Hello from Australia

Hello everyone,

The blogspot update has officially started. Today is New Year's Eve so we have to make sure we sum up the 2007 part of our trip before midnight tonight, right? It's been a bit painful so far trying to get pictures up, etc so we're hoping that it's just a steep learning curve or updates may be quite sparse:)

It's hard to pinpoint when a journey actually begins but we'll start in November when we started being the ones to whom the goodbyes were being directed at. Charlene's coworkers planned a meaningful supper, we hosted youth and previous co-workers in our home, Ben's work had a lunch for him, and we had a final farewell gathering with people in our neighborhood. We also had the time to be able to meet up with many on a smaller scale. We will (and do already) miss our friends in Vancouver.

Perhaps the "reality" of what we were doing sunk in quite a lot deeper the day we packed everyting into a storage container. It was all quite magical. A crate got dropped off beside our house on November 29, we filled it and then it disappeared on November 30. The crate is packed in a style that would likely cause even the most skilled "Tetrus" player to be jealous (we didn't pack it in case you are concerned that we are boasting). So November 30 was the beginning of our life as wanderers. We stayed with our friends, Tim, Rosemary, Leigh and Gilbert in the neighborhood for the weeks until we left and experienced really comfortable hospitality.

Charlene, Ben, Gilbert, Rosemary and Tim (Ben made those shorts for Tim for his last birthday and we forced him to wear it for the picture in case you were concerned about Tim's fashion sense).

Leigh. Yep, she's a wild one!!

So then, on Ben's birthday (December 10), our good friend Sandra, took us to the airport. We found out that Cathay Pacific doesn't do anything special for birthdays which was a bit disappointing as we had been dreaming of an oversized warm brownie with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and ice cream being served to us.

Happy Birthday Ben from the neighbors (aka Kathy Parsons)

Goodbye to Greta


Goodbye to Steve and Sandra

Air travel is such a strange phenomenon as many of you know. You end up missing days, sitting really close to people that you don't know, eating things you wouldn't eat normally, imagining you'll get lots done but getting nothing done and POOF...suddenly you land on the other side of the world...transported from winter to summer. Australia is beautiful. Much like Canada but it is warm and we love being warm:)

Ben's parents and oldest brother, Boyd (with the kids who weren't in school) came and picked us up at the airport in Brisbane. We spent time in Brisbane with Boyd and Tania and family (Eric who is 11; Jordyn who is 9; Nathanial who is 4; Amanda who is 1). Action packed would be a good way to describe our time there. We had tonnes of fun catching up with the family and we even managed to create three more Settler's of Catan addicts. Ben's brother, Jamie, also came over and it was good to meet/catch up with him.

Ben and Eric playing Settler's - partners in taking over Catan!!

Jordyn contemplating her next trade with Jamie in the background

Smiley Nathanial


Cute Amanda

In Brisbane, we met up with a few more of Ben's friends. We were able to spend one evening with Ben's good mate Brad and his wife, Di. Ironically, they left for Vancouver and the US a few days after we got here because it is summer vacation time here. We'll see them when they get back again at the end of January. Poor Ben got paid out on for using the word washroom (instead of toilet) and supper (instead of tea). He's becoming a true Canadian, eh??

Brad, Di, Ben, Charlene

After our time in Brisbane, it was off to Toowoomba, about two hours inland from Brisbane where Ben's parents live. When Ben left three years ago (planning to return in a year), he had started fixing up an old Toyota Land Cruiser. Just before we came over, a very generous neighbor and Ben's dad, worked hard on getting it back together which was quite a large job. Ben came back in time to spend a few days working working in the shop on it, getting nice and greasy and putting in full days of "work". Much to Ben's dismay, the neighbor said that Ben had acquired a Canadian accent:( The Troopie is looking really flash (we think this is mostly an Australian expression but it starts to get confusing after a while). We don't have the before pictures here right now so we'll have to add that later. It's all rigged up for sleeping in the back and is quite a cozy little hovel.

Ben's brother, Stuart, his wife Lisa, daughter Madison (3 years old) and Zac (1 Year old) were in Toowoomba for Christmas so it was good to catch up with them and meet the kids for the first time (for both of us). Ben's other brother (are you getting really confused yet), Kent, his wife Kym, daughter Kiara (11 years old) and Kieran (9 years old) also live in Toowoomba. We've had some good games of Settler's, trampoline Poison Ball, LeGretto and...Karaoke. Unfortunately, the judging thing on the Karaoke machine called us losers one too many times so we were unable to attach a CD of our singing. Sorry about that.


Mom Briese and Madison



Dad Briese

Danny and Jamin


Well this is getting a lot too long...but there's more and it's hard to widdle it down but we must. Some other highlights so far has been seeing a Wallaby, catching up with Danny and Al and little Jamin, visiting the Kuebanks and the Polhners, visiting Ben's aunts and uncles and just having a lot of time to live life with Ben's parents. They have been very gracious to us even though we eat A LOT. They even bought Chocolate mint ice cream and Nutella the other day. Mmmmmmmm.

So Christmas. Well it felt a little strange for Charlene as the weather did not match the season. Wearing a tanktop and singing Christmas carols seemed incompatible. However, Christmas was a great time of reflection and a big family gathering on Boxing Day. There were 21 people at Ben's parent's place and it was the first time all the brothers and their families had been in one place since perhaps Christmas 2000. It actually rained all day which was refreshing and perhaps a present from Canada that got thawed out in transport:)



Ben, Dad Briese, Jamie, Stuart, Kent, Boyd and the very trusting mum Briese.


So that brings us almost to the present. We are once again in Brisbane, hanging out with Ben's brother Jamie and planning to catch up with friends from New Year's Eve. The plan is to drive the Troopie to Fraser Island (an island of sand) to go camping for a few days. It's exciting to be living out of a Troopie right now. We're not sure for sure when we can go because apparently there is a cyclone there and so it is not adviseable to go over if you want to continue on this journey of life. So...we'll wait.