Merry Christmas!!

We wish you a merry Christmas....from the Melbourne Airport! Though not as high-class as Singapore (free internet) there are still pay kiosks that allow us to check e-mail as we breeze through Melbourne on our way to New Zealand. We've had a great time thus far traveling with Heidi, Larry and Laurie and are looking forward to more adventures.

We have also learned a few things during our first 'hosting' experience here in Australia:

• The trams in Melbourne are actually very easy for visitors to use....once they find them
• There are NO kangaroos on Kangaroo Island in South Australia
• The wine in McLaren Vale is top notch and generally affordable
• There are more places open on Christmas Day than you would think in Adelaide
• The sun does actually shine in Australia during the summertime (however not often when guests are visiting)
• Having to kill time in airports is the same no matter which airport you are in
• Airport food is graded on a scale of 'nearly edible' to 'hasn't grown its own legs yet'
• There is absolutely no chance of a white Christmas in an Airport in Australia
• The radio stations in Australia are still fully functional through the holidays and do not break from their standard format for Christmas carols (we had to sing our own)

We hope you have a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year!

Happy Holidays

It has been a busy month for us here in Melbourne, and it has shown in our blog. Between work, Christmas parties (yes, they are still 'Christmas' parties here), looking for a new apartment, and planning for family visits and travel over the holiday break, it seems that we have been flat out over the last couple of weeks. That all topped with our home computer being on the fritz has helped us slide with our regular communications.

A quick update - work is work and it's taking up a vast majority of Josh's time now that he doesn't also have to focus on Ironman training; we enjoyed a 'Bollywood' Christmas party with Accenture at the National Gallery of Victoria, complete with body art and Tarot card readings; we had a lovely evening with the Arana crew at The Waterfront at Station Pier; and after looking at a couple of different apartments we've decided on one in St Kilda, and although it isn't as nice/big as what we currently have we hope that it will be a good location (and fortunately it does have a second bedroom and bath for visitors!)

Last night we welcomed some of the family - Larry, Laurie, and Heidi - to Melbourne after they spent a couple of days exploring Sydney. It's so wonderful to see them after a year! They will be staying with us until Saturday when we all head to South Australia (Kangaroo Island, which has recently been in the news due to major bush fires so we'll see what's left when we get there, and McLaren Vale, a very well known Australian wine region) and then on to New Zealand for a week. It should be great fun!

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ironman Pics

The Ironman and WA Holiday pictures are up on flickr now for your viewing pleasure - but they won't have full comments/descriptions until later in the week. Enjoy!

More Than We Bargained For

Today we spent our last day of vacation in the Margaret River Valley of Western Australia (and yes, we were able to find last minute accommodation last night so we didn't have to sleep in the car!) Our day started with a beautiful drive through the Karri Forests, followed by a fantastic lighthouse tour at the southeastern most point of Australia (the tallest mainland lighthouse in Australia, the third tallest lighthouse overall). Then the rain started. We found soup for lunch at a local tavern and headed out for our drive back to Perth. We had planned in 2-3 hours for driving back to the airport, more than what should have been needed on a good day. Well, today was not a good day. There were massive rains that slowed traffic through our whole journey. As we neared the city we began to realize that making our flight was going to be near impossible. We were trying to stay calm and assess our options, and then traffic started stopping - brake lights everywhere - the car in front of us started skidding - and there we went - crashed right into a bright orange ute. And there were many more fender benders in front of us. Fortunately, there were no injuries and minor damage to the other car. Our rental had a ding in the bumper (which we've learned will probably cost us roughly 500 Euros!), but the time it took to exchange details and sit through the post wreck traffic sealed the deal for us missing the plane (mind you, we were running trying to get at least one of us onto the plane at the last minute, but it just wasn't happening). Luckily someone was watching over us today and, after all of the drama of the afternoon, an angel in the form of a Qantas ticketing agent helped us get things straightened away with our tickets so we can get home tonight with slightly less impact to the pocketbook than may have been required.

So now we have a 5 hour wait in the airport until our flight (yay for the Internet), and we will be getting into Melbourne in the early morning hours to face a quick turnaround and head to work - but at least we will make it home! We've done a lot of traveling in the past year and we have to feel lucky that we've managed to have all good experiences as long as we have - hopefully getting through this not so good one will set us on the right track for our many coming travels!

Well Thats Done

The brief update (for those that don't want to read comments) is that I finished Ironman Western Australia in a total time of 12hours, 37minutes and 16 seconds. My splits were roughly 1:10 for the swim, 6:10 for the bike and 5:15 for the marathon - throw in some extra for transition and rounding and there you go. Overall, things went really well - the swim was FANTASTIC and definitely a highlight of the day since I was expecting a 1:30-ish. The bike was tough, but I took it easy, stayed well hydrated and visited almost every single porta-loo on the course. The marathon was a different story though and I started off only 'ok' instead of 'good' and it went downhill from there. For quite a while I couldn't tell if it would be better or worse to just puke everything up or not - decided not and walked for a while to soothe the tummy. In the end I got it going again (slowly) and was able to enjoy a jog down the finish chute, high-fiving all the kids and cheerleaders that they had lining the finish. The sunburn souvenirs that I have are pretty interesting, and there are some lingering pains, but thanks to all the support from friends and family both near and far it was a journey I won't soon forget. I don't plan on repeating it anytime soon either (though my coach says I'll change my mind in a week)!

More pictures and such will be posted once we're back in Melbourne. For now, we need to figure out where we're staying tonight since our B&B misplaced our booking!!

The Day Before

Hello all - as you know, this is the big weekend, the goal of the last five months, the big trip of the spring, the peak of all the training and sweating....this is Ironman Western Australia weekend. We wrapped up work in a hurry on Thursday (including last minute packing of brand new running shoes), got on our flight and had smooth sailing into Perth where it was pleasant, sunny and a gentle breeze welcomed us to our 'vacation'. We spent the evening and Friday morning exploring downtown Perth, especially enjoying a walk through King's Park Botanical Gardens with an outdoor breakfast, before hitting the road for Busselton.

The first thing we noticed when we got into town and went to race registration, was how easy the swim was going to be - one lap around the Busselton Jetty. Sounds easy right? Yeah, this jetty is so long it has a turn, rest stops and I'm sure that I heard about a bus to take you from one end to the other. It is also one of the most photographed man-made structures (along with the longest wooden structure) in the Southern Hemisphere. The next thing we noticed was that there are definitely a LOT of very fit people here - many flashy bikes, tanned legs and shiny sunnies on display. Even at the carbo-dinner last night, when last years winner said 'its not too late to pull out!', nobody seemed to take it seriously. Now that we're this far (I've been weighed, tagged - #475, stickered and photographed) its time to get going and get the job done. Tomorrow is the day, I start at 6:15am and if all goes according to plan I'll be done before sunset. One lap of the jetty, three 60k loops of local biking scenery and three 14k loops of running along the beach (yes, in brand new shoes!) followed by the finishline. It almost doesn't sound that bad - perhaps I don't know enough to be scared just yet, ask me at 6:14am tomorrow and you'll probably get a different answer!

Silver All Around

This past weekend was the Australian Corporate Games in Melbourne and we were happy to participate. Saturday morning started with a 10k run for Josh. It was a cool, overcast morning so he capitalized on the perfect weather and finished with a nice sprint to the line with a time of 47:39.
Then, after a massage at the Accenture marquee, the sun came out in full force and it was time to head to the beach where Kristi joined the Arana beach volleyball team, the 'Go mAbs' (how wrong is this? let's not go there...mAbs stands for monoclonal antibodies...gotta love lab humor!), for a day of fun in the sun. They went in with low expectations after a couple of practice sessions proved that the majority of the team needed some serious work, but apparently the practice paid off as they breezed through the pool play and into the semi-finals with their killer serving. It was neck-and-neck for the semis, but Arana pulled it out in the last serve, scraping by with a 2-point win. Then they were into the finals where, unfortunately, they cracked under the pressure of the Bosch team. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful day and everyone enjoyed a Silver medal celebratory BBQ to top off the festivities.
Sunday we were back at it again. After turning lobster-red from being on the beach all day, we slathered on the sunblock and headed to the softball fields where Josh and the Accenture 'Thunderbunnies' swung for the fences. They dominated their pool from the start, but after four back-to-back wins the troops were getting a bit tired. Luckily the catered lunch was delivered and energy stores were replenished. On they went to the semi-finals where things got tough, but they gave it their best and pulled out a win in a nail-biting game. Onto the finals (is this sounding familiar?) where they faced another mainly American Ex-Pat team from Holden. Those guys were full-on...cleats, batting gloves, a former player of the Australian national team, and a pitcher with some serious backspin. They held on for a while, but in the end couldn't pull it out and decided it was beer o'clock. So a Silver medal to commemorate the day - too much fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you believe the holiday season is already upon us? So many things to be thankful for this past year! Obviously Thanksgiving isn't a recognized holiday here in Australia, nor does it feel like that time of year with the warm temps we've been having lately, but we will still celebrate tomorrow night with the American Ex-Pats from Accenture. One of the partners has been kind enough to host all of us at his home, so it should be an enjoyable evening. In the spirit of the holiday Kristi also made pumpkin pie bars to share with her colleagues at morning tea this morning (the ingredients only had to be slightly modified - no pumpkin here so it was a butternut squash pie, but it still tasted great). It was a first time taste for many of the folks and fortunately it was a hit! Although, it might have been the whipped cream in a can that sealed the deal ;)

As the month quickly passes by, Josh's mo continues to develop. Here he is with a few of the 'Mo Bros' from Accenture - they had a lunch this past Tuesday. If you're interested in sponsoring the fuzz on Josh's upper lip, please click here and enter Josh's ID of 164140. Remember that any donation over $2 is tax deductible (at least in Australia) and the money is going to help with research and treatment of prostate cancer and depression - both good causes!

Gatorade Tri #1 - St. Kilda Beach

Kristi reporting here...

So I have decided to mix things up a bit and try my hand at getting into the triathlon spirit this season with the Gatorade Triathlon Series. I can't say I've 'loved' the handful of triathlons I've attempted in the past, but so many friends and family members enjoy the sport that I feel if I hang in there I'll eventually enjoy it too. Well, race one of six is complete and I can't say my perception has changed...yet.

It seems that most tris I enter end up having crap weather on race day, and today was no exception with a morning of gusty winds and rain showers. Nonetheless Josh delayed his workout to come out and cheer me on - the role reversal was great!

I haven't been in peak training mode recently so I figured I wouldn't set the bar too high on my first race...well that was the understatement of the century as I dragged my bum out of the water last in my age group. There's no where else to go but up from here folks! Sadly I have actually been swimming more consistently than I ever have, but what can I say, I swim like a rock. I have only compete in one open water swim and I have never done proper swimming in saltwater, so after swallowing a couple of litres of bay water I have learned where my focus needs to be.

My crackerjack start allowed me to have great fun the remainder of the race catching and passing folks on the bike and run. I was fairly happy with both of those events for the first race of the season, but more time in the saddle and speedwork are in order as the season progresses. My overall finish was 1:29:49 - yeah for finishing. Stay tuned for the next round of race results in December, and wish me luck...looks like I'm gonna need it!

Blairgowrie

This past weekend friends Mel and Andrew invited us to join them for a weekend at their holiday house in Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula. We headed out Friday after work and stopped along the way to enjoy a dinner of fish & chips and watch the sun set.

Saturday and Sunday mornings were all business for Josh as he completed some of his longest training sessions yet...but he did get a very good feel for the area as he biked 5 1/2 hours on Saturday and 3 hours on Sunday followed by 2 hours of running. Meanwhile the rest of us enjoyed walks on the back beach, short jogs/bike rides, wandering through the Rosebud market, and cooking beautiful meals. Mel is an amazing cook and has a very gourmet flare. Her diet is a bit restricted at the moment as she and Andrew are expecting their first child in late January, but she does wonderful things with the foods she can eat! She also gave Kristi some great pointers for Australian foods that can be substituted for American foods that we can't get here - the perfect resource going into the holiday baking season!

Saturday afternoon we visited Point Nepean National Park at the very tip of the peninsula. We had great views of the heads of Port Phillip Bay and were able to tour parts of the military fort that was located there during WWI and WWII to protect the bay. As part of the ride out to the end of the point we even saw the memorial to Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia in 1962 who "went missing" while going for a swim from a beach on Point Nepean. You'll notice that Josh didn't do any swimming over the weekend - rips are not to be taken lightly, not even by Prime Ministers! We then enjoyed coffee and window shopping in Sorento (the Vail Village of Mornington Peninsula). On Sunday afternoon we drove up to Arthur's Seat for wonderful views of the bay before heading home.

It was an absolutely lovely weekend - we were so lucky to have such nice weather and be in such great company! However, since the Mornington Peninsula is well known for its wonderful wineries and it's world class golf courses, we'll have to twist our arms and plan yet another get-away weekend to do some more exploration ;)

PS - As I'm writing this blog the Meyer Christmas Parade (the first of the season) is underway. I guess this is what happens when you don't have a Thanksgiving!

Evicted

So Monday morning we were greeted with a letter from our leasing agency informing us that our landlord wants to move into the property and therefore we must vacate the premises by February 1, 2008 (the end of our one-year lease). Subsequently we have learned that we will likely be moving somewhere that is already being leased by Accenture (so whoever was occupying the apartment has since rolled off the project and the apartment is empty). This is not looking good for us to stay in Port Melbourne, which really saddens us, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will all work out. For all of you coming to visit, we'll do our best to end up in another 2 bedroom/2 bathroom unit so you have somewhere to sleep :) Poor Ed and Myra are coming in February - they just can't seem to miss any of our moves!

The Race That Stops A Nation

Today is Melbourne Cup Day - a Victorian public holiday devoted to horse racing. Many people put on their best attire, complete with the matching hats, and head out to Flemington Racecourse to spend the day placing their bets and celebrating their wins (or losses).

We had a beautifully sunny day to take part in the festivities and, although we didn't have proper hats, we still managed to get a bit dressy for the occasion. In the spirit of the event we also tested our luck at the betting tables. Josh's first bet of the day sent us home with a couple extra dollars as Volcado took first in his race. Unfortunately we didn't have as much luck on the Melbourne Cup Race, but we had fun cheering on our horses nonetheless (Bluetigeroo and Zipping). Efficient pulled through for the win...we should have known ;)

It was really amazing to see the horses going so fast so close by - the sound of their hooves on the track was such a gentle throbbing that their speed as they passed was a surprise. We had a great vantage point to watch both the races and the people, and with the champagne flowing sometimes the people were just as entertaining as the horses!

Clean Cut Aussie

The summer is fast approaching and it is time to clean up, shape up and get a move on. With Ironman training underway the shaping up and moving hasn't been a problem, but not having a haircut since before the trip to Germany the 'clean up' was lacking. The motivation presented itself this week with a new fundraising campaign for men's health issues: Movember. This annual event started in Australia and has now raised over $8.5million dollars towards prostate cancer research and awareness. The concept is simple, start the month off with a clean shave and then see how the mo goes while gaining sponsors to support the habit. Any form of upper lip adornment is allowed, though you can't leave any hair on the chin. At the end of the month, there are parties all over Australia to determine who has the best mo and generally to celebrate the end of dodgy-looking characters being found in the bathroom mirror in the morning.

To go with the clean shave, I got a cut as well "just a little off the top" means something different in Australia apparently. I'm sure we'll have more pictures leading up to the Ironman - the big decision is if I end up with a good mo, do I race with it or shave it off?! My goal personally is to go for the Magnum PI / Booney look - big, bushy and proud. We'll see if a month is enough time, or if I get picked up in some police line-up before we find out. For now, Kristi and I have realised more than ever that Tim and I are quite clearly related - amazing that all it takes is me losing a few kilos and a goatee for the magic to happen. :-)

Happy Halloween!

It doesn't seem quite like Halloween - there's no blizzard warnings or little kids running around all dressed up and asking for candy, nor jack-o-lanterns on doorsteps or ghost and goblins adorning the lawns. Apparently there is some acknowledgment of the holiday in Australia (our local movie rental store had cobwebs and spiders up throughout the store yesterday), but they really don't get into it like we do back home. No costume parties and not even much trick-or-treating from what we've heard. We've put up our decoration in honor of the holiday, but there will be no candy this year (probably a good thing as it would be similar to the year we were in Minneapolis when it was so cold we only had 2 groups of trick-or-treaters that braved the weather, and we ended up eating all of the rest of the goodies ourselves!)

On another note, I went past Fed Square today and they already have the big (metal) Christmas tree up. I don't know how long it's been there, but they could have at least waited until November!

Grampians National Park

You just can't beat a good road trip. This weekend we decided to get away from the city for a couple of days of relaxation so we headed up to the Grampians (about a 3-hour drive northwest of Melbourne). We had read that the springtime blooming of wildflowers was quite beautiful in addition to the spectacular views and hikes the area has to offer, so we were keen to check it out.

We packed up the car to the brim and managed to head out of town by 4:45 on Friday afternoon - a sheer miracle based on our track record and the fact that we had to pack everything and the kitchen sink so Josh could continue his training on the road. There were no dramas with traffic and we easily made it out of the city and to Ballarat, where we stopped for a swim (there are no public swimming pools of a reasonable size to swim laps in the area of the Grampians where we were headed, so Josh modified his training schedule and swam his Saturday morning workout on Friday night - Kristi had a swim too, so she wouldn't feel left out).

After an hour and a half of swimming we were back on the road and on our way to Halls Gap, which is the only town actually located within Grampians National Park. We decided to push ahead an try to find dinner once we got to Halls Gap, but unfortunately luck was not on our side and all food establishments were closed up when we rolled into town at 9:45 (on a Friday night mind you!) However, a nice lady at the Kookaburra Cafe took pity on us and made us some beautiful spinach crepes and a vegetable stack for take-away so we wouldn't go to bed with empty stomachs. Take-away in hand we found our accomodation for the weekend - a beautiful self-contained chalet within walking distance of Halls Gap. With full tummies we crawled straight into bed and had a very good sleep.

We awoke Saturday morning bright and early to the sounds of nature, and looked out of our chalet to find hundreds of kangaroos enjoying their morning meal. Josh took off for a couple of hours of cycling around the countryside and Kristi walked into town to explore (everything was still closed). Back at the chalet we had a quick brekki of eggs on toast and then were off to see the sights.

As recommended by the visitor's centre, our first stop was The Pinnacle (pictured here). It was a fair hike, but we were rewarded with beautiful views on a very warm and sunny spring day. Then we headed for vistas at Boroka Lookout, followed by another walk for views of MacKenzie Falls. We stopped for lunch and a much deserved ice cream treat, and then made our way to Reed's Lookout and walked to The Balconies for our final excursion of the day. After all of the driving and hiking we were beat and ready for a shower and quiet reading time back at the chalet before dinner at The Balconies Restaurant, where we were treated to a 3-course meal with live jazz music.

Sunday morning (the start of Daylight Savings time) came too early and with massive amounts of wind and rain. It was impossible for Josh to consider completing his workout, so we decided to sleep in and enjoy breakfast in bed before heading back to Melbourne - what a lovely way to start the day! Unfortunately now that we are back home Josh is spending the afternoon/evening completing the workout he could not do this morning, but all is well as it is giving Kristi time to clean up the apartment, do the laundry, and get everything ready for the week. With the work completed, we're now off to enjoy a Sunday evening Date Night - yay for more adventures!

Rhymes with Banana (at least if you're Aussie it does)

'Arana' is the Aboriginal word for moon (at least that's what we've been told), and it is now the new name of one of Australia's largest biotechnology companies.

Kristi's company, EvoGenix, recently merged with a Sydney-based biotech company, Peptech, and the newly formed entity decided that re-branding was in order to create a new face of Australian biotechnology - voi la, the birth of Arana. Here is our new logo, lovingly known as the Arana donut!

To commemorate the unity of the two companies and to share the vision of Arana and everyone's role in the future of the company, all of the folks from Melbourne were flown up to Sydney for a day-long 'Integration Event' last Friday. Although there was much skepticism surrounding the event, in the end everyone had a lovely time - and who can complain about a free trip to Sydney!

Our morning was basically spent playing get-to-know-you games and listening to presentations from the management team, and then in the afternoon we were split up into teams to go on a treasure hunt around portions of Sydney (we were led by pirates and all - too funny!) My team actually ended up winning (thanks in part to one team member's red undies) and were rewarded with a wonderful bottled treasure to take home. Here we are doing one of the challenges for extra points...anyone interested in wagering a guess as to what in the world we were trying to do???

After the afternoon of running around we were treated to rides at Luna Park (the venue for our event). It is wonderful being given the opportunity to be a kid again and, after enjoying the sunset from the Ferris Wheel, I joined various colleagues in rides that hung us upside down, threw us up and down, and spun us round and round like we were in a centrifuge! However, my favorite ride of the night was the 'Dodgem Cars'!

At that point the night had just begun as we headed inside for dinner and dancing. The meal was beautiful and afterwards it was quite fun to see folks come out of their shells and shake their booties on the dance floor - although the constant flow of alcohol all afternoon/evening probably helped some break that shell more easily!

Before heading home on Saturday afternoon Kristi spent time meandering through the Rocks market, taking a run across the Harbor Bridge and past the Opera House, visiting Bondi Beach, and spending time with friend Nikki (we met up with her on our initial Sydney trip). It was an absolutely beautiful couple of days in Sydney!

The Life Aquatic

Over the past couple of weeks we've shown you that Josh is diligently practicing his running and his biking - so it only seemed logical to share that the man is also getting in his swim time. He does some of his workouts in the pool in our apartment (location of the below photo-shoot), but as it is only a 20 meter pool he also spends a fair amount of time at MSAC where they have both indoor and outdoor 50 meter pools.

Gold Class

We had a very posh date night tonight...we enjoyed watching The Bourne Ultimatum in the Gold Class theater at Crown. We were able to get a couple of free ticket upgrades so we decided to make a night of it - never mind that we had to have our arms twisted to buy a couple of Magnums to do so, but between the yummy ice cream and the fancy movie experience it was so worth it!

You enjoy an intimate setting in Gold Class - the theaters only accommodate about 28 people and you are seated in comfy recliners so there isn't a bad seat in the house. But the fun doesn't stop there...prior to entering the theater, they take your food and drink order and note at what point during the movie you would like to be served. We decided to split a set menu for dinner, with a side of popcorn (it's just not right to go to the movies without popcorn!) It was fabulous - they brought us our bread and dips entree right at the start; then we were served our mini gourmet hot dogs, beers, and popcorn about an hour in; and then with only half an hour to go they brought in a warm pear and rhubarb strudel! We were stuffed by the time it was all said and done, but we had an absolutely splendid time. Why they haven't figured out how to offer Gold Class service in the States is beyond us - it's definitely the way to go for that extra special movie night!

No Rest for the Weary

Monday evening we both enjoyed myotherapy treatments to help work out some of the knots from Sunday's run and massage the sore muscles, but by Tuesday morning Josh was back on the bike and continuing with his IM training. Here's a picture of Josh on his trainer in the living room - this is what Kristi wakes up to every Tuesday and Thursday morning these days!

So we recently discovered myotherapy when we were looking for a place to get a good sports massage. Literally 'muscle therapy', the practice offers not only a treatment for sore muscles, but also a consultation and recommendation of preventative care (stretching and strengthening techniques). We've each gone to a few sessions at a couple of different clinics and have been told that myotherapy is the 'highest level' or 'most technical' form of massage and falls somewhere between sports massage and physical therapy. The therapy not only utilizes massage to loosen the muscles, but also uses techniques like 'dry needling' and 'cupping therapy' - we've had both techniques used on us and they seem to work well, even if they do feel a bit weird! Although the practice apparently originated in the US, we have to admit that we had never heard of it before moving to Australia - and even Googling the term seems to find many more Australian sites rather than US sites (both offering treatment and offering schooling/Bachelors Degrees). It doesn't cost much more than a regular massage here, and sometimes less, so we've really started to enjoy it!

Marathon #4

Today we finished our fourth marathon and our first international marathon - the Melbourne Marathon - which we learned is the largest marathon event in Australia (the race director compared it to the Boston Marathon, but he never should have even gone there - see below). We'll start out this race report noting that this definitely wasn't our best marathon, nor was it our worst. We were happy with the overall outcome - an unofficial 4:33 - considering the lack of training that went into our race preparation (prior to this race, Josh's longest run in his IM training program had been 13 miles; and Kristi managed to only get in two 20-milers and struggled with doing any speedwork) and considering how often we've managed to get sick over the past couple of months (the Friday before the race Kristi's sinuses flared up yet again, but fortunately she caught it early enough that she felt okay by race day - yeah to the mum for donating Tylenol Sinus to the cause!)

So on to the race report (also check out the photos). It was a warm sunny day (resulting in sunburned shoulders for both of us) with a cool cross wind at points throughout the race, which was refreshing. The half and full marathons started together, with the half marathoners turning off about the 14km marker. After the half marathoners turned off, there was an out-and-back portion of the race (about 6-7 miles in each direction) with rolling hills and beach views, and then we turned with about 9km left and headed towards the MCG. The highlights of the race for us - seeing friends Sean & Jenn at the 11km marker cheering us on and taking pictures; the inflatable snake with someone handing out gummy snakes around 28km; and passing a Swiss fellow who was running with a jingle bell on his wrist and yodeling at various folks as he ran past (he was truly enjoying his day).

Unfortunately the low-lights list is a big longer than the highlights - the race started 20 minutes late because they didn't clear the course of cars in time (which meant it was even warmer by the time we actually started running); the second water stop was completely out of water and sports drink; all drink stations were out of sports drink after approximately the 15km point (thank goodness we had packed excessive salt tablets) and some had even run out of water!; there was minimal crowd support, especially in the last 10km (we were extremely thankful for those that did come out and support - it was interesting, there were a lot of people out around town, they just didn't really take notice that a race was going on); in the last 5-10k Kristi had serious stomach cramps and Josh experienced a new quad pain; when we did make it to the finish line, there was barely anyone around to cheer us in (they sell this marathon on the fact that you run into the MCG on the same course as the Commonwealth Games and it is 'so amazing' to have the energy of all the spectators in the stands cheering for you...we expected a Bolder Boulder finish, but instead we got a couple of cheers from a few friendly volunteers); the post-race nourishment included water, sports drink, and half of a crunchy pear; and to top it off, Kristi ended up in the med room after her massage with dizzy spells and nausea (fortunately, the medics were great and after spending time laying down and bundled up with a warm cup of tea, everything magically got better).

Despite all of the complaining, we did finish and lived to tell about it. And it was interesting to be cheered on by a different crowd - instead of always being 'almost there' we were told we were 'nearly there', a small difference but it made us smile. It was an experience, but let's just say we will not be signing up for the Melbourne Marathon again. We would consider the half, but will likely find a different event for our second international marathon.

Funky Tunes

Last night we were treated to a very special concert experience. The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) spent this past week in Melbourne participating in an innovative style workshop that is intended to explore new musical ideas and the changing role of the orchestral musician in the 21st Century. The focus of this year's workshop was improvisation, and as part of the workshop the orchestra worked with a well known Aussie band, The Cat Empire. At the end of the style workshop, the AYO and The Cat Empire held a concert at the Iwaki Auditorium in the ABC Southbank Centre. As Accenture is a major sponsor of the AYO and also the 'Major Presenting Partner' for the concert, they were given a certain number of tickets that they then offered to staff - we were one of the lucky couples to be given tickets to attend!

It's difficult to put into words just how great the music was. The Cat Empire has a funky sound and some fun songs, but then to add in the orchestral instruments - it took the music to a different level. All we can say is...IT WAS AWESOME!

We had an absolutely wonderful evening and wanted to share a bit of the music with you. Below is a video of The Cat Empire performing on ROVE Live recently (it's the local late show), as well their video for 'Two Shoes'. If you're interested in seeing/hearing more, search for them on YouTube and you will find a bunch of their videos there.





PS - Prior to the concert we had a very beautiful dinner at Pure South. It was a great start to our fabulous date night!

Spring Is In The Air

After having spent the past couple of weekends around the house we decided we needed to head out and do something fun, so this past weekend we visited the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in the Dandenongs. (We were meant to go the previous weekend with friends Sean, Jenn and Grace, but unfortunately work took precedence and we had to opt out. Nevertheless, Kristi was keen to see the tulips - a bright, colorful sign of springtime - so we went up ourselves.)

After our usual Saturday morning workouts, we booked Smithers and headed out of town. We had a nice drive, especially once we hit the edge of town and we were on the hilly roads through the massive eucalyptus trees. Once at the festival, we had a great time taking pictures and wandering around the flowers. The sky was cloudy and grey and it was a bit cool outside, but the beautiful colors did wonders to brighten our day. We took tons of pictures and then when we were tired of that we listened to a little (not so great) jazz music while we tried a couple of local wines and ate fabulous Dutch Poffertjes - it was the 'Food, Wine & Jazz' weekend so we had to take advantage of it :)

On our drive back to town we listened to a little of the Footy Grand Final on the radio, but it was a blow-out game and a bit less than exciting by the time we tuned in. However, it did remind us of home and listening to Broncos games in the car on Sunday afternoons/evenings on our way home from wherever we had gone over the weekend - so we enjoyed it.

Also on our return trip we were lucky enough to be the first people to purchase petrol for Smithers (once we determined what side of the car the gas take was on, all went well), and we found Josh a new memory foam pillow so he can have more restful nights. We were a bit tight on time getting back in the city, but we made it with no dramas. All in all, a nice afternoon!

European Adventures 2007

We'll start out this post by recommending you have a nice comfy seat, a snack within reach, and a warm cup of coffee in your hand...it's going to be a long one :)

As you know, we spent a couple of weeks in late August/early September traveling through a small portion of Europe with Kristi's mum, Carmen, her mum's partner, Jim, and their friends Mike and Sue. We had great fun sight-seeing, relaxing, and running through Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France! We will give and overview and highlights here in the blog and post our pictures on flickr. Please note, although we have posted hundreds of pictures, it is really only a small subset of what we actually took, and it was a bit difficult trying to decide what would be less interesting for all of you out there - so we hope you enjoy!

Germany #1
We all flew in to the Frankfurt airport (second largest airport in Europe behind Heathrow) on a Friday morning and amazingly met up at our gate straightaway after landing. With welcoming hugs and much chit-chat, we piled into our rental car for the trip, which we lovingly referred to as the 'Flying Toaster'. We headed out of the city and made our first stop in Mainz to visit the Gutenberg Museum, where we saw many hand printed Bibles as well as the first 5 versions of Gutenberg's printed Bibles, and to have a nice cafe lunch outdoors. Then we headed onto our first destination: Bernkastel-Kues.

Bernkastel-Kues is in the Mosel River Valley, and we spent the first four nights in this beautiful fairytale city. We often woke to foggy mornings, during which time we could enjoy a run in the cooler but very wet weather, and then by mid-day the fog had burned off and the sun was shining as we did our touring. And we must mention the absolutely marvelous breakfasts to start our day - choices of muslei, yogurt, fresh fruits, eggs, a variety of hearty breads with nuts and seeds, meats and cheeses, jams and nutella, juice and coffee...we couldn't have asked for anything more (except for maybe water without bubbles)! During this time we were able to see the beautiful castle Berg Eltz and enjoy a walk through the forest (let's just say we may have had a bit of trouble locating the front entrance to the castle, but we managed to find the scenic route); we traveled to Cologne to see the famous cathedral that is one of the largest and tallest in the world; we learned the finer details of Riesling wine tasting from a local winemaker, Karl Dillinger; we enjoyed schnitzel and a beer (both heffeweisen and dunkelweissen) and a beautiful view of the town from Burg Landshut, which is located just above Bernkastel; we traveled to the town of Trier where we saw the Kaiserthermen (ruins of thermal baths created by Constantine) and the Porta Nigra (the city's gate), and learned first-hand how much a VW Golf bumper costs (we'll leave it at that); and we had so many beautiful meals with local produce and meats, beautiful wines and beers, and of course you can't forget the gelatto for dessert! The highlight of our time here, however, was hiring bikes and spending the day pedaling our way beside the river and through the vineyards, stopping at little towns for snacks and weinproben (we met a very politically-charged wine maker that was quite excited to share his views with us) - we shared so many laughs and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing sunny day!

Luxembourg
We spent the next couple of days in Luxembourg, which we found to have a very strong French influence. We quickly learned that as a group, our language skills were much better in German than in French! Our first stop was Luxembourg City where the group split up and wandered through the city on both guided and self-guided tours. As we walked we were interested by the mixture of new and old - although the old city still exists, they are developing new buildings and complexes all around the historical area. In composing pictures, one had trouble avoiding the placement of tall, modern buildings or construction equipment/cranes in the background of most shots. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place to visit with cobblestone streets, massive bridges, ornate buildings, and an impressive defense system (the casemates).

While in Luxembourg we stayed at a small hotel in a river valley in the mountains in the countryside - very 'pastoral' as described by mum. As we drove through the countryside (on very windy roads) we noticed many happy cows dotting the hillsides and we tried to get a few pictures for our good friend Kirsten, who recently acquired a cow fetish. The hotel looked up to the Bourscheid Castle, which we weren't able to tour but we did visit and walk around the castle walls. The castle was actually within walking/running distance of the hotel via trails through the forest and one day we had an adventure on our morning run when the trail abruptly ended at the train tracks - but no dramas, we safely made our way across the tracks and found our way home.

We did tour Vianden Castle, which was on the other side of the country, but obviously not too far away! It was a beautiful castle that has undergone a great deal of restoration, and it even had a whole room devoted to famous people who had visited the castle.

Belgium
While in Luxembourg we made a day trip up to Bastogne, Belgium to visit the museum and monuments that commemorate the famous 'Battle of the Bulge' during WWII. Sue's father had fought in that battle when he was a young man of 17 and even remembers meeting General Patton, so it was touching experience for her to be able to visit the area. The museum was very informative and the exhibits were put together nicely, and they even had a movie that told the story of the tactics of the war and showed footage of the events during battle. It was a very good experience to visit.

Before leaving Belgium we had to experience the obvious culinary arts of Belgian Waffles (we tried the Liege version as well as one that was stuffed with cherry filling) and Belgian Chocolate - yummy!

France
The next stop on our tour was in Strasbourg, France for one night. Strasbourg was interesting because it is a French city with a strong German influence, which made for a nice compromise. We really enjoyed our visit there as we spent the afternoon wandering through the old city and 'La Petite France' (a picturesque part of the city with buildings dating back to the end of the 16th and 17th centuries), checking out the covered bridges (which aren't actually covered anymore), window shopping, and indulging in wonderful French foods - petits fours, galettes, pastries, and coffee (which was harder to find than one might imagine in a French city). Before leaving the city (and France) on the following morning, we enjoyed fresh strawberries, yogurt, and pastries from the local farmer's market for breakfast.

On our way out of France we again took the scenic route and toured a bit of wine country along the Route des Vins D'Alsace. We visited a couple of wineries and had an enjoyable lunch in the small town of Niedermorschwihr along the wine road. It was quite interesting to see what we got when we ordered, as the lack of English speaking folks on their end and the lack of French food knowledge on our end made for guessing and pointing and hoping for the best!

Germany #2
After France we headed back into Germany as we started to close the loop on our touring route. We spent the next couple of nights in Heidelberg where we spent time wandering through the old city, we toured the Kurpfalzisches Museum and the Heidelberg Castle, and we enjoyed an afternoon of shopping. Jim and Kristi ventured out on a 20-mile run on Saturday morning at 5:00 (gotta love marathon training) and were greeted with sheer disbelief by students that were still out from the night before. Although it was a long run, being by the river with views of castles made the miles seem slightly less painful!

While in Heidelberg we were also able to met up with one of Jim's junior high professors who still lives in the area with his partner. We had an enjoyable dinner and then were up late into the night at their place watching fireworks (we were lucky to be in town for one of the three major fireworks displays of the year), drinking champagne, and sharing stories.

Our last night on our European Adventure was spent in Worms. It isn't a large place, but we were fascinated by the Nibelungen Museum, St. Peter's Cathedral, and the Jewish cemetary. We enjoyed a dinner of pizza and beer at the Trattoria-Pizzeria Pepe e Sale, which offers over 200 kinds of pizzas (a Lonely Planet recommendation - and a good one at that!), and then stopped for ice cream and coffees before heading back to the hotel to make final preparations for our departures.

Our final morning we had a rainy drive into the Frankfurt Airport during rush hour. We made it fine and waited as the crew headed back to the States check in their baggage. Flight times worked out such that we weren't headed out for another 7 hours, so we decided to take a short day trip rather than spending quality time in the airport. We said our tearful goodbyes (it was terrible to have to say goodbye again, especially after the realization that we would not likely see each other again for another 14 months!) and then checked in our luggage so we wouldn't have to haul it around with us for the remainder of the day.

For our short trip we decided to visit Wiesbaden, which was a 45 minute train ride from the airport. We chose this location as we were keen to visit the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme, which is a large spa complex with saunas and pools and massages available. It was a bit disconcerting to find out upon arrival that not only do people choose to not wear clothing, but the complex requests that no bathing attire is worn for sanitary reasons. But what could you do? As they say, when in Rome... Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable and very relaxing day before heading out on the extra long journey back to Melbourne.

Well that about wraps it up for now (I know, you can breath a sigh of relief now - how do you think I feel, having been sitting at the computer typing for 4 hours straight!) But what can we say - it was an absolutely beautiful trip with family and friends so we have to share the details!

Living our "Normal" life

We've been back from our vacation now for almost three weeks and yet we still haven't gotten all the stories and such posted - we are working on it, but it was a lot of fun and its hard to put all that fun into a little post. We should have pictures on Flickr soon, and the blog tale thereafter.

In the meantime, we've been busy with our "Normal" Aussie life. Plenty of working (God created PowerPoint for some reason, we just hope it wasn't to continually torture Josh), plenty of reading (Bill Bryson is HILARIOUS) and a good bit of traveling around the city to see new sights.

The spring weather has been pretty good of late, so we've spent our afternoons relaxing outdoors reading books in the sunshine. We both read 'Down Under' by Bill Bryson, and now Kristi is on 'Eldest' after finishing 'Eragon', while Josh is enjoying the final Harry Potter. Though we love our movies, there is something even more relaxing about laying in bed reading a couple chapters of a good book before falling asleep - and you definately can't take your movie to the park to enjoy on a sunny day either! (Though here in Australia you can get coffee at most movie theaters which is a nice option for long documentaries)

In a recent update we mentioned the arrival of Flexicar to Port Melbourne. We're now all signed up, have our card and have taken our nearby car (named Smithers) out to help us get our shopping done on a Saturday afternoon. It worked out wonderfully and it really did make the errands go quicker to have a set of wheels. We're looking forward to making it a regular market run once a month, but who knows there may be other places that we'll want to explore with Smithers!

Speaking of explorations, we finally made it to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) to check out the Guggenheim exhibit as well as the other art on display. We really got a kick out of the 1980's fashion displays and as always found the Monet's and Pissarro's to be beautiful paintings. The Guggenheim was the main attraction and was very interesting, though we did agree that just going to NYC and seeing the whole thing would be better. We still haven't made it over to the Australian Artists exhibits that they show in a separate building, but we wouldn't want to accomplish too much in too short of a time either :-)

Other than that Josh has been flat-out with training and working - doing both this weekend actually. When you are training for an Ironman and your Saturday workout takes less time than your Saturday PowerPoint updates, something is out of whack. Hopefully it will be back just Monday-Friday hours next week so that we can continue our "normal" lives!

Climbing

Josh here with some news to share - probably not as exciting as the electricity flicker that we had, but good nonetheless. The whole reason we're able to be in Australia is due to my work with Accenture. After spending 6 years with the firm and progressing into the ranks of Consultant, this year marked my first opportunity to go for the level of Manager. This would put me into what the firm calls the 'Executive' ranks - no longer a just a worker bee.

Well, the votes are in and the results are tallied - I'm in! As of September 1, I now have the title of Manager and it looks like things are moving around such that I could end up with a team to even manage here in the next couple months. One of the major perks that is particularly applicable to us right now, is that for flights of longer than 8hrs (and when on work duties) I get to fly business class - this means that when we eventually go home, BOTH Kristi and I get to go in style!

In The Dark

So we came home late last night to an eerily dark house. After failed attempts of resetting the breaker box and many calls to various electrical/power entities, we found out that the company that pays our bills stuffed things up and the city cut our power! We have to admit that this came as quite a surprise - especially considering only last month we received an email from our bill-paying company stating that there was a change of electrical companies needed, but not to worry as they had everything taken care of. Yeah, we weren't very happy.

To sum up our late night, we emptied the important things from the fridge/freezer and caught friends Sean and Jenn just as they were headed to bed to see if we could borrow some of their fridge space (many thanks to them for letting us interrupt their quiet evening!), then we cooked dinner in the dark (happy to have a gas stove and BBQ...but of course the grill ran out of propane partway through cooking - just our luck), ate dinner and ice cream (we couldn't let that spoil) in the hallway where it was light and we could see each other, and then hit the hay. As we didn't have hot water this morning, we grabbed our towels and headed to the second floor to use the showers the building has available to be used in conjunction with the pool. It worked well enough, and all we can say is that we're happy we're in an apartment where there are amenities available (even if they are used more creatively than intended).

We hope to have things ironed out today so we can go home to a working apartment, but we'll see how it goes (things have a way of taking longer here than they should). In the meantime, progress on vacation pictures has come to a screeching halt but hopefully we'll be able to get them posted this weekend.

Good news - we arrived home on Wednesday night and the lights turned on!

Home Again Flannigan

Once again the travels have come to an end and we have returned to our home in Melbourne. It only took 4 airports (with associated airplanes), 1 tram, 2 buses, 1 taxi and 26hrs of traveling. Not much when you compare it to the old pioneers who took weeks to cross Kansas in covered wagons, but it still takes a toll. When we landed in Melbourne at 5am, Kristi was still planning on going in to work today - once we got our bags through customs and started heading home almost 2hrs later it was a different story. Josh had already planned to work from home (catching up on e-mail and such while laying low) and it soon was clear that Kristi should stay home as well to recuperate from the effects of traveling.

We'll be sifting through the pictures that we took on the trip (only 770) this week and should have some links and stories to share over the weekend. An exciting thing we found upon our arrival home is that we now have a Flexi-Car only a block away from the apartment - yeehah! Inexpensive hourly car rental (and therefore easier city excursions) here we come! In the meantime, based on our many hours of experience today, we're able to share these words of wisdom: Jetlag sucks.

Half Gone

We're thoroughly enjoying our vacation thus far and are a bit sad to come to the realization that it's already half over! Nonetheless we continue to explore with gusto. Thus far we have toured by bike, car, and foot. We have seen castles, cathedrals, and caverns. We have attempted to speak Deutch, Français, and British. We have tasted sweet, savory, and scrumptious. And we have visited Germany, Luxemborg, and Belgium - and we head to France tomorrow! We will have many pictures to share (surprisingly we've taken a few since we last posted).

Bonjour de Luxemborg :-)

Moving Fast

We've got 3:30 left of free internet so everyone gets a 'HELLO FROM SINGAPORE!!!'

The airport is nice, I would recommend it if you have the time - lots of Tiger Balm for sale for you runners out there. Good prices, but what can you do with 6 huge tubes of Tiger Balm? Ok, nevermind we don't really want to know.....

Cheers to everyone, this message brought to you by the Changi Airport Free Internet!!

On the Mend & On the Move

The last couple of weeks have been busy for us, but we're happy to report that we're much healthier and more active than the last time we posted. Josh visited the doc one last time on Monday to get his stiches removed - no dramas, the wound is healing well and Josh was quite happy to be able to trim his goatee again! However, the doctor did tell him that, upon further analysis of his X-ray results, it was determined that he had actualy fractured his ring finger! Not much they can do about it and we're told it will heal itself eventually (at least the swelling and discoloration are long gone).

Now we're on the move - headed out tomorrow afternoon to meet Kristi's Mum and Jim in Germany for a couple of weeks of travel around the Rhein & Mosel River valleys, into Luxemborg (maybe a piece of Belgium), and France. It's going to be a short 26 hour journey for us to get to Frankfurt (and oh boy are we excited about that much time on a plane!), but we are very much looking forward to time with family, drinking good wine, touring castles, and getting a little R&R.

Bye for now and we'll be back in a couple of weeks!

Strong Bones

Just a quick post to note that Josh received good news on the X-ray front. Despite the bruising, swelling and pain, there appear to be no cracks or fractures in the left hand - Hooray! Now we're

focused on healing and getting back into training :)

Down But Not Out

**Note: If you have a weak stomach, please avoid clicking on the majority of the links in this blog entry**

We've had a rough week at the AussieKail house hold this week. Josh workouts shifted this month so that he now the majority of his workout time in the morning and therefore he has to be up at 4:30 or 5:00 to complete the workout prior to going to work at 8:00 (needless to say, Kristi now feels it really isn't necessary for her to join in the morning workouts any longer!); Kristi decided it was a good time to come down with another round of sickness that kept her in bed for two days straight at the end of the week; and then to top it off Josh and a car had a bit of a disagreement this morning, which led to a whole new round of adventures.

Let's begin by saying that Kristi's main concern with Josh's bike riding on Beach Road is that there are too many cars that don't pay attention to the cyclists and cause accidents. Well, this morning that concern turned into a reality for Josh when a car decided to pull out in front of him and, although he managed to avoid the car and oncoming traffic, he hit the pavement quite hard with his left hand and his chin as his bike skidded out from underneath him. Fortunately the driver of the car, who felt terrible about the incident, drove Josh back home so we could head to the doctor.

So the thing with having American insurance in Australia is that there is only one clinic that we can go to where we can be assured we will be reimbursed for the cost of the medical expenses. So we called them up, learned that they had openings (Kristi had already planned a visit to the doctor for herself, so we decided to make this a group effort), and got directions to take the 109 tram from one end of the line (by our house) to the other (in Box Hill). An HOUR AND A HALF later, we arrived at the clinic, got ourselves in the que, and then waited yet another HOUR to see the doctor. It was a typical doc-in-the-box experience...in less than 5 minutes the doctor diagnosed Kristi with sinusitis and perscribed 10 days of amoxycillin, and another 15 minutes and 7 stiches later Josh was almost as good as new with another antibiotic perscription to fight off infection. Unfortunately the X-ray place was already closed for the day so we hope there is no breakage in Josh's hand (which is turning several shades of purple - the doctor thought that worst-case it was fractured), but an X-ray is planned for Monday to confirm and we will keep you updated. Myra, you'll be happy to know we got Josh's wedding ring off of his finger prior to it blowing up like a balloon!

With that behind us we headed home (this time by train, which saved us half an hour thank goodness) and made a stop in to the Rich Family Household to wish Grace a Happy Birthday as she is turning 1!

Now we're home and hoping for a relaxing evening and a less eventful rest of the weekend! Josh will still be doing his prescribed ride/run tomorrow...inside.

Hangin with Ranger Rick

Our anniversary plans were in flux for most of the week leading up to the big day, mainly because we had wanted to go see the whales in Warnnambool. Instead (when the whales didn't show up) we flipped our plans over to the other side of the bay and headed down to Phillip Island to see the Fairy Penguins.

Our trip took a couple of interesting turns when we ended up on the wrong highway, but we got sorted out quickly and were still headed in the right direction so no harm done. Although the day was pretty grey, traffic was light and we made good time to Phillip Island. We'd been on the lookout for food the entire trip from Melbourne, but it wasn't until we saw the Chocolate Factory that we decided to stop and check it out. LOTS of choices and many of them with Dark Chocolate so we had to come home with some samples. Josh also found a slice of carrot cake that looked especially tasty and it quickly became lunch!

Back on the road we first visited The Nobbies, well known for a fur seal colony just offshore. Sadly you couldn't see any seals with the naked eye, but they had some remote cameras setup that you could control from the visitors center (after paying $5 that is), and it was fun to watch them shuffling around and arguing about who was king of the rock. It is amazing how time flies while watching seals play and before we knew it we only had 15 minutes to get to our tour meeting point - of course it only took 5 minutes to drive 3k and park so we didn't have to worry much. As we sat and filled out our paperwork, the guide for the evening - Ranger Rick - showed up to give us a briefing of what to expect , and we discovered that there would only be 5 people total (inculding Rick) on our ultimate penguin tour. All our friends (including the lady on the phone that sold us our tickets) had told us to 'rug up' and be ready for cold weather so we had brought along multiple fleece jackets, rain gear, hats and gloves, and Josh had even wanted to bring long underwear. Rick led us to the official briefing room to show us our gear, discuss the temperatures and the experience, as well show a couple stuffed specimens so we knew what we were supposed to see while on the beach. It turns out that the weather was pretty mild so we didn't need ALL the warm stuff we'd brought, but we were glad to have brought it just in case.

We then said goodbye to the growing crowds at the visitor center and headed off to a different beach on the other side of the island. While the sun started to go down, Rick gave us more background on the area and started to point out the early-visible planets (Jupiter was really bright!) When the sun finally did set in a burst of reds and purples and pinks, we were on the beach in our camp seats ready for the penguins to show up. Even with a nearly-full moon it was still plenty dark. Rick whispered to us (through a headphone system to minimize noise) about how the penguins would bunch up before coming ashore for safety and also how they could move pretty darn quickly for being so little as they made their way up the beach to their little burrows. With the help of our night-vision goggles we soon spotted the first little guys moving up the beach and it was really something to see how they waddled along. We didn't see hundreds of penguins, but some of them came close enough that it almost seemed like they would trip over our feet as we sat on the beach! Once they had generally finished coming ashore, we started our walk back to the visitors center. On the walk we saw many more penguins at their burrows. The amazing thing was how loud these little guys were - all sorts of chirps, sqwuacks and quacks with their white bellies glowing in the moonlight. We were also lucky enough to see a couple Swamp Wallabies on our walk back as well.

Seeing and hearing the penguins in the burrows singing through the night is an experience we won't soon forget. We definitely understand why it is one of the most well-known tourist attractions in Victoria and it fully lived up to our expectations.

That time of year

The passing of July brings a couple of near milestones to the Aussie Kail house this year. We celebrate 4 years of marriage and Josh's 29th birthday all on the 27th. Not quite the big numbers, but getting close. (Oof....30 next year!) Being in Australia helped us enjoy the celebration for nearly two days as we did dinner and presents here on the 27th, and then received congratulations and calls from family on the 27th in the US.....which is the 28th here - yes, Josh basically turned 29 twice.

Josh burned up some steaks, sweet potatoes and green beans for his birthday dinner this year - who knew that you actually COULD cook sweet potatoes for too long on the grill! Kristi found an amazing cake to celebrate the birthday and we received many thoughtful gifts and salutations. The cake is hard to describe, but comes down to a brownie base with mouse, cream and more chocolate on top - goes very well with a cappuccino in case you are curious. ;-)

We rented a car for the weekend intending to get out of the city, which meant we didn't have to rely on trams as a nice change. Originally we were to go see whales in Warnnambool, but something affected their migration so they were running late this year and hadn't arrived yet. Plan #2 was to go see the Penguin Parade Saturday, but that plan shifted a bit when Josh came down with more of a cold than we thought (after going up and down in health all week) and ended up spending all morning in bed instead of out training. The coach had already said to rest if Josh felt sick so he took the coach's advise and didn't do a darn thing until noon. That didn't stop Kristi from going out for her scheduled 14 mile run - which just made Josh more tired and stay in bed a little longer to rest on her behalf.

In the afternoon we took a trip to the Quilt and Craft Fair to pick up some supplies for our Australia scrapbook. It was inspirational to see what these folks did with yarn, beads and cloth, but it was also a bit overwhelming! There's only so many amazing squares, patterns and sewing gadgets that you can appreciate in one day and I think we achieved that easily. After the fair we decided to explore a bit and just pick any restaurant that we came across for dinner. We ended up at an Italian place in Moonee Ponds (North Melbourne), Marinelli's Restaurant, and had very nice meals - Pollo Della Casa (chicken and avocado linguine) and Calabrese (Olive, salami and capsicum) Gnocchi. The food was great and hit the spot after a long day exploring. Now at the end of the day its another piece of cake, a nice cappuccino and a movie to relax and get ready for more adventures tomorrow!

Teppanyaki & 3D

Transitioning into this new training schedule has been a bit of a challange in that we spend a fair bit of our time on bikes and treadmills and in the pool, leaving less time for the other things in our days. But this weekend we did manage to fit in a few fun outings.

On Friday night we met up with Kristi's colleague, Trudie, and her partner, David, for a Japanese Teppanyaki dinner experience. We had great fun watching the chef prepare our meal right before our eyes and we really enjoyed getting to know Trudie and Dave a bit better. The conversation flowed easily as Dave is a runner, Trudie enjoys knitting and cooking, and they both are fans of Harry Potter! They are also originally from New Zealand so they shared some insightful thoughts on travel planning.

Saturday we treated ourselves to the IMAX matinee of the new Harry Potter movie. It was more expensive than a regular cinema, but we were happy to pay a bit more to see the 20 minute fight scene in 3D! With a booked-out show we were nervous about getting good seats when our trip to the theater was slowed by an extremely pokey tram driver and a protest of Chinese communism that halted all downtown transport, but someone was watching over us because we were in the perfect spot in the que to be one of the first people through the "back" door in the theater that was opened to expedite seating. Needless to say we were quite happy in our primo seats!

Saturday night we were invited to a house warming party for another one of Kristi's colleagues, so we ventured out to Essendon and had great fun meeting other colleagues and their significant others. It made for a great end to a busy day!

Sunday brought long runs and long bike rides, followed by the typical needed things like laundry, a trip to the supermarket, cleaning, and coffee! (Have to say we thought we'd give Starbucks a go to see how it measured up - well, it didn't...we won't be going back!)

Fueling for Training

One week down and a lot of early mornings, but we've made it through so that's good. Some new things have been added to our daily diet - a good number of pills to make the body work better under the load of training. First off is a double-dose of Flaxseed oil for anti-inflammatory, a multi-vitamin for general health, vitamin C to boost the immune system and....well, I guess that is all of the normal ones. Though we did get to start the training with an anti-parasite to...umm...clear out the internals....nothing more to report there. My new coach believes that you have to keep the body well fueled and treat it like the racing animal that it is....similar to a race horse. You would de-worm a racehorse and give it the supplements it needs, so you should do the same for yourself. Seems to work pretty well because my energy levels have been very good so far.

Kristi is getting used to waking up early, though some days she just keeps an eye on me from bed while I drip away in front of the TV on the stationary trainer. Speaking of trainers, they're not cheap down here!! Instead of getting something new, when my bike got repaired the shop ended up having a used one to sell - which so far, though noisy and sometimes a bit smoky, has done the trick without breaking the bank. It was a very opportune time to need to replace a tire on my road bike though (along with the spoke and such), as the old tire now can get shredded by the trainer while saving the life of my tri bike's racing tires!

The trainer was only the first of our accomplishments this week - we also made our own powerbars! Kristi found a recipe online for some bars and we had most of the ingredients so gave it a go. The first batch tastes good and I'm looking forward to enjoying them on the bike and maybe sneaking one to munch on at work every once in a while. During our weekly market run we also picked up a bunch of dried fruit and nuts to add some flavor to the afternoon snacks that we pack - definitely looking forward to some of the mixes we made! (we came up with 8 different flavors using figs, pineapple, cranberries, banana chips, pecans, almonds, walnuts, apricots, pretzels and of course - prunes!) It was pretty surprising how many snack baggies the dried fruit we bought made up - goes to show that doing things at home can be healthy and relatively cheap!
All the training has had some effect on our schedules - up before 6, to bed before 11, and scaling back our wine consumption (though my coach has said that a glass a day is totally fine!) I even woke up before 6 on Saturday morning (though I did go back to sleep for a while!) :-)