Transfer completed

We are now settled in Melbourne.  So this is how we spent the last two weeks.  Since we couldn't "strike the set" in Hobart until we received our audit report from Salt Lake, we decided to set off to the west coast of Tasmania.

This was our last file to digitize.  It almost felt like the last day of school, when there is no more to do.

So off we went to Ross where there is a historical town with a wool store and crafts (all homemade).  This is one of the beautiful churches made from stone, probably by the convicts.  They were "hired" to do many of the beautiful stone work in Tasmania.

The stone bridge over the river constructed by --you know who.

 In Campbell Town there is a park where a sculpturer carved these intrique sculptures from the existing tree trunks.  These are wonderful.  Sorry that the pictures don't do them justice.

An interesting sign above the public toilet.  I guess this is for visitors who aren't used to western toileting skills.

Our ward farewell party at the Blackwell's home.

Ward members singing to us.  They are a wonderful group of people who we have come to love very much.

Can't leave Hobart without visiting the Cadbury factory, especially since it is located in our hometown of Claremont.  They had a very interesting video of how chocolate is made.  And ofcourse we left with a bag full of samples.

Just a very small part of the Cadbury store.  Everything in here was chocolate.

On our way to Strahan, we stopped at Derwent Bridge to visit this museum call The Wall.  Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside of this amazing building, where the artist has these huge wooden sculptures.  We did buy the book which has pictures of his work, but even pictures won't depict the grandear of what he has accomplished.

A stop at Lake St. Clair and the visitors center and we parked across from this van.  These people must really be "greens".  The whole van was covered with fake grass.  Notice the "eye lashes" on the headlights.

One of the waterfalls and rivers on the way to Strahan.

Hogarth Falls after a short walk in the rain forest in Strahan.

A lovely dinner in Strahan (a very small community).  It is so small we waited about an hour to receive our food.  There weren't very many in the restaurant, but there was only two cooks.  Dinner was very good.

On our way up the Gordon River.  It was raining off and on, so we caught a quick pictures as the clouds parted.

Up on the River, we stopped for a nature walk.  If you notice on the tree truck, there is a horizontal fungus plate.  These grow on the tree trunks and we had seen them in other rainforest areas in Tasmania.

Part of the River tour, we stopped at Sarah Island.  This island is where the worst of the second offenders were send before Port Arthur was build to hold prisoners.  It was said to be the worst place anyone would want to be.

The entrance to the Macquarie Bay and Gordon River from the Southern Ocean.

Because the entrance had lots of silt, and was very shallow, "they" (whoever that was) dug a channel  at a depth that ships could get through.  They had to pass through the narrow area which is on the left of the little island in the picture.  Our tour boar took us through that area and out into the ocean for a look.

Cradle Mountain, a rainy day and quite cold, but a beautiful area.  We never really got a good look at the mountain since the clouds kept moving over it.  

The "strike down" begins.  Just the black fabric is removed in this picture.  It has been our home away from home away from home.  We will miss it.

Our sweet neighbors took us out to dinner to Mt. Nelson Signal Station, where there is now a restaurant.  A beautiful view of the bay and islands around Hobart.

Our dear neighbor, Jan, supervises our loading of the car which we switched with the Huon sisters.  The mission wanted that car back in Victoria.  We were loaded and very grateful for the racks on top of the car, as we would not have been able to bring most of the "stuff' from the flat to help supply the new house.

A quick stop at Catarack Gorge in Launceston.  That would have been a delightful place to picnic and spend a warm afternoon.

The lake at Catarack Gorge.

Sailing on the Spirit of Tasmania.  Our ship which we loaded at Devonport, Tasmania

Boarding the ship.

Through the rainy windscreen (not shield in AU), you may be able to see the cars that were loaded first and are lifted up on a rack so that more cars can be parked underneath.  We were lucky.  We ended up going to the right and being parked at the exit ramp, so we were the first car off the ship when we arrived in Melbourne at 6:30 am.

Our tiny state room.  The trip over was rough.  Weather was bad and we were awakened several times during the night by waved hitting the ship.  But atleast we were able to stretch out and get some sleep.

Our arrival at the mission office in Melbourne.

Almost one year ago to the day, we arrived in Melbourne from USA.  Elder and Sister Wolfinden took us to the Rododendrin Gardens, so here we are for our one year anniversary to Australia.  They were in their splender as was a year ago.

And as we did last year, we had lunch at Miss Marples Tea Room in Sassafras.  This is the cutest restaurant right out of the stories from Agatha Christy.

We had a light lunch so we could have dessert, but were overwhelmed when we saw what they brought us.  Marvin had bread pudding and I had chocolate cake with fudge and custard.  Ohhhhhh, they were good.

Miss Marples Tea Room.  We just loved it.

We stopped in a puppet shop across the street from the tea room.  It was filled with puppets hanging from the ceiling and toys.

Home sweet home.  Well, not yet.  Home yes, but there are plumbing issues which have not been addressed yet.  The plumber is coming next week to fix leaks in the kitchen sink and bathroom faucet and to replace the hot water faucet in the laundry room.  So we are doing cold water laundry.  But it is a nice house, 3 bedroom, 2 lounge areas (living room and family room), a really weird toilet area off the laundry room, lots of roses in the front and back yards.  It will be home for 5 more months.

We have a neighbor on the south of us who is taking the missionary lessons.  She met the Wardles, who are over the flats for the mission and she is a new Christian and is looking for the truth.  She is a single adult of about 30 years old.  Hopefully we will be good missionaries to her too.

Almost done

Here it is Oct 1 and we should be finished with our project here in Tasmania today.  We still have to wait around for another week to get the audit results from Salt Lake, so we will take a little "holiday" next week.  We will tell you about it and the transfer in our next blog.

September began with a welcomed visit by two of our most favorite cousins, Dave and Leslie Moore from North Salt Lake, who are on a Public Affairs Mission in Sydney.  They were down in Tassie on church business and managed to squeak out two days for us.  We headed to the east coast and Port Arthur.  We were blessed with beautiful weather, which is usually "iffy" this time of the year.

We absolutely love this area of Tasmania.

Leslie, Kay and Marvin

Remarkable Caves

The beautiful stone church in Port Arthur  built by the prisoners.  The story behind it's demise is that a land owner east of the prison decided to clear some of his land with fire.  The wind came up and blew embers onto the roof of the church which of course burned.  There has been talk about rebuilding and using the church.  Several parts of the prison have been used by the community for different purposes after the prison was closed.  

Two weeks later, a group of Senior Missionaries from our Melbourne Mission came to Tassie for three days of R&R.  We were able to join them for the first day up in the Launceston area which is northern Tasmania.  We met them (about 30 in number) at 8:30 in the morning at the Launceston airport.  We drove out to Ashgroves where we enjoyed watching the cheese making and enjoying the tasting table in the store.

Sister Maxwell giving lots of hugs.

Next stop was Chudley and we visited the Honey store and the Silk and Rose store.  It was raining that day and each day that the missionaries were here.  That didn't stop us though.

There were 99 bees on the Honey store.  We didn't count them, but there were a lot and it was so cute.

Next stop was Trowunna Wildlife Park in Mole Creek.  Because of the rain, the workers brought two of the animals out to us  while we sat under some protection at picnic tables.

This is a darling wombat.  They are big and round with a very shy personality.  This one seemed pretty tame as it walked around the table top.  It is now one of my favourite animals.  (Note the Aussie spelling which the computer likes better than American.)

Next animal was the Tasmanian Devil.  I enjoyed the handler too with his dreadlocks and beard.  These too are very shy (don't know about the handler!) and it kept ducking it's head under the handler's arm.

Sis. Maxwell trying to get
close to the little Devil.

 Notice there is no hair on the Devil's ears.  The story goes that when the explorers were exploring Tasmania, at night while they were camping out, they noticed these animals with red "eyes" and were fearful that they would be eaten alive.  Therefore they named the animals Devils.  What they were actually seeing was their ears lit by the fire from their campfires.

Other little strange animals at the park.

This kangaroo knew what it wanted.  FOOD.  It came up to a
group of us who had no food, but it stayed for quite a while

 hoping that somehow it would get fed.  Here is Sis. Bennion,
Medford, Oregon, Chinese missionary, reaching for her camera.

The last stop was Mole Creek Caves.  We love the beautiful rain forests that we have found in the Bush.

This is the entrance into the Cave.  This cave was certainly different than any other caves we have been to.  There was a good sized stream running through the cave and we walked along side it as we toured.

All of Tasmania is limestone, so there are caves everywhere, but this one was very impressive.  One of the things we couldn't get a picture of was the glow worms.  In one area, the lights were turned off and the worms were on the ceiling and glow a brilliant blue light.  This light attracts insects, thinking this is the way out of the cave, and of course the insects get eaten.

On the way home we noticed this mass of clouds hanging quite close to the hills.  It was an unusual sight.  The rain clouds were high over all the sky and these "extra" clouds over the hills.  Doesn't God create the most beautiful sights!

Thursday evening we met the group at the Horseshoe Inn in Cambridge for dinner after they toured Port Arthur, in the rain!  Pictured is a Chinese couple from China who spoke no English.  We had our fun Chinese sister missionaries with them throughout the trip to interpret and keep them entertained.  Sis Chan is from Taiwan.

We were so impressed that a missionary couple could come out of China.  They are really strong members.  They are working in Melbourne with the Chinese students and Chinese investigators. Wow, they don't have to learn English.

 That's all for this month.  Next will be our big shut down and transfer. Thanks for all the prayers in our behalf.
Elder and Sister Rust

Where Does the Time Go?

How can it be September already.  In Australia, this is the third day of Spring and we have had some rain each day since Sept. 1.  August ended with two weeks of gorgeous cool/warm days.  It really seemed that spring had sprung.  Now, it feels like winter again, but looks like spring.  There are flowers blooming everywhere. 
  

These are the cherry trees which are along the drive way into our flat complex.  Below the trees are rosemary plants which have a lovely lavender blossom.

Bouquets of flowers from South Africa which were used for our stake conference.



There are so many unusual flowers and I'll have to take more pictures.  Daffodils are up, but tulips are not out yet.  I'll have to wait a few more weeks.










August started on a sad but happy note, with Elder Harvey returning home to England.  He has been such a wonderful missionary and a great teacher.  His "final transfer" came at the same time as Shantel Blackwell's 18th birthday, so the Blackwell family had a dual birthday/goodbye party at their home.  Many of the church members attended as well as friends of the family.

Elder Harvey looking on.  Anya Muir, Bro and Sis Summerfield and friends watching Bro Blackwell light the candles on the cake.

Elder Shepherd (Boston, MA) and Elder Cavanaugh (Queen Creek, AZ) enjoying the party.

Bro Lang, ward mission leader, filling his plate with sausage rolls.  Sausage rolls are served at every social gathering we have been to.  

Elizabeth Wright (YW Pres.), Sue Lownds (Stake Relief Society Counselor),  John Lownds (ward clerk), Archor Funsang (YSA leader) and David Blackwell.

Betty Humes (87 years old and as spry as she can be) visiting with Carrie Fulsang.

Sis Catherine Ross visiting with Elder Rust.

Having only 4 wards in a stake can be advantageous.  On the Friday evening before Stake Conference, the Stake hosts some kind of family activity.  This month it was the Battle of the Wards.  Each ward was assigned a color and had to perform 22 different activities.  Points were assigned to winners and losers and trophys were given to the winning ward.  Glenorchy Ward won the trophys.

Rosy Ward was yellow.

Glen Huon Ward was blue.

Glenorchy Ward was red.

Hobart Ward was green.

 

 

Elder Rust looks good with his new red hat which he plans to wear when he is at home playing with the Merry Music Makers.

The next weekend we had a ward party with an international flair.  Samoan baked pig, Wallaby stew, and many different cultural foods and entertainment.

Brianna and Tara Blackwell pose before they did a Philippines
dance with other ward young women. 

Here we are finally finishing with the district registers from the Department of Justice.  We created over 750 folders.  That was quite a feat.









That's all for this blog.  Hope you like it.