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Published: June 23rd 2009
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Obligatory Kangaroo Sign
Yeah, we've seen bunches of them but fortunately not too close to Sally's grill. Undoubtedly, you have all been anxiously awaiting our latest update but remember, as we said earlier, we’d probably be very busy doing all kinds of fun stuff so wouldn’t be able to update this too often. Or, perhaps we haven’t been too successful at finding wireless hotspots. Or both. I hate to say that we're currently taking advantage of a McCafe hotspot at a McDonalds; but only the wireless only. We’ve come about 3,000 km since picking Sally up and, now that we’re in Queensland, we’ve found the average temperature has risen to the point where we no longer need to turn the heater on at night. The days have been comfortable enough for Wayne and the kids to play in the ocean but Ellen is still holding out for more tropical climes and is content to sit on the beach with a book. The water temperature has been OK once you get used to it but that’s kind of like saying Vegemite is good once you get past the vile flavor.
Microwave popcorn has been an important part of our evenings so terror reigned when Sally’s microwave made a funny noise and ceased to function a while back. Fortunately
we were near Brisbane and were able to stop at a branch of the RV rental firm. Unfortunately, the RV rental firm did not have a mechanic available to change out the microwave so they wanted to swap RV’s. This was not a viable option because we’ve settled very well into our 140 sq. feet of living space so swapping would have been like moving; way too much work for a holiday. They were not willing to let Wayne change it out because they said that accidentally drilling through the magnetron could release massive quantities of radiation!?! However, they agreed to give us a microwave and they’d make arrangements to have it installed further up the coast. As we found out a few days later, the appliance dealer they had arranged to install it also had no mechanic available either. However, they were willing to make their workshop available to Wayne so, after a trip to a hardware store, he had the old microwave in the trash and the new one mounted. He must have done an acceptable job because all three of the following are true:
1) It has successfully popped numerous bags of popcorn.
2) It has
not flown out of the cupboard when making a sharp left hand turn.
3) We are not glowing.
We also had a lesson in locksmithing when one of the kids asked Wayne if locks could be opened by simply inserting an object and turning. Wayne went into a detailed explanation, complete with sketches in the sand, of how the bumps on the key push up on pins to line up a tumbler when the unnamed kid blurted out that they had tried to open Sally’s exterior locker by inserting a stick which broke off in the lock. The trusty Swiss Army knife again came to the rescue and the locker once again opens, closes, and locks.
So, that and our camera literally biting the dust because of sand ingestion sums up our mechanical problems for this edition but we’re sure you are not reading this to learn of our mechanical tribulations so we will move on.
Wayne and Andy toured the Castlemaine XXXX brewery in Brisbane where Wayne, and two guys from Belgium, were astonished to learn that they admittedly and willing add sugar to their beer. They also sell the flocculated (go find a dictionary) yeast
to Kraft to make Vegemite, the national bread spread of Australia. How anybody can take anything related to such a miraculous process and turn it into something that looks like, and tastes worse than, used axle grease is one of the great mysteries of the world. In all fairness, everybody says you can’t simply eat a spoonful of Vegemite because it will be repulsive although we are quick to point out that spoonfuls of peanut butter or grape jelly aren’t repulsive. They say you have to spread it thinly on well-buttered toast to fully appreciate it. Wayne is down to spreading it 3 molecules thick on his morning toast and he still finds it horrible but is holding out hope for increased palatability at 2 molecules tomorrow morning.
June through September is whale migrating season and that is not to be taken as the time of year when American tourists head across the Pacific to visit Australia. Rather it is the time of year when Humpback whales make their annual pilgrimage north along the east coast of Australia. So, we piled the five of us along with 6 others into a large inflatable boat to go in search of
whales. We found some and the consensus is yep, they’re big! Watching one surface is kind of like watching a school bus rise from the water although the whales aren’t orange so just use that simile as a reference for scale. The sea was rough that day with large rolling swells and as the boat rapidly made its way back to shore Wayne was happy that he’d had a light breakfast. Michael just screamed, “Go faster!”
We could have rented a GPS unit with Sally but didn’t so we’ve been navigating by keeping the ocean is on our right as we drive. This has been fine as long as we’re on the coast but we’ve taken a few journeys inland which have been scary with no ocean to guide us. So, it was reassuring on one of these inland jaunts when we passed the Tropic of Capricorn which is north of our starting point so we knew we were still doing OK, on that day at least. Near the Tropic of Capricorn were Capricorn Caves where we all took a family adventure caving tour. This was not your typical stroll along lighted walkways to see the “Angels Waterfall” or
“Fairyland Delight”. Instead it was clambering through unlighted portions of the cave including army man crawls through very narrow passages which required directions for Wayne and Ellen from our guide to “Go through with your arms first then bend your right arm like a chicken wing under you so you can roll over on your right side to allow your legs to clear the wall…” The kids did not need such detailed directions for some strange reason. The funny part of the tour was stumbling sweaty and filthy with our hard hats into “The Cathedral” where a more pedestrian tour group was seated watching the pretty light show.
Two of us can personally attest to the flavor of the abdomens of green tree ants; they’re like very sour lemon drops. Oh, don’t be so disgusted, we didn’t actually eat them - we only licked them which was sufficient to get a strong jolt of tanginess. It is said that squeezing the juice from just a couple of ants on baked fish is quite nice. We’ll try that when we get back to the coast and report on it in our next entry. With that, we’ll bring this edition to
Disturbing
but with a grain of truth an end. Please keep spending money to help bring the financial crisis to an end. We’re certainly doing what we can to help Australia.
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Jean Hunter
non-member comment
Vicarious Experiential Learning
Hello Strom Family, This entry was worth the wait time. I am learning a lot reading about your adventures. Spelunking the Capricorn Caves looks really 'tight'. And yes I can tell how much Rhea loves that Vegemite substance just from looking at her picture. Rhea, while in Australia do you get kind of dizzy due to being up side down for such a long time? Maybe your cave helmets can help regulate that gravitational force. Just today it has begun to seem tropical and steamy here in Minneapolis. Is Australia having summer or is the season opposite the northern hemisphere and having winter now? I hope to learn more from your next entry. Keep on truckin' in your RV - love from Ms. Hunter