Christmas Down Under

In late November the poinciana trees start to
bloom. Their green leaves and red blossoms signal to Australians that Christmas is coming.

In the English tradition, the Brisbane Stake put on a Christmas Pantomime. The story line was Al and the Genie - with our Manly elders as the shepherds in the nativity.

The week before Christmas there was a parade down Queen's Street every night. Mary and Joseph were followed by the three Wise Men, the Night Before Christmas and Santa. The big (fake) tree is in St. George Square.

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.