Well, it is with many amazing memories, but a very sad heart that I (we) head back to Melbourne today. More soon.
Cheers to everyone that hosted us and made our visit back in the US fantastic!
Love, Christy
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
So Close, Yet So Far
I just had a tiny cry as a result of reading a few emails about coming home. Here were some of my favorite lines:
Are you here for a full 2 weeks, can you make it 3?
OH MY GOODNESS I'M SO EXCITED!!! We have to go get pedi's too, and yummy drinks at Mint.
I just bought 3 lbs of short-ribs, a couple pork tenderloins, and a flank steak so we can give the Sweany's a proper Gartner's welcome when they arrive on Thursday. That's right, we'll be having a BBQ to welcome them home (and to tie them up in my basement so they can't leave again).
YIPPPEEEE, so close now.
Have a super trip, and welcome home!
I couldn't be more thrilled to be headed home - it seems very unreal that we've been gone almost a full year already, and it seems equally unreal that our travels to come home for a visit are upon us. Words cannot express how excited I am to see and hug everyone. You are all forewarned that massive crying (possibly to the point of heaving/hyperventilation) will probably be happening.
Andy and I kept talking about writing a blog that included a reflection on our move so far, but for as much as we talked about it, nothing was ever written. In its place, I've decided to write out the story, Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss:
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to do down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along
You'll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Whatever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in the Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That's not for you!
Somehow you'll excape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
See many of you very soon!
Love, Christy
Are you here for a full 2 weeks, can you make it 3?
OH MY GOODNESS I'M SO EXCITED!!! We have to go get pedi's too, and yummy drinks at Mint.
I just bought 3 lbs of short-ribs, a couple pork tenderloins, and a flank steak so we can give the Sweany's a proper Gartner's welcome when they arrive on Thursday. That's right, we'll be having a BBQ to welcome them home (and to tie them up in my basement so they can't leave again).
YIPPPEEEE, so close now.
Have a super trip, and welcome home!
I couldn't be more thrilled to be headed home - it seems very unreal that we've been gone almost a full year already, and it seems equally unreal that our travels to come home for a visit are upon us. Words cannot express how excited I am to see and hug everyone. You are all forewarned that massive crying (possibly to the point of heaving/hyperventilation) will probably be happening.
Andy and I kept talking about writing a blog that included a reflection on our move so far, but for as much as we talked about it, nothing was ever written. In its place, I've decided to write out the story, Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss:
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to do down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along
You'll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Whatever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in the Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That's not for you!
Somehow you'll excape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
See many of you very soon!
Love, Christy
Sunday, July 27, 2008
very random blog on a rainy Sunday afternoon
hi everyone. As many of you know, Andy is not a vegetable lover. He's not even a vegetable liker. He is barely a vegetable eater, although I do have to give him credit for his recent efforts, which have seen him eating green beans, zucchini, and snow peas on a fairly regular basis when I make them to accompany our dinners. So imagine our intense laughter and pleasure in watching the following last night:
In other youtube video news, we joked that we hope our reunion with Buddy sometime next summer will go something like the reunion in this video:
A very Happy 5th Birthday to Buddy this Tuesday! Zach & Spike, thanks for taking such great care of him for us!
ok, that's it for the youtube links for today I promise. So, things here are good. Andy is out kayaking a portion of the Yarra River this afternoon with a group from Monash Uni. I'm lounging around the apartment taking it easy, reading Carter Beats The Devil, and writing this random blog entry. I bought a bottle of orange juice the other day, and when I looked at the Use By date, it was Aug. 14, which made me smile, as that is the date we fly from Melbourne to Portland.
Last weekend we enjoyed a mini-getaway to Mornington Peninsula, also known locally as Melbourne's Playground. We had a rental car for the weekend, so Friday night found us at our local Safeway, massively loading up on groceries. Who knew that a Safeway could be so quiet on a Friday night? :) Saturday we took in some sights along the drive, enjoyed some wine tasting and pizza at one of the wineries, and soaked ourselves at the hot springs. Sunday we again saw some sights and did a beach & bush horseback ride.
We've been chatting about how equally amazing & weird it seems that we've been here for almost a year already. We're even thinking it might be kinda weird in some ways to be back in the US after being gone for a significant amount of time. I think it will be interesting to see how it feels, see what we notice while we're back, etc. We've been keeping up with the presidential election 'stuff,' mostly via the local World News and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show online. We've also been keeping up with the US economic woes (and just slightly joking about whether or not we're likely to find jobs when we return next summer). We'll be filing our Aussie taxes here soon, and our US taxes next month while we're in Portland. Bring on the big returns!
Speaking of US taxes, our Yankee 4th of July Party went off pretty well. One guest even arrived wearing red, white, & blue and bearing Yankee-rific party favors of Coca-Cola, microwave popcorn, and Oreos! I caught Andy sneaking 2 hot dogs in 1 hot dog bun for himself, pictured above.
Hope all is well for everyone. Keep on enjoying summertime - we're looking forward to getting in on some of that next month!
Cheers!
Love, Christy
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
2 Very Cool Events Today
2 very cool events happened to me today:
1 - Andy and I received a surprise package in the mail from Marnie, which held 2 new Portland Underdog t-shirts for us, and a peacock bookmark for me. For those of you wondering, "What the heck is Portland Underdog?" - it is our Portland-based bowling team league. What an awesome surprise! Thanks, Marnie!!
2 - While I was at work at the shop, I ended up chatting with a gentleman whose son I went to elementary school with in Sioux City, Iowa! I overheard him talking on his mobile about how he had just gotten off a flight from the midwest of the US, so while I was ringing up his purchases I asked where in the midwest he had been. His first response was, "Oh, you wouldn't know it. A state called Iowa." And I replied, "I'm from Iowa. I'm from Sioux City." To which he totally started freaking out and said, "That's where I was! My son lives there." And then he introduced himself, and his last name was Galinsky (not the sort of last name easily forgotten). To which I said, "You don't happen to know someone named Chris Galinsky do you?" Now he totally freaked out and said, "That's my son!" And I told him I knew Chris from elementary school so long ago. Anyway, it went on from there, but what a random event, huh?
Hope you are all well -
Love, Christy
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Nielsen, O'Connell's, Crocs, Buddy, oh my!
Happy July from Australia! I can't believe it is July - it doesn't feel like July for us. Maybe the Yankee 4th of July BBQ Party that we're hosting this Friday night at our place will help. We've encouraged our guests to bring their most creative 'Yankee-rific' food item, so we'll see what we end up with! We're supplying the hot dogs, potato salad, and apple pie.
Before I get started on a bunch of other topics I must "Hooray!" my Uncle Denny & Aunt Linda, for they are on their way to Australia this September! They've got a whirlwind of a trip planned, with visits to Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock, & Melbourne, all in 3 weeks time. We are thrilled to have more family coming to visit us and this country.
Well, we successfully visited & returned from official Australian "Croc Country" on our journey to see our good old friend Jason Nielsen and to meet his girlfriend Leslie. What a fantastic feeling to get off the plane in Cairns and receive a huge hug from such an old friend (and a huge hug from a new friend I might add as well) over here in this part of the world. Our week couldn't have been more perfect - we had warm, mostly sunny weather, we stayed at a crazy Jungle Village on our 4WD journey from Cairns to Cooktown, and we stayed at the resort where Jason & Leslie are chefs the rest of the week (at awesome friend prices I must add - $50/night rather than the non-friend price of $180/night - sweet). We ate a ton of great food (most of it prepared especially for us by our personal chef friends :), enjoyed a lot of good drinks & laughs, saw our first crocodiles in the wild, went on an Aboriginal rock art tour, soaked up some sunshine, and enjoyed late afternoon naps nearly every day.
Aside from visiting Jason, seeing crocodiles in the wild was definitely the highlight of the trip - I think it made all 4 of us feel like little kids again, sitting in the boat just staring at these impressive & intimidating creatures, passing the binoculars around and whispering phrases such as, "Wow!" and "Oh my gosh!" and "My mom would not approve of this." The largest croc we saw was about 12 feet long, we think. Thanks to Jason & Leslie for being such fantastic travel guides, travel partners, and hosts throughout our visit!
With that trip now in the past, we are really on countdown for our upcoming trip to the US next month -- that's right, it's next month!!! I've received a few requests for flight details for our arrival in Portland, so here they are: we arrive on Alaska Airlines flight #2586 on Thursday, Aug. 14th at 12:45pm.
In general life news, things are going very well. I'm working FT this and next week at the shop, as one of the owners is on holiday. I love working down there. I subbed at a special needs school for 1 day 2 weeks ago, which was interesting and went really well. Andy and I attended a rather bizarre social gathering sponsored by the teaching agency I work with the Friday before we went on vacation - nothing like getting a bunch of substitute teachers together to liven up an indoor lawn bowling arena. You may think I'm joking here, but trust me, I am not. By the end of the evening, Jag shots were being poured all around, of which I must admit... I had 2! Eeewww! I can't even recall the last time I did a straight shot of liquor. And I was one of the well behaved ones! Thankfully I didn't feel too horrible the next day, and our friends Marloes and Annelieke came over and we feasted on pancakes for hours.
It is mostly cool and kinda gray in Melbourne so far this winter - some rain, but nothing like Portland's locked-in grayness for days on end. There's usually some sunshine every day.
Enjoy the pictures - oh, and there's some awesome ones of Buddy at the end that we just got from Zach - if you have ever seen Buddy, you will be shocked!
Wishing everyone a safe and fireworks-filled 4th of July!
Cheers from the land down under-
Love, Christy
xoxoxoxo
Before I get started on a bunch of other topics I must "Hooray!" my Uncle Denny & Aunt Linda, for they are on their way to Australia this September! They've got a whirlwind of a trip planned, with visits to Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock, & Melbourne, all in 3 weeks time. We are thrilled to have more family coming to visit us and this country.
Well, we successfully visited & returned from official Australian "Croc Country" on our journey to see our good old friend Jason Nielsen and to meet his girlfriend Leslie. What a fantastic feeling to get off the plane in Cairns and receive a huge hug from such an old friend (and a huge hug from a new friend I might add as well) over here in this part of the world. Our week couldn't have been more perfect - we had warm, mostly sunny weather, we stayed at a crazy Jungle Village on our 4WD journey from Cairns to Cooktown, and we stayed at the resort where Jason & Leslie are chefs the rest of the week (at awesome friend prices I must add - $50/night rather than the non-friend price of $180/night - sweet). We ate a ton of great food (most of it prepared especially for us by our personal chef friends :), enjoyed a lot of good drinks & laughs, saw our first crocodiles in the wild, went on an Aboriginal rock art tour, soaked up some sunshine, and enjoyed late afternoon naps nearly every day.
Aside from visiting Jason, seeing crocodiles in the wild was definitely the highlight of the trip - I think it made all 4 of us feel like little kids again, sitting in the boat just staring at these impressive & intimidating creatures, passing the binoculars around and whispering phrases such as, "Wow!" and "Oh my gosh!" and "My mom would not approve of this." The largest croc we saw was about 12 feet long, we think. Thanks to Jason & Leslie for being such fantastic travel guides, travel partners, and hosts throughout our visit!
With that trip now in the past, we are really on countdown for our upcoming trip to the US next month -- that's right, it's next month!!! I've received a few requests for flight details for our arrival in Portland, so here they are: we arrive on Alaska Airlines flight #2586 on Thursday, Aug. 14th at 12:45pm.
In general life news, things are going very well. I'm working FT this and next week at the shop, as one of the owners is on holiday. I love working down there. I subbed at a special needs school for 1 day 2 weeks ago, which was interesting and went really well. Andy and I attended a rather bizarre social gathering sponsored by the teaching agency I work with the Friday before we went on vacation - nothing like getting a bunch of substitute teachers together to liven up an indoor lawn bowling arena. You may think I'm joking here, but trust me, I am not. By the end of the evening, Jag shots were being poured all around, of which I must admit... I had 2! Eeewww! I can't even recall the last time I did a straight shot of liquor. And I was one of the well behaved ones! Thankfully I didn't feel too horrible the next day, and our friends Marloes and Annelieke came over and we feasted on pancakes for hours.
It is mostly cool and kinda gray in Melbourne so far this winter - some rain, but nothing like Portland's locked-in grayness for days on end. There's usually some sunshine every day.
Enjoy the pictures - oh, and there's some awesome ones of Buddy at the end that we just got from Zach - if you have ever seen Buddy, you will be shocked!
Wishing everyone a safe and fireworks-filled 4th of July!
Cheers from the land down under-
Love, Christy
xoxoxoxo
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
August US visit details
Hi all - here are some of the main details of our August US visit so far:
*We arrive in Portland on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 12:45pm. So excited! Who's going to be there?
*We'll be out camping with (hopefully) everyone we know in the Portland area on Friday & Saturday, Aug. 15 & 16. (Who's getting the keg of Bridgeport? - seriously).
We're hoping someone will volunteer to take us to Won & Jordan's house on Sunday so that we can pick up Andy's truck (hint, hint).
*We depart Portland for Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 20 - will spent Wednesday night in the Minneapolis area with Larry & Deb Sweany and Ray & Marcia Brown. We're going to hit the closest Outback Steakhouse to check-up on its authenticity.
*Friday, August 22 - attend Steve & Marnie's wedding in Duluth!!!
*Sunday, Aug. 24th - fly Minneapolis back to Portland.
*Depart Portland headed back to Melbourne on Thursday, Aug. 28th at 5pm.
We are really excited to be coming home for a visit and to attend this very special wedding.
In other news, we leave this Sunday for a week-long vacation in Cairns and Cooktown (far NE corner of the country) to see good-ol' Jason Nielsen, the Great Barrier Reef, and who knows what else.
We chatted with Zach & Buddy in Alaska via webcam this past weekend - so great to see both of them. Buddy couldn't look more content - we're beginning to doubt that he will see the need for returning to the city-life of Portland next year after his much loved Alaska wilderness. Andy dropped a "Maybe we should live in Alaska for 6 months when we go home," suggestion, to which I didn't really have a response.
Hoping summer has gotten off to a fantastic start for everyone. For many of you, see you in 2 months!!
Cheers!
Love, Christy
*We arrive in Portland on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 12:45pm. So excited! Who's going to be there?
*We'll be out camping with (hopefully) everyone we know in the Portland area on Friday & Saturday, Aug. 15 & 16. (Who's getting the keg of Bridgeport? - seriously).
We're hoping someone will volunteer to take us to Won & Jordan's house on Sunday so that we can pick up Andy's truck (hint, hint).
*We depart Portland for Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 20 - will spent Wednesday night in the Minneapolis area with Larry & Deb Sweany and Ray & Marcia Brown. We're going to hit the closest Outback Steakhouse to check-up on its authenticity.
*Friday, August 22 - attend Steve & Marnie's wedding in Duluth!!!
*Sunday, Aug. 24th - fly Minneapolis back to Portland.
*Depart Portland headed back to Melbourne on Thursday, Aug. 28th at 5pm.
We are really excited to be coming home for a visit and to attend this very special wedding.
In other news, we leave this Sunday for a week-long vacation in Cairns and Cooktown (far NE corner of the country) to see good-ol' Jason Nielsen, the Great Barrier Reef, and who knows what else.
We chatted with Zach & Buddy in Alaska via webcam this past weekend - so great to see both of them. Buddy couldn't look more content - we're beginning to doubt that he will see the need for returning to the city-life of Portland next year after his much loved Alaska wilderness. Andy dropped a "Maybe we should live in Alaska for 6 months when we go home," suggestion, to which I didn't really have a response.
Hoping summer has gotten off to a fantastic start for everyone. For many of you, see you in 2 months!!
Cheers!
Love, Christy
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Snow capped mountains in Australia???
Well, I may be using the term 'mountain' loosely, but last weekend I went on a trip with the Monash Bushwalking and Outdoor Club to Mt. Feathertop. Feathertop is about a 5-6 hr drive from Melbourne (I told the folks that if I drove that far from Portland I would be in California :) and, at 6300ft, it is the 2nd tallest in Victoria (for comparison, the tallest in Oz is Mount Kosciuszko, at 7310 feet). It was a good trip with a good bunch of folks, and as usual in Melbourne, it was basically a mini UN summit, with a German, a Malaysian, a Norwegian, a Canadian, some Americans, and of course a few Aussies in attendance (one nicknamed Dingo, the 2nd of which I've met in under a month).
The skies were ultra clear, which meant good visibility, sunny and warm (mid 60s) during the day but bitterly cold (upper 20s) at night. Oddly enough, my first glimpse of Australian snow and sub-freezing temps coincides with the officical beginning of winter here. Thankfuly there was a warming hut complete with wood burning stove near our campsite, which, in combination with the Johnny Walker, was enough to temporarily keep off the chill. The only other group there was a bunch of old timers celebrating a woman's 70th b-day - if I'm still able to do a trip like that when I'm 70 I will be one happy camper (get it? man, that's really bad.....).
In other news, we just bought flights up to Cairns to see our buddy Nielsen in about a month. Cairns and beyond is what they refer to as the 'tropical north', and is basically known for jungle, crocs, and the Great Barrier Reef, and we have all of these on our 'things to do' list during our visit. So, in terms of travels, we are looking at Cairns in June, the US in August, Alice Springs (central Oz, with the big rock, aka Uluru) in Sept, then NZ in Oct. We are definitely headed to the poor house, but we're gonna have a blast getting there....:)
Cheers,
Sweany
The skies were ultra clear, which meant good visibility, sunny and warm (mid 60s) during the day but bitterly cold (upper 20s) at night. Oddly enough, my first glimpse of Australian snow and sub-freezing temps coincides with the officical beginning of winter here. Thankfuly there was a warming hut complete with wood burning stove near our campsite, which, in combination with the Johnny Walker, was enough to temporarily keep off the chill. The only other group there was a bunch of old timers celebrating a woman's 70th b-day - if I'm still able to do a trip like that when I'm 70 I will be one happy camper (get it? man, that's really bad.....).
In other news, we just bought flights up to Cairns to see our buddy Nielsen in about a month. Cairns and beyond is what they refer to as the 'tropical north', and is basically known for jungle, crocs, and the Great Barrier Reef, and we have all of these on our 'things to do' list during our visit. So, in terms of travels, we are looking at Cairns in June, the US in August, Alice Springs (central Oz, with the big rock, aka Uluru) in Sept, then NZ in Oct. We are definitely headed to the poor house, but we're gonna have a blast getting there....:)
Cheers,
Sweany
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