Ben + Fennel = Bennel

Fun Making Gow Gee

Flowers and Admirals and Rugby, Oh My

These flowers have managed to survive the drought, and, more amazingly, are growing underneath the house! Australian flora and fauna never cease to amaze me.




Graham took Ben and I to an Australian American Association meeting, where we got to meet some members of the American Navy. This photo is of the Rear Admiral. I won the Australian flag bag I'm holding in the raffle.



State of Origin
Last night was the second of three "State of Origin" games of Rugby League. The teams consist of Queensland (the state in which Brisbane is located) and New South Wales (the state in which Sydney is located) players. The rivalry is not unlike that of the OSU v UO Civil War game. Underdog Queensland won the first game a few weeks ago, at a stadium in Brisbane. Last night's game was in Sydney. Although Queensland had not won a game on New South Wales turf in many years, they beat the odds, winning the series! The third game will still be played, but only for bragging rights or to save face, depending on which team wins. GO QUEENSLAND!

Tassie Devils

Did you know a Tasmanian devil can consume up to 40% of its body weight in one feeding? In other news, I introduced Ben and Graham (Ben's dad) to homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I think we consumed 40% of our body weight in dough. Next week: corn dogs.

Ole!

Probably the most exiting thing to happen this month. Maybe ever. A familiar shape in tofu. Important note: this was a natural occurance, human hands did not shape it.



Ben and the microscope he built. I think he did a great job.


This is a possum we saw while at the Staff Club, which is one of the bars on campus. Everyone goes there on Friday afternoons, after a long week at uni. It is not advisable to take possums home; although cute, they are stinky.


Miraculously, it has been raining here! It hasn't stopped for two days, there is even talk that the drought is over. This is Ben getting ready to ride in the rain.


Our attack bird checking up on his kingdom.


Garden update:




These are photos of Ben's office, where we have spent most of the last three weeks. Ben's supervisor was overseas, so I got to use his office! It is so much better than the library, which is located in the Arctic Circle, not Brisbane. Polar bears actually spend summers in the UQ library, but migrate south when it gets too cold for them. Luckily, I am almost done with exams and papers; winter break starts in a couple weeks. Unfortunately, Ben is not so lucky to get a winter break.

Don't Swim in the Brisbane River

"This is the bull shark. It grows up to three and a half metres in length. It’s one of the most dangerous sharks in the world; not only is it highly aggressive, it also lives where we least expect it." (Source: abc website) "Despite their apparent docility, they are capable of surprising bursts of speed, and can be highly aggressive, even attacking a racehorse in the Brisbane River. Bull sharks are among the four species considered the most dangerous to humans... [and] might be responsible for the Matawan Creek attacks of 1916 that were originally attributed to a great white, and which inspired the movie Jaws." (Wikipedia)



As if a giant spider in the back yard wasn't enough. Approximately 500 of these sharks live in the Brisbane River! They acclimate to fresh water.

North Straddie

Last weekend was spent on North Strakbroke Island. It is a beautiful place, the future location of one of my vaca houses once I win the lottery. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend after an especially difficult week at school. If you would like to know which aquatic wildlife we saw there, read this list: a whale, a school of dolphins, a sea turtle and a huge manta ray. We also saw a magical, floating, pink flower.