How fitting it is to fly on 9/11 and not fret. A college professor once told us, “We are immortal until our work is done; I just pray my work is not done yet.”

Speaking of work, John seems to be out of sorts by NOT working for two weeks. He has not taken off this much time since his forced “vacation”/scary hospitalization seven years ago. I told him to smile while standing in our driveway waiting for the Lyft driver this morning. He made a feeble attempt. By the way, that big black and blue bag weighed a half pound over the limit when we checked in at the counter. It must be the hazelnut coffee for  my sister-in-law, Petra! Thankfully, the ticket agent let it slide.

We’re now waiting at the gate two hours early. Between the huge American flag in the security area and the cluster of Marines at our gate, we are reminded again of our freedoms that we never want to take for granted.

And as we travel, I will be taking photos of patterns. The first one, waves in the Denver Airport carpet, reminds me of the recent hurricane-induced storm surges in Florida and Texas. We continue to pray for God’s peace in the midst of turmoil.

Tomorrow morning John and I fly to Europe. We will be escaping the recent sorrows of this land–fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and more. It’s especially hard to leave when we just heard the news that a good friend in Georgia went home to Glory today, and we can’t be there for his funeral.

We land first in Zurich, then head to Bavaria for a neice’s wedding, ending our trip in the mountains of Austria. I’m going dark on Facebook and only posting here for the next two weeks.

If only we knew how to pack less….

It’s been three days since we returned, and I suppose I should wrap up this trip. My excuse is jet lag–and being in a numb state with the news that John’s company wants to move him to Denver. I’m not going to discuss that now, though. That’s beyond the intent of this blog!

I want to return to Australia. There’s so much more to see and do. Overall, it was a good experience, although memories of the angled electrical plugs, obtuse washing machine panels, sobering-message cigarette cabinets, and low-water, rounded toilet designs still make me shake my head.

I’m grateful to have seen and experienced another continent.

For now, g’day!

I love to see geometry and free-form designs in things that people make. Enjoy!

The photos posted have been chosen for artistic merit in nature. Some are recognizable objects, and others may not be. Enjoy!

The past two days have been filled with more travel than sightseeing, but it’s been interesting regardless.

We left the whaling town of Warrnambool on Tuesday morning and drove 3-1/2 hours back to Melbourne on a different route. Along the way, we saw many dairy farms–as well as sheep when we went near the lakeside town of Wool-Wool. Seriously. I was surprised at the number of dairies and cheese factories. I commented to John that the cows seemed skinnier than I remembered in the Midwest. John agreed, but we then realized that these breeds were longer-legged, giving the appearance of being lankier. We both laughed about that. We also saw lots of grain (mostly hay) being harvested and baled into the usual cylinders–but with mint-green shrink wrap.

Some of the towns reminded me of the Midwest: town squares, tree-lined thoroughfares, clock towers, older repurposed buildings, small shops in the center of town, and angle-parking along Main Street. Outside of town, we occasionally had to slow down for tractors creeping along at the side of the road. I looked in vain for hopping kangaroos, but sadly, only saw a few dead ones lying pitifully along the side. (Thankfully, in our hotel room I later viewed a short documentary about the golf-course kangaroos of Anglesea–which we happened to go right by while on Monday’s Great Ocean Drive. Oh, well.)

I did enjoy some of the signs: Horse Poo For Sale; Do Not Overtake (Do Not Pass); Give Way (Yield); Yawning? A Microsleep Can Kill; Over the Limit. Under Arrest; Open Your Eyes. Fatigue Kills; and my favorite recurring one: Power Nap Area. Yes! How thoughtful! Speaking of thoughtful, that reminds me of the public toilets. On the backside of every stall door, the observant reader can learn who to call or where to go for help with anxiety, depression, adoption services, etc. Social services awareness is big!

After returning the rental car at the airport, we flew on Virgin Australia to Sydney, just over an hour’s flight away. From there we caught a train to the Blue Mountains. I must say that it was the smoothest two-hour train ride I’ve ever experienced. And the up-close views into Sydney suburbs fascinated me: many rooftop solar panels, either tin or terra cotta roofs, clotheslines with damp clothes drying on them, small plastic pools with fish swimming in some (above-ground koi ponds!), a few sheep grazing in backyards (no mowers?), barking dogs chained to poles, and even an angry altercation between two drivers who had just been involved in a fender-bender.

We arrived at Katoomba around dusk, promptly became disoriented by going to the wrong side of the tracks, and finally got reoriented (thanks to GPS and smart phones!) onto the steep, three-block walk to the mountain view hotel. The 100+-year-old building made us feel as though we’d stepped back into history.

From our room window, we saw a glimpse of the Blue Mountains before clouds and nightfall enshrouded them. And when we awoke in the morning, the fog was as thick as could be. During our breakfast, the fog rolled back and gave us hope that we could do the cable-car scenic view. But alas! Rain and clouds returned, canceling our plans. The fog moved in as quickly as it does in San Francisco. So at 11 a.m., we headed back on the train to Sydney, where we now rest at a hotel just outside the international terminal and gear up for departure tomorrow morning.

Like John Candy and Steve Martin whose adventures took them into unplanned paths home, we’ve had an unplanned detour today. But I can’t complain about our phenomenal journey.

There’s so much more to see and do in this fascinating country. Maybe another trip….

I can’t identify most of these plants, so just enjoy!

On Monday, John drove a rental car so we could leisurely stop and see many of the less-traveled sites along the 150-mile stretch of the Great Ocean Drive from Geelong (I was incorrect in my past pronunciation key; it’s JUH-long) to Warrnambool which borders the Southern Ocean. All of the photos I posted yesterday come from that drive.

I must say that the geographical diversity within that area of Australia proved to serve us with the most rewarding day of the trip. From the sandy beaches to the rocky cliffs to the damp rain forests to the limestone formations rising out of the sea, there’s no better day that I can ever remember in all our travels. And because we drove rather than join a tour bus, we stopped at so many quirky and amazing places.

The most unusual spot? Carisbrook Creek with its tourist-stacked rock towers. The most awesome spot? The Twelve Apostles monolithic towers jutting out of the ocean floor–although only eight formations remain. And the most unexpected stop? To take a photo of a koala sitting in a small tree at the edge of an aromatic eucalyptus forest. I saw his bottom poking out and yelled to John, “Stop!” Mr. Koala blinked at me as I came around the tree to see his face. I could have reached up to touch his face!

The wonders of God’s handiwork amaze me.

I’ve had two drafts go to Tasmania perhaps…so only trying to add photos for now.

After the busy past week, it’s time to rest. Less than a mile from our “Vue” apartment in Geelong, there’s a psalm-singing-only church that we walked to for morning worship.

The people there not only greeted us warmly, but I noticed that they use the same pew Bibles and psalter publication that our church in Atlanta does. The order of worship seemed familiar, and the only real difference between the two churches is our addition of the Trinity hymnal. I would say about 150 people were there–including lots of kids!

The pastor, who is from somewhere in the UK and has a Chinese wife, asked us to stay afterwards for their Sunday School “end-of-term programme” held in a back fellowship building. I counted over 50 students ranging from three years old through secondary school. Each received a gift from his or her teacher before leaving on summer break. They have the next eight weeks off. Each teacher talked about the class curriculum, and I discovered that some of them use the same curriculum I’ve used! Others created their own materials. Before the individual gifts were given, the students sang different psalms. Two volunteer students held up posters of the lyrics for the other students; they then turned to the adult audience to have us sing along.

When we walked back to our suite for a lunch of quiche and salad, we took a slightly different route through a beautiful city park with a bandstand, library, art center, and event center. The juxtaposition of the library (classic architecture) and the event center (modern architecture) is so striking that I had to take more photos.

This afternoon as John works on our annual Christmas Eve program, I’m looking out the window of our suite. We can see the Corio Bay and the ferris wheel from our balcony.

Time for a nap.