St. Paddy's Day

We missed out on the weekend horse races where everyone celebrated the luck of the Irish. But on Wednesday Laura made a delicious Irish soda bread to celebrate the day.

Cyclone

The weather here has been awesome this past week.  The high temp has been in the high 20's and in the evenings it has been in the mid to low 20s.  The humidity has also dropped to around 50%.  This weather is due to the big cyclone sitting off the coast (it is supposed to hit the shore on the weekend) and a high pressure system in the south.  Therefore, we are getting cool dry air from the south, for the moment.  There is also a lovely breeze which has been keeping the house nice and cool.  It is great not to be sweating all the time, I only hope it lasts.

Bundaberg

Saturday morning we decided to check out the city of Bundaberg, which is famous for three reaons: Bundaberg Sugar, Ginger Beer, and Rum. Being that our favorite non-alcoholic beverage is now Bundaberg Ginger Beer, after brekky we decided to head to the factory for a tour and taste-test. When we arrived at the Ginger Barrel, we were able to take a short tour of the history of ginger beer production. We learned some interesting facts, such as it is all natural product, and they use a fermentation process in production. That means until 1986 when it was regulated, ginger beer had at times been known to contain up to 11% alcohol (now it is a non-alcoholic beverage.) It also means that you can home brew it, which has been known to lead to a few explosions.

The tour ended with a stop at their tasting room to taste some of their other products in addition to their ginger beer. We tried sarsaparilla (root beer), lemon-lime bitters, peachee, apple, burgundee (cream soda made with grapes), and royal crown cola (they are the licensed foreign producers of what we know as RC Cola in the States.) Our favorites were peachee and lemon-lime bitters. Although I had a special liking for the burgundee having grown up drinking a cream soda or two. We left with a variety pack to take home and enjoy.

After enjoying our sugar fix for the day, we decided to head to the museum that tells you how it all starts. The Fairymead House Sugar Museum is an old Queenslander (style of home) that belonged to one of the big sugar producing families in the area. It has since been converted to a museum on the history of sugar farming and production. We were able to wander around the old house while reading and watching videos about how sugar is harvested and the evolution of machinery that has been invented to accomplish this.

After the museum we headed to Bargara, the closest seaside town, for lunch and an ocean view before heading back to Rocky in time for the Comets season opener!

Comets 20 vs Mackay Cutters 10

Saturday night was the opening night for the Comets 2010 season! The game was faster-paced and a bit more exciting than the previous scrimmages we had watched.

For a full breakdown of their first game, go to the Comet's website:

http://comets.com.au/

Mon Repos Turtle Rookery

Friday night we did what is possibly the coolest thing ever. After Matt got off work we hopped in the car and headed down the coast toward Bundaberg. This is the farthest south we have driven down the coast to date. We were pleased to see how green and lush everything is now compared to when we made this trek a few months ago before the rains. The purpose of our trip was to go to the largest Loggerhead Turtle nesting site in the world. From November to February the turtles arrive here to lay their eggs and 8 weeks later those eggs hatch and tonight we were hoping to see some turtle hatchlings.

We arrived at the conservation center just before the doors opened at 7pm. The center is dedicated to protecting the turtles, understanding more about the life cycle of the turtles and educating the public on this unique and threatened species. The center itself has numerous displays on the knowledge their scientists have accumulated over the years and runs videos to educate visitors on the history of turtles and people's affect on them. After checking in, reading the displays, and watching the videos all we could do was wait to be advised if there was "any action" on the beach.

At about 8:15 a volunteer came up and said they were ready for the first group (that was us) to head down to the beach. After receiving a few instructions we were led down a dark but paved path to the beach to the site were a clutch was hatching. Once we arrived to the beach, all torches (flashlights) were turned off and we made our way down the sand to the nearest dune. We made a circle around the nest as a volunteer lit the nest and we watched and waited. It only took a few minutes and we could see a disturbance in the sand. The next thing we knew tiny little turtles were emerging from the sand making their way onto the beach. Turtles smaller than the palm of your hand were digging their way up to the surface so they could head toward the water. It was at this point one of the volunteers would collect them into a holding pen until they all had emerged. They were expecting half a clutch to come out, approximately 60 turtles.

It took maybe 20 minutes for them all to surface. It was then that one of the volunteers allowed us to hold and photograph a few unlucky creatures. The sex of the turtles is dependent upon temperature. So although they couldn't tell us the exact sex of the turtles, they knew that this beach produces mostly females. The turtle that Matt had the honour of holding was a bit cheeky and she bit him (I just figured she wasn't stupid). Since only 1 in 1000 of these turtles will survive into adulthood, she'll probably be the one! The turtles were surprisingly soft to touch.

After we were allowed our photo opportunity, we all lined up down the beach to the water. We stood with our legs apart and shining our torches at the person in front of us' feet, forming a lighted tunnel to the water. It was then that they opened the pen and the turtles began their arduous adventure to the open seas. Our job was to assure they all made it to the water following our lights. This is a critical stage in their life because it is during this stage that the turtles are "imprinted" with the information of the earth's magnetic fields that they need to return to this beach 30 years from now and lay their eggs. Matt had the privilege of being the last in line and had them crawling over his feet as they tumbled into the water.

Once the turtles make it into the water they begin their 3 day journey swimming to the south pacific current. Once they hit this current they can kick back relax and ride the current and concentrate on more important things such as eating and staying alive!

Trivia Night

Tuesday night we joined some friends from work and headed to the Heritage hotel (bar) to play trivia.  For those of you who have never been to a trivia night, people form teams and write the answers to verbal questions, usually in a few rounds.  The winner usually gets a bar tab for a prize.  It is a good excuse for a pint or two and to hang out with your friends.  Our team consisted of a few Aussies from the local Uni, 2 pommies (Brits) I work with and an Australian who has been living in Canada, we were quite a multinational team.  Liverpool kids was our chosen name after Paul's hometown.  We started off hot in the first round, due almost entirely to Laura who has a knack for identifying TV shows based on a few bars of the theme song.  We all contributed in the rest of the rounds and we came from behind going into the last round to win at the end.  We won a $100 bar tab, but as we had already had plenty of the amber nectar for one night we decided to keep it for next week.  

2x

Tuesday was my last official day on the track. I started the day off with a bang and went for the AM road ride at 5.  It was still dark when we started riding and really didn't lighten up enough to turn off the lights for another 15 minutes.  The ride is called the angle and is a big triangle.  After we took the last turn we started a pace line and the speed really turned up.  I am happy to say I was one of only 3 other guys who were consistantly able to put down the hammer at the front, the other 10 guys rotated in from time to time.  I think that the track training gave me some speed in the legs as well as some stamina.  The first time I did this ride after 1 month off the bike, I was dropped half way home on the last leg.

So, not having had enough pain for one day, I went to the track in the afternoon.  It turned out to be the last practice of the year.  It had some fun riding up and down the banks and savoring being out on the track for the last time.  By the end of the session my lags were completely dead.  But that was expected.  At least I will not have to keep swapping my pedals from bike to bike anymore.

108

Well today I finally made myself get up at 5AM on a weekend and go for a bike ride.  I am sore and tired now, but happy I finally did it.  We rode out from Rocky prior to the sun rise and were out at the beaches in the early hours of the morning.  My odometer said 108.5 Km when I returned home.  Not bad seeing as I  have not had a ride over 60Km since arriving in Australia.  We stopped at a bakery in Yeppoon a little over the half way point for a little rest and refuel.  I choose an apple pie and a bottle of chocolate milk.  My quads were burning on the return to town, but I couldn't slow up to warm down. I was climbing the last hill 500 meters from my house and was riding next Chaddy (Rock Racing's Glen Chadwick), his cool down was a bit quicker than mine. 

Skipping back to Saturday night, I had a track race.  We had a nice warm up and just as we were beginning our race it started sprinkling.  By five laps into the race the track was too slick and they called the event.  Turnout has been dwindling so it may have been the last race of the year.  Road season is due to start in April.

Sydney: Day 5

Tuesday was our last day in Sydney. We had a 5pm flight, so we had plenty of time to catch a few sights before we headed home. So we headed to the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour. These gardens were designed by architects in Guangzhou, China, which is Sydney's sister city. In the Dragon Wall (see picture), one dragon signifies Guangdong province; and the other, New South Wales. There is a pearl in the center that symbolizes prosperity. Complete with waterfalls, a lake, and pavilions, this garden proved to be a bit of peace in a busy tourist area of the city.

We met a friend of mine from high school, Scott, who now resides in Wollongong (just south of Sydney) for a boozy lunch at the only microbrewery in Sydney, the Lord Nelson. On his recommendation, I tried the fish and chips and Matt, the pie floater. The floater is a meat pie sitting on a bed of mashed potatoes topped with pureed green peas swimming in gravy. A truly Ozzie dish!

After spending a few hours eating, drinking and comparing all things Ozzie an American might find odd, we parted ways. Scott went back to work and we headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags via the Royal Botanic Gardens. The Gardens sit on the harbour's edge on Farm Cove and their motto is "Please walk on the grass. We also invite you to smell the roses, hug the trees, talk to the birds and picnic on the lawns." So we took a meandering path around the water's edge enjoying the gardens and getting one last look at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before heading home.

Sydney: Day 4

Today we journeyed to the Blue Mountains. The mountains are located approximately 2 hours (by train) east of Sydney. They get their name from light reflecting on the oil that is released from the eucalyptus trees that primarily make up the forest. The mountains form a canyon with a tree-filled valley. We took the train to Katoomba and arrived to some chilly weather. So, our first stop was to get some hot soup for lunch and put on the extra clothes that we brought with us for the higher elevation.

Re-fueled and warmer we headed out to the 2K walk that led to the canyon rim. Once we arrived there we took a short path down to the rim trail where we could get a better appreciation for the canyon. We spent the afternoon hiking along the trail toward the next town over, Leura, where we would catch our train home. One of the most famous features of the canyon, Three Sisters, was on our way. Aboriginal legend holds that these sister were turned to stone by their witch-doctor father to protect them from an evil bunyip (which Ronnie, the trainer who I work with, describes equivalent to our Big Foot, but with fewer sightings).

We continued on passing numerous waterfalls and cascades that you could see from various viewpoints along the way. Just the breadth and depth of the canyon was beautiful in itself. It reminded us of our own Grand Canyon but filled with trees. As we got closer to Leura, the gentle rain started, which then turned less gentle rain and more full on downpour. Needless to say we decided to head for town.

Fortunately, we weren't that far from Leura at this point and since the towns were pretty small there weren't too many roads to get lost on, so we followed the traffic which took us to the town center. Matt checked the train schedule and discovered we had about an hour to kill, so we found a coffee shop to get something to warm us and wait.

While Katoomba is described as being more bohemian, Leura is more stylish in a Victorian sort of way. The town center is lined with posh restaurants and stores enticing to the tourist, especially on a rainy day. The first coffee shop we found had seating in the rear that overlooked the mountains. A perfect spot to spend some time. We opted for hot cocoas (I have forgotten to mention all of the hot cocoas here are served with large marshmallows, yum!) Matt couldn't resist a snack of apple rhubarb cobbler with raspberry sauce and cream. It disappeared so quickly that it was the first time we have ever considered ordering seconds on a dessert! Although later that night at dinner, back in Sydney's Surry Hills district, we almost had a second serving of panna cotta, which Matt had been craving all week.