Josh out Tri-ing

Here we are, team 'Accenture10' at the BRW SuperSprint Corporate Challenge Triathlon. Signing up months in advance to have the pleasure of squeezing into lycra suits that were a bit small, early on a Sunday morning with 5,000 of our closest friends in Melbourne. In the picture are Josh, Ryan and Pras - two of the three had been training and even racing the week before just to stay in shape....one had just been working and eating biscuits :-)

Each of us had to complete the entire distance of 400m swimming, 10k biking and 4k running on our own and then hand off the timing chip to the next guy. I went first into the bay, then Pras and then Ryan to bring things home. The water was a great temperature, there was a bit of wind on the bike and luckily the run was amazingly flat. We had a lot of fun, Pras turned in an amazing 15:23 run, I had a good bike and for never having raced a triathlon before Ryan was amazingly calm and collected the entire time. It turns out that we must have done something right, 2:25 total brought us 70th place overall (out of over 1600) and the first Accenture team by quite a ways. There are a number of other corporate challenge triathlons around Australia in the coming months and we haven't decided if we're going to talk any trash to the other Accenture offices to see if they can beat us....but they'd definately have their work cut out for them because we are F...A...S...T!

Oh yeah, you should check out the Flickr account to see more photos. Let's just say that the new camera is AWESOME and got some amazing action shots. Nothing like hearing the clicketty-clicketty of rapid fire shots from the camera to make you feel like a rock star - I think I smiled the entire time. Of course now that we're in the "day-after", my legs are reminding me that I didn't train much, I'm a fair bit out of shape and that next time I want to do something like that I should check with my body first. Oh well - wasn't the first time and won't be the last that I'll feel like that I'm sure. Coming up in the next month we have the World Swimming Championships and the Australia Grand Prix, fast-paced experiences perfect for honing our photo skills.

Kristi Visits the US Embassy

Who knew it would be such a process to get a document notarized in Australia...

It all started last week when I asked the concierge in our apartment building if I could go to the bank to find a Notary Public to notarize a document that I needed to send back to the States. She was unsure as to what a Notary Public was, but she said that everyone went to the local police station to get their documents authenticated. So I made my way over to the closest police station (2 km away) where I was told that they can only certify documents to be used within the State of Victoria. The police officer was very nice and told me I needed to talk with a Justice of the Peace to get my notorization and sent me on my way with a Justice of the Peace hotline number.

After dialing the hotline a couple of times I ended up with 6 names/phone numbers, one of which agreed to meet with me on Tuesday to sign the documents. On the phone I explained that I needed a notarization for a US document, but upon arrival at the home of the Justice of the Peace (1.5 km away) I quickly learned that I had spoken to a housemate who didn't realize that a Justice of the Peace can only authenticate documents to be used in the country of Australia. Straight away the Justice of the Peace told me I that needed a Notary Public (odd - isn't that what I'd been asking for all along?) He was very helpful and actually called one of the places for me so I could leave my contact info, but he warned that these people were solicitors so they would charge me for their time.

I didn't think much of it until I received a return call from the Notary Public who told me that they could easily notarize a document for me - for the small fee of $77! I was so surprised by the cost I didn't even know how to respond. I think I babbled something about getting back to them to make an appointment and hung up. In the States you can easily find a Notary Public down the hall, down the stairs or at least down the street at a bank, and you're usually looking at $5 or so and 5 minutes to get it taken care of. I guess I just didn't realize what a convenience that was!

Since I wasn't keen on spending quite so much to notarize my signature I had Josh ask around Accenture for other ideas. Someone suggested checking with the U.S. Embassy and it turns out that they are able to notarize documents for $30 USD - hey, I may not be saving any time but at least I saved some money! So today (it was another hot one) I made my way all the way over to the embassy (5 km away) to get it all taken care of.

So 6 days and 17 km later I have met the US Consulate General and have her signature and seal in my hands!

Up and Running - Now to Catch Up

After two visits from the Telstra guy and one from the DSL guy, all systems are now a go! We are quite excited to have everything connected at home because it not only allows Kristi to do important things (like search for jobs and knitting groups, keep an eye on the finances, and update the blog), it also allows Josh to work from home so he can leave the office a little earlier in the evenings (which in turn allows us to more easily get in a workout - very important!)

There is much to update from the past weeks, but first and foremost we are excited to share news about our new Flickr account. By clicking here you will be able to see more of our photos from our various adventures. At this point we have uploaded sets of photos from the botanical gardens, Australian Open, Healesville Sanctuary, Yarra Valley, and surfing. We hope you enjoy this new feature!

Catching Up
Over the past weeks we have really started to get settled into our new home. We've unpacked all of the boxes, organized the closets/cupboards, and even hung a few pictures. Here is a photo of the view from our balcony.

St. Kilda Fest - Sunday, Feb 11 - We met up with one of Josh's bicycling friends, Tara, for an afternoon at the St. Kilda Festival. The streets were filled with people, live music, vendors, and refreshments! There was one main stage set up for music on the beach and there were many other smaller stages/tents on the side streets and in the parks. We stopped for a while to enjoy one of the Reggae bands that was performing. More photos of the festival are included in the Misc Photos set on our Flickr account.

Valentine's Day - We awoke to an extraordinary sunrise!

Last Weekend - February 17/18 - This past weekend was a busy one for us. Friday night kicked things off as Kristi enjoyed a girl's night on the town with Jenn Rich and her friend Laurie who was visiting from Denver (Josh stayed home and worked). Josh enjoyed a HOT ride with the bike group Saturday morning, and we followed that with a trip to the South Melbourne Market to pick up fruit & veg and other goodies for the coming week. It was such a hot weekend - temps between 38 and 40 degrees Celcius - but at least we were pleasantly surprised with the dry heat (seems ironic with the ocean right next door, but we're definitely not complaining!) We joined the crowds of people at the beach to cool off in the water in the afternoon before getting ready for a night out.

Saturday night we were invited to be part of a fundraiser put on by the bicycling club to raise money for a local health organization. Before going out we set the timer on the camera and took the following picture of us in our new living room. At the fundraiser we ate a wonderful dinner and played trivia with a group of 6 other folks - turns out it's hard to be much help answering Australian trivia questions when you've only been in the country for a short time, but we had great fun nonetheless!

After sleeping in way too late on Sunday, we made our way over to check out the St. Kilda Art Market and then went downtown to get some necessities for the apartment at the Big W (similar in style to Walmart, but owned by Woolworths). It was another scorching hot day, but we managed to stick to the shade and the air conditioning most of the time. We ended Sunday with a trip downtown to watch a impromptu comedy show that one of Josh's coworkers told us about - it was basically a practice session for comedians that plan to take part in the upcoming Melbourne Comedy Festival. There were several great acts and funny jokes; however, the US took the brunt of way too many jokes - let's just say we weren't going to offer up where we are from...

Surf's Up!

Getting Hooked Up

On the bright side, we now have a phone line at our apartment. On the not-so-bright side, we still won't have internet for at least a week and probably two. Kristi has been able to spend some time with another Accenture-wife who already has internet to check e-mails and such but there just isn't enough time in the day to do e-mails, explore shops AND update a blog.

Last weekend we took a short trip with the Down Under Social Club (an Accenture group of ex-Pats) to Torquay to get a surfing lesson. Once we get the pictures off our camera we'll get them posted but for now, here's the teaser that my friend Claudia took before we got into the water. Have no fear in true beach form I ended up sunburned again....but not too badly.

The surfing was good but definately a challenge, as mentioned keep an eye out for more updates once Kristi gets back on the 'net. This weekend is planned for a quiet one around home but that doesn't mean there still won't be adventures and we'll keep the updates posting here.

Moving Day

Just a quick post as we pack up our hotel room and get ready to move everything over to the apartment where we will be living while we are here in Melbourne. We have chosen a nice 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom place in Port Melbourne that is only a couple of blocks from the beach. It has good amenities - workout room, pool, tennis court - and is located a few blocks from a nice street with many shops and restaurants to explore!

Unfortunately, it sounds like we will not have a phone line for at least a week and, therefore, we will likely not have internet access at our home for 3-4 weeks. Don't worry - we will be creative in keeping in touch!

Here's to a fun-filled day of moving!