After some sight seeing in beautiful tropical Northern Queensland, I took the train from Cairns to Maroochydore, which is on the Sunshine Coast and then further down to the city of Brisbane. Queensland was a much needed change in climate to the Melbourne winter.

My mother-in-law, Susan randomly spotted a sign at a roadside stop that made mention of a performance by "The Walker Brothers" the following evening. We showed up and met Bennett Walker and made plans to get together at his family home in Cooya Beach. Bennett talked about his Aboriginal roots, the time he rescued a boy from drowning and also the story about when he led Bill and Hillary Clinton on a walkabout around Daintree when they visited several years back. He shared many Aboriginal objects including baskets, shells, instruments and the "bullroarer", which when spun around wards off evil spirits. Towards the end of our interview Bennett and his family had to rush off to the Cairns hospital to welcome the newest Walker into the world.

Nathan Walker met me in Cairns. We had a discussion about "stone knapping" and his love of rock music. He was in a rock band and continues to play his prize possession electric guitars but spends most of his time researching at James Cook University. When asked what mythological character he sees himself being, he answered Loci, the Nordic god of mischief.

Chris Walker is originally from Upstate New York. One day while looking out into dreary frigid weather he decided he'd had enough of that climate and set sails for the Sunshine Coast of Australia. Chris spent time teaching me how to kick a rugby ball. Chris provided one of the most interesting answers to the mythical being question. He would like to take on a spirit as the apple from the Garden of Eden.

I joined Meegan and Drew Walker for a delicious meal at their home where they broke out the local beverage of choice, Bundaberg Rum. Meegan shared with me the secret of the "Tim-Tam Slam" where you can use a delicious chocolate biscuit (Australian for cookie) as a straw to suck up hot coffee while melting the chocolate into the coffee.

I met Tony Walker at his home in Brisbane. We had a great talk about time and at what points in life one starts to think more about accomplishments rather than goals. He taught me how to make a watercolor wash painting in his artist studio.

I shared a meal of Indian food with Arron and Leizl Walker at their home in Red Hill. I met the youngest Walker to date, Mitchell but he was too sleepy to answer any questions. Arron talked about his time in the ARMY reserves and Leizl showed me some examples of her mother's beautiful paintings. Leizl shared some yoga techniques while Arron taught us how to play an army game which proved to me quite difficult for me and Leizl.

Michele and Chris Walker's house could be the set for a sitcom. I arrived with the entire place smelling of delicious baked goods. Three kids were running around listening to music and playing video games. Michele had to rush off to take one of the children to a friend's house. There were chirping cockatiels on the back porch and a playful dog, Rosie offering me a ball to throw. Chris taught me how to start a push lawn mower. He thought that I was a city slicker, but I explained that we always had a tractor at my house.

I met Chris and Tara Walker in Fortitude Valley where we went out to Tara's favorite Thai restaurant. Chris taught me how to make a decorative "prison ashtray" out of an aluminum can, which he later decided was incorrectly named because prisoners wouldn't have access to cans and sharp scissors. We ended the evening with a game of Trivial Pursuit, which lucky for me included three American president questions.

Lorraine Walker picked me up and gave me a great car tour of the city and then we made our way to her home where we met her husband John Walker. They had many fascinating stories due to their professions: Lorraine is an ER nurse and John is a prison chaplain. After finishing our chat and learning some great crafting skills and party tricks we drove up to Mount Coot-tha for a view of the Brisbane skyline.

Shawn Walker works at Australia Catholic University. He had many anecdotes to share about being the oldest sibling in his family. He shared some of the promotional items he had designed for student recruitment at ACU including a pair of flip-flops, which were distributed throughout the campus. I tried a Technicolor communion-like wafer, which has a surprising burst of candy flavoring in the center.

Mal and Di Walker have some great stories about traveling during their hippy days. Mal cooked up some delicious "Aussie buco," which is a twist on the traditional osso buco. Mal and Di are the parents of Chris and Tara who I met earlier in the week.

I met Dan Walker for a coffee near the University of Queensland. We chatted about his research in the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics focusing on voodoo and other magic-based religions. He spoke about his past interests in opera singing and his move toward becoming an educator. He decided his mythical character would be a natural cycle, something that just is, so to speak.

My friend Maggie, another American Fulbright scholar joined me for a visit to Megan and Tony Walker's house, my last victims in Brisbane. Megan demonstrated how to French braid hair by using Maggie as a model. Tony made an elaborate Picasso-inspired mask out of cardboard. The nose on the mask acts as a megaphone that the wearer speaks through. Both Megan and Tony have taught drama in schools.