A snapshot of our trip through Australia!

We were blessed to have so many different experiences and adventures in Australia.  Here is a snapshot of the highlights:

Adelaide

A visit to a little German town outside of Adelaide named Hahndorf that had all kinds of German restaurants and shops to visit.

Kim trying on a hat to ready herself for the Outback.  (The hanging corks are to keep the flies away from your face.)

 

Kim hanging out with the locals.

Julie and Mark were our tour guides for the 2 days that we were in Adelaide.  They did a great job showing us around!

Riding through the Outback on the Greyhound Bus.

Christmas in Melbourne!

Yea for good friends and Christmas.  We got in at 7 am on the ferry from Tasmania and our friends Peter and Val (From Kangaroo Grounds) drove all the way into Melbourne to get us and have us over for Christmas Dinner.

Kim and I with our fancy paper hats!

Us with Peter and Val Dunstan.

Tasmania Pictures!

                                                 The Town of Penguin, Tasmania!

                                                               Road Hazard!

                                          I think the rainfly should be longer than that...

                                                              That's better.

Kim on the Hunt for Fairy Pengins.

Wambat!

Kim Brotzler, Wambat Spotter!

Our Cradle Mountain Campground...Brrrr.

Bushy Tailed Possum...run!

Kim at Cradle Mountain.

Jacob by the tent at a sketchy campground.

Kim and the tent at an ocen front camp site.

Ahhh...the Ocean...brrr.

Hiking to Wine Glass Bay (in the background)

Fish and Chips!

Fish and Chips!

Kim on Penguin Patrol.

Mmmm....Tasmanian Wine.

Our Campsite right on the ocean...we had a Bushy Tailed Possum screaming at us in the night.

Waiting for the Ferry back to the mainland.

Just chillin'

Jacob in his Ocean Recliner, only 9 hours until Melbourne!

Poppy Fields.

Sea Sponge Hat!

Rock Lobster!

The elusive Fairy Penguin!

Paddy Melon!

Jacob with an abolone shell he found.

Tasmania!

Watch out for Fairy Penguins!

The Bay of Fires!

The Ukarumpa Update - Final Edition Decmber 2010

Wow, it is hard for us to believe that the day has come.  Our service with Wycliffe Associates will draw to a close on Wednesday, December 15^th.  We have been very blessed by the prayer and financial support we have received during our time with Wycliffe Associates.  (For anyone who has been supporting us financially, as we are now ending our term, we are no longer in need of your financial support.  Thank you!)

This past month we have been serving at Kangaroo Ground, Wycliffe Australia’s headquarters, located outside of Melbourne.  During our first week here, we spent time sleeping and trying to recover after our whirlwind exit from PNG.  Also, during this time we
had some debriefing sessions with the Member Care Department.  It was very helpful to be able to talk through what we had experienced with other people who were familiar with life
in Papua New Guinea.






Once we were sufficiently settled, we both began working here at Kangaroo Ground.  Jacob joined the Maintenance Department and has had the opportunity to work on the wastewater treatment pond as well as a few small drainage projects.  Kim joined the Media Department and has spent her days scanning old film slides into digital format.  Kim has found her job quite interesting as many of the slides she is scanning are pictures of Ukarumpa back in the early days.

We have been able to do some sightseeing in the city of Melbourne during our time here.  Melbourne is home to around four million people and there is plenty to see and do. While here we have eaten at an authentic Italian restaurant in the Italian District, attended a Christmas Choral at an 1800’s cathedral, shopped at an outdoor market, went to a wildlife sanctuary  where we saw lots of Australian animals, and traveled the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road was constructed by WWI vets returning to Australia and covers many miles of scenic seaside country.  There are surfing towns, rainforest, koalas, a lighthouse, and spectacular rock formations known as the 12 Apostles. 






So what is next for us?  We are planning to backpack our way home via Tasmania, the Outback of Australia, New Zealand and finally Hawaii.  This is a lot of ground to cover,
and we plan to be back in Montana in the middle of February.  As we are now done with our service with Wycliffe Associates, we will no longer be sending out newsletters.  However, if you would like to follow our progress as we travel back to Montana, you can check out our blog at www.brotzlers.blogspot.com.We appreciate your continued prayers for us as we travel and then transition into life back in
the U.S.

Blessings,

Jacob and Kim

 

Brotzler's Picture of the week - Dec. 12, 2010

We have been continually amazed by the blessings we have received since we left PNG.  One of the most recent was a private concert that was put on here at Kangaroo Grounds by the Sons of Korah for the Wycliffe Australia Christmas Party.   The Sons of Korah is Jacob's favorite band, but we had no idea that they were based out of Melbourne.  We enjoyed a few songs followed by lunch with the members of the band.  That same evening the Sons of Korah held a concert at one of the local churches and we were able to attend.

Blessings,
Jacob and Kim

Brotzlers' photo of the week - Dec. 5th

This last weekend a Wycliffe friend took us to a zoo with purely Australian animals.  We saw everything from Tasmanian Devils to Emus to Koalas to Goannas ( kind of like iguannas) to kangaroos.....and the list could go on.  One of the highlights of the day was feeding the kangaroos.  Thus today's photo of the week is Kim feeding a kangaroo.  Enjoy  :)

November 29th picture of the week

Hi Everyone,

This week's picture of the week is a picture of Jacob's friend Bakeid.  When we checked our email today there was a picture message sent from a Digicel Phone (Digicel is PNG's cell phone company and you would be amazed how remote some of the places you see people talking on Digicel phones are).  A day before we left PNG Bakeid brought us each some home made hats, similar to the one he is wearing in the picture, and Jacob gave Bakeid our email address as well as our mailing address.  Like most Papua New Guineans, Bakeid lives in a village, he does not own a computer, and he does not have a mailing address, so as with all of our other PNG friends who live in villages, we were resigned to the fact that we would lose touch with Bakeid when we left PNG.  It appears however, that we under estimated the power of Digicel.  

Blessings,

Jacob and Kim