Queensland Black Gold

On Tuesday 1 May I had a really neat experience that was uniquely Australian. A friend and former colleague of mine, Brendan Croucher (right), invited me to fly to Central Queensland to speak to a mining company's leadership team about how we lead large-scale projects at Boeing. Brendan works with them in the organisational development area. We lifted off at 5:50 AM from Brisbane in a small QantasLink Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft filled almost entirely with people working coal strip mines near Moura, Queensland.

One could tell that these are the guys making the Big Money with resources from what Donald Horne called "The Lucky Country" in his famous 1964 book. While there is some debate if he was serious when he coined Australia the "lucky" country, today many people agree that he was serious and that it now refers to the many blessings Australia has to offer, not the least of which is the plentiful supply of minerals. As an example, Australia boasts huge resources of coal and natural gas. Interestingly 98% of the worlds opals come from Australia.

After 70 minutes of flying into the centre of Queensland, we landed at the Biloela airport, one of the smallest commercial airports I have seen. We drove 45 minutes to the mine site, traveling through country that reminds me of our family's cattle ranch in southeastern Montana. Rolling hills, grassy flatlands, clear blue sky and lots of cattle. The weather was about 80 degrees. Once arriving at the mining site, I soon appreciated that everything is big in mining. Very big. The size of the machinery they use is incredible. I received my mandatory safety briefing, "flouro" safety vest, and was off to meet the Anglo Amercian Coal Company leadership team. I met for 3 hours with 10 of their leaders, including their General Manager David O'Rourke. It was interesting how different their industry was, but how their problems were very similar. We spoke quite some time about program metrics, and how we can define them to be true performance indicators. I showed them some neat videos of the products we produce at Boeing. They were a great group of people, and I am confident they will continue to improve the culture at this mine site. After a hearty lunch, Brendan and I were treated to a tour by a young, red-headed female mining engineer named Verity, who truly loved mining and the Queensland outback way of life. We saw drag lines, mining shovels, mining trucks, and the conveyor belt that was part of a one billion dollar upgrade program. Its one of those things you have to see to believe- the size of the machinery and escavation is breathtaking. Another part of their upgrade was a wash plant where they can wash the coal to various grades, depending on the user requirements. Most of the coal in Australia goes to Asia, and from this site to Japan. Between Japan and China, they have an almost insatiable appetite for Australian black gold. After the tour Brendan and I drove back to the airport to fly home. While waiting for the plane to arrive, we laughed at the white truck with lights on top that drove up and down the small runway to chase off any cattle that might obstruct landing. The temperature had dropped to a comfortable 75 degrees. Our flight was 30 minutes late, but turned around quickly to allow us to leave 10 minutes late. On the flight I noticed many of the same people who had been on the morning flight. Many of these people commute from Brisbane. They live a different way of life. As I have learned, in the Australian mining industry money is no object. It was a great day, and I was thankful to be able to help motivate the mining team and see the incredible work they do.

Marc

Biloela Airport At Dusk - Thirty Of Us Wait For QantasLink 2399 To Arrive

A Drag Line Moves Earth Away From A Coal Vein

Giant Shovels & Trucks Remove The Coal


A Giant Mining Machine

What we will miss most about Australia

Mom had the great idea of interviewing everyone in our family to find out what we'll miss most about Australia when we return home. So, here it goes!

What We Will Miss Most About Australia:

Marina:

1. Grzesiaks (a family we met through Boeing who attends our church; Lukie Grzesiak is about her age, and they are close friends)
2. Replay (a place where one can play action games at the mall and redeem tickets for cheap prizes)
   
   

Madeline:

1. Sarah Grzesiak
2. Replay - surprise, surprise :-)
3. New Zealand (we had a fantastic trip there in the beginning of 2006)
4. Beaches
5. Hot weather, or, as she put it, "the sun"
6. CityCat, a public ferry that stops at different locations along the Brisbane river

Meagan:

1. Beaches
2. Grzesiaks
3. Our Queenslander home, including the backyard hot tub & pool
4. Unique, tropical flora and fauna
5. Dreamworld (an amusement park we've only been to twice)
6. CityCat
   
   
   

Me (Michelle):

1. Beaches
2. Family trips
3. Grzesiaks
4. New Zealand

Mom:

1. Tropical climate
2. Laid-back lifestyle
3. Walks to Racecourse Road with my dad (they desert us girls for this ritual at night at least once a week) :-( No, we really don't mind; it's great that they have a chance to get away
4. Weekly trips to the grocery stores (here, the shopping is more European in that you go to one store for meat, another for produce, another for bakery items, etc. . . but many of the stores are right next to each other, so it's not too difficult)
5. The fabulous people she's met, many who have lived abroad
6. A wide variety of fresh produce
7. Getting by with only one car - we can do this because my dad takes public transport to work . . . very environmentally friendly, at least compared to Al Gore's private jet! :-)
8. All the great beaches within an hour's drive away

Dad:

1. Tropical climate
2. Short commute to work (it only takes my dad about 15 minutes on a bus to get to work, compared with 45 minutes or more in America)
3. People he works with (I think this corresponds with #5)
4. Fun family trips
5. Easy-going lifestyle (Australians are not so rushed as Americans)
6. Walks to Racecourse Road with my mom
   

So, some other time, I will post about what things we are most excited to go back to. I hope this gives you all a good representation of what our life is like here, especially when combined with my next one!

~Michelle

An Exotic Ethiopian Evening

Ramsis and Cecilia hosted an outstanding dinner last night, introducing us to the exotic and delicious cuisine of Ethiopia. The tables were set with brightly-colored African cloths as the scent of incense burners wafted through the air. Clear skies and balmy temps added to the perfect evening. The Godbers, next-door neighbors and close friends of the Adams, and the Simpsons, school friends, were also invited to this special evening.

Ramsis actually prepared all the delectable dishes, so Cecilia was able to relax and enjoy the majority of the evening along with the rest of us. We discovered one of the most important ingredients to an Ethiopian meal is the fermented bread, called Injera, which is similar in appearance and texture to crepes. Ramsis covered several large platters with Injera, overlapping to provide a completely edible base and mounded the assorted dishes on top of the sourdough-like pancakes. Other platters contained rolled-up Injera. To eat, we tore off a piece of the bread, folded it around a portion of one of the dishes on the common tray, and popped it into our mouths. The only utensils used throughout the meal were the portions of bread. Once we polished off the dishes, the best part was eating the bottom layer of Injera--mmmm!

It was an educational evening, as well, because Martha and Charlie, the Godber children, made up a quiz which included questions about the geography, politics and religious festivals of Ethiopia. As you can imagine, most of us didn't do that well, but we all had a great time learning about Ethiopian culture.

Kudos to Ramsis for a wonderfully scrumptious meal and fabulous introduction to his rich, cultural heritage.

Marce

Tearful goodbyes

Sorry I haven't posted about the remaining days of Callie and Margaret's time with us. Unfortunately, I was I out of commission with a flu bug. Michelle did a great job summarizing the last few days with them. Check out her blog at michellesadventuresinlife.blogspot.com.


Last Friday was a difficult morning, filled with lots of hugs and tears as we said our goodbyes to Callie and Margaret and got them safely on board their flight to America. We all agree its been an unforgettable 3 weeks, yet knew it had to come to an end. But as we turn our attention to our own move back home in 6-1/2 weeks (can that really be?!) we feel like we're right on the heels of the McKenzie girls--we'll be there in no time! We hope to spend the remainder of our time getting away to as many new places as possible on the weekends, sorting through all our 'stuff' and weeding out alot, and just enjoying the beautiful city of Brisbane. Michelle has her hands full with 3 upcoming exams: SAT on May 5th, AP English and Composition exam on May 15th, and SAT US History exam on June 2nd. Then we'll board the plane the following day, Sunday, June 3rd (on Madeline's 8th birthday!), for our flight back home. And this chapter of our lives will come to an end as we begin a new one in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

We had the Adam children for the weekend to allow Ramsis and Cecilia to finish up travel plans for their amazing journey home. They leave Brisbane on the 31st of May and, unlike us, head west instead of east. First stop on their 5 week trip is Hong Kong, then on to Rome, then to London. From London they fly to Washington DC, then to Chicago, then to Indiana (for a 4th of July family reunion) and finally home to Maple Valley--whew!! Even though we're thrilled they have the opportunity to do this once in a lifetime trip, we're glad we're not doing it. :-) Its just not the right time for us. If Marina was older, we'd do it in a heartbeat!

Gracie, Madeline, and Hannah having some dress-up fun!

Here's some pics of our time with Noah, Hannah and Gracie at Roma Street Parklands, the world's largest urban subtropical garden. The gardens are located in the heart of Brisbane CBD (they refer their downtown as the City Business District). As this is Autumn, it's probably not the best time of year in terms of plants blooming, but it was still striking. Our tour guide took us through distinct zones: from arid climate succulents to rainforest ferns, and from coastal wetland varieties to a spectacular, ever-changing display of annuals aptly named the Spectacle Garden.

A well-deserved treat after our afternoon at Roma Street Parklands

We've all enjoyed settling back into our school routine this week. We'll see how long we can keep this up before we need to take a break for our big move home.

Marce

On Top of the World

Yesterday we all piled into the van and headed southwest to Lamington National Park, a beautiful rainforest located on top of Green Mountain. Halfway into our 2-1/2 hour roadtrip we made a quick stop at Canungra to stretch our legs and check out the alpaca farm; then it was back into the van to negotiate the narrow, twisting road which climbed up the mountain. On the way up, the surrounding vegetation changed abruptly from hilly, grassy farmland to dense, shadowy rainforest. Listed as a World Heritage Area, the Gold Coast Hinterland encompasses Lamington National Park, Tamborine Mountain and Springbrook National Park, and includes the largest subtropical rainforest remnant in the world, as well as the largest section of ancient Antarctic beech trees. The higher we climbed, the more we knew what a special treat we were in for!

Once there, the temperature had dropped to a chilly 17 deg Celsius (62 deg Fahrenheit) and it was drizzling slightly--big surprise in a rainforest, right?! We set out on the Tree Top Walk at O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse, a 180-meter walk made up of nine suspension bridges, which hang 16-meters above the forest floor. We found ourselves surrounded by thick ropes of vines spiraling round themselves and stretching from branch to branch. Mammoth, leafy ferns in abundance grew almost as tall as some trees.

At one point, we came to a massive strangler fig where 2 towering observation decks were built around it. To reach the first deck, we climbed straight up one ladder, where we enjoyed a panoramic view of the forest below, then we had to pluck up our courage to climb another vertical ladder to the second observation deck, 30-meters above ground (yikes!), which provided even more breathtaking views. We took turns watching Madeline and Marina (who we wouldn't dream of allowing up there!) since only three people could be on each observation deck at one time. On our bushwalk we learned that Lamington National Park is home to more than 900 species of plants and more than 200 bird species. Not surprisingly, O'Reilly's Guesthouse attracts bird observers from all over the world.

The girls cautiously ascending the ladder to the platform

View from the sky-high observation deck

We left the park on the twisty-turny road and decided to travel down a different side of the mountain, where we found ourselves within close driving range of Surfer's Paradise. As sunset neared, we thought it would be a perfect time to check out the amazing views from atop the world's tallest residential building, the Q1 Tower. Check it out here at http://www.q1.com.au/home.html We learned that its architecture was inspired by the Sydney 2000 Olympic torch and the Sydney Opera House. The lift took us up to the observation deck on the 77th floor in less than 43 seconds--we could all feel our ears popping on the lightning-speed ride up! Supposedly it is one of the world's fastest elevators. The views were truly spectacular, from the surf to the hinterland and beyond.

An interesting bit of trivia; just last week, two men were charged by the Queensland police for "BASE jumping", where they used parachutes to jump from the Q1 tower. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump:

1. Building



2. Antenna



3. Span (bridge or arch)



4. Earth (cliff or other natural formation)
   
   

It's much more dangerous than skydiving, and is currently regarded as a fringe extreme sport--I'm sure it's right up there with Bungee jumping. Only in Australia and NZ would you see this kind of thing!

From the top of Green Mountain to the top of the Q1 Tower on the Gold Coast, we experienced another fabulous, memorable day!

Marce

Easter In Brissie

The day before Easter we took a break after the exhilarating Gold Coast adventure. The girls stayed home and decorated Easter cookies out on our veranda with a pleasant 80 degree day. To the left is a picture of the girls working hard to make the cookie dough.





It's a low-key Easter morning for Marina and I as we sit and watch Winnie the Pooh, a big favorite of hers. I think we're at the tail-end of her chicken pox and hopefully will be able to accompany the rest of the gang tomorrow up to O'Reilly's Rainforest, about an hour's drive away. I'm sure it will be one of the big highlights for the girls since O'Reilly's has a great treetop walk and breathtaking mountain views. Marc and the girls are at church and will be home shortly. Marina is getting antsy and asks every five minutes when they'll be home. She even went outside to wait for them and discovered a special treat for us. On our door knob hung a bag filled to the brim with all sorts of Easter goodies that you can't find here--Marshmallow Peeps of every color, Reese's peanut butter cups, York peppermint patties, and pastel-colored candy corn. Even though there was no note inside the bag, I knew immediately that our lovely neighbor, Leigh, had dropped it off for us. She is a Qantas flight attendant who often works the Brisbane to LA flight. She has kindly left us other holiday bags at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day, always filled with candy and other fun things from America. Her husband, Steve, works for Marc and was instrumental in Marc accepting the job in Australia due to his positive attitude and fun-loving spirit. They are such a great couple who we have come to dearly love.

This evening we enjoyed a spontaneous Easter dinner with Michael and Angela Brannan, along with 3 of their 7 children. Michael is over from the US to work in Marc's group on an Unmanned Air Vehicle surveillance program. They're Americans but had worked in Australia for 8 years up until 2 years ago when they returned to Colorado Springs. Missing Australia, they jumped at the chance to return and arrived in Brisbane only 3 days ago. We had a pleasurable dinner on our veranda along with their 11 year old triplets, Adelaide (named after Adelaide, South Australia, where they were born), Caleb and Zach. The boys succumbed to jet-lag around 8PM and were fast asleep, but the rest of us enjoyed talking about their previous experiences living in Australia. Because they have all had chicken pox, they felt safe coming over even though Marina might still be contagious.

Well, I didn't get this posted until 10:30PM. What I thought would be a quiet Easter due to Marina ended up being a delightful evening with new friends. We hope that you all have a Happy Easter in the States!

Love,

Marce

The girls on Mt. Cootha overlooking Brisbane after church with Marc.

Panning The Gold Coast

Last weekend we took the girls to the Sunshine Coast, a favourite with Marce and I due to its laid back, relaxed environment. Now that the McKenzie girls were feeling better (see "On The Mend" below), we decided to test their strength by taking all the girls except Marina to the adrenaline-flowing Dreamworld located at the north end of the world famous Gold Coast. (A map of Dreamworld can be seen at









http://www.dreamworld.com.au/files/pdf/map.pdf)


The amusement park has a waterpark, Imax theatre, Tiger Island (with two recently born Sumatra pups), and Wiggleworld for little ones. Madeline met the 120 cm height requirement for the rides, and even had the nerve to ride all of the "extreme" rides. The first of these is called The Claw, which is a giant pendulum which swings to a near-vertical orientation while approximately 32 fearless riders sit on the base with their feet hanging out. To the left you can see the girls getting ready for their swinging Claw ride. We arrived early so there were no lines for nearly an hour as the crowds started coming in on what was a Good Friday national holiday in Australia. After this we went on the Cyclone roller coaster, which is a medium sized metal roller coaster which has two 360 degree loops. Next on our list was the Tower of Terror, which is a rollercoaster-like car accelerates out of a tunnel at a rate that make your head spin. Once emerging from the tunnel, it pulls up vertically onto the same tower that holds the world's tallest Giant Drop ride. The car gets about 2/3 up the tower, then free-falls backwards along the rails, through the tunnel and comes to a stop. Total ride time = 15 seconds. But it is indeed a terrifying 15 seconds. If that weren't enough, all girls were all ready for the biggest ride - the Giant Drop (shown below).

This is similar to those rides you see in carnivals where people drop 100 feet or so. The big difference is that this drop is indeed huge with a drop nearly 2/3 the height of the Space Needle. Total drop time = 5 seconds before the brakes come on. This ride was even more terrifying to poor Dad than the Tower of Terror. By this time Dad had enough of the Big Five rides, but the girls (including Madeline) all decided they wanted to do the last big ride, which is called Wipeout. On this ride they sit in surfboard shape structure and twirl around including several upside down maneuvers which has them all hanging in their harness. I passed on this ride, but did a few more on the Tower of Terror, Giant Drop, and The Claw. To the right you can see the girls upside down on Wipeout. By 2 PM I had enough fun and just watched the girls go on ride after ride. Eventually even Callie tired of the adrenaline, and from 3PM on tended to sit out with me on some of the more extreme rides. Below is the Dreamworld link to the extreme 5 so you see yourself what they are all about.

http://www.dreamworld.com.au/content/bigfivethrillrides_2Col.asp?name=BigFiveThrillRides

We finished our time at the Dreamworld Ice Cream Parlor, with the girls having a combination of double-scoop ice cream cones or Coke "spiders". A spider is the Aussie equivalent of a float in the States, and since root beer is not popular here, they tend to make their spiders with Coca Cola and vanilla ice cream. A tempting treat, even though most Australians would say a root beer "spider" would be a strange combination of flavours. I guess it just depends on what one grows up with.

If you want to see some videos of some of these rides I have found them on YouTube as posted by other people who know how to post videos. They are fun to watch and give a good idea of what the rides are like

The Claw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2t4fBIceRU

Giant Drop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ57HEmh4mI

Tower of Terror http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gze2Xu5kTd0

Wipeout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvJ7uMBitdw

Cyclone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBYv590rLmQ

As we drove north back to Brisbane along the 4 lane M1 motorway, I realised that the sun was about to set. And so just prior to crossing the Brisbane river into our neighborhood I pulled over into a commercial section near the Brisbane port which has a large colony of Flying Foxes, or fruit bats. Dusk is when these creatures wake up from hanging in their tree colonies, making interesting chirping noises and flying close over our heads. With a 1 metre wingspan, they truly are impressive-looking bats. We didn't feel in danger at all knowing these bats only eat fruit. We piled back into our minivan, crossed the river to join Marce and Marina who were at home starting to organise for our upcoming move. Marina is feeling much better with her chicken pox. Her first big outing is planned on Monday, when we will all drive up into the Lamington National Forest to visit O'Reillys Guesthouse.

Marc

Girls entering the Tower of Terror ride

Watching Flying Fox bats wake up

Flying Fox near miss with 1 metre wing span!