Breaks and Beauty

Whoa, whoa....before you freak out...I mean breaks as in the kind we take after a school semester is out (not the kind with pain and doctors and the like)....like vacations, but we're not going anywhere....

So..... you know a little while back when I promised to try and update the blog more frequently so you wouldn't have to look at gobs of pictures all at once...well.... apparently I lied. Ooppps! But I had all the best intentions! Does that count? Anyway, here's what we've been up to since my last post 8 weeks ago (gosh what a slacker I am!)

After a rough but fulfilling first semester at school Sam and I got a 4 week break!!! yay! Up here in the NT, we have 2 semesters, each split by a 4 week break...no long summer breaks like the good ol U S of A, but long enough to take a nice breather. We are saving up to come home with little girl in December (finger crossed, fingers crossed) so we decided to hang here in Beswick while all the other teachers went off to exotic locations like India, Vietnam, and Melbourne :)

During the break Sam received his iPad which kept him busy for days and days, we rearranged the furniture to make room for the nursery and did all the normal things people do when they don't have anything pressing to accomplish...like sleeping in til 10, staying in our pjs all day, occasionally going on bike rides and fishing trips...basically taking it easy. Sam's parents did come out for the last week of vacation which was nice since it forced us to actually drag ourselves out of bed and get showered first thing......oh! and of course it was really nice to have them around since we hadn't seen them in ages! :)

No, but honestly, we really did have a great time while Mark and Debbie were here! Although they were only here for a week, we managed to get in a lot of fun things including camping and fishing at the Beswick Falls, camping at Katherine Gorge, and lounging by the waterfront in Darwin! Here are some pics from their stay....

At the Beswick Arts Centre to check out some local Aboriginal art...

Ha ha ha ha...

Sorry.... I am already laughing at the following pictures! The very first thing we did with Mark and Debbie was take them to Dook Creek (one of the 2 rivers feeding into the community and the one that floods us in most of the time during the wet season...). While there we started throwing sticks in the water and lo and behold! Our dog...who has never gone in water past his belly...jumped in after one! The ensuing swimming lesson had us all in tears! Snoopy insisted on trying to keep his back legs on the bottom of the river, while paddling with his front legs splashing above his head.... quite amusing since this motion 1) did not provide much forward motion and 2) kept pushing the stick further away from him. He started getting the concept at the end but we still have a loooooong way to go with this! Wish you could see it! I have not laughed that hard in ages..... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Whew....(wipes away more tears). I've gotta post the video of this sometime...stay tuned... I'll try and load it soon...

The initial leap in...whoops! There goes his head under....ha ha ha ha

Ha ha ha ha....oh man!

Moving on.... :) Stop number 2.... Beswick Falls!!! This is a gorgeous place! Beautiful fine sand beaches next to gorgeous rock structures and filled with all the blessings of bush wildlife (we saw a white eagle, and several freshwater crocodiles...plus evidence of buffalo and wild donkeys). We were also blessed to have one of Sam's students, Dennis, accompany us to show us the best fishing spots. I actually got some back pictures of Dennis, and since his face isn't showing I can post them up here for you to see. Sam and him had a great time bonding and we enjoyed having his bright smile and great personality for the trip! Sorry about the tons of photos...there were just too many great ones for me to cut them down any further! Enjoy!

PS. Slight sidetrack... when we get there everyone gets ready to go for a swim and start towards the main part of the falls

Sam "Hey Dennis! Can you swim here?" (noting that there are freshwater crocs in this area)

Dennis "Yeah"

Debbie "Alright Dennis....jump in"

Dennis "I'M not going in!"

Wisdom noted! Although people do swim at the falls there are heaps of freshwater crocs (freshies). They are small, non-agresive and don't usually attack people (unlike their saltwater counterparts)...but better safe than sorry I think...... we chose to swim upstream, away from the falls, where it is too shallow for crocs! (We have a video of some freshies which I will try and get up a bit later)

I love this picture! Me and my perfect other half relaxing by the water! It was so great getting to spend so much time together without the worries of work and deadlines. (And notice the bulging belly! Little girl is growing!)

How beautiful is this moment? The coming together of 2 cultures... I love it!

A 180 view of the falls from the top

Somebody left a rope hanging out at the falls and Sam and Dennis had a blast swinging from it... I am determined to try it out next time we go.....

Here's Debbie and Sam showing off their fresh caught Barramundi. We gave one to Dennis and his family and kept the other one...which we grilled up when we got home for a spectacular meal...yum yum!

We didn't get any pictures of the gorge or the beachfront in Darwin...but needless to say...we had a great time lounging by the pool, watching the sunset over the gorge and then just shopping in the surf shops and lounging in the beautiful 'winter' Darwin weather. (Yes...it is winter here...which means it's about the same temp as summer back in CO! It's beautiful and we love it!)

Thanks Mark and Debbie for a great time!

And before I go... Sam has been busy constructing a little motorbike track out by Dook Creek! Gives him a good release when he gets stressed from work and is a ton of fun! Here's some photos of him riding his tiny little bike around the track!

Ta for now! I will be posting more blogs soon (hopefully) with video from the break...as well as all my crafty projects I've been doing! (Yes! I am nesting! Nesting produces some amazing creativity! I am having a blast!)