Australian breezes

Hmmm... long time, no post. The fine Australian weather has a way of seeping down into your limbs. You kick back, open a beerie, turn on the cricket match and get lazy. Things you know you should do -- posting on your blog, for instance -- just don't seem so pressing....

And suddenly it's been four weeks, and you haven't posted a peep about your adventures. Oops. It's a problem, I guess.

We've had several days of beautiful weather, but the first couple weeks here, all the days fell into two categories: occasionally rainy and very rainy. As a semi-tropical climate near Brisbane, monsoonal rains are a possibility, though it hasn't rained much in recent years. Three years of below-average rains meant severe water restrictions, including bans on washing cars or watering gardens. People have installed rain barrels to save what does fall, and the dam levels are reported nightly on the news.

When we arrived, the reservoirs were below 20%, but some of the rain has gotten over the foothills, and the dams are now nearly 27% full -- giving this part of Australia another 7 months of municipal water supply. The drought has been broken with record flooding in some places -- a mixed blessing for many. But everyone's generally happy to have the rain.

Everyone, I think, except my brother-in-law Tony, who had taken several weeks of January off as a summer vacation. Now, it's true that he's gotten a healthy tan, but many days were spent indoors this past month. We've played some Mah-Jong, watched a good deal of cricket, and consumed lots of beer (responsibly).

Instead of trying to tell you about all our Aussie adventures at once, I'll just try to post more regularly and keep you filled in.

We're doing well, actually losing weight (thanks to the beautiful pool) and both thankful we haven't seen snow in a month. Yeah, it's rough.