Auckland

not starting work until the 26th, i decided to tag along on LT's trip to New Zealand.  she worked.  i had fun. New Zealand has an incredible landscape.  we will return.

the first day i was there, i toured around the city of Auckland.  Auckland is on the North Island and is well known for sailing and small volcanoes (inactive) all around the city.  spent a good amount of the morning walking the city and out to Mt. Eden, the tallest of the volcanoes around the city.

Auckland from the peak of Mt. Eden

the volcanic crater atop Mt. Eden ... that'd make for some good sleddin', but good luck getting out

One Tree Hill.  i did not hike out there for obvious reasons.

then decided i couldn't pass up a ride up the tourist trap that is the Sky Tower.  nice tower.  nice views.  that's all i really have to say about it.

the Sky Tower

Rangitoto from the Sky Tower

the harbor and Harbor Bridge from the Sky Tower

grabbing some lunch down by the harbor, i caught the new zealand america's cup boat returning to port.  coincidence since i planned to hit the New Zealand Maritime Museum next.  i figured these people knew a thing or two about sailing and there might be something of interest.  i spent the next four hours in there.  anything you ever wanted to know about boating and sailing.  highly recommended if you're a nerd interested in the how's and why's regarding the evolution of boat design.  there was also an entire section dedicated to Sir Peter Blake.  i'm sure there's a book on him out there somewhere and it'd be worth a read if you're into that type of thing.  perhaps most well known for leading New Zealand to victory in the America's Cup in 1995, he also holds the record for sailing around the world and is the only yachtsman to win the Whitbread Round the World Race by winning all six stages, winning the first stage of that race by over 350 miles.  he was killed in 2001 by pirates near Rio where he had been doing conservation work for some time.  the man with him described a conversation they had shortly after 9/11 about being a passenger and accepting your fate or having the guts to fight.  he fought.

New Zealand's America's Cup boat

New Zealand Maritime Museum

there was also a single person row boat on display.  the son of the record holder for rowing around the world set out to beat his father's record and did.  the son was the second person to row around the world.

the boat rowed around the world

inside the boat rowed around the world

this one is for Big Bull.  i don't know it's story. it likely has it's ups and downs.

that's the S.S. Puke

and lastly, the town was abuzz as it just so happens that the Rugby World Cup is currently taking place in New Zealand with Auckland as the hub.  somehow the US is in the Rugby World Cup ... who knew we were good enough at rugby to qualify?  they actually take on the Wallabies (Australia) tonight.  LT was brilliant enough to bet a co-worker on the match.  he has to paint his face with the US flag if we win.  she has to wear a Collingwood (the Yankee-like team of footy ... despised by the sane) footy jumper to work if they win.  i suspect she'll be wearing a jumper.

U...S...A!  U...S...A!

Rubbin' is Racin'

this sentiment is true whether we're watching NASCAR in the US or V8 Supercars in Australia.  my company sponsors a V8 Supercar, and Jeff and I were invited to the race this weekend on Phillip Island.  the track is about 2 hours from our house on an island that is known for the "little penguins" that live there and come to shore in spectacular fashion each evening.

but, this post isn't about the "little penguins," it's about racing...

so, we set off for a pretty scenic drive on saturday morning and arrived at the track in time to watch some qualifying races...we were fortunate that we were in the suite right above the pits...literally right above the pits...

not our car, but we were right above the pits

the most amazing thing about this track is that it runs along the coast and the scenery is beautiful.

we'd put high-rises on this land in 0.25 seconds

nice, rolling track

the day was filled with qualifying laps and sprint races to determine the starting line-up for sunday's endurance race...our team didn't do so great in qualifying, but sunday afternoon will be the real test.

in-depth pit tour included...apparently they think that i have
something to do with the sponsorship spending :)

and, for those of you that know b. botham, we met a guy just like him...the only difference was that he wasn't swilling miller lite, it was boag's blonde...JUST like him.

note the fancy "suit" shorts and pumas

Bushwalking at Fort Napean was the Bomb

with LT in the US, and a weekend flying solo, i took a trip out to Fort Napean on the tip of the Mornington Peninsula at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay called "the rip".  having seen portions of shoreline in the area, i knew it would be scenic if nothing else.  as it turned out, the scenery didn't disappoint, the fort was incredibly cool ... literally buried into the peninsula, and there was even some adventure on the walk back to the car.

little known fact, Fort Napean is the sight of the first Allied shots of both World War I and World War II, fired from separate 6-inch gun barrels at the same gun emplacement.  the fort is now an area entirely open to the public with kilometers of trails and tunnels through the bush to barracks, hospitals, firing ranges, gun emplacements, scouting boxes, and engine rooms.  here are images of the peninsula and the fort:

the Mornington Peninsula from the road to Albert's Seat

Fort Napean and "the rip" ... the fort is all in there somewhere

gun turret

the engine house ...  the engineer's had it good

one of the many tunnels leading to gun turrets, ammunition storage, and troop common areas

view out of a scout box back down the peninsula

Melbourne across the bay, the outline of the city is barely visible above the flag in the distance

having done little research prior to my trip, i arrived around noon thinking i'd be in for a short 1/2 hour hike out to the point of the peninsula and back.  by the end of the day i had "bushwalked" (aussie for hiked) well over 15km and only made it back to my vehicle at 4:55pm (the gates closed at 5:00pm) through a risky maneuver.  i had been seeing signs of wildlife all over the place, but no actual wildlife.  on the return trip to the car, i decided to take a more non-descript trail thinking it'd be the best opportunity to see something while understanding i'd have to keep a decent pace to make it back to the car and out of the park on time.  unfortunately i did not have the camera at the ready as, about 2km into the trail i scared up a kangaroo ... i merely caught a glimpse of it's second hop that thing had vanished.  evidence of the encounter:

fresh kangaroo track

yep, that's roo poo

after about another 3km, i came to this:

barbed-wire fence

not so intimidating ... until you consider every other fence i came across on the peninsula had this sign plastered to it every 20 feet or so:

ominous sign

it was 4:30pm.  according to the map, i was 3km (roughly 1.8 miles) from the car if i ignored the fence.  the other option was to follow the trail back out to the road and stick to the road back to the car, about 7km (4.5 miles).  with tired legs and lacking desire to potentially be locked in a park, i proceeded into what may have been unexploded bomb territory ... cautiously, but briskly ... camera at the ready should I run across another kangaroo, or see one flying post explosion.

no explosions!!  thankfully ... but that would have been a better story.

Food, Melbourne Style

so, we have tried pretty hard to cook a couple of times a week, and this means that we have had sticker-shock many times over the past month.

exhibit a:  bananas

 - $14.99AUD/kg (that's about $8.50USD/lb)

exhibit b:  pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream

 - $11.95 AUD/pint

exhibit c:  lunch meat - pick your poison - ham, turkey, bologne, etc

 - about $19.95AUD/kg

exhibit d:  chinese take out

 - $16.80AUD beef fried rice

exhibit e:  case of local brew

 - $44.95AUD...that hurts...

shopping at the local farmers market has proved more wallet-friendly, and we recently learned that all of the banana plantations were destroyed in a cyclone, so perhaps next year will be better...depending on how long it takes for a banana plantation to bear fruit???

Our Town, Port Melbourne

we have been living in our apartment for a couple of weeks now, and we are really enjoying the area (apartment tour to follow soon)...

port melbourne is right on the bay, and we live about a block off of the beach.  in addition to the beach, we also have a great street full of cafes, restaurants, shops, and grocery stores.  the way that the street is situated, we also have a clear line into the city looking north, and a clear line to the beach looking south.

looking north towards the city

and south towards the bay

and one more picture that we really like...

A Car and Some Beer...

we purchased a car for jeff this weekend.  we really didn't know if we would need one, so we have put it off, figuring out how to share one car even though I work about 35km from our house.  jeff recently got a J.O.B (!!!), so it was time to take the plunge and purchase another set of wheels.  he researched the best way to go about this, and as it turns out, they don't lease vehicles to individuals in australia - only businesses.  so we purchased a used 2008 peugeot 308 (i can't believe we're the owners of a french car, either ... pepe le peugeot, keep your comments to yourself :))  it's a cute little car, and due to some banking/international transfer drama that we'll spare you of, we purchased said frenchie car on our credit card.  in australia, they charge you 2.5% credit card fee, but jeff was informed by the dealer that they could waive the fee...if we brought them 3 slabs of beer.

yes, i am serious.

saved us 2.5% on the purchase of a car...

so, off we went to the dealership, with 2 slabs of peroni and 1 slab of crown.  life sure is interesting sometimes.

pepe le peugeot

pepe le peugeot and jeff

We have been remiss...

in updating the blog...I have been traveling for the last two weeks and Jeff claims he doesn't know how to update it...not sure we should believe him.

Stay tuned. We have some topics we'd like to discuss and some adventures to tell you about.