P2: Margaret River

Busselton Jetty consists of the longest jetty around at 1,850 m long. Jojo and I walked about halfway out into the wind, at which point Jojo requested we turn back to avoid walking over some older, less stable timbers.


With over 100 wineries in the region, they seemed to be around every turn and every couple kilometers along every stretch of road we drove.


Sandalford Winery


Jojo and me sampling. I drank a really great Element Shiraz at Sandalford. Only $12 a bottle. Check it out if you see it.


Vasse Felix vineyard


Picking grapes at Vasse Felix


Vasse Felix is known for their Theatre Red and Theatre White cheaper wines. I didn't particularly like them.


Voyager Estate had the most perfectly manicured gardens including a rose garden. Jojo purchased lots of fancy jewelery in their shop. I also purchased a pair of earrings. Some go to buy wine... not us, we go for the jewels.


Leeuwin Estate hosts a big music festival on their lawns each year in the Feb/March timeframe. We walked by the amphitheatre on our way into the tasting room.


Xanadu was our final stop in the tour 'de wineries. They actually locked the door just as we were approaching, then opened it for us to be able to sample the wine. We felt a little guilty when we left without making a purchase.


This is me at surfer's point, where huge surfing competitions are held each year with over 200 competitors. We saw at least a dozen surfers in the waves. Upon return, one guy complained there were too many blokes out there and not enough girls.


A surfer about to enter Surfer's Point


Although beautiful, the 100 km detour to Augusta seemed less than worthwhile.


Yallingup was described to us as irresistable. While pretty, it did not seem remarkably distinct from all the other beautiful beaches we'd seen earlier that day. I do have to admit that the beaches tend to look most magnificent in full sunlight and we were there just before dusk.

We caught the sunset at Bunbury.

Jojo and I left the B&B at 6:30AM Thursday to make the 3.5 hour drive down to Margaret River, the premiere wine region of Australia. There was plenty of sightseeing and wine tasting to more than fill our limited time, so we wanted to make the most of it. It didn't take long for Jojo and I to learn that we were complete opposites in many areas - the types of wine we prefer (her super sweet, me super dry), music we enjoy listening to (her mainstream R&B, me alternative, folk, singer/songwriter type), our mode of travel (her complete relaxation, me see and do as much as possible), etc.

Our first stop was at Busselton Jetty, followed by stops at three wineries: Sandalford, Moss Brothers, and Vasse Felix. The driver (me) required a break from the wine tasting, so we swung by Surfers Point where we stopped for lunch. We continued down to Augusta in the southern tip of Western Australia. We barely snuck in three more wineries before they all closed for the day: Voyager Estate, Leeuwin Estate, and Xanadu. We swung through the town of Margaret River on our way back up the coast. We got rather lost in the maze of gravel roads leading past the wineries and back to the highway. We were stopped quite literally in the middle of nowhere when a winery van tour "Wine for Dudes" turned past us, honking, waving and laughing. I gave them the thumbs up sign and smiled back. They must have been happy and relieved to be on a guided tour. Ha! We stopped in Yallingup for the view and Bunbury for the sunset on our way back to Perth. Bunbury is actually a great spot for swimming with the dolphins but time did not allow this trip. We returned to our B&B around 11PM that evening, having had a great day of exploration in Margaret River.

P1: Cottlsloe

Cottlesloe Beach


me among the Aboriginal wood statues at Cottlesloe


Surfers lined up along Scarborough Beach


Surfers headed into the waves


Surfers riding the waves in... looks a bit more like body boarding... these were the amateurs


Jojo and I had a great walk along Scarborough Beach

On Tuesday 18 March, Jojo and I boarded a plane from Melbourne to Perth, which is located in Western Australia, the opposite coast. It was a four hour flight, which arrived around midnight in a time zone two hours behind Melbourne's. Sleepily, we navigated our way to the Durack House Bed & Breakfast, our accommodations for our first three nights in Perth.

We got a good night's sleep and headed into the Perth CBD Wednesday morning. I made an emergency stop at Target to buy a digital camera, as my faithful slim Sony Cybershot finally gave out. It had been on the fritz for the last few months and refused to snap out of it. What would my travel be without a camera to capture it all? I got a steal of a deal on a Sony Cybershot camera, this time in a light pink color - ooh aah. I miss the slimness of my old camera, but I'm movin' on! The city was relatively small and not especially spectacular in any sense. It was a city, like other cities, with walkways on several of the major shopping streets.

After stopping by the information center, we headed to the beaches along the coast. It didn't take long for Jojo and I to realize neither of us were stellar navigators, but we were okay with a scenic tour of the region. We incidentally passed the University of Western Australia en route to the beaches. The campus was beautiful with old stone architecture. We made it to Cottelsloe, which was stunning. We enjoyed a fish and chips lunch by the beach, then headed down for some sunning and swimming. The weather was perfect - sunny and beautiful, not sweltering or zapping in any way. The water was gorgeous - various shades of blue and green and crystal clear, a little chilly but ultra refreshing. We crept up the coast onto Scarborough Beach, another well known beach in the area. As it was later in the day, the beach had started clearing out, and it seemed like a peaceful oasis. Jojo and I walked along the water's edge watching surfers and sailors. There were all kinds of guys on snowboard-like surfboards attached to giant kites - it looked like parasailing, but from a surf board (I'm not sure what it's called). From there, we moved further up the coast to the Hillarys, where we enjoyed dinner at a tavern and watched the sun set over the harbor.

Wonders of the World

I completed my community project from my last SELP course today, and it was so much FUN! I created an event called "Wonders of the World" for people from my office to share inspiring travel experiences with each other. The purpose of my project was to create inspiration and connection among people who do not generally interact. Seven people presented, all of whom took a really interesting spin on the idea. The last speaker decided to talk about things she "wondered" when she was traveling around the world (for example, what was up under Ms. Liberty's skirt?, do people really ever look at the Mona Lisa or just snap a picture?, what would it be like to get married in a wedding chapel in a chain mall squeezed between a donut shop and an oil change place - does the donut shop get a lot of catering business?, etc). It was really funny. I had a very diverse turnout of people (around 45-50, far more than generally attend lunchtime sessions) from all different levels and workgroups in our office, and the feedback was tremendous. It's been requested that this become a regular type of event, and the office has offered to provide food and drinks again. It was really great to see the fulfilment of my project and to see that it really did cause connection and inspiration.

Anglesea

Shani and Bec relaxing in the waiting room of the resport spa

Mel, Bec, Les, and Holly-Mae - let the pampering begin!

Our house for the weekend

Our gourmet antipasto lunch

me, Bec, Holly-Mae, Belle, and Mel at the waterfall in Lorne

Mel and Belle coming down the track

A giant tree I lifted out of our way along the trail - ya right

Belle, Mel, Holly-Mae, and Bec under the giant tree trunk

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go" across this tree trunk footbridge

Mel whips up some of her renowned brushetta.

Holly-Mae, Lesley, Mel, Cara, Belle, Bec, Shani, Kathy

The interpretative dance portion of the evening - Bec, Mel, Les

Mel and me

Yes, that's me with my best model shot. What do you think? Vogue? Glamour?

The beach at Anglesea

There were those hiding out from the sun...

... and those basking in it!

I had a girls pampering weekend in Anglesea, which is located along the Great Ocean Road a couple hours southwest of Melbourne. I went with Mel, a friend from work, and a bunch of her friends (nine of us all together). I'd met about half of them at the Thanksgiving dinner in November and seen a few since. The others I met when I arrived Friday evening. It was a great group of girls resulting in a very relaxed, easy, fun weekend. We started with massages and spa treatments Saturday morning, then went bushwalking through waterfalls in Lorne. There wasn't a clear path, so we were hopping back and forth across the creek, crawling under and over fallen trees, and getting creative. It was perfect weather for a hike. That night we cooked up dinner and relaxed around the house. A few drinks led to interpretive dancing, juicy stories, and very little sleep. Not to worry because the next day was all about lazing at the beach - once again a sunny perfect day. It was still hot and sunny when I got home Sunday afternoon, so I headed to the pool for a little more R&R.

Catch Ups

Tuesday night, I came home to Dan and his friends Daniel and Sean. We had a great philosophical, theoretical, religious conversation - among my favorite things to do. We got pretty caught up in it and it was early in the morning before we realized it. Eek!

Wednesday night, I met up with Sammy, the lawyer friend of Tuffy's who is now in San Francisco. I hadn't seen Sammy since before Christmas and we went to Izakaya Chuji, my favorite Japanese restaurant in Melbourne. We had more D&M's (deep and meaningful conversations). Oh yeah!

Thursday night, Dan, Jade, and I interviewed a couple people to be potential housemates. Heath is moving out. He's going to the U.S. to record his album in a couple weeks and will be there and traveling around for long enough not to keep a place over here. It will be interesting to get a new mix in the house.

SELP Finale

Coach Louise, me, Stephen, Siamak, Kaz

On Tuesday, we finished the final course in the Landmark curriculum for living life powerfully and living a life you love. The class consisted of 45 participants and 9 coaches, but was broken into smaller groups for coaching and forming community. My group is pictured above. Believe it or not, since starting Landmark at the beginning of October, I've lost 47 kgs (103 lbs). That amount happens to be 3 kgs more than Kaz weighs. I used her as my prop in my disclosure that I'd lost an entire person, be her ever so small. Pretty exciting!

I got way too much out of Landmark to walk away, so I committed to being a coach for another Self Expression and Leadership Program (SELP). We started the new course a few weeks ago (before I finished my own). I am loving coaching and being a champion for other people.

Australian 'Labour' Day

Monday was Labour Day in Australia, and thus a public holiday. Dan and I both headed out for some quality training time. I met up with Des, Kristel, and Adrian at the gym for two hours of hot and heavy boxing drills. We had only one pair of proper blocking pads, so we were using our boxing gloves to block each other's punches. Rather inventive we thought. It was such a great workout. We did all of the more complex, tougher drills, and for longer. I followed that up with a swim at the pool. It's been really hot here lately (in the upper 30's which is over 100F), which makes me want to stay away from our non-air conditioned house. I eventually headed home. Our model friend Genevieve came over for a few hours. Dan and I attempted to watch "The Secret" that evening, but got a lousy copy that kept skipping so we bailed on that plan. It was so great to have an extra day in the weekend!

Rendezvous with Hosi

My personal trainer Hosi and I have developed a great friendship over the past five months of training. We've attempted social outings half a dozen times with a zero success rate. Today we finally made good on our plans. We hung out in Port Melbourne right along the beach near where Hosi lives. We went for lunch on Bay Street, browsed through a few shops, and hung out at the beach for a while. The water was chilly but in a good refreshing kind of way. Chillax was the word of the day (chill/relax - is this new only to me?).

I actually had to work a few hours, then headed to church, and thought I may die biking home tonight. Perhaps the bike riding from yesterday is catching up on me. Tomorrow is Labor Day in Australia so we've got a three day weekend. Woo!!

Moonlight Cinemas

Along the trail on the way to the movie spot - how pretty is it?!


me, Dena, Mhairi - we couldn't stop acknowleding ourselves for the outstanding job we did preparing a gourmet picnic dinner


The movie screen actually inflated from the river behind my head


We scored some awesome seats with a ton of people packed in behind us

Dena, me, Mhairi cozied up on our bean bag seats under the blanket

Hanya and Michael joined us just after the movie started - we barely fit into their jam packed evening schedule - they were off to yet another party after the movie finished

Moonlight Cinemas is an open air cinema showing new releases on the grass of the Royal Botanical Gardens during the summer months. This is actually the last weekend of the season, so we organised ourselves to see Juno. I actually saw it while I was home for Christmas (the U.S. is generally a month or more ahead of movie releases in Australia), but found it very funny and was happy to see it a second time. Gates open at 7pm and the movie starts around 8.30pm. Most people arrive right away to get good seats and enjoy a picnic dinner while waiting for it to get dark. We had yummy rotisserie chicken, jazzed up cous cous, a fresh salad, fruit, popcorn, and more. We were so impressed with ourselves. It was one of those nights that just felt fun and easy and perfect. Everything was funny, everything was relaxed, and everything was exactly as it should have been. It was one of those days actually.

All day I was so aware of my surroundings, people around me, the environment I was in, and so thankful to be a part of it. I started my day with a trip to Vic Market for fresh fruit, veggies, and meat. The vendors were all shouting out specials, slashing prices, and trying to win business. The whole market was bustling with excitement and good deals. I then went to the grocery store to round out my shopping, where I ran into Rocco (from work) and his son Sebby. They'd gone to see Dills play footy near my house (if only I'd known...). It was a hot day, and a swim sounded too good to pass up. I swam 1.6 km (1 mile), then headed home to get things prepared for this evening. I realized that in all my errand running today, I biked 32 km (20 miles)! If only I'd done some running. I would have completed my own little triathlon.

All over the place

This week I feel like I got a tour of every outer suburb in Melbourne. I was in Werribee (zoo) and South Yarra (Jam Factory) Saturday, Elwood Sunday (triathlon), Wastonia Monday night (Vitality & Wellness seminar my friend Kaz hosted), South Melbourne Tuesday night (Landmark), Moonee Ponds Wednesday night (dinner party with friends), and Niddrie Thursday night (Urban Life church group). I've been in every direction outward from the city and on every form of public transport.

This is one of the first times in a long time I've really missed having a car. It took me nearly two hours to get home Monday evening when it would have taken me 15-20 minutes to drive. However, had a driven, I would have missed out on an incredibly bizarre encounter on the train with a weirdo and his dog. He was just a real talker and asked me if I'd heard of Slim Dusty, an Australian country music legend, proceeded to sing TWO full songs, and ran his trap until I left the train running when we got back in the city. Don't you wish you got to ride a train?

Wednesday night was a real treat as my friend Stephen spent FIVE hours preparing a gourmet Sicilian feast. It was some kind of steak wrapped around cheese, garlic, and basil with lamb shanks and Italian sausage in a tomato and spiced sauce over hand-rolled pasta. Amazing. Six of us dined by candlelight and jazz music on his deck on a beautiful evening. I even enjoyed wine with dinner, which I've been avoiding in my focus on being healthy.

BRW Triathlon

Dena finishing off the 4 km run at the end of the triathlon - imagine my very loud cheering - rah rah rah!

Team 1476: Nicola, Hanya, Dena

The ever-social URS bbq following completion of the triathlon

Michael, Alex, Hanya, Mike, Mhairi, Ian, me, Dena, Martin

Nicola, Alex, me, Dena, Hanya, Michael

URS entered 8 teams of 3 into the BRW triathlon, a corporate triathlon for people of all skill levels and incidentally the largest triathlon in the southern hemisphere. The mini-tri consists of a 400 m swim, 10 km bike ride, and 4 km run. Mhairi, Ian, and I went to cheer on the team in Elwood Sunday morning. They lucked out with perfect weather. The ever social URS office sprung for a bbq following the triathlon. Next year, I will participate in this triathlon!! Hold me to it.