November 26 - At Church

Lyle and I are regular church goers and over the course of a year we often attend three different churches. We have come to know the people in each of these congregations. Just as the people are different in their own ways, so are the buildings where the services take place.

For the past few Sundays we have attended the church close to where we stay in Australia. This church building is my favourite. It is relatively new, built in 2010, and has a wonderful high ceiling open space design. I love sitting in the chairs (not pews) and looking towards the altar with huge windows on either side.

There are two pictures with this post: the first showing the a wide view of the church, the second showing the altar front with one of the large windows at the side. You can see the green of the trees through the glass. Often during the service the call of the bush birds can be heard through the open windows.

Wide view of the church

The left side of the church

 

November 21 - At the Beach

The main reason Lyle and I come to Australia is to spend time with family, but we usually like to do other things as well. We enjoy spending time at the beach.

Now I don’t necessarily mean lying on a beach towel on the sand in the sun. Actually, that’s a bit of an invitation to developing a melanoma. The Australian sun is very hot and also there is a hole in the ozone layer over the continent. So, lying around in the sun is not a major activity - but what do we do?

My very favourite time of day at the beach is first thing in the morning when we walk to a local coffee shop, get a take away coffee and sit on a bench looking out at the waves. We also like to splash and swim in the waves. I am fond of walking laps in a nearby rock pool and Lyle and I both enjoy walking along a beach boardwalk or along the sand at low tide. Just watching the waves provides an endless source of enjoyment and entertainment. 

There are two pictures with this post.  In the first picture, Jill and I have just finished our coffee and are standing by the rail overlooking the beach.  For the second picture, I have walked down a dozen steps to the edge of the sand.

 

Sue with Jill

Sue on the beach

 

 

 

November 16 - At the Races

In Australia on the first Tuesday of November it is Melbourne Cup Day. The Melbourne Cup is the biggest horse race in the country and also the biggest money maker for the industries connected with the event. At the time of the race, the country almost literally comes to a standstill.

Lyle and I are in Australia for the month of November. Although we only watched the Cup on TV, this week we decided to go to one of the local horse racing events at the Gosford racetrack. It was great. We bought general admission tickets and took our seats in the near empty stands. In contrast, the Members Lounge was crowded and noisy.

While I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see the race itself, there were lots of other things to enjoy. Before each race the horses paraded around an inner circle. We found a place close to the fence and the horses passed by with metres of where we were standing. They were truly magnificent and powerful animals. At the finish line of the race my heart nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard the thundering hooves race by.

While my sister Jill, Lyle, and I didn’t bet any money, we had fun choosing our favourites before each race. I even picked one winner. Lyle did better at this as he chose his favourites by examining the appearance of the horses. Jill and I selected our favourites by the sound of the horses’ names!

There are three pictures with this post. In the first picture I am standing in profile with my favourite horse in the background. In the second picture, you can see the back of my head with horse over the fence in front of me.  You can tell we are quite close to each other.  The third picture is of several horses parading around the inner circle.

It was a great day!

 

Sue in front of her favourite horse

 

Sue standing in front of another horse

 

 

Horses parading around

 

November 4 - Bird Watching

I will never list bird watching as a pastime. Even though I can hear the twittering in the trees and bushes, I simply can’t see those tiny feathered creatures. I have learned to identify certain sounds – the call of a loon and the hoot of an owl, the drumming of a woodpecker, and the coo of the pigeons under the bridge where I walk – but I just can’t see the actual birds. Given this, I was totally amazed the other week when I saw a chickadee.

We were in Birds Hill Provincial Park just north of Winnipeg. It was a lovely fall day and we were out for a walk with our family. There are a number of walking trails in the park but we had chosen Prairie Winds. At one point I could hear the chattering of chickadees in the bushes. The sound was right beside the trail. I could see the movement of the branches and hear the fluttering of little wings.

Then our son directed me to hold out my hand and see if the birds would come closer. It was totally amazing! Several of the chickadees seemed to take turns to land on my hand. I could feel the scratching of their little claws and because it was as close as my outstretched hand, I could see the bird before it flew away.

I could have stayed in the same spot for ages. I’m not sure if the others in our group realized what a visual miracle this was for me. I do know that our two grandchildren sat themselves down in the middle of the trail waiting for the chickadees to come to them – an they did! Like me, I think that the children were fascinated and could have stayed in the same position for ages.

There are two pictures with this post. The first shows me holding my hand out with a tiny bird perched on my fingers. The second is of our two grandchildren with a cluster of little birds fluttering around them. I was told that one bird even landed on Lexi’s head.

It was a great day for bird watching! 

Sue with bird in hand

 

Grandchildren with birds