I woke up nice and late today, to the sound of a lawn mower. It was Matt, in Carmel's words, "trying no to be too much of a guest," doing something to earn his keep around the house. I am somewhat less inhibited, and so took my time coming down the stairs.

Bucket O' Beef

Mowing the Lawn

Young James had the day off from school, so we took advantage of the beautiful, blue sky morning to go for a walk. Carmel, James, Matt, and myself walked up the street to a Koala reserve. Carmel said she hasn't been through there without seeing at least four or five koalas. I had my doubts, given my current Aussie-wildlife-spotting-record, but we gave it a go. We walked along the winding dirt path with gum trees and paper bark trees thick on either side, our heads looking up to the treetops for signs of koalas the whole time. We would pause here and there listening for clues, and walk off the trail every now and then to get a different perspective, but there was not a single koala to be seen today. Apart from some termite nests, a massive open beehive, and a koala shaped lump, there was nothing but trees, grass, and ferns on the koala walk. After the dissappointment, Carmel made us some homemade chocolate rum rasin ice cream with the juicer machine. It was pretty good!

Looking For Koalas	No Koalas Here...	Koala Walk	No Koalas Over There Either...
Running up a Tree	Mud Flats	Termite Nests	Koala Shaped Lump
Bee Hive	Homemade Ice Cream

Peter and Matt took the catamaran down to the end of the street where the boat ramp is. Actually, they just lifted the wooden fence out of the ground, and backed the boat through the trees and onto the beach! After 15 minutes or so of rigging up the mast and lines, the were off, sailing around the harbor and nearby island (whose name is difficult to spell). Some old Italian blokes were nearby fishing for bait with a dragnet. For a moment, I wasn't sure if I was facing the Pacific ocean, or the Mediterranean. Then, six or seven pelicans soared past, only inches above the water, without flaping their wings.

Out the Driveway	Backing it Through the Trees	Into the Water	Fishermen
James' Crab	Riging it Up	Pelicans	Sailing
Still Sailing	Carmel Watches From the Shore

When they got back from sailing around the island, we were off to a barbie at Jenny and Simon's house. (Jenny is another one of Marnie's sisters.) It was really funny because by now, there are more people reading this journal then I ever imagined would, including most of the family we saw today! They've already seen all the pictures of the road trip, and quote my words as one liners now, all in good fun. For example, Peter keeps refering to tea time as "five tea-free minutes," putting me back at the proper end of all the jokes! heh.. I just have to laugh, because we couldn't tell them about all the funny things that happened on our trip, or explain what it was like traveling with two young couples, because they've already seen the pictures, and have begun printing them out!

Simon and Jenny have several acres of trees, hills, and a creek, with chickens and everything. Their backyard is like "Calvin and Hobbes'" backyard - a great place for kids to play and explore. They told me that just the other day, they saw some koalas right in the very trees by the edge of the veranda. Jenny took a torch (flashlight) with her, and showed me all the possums there now, after dark. A pair of them just sat and posed as I took pictures, their eyes glowing bright yellow in the flash.

Matt's Column Shifter Van	Simon at the Barbie	Possum in Their Tree	Two Possums
Simon, Jenny, and Andrew Singing Songs

Josh took me home in his new VW bug, which is so loud, heh, he actually turns off the engine while he's at leat three blocks away from his house so as not to wake his parents. We coasted through the turn, up the hill, and down the street on nothing but momentum, rolling up the grass to a stop by the side of the house. It is pretty funny to see, but we had to keep our amusement muffled, which is funny in itself, because the car isn't!