term 3 begins

In my head, I post here weekly. In actuality, it appears to be monthly. Maybe, if I actually posted more frequently, I would bore you with my drivel. Ah well, here's to a dose of your favourite monthly Newluks drivel.

Our updates are of the common garden variety, whereby you find us beginning new jobs (me and Mountain Dad) and returning to school after a two week holiday (Mountain kids). We're figuring out commutes and school drop off, names of new colleagues and where on earth we stashed the lunch boxes over the break. It feels amazing to be wrangling with such ordinary issues. Especially with the dark cloud of corona spikes looming on our Australian horizon.

We spent our school holidays road-tripping across the state (no trips to Victoria or Sydney, I assure you) visiting family and old friends. Highlights included cycling around Canberra and visiting the glut of free and incredible cultural institutions round that neat city. And taking a tour of the Parliament House which had the kids all a-twitter at marvelling that the prime minister may actually be in the building at the very same time as us. Other highlights included heading back out to the family farm, Moonbah, and seeing just how very different the land is, now that the drought has broken. There is clover cover so thick, you can't see any soil. The sheep that, in January, were living sadly in small drought paddocks where they were daily fed by hand, are now spread across the property and lambing in abundance. It's hard to fathom what a different property it is now. Another highlight out there was Mountain Dad tapping once again into his inner-hunter and shooting, gutting and butchering a kangaroo. Well, my Uncle Ian shot the roo, but Mountain Dad did most of the rest. He was so proud of his achievement and our freezer is now full of roo meat. My Uncle was a bemused support of Shea's quirky idea. It is hard to say no to Shea, who continues to bang on about how he cannot believe that in Ian's fifty-plus years on Moonbah, he's never harvested roo for his own eating pleasure.

We're now back at the grindstone. I've started my new job which is extremely similar to my teaching role in the Yukon, only this school is a private independent one; Newcastle Grammar School. I'm slowly getting my head around all the new acronyms and systems. I'm loving the fact that it is only a four day a week job.
Mountain Dad has regular work; two days a week working with a team to facilitate a college outdoor recreation program. He spent today navigating his way with his group through a rainforest. As you can imagine, his orienteering skills are exceptional, so he is holding his own as a teacher of the program. As you can imagine, he knows more about the local flora and fauna than any of his Australian counterparts.
The Mountain Kids are reluctantly back to school, probably looking forward to another lockdown. The soccer season has begun; Shea is Lachlan's coach as well as playing on his own men's team. Adelaide is signed up for Brownies and Theatre School. It's full steam ahead in this household.
For the time being at least.

A favourite past time. The swinging chair she reclines in, by the way, is one I've been coveting for a while. Mountain Dad searched high and low for one for my birthday, but was daunted by the price. This one, you'll be pleased to learn, was salvaged from a pile of rubbish on the kerb, three houses down from ours. Cushions and all. He is so proud...

Sunday hike at Seal Rocks. We saw heaps of whales and dolphins from the cliff walk. 

Pretending we're a rad surfer family. We are neither surfers, nor rad. 

But we sure can strike a pose. 

School holiday trip to our nation capital, and some quality cousin time. 

Shea a-goggle at the $460 million Jackson Pollack. He's still banging on about his brush with wealth. 

Parliament house.

Free fooz ball in downtown Canberra, Mountain Dad was in ecstasy.

The big merino, which warranted a picture, of course. And the deep red earth of Moonbah. 

Between Canberra and Moonbah, we stopped off in Wollongong to visit an old friend of mine. She and her husband own Lupa, an amazing wood fired pizzeria in the Gong. Do yourself a favour and call by if you're in the neighbourhood. I recommend the ricotta and rocket pizza.

Moonbah wheat crop. 

Grinding the roo for mince meat. 

Roo foot. 

Moonbah's mailbox. Looking down the lane that leads to the entrance of the property. 

Moving the 'twin-ers,' the ewe's pregnant with twins, to a smaller paddock. 

We got to cheer on my Aunt and Uncle at the Condobolin sheep dog trials. 

During the road trip we stopped off for a hike at The Drip, a beautiful gorge of overhanging sandstone rock. 

Huge eucalyptus in Condobolin. 

Old time hotel in Dubbo where we stayed for a night. "It's got character," enthused Mountain Dad, "it's not just a road side motel." And all that character delivered in colourful style; the leaking toilet, the music from the bar downstairs, the smell of cigarette smoke that permeated our clothes...

I love character.