Angkor Wat?

We boarded a very small plane for the short jump to Cambodia. Cambodia very quickly became the best place I have ever been. Most of us have learned about the Roman Empires in high school history - about their empire and their amazing advances in architecture - raise your hand if you can tell me about the 12th Century Khmer Empire - anyone? Bueller? Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The other temples...not so preserved...

Early on the first day, we found a tuk tuk driver to take us to the ruins. He was a nice teenage boy who quickly secured his place as our "driver" for our entire stay. For just $10 US he spent 8 hours shuttling between all of the temples. We gave him $15 at the end of the day - you should have seen the smile! That first day we went to all of the temples aside from Angkor Wat, including Ta Prahm (as I affectionately came to call Ta 'Shrimp'). It is most famous as the setting for Tomb Raider. When they discovered it the forest had over taken it. Some of the tree couldn't be removed during when they were excavating it because they had become part of the structure.

Our most loyal readers know by now that we fly by the seat of our pants when it comes to our travels. In most cases, that suits us well. This isn't one of those cases...after our day of exploring and climbing old temples, we went to the concierge to book our flight to Vietnam for the next day. And that's when we learned we need a Visa for Vietnam?! Uh-oh...okay we'll get visa, we just need to go to the Vietnam consulate - easy. What, there's no consulate in Siem Reap? hmm...how much do we want to go to Vietnam? My determination led to what could have been a very stupid choice. We sent our passport via air courier to the closest city that had a consulate. Yes, you read that right. We gave our passports to some stranger while in a foreign country. With a bit of a pit in our stomachs we went into town (w/o our passports) to enjoy dinner at the Red Piano - a favorite spot of Angelina's.

The next morning we got up in the dark to get to Angkor Wat in time to see the sunrise. Amazing! We spent hours exploring the temple - they say 80,000 people staffed it back in the day. On the way back, the tuk-tuk needed some petrol. We had to wake up a guy from his nap in a hammock so he could pour a coke bottle's worth of oil into the motor bike.

Siem Reap Day Three - The schedule has officially changed. We're still waiting for the Vietnam visa's to be returned Monday night so we've extended our Cambodia portion an extra two days. We spent the extra touring the neighboring villages/farms while on horseback. This was very exciting as I've never ridden before. We were fitted with Cambodian horses - somewhere between a pony and normal sized horse. My horse always had to be in the lead - even ahead of our guide (who by the way didn't speak a word of English).

Day four - Sean headed into town to pick up our passports (PHEW!)- this time with visas - and to book our flight to HCMC. Booking flights via the internet are not always possible. Furthermore, the prices quoted online are typically more expensive than when you find in here. We packed and headed to the airport.There was a Dairy Queen in the Siem Reap airport. Needless to say, we split a kit kat blizzard.

Christmas in Thailand

This year Christmas fell perfectly - a four day weekend! Given this stroke of luck, we decided to take a trip to southeast Asia. It would allow us to stay in time zone so I could work between Christmas and New Year's (CEB's busiest time), but we could take advantage of the extra days off with a bit of a trip. We took off for Bangkok on Christmas Eve after work. Lucky me, the middle seat. But for real good luck, Mama Mia was playing. I had been wanting to see that movie for ages, but Sean would never see it. Now I know why - it was absolutely horrible! Sean was very satisfied with his choice - the Batman series. The Bangkok airport is sooo big. It felt like we walked several miles before finding the way out. Mental note - arrive early for the flight out or we'll never make it. The taxi ride to the hotel was exhilarating. Never did the driver drop below 110 and rarely did he spend more than a few seconds in any one lane. We soon learned that was normal in Thailand.



Thursday, Bangkok Day One - Merry Christmas! Is it really Christmas though? There are no lights, trees, santas, really anything that would lead you to believe it was Christmas. We woke early to get a good brekky and find our way across town to a Catholic church (thanks Catholictraveler.com) close to the sites. The church was beautiful - the mass, a little long - and there were more people filling the pews in a non-Christian country than you would think. We were not the only westerners there, that's for sure and to top it off the priest opened the service with a G'day. An Aussie!



After church we took off on foot to make our way to Banglamphu. Along the way, we were going to catch a glimpse of our first Buddha - the golden buddha. This attraction was not in our guide book but made on the hotel's tourist map. It was also in the direction of our walk so it seemed like a no brainer. This ended up being a very bad decision. Sean had no idea where we were going, although he refused to say so. Who uses a cartoon map as their only means of direction?! We finally found the water taxi and set off for a day full of Buddhas (one reclining, one emerald, one golden, on standing, one sitting - you get the point) and Phos.









On Friday we started with the Teak Mansion. Sorry, they don't allow pictures of the mansion as members of the royal family still live there. It was beautiful though. A colonial house that looked completely out of place among the Buddhas. Same with the Parliament building.





As we were walking out of the Parliament building, we were approached by a tuk-tuk driver. He said that it was too far to walk and that he would take us to see all of the sites we had mapped out for just 40 baht (a couple of dollars). Here is a lesson to all - if it sounds too good to be true, IT IS! Always the optimist (or naive), I said, let's do it! All is well, he took us to see a temple that wasn't even on the map. Very cool and no one was there. Then, the next stop was what? A shop? He took us to three other shops to browse and buy Thailand goods - made-to-specification suits, jewelry, and other hand crafted goods. The deal -that he later shared after we spent only 4 minutes in a jewelry shop - was that he receives a government petrol voucher for taking tourists to these spots. The rub - we didn't want to go there and had no intention of buying anything. After leaving the first two after only 5 minutes, he told us we needed to stay inside for 10 min in order to get the voucher. The voucher was worth way more than our fare for the day so we helped him out.







*Note - right after we left. Protesters over took the airport and their are still riots going on in Thailand.

The Melbourne Cup

OK, let's start with the basics. The Melbourne Cup is a horse race. But not just any horse race. It is the race in Australia. This race is the pinnacle of a eight-week barrage of horse racing around the state known as Spring Carnival. But unlike most major races that occur on the weekend, this race takes place on a Tuesday. And furthermore, Tuesday is a public holiday in Victoria! You don't have to be a racing fan to appreciate the day off. No complaints here - a public holiday and a day-time drinking event mid-week... good-on ya! Although its not a public holiday in other states, the whole country pauses to watch the Cup race. In addition to the races, people tune in to catch the winner of the 'Best Dressed' competitions. Men in their best party suits and ladies in anything fashionable that goes along with their hat. That's right, a hat. [See Melissa's right] I had an idea what to expect, but I had no idea how over-the-top the day would be.

So if this is the race of the year that every Melbournian flocks to you're probably wondering how we got in. Well, not due to any of my efforts - that's for sure. A friend from work was hoping to pull us in through general passes he had. [we basically would have been in the parking lot tailgating] Unfortunately, he didn't have enough to spare, and we're not that good of friends. So Melissa to the rescue. Melissa works with all of the major companies in Australia. Her relationship paid off and she was offered two tickets.

Now any tickets are good - even general admission would have been fun. I was floored when I got the email from Melissa: two tickets... TabCorp Marquee... Birdcage. To decode that cypher, TabCorp is the major gambling company in Australia that operates casinos, slot machines, and off track betting. We would be spending the day in the TabCorp Marquee which is like a small restaurant - food, tables, open bar, wait staff, elevated view of the track, and best of all - in house access to the betting counter. Its TabCorp after all! The Birdcage is the name of the exclusive VIP section where all the best marquees are. Its the last frontier at the Cup. Every major retailer [Lexus, Myer, Saab, Emerites, Hilton, etc] and Australia company has a marquee set up. Each with their own guest list and bouncer. Each marquee that is trackside - like ours - is elevated so you have an unabstructed view of the track. Our tickets weren't just good - they were freakin' awesome! We enjoyed the full hospitality of the TabCorp marquee. I couldn't even get my full name out to the receptionist before a waitress was in my face with an option of beer, wine, or champagne. [the day is already starting off well]

We mingled with others at TabCorp, explored the other marquees in the Birdcage, and even spotted some local b-list celebrities. It wasn't until we left the Birdcage to meet friends (who were not lucky enough to have Birdcage access) that we ran into the real celebrity. As we approached the secuirty gate to re-enter, we were stopped by a group of large security guards. Uh, oh. Was our cover blown? Did they realise we didn't really belong there - Americans in the Birdcage, something must be wrong?! After some internal discussion, they decided to let us reenter. Good thing, I was sure out day was about to be cut short. As we entered and walked down the small laneway, we noticed it was packed with race-goers and everyone was looking at us. Most had cameras ready, but all were softly muttering and obviously excited about something. Now this is the kind of greeting I could get used to! As we walked through the crowd, putting forth the best smile possible and even strutting a bit, we realized they weren't looking at us. They were looking over our shoulders at the real attraction. Just then, we turned around to see three very large black men dressed in all white. Now they were struttin'! The cameras started popping. These three were protecting a much smaller man whose face is unforgettable... it was Snoop Dogg. That's rigth, Snoop was the Cup main attraction for the Birdcage. He didn't perform; he just showed up, giving added cred to the experience of Cup day.

Needless to say, my horse racing experiences at the Preakness Stakes were a little different. We did those outings on the shoe-string budget of a college student. General admission to the infield, cases of Natural Light, and a couple of shorties from Wawa to last the day. That said, there are some similarities. Preakness, like the Cup, is focused in social day-time drinking. Preakness, like the Cup, also has a focus on clothing, however its not what you wear that gets you the attention ;-)

Mo-vember

Friends and family,Thank you for the generous outpouring of support for my Mo-vember campaign! In the first two weeks, I raised over $150. Although this is a great start, there is still much work to be done in this final week. Due to the large international presence on my project, the competition between Australia, US, Canada, Italy, Germany, etc has really intensified. I'm not far behind in the total tally, so please help me out! When considering your donation, think about the following:

Depression affects 1 in 6 men....most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide
Last year in Australia, 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of women who will die from breast cancer annually

I know this money goes to Australian charities, but they need our US-grown generocity as well. I've attached another picture [sorry last week's didn't come through] so you can see the progress of my 'mo'. We really need to kick-it into high gear this week. Just before you sit down with friends and family for Thanksgiving dinner, remember to give thanks to Sean's mo. Many thanks for your support and best wishes for the upcoming holidays!

Sean

To donate to my Mo, click this link https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=2084737&country=au and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account.

P.S. 'Mo' refers to mustache and NOT mohawk. I know the spelling is funky, but this is Australia ;-)

The money raised by Movember helps raise awareness of men's health issues and is donated to two great causes - the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative. The PCFA and beyondblue will use the funds to fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and depression.

Baileys Explore the Bays, Bondi & Bronte

And the answer is... Sherry! Now what is the question? No Jeopardy in Australia, and no prizes for a correct answer - it's just more fun to start an entry this way. If you guessed, "Who's the first friend to visit us in Australia?", then you'd be right. Sherry and her mom were 'in town' to visit brother, Dan who is studying abroad in Surfer's Paradise. We met halfway in Sydney. Now your probably thinking, lucky guy, gets to do a semester abroad in Surfer's Paradise. Well, since Dan is in school in sunny San Diego and gave up the US summer to be in Australia's winter, I'm not sure if he made out so well. And he didn't even bring his surf board to Surfers Paradise! Nonetheless, the blog is about us and not Dan so we'll move on.

We met Sherry and the family in Sydney to show them around town. What they didn't know, is that we have not made it to all of the tourist destinations in and around Sydney either. Melissa's goal: get our group to Bondi to discover the most popular beach destination in Sydney.

The weekend started on Friday night with Melissa taking the White family to Darling Harbour for dinner and drinks. They ended up partying at a club – yeah, they went clubbing! Of course the boys wouldn’t leave Melissa and Sherry alone which meant they couldn’t catch up – but who goes to a club to talk?! With the group celebrated Dan’s 21st birthday, the drinks were flying. Although I was not there, I understand it was a good time and everyone looked well recovered when I met them for lunch on Saturday.

After lunch, we hopped on the Bondi Explorer which takes passengers by bus along Sydney Harbour by way of Woolloomooloo, Potts Point, Rose Bay, and Watson Bay. The girls were upto all sorts of antics [see left] and we were all trying to escape the flies. The Whites learned first-hand what its like to be completely bothered by the Aussie flies. I'm not sure if anyone swallowed one on purpose, but they were quite a nusaince when we grabbed a snack on the beach at Bondi.

Sunday, we said good-bye to Sherry and the family and met with Leela and Pete for brunch at Bronte Beach. You may remember a previous entry that described the beautiful Manly beach. We fell in love with Manly last year, introduced our families to its charm during their visits to 'Oz, and have already been back again to visit this summer. Well, Bronte is just as spectacular. Carved out of the rock and nestled in an ancient river bed, Bronte has it all: a small-town feel with local shops and cafes, a large grassy lawn with picnic benches and grilles, a sea-sides lap pool, and a beautiful white sand beach. Leela and Pete – Leela works at CEB with Melissa and is from the London office while her husband Pete is a ‘yank’ from California – frequent Bronte on the weekends and took the opportunity to show us around. Brunch was great, the views from the cliff walk were great, and even getting caught with Pete in the strong rip current was great!

Melissa's Asian Adventure (Part 2 - Hong Kong)

I arrived in Hong Kong Friday night after a very lovely flight on Singapore Air - one of the nicest airlines I've ever traveled. Now SARs is still alive and well here in China. When you go through customs you need to go through a temperature check and many people are wearing masks. My temperature was normal so I proceeded to the money exchange. The lady asked and do you want a return (round trip) ticket for the airport express. I said, naturally, I don't know do I? In fact I did, so I was off to the train. I learned it's much cheaper and easier if you don't speak Chinese/Cantonese to take public transport. It's only about $70 ($10 usd) to get to and from the airport. The dollar is about 7 to one. I am getting a lot of use out of my 7 multiplication tables. Dinner should be about $300 that takes a little getting used too!
When I got to the hotel, it was dark and late so I went to bed. The sun woke me early and out of my floor to ceiling wall of windows on the 37 floor (one perk of traveling so much) I got my first glimpse of HK Island. WOW! This place makes NYC look like a small town. Hong Kong is a region made up of several islands. HK Island, Lantau, the New Territories (Kowloon), and a little Island that's how to Disney Land.
I wasn't completely unprepared for my first trip to China. I had been corresponding quite frequently with the concierge at the hotel so had a good itinerary laid out. I set off to do a self guide walking tour of HK Island. The city is steep! Much more so than San Francisco. Most streets even have steps on them. And there is a cross city outdoor escalator that runs above the street and takes you completely across the city from the low end to the high. There were people everywhere!
On Sunday I took the train, then the bus to Lantau Island to Po Lin Monastery. Home to the largest outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha in the world. I am not sure why it needs all of those qualifiers, I can't imagine there's a taller Buddha of any kind or indoors! I need to read a little more about this place because all of the signs and reading material was in Chinese. All I can say is that it was an intense and beautiful place. People were holding burning incense, bowing and praying. There was a temple structure with a fire burning and people were placing bags of folded paper inside. My dad probably knows why. If he reads this, he should post a comment and let us all know.
Anyway, so I took the bus to the monastery. Why the bus? Well when I got off the train people split in two directions. The white people went to the scenic cable car terminal and the Asian people went to the bus terminal. I followed them (although the agreed upon plan with the concierge had me going the other way).
The bus ride was an adventure!! We wound up a very steep mountain at high speeds on a one lane road meant for two way traffic. The locals even shrieked every once in a while. The scenery was the amazing Chinese countryside - mountains, lakes, and waterfalls all on the edge of the ocean.
So I figured that after spending the weekend in HK, I was now an expert and I could easily find my way to the offices for my meetings. Well, I got there, but it was an adventure.
First, maps are NOT drawn to scale and it is HOT. A nice local man walked me to the train station. It should be noted that I was on the right track it was just a lot further than the 500 m the map said. He was very nice, but a fast walker and only spoke chinese so I was speaking english and him chinese, running down the street. Me in a suit and him in running gear. Thank goodness I changed to flats at the last minute. Then two trains later and another 500m (read, more like 2km). I arrived at the address - I think. The address is written on the building in Chinese. So I walked up to the office and as I looked in there was a table set up with a white table cloth incense burning and fruit everywhere. The building name was all in chinese so I looked down at my map to the left and to the right. I had no choice but to go in and ask for help. It's a good thing I did, because I was in the right place. Oh no if it was this difficult to determine the right building, how hard would it be to have a conversation! But then the executive came down to meet me and it was a true "ahhhh" moment with a halo of light around her. She was Scottish! (Yes, I am that good at differentiating white people now... jk, I read her bio).

Melissa's Asian Adventure (Part 1 - Singapore)

I am embarking on a 10 day solo trip to Singapore and Hong Kong. We tried to work it out so Sean could join, but given he had just taken several days off for the Bailey's trip and I needed to go in October, we just couldn't make it work. Fortunately, I was able to ease into it by going to Singapore first ("official" language English). I had a packed schedule of meetings with IT, Compliance and Legal executives to discuss our plans for further expansion into the region. I also met with the CEO of one of our business partners to discuss some new, mutually beneficial opportunities.

Given the flight was $10,000 cheaper if I flew in on Sunday, I did that. This gave me the opportunity to explore the city a bit. Singapore is an "international" city. Meaning city=Singapore, state=Singapore and country=Singapore. There are not many historical sites to see given the newness of the city and their policy to knock buildings down every 99 years. Singapore is very wealthy, with a very generous and well structured government. 85% of people live in high rise public housing (97% of people in public housing own the unit); 10% in private high rise apartments; 5% in houses - if you live in a house you are filthy rich (foreigners are not allowed to buy houses). Singapore is the most densely populated city in the world. There are 4 million people living in 600 sq km. 40% of that is reclaimed land (they filled the ocean in with sand to make more room). There is no unemployment. If you don't work, you don't get paid. There are enough jobs for everyone and training available to help people get them. They do not understand the American way. Everyone is required to save 30% of every paycheck. This is used to buy apartments and for retirement.

While there are a lot of Westerners living in Singapore now, most of meetings were with people from either Singapore or Malaysia (singapore is not part of malaysia). This is not that surprising. What is surprising was the number of women executives I met with. (This country would have no problem accepting Hillary!) In my time in this job I have become quite skilled in recognising the person I'd be meeting with - profiling if you will. I would have been wrong every time this week. My last meeting of the week was over lunch with the General Counsel of one of the largest companies in the world - a woman. So I asked her about it. She explained it to me quite simply. In Singapore you are required to complete high school. Because women are smarter and more hard working they get into better colleges and since they are smarter and work harder they get better jobs and beacuased they are smarter and work harder they get promoted more quickly. We got along beautifully! That is until the end of the meal...
Well, she took me to a Japanese restaurant. Since moving to Australia I've become much more open to "different" food; however, this was pushing it - there were a lot of things on my plate I didn't recognise and there was so much of it. I thought I did a good job. When the waitress came around to ask if I was finished (I assumed that's what she said - I really had no idea) and I said yes, my host said, "oh no she's not" and made me eat it all!!!! Mental note: no more lunch meetings in other countries.

Family Trip take two

With August done and dusted, Melissa and I were looking forward to the prospects of spring. When we arrived in Melbourne last December, summer had pretty much taken off. Although December weather can be pretty unsettled – and last December was no different – it is still pretty warm and the flies are abundant! We look forward to enjoying a Melbourne spring. Like a Melbourne summer, there are so many things to do in and around the city, and we have big plans for each month. During September, the Bailey clan toured Down Under. [More on that adventure below] Upcoming in October, read about Melissa’s trip to Singapore and Hong Kong. November is known for its Melbourne Cup Day – a public holiday to celebrate horse racing [think Kentucky Derby on a Tuesday and only Kentucky gets the public holiday]. And for December, unfortunately it is not a trip back east to see the family… it’s a trip to Thailand! Consider those your advertisements for the upcoming blog entries.

So when the Bailey family heard Melissa and I were moving to Melbourne, of course they were excited. What an opportunity for the both of us. They weren’t too sure if they’d make the trip around the globe to check out our situation. It’s a long plane ride, an expensive plane ride, need to get time off of work, etc. You know the excuses! With some constant prodding by my mom’s work colleagues and family friends [many who had visited the country before], and with the help of some stellar blog entries, they were convinced to pack their bags and spend two weeks Down Under. Planning started early but it wasn’t until Melissa’s parents visited in June that the plans began to solidify. My mom heard of all the great things we did with the Murrays and said, “We’ll do that too!” …Hold on. As fun of a trip that was, Melissa and I are not doing the same vacation all over again 6 weeks later. We had to get creative. But it’s not that hard because there are sooo many amazing things to do here. Even now, I’m worried that we won’t get to see some of the coolest parts of Australia before we leave. Melissa and I brainstormed some ideas and then in July when we were home we made the plans. Similar to the Murray’s trip, we would hit three major cities. Sydney and Melbourne were a given. Instead of the tropic north of Queensland we choose the surfing mecca of Surfers Paradise. Just south of Brisbane, Surfer’s Paradise is known for its college town feel, large and luxurious accommodations, and of course for its impeccable surfing conditions. With the plans made, the flights purchased, the hotels reserved, and cars rented, we were all set. Except for one hitch…

Mom and Melissa had a long flight but the itinerary wasn’t too bad. Bradley [Connecticut] to O’Hare to LAX to Sydney – a decent way to get across the country. For those not familiar, there is one United flight per day between LAX and Sydney. Likewise, there is one per day between San Francisco and Sydney. All domestic flights funnel you to LAX or SFO in the early evening so you can make the late evening departure over the Pacific. If you miss the flight, you’re waiting until the next night. I got that unfortunate email mid-day Thursday, ‘mom and Melissa missed their LA connection.’ Eeek, not good. It was a United mistake so at least they were taken care of with a night in a local hotel. But Melissa and I were already on our way to Sydney to meet them. So we continued on and had a free Saturday to check out parts of the city I have not seen before and hang out with some friends we rarely see.

Mom and Melissa arrived early Sunday morning – a day late – but much chipper than I had anticipated. It seems a night layover prior to the Pacific jump really helps with the jetlag. We were already down a day and had much to see in Sydney so we were quickly off to the Blue Mountains [ironically, outside the city]. The day was pretty gross – cool, windy, rainy – just the type of weather you’re looking for when hiking through the mountains ;-) We started with lunch at the Hattery in Katoomba. We let the brief monsoon pass and then made our way to check out the Three Sisters. [Despite your best guess at what that name refers to, it’s a rock formation] We attempted several of the trails originating there but most were flooded due to the rain. We headed over to another side of the valley and traversed some of the trails there. The day concluded with a cable car ride across the canyon that started off pretty ordinary. On the ride back, a thunderstorm rolled in and transformed the straight line cable ride into more of an amusement park attraction. It was exciting!

Due to the loss of Saturday, Monday turned into see-all-of-Sydney-you-can-see in one day. We drained most of the morning in the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) and Darling Harbour [the other Harbour]. There was an Olympic celebration parade through the CBD that we elected to miss – they aren’t our Olympians – but we were affected by the parade nonetheless. I thought the double-decker tour bus would be the best way to see the city highlights and get us to the real harbour quick. Well, my first goal was right on! We saw several of the major sites and in-style aboard the bus that has no roof. But with the mid-town traffic diverted to accommodate the parade route, the ride was not quick. We merely had to shorten our trip across the harbour to Manly and skip out on the Botanical Gardens – after all, it’s just a garden. The plan worked perfectly; Mom and Melissa got to see the wonderful sites of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House at Circular Quay and got to experience the beach town of Manly.

The trip moved onto Surfer’s Paradise. The hotel was a ridiculous resort – thanks Melissa! We gave my family the suite. And boy was it sweeet! Three separate exits to three separate private patios - none more that a quick walk to the pool or beach. Similar to Sydney, we started the trip outside the city in the hinterlands. I introduced Melissa (sister) and mom to the rainforests of Queensland. I think they were impressed. But this leg of the trip hinged on one specific activity and that one activity alone could make or break this whole adventure – whale watching. I had booked us on a day long excursion out of Brisbane – about a 90 min drive north – to coincide with Melissa’s (wife) work commitments. It could not have worked out better. This was one of the best whale watching excursions in Brisbane and the timing worked perfectly with Melissa’s work day. I wasn’t prepared for the call I received at 7AM that morning. Our trip for the day was cancelled. The reason, the sea was too choppy from all the wind. Eeek! We quickly aborted the Brisbane trip [letting Melissa make the drive for work herself] and found an excursion leaving from our very own marina not more than 100 meters away. Pheew! Needless to say, I can see why the Brisbane group cancelled their trip. There were people ralphing all over the boat. We managed to avoid most of it by staying on the upper, back deck of the boat. The consequence was that we were missing all the good shots of the whale pods the boat was tracking. We sucked it up and walked through the main infirmary – I mean main deck – and grabbed a couple of seats on the lower front deck. It was well worth it. We tracked several pods for about an hour as they surfaced every couple of minutes. It was amazing to watch them respond to our noises and movement. Let slapped their tales, raised their fins, and blew spray out of their blow holes. It was pretty amazing.

The trip continued in Melbourne where Melissa and I got to introduce my family to our Melbourne way of life. It started as most Friday’s do – Melissa and I both went to work. That let my family relax at our house for awhile and get acclimated with Port Melbourne. Over the weekend, we introduced them to the wines of the Yarra Valley [read the last posting], the Surf Coast [part of the Great Ocean Road] and even braved the rain to see the Phillip Island penguins. Monday and Tuesday they spent the days checking out St Kilda, the Bay, and the Melbourne CBD. As my mom puts it, “you could spend a week alone just exploring the city!” So true.

It has been great to share our new home with both families. Both will agree that we totally lucked out in the house that we are renting and that Albert Park isn’t such a bad place to call home. It was great to see the family so much in such a short period of time. Unfortunately, we will not make it home for the holidays. Have some turkey and wine for us… we love you!

P.S. the trip did end on a sour note as my grandpa Newton (my mom’s dad) passed away very unexpectedly after church on Sunday. Mom had just visited with him in July and he was a fit and energetic as you’d expect any 80 year old to be. She also spoke with him while she spent the night in LA. He leaves behind friends and family that loved him and will miss him very much. Luckily, my mom was able to redirect her return flight to meet family in Reno and then in Kansas City.

Yarra Valley Wine Tour

If July was like an action movie full of crazy travel adventures, late nights with friends, and the typical drama family can provide, August was like a David Attenborough documentary on mammals. We were spent after our trip home! August was recovery. The weather in Melbourne during August is miserable. Think gray, drizzle, cold, windy... the opposite of the warm, sunny, humid summer weather we had just been teased with in the US. The first weekend back was the typical catch up. The second weekend, Melissa started to get antsy. By the end of the month, I had been put to the task to find something for us to do on the weekend, "or else."

I had eyed a guided wine tour of the neighboring Yarra Valley when we first moved here. Melissa feigned interest... drinking wine all day, good; confined to a tour bus with total Aussie strangers, not good. With Melissa in Sydney all week, I made the bold move and scheduled us on the tour departing from Federation Square at 9:30 Saturday morning. We decided that we needed to practice prior to the tour so Friday night we made sure to indulge in a mix of good beer, wine, and food. Although we were warmed up for the wine tour, the early wake-up to was a draw back. We rallied, made the bus on time - thanks to a timely taxi - and were immediately entertained (=annoyed) by a birthday party excursion on our bus.

I was rewarded for this bold move with sun and warmth. Probably the nicest weekend weather since Autumn. [Good work Sean!] The tour was great! And that's not just me talking, Melissa will agree. Our guide Orson was extremely wine-literate and in a typical Aussie way was more than happy to give guidance and answer questions. Most on the tour - including Orson - were interested in our story. Surprisingly enough, people are very interested in what brings American's to Melbourne. We've got 'the story' down so we can rattle it off in little time. We started at Yering Station where we were encouraged to 'spit' liberally. Try to aim for the spittoon, but no worries if you miss! We picked up a couple of bottles. We then moved onto Rochford for a tasting lesson and a great lunch. Rochford also has fudge tasting. These guys are smart! Get 'em liquored, feed them a good meal, and then introduce fresh made fudge... why didn't I think of that. We picked up a couple peices. We moved onto a smaller winery Yering Farm. We finished at Domain Chandon - the opposite of Yering Farm. This mega-winery focuses on the bubbley - a new favorite of Melissa's. Needless to say, we walked out of there with a few bottles.

The ride home was not without its adventure. Midway through the hour-long drive, the girls in the birthday party all announced they needed a pit stop - they were not going to be able to make it back to the city. Orson, the nice guy that he is, found a respectable gas station along the way and the girls were happy. The entertainment value of these girls made the trip all that more enjoyable. We were returned to the city, full of wine, happy to have challenged our comfort zone and amazed by the great experience. [this trip was also a scouting mission for the upcoming Bailey's trip to Oz... more to come soon!]

Taking another trip home

Hi - alot has happened since our last posting. We went back to the US for two weeks in at the end of the July. As you can imagine, we had quite a full schedule! Sean flew to Chicago while I went to DC for the first week. Sean started his journey with a triathlon in Bloomington - Normal, IL. He made the trip from Oz with his bike and was ready to go. Despite the rain and unseasonably cold weather he did great for his "off season" race. I know many people who would love to come in 5th in their age group. Well done. From there he went to Chicago for a week long training session for work.


I arrived to DC to a great treat. Sherry and Mauricio met me at the airport! They actually parked the car and came in to the airport to meet me. That hasn't happened since I used to travel for KD and Mom and Dad were always waiting at Atlantic City International. It was such a nice homecoming! We stopped at Rhodeside for a take away salad and then spent the night chatting and drinking delicious white wine sangria into the night. It was so nice to be around old friends. That's what the whole week was about for me - aside from the business of re-renting our apartment. I got to see Mark & Anna's new house and hang out with them before the "big day". I also spent time with close friends from CEB. Thursday night was dinner with Anne, Anne, Shannon...and Madeline. It was just like the old Thursday nights we had monthly, just less drinking and more cooing over the baby. Easy to slip back into old conversation and fun times. It was wonderful to meet Maddie. She is so precious. She was dressed for the big night out too in her adorable Lilly dress. I wouldn't expect anything else from a KD is training. Friday I was headed up to Connecticut so I spent the morning with Sherry. I can't wait for her to come to Oz in a couple of months!!



Believe it or not, it was my first summer visit to Connecticut. Boy was it beautiful! Everything was just so green. A perfect setting for a wedding! Sean and I met back up at the airport where Sean's mom was waiting for us (we're getting spoiled) and got us to the hotel just in time for the rehearsal. Sean was standing up for Mark and I was acting as a stand-in for Anna's grandmother. I was very believable if I do say so myself. The wedding was fabulous. Such a great time! Sean decided to experiment with only drinking champagne all night long...by the end of the night he was calling himself Sean 2.0 and clearing the dance floor - for those of you who were there, you know what I'm talking about! Eventually it was time to drag Sean 2.0 to bed!

After the wedding we spent the first part of the week at the Bailey's. We enjoyed some relaxing nights in the back yard enjoying the cool New England summer evenings and planning their upcoming trip Down Under. Tuesday we headed down to New Jersey to spend the rest of our trip at the beach with the Murray's. Now if you read down this far, you will be rewarded with a funny story....

We made the trip by train and had to change trains in New Haven. Remember I was telling you that Sean had a race, training and a wedding...all of those things require very different things to pack so his bag was quite large. Well we got on the second train and Sean couldn't find a place for his bag so he jumped off to go in the far door. I found us a seat. As the train pulled out of the station, I called Sean's cell phone to let him know where I was sitting. "Hi, where are you?"..."&$*& I am still on the platform! They left without me!!!" I think I laughed clear to NYC.

Well we finally made it home...Sean about 30 minutes later than me...and we settled in for a nice time with family and the beach. It was great to see Nana (thanks for the homecoming dinner), Grandmom and Grandpop, Uncle Glenn and little Matthew. And boy has RJ grown since we last saw him. He's turning into a little man. The weather was mostly overcast while we were in town, but I think that was good given my glowing white winter complexion.
Jeanna, Denise, Lauren and I took Mom out to a girl's night out. What a good time!

Dad, Sean and Bob did some male bonding in the form of body skimming. I can't believe that they convinced Sean to that the day before his second triathlon of the trip. He's usually so level headed!

We also discovered 870 Third Street - hopefully it will become our new family beach house. Stay tuned!

Well, so now we're back. It was harder adjusting coming back this time than when we first moved. I'm not sure if it was going from summer to winter or just being reminded of what great friends and family we are blessed with!

Why did the koala cross the road?

to get to the other side! It was one of the most amazing things you've ever seen!

After a few days in Sydney, the Murray's headed to Melbourne to finally get the chance to see where we actually lived. Dad wanted to see waves, Mom - penguins, Denise - koals and Lauren...the GAOL! Sunday afternoon we headed to Phillip Island to see the fairy penguins coming in from the ocean. Once the sunset, hundreds of little penguins started body surfing onto the beach and headed into their burrows. What a funny phenomenon! Then later in the week we headed back down the Great Ocean Road which hugs the Southern Coast of the country. First stop, Bells Beach. It is winter and the waves were thunderous.

As we continued on our drive, we remembered that we had seen some Kolas in the Eculyptus forest on the side of the road so we stopped and hoped we would get lucky again. Well lucky doesn't even begin to describe what we were...we had a once in a life time experience. We were looking up at the trees at the sleeping koalas, then all of a sudden we turned to look across the street and there was a koala, walking across the street!! We had to flag down a car so they wouldn't hit it and before long about 20 people had stopped to check out the action. The koala wasn't even phased. He walked right by everyone and up another tree. WOW!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/GreatOceanRoadWithTheMurrays

Murray's visit 'Oz - Part I

So the Murray's much anticipated trip Down Under started in tropical northern Queensland - the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef [GBR]. Melissa and I were tired after an early morning flight from Melbourne to Cairns but apparently not as tired as the rest of the family who just spent 24 hrs in United economy [eeek!] Most people don't realize that northern Australia is very tropical. This part of Queensland is home to two world heritage sites: the Daintree Rainforest and the GBR. This leg of the trip included Cape Tribulation, Great Barrier Reef, Mossman Gorge, and Cairns.

We started off with a trip up into the Daintree Rainforest. I have never seen so many different shades of green. It was beautiful! We started off on a path to the top of Mt. Sorrow. In a Wizard of Ozish way the sign basically said - I'd turn back in I were you. None of us listened and proceeded up the mountain. A kilometer or two into it, it became quite obvious that it was a treacherous path and a steep climb. Lauren convince Mom to turn around and the 4 of us proceeded for another couple of kilometers then the path turned into a tangle of roots leading almost vertically upward and we realised the end had come. It was one of the most difficult treks we've ever encountered!

The biggest mystery of the rain forest is the Cassowary. Cassowaries are very large flightless birds native to the tropical forests of northeastern Australia. The Cassowary is the second largest flightless bird on the planet, second only to the ostrich. Cassowaries are very shy, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting fatal injuries to an adult human. Everywhere you look there are signs to watch out for them, but as hard as we looked, we couldn't find them!
The next day was the outing to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a bumpy ride and quite windy, but once we got out there the snorkeling was amazing. There was so much to see that the ropes couldn't keep us (Dad) in. You can see it was quite an exhausting day!
















Check out all the pictures of Queensland:
Great Barrier Reef:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/GreatBarrierReef
Daintree Rainforest:http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/DaintreeRainforest
Mossman's Gorge: http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/MossmanSGorge
Palm Cove & Cairns:http://picasaweb.google.com/lissmurr/Cairns