The Chronicles of Williams

1 day in Canberra.....  and we realize how close we are to more than beaches, Blue Mountains and Sydney.  David and some friends had a business trip in Canberra, so Cullen skipped school and we hitched a ride to Canberra for a nice evening and a packed day in the capitol of Australia. Just a 3 hour drive (nothing for us Texas/Wyoming folks) from our place in Springwood to Canberra.  The highway was great.... nice construction and very safe.  The drive reminded us of the rolling hills in Texas hill country.  Pastures surrounded by manicured hedges mixed in with tall evergreen trees now and then with a few mountain passes along the way.  Kangaroo crossing signs are taken very seriously but luckily the only kargaroos we saw were grazing in the grass pastures. While David and friends met with famous isotope scientists from the Australian National University, Cullen and I drove around town grabbing introductions the War Memorial (for sure want to go back the...

Living...... in Australia.  How lucky are we!  But now what??? When we first arrived on August 26 we just landed with 2 suitcases each filled with our summer clothes and our favorite pillows.  It was been so exciting to explore our little town and the mountain, find the right school for Cullen, find a car and beds and fun cooking tools and ingredients we haven't had before etc.  Now that we've been here for almost 2 months, we've adjusted to making a "life" here.  We still love to take pics, but not of each and every moment (Cullen is glad about that!).  We're used to the little possum on the roof at nights and the beautiful parrots and birds that come visit... we even know their routine.  Check out this recent photo of the cute possum in our backyard every night... it's amazing that this little guy can make such a thump on the roof at night! Now that we have a routine in our lives, there is a new pace.  We...

The Sounds of Sydney...  you never think about when seeing the beautiful pics of the harbor, ships and the famous Opera House, but listen to this..... (sorry it's sideways... ) The Circular Quay is the heart of Sydney and this is where the ferries and trains merge.  When we take the train from Springwood and the Blue Mountains, we arrive at the Central Station and then hop on another train just a few stops away to the Quay (pronounced "key").  Artists, musicians and strollers all hang out here for a ton of entertainment.   Somehow the Didgeridoo is integrated into so much of these performances and of course we love that! This weekend, there was so much to see in Sydney.  Cullen has been wanting to visit the Aquarium since we arrived, so we finally made time to do that.  Here's a few pics of that visit.  It's not so scary to think about the sharks and snakes here... the rumors are always worse than reality so when you're here and ed...

Garage Sales are AWESOME here in Winmalee!  Not sure if that's the case all over Australia, but we learned so much from our new garage sale friends about living in Australia.  At one of our first and favorite garage sales was so great.  The men were out grilling at 9am on the "barbie" and were making these amazing sausages on the grill and then we learned that the griddle part of the grill is necessary to make the best grilled onions ever!   The woman of the house brought out fresh buttered bread for the sausage sandwich and onions to be made.  BBQ sauce to put on top of course.  While shopping around and waiting for the sausage to cook, someone at the garage sale asked us where we were from.  When we said USA / Wyoming then someone asked, "What's the capital of Idaho?"  Someone else chimed in, "It's Boise!"  We were so impressed at their knowledge of that and more of our country.  Many of them had visited the USA and ...