ANZAC Weekend in Tasmania

Well, we finally made is to Tazzy and we quickly learned that it would have been 100% better to go last month when we had originally planned. It was COLD. Once you get to Tasmania there is nothing between you and that freezing arctic air. It would have been like going to Toronto on Halloween for an outdoor hiking adventure. Not unlike ourselves we tried to fit in 3 days what people usually do in a week. That said, it was an amazing adventure.

You may have noticed from the footy posting that blogger has recently updated their offering so now we can put multiple pictures in one entry. YAY! That will allow me to better illustrate our adventure. If you want to see the whole lot of pictures, go to the link below.

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

We arrived in Tasmania on Saturday morning. We flew in Lauceston and drove up the northern coast of the island state. It was dark and rainy, so we didn’t see all that much. In our journeys we went through a small town that claimed to be the platypus capital of the world so we took a short bush walk (Australian for hike) through the sanctuary. Still rain, but no platypuses (platypi?) which I must say was mystifying to me because I thought for sure they were mammals so I would think they’d have to show themselves when they came up for air. As you can see, we were still having fun.

On Sunday our plan was to hike through Cradle Mountain to Dove Lake. On our way up to the mountain, we stopped at Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary. We knew we had to see some Tasmanian Devils sometime on this trip. So we paid $16 each for entrance into the sanctuary. As soon as we handed over the dough it began to down poor. We were committed to seeing the devils though, so we ventured out. As we were walking, we saw plenty of kangaroos (who by the way were huddled under the trees staring at us like we were crazy), but NO DEVILS. I understand they are endangered and quite rare now a days, but you would think if you pay to go into a reserve you would see them.


By the time we got to the mountain the weather had gotten so bad that hiking was out of the question so we decided to see the sites by car in a 7 hour drive (on the left side of the road) through the mountains. It was treacherous to say the least. There was a very real moment when I skidded into a turn and we almost went over the edge. As we came out of the mountains at sunset, the views were amazing.

On Monday we arrived in Hobart and went to Mount Wellington. The terrain was like none we’ve seen before.

After the day outdoors we went to Cascade Brewery for dinner before our flight back. There was no food, but enough beer to go around and make the flight home a delightful one hour nap.

The Footy

Australian rules football or "The Footy" as it's affectionately called is the sport that takes over the autumn and winter months in Melbourne. It has been around for 150 years. (I learned this because the 50 meter circle is very confusingly labled 150 this year to commemorate the anniversary) It started in Melbourne and every neighborhood has their own team. In the past couple decades the other states have gotten their own teams, but they are not has fanatical as the people in Melbourne. The game on ANZAC day sold out (95,000 seats). People in Sydney don't really care about footy. They seem to prefer rugby. We barrack for St. Kilda. Barrack means route, but apparantly that's a bad word in Australia. They were pretty good, but haven't been doing so well this year. Footy is one big game of hot potato. There are 36 men in short shorts and high striped socks running around chasing after a ball that kind of looks like an American football, but bounces around everywhere. You'd have to see it to believe it.

For this week's game, Andy was in town. Andy is the Accenture global postal retail expert (i know, WOW!). He's the one who sought out Sean for this role. He's a great guy. We enjoy when he's in town. He still lives in DC, but spends about 75% of his time traveling to Europe, India, Singapore and Australia.

15 years later a dream becomes reality (sort of)

hi everyone! first a general update and then the story. Sorry for the long delay in postings. Our home computer has started acting up and it has gotten painfully slow to update the blog. Also, I was having a little writers block. Things are going well though. It is fall here and beautiful. Bright and sunny and 70 degrees all the time. Now that we've recovered from our cold/flu we are back at it. We signed up for a yoga class Thursday nights. Lots of bendy people, but not sure if we'll find any friends there.

Just as you all are moving to daylight savings, we are "falling back". (which surprisingly they don't say here since it's not fall, it's autumn). So for those who keep track, our time difference got a lot greater. At noon our time, it is 10 pm your time. We have booked our tickets home for RJ's christening and are looking forward to meeting him and seeing our family in May. We really appreciate everyone's efforts to stay in touch. Annie, thanks for sending the invitation to your baby shower across the pacific and Anna, thanks for thinking of me for your bachelorette party. The hardest part about being away is missing all of the big milestones in our loved ones lives.

Now to the story...the title is intriguing, eh? (lots of canadians here too) and that's where the story begins. Two of Sean's mates from work invited us to go to a Guns N' Roses tribute concert with them last weekend. They are both here from Canada - transplants from Canada Post. Well we started out the night early, going to dinner at a well known, local restaurant. Drank some bubbly, then stopped of at a pub, had some Carlton Draughts and played arcade games (this was MY favorite part of the night) and then went to the Espy (The Esplanade Hotel) for the concert. I know what you're thinking - yes of late we've been going to quite a few concerts. Not sure why.

Talk about not fitting in, Sean in jeans and a blue (surprise) button down and me looking all preppy/trendy among a slew of long haired people in leather. At 3 am, it was finally over and we went to BBNT (burgers, burritos, nachos and tacos) and then the NY Pizza Deli (not at all like NY pizza). I said to Sean, well that was alot of screeching nonsense and he told me this story. When he was in seventh grade he had tickets to the actual Guns N' Roses concert. He was all set to go with his friends, his mom, and his friend's dad. He was looking forward to it more than anything and then Axel got a sore throat [for those familiar, no surprise]. The concert was cancelled and a little boy's dream was crushed. Now 15 years later - this Australian coverband helped to fill that hole in his heart :)

My First Tri 'Down Under'

[Feel free to click on the image to the right, zoom in, print out, and begin laughing.]

The triathlon season in Australia winds down in March so a race on the 30th is likely to be one of the last races in a southern city like Melbourne. Although 2008 marked the warmest March on record for Melbourne, the warm weather could not hold out long enough for Sunday's race. Over Easter weekend, temperatures regularly hit 27C. This weekend, the temperature at race start was 12C. To add to the drama, I caught a headcold mid-week. Despite backing off the workouts and getting plenty of rest, the brunt of the illness hit me Sunday morning.

When we first moved to Melbourne, I began working out at a local gym with a personal trainer. Joe, an elite triathlete, has brought me a long way in 3 short months. On race day, he came through once again and lent me a mate's wetsuit. The swim would not have been possible without it.

While Joe was on the podium at the conclusion of the race, I was merely watching from the crowd. Now, Joe heads to the US to join the summer circuit and make lots of $$$.Although my performance was not as good as I'd hoped, I enjoyed the race and I know where to focus improvement for the next competition.

KISS - 20 (or 30) years after the fact

Well, I've got to admit that all of the hype leading up to the F1 Grande Final KISS Concert got me quite excited. I mean, I've never been a KISS fan and I was pretty sure I only had ever heard of one song. But in every commercial they played that one song and I was getting pumped. Many of our loyal readers maybe KISS fans and laugh at the fact that people are still seeing them in concert. My dad found it hilarious, but I told him find someone cool you want to see, add 30 years and then they tour in Australia (remember the Police Concert on Australia Day?)

After a hot day in the sun and quite a few Victoria Bitters (Foster's local brew), the time had come. It was packed and people were decked out. They sounded pretty good - especially given how old they are and still in all the make-up so you couldn't really tell the difference. Well time went by and then alot of time and I still didn't recognize a song. The funniest thing they said was, "Well as you can imagine over the decades, many women have thrown their bras on stage. We assume they bring them in their purses and through them up, but this one - this one here is different. It's soaking wet. This is the real thing!!"

She also must have been out all day in the sweltering heat drinking too many VBs. Well, it was getting late and frankly we were a little bored - although the old guy dancing in front of us was pretty hilarious. So funny in fact I took some video, but Sean didn't think it was fair to him to post it. Anyway we decided to leave early. And wouldn't you know it, as we arrived home we could hear them finally singing, IIII WANT TO ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT...AND PARTY EVERY DAY!