Christmas spirit has arrived in Alice!

The boys posing in front of the white "boomers" pulling the sleigh.

I have had a difficult time adjusting to Christmas in the summer, even with my tree up, the arrival of our  Elf on a Shelf, Tumbleflump (fortunately he knew the way to Australia) and a few decorations here and there, the Christmas spirit has been lacking.  That is until this weekend, it is amazing how one event can change your whole perspective of the season.

Saturday began with a pancake breakfast with Santa, this was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and for the boys to tell Santa exactly what they want.  Their Christmas list here is considerably shorter with the absence of toy advertisements on TV and the complete lack of “super stores”.  As a matter of fact, the number one thing on their list is football uniforms so they can play against each other.  Jake, of course, has asked for a Dallas Cowboys uniform while Dillon has asked for the New England Patriots, not sure why.  I told Dillon if he gets it, he will have to wear it outside!

Sunday we woke up to a welcomed cold front, the forecast was a mere 96 degrees, so we decided this would be a good time to put our outdoor Christmas lights up.  When we were about half way done we heard a honking horn coming towards us, low and behold it was Santa’s helpers in the back of a ute (truck) handing out icy poles (popsicles).  Apparently this has been a tradition done by the APEX group for almost 40 years, they drive up and down every street in Alice bringing smiles to all the kids!

Watching one of the choirs.

The children with candles chasing Santa!

Sunday evening was a beautiful, windy night so we decided to head to the Carols by Candlelight celebration being held at one of the sports ovals.  There were about 2000 people there and we were all given a battery operated candle as we entered that we could wave simultaneously while singing.  There were various choirs performing, we heard carols in English and in Aboriginal languages.  Of course the highlight for the boys would have to be when Santa decided to join the party – he arrived in the back of a ute with about 100 children chasing him through the open field.  My highlight would be when the carol “We Three Kings” was performed; the three wise men were brought to the stage on camels dressed in Christmas lights – unbelievable!  The story of the baby Jesus was then told with quite the Australian twist, if I heard correctly the innkeeper might have told Joseph “Good day, Mate”!  After about an hour and a half of Christmas Carols we were treated to an amazing fireworks display, right over the tops of our heads – honestly it could not have been any closer.  I knew when this event was over that the Christmas spirit had arrived in Alice!

Santa made it up on stage to throw candy to all the kids.

I received a package this week from some of my friends in Dallas, they had included me in our annual ornament exchange even though I am thousands of miles away.  The ornaments all had a Texas theme which means more to me know than I ever thought it could.  I soon realized how much I miss seeing all the bling and of course how much I miss margaritas, but most of all how lucky I am to have such amazing friends in my life!

A little more Aussie everyday.....

Wild Camels

It has been 10 months since we moved to Australia and gradually I am picking up on bits and pieces of their culture.  While I still have yet to camp and sleep in a swag, I have started to put my sheets and blankets out on the clothesline to dry.  Most houses here have a clothes line, and quite a few even have a concrete path leading to that line - many of the Australians do not have driers.  For those that know me well, please know I draw the line at hanging my undies out to dry!

Sheets on the line - they dry in about 15 minutes.

When we first arrived, we were all taken aback by some of the differences in food – you can refer back to my blog post “To Eat or Not to Eat”.  Now there is no issue when dining out or deciding what to make it home – I clearly understand that a snag is a sausage and have been enjoying the many “sausage sizzles” we have been invited to. Another thing I have discovered here is pumpkin, the Aussie’s refer to all types of squash as pumpkin and they use it on everything.  I in turn order it everywhere, I love it!  I have had pumpkin and feta pizza, thai pumpkin soup, beef – pumpkin and goat cheese salad and pumpkin/ pesto foccacia – my friends have made fun of me because I always seem to have it on my plate.  Once again, we all have a draw the line point and that would be a burger (could be lamb, camel, beef or kangaroo) with a fried egg and beet on top, in other words, “loaded” – I am afraid this combination is a no go!

The camels, right in front of the car.

Perentie Lizard

I am getting used to seeing wild animals ever where, it is nothing for me to see a giant lizard running across my yard.  I almost wrecked the car when I spotted my first perentie lizard in the road, at first you think it is a log but then it moves and has a face!  I have held a snake, pet a skink and fed wild wallabies – but even with all of that I was amazed when this Sunday we saw a group of wild camels – yes , camels. We were driving back from a night at Glen Helen when a herd of camels was spotted on the side of the road, they noticed us and decided to remove themselves from the safety of the dirt and jump right in front of us – it was utterly amazing!

Our most recent trip to feed the wallabies - Dillon is petting a joey.

Some friends have asked if I have picked up the lingo and while I have picked up a few phrases, I am afraid I sound more like a tourist from Texas than someone currently living here!  The boys on the other hand are pronouncing the letter Z as zed, they say yeah with an Aussie flare and asking to have morning tea instead of a snack – I love it!  I was told by a wonderful friend of mine back in Texas that an Australian accent raises the cute meter by 2 points, if this is true I think I will have my hands full keeping the girls away from my boys!

Halloween in Oz

The eyes of Texas are upon you.

Being our first Halloween here in Australia, I was surprised to find out that it has only recently begun to be celebrated here.  Many of the children from the boy’s school would be trick or treating for the first time.  There is still a great debate not only in Alice Springs but all over the country as to whether they should celebrate this decidedly American holiday.  My understanding is that Alice Springs is a little ahead of the major cities due to the Americans living here. 

American Gothic

 

On Friday night we went to the Annual Halloween party - very adult, very fun.  It takes place in a cul de sac just a block away from us, perfect walking distance.  They had a band, a few home brew kegs and though I did not see it, I heard they were playing beer pong.  The costumes were absolutely incredible!  It was so fun to see many put so much thought into their costumes.  Some of my favorites were the many paintings with their own faces poking through, we saw a couple as the American Gothic painting, The Scream and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe.  There was also a guy that was a twin mattress with a dummy blonde beside him in bed.  JD and I took the easy way out and wore our Dr. Shots lab coats, the main reason being we were going there directly after a Masters Games volunteer’s thank you party.  The party was attended by Laucko, a local radio personality – it was fun hearing him talk about it on the radio, he kept referring to it as a crazy, American, Halloween block party – sounded like he had a blast.

On Saturday the rec association at JD's work put on a Halloween festival.  They had games, a haunted house and costume contests.  The boys wore their Captain America and Wolverine costumes and ran around for a few hours. The weather was perfect!  I took them through the haunted house when we first arrived, I asked for no one to jump out and scare them because they were already nervous - they both felt it was scary enough with the decorations alone.

Dillon helping to clean out the seeds - looking forward to roasting them later.

Jake helping with the face.

 We purchased our pumpkin at the local grocers, at a cost of $20.00.  We knew we wanted to do something special with the design so this year we carved the eyes in the shape of Texas.  What a hit it was, on Halloween night we had numerous people taking pictures of our pumpkin.  We did not have much in the way of decorations, I somehow only managed to bring a small tub of Halloween decorations for inside the house but my friend Marylee has offered to buy some things on clearance and send it to us for next year. Thank you Marylee!

The beginning of the trick-or treaters, got too busy after this to take any more pics.

 Halloween night began with a potluck dinner at our neighbor’s house; I think there were 12 families or so there. They start about 5:00 and with the temperature at 100 degrees, the poor kids were melting. Everyone comes over to our side of town for trick-or-treating and I mean EVERYONE!  I had been told that we would have hundreds of trick-or-treaters but seeing the crowds for myself was unbelievable.  I ordered 14 bags of Halloween candy from Walmart.com and it was gone in 2 hours.  At one point the street reminded me of Manhattan with crowds coming from both directions.  The children were very polite and appreciative of the American “lollies”, but I could not help but laugh at the many adults walking with their kids, all carrying their own bags – I am not used to hearing a 40 year old say trick-or treat!

The Masters Games

Jake and Dillon were happy to be helpers.

This week has been dominated by the Masters Games here in Alice.  The games take place every two years and are comprised of 31 events for those 30 years of age or older.  The tag line for the games is the friendly games.  The participants are a mix of serious athletes, senior citizens and folks just wanting to have a good time.  If I would have realized the amount of people in it just for fun, I probably would have signed up for something.  I have a friend that signed up for billiards even though she had not played in 10 years.

Not sure of their team name but they were hilarious.

I have been volunteering for the game center for the past few days and in doing so I have met some amazing folks.  The team names have been incredibly creative, some of my favorites have been a women’s volleyball team called “I’d Hit That”, a team of 40 somethings called “CooGa’s” and another group called “Shades of Red”.  Apparently only 50% of folks participating in the games are from the area, the rest come from all over Australia.  I have enjoyed showing these Aussies the meaning of Texas hospitality!  It is estimated that there are an extra 2500 – 3000 people in Alice for this week.  One thing the Masters games are known for is that the town sells out of condoms every time, too funny for an event that caters to the older folks.  A friend told me that there is an end cap at the local grocers dedicated to the Masters; it features condoms, sports rub, sunscreen and water.

The "CocoNuts" walking into the oval  - notice the wagon!

An equestrian team.

Saturday night was the opening day parade, I helped out and was in charge of the cricket group – can I say, a crazy group of blokes – most of them were waiting at the Todd Tavern (a local pub) for the parade to come by and join in.  The team sports were the most fun to see in the parade, the crowd was full of painted faces, creative outfits and inventive signs - one of the men's teams were wearing 1970's leisure suits, I am sorry I did not get a pic. Just about all the participants had a drink in their hand and a smile on their face.  The athletes walked into the Anzac Oval for the opening ceremony, it was a big party with a local band and an Australian performer I was not familiar with.  Before the concert, they had a fireworks display that was amazing – even though there were a few thousand people watching it felt like it was just for us it was so close.  

The rest of the week will be filled up with watching various sporting events and volunteer duties.   We are looking forward to the closing ceremony at Anzac Oval, with the band Icehouse scheduled to perform.

The moon rising

A few weeks ago we went back out to the sand dunes for a dinner.  We had been delayed by one day due to the rain we had the Friday night before, it was the first rain we had seen in Alice in 159 days.  The last time we went to the dunes it was a new moon, so the star gazing was one of the most incredible things I had ever seen.  This time it was a full moon so I was able to witness a beautiful sunset followed by watching the moon rise, I have never seen anything like it before – absolutely beautiful!

Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley

Well the weather has been for lack of a better word, extreme. While it rained so much when we first arrived that I actually saw the Todd River flow, there has now been no rain for over 150 days – we just beat the all time record for days with no rain.  I keep hearing different things from the locals, but so far no rain could mean either more or fewer snakes in summer, and not sure what it means for flies – either way, no rain means more wild fires so not good!  Spring started a few weeks ago and we have gone from the most beautiful weather to a few days at 100F degrees, spring apparently lasts a week here!  Yesterday was absolutely beautiful with a high of only 81F and because the morning was so nice and cool we had the doors open around the house; that of course would be when the wind picked up and created a quick red sand storm – within minutes all the floors and furniture were covered in a layer of red sand!  Like I said, extreme!

Class 2 getting ready to sing.

The boys have just entered a two week break from school, with their term ending with a spring festival at school.  The school backs up to the mountain range, which provided a beautiful backdrop for our picnic sunset.  Each class performed for the parents and we were treated to string instruments, recorders, singing and dancing.  The boys have been so happy at their new school, they love it.

The "posers" at Rainbow Valley

We were scheduled to go camping this weekend with our neighbors, my first time, but plans changed when Dillon became sick on Friday night.  Our wonderful Aussie neighbors decided we could have a camp out on our front patio Saturday night instead, so we cooked ribs and potatoes over the fire so we could all get the feeling of “camp food” – our own little version of “camping light”.  We then of course headed inside to sleep in our nice cozy beds.

On Sunday, with everyone feeling better we decided to drive out to Rainbow Valley – an 80k drive.  Rainbow Valley is part of the James Range Mountains; the area is comprised of scenic sandstone bluffs and cliffs surrounded by the beautiful, very soft, red sand.  They have a unique shape that was created by weathering and erosion.  The scenery was amazing and the kids loved running and climbing over all the rocks.  We took the walk to Mushroom rock, the rock with the big hole, a beautiful sight!  On the drive into Rainbow Valley there were fields of a wild blue flower, we could not help but be reminded of the beautiful Texas bluebonnets.

My Sam Moon hat has come in handy here!

Jake loves to climb and then pose for the picture.

The blue wild flowers.

Mushroom Rock

Golf anyone?

The kids playing while I shop for art.

A few items I purchased.

I was very excited to see that there was going to be an art show in town, there would be about 20 of the regions art centers that would be represented there.  Throughout the outback you will find art centers where the artists from that area go to complete their projects.  Each center appears to have a distinctive style when it comes to Aboriginal art.  I could not believe the amount of art I was able to look through!  There was one table that really caught my eye, the art center was from the Santa Teresa area, about an hour out of Alice Springs - of all the styles of artwork I have seen to date this seems to be what I am most attracted to.  The bowl and small plate represent artwork from this area and now that I know where to go, I think we will pay a visit to the gallery in Santa Teresa!

Jessie's Gap

Climbing up the rocks.

After the art show we headed to Jessie’s Gap for a picnic with friends.  A beautiful day for a picnic but I honestly believe there is a direct correlation between the distance away from Alice and the amount of flies around. Now that the boys have become true “outback” kids, being outside means climbing as high as you can on the rocks until your mother can no longer take it and yells for you to come down, and be careful!

Team Doc in the Box and are winning buggys.

The costumes for the tournament were hilarious!

One of the best things I have done since arriving here was the golf day on Friday, I was lucky enough to be asked to play with an amazing group of ladies.  Please keep in mind when I say golf tournament I really mean drinking, laughing and hitting the ball a few times.  The buggy was decorated to represent team "Docs in the Box" and I am happy to report we won for most creative decorations. We played the front nine which was perfect  because one of our group lives between holes 3 and 4.  We very smartly used our arrival on that hole as an opportunity for a bathroom break, a quick picnic and one or two tequila shots.  Another hole had a group of men with shots and a dartboard, if you missed the board you had to do a shot, if you hit the board the number you landed on decided what club to use for the tee off – I think we had to use the putter!  If all the shots were not bad enough, the drink cart made its rounds offering free beer and vodka cruisers.  JD was pleasantly surprised at our condition upon his arrival at the golf club, I am pretty sure the fireman’s sausage sizzle is what helped to soak up the tequila!  All money raised for this event went to a local charity that helps Alice Springs families with cancer – we were happy to help!

This would be after the tequila.

Saturday night was a picnic event for families; they had a bounce house and swings for the 30 plus kids that were there.  I think the boys would say that the highlight of the evening would be watching a movie outside under the stars but for me it was the visit from Rex the snake guy.  Rex shows up at various events and talks with everyone about the snakes and reptiles in the area.  I guess now that I have seen Rex about 6 times I put my “brave badge” on this time and I held a snake – yes you read that correctly – I had a giant boa constrictor wrapped around my neck.  Just so that you know I have not completely flipped my lid, Rex was right next to me holding the other half – just in case I had a freak out.  In the outback for 8 months and I held a snake, let’s just say I am proud of myself!

Rex and I, and that big snake!

Spring has sprung

We did not take this trail! Keep walking little ones...

Entering the chasm.

Today is the Australian Father’s day so we celebrated by going for a nice walk this morning with another American family.  We headed out to Stanley’s Chasm again, though this time the weather was perfect – we have just entered the spring season here and the weather is incredible.  If you follow the blog you might remember this was where I swallowed my first fly, so thank you Heather for bringing fly repellent – worked like a charm.  We had seen recently in a local Chinese restaurant that the boys were born in the year of the monkey and they have really taken that to heart, they now think they need to climb every tree and large rock formation they see.

The climbing monkeys.

The Burlesque show.

Last night we had a wonderful date night and went to see a show at the local arts theater called Caravan Burlesque.  We honestly were not quite sure what to expect but when the opening act was what we thought to be a man doing a striptease only to be surprised by the naked breasts, we knew we were in for a show.  You could not help but think that this show would have never taken place back in the USA due to the extreme amount of full frontal nudity.  The show ended with 2 Abba songs and the entire audience of 500 on their feet, dancing. Great Night.

Straight hair.

As I mentioned earlier we are in the first few days of spring here, we are hoping the spring season will bring us some much needed rain – it has not rained here in 4 months!  For the last 2 months I have been wearing my hair straight due to the complete lack of humidity, not the best weather for those of us with natural curly hair!  The funny thing is Friday night JD and I were both awakened from the sound of rain on the roof, but as we mentioned it to others throughout the day no one else was aware of any rain.  I had begun to get that, “I must be nuts” feeling, but then Dillon said he had heard it also.  Saturday night we heard the same noise so I jumped up to see for myself if it was raining, turns out a sprinkler head had broken and the water was shooting on to the roof – so still no rain, and none in the forecast!

This weekend was also the end of the soccer season; the boys have played very well in spite of playing on a team with mostly 3^rd graders.  They have enjoyed it but we are glad to be moving on to the next sport, basketball.

The Drinking, not Sinking crew

Last weekend there was a golf tournament put on by the Rec. Association for J.D.’s work, J.D, played on a team called “Drinking, not Sinking” and they lived up to their name.  I volunteered and worked selling raffle tickets on a par 3 hole, with 23 teams of mostly blokes coming through it made for a fun day.  It was our first time on the golf course, we are hoping to get out there more often.  J.D.  was very lucky during the raffle, he won a family membership to the local tennis club and a gift certificate to the local video store – if you are wondering I had nothing to do with the raffle, I just sold tickets.

Swags by the fire

This what he looked like day 2

A few weeks ago the boys went on their first camping trip, it was a school class trip and they spent 2 nights out at Simpson’s Gap.  J.D. joined them for the first night just to be sure they would be OK with camping, the kids all slept in swags (a swag is defined as an Australian bedroll, it is canvas sewn together with a foam insert, you can put either a sleeping bag or bedding inside, then there is a flap on the top end to fold over your face while you are sleeping).  It was a very cold night at 26 degrees F., but between the fire and the layers of clothes they did great.  On the camp there was a talk by a local ranger showing them how to track the wildlife, they were also visited by a group of aboriginal women who taught them traditional crafts and cooked up a “bush” lunch that included kangaroo tail.  Dillon said he spit his out behind a tree!  The boys loved camping and after 3 days I picked up two of the dirtiest boys I had ever seen from school, they were smiling from ear to ear.

Learning how to track wild animals.