Concert Week #2...

I know!  I've been really busy trying to get my Financial Accounting problems done for my final exam, so cut me some slack!  :-)

Concert #2 was the one I was looking forward to for months - Billy Joel!  LIVE!  At Acer Arena!  We had "OK" seats in that we were pretty square (face on) to the stage, but we couldn't have been farther back.  The seats we had were $130 each and I guess I'm a cheap-o but I couldn't justify paying $200 or more to sit on the floor.  Maybe it's just me.

The show was a Tuesday night and traffic getting across Sydney in work rush hour is abysmal, so Clarice got off work at 4:00 and we drove over early.  The show started at 8:00, but we arrived in Sydney Olympic Park (where the arena is located) about 5:45.  That may seem a bit early, but we both agree if we had left at 5:00 we would not have gotten to the arena until almost show time and had to park who knows where!

We walked around the park for a little bit, I grabbed a hot dog at a little stand, we people-watched, then went in.  First stop...  Parents any guesses???  The T-Shirt stand, of course!  Picked up a "T" to go with the "Only the Good Die Young" shirt I still have from high school.  Clarice passed, and I can't blame her.  There was only really 1 version I liked.  Another was OK, but who wants a grey concert shirt?  Anyway...

Billy played a lot of his hits and a few "album tracks" like Zanzibar, but with over 30 years of songs he was never going to play everything.  Missed out on Pressure, but I think he hit all the ones I really really wanted to here.  The show lasted 2.5 hours with no opening act and the only "intermission" was when one of the "guitar roadies" named "Chainsaw" came out and did Highway to Hell with the band.  Billy played guitar.  Chainsaw was actually pretty good, but he never stood still - just stomped from one end of the stage to the other.

We had a great time, got home late and only Clarice had to get up to go to work the next day!  My kind of evening!

Jon

Concert Week #1...

Wow, we have a lot of things to see this week!

It started Saturday with our first visit to the big "Turtle's Mating" looking building on the harbour for a performance.  We had been looking for something to go see in the Concert Hall (the biggest hall of the 5) and when Clarice saw Handel's Messiah on the schedule when her parents were here we got tickets.

Handel's Messiah is his most well know oratorio, though according to the program it is very different from his others in that the subject, in this case Jesus, never speaks.  The entire program is about His deliverance and our response to that great gift.  It is most well known for the Hallelujah Chorus where tradition has it that the audience must stand because the King stood at that point during its first performance.  Some suspect he stood because his bottom was tired, but after seeing it performed by a world class orchestra and over 420 choir members I can tell you it is very moving.

We loved the entire performance, but the things that stood out were: 1) the size of the hall and 2) the soloists.  The soloists for obvious reasons - they were very good, but being struck by the intimacy of the largest hall of the Opera House was really shocking, especially given that we had been in the same hall during our tour with Jay and Karen.  When we were a couple of months ago, no one outside of our small tour group was in the room and it seemed pretty spacious.  When it is packed it seems quite a bit smaller with seating for only about 2000.  We had excellent seats mid-way back in the center of the floor.

After the show, we stopped for gelato at the little place we like at Circular Quay before taking the ferry back to Manly.  As we were waiting to be served, one of the choir members "rocked up" with her husband and also ordered.  We both thanked her for the performance and gave her our sincere congratulations.  It was neat to be able to thank someone for giving us such a great show.

The only bummer of the day was the heat.  This was the first day it hit 90 and we had a 2:00 show so we were not able to get to the beach.  Bummer!  Wait 10 months for real heat and then when it arrives have to get dressed up and stay inside.  Still, the ferry ride was quite enjoyable, especially the return trip in the late afternoon when it had cooled.  Of course, we went to the beach after church on Sunday but it was only about 80 and we were only there 1.5 hours before it started to rain!  I think we are not meant to spend a lot of time on the beach on the weekend.

Monday was a day off from concert-going, but Tuesday is a biggie!

Jon

What's "Thanksgiving"???

Well, Thanksgiving was yesterday, the football is going on right now (I love Slingbox) and Aussies continue to ask, "What's Thanksgiving?"

Clarice asked some friends at work if they wanted to come over for Thanksgiving dinner.  We thought about doing it on Saturday, but Thanksgiving is a Thursday holiday.  That meant JON had to roast the turkey and get a good chunk of the prep work done.  I was thankful for the fact we split up most of the dishes and everyone pitched in!

We had a total of 7 at our place last evening including Clarice and I.  Paul and Amber joined us (after have Thanksgiving with us and the Harris clan last year), along with Moncia (American!) and Clarice's boss Chris and his wife.  It was a very fun evening!

The lineup consisted of:

• Turkey (Jon - it turned out quite well I must say!)
• Mashed Potatoes (Jon)
• Baked Ziti (Jon - so Clarice would not starve)
• Sweet Potatoes and Onions (Paul, with guidance and directions from Amber)
• Garlic Bread (Paul and Amber)
• Green Bean Casserole (Monica - with fried onions from the US!)
• Stuffing (Monica)
• Appetizers and wine (everyone including nice salmon from Chris)

There was plenty!  Even after fixing everyone take home bags I'll be eating turkey and potatoes for a week!  The hardest thing was tracking down a meat thermometer.  I had to hit 4 stores before I finally found one.

 

Clarice ran Thanksgiving Trivia (which Monica the American didn't win!)  To add that Aussie flavor we had pavlova for dessert.  Other than that is was just a nice dinner with good friends.

Homesick? Nah... well, I miss my truck.

Last night, with Paul and Amber (our Aussie friends who lived for a little over a year in Warsaw) and Monica (another ex-pat over here from Indiana) we went to see American Teen - the documentary film that followed the lives of 4 high school seniors in Warsaw, Indiana.  I went into the film thinking, "We paid $15 a ticket to watch teenagers at home?  Why?"  Turned out to be a pretty good film.  Very entertaining, but probably not in the way the filmmakers meant.

The audience was composed of 10 people, 8 of which were in our group (Paul's parents and brother joined us as well).  That meant we were able to comment a little and not feel too bad.  I know!  Me - the person who hates people talking in a movie.  But this, being a documentary of our literal hometown (well, close enough) was just different somehow.  and the other 2 people we not really close to us.

Aside from wanting to smack the tar out of the kids on screen, I had to remember that they were 18 and stupid.  I was actually more disappointed and embarrassed by the parents - the things they said and the pressure they put on their kids.  Makes me appreciate my dysfunctional family and the fact I never really felt that pressure.  They left it up to me to decide and take care of in my own way.  I think I turned out pretty good, thank you.  Todd, have to give him props, turned out pretty good, too.  Except for the Ohio State thing...

And to get your kid a Mercedes SUV when they are still in high school?!?!  I grew up with these whack-os in Illinois and I still don't understand it!  In Illinois, when Todd was still in high school, some nimrods bought a house next to the school just so their "precious" could have a place to park!  What are you teaching these kids other than, "You are entitled to this and are better than everyone else"????  How are they going to learn about money, and saving, and budgeting and all the other crap life throws at you if you give them everything???  I wanted a car when I turned 16, but did not get one until I was student teaching as a senior in college (22).  Probably wouldn't have then except it was needed for work.  If I complained about it (and correct me if I'm wrong parental units, but I don't remember complaining that much), I was told to "save your pennies".  So I hitched with friends, chipping in gas money when I had it.  I borrowed the minivan (horrors!!!) and was never allowed to touch the precious Jeep, except when the alternator on the van died and I needed to pick up dad, mom and Todd at the airport.  Until the night before I needed to get there they did not even tell me where the keys were!  Glad there wasn't a fire!  :-)

High schoolers, if they need a car (and a lot do, to get to work) they need transportation, not a showpiece.  Go out and find them a $5000 car that is safe, reliable, and very easy on gas as that costs money, too.  That's all they need - transportation.  When I got my first car (paid for by my parents, again - thank you!) it was NOT a Mercedes - trust me.  It was a teal green Saturn SC2 and I loved it.  I remember going car shopping with my dad like it was yesterday.  He was back in Illinois from California for maybe a week, it was a Saturday and he was leaving on Monday.  Car places being closed on Sundays, I never thought I would drive home in a car.  I thought it would have to wait and I would have to figure something out.  We looked all over, starting at used Jeep Cherokees (already more than I really deserved).  I think dad wanted me to get a Jeep since he loved his so much.  Mostly, obviously and rightly, he wanted me in something that was 1) safe and 2) reliable.  After searching for a few hours we got to one place that had two good choices we test drove, the SC2 and a white Chevy Geo Prism (might not have been Chevy back then).  We drove them both and they both were nice little cars.  My head told me the Geo was more practical - 4 doors, good gas mileage, etc. - but my heart pulled me to the SC2 - 2-door coupe, more fun to drive, also decent gas milegage but not as good, etc.  I remember dad telling me (and I think I can actually quote him here), "Don't get the Saturn because it has a better radio!" - which it did.  Dad, that was never a factor.  I worked next door to Best Buy, remember?  :-)  So I drove home in my little car that, to this day, I still think my dad spent too much money on (not that I would tell him that, then!).  But it was a great first car.  I drove it for years without a major problem.  The alternator died, but right when you should expect those things to go out.  In fact, I spent more getting new hubcaps when I lost one after a flat tire (and had to get 4 new ones since they did not make my design anymore) than I did to fix the alternator.  Oil filters were more expensive than other cars for some reason, but I did most of my own maintenance (another thing 16 year olds need to do - oil changes and flat tire changes).

My only regret, and this came much later, was trading it in.  Clarice and I were married at the time, had no car payments since they were both paid off, but we wanted a truck to get firewood (when we were heating with the wood burner) and have for other odd jobs.  The Saturn was just over 100,000 miles and had its quirks (the automatic seat belts didn't move on the driver's side - always locked and safe!) and was a little finicky starting in cold weather (which I blame on Crazy Aunt Julie letting it sit for 5 weeks one Christmas break in college and never starting it once) - but all in all it was just fine.  Could have waited at least another year with it as my daily driver.  Still, the first time I test drove my truck I was in love.  It took 2 miles and 1 right turn to know I wanted that truck!  In my defense, Clarice really liked it, too!  So we traded the SC2 in and got our first car payment.  Years later, after having the Jeep for a little while (our third, well fourth car), I started to regret (finally got there) that we didn't just keep the Saturn as a back-up vehicle.  The trade in was a joke, but I didn't know it back then.  The Jeep, that old thing my dad wouldn't let me know where the keys were when it was new, was one of the biggest blessings we have ever received.  I cannot remember how many people borrowed that thing, or borrowed the truck with me driving the Jeep.  I put 20,000 miles on it that I did not put on my wonderful, beautiful, silver and red truck.  Clarice drove the truck when it snowed and I took the Jeep so we would both have 4-wheel drive.  God used that thing in a number of ways I never imagined.  Dad, thanks for that.  I wasn't the only one who really appreciated it, and I almost cried the night it had the electrical fire and was finally dead.  Strange since I always told people, "It's great!  If I wrap it around a tree I'll be fine and just walk away from it."  I told the guy from the scrap yard who picked it up, "If you need a straight-six motor that is in great shape, you pull this one!  The only thing that ever went wrong, EVER, was the electrical system and that stupid, stupid alarm system."  Even the tires were in great shape and I pointed that out to him, too.

Three huge paragraphs on my history with cars!  Sorry.  Don't know where that came from!

Anyway, the best part about the movie was seeing all the places from home.  Every time Gordy's Sub Pub was shown we laughed because it burned to the ground this summer.  They had good food!  Every intersection on screen we knew right where they were, even the country roads.  In fact the oddest thing was when we first saw someone driving, it just didn't feel right until I noticed it was because the driver was on the left-hand side of the car!  Then I noticed the cars were in the right-hand lane!  Guess I've been over here a while, huh?

As we left we joked about home.  Paul and Amber had fond memories (of Warsaw??? Lol.), and we wondered what it will be like to go back.  Clarice and Monica were a little homesick and I couldn't figure out why.  Maybe it is because I had so many "homes" growing up that I'm more used to moving.  I do miss people and places and my cats and my truck and the boats and the College Class and all kinds of stuff (even work!), but after almost 7 months this place feels like home.  We have a great church we are heavily involved in (how do people survive without a church family???), we've seen so much of the country already (and more planned), we have lots of good friends - all the things I might be homesick for except my cats and truck.  We'll get home some day, and I'll be happy to be back, but I already know I will be "homesick" for Narrabeen and Australia - our home away from home.

I am not a Sommelier...

Last week Clarice decided that it had been too long since we had ventured forth into the "wilds" of Australia.  She told me, "Let's go to the Hunter Valley this weekend.  Find us a hotel."  Oh, joy.

The Hunter Valley is about 2 hours north of Sydney and is the regions biggest and most famous wine-making area.  Hundreds of wineries, ranging from the tiny, family operated specialty company to the huge, international exporting winery.  Now why, you may ask, would two people who never drink, much less drink wine, venture into a place that is only about wine?  Because it's there!  That and because everyone says, "You have to see it.  It's a must do."  So... we went.

I got us a room, at a very reasonable rate, at the Sebel Kirkton Park and was very pleasantly surprised by the accommodations.  It started as a manor house, was a private hotel, then was purchased by the Sebel Hotel chain and is now a "resort" and conference center.  Beautiful buildings, nice indoor poor done in a very Grecian style, excellent restaurant where we had breakfast, nice sized and well appointed rooms.  Basically everything you can ask for in a place to stay.  I never expected it to be as nice as it was given the price we payed.  The only downfall was the air conditioner.  More on that later.

    

Clarice looked over all the guides and booklets on the different wineries and we planned our route for the following day.  I made sure that the Olive Company and The Cheese Company got included.  Mmmmm... cheese.  Then we got ready for bed and climbed in.  Now, out bed at home (in Indiana) is what I call "normal" height off the ground.  About a proper sitting level where your knees are bent and your feet touch the ground.  Out bed here in Sydney is about 1/2 that height (if that) - more on par with what I picture Asian or Oriental beds and tables being height-wise - so we have gotten used to being much closer to the floor.  The bed at the Sebel could have used a step ladder.  Larry and Em Bishop have a bed that might be about the same height.  I felt like I needed a rappelling harness and pitons to get into bed.  But OH was it comfortable.  That air conditioner though...

It was very noisy and drove me insane most of the night.  I either turned it off and got too hot, or turned it on and couldn't fall asleep because of the noise.  Around 2:30 I got some toilet paper and made ear plugs.  No use.  At 4:13 AM (yes, I CAN be that specific) I gave up, left it on and put a pillow over my head to deaden the noise.  That worked.  Finally.  Too bad we were getting up at 7:30.

A very tired and admittedly cranky Jon ambled out with Clarice to breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  There had been a conference that morning who had just finished their hot breakfast so the hotel put the rest out on the cold continental breakfast line to be finished off.  Talk about timing!  Clarice had pancakes and hot chocolate while I downed platefuls of food knowing that we would probably not get much for lunch and I'm obviously a "lightweight" when it comes to alcohol.  Even though we were only tasting, I was driving after all.  And I was making up at breakfast in food what I lost the night before in sleep.

We left at 9:30 and by 9:45 were at the first stop - Tamburlaine Winery.  We wanted to start with a smaller, privately owned winery and go from there.  A very nice gentleman dealt with we wine-idiots, and helped us select a nice bottle of Semillon to give as a Christmas gift.  One of the things we learned is that the Hunter Valley is good for growing semillon, chardonnay, and syrah (used for shiraz wines) grapes.  Every winery we went to had a Semillon variety as its top white wine.  It took one tasting of a red for us to agree that we much preferred the sweeter white wines.  We never did get back to tasting reds.  Oh well.

By 10:15 we hit the Hunter Valley Olive Centre and Pokolbin Estate Vineyard.  Now olive oil is something we know a bit about.  Our favorite ever is Eskisi Gibi that we found on a trip into Chicago.  Yes, we end up paying $32 a bottle for that stuff, we get 2-3 at a time and we love every drop of that stuff.  Tastes like butter and is perfect for bread dipping - one of our new favorite past times.  If the lovely girls that have been staying at our house want to use our stock, feel free of course, but don't waste it willy-nilly!  That's GOLD you have there!  So we picked up a couple of different olive oils (not Eskisi Gibi, but not that price either) and moved on to our next stop.

The last vineyard before lunch was McGuigan Wines.  One of the larger wineries in the valley, they boasted of tours at 11:00 and 12:00 and we wanted to learn what we could about the wine-making process.  All I knew going in I had learned from Mike Rowe and Dirty Jobs on TLC. Props to Mike (LOVE the show man, keep it up!) but I thought it might be good to get a refresher course from the pros.  Too bad McGuigan's was re-doing their production spaces and the tours were cancelled until further notice.  They did, however, have a couple of very tasty whites that we purchased.  They also had The Cheese Company!  Yay!  Oh wait...  This is fancy cheese.  Bummer.  Can I tell you how much I miss Wisconsin???  I'll never make fun of the cheese-heads again.

 

The next winery tour we had on our itinerary did not start until 1:30 so we decided to hit the Hunter Valley Gardens, a selection of shops and a huge gardens area specializing in roses.  A wedding (well, at least one) was going on in their chapel so we decided to hit the shops first. Quaint little places my mom would just love.  One, however, was the Ken Duncan Gallery.  I had seen some of his photographs in other places, but let me tell you his work is amazing.  His specialty is panoramic landscapes - something that I would love to get into.  And he was in the gallery signing his new book!!  We got the new book, a couple of smaller ones of his work, had him sign all three, and talked to him for quite a while.  He is a Christian man who looks at his life's passion as a way of showing people God's creation glory.  While we were looking around a high school aged girl who was very into photography came in crying with her excitement to meet Ken.  He gave her some tips on photography then spent a good 15 minutes witnessing to this girl about the fact that what his shoots has all ben created by God and the importance of God in his life.  Just overhearing that conversation was so encouraging!  If I had unlimited funds I would have 2-3 of his photos up in my house.  They are wonderful.

Well, after getting through the shops (and getting candy at the chocolate shop) we decided that it was too hot and sticky to walk through the gardens and we needed to get to the next winery in time for the tour.

Last winery we ventured in to - Tyrrell's.  Another larger winery, they also had a good semillon and we got a bottle to give as a gift.  Then we took the 1 hour tour with a very knowledgeable guide who could not stop talking about the details of the wine-making process.  Very interesting!  When the tour was over we headed off on a drive around the valley looking at the beautiful scenery.  Grapevines everywhere!

   

Before we headed for home we stopped at an Australian Woodcraft Gallery and looked at all the wonderful things people are making with Australian timbers.  Between the dark reds of the jarrah wood, to the deep ambers of the bloodwood, the shimmering silk wood and the color-changing purple gidgee - everything you can think of was being made of wood.  We found a great big cutting board with two holes into which recessed a couple of pottery bowls.  It would be perfect for dips and will be a regular on our table covered with breads and filled with oils! The main body is camphorwood and the sides (the handles) are made of a an amber jarrah that really complements the grains in the camphor.  Great piece.

The we headed home stopping at McDonald's for dinner.  Saturday was McHappy Day and proceeds of purchases were going to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Well, that and Clarice will eat their fries!

It had rained Friday night and been beautiful all Saturday as we toured the valley,  but as we left for home dark clouds loomed.  I did not look forward to driving the two hours home in the pouring rain, but I never expected (or had ever before experienced) the golf ball sized hailstorm that hit.  

WHACK!  

Clarice - "What was that?"

Jon - "Probably just a really big raindrop."  

WHACK!  WHACK!  WHACK!  

Jon - "Ummm... that's really big hail!"

We managed to find cover under the awning of a gas station for the 5-10 minutes of serious hail, then left as the rain abated.  We made good time home as the weather cleared soon after. Tired yet satisfied we decided that we would definately go back to the Hunter, but next time to  play golf on some of their beautiful courses!

Coming Attractions...

Indiana had Snow! Ha! We are finally to the point where it is in the 70’s every day. It is not supposed to get abysmally hot, but stay in the mid 80’s all summer. We’re looking forward to that.

I heard a rumor that the Sumners had them over and watched them all. Troopers. Poor Mason and Emily!

We’ve really jumped into our church here - Narrabeen Baptist. I was talking to Leon (the senior pastor) yesterday and he was telling me about a conversation he had last week with his father. He told him, “Ya these 2 Americans have rocked up [Aussie slang for “come” or “arrived”] and gotten involved in everything which has encouraged others to get involved more. It’s been a real blessing!” I don’t know how true that is, but when you don’t have all the other distractions of lake, family, friends, Grace, less work, television, etc. you find you spend more time at church. I truly don’t know what we would have done without God leading us to this church. Our “normal week” runs:

• Sunday – Church at least once. Clarice often plays the flute. A couple of times she played (is going to play) in both the morning and evening services.
• Monday – our usual “Jon and Clarice” evening
• Tuesday – Women’s and Men’s Bible Studies – these have been awesome at developing individual friendships
• Wednesday – Couple Cell Group Bible Study – “our” friends together
• Thursday – I help in the kids afternoon program (Kidz Arvo) for a couple of hours. Late Night Shopping.
• Friday – something with church friends
• Saturday – Australian Adventure Day

Next weekend we are going up to the Hunter Valley area (2 hours north) where all of the wineries are. Kinda funny for 2 people who don’t like wine! Still, the tours ought to be interesting and we might get a bottle or two for some of the nice people at church here.

Holiday thoughts: We have been invited to a friend’s party on Christmas Eve, plan to spend a little time Christmas Day on the beach just because we can, and then we are thinking about a trip from the 26th thru the morning of the 31st. Either Adelaide or Tasmania. Both have wonderful natural attractions that I’d like to see. We like nature trips and looking at all the wondrous things God has created. Australia is a lot like the US in that it is HUGE and has a little bit of everything.

In January we are taking a long weekend to go to Melbourne for the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. We got ground passes for Saturday morning, then tickets for the main stadium for the evening session. Sunday we’ll explore and shop. Also, in January we are going with some friends to visit the friend’s aunt in Parkes, NSW – famous mostly for the giant radio dish designed to catch transmissions from outer space. It was also instrumental in the lunar missions to allow communication when North America was out of line-of-sight with the moon. That’ll be fun. The weekend between those trips Clarice is speaking at a “Metal Purchasers” conference about global trends and I’m tagging along. It is down in Wollongong – southern suburb of Sydney – so no big adventure there, but maybe fun for me.

Alright. That should hold you for a little while!

Jon

That...er... Reef Thingamagig ...

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post. SORRY! A lot has been going on keeping me from posting. Mainly school, but also work and various things with church.

Anyway...

Week 2 with Jay and Karen saw us trekking up to Cairns and Port Douglas, Queensland. It does take a bit of adjusting to the idea that, if you are traveling north for a 4 hour flight it will get decidedly warmer. We went from high 60's to low/mid 80's - much better!!

Day 1 saw us getting onboard the Ocean Spirit IV and heading out to Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier Reef. We have been here 1/2 a year and this was our first taste of the Reef - one of my "must do's" when we decided on this adventure! Every time we go on a cruise to the Caribbean I insist on getting to go snorkeling for at least one of our excursions. Last December we went snorkeling with sea turtles on my birthday! Needless to say I was a bit excited to go "swimming with the fishes" in one of God's most beautiful places.

The weather was hit and miss. Often it was just plain cloudy (sad!), and we did get hit with 10 minutes of sprinkle, but the sun did come out for a bit. The biggest hinderance to our enjoyment was the wind! Boy was it windy. We were swimming on the leeward side of the cay, so the water was pretty calm, but the wind drove us nuts on the boat. Oh well...

The reason Clarice and I chose the Ocean Spirit was because the tour included an intro scuba diving lesson! I LOVE snorkeling, now I get to go deep! NOT! I was too honest on my form and they would not let me go because of a medicine I am taking. (sad!) Oh well, Clarice and Jay had a really good time and it turned out to be a "mixed blessing" because I got to snorkel off by myself while they were diving. I loved just floating along, becoming invisible to the magical world I was invading and allowing the sea creatures to just do their thing. Beautiful!

Look at the colors! When the sun came out it was spectacular!

It's a "Fish Bush"!

Lots of different species of tang (the yellow fish)

The giant clams were... well... giant. And SO BLUE when the sun came out!

I like the fish in the bottom of this shot. So many colors!

And I even saw a shark! A little reef shark... but a SHARK!

Aren't we beautiful, too?!?!

It was an exhausting day, but well worth it. I hope Clarice and I get a chance to go back up and scuba the reef. After Clarice's intro dive she said, "You would SO love that!" so we are going to take scuba classes here in Sydney with the idea of going on a scuba tour next time (assuming we get the chance).

Now that they're gone... Vol 1

Now that Jay and Karen have arrived safely back in the good ole' U. S. of A. - I'll try and post some of our adventures. I have to break this up because for 2 solid weeks we were running around all over the place.

After the Grand Final Sunday night (Manly won by the way) we checked the weather and moved our trip to Katoomba to Tuesday to take advantage of better weather that day. Monday we headed down to Bondi Beach and did the walk all the way over to Bronte Beach. It started out kind of gloomy, got beautiful and then it rained on us. Bummer.

The Manly Supporters all decked out!

Tuesday we got up early and drove up to the Blue Mountains. We parked near Echo Point Lookout in Katoomba and did the same hike Clarice and I did on our anniversary trip back in May. Trooper that she is, Karen made it down the giant staircase without complaints, but at the end said her legs felt like jelly. We hiked over to Scenic World, did their boardwalk around the area near the old coal mine, then took the cable car up out of the gorge. From there we hiked back over to the car and headed home. Exhausting, but very fun day.

For most the rest of week one we trekked all over Sydney showing Jay and Karen all of our favorite haunts and giving them a gist of what life in Australia has been like. Jay took thousands of photos, we did the Sydney Opera House tour, the Botanical Gardens, the QVB, Hyde Park, Darling Harbour, the Northern Beaches... No sleeping in our place!

Next volume will start OUR vacation and the trip up to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef!

Jon

Jay and Karen Arrive!!

Jay and Karen got her Friday night and we have been running them ragged ever since they got here. Saturday we went downtown and, not discouraged by the clouds and intermittent rain, we toured the Opera House, did some shopping and ate lunch on The Rocks, took photos from the Harbour Bridge and generally had a great time.

Sunday we went to church where everyone was really excited to finally meet these strange Amercians they had heard so much about. Just like when we first visited, people went out of their way to get to know them a little even if they only see them the one time.

Sunday afternoon/evening we went to the NRL Grand Final. Totally awesome experience! The two top teams made it all the way to this championship game which is the NRL equivelent of the Super Bowl. We were all decked out in Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles garb and we sitting with Neil and Majella - good friends of ours from church. The game should have been very competitive, but Manly creamed Melbourne by a new record margin of victory - 40-0! There were some great plays, the atmosphere was awesome and even the newbies could follow the action. Jay and Karen agreed that David Williams of Manly looks astonishingly like Blake - hence he is our favorite player. Good time. Thanks to an ingenious plan developed by Paul when we went to the AU/NZ Rugby Test last month, we got out with no problems/traffic.

David Williams - Manly Sea Eagles

When we got home, Jay made some great burgers while I transferred his pics DVDs. Then we watched "Israel Dic 2 Photos". Let's just say Jay has taken a couple of photos. Disc 2 was a little over 1000. He has 4 disks now and 2 weeks here with us. Thanks goodness for digital technology!

Today, the rain should clear and we are going to wander the beaches. I'll get some pics up when I get a chance.

Jon

"Jon and Clarice's Day of Fun"!!!

I know, it's been a couple of weeks. The more you harp, the more guilty I feel for not posting anything. Still doesn't get me to post any faster, does it? :-)

A couple of weeks ago, Clarice felt bad about all of the time she was spending at work so she planned what has come to be know as "Jon and Clarice's Day of Fun" - samelessly stolen from "Joey and Janice's Day of Fun" on Friends.

She got me up early and told me what to wear and what to bring. I didn't get to know anything ahead of time. The first stop was an 8:00 AM breakfast at Jonah's, a wonderful little hotel/restaurant up the hill overlooking Whale Beach. Get it? Jonah's...Whale Beach. I am not making this up. It was a nice, fancy, tasy breakfast and we enjoyed the fabulous views.

After the nice, leisurely breakfast we went down to Whale Beach and relaxed for a couple of hours. We had our books, Clarice had bought a frisbee, and it was genuinely a nice spring day. Lot's of people we out, but Whale beach is kind of secluded so it was a very enjoyable morning.

For lunch she took me up the coast to Palm Beach which has a couple of little shops we like. We ate a picnic lunch, played more frisbee, bought a couple of things and generally kept relaxing together. It was nice.

We arrived to the first afternoon stop a little early, but I guessed what we were doing when I saw the sign - a seaplane ride! Yay! We took a 45 minute seaplane ride down the coast all the way to Bondi Beach, then back to Sydney Harbour for a couple of circuits, along the Hawksbury River then back to the Pittwater where we started. We didn't spend a lot in the morning because this was a little pricy, but definately worth it. A "do again" as Karen would say. Here are some pics, but I hope to get a bunch more up into a slide show soon. Can you tell it was a gorgeous day?

Being early to the seaplane ride, we ran late to the next exciting event - kayaking! There is a nice place to rent kayaks on Narrabeen Lagoon just down the street from our place. We had been planning on doing it once the weather was nice, but I didn't think it would be then. We had a blast paddling around all the places we have only seen from the shore. It tried to "spit" rain at us, but thankfully didn't.

Next was some rest. We needed it.

Last was a wonderful dinner at a little "hole-in-the-wall" Italian joint just up the road from our place. Since it was a nice evening we decided to walk. Joe's Italian had been recommended by a lot of people, but from the outside looked a little run down. Don't judge a book by its cover! We'll definately be back to Joe's several times before we leave Sydney.

So that was our day. A lot of fun and finally some time together. Thanks, hon!

Jon

Outback Excursion 3: Kings Canyon

I'm sorry I've been so late on this post...I've been busy trying to remember higher level math! Its been high school since I last took Calculus and now I have to take it again for me MBA program. If you don't use it...well, you get the idea.

Day 3 was perhaps my favorite day. We got up early again and headed to Kings Canyon - a couple of hours away. Let me tell you, it was gorgeous. Like a mini-Grand Canyon without the Colorado River. We did an 8k hike up to the top, around the rim of the gorge and the back down to the car park. Some shots...

I'd put up more, but you can check out the slideshow on the right. Truely a beautiful day and incredible experience.

After the canyon we travelled over an unpaved outback road for a couple of hours. Those of you who know the joys of travelling on dirt roads let me tell you... You ain't seen nothin' yet. We bounced, and bounced and bounced! Fun for a while, but we were all getting headaches and glad to be done by the time we hit pavement again.

We had a great trip. Can't wait for our trip to the GREAT BARRIER REEF!!!

Jon

Outback Excursion 2: Uluru Sunrise...

Day two got off to an EARLY start as Paul, our guide, got us up at 5:00 AM to give us time to get ready to leave to be at Uluru for the 6:30 sunrise. It was "brisk" in that it was about 50 degrees outside.

We we reached Uluru, we had 2 options: Take the long walk all the way around the rock (about 7.4k) or go to the climb and see if it was open. They sometimes close the climb if the winds are too high, and it was pretty windy on the ground when we got there. We had always planned on doing the long walk and seeing everything, though I will admit I was tempted to do the climb. The Aborigianal people HATE when tourists climb the rock, but they are more dependant on the tourism $$ so they begrudgingly allow it.

When Paul stopped the bus for the long walk, Clarice and I jumped up ready to go. Everyone else sat there probably thinking, "The bus sure is warm and it is pretty early, isn't it?" Losers! The sun was just coming up as we started and as it rose the colors changed dramatically.

I was lining up the last shot above (I swear I see Darth Vader in profile!) when Clarice says, in a boring statement voice like it happens every day, "Camels." You really had to be there! It was so funny.

Clarice - "Camels."

Jon - "What?"

Clarice - "Camels. Wait! CAMELS!!!"

I had zoomed in on "Darth Vader" and the camera setting were all wrong so when I finally realized she had seen 3 camels calmy trotting right between us and the rock...none of the pics came out. Bummer! Still, it's not every day you see wild camels up close.

From there we trekked around the rock. It is amazing how the contours change, the colors change, the slopes and curves changes, yet the rock is one giant chunk of sandstone.

I love the orange glow in the one of us. It was just at the height of the sunrise color. (And Ethan, that is a scarf on Clarice's head!) The photos above are shown in chronological order to try and give you some idea of the changes in colors and shapes. If you want more photos be sure to check out the slideshow on the right! ->

After Uluru we went back to the camp to pack and grab some lunch. Then it was off in the direction of Kings Canyon, or destination for Sunday. We stopped at a few ranchs/cattle stations, as well as several lookouts with beautiful vistas of the outback region. The stop that evening was a Kings Cross Station where we had the opportunity to ride 4-wheelers in the outback! You know we jumped at that (the only ones in our group - losers!)!

By the time we got back to camp we were exhausted, but in a great mood. Paul had made homemade bread and honey glazed chicken over the fire and the entire group ate the fill as the sun slowly set. I got up to get my camera and Paul made his big mistake. "The shot would be better if you climbed on the roof of the bus." Next thing you know, 8 people are on top of the bus!

As you can imagine, we slept hard that night. Hope you are enjoying the photos as much as we did out trip! Stay tuned for day 3!

Jon