Having Lori on board has opened a few doors. For example, we spent a wonderful afternoon at Roo Gully, which is a working wildlife sanctuary and education center that specialises in the care of injured, sick and orphaned marsupials. I have included a picture of me with a young kangaroo. Normally, you cannot get close to a kangeroo in the wild, but these kangaroos are domesticated because of the great care that they have received at the sanctuary. We also got a chance to take a night-time guided tour in the Dryandra National Forest, where the tour guides use special handheld spotlights that use a light range that is not visible to the animals. We were able to see a number of types of small endangered marsupials.
We have had some great opportunities to see many types of agricultural facilities on farms, in labs, and on feedlots. Kojonup is the first Shire in Australia that had more than 1 million sheep. I think they are down to 800 now, though.
We made a presentation to 85 Rotarians and guests last night and it went very well. Our presentation was 30 minutes long, and we should keep it to 20-25 minutes. But, this audience did not mind the extra length. They were especially interested in gun control issues, and Scott did a great job explaining this issue. I think they were skeptical of US policies on gun control at first, but they were much more comfortable with the US approach once Scott had answered all questions.
Earlier in the day, Scott, Shannon and I were featured on a 10-minute radio interview with the a regional station on Australia's version of NPR. On the previous night, we were the guests of honor at a BBQ at the farm of Tim and Wendy Trethowan. As we were winding down the event, a large blue commet streaked across the middle of the sky. It had a long aqua tail. Pretty impressive.
The BBQs in Western Australia are a little different than ours. When we think of BBQ, we think of vinegar-based, mustard-based or tomato-based pork. They grill a variety of meets, especially sheep meets. They taste a lot better than the meet we get at home.
At the BBQ, Grant and I also got to play doubles tennis, and it was great excercise. Grant and I were each matched with one of the Kojonup Rotarians. They were much more polished than we were. And, we had a great time.
The weather here is interesting. In this region, they get about one third of the rain that we do each year, and this year is drier than normal. Only about 12 inches in some parts of this region. Almost all of their rain comes in their winter (our summer). Daytime high temps have ranged between 85 and 95 while we have been here, but the lack of humidity makes a big difference. Night time temps can drop into the 40s with a breeze from the Southern Ocean.
We are on our way to Albany, which is a small town on the Southern Ocean. So, we have many more adventures ahead of us.
One other note, we really owe a special thanks to Joyce and Barry Walsh, who were the host family for Lindsey and the coordinator for our Kojonup visit. Joyce, who is Dutch, runs Barry's dentist's office. Barry is an Irishman with a big laugh. They took great care of Lindsey, who is now operating at full steam.
-- Garry
We have had some great opportunities to see many types of agricultural facilities on farms, in labs, and on feedlots. Kojonup is the first Shire in Australia that had more than 1 million sheep. I think they are down to 800 now, though.
We made a presentation to 85 Rotarians and guests last night and it went very well. Our presentation was 30 minutes long, and we should keep it to 20-25 minutes. But, this audience did not mind the extra length. They were especially interested in gun control issues, and Scott did a great job explaining this issue. I think they were skeptical of US policies on gun control at first, but they were much more comfortable with the US approach once Scott had answered all questions.
Earlier in the day, Scott, Shannon and I were featured on a 10-minute radio interview with the a regional station on Australia's version of NPR. On the previous night, we were the guests of honor at a BBQ at the farm of Tim and Wendy Trethowan. As we were winding down the event, a large blue commet streaked across the middle of the sky. It had a long aqua tail. Pretty impressive.
The BBQs in Western Australia are a little different than ours. When we think of BBQ, we think of vinegar-based, mustard-based or tomato-based pork. They grill a variety of meets, especially sheep meets. They taste a lot better than the meet we get at home.
At the BBQ, Grant and I also got to play doubles tennis, and it was great excercise. Grant and I were each matched with one of the Kojonup Rotarians. They were much more polished than we were. And, we had a great time.
The weather here is interesting. In this region, they get about one third of the rain that we do each year, and this year is drier than normal. Only about 12 inches in some parts of this region. Almost all of their rain comes in their winter (our summer). Daytime high temps have ranged between 85 and 95 while we have been here, but the lack of humidity makes a big difference. Night time temps can drop into the 40s with a breeze from the Southern Ocean.
We are on our way to Albany, which is a small town on the Southern Ocean. So, we have many more adventures ahead of us.
One other note, we really owe a special thanks to Joyce and Barry Walsh, who were the host family for Lindsey and the coordinator for our Kojonup visit. Joyce, who is Dutch, runs Barry's dentist's office. Barry is an Irishman with a big laugh. They took great care of Lindsey, who is now operating at full steam.
-- Garry
1 comment:
It was a pleasure to have the team in Kojonup, I'm just sorry to see you go now that Lindsey is fun finally!!!!
Enjoy your trip, stay healthy and all the best,
Joyce Kruijswijk-Walsh
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