Merry Christmas: Baby, Guns, Demo

This time of year is usually fun and exciting and Christmas 2010 is proving no different.

Ultrasound picture from 18 weeks

The first Christmas present came a few days early. I went with my wife to her regular Dr's appointment and for the first time I actually heard my daughter's heart beat in the womb. 29 weeks along and Baby Q is doing fine! The final 11 weeks will probably fly.

The next present was from me ... I am exercising my 5th Amendment right to bear arms. I bought a gun after much careful deliberation and thought. This was probably a more painful buying process than it needed to be, but having never owned a gun I wanted to explore all my options. I took it out to the gun range today with my brother ... not sure what to say about the gun other than it goes bang. But it was still fun to shoot. The picture is a running joke among my friends.

The final present came from our builders ... We got all our permits and we were finally ready for demo! On Christmas Eve a backhoe was left on our door step (literally). Today the actual demo took place. They let me knock down the first wall and I have to admit that was pretty awesome! After 10 minutes I decided to let the pros take it from there. Another 20 minutes and the entire house was down to a neat pile. It will take a few days to clear all the debris and then we'll be ready for the foundation. The "fun" will start happening fast and furious from now on.

Two Year Anniversary - Washington DC

The Mrs wanted to go somewhere to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary and we found a good deal on flights to our nation's capital using miles. With the baby due in 3 months and a new home built in ~6 months this will definitely be our last trip for quite a while. I think I said the same thing about the trip to Australia, so I may say this again in a couple months.

Anyhow, it was an enjoyable trip filled with good food, good fun, and good company. We saw all the usual DC sites in all their splendor and glory. But rather than bore you with the same old, same old I thought I would share our unique experiences.

For starters, we were pretty sure Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President of Iran) stayed in our hotel and followed us around while we were site seeing.  After further photographic review it probably was not him, but for a time it was the strangest celebrity siting of our lives.

On our last night in DC we spent time with a good friend and watched the latest Harry Potter movie. The movie was of course fantastic ... but as we left we were treated to a second show outside the theater by DCFD. About 3-4 fire trucks with sirens blaring roared up the street outside the movie theater and blocked off the street. You would have thought a whole city block was on fire but from what we could tell it was a heroic, roof-top kitty rescue. It was too cold to wait around much longer to confirm this as true, but we certainly did not see any flames or smoke.

All in all another great trip. For all the real pictures see my album here.

New House - Part 1

We played our cards right and were lucky to sell both of our houses within 3 months of each other. And despite moving two times during that time and now expecting our first child,  we have decided to go "all in" on this beautiful home:

This is our dream home ... well not quite yet.  To say this house is a disaster would be an understatement. In true Houston style, this will be torn down to make way for something that hopefully my family and I will live in for many years to come.

Suffice it to say the previous owner was quite old and was a hoarder. But friends and family were interested to see what hidden treasurers might lie within the layers of trash. We found $100 in cash, a bunch of old coins, a loaded .22 pistol, and well ... lots and lots of trash.

This will be the first of many blogs where I will chronicle the progress of this grand adventure we are undertaking. I have no illusions that this will be easy or without it's difficulties (my blood pressure is already equal the the cost of this house and rising!), but I hope this will be a good way to share the goings on and try to enjoy this once in a lifetime process.

Wish us luck!

Australia Day 13 - Heading Home

The flights back were just as bad as the flights here. But we had all sorts of fun and memories to keep us company on the hours and hours and hours of flying time!

I learned a lot about Australia ... they drive on the wrong side of the road .... they say "no worries" more than they say "g'day mate" .... Burger King is called Hungry Jacks .... Fosters is NOT Australian for Beer .... and not every Aussie looks like Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. Can't wait until the next great adventure ......

Australia Day 12 - How much is that koala in the window?

My wife insisted that while in Australia she pet as many marsupials and other cute and cuddly creatures as possible (but apparently bats don't qualify as I learned the night before). She'd already gotten kangaroos and wallabies out of the way. Now all that was left was the koala!

Rather than go to the zoo, we agreed to go quite a ways out of the city to a Koala Sanctuary. It was cheaper and we got more up close and personal contact with the koalas. However it took us longer to get there and back, than it did to see and pet the koalas. But that didn't matter. We got our quality time petting and watching the cute little guys in the trees.

They are kind of smelly with wiry hair. Not so cuddly after all. That didn't matter to a certain someone. 

That night we took a ferry to Manly Beach for dinner and a nice stroll along the beach. It was a low key end to our Australian Adventure!

Australia Day 11 - A good day to climb a bridge

Today was the highlight of the Outback Adventure ... we walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

After walking around a street market in the morning and buying a few souvenirs we headed to the Bridge Climb. I knew this was a popular tourist activity, but I never thought it would such an efficient operation. They have tours going all day, every 10-15 minutes, with 10 people in each climb group! Apparently the hefty price tag doesn't discourage other adventurers. Each person is set up with cover-alls, head sets, a friendly tour guide, and a 10 minute safety walkthrough. After that it's a 3 hour walk around the top of the bridge.

The views are obviously incredible, but they won't let you take your camera ... for "safety" reasons. Of course they're happy to SELL you pictures at the end of the trip. Regardless it was worth the price of admission. It was not as difficult a climb as I thought it would be. And I was strapped in at all times and never felt at all unsafe. Definitely a great experience (even if everyone and their mother also went on this climb).

After eating dinner, we took in a rugby match. The entire trip I saw rugby and Aussie rules Football all over TV. They make American's obsession with the NFL look tame. I didn't know the rules or how to tell which sport was which. But it was entertaining. After a week and a half I had figured it out enough that we decided to see a game in person. Besides, football and rugby are much more exciting than cricket which would have been our only other option.

The game was fun, but the real adventure was getting to the stadium. We took the train to the central station and had to walk a couple of miles. When the stadium was in sight we were walking through a park. It was dark and a little spooky. I kept hearing weird noises when out of no where a great flying beast came swooping in to attack. I naturally threw my wife in the way of danger to save myself. Thankfully we were both unharmed but I was rattled and my wife was angry that I tried to use her as a human shield.

We had been admiring these bats feeding at dusk from our hotel balcony the night before. Come to find out these are actually quite a nuisance to the city of Sydney and apparently also a threat to young American married couples. They are called flying foxes and that name is probably very appropriate.

Regardless we survived and enjoyed a rugby match. The end to another great day.

Australia Day 10 - Hello Sydney

We arrived in Sydney late last night. Our hotel is fantastic! We are right in the middle of everything. The Opera House is just around the corner. The Harbor Bridge is a short walk the other side. Inside it's another suite with separate bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and balcony. We've been lucky with good hotels at the beginning and end of this vacation (although there were no deals on this one, it was expensive).

Today we relaxed, explored the city, and got our bearings. It's a wonderful, vibrant city. My wife said it reminded her of Boston, but I've never been so I can't say if that's true. Certainly seems like a good comparison, a harbor town, very old, British connections, and they talk funny. Only draw back I see is their train system is a little more complicated than it seems it should be. But we're figuring it out.

We made dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant. It was one of the best meals we've ever had and also ranked as the second most expensive meal we've ever had. Conveniently my wife did not realize this restaurant had been voted one of the best restaurants in the world for 2 or 3 years in a row until after we were already seated. Oh well, we're on vacation.

Australia Day 9 - More rocks

After spending the night in a quaint cottage in Port Campbell, we journeyed around more of the sites along the Great Ocean Road. We saw Loch Ard Gorge, Thunder Cave, and the Blowhole. All of this area was made famous by one ship wreck, but this entire coast line was treacherous to navigate and served as the final resting place for many ship wrecks. 

We moved on to see the Arch, London Bridge, and the Grotto. All very cool and beautiful in their own right. Similar to Ayers Rock it's hard to be more descriptive without boring you so I'll leave it there. We headed back to Melbourne to catch a flight to Sydney and our final leg of our Outback Adventure!

Australia Day 8 - Keep Your Eyes on the Great Ocean Road

We flew into Melbourne yesterday and this morning we picked up our rental car. So begins the part of the vacation I was most apprehensive about. We paid for an automatic transmission, we got the insurance, a GPS, and the fuel option to minimize all variables and possible distractions along the way and allow me to concentrate on the road!

Obviously everything is backwards in these cars. The steering wheel is on the right, the turn signal is on the  right ... that took some getting used to. But thanks to the GPS we navigated out of the airport and city without much difficulty.

The Great Ocean Road is a stretch of highway along Australia's southern coast near Melbourne. It is similar to the Pacific Coast Highway and Big Sur in California. The GOR is a 2 lane winding highway that hugs the coast and climbs up and around sheer cliffs. The Indian Ocean was on one side of you and a serene country side on the other. Lots of rolling hills with farm land, cows, and sheep ... it reminded us of the Shire from Lord of the Rings. To say the drive was beautiful would be an understatement.

If I had been driving on the right hand side of the road and I had a high powered European sports car I would have loved to have opened it up a la James Bond. Instead I was slow and deliberate and truthfully barely enjoyed the views (except for when we stopped).

Along the way there were several turn offs for taking pictures and a few hiking trails (one of which we explored). But the most famous vista along the Great Ocean Road is a rock formation called the Twelve Apostles. As the name suggests at one point there were 12 huge rocks lined up in the water. I believe now there are only 5 or 6 still standing. We arrived near sunset and the views were incredible. It's hard to describe but with the waves crashing and sun setting there was something very moving about these rocks. Perhaps I was just glad to have survived the last 3-4 hours driving on the wrong side of the road!

Australia Day 7 - Ayers Rock Camping

As the only Americans we did our best to build good international relations. A couple from The Netherlands at one point offered us candy. Not wanting to be rude we gladly accepted. It was a salty, black licorice candy that is apparently very popular in the Netherlands. It must be an acquired taste. We were able to choke it down without regurgitating.

We also chatted with a brother and sister from Switzerland who were back packers. They were spending 6 months all over Australia and planned to spend another 3+ months in the US and Canada. Of course I'd heard of back packing but never in the context of a job or lifestyle. Very interesting people (but can't say I'd want to switch places with them).

Thankfully we were more than equipped to handle the hiking, so our amateurish hiking attire was not a problem. The day we landed we hiked around the Olgas, watched the sun set behind Ayers Rock  (very beautiful), and ate a delicious dinner back at the campsite (bbq kangaroo is great!).

That night we camped out in style. The tents were basically permanent and had beds, lights, and wood floors. Plus we had a cook in a kitchen to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restrooms and showers were community, like you'd see in a park back home. Basically this was my idea of camping!

The second day we watched the sun rise over Ayers Rock (also very beautiful) and then hiked around the base of Ayers Rock. After that we rushed off to the airport for our next leg of the vacation (everyone else stayed for 2 or 3 more nights filled with more serious hikes and less luxurious accommodations).

Two things to know about Ayers Rock (aka Uluru) and the Olgas (aka Kata Tjuta). First they are both important and sacred Aboriginal sites and there is some difficulty in balancing preservation of their history and culture and allowing for the huge influx of tourists to see these wonders of nature. Climbing to the top of Ayers Rock is not yet forbidden but it is strongly discouraged. The day we were there it was closed due to high winds so we didn't have to choose between climbing a big rock and insulting an indigenous people.

The other thing is these are both amazing geologic features. They are huge rocks jutting out of the ground in an otherwise flat and baron landscape. To give you some perspective, Ayers Rock is taller than the Eiffel Tower and it's a 9 mile walk around the base! It's said to be the largest single rock in the world! We took a ton of pictures and it was a really neat experience. But there just isn't much more I can say about a bunch of rocks, so I'll end it here.

Australia Day 6 - Travel to Ayers Rock

This morning we were picked up to fly into Ayers Rock. The highlight of an otherwise uneventful travel day was the fact that we were chauffeured in a stretch limo (all by ourselves). I think it was dumb luck, we certainly didn't pay for a limo to pick us up.

We are sad to leave Palm Cove, but traveling in a limo is an appropriate end to this segment of our vacation. Now we can stop pretending to be living the lifestyles of the rich and famous and return to the lifestyles of the middle class and obscure.

This short Ayers Rock trip will consist of camping and a couple of hikes. It will certainly be a change from our time in Palm Cove but we're looking forward to it.

Ayers Rock is in the middle of the country and there isn't much else around for 100's or 1000's of miles in all directions. For all intents and purposes it is "The Outback" that we all think about in Australia.  I was surprised how green it was and later learned it's really a semi arid desert. There is an airport, a resort with 2-3 hotels, and 2 pretty incredible rock formations. Without the later there would be absolutely nothing here.

After landing we were picked up by the tour company. Right away I had a bad feeling. #1 … we were the only Americans, #2 … we were clearly the only ones who were NOT serious hikers  (i.e. big hiking back packs, boots, all sorts of gear, while we had sneakers and a couple bottles of water). Thankfully in the end neither of those ended up being a real problem. More on that and our camping adventure in the next posting.

Australia Day 5 - Daintree Rainforest

Today we did a tour of the Daintree Rainforest, which apparently is the only place in the world where the "rainforest meets the reef". We took a boat ride up the Daintree River and saw a couple of real, wild crocodiles (although they were hiding pretty well). We walked around the rainforest a bit, it was hot and humid, but very beautiful. After lunch we took a swim in a creek running through the rainforest.

Most of the excitement came before lunch. Our guide thought he spotted some crazy bird and wanted us to see it. Unfortunately he was going too fast and got stuck in a ditch. The men-folk and I were enlisted to push. I'd like to say we single handedly got it out of the ditch, but it wasn't until another tour bus pulled us out that we were back on the road. But it was fun nonetheless … all apart of our outback adventure!

And in addition to all that excitement, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention feeding and petting the kangaroos. The place we ate lunch also had a small collection of animals including 2 kangaroos and 2 wallabies. It was cool being that close to them, but they were so lazy they barely got up when you tried to feed them. In any case, my wife was satisfied that she got to scratch one animal off her long list of "animals she must hold or pet while in Australia".

Australia Day 4 - Great Barrier Reef Batman!

Today we booked a snorkeling tour to the Great Barrier Reef. This particular tour had a permanent platform anchored to the outer reef. This platform was something between a floating Ritz Carlton and an offshore oil platform (think something out of the Kevin Costner movie "Water World"). It had a below water observation deck, platforms to get in and out of the water easily, and a semi-submersible sub. Plus lunch was included!

On the 90 minute trip to the platform we were informed that its jelly fish season and it was strongly encouraged to wear lycra suits while snorkeling. There are lots of jellyfish (or stingers as they call them here) that can seriously hurt or kill you. Not wanting either of these we followed orders (as did 99% of everyone else on the tour).

Needless to say I looked ridiculous. The only saving factor was that everyone else looked as ridiculous as me. My wife got a black suit, making her look like a seal. While I got a blue suit and looked like a tall smurf.

Anyway the embarrassment of the lycra suit not withstanding, the snorkeling was awesome! It was considerably better than our first snorkeling experience in Hawaii. We were on the outer reefs and basically as far out as you could go. We could see the continental shelf and the waves were breaking against it ... it was very impressive. We saw all sorts of cool, colorful fish and marine life (but no jelly fish … so yes I looked stupid for no reason). I took a lot of pictures (none under water) but they really fail to capture the vastness and beauty.

Australia Day 3 - R&R

We watched the sun rise over the ocean this morning. It was beautiful. One advantage to jet lag I suppose (although I do hope we adjust soon … I don't like going to bed at 8pm and waking up at 4am!).

After a stroll on the beach we sat in a cafe and had enjoyed some delicious coffee. I've just started drinking coffee so this pretty unusual for me. I learned later that the coffee was nothing special, apparently their equivalent to Folgers. I guess it tasted so good because I am on vacation.

Later in the afternoon we rented jet skis and enjoyed some manufactured fun. Today was fantastic and something I told the Mrs that we should do more of (i.e. nothing). Our vacations often feel very rushed and hectic, but this one is starting off right.

Australia Day 2 - I know what heaven is

We arrived at Palm Cove today. It's a small, sleepy beach town that has been transformed into an upscale tourist destination. The scenery is beautiful and is surprisingly more tropical than I thought it would be. This whole region of Australia reminds me very much like Hawaii. Beautiful mountains covered in lush tropical forests in the background and beaches in the foreground.

There is one main, albeit small road that runs next to the beach here. Opposite the beach are a few small bungalows, several businesses and cafes, and a lot of new, multi-level apartment complexes. This town has apparently become a very trendy spot for locals.

The highlight of the trip so far is this apartment we're staying at. We rented it online and it is amazing! It's huge and the views are unbelievable. Large windows facing the ocean and a HUGE patio with our own grill. A full kitchen, several LCD TVs, washer/dryer, etc, etc. Basically all the comforts of home, minus my ps3.

Even without the fantastic vistas, this place is probably nicer than our home, and certainly more expensive (we were told there is one unit currently unsold … asking price is a cool $1.25 mill AUD).

Anyway, we've spent most of our time on the patio enjoying the nice sea breeze and the sights and sounds of the waves crashing in front of us. We are quite happy to finally have a home base for the next few days (let alone a home base as nice as this).

Australia Day 1 - I know what hell is

My wife/blog editor has suggested I cut out the rants and hellish description of our flights to Australia from my first draft of this blog entry. So I'll leave it at this … we had 3 flights (Houston-Honolulu, Honolulu-Guam, Guam-Cairns) totaling ~22 hours of flight time sitting in coach. I believe that has to equate to one of Dante's 9 Circles of Hell (and if not it should be).

We booked those flights almost a year ago using FF miles (it was a great deal that we could not pass up). In hind sight the money we saved on the plane ticket was spent later on our sanity. Bottom line, I have a new found respect for how big this world is and how far away home is from Australia!

We landed around 11pm local time and were in our hotel by 12:30am. Tomorrow we'll get to our home base for the next few days in a resort town called Palm Cove.

The trip that almost was NOT

We thought we had checked the visa requirements for US citizens to enter Australia. Well apparently we didn't.

We were very nervous when we were informed visas were required for entry while we were checking into our flight in Houston! Thankfully the Continental rep was able to handle it for us, but we were sweating it for awhile. Hopefully this is the first and last hiccup getting there.

new beginnings

I actually deleted this blog a few months back when I realized I hadn't written anything in awhile and I was unlikely to do so in the future.

But I find myself on another long vacation and I am moved to blog. Last year my wife and I went to Paris, and while I'm not sure it inspired anyone or drew any additional interest from the blogosphere, I found it to be an entertaining and effective way to capture my travel adventures and experiences.

So I've decided to repurpose this blog as my vacation blog … at least for now anyway. I wish I had this idea sooner because I could have blogged about my last ski trip to Breckenridge. I hope you enjoy the "new" blog!

We're heading to Australia and as I have Internet access I'll try to post my blog updates.