Look who I had lunch with on the weekend...

Rainbows in South Brisbane

Di's Birthday

To continue the 'Di' theme on my blog this week... here are a few piccies from her birthday!

Di and Kay and Rosa's cafe with her complimentary 'babycino'

Birthday dinner at Kangaroo Point (Barbequed Salmon, Haloumi and Pumpkin Risotto)

Watching Casablanca in our backyard with lots of friends on Friday night

This should be an ad for QUT!

This blog post is an official, public congratulations to Di, from me, for deservedly receiving a University Medal!!

Alaska and Sushi!

Finally back home - 36 hours after flying out of Los Angeles! (Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore to Brisbane).

Between LA and tokyo, I decided to lift my window shade to see what we were flying over (expecting it just to be cloud or water) and I saw a little island. It had a mountain with snow on it. I lifted the shade all the way up, looked ahead, and saw the Alaskan Peninsula spreading out before me! With snow covered rugged mountains as far as I could see, and after a few minutes, one HUGE volcano. Subsequent research revealed that it was Mt Veniaminof (Google Maps Here)- an active volcano. It was surreal to think that I was flying over Alaska to get back to Australia from the USA...

In Narita airport in Tokyo, I had a big walk around the airport and found a GREAT sushi place near Gate 33... anyone else know it? I guess I can't say I know what 'genuine' sushi is having never been out of the airport in Japan, but this seemed pretty close... you sit at the counter and there is a row of old Japanese sushi chefs yelling at each other and cutting and rolling sushi so fast that it's a wonder they don't cut off fingers. I ordered a whole plate - and it was a little bigger than I'd pictured, but I made it. It was surely the best sushi I've had ANYWHERE... (well, out of Brisbane, Vancouver and Singapore, which are the only places I've had sushi that I can remember). I found out though that they tend to hide lumps of wasabi in the sushi itself. I now have what I would call a 'Wasabi Headache'. I wear it as a badge of honour.

San Francisco!

Spent the last few days in San Francisco on a last minute work trip. Sort of nice, sort of weird (since there were things I felt I should have been home for...)

San Fran is definitely one of those cities you feel like you know - even though you didn't realise it. The Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, the car-chasing steep streets, the cable cars... I only had a had little video camera with, so photos are only of mobile phone quality...

Worked with some bus guys for a few days with our technology. They took me out for seafood at the wharf at a place that was VERY San Franciscan. They love their city and their history. It was nice to hang out with them! To top the evening off, we saw the Queen Mary II - largest ocean liner in the world exit the harbour.

Ooh - I saw the latest Gilmore Girls LIVE on the WB too!


(Sort of cool how this photo of Alcatraz came up more like a painting)

Chrissy!

Here's a few piccies from Chrissy so far this year... beer brewing with the neighbours, camping with the Schultz's (Mt Mee) and a bit of fun in Adelaide...

Christmas 2006

Stylin the Green

Di has an unorthodox, but surprisingly successful bowling style. Watch, and learn

Video Update

If anyone has tried the videos in this blog recently and they haven't worked - my apologies! All should be fixed now. Please check them out again!

EWB PNG AT

So, EWB - Engineers Without Borders
PNG - Papua New Guinea
AT - Appropriate Technology

For the last week, we had Shirlee from PNG staying with us. She works at ATprojects, where Di worked in January when we were up in PNG. She was here to spend some time with the EWB group at University of Queensland who is working with ATprojects to build affordable, easy to build toilets for use in villages in PNG - one of the most important aspects of improving people's health there.

SO we managed to fit in a few other things since it was Shirlee's first time in Australia, AND Anna from Adelaide was visiting - yet another South Aussie who has been lured up to Queensland at least partly due to Di's magic charm. Beach, Citycat, West End markets, Sunshine Coast hinterland, baking Christmas cookies, German club... fun week!

Nimbus #2

Just an update on my unicycling progress...

Remote Submarine

This is my re-enactment of Hunt for Red October

Crazy Times!

Melbourne, Mackay, Adelaide - that's the weekend before last, last weekend and this weekend. CRAZY!

Since Di's finished uni (WOOHOO!) and is (relatively) free, we decided that she could accompany me on a couple of short work trips - both lengthened to take in the weekends.

A few of the highlights:

Melbourne

• Being extras in a Bollywood movie and seeing the star - Sharuhk Khan (our hero, and only the most famous dude in bollywood cinema!). We were asked to return for a smaller shoot on the Tuesday night but they couldn't afford us... (plus it was from 8pm to 4am and I was working both days...)
• Seeing Daz on Sat night with Markie and Rachel and friends
• Experiencing Melbourne's coldest November day ever(?). Including a memorable walk in the hail in thongs by Di
• Kulcha
• Visiting my university
  
• Kylie!! (And friends, and gelati)

Mackay

• BELLA! (And Mel...)
• Paddling in the water and THEN finding the 'beware of crocodiles' sign
• Uri - our little yellow hire-car
• 
• Platypus at Eungella
• Pinnacle Pies
  
• Eimeo Pub

That's about it for now... off to Adelaide!

What I do during the day

Operation: Save The Fish - UPDATE

Two days later and all is well!

Nimbus Ride #1

So I got this unicycle for my birthday from Di... I thought I might provide a little entertainment for everyone by showing off my progress (or lack of) over the next few weeks/months/years/decades as I try to ride this thing.

Any unicycle riding advice welcome!

Operation: SAVE THE FISH

9:00am - Picked up a rental van
10:00am - Ben runs music at church, Brad packs van
11:30am - We leave for Yamba - 3.5 hours away, directed by 'Yoda' on my GPS software
3:00pm - Arrive at Yamba and inspect the 6 foot tank of cichlids at Ben's cousin Dave's's Optometry clinic. He's moving office and doesn't want them any more. We're here to save them and the tank setup!

6:30pm - After 3 hours of catching fish, syphoning water, moving heavy things and eating a well-deserved sub, we're heading back to Brissy.
10:00pm - Arrive, Woolloongabba, start unpacking
10:30pm - Matt Jantezki, our handy-man saviour arrives to help move the tank cause it is HEAVY
11:30pm - The tank is in our new downstairs hangout room
12:20am - The tank is full of water and filtration system up and running
2:00am - Tank almost full of fish and cleanup begins - Only two casualties (out of around 50 fish!) Di is happy below because she's setting the last fish free!

3:17am and the operation is complete! Success! Sleep...

b-rad-o

Erin put this together for me on my birthday... I LOVE it! I hope you don't think I'm too odd after watching it.

That Erin sure has a talent for these things...

The last house standing...

I came home on Monday and there were three less houses in our street. The North South Bypass Tunnel is going ahead, and life in Gibbon St will never be the same. Not that it ever WAS the same... I mean, ever since we moved here it has been in a state of flux. But now ours is actually the only numbered house left in Gibbon St.

Opposition to the tunnel is out there, but at this point, I think it's probably too late. Someone graffitied the worksite fence, calling the council 'terrorists' for destroying communities. Although terrorist is a bit of an exageration, I found that strangely affirming that someone else cared that the community we had in this street is now almost gone. Now it's just us, Ben and Sarah, Colin, and the Red Paintings next door...

Birthdays, Footy and Coopers

We're in Adelaide for a few days, primarily for Julie's (Di's sis) 30th birthday - celebrated by a fine Thai dinner last night and a champagne and pancake breaky this morning at the Zwars place.

A sad day for Adelaide however as the Crows lost the prelim final. A happy day for Loz though as she both started her very own blog and is a supporter of West Coast.