The Montifiore Manse

We spent New Years' Eve with the Kingstons and had a lovely time all the way around. Food and friends and fireworks... what more can you ask for? Well, family would have been wonderful, but we enjoyed the celebration anyway. After all, it was not till the next day that our families joined us in the New Year. We in Australia are almost the first to celebrate the coming of the New Year... after New Zealand.

The night started with a beautiful banquet that the Kingstons call tea - but believe me, it was a good deal more than caffeinated hot water. :) As you may know, what we Americans call supper is tea here. And it was presented in a lovely way with folded "fan" napkins of a lovely burgundy color, matching the festive tablecloth.

Afterward, we started in on a game of Apples to Apples (you can see the cards in the middle of the table). It's a hilarious game that also requires a bit of intuition about your fellow game-players. Emma, Martin, Robert, and I are all grinning - the hilarity is really contagious.





Emma and Rob are Kingston siblings, while Martin is a friend from Hobart visiting over the holidays. Here Steve Kingston, to the left, is resplendent in his splashy Hawaiian shirt. Too bad Terry wasn't wearing his - they could have had a matching picture.

Meanwhile, Julie shows us how it's done. Have you ever seen anyone wash glasses with a more professional flair? And that's not all she was up to in the kitchen after we ate. She made oliebollen so good that only one was left... a clear indicator that she made the perfect amount, or else that everyone was too polite to take that last one. They were great!

When we had eaten and played games far into the night, we approached twelve o'clock and headed to the living room to see the fireworks from the Sydney bridge on TV. Terry and I hadn't seen them before, of course, so we found them quite impressive. I especially loved the part where they created a waterfall of fireworks off the bridge. It was beautiful!

Of course, the display also created an irresistable opportunity to poke fun at the hypocrisy of a country that is very strong in its tree-hugging stance. So much money going up in polluting smoke rather than put to use in research about the one-eyed pink-toed marsupial fish off the coast of Flinder's Island! And no, there is no such creature, in case you're curious.

However, there is another fun little Australian culture quirk we got to observe. Everyone here texts each other... not just the teenyboppers who seem to have nothing better to do. It's cheaper than talking on the mobile in the land down under. But on New Year's Eve, texting is apparently a bit of a ritual. And of course, the network can't handle the fact that 99% of mobile phone users are texting all of their friends at once. Consequently, the messages on New Year's usually either get through hours later or get lost. However, Rob is not deterred by the futility of adding his text message to the chaos and happily tries to message his friends.

To finish off the night, we all headed outside with sparklers and popping plastic thingies to make our own display out in the midnight fields of Exeter, Tasmania. I end up looking like a fat fairy godmother holding up her wand... but I had a blast. And I really don't look THAT big... it's just the dress. Trust me. Meanwhile, Terry is working on a new title - "Terreth the Fire-eater!" Thanks to Emma for these two pics.

The next day was the church barbeque under the Batman Bridge. We brought blade steak, chorizos (spicy Spanish sausages), onions, and broccoli salad. There were also other foods being shared. Looks good, doesn't it?

Below left, Pat and Mavis enjoy their plates of food. Speaking of plates, we were glad they brought extra with them in their camper van. I'd concentrated so much on food that morning that plates and utensils were entirely forgotton! Below right, Dennis, John, and Nathan dig in as well.

The above pictures show a scattering of the crowd: Stuart and Colleen with their boys Bradley, Thomas and Rowan; Ron and Ava; Pam; the Kingstons; and Amanda. After eating and talking, the men and boys struck up a game of cricket. John stuck with Terry, whom he happily addresses as "Mis-tuh Kway-vuh." He and Terry are apparently consulting on the likelihood of Pat to catch or hit the ball - I'm not sure which.

Below left, Amanda picks up the soccer ball which disrupted the ladies' conversation... again. We were also disrupted a few times by the shadow of the bridge moving (at which point we too would move) and the umbrella on the food table blowing over. Below right, a view of the Tamar.

Our final picture... the lovely couple, Nathan and Jaslyn. I'm not sure if the grimace is a distaste for pictures, a result of the pressure of a fast-approaching moving day, or a random expression of goofiness. In any case, we'll sorely miss them when they go off to the mainland with their sunny little John-John.

New Years is already a memory, but I still find myself surprised at the concept that we're in 2008. As I've told Terry a few times, the year 2007 was the end of time in my mind. Student teaching, graduating college (aka "uni" in Aussie-speak), packing up, getting married, traveling, and finally moving to our new home in Australia.... To me, the fact that we're living in 2008 brings home more solidly that I really am living in the land beyond the proverbial bend in the road. God has faithfully kept us on our pilgrimage, though, and we trust Him to guide us around this year's bend in the road: parenthood.