I really should blog more....

Alright folks...you know the routine.... Mandy's a slacker and therefore you have one heck of a long blog with lots of pictures...again! I will try and be better at breaking these things up and blogging each time we do something...how's that sound? Well, until then, just sit tight and enjoy the visual feast and stories following.............

Well we should start with my first fishing trip. Sam has been several times with 'the boys', but I wanted to see how well he would do as the hunter of the family... you know, in case we get flooded in and he has to provide all the meat for the family... :)

I should also mention that this was Snoopy's first fishing trip! And whoa buddy! That little thing dad kept throwing out into the water was just too exciting! If he wasn't such a wuss about water he would have chased it each time Sam cast, but lucky for us, he never goes in past his belly! Nevertheless, Snoopy's splashing scared most of the fish away, but we still had a great time laughing at our silly dog!

These were taken just outside of our community where the Waterhouse River and Dook Creek meet (our 2 main water sources). Along with the fishing pictures I have included some of my favorite nature pictures from the fishing trip...because every time we go out, I discover something new and beautiful...enjoy!

Sam's first and only catch of the day! A large catfish! We threw it back because around here the catfish have poison spines on their fins and are way too much of a pain to prepare. So this one was just for the picture books.

So here is Snoopy getting a little excited about Sam's fishing lure...the bank was pretty steep and we just kept waiting for him to face plant it into the water..but he held his ground....

Well...almost...... Whoops! In he goes!!! ha ha ha ha

Second adventure....last minute trip to the Katherine Gorge. Yes, we've been there before, but it is a beautiful and amazing place, so we packed up one day and headed out for the weekend!

Lucky us, our camping trip had a great start! We arrived at the campground to find that they were serving delicious meals poolside and that there was free live entertainment..booya! So we enjoyed camel skewers (camel is actually quite tasty believe it or not) and barramundi while listening to good music and watching Kookaburras swooping around to catch late night bugs! It was a relaxing and fun dinner!

After finishing dinner we headed out to find a campsite and set up our tent (yes, in the dark). We found a good site, made sure we were settled in and fell asleep, eager to start on the next day of hiking, biking, and swimming. Unfortunately for us, despite the green grass everywhere, the ground was about as soft as a stack of bricks...and we hadn't taken very much padding...neither had we brought warm sweaters (because we live in the NT! It never gets cold here! Are you kidding?). So we slept cold and uncomfortable. Well....I did until 1 am..then I crawled into the car, leaned back the seat, pulled my arms into my t-shirt for warmth and left Sam to fend for himself in the tent! Being the wonderful husband he is, Sam brought me the sleeping bag so I could stay warm and went back to the hard ground, wrapping himself up in a picnic blanket to stay warm! Guess we learned our lesson...

Needless to say, we survived the night and woke up early the next morning for a quick hike. We then headed back to camp so Sam could meet with one of his friends, Ryan, for a big biking adventure. I was all too eager to stay behind at the pool with Ryan's wife, Kristy, and their two kids. Not only did I get to hang with Kristy, but other Beswick teachers and a church friend of mine also headed out to the gorge for the day. The result? A great day filled with chips (fries as we Americans call them) and lazing around the pool..... I'd say the weekend was a success!

These were taken on our mid-morning hike to Gorge outlook! It was just as beautiful as ever!

Holy flying foxes Batman!!!! Yes...we have bats here...the fruit eating kind...also known as flying foxes (we are talking VERY large bats people)...and despite popular belief these guys don't sleep in caves, they sleep where ever the heck they want! So watch your head as you are walking around...otherwise you may end up with a permanent present from the bats above (bat poo absolutely never comes out) :) They are everywhere and sure are cool!

Other wildlife around the Gorge...

After Sam's bike ride, Ryan and him joined us at the pool for some fatty fried food and swimming!

Sam, 'Bucko', Ryan, and Jordan(the little one)

Someone brought an underwater camera! Yipee!!!

First vacation of the year!!!

Whoa! Prepare yourselves...there is a whole slew of pictures coming up! But there were just too many good ones to cut them down any further!

Sam and I just finished Term 1 of the school year out here in Beswick, NT! It was an enlightening and fun (and sometimes stressful) first Term. We are learning to love the community and the people here more each day. We are so blessed to have this opportunity and cherish each moment of it.....

of course, that doesn't mean that we don't like to get away once in awhile! :)

To celebrate Easter and the birth of our newest nephew, Dylan, Sam and I travelled back to good ol NSW for a week vacation. It was far too short of a break, but we packed in as much as we could and had a great time!

Holding my new tiny nephew Dylan! What a cutie! And already showing signs of following in his big brother's footsteps as being a 'perfect' child!

And here are the other nephews and niece! Affectionately called Decibal and the Tornado twins (for their ability to turn a clean house into a disaster scene in moments), we enjoyed every moment with these cuties. We were met each day by cries of, "Mandy, watch this....Hey Sam! Watch this" (Who knew they could come up with so many new tricks in the few short months we were gone?)

We spent hours in tears at Hayley's newest game of 'blow raspberries on the window'. These will be good photos to pull out for the first boyfriend! :)

In between raspberries.... she is an angel!

Since we were near the beach and the weather was beautiful, our first stop was out at Lake Wallagoot for a day of sun, boating and waterskiing! Of course I'm not in any of the pictures because I was the camera woman...but I swear I was there!

Toby being a lifeguard on the beach!

Brea and Liam

Dominick with uncle Michael

Hugs for mum... Naomi with Hayley and Dominick

Sam getting some serious air on the wakeboard...

Battle of the brothers...Sam and Michael fighting it out on the bodyboards! I unfortunately missed snapping shots of the wipeouts...but there were some good ones during this battle :)

Me, Cymmon and Debbie out at Tathra beach! I was sick with a cold so I just hung out in the sun with Cymmon and baby Dylan while Sam went surfing

I know it's blurry but it is a good shot of Sam surfing so I had to put it in anyway!

After a great (and short) trip it was time for us to head home! We left Sydney at 9:30 pm and didn't get into Darwin until 1:30 the next morning....yawn! Luckily the kind people who were watching our cute puppy let us crash there for a couple hours before we started on the 4 hour road trip home. Before we left Darwin though we made one last beach stop at Casurina beach. It was incredibly hot (in the week we were gone I forgot how muggy it is up here) so we only stayed long enough for me to chase down some soldier crabs and some hermit crabs!

Soldier crab #1....he's cornered...now what?

Dig like mad!!!!!!

This burial takes only seconds.... they are the masters of hiding!

Soldier crabs running like mad... they must be camera shy....

One cool (and slightly grouchy) hermit crab. He kept trying to pinch the nearest finger

So that is a 'quick' snapshot of our vacation! Now on to Term 2! Wish us luck!!!!!!!

Katherine Gorge

Here are some more pictures of the beautiful area we are living in here in the Northern Territory! This weekend we headed out to the Katherine Gorge to see it in all it's 'wet season' glory. It was breathtaking and colorful! We went late in the afternoon and ended up walking just a short 4.3 km to a lookout where we caught the sunset over the water. We finished up the evening with a delicious dinner at the gorge cafe where we ate burgers and great fish and chips. We will be going back often to try different loops and see more of the beautiful scenery so keep posted!

This sign is warning us not to swim in the gorge this time of the year...there are saltwater crocs about and you don't want to run into one of those! We want a picture of one...but taken from a long...looooooong way away! :)

"The Mountains are Calling and I must Go"... this one's just for you mom! :)

Look close! There is a green parrot in this tree!