Well happy day! Other brother and his wife finally got their passports! I may not be alone in Paris after all this Thanksgiving! Of course they have yet to buy tickets but this is a positive sign that I won't eat alone.
Mondo and I have decided to apply for Amazing Race 8 just as soon as the application goes online. We can't discuss our angle or someone might steal our idea but we think we have a chance. It will be fun to go through the process and make the video. I don't want to sky dive but I guess when it comes down to it I'll just close my eyes and scream. From what I've seen so far, most teams have their melt down in India. Luckily for us, Mondo loves India and can't wait to go there.
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I was back to the movies to see Hero, the not so new martial arts movie with Jet Li. This movie is for people who like the new style of martial arts movie, with lots of emphasis on the form and respect for the art, mixed in with the fantasy style elements of fighting. It is subtitled which helps you focus more on the film and get into the story. The use of red, blue, white, and green serve as a backdrop to illustrate different versions of the tale that is being told. The views of the Chinese desert and mountains make me want to go to those regions of China and see them for myself. This movie is available on DVD but I recommend seeing it on the big screen.
Saturday was about beer - as it should be. Ms. Kitty came over early to hang out and watch bad horror movies. The features of the day were Ginger Snaps 2 (which was so bad that we never finished it the first time,) Razor Blade Smile , and Cabin Fever . Now Cabin Fever is such a bizarre movie that I'm going to have to watch it again with commentary but the DVD has some of the best extras ever! Who will ever forget the Rotten Fruit song? For more info, search www.imdb.com or amazon.
To get through these movies one must have beer. And happy day! I found the Lion Red at Trader Joes! It was the perfect horror movie beer. After all this Homer showed up to attend the Pizza Port party with us. Carlsbad has one truly fun place and that is Pizza Port. Last night was a party for $10 you get a pint glass full of really strong beer and all the bbq you can eat! Since the special beer was a strong IPA we decided to go to the bar for additional beer. Ms. Kitty and Homer set out ...
I've just uploaded the last batch of photos for this trip to my Karen's Not Home! page. Those of you with access can now view the rainforest, Queen Mary Falls and a couple of misc. Auckland photos. This will end the down under blogging and I'll return to the usual blogs of beer, baseball and movies.
For all of you scrapbookers out there, I just took a class on Power Sort and I can now teach you how to sort and organize your 1000's of photos! E-mail me for details and a class.
This coming week looks to be rather mundane and work-related so it may be slow around here for a few days. But then again, maybe not.
I just hit my blogger milestone with my last post, it was number 100!
Well, I'm home. My middle earth journey ended last night as I was brought back to the reality of this life. I'm glad to be home and I have baseball, movies, and stuff to get caught up with. I promised pictures so I'll start with a couple from New Zealand and the Lion Brewing Company tour!
So here I am at the end of the trip, 12 days after I left. I'm back at the Auckland airport just hanging out and waiting for the men's 200 to come on in Athens. Yesterday was my last day in Brisbane and I spent it wandering around the downtown area, cruising the walkways and buying lots of stuff under the influence of Margaret. It occurs to me that this travel log was very light on the drinking tales but that's only because we had a different bottle or two of aussie wine every evening with dinner and there was nothing outrageous going on. Just good company and some of the best wine in the world. Some of you will be lucky to try it as I'm bringing it back home.
It's hard to reflect over the last two weeks as it went by so fast. My highlights included:
Holding a koala
Setting down in NZ for the first time
Living the Aussie life
Meeting new friends
Planning to return
I'd really like to spend more time in NZ and see Wellington and Christchurch but i...
I finally got to hold a koala! The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane rescues hurt koalas and other wildlife. They have interactive programs to teach people about the animals but best of all, you can hold a koala! I now have way too many pictures of koalas! (Not really, there's no such thing.)
Today is a hot sunny day at last so Margaret and I went to the Eumundi market to check out the crafts and food. I munched on Tibet Momo (veggie rolls) and drank ginger beer. After that we went to Noosa Beach and got our exercise in before going into town and having ice cream! Now it's time for a break in the pace and I think we're off to the movies later on.
Tomorrow we're going into Brisbane so I can take the ferry ride around the city's waterways.
Here's the recap since the last post:
Monday - Rain Forest hike and saw lots of wild birds but no koalas. Travel to Albert River Winery and check out the wines. Then off to Queen Mary's Falls for a quick look. Well, the day went smoothly up till then because the easy road on the map turned into a 90 minute drive thru winding mountain roads. When we finally arrived we were still in time to do another rain forest hike and see the very spectacular falls! Off once again we headed to Boonah (I said I was going to the boonies!) where we found a decent place to stay and okay place to eat. The small towns aren't big on tourists so you really just take what you can get. Luckily, we found a small 2 bedroom cottage, with kitchen, sitting room, cable tv, etc. for only $110 per night, a real bargain!
Tuesday: Went to the lavender farm and there was no lavender left. So we checked out the winery and it was okay, so onward ho to the rose farm. That turned out to be another...
Hello All! I've made it to Brisbane but Margaret doesn't have her computer hooked up so today I'm at a Net Cafe in Surfer's Paradise to get you all up to speed. My first day here we ended up just hanging out with Margaret's family and drinking wine.
Day 2 was Don's 80th birthday party and I attended his big family birthday bash which was a day of great eating and drinking. For the two of you reading this that know Don, I'll send pictures when I get home. Needless to say, the birthday boy enjoyed the day.
Tomorrow Margaret is taking me out to the wine and backcountry to hike, drink wine, and sightsee in general and then we go back to her place after that.
Sadly I won't be able to upload photos until I get home but I've taken some fun ones to share!
Highlights of the day in Surfer's were the beautiful beach, the mandatory HRC stop, and wandering all the shops in the area! I'm not sure when the next post will be so check back ...
Day 2 from Middle Earth began nice and sunny with a few clouds hanging about. I slept all night and woke up ready to go. After a great breakfast of pancakes, fruit, and tons of coffee (the advantage of a B&B) I was outside and on my way.
First off, I had to wait for the bus. While I'm there some lady starts asking me how to get to downtown on the bus. Oddly, I knew the answer and I explained to her that I'd only been in town for a day and the bus was easy. I'm not sure if she believed me but then her bus showed up and she was on her way. While I was still waiting, I saw 4 people that I knew walk by. They were the family from Seattle that are staying at the same place as me. We all thought that was pretty funny and they almost missed their turn to the Museum and I showed them where to go. As you may gather, Auckland is a pretty easy place to get around.
Since rain was forecase I decided to take the harbor ferry to Devonport. It was almost warm as I sat ...
Greetings from Middle Earth! I've made it to New Zealand and have now had my first full day here. But to get here, I learned a few things. The first is that the New Zealanders are natural herders whether of sheep or people, it doesn't matter. At LAX I had trouble finding my ticket counter and I was helped along by the line agent to make sure I found my place. Then I went to the International Lounge where the lady was very helpful in making sure I understood exactly what would go on. Once the boarding process started, that same lady came out amongst us and made sure that we were all in the right place. On the plane it was the same way. There was a way that things were done and there changes from the passengers were frowned upon. But, they got us here well fed and rested. Upon arrival it sort of fell apart because customs totally lagged and it took almost 30 minutes to get through stage one. But once I got outside the airport, I was met by my cab and herded off to the ...
Last night I gave the Lake Elsinore Storm another try. While their claim to fame is Single A for the Padres, last night didn't show too much promise. We had an action packed game of many errors, injury, and a player thrown out of the game for arguing a call. A group of us went and we were up in a suite behind home plate. The seats were great and we even had the one random fly ball come sailing into our seat with such force that it dented the wall. We nicknamed it the Death Ball.
The Storm lost again but I did stick it out the entire 9 innings. Once you've put up with so much you might as well see the bitter end. Final score: Lancaster 4, Storm 1.
I leave tonight so my next post will be from Auckland where it's still raining!