I won't go into too much detail, but Zach has been pretty sick this week. He started feeling bad on Sunday and skipped work on Monday to stay in bed. It started with a high fever and the shaky achy feel - then turned into bad stomach cramps, head and neck aches and sweats at night. He's had no appetite this week, but somehow managed to work Tuesday-Friday (he's my hero!). Today he is feeling much better and back to normal. We think it's the water - so, he is now on a strict bottled water diet and that seems to be helping!

Zach's thoughts about the last week:

Work was tough this past week because I was so weak from not eating anything. But everyday got better and today I am almost back to normal. This week I've been angle-grinding rust off large pieces of steel which will eventually be used as the frame for a 300 square-meter hay shed. It's better than shoveling you-know-what! Next week I'll finish up the grinding and start painting the pieces. Amber did a great job taking care of me - I'm so lucky to have a caring, nuturing wife like her. I kinda hope I get sick more often!

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In between taking care of Zach, I was able to fit in some fun things this week. On Tuesday, I took a bus tour through the Manning Valley. There were about 20 of us and I was definitely the youngest - I think the next youngest was about 65. We bush-walked through Wingham Nature Reserve, which was home to very old Moreton Bay Fig trees and about 50,000 grey-headed flying fox (which are actually bats). You had to watch your step and definitely not look up with your mouth open! We drove up to Blue Knob Lookout, which had spectacular views of the Valley and coast. Then, we ended the day with a hike to Ellenborough Falls which is one of the longest single drop waterfalls in the Southern Hemisphere. The scenery was great and I mostly enjoyed all the history and stories that the guides told about the land. Very interesting!

The Bus Crew

100+ year old Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Bats everywhere you looked!

Only in Australia - a tree that can sting you

Zach and I both are floaters for the tennis club, so I got a call this week to play with the ladies comp league. I enjoyed meeting more local people and the competition was pretty good. With all these people we are meeting through rotary and tennis, we are starting to recognize people in town. Somehow, the small town becomes even smaller!

We are still trying to decide what to do for our anniversary this coming Monday. Hard to believe it's already been two years. We've asked our friends here which places are good for dinner and it turns out only one restaurant is even open on a Monday night...so I guess that makes our decision pretty easy!