Odd things about Australia

• there are no white eggs, all brown. yolks are dark gold, almost orange.
• cars are very plain and small, trucks (utes) are the same.
• there are no pay-at-the pump stations... ya always have to go inside.
• pancake syrup is all real maple syrup
• produce is all super-sized.
• they do not have applebutter
• they eat a ton of lamb (YUCK)
• restaurants and pubs do not offer tableside service. you go to counter and order, tables have numbers and they deliver it. they do not give you a bill, you go to the register and give them your table number.
• tipping, rarely done. they are surprised if you tip.
• they snort teaspoons of tequila w/a swizzle stick (looked REALLY painful)
• they drink mainly beer and rum (bundaburg is the fav. local brand-another yuck)
• the guys still wear really short shorts (usually w/work boots) or bare feet.
• getting dressed to go out consists of taking off your high visibility work shirt.
• DUI here is .04
• one local bar/club has a shuttle bus to keep people from driving after drinking.
• they have you blow (randomly) when going into the jobsite.
• bare feet are acceptable anywhere.
• they don't take enough showers
• the coffee is amazing
• coffee pots (drip style) are almost impossible to find.

I'll have more later... think about these for a while!

BIG NEWS

They have finally released our stuff from customs...
it's supposed to arrive tomorrow afternoon!
WOO HOO!!!

Happy 30th Birthday, Michael!

A big 30th birthday SHOUT OUT heading from Dalby, QLD, Australia to Loveland, CO, USA.

May the coming year be everything you're wanting it to be! If it's not, I trust that you WILL make it happen.

You continue to make me one proud mamma!

The birds of broadwater lake

I was so excited, as we were leaving the lake, and a whole flock of cockatoos performed for us.

There were 100's. They are such beautiful birds but SO noisy. They don't have a song, they kinda scream.

Bush Camping

There was nothing there. Just a circular drive, a few slightly cleared areas and a fire pit in each of the cleared areas.

I'm including the camping sign... don't know if you'll be able to read it, but it says that it's $4.50/night/adult to camp...

BUT that if you want the key to the bathroom, it's another $10!

And NO, we're not going to be camping there!!!

Lake Broadwater

We were desperate for something to do yesterday, so we decided to drive to Lake Broadwater. It is the only natural fresh water lake in Queensland. We were expecting a lake, what we found was a large puddle/slew. There were 2 caming areas and lots of picnic areas. The one camping area was lake view camping, the other was bush camping. There was NO ONE camping. There was one other vehicle there, that had some sort of decals on the side talking about their bird pictures. The whole park was just deserted. The lake was WAY LOW. They've been in quite a drought here. There was no way that a boat could have used the ramp, as the whole ramp was out of the water. I'm not sure that there was any of the "lake" that was over 2 or 3 feet deep. There were weeds sticking out of it everywhere.

The trees here are ugly. The bark on a lot of them peels constantly and the limbs twist and turn.

An update...

will be coming.
I finally found all of the ingredients for my homemade fresh salsa yesterday. I was very busy!
The peppers were the HOTTEST that I've ever run into, my hands are still burning.
I had to run back to the produce market and get another BUCKET of tomatoes!
It is one of the BEST batches ever!

We went to the movies last night. We saw Australia... imagine that! I'm not a Nicole Kidman fan, but it was good. REALLY LONG!!!

Today we're working on the business books, then heading out for something to do!
We think that we're going to wash the car and do a bit of local sightseeing.

Should have more pictures tomorrow.