Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I Feel The Earth Move
Under My Feet...wow, that's an interesting sensation! At about 4:30pm today we experienced tremors from the first earthquake either of us has ever felt. It was a small one - thank goodness - and although it hit 90km southeast of Melbourne, the tremors were felt throughout the metropolitan area. Kristi was at home and Josh at work when the quake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale hit. It was enough to give the buildings a bit of a shake so you took notice of the event!
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Big 3-0
Today Kristi celebrates 30 happy and healthy years - and hopes for many more!
Yesterday we started the celebrations by sitting in the rain at the local beer garden with good beer and great friends (the type that are willing to brave the conditions just because it's your special day)! When we first arrived we thought the get-together may have gone bust and we didn't get our hopes up that anyone would actually decide to come out and play in the rain, but sure enough folks trickled in for a very enjoyable afternoon of laughs and conversation.
Today Kristi had a lovely video chat with Mum and Heidi, followed by a yummy lunch at a local American 'soda shop' and an afternoon shopping with friend Maria. Tonight we're grilling a beautiful salmon dinner and then it's early to bed so we can get up for speed training tomorrow morning...so that's what happens when you get old ;)
Yesterday we started the celebrations by sitting in the rain at the local beer garden with good beer and great friends (the type that are willing to brave the conditions just because it's your special day)! When we first arrived we thought the get-together may have gone bust and we didn't get our hopes up that anyone would actually decide to come out and play in the rain, but sure enough folks trickled in for a very enjoyable afternoon of laughs and conversation.
Today Kristi had a lovely video chat with Mum and Heidi, followed by a yummy lunch at a local American 'soda shop' and an afternoon shopping with friend Maria. Tonight we're grilling a beautiful salmon dinner and then it's early to bed so we can get up for speed training tomorrow morning...so that's what happens when you get old ;)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Wine and Caves
For Labor Day in Victoria we decided to take a road trip, deciding that it was time for another wine country trip. After a bit of thinking we landed on Coonawarra (known for Cabernet Sauvignon), on the border of Victoria and South Australia, and found an added bonus in another World Heritage site in the region. Josh was able to take an extra day off work, which gave us a four-day weekend to travel, relax and explore.
We headed out of Melbourne on Friday and the 5.5hr journey went by surprisingly quickly, especially once we turned off the main road and left the traffic behind. We had chosen accommodation near the township of Coonawarra (thinking that would be the center of
the region given the name) and were surprised as it was a lot less developed and smaller than any other wine region we've been to in Australia. In fact the nearby town of Penola was much bigger than the three houses, one general store and one closed cafe of Coonawarra. We went back to Penola for groceries, shopping and dinners and got to know the little town fairly well. Saturday we started out on the right foot with a great run around the vineyards followed by a light breakfast and then on to the wineries! We'd planned our itinerary the night before, picking places that we hadn't heard of and the plan worked perfectly. Since Coonawara is known for Cabernet we made a point of trying everyone's Cabs and did have success in finding a few good ones for a reasonable price. We also found a couple very nice white wines as well as a rose so we felt like it was very successful day of tasting. With inspiration from a fantastic lunch, we created our own fruit and cheese platter entre to go with some steaks on the barbie back at our cottage. Josh hasn't perfected his 'no-lid' grilling technique but the steaks came out pretty good anyway. To complete the night-in, we watched the movie 'Once' and were very impressed by the music and story it portrayed. We even ended up watching all of the extras just to catch more of the music and learn more about the people involved. If you haven't seen it, we highly recommend it as a great movie about friendship.
On Sunday, we headed the other direction up the highway to the Naracoorte Caves - visiting three different caves and learning quite a lot about bats and prehistoric creatures now found as fossils. Both of us really enjoyed Victoria Fossil Cave, as we got to see full skeletons of a couple of the animals that have been discovered and also got to see an excavation in progress. One of the interesting things that we were told was that even though the larger fossils may be impressive, paleontologists are actually more excited about some of the smaller finds such as layers of owl pellets also found in the cave. Though the stalactites and other cave structures were not the prime focus they were still very impressive and beautiful. Our final dinner in Coonawarra was spent at Pipers of Penola, hosted by the very capable Erika Bowen and treated by the skills of her chef partner Simon Bowen. The wine list was a great value, the food was top-notch and it definitely ended our trip on a high note. The next morning it was back to Melbourne to prepare for another week of classes and work - time sure flies when you're having fun!
We headed out of Melbourne on Friday and the 5.5hr journey went by surprisingly quickly, especially once we turned off the main road and left the traffic behind. We had chosen accommodation near the township of Coonawarra (thinking that would be the center of
the region given the name) and were surprised as it was a lot less developed and smaller than any other wine region we've been to in Australia. In fact the nearby town of Penola was much bigger than the three houses, one general store and one closed cafe of Coonawarra. We went back to Penola for groceries, shopping and dinners and got to know the little town fairly well. Saturday we started out on the right foot with a great run around the vineyards followed by a light breakfast and then on to the wineries! We'd planned our itinerary the night before, picking places that we hadn't heard of and the plan worked perfectly. Since Coonawara is known for Cabernet we made a point of trying everyone's Cabs and did have success in finding a few good ones for a reasonable price. We also found a couple very nice white wines as well as a rose so we felt like it was very successful day of tasting. With inspiration from a fantastic lunch, we created our own fruit and cheese platter entre to go with some steaks on the barbie back at our cottage. Josh hasn't perfected his 'no-lid' grilling technique but the steaks came out pretty good anyway. To complete the night-in, we watched the movie 'Once' and were very impressed by the music and story it portrayed. We even ended up watching all of the extras just to catch more of the music and learn more about the people involved. If you haven't seen it, we highly recommend it as a great movie about friendship.On Sunday, we headed the other direction up the highway to the Naracoorte Caves - visiting three different caves and learning quite a lot about bats and prehistoric creatures now found as fossils. Both of us really enjoyed Victoria Fossil Cave, as we got to see full skeletons of a couple of the animals that have been discovered and also got to see an excavation in progress. One of the interesting things that we were told was that even though the larger fossils may be impressive, paleontologists are actually more excited about some of the smaller finds such as layers of owl pellets also found in the cave. Though the stalactites and other cave structures were not the prime focus they were still very impressive and beautiful. Our final dinner in Coonawarra was spent at Pipers of Penola, hosted by the very capable Erika Bowen and treated by the skills of her chef partner Simon Bowen. The wine list was a great value, the food was top-notch and it definitely ended our trip on a high note. The next morning it was back to Melbourne to prepare for another week of classes and work - time sure flies when you're having fun!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Goodbye Arana
Friday was my last day at Arana. My colleagues had a going away lunch for me at the local pub and gave me a thoughtful card that contained so many kind words and a 
very generous giftcard to Myer that I'm thinking will translate nicely into new linen for massage. Before I left I had to take a photo with the blade sign that was *finally* installed (it was meant to be put up in November - at this stage I was just happy I got to see it!), and I called into the video conferencing unit to share a few last words with some of the folks in the Sydney office. It was very difficult to say goodbye, but I do hope to keep in touch while we remain in Australia (for instance, as soon as I finish this blog I will be headed to the beach for some volleyball with the gang!)
Although it was sad to say goodbye, my excitement is building to start the remedial massage course tomorrow. I feel a bit silly that I am nervous for the first day, but I really hope I enjoy it!
After my last day of work, Maria treated Josh and I to an amazing sushi experience at Shiranui. Having never tried a sushi course at a Japanese restaurant before, we hoped for the best and, fortunately, our expectations were far exceeded! The three of us sat at the sushi bar with our sake and were mesmerised as we
watched the chefs plate up so many different types of sushi and sashimi. The head chef chose each course that was served to those of us sitting at the bar and we received two pieces for each course - only after we were done did we realise that we had eatten 8-10 courses! The sushi was just beautiful and our favourites included a seared salmon, ahi tuna, marinated marlin, blowtorch-fired kingfish, and a seared beef. The flavours were so big and mixed so well, it really was a beautiful meal with a great friend!
very generous giftcard to Myer that I'm thinking will translate nicely into new linen for massage. Before I left I had to take a photo with the blade sign that was *finally* installed (it was meant to be put up in November - at this stage I was just happy I got to see it!), and I called into the video conferencing unit to share a few last words with some of the folks in the Sydney office. It was very difficult to say goodbye, but I do hope to keep in touch while we remain in Australia (for instance, as soon as I finish this blog I will be headed to the beach for some volleyball with the gang!)Although it was sad to say goodbye, my excitement is building to start the remedial massage course tomorrow. I feel a bit silly that I am nervous for the first day, but I really hope I enjoy it!
After my last day of work, Maria treated Josh and I to an amazing sushi experience at Shiranui. Having never tried a sushi course at a Japanese restaurant before, we hoped for the best and, fortunately, our expectations were far exceeded! The three of us sat at the sushi bar with our sake and were mesmerised as we
watched the chefs plate up so many different types of sushi and sashimi. The head chef chose each course that was served to those of us sitting at the bar and we received two pieces for each course - only after we were done did we realise that we had eatten 8-10 courses! The sushi was just beautiful and our favourites included a seared salmon, ahi tuna, marinated marlin, blowtorch-fired kingfish, and a seared beef. The flavours were so big and mixed so well, it really was a beautiful meal with a great friend!
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