Christmas Down Under with the Moms

(Christmas Eve in front of our $25AUD Christmas tree, New Year's Eve at Finnigan's Place, Sue and Julie in front of Franz Josef Glacier in NZ, Sara in her punt in Christchurch, Julie feeding a sheep at the bed and breakfast in Greymouth, NZ)

Let me start out by saying how very proud we are of our moms for making the 24-hour trip over the international date line to spend Christmas, New Year's, and a little of January with us. Christmas was spent throwing a few "shrimp on the barbie", basking in the Australian summer sun while thinking of our frozen friends back in the U.S., and sharing a few laughs at Cash's expense.


After two weeks of time with us in Geelong (with the exception of Sara's trip to ride a camel and have canapes near Ayers Rock), Sara, Sue, and I flew over the Tasman to visit the Kiwis in New Zealand. As I have mentioned before, it is absolutely true what they say about there being more sheep than people (a comparison of 40 million to 4 million) in NZ. And now, after hearing the story of a sheep's life, I have vowed to not eat lamb any more. That may last until it is served up in a yummy way the next time I visit an Australian restaurant. In any case, I have made the proclamation that I will have two sheep, in addition to my 10 dogs (one, of course, being a sheep dog), when Mark and I finally buy our farm.


It is true what they say about New Zealand being one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is always tough to hone in and say, "This is absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever seen". But, among many candidates, NZ has to be close to the top of the list.

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?

Another Day at the Races

Dori and me at our marquee and me with a band riding stuffed horses.

Mark and I met a Scot by the name of Dori at our recent sailing lesson in Melbourne. Dori is quite a character and was kind enough to ask me to join her at Oaks Day, one of the races in Melbourne during the Spring Racing Carnival.

Fairly enough I have never been to the Kentucky Derby, but I would have to conjecture that this event is as big if not bigger than the annual, U.S. race. I truly thought I would be over dressed. Once there I realized that most of the ladies' hats probably were more expensive than my entire outfit!

A few things I realized/learned at the Oaks Day race:

1. I really like sparkling wine/champagne, as if I didn't know that already.

2. Our new friend, Dori, is the niece of Deborah Kerr (of An Affair to Remember and The King and I).

3. One of Dori's friends, Rhonda, has a son that has spent the last six weeks in L.A. recording an album. His band's name is Sky Bomber, and here is their MySpace page. There are a lot of Australian artists in this country of 20 million that you have never heard of and never will. So this is quite a big deal when a band is invited to record in L.A. I really enjoyed their music when I listened to it the other night!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=60195335

4. I am not a champion horse gambler or punter, as they call it here. I ended the day $23 down, a win by comparison!

We are still here....

A great amount of time has elapsed since we last checked in. It is not due to our lethargy or unwillingness to keep in touch. We simply wanted to get our past month and a half of adventures to you at once (and the pictures have just been uploaded to the computer tonight).

Out of a tad bit of indolence, I will just bring you up to speed quickly:

* I (Julie) made the trip back to Atlanta in late September for Jennifer Morris's (now Ferguson) wedding in Charleston but did a quick fly-by to Napa to meet my friends, Carrie and Kristi. The entire two weeks was a world wind of activity, but it was wonderful to see friends and family that I had not seen in about seven months.

(LtoR): Kristi, Carrie, and me at Darioush Winery in Napa (We really liked their 2004 Signature Cabernet. However, the best wine we had all weekend was a 1988 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars SLV Cab); Jessica's baby shower at my house (Jess and her partner, John, now have a little boy named Jacob Thomas.); Jennifer and me right before the big moment (Doesn't she look great?)

* Spring marks a time of horses, hats, and hammered Australians. Melbourne has at least four, horse race days during Spring Carnival Race Week, but most of the rural towns in Victoria also have their own race days. Mark and I went to the Geelong Cup in late October, bet on several horses (mainly basing our picks on cool-sounding names), and lost pretty much all of them. "The Fuzz" had none of the buzz but took home the cake (and our money).

*This past year has been a terrific year for me. I have spent the latter part of 2006 and now almost 11 months of 2007 with the love of my life. October 28th marked our one-year anniversary. We are so fortunate to have spent most of our married life in Australia, so we commemorated our first year at the biggest Australian natural wonder - The Great Barrier Reef.

Northern Queensland is an amazing region of Australia - not only for the Reef, the largest living thing visible from Space, and the gorgeous scenery but also for the number of animals that could do a human great harm. When one hears of all the weird plants and animals in Australia, this is where most of them can be found. Estuarine Crocodile (have been found almost a hundred kilometers off the coast and even on the Reef), Box Jellyfish (one brush could kill a human if unlucky), and Cassowary birds (carry around a five-inch middle claw that has disemboweled humans in the past) are just a few of the creatures to name a few. Between Mark's mountain biking and sea kayaking and our joint trip to the Reef to snorkel, we were fortunate enough to not run into any of these animals.

Really beautiful, tropical, very humid place!

* On Mark's first stop in his around-the-world trip, I joined him in Sydney. Most Australians will tell you that Melbourne is the best state capital city due to its international population and quaint neighborhoods. However, most will also agree that Sydney is the most dramatic and beautiful city. Between the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House there is not a more appealing picture in Australia.

We had two great days in Sydney of watching the surfers and lunching at Manly Beach and running/swimming/walking at Bondi Beach. Mark and I also keep a mental note of the best meals we have eaten in the past year, and we have a new "Number 1" after our Saturday night in Sydney. Buon Ricordo is an excellent italian restaurant that serves one of the best dishes either of us have ever eaten - Fettucine al tartufovo. Parmesan cheese is grated onto your plate of fettucine at the table, followed by the waiter mixing the truffled egg (egg matured in an airtight box with truffles) into the dish. Only about 3,500 calories.

Baby Joey

This picture is from our trip with Paul and Cheryl to Phillip Island and was left out of the original post.

The little guy's mom was hit by a truck, and he is now being cared for at a wildlife reserve. He spends his naps in this pillow case with a clock to mimic his mom's pouch and finds comfort in sucking his toe. Isn't he a beauty?