Trip To Lightening Ridge

Over Easter, the Oliver clan went up to visit Carlene's brother at Lightening Ridge. We drove in a "bus" for 15 hours (one way) only to enjoy the festivities for 2 days.

I had to laugh at the awesome-ness of such a long trip. These are my 5 highlights.

#1 - Running out of fuel - this always makes a better adventure for long road trips - and for good stories at the end...Plus it gave us a break from riding in the bus, and we found a dead carcass - oooh so exciting...a myriad of flies, and some pooh! yes a truly successful road stop to say the least - we were delighted with "Ray" our heroic saviour...who drove Ross to get more fuel, and even brought him back - hooray - we should have given him a cookie - but we didn't.


#2 - Experiencing my first Goat and Bin (as in Garbage) races... yes it's true - hundreds gathered around to watch goats race in carts. The best part was it was not safe what-so-ever, and the they kept careening into the onlookers bound to get somebody hurt! What??? The orange tape won't save you from being run over?



Almost as good was watching the children push garbage bins (almost as big as they are) in a race for what? .... The glory of winning. Hooray! Unfortunately there were a few tears shed, when one girls bin went wildly out of control, and she wound up in last place...sorry darlin'!


#3 - Opal Mining....This was unbelievable. Leigh's Uncle Rodney has been running a caravan park, but is letting that go to focus more specifically on Opal mining. He owns a few mining claims already, and we got to visit one. I didn't go down (it's a 70 ft hole in the ground) Scary -but most of the others did. Instead I spent time looking for my own opals, and surprised most people with a pretty good find! It was great fun!







#4 - the Hot Pools - every night before bed, we drove down to the Artesian hot springs to soak in the warm pools. It was so nice and relaxing and a good way of winding down at the end of a "not really" hectic day. It was really great for my skin too!
#5 - Networking computers - seriously, I know this sounds really lame - but how awesome is it that we can be on our computer, and Sarah can come onto hers and connect to ours while we were driving....They were able to watch shows on our computer because of that...so really...For #5, I could have commented on Carlene's amazing raspberry slice, seeing Leigh's grandpa's cabin, or I could have talked about being able to meet more of Leigh's family... hmmm....I could have commented on the amazing hospitality and generousity of Leigh's uncle (Rodney)... but I would have to write 8 pages of all that he did for us, and I certainly don't have the time for that! I could show you the ring he gave me tho...so pretty.



Also, I'm adding a few "art" photos to give you a feel of the area!

A New View of "Down Under"!

I had been wanting a world map for my wall, for ages, and a few months ago, I was in a local bookstore in Ballarat, and found a map that made me chuckle.

An upside down view of the world! How strange it looked! The whole idea, was that Australia was sitting on top of the world, and was not located "down under" at all. The shapes of countries looked odd, and out of place. For instance, Italy looked like a lower case "r" rather than a boot. As well, a majority of my fellow Canadians were, in this case, living on the top section of our country not near the bottom! Hmmm... Interesting!

And so, my world view changed when I took a second to think about it.

My whole life I had been taught that there was a northern, southern, western, and eastern hemisphere... that places such as Canada and Russia, and let's face it most of the world were all located in the Northern hemisphere, while places such as Australia, Antarctica, and "South" America, were considered predominantly southern nations.

I realized: With the earth suspended in a universe where there actually is no compass, who decided that "North was North?". Apparently early European navigators, decided to name a star - the north star, and began using magnetic compasses to find their way - which was the beginning of the development of world maps today. However, at one time, the East used to be the top - which is where the word Orient-ation came from.

Well... in the end, I decided to buy the map, and now I feel like the world is mine to discover again. It actually allows me a whole new appreciation for the world God made and created, and I feel like a child rediscovering the majesty of the world again. It certainly takes me a few more moments to find countries and places in regions that I thought I new beforehand!

Claire's Baby Shower

We had a "Safari" baby shower for our friend Claire... She is married to a Kenyan.
Here's some of the goodies from the shower:
fancy table:
"baby" cupcakes:

"baby" biscuits (cookies):
"baby" booties:
and I made a "mother to be" chocolate MUD cake - mmmmm...

We colored pics to iron on baby singlets, and we gave a prize to Claire's favourite- which was Carlene's.

My friend Ariana had just arrived from Canada - but she participated in all the activities...

Like the "spit the dummy" contest - which Sarah won!

My Newest Neice!

I'm so thrilled to announce my newest niece

JESSICA MARINA AMBROS

Born on 24th of Feb - 8lbs 7oz.

How gorgeous is she?

The Aussie Bushfires

Well as most of you know by now, the State I am living in (Victoria) has been ravaged by fires. The drought has only aided in fueling the fires, and with so many racing along it is hard to comprehend the aftermath. They are saying that this is the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
Hundreds of people have lost their homes - More than 750 homes... many have lost their lives.... their loved ones... and animals and burnt out cars are scattered everywhere.


We are fortunate enough to escape the blazes here in Ballarat, but it seems everywhere you go, someone knows someone that's a victim of the fires, or is connected somehow.

I was upset that people with families would choose to stay and try to protect their homes and lands from the blaze, only to be killed from the inferno, but Leigh was telling me that Australians are taught to plug their gutters, and water down their houses -and to stay inside....that you have a better chance of survival in your home than you do in your car trying to outrun the blaze. I guess it is easy to get stuck in a blaze trying to drive out.

There are burnt out cars that attest to this fact - with victims inside.
One of the worst things about this is that there are suspected arsonists that started at least 2 of the 20(some) fires. I can't help but be so angry at them... How stupid.

Here's a story of one woman's escape with her young son: "I thought we were going to die," she told the Australian newspaper, explaining how she ran for her life as her home was engulfed. "The two front rooms were ablaze. I couldn't see. It was black. We went down to the creek and we hid," she said. A shallow puddle proved their salvation, as [she] doused a blanket and awaited their fate. "This little one was so brave under the blanket," she said. "We had a blanket over us in the creek and we huddled with the dog and two neighbours and two lyrebirds. "It was shallow, a summer creek, but there was just enough water, a puddle. We sat in a muddy puddle under a wet blanket and the fire went through us."

The fires continue to blaze on - although they are not as bad as the weather has cooled. Many around the world are incredibly supportive with donations, but it's the loss of friends and family that will be the most difficult to overcome.

This is the Buchanan children. They did not survive.

Please take time to pray today.