Jenkoz - Australians Abroad: May 2011

Ash and cousin Brody reacquainted after 15 months.

Yes home at last and catching up with some of our relatives and friends. We were met at the airport by friends Carolyn and Peter and their son Jack. We convinced them to stay for dinner and as we sat down, Helen and partner also dropped in to say hello and offer more dinner! That is a true friendship. They stayed for dinner too and we had a wonderful welcome home. Poor mum and dad were a little left out as we caught up on a year of missed gossip with friends, but I'm sure they understood.

There are practically no pictures of our first week at home simply because we were so busy getting our lives back into some order. Getting cars and a motorbike re-registered was a priority along with re-instating our driver's licences. More than $2000 and a bit of 'to-ing and fro-ing' later and we had that sorted. Then it was just a matter of getting the vehicles to actually run. More money for replacing batteries and tyres and we had one car and a dodgy motorbike going. The bike was dodgy because the battery SHOULD have been okay but I wasn't sure and in the end it didn't hold up on its end of the bargain.

A quick day trip of 6 hours continuous driving saw me take mum and dad back to Berri and then return with our Prado 4WD to Adelaide. The drive was very informative as the last time I had driven it the area was in drought. This time there was more water than I have seen in the past 15 years - a truly wonderful sight.

By Easter we felt settled enough to take a short trip to visit Uncle Neil in his country hideaway retreat (actually it belongs to another Uncle Neil - but that's just hair splitting). The kids enjoyed the treats that Easter Bunny left for them during the night (YES they were left during the middle of the night at around 3am!) The night was so clear with such a good moon, E.B. didn't even need a torch :-)

Cousin Stella and Paige with happy faces after finding Easter treats.

Cousin Charlie and Megan found plenty too.

The weather since our return in mid April has been superb. The days have been clear and sunny almost every day with temperatures in the mid 20's and ranging up to 28 degrees celsius over the Easter weekend. This meant gorgeous sunsets and cool nights a perfect return to Australia.

Sunset at Easter

Peter and his wife Sandy came to visit and we went for a photographic shoot in the streets and along the beach near our house. The shoot turned into more of a gab-fest than a serious photo session, but we still clicked few nice shots.

Good weather over the Easter break.

Our jetty in the morning.

The memorial after ANZAC day.

One of the changes in our area has been the upgrading of the train system that runs near our house. The government is changing from diesel to electric trains for all of the suburban trains in Adelaide and ours is one of the last lines to be completed. It is strange not hearing the trains running.

Upgrades to our train station - April.

No trains today.

Getting ready for electrified trains to run.

Now that we are home water conservation is still important of course. Megan has been doing her bit by taking smaller baths.

Megan enjoys her Australian bath.

What a way to end our trip away, with a relaxing few days on a tropical island in the pacific, and to top it all off grandma and grandpa came along too!

I wonder how much business this place does?

Some local housing in Fiji.

Near the end of our stay we went to Natadola Beach on the Coral coast of Fiji where this guy rode up on his horse with a young foal in tow. Immediately he started taking the kids for rides along the beach. By this time we knew the Fijian way of just doing something THEN asking for the amount of money they think. So after taking 3 children for a ride he decided that he should be paid $50FJ. Unfortunately for him we only had $7FJ so he had to settle for that. I think the phrase, "Not happy Jan!"was highly appropriate at that time.

Horseriding at Natadola Beach

Paige at Natadola Beach.

Ash ends his ride at Natadola.

The other aspect of the beach was that it had small but fun waves to play in. Even Paige grabbed a few waves, until dad unfortunately launched her too far and she fell off the front - another N.H.J. moment.

Paige rides a wave

Oops! Paige falls off the wave!

Grandma and grandpa enjoy Natadola Beach.

Megan and Paige with a not fresh coconut.

One of the trips that Jill and I were able to do while the kids stayed with grandma and grandpa was to visit the garden of the Sleeping Giant where there were hundreds of orchids and other wonderful tropical plants and flowers. This was a great treat for Ian, not so much for Jill as she had to wait so long.

A happy boy at the Garden of the Sleeping Giant.

One the many great things about Fiji was how friendly it was everywhere we went. Even their police stations welcome you!

Where else but Fiji would a police station welcome you?

The beach house was truly that - on the beach. the only shame was that we couldn't swim at this beach because it was too murky. The outlook was beautiful and the kids loved the hammock.

View from the house.

Ash tried getting fresh coconuts from the trees which occupied him for quite some time.

Ash seeking a coconut.

Saweni Beach house in Fiji.

Dad and I generously volunteered to do the cooking which naturally started with wine tasting, progressed through further wine testing and ended with wine qualification-ing.

Dad and Grandpa in cooking mode.

Dinner in the house.

Not far from the entrance to the 'resort' we would drive along a dirt road for a couple of kilometres to get to the main road and bitumen. Along the dirt road we saw cows and goats and plenty of people walking - even the occasional taxi.

Goats on railway near entrance to resort.

Lautoka was the nearest "big city" and an interesting place to visit. Being the only white faces there, we attracted plenty of attention.

Posing in Lautoka.

Lautoka municipal market.

The markets were a mystery for the most part. It wasn't just a matter of trying to determine what things were, it was also how do you use them?

What the....?

The plant root that is used to make Kava.

Traffic in Lautoka.

While this chap was shining dad's shoes for $1FJ (about 50c AUS), a couple other guys suddenly showed up and started chatting. In no time at all they had carved the kids names on some wood carvings and asked for money for them. Because Jill had had a similar set from when she visited some 30+ years ago, it was hard to say no.

Shoe shine for grandpa.

There were a lot of stray dogs that simply scavenged for food to survive. We took this little cutey and fed it while we were there. Megan and the dog were firm friends.

Megan with her new friend.

Leopard orchid at Gardens of the Sleeping Giant.

Light through palm.

The effects of Tamarind.

We all went for a trip to a nearby island for a day. On the island we snorkeled using some old equipment which leaked and paddled in a canoe that filled with water