The New Car

Last week on Thursday afternoon I was priveleged to pick up our new car from the dealer. My employer is graciously providing us with this vehicle for the duration or our stay here in Adelaide. It's a brand spanking new 2007 Subaru Forester X, 5 speed manual, hi/low four wheel drive. The X designates that it has what I've heard called "the poverty package." I certainly don't feel very deprived.

12 Hour Mountain Bike Race

On Saturday I raced in the 12 Hour Mountain Bike Race in Mt. Torrens. I was on a relay team with three friends from work: Joe, Danny and Darren. There were three different basic team types: solo, duo and quad. This means that on my team each of us raced for about a quarter of the time. The solo riders raced for 12 hours straight. Incredible. The race started at 9 am and ended at 9 pm. Each of us raced about four laps. Joe and I did an average of about 45 minutes per lap, Danny did about 40 minutes and better, and Darren was down near 30 minutes. Obviously I'm not at the top of the game, but I had a lot of fun.

The course was tough. It started out going uphill on a fire road, and then transitioned into a steep climb up a single track switchback. At the top the trail got real rocky and followed the ridgeline for a ways, then went down the other side of the mountain, and then came back up it on a very rocky and technical switchback. After a few more ups and downs the trail descended to a long run out and back in a hay field. The last bit took you through a pine forest and then back to the fire road and on to the finish line. The whole thing was about 8.5 k (5.3 mi).

On my first lap I got a flat soon after reaching the ridgeline and had to push my bike back down the mountain. Danny took a lap while Joe replaced my tube. Once Danny got back I did the next lap. I felt like I never wanted to do it again, and wondered what I had gotten myself into. However, after the other three guys had completed their laps I felt ready to do another one. I did and felt all right afterwards. My last lap actually ended up being my best time. I pushed myself a little further and ended up taking a superman style spill over the handlebars on a downhill section of the track. I was beat up enough that I had actually gotten blood on the bike (from my knee, hip or elbow, I don't know which) and had to stretch a huge cramp out of my calf. Once I got back on the bike I had an adreneline rush going on, so despite the time lost by crashing I was able to finish the lap in less time than any of my other runs. Sarah came to watch and got to witness that lap.

After the race we camped out. Good times.

Here I am.

Sarah spectating like a professional.

Jason looking like a legendary figure.

They had a face painter there, and this was some of her finest work.

Joe on the left and Danny on the right. Danny had just finished a lap and was tagging Joe in to do the next one.

Here's Darren coming in after the last lap of the race.

Joe doing some quick mainenance.

Danny and Darren before the race.

It was a windy day.

The big start.

Thanksgiving in Australia

The managing director of our company here in Australia graciously decided to make Thanksgiving (or at least the day after it) one of our paid holidays. This was mainly because about half of the employees are American expats. So on Friday Joe and Megan hosted the festivities and provided a fabulously tasty feast for about 25 people. I smoked a small turkey (about 11 lbs) on my grill, and it turned out really well. I got to feel the baby moving around in Sarah's womb a few time too. It was a real nice day.

This is a coworker's wife another coworker's daughter. Pretty in pink.

Cleaning up after the men.

A sample of the pre-feast spread. Thanks Megan!

Monday Evening

Yesterday evening we drove up Kensington Road to an overlook and read one of our books on child rearing while watching the sun set. Good times.


When we got back home we were opening our door and this little guy slipped in.

Some Things...

So I'll let Sarah expound a little more if she wishes to, but here's the latest: Sarah had an oh bee gee why en appointment yesterday, and while he was doing a quick ultrasound to check the baby's dimensions he asked Sarah if she knew the sex. She said "Yes, the techinician at the obstetric ultrasound said it looked like a boy, but that it's never certain." He said "Well, it looks like a girl to me." Apparently in the angle they were viewing at the time the scrotum sack should have been prominent, but was nowhere to be seen. So, either the family jewels were well hidden or we're having a little lady.

I rode up this hill this morning before work on my bike. You can see the city down below. That's the elevation I started at. I'm trying to get ready for the AMBC 12 Hour Mountain Bike Race that I'm racing in on Saturday.

This month is Movember in Australia. Many men, like myself, are growing mustaches to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues.

This one is for you Mom. There's also another one on Flickr if you want to get that.

Morning at the Beach

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, before 7 am, to head down to the beach at Middleton with our friends Ryan and Mary. It was a beautiful day, windy but quite warm (it got up to the low 90s Fahrenheit). The surf was pretty good so we did some bodyboarding and surfing. Sarah got some quality reading time in on the beach. Thankfully the flies didn't bother her too much. John and Bridgett and JJ came and hung out with us too. I dug a meter deep hole down to the water level up on the beach for JJ. I think he peed in it.

On the trip home (about an hour and a half) I planned on calling my close as a brother cousin Chris. I only had his number on my computer at home, so it was only after about 45 minutes of trying to call family in the states whose numbers I did know that I was able to get the right number and call him. After that it was great. We talked for about a hour and a half, although I had to keep calling him back because the call kept getting dropped.

I heard a story from a friend the other day that I though was pretty humorous. He and his wife partook in the following events. The wife had a math teacher's qualification exam on Saturday, which she forgot about until she arrived home on Friday night. She needed a calculator for the exam, but had left hers at school. The husband proposed that they go to his company's office, which is closer to their apartment than the wife's school, and borrow his coworker's calculator. They did this, but the coworker's calculator was a TI-85, and was too different from the wife's calculator for her to get used to in one evening. So they started to head over to the wife's school to get hers, but realized when they were half way there that she did not have her keys with her. They then decided to head over to the office where the husband works, which is on an army base, and grab his calculator. While approaching the base they realized that the wife not only did not have her keys on her, but she did not have her ID with her either. So they stowed her in the trunk of the car while they went through the security point. Imagine explaining that one to the security guard if he had decided to inspect the whole vehicle! But he didn't, and so they were able to successfully get an acceptable calculator for the wife's exam. I thought it was a pretty good way to turn an otherwise uneventful evening into a full scale adventure.

Lately

Well we are back from Cairns and this last week has flown by! Most likely because I needed to clean the entire house. I began babysitting this week for our friends the Kleins. I will be watching their two little girls every Wednesday until Christmas (the plan so far). You saw Lucy and Sarah earlier - Lucy in her fairy outfit and Sarah next to me with windblown hair at her birthday party. They are good little girls and pretty entertaining. I also began rehearsing with the group for Carol's - our church's Christmas production they put on in the beginning of December. I guess it's really good and tons of people come to see it at the town hall. I'll be part of the instrumental group, getting my oboe lips back in shape!

Well today we found out that we have a wasp's nest at the top of our chimney and a couple of them decided to come visit me while I was talking to my friend Verity on the phone. Luckily I was talking to her, all knowing Verity, because she told me who to call. The council peps are coming out first thing Monday morning to remove the nest - hopefully we don't get stung this weekend! They have only been the in the lounge room (through a gap between the gas heater in the old fire place) and so I just keep the doors shut with a window open.

I guess I won't bore you anymore with my little daily events.

A little crispy!

Well I (Sarah) have a little story to tell that I thought was rather humorous. You know how we all say, pride cometh before a fall, well...
We were all getting off the boat at the end of our Barrier Reef tour and I was noticing a lot of people who were really burnt. I casually commented to mom C how glad I was that we had put sunscreen on and weren't burnt like many others. When we all got back to our hotel room and had showered off the sea salt we noticed that we too were burnt! So much for the 'glad we put sunscreen on, haha'. Brian's back was completely red. Mom and I forgot to put sunscreen on our derrieres (or as I like to spell it: dairyairs) (you know you're butt up when snorkeling) and on I got burnt on the little parts where my bathing suit sunk past my tan line on my shoulders and back. Oh yeah, and mom and I's calves were burnt. Dad C got burnt on his chest and back - how he did that we don't know.

So we were red all over! Goes to prove the whole ozone hole is over Australia business and that you can never put too much sunscreen on. Brian had me put aloe vera on him every 6-8 hours! for the first couple days. Well Brian and I are now recovered - most of our burns having turned to tan. I won't probably hold it long though - knowing me I'll still be white for Christmas when we arrive. :)

October 25-31: The Rest of the Week in Adelaide Part Two

Here are some more pictures of the four of us during our time in Adelaide. Once again, if you want to see lots more just go here.

October 25-31: The Rest of the Week in Adelaide Part One

Back to where we left off in Adelaide. Sorry about the skipping around with the order of the posts here. We had a lot of fun touring Adelaide and its surrounds, including but not limited to Victor Harbour, Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary and Mt Lofty. Friday night we threw a big barbeque and had 39 people show up. It was great. I had double grills going and cooked more meat than I ever knew existed.

Mom and I took a walk one afternoon a snapped some pictures. Here's mom with a VW.

And a lovely portrait of dad. I had to try out the new telephoto lens.

Mom drinking her tea. I think she drinks more of it than even the Aussies do.

Sarah reading. It's her new favorite thing to do! I think she looks pretty snazzy in that good old "Voi kauhea!" shirt.

My beautiful mother on the bluff in Victor Harbour.

Mom and Dad enjoying each others company while waiting for a platypus that never showed.

Dad with a little roo.

Mom and dad watching the eagle handler with rapt attention.

We watched the sunset from Glenelg beach after our stint at Warrawong.

Friday and Saturday, November 3-4: Cape Tribulation and Hartley's Crocodile Farm

Mom and Dad left us in Cairns early on Friday morning. It was very sad to see them go. We've missed our friends and family a lot, and to have my parents here was incredible. Thankfully we've only got about seven weeks until we head home for Christmas.

On Friday afternoon Sarah and I drive up to Cape Tribulation. It's a beautiful spot about an hour and a half north of Port Douglas. The paved road ends just past the cape. The road past there is gravel and steadily gets worse until it becomes four wheel drive only.

Here is Sarah reading on Myall beach just south of the cape.

Sarah overlooking the bay just north of the cape.

On Saturday I decided that we should check out Hartley's Crocodile Farm, and we're glad I did. It was real sweet. There were big crocs everywhere. I could hardly contain myself. Sarah had to hold me back because I was constantly trying to jump into the water and start wrestling those babies.


This dude is my hero. He got in the cage with that croc and just took his boots off. He said if the croc got his leg those boots wouldn't do him a whole lot of good anyway. He then proceeded to show us the croc's death roll and prey shake maneuvers. This man was fast. He held a little fish right above the croc's head. Only when the monster had lept and its jaws were about to snap shut (with the sound of an elephant gun) did he let go and pull his arm away. He was the real deal.

Wednesday, November 1: The Rainforest

We got into Cairns on Tuesday at about noon. We spent the afternoon in the pool and on the deck chairs. Quite nice.

On Wednesday we took a tour of the rainforest by cable car and train. The rainforest is pretty incredible, and it's extremely mountainous near Cairns.

After the tour was done we ate dinner at a delicious Italian place called L'Unico.




Go here if you want to see more.

Thursday, November 2: The Great Barrier Reef

On Thursday morning we woke up bright and early and drove about an hour up to Port Douglas. At 8:15 AM we boarded the catamaran Poseidon and soon after cast off for the reef. The trip to the reef took about an hour. Wind was low, the sun was bright and visibility out on the reef was fantastic. We stopped at three different point on the reef. We snorkeled at all three, and Dad and I did introductory SCUBA dives at the first and last stops. Poor Sarah started feeling pretty sick during the second stop, so she stayed on deck after that. We were able to rent an underwater digital camera and take some nice shots. The following are some of the pictures we took while on the tour. You can find many more on my Flickr account here.

This one was snapped by the boat photographer before we set out.

Here I am heading down the rope for our first dive!

Dad with his gear on getting out of the water after the first dive.

Dad and I feeling pretty sweet after our first dive ever.

Snorkeling Sarah holding a sea cucumber.

Snorkeling mom very delicately holding the sea cucumber.

Snorkeling Dad.

Dad took a snooze about half way through the day.

Get tan with your bad self.

I think this is dad on our second dive. It might be me, but I'm pretty sure it's dad.

This is a lionfish. Look but don't touch.

Dad on our second dive.

The majesticness of Dad.

The pregnantness of Sarah.

Seasick Sarah valiantly staying the course.