The beginning

I have been keeping a log since we arrived and will post it all at once. I divided it into days, so I hope that helps.

Saturday, Jan 10th?
Well…We’ve been in Australia for one week. It seems like ½ a lifetime.
Things have been so busy and a bit crazy most of the time.
We flew into Brisbane (only 3 hours late) and got our rental cars. It took a bit of dancing around the car to get us on the right side of the vehicle and we loaded our luggage and were on our way to the Marriott downtown. Turns out that our GPS was confused and she told us that we were at our destination when we were in the middle of a very large bridge! We finally found the hotel and got all three rooms checked in. I was navigation and the safety officer. The words “keep left and stay left” took on very new meanings as we got dropped into expressway traffic and were learning to drive on the wrong side of the road (by north American standards!) I’m glad that Frank had taken his blood pressure meds, as it turned out to be very stressful.
Brisbane is a lovely city. It is very tropical w/lush gardens, flowers everywhere and a good share of palm trees. It’s located on a large river and the cabs are mainly boats. It appeared to be a very young, business oriented city. They have very casual dress for the most part and anything goes. The first day we saw a young man wearing pink striped shorts.
We met Canadians (from Ontario) the first day. The one said that they had been traveling the country for nearly 2 weeks and we were the first North Americans that he’d met. Here in Australia, they refer to all North Americans as “Americans”, as they see us as just one country.
Frank, Lee and Derick worked on Monday and the girls and I set out to find the mall. We quickly discovered that EVERYTHING is expensive here. Food is awful. We’ve seen fish & chips priced from $18-$28. Clothing, medications, shoes, just everything!! They do not have a “dollar menu” at McDonald’s, they have a “value menu”. I had a chicken sandwich meal that was prices over $7. Sheesh!
As the factory was not at all ready for Frank or the guys, Frank and I left for Dalby on Monday morning. The guys worked again Tuesday and left Wednesday morning.
We arrived in Dalby to find a sleepy little town that is mainly farm oriented. They take pride in the fact that they have the largest cattle sale in Australia! Farming is mainly sorghum, which is harvested and fed to the cattle.
Our motel was adorable, quaint and spotlessly clean and run by a semi-retired couple. It was walking distance from the business center (downtown) and most of the restaurants. We got to see the 3 houses that were available and quickly chose the one that was already furnished! It’s a new, brick, 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. It is perfect for us. It has a large kitchen, dining, office and lounge area, as well as the bedrooms/baths and an attached 2 car garage and laundry room and a covered patio. It has a large fenced lawn and we are near a lot of other people from the project.
When we were viewing the homes, the relocation guy asked how we were w/bugs. I said that I hate them. He said that since we are in the tropics, that they are a fact of life and that they would get me in therapy. Again, sheesh! Katherine, our very proper British neighbor has told me to watch out for the brown spiders w/striped legs, that they “can’t kill you” but that they can make you very sick. She says that she has them in the house right now!
We moved into the house on Wednesday and have spent most of the time since then getting the things that we needed to live. Thursday was a no shower day as they had forgotten to get our gas turned on, so no hot water!!
Grocery shopping has been a real treat as they have few things that we eat at home and those things that they do have are frequently called by different names! Example: Ketchup is “tomato sauce” and a “packet of sugar “ is a “sachet”.
I quickly took up driving, once we arrived in Dalby. The thing that most of us still have problems w/ is that the blinker is on the RIGHT side of the wheel… so you’ll see us all turning on our wipers to turn a corner!
They are very rigid in their laws. A speeding ticket for 11 km over was $800 and another guy was going 15 over and his was $1200. One guy at the jobsite has hit 2 kangaroos in the past month and totaled 2 vehicles. I have yet to see a Kanga! There are plenty of birds. Even sparrows are here, but the ones that I love to watch are the macaws…the reds are the smaller (life maybe 14-18 inches) and quieter and the whites are huge and really noisy. I saw a flock of probably 50 of them while hanging out laundry yesterday.
The produce is WONDERFUL… I have never in my life seen such large heads of cabbage or 2’ tall stalks of celery! There is supposed to be a farmer’s market at the fairgrounds today, IF I can figure out where that is!
Lee and Derick are supposed to move into their homes today. Neither were furnished so they had to wait on deliveries and believe me, nothing happens quickly here!!!
We got our TV yesterday. The one that came w/the house was a 15” tube type and we got 5 channels, only 2 of which were English! It was AWFUL! We ordered Dish network (AU style) and wireless internet cards yesterday. To actually get internet installed in the house, you had to get a home phone that costs $400 to get put in and then internet on top of that!
We are pretty well settled, other than a BBQ. Who can live in AU w/o a Barbie???
People here are pretty easy to understand, but I quickly figured out that those from New South Wales are difficult to understand!
The weather’s been beautiful. In the low to mid 90’s daily.
The job: Frank says that they were nowhere near ready for for them. This is day 3 at the plant and they are just getting offices today. No one told the guys at the plant that Frank and the guys would need computers. They had to be ordered and it will be 3 weeks!!! They had to all buy new shirts to go on the jobsite. EVERYONE wears high visibility shirts. They must be long sleeved and the sleeves must be rolled no higher than the elbow. They are an “attractive” bright yellow and navy! They furnish NOTHING on the jobsite. No hardhats, no safety glass, nothing!! That took a quick trip to the “work clothes store”.
Everything here, other than the produce, is SMALL…stoves (all apartment sized by North American standards), showers, even waste baskets. The one in our kitchen can be lined w/a walmart bag! Life is simple. The washer is Barbie Sized! I am doing laundry nearly every day. Most of it goes on the line as they do not vent dryers outside. Most people here do not have dryers… they gave them to use since we’re used to them!

Sunday:
It’s now Sunday and the guys are off to work. Things here at the house are getting more organized. The “kids” moved into their houses yesterday. As of 4pm yesterday, Derick did still not have furniture, except for a mattress and box spring. It was supposed to be “on the way”. No one is in a hurry here.
Last night Frank and I went Kanga hunting. Got off of the main road and drove slowly and there they were. Sadly the sun was setting so the pictures are not good, but at least we got to see them. Saw a baby kanga on the side of the road that had apparently collided w/a vehicle.
We did find out yesterday that 9 of the 10 world’s most dangerous snakes live in Australia (comforting!)
Also found out that there is an on-line store, called the American store, where you can order stuff (mainly foods) from the US and they deliver them right to your door. I have yet to see brown sugar or Crisco sticks… hard to make Frank’s chocolate cookies w/o these.
I just sprinkled and sprayed for the ants. Those little suckers really BITE! They tell us that we are heading into fly season. Luckily they are just annoying and don’t bite! At the job site, they say it will get bad enough that they have to wear face nets. YUCK.
The guys are just working until 2:30 today, as it’s Sunday. They have to do their online computer skills test today. They are also supposed to be able to move into their offices today.
One of the guys that has been here a while, drove Frank home from work yesterday. He said NOT to eat the nachos. He said that they are chips, covered in a yellow, very oily cheese sauce and then covered w/canned diced tomatoes. (these were the supreme!) said that they were totally gross.
Driving is becoming easier every day! I still have NOT ended up on the wrong side of the road (bonus!).
Not sure why they let the guys off early today, as from what I’ve heard, NOTHING is open! Everything also closes at noon on Saturday and nothing is open on Sunday.
Last night we saw another flock of the white macaws right at dusk. We’ve been told that the other thing that we need to see here in town, is the fruit bats at sunset on the river. Said that there are thousands and that they are HUGE! Apparently they sleep by the river and head out at sunset to feed. We live several blocks from the river, so we don’t see them.
There is a Lutheran church here in town, so I may go check it out today.

It’s Monday, the 12th,
not sure how my calendar got screwed up. Probably b/c I’m preoccupied w/the bugs! They have an infestation of redbacks (spiders)at the jobsite. They are bad ones. Have been told it’s not the big spiders that you have to worry about. Not a problem here, I worry about them all. I spotted a “dead” one on the floor of Frank’s side of the closet first thing this morning. I quickly decided that the pick him up w/the paper towel method was not for me, so I used a spoon. ½ way to the kitchen he decided to move. Have you ever b/f seen someone beat a spider to death w/a spoon?
The money here is a trip! The paper money is colorful like Canadian, but the larger the value of the bill, the larger it’s size. The $50 actually has a clear area in it. The coins are totally confusing. The .50 is huge, like the old silver dollars in the US. There is no quarter, just a .20 and it’s a bit larger than a quarter. The dime actually looks a lot like a dime as does the nickel. There is no penny! If you pay cash, it’s rounded up or down to the nearest nickel. There’s a $1 coin that’s about the size of a looney and the $2 coin is about the size of a nickel, both of these coins are gold in color. We are getting local bank accounts today, just to make things a bit easier. I also have to try to find an exterminator. That could be difficult, as no one here seems to mind the bugs, BUT ME!
Apparently the kids are having some problems w/their houses. Most of Lee’s house appears to be on ONE breaker and they can only use one thing at a time w/o popping breakers. Derek’s house did not have furniture and some was ordered for them, but did not come in. They brought some used stuff for them to use in the mean time and apparently it was totally gross. It’s now residing in their garage.
Apparently the town has open sewers. Derek was awakened by a trashing noise in their bath the other night. Upon investigation they found one of those suction cup footed frogs in their toilet. They come in from outside, through the sewer. Apparently this is not at all uncommon and we’ve been told that if we get up at night to use the toilet, to always turn on a light and look b/c these little buggers will suction cup themselves to your ass! He used a hand towel and put it outdoors. Great, another worry.
I’m not sure that I can make salsa here. We’ve been to all 4 groceries in town and none of cilantro or peppers. GREAT. I could use canned peppers, but can’t find those either.
Better get my day in gear!
Speaking of small, I decided to bake cookies, as we have found that their cookies suck and my favorite cookie monster cannot live w/o his cookies.
The cookie sheet is so small that it holds 6 cookies at a time. This is going to take all morning!!!

Tuesday:
The cookies turned out well. I did realize when I went to take them out of the oven that we had no hot pads… oops! I picked them up at the store when I went downtown later in the day.
They are so energy efficient here. The oven goes off when the timer is not on! No just setting it on low and leaving it.
We got a local bank account yesterday. Like everything else here, it took forever! When she said it would take 4-6 ???? to get our debit cards, I assumed she would follow it w/the word “weeks”, instead she said “days”. I was shocked! That’s fast for here.
Derek still does not have furniture and has not figured out how to get hot water. Lee’s garage door opener is still not working, nor is their bedroom a/c. They do not use central heat or air here. We have 4 a/c units in our house. One is in the lounge/kitchen/dining area and one in each bedroom. Derek’s house just has one! I loved that house but knew that I could not live w/o ac in the bedroom!! Lee has 3 in his house but only 2 are functioning.
The weather is supposed to be a bit cooler today. It’s the results of the tropical storm on the coast. We may get some rain today, but that’s all of it that we will see as we are 3 hours inland.
I spotted a funnel spider web on our fence. They are the large ones w/the striped legs that will not kill you, just make you really sick. Hopefully he stays outside. The landlord is supposed to be calling an exterminator as we’ve had some ants and a couple of smaller spiders in the house. We’ll see how long it takes that to happen!
The water is awful. Its supposed to be safe, but smells and tastes bad. We have a water cooler and bottled water ordered but it has yet to arrive. We did get a call yesterday to say that it’s on the way to Toowoomba and they will call to install it from there, once it arrives.
We are still waiting for our aircards to arrive so that we have internet. It seems like we are doing a lot of that here.
The red macaws were flocking last night. 100’s of them. Not sure what caused it but they were fun to watch.
Derek and Lee got their company vehicles yesterday. Silver Camry’s… just like ours! I think that the company does it so that the locals can spot us and stay out of our way!

Wednesday:
Another week is well under way.
We got our first mail delivered yesterday. The satellite TV guy is due today, sometime between 8-4… sounds like home! Guess I’ll be here most of the day.
We tried a local food last night for dinner. It’s called Crumbed steak. You place the slabs on a cookie sheet w/a bit of olive oil and bake, flip when the one side is browned and eat. I have no idea what cut that they were, but they were extremely tender and quite tasty. (no fat!)
All of the CH big wigs are in town, even the president of the power division. Of course, they chose yesterday to work on the lines at the offices and the internet went down at 11 am and was still down when Frank came home at 4:30. Kind of a big deal since the phone lines to the US are tied to the internet!
Frank is going to take Friday off and we are planning a road trip into Towoomba. We still need to find a gas grill. They have them locally, but they start at $650. We just don’t need one that is that fancy! He’s giving the puppies the weekend off, as things are pretty slow yet.
We are still trying to find an exterminator. I just can’t live w/the bugs!