Australia, tons of fun

My new possum hair sweater and cockatiel

We had such a great time in Sydney, and Melbourne, it's hard to capture the moment.  The food, arts, the scenery, the people, and the adventures.  Every day there was new excitement.  Here's some of the big memories, and actually will probably turn into their own blog posts.

Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge

Landmarks-  The Rocks, Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour bridge, the Opera House, Manly and Bondi beaches, and the park in Sydney, and the zoo.

Exotic (to us) food- Barramundi, Kangaroo, Crocodile, possum (just kidding! :-) )  I forget what else.  We had so much good food. 

Art- Bondi beach art walk, sculptures everywhere, Sydney art museum, Aboriginal paintings, didgeridoo, boomerangs

Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool just south of the Opera House in the Royal Botanic Gardens - that's me in the blue cap!

Pools- Well, based on input from friends, I tried the pool at Bondi, where the ocean splashes into the pool,  the best swim I have ever had in a pool.  I had great luck at the hotels as well.  Certainly the Marriott in Sydney and the Langham in Melbourne.  Both had really nice atmosphere, and views.  Both were around level 9 or so, adding some drama as well.  Then, on our way back to Sydney, Kirsty found this other fantastic pool in Sydney, on the edge of the park, by the Navy ships.  Beautiful pool, infinite-style lengthwise, then big gutters at water height front and back.  Salt water, with new, nice starting blocks, probably 7 feet deep at the starting line, and of course 50 meters, like Bondi.  Yes, overlooking the bay, but not water rushing in, like Bondi.  A new high-bar for a competitive pool.

Sydney, Australia, We made it!

We arrived!  This is the view from our hotel, the Sheraton 4 Points.  We had a bit of a shuffle to get our rooms, and thank you Ravi for being so generous with yours.  We are overlooking Darling Harbour.  Just below, you can see the Botanical Gardens, and the Maritime Museum (see the submarine?)  In the background is another contemporary bridge, not the famous one by the Opera House.

A special thanks to Joyce and Jennie and Matt for all the tips and places to go.  We've now been and totally enjoyed the Circular Quay, the Rocks, the street fair in the Rocks.  We had breakfast at the City Extra Cafe.  I loved the Rocks.  Awesome shops, all of them seemed to be something special.  A few of note, Ken Done, Aboriginal paintings and didgeridoos, and boomerangs.  I also love the opals.  I was here about 10 years ago on a stopover and had 3-4 hours here.  I walked to the Opera House, and the Rocks, and a nice cappuccino.  I got some nice take homes too.  Opal jewelry for my girls at the Rock Hound, and an Aboriginal boomerang for my boy.  I digress, but it was an awesome stop then, and again today.  As exhausted as we were, we really got some good time in today, finally having a beer at O'Brians by the hotel, and realizing we better have dinner soon, as we were fading fast.  We ended up at a nice steakhouse, ironically, no one had steak, but we did have Barramundi with fennel, which was great.  Also kangaroo carpaccio and cheese souffle to name a few.  Everything was delicious!

 Sydney Cup cakes say it all.  Melbourne Cup, Boo! and I <3 U!

Iceberg Pool, Bondi Beach

Salt water 50 M pool

Auzzie size splash in the pool.  Notice the PCA swim cap?  :-)

Water Dog Park - The Dog - Mountain Biking in Belmont

Ray out on Water Dog Park Trail

This picture does not do this park justice.  It's an awesome little park, with lots of steeps, single track, challenging technical stuff.  No, I can not ride the whole thing without getting off in a few spots.  Yes, it seems innocuous at first.  A park behind suburbia.  You can just about see the whole thing from various vantage points in the hills.

Dropping in, almost immediately it's a grind, depending where you start.  We went around to the Ralston/Alemeda entrance, or just West and South of there.  I forget the names of the streets.  There are actually about 6-8 places to jump in.  This little park is well maintained, an incredible myriad of trails to chose from, but I don't think there are any choices where you won't get a serious ride of climbs, switchbacks, and just plain tight trails.  A full loop is probably only about an 8 mile loop, but it lends itself to doing figure 8's or any number of adaptations to get in a good length ride.  Even the 8 is worthy of a nice ride in and of itself.

Jib Jab
Dang.  For so long I have been trucking up to Marin to ride Mt Tam, with my buddies Chris and Matt.  It is riding paradise, and I really enjoy going with these guys.  Having said that, it is a haul.  For me to limit myself to riding there is nuts.  So, finally, after at least a year, I finally found Water Dog.  No, it's not Mt Tam, but yes, it's a blast!  And it's riding distance from my house.  On bike, I can be there in about 15 minutes.

This was one of two rides I did here with Ray.  I gotta comment on his attire.  Don't you love that shirt?  It's a crash dummy!  It has some silly tag on the back saying if found, put back on the trail or something.  I forget.  Oh Ray.  Heheheehe, even included a typo.  Yep, spelled cyclist with an s on the end.  Very funny.  That said, Ray is a great rider.  He rode my buns into the ground.  The first day was particularly difficult, and even the second, after a good rest, Ray powered up hills I couldn't and stayed on in the technical stuff when I would get off.  Still, it was fun, fun, fun, all the way around though.  So good to see my buddy after all these years, just hanging together and having fun.  He had new brakes and the discs were acting up, so we ended up at this other gem of Belmont.  Passion Trail Bikes.

Thanks, Ray
I know you planned me into your trip, which I really appreciate.  I hope you had as much fun as I did.  Our friendship lives on, and I felt completely rejuvenated on that front.  Ray, you are a special part of my life.

As you can see, my pictures were, well, limited.  We tried this one trail, that goes tight around the lake.  As it turns out, it wasn't a finished trail.  Ray and I went exploring anyways....  :-)

Passion Trail Bikes ***** (5 / 5 bikes)
Just like the name says.  Essentially, nice mountain bikes, parts, and accessories, and a huge shop, great people.  No kids bikes.  No road bikes.  No messing around.  You know how some quick auto lube shops have that little sitting area?  Passion does too.  And you can get a cappuccino (make your own) or you can pour yourself a delicious micro brew from Devil's Canyon Brewery, which is just a couple blocks away.  It's like a college house bachelor pad.   Yes, dirty dishes in the sink.  coffee grounds around the machine, couches looking extra worn, and a mini-fridge with a tap out the top.  Just pure enjoyment.  Such a treat.  So, we pull in here, late Saturday afternoon, after having rode Water Dog.  We basically needed to get Ray's bike brakes fixed within the hour, or he was going to have to deal with it in Thailand.  In every respect, our chances were a long shot.  Can you diagnose the problem?  Can we get credit for the defective parts Ray just put on in Colorado?  Do they have replacement parts? Could they work on the bike, essentially drop what they are doing? 

"Do you two want a beer?"
Yep, we explained the situation, and the guy was totally on the ball.  Understood the issue, immediately tested the bike, and had some ideas in his head.  So, yeah.  They were busy in the shop, but gave us tremendous support.  So, once he figured out what was what, he says- "So, do you guys want a beer?"  "yes"  "Blonde or Scotch?"  "Blonde, we have to ride home."  Hahahahhahaha!  Awesome!  Dude fixes Ray's bike on the spot.  We are sipping a delicious brew, and the next days' ride, Ray was so excited to be back on track.  Wow.  Full endorsement for Passion.  Great experience.  Really, one of those special moments when you are so happy to be a part of mankind.

References:
This trail has some good references from Passion.  Also, the maps about online and on the trail.  In the end, Ray and I decided, staring at maps doesn't really help.  Just ride.  You can't get too far afoot.

Local Rides thanks to Passion

More Alcatraz pictures

These are pictures from my buddy, Brian. I think they are great, yet I need to say, he warned me they aren't his usual standard. I think they were from his phone. Some of them are pretty hilarious. It reminds me of the awesome pictures he took on our teenage trip to Europe... Those were the days...

Tell me what you think of the slideshow!

Which is your favorite picture??!

Alcatraz!

We made it!  This is Paul, Bill and me after swimming from Alcatraz.  It was a great day, a tiny bit overcast, but calm, the water a balmy 61 degrees. That's Ghirardelli Square in the background.  We just finished in the famous Aquatic Park in the San Francisco Bay.

 This is another friend of mine, from the good ole days.  Thanks for coming out to cheer us on!

More fans, Hi Kathy and Kirsty!


Jib Jab
That week I went mountain biking with Paul and Matt, two guys I used to wrestle with, back in 7-8th grade.  As it turns out, Brian wrestled with us too.  To add to the coincidence, another one of my best buddies, Ray just called today.  He is coming out to visit in a couple weeks, and he too used to wrestle with us, way back in middle school.  Could we have ever known we would all meet again in California?

Click for more Alcatraz photos(thanks Brian!)

Thanks for the encouragement to get a new post out!

CU Buffs Football or Welcome to the Big 10

So many titles went through my mind for this post.  Suffice it to say, it was a tough day for us CU fans.

  This trailer was just out front the stadium gate.  There really were a huge number of fans wearing CU gear.  I really am not up on the Buffs prospects this year, and since I hadn't heard much, I figured they weren't high.  My hopes were not high, but yes, I did have some hope.  The more CU fans I saw, the more I started thinking, hmm, well, you never know!

Until the game started.  Buffs defense was like a sieve.  And when they showed some strength, we would self-destruct with penalties, on offense and defense.  We just never settled down.  Never got into a groove.  Basically, on our heels the whole first half.  I can only speak for the first half, because we left at halftime, and the score was 31-0.  Ouch.

Jib Jab
How to salvage a gorgeous day in Berkeley, when your team is getting crushed.  We went to a sports bar.  Actually, it was a fun Berkeley-style casual, outdoor patio place.  Tons of students and alumni.  Actually, it seemed like 1/3 were CU fans.  The place was a hamburger joint on Telegraph called Raleigh's.  Lots of beer choices.  We had chicken wings and chips and guacamole.  Pretty good, real good beer, and very nice atmosphere.  We came thinking we could follow the Giants, and alas, they lost too.  Similarly, the defeat was a let down.  The Giants just moved into a tie for 1st place in our division.  Very exciting.  They lost 1-0.  Buffs lost 52-7.  At least they scored.  I don't want to know how.  In the first half, they brought the ball all the way down to the 3 yardline.  For sure, I thought at least we would score.  Instead, about 25 yards in penalties later, we missed a 37 yard field goal.  We turned over the ball again, and the Bears promptly scored again.  We got the ball back with about a minute in the half, and quickly gave up an interception for a touchdown in the last 16 seconds.  Ouch.  31-0 at half.

On a positive note
Actually, there were several:
1)  Kirsty and I got out with her bro and his wife
2)  The day was beautiful, and the stadium, really nice to see
3)  We met at Kirsty's parents after for dinner, and to see the Kenya trip photos
 (and nephews and, well, family!)

This is an odd photo, but I liked it for a few reasons.
- what's up?  all the boys all on the same side of the table!
- although odd, it's also steeped in tradition - beautiful table setting, Pops at the head of the table with a glass of wine.  if the view wasn't washed out, you could see San Fran out the windows.

Here's the girls side of the table.  Makes me happy just thinking about it.

Here's everyone all together.  That's nan getting ready to sit at our end of the table.  We always have so much to talk about.  If it isn't cooking, or gardening, it's something else like photography or some other project she has engineered.  A totally inspirational person.  As is Kirsty's dad.  Without much fanfare, we open the Saturday Chronicle and there he is, in a huge picture on the front page of the cultural section.  My father-in-law!! 

So, words of wisdom from this day of sporting defeats?  You just have to go for it.  If you always win, the wins wouldn't mean anything!  And the bottom line, I have plenty to be thankful for.  Holy smoke, let it go.  :-)

Just because!! This picture makes me happy.  It's us watching the slides on Kirsty's brother and family's trip to Kenya.  The center of the story is around the Daraja Academy in Kenya.  Very cool and an inspirational story in itself.

Finally,
Here's an obstructed view of my backyard project.  you can see the roller, a bunch of rubble in the foreground, and behind, the ground is all layed out ready for sod.  The project is a little on hold while we finalize the patio plans.  Shooting for a Connecticut blue flagstone that will flow straight out into the grass.  From a conservation point of view, at least we cut our grass area down by about 30-40%.
More later..

Also, next Saturday is the Alcatraz swim!

Going Big with my Garden

We needed some more dirt, so Rigo got some more dirt from a neighbor who was excavating.  This is such a small amount of the fill we used.  Seeing it in scope of the truck was impressive though.

The guys, in action.  You can see the beautiful topsoil pile in front.  I think we had 8 or 9 guys out there, on my little back yard.  See all the dust on the table?  I think that's Rigo, my superstar backyard guy.  He's created three big retaining walls, added fill below, then topsoil on top.  Created a whole new garden for me below the black fence you see.  This hill is super steep.  Didn't think I could gain more garden.  He did it.  I am so happy with him, we are planning to use him to replace the deck, but....

Patio, instead.
So, I have been dreaming about having a gorgeous stone patio, but never thought it was feasible in my backyard.  Well, all that has changed.  Just to give you a hint...see below.

That's Rigo and some of his guys.  Bye Bye deck, hello stone patio.  I am planning on having a nice landing by the sliding glass doors (which you can imagine, behind Rigo, the deck stairs.) With about 3-4 stairs down to a patio that flows right into the grass.  A couple features I am trying to plan in:
- a fire pit
- built-in barbecue, and maybe a whole kitchen thing
- little planter areas for herbs, and maybe flowers or something
More to come.

Sidenote:
Seriously, my favorite farmer's market is now Redwood City, behind Sequoia Station.  Sat 9-1pm or about that.