Thank-you Jim!

Thank-you for everything Jim. We had the greatest time and are fully re-energized for travelling once more thanks to your hospitality. Now you may need some time to rest up. We'll miss you!

(The picture is from the dinosaur museum, in front of the T-Rex display. The little guy on the left jumped in when he heard we were taking a picture. Then he employed Mercedes as his tour guide. 'what's this? what's that?').

More of Jim's tour

I had to include this picture of Jim enjoying the beach. He was so happy! Below is a picture of the girls at Tidbinbilla, the space communication centre. They're thrilled to be standing in front of a model of the Mars rover (smile kids!). Mercedes was very excited to learn about the ice on Mars and that there may have been life.


To the left is a picture taken at Quest-a-con, Canberra's science centre. That would be the tallest man in the world on the wall. We had such a great time there. They have a slide that starts with you hanging from a bar and as you drop you swish onto the slide, very scary and fun. They had many activities and we saw a show about pulleys and catapaults that included Jim as a voluteer.

The last picture is from the Canberra zoo and aquarium. Kyra was brave and thought it was funny that the snake liked Kevin. Notice her hands. After a few minutes she asked to have the snake removed.

Jim's tour

Jim has shown us all around Canberra. Here we are on Mount Ainslie overlooking Canberra, a beautiful view. We could see the whole city including where Jim works and lives.
Here we are at the Canadian consulate. Inside we signed the book and they gave us Canadian flag stickers and pins. There are maple trees planted all around by our various prime ministers.
Jim took us to Pebbly beach, a few hours east to the coast of New South Wales. The water was colder here, recieving different currents from the south. We had a great time swimming in the waves, building sand castles and eating a sandy picnic.
The birds at Pebbly beach are very tame. A little girl gave Kyra some bread to feed them. This is a rainbow lorikeet. Mercedes fed them too but she didn't want them to land on her. When the birds were full they flew away. Apparently kangaroos hang around to be fed as well but we didnt' see any on this day.

sports and galahs

Jim's neighbours taught the girls how to play cricket, a favorite sport in Australia. Another new friend got Kyra all geared up for some roller skating.

The birds are called Galahs and are very common little parrots here. These 2 were sitting by the bird feeder at Paul and Carey's house on Christmas day. There were about 20 of them hanging out and fighting over the seeds.

More Christmas

MMMMMMM! Christmas dinner!

Christmas at Jim's

We've had a great time at Jim's house in Canberra. After 12 000kms in 2 months it was so nice to relax in a comfortable house with Jim the greatest host ever. He had a Christmas tree up when we got here (fake, otherwise it would only last a few days in this climate) and trusted us with his house until he got back from Brisbane. Jim's friends Carey and Paul with their dogs Duff and Moe came over for Christmas Eve. The dogs are Jack Russels and we loved playing with them. That's Duff jumping, she's 11 years old and as ready to play as ever.

The picture on the left is Christmas morning. The girls were excited to get nintendo ds machines from Santa. We also had gifts from Grammy and Boppy under the tree. We had a great day playing with our new toys and books. For Christmas dinner we went to Paul and Carey's house. They also have 3 cats and 2 chickens. They have a great place in New South Wales (only 1/2 and hour from Jim's place in Australian Capital Territory).

Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is a town of 3500 people with about 45 nationalities, in the middle of the desert. It is the opal capital of the world. Australia has 95% of the world's opal suppy and the largest amount still comes from Coober Pedy. The town is dusty and dry, surrounded by a moon-like landscape dotted with piles of sand and crushed rock dug up in the search for opal, they look like giant ant hills. The opal workings extend for nearly 40km around the town. The opal rush began here in 1915 when a 14 year old member of a gold-scouting expedition found some surface opals. It was hard work in a dry, hot climate. They would dig a deep well then tunnel along with a pick and shovel, using a handpick or screwdriver when traces of opal were found. Meanwhile tolerating dehydration and flies that like to crawl up your noes and lick your eyeballs. (These, by the way, inhabit most of Australia and they especially like Kyra and Kevin).

In 1920 the area was renamed Coober Pedy from Aboriginal words "kupa piti", assumed to mean 'white man in a hole'. The miners learned to escape the heat by living underground in 'dugouts'. The underground rooms stay at 23 to 25 celsius regardless of the outside temperature. About 50% of the population lives in underground homes now. Most are dug into hillsides. Some homes spread up to 450 square meters underground.

We visited the Old Timer's Mine museum in town. We wore hard hats and followed the self-guided tour through an old opal mine, complete with explanation boards and mining manequins. The temperature underground was a great relief from the heat. Then we got to noodle for opals: digging through piles of discarded rubble for pieces of opal missed by the miners. Many locals make a living off this method. We found some great little pieces of opal. That's what we're up to in the picutre above, the white tub is full of water and when you find what you think is an opal you dip it in the water to wash off the dust and then you'll see the colors shine through. Notice the motorhome in the background? That's ours!