Confession

I have a confession to make. I have been having a love affair with another continent for the past year.

Australia

I was seduced by its big blue skies and rugged landscape; the bronzy, dusty terrain- crystal clear waters, infinite stars- a surprise, a challenge at every corner. The newness and allure of something unknown sucked me in and before I knew what was going on I was hooked, blinded, brainwashed. I didn't feel like I was missing anything, I was happy where I was, Texas felt like a dream.

On June 29th, 2014 5:39pm I woke up.

As we turned onto Park Circle I was greeted by the rich greens that only a heavy June rain can bring- lingering water in the ditch, the nostalgic aroma of rotting leaves, fresh cut grass, salt water and honey suckle- HOME. And just like that, Texas embraced me in its heavy humid blanket- it was like I never left.

I've lived away before you know! I went to college in Virginia- but I was never away from the warm brown waters of Galveston bay for more that a few months. I liked Norfolk, alas home was always on the calendar. A different kind of commitment comes with a move to Australia- this go I was an eager volunteer.

Que the background...
Mom got sick two weeks after I graduated from college. I limped along on a very generous set-up from Chicago Yacht Club until it was no longer feasible for either of us.  I gave up a dream job, in a kick ass city, that contained a best friend and moved home to manage her care. In Houston I stumbled on a job via a friend and settled there for a while. At that point I gave up my trajectory and did the responsible thing.

Time passes, I'm good at work, I meet the best guy ever through a lifelong friend, we get married, build a house, live in Kemah, have babies...I'm turning forty, the cement has set, we are here, this is it.

Then......Australia comes up...this amazing choice-chance-dream. It was hard not to be swept away- my second go landed at my feet and thank goodness I embraced it.

Yes, Texas I cheated on you. I traded your TexMex for Beef Pie, your Miller Lite for Creatures Pale Ale. The transition was as tough as it was rewarding. We are all better for it, BUT....

You will never know the joy of being back in the loving arms of the Great State after a year in country. SUV's, cheap sneakers and GOOD hamburgers; it was a Fourth of July Americana binge- followed by long, hot nights spent with the best people on earth. Thank you! For the cold beer, Crab Maison, Whataburger Taquitos, boat rides, magic window, dirt road, bike riding mecca.

Like a junkie getting their fix I over indulged, boarding the plane with swollen hands and puffy eyes- full to the brim of chili powder and fun and bug stuff and laughter. I thought I had done it- managed to complete the perfect visit...

But that bastard Texas did this the night I left.

So you see I'm torn. The comfort and security of an old lover or the excitement and unknown of a fling. Work dictates my path for now. But my heart knows true love and I cannot imagine staying away long- the compass of my life always points to the bay.

It's the dead of winter here, the skies are grey blue, the air is crisp; but still there is a deep pull inside me to go down the pier and drop a line in the water....

You never know what you might catch?

Long time coming

One Entry Two Chapters....

Chapter One

Visitors

Kirk's parents, Judy and Ernie, visited in February and became honorary Perth citizens via their willingness to master public transport, consume lots of lamb and surrender to local prices! We loved having them and we saw more of Perth with them in town than we had collectively on our own.

Judy does her research! So we approached each outing prepped with knowledge and eager to hit the highlights. We drove to Eagle Bay, south of Perth in the Margret River wine country, on the way we detoured to visit the Thrombolites. Yes, we went the extra kilometer or 5 to see rocks, but these are living rocks covered with a layer of cyanobacteria. This bacteria via photosynthesis gradually contributed oxygen to our atmosphere. The "rocks" pictured below are 3.5 million years old.

Sacajawea-esque detour to see the oldest living things on Earth!

Thrombolites, these very lumps created the atmosphere we enjoy today!

Judy and Ernie with the kids on our way to Eagle Bay

Cocktails with magpies and peanuts. Magpies are like pigeons in Oz, a nuisance- maybe it is because they are huge and so well feathered that we encouraged them to join us for drinks- most likely it is just because we are Americans.

Dusk at Eagle Bay, waiting for the stars.
The Milky Way is visible each night, it was magical to look up at more stars than any of us could remember seeing!

Grandpa Ernie and Davo hit the trail

Judy and Ernie also got to play international house hunters, as our lease was not renewed at Irvine for a second year. The Perth real estate market is a volatile beast, but it was a relief to have help looking for houses. As fate would have it- Ernie and Judy had a 5:00am flight home. This early wake-up and good bye had us all up an at 'em in the wee hours of the morning. Being obsessed with finding a house I got online and started looking to see if any new houses were put on the market over night...BINGO! We moved into our new place in April and owe it all to a very early flight and lots of prayers and candles to St. Jude.

It was such a pleasure to share Australia with Judy and Ernie. The kids loved going bush walking with their grandparents and sharing in family dinners and of course Grandpa Ernie's fantastic stories and jokes! It was a highlight to snorkel with Judy and have them walk the kids to school. I know it was a haul to get here but we loved every minute of it!

Chapter 2

A Milestone

I think in every expat experience there was once so little to talk about you have to write it down and then the tide turns and there is so much to write about you don't know where to begin. So you don't. Months pass. Big things happen. Lots of little things happen. But you just can't seem to belly up to the machine and put it all down. It all seems so overwhelming and so...so what? And really, it is.

Currently we are in the trenches- carpool, play dates, after school activities, PTA, grocery store, post office, dry cleaner, repeat, repeat, repeat- the doldrums. Don't get me wrong, its all a little more glamorous knowing I'm doing it on the other side of the earth, but no one needs a recap of my chores. So in essence my silence has saved you from the mundane- you are welcome.

So what's gotten me back online....

It just so happens we've been here A YEAR last week. That's right 365 days embedded in what has to be one of the most beautiful, easy going, outdoorsy, fun loving places I have ever been. Thinking back on our time here so far we have seen and done a lot, but probably not enough. The curse of finding your footing in a new place is taking it for granted. However, life here has been punctuated with adventure and discovery- in the process finding out a lot more about ourselves.

For starters, I don't think my children have ever been so happy. Vee has assimilated seamlessly into life at the new school. She is involved in many of the after school activities sewing, karate, photography- sewing being her favorite. And if you are rolling your eyes at how antiquated a sewing class sounds- stuff it, I haven't sewn a button on anything in 6 weeks and there is lots of math in stitchery! She has found a great group of friends we affectionately call the "Nerd Herd", they are always discussing books and working on projects together- a truly unique bunch. Moving her from the International School was a huge leap of faith, but as expat posts go this is one of the only places we will ever be able to attend a local school- it was the best decision we have made.

The Herd in action!

Davis continues to flourish in the Aussie "tough-stuff" male culture; his current activity being Rugby. The sporting teams for kids here are run through a club system. You pay to join the club and you have access to the facilities and a place on the team. The only reason this makes any sense is that adults here play sports just like kids. So at our club- The Associates of Swanbourne- kids, teenagers, dads and granddads all play rugby for the club against other clubs.  Practice is accompanied by dinner and a cash bar, plus we can bring Petunia. We call it TCYC Terra Firma, mama aint never looked forward to practice like this!

No pads, no helmet, no worries!

Perth Zoo, no fence- just rope.

So with one year under our belts we are looking forward to new experiences and seeing much more of this extraordinary place we currently call home. Honestly, the time has flown by. In the beginning I was so worried and sad to leave all our friends and the safety of a life I had always known- hell bent on flying home for Christmas and summer, determined to source taco shells and hot dogs. I hated leaving my house and my garden and my beloved Galveston Bay. But today, none of that really matters- I know that we could be happy anywhere. Because it is not what you take with you, but who you bring that makes the trip worth while. I am so proud of our family and giddy with what our future might hold!

The Best Yet

Australia continues to surprise and delight us, the beauty and scale is breath taking. Not to mention just how untouched and remote the landscape is- you feel as if you the first one exploring a trail or swimming off a beach- it is enchanting and addictive.  I have never experienced anything like it.

We returned from Kangaroo Island, buzzed from the copious amounts of fresh air and outdoor adventures. I know I am speaking too soon, but we may have seen the best of Australia.  This feeling a good thing, because in lieu of heading back to Tejas for a good ole family Christmas we chose to stay in the sunburnt country and explore. Kangaroo Island was our trade off for loved ones and Ninfa's- happily, it did not disappoint.

KI is located just off the coast of Adelaide in Southern Australia. It is the third largest island in AU and was named for the bountiful feast of kangaroo explorers enjoyed upon their arrival. Like a lot of Oz, Kangaroo Island has very poor sandy soil which made life hard for settlers to farm and stabilize homesteads. Through the 1900's the islands primary economic driver was whaling and hunting of fur seals and sea lions for their pelts and blubber. One of the three sea lion colonies left in Australia is on KI; despite the outlawing of hunting in the 90's the number of sea lions remain low. Today the sea lions are carefully monitored and protected by the government.

In the 1920's a program was initiated to "preserve" Australia's distinct wildlife by relocating animals to Kangaroo Island, kind of like a Noah's Ark. Koalas, echidnas, platypus, wombats, emu and the like were placed in a large nature preserve, Flinder's Chase, named after the island's discoverer Matthew Flinder.  To date, Kangaroo Island boasts loads of wildlife- Koala and Kangaroos in the tens of thousands and other animals in the thousands.

My mission was to see a platypus while we were there- alas, they are very illusive. One of the guides at the park has lived on the island her whole life and saw one once in 2008 after she had camped at a lagoon edge during a drought. This lady was the female version of Crocodile Dundee, rode hard and hung-up wet. I have resigned to view the shy creature only in books...my outdoorsy is not that outdoorsy.

As a consolation prize we did spot and echidna. Echidna's like the platypus, are also part of the monotreme family- egg laying mammals. Their babies hatch and then spend several months in the mothers pouch. They too are shy, so this is my photo of the echidna running off into the bush, its the brown blur- I would have stopped to focus but I was standing on a meat ant mound in flip flops- No bueno!

Kangaroo Island is also home to the only pure colony of Ligurian Bee's left in existence. The bees were shipped in from Italy in the 1900's and thrived on the island. The honey is delicious and KI actively exports the honey and queen bees all over the world.

This is a rouge hive of bees we found in a cave on the beach! 

"Awww man, Koalas again!" -Davis Atkinson, spoiled, age 7

Because Kangaroo Island was populated in the 1930's with Koalas it is one of the only places on the West Coast of Australia where they roam free in the trees. We saw a lot of them.

Some of these photos were taken during an evening tour- koalas are nocturnal, sleeping about 20 hours a day. At night they feed on eucalyptus and can eat 2 kilos in a sitting. Eucalyptus is the only food they eat, so a large population can be devastating to the landscape. We learned that koalas have tiny brains and are often described as "stoned"- eucalyptus contains large amounts of arsenic. While their bodies can handle the poison to a degree, they are not regarded as the smartest animals- what they lack in wits they surely make up for in adorableness!

Snake Lagoon

We did some wonderful hikes, this was the Snake Lagoon trail in Flinder's Chase Park. Despite the name it is not snakey- you just follow a river snaking its way to the ocean. We were on KI during some of the hottest weather of the year. The humidity is so low it doesn't feel like July in Texas, but it was definitely hot. The kids were champs and loved ending up on the beach!

We saw a total of 5 people on the hike, two of which were researching the lizards.

Aussie's refer to lizards as 'dragons'; this guy was really awesome but not the dragon the kids were hoping to run into ;)

The beach at last!

Remarkable Rocks

The tourist brochure touts granite outcroppings all over the island, one grouping in particular is referred to as the Remarkable Rocks. Before seeing them I thought this was a bit of a stretch, how can rocks be remarkable? Boy, was I wrong. You can see them on the horizon in the first picture, and as one guy in our group said- they look like they have been placed here by aliens. Even the starkly contrasting orange lichen is too perfect. The rocks are perched on the edge of a cliff and were carved out thousands of years ago by the ocean. It is one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen and I hated to leave. The colors change with the sun, I could have stayed all day and watched.

Cliff Top Walk

On the hottest day we were there, 44 C, we got up early and did the Cliff Top Walk. It was a spectacular hike along the top of the limestone cliffs that make-up the island. We were on the look-out for Guanas, pronounced go-annas, but it was so hot not much was around. The views were amazing and the color of the ocean hard to beat.

Sea Lion Colony

We visited the sea lion colony on KI, they rival the koalas in cuteness and lethargy, since most of them just slept. The one exception was a pup that went up and down the beach terrorizing the colony, he actually approached another tour group! It was amazing- and I don't think I've ever been so jealous or wished I had a fish in my pocket to lure him our way. 

Los Swankyenda Especial

Our home base for this trip was the fabulous Southern Ocean Lodge. While booking I kept giving the concierge opportunities to exclude us in some way; I have had nightmares about turning the "plunge pool" into a scene from Caddy Shack...my children are, what can I say, a little rough around the edges. All told everyone was on their best behavior and it turns out my kids can hang with the best of them during a four course meal. Kirk and I worked our way through a fabulous South Australian wine list and enjoyed food like we have never had. Mother nature treated us to a full moon and we even got a decent family photo. It was a vacation we will never forget. Australia gave us her heart and soul for Christmas. 

As strange as it sounds, I want to acknowledge all our friends and family for giving us permission to stay and enjoy our time here. There is a strong pull to go home- out of longing, or habit, or Whatabuger withdrawal- but also a lurking sense of obligation. When we announced in October that we would stay on in Oz for the holidays everyone gave us their blessing. No one grouched or guilted us- they encouraged our travels.

Thank you.  We really are having an adventure of a lifetime.