Hopefully the sound will work -- check out my personal best!

oops, don't really know how to change the orientation. I'm sure that, given time and motivation, I could figure it out, but it takes so long to upload anything that I'm not sure I could maintain momentum.
you get the idea, anyway.

Nathan's 'fun' triathlon

At the start of the month, we promised to blog about recent events, like Nathan's first triathlon in Australia. Nathan's done a 'sprint' triathlon before while in Minnesota. After several attempts to learn to swim, he was somewhat undone by the 4 ft wide pool of algae that greeted him at the start of his first triathlon in Chester Woods. Although the last man out of the algae at that race, his speedy biking and running let him finish in a respectable position. The algae was enough to send his dreams of becoming a triathlete into hibernation.

Australia, the land of triathlons, has reawakened the dream. With beautiful beaches, lined by miles of pedestrian/cycle paths, its really the place for it. This year, Nathan's new year's resolution was to train for a triathlon. The emphasis here is TRAIN. So, in October, Nathan makes the commitment of buying a road bike and begins his training. The water is a bit cold so the last week of October Nathan buys a triathlon wetsuit. After a test swim in the wetsuit, Nathan signs up for a fun triathlon one week later on November 8.

Triathlons are like candy bars, they come in fun, regular, and king size (fun run, sprint, and extra sprint)...of course, then there are the real biggies...olympic distance, half ironmans and ironmans. The fun length was a 200m swim, a 10k cycle, and a 4 k run. The extreme is the iron man--2.36 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a marathon (26.2 miles). The fun size is a good way to get into the sport, so lots of people use it to get a taste of a triathlon.

The Powerstation Triathlon seemed like a good way for Nathan to get started as its only a few minutes from our house. THAT was before we heard that registration/instructions was at 6:30 am with a 6:45 am start. To ensure we got a good start to the morning, we packed all the bags the night before and walked through the race.

RACE DAY:
The alarm goes off AT 6:30. SH!T--Nathan's exclamation shakes the entire bed. We are out the door in 5 minutes (me with hair like Yahoo Serious). We roll up to the event at 6:45, Nathan racing towards the start line in bare feet.

Luckily, the race instructions are a little behind schedule. I set up his transition set (shoes, socks, helmet) and take our bag out of the way, and set up near the start line to cheer him on.

Meanwhile, Nathan is looking for me because the goggles are in the bag, as he's trying to get his wetsuit on, but his race singlet is caught in the zipper. THINGS are NOT going his way.

He misses the start of the men's heat and has to start with the women, with his shirt caught in the zipper of the wetsuit and no goggles. He starts the race with the gals, so at this point he's not too worried about turning in a personal best. He manages not to drown for 200 m, then staggers up the beach, still trying to get his shirt out of his wetsuit zipper.

At the transition, he peels off his wetsuit and slides into his shoes, and races his bike up for the cycle portion. After the way the morning started this is EASY, and breaking a pedal on the new bike while getting started seems natural. Finally everything goes right and he cruises up several spots during the cycling leg. The course is tight, with a couple of laps, so dodging slower triathletes keeps the speeds down a little. Jumping off the bike, Nathan commits a triathlon faux pas by stopping to remove his cycling shoes -- a breach of etiquette, but keeps him from breaking anything else.

He heads off for the 4k run with jelly legs for the first half kilometer before finding his cruising speed. The wet singlet (that clogged up his wetsuit) begins chaffing making the last 1k more painful than any other part of the race. Finally, the finish appears and he races to the end....

I think he's hooked on triathlons, because he had the worst possible start imaginable and he's already training for the next one!

Emilio Estevez has left the bedroom

For those of you who tried to donate (Hilary and Todd), and those of you yet who haven't, try logging into www.movember.com (not the australia site) and click donate. You can search by individual.

Kristin

Mo' money

What: Mo-vember
Get sponsored to grow an outrageous moustache and keep it for the entire month of Mo-vember. Men can get sponsored individually or in teams. Nathan and his male colleagues at Ranford Road Veterinary Clinic are all involved.

Why: The sponsorships raise money for Men's Health, in Australia they focus on Prostate Cancer and Mental Health. These issues are close to both our hearts....as Nathan's grandfather and my dad have been affected.

How: Each participant asks friends and family to sponsor him to grow the mustache. The participant endures 1 month of facial hair with regular teasing and intermittent giggles. For instance, at about 1 week into it, one participant (who shall remain nameless) faced his loving wife to kiss her goodnight, but she started giggling because it was like sleeping with Emilio Estevez from Stakeout.

Participants also report they face endless commentary about the quality of their mustache (what is that the reverse hitler?), who the mustache makes them look like (Seth Green, really?). After a few weeks, participants grow more comfortable with the mustache beginning classic mo behaviours such as the "goatee stroke" and other such grooming (which returns said wife to giggles).

It is a great deal to endure...but it's for a good cause.

How you can help?

Sponsor Nathan at Movember
or www.au.movember.com registration number: 1868476
Plus the website has other cool features like helping you to select your mo style, blog pages etc.

Who do you think Nathan looks like with his mo?
We want to know your thoughts...but remember Nathan is enduring your jeering for charity. So...if you want to tease him, at least pay for the privilege.

Did we forget something?

Like, the month of October?
I don't know if you noticed or care, but we went pretty much from Summer Olympics to election, and didn't tell you all the cool stuff that happened in October! So...quick rundown.
Frantic cleaning and scurrying getting ready for a visit from Todd and Steph. We felt a little nervous, actually, since they had a limited amount of time, and WA is almost unlimited in scope, and we want everyone to enjoy themselves while at the same time appreciating the natural beauty, cultural and culinary delights, and enjoying the weather. That's a tall order for a 10 day visit.
So we tried a trip to Margaret River, a wine region like a cross between Napa Valley and the surf culture in the movie Point Break. Food, wine, and there are some cool crafts and stuff, but we managed to go to town every day 5 minutes after the shops closed. Some kayaking where we showed up the day after the whale encounter. Just hanging out, contenting ourselves with catching up and watching a movie in the beach house while it turned wet outside (thankfully, just after our walk). A little barbecued seafood (just shark and snapper, no shrimp on the barbie), a couple of haute cuisine meals out, and it was back up to Perth.
A visit to Cottesloe to show off the latest in swimwear -- or, more to the point, hang out on the beach and show off your bod wear -- a lunch on the river, where Todd found out all about the Australian fly plague, and a day or two for the VIPs to bum around Fremantle and have a tour from the director of the Maritime museum, prison tour. A trip up north was called off on account of time restrictions and danger of deep vein thrombosis (it's a long drive, folks), so instead we went to Mandurah and cuddled some of the orphaned Joeys being raised by some of the staff members at the clinic in which I work.
The sad time came for those guys to take off, and I went to work thinking of how long it would be before we would all catch up again, only to get the call from Kris that their flight was delayed...12 hours. I think that most of that day was spent hanging out, preparing themselves for the long flight back, and then we had a farewell dinner at a restaurant on the beach.
When all is said and done, it was a great time to catch up, and we'll miss those guys.

A few days of work, then I got another little break. In between hockey playoff games (I played goalie this year, and our team made the finals of the playoffs, only to lose in straight games), I took a quick trip up to Exmouth.
A little over an hour in the air, but 20 degrees warmer than Perth, it was sailfishing with one of the clinic owners. I am ashamed that I was lucky enough to enjoy beautiful, flat water for 2 and 1/2 days during which we saw dozens of sea turtles, humpback whales playing and courting, dolphins, and (it still makes me a little nervous), a shark longer than the boat is wide, at least 9-10 feet, which swam directly over the teasers that we had out to draw in the sailfish.
Strictly catch and release, Steve is only happy with billfish (sailfish, marlin, swordfish), and has a goal to get every member of his family a sailfish. So it was, that we had a day and a half with hi sbrother on board where we saw only bait.
Finally, after much lamentation and a little grovelling on Steve's part, Rick (the brother), got hooked into a sailfish. Much, much more satisfying than the barracuda which hit his marlin rod the day before.
So far, we had caught a shark, barracuda, tuna, queenfish...but I had yet to hook a sail. So when we had a double-hookup, we knew that the time had come for me to finally reel one in. One fish got loose, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since I ended up fighting my fish for over 45 minutes, driving several miles to keep up. But all during the struggle, we kept waiting for the fish to jump, but it would not. This led to speculation about what kind of fish it really was, since it was not behaving in a natural way for a sailfish. We thought, spanish mackerel? Tuna? Bigger shark?
The answer was a sailfish...brought in backwards. I hooked it in the tail, and the line then wrapped around the base of the tail, reminiscent of snagging salmon in Alaska. The fish was exhausted, I was exhausted, and Steve was exultant that we had caught a second sailfish on switchbait. We swam the fish to revive it a little, then turned it loose. If it had had a middle finger, I get the distinct impression that it would have shown it to us as it kicked wearily for the deeps.
So that's all the excitement for October. A short-lived playoff beard for hockey made its way down the sink near the end of the month, to make way for...Movember. You will hear more on this soon. Probably in mocking tones from my easily-amused wife.

Did we forget something?

(the following post is written while hanging in a hammock in the sunshine, glass of chilled chenin blanc nearby, thinking of all of you in the snow...or does that sound too smug?)

Hail to the Chief (Elect)

Ahhh...what a feeling, what a relief.
Of course you know to what I am referring.
It's that sense that, when somebody asks me where I'm from (and this happens roughly a billion times daily), I don't have to be embarrased by saying that I'm American.
Until recently, it was okay to say that I was Alaskan -- but since Palin came on the scene, Alaska has been viewed less as a groovy frontier kind of place, and more as the home of overreaching whackjobs who abuse their authority. That isn't my opinion of course, I'm just repeating what the rest of the world is saying. I still quite like Alaska, think of it as my home, and have great memories of playing hockey in Wasilla against a team that was, mercifully, Palin-free. As far as I know.
I had the day off, more by luck than design, but it was good timing. I drove out to Kris' office, we shared a glass of champagne with her boss John and our friend Phil, and listened to the victory speech. It was a speech so well-crafted that Kris was moved, just for a moment, to go back into political rhetoric. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. As (president elect) Barack said, speaking to us directly, I am sure, "all those watching tonight from beyond our shores...those who are huddled around radios in forgotten corners of the world..." Now, I wouldn't exactly call Perth a forgotten corner of the world...okay, maybe I've called it that once or twice, but I didn't know that it would show up in (president elect) Barack's speech!

Anyway, this was just to let you all know that we haven't abandoned the blog, we've just been pretty busy. More soon about October (Todd and Steph and our trip down south), as well as November (Nanowrimo, Movember, Triathlons, and more!).

Election Day--

It's weird to be overseas during a presidential election. Here--the election for prime minister isn't on a fixed day. The group in power "call the election" within a specified timeframe. 6 weeks after they announce it, its all over....and there's a ban on advertising the day before and the day of the election.

The federal elections were quick, just 6 weeks of political ads and photos ops. 6 weeks of talk show hosts taking jabs at John Howard's irritability and Kevin Rudd's boringness. It ended with a new Labour Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd whose polls picked up after visiting a strip club in NY while campaigning. It helped his image...it made him a man of the people.

The State Elections were in September and over almost before we even knew who was who in our local seats--this time with a split government, almost perfectly split between Labour (the democrats) and Liberals (the republicans) with the Nationals (for rural Australia) carrying the deciding votes. Eventually the Nationals formed a coalition with the Liberals 8 days later....which was a change of majority and opposition in the State government.

But they don't have to have years of campaigning--voting is mandatory by law, punishable by real fines. Since you have to vote, its not a question of if its a question of who. The question of who isn't really about an individual--their character, voting record etc--so much as it is about their party...because the majority party sets its team in place afterward and can change leadership without an election.

Not saying its right or its wrong, but its different.

Campaigns in the US elections don't really seem to be about deciding who most Americans support...its actually about which candidate can get their supporters off their butts to vote. We've already filed to get our absentee ballots...cause we can't sit this one out.

Neither can you (whichever way you are voting--this is gonna be a BIG one).

So here's a friendly reminder from famous people to REGISTER to vote --you have to register soon or you can't vote! and if you aren't persuaded by famous people, think of Nathan and I, we are political refugees from the last elections longing to come home.

Best Comments of the Olympics

And the gold medal for commentators and interview goes to.......................

10. Weightlifting commentator: 'This is Gregorieva from Bulgaria . I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.'

9. Dressage commentator: 'This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.'

8. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: 'I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.'

7. Boxing Analyst: 'Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious.'

6. Softball announcer: 'If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.'

5. Basketball analyst: 'He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.'

4. At the rowing medal ceremony: 'Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew.'

3. Soccer commentator: 'Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field.'

2. Tennis commentator: 'One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh my God, what have I just said?'

1) Sally McClellan with a silver in the 100 hurdles gave a GOLD standard interview. The best interview of the Olympics completely!

Anniversary -- observed.

So...you would have thought that Kris could have just told me all that mushy stuff, instead of publishing it for the world to see, and me having to read it online. Sheesh!

Anyway, for our anniversary...um, well, I actually skipped hockey practice (which is a good start, right?) and we went out for dinner at a pretty decent place nearby called the Mussel Bar. Oddly enough, the folks at the table next to us were celebrating their anniversary also -- their 6th. This year it became apparent that we've been married longer than many of our (often much older) friends and acquaintances. It's, um, kind of weird.

So this year was all about the finer things -- art, wine, tractors.
As a surprise to me, Kris had one of my favorite pictures blown up (as in, "enlarged") and framed, and I made a frame for a silk-screened canvas from Terri and hung that. Neither of us knew what the other had planned, it was just a reaction to spending all this time in a house with bare walls. We also got a pretty cool print of a photo of a monk's hands during olive harvest.

Yes, a monk.

See, we went away this weekend to Australia's only monastic town. That's right, nothing screams romantic getaway like the Benedictines. It's a pretty cool town, 162 years old with some serious architecture -- and some not-so-serious. We came around the corner of a century-old building to find a series of open-air chambers. Three walls, no roofs. And built that way, not all tumble-down. Any guesses? Check below to see if you're right.

Speaking of not-so serious, the guidepost to the monastery seems to point at a row of corrugated iron sheds. Of course, we are in Australia, and it would be unthinkable for the monastery to depart from local accepted architectural practices. Right?

Also on this tour, only an hour from Perth, we went to a few wineries. I don't know about all of you, but there is only so much wine-tasting I can do, but these folks have figured out that if you also have olive oil and homemade bread at most of the cellar doors, you don't get taste bud fatigue, and you sell olive oil! And Dukkah! Mmmm. So, we finally filled up our wine rack. Something like 20 bottles of wine, and one bottle of port. And some Dukkah, of course.

Like a mobile cellar, we drove out to the coast to explore the towns of Lancelin and Guilderton, and found them to be very nice seaside towns, thank you very much. And we learned about one more use for an International Tractor that had never occured to me before. (Notice the boat trailer?)

So that was a pretty good trip. Now we've got some art on the wall and wine in the rack, ready for visitors. C'mon Down!

(Handball courts! Really! They even have an historical plaque.)

12 year anniversary explained as genetic anomoly...

Health News

'Bonding Gene' Could Help Men Stay Married

One form of DNA linked to marital bliss, the other to discord, study found

By E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Whether a man has one type of gene versus another could help decide whether he's good "husband material," a new study suggests.

A study of Swedish twin brothers found that differences in a gene modulating the hormone vasopressin were strongly tied to how well each man fared in marriage.

"Our main finding was an association between a variant of the vasopressin receptor 1a gene and how strong bonds men reported they had to their partners," said lead researcher Hasse Walum, of the department of medical epidemiology and biostatistics at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. "Men carrying this variant scored on average lower on a scale measuring the strength of the bond compared to men not carrying this variant."

Women married to men carrying the "poorer bonding" form of the gene also reported "lower scores on levels of marital quality than women married to men not carrying this variant," Walum noted.

His team published its findings in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

Walum's team first got interested in the role of vasopressin and bonding among males when studying a rodent, the vole. "Studies in voles have shown that the hormone vasopressin is released in the brain of males during mating," Walum explained.

Vasopressin activates the brain's reward system, and "you could say that mating-induced vasopressin release motivates male voles to interact with females they have mated with," Walum said. "This is not a sexual motivation, but rather a sort of prolonged social motivation." In other words, the more vasopressin in the brain, the more male voles want to stick around and mingle with the female after copulation is through. This effect "is more pronounced in the monogamous voles," Walum noted.

But voles and humans are very different species, so would the same effect hold true for men?

To find out, the Swedish team zeroed in the vasopressin 1a gene, which is shared by both species. Variations in this gene strongly influence vasopressin activity in the male vole, so Walum wondered if it might do the same for men.

To find out, his team looked for variants of the vasopressin 1a gene among 552 pairs of male twins enrolled in Sweden's ongoing Twin and Offspring Study. All of the men were currently in a relationship that had lasted at least five years, although about 18 percent of the men remained unmarried. The men were subjected to psychological tests assessing their ability to bond and commit, and the researchers also interviewed the men's spouses when possible.

They found that men with a certain variant, known as an allele, of the vasopressin 1a gene, called 334, tended to score especially low on a standard psychological test called the Partner Bonding Scale. They were also less likely to be married than men carrying another form of the gene. And carrying two copies of the 334 allele doubled the odds that the men had undergone some sort of marital crisis (for example, the threat of divorce) over the past year.

All of these findings "make sense," said Dr. John Lucas, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. He said it's well known that genes help drive much of human behavior, including mate bonding.

But the vasopressin 1a gene is likely not the only factor influencing a man's ability to form true and lasting bonds, he added.

"It's unlikely to be a single gene [at work] -- it's likely to be multiple genes that are expressed incompletely and interact with the environment," said Lucas, who is also a psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He pointed out that what psychologists call "temperament" -- the individual palette of emotions and behaviors that even babies display -- is probably "hard-wired" by our genetics. "But temperament, through training and experience, becomes personality," Lucas said. "And personality is a complicated situation, of course, and it involves the ability to commit."

So, it's too early for men to blame their inability to commit on a single gene, although Lucas guesses it's an excuse that's "certainly going to be used."

For his part, Walum agreed that men and their spouses shouldn't read too much into the finding.

"Taken together, the effect of the gene variant that we have studied on human pair-bonding behavior is rather small, and it can not, with any real accuracy, be used to predict how someone will behave in a future relationship," he said.

Walum also noted that the finding would probably not be applicable to women, since vasopressin appears to be tied to social bonding in males, but not females.

In a related study, also in the same issue of the journal, researchers at the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu said they've identified a gene strongly linked to extended health and life span in humans. The FOXO3A gene, involved in insulin signaling, is just the second gene ever found that is closely tied to longevity, the researchers said. In their study of Japanese-American men, those who lived to an average age of 98 had a specific variant of FOXO3A compared to men who died at younger ages, the team said.

This just in.....

Nathan Mannix found to have record-levels of vasopressin. Wife still takes credit for happy marriage. Scientists believe this a reliable test for genetic "bonding" theory.

KM

12 years--who's counting?

It's pretty amazing...Nathan and I have been married for 12 years.
We've been together for 17 years (Prior to dating me, Nathan's previous longest relationship was 6 weeks, I think).
We are on the cusp of having been together longer than we've not been together. (If you count all those years I was definitely more interested in fighting boys than dating them, we are well past that mark).

Sometimes it still feels like we are honey-mooning. Suddenly, I'll be seized with the incredible urge to hold hands, sing romantic ballads, write love letters. Maybe it has to do with moving countries every 5 years or not having kids, but it seems like our relationship together is still very new. I'm still discovering things about him that I never knew or never would have even guessed.

Othertimes, we know each other so well that we finish each other's thoughts, can tell the cards in our partner's hand and how they'll be played, and tell our jokes in unison. That can mean we know EXACTLY how to to press the other person's buttons too, but we always work hard to fight fair, and find a way to avoid a disagreement next time. We know each other so well that we know matter how difficult a time or situation, we'll get through it together.

It's amazing that after all this time we not only still love each other, we are still in love with each other. I think its because I've married an incredibly intelligent, considerate, romantic, funny, ethical, sexy, loyal, interesting, caring, and basically GOOD person. I know I'm lucky that I found someone so supportive, patient, fun-loving and adventurous, and he chose to be part of my life.

About every 5 years or so, we we get remarried. I guess because in some small way I can't believe Nathan has chosen me for his soulmate, and I want to know he'd chose me again. So, we stand together and say our vows. You are my life, you are my love. To have, hold and cherish from this day forward.

The ceremony is just a symbol of the commitment that shines through in every generous act, every time I'm forgiven for my faults, every lawn mowed or dish washed, every good night kiss.
So ceremony or not, I just want to say.

Nathan, I do. I STILL do.

I love you. Kristin

so much for life as usual....

I'm never going on vacation again.

Last year, I went for a week of training in Melbourne. When I came back, my boss Maryanne had resigned. I had 3 weeks before she left to prepare.

I agreed to step into her role, and was just getting these hang of it when we went back to the US to visit family in July. While I was away, the administrative officer submitted her resignation, I came back to find she had one week left of her notice before I was alone, managing 2 jobs, with 4 months of experience in the organisation.

This is hell for several months while we work through the hiring process.
I hire my assistant Annie--she comes into chaos, and we work together to set up new processes, transfer 2 databases, and life resumes to a somewhat even keel for the next 8 months.

When we went on vacation in May to Exmouth, I return to find my colleague, Andy, who I worked with very closely had resigned and would be gone in 2 weeks. They arrange an interim, to keep things afloat, but begin the long hiring process.

So, when I come back from vacation, and there are no big announcements, I relaxed. Finally, things are going to plan. Annie and I are working well as a team--I only had 3 pages of handover notes for her...which is a miracle. Within a week, we were back to caught up.

But....(da, da, dum--sinister music)

This week, on Wednesday, Annie asks me to sit down.
"I've got some news...(da,da dum.....more sinister music).
Diana, the Dean's PA is leaving, and I've gotten the job as his new PA." I stumble through some words of congratulations, and after the initial shock, begin to regain confidence. We've set up processes, Annie will have time to train someone etc.

I go into to meet with the Dean, who somewhat sheepishly, fills me in on the details. His PA Diana will be moving to work with the faculty dean (next admin level up)...he found this out a month ago. Before I left they started doing interviews. The decision was made this week. He told Annie 5 minutes before she told me. then...

Da, da, dum......

"She'll be taking Diana's role on Monday!"

(gulp) back to panic.

"Don't worry, I've found a temp. They'll be here on Monday, we are already starting the recruiting process."

Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic.

So much for life as usual....

California to Perth--

We arrived in California at midnight on the 30th. As frequent travelocity users we got a discount on a convertible, so drove to our hotel in San Rafael in style. (Sorry Todd...I'm sure there are expedia discounts....) We sunk into a glorious California King, watched 10 minutes of cable TV, and fell HARD asleep.

July 31
As a little luxury we slept late the next day, before putting the top down to cruise up to Santa Rosa to spend the afternoon with Nathan's grandparents, Bill & Ethel. Bill asked a question about Australian geography, and we enjoyed flipping through the big Australian coffee table book to say, "We've been there, we've been there, we've got to there" We had to leave soon, so with big hugs, Bill & Ethel watched us drive our rented Mustang convertible into the sunset.

We drove a couple of hours North to Fort Bragg to see Nathan's Dad, Mike & his sweetie Terry. As its winter in Perth, the sunny drive was wonderful--except for the part where my nose and Nathan's forehead got terribly sunburned. We arrived in time for a tour of Terry's garden and sculptures, before Mike whisked us off to a fantastic seafood dinner. We kept trying to talk Mike into coming to Australia to drive truck for the mines, where drivers earn about twice as much as Nathan and I. We talked as late into the night as we could manage (Mike had to be at work at 5:45 am--late for him!).

Aug 1
We hopped up at 5:30am for a sleepy hug goodbye to Mike. We awoke again at 11:00am, time for a sleepy hug goodbye to Terry. After leisurely showers, and repacking for the international flight, we started to make our way to San Franscisco for the flight home. We stopped in Mendicino for a look around at the coastline and shops. After lunch on the veranda overlooking the ocean, and the purchase of Nathan's ritual "holiday shirt" (he buys one every vacation--with the number of tropical/hawaiian/fijian shirts that make the cut,, he must get his style from Mike!), we head down Highway 1 toward San Francisco.

We stop along the way for photos of the coastline, cows on the road, a group of seals sunning on the beach. Nathan tempts me into the grass along the road for a better view of the coast. On the way back to the car, I realise he is trying to increase my sympathy for his persistent poison oak problem by exposing my bare legs to a thicket of poison oak. Nathan's poison oak is improving with steriods, but he's still itchy everywhere. After confronting him about his evil plan, he agrees to take me to the nearest bathroom so I can scour this vile substance from my legs.

The rest of the drive my legs feel itchy, and I'm careful not to touch them to spread the poison oak anywhere else. When we get to the airport, I go to the bathroom for another scrub. Where I realise my legs itched because they were still caked in restroom soap from the last scrubbing.

We board our United flight at 10:30 pm, right on time. After qantas' delays on our way to the US, and some recent dramatic plane malfunctions, we were feeling pretty good about changing companies. Until we realise that United doesn't have the 4 essential things we have come to rely on in an international flight. 1) individual TV controls with movies on demand (1 screen at the front of the plane for 300 people) 2) an assortment of dietary requirement meals to accomodate a variety of vegetarians (he usually gets indianfood--which is vegie and tasty) 3) the little qantas snack bag that lets you eat fruit, choc, chips, every hour or so to keep from going stircrazy. 4) qantas service...which is very used to dealing with tired travellers after 14-20 hour flights.

15 hours later we arrived in Sydney, then hopped (5 hours) to Perth, then caught a cab home by 4:30 pm--August 3rd. We've spent 20 hours in the air, but lost a day to the international date line. Knowing jet lag will be difficult, we struggle to stay away until 8 pm, because I have to be on the right time schedule to get up for work the next day. 12 hours later back to life as usual.

The last 2 days of visiting in California was way too short, but it gave us a little more time with Nathan's family, and a little "unwind" time before heading back. Next year, we'll plan enough time for a more relaxed visit....I hope.

Touring the Midwest...

All the great rockers have done it....toured the midwest. Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, Laurence Welk, Garrison Keilor, Quiet Riot (well, without the lead singer). So when Nathan and I hopped the Suncountry red-eye from San Franscisco to Minneapolis St Paul, we were following in the footsteps of some well-travelled folks.

July 22
We arrived July 22 at 6:30 am, with about 3 hours of sleep to find that our rental car was rented at Alamo at Lindbergh Terminal, not Humphrey. No mention of that on the website we used, just booked it into MSP airport. So we take the train over to car (which works slick) but the delay puts us in rush hour traffic after not very much sleep. Finally, we arrive at Gretchen's at about 8:30 am--late enough to miss the party, but not too late to say good bye.

You see, we just missed Nathan's grandma's birthday party (94!) by about 8 hours. If only we had known when we booked the flights...but then again, nobody tells us anything! Nathan's aunt Sarah left at 5 am, so we missed her by a few hours too. We did get there in time to see Len, Karen, Kari, and Jon before they drove back to SDakota.

With some showers, we are ready to face the town. We take a visit to Valley Fair for Nathan's birthday. It's been a long-time since I've been (high school graduation), Nathan doesn't remember visiting (although there is some dispute). The suggestion comes from Gretchen which is suprising as she doesn't like rollercoasters. That didn't stop her though, after a few fun rides, she worked up the courage to join us on the OUTLAW. (Well first she worked up her courage to ride the CORKSCREW but someone had gotten sick in her seat and we had to work up to it again). Nathan and I rode STEEL VENOM which turned out to be the best rollercoaster I had been on in years!

After our adrenaline fix, we were wide awake. So headed to Martha and Dick's for a quick visit.

July 23--Nathan's birthday!

We had a lazy morning before picking up Nathan's grandma for a joint birthday celebration. We had a nice visit with her, looking at photos, eating her candy, and installing some birdfeeders. After the candy was gone, we dropped Gretchen back in Chaska before heading to Rochester for an impromptu birthday party. We met Kirk, Dave, Cheryl, Curt, Nancy, Karen & Keith, Carole, Jaymi, and Tony out for Wings and Beers at our old local. (We found out old house was for sale...tempting!) Had a great time...but way too many friends to visit with....and we wish we had time to get in touch with a few more.

July 24--
Jaymi hosted and we got to spend the morning visiting (at Barnes and Noble...of course) before meeting my favorite folks from the Diversity Council for lunch. I miss them so much (and the wonderful work they do). I enjoy my work now, but it's an amazing team. Meanwhile, Nathan was catching up with Tobin and other friends. Nathan somehow finds time for a trip to the hockey store where he buys some birthday presents of his own (including a shockdoctor bag--thanks deb and tim).

At about 1:00 pm we split up, Nathan back for a few more days with his Mom and Grandma. I met my mom and sister for the 2 hour trip to Elmore.

The trip to Elmore was great. Julie, Mom and I spent the whole time talking (alright I distracted Julie while mom completed the shopping for Julie's birthday party.) It seems like we could have talked for weeks....somehow its different when its in person.

July 25--
Up early to walk with Mom and her friends around Elmore. It was about 90% humidity at 7:30am, I thought I was in a steam room. Can't say I've missed the humidity! Sam, Owen, and Jamie came over to help us prepare for Julie's Birthday party. It was great to spend some time with them, especially Jamie before she heads off to School. After many jokes about Julie turning 50, we lifted our glasses to salute my wonderful sister.

July 26--
Saturday I pottered around the house with Mom and Dad. hey had a wedding in the afternoon, and the dance in the evening. Nathan's day was full of adventure (a personal best during a 5k in the morning, then meeting Kirk for sailing in the afternoon.) TNathan joined me in Blue Earth for the demolition derby (mud, mud, mud!) and we bumped into my cousin Shannan and her family. It was hard to talk in between car smashes, but we managed. We had hoped to get together after that, but our time just got away from us. The demolition derby has refired Nathan's life goal of driving in a demo derby....if only either of us knew anything about cars.

July 27--
We went to Shiloh for church. We went home to throw together a BBQ for the evening when my siblings, neices, nephews (and great neices and nephew!), Aunt Connie & Donnie, could join us for some relaxed visiting. After lots of jokes about "shrimp on the barbie", we caught up with family and had a great night. Mom as always makes hosting 40 people look incredibly easy....how did I miss out on that gene!

Nathan has develeoped a severe case of poison oak. Somewhere in the weekend it goes from a few local spots to a systemic reaction. Nathan begins dipping himself in Calomine lotion. MMMM pink.

July 28-
Despite his ailment, Nathan is excited to get the chance to go golfing! We met my Dad after he played 2 rounds on the senior tour, for 1 more round. Dad spoiled us with some coaching advice, which worked for Nathan but I was too tough for him (I refused to improve). Mom joined us for the last few holes and we picked Earl Cowin up on the way through as well. It was a great time (even if my golf needed improvement). It seems that its not really a trip home unless there's golf in there somewhere. We met Brian, Jen, Julie, Scott, Crystal and kids for a final night of pizza and talking. Somewhere in between the jokes, stories, and kid adventures, I didn't find the moment to say how precious my short time with my family in MN is. I started dreading leaving MN again, before we had even arrived. This visit was too short by far, but sometimes I am amazed that I ever get back on the plane. It's probably a good thing I didn't say that, they would have teased me about being sentimental anyway.

When Jen invited Nathan and I to go see the Dark Knight at 11:00 pm that night, it seemed a good way to stretch our visit a little longer. It was a great movie...wow... but I'd take back those 2.5 hours now if I could and squeeze out a few more hours of conversation.

July 29-
Woke early to walk with mom and her friends. Another humid one. Spent the rest of the morning quietly with mom and dad. As we sat down for lunch, it hit me that our time in Elmore was over already. Mom forbade me from crying, so we joked a bit as we headed out the door right on schedule.

We met in Chaska. Nathan and his mom for one more night, while I spent the night with my girlfriend Connie. Connie was just what I needed to lift my spirits...she knows me well and kept me laughing all night long as we raced home in her Camaro, to play Rockband, and catch up on news.

July 30-
Now the minutes really fly by. Connie drops me back in Chaska. Nathan gets some steroids for his poison oak, after having received the most minimal physical exam possible.. After some important last minute shopping (I miss Target!), Nathan and I settle in to an amazing dinner with Gretchen and her friend Vicky. We pack our things.."borrow" some of Gretchen's books...weigh bags one more time...before having to say goodbye.

We climb back on our SunCountry flight for 2 days in California before we make the long trip home.

Whirlwind US Tour

Hey there!

We are just recovering from a whirlwind US tour, which explains the lack of blogness.

When I say whirlwind here was the itinerary.

Tuesday July 15
Work, work, work!
Nathan plays hockey game while Kris finishes packing
Nathan arrives home 20 min before the taxi arrives to pick us up

Wednesday July 16 12:30 am
Flight from Perth to Sydney delayed because plane is struck by lightening.
Wait, wait, wait!
Board plane for Red-eye flight to Sydney.
Arrive on time, (6:30 am)find chairs to try and get real sleep in the Sydney airport.
wake (11:30), grab a coffee, panic when the monitors show our flight as closed.
wander around the airport trying to get an answer.
wander, wander, wander.
At last discover our flight has been delayed for another 9 hours.
wait, wait, wait!
Email alan to say we will be late.
wait, wait, wait!
Board at last, for our 14 hour flight to SFO.
wait, wait, wait!
Arrive in California, pick up the rental car and head to Alan & Masami's.

July 17
Sleep to noon. See the boys for breakfast. head to Taco Bell for lunch.
Stop by the bank to deposit bank draft--its missing!
panic, panic, panic!
Email friends at home to see if we left it in Perth.
panic, panic, panic!
Take our mind off lost check with cribbage marathon, swimming in pool, and dinner with Alan & Masami, Michael, Bradley, Gregory, and Stephanie and her boyfriend.

July 18
Say farewells, head to Santa Rosa. Life with out cellphones requires finding a payphone off the freeway...fun, fun, fun!
Meet Mannix's for mexican dinner.
marvel at recent events: Molly & Missy are roommates, Missy and Quinn graduate, Max becomes young curmudgeon.

July 19
Kris goes for fun run, Nathan helps Tim dig a ditch at the Church, everybody digs, then trip to Laguna Road to help Mike & Terry clean up the Gran Mannix' home for sale now that they are in new digs. Load 6 metric tonnes of wood into a skip, Nathan gets exposed to poison oak, meet Mannix's at same Mexican restaurant for dinner.

July 20
Meet Mike & Terry for a diner breakfast (who's heard of biscuits and gravy without sausage!), then loading more wood, before heading up to the ranch. Deb, Tim, Caitlyn and Grandpa meet us there to inspect the property (which has been particularly important because of fires in the area). Teary farewells.

July 21
Cancel the missing bank draft. Finally relax!
Head to Bill & Ethel (Gran Mannix's) 's new place for a nice long visit.
Meet Tim & Debbie at Himalayan restaurant for celebratory dinner.
Teary farewells.
Hit the road to Fly to MN.

That's just the first week! FULL ON!

Kristin

Cold--in Australia?

For those of you who have heard us complain about the heat, I'm about to shock you. This week its cold in Australia. It's 3 degrees Celsius today. Just a touch above freezing.

Now most days, I would scoff at calling 3 degrees cold. Gretchen probably remembers the winter she came to MN at 20 below Fahrenheit. My car heater had broken so she had to scrape the ice off the inside of the windsheild while I was driving so I could see out for the 25 minute trip to my apartment. Anyone who has lived through winter in the mid-west breaks out the shorts and flip flops at 3 degrees. But for Perth, its about as cold as it gets.

Although I know I should be a stoic Scandinavian (cold enough for ya?), I find myself agreeing when people complain about the weather. It's colder here than one might think for 3 reasons.

1) In the winter, it rains. ALOT. Last year, in July it rained 19 days straight. Not a London or Seattle drizzle, thundershowers that soak you to the skin in 2 minutes or less. Cold and dry is one thing....cold and wet, ew.
2) The buildings are NOT insulated. and in the case of our house, NOT HEATED. (Yes, this is worse than our freezing place in Abbey Wood where we were too cheap to pay for gas. We do not have a heat source in the house). We have a space heater for the bedroom and one for the living room, but with 14 foot ceilings we spend most evenings wrapped in blankets. Midnight trips to the bathroom have a distinctly camping feel--especially when you sit on a toilet seat that's nearly freezing.
3) There is a fuel shortage in WA. A recent fire has caused a massive shortage. Murdoch Uni is a huge consumer of energy, and has shut off most of the lights in the hallways, turns off the heat in all the buildings overnight, and encourages all employees to minimise electricity and heating.

So, despite my tough talk, I'm battling a cold, wrapped in my fuzziest sweater, wishing for a Minnesota winter.

Strange things down here...

It's another strange fruit.
I would have thought that we would have run out by now. After all, how many strange fruits can there be? I ask from a gastronomic perspective, not a botanical one. I know well that there are bjillions of strange biological fruits, but how many would you find in the market?
At least one more.
I should ask you all to guess, really. It might be fun.
On the other hand, I'm easily distracted, so I'll give you a few hints here, then the answer will be at the bottom.
Hint 1: It includes the name of another fruit.
Hint 2: Bonnie will have heard of it, but never seen it.
Hint 3: In the US, the most common form is a juice.

Other strange things in Aus...
Energy crisis.
In WA, there is a shortage of gas. Not for the car, they call that petrol. Gas for fuel for production plants, heating, general energy stuff. This came about last month as the result of a refinery getting blown up -- no foul play suspected. There are some pretty serious side-effects of this.
Serious Side-effect 1: The commercial laundry that washes all the hotel sheets for Perth was told to close down the week before the largest tourism conference in the Australasian region. No fresh sheets, and bring your own towel as we hear about hospitality...
Serious Side-effect 2: There is debate about banning the use of gas to heat homes. If there was no heating the houses, the argument goes, then the companies could be up and running with the gas that was saved. Otherwise, we would have home heat and everybody laid off, and the, "warmest group of unemployed people in Australia", to quote a local business leader.
Serious Side-effect 3: All of these other effects were discussed ad nauseum on the news and the talking heads were getting moderately agitated, but it wasn't until the latest headline that the average WA citizen got worried.
It would seem that without gas, one of the local chemical companies would be unable to produce CO2, used for flash freezing poultry and fish, but also used to supply draught beer in the pubs.

In short -- no sheets for the hospitality conference? No dramas. No heat in the homes of the elderly during winter? She'll be right.
But no beer...
I expect this situation to be resolved pretty quickly now.

Speaking of beer, there is currently a huge movement to crack down on binge-drinking in Australia. Good. It's about time. Far too many fatalities on the roads, teen alcohol abuse, abuse in clubs and the rest. But what, you may well ask, defines binge drinking?
You would have gotten an answer this week.
Binge drinking (in Australia) is defined as of Thursday, as:
3 glasses of wine, or
4 mid-strength beers.
Very little was said about time frame, but this is quite a lightweight definition in a country that prides itself on the outback pub, bringing a stubby-holder to every occasion, and selling wine to the rest of the world cheaply enough that everybody in the UK can afford Australian merlot for their binge-drinking.

Like I said, there are some strange things going on down here. Mysterious things.

But none so mysterious as the mangosteen.

The End-of-Playoff Beard

So it's finally over. Not the democratic nomination, although there is some relief that the D's have finally stopped attacking each other and emptying the coffers in friendly fire. No, I'm talking about something much more important.
The NHL Playoffs.
While it may seem to some that these playoffs last nearly an entire election cycle, it's all too brief for me. Why, I hardly had time to get up to Chewbacca stage in the playoff beard growth, while in my heart of hearts I would like to get to ZZ top. And it doesn't look like Kris has even been trying!
With the dusting off of the razor, we acknowledge the much more experienced Red Wings for their dominance, and try not to be too condescending to the penguins by saying, nice try, maybe when you boys are a little older...
I confess that there is another reason for shaving. This is much more vain.
I didn't mind too much when it was pointed out that this year, at 35, I would be in a different demographic -- still pretty young. I even managed a chuckle when the hairdresser laughed at my scalp, saying "it just gets thinner and thinner." Why, I'm actually proud of the grey in my hair.
But not my beard.
When Kris reached over and was playing with a white hair in my beard, I knew that the days of Grizzly Mannix were numbered. It's not that it looks old, just...well, maybe a little old. A little untidy. It just doesn't reflect the way I think I look, which is about 25.
I know the feeling young won't last, but for just a little while longer, let me think that I'm more like the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a little less experienced than the Red Wings.

May 17th...On home.

Rising with the sun, we had a chance to explore our campsite. And a very strange place it was.

There was a 2km stretch of area open for camping, which included everything from tents like ours, to permanent collections of subdivided trailers with padlocks on them. Small, ice-house sized shanties with tin roofs were nearly indistinguishable from the outhouses dotted around the campground. Busses, campers, and trailers towed by every type of vehicle were parked with their solar panels displayed, and a row of RVs competed for the biggest carbon footprint.

As we strolled down the beach, it was clear that this was a favorite getaway spot, but only 2 others were awake at this time. We watched them fish, talked again about how handy a kayak would be on this coast, and dawdled back to the campsite for a cleanup breakfast which included everything left in the eskie (cooler) -- beans, eggs, toast, pancakes, coffee...enough fuel for a marathon.

On the way out, we stopped to admire a local phenomenon called the blowholes. Onrushing waves hit chimney-shaped flutes of rock, which causes water to fountain up in narrow, geyser-like sprays. This was kind of cool, but we couldn't get too close due the warning signs about King waves, which wash unwary fishermen off the cliffs to their doom. Instead, we watch a young German couple take photos of each other coming out of the outhouse with reading material and toilet paper, which was pretty entertaining. I then tried a few photos of rock parrots screaming across the landscape, but they were just greenish smears on the film.

We debated whether to take a detour to visit Kalbarri National Park, or save that for a time when we had some more energy. Wisely, we decided to head straight home, have a day to unpack and develop film, and do some laundry. Pretty uneventful, save for a sign in Eneabba which should serve as a warning to all who visit us, especially during nesting season.

All in all, we had a great time, and were happy to get home, exhausted but very satisfied that we had seen a new, big chunk of Western Australia, but amazed that, as much as we had seen and as quickly as we had travelled, this trip just skimmed over a scant 25% of the coast of WA, and almost none of the interior. This is truly a huge, huge place.

Come see for yourself.

Friday, May 16 Dive, Dive, Dive

Another early start (notice a theme!) as we join up with Ningaloo Reef Dreaming team at7:15 am. By 8:15, we have picked up our equipment for a day of diving on the reef. As we approach Bundegi Beach, we can hear the surf crashing and our dive guide Westie (oddly reminiscint of a Kiwi Paulie Shore) reminds us that the faster we load, the more time on the dive we can get. He points out the small, bright orange dive boat that is making its way to the pier as we unload our scuba gear.

That's when we notice a slight problem. The pier is not long enough, so the boat practically has to run aground to get close...which makes it very susceptible to every wave hitting the beach. It took 3 tries to get close enough to load the first passenger who had to step down from the broken spar on the jetty to the slippery top chrome rail. I wasn't sure how long the boat would stay near the pier so I went next...like climbing aboard a bucking bronco. I made the leap of faith, made it safely through into the cabin, and promptly wiped out in the water that was spilling over the deck of the boat from the crashing waves. More victims climbed aboard, and 2 times they had to back away and make the approach again. Crashing into the pier as we came in seemed the only way to ensure the boat was close enough to board. As we completed the bucket chain of scuba equipment, the engine began to sputter. The taciturn Captain Gerry didn't wait for us to sit down, but backed us away from the crashing surf.

First mate Pete, politely asked a diver to move, before diving headfirst into the port engine. As we fought the 3 m swell I wondered about how long it would take the powerless boat to break up once it hit the reef. With Pete's attention, power returned to the boat, and we put-put-putted off to dive in Lighthouse Bay.

Our first dive was a circular bit of reef called Gulliver's. While circling the reef, I spied an enormous sting ray. I tried signalling to Nathan. Since you can't talk effectively with a breathing apparatus in your mouth, I relied on my powers of mime which were obviously weak because Nathan continued swimming. At the last second, the ray shot from beneath him in a cloud of sand. The shock in Nathan's eyes suggested he also had visions of Steve Irwin's demise playing in his head. We were calmed by watching a sea turtle serenly swim above us.

Pulses race again when we came upon another diver who was using about $5000 worth of photographic equipment to shoot something under a ledge. When he had taken the 15th photo (the one that's probably on the cover of national geographic), we got our chance to take a peak at what was the ledge. It was an octupus. The body was about as big around as a dinner plate, with long legs wrapped tight around a rock. It had been distrubed by the photographer, so slided along the bottom to find another rock. When it found a suitable purchase it not only changed its colour, but its skin mimicked the rough texture of the coral around it. It became practically invisible. Clearly these are alien beings who will one day take over the world.

Our second dive of the day was at a linear stretch of reef called Blizzard. After watching the serious diver/photographer aboard with envy, Nathan decided to leave the camera behind and just have a "free" dive. We glided down the mooring line to a spot near the beginning of the reef. Almost immediately, Nathan began wishing for the camera. Approaching the reef, we encountered on olive sea snake about 2 m long and 6 in diameter. It swam away unconcerned. We found 5 or 6 more along our dive. I only freaked out once, and it began to swim STRAIGHT at me. I backpedaled rapidly (which I am sure was hilarious because I practically tripped over my own fins) before it changed direction and slithered away. (This freak out was actually for good reason, as the sea snakes have the most lethal venom of any snake in the world. They almost never bite divers, and probably couldn't get through neoprene anyway, but in a country of deadly critters, it's only fitting that the first snake we see in the wild is the most venomous. -nm-)

Our photographer friend took another 25 pictures of a lion fish, with its spikey fins arrayed in a deadly display. Each fin is coated in a neurotoxin which paralyzes its prey and any unsuspecting diver that touches it. Luckily Nathan did not have his camera (grrrrr) or he might have been tempted into range of its lethal spines.

During our swim we came upon another mooring line. Each of us believed we needed to head in opposite directions to surface near the boat. We tried to disagree underwater about which way to go. Our rehearsed range of handsignals didn't cover this eventuality. As we couldn't agree, we pretty much surfaced where we were...which turned out to be a long way from the boat. If you don't dive, you may not realise that swimming on the surface is much harder than underwater. For one thing, on the surface you bob along with every wave (which makes some of us seasick). After much whining on my part (and incredible patience on Nathan's part, not to mention towing Kris for some of the way. -nm-), we climbed rather tired back on to the boat.

After a respite and a sea lunch, we headed to our final dive site "Banana". This was an amazing dive. It wasn't a big bit of reef, so we felt relaxed and comfortable taking our time to explore the whole reef. The coral was impressive, bright colours, incredible variety, with millions of fish darting in and out. We saw more sea snakes and another sting ray, but there was no more adrenaline. We had achieved a Zen-like state of tranquility. It's hard to convey, but for my first time diving I really understood why people get hooked on scuba. I could have stayed there for hours and just watched it all. Unfortunately, my diminishing air wouldn't allow an all-day stay.

As we slowly surfaced, our guide Westie removed his regulator and practiced blowing"smoke rings"--well oxygen rings. He convinced Nathan to give it a try, but I was not so relaxed from this diving trip that I was willing to take out my regulator and give it ago. The ride back to Bundegi Beach was uneventful, the swell had diminished as the tide had gone out. Unfortunately, this also meant we couldn't actually get close to the pier, so the captain just ran her aground on the sandy beach and we climbed down to the beach.

By 4, we had grabbed a couple of beers and loaded up with gas (at $7/gallon, for those of you keeping track), and had decided to head south to find a camp ground. I looked quickly at a map and suggested Quobba Bay. After a quick stop to mark the crossing of the tropic of capricorn, we drove off into the sunset. What we didn't realize is that Quobba is about 200 k south of where we thought, with NOTHING in between.

When we finally arrived at 8:30 pm, we decided it would be nice to shower the salt off and turned towards a caravan park. 20 minutes later, we arrived to find that we couldn't find a camp spot or the shower blocks. With a sigh, Nathan drove off to the beach to camp along the water. There was no sandy beach here, only rocky ledges that left no way for setting up the tent let alone sleeping. We finally found a sandy place littered with campers and cars but were too tired to keep driving. It was almost 10 pm. We quickly erected the tent on a soft sandy spot (by now we have practice!), and then ate a quick meal over our miracle stove.

The soft sand lured us to sleep. We were too tired even for cribbage.

Tomorrow...Blow Holes

Thursday 15th of May

Today we thought that we should give our skin time to iron out any wrinkles, and spend some time on dry land. With that in mind, we were up at dawn, let me repeat that, we were up at dawn, for a quick stroll to the head of Mandu Mandu gorge, a nearby hike through a cut in the red hills of the Cape Range. It was fantastic, with birds, rocks, and, um, other rocks. It was very pretty, though.

After a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, we upped stakes (some with real difficulty) and bounced our way out of the campsite and down to Yardie Creek. We stopped to admire the plaque which informed us that this road to an historic crossing in old sheep farming country had been opened in 2000. History is overrated.

Yardie creek is the only gorge in the national park that has water year-round, which is good for the ecosystem, but bad for the people trying to drive south of the creek. There is an official crossing place for people in pre-rusted 4WD vehicles, if you're daring enough or if you really, really need to get to the other side. We waded across to appreciate the peril (significant) and the likelihood of us trying this in the Rav4 (vanishingly small). Nevertheless, we hung out for a while in hopes that somebody would come hooning through, but no luck. Instead, we took a very sedate boat trip up the river, admiring the bird life (ospreys, cormorants, welcome swallows) and the rare black-footed rock wallaby. It was really very pleasant.

A short drive away was a sweeping sandy bay called, let's check the notes, Sandy Bay, which was so unbelievably idyllic that it tempted us back in the water for a leisurely snorkel. Afterwards, we dried out on the beach and speculated as to what could be responsible for the variety of animal tracks in the sand. Unresolved, we jumped in the car and headed back out to Exmouth, stopping to admire a shipwreck just off shore. That night, relaxing pizza and beer at the apostrophe-deficeint Graces Tavern.

Ah... this is the rest and relaxation that we always hope for, but rarely get on vacation. And a good thing that we saved up some energy for tomorrow's boat dives. But for this night, a quiet, early night. After beating Kris at cribbage, that is.