Greetings from Beautiful Melbourne

We here in the Outback sure miss all of you family and friends! But, oh what experiences we are having here! Kristen left off on Saturday, so I will fill you in from Sunday on. We were fortunate enough to find a ward here in Melbourne and attend church on Sunday. At the building we attended, there was only one ward that met in that building, so it shows how small the church is here. But the members that are here are pretty impressive (although not as wonderful as those in the Park Meadows ward!). We heard a talk from a man who could only speak Chinese, and so a missionary translated for the congregation - his testimony was very touching. We then had the opportunity to take a nice drive around the suburbs of Melbourne, and it was so beautiful! The fall leaves are at their prime with colors of yellow and orange popping out against the lush green vegitation! The landscape here is so lovely! There is a river that runs through the heart of downtown, and we were able to walk along it. It is so fun to watch all of the different kinds of people in the city - there are those who speed down the sidewalks on their bikes, and those who take leisurely strolls. There are so many people in this city! - and it just makes you realize how large this world is that we live in.

Monday we were able to take a fun trip to Yarra Valley, where the wineries and grape vineyards are located. It was about an hour out of the city, and the landscape was breathtaking! We didn't get to taste any wine (too bad) but we were able to drive through the area and see the beauty of it. Everything was extremely green and all of the grape vines were arrayed in perfect rows.

We then arrived in a small rural town called Healesville where they had a wildlife sanctuary. It was like a zoo, but smaller and the animals were in more natural settings. And the best part was that all the animals were Australian! We got to see Koalas, Wombats, Wallabies, Tasmanian Devils, and...Kangaroos! What a fun experience!

On Tuesday morning we drove up to what is called the Dandenong Mountains. They aren't like our mountains in Colorado, they are more like large hills, but they are very thick with trees (not pine trees). It again was a breathtaking drive! If you think Australia is just barren desert land, you are gravely mistaken! There is so much beauty here, and it has been so amazing to see it. There was a place at the top of Mount Dandenong where you could look out across the land and see all of Melbourne, but when we went it was so cloudy that you couldn't see the land, but you could see the tops of the clouds! It was crazy! The picture off to the right shows the white clouds below the treetops!

We've also been able to eat some adventurous types of food. So far we've covered Lebanese kabobs, Turkish Gozlemes, and Indian curry. So far we are still alive!

Our love goes out to all of our family and friends! We hope this message finds you all happy and well. We love you!

Kangaroo Status: We saw them!!

~Brooke

G'day Mate!

Greetings from Australia!  It's been quite an experience just getting here in Melbourne.  We left for the airport at four in the morning (even earlier since the shuttle came about ten minutes before).   After waiting about two hours, we boarded the smaller plane off to San Francisco.

In San Francisco we had a little time to kill, and spent that time eating.  I was extremely hopeful that our plane would be one of those enormous ones with two stories.  To my delight, it was!  We filled up one row of four seats and prepared for the long, fourteen hour flight to Hong Kong.  After an hour of waiting (add another hour in a plane) because of small problems, the plane finally took off. 

 



Hong Kong Airport: see the two funny buildings to the right and then the mountain in the back?



A plane ride has never seemed so long.  I don't remember much, but do recall getting little beverages often.  It was like one continuous day, and I was glad the windows were closed often so I could just snooze.  Hong Kong could not have come sooner.  I was ecstatic to be in China.  Sadly, it turned dark very quickly, so we were not able to see anything from the airport.  All that was visible was a few funny looking buildings, a mountain, and planes.  The Hong Kong airport is huge!  What I like about it is that it's extremely open - there's so much open space and then just a few rows of chairs.  So you don’t feel crowded, and that was refreshing after being squished on a plane for a long time.



Hong Kong Airport: look at all the open space!



Then - more flying.  Off to Singapore!  This time Brooke and I watched a movie for the three hour flight, and that passed the time quickly.  The first thing I noticed about the Singapore Airport is that it is modern and unique!  There are bold colors and art, and it too is very open.  Also, both the Singapore and Melbourne airport have little shopping carts (at least they look like them) to carry your luggage.  That was nice, since we had nine pieces to last us through the next seven weeks.  Denver should get some.  The hotel we were staying at was connected to the airport, very convenient, since we arrived at one in the morning.  The hotel was modern, everything about Singapore is modern!

Singapore Airport



In the morning we got some breakfast, and I had this strange sensation: we are a minority.  Everything is Chinese.  We ordered breakfast, and the waitress spoke to us in English, but then was laughing and talking to her co-workers in Chinese.  It was just an interesting experience to have everyone around you jabbering in Chinese, and know that they can most likely know what you're saying as you chat, but you can't understand them.   But all of the signs in Singapore have English on them, which gives you a sense of relief.



We did a little exploring, and the first thing that hits you is the air: it is hot and humid.  I thought that being lower to sea level would make it easier to breathe – but for me it wasn’t.  The air was thick and almost tangible.  What was even weirder was getting into a taxi.  Dad got in the front seat and I nearly blurted aloud, “Dad – are you driving?”  Of course not.  The steering wheel is on the other side.  That was surprising and hard to get used too!  Singapore is beautiful and as they say, exceedingly clean.  The vegetation is amazing, with greenery everywhere and flowers in the trees.   It was over too soon and we went back to the airport with our cart of luggage that night.  Soon we were on a plane to Melbourne, and since it was at night, it was easier to sleep. 

Waiting for our Melbourne flight in Singapore.  We're tired.

We arrived in Melbourne around six in the morning, and excited doesn’t do justice for how I felt.  The airport is strange there; it has large walls that blocks off the entrance from the bag claim and things like that which make it smaller and crowded.  They have more lines, like lines you have to get into just to exit.  It was a relief to get out.  The doors opened to exit it – and I was suddenly aware of one thing.  It was cold.  I wasn’t expecting that in my shorts and short sleeve t-shirt, and was hopping around to stay warm as we picked our rental car – with the steering wheel on the other side.  As we drove off I was afraid Dad would accidentally stray into the right lane out of habit. 

Australia is beautiful!  There’s a lot of greenery here too.  I think that it looks like the city (or more of the suburbs) grew out of a jungle with plenty of trees to fill your sight.   The streets are very narrow, which causes some anxiety.  The streetlights are abundant –and you hardly see any yellow.  It changes from green to red quickly.  The drivers are a little crazy, which explains why the breaks on the car work so well.  It’s also funny to see speed limits that say 100 kilometers per hour.  

Also, it is fall here in Australia!  It’s gorgeous; all the trees are perfectly changing, there’s a mixture of green, red, and yellow on the trees.  The city has a definite European flair noticeable in the buildings and architecture, this makes it much prettier.  It’s a city that has a good feeling about it.

Brooke with the fall leaves

            

Things are different here – even things that are American.  Like, for example, their cookies.  We bought some Chips Ahoy cookies and they’re different.  Here in Australia they’re lighter, and not as dense.  I love how they say ‘mate’ for friend and ‘lift’ for elevator, and ‘rubbish’ for trash.  Their accents are so much fun. 



After we left the airport, we went immediately to see the Melbourne temple.  It doesn’t have any land really at all, the only flowers and vegetation is immediately around it.   What made it amazing is that we had an opportunity to do baptisms that morning with a youth group doing it at that very time.  It was a great experience.

Our family at the Melbourne Temple

One thing I’ve noticed is that airport security in Hong Kong and Singapore is stricter than in the USA.  They take away things like nail files that Denver let us carry with us, and stop you before you go on the planes and check your carry-on, and scan you with a hand scanner.  In Singapore, as we left the airport they checked our baggage.  It was strange. 



Kangaroo Status: Have not seen one yet. 

~Kristen