Yes its been a awhile but it wasn’t without good intentions. The Madoregang was off on another one of their family adventures and this time it took us to 2 countries, four cities and a host of frequent flyer miles.

The last 3 weeks have been packed filled with excitement, old things, new things and some things not so good. We head off from Brisbane on December 16th to London. Of course getting there would take 2 plane rides and 22 hours of sore butts. When we landed in Singapore on the first leg, Cathy came down with a case of the trots (self-explanatory) which started the trip off on a sour note. We landed in London on Saturday the 17th at 5:30 in the morning and after clearing customs headed to the apartment we rented. The apartment was located in the West End section of London in close proximity to a lot of stuff to see. Let’s just say that no city in America can come close to the number of people and the wow factor that London has. London is a hustling, bustling city with a lot of locals and throw as many visitors on top and boom-yow baby, instant mad-house!

London was fabulous Harrods, 10 Downey Street, West Minister Abbey, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Scotland Yard, etc, etc, etc… We also took side trips to Rochester and Rochester Castle, White Cliffs of Dover, Dover Castle, Windsor Castle, Eton College, and Stonehenge. Lets say 4 days in London we were on the move. Of course we had to deal with Tori getting sick, Lizzie and myself at the end. Of course mine took hold and last 2 days in London, 4 Days in Venice and 2 Days in Florence. However, we still managed to get a bunch done.

We left London on Dec 22nd and headed to Venice Italy. Venice, lets just say is one of a kind. No cars, just boats. We thought about a Gondola ride but they have become extremely expensive, especially for 5 people. Needless to say there was a tremendous amount of stuff to see and do in Venice. The Old Churches (Santa Maria Glorioso dei Fieri & San Marco unbelievable), the buildings, statues and Piazzas are fabulous. Matt began his initiation into eating as much pizza as possible during our whole Italy trip. Lizzie end up suffering one full day of a stomach problem but was fine the next morning. I continually struggled with my issue and wasn’t as able to get around Venice as I would like. But we managed. We enjoyed a truely wonderful meal on the banks of the Grand Canal for Christmas. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

We left Venice and headed to Florence on the 26th. The apartment we stayed at would make most 5-star hotels look like a dump (our hats off to Tiziana for how she re-remodelled the place) awesome. When we arrived, again we hit the ground running. The Galleries of the Uffzi and the Accedemia were phenomenal. The churches of the Il Duomo, Santa Croce, and several others are something to behold. Statues are everywhere and the building the surround them are awesome. We took a side trip to Pisa to see the Tower and the church there.Lets just the say that the church (also called Il Duomo) is truely an experience to behold. New Years in Florence was spent listening to a symphony in the Piazza della Signoria and having fireworks, lit by the locals, exploding all around us. WOW!

New Years Day we head to our final city Rome. Lets just say unbelievable, there are few words to describe that which we visited, saw, and roamed across, amazing. I will have to spend another whole blog writing of just that portion alone. But to give you a taste, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Capital, St Peters, the Sistine Chapel, San Giovanni, The Trevi Fountain, Piazza San Popolo and more. And let us not forget our trip to Pompeii and our guides Pietro & Antonio made it even more enjoyable.

All-in-all it was a remarkable journey. It is one of those trips, if we could inspire anyone else to take, it will truely change how you look at life. Awesome!

Okay, here are some pictures. I will explain more about some of them in the coming blogs.

Until then be safe, stay healthy and most of all smile.

From the Madoregang.

Apologizes for the delay in creating a post but the end of the school year is fast upon us, with school functions, parties and yes….Christmas, it getting crazier by the day. Everyone is doing well and staying healthy. We hope the same goes for everyone back in the states.
Life is good here, the seasons are changing and with that comes a host of fresh produce, Bananas, Mangos, Pineapples, Purple carrots, Avocados, you name it I think we can find it here.
Work….is work…. the expectations are great for the mining industry and it looks like there will be work for many years to come.
The kids are looking forward to the end of the school year. Tori will be moving on to year 11, Matt year 10 and Lizzie year 6. They will all be in the senior school. Their school Kelvin Grove State College goes K-12. Yes, colleges are schools with grades k thru year 12, otherwise they would be a primary or secondary school. All other schools after secondary are call universities. Funny!
We have had many exciting times since our last post and we will post that update soon, including pictures. Again, sorry for not staying up with the posts.
Okay, off to get some fabulous Greek Yogurt on the other side of the city before we have to run Tori to a birthday party some place out in the country.
We hope all of you are well. We will be thinking of you come this Thanksgiving day. Until next time, stay safe, be happy and most of all smile. It is the one thing that we can do that will drive everyone else crazy thinking are they “happy” or “up to no good.”
The Madore Gang

Anyway… the real reason for this posting is to share with you some recordings of the sounds of nature that we’ve come to know and love (for the most part) since being here (can you believe October will be ONE YEAR!).  We’ll start with the Aussie icon, the Kookaburra.

An Australian Icon - the Kookaburra

It laughs. It chortles. It guffaws. It wakes us up in the mornings and puts us to sleep at night. It’s the most singularly amazing sound I’ve heard from a bird. I’ve included a sound recording here for your listening pleasure. Alas, I wish it was one of our own recordings but I’m having technical difficulties getting our recordings loaded onto the blog. Right now you want to hear the kookaburra laughing, not me cursing with my new found Aussie slang (“arse” is my favorite, tee hee hee) so we’ll just use these nice recordings off the web…… Here you go luv:

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/thelaughingkookaburra.htm (you’ll have to click on the “This is what a Kookaburra sounds like” link on the web page.

Next up is the charming Bell Bird.

What is that pinging noise???

It actually doesn’t sound like a bell ringing, more like sonar pinging. They are really cool to hear out in the rain forest but when you put dozens of them together, it can start to drive you batty:

http://home.iprimus.com.au/punkclown/Punkclown/Bellbird.htm

One day we were walking through a quiet stretch of woods and several of us ducked for cover. The Eastern Whipbird had sounded off and I swear it was like we were in some sort of Sci Fi movie.

Luke, use the force

You’ll see why we call it the laser bird:

http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/images/stories/birds/whipbird.mp3

A rare sight to see is the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo.

Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo

http://birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/calyptorhynchus-funereus.mp3

We were lucky enough to see several of these while driving around with my mom when she was here in January. It actually sounds quite prehistoric, and very eerie when echoing through the woods.

We see small flocks of these feisty birds winging their way over our house. They are called Galah’s and what an attitude they have!

http://birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/cacatua-roseicapilla.mp3

It’s the cutest thing, all hot pink and grey and white. This one was giving Joel it’s best coy look. I love how the head is tilted to the side.

Aren't I Cute!

I don’t actually have a recording of our last sound of nature to share with you. But we do tend to hear it quite frequently when we’re walking through the woods. It’s funny because the animal that illicits this sound isn’t really known for it’s strong vocal cords (I’m not even sure they have vocal cords…). But I’ll include it because, honestly, almost every time we see one we hear this high pitched SCREECH right next to us:

SPIDER!!!!

There are several more bird species that we hear (and see) quite frequently but in the interest of space and time, I’ll save them for another posting. We hope you enjoy hearing the sounds of Queensland, and that they bring you peace and joy. It’s certainly true for us.

All our thoughts and prayers are with you, wherever you are!

The Madore Gang

Yes, it’s been a few weeks since our last update and we apologize. It seems this thing called life sort of got in the way.

Since our last update we have experienced multiple festivals specifically the Teneriffe, and Medieval festivals. The Teneriffe celebrates the wool industry here in Queensland Australia. The festival is only a couple of years old. The Medieval Festival is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and is one of the largest in the world. Not sure of the numbers but I believe more than 100,000 attended last year. In the 2 days we went I could say that number is probably about right. There was a lot of people and it was large. There was so much to do and see that in 2 days we barely got it all in. It was amazing, Matt enjoyed it so much he wants to join one of the local reenactment groups.

We had a visitor from the US for 2 weeks, a friend of Tori’s from back on Kwaj came from San Diego to visit. During her visit we took the opportunity to go on a whale watching trip, travel up to Noosa National Park and Eumundi Markets, and do a little travelling out west.

There are the usual events that take place during the normal work week with school, work, appts, etc. Of course this was slightly added to with Matt pulling a muscle or ligament in his back and I had a couple of flare-ups with the back issues that seemed to have been silent during the past few years. And let us not for get Lizzie (11) and Tori’s (15) birthdays, and Matts who will turn 14 next week.

Winter here has been great. We have struggled to find ways of dealing with the daytime temps of around 70 degrees or warmer and the nighttime temps of around 45-50. There have been a few days where it was somewhat chilly but they could be counted on one hand. It is very interesting to walk around the city and see one individual bundled up as if were sub-zero and the person walking right behind them in an outfit made for summer. It is just fascinating. The conversations regarding the winter temperatures are just as intriguing as well. Oh well, I guess if we stay for a couple of years we would be just like that as well. Oh wait, Cathy was like that on our ways to work bundled up and talking about how cold it was outside. She said she is becoming acclimated.

During the winter months the lack of rain is very evident. I believe we have seen less than a half an inch of rain during the last 8 to 10 weeks. Everything is beginning to show the effects and numerous wildfires have started up in and around Brisbane. It seems this area is quite notorious for the dry weather during the winter months. We would like to see rain, but not in the manner as we saw last summer.

Life here in Australia is becoming more normalized. We took note that it had been awhile since we last took off and did anything major. The weekends are becoming full and each of the kids seem to be heading off in different directions. Tori and Matt are finding quite a few friends and are now going on picnics, camping excursions, shopping trips, etc which is great. Lizzie has here own but due to the age most of the visits are regulated to the house. But that will soon change in the near future.

Okay, enough for now. Along with the pictures attached our hope is to get many of the other pictures over onto the website for everyone to view.

We hope that this update has found everyone well and in good spirits. Please continue to be safe, healthy and most of all smile.

From Australia

Joel and the rest of the Madore Gang

Even though the night time temps are dipping down into the upper 30’s low 40’s the days are hovering around the 70 degree mark. Reminds me of the song Oh Susanna! and the line “Sun so hot, I froze to death….” You are talking more than 30 degree temp change. However, it isn’t too bad even though we have only space heaters for in the morning and those dreary rainy evenings. It is amazing that once the sun comes up in the morning how fast the house warms up. They sky is an awesome blue and the stars at night are unbelievable. Let’s just say next to Hawaii I am almost there (that is heaven on earth).

Things have been going real well lately. The kids are in the process of finishing up their 2nd term and will be off for 2 weeks before starting term 3. Tori has a friend from back on Kwaj who will be visiting during the break and we plan to show her a Australian good time. Tori finished up her debating team matches a few weeks ago and did wonderfully well. We are hopeful that she will continue next year. She is also looking at taking a course next year at a different school which will allow her to gain a certificate in Animal Studies which lets her work with vets in the area.

Matt is finishing up this terms rugby (union) sports and is looking forward to next term when they play league rugby. It is difficult to explain the rules between the 2 but simply put League has a set number of touches (5) each side has, while union they can hold it until they lose possession. Of course there are other differences but that is too long to describe. He is also doing well with his new endeavour Muay Thai, similar to Kick Boxing. Not sure why he wants to take part, however, it is at least getting him active.

Lizzie took part in her track and field day event last Tuesday and did quite well for her first time. Clay you would be proud. Though a learning opportunity, after 2 fouls on the first 2 attempts, she was able to get in her 3rd attempt and gave it the old heave. For competing against girls who looked a bit older than she we felt she did quite awesome. Lizzie also turned one year older. On Sunday, June 19th, we took a ride down to Dream World, similar to Six Flags, for the day. She was given a quite cool gift of a laptop that she will be able to use not only for checking her email and playing DVDs, also for homework.

Cathy and I are doing great. We are in the process of creating a terraced garden in the back. The Landlord has told us to treat it as if it was our yard and guess what! Of course he has knowledge of what we are doing and has given permission, so slowly we are tearing it apart. We are looking forward to some other opportunities around the house and hope to have some fruits, veggies, and herbs growing come spring time.

Okay, enough of us. We hope everyone is doing well and in good spirits. I plan to insert some pictures once I get home but wanted to get an update out this week. We again open our door to anyone wishing to come visit and enjoy that which we have come to love in the short time we’ve been here.

Please take care, be safe, stay health, and best of all smile and be happy!

The Madore Gang

Memorial Day not only marks the beginning of BBQ season and the coming of summer for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, it also marks Joel’s birthday and our anniversary. It was our 17th this year and boy what a ride it’s been! We celebrated Joel’s birthday in style with an Australian native fare degustation menu (that’s just a fancy name for a multi-course tasting menu designed to showcase the cuisine) at Tukka restaurant in Brisbane’s west end (www.tukkarestaurant.com.au). For our anniversary, we’ve booked a class at Tukka to learn how to grow some of Australia’s native fruits and herbs and to learn how to cook a few of those delicious dishes we tasted.
Joel and I had crocodile, kangaroo, and emu with native fruits and damper. It was amazing!! Next time we’re trying the possum! Really. I mean it. Those cute cuddly little guys that like to romp around on our roof in the middle of the night and make Emmy bark. I’m sure they’re  yummy.

On another note, we almost had toasted Emmy at archery. Her and another dog were playing and can you believe that out of the WHOLE BUSH, all that open space, she ended up falling into the one place we didn’t want her to go? Luckily Emmy is (a) light, (b) agile, and (c) smart. She was able to launch herself right out of that fire pit with barely a yelp. Her hair is finally starting to grow back on her belly and wee wee. Poor thing. I’m sure she doesn’t taste half as good as possum.

Some other adventures we’ve had over the past several weeks include attending Brisbane’s Greek festival called Paniyiri. There was a lot of dancing and revelry to be had, with honey puff eating contests, olive eating contests, and cooking lessons. The Madore gang ate their weight in Baklava, gyros, spanikopita, moussaka, pastitio, you name it. Here we go talking about food again! If you didn’t know us any better you would think all we do is talk about, and eat, food. Oh yeah, we did stop by that wonderful little greek restaurant called The Five Sisters last Friday… but that’s another story.

Cathy

Yes it’s been a few weeks since our last complete update but many of you know it’s been quite tough for Cathy’s family. We continually keep Cathy’s Aunt Peggy (Post) in our thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery and for patience and understanding as she deals with the loss of her husband Fred during the tornados in Huntsville Alabama. We also want to constantly keep tabs on those family members in Mississippi, especially Cathy’s grandparents who had to evacuate their house due to the flooding of the Mississippi River. The flood waters are historic and the cost to rebuild will be extreme so keep those that are in the area of the flooding in your thoughts and prayers, and if possible help in any way you can.

Some updates as to what we have been doing during the last several weeks. With Good Friday and Easter, and with the kids school break between term 1 and 2, Cathy and I were able to take some time off to allow us to roam around the Queensland countryside. Since we were unable to take a vacation, we had multiple trips that took us South and Southwest of Brisbane, and of course trips to the beach. We visited Tamborine Mountain and took a walk upon a skywalk that took us through the tree tops,

Talk about a big tree, it wasn't the biggest either!

Taking a look from the Skywalk.

A creek that ran under the Skywalk.

Looking east from Tamborine Mt

forged rivers in the car, traversed up a mountain that was meant only for 4-wheel drives and discovered wonderful places in our search for future getaways.

Cathy enjoying the quiet!

Of course, being this close, no weekend would be complete without a trip to the beach. Yep, even as we head to winter there are still opportunities to hit the beach and the surf. It just astounds us as to how much there is to see and do just in the area around Brisbane.

Lizzie enjoying the Surf!

Matt said he wasn't showing off for the girls, right!

Tori enjoying the sun!

In the last few weeks the kids have taken up the hobby of archery so almost every Saturday afternoon the kids are off shooting arrows at targets while Cathy and I fiddle around making fires, cooking damper (an Australian bread made in the fire) and watching Emmy go romping through the brush. Talk about a dog finding its place, man she is a trip to watch as she bounds (not runs) through the tall grass. We actually think that she is part kangaroo the way she hops (too funny). A few other side notes about the kids, Matt has started rugby which has become his favorite sport and he will also be starting Muay Tai (some type of martial arts) this week. Lizzie has started taking piano lessons and will be heading to districts to compete in a track and field event for the shot put. Tori is competing with the debating club and has been part of the last 2 debates the school had. Let’s just say she has a gift, her coaches are quite pleased.

Lizzie taking aim!

Matt perfect his draw!

Tori finding the mark!

The girls weren't the only one having fun, look at Emmy

As you can see we have been extremely busy trying to get ourselves into what ever we can get into. We even found time to involve Emmy, who took part in a fundraising event for the RSPCA here in Australia. Together with over 2,000 to 3,000 other dogs just in Brisbane, close to $100,00 throughout Queensland was raised for the RSPCA. Our works’ team (of which we were a part) was the top fundraising team for Queensland and a fun time was had by all.
We just keep having fun. We hope that someone out there will take us up on invitation to come and visit. So we can show them what is so special about Australia.

Peggy our wish is for a speedy recovery and that you know the Good Lord is watching over you.

Granny & Papaw, our wish is that you stay high and dry, and that you find your way back home soon.

Please  be safe, stay healthy and most of all smile and be happy!

From Australia, the Madore Gang!

We would also like to keep those that are currently facing potential flooding throughout the Mississippi River valley. It seems that the mighty Mississippi will inundate a large portion of the lower US as it has already the upper portions. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of those who have and will be impacted. Please heed the warnings if you are in harms way and take the needed precautions to keep your family safe.

We will look to continue our posting in the next week or so when things have settled.

In the meantime may the Good Lord shine upon you and your families and keep them safe.

From Down Under, the Madoregang…..

Matt mentally re-playing his AFL moves

Of course a weekend doesn’t go by that we don’t encounter some sort of wildlife, whether it be human or beast (see the company picnic photographs from last post!). After spending this past Saturday planting herbs and vegetables (basil, chives, beans, mint, tomatoes, parsley, etc.), along with two of the cutest miniature citrus trees (lemon and lime), we threw lunch into a cooler and headed to the top of Mt. Coot-tha and then hit the Botanic Gardens (http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facilities-recreation/parks-gardens/brisbane-botanic-gardens-mt-coot-tha/index.htm). The views were amazing from the top of the mountain. You can see the city of Brisbane and then on the upper left of the horizon is the bay.

Brisbane from Mt. Coot-tha

The Botanic Gardens offered Joel more opportunities to fine tune his camera skills. There is such a wealth of flora (plants) and fauna (animals) here that it’s impossible to describe it all. The colors so vivid, the smells so unique. Imagine a mixture of eucalyptus, jasmine, rose, gardenia, tea olive, and plumeria essence just winding its way about on the cool mountain breeze.

Lizzie enjoyed sitting next to one of the waterfalls, just like Matt! We couldn’t get Tori to pose for a picture. She was in teenager mode.

It was a treat to see some of the wildlife that makes Brisbane and the surrounding area home. The gardens offer plenty of appetizeing meals for the resident lizards and plenty of pollen for the native Australian Stingless Bee. They are tiny little things that just hummed around carrying little pods of pollen on their back legs. They are about the size of what I used to call sweat bees when I was little (you know, the ones that would bite you right on the back of the knee *ouch* when you were playing outside) but thankfully these bees are harmless. A hive of these bees only makes about 1 kilogram of honey a season while a regular honey bee’s hive produces over 70 kilograms per season!

Australian Stingless Bees

Here are just a few snapshots of the beautiful, and weird, things we encountered….

Who knows what next weekend will offer the Madore Gang as we continue to explore the land down under. We will continue to keep you updated as best we can. I’ve promised someone a recording of the birds singing in the morning so stay tuned for that to show up here soon!

Cathy

We have solved our computer issue this past weekend and we hopefully (emphasis on the word Hopefully) get the website up and running again to store many of the pictures that we have pertaining to our adventures, along with the blog.

Well life down under is just grand. The seasons our changing but one would never know it. It is still quite warm and muggy though everyone keeps telling us that it will get cool. I kind of find it hard to believe. The trees are beginning to change, no….. just my imagination. Just can’t imagine any of the trees losing their leaves, except the one in the back yard which we believe has some kind of disease or its dying. Lost all of its leaves just after we got here, they started to grow back but they have all fallen off again. Might be all the water? Ah who knows. I took a photo of a bird singing a lament to the tree on Friday. It was a sad song.

A lament to a dying tree!

This past weekend we took a ride up to Eumundi (about 1.5 hours north of us to an open market (flea market except there were no fleas). Of course It rained for most of the time we were up there, however we still were able to find some really cool things and we plan to go back again to do Christmas shopping early. Here are some of the signs over one of the buildings.

Another Entrance to Eumundi

Eumundi Market

Of course we couldn’t go home without some of the usuals kettle corn, salamis, candy, dish towels (don’t think this is a usual) and so forth. Was a good time had by all, even Emmy. Say Hi Emmy!

Emmy saying Hi!

What a Spy I could be, especially with my new toy!!!!

Look at Emmy, she wants to know what's in the bag!

Of course on the way home we took the usual off the beaten path way home, and look what we found….

Looks like a violent protest!

I'm just sing in the rain!

Pretty bird! Pretty Bird!

Of course knowing us and the direction we went a stop in Kenilworth and some ice cream made a gloomy day just right…

On Sunday, our work sponsored a picnic/fund raiser for the flood victims of Queensland. Though the day started out raining, just after we got there the rain held off for a good time had by all. As you can see there were a bunch of characters around…

A "Dippin Dot" Princess (Cathy's boss's Daughter)

Spider Man ( Cathy's Co-worker son)

A Samurai warrior! ( My previous boss's daughter)

Two Fairy Princesses!

I believe the pictures have spoken to what our past weekend was like. This coming Saturday Matt and I, along with Lyndon, a co-worker of Cathy’s Spiderman’s dad, will be taking in a rugby game. Of course this will be our first down under. Though Matt has played it already it will be our first formal viewing. Both of us are looking forward to the opportunity. Of course that leaves Sunday free and who knows we just find more trouble to get into. Oh boy.

Okay, enough of us. We hope that everyone is doing well. I know as the seasons are changing so do the moods. Spring is in the air, just take a look around…. Please continue to enjoy the updates and we would love to hear from you (we are on Skype). Be safe, stay heathly and most of all smile.

Keep those in Japan, Libya, other parts of Africa and all around the world who are having difficulties at this time in your thoughts and prayers. We are living in troubled times and we need to stick together.

Joel