Jim's birthday!

Happy 34th birthday to Jim! 

Although, let's admit folks, we like to draw it out - Sunday was the Chocolate Cake Day and Monday was the Birthday Dinner Day, and we hope the rest of the week holds more  celebrations, such as one last family trip to the swimming pool before it closes for the summer. And of course, we are certainly celebrating the simple, joyful fact of all being together again after Jim's (excellent and productive) month in Australia!!

working on the Choc-nut Cake (whoops the frosting got a little runny); an interesting recipe that called for a big 200g bar of whole-nut dark chocolate to be grated into the batter!

every time she sees the birthday banner in the kitchen, Gemma proclaims, "Happy Birthday, Daddy!"

and cooking up birthday dinner (Gemma helped with chopping and eating watermelon)

Basil-coconut stir fry with chicken, green beans, cauliflower and lots of fresh basil; plus watermelon/mint/feta salad

Aussie coffee shops!!

With chocolate cake.

With a ham, cheese, and mushroom panini.

With a Thai curry chicken pie.

With a choc walnut muffin.

While reading a fascinating book by Niall Ferguson (see it listed in "Recent Reads" to the left).

With a choc chip muffin.

A few more Aussie animals

A Day in Sydney

After my time in Adelaide, I flew back to Sydney for my last three days of the trip. I spent my final day in Australia exploring Sydney. It is an amazing city with lots of history, great views, neat buildings of historical significance, various gardens, and of course water. Sydney began as a British penal colony in 1788 as a means to relieve the overloaded prison system in England. It was meant to be a once-off but, they soon discovered, their prisons were just as packed as before. So another convoy of convicts was packed off to 'New South Wales', as it was first known in the Mother Country (New South Wales is now the name of the state in which Sydney is located). Then another convoy was sent, then another - this continued well into the 19th century. Other Britons also began making the months-long journey voluntarily, seeking economic opportunity, land, etc. It's an interesting heritage. Sadly, as in the Americas, the native Australians - the Aborigines - were marginalized throughout the settling process.

Below are a few sights of the city. Enjoy!

Hyde Park.

St. Mary's Cathedral, built 1828.

Built in 1819 to accommodate convicts, this historic building is now a museum. 

For a mid-morning break, I found a cafe and ordered a chocolate croissant to accompany my flat white. It was the most amazing I've ever had! Instead of the hard strips of chocolate, which seems typical for chocolate croissants, this one was sliced open and given a thick, rich layer of gooey-chocolate-and-choco-shavings-mash, all melting into a warm, chocolate-y goodness. Again - amazing!

The National Library.

Botanical Gardens.

This is the oldest bridge in Australia, built in the early 1800s by Gov. Macquarie for his wife, who liked to take her chaise and horses through the Botanical Gardens to a lovely point overlooking the Harbour. She did this everyday, and this particular overlook is now known as 'Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.'

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful and filled with many amazing trees - here's an example.

The famous Sydney Opera House.

The Opera House is emerging from my left ear...

Notice the fancy McDonald's. They don't look like that back home in Indiana!

This looks suspiciously like another fast-food burger chain in the U.S. -can you guess which one?

These neat buildings are in an area known as The Rocks, and are located right on the harbour were the original convicts once lived. Later, store houses were built for all growing loads of cargo coming and going through the port.

A Race, a Meat Pie, and Thanks

Peter and Margaret were kind and generous hosts during my week in Adelaide - and very informative, too. I learned a lot from them about Australia's heritage, its favorite sports (including rugby league and rugby union, which are played in two different rugby leagues and slightly differ from each other; and especially Australian-rules football), Australia's higher education and schooling system, its plants and animals, and the city of Adelaide itself. I am grateful for their open home to me for a full week - thank you, Peter and Margaret!

I ran in the Adelaide 1/2 Marathon on Sunday morning before departing for Sydney that afternoon. I felt good and enjoyed the race - it is a lovely city with lots of parks and aging but unique and well-kept buildings/homes. 

I have now completed 1/2 marathons on 5 continents. I find this a tad amusing since I do not consider myself to be a particularly serious or die-hard long-distance runner. Nevertheless, it would be fun to continue the trend, which means I need to find races on the remaining continents, South America and Antarctica...any suggestions?

Post-race pic with bananas - isn't the free food part of the motivation for these things in the first place?! (Unfortunately the timing chip was embedded in my racing bib, so I had to return it).

An Aussie meat pie for lunch after the race: yummy! Like the UK and South Africa, Australians love their savory pies.

Adelaide Hills and Aussie Fauna

The Gunns and I spent Saturday sight-seeing around the area. Adelaide is situated in South Australia, which is a state in the south-central part of the country. Adelaide itself sits along the western edge of a big chunk of land that sticks down into the ocean in the southeastern part of the continent (check this map). It takes about 30 minutes to drive from the downtown area to the beaches. To the north, south, and west are a range of hills and low mountains, which is where the bulk of Australia's wine farms are located. For example, the Barossa Valley is well-known for its reds, the Adelaide Hills for their whites.

We first drove up to Mt. Lofty, the highest spot in the area, for a view across Adelaide to the sea. Then we visited Cleland Wildlife Park, where I enjoyed up-close encounters with a variety of Australia's amazing birds and animals. From there we had a picnic, stopped off at a winery for a taste, then dropped down the other side of the hills to a large river, the Murray, for a nice view and a coffee. It was a good day and so fun to see the natural beauty of this area of the country.

A kangaroo joey in its mother's pouch.

Wombats - they are chunky, furry, fuzzy, cuddly, and look like stuffed animals.

Feeding a wallaby.

Peter and Margaret, and an emu in the background.

I had a small collection of stuffed koalas when I was a kid...now here's the real thing!

It was a pretty cold day and had begun to rain while we visited the animals, so we ended with a coffee...

...before finding another spot for our picnic.  I saw why the Gunns and the Hawkins became friends: they both know how to do awesome picnics!

An Adelaide Hills wine farm for a tasting.

Our late afternoon destination was the Murray River, a huge river that runs for several thousand kilometers, from the Snowy Mountains west towards Adelaide before turning south to the sea.