At Selby Gardens

It's been a busy holiday season, so yesterday we decided to have some Christmas peace by visiting the Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota.  We took my 94 year young Mom over and we loved the gorgeous flowers and scenery.  A great way to celebrate the holidays in nature's splendor!  Check out our pictures below...

Merry Christmas!

My Mom, Marie, with the butterflies

 

 

 

Gorgeous orchids



The tranquil fish pond

More Photos

Lighting of the Fleet




Lighting of the Fleet December 11 2014

Every year our boat club encourages us come over to their harbor.  There is a count down and at the stroke of 6 PM, everyone turns their lights on.  Check out our snowman tipping his hat to everyone!  Our talented neighbor, Brian Grant, took this photo for us at sunset.  It was a fun evening for everyone!

A Surprise Wedding!

Michele and Bryan on their Wedding Day, 11/22/14

Our daughter phoned us on November 23rd and asked us to Skype with her.  When we finally were electronically connected, she held up a marriage license!  Wow, were we surprised and delighted that she and her "significant other", now husband decided to marry on the beach near their home in Kona, Hawaii. 

We love her man, Bryan Wheeler, and are so glad to have him as our son-in-law!  We wish them a long happy life together and may they grow every day in their love of each other.

Check out their photo!



Two Wednesdays

Kangaroo reindeer display in shop window

Sydney - Wednesday Nov 5   This morning we slept in and checked out of the hotel at 11 AM to
walk around the busy streets of beautiful Sydney. At our first stop, the Queen Victoria Building (QVC),  Christmas was in already in progress with a multistory crystal lighted Christmas Tree on display.  Just gorgeous!  After lunch in the food court, we hiked to Darling Harbor and then through the Botanical Gardens. They were in full bloom since it is spring here with fragrant roses and bright blue Jacaranda trees.  We made it back to the hotel to meet the airport shuttle before the rain came.

At Waikiki Yacht Club

Honolulu - Wednesday Nov 5 - We caught the City Bus for a dollar for an interesting ride into Honolulu from the airport for lunch at the Waikiki Yacht Club while waiting for our night flight to DFW.


Home Sweet Home at 2 PM on Thursday!

Check out  Photos from Sydney

The Red Center

Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the early morning light

4:05 AM...the alarm went off in our Ayers Rock Pioneer Lodge room.  We had to move fast to make it to the hotel lobby to catch our tour bus that whisked us in the dark starlit remnant of the night to catch the first sunrays lighting Ulhttp://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/uru, the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock. The pictures do not do it justice.  Everyone's cameras were snapping anyway.

This was our second glimpse of the Big Rock because yesterday we watched the sun go down as we sipped our wine and toasted that we made it to the Outback and checked it off our Bucket List.  How do you describe the Outback?  The scope of the land is amazing - just millions of acres of semi-arid desert with rich red clay sand with scrubby grasses and stubby trees.  It reminded us both of our trip to West Texas with our friends, Betty and Richard.  However, it has its own feeling of vastness.  The Aborigines look very different from any people we've ever seen.  Their art work is amazing.  They paint as if looking down from the sky with little dots and symbols. 

We also were taken to the rock where we walked along it and looked at the crevices where we viewed the ancient cave art, saw the hidden water holes and heard some of the Aboriginal stories. 

We went on a strenuous hike into Walpa Gorge in  Kata Tjuta  and visited other points of interest.  The MacDonnell Range was impressive as well as some of the other rock formations.  The rivers in this part of the world are hidden underneath the soil.  Often it does not rain for many years - the last appreciable rain fall was in 1989!

It's not easy to get to Uluru - it takes 6 hours by bus from Alice Springs (one way) but the ride is very interesting.  We stopped at a Camel ranch and other unique places.  We flew out of Alice Springs (a 3-hour flight to Sydney).  Tonight we are in a nice hotel and visited a Greek Restaurant that we had enjoyed 3 years ago when we were here last.  It was great!

We both talked about the highlights of this trip.  They were

• Going with Friendship Force and getting to know our hosts and hearing about their families, concerns, country, etc.  Maggie, Linda and Colin were wonderful!
• The gleaming modern city of Perth
• The gorgeous coastline of Albany and seeing the preparations for their Anzac 100 year anniversary of the troops departing their shores to fight in WWI - their patriotism is amazing
• Visiting and ringing the bells in Perth's iconic bell tower
• The Walpole boat tour with Gazza (Gary Muir) - just a hilarious time was had by all
• The Perth FF's puppet show rendition of the song Waltzing Matilda.  So original!
• Getting gonged!
• The fun time we had with the Fort Worth Dallas Friendship Force club - thanks to Randy and Jo, just super ED's (exchange directors)

We are sorry to leave Australia, but we do miss Mom, our kitty cat, and our wonderful friends in Punta Gorda.  We hope those reading this will visit Australia.  It's a great country!

Photos



Red sand of the outback



Richard on Walpa Gorge Hike

 

A Town Like Alice.... Springs that is!

Across the Street from the Alice Motor Motel

After a nice 2-1/2 hour flight we landed in the official Australian Outback in the heart of the northern territory, Alice Springs.  Alice Springs is located close to the Tropic of Capricorn and as such, has hot weather and occasionally, floods.  Fortunately, the weather is great today - not too hot with a cloud cover.  We're staying at a modest place, the Alice Motor Inn.  We are a 10-minute walk to the heart of town and hit the coffee shop first thing and the little stores after that.  There are gorgeous aboriginal art shops throughout town and we all enjoyed browsing. 



Alice Springs from ANZAC Hill

This afternoon we went on a tour of Alice.  I really enjoyed hearing about the Royal Flying Doctors Service that was established in the 1930s and continues today.  The government provides planes to fly out patients at a moment's notice to hospitals free of charge.  They even provide well visits and inoculations to rural populations.  The Alice Springs School of the Air, was also of interest, being the first of its kind in the world.  Children who live in remote areas (presently 106 students) are educated beginning at Age 4-1/2 years via the internet (originally radio).   It is the largest classroom in the world covering 521,000 square miles or double the size of Texas.  This is a government provided education at a cost of $100 annually per child.  The school is in the top 10% of the educational system of the northern territory.  We also checked out the first telegraph station and visited a reptile center (some interesting creatures)!  Early to bed tonight for a 5 hour bus trip to the Big Rock.

Some Photos

Alice Springs

Flying Doctor Service

Alice Springs Things to Do

Saying Goodbye to Perth

At Kings Park by the Ancient Boab Tree

The West Australian Aboriginals decided to replant an ancient Boab tree in King's Park to save it from destruction due to a road widening project.  The tree is reputed to be 750 years old and was driven almost 2,000 miles.  This was just one of the memorable things we saw on our last day touring Perth. 

Kings Park is a beautiful place in the heart of the city.  Over 1,000 acres was set aside by the forward thinking inhabitants of the city back in 1800s.  It has spectacular views of the city skyline and the Swan River.  It has fantastic plants and fauna that are not found in any other parts of the world.

It was a gorgeous day, perfect for the park.  Check out our  Pictures.

Our hosts also drove us to Cottesloe, reputed to be one of Prince Charles' favorite beach destinations.  We could see why.  The beach was pristine with white sand and we really enjoyed having coffee at Indiana Teahouse.    As we headed home, I thought about the great time we'd had. 

Our hosts, Linda and Colin, immigrated to Australia from Lancastershire, England in 1982.  They arrived with 3 little girls and their goal was a better life for all of them.  They had to stay in immigrant housing for quite a while before they could move on with their life.  Now almost 32 years later, they are recently retired after running a successful business and Linda helping him and also being a nurse early in her career.  They have 3 grown daughters and 5 fabulous grandchildren. We could not have stayed with nicer people.  As we gave them a group hug in the airport, I had a lump in my throat because we will miss them.  We hope that they will stop by Florida for a visit the next time they are in the U.S. 

The Perth Friendship Force is a fantastic group of people - so warm and friendly.  We had a great time at the Farewell Dinner and laughed at their puppet show skit of the song Waltzing Matilda.  We joined the Texans in teaching them the dance, the Cotton-eyed Joe.  Such a good time and wonderful memories!  On to Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Outback tomorrow!

Cottesloe Beach's Indiana Tea House

Puppet Show for Waltzing Matilda



Our fabulous hosts, Colin and Linda, with Joanne