evan on Saturday and visiting the Queen Street Markets and Mall in downtown Brisbane on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed walking around (and shopping!) Here are a few pictures from our weekend.




Australian Education: In downtown Brisbane I quickly snapped this picture of individuals freely jaywalking in the middle of a busy street. On many of the downtown streets all four pedestrian traffic signals will turn green at the same time, stopping all vehicular traffic coming in every direction. The intersection then becomes a free-for-all and people walk to whichever corner or street they need to get to. It is actually a more efficient way to get people from one spot to another so they don't have to cross from light to light and wait in between.

FINALLY . . .

the Perry's have internet access!! We have been using dial-up and wireless through John Deere but now have our own home wireless internet! There is some good news and bad news with this . . . we were hoping for highspeed internet so that we could hook-up our Vonage phone and watch US TV through our Slingbox. Since we couldn't get highspeed we had to go with wireless which only will allow us to have our Vonage phone but not our Slingbox. So, no Nebraska football games. We have obtained a VCR though that will play US tapes so family and friends will be taping the games and other shows for us and mailing them to us through the Australian pouch. Overall, I guess we're just happy that we have SOMETHING . . . FINALLY . . . after 10 weeks of waiting and living here.

So, for those of you that want to contact us CHEAP . . . just call our Moline phone number and it will ring us in Australia . . . and there are no international fees! Just remember we are 15 hours ahead of the Central Standard Time zone . . .

Bryan leaves today for a quick whirlwind trip around Australia. He will be going to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney (he'll be in Sydney when George Bush is there visiting) all within 5 days. This trip is like traveling from New York, then going on to Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando, Washington D.C. and then back to New York. Then next week he will travel over to New Zealand. He is completing training with John Deere dealers for Phase One of the project he was brought here to help develop.

Not much sight-seeing for us this week. Here are a few pictures of Evan and dad getting ready to go on a bike ride (note that Evan is wearing a helmet without crying) and of Evan remembering what it's like to be in a crib again, as we are preparing for the arrival of the new baby - 6 weeks to go!







Australian Education: It is common in Australian homes not to have ventilation for your clothes dryers so most people keep them in the garage (which is a PAIN!) There also usually isn't room to put both a washer and dryer in the laundry room unless you hang one on the wall. Here is a picture of our wonderful dryer . . . in the garage . . . between the cars . . . not easy access and quite a distance from the laundry room. We also have a clothes line in the backyard to use instead of the dryer.


** Also, Spring has sprung in Australia! September 1 was the first day of spring here. The weather has been warm this week and we have been wearing shorts and sandals. It is supposed to rain more this week and get cooler again so we'll be back to pants and maybe long sleeved shirts for awhile. The Aussies will have their winter boots and scarves out for the cooler days!