Introducing Jon and Tegan Leason

A few days before the wedding we had a large family supper at a restaurant called Simon's Wok Inn.  It was a banquet feast, where they just kept bringing new and interesting dishes until you were no longer able to eat or move.  Interesting too is that many restaurants, this one included, is BYOB.  It was a great evening, we ate outside and got further acquainted.

The wedding was Saturday.  Being in the wedding party I don't have many good actual wedding shots since I was busy, ok?  We brought 'virtual Merilee' on the iPad so she and Eleanor watched the wedding and met a bunch of people after the wedding.

We stood for the whole ceremony and I was very proud of Austin (and Sean) for making it through with no major drama.  After the wedding everyone in the whole hall went out on the Kingdom Hall steps for a picture - I've never seen that before and kudos to the photographers for getting everyone organized.  Then the photographers took multiple family shots at the beautiful grounds, which is where I stole the shot below. 

<><> <><> <><>

We were all happy Jon is kneeling in this shot

After the family pictures at the Hall, the wedding party loaded into the four Holden Commodore SS's that Jon and Tegan organized and we drove off to the first of three picture spots.

I'm not going to lie, this picture taking expedition was a ton of fun.  The day was perfect, the company was great, and we all goofed around while the photographers tried to keep us in line.  It was a blast.

We spent our time trying to make traffic honk their horns

Its a camera, not a sniper rifle

After the fence/yard picture place we headed to Eimeo Beach for another round of pictures.  This one constituted a lot of jumping / holding Jon / dropping Jon / props and of course the beach and ocean.

Soon after the beach shots were done we headed to another smaller beach where the sun set in the background.  I don't have any pictures of this occurring since it was all just Jon and Tegan and the rest of us were too busy err... talking... to get any pictures.

The reception was a smashing success.  Leona gave a great speech and made Jon play a tiny blue organ from his childhood.  He of course, nailed it - "Little Brown Jug" was epic and sure to be in the compilation CD of his greatest hits.  Chris and Janice also gave Jon back his childhood teddy bear so nostalgia was in full swing.

"Tiny Bladder" Leason

I got to give a little speech, but that was upstaged by some pretty funny telegrams from Jon's friends who couldn't make the evening.  Jon put together a memories slide show that was very well received.

Then the party began in earnest until around midnight.  The lighting wasn't the best for pictures, but here are a few:

Thieves!

Vogue?

So You Think You Can Dance?

Sunday is gift opening day at Jon and Tegan's house - guess we'll have to clean it up!

Our New Property

Mailbox - Aussie Style

 On our journey around Airlie Beach we found some fixer-uppers we could pick up.  At least it's bigger than our first house!

Classic Queenslander

Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Islands

Not Shown:  The Shrieking Eel

We all loaded into the Cruiser to spend a day snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, and then spend the night before heading back Wednesday at a leisurely pace.  This simple statement required seven people to be fully packed and loaded by 5:30am.  Nevertheless, we made it in time and the drive was uneventful.

After the effort to get everyone to the tour on time, the tour we booked had boat problems (otherwise known as "not enough paying customers"), so we swiched it up and did a day trip bumming around Airlie before the big snorkel trip Wednesday.

We had a really fun family day.  Without a real timeline or destination, we just wandered the countryside and found some cool spots and took many pictures. 

The sugar cane fields are in full bloom, and we also went to Cedar Creek Falls pictured to the left.  Due to lack of rain, it was more of a Cedar Creek Trickle, but the water was inviting (for some) and they had a little swim.  When we finally settled in for the night we stayed at the Crocodile Club where the water was one degree above freezing and Leona practiced her snorkelling skills. 

It was one of those sweet days that are difficult to explain without being there, but just the right mix of kids, adults, patience and fun. 

Who says Mackay is just a mining town?

The "Cruise Whitsundays" tour is a large catamaran that drives you out to a floating pontoon platform 95km off of the coast!  The pontoon has an underwater viewing area, submarine, glass bottom boat, waterslide, and many other ammenities.  You couldn't even see the Whitsunday Islands from the platform.  Being so far out there the coral is in better shape, but it also is closer to (and zoned the same as) fishing areas so the fish are less plentiful.

Yeah, just a giant floating Pontoon Platfrom with a waterslide 95KM off the East Coast of Australia

The part of the Great Barrier Reef (actually a collection of thousands of reefs, not just one) that we dove is called "Knuckle Reef".  It was nice to see the reef, there were lots of small fish but alas, no sharks or large fish.  We got some great pics and video of our day.

It was a very full day of snorkelling, water sliding, sun tanning, and open water adventuring.  All of the kids (Alyn, Austin, Leona) snorkelled the reef, which was pretty cool.  First time for Leona - another checkmark on the bucket list!

Leona giving Jon some pointers

We understand that Denise Caruana (nee Abell)'s family once owned the Whitsunday Islands, or a large subset of the anyway.  So the marina that we launched from was actually named after her family!


Not many days left before the wedding, we're not sure what new sights we'll see in the next two days!  Will keep you posted.

Commenting Update

We're really hoping you're enjoying this blog, and would love to hear from you.  We've heard that some comments have been rejected so I've changed the commenting to make it less restrictive - hopefully that will help facilitate some comments back from our tremendous user base.  Please give us a shout!

FireMan is world famous

Welcome to Mackay

We made it to Mackay!  Jon came and picked us all up in the Cruiser, as you can see we had no problem with our bags!

Quit Whinging and Get to Work

After a bit of a chill day on Friday when we met Chris and Janice Neilson (Tegan's Mom and Dad) and Tegan came to say hello; we went our separate ways on Saturday.  The girls all went to a Kitchen Tea which was a great opportunity to mingle with family and friends and drape tissue paper over each other.

That's Tegan in Lilac, and Alyn in Orange.  Alyn apparently won.

The sign says this is Tegan

Since I wasn't there, I'll have to assume the party was a rousing success!  Tabitha says "It was a delightful mid-day celebration of kitchen awesomeness".


Meanwhile the boys went on a camping trip.  We got to drive our utes on the sand, do some four-wheeling, and had a great time discussing fifth century art and other multi-cultural and intellectual fodder.  There may have been one or two beers consumed during the course of the day... I can't recall.

Lets just say that the camping spot was really spectacular, with a beach just across from where we camped.  We went out snorkelling with spear guns (alas the water was too murky), spent some time oystering, ate jumbo prawns, and had a shot (or two) of Phillipino Rum.  Austin approves of only the beer.

Not often we drive to the campsite on the beach

The next day we dined on the finest of eggs, toast, and bacon and did another little four wheel drive track to a lookout point.  All in all an excellent start to our Mackay section of the journey.

On Sunday we returned in time for the meeting and Amy's brother Ben gave the public talk, which was really excellent.  After the meeting we met up with some friends and played some beach volleyball for an exciting conclusion to our weekend.

Austin digging deep

Monday was a bit of a rest day, we slept in, got our suits in the the tailor (Janice's sister) for a quick freshening, went to the beach a few blocks from Jon's place and watched the tide come in, and then off to Janice and Chris' place for tea.  Tomorrow we're doing a big road trip to Airlie Beach (Tabitha just said quite dramatically (so do this in your dramatic Tabitha voice) "The Gateway to the (arms flailing) Whitsunday Islandsssssss") for some snorkelling at the reef!  Pics and story are upcoming - stay tuned!

SeaWorld

Thursday morning the plan was to pick up Tabitha and head to Sea World, since she had never been there, despite going to nearby Surfer's Paradise.  Nothing spells the beginning of a fun day like jumping off a 29 hour travel day - Welcome to Australia Tabitha!  Tabi's flight was a bit late, so we headed off a bit later than anticipated, but made the main gate around 10:30am.

The excitement is palpable

As we know, Sea World is full of... sea creatures.  Here's a bit of a sampling, but in addition to what you see below, we saw Penguins, Polar Bears, Pelicans and a full assortment of sharks and fish.

We had a lot of fun, dare I say more fun than Australia Zoo.  After a delightful $50 lunch (by delightful I mean exorbitantly overpriced) we made our way over to some rides!  Yeah!  The Sea Viper was Austin's favorite, and due to the smaller winter crowds we managed to ride it... about 10 times.  It has a loop and a corkscrew so we all had a good time.  We also did a ride called Jet Ski Rescue which had you sitting on a little Jetski (strapped down of course) but was pretty cool.  Alyn liked that one the best.

Just say "Sea Vipahh" in an Aussie accent

We  basically shut the park down on the rides, and then headed back toward the entrance and had a nice cool evening to wind down on our way home.  Tabitha held up surprisingly well, but started fading fast as we left the park. 

Not Shown:  Tabitha falling asleep immediately after the photo was taken

Tomorrow is off to Mackay!  We'll miss George and Denise and their hospitality - many thanks again from your Canadian family.

Coolum, Noosa, and Eumundi

Roy, Marianne, MacKenzie, Canada

After the Australia Zoo, we met up with some friends from... Saskatoon.  Roy and I worked together years ago, but he married an Australian sheila and lived Down Under for a number of years.  Marianne's son was just married last weekend and they are staying at their family's home in nearby Mooloolah.  .Although they currently live in Saskatoon, we thought we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop and say hello while we both happened to be in Oz.  They served us some Australia desserts: vanilla slice, apple slice, scones, Tim Tams, and lamingtons.  Thanks for the cuppa and company!

After we met up with Roy, Marianne and family we drove to the Ettamogah Pub to meet up with close family friends Nigel, Amanda, and Bethany Toussaint.  It was great to meet them and we really appreciated the effort they made to come out and meet us, and serve as our guide to our arranged (thanks Nate/Amy) accomodations.  Unfortunately, we didn't grab a pic of the Toussaints - so Nigel you'll have to send us one!  This pub is apparently modelled after an Australian comic strip of some renown, of which the strips are plastered on the walls and the kids enjoyed reading.
<><><><>

Not Shown:  Nigel, Amanda, or Bethany

Nigel and Amanda drove us to our home away from our home away from home, at Lindsay and Phillippa's house.  True story, we stayed at this lovely family's home, had a great time getting to know them, the kids had lots of fun with their son Kai... and alas I don't even have a last name.  Their place is on the top of a relatively large hill, and the poor little Suzuki had to be whipped to make it up to the top of the hill.  Awesome view though, and we had a nice visit with them, and their extended family who were also visiting from other areas within Australia.  Thanks again Lindsay and Phillippa, we know your house had three times the normal occupancy and your hospitality was most appreciated!
<><><><><><> <><><><><><> <><><><><><>

Not Shown:  Lindsay; Phillippa's New Sports Car

Apparently, we're also beginning to fail miserably at picture taking, since we don't even have a picture of Lindsay... just one of Kai and Phillippa before we left. Its not like the night previous we were all dressed up for a meeting or anything ... d'oh!





I've got the events in somewhat of a muddled order, but the second day centered around exploring Noosa.  The picture below is Austin and I at a point called Hell's Gates where we stopped for a little snack.  We also went to the main beach at Coolum and got our first 'beach day' in.


Hell's Gates



After the beach, we headed back to Lindsay and Phillippa's place, got cleaned up and were able to go to the Coolum Beach congregation where we met up with many of Nathan and Amy's friends and enjoy the Tuesday meeting.  We remarked on how similar the meetings really are, truly a worldwide organization!

Austin and Kai Intently Focused at the Meeting

Wednesday we went to Eumundi markets which was also fun, and then went to another beach called Coolum Beach, which is massive!  Colder weather though, with the sand being whipped across the beach.  Thursday we pick up Tabitha early in the morning and head to Sea World - stay tuned to find out if we feed her to the Orcas!

1298cc of Fury and the Australia Zoo

With a raging 1.3L 79HP four cylinder under the hood, we packed up the Jimny and attacked the motorways of Australia north to the Sunshine Coast.

First day was Australia Zoo.

Well really, this says it all

This is a difficult story to put into a succinct and reasonable post.  The zoo itself is very well planned and cared for, and contains all manner of animals (glad you're sitting down for that shocker).  We got to feed the elephants (actual commentary "remember, you're feeding a gigantic nose, so that wet substance is not water"), feed the kangaroos, pet the koalas, and watch a couple of shows including the high energy show at the "Crocoseaum".

Don't pet the part with the fangs

Its almost too much to describe.  We've got tons of pictures of almost every animal - go ahead and leave a request we'll try to respond with an appropriate picture.

Funny thing is, the kids liked the inflatable crocodile slide probably more than the rest of the park, and Coralee and I felt the featured birds in the Crocoseum show were more impressive than the crocs! 

Don't worry, we've got pictures of crocs too.

Planking a Croc

Denise and Leona came with us to the zoo, and were very patient as we let the kids dictate the pace of the day.  After the park, we met up with some friends from... Canada!





Earning My Keep

For those who believe we're just galavanting around, I have proof that I've been put to task by slavemaster George.  Short on manpower, I was pressed into active tree lopping duty for Metro Tree Service.  Rain?  'Too bad, get to work you Canadian whinger!'  Dark?  'I said finish that tree you lazy white-collared bludger!'  I can hear George's caustic commentary now as I strapped on the spikes.

'Whoa - don't climb so fast'

I'm 5M 15M 30M high for this picture

Fortunately, George's harsh demeanor softened dramatically as he realized that I was twice the worker of Jon and Nathan (combined).  "I thought all Canadians were slow, lazy, and ugly", George remininced "but now I see it was just the Leason boys who gave you all a bad name."

Stradbroke Island Laughs at Your Wildlife

Not content with filling our trip with 'regular' wildlife, George and Denise took us across to Stradbroke Island for a little rest and relaxation.  After a short ferry ride, we drove up to our house to drop the bags and survey the area.
<><>

Yes, it was cold up here

George's mate Ron owns a pretty spectacular little property up at the highest point on the island, which provides an incredible view of the local harbor, and more than 180 degree view from the island.  There are apparently other houses for rent, but none could possibly compare with the view we were afforded.  I guess membership has its privileges.

Spectacular View

Despite a little bit of rain, we went out on some walking paths and were able to see some Dolfins playing in the surf (first day), and a pod of whales passing by (second day).  George has been going to the island for 35 years and this was the first time he's seen whales - we were all really stoked.  Coralee even saw one breach - something I missed trying to find them in the viewfinder of the camera.  Got some good pics of the dolfins, alas nothing substantial of the whales.

They call me Ishmael

Oh, and (yawn) also saw some kangaroos sitting by the side of the path, untold flora and fauna, dramatic cliffs and gorges being battered by the ocean, miles and miles of sand beaches, surfers, lakes tinted brown by tea trees, beautiful Toyota Hilux's... I'm almost at a loss to type it up since it seems like we're just showing off.  Truth be told, it reminds me somewhat of British Columbia, with palm trees added.
<><>

Feet don't even touch the ground

Some housekeeping items:  I've been driving on the island to get 'the feel' of right hand drive in a very docile environment.  Its pretty easy, I'm feeling comfortable (and then nearly killed us by looking left for oncoming traffic instead of right) - the hardest part is constantly putting on the windshield windscreen wipers when attempting to signal.  Leona also picked up a new SIM card for Tabitha's old cell phone and now I've got what I've always wanted - a pink cell phone.


Tomorrow we're off to Australia zoo, perhaps a visit with some Canadian friends. a visit with Nathan and Amy's old congregation, and some white knuckling driving through morning rush hour in Brisbane.


Stay tuned!

Tourism Made Easy



Brisbane at Dusk

 What a great first day!  Amy's parents George and Denise picked us up from the airport with Leona and then we returned to have a short break and learn more about 'proper' coffee from Denise.  We then set out to a park called Daisy Hill, which is a koala sanctuary.  In a matter of just a few minutes we were able to see koalas, wallabies, and a kookabura!





I was sleeping a minute ago

The koalas were pretty cool - docile and really only woke up to scratch themselves (extensively). This particular sanctuary had no hold-the-koala photo ops, but we got some good pics of the little guys. This was a cool facility with lots of kid-friendly activities, an observation tower, and ample opportunity to see and photograph the koalas.  

After the koalas, we took a little walk in the park out behind the facility, and the kids borrowed some stale bread from a stranger and got up close to a wallaby! 

Austin ready to tackle the wallaby, Alyn ready to tackle Austin

As this was all happening, we looked up and what else would be sitting in the tree but a Kookaburra.  Sweet, this tourism thing is a snap!

After the park, we went up to Mt. Gravatt where there is a lookout and I took the shot at the top of the blog. Very cool. 

After that, made it back to home base, met up with Amy's brother Simon (hello again), and got to work on this first proper Australian post.  Thanks again to George and Denise for a great start to our vacation.

Not content to let Australia's nature steal the show, George made up a batch of beer-batter to go with the fresh barramundi we had for supper.  We enjoyed the rest of the evening with some fine refreshments as evidenced below!  The kids have been troopers, although they are now heading to bed as basically just little shells of their former selves, it being 3:00am according to our internal clocks.  Maybe another hour or two for Coralee and I and we'll have to turn in as well. 

The next few days we're heading to Stradbroke Island - stay tuned!

The Roughrider Cooler makes it taste even better