Different Strokes

September 30, 2001-Different Traditions
(Photos:
Woodchopper's In Restaurant-Mudgeeraba,
Toby at top of falls- Goomoolarah)

David went to temple this morning to help the kids decorate the sukkah. Here’s a list of what they use: palm branches supplied by the city from trees that it prunes, oranges hung in net bags, New Year’s greeting cards, and drawings the children made. I like the idea of using the greeting cards.

Different Pronunciations

This afternoon we had an excursion up to Springbrook National Park. We went by way of Mudgeeraba , Coolalinga, and the Numinbah Valley. While there we walked on trails through a rainforest and went to overlooks to gaze at the natural bridge at Purlingbrook where the falls go through a hole in the roof of a cave. At Goomooarah Falls we were able to see the Gold Coast shoreline high rises and the Pacific in the distance. It was spectacular. We passed a sign that said “Boomerang Farm” and were curious. When we turned into the area it was just a subdivision. I wondered how they could grow boomerangs anyway. I guess it would be easy. You wouldn’t have to replant them. They’d just keep coming back each year.

We once again saw warning signs about kangaroo crossings. There was an article in the paper today telling about a man who was killed when he collided with a kangaroo. It came through his windscreen. I saw what looked like a large gopher at the side of the road. When it hopped, I realized that it was a roo. I don’t know if it was a small kangaroo or a wallaby, but it definitely wasn’t a gopher.

Different Eats

We had lunch on our way up the mountain at an inn in Mudgeeraba. The restaurant was built in the Queensland style with the signature wraparound porch. We ate on the porch and found that the food was exceptionally good. David had lamb and I had my first pie. Here pie means meat pie. Mine was beef and mushroom. The presentation was artful and it came with fries and salad. David’s was served with a fabulous mint jelly and side of roast veggies. It was a delightful place. Oh, an item on the menu was bugs brochette. Bugs are small crayfish. We took a pass.

Different Folks

I had a strange moment on one of the trails in the park. We were looking over the edge of the ravine at the waterfall when two couples joined us. They were debating about how high the falls were. One of them, a young man with an unidentifiable non-Aussie accent, asked us how many meters high we thought it was. I replied by saying that I was more comfortable with feet than meters and almost added that I was from the U.S. There have been State Department warnings for years about trying not to be obviously from the U.S. Now I took it to heart. Maybe it had made more of an impact on me than I realized. I remember that when we were buying luggage tags for the trip I wouldn’t buy the ones with the American flag. What I had failed to think about on the trail today was that David had on his Temple Israel, Akron, Ohio, t-shirt with Hebrew on it. So much for being cautious.

Toby