Well, it's the last day of 2019, and all the jokes about 2020 vision have escalated to the point where one can only hope everyone's new year's resolution will be to avoid terrible puns. It's been a crazy year to look back on, and a real adventure for both Michael and I.
On January 8th, we immigrated to Australia permanently and entered the often adventurous Queensland. The heat was immense, but in three or four weeks we were pretty used to it, as you either fry or survive (we may have done a bit of both). I have to admit I had my fears about coping with the wildlife and the unique challenges of living regional, but both have proved to be very unfounded. Even termites don't scare me as much anymore, and after seeing a few snakes in the wild, I've discovered they're not all that terrifying either. In fact, they're probably very terrified of me (particularly justifiable, if they knew me). Perhaps the biggest challenge about living regional is coping with the lack of rain. People on the coast think they've had a dry year, but they really don't know the half of it. Chinchilla hasn't seen rainfall above 10mm for months on end, and the drought just seems to continue. Time after time, we all check the forecast only to see that once again, there's no rain forecasted for the next ten days. It can be hard to imagine how life continues without proper rainfall, but it does seem to. Obviously farmers are getting very desperate, and even the animals are getting desperate. But we carry on as best as we can in the hope that God will provide, and it will rain again and the drought will break just like the last one did. 
As far as making things work job wise out here, we've done very well. Michael has been teaching secondary school at our local Christian College, and I've been teaching up to forty music students a week and two classes of literacy extension (creative writing) students. We've purchased a house here and are living very happily in it. Peyton, our dog, has settled into Australia beautifully, and copes with the heat often better than we do. Additionally, I've had two new books published this year: Consort to the Shadows Part One and Part Two. This has felt like a particularly exciting achievement for me, as neither of these books have been published previously - they are entirely first editions. There are only two installments left in The Fledgling Account series now, and once they are out then I will have completed my literary magnum opus. I doubt I shall ever write a series this big again - the work involved is simply mammoth, and I've probably gone as far as I can into inventing a whole separate world with its cultures and accompanying languages.
To top things off, we visited New Zealand for ten days around the time of Christmas this year, and caught up with the family once more. Christchurch was freezing and rainy (why can't they share some rain with Chinchilla???), so staying inside was mandatory so that I didn't get sick. Then we flew to the North Island and visited the Bay of Islands and Hamilton. The Bay was beautiful as always, but very windy this year, meaning kayaking was rather fierce. The waves buffeted me around no end, but I usually got where I wanted to go and was rewarded with very pleasant views on the way there and back. In Hamilton, we saw my immediate family and shared Christmas with them. The colder weather was a true shock. Now we're back in Queensland, listening to the squawking of parrots and experiencing the quiet thrum of the earth as the heat builds and builds day after day. It's dry here, but I wouldn't go back to New Zealand to live if you paid me to, even though it's hard to explain exactly why. Everyone has their preferences, and for me Queensland is home now. My citizenship may be dual, but in my heart, Australia is my home. 
Next year is going to bring some radical changes for us as a family, as we are expecting a rather different sort of sequel in June, of course praying that everything goes well. I'm not the clucky baby type to be honest, but I've always wanted to have a child - so Aussie baby here we come. Can't wait to show you the wonders of Queensland as well.

It's been some time since I had multiple books release in one year, but it looks like 2019 could be a lucky one! My publisher has notified me that this Monday Australian time (Sunday American time) Consort to the Shadows Part Two will be releasing, meaning we will sneak in one more book release this year - the first (Consort to the Shadows Part One) having taken place on February 16th. This will be my sixth book to be published, and my eighth publication in general (I have been published in two anthologies previously). All pretty exciting stuff really!

Consort Part Two is a sequel in my series The Fledgling Account. After this book is published, there will only be two more left in the series. The finale is coming.

Here's a short list of everything you need to know about this series:

- It's epic fantasy fiction (similar genre to Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones)
- It's targeted at young adults (similar expected audience as Harry Potter or Red Queen)
- It has a boy main character who ages in real time
- Enemies include ghouls, pirates, and nasty dragon riders
- For a young adult series, it is reasonably serious in that a fair few characters die and the story-line is not idealistic. A better word would be "gritty".

Here's a quick description of the series as a whole from the "Store" section of this website, where you can find purchase info and cover art:

The Fledgling Account
Outrageously busy fantasy fiction that wallops you in the eye. Suitable for young adults... or anyone else ready for an adventure.

Nazt has come. It speaks into the hearts and minds of men. It seeks to control them - and drive them to their own destruction. In King Talmon's coal mine, there is a slave. He and his name will change the world. 

One enemy. One Phoenix. One divinely appointed representative. 

Rafen holds the fate of all in his bruised and bleeding hands. Now has come the age of swords, of feathers, and of kings. The last war is here. 

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The story behind the series is just as interesting as the series itself in some ways. I started writing Rafen, the first book, when I was merely ten years old, and I signed my first writing contract at age eighteen, and signed an international multi-book publishing contract when I was twenty, which landed me several prominent interviews and some attention in New Zealand newspapers. It's been a very long journey, and I'm now twenty-six. But to have books traditionally published at any age is an achievement, and I'm proud to have made it this far before I've turned thirty. I've always wanted to write the sort of thing I enjoy reading. These books have been a labour of love for me, and I've really poured heart and soul into them.

If this series sounds like something you're interested in, feel free to start right at the beginning, with Rafen, the slave boy who went from 237 to Fledgling of the Phoenix. It's a mere $0.99 USD ($1.40 AUD) to get you started, so not too much of a gamble for a once in a lifetime adventure.

If you've been following Rafen as he grows up, stay posted for Monday's release. Consort Part Two will reveal both a whole new side of him and of his apparently invincible nemesis the Lashki Mirah. 

It seems I have neglected entirely to write about November, which is probably no wonder as it was a frantically busy month of school term. We are nearly at the end of term now, and it's certainly a great relief. In less than two weeks, we shall be on holidays.
During November, the Christian College put on their musical, Mary Poppins Junior, which was overall a success and much appreciated by the community. And on the last Saturday in November, I was able to run my student recital for the first time in Australia. The event went really well, and all the parents of the performers went away beaming and talking about how fantastic a night it was - which was brilliant considering it was a 38 degree day, and the church hall we had crowded into seemed to get hotter with each additional breath we took. We did have air conditioning on, but it lost some effectiveness once a hundred people were all inside.
In the meantime, it just gets drier and drier here. We do get a splash of rain from time to time, but it's a millimeter here, or three there. Nothing much to write home about unfortunately. The weather has begun to sizzle again, and this coming week will be a series of 39s and one scorching 41. It's perfect weather for water recreation, but the sad thing is that the Weir isn't looking too good. I nearly cried the last time I saw it - the pontoon was grounded and the boat ramp led straight onto a mud flat with the occasional puddle. Kayaking is not going to work out there, and the sea eagles my husband and I observed nesting further down the Condamine have probably forsaken the area and looked for greener pastures.
It's extraordinary to think we are only four and a half hours from the coast, and it looks like a whole other world. The level of dust is remarkable. Every time there is some decent wind, the sky turns muddy with all the farmers' topsoil. I'm told it's unusually dry this year - and I'm sure at some point it will rain again, as it normally does. But the question is, will we get enough rain to replenish our water systems? There are many areas around us that have run out of water or are getting close to that situation. We are on water restrictions here, and I'm careful to rinse my dishes with the same bit of water from the very first dirty bowl every night. Our air conditioning is an evaporative system, which also uses water. Michael reckons it's okay to use it regularly, but the moment it gets under 35 I try to make do with fans. So my poor man sits there and sweats.
What we really need are some decent storms. Storm season is here, and we have had a couple so far. But we haven't had any that have been truly large or stayed a long time. On Sunday, numerous storm cells packed the skies, and I think Chinchilla felt very excited - until they all blew towards Dalby and left us with a mere sprinkle. 
When I lived in New Zealand, I used to think cyclones were a bad thing. Now I know that they are excellent for regions like this. Don't let anyone fool you - a cyclone can be a lifeline in a drought. Come January, I'm hoping we get some good ones powering through upper Queensland and sending the rain further south. It will make many farmers hopeful out here.
So I continue to pray for rain.
In the meantime, with Christmas just around the corner, it's good to focus on cheerful things too. I put up my Christmas tree in November, which I know sounds ridiculous, but it makes one very happy. Besides which, its greener than many plants and grasses about us (yes, I know it's fake)! 
Lastly, but certainly not least, it seems I'm to have two books release this year. On February 16th, my fifth book Consort to the Shadows Part One released. And Part Two is on its way, following Christmas!
Stay tuned and keep an eye out for some holiday reading!
And pray for rain for the Western Downs...

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Rafen, book one of The Fledgling Account is still $0.99 and could be the adventure you have these summer holidays...

Since I last wrote, the best part of another term elapsed and a new one has begun. During the holidays, Michael and I took some trips together, which were most enjoyable. We took off at the beginning of the holidays for Noosa. Unfortunately, it was a bit colder than it is now, so swimming could be a little frigid. We had days mainly between 24 and 26 degrees. On our first day, we took a walk around Mount Tibrogargan (never ask me to pronounce that), which is one of the peaks in the Glasshouse Mountains. The Glasshouse Mountains aren't really mountains - more rocky pinnacles - but they're certainly bizarre shapes and make for awesome landscape.
From there, we drove to the Airbnb and enjoyed a dip in the pool there. We did a spot of shopping and had a quiet night in, because I'd caught cold that day and was a bit blocked up. The next day we went to Noosa main beach, which was very busy. Because Noosa main beach is on a peninsula, the parking to people ratio is a bit problematic. After living somewhere where there's no traffic and always free parking, we found it somewhat frustrating, but managed to find a spot in the end. It's a beautiful beach there, but I have to say that I feel the Gold Coast has better facilities for large groups of people. It's also (dare I say it) perhaps a little less snobby than Noosa. I know a lot of people who say the Gold Coast is cliche and tacky, but I reckon there are some pretty good reasons for it being a world class stretch of coastline. 
We took a walk in Noosa National Park and wound up on the very beach some of our kind friends had urged us to avoid (apparently Alexandra Beach is a nudist beach - but because we went in the evening it was entirely vacant - just a big old sea eagle looking down on the emptiness). Ironically, with no people on it, it's actually quite a lovely beach. On the way back, these massive hornet things crossed paths with us, and I had a mini freak out. I'm surprisingly fine when encountering snakes, bats, frogs, and large spiders (frogs are actually really cool) but large things that fly and aren't birds or bats just shouldn't exist in my opinion. Bleugh. Then we had this incredible meal of polpettone and pizza at an Italian restaurant. 
While we were on the Sunny Coast, we also went to Sea Life Aquarium at Maroochydore. But the highlight for me was probably that last trip to a beach before heading inland. Coolum proved to be more relaxing to get a park at than Noosa, and it was delightful to spend time at.
Later in the holidays, we had a friend from New Zealand come to stay with us, and we drove him around and did various activities. We headed out to the Aviation Museum at Oakey (which wasn't really my thing, but the guys seemed interested in it). The trip was totally worth it, however, when I spotted a wild koala up a tree near the museum! My pictures are very poor, but perhaps you can spot it. We also visited Crow's Nest National Park, which I've heard can be a real oasis when there's water. However, there wasn't much water, and there wasn't much shade either, because most of the trees were shriveled up, which meant an hour's walk at midday was rather exhausting. We did see little turtles in the one big pool of water there was though.
The holidays fairly flew by, and now it's term again, with all the busyness that entails. But it not a long term, and Christmas is at the end of it, which is always wonderful. We are heading back to New Zealand for a visit in mid December. It will seem very cold after numerous 30+ days here (we've had several 38s already), but I'll pack jerseys.
In the meantime, you may enjoy my terrible photos. I give you permission.

Looks like it's been rather a while since I last wrote. The reasons for that are plentiful - setting up a new home, starting the term, and applying together with my husband for a partner visa for him. The amount of evidence required for this is insane, and it doesn't count really at all if you're married, because people can just get married to try to get into the country. Of course, New Zealanders can stay here indefinitely. But they don't share the same rights with Australians, and I want my husband to be able to get the most out of living here, just as I do. Hence we applied, even though it was horrendously expensive. Here's hoping that the result (after the 20+ months of waiting) is positive!
This term has been rather frantic. I spent some time editing the next volume of The Fledgling Account with my publisher, and that book is now up to the stage of formatting for print. So hopefully it won't be long until that one is released too.
I've been bursting at the seams with music students, which is a good and rewarding thing, but it can be tiring too. The local high school here put on the musical Fame, and a number of the main characters in the musical were students of mine. It was enjoyable to watch them all perform. Earlier in the term, my creative writing students from the Christian College attended the Ekka. For the uninitiated, the Ekka is a huge agricultural show and festival that showcases everything from cows to poetry from all over the state. I wasn't sure how my students would go, but two of them did score Commended certificates in their poetry category, placing just below the official awards given to other students. So that shows that we're on the right track, and for the small country town of Chinchilla, we did pretty well!
The weather is at last starting to warm up. We've had several quite cold frosts throughout winter, but now when I check the forecast, most of what I see is 26, 28, and up. We even have some 30 degree days approaching. Winter is all but over and spring is here. I don't suppose we really have much hibernation for the animals here, but I have noticed that the bird-life has become more active and varied again. The parrots are going crazy as all the blossoms come out, and it's a very raucous affair in the morning. I've also seen some magpies dive-bombing already, which is never a pleasant experience to be on the other end of I've heard. So I'll be exercising some caution with where I walk in the next few weeks. I've heard that some frogs and toads bury themselves over winter. I don't know much about that, except that we've finally had some proper rain for the first time in a bit over two months, and with the sudden rise in humidity, some frogs have started to vocalise (which is surprisingly loud - whenever I try to find them, it's like locating a ghost: they seem to be everywhere and nowhere at once). The kangaroos of course have been around the whole time and seem to be able to survive every extreme.
Not too long ago, my husband and I took a day trip to the Bunya Mountains and saw our first echidna. It didn't like me particularly much and pulled its nose in when I tried to get closer for a better look.
It's three weeks till the end of term already, and time does seem to fly. Michael and I are planning a trip back to New Zealand again at the end of the year, to visit family. It seems like it's getting rather close already. In the meantime, here's to the coming of spring and the boiling of summer. I'll keep writing on my latest new project and anticipating a new book release in the near future.

​More soon.

Shockingly, my last post was basically a month ago, but I've had good reason not to write. Firstly, I had an editing deadline with Consort to the Shadows Part Two, which is technically part of volume five of my series but will really become my sixth book to be published once it releases. So I'm excited for that.
Also, my husband and I were moving into our new house and bond cleaning the rental, which was surprisingly hard work. Lastly, we went for a few days to the Gold Coast at the end of the school holidays. And now we're both back to term and nearly at the end of week two. Time flies when you're having fun!
Winter continues here. Sometimes I wake up and it's negative three. But there's never any condensation on the windows or anything because it's too dry. Other days, I wake up and it's eight degrees. But the daytime temperatures have far and away been lovely. Today it should get to 23. Sometimes we get a beautiful 25, and you feel like you do in summertime in the South Island of New Zealand. And with August around the corner, I know things are going to continue to warm up. By the end of August, I predict we will be getting 28s again.
So winter has been overall delightful. Touch wood, I haven't fallen sick at all, although I do wake up snuffly when it plummets to the negatives.
Our Gold Coast holiday was the best, even though it was short. It started with some meetings for Michael, so I walked at White Rock Conservation Park in Logan while he did that. Walking in the bush was enjoyable, but I was certainly ready to see a bit of coastline as well. Later at the Gold Coast, we went for a fantastic excursion to Mt. Tamborine, where we walked to a couple of beautiful water falls. Then we had a huge meal at the Bavarian Grill Haus opposite the rotary. It was a great feed, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Also, the Pilsner was rather good.
Later in the day, we went to Broadbeach, which was relaxing. We watched all the people on holiday from New Zealand taking a dip in the waves and enjoying themselves. The next day, we nipped over the border into New South Wales and went to Tweed Heads, where we enjoyed Greenmount, Snapper Rocks, and Rainbow Bay. When we drove a kilometer up the road, we were back in Queensland, and we relaxed in the sunshine on Kirra Beach.
We also went shopping in Pacific Fair, a large and glamourous mall on the Gold Coast. Michael helped me pick out a leather jacket. On Sunday, we took a trip out to Paradise Point and went for a walk along the beach. The millionaires live in enormous mansions in complexes on the islands attached to Paradise Point. You have to cross bridges to get to them, and there's a little man at the gate recording everyone who passes through. It was fascinating. I was joking to Michael that someone might accuse us of devaluing their house when we parked our Suzuki Alto in front of it so we could take a walk.
After all of that, Michael stayed on in Brisbane for a couple of days for a conference and I drove Peyton home to Chinchilla. It was a wonderful time away, and I have to admit I came away from it planning our next excursion to the coast.
But home has its attractions too, and there's something comforting about the simplicity of Chinchilla - the roos in the park enjoying their feed and the galahs in the gum trees - the downs stretching away into the distance, flat and baking.
I've included some photos of our travels. They're not fantastic quality, but they should be enough to convince you Australia's got to be the most beautiful place in the world...

Well, winter has finally arrived here in Chinchilla, and I must say, the temperature can get both impressively low and impressively high for winter. The biggest tip I would give to anyone spending a winter here would be to rug up in the morning and evening, protecting the chest and throat in particular. But be ready for warm, sunny days. Even when it's only 19 degrees outside, the sun is out in full force, and you can get really quite sweaty when you're working outside. The mornings can get down to negative two or three degrees, so a hot water bottle overnight is a must.
Other than that, it's the sunniest, most pleasant winter I've experienced so far. The other day was 25 degrees and positively balmy.

In the meantime, my husband and I attended Chinchilla Show, which is an agricultural community event. I performed on the main stage with some of my students and had a good time. Then the botanic parklands opened up in town, and they really are an oasis. Everyone adores them. The new water park here apparently cost six or seven million to make. The water is pumped all the way from the nearby creek and goes back there once it's been sprayed all over the delighted kids that assemble under it. There's a humongous watermelon bucket that fills up with liters of water and tips over every once and while. Peyton is terrified of it and prefers to bolt when it empties.

Anyway, when the botanic parklands opened up, I got to sing at that event too. I did my first classical numbers in this town, having a crack at Porgi Amor and Voi Che Sapete. I thought this might meet with ridicule, but the crowd seemed delighted with it, and many people were saying they'd never heard anything like it (in a complimentary way, I certainly hope).

In the meantime, Michael and I are hoping to settle here in the long term, and we're making plans to that end. We purchased a house for a very reasonable price, and it looks like it's going to be a great home. It has a fantastic tub which was actually one of my "must haves" because of the summers here. I can't exactly dance under sprinklers at the water park like the children do, as I don't think they really intended that area for adults. But I can lie in the tub with a cold one (Aussie lingo for chilled beer), and that sounds just fine to me.

The weather is a lot cooler than summer, so it's easier to move boxes this time round. I'm doing multiple trips across town to the new place, and it's beginning to look a little more homely.

Who could have known that I would love living in the outback so much? We took a winter trip to the Weir the other day, and the water level is getting pretty low. Kayaking might not be the best idea right now. But the bird life is incredible, and I saw several huge species I didn't know. The roos were watching us from their positions in the long grass. It's still a novelty seeing them.

If any of you read this and think it sounds inviting, you'd be right. I would heartily recommend a trip to the outback, and Chinchilla is a good place to visit, even if you haven't heard of it before. By the way, I'm still eating water melon, even in the middle of winter.

A little while ago, I posted about some holiday trips that my husband and I took, but I neglected to post about my fifth book, which released in February. Consort to the Shadows arrived in the post the same day my new Australian license did. I can tell you which one I liked the look of more (although arguably the license was more useful to me, even though I did look somewhat sinister on it). It's been a pleasure to hold this book in my hands, because this was the one I thought I would never get to. After my original publisher said I had to sell one hundred e-books a day to earn the right to publish my fifth book, I thought it would never happen. And yet, it now has. Consort has never been published before. And despite all odds, I've made it this far, and I'm determined to keep going, somehow.

So far, a number of New Zealand libraries have ordered the book, including Auckland Libraries and Christchurch Libraries. I'm not sure how many people have read it, as it can be hard to get people to read subsequent books in a series. Contrary to popular thought, not many readers are unwaveringly faithful to a long series. And I suppose it's fair enough. We all lead busy lives. But my books are busy too, and at $0.99, Rafen surely can't fail to please.

In the meantime, I continue writing other projects, and the school I teach music at has also contracted me to teach some of their gifted and talented primary students poetry. This is going well so far. We've been working on season acrostics, which is somewhat hilarious in Australia, when people pick winter and try to write about snow. It certainly snows on some mountains in Australia, but it's not something you would see every day of the week. Still, recently I have had mornings when I have woken up and felt rather cold. So the temperature is still dropping here, even though many bushes are flowering as consistently as one would expect them to in a New Zealand springtime.

Anyhow, there's something of an update on my writing. I have been visiting many promotional websites and listing my books with them, but I have to admit, I don't enjoy it half as much as writing. In fact, it would be fair to say I don't enjoy it all, but if it helps move a few books and keep ensuring my future as an author, so be it. In the meantime, I can enjoy past successes and keep dreaming up new stories in my spare time, with my trusty writing companion Peyton.

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Rafen is still $0.99 USD
The Consort to the Shadows paperback is now available.

At the end of every summer, I always feel the same - like I never want those golden days with brilliant sunshine and warm waters to end. This year, it's like I've gotten my wish. I know that Chinchilla has a winter (a very crisp but swift winter, I've heard) but there's been no sign of it yet. We are consistently ten degrees cooler than we have been in the height of summer, which is a relief. But now it's very much like a New Zealand summer - mild, mostly sunny, and comfortable. We've exchanged eight weeks of 38 degrees for what's shaping up to be a couple of months of 28.

We're on the brink of term two here. The holidays have flown by, but not without some adventures. Michael and I took a trip to Brisbane where he met up with some teachers, and I met up with my author friend Russell. We had a day at the Brisbane State Library with his writer group, which was very enjoyable. The following day, Michael and I took a trip to the Sunshine Coast. Ironically, our first experience of the Sunshine Coast was rain, which was kind of disappointing. We headed into Sunshine Plaza, did some shopping, and had a nice date. By that time, the clouds had cleared up enough for us to walk down the Maroochydore river bank to where the waterway met the sea. I did some wading and "sitting in puddles" as my husband calls it. It's the simple things that make me happy.

We drove back to Chinchilla the next day and prepared for when Michael's family came to visit us. Then we spent five delightful and busy days with them, day tripping and touring the grand metropolis of Chinchilla (a little tongue in cheek, but Chinchilla is a fun town to walk around). Incidentally, outback towns can be pretty fascinating. For example, you see things you don't always see in the cities - heaps of kangaroos for example. And plenty of bats. Chinchilla Weir seems to be spectacular all year round, with flocks of corellas, cockatoos, and galahs settling in the trees and large numbers of pelicans gliding on the waters. Wild kangaroos bask on the banks of the Condamine, and kookaburras and frogs come out at sunset. It's one of the best recreational spots I know of on the Downs.
We took Michael's family there and showed them the sights. They also took several walks around Charlie's Creek, which is where Michael and I have seen a large python and a big colony of bats. Then we had a few day trips. One of the most rewarding day trips was out to the Bunya Mountains, where we walked for several hours through the rain forest. It was cool, refreshing, and dazzling. Near the camping grounds at the fringe of the forest, wallabies graze all over the place. They were so soft and furry looking that I just wanted to cuddle them. But then, I'm not sure how friendly they would be if I did that.
We also took a trip to Miles Historical Museum. Miles is a town half an hour down the road from Chinchilla, and in all honesty, I had always thought of it as a ghost town. The boom and bust cycle hit hard there, and the population is far smaller than that of Chinchilla. But I have to say, I was blown away by the historical museum. I expected it to be three old buildings and a steam engine. In reality, it was thirty old buildings and a steam engine. Plus, all the buildings were set up exactly as they would have been back in the day - an old style pub with shelves lined with liquor, a cafe with all the confectionery and old brands of chocolate set out, an old hospital with painful looking implements on display, and so on. It looked as if the town was still lived in, almost. Besides all this, the museum boasted an excellent Anzac Day display and the largest rock collection and shell collection I've ever seen. And I'm not just talking about any rocks. Precious stones of all kinds were polished to perfection behind their glass, some shaped exactly like crystal balls. It was certainly well worth the trip. A lady from Brisbane who was visiting went so far as to say it was the best museum she had seen.
So there you go - a big tick for the little town of Miles!

Yesterday was somewhat amusing, because Michael and I decided to take a day trip out to Lake Broadwater - a natural lake thirty kilometers from Dalby. We hit the road, turned up at the lake, and were greeted with a sign saying the lake was closed to all forms of water recreation due to low water levels. Beyond the sign was a gigantic dusty, cracked basin of sand and weeds.
Oh.
But we had heard that the walk around the lake was good, so we made a start on that, only to be plagued by hundreds of flies, sticking to our faces wherever we went. Even by waving our arms constantly (I'm sure the campers in the nearby grounds would have been laughing at our antics) we couldn't rid ourselves of them. So we got back in the car and drove to Dalby, where we took a walk around Myall Creek. The park lands there have been landscaped beautifully, and it was a peaceful and rewarding experience. Not to mention, there was actually a lot of water in the creek. Parrots, cockatoos, and giant lizards greeted us at every turn, and the obligatory squawking bat colony was interesting to look at on one stretch of the journey.

We're certainly becoming more Aussified by the day in some ways. Both of us have our Australian licenses now, although people still misunderstand our accents sometimes - a problem I've had in New Zealand as well because apparently I sound like I'm from Germany or England. (??) Anyway, it's fun fooling people into thinking they know what a New Zealand accent is when they hear me. They'll be doubly confused when they meet other New Zealanders.
So tomorrow term begins, but the best thing about it is that we're still here. Almost exactly a year ago, we completed a trip to Victoria, where I had used to live as a child. It was that trip that got us thinking about moving countries.
I still can't believe that we're here, in sunny Queensland!

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​Yvette's first fantasy fiction book Rafen is currently on special for $0.99. Find it here.

Christchurch was my home not four months ago. And recently it has been a world news headline once again, with a mass shooting taking place in the CBD. It's devastating to see such violence and hatred within the city where I was born.

There's been plenty said on the matter, and there will be plenty more said. So I shall keep the things that are on my mind very brief.

I love Australia, and I love New Zealand. They are both my countries. As a dual citizen who has had many happy memories in both countries, I can say that with perfect conviction. So I'm properly grieved that this happened in New Zealand and that it was an Australian who perpetrated the attack. There's been a great deal of insistence that "this isn't New Zealand" and "this isn't Christchurch". I would also like to say that this isn't Australia. And fourthly, despite whatever Tarrant might have said in his manifesto, this is not Christianity. Perhaps Tarrant had some links to Christianity. He certainly made a great many excuses to justify his actions.
But this is not the face of Christianity. First and foremostly, true Christianity is not a white supremacist thing. It's a walk of life that spans all nationalities over the world. But if you want to be picky, it began in the Middle East, where Jesus Christ associated with the Samaritans, the tax collectors, and the "sinners" of his day - people whom the religious leaders despised. And then He gave His life for them and many others, before being resurrected and striking death its final blow. Christianity is about compassion, generosity, grace, and new life. True Christianity has ministered and always will minister to the vulnerable.
As I write this, I know that there will be Christian brother and sisters of mine, over in China or Pakistan or other countries overseas that will be suffering intense persecution. My husband and I support a missionary group in Pakistan, and we frequently hear of Christians there who have been abused, tortured, and even killed because of what they believe. So Christians know what it is to be persecuted. And I hope that true Christians will stand by Christchurch and the Muslim victims of this attack in this time, because of that knowledge. True Christians should empathize and be compassionate.
One thing that I've seen is a lot of people encouraging others in New Zealand to wear Muslim head scarves, to show their solidarity with Muslims in this time. I personally feel that perhaps this isn't the most helpful thing we could be doing right now. If a gunman had walked into my church and shot dead a group of Christians, I should feel uncomfortable if the government or another group requested that everyone wear a cross in solidarity, or that everyone get a T-shirt that says "Jesus is the only way". The fact is, not all of us believe what Muslims do, just as not everyone believes what Christians profess. And the response to this catastrophic event should be respect for religious freedom, not necessarily requests that everyone should wear a head scarf. In the light of this, people should affirm each other's freedoms to seek out the truth for themselves and to think what they wish to think. This is a fundamental human right. Secondly, those who are able should help the victims in more practical ways than donning a head scarf. Making meals for those who have lost a loved one, for example. Walking with Muslim women who are too afraid to leave their houses after the attacks. Offering company to those of the Muslim community who need it. Offering rides to those who would prefer not to walk the streets of the CBD at this time. Writing cards expressing your sympathies and well wishes. Praying for the victims of the community (for this event has highlighted the importance of freedom to pray). But whatever anyone does, it should be a practical sign of love and compassion for others.
The resounding message should be that we are all human, no matter what we believe, no matter where we come from. And we ought to love each other and reaffirm each other's human rights.

Anyhow, these are the thoughts of a Kiwi in the Australian outback at this particular time. I shan't be wearing a head scarf on Friday, because I believe in freedom of belief for all - Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and all other religions alike. But each night, I remember Christchurch and all the Muslim victims of last Friday's shootings in my prayers. I particularly think of the family of Mucad Ibrahim, who was only three when he was cruelly shot. And I pray New Zealand will see better days as the horrible fresh pain of this event begins to subside.
God defend New Zealand.