Dog-bait

Geoff helped out the airforce during the week by giving their dogs some exercise - that is, he was BAIT!!    They use the dogs for security patrols of the helicopters.  Sounds like the dogs really enjoy their work.

Geoff says:

"The German Shepherd’s name was 'War' the other dog name no one seems to remember. The dogs are owned by the Air-force they have one owner for their entire time they are in the Defence Force. They say they usually live for about 13 years."

Photos from East Timor and news from our builder

Our builder says...

"We are making good progress on our current project and are hopeful to be able to make a start at your place in the not too distant future."

We are still wondering if Geoff will be home before the work is finished ;)

Some new photos from Geoff are below - he says: "I hope when they start the renovations the scaffolding is nothing like this. The other photos are of the presidential palace as well as the Australian Embassy and pictures of the patrol around the camp perimeter."

ANZAC Day in East Timor

Some photos below from Geoff from ANZAC day ceremony in East Timor.  The Kiwi soldiers were also at the ceremony.

Wildlife

I had a visit from an extremely photogenic lizard today.  I heard him rustling about in the garden at the front of the house and took the photos out the bedroom window.  He was happily gorging himself on furry caterpillars walking in formation down the trunk of the large bottlebrush tree.  He was very interested in the noise my camera makes which meant he was wonderful to photograph.

Gifts and photos from Timor

I received a parcel from Geoff last week with some blankets/throw rugs he had bought at local markets for around $5 - some photos are below.  Of couse, when I laid them on the floor to take a photo Banjo immediately assumed I had put them there for him and lay down on one - cheeky!  Also some more photos of Timor from Geoff further down the page.

Approvals are happening...

Just had news today from our builder that the boundary relaxation has been approved.  The other approvals (for the plans) should follow pretty quickly.  The builder is working on his schedule so he can get a start date to us asap!  Yay, I was beginning to think Geoff would be home before any building had even started ;)

No news on the renovation but...

Still no news on a start date for building work (I think the council are slowly doing whatever they need to do!) ...but Geoff sent through some more photos today.  Here are some of Geoff, a local church service, coast line, and the President's palace.

Built atop a mountain overlooking Dili, the monument known as 'Christ the King' is a statue of Jesus Christ poised on a globe, 27 metres high.  It quickly became famous for being the second-largest statue of Jesus in the world, after the one in Rio de Janeiro. 

It was built at the request of Abilio Soards, the governor of East Timor in 1995 at a cost of $2 million. 

It has been said that the statue "is redolent with Indonesian nationalist symbolism... First, the governor told designers, the statue should measure 27 meters from base to tip, representing East Timor's position as the 27th province of Indonesia. Second, the figure of Christ alone should measure 17 meters, to remind viewers of "Integration Day" on July 17, the date East Timor was formally absorbed into Indonesia. It also marks Aug. 17, the day in 1945 that Indonesia declared its independence fromthe Netherlands." (from http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/13/opinion/13iht-edmarg.t.html?pagewanted=1 Margot Cohen, 13/9/1995). 

It is felt by some that the statue is a reminder to the East Timorese of their oppression by the Indonesians and is therefore not a popular tourist site  (http://www.bloggernews.net/112322).

Here are some photos of the statue