Flowers

These are just a few of the flowers that I have
never seen before.

Queen Mary Falls

We drove about two hours south to a lovely area called Queen Mary Falls. It was like we were back in Britain. We had to drive through Killarney and Warwick. This is a small one on the way. Yes, we are out in the
country.

We had a lovely

walk down to the falls. We saw some pretty things along the path - and some not so pretty things.

The Queen's visit

Queen Elizabeth II has been visiting Australia. On Monday, October 24th, she came to Brisbane. She "sailed" down the river from Brett's Wharf to South Bank where she met with several hundred Queenslanders who were affected by the summer floods and cyclone. We walked down from Kangaroo Point to the river bank and joined thousands of people to wave and welcome her.

We have enjoyed visiting some of the interesting churches here in Brisbane.

This is Albert Street Uniting Church on Albert and Ann Street downtown.

The pipes inside are beautifully

painted. Anyone want to see the pipes in the Tabernacle jazzed up? Maybe not.

St. John's Cathedral was begun in 1906 and only recently completed. This Gothic Cathedral has intricate wood carvings,

stained glass windows, needlework, and the only fully stone-vaulted ceiling in Australia.

Bloomin' Brisbane

We thought Brisbane was beautiful in winter, but it has really blossomed in springtime. People were telling us "wait 'till the jacarandas bloom". Well, they are blooming now and they are everywhere!

Thanks to President Langeland, we have a new professional sign replacing the old chalkboard sign.

We love our new sign!

The temple was closed for cleaning and repairs for two weeks in October. We still managed to keep busy, but our most entertaining repeat visitor was this kookaburra. He came every day the last week. The two green birds have a nest at the temple and they were not very welcoming to

our visitor.

September

September means springtime inBrisbane - and spring comes in with a bang! On September 3rd we had Riverfire. There were fireworks over the river and off the bridges. We took our newly purchased camp chairs and with our neighbors, Elder and Sister Able, walked down the stairs at the cliff by the temple. We found a great spot on the river and settled in with our Subway picnic. The fireworks did not disappoint!

But that was just the beginning of three weeks of Brisbane Festival. There were concerts, street performers, sports, food and fun. Every evening there

was a laser light show down at South Bank. We liked it so much that we went twice.

Spring has come to all of Queensland. We went, again with the Ables, to the Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba. There was the finest orchid show that we have ever seen, along with private competition gardens. There were wisteria blooming everywhere.

We really miss family and friends at home. And now we really miss our yard and gardens. But we are full of fresh ideas. I only hope that our wisteria will bloom when we get home.

koalas and tassies and roos - oh my!

A July prep day and we cleaned the flat, did the laundry and grocery shopping, then hit theroad - Fig Tree Pocket Road to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We didn't know until we got there that they have all the unique Australian animals - not just koalas. But first to the koalas. We got in line to do the "picture holding a koala" thing. They are much bigger and heavier than we thought. The eucalyptus that they eat is 50% water and only 5% sugar. That is probably why they sleep most of the time. It is also why the aboriginal name "koala" means "no drink". They don't need to getdown from their perch very often to get water.

We enjoyed watching them, and some watched back.

There was a large paddock full of kangaroos. By going through double gates, we were able to walk around with heaps of roos. You could purchase pellets to feed them, but they were too well fed to want much.

We were even treated to a kukaburra laugh.

These are our fabulous Kangaroo Point missionaries: Elders Dorrough, Tito, Arnold and Chand. They are dedicated missionaries and we love them.

exploring beaches

We do love the Brisbane River - but without sand and surf it is just water, not beach. So on two separate "P" days, we went exploring for a beach. We started with the closest one called Nudgee Beach. It looked good on the map - sand, picnic tables, and swings. But when we got there we found no sand, just mud and no waves - disappointment!

So the next time we went further north toward the Sunshine Coast to Bribie Island and

it was great. There is only one road onto the island and we drove across to the ocean side. It was not crowded, quiet and clean. We walked the beach for a while and sat and watched the waves.

We have fallen in love with Brisbane at night. Whether we are up at the temple or out on the water, it is like a jewel.

The elders assigned to our River Terrace Ward are English/Mandarin speaking. There are many Chinese students that attend the eight universities in the city. This is Elder Dorough and Elder Tito with April just before her baptism. She joins a growing group of Asian converts that add dimension and culture to our ward.

Here we go!

We arrived in Brisbane, Australia on April 27, 2011. We are half way around the world, 18 hours ahead, and the next day.We were met at the airport by President and Sister Langeland.

It was great to see their familiar, smiling faces after a very long flight.

We spent the first night very gratefully in the mission home, but hit the road the next day. Elder Adams got behind the wheel of our drive on the left car

and we went to our flat on Kangaroo Point. We are only three blocks below the Brisbane Temple. We have a lounge, kitchen, dining, two bedrooms and

two baths. We sit on top of our garage which is where the washer and now a dryer are located. But like most Aussies, we still hang most of the wash on the line outside because the weather is sooo beautiful.

It is still hard to remember that is winter here. Everything is still green and lush and many of the flowers are still blooming. But it does get dark about

5:30 pm and it is cold at night. It gets down to below 30 F (9 C) at night and into the low 60's (20 C) in the daytime.

But thanks to our Mission President, we were able to find a little bit of summer on the Gold Coast on "P" day.

Our assignment is to conduct Chapel and Garden Tours at the Brisbane Temple on Wednesday through Saturday. We turn the chapel foyer into a mini visitors center every morning and put a sign on the sidewalk that lets people know there are tours. The temple site on Kangaroo Point is across the street from the city bus tours city overlook site. We get a few tourists and some people just out for a walk, but we are hoping for more as the weather warms up. There are 90 palm trees (three different varieties) on the temple grounds. It is a very beautiful and peaceful place.

Brisbane is a very beautiful city. It is paradise with two and a half million

people. Parking in the city is very expensive. It can run $10 an hour. So we

have a "Go" pass and we ride the water taxi into town. It is great fun!

We have yet to see a kangaroo or a koala but we have grown quite fond of the Ibis that roam the parks and paths. We have been warned that if we decide to eat fish and chips in the park they just might steal our chips!