I woke up bright and early. I think its probably like 5 or 6am here, but to me it feels like 10 in the morning. Since that's the time i usually get up at home, i'd say my transition is complete!

Across the landing from our flat is a large lounge type room with 3 walls worth of continuous windows facing Moreton Bay. Seeing sailboats moored offshore beyond the palm trees and tiled roofs of houses in the foregroud makes me think i'm in the Carribean again. The green and orange lorikeets flying past the window complete the picture. I've almost got that "there's nothing at all planned for the rest of the day so why not just relax and absorb the view" kind of feeling setting in, were it not for the field service group about to meet in an hour or so.

I found out why the Hazaels hate their cat. I couldn't figure it out. My sister has two cats, and my mom would kill for a cat. But behind the cute kitteniness and aloof sit-on-the-windowsill-and-stare attidute of some cats is pure evil waiting to leave its scent on your leg and draw blood from your foot if you don't approve. The word "toxoplasmosis" came to mind. Sorry cat, this room is now mine.

The View	The View	The View	The View
Swinging

Field service was pretty much like in the states. People are just as apathetic, but slightly more polite. Oh, and everyone walks on the grass to get to the next door. Aparently so does the mailman ("the postie") because all their mailboxes were halfway up their driveways. I had some nice conversations with some a few, but didn't place anything. Josh reckons they were trying to place my accent, since most of the world stereotypes Americans as deep south cowboys!

After service, instead of meeting up at the 7-11, we had a cuppa in the park overlooking Morteon Bay. They drink so much tea here that they carry around these picnic-type- lunch-boxes complete with thermos, teacups, bikkies, and assortments of teas, just in case they find 5 consecutive tea-free minutes to fill with tea. But dont ever ask for a napkin, because they'll just laugh at you and ask if you've soiled yourself. (a "napkin" is a baby's diaper)

Ready for Service	Marnie Walks into the Shot	Sittin on the Curb	A Cuppa in the Park
Service Stories	Picnicing by the water	Footpath by Moreton Bay

Later that arvo, Marnie, Ness, Ness' new fiance Joel, Josh, Josh's younger brother James, Matt and myself went for a walk down the shore to "The Point." They say dolphins swim past there every morning. But we only saw magpies and ibis. On the way back, James accidentally knocked over a bus stop sign, and looked quite embarassed trying to put it back. Instead of helping, I laughed and took a picture.

Goin' for a Walk	Matt's Way of Doing Things	The Bridge Ness Didn't Fall off of	Rusty Winch
Danger, Soft Mud	Knobby Tree	The Magpie that Didn't Swoop Me	Huge 00g Steak
Nudies	Chasing Ibis	Victoria Point	M&M
Gazebo	Trust	More Trust	In a Tree
How Not to Hail a Bus	The Walk Home	Low Tide	Breather on a Bench
Chicken Fight Champion

The Gosdens (Marnie's parents) came over for tea (dinner). There were about fifteen at the table, and later about fifteen more showed up. Getting the extra chairs from the back yard we were warned to check them for "redbacks." But, I haven't seen anything poisonous yet.

The Plate	The Girl from Longreach	Nanna and Poppa	Listening
Tuning the Glasses	Peter in a Bottle	Percy Telling a Story	Giving it to Matt
Taking It	Rosmary	Eskie full of Fish	Dave's Tailor
Anita, Steph, Zoe, and Jenny	Andrew and Matt