Oodles of Noodles

Last night we attended the "Oodles of Noodles" cooking class at the Queen Victoria Market Cooking School to sharpen our skills in the kitchen and add a little variety to our meals. Kristi's mum gave her a gift certificate for a class back in February and, after a few miscommunications and booked-out classes, we ended up with another gift certificate - which meant that we were able to attend the class together!

There were about 16 people in the class and we learned how to create 5 yummy dishes: Thai Prawn and Chicken Egg Noodles (as shown in the picture - this was the favorite for both of us, and easy so we'll actually be able to make it!); Pad Thai Noodles; Papardelle with Veal, Prosciutto and Tossed with Young Peas and Herbs (a close second for Kristi); Japanese Soba Noodles with Sweet Pickled Ginger, Japanese Mushrooms and Topped with Seared Atlantic Salmon; and Singapore Laksa with Seafood and Quail Eggs (making fish stock with salmon heads and prawn bodies will make it less likely for us to try this one at home!) To check out pictures of the various dishes click here. And if you're interested in any of the recipes, just let us know and we'll pass them along.

Our teacher, Geraldine Holmes, taught us how to prepare and garnish the dishes, and she also shared her knowledge about vendors at the Queen Vic Market, identified the best Asian grocers and brands, and gave tips on which utensils/pots to use for different types of cooking and how to maintain them. It was a fun evening and we learned (and ate) quite a bit!

Kristi Gets a Job

I know most of you thought I would try use this moving to Australia thing as an excuse for an extremely long vacation, and I know others were hoping for great/grandchildren out of the deal...but instead I have chosen to become a working member of the business world yet again. Starting this coming Monday I will become the "Science and Marketing Administrator" for EvoGenix Limited (a nice title, don't you think?)

From what I understand at this point, EvoGenix completes research to humanize and optimize specified antibodies to fight diseases such as osteoporosis, different types of cancers, and leukemia (to name a few). They are a small company with 23 people in the Melbourne office, 3 in Sydney, and 2 in California. Twenty-two of the 23 people in Melbourne are lab scientists actually working with the antibodies, and the VP of Business Development and Marketing is also located in Melbourne. My position will support both the lab and the business development/marketing aspects of the company. I will manage the lab in regard to supplies, equipment, and invoicing; and from what I can tell I will also be the right-hand-man to the VP (who is also the COO) and basically help him get processes in place and move forward with development and marketing activities.

The team of people I have met thus far are nice folks so I'm hoping this company will be a good fit for the time we are here. In talking with the team I feel there is room to make the most of the position, and as such I see potential for some positive growth and development in my career. Wish me luck!

What Did Josh Win?!

This has just been a winning week for me. It all started last week when one of the folks in the office was selling tickets for a raffle that her son's kindergarten class was having. It was $5 per ticket and I got the last one that she had for sale. I didn't think anything else of it and just figured it was $5 that I wouldn't see again UNTIL.....


I showed up on Monday morning at work and found out that I had actually won something at the raffle! Not just something, but actually had taken home the grand prize!! What is the grand prize you might ask? Turns out that kindergarten raffles are a great deal around here because the prize was $600 worth of wine and spirits!! This is KINDERGARTEN!! I really should go back to school if this is what they've got going for them.


So here's me with the loot - more hard stuff than we've ever had on hand before along with some very nice bottles of wine (including a "big" bottle) so we don't have to spend money on alcohol for quite a while.


SO that was Monday....

Wednesday came along with a meet up with the Nike running group in Port Melbourne - after a rainy and cold run, for some reason that we still haven't figured out I ended up winning a Nike running hat! I'm telling you, so far the week has been great and hopefully it will continue.

More news coming this week as its been a busy one - keep an eye out for the rest of the updates here in a day or two.

Melbourne Food & Wine Festival

This past weekend we took part in a couple of activities associated with the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, which attracts food and wine experts from around the world. The festival lasts for two weeks and has many options for getting involved - dinners, presentations, workshops, classes, etc.

On Saturday, we checked out the International Flour Festival where you could buy different types of food from around the world - all made with flour (obviously). However, the weather on Saturday was crazy - raining and cold one minute followed by sunny and warm the next, off and on all day - so we didn't spend all that much time roaming the streets. But on Sunday, which was a much more pleasant day, we returned and spent the whole afternoon taking part in the CellarDoor at Southgate. Tasting rooms are called cellar doors in Australia, and this was a huge outdoor tasting room showcasing wines from over 70 wineries located in the state of Victoria. At $25 a glass, how could you go wrong? We did take a short break to walk through the Wicked Sunday showcase of desserts, coffees, and other tasty treats - talk about a good way to spend a Sunday!

To see more photos from the weekend, click here.

Josh is a Winner

Just you wait because I've got a great announcement to make this week. It'll amaze even those of you that know how much of a winner I (Josh) am.....and for those of you that don't know, well....you're in for a treat!

"How is Josh a Winner?" you might ask - well here's your clues. It has to do with the following six subjects - if anyone can guess then you get a BIG shiny star sticker next to your name!

1 - Kindergarten
2 - Gambling
3 - Work
4 - Play
5 - Basket Weaving
6 - Being Number ONE!!

There you go - you'll just have to wait for the pictures now to prove whether you're right or wrong with your guesses. (Of course most guesses as to why I'm a winner are probably correct. :-P)

Puzzle Conquered

Our good friend from Denver, Shannon, gave Kristi this great tree frog puzzle for her birthday to provide an entertainment alternative to daytime television. It took a while - it is harder than it looks - but after a couple days of mulling it over, Kristi was able to put everything in its place. What fun!

Birthday Celebration

Kristi celebrated turning the big 2-8 on Friday. She was thrilled to hear from so many family members and friends throughout the day, and was very excited about the surprise birthday cake Josh brought home! He had quite the time finding her favorite cake (German chocolate apparently isn't common in Australia), but he was able to find one place that made them. As you can see by the picture, it's not your typical German chocolate - much fancier and richer - but boy was it good!

Cake here in Australia is not the same as it is back in the States. Most of the prepared cakes you can buy look like the one in the picture. You don't really see any fluffy white frosting with pink and yellow roses. Also at home the grocery stores dedicate almost half an isle to cake mixes, frosting, and decorations. Not so here - you may have a choice of two or three brands, but there are only about 8 or 10 kinds. It seems like chocolate and butter cake are the standards, and then there were a few others like carrot cake, lemon poppyseed, and mud cake. And to top it off they do not sell any frosting! After thorough review of the cake mix boxes we determined that if the picture of the cake on the boxed showed it with frosting, then the cake mix also included a mix for frosting (which was usually prepared using margarine). We're sad to report that there will be no nights binging on frosting and graham crackers (probably a good thing!)

The rest of the weekend we laid low - cycling on Saturday and a trip to the market on Sunday. The weather is starting to turn to fall, bringing pleasant temperatures for us to enjoy!

Great Ocean Road

This past Monday was Labor Day in the state of Victoria so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend to do some exploring around the state. We chose to drive and camp along the Great Ocean Road, which begins in Torquay (100 km southwest of Melbourne) and then follows the coastline, deviating inland a few times in the Great Otway National Park. We followed the road from Torquay to Port Fairy (about 275 km).

We have many wonderful pictures from the weekend - too many to include in the blog - so you'll get the stories here and will have to follow along with the pictures on flickr (they do have captions so that should help).

After a long week of work and many nights at the office, Josh was able to sneak out of work around 2:30 on Friday. Kristi had everything packed and ready to go, so we were off as soon as the car was in hand. This time around we got a Holden Astra - a small hatchback with the blinker controls on the "correct" side of the steering wheel (an extremely helpful feature!) We braved the Friday afternoon traffic and drove to Torquay to camp for the evening. We went to dinner at the local favorite fish & chips shop, which was bustling with activity on a Friday evening, and then enjoyed the remaining sunlight while relaxing in a park along the beach. Our entertainment for the evening was watching an energetic little boy take after some seagulls with his cricket bat!

After a restful night at the caravan park, we woke early on Saturday and packed our things to head down the road. We were fortunate to have a beautifully sunny day for driving, hiking, and viewing the scenery and animals. Before leaving Torquay we took a look at Bells Beach, a famous surfing beach, and on the way saw our first kangaroos in the wild. Then we went on to Anglesea where we stopped at the golf course, which is also well known for its resident kangaroos - they really are much like pronghorn! Our surfing adventure in February was at a beach just outside of Anglesea, so everything after this point was new territory for us. Our next stop was at the Lorne visitor information center where we got some tips on what to do and see. Unfortunately only the two major waterfalls had flowing water during our visit, so we decided to see the waterfalls we could see and then also try one of the rainforest walks.

Lorne was a great little town and we thought it would be a fun place to spend a little more time in the future. While we were there we went to Erskine Falls (a major waterfall attraction because you only have to walk 150 m to see the falls - but there was very little water falling when we were there so it wasn't much to look at) and Teddys Lookout (the above picture was taken from the lookout - a great spot). Then we were on our way down the road. We stopped for views and pictures along the way, but our next major stop was for lunch in Apollo Bay. We roamed around the local farmers market in the town center and then settled on some rocks on the beach to enjoy our PB&Js! After lunch our drive took us into the Great Otway National Park. We had planned to visit the Cape Otway Lightstation, but after learning how much it would cost to see a lighthouse we opted to do a little wild koala searching (Josh was very good at this) and then head on our way.

There is not much for towns after Apollo Bay. We stopped to check out Johanna Beach and then started the "active" part of our day. First we hiked to Triplet Falls, which was a beautiful spot, followed by a walk through the Melba Gully rainforest, which was nice but after Triplet Falls it didn't have much to offer. It really was nice to get out and stretch the legs after being in the car for so long!

By this time it late in the afternoon so we headed for Port Campbell where we would be staying the night, got checked into a campsite, and pitched the tent. Then we went to the Twelve Apostles (famous rock formations) to enjoy the sunset with 1,000 of our closest tourist friends! The picture below is of the Twelve Apostles at sunset.

We ended our full day by making a tuna pasta dish on the camp stove in the dark and then we crashed. We had a somewhat restless night due to warmer temperatures and the fact that we had located the tent close enough to a tree that when the wind picked up our tent was pelted with twigs and leaves. When Sunday morning finally rolled around we decided to check out the sunrise at the Twelve Apostles to see how it compared to the sunset. Sunday welcomed us with high winds and a sky full of clouds so, needless to say, it wasn't exactly the sunrise we had envisioned!

We spent Sunday morning visiting a few more sites on the Great Ocean Road - the Arch, the Grotto, and the Bay of Islands - then we stopped at Cheese World in Allansford to try out some of the Great Ocean Road cheeses. We spent the afternoon in Port Fairy at the Folks Festival. Tickets for the main festival were sold out, but there were four or five free stages along with vendors and street performers throughout downtown so we had plenty to keep us busy.

We headed back to Warrnambool for the night, where we were invited to stay at Sue and Pete's house. Sue is Frank's sister - Frank is a friend from Josh's bicycling group - and we met Sue and Pete at the trivia dinner back in February. Anyway, they had a beautiful home with a tennis court in the backyard! Their daughter, Emily, was at home for the weekend competing in a tennis tournament so we were able to meet her as well. She recently returned to Australia from the States (she went to college in Kansas and then worked a year in Orlando) and is now living in Melbourne. We had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant with other cycling friends of Sue and Pete, and then we enjoyed a very restful sleep!

Monday morning we were up early again and, after a brisk look at Thunder Point in Warnnambool, we made our way back to Melbourne. We took the inland highway instead of retracing our tracks on the Great Ocean Road for the trip back (it is much faster that way). We did stop in Geelong to take a nice walk along the waterfront, but beyond that we pretty much made a bee-line for home so we could get unpacked and set for the week ahead. We were very happy with our first real Australian holiday excursion!

Gourmet Kangaroo

The other night we felt like grilling something so we went to the store to find beef mince (hamburger), brats, or something along those lines - what we ended up purchasing were gourmet kangaroo sausages. We thought it would only be appropriate to try out this native meat while in Australia, and it turned out to be quite yummy! It had the texture of a hot dog and had flavor similar to a mild sausage or bratwurst. It was a toss up as to whether we liked it better with ketchup and mustard or barbecue sauce. The meat was priced much more reasonably than other types of meat available, and in reading the label we found out that kangaroo meat is fairly healthy - low in fat and cholesterol - so what more can one ask for!

Photo Tour of the Apartment

We have had requests to see more pictures of our new home, so here you go! Although it is a fully furnished apartment, we did add a couple of small things of our own. The things we miss most in this new space - a wine rack/cellar, a coat closet, a filing cabinet, and a dedicated dryer.

This shot shows our dining/living room, with the kitchen to the immediate left and the bedrooms/bathrooms down the hallway to the left. For pictures of the other rooms in the house, click here.

Biking & Ferraris

Last weekend we met up with Mel and fiance Andrew to go for a bike ride. Many of you have heard the story about Josh's trials in getting back to Denver for the holidays, but for those of you who haven't here is a short recap: Josh basically got stuck in LA and could not get a flight into Denver (or any city somewhat closer to Denver) for at least 5 days, which meant that he would not get home until the day after Christmas, so he decided to look into driving options. Turns out he ran into 3 Australian folks at his hotel that were doing the same thing and already had a 4-wheel-drive vehicle rented with one available spot, so he was able to hitch a ride. Mel was one of the three Australians.

So anyway, Mel and Andrew are avid bikers - they recently spent 9 days biking around the full island of Tasmania! They invited us to join them on a ride to tour the western side of the city. We met at 8:00 am and biked to Williamstown where we stopped for some brekki (breakfast), then biked up along the Maribyrnong River where we stopped and enjoyed a beer in the shade, and then the two groups parted ways and we rode back home. Turns out we had to stop once to sit in a bus shelter while the rain pelted down, but besides that it was a nice day. On the way home Kristi relaxed as we took a shortcut and crossed the river on "The Punt" - since she hasn't been on a bike since August 2006, by the end of the ride she was feeling each of the 32 miles!

That afternoon we checked out the Ferrari show on Lygon Street, which is the little Italy of Melbourne. It is the 60th anniversary of Ferrari so there were many cars on display, street vendors and entertainers, and even salsa dancing lessons! After getting our fill of the cars we enjoyed a very yummy dinner at Il Gambero, one of the local restaurants with sidewalk seating. We raved over the gnocchi and spinach/ricotta cannelloni! Following dinner, friends Sean and Jenn introduced us to a cafe that creates fabulous cakes and treats, Brunetti, where we enjoyed coffee and dessert before heading home.


If you'd like to see more biking and Ferrari pictures, check out the Flickr site.

Josh at Work

Josh's workspace is located on the 19th floor of the Melbourne Central building on Elizabeth Street, where he shares desk space with another Denver temporary transplant, Sean Rich. When he's not dashing between Telstra and Accenture buildings to attend meetings and conduct presentations, he enjoys his view of the city while madly preparing complex powerpoints and spreadsheets.

Contrary to popular belief back home, Josh has been hard at work the majority of the time he's been in Melbourne. Kristi on the other hand...well, let's just say she's still enjoying her break from the real world! On a more productive note though, she has started her job search and has even sent out a few resumes.