Farewell Australia

Farewell to white gum trees graceful and tall

To endless green cane fields stretching o'er all.

Farewell to warm beaches golden with sand

To lush thick rainforests crowning the land.

Farewell to pink sunsets brilliant with hue

To wafting  low clouds banks sailing yon blue.

Farewell to wet torrents drenching the night

To Queensland's bright sunshine, a daily delight.

Farewell to sweet lollies and pavlovas light

To biscuits and cordial and Vegemite.

Farewell to Koalas, Platypuses and Kangaroos

To Crocodiles, Kookaburos and funny Emus.

Farewell to prim school girls all dressed alike

To white-shirted missionaries riding pushbikes.

Farewell to roundabouts, bonnets and boots

To Queenslander houses' historical roots.

Farewell to soft accents, "mem-buhs and mum"

To "sis-tuhs, blokes, al-u- min-i-um"

Farewell to "fair dinkum, chooks and spot on"

To "footpaths and fort nights, lovely Zion"

Farewell to "good on ya, Give it a go,

You right, Luv? Straightaway and right-e-o."

Farewell to "no worries, I haven't a clue,

Hey, digger! Go ragin! Mate! I'll ring you!"

Farewell to the members and new convert's smiles

To love and friendship that span the miles.

Farewell, my Australia, you've been true blue

Farewell, my Australia, my heart stays with you.

Poem by Sister Mavis Steadman

Townsville

We have left Townsville, Australia. We enjoyed our time there. We especially loved getting to know several wonderful people. Thank you for the love and friendship!

Senior Conference

What do you get when you put all the senior full time missionaries (13 companionships) full time live at home senior missionaries (2 couples) service missionaries and a mission president, his wife and his mission presidency and their wives all together in Brisbane Australia? You get three days of being fed spiritually and physically, renewing old friendships and making new ones, touring Brisbane, seeing a play, having some free time and getting our batteries recharged, priceless and fabulous!!!

Townsville

In mid January we left the mission office for Townsville. We drove for three days staying with senior couples in Gladstone and Rockhampton. Townsville is a city of 172,000 on the east coast of Australia, north of Brisbane. It is in the dry tropics region, but believe us it is humid! The Ross River flows through the city. The coastline features beaches, mangrove estuaries, salt pans and coastal swamps. A lot of beautiful flora and fauna and a large number of reptiles and amphibians. There are at least 365 bird species, we are always amazed by the birds and the trees and flowers. We try to avoid seeing snakes, but we have seen a lot of frogs and we have house geckos, who we like because they eat spiders!

Our first Sunday, this is the chapel. The branch is large. Elder Montague is in the District Presidency.

This is our home, we have three bedrooms and a study room, it is lovely and we are very comfortable. It is well air conditioned, which we are soooooo thankful for.

Dining area

Another view, study room is to the left. The start of the kitchen can be seen along with the living room which is called the lounge.

Our subdivision is called Mount Louisa. This hill is Mount Louisa as seen from Castle Hill. We live at the base of this hill.

From Castle Hill, but toward the water, the sandy area is Pallerenda Beach. It looks beautiful but you have to be brave to swim there. Stingers (jelly fish) sharks and even crocodiles swim here. There are a couple of netted areas where people get in the water.

We did venture onto the beach for some beach art. To celebrate our anniversary we also had a gelato!

 

These colourful birds are lorikeets, love the birds here

And the trees!

This is sugar cane country, miles and miles of sugar cane. The harvest starts in June.

We went to a koala sanctuary here named Bilabong with Elder and Sister Mizukawa who were in Townsville before us. They are now in Brisbane. Townsville has a reputation for senior missionaries with last names starting with M, In recent history it has been the Matthews, Miles, Millers, Mizukawas and now the Montagues. We are doing MLS work, visiting and teaching less actives and what ever needs to be done. Lately we have had speaking assignments. There are four branches in the area and we have been attending branch conferences.

At the Bilabong they had a feeding of the crocodiles, never smile at a crocodile!

Aboriginal art, beautiful and fascinating 

Elder Montague with Elder Luki and Elder Kioa, our zone leaders who are stationed in Cairns (about five hour drive to the north) we love these men.

Sunset from Castle Hill, crepuscular rays. Australia has beautiful sunsets and gorgeous clouds!

Brisbane Christmas 2014

Christmas in the mission was a time of joy, tired feet, a lot of mail for the missionaries, laughter, pavlova, some old traditions, new experiences, heat and sun, Christmas fruit cake, gatherings, friends, sharing the gospel, gifts, using our talents, mince pies, christmas parade with live camels, goats, a donkey and reindeer, sand and surf, gifts from home, our Christmas newsletter, Skypeing family, "He is the Gift cards", some shopping, Aussie jingle bells, our gingerbread outback shack and best of all the reason for the season, celebrating His birth, His life and His love for us!