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The Australian government is very safety conscious.
 
In fact whomever has the contract for making signs has it made. They have some intimidating signs and some interesting sign.  The sign to the right is intimidating.  

The sign to the right will then be followed by measuring stick (indicators).  Some of them can be 8 meters high.  They are important mostly when a typhoon brings torrential rainstorms. The ground cannot absorb the downpours, and it can cause flooding.


They also seem to be very worried about drivers falling asleep when driving long distances between towns.

I guess it makes its point.
I love a road trip.

We drove 1 1/2 hours east to Gladstone to check on the Elders flat.  They have not had a senior couple in this area for 6 months or so.  Let's just say that there was room for improvement.

The next day we drove 3 hours west to a town called Emerald.  There are 2 elders there and we checked their flat. Even more room for improvement.  Emerald is very isolated.  A lot of the people come there to work in the coal mines.  They work 7 days straight and then have 7 days off.  There was a sweet little chapel there where we went to the church the next day.  It was small but mighty.  It had a good spirit.  We took the elders out to dinner on Saturday night, and I think reinvigorated them for the work.


This one seemed a bit much.
The drive was beautiful and in ways reminded us of the western states like Wyoming and Montana where you can see a vista 360 degrees around you.  They have mountains (some may say hills) and valleys.  We also got to walk on our first beach in Gladstone and picked up lots of seashells.

We saw lots of creative Christmas decorations.  Many are made from large tires and/or old equipment.

We had the 3 sister missionaries, and two young men who could not afford to fly home to their small islands for Christmas, at our place for dinner on Christmas Eve.

Christmas day we were invited to a family luncheon with about 25 people there.  It was very relaxed and enjoyable because the wife is an artist and has a large studio room where they placed tables and chairs.  Lots of good food.   Love you all.


Creative Christmas Decorations







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