The winter months bring the brillant flowers and this one is no exception. It is growing on a bush on our back patio. And yes, one more spectacular Australian west coast sunset.

 

 

 

I had to include one more picture from the Shire Fair. It is entitled "An Australian Pony Ride"

The end of winter in Australia is like the end of summer at home. It is the time of Shire (County) fairs. Bro. Fry invited us out to his Shire Fair and volunteered us to help in the hamburger and sauage booth of one of the local schools. We did help for a while but found the sheep shearing contest and the old antique car show more interesting. I think Elder Neeley may have been coveting that nice MG roadster.

The end of winter brings out the wild flowers here in down under land. Sister Neeley and I went east, out into the BUSH, to find the elusive Wreath Flower. We drove about 15 miles on a dirt road into the bush and the only thing we discovered is that we were out there all alone. No Wreath Flowers this year, too dry, not enough rain last summer or this winter. Maybe next year? We did find an Australian lizard and a beautiful old Catholic church building in a town called Mullewa.

Our branch had the opportunity to host the United States Consulate to Western Australia. Her name is Aleisha Woodword and she brought along her younger sister who was here visiting from the United States. They are Mormons, both returned missionaries, and from the state of Washington and graduated from BYU Provo and BYU Rexburg. They come from a family of 12 children. Sister Aleisha speaks 4 languages and has a graduate degree from the United States War College. She brought along Ian Blaney who is a member of the Western Australia parliment and his wife. A great evening. Got a picture of Sister Neeley with Bro. Fry, our branch chief chef.

The Relief Society sponsored a talent show in our Geraldton Branch this past month. It really was a lot of fun and many talents were displayed. We had a wonderful meal to go along with all the talent and the branch had a great evening together. Our branch has a number of Islander families in it now, and when I say Islanders I mean people from Samoa, Tonga, Cooke Islands, and New Zealand or Moari people. They are all very talented. Even Elder Neeley showed off his Huka skills he learned from the Moari's.Thanks Sister Paewai for a lovely evening.

Kalbarri is about 70 miles north of Geraldton, sitting adjacent the India Ocean, it is a beautiful little spot. We took the Young Missionaries up there to see the dolphins, and the Grand Canyon of Western Australia, which is a national park in these parts. I like the Grand Canyon in Utah and Arizona better.