Engaged in The Outback

We celebrated Marg's birthday this past weekend by heading towards The Outback and staying on The Taabinga Homestead with Howard, Marg, Marg's sister, Lorraine, and her husband, Dietmar.

Originally, The Taabinga Homestead comprised 305 square miles of rural country. When it was first established in 1846, the homestead was mainly used as a sheep station. After a dozen or so years, they realized that the thorny grasses and the wild dingoes didn't make it a prime sheep raising area. So, they switched to raising cattle, and for over 100 years The Taabinga Homestead has not only been continually occupied by the same family, but also has continued the tradition of being a working cattle property.

Today, when visitors first enter the 2,000 acre Taabinga Homestead, they are greeted at the main house by the current owners, Colin and Libby.

After checking in, we were directed down the lane to Jack's Cottage, one of the Homestead's many surviving outbuildings that ooze history from every corner.



Jack's Cottage was built in 1909, and is said to have been used as The Men's Quarters. It has been beautifully maintained and/or restored. Stepping into Jack's Cottage, we felt as though we had stepped back in time. In the center of the house is a country kitchen with a large boxwood stove surrounded by an even larger stone fireplace. On one side of the kitchen is the lounge room, and on the other side are three cozy bedrooms and a bathroom. There are two verandas, each running the length of the front and back of the house. From every room there are two doors that exit onto the verandas, and from every window there is a superior view.















On Friday night, we sat on the front veranda and shared a Tapas Platter and BBQ ed Pizza. And there may have been some bubbly and beer shared, as well!



We woke up Saturday morning to the birds chirping and drank coffee on the back veranda while dozens of kangaroos and one very cute cotton tail rabbit hopped around.



For lunch, we decided to drive further into the bush and have lunch at a winery called Dusty Hill. It was on this day that Ryan and I learned the word "Bushwhacked", and we also learned that when you're traveling in rural outback Australia...DON'T trust your GPS.

We ended up seeing much more of the country than we had anticipated. Once we started driving off road and opening our own cattle gates, I knew we must not be going in the right direction. But, we pressed on....trusting the GPS. Once the 'road' got impassable without either a 4X4 or dirt bikes, we decided to turn around and call the winery for better directions. Wouldn't you know, we had passed the winery about 40 minutes earlier, before going 4-wheel driving in the Subaru. But, if you must know.... the Subaru did fantastic off road!





Once at Dusty Hill, we had an amazing lunch. Keeping with the theme of the day, we all ordered steaks, and they were delicious. There was some debate over whether we thought they were amazing because we were two hours late for our reservation and quite hungry or whether we would have thought that they were delicious anyways. My vote was that they would have been delicious anyways.











After our late lunch, we returned to Jack's Cottage and strolled around the property taking in all the beauty.


















Sunday morning, we again woke to the chorus of birds. Colin, the owner of the Homestead, gave us a tour of the main house, which we greatly appreciated. After that, we roamed the paddocks and pastures. My favorite area was where a field of purple wildflowers met with a rustic corral behind which were two extremely social horses who ran to greet me as I walked through the pasture. I could have stayed there forever!









But, it was time to say our goodbyes. And this is where it happened... As we were standing on the front veranda of Jack's Cottage saying goodbye to everyone, Ryan looked at me and told me that he had something to ask me. I thought he was going to simply ask me something. But, then he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and proposed. I, of course, said yes and have not been able to wipe the smile off of my face since.





Our weekend at the Taabinga Homestead was already a special holiday, but having Ryan propose to me on the front porch of a century old building surrounded by 1000s of acres of wild country made our stay at the Homestead magical!!

**To see more photos click on the title "Engaged in The Outback"

Homesick Blues

I don't understand it. I haven't been homesick once since moving here. Instead, I have happily and effectively adjusted to my new life abroad. Don't misunderstand me. If it weren't for Skype, Email, IM and Facebook, I'm sure I would have had bouts of homesickness by now. But, I haven't... that is until the day I took my sister to the airport.

My older sister, Dayna, spent three weeks with us. We had a great time showing her around our corner of Oz. We spent most of the time in or around Brisbane, but the last four days of her trip were spent at a friend's beach house north of us on The Sunshine Coast.

Sunrise at Marcoola

Seeing the Sunrise over the Pacific on the East Coast of Australia


Sisters enjoying the beach at Marcoola

With the exception of two days, we were on the go the ENTIRE time. You name it, we did it! I can't say that Dayna and I were the most adventurous kids. Anyone who knows our mom, will understand why. She was/is a little overprotective (Love you, Mom) For this reason, I think we are both more cautious than we'd like to be. During Dayna's trip, we threw caution to the wind. Hell! You only live once right?

We zip-lined through a ropes course on Tamborine Mountain






We rock climbed at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs












We hiked in the Rainforest at Mt. Glorious






...and the coastal track at Noosa National Park






We kayaked in the Boondall Wetlands


We rode our bikes for miles and miles through neighborhoods and along the coast at Redcliffe






We took a 12 mile cruise up the Brisbane River on the Miramar II to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary






We pet some wallabies




We got a little more comfortable with the giant Aussie lizards






We ate a Bindi Burger at the Australia Zoo




Where we saw heaps of crocodiles and other animals native to Australia








We pet a Koala and some more wallabies






And we watched as a koala, who had been hit by a car, had surgery on his broken jaw at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.




During her trip, we seemed to gravitate towards places with superior views (which in Oz, is not difficult to do)






And we had delicious lunches and superb coffees.








All in all, we had a fabulous time. When the time came for her to leave, it was a little surreal. She and I had been looking forward to her trip since before I moved here, and now it was coming to an end. I reluctantly dropped her off at the airport and solemnly drove home. I felt a bit sad on the drive home, but it wasn't until I walked through the door and saw Ryan that I began to cry. Poor Ryan had to wring out his shirt when I was done. I've lived here for almost 10 months, and until that moment I hadn't felt heartsick for home. Thankfully, Ryan is taking a 3 1/2 week holiday from work next month, and we are headed home for a visit. Based on my reaction to my sister leaving, this trip home couldn't have come at a better time.