Mark's Anaconda Adventure

No, not the same anaconda adventure that Mark embarked on two years ago in Trinidad. This one did not include a big snake but only required a 1.9km swim with a 500m run following, a 13km sea kayak, an 11.2km trail run and rock scramble, a 23km mountain bike, and ended with a 2.8km beach run. The Anaconda Adventure Race took place in Lorne on the Great Ocean Road this past Sunday.

Those of you that know me well understand how I feel about my husband. His determination and dedication to his career, me (and Cash), and his extracurricular athletic activities are steadfast and just one line on a list of many reasons that I love him. I was so very proud of him on Sunday as he finished the race (believe me, there are many that do not) as a single (a lot of the other competitors did the race in a relay) and looked really good doing it!

Another check on the list

Mark's dad, Tim, and his friend, Sharon, visited us in Australia last week providing a good excuse to cross something off our list of things to see.

We drove about seven hours across the border into New South Wales and into the Snowy Mountains with the goal of climbing the highest peak in Australia - Mt. Kosciuszko, at a mere 7,310 feet. Mountaineers, wishing to complete the Seven Summits challenge, debate whether to tackle the 2.5 hour walk to the top of Kosciuszko or to rock climb their way 16,024 feet up Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. We chose the former to complement Mark's Kilimanjaro summit, our joint Mt. Elbrus summit, and our hearty try at Aconcagua.

Yes, we did celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia.

And, yes, I am almost three weeks late in telling you about it.

Although Thanksgiving is purely an American tradition, we did have a "Mark and Julie" Thanksgiving, complete with turkey, cornbread stuffing, and pecan pie on Thanksgiving Thursday (even though it was really still Wednesday back in the U.S.).

Cash eyeing the turkey.

We were also fortunate enough to have some Australian friends with a high level of interest in the holiday. They were so interested that they invited us, and a few of their other friends, over for a Thanksgiving dinner on that Saturday night. The stipulation was that I bring some common Thanksgiving side dishes and pumpkin pie.

The thing you have to understand about Australians is that they will eat pumpkin in just about every savory dish..... pumpkin foccacia, pumpkin with pasta, pumpkin lasagna.....and the list goes on. So, the idea that we eat pumpkin as a dessert is very welcomed. Needless to say, there was no canned pumpkin here, so I made the entire thing from scratch. Looking back it may have not been the best pumpkin pie I have had, but how would they know the difference?