Kosciuszko Photo Dump

Yarrangobilly "Thermal" Pool

The summit of Mt. Kosciuszko, Australia's tallest mountain

The entrance to North and South Glory caves

Inside Jersey Cave

Scenic view along the way home...

Found Footage

I happened to be searching for something on youtube and found this video that we didn't know had been posted from Michael's birthday skydive in 2014. Enjoy!

Kosciuszko National Park

Michael and I took a road trip down to Kosciuszko National Park. Despite lots of little things going wrong, we had some good highlights. 

We stayed at the Yarrangobilly Caves House, which was comfortable. The only issue was that we didn't realize they don't have any food for sale there. They have a beautiful kitchen where you can cook, but we just weren't expecting there to be no food. The ranger station sells some food, but they were closed when we got there. Luckily, we had some food with us that we were planning to cook while camping on the way back, so we had a no-frills cous cous and canned tuna dinner. We had also bought a box passionfruit at a fruit stand at a rest stop, so we ate a bunch of those. So much passionfruit. 

The caves house is also a short hike from a "thermal pool", which turned out not to be very warm. We went for a swim anyway, since it was warm out, but it was far from the steaming experience we had seen in the photos. Evenings in the caves house are quiet, since there are no TVs, no internet service, and no restaurant or bar. It's a good place to knit, read, or play a boardgame, and go to bed early.

Another issue we didn't realize beforehand was that the caves house is still a 2 hour drive from Mt. Kosciuszko, which affected how much time we had there. We took the ski/mountain bike chair lift up at Thredbo and then did the four hour roundtrip hike to Australia's highest summit in the cold wind and pouring rain. To our surprise, there was still some snow towards the top, and one part of the trail was even covered with it (this is at the height of summer). 
We took a quick picture at the top before turning around as quickly as possible. We were surrounded by beautiful alpine meadows, but at most times our visibility was only maybe 10 meters in front of us. At one point when we were on our way back down, the clouds lifted briefly in the valley we were in, only to taunt us. 

We did see lots of wonderful wildlife in the park. Michael can now be referred to as the platypus whisperer, since he has now seen them at three separate locations across Australia: Yungaburra, Lake St Clair, and most recently in the Yarangobilly River. Here is a short video:

We also saw numerous kangaroos and wallabies, and at one point a family of five blocked our trail so they could eat breakfast. We saw lots of familiar birds, and saw our first gang-gang cockatoo. We didn't spot any wombats, but we did see some infamous square poop left by Harley, the caves' resident wombat. We tried to peek into his burrow, but couldn't see anything.

Finally, we got to tour North Glory Cave and Jersey Cave at Yarrangobilly, Jersey having the more spectacular formations of the two. There's nothing like geological time to make you feel insignificant in a good way. 

The original plan was for us to drive back through Canberra and camp there for the night on the way back. Since we decided to do two cave tours, we left later than we originally thought we would. That was no big deal except that we realized a few hours into the drive, we had not been driving directly towards Canberra. We had thought it was the same direction as Sydney, but found (when we finally had phone service) that we had travelled two hours out of the way. This was disappointing, but I made the executive decision that it wasn't worth it to go backwards to Canberra, since we wouldn't have much time to do anything there anyway, and we came home early. Michael didn't get the camping trip he wanted, so I owe him one.

Ho Ho Ho!

We had a low-key Christmas year. Christmas Eve was spent at a friend's house having delicious homemade hot pot and playing Codenames. Christmas morning was spent facetiming and opening gifts. Michael really outdid himself this year, learning to knit in one day and then knitting a stocking in three days, just so he could give me one of my gifts in the stocking. I gave Michael a body board, which we were able to try out in the afternoon at Maroubra Beach. We topped off the day playing Scythe for the first time, sharing our 25th cider, doing some artsy craftsy things, watching our cats try to eat treats we placed on top of the new/borrowed roomba, and finally watching the season finale of Westworld.

Dial M for Murder

We took part in our first murder mystery dinner with some friends, which happened to be Christmas themed. You might notice in the above picture that the head is funny-shaped; that's because the victim was wearing an elf hat. It was fun.

La La Land

Tonight we saw an advance screening of La La Land at Moonlight Cinema and I loved it. One of my favorite parts was during the scene where the main characters are tap-dancing up in the hills overlooking city lights of LA at sunset, in the background at the outdoor theater, the sun was setting similarly and in the distance were Sydney city lights coming on. It was quite meta. 

Anyway, I highly recommend seeing it, even if you have to see it indoors. It's pays homage to classic movies and musicals, yet it doesn't have a classic "Hollywood ending". It's funny while tugging at the heartstrings, and the dance numbers are beautifully choreographed. 

You just can't go wrong with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. 

Beaches and Bartering

We spent last weekend in the northern beaches. Saturday we enjoyed Palm Beach, and Sunday was the Longest Day beach frisbee tournament at Narabeen. After a several-month-long hiatus, I played a few points and ate copious amounts of fruit with friends. The weather was cool, rainy, and windy - not your typical beach ultimate weather, and about 30 degrees colder (F) than the previous day. We still had a good time, though.

I have started doing "karma hours" at a local yoga studio. They let people volunteer their time to earn free yoga classes. My first time, I just had to help by wiping down and straightening up some shelves. It works out pretty well for me, since I have some extra time over school holidays. 

Run for the Roses

I lost a bet to Michael recently. When we were at Ikea, I bet we couldn't fit all the big boxes in our little GoGet car. He was able to Tetris everything in, so I had to bake him a pie.

For the first time ever, and without a real mixer or rolling pin, I made a pretty damn good Run for the Roses pie. It's incredibly rich and I put a tiny bit more bourbon than the recipe said so it tastes super boozey. I consider it a success. Other than being a very time consuming process, and the fact that our oven really heats up the apartment on an already hot day, I realized it is actually not that difficult and will probably make one again. Also, there was dough leftover that I froze, so a third of the work is done anyway. Cooking for the first time in our new kitchen, using a brand new stove and oven, was quite pleasant. 

In other good news, I found out we are getting the money for our bond back in full (our apartment deposit). I wasn't sure if we would, based on a few minor things, so yay! Also, literally five minutes before handing the keys back over I discovered a pretty big wasp nest building under the overhang of our bedroom window. Now it's somebody else's problem.

New Digs

 We have officially moved! It has been an exhausting two days, but we are mostly settled into the new place now. As usual, Ninja was a little grumpy, and Eve had some anxiety, but they've calmed down by now. It was kind of funny, Ninja was more dramatic than he's been in the past. At one point, Eve was just sitting on the windowsill, not paying any attention to anything in particular, and Ninja stood up and poked her with his paw just to hiss at her, as if to say, "Hey! Look at me! ...I'm still unhappy". He's since stopped being so emo. 

I've had the chance to checkout some of the neighborhood and there are lot of decent food options. One weird thing I didn't expect was that our closest grocery store doesn't have any shopping carts. After a lot of them got stolen, the store didn't bother to replace them. I think that's a problem a lot of grocery stores generally have, but usually they replace them and/or get the ones that lock when they get to a perimeter. They had a few crappy plastic baskets that have wheels and retractable handles; they guy said the only reason they had some of those was because it was close to Christmas. Pretty lame, Woolworths. You are officially a downgrade from Coles. Your rewards program is also not as good. 

Despite that, we are close to a really good eatery with lots of Asian options, Doughnut Time, and a Daiso. I've already run into a familiar frisbee face around the neighborhood too, which is always a good sign. 

For three years, we got used to living in such a tiny place without a dinner table or a bathtub. Now it feels like we are living in luxury. The first movie we've enjoyed in our new living space was Love, Actually, trying to get into the holiday spirit.

2016 Greatest Hits

It being the end of the year and all, I'm reflecting on 2016 and looking ahead to 2017.

Some highlights of 2016 include...

- THREE trips home to the US in three different seasons! 

- two incredibly fun weddings

- The Smithsonian behind the scenes talk for The Walking Dead

- Taiwan - hiking and visiting an old friend (and making some new ones by association)

- Japan -exploring, skiing, and meeting up with some Sydney friends

- Camping in Kangaroo Valley and Megalong Valley

- Weekends up in Palm Beach

- A visit from Lizzie, Michael's cousin

- Several frisbee tournaments, including Beach Nationals and Terrigal Towel

- Local theater and concerts, including three shows at the Sydney Opera House and Matilda the Musical

- Supball at Manly 

- The Blue Mountains

- Byron Bay

- weekly trivia

- Annual Sydney festivals like Vivid and Sculpture by the Sea

... just to name a few. Also, we did some work and got paid, and volunteered a little bit, between all those fun things. Around the world there have been high highs and low lows, and everything keeps spinning for now. We are very thankful for our health, friends and family, and all the opportunities we've had. 

In 2017 we look forward to settling into our new place, attaining permanent residency, and even more adventures. 

Spare some change?

You know what's not fun? Change. You know what's necessary and good for everyone? Change.

We are about to move 4.5km (2.8mi). This means I will regularly go to a different grocery store, main train station, ATM, local cafe, possibly trivia, etc. My ways of getting to all the places I go for work, frisbee, the gym, the park, etc. will all change. Our new neighborhood will have noisier streets and be less quaint, and farther from the beach. It will also be more centrally located and closer to some friends, and closer to different neighborhoods that have good restaurants and other fun events going on. Not to mention, it will also be a little bit bigger and we'll get a little bit more for our money. Our landlords will be our friends, and two of our friends will be our landlords. It's a bit of a trade-off. 

Moving 2.8 miles is nothing compared to moving 9,763 miles. Been there, done that. And yet, we can't help but acknowledge that we have called in this little hole in the wall home for nearly three years. THREE. 

I've already informed the local coffee shop and trivia regulars, so they can begin the mourning process, not that I will be missed all that much. Paddington has been very good to us. I am already planning to come back and visit my old neighborhood every once in a while, just for the sake of doing so.

Getting Things Over With

Michael has been working on an unusually consuming work project for the last two weeks. He has been completely off his usual schedule and not particularly happy about it. Hopefully it's all close to being complete.

A few days ago I had brief bought of food poisoning. When you have no energy, nothing is better than chicken soup and reminding yourself you know almost every line to The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump. 

Prepping to move is not fun, but when the dust is settled in about a week, everything should be good. I'm still making all the arrangements to leave one home behind and get the new one ready. We are looking forward to having a real kitchen table and bathtub again. The cats don't know it, but they are looking forward to it too. Even though moving's not fun, one of the pluses is it forces you to make "out with the old, in with the new" decisions, and get rid of things you truly don't need.

There was a brief oasis on Saturday afternoon we got to spend at the park at Bronte Beach with some frisbee friends. It was a nice little recharge.

We're going to keep on chuggin' along.

December Tradition

Last year, Michael and I got a craft beer advent calendar from BoozeBud. For some strange reason, we decided to keep data, which you can view below at your leisure. What did we discover? Apparently I like beers from our home state of NSW, bottle and can art does not correspond to how good something tastes, and we have limited tasting note vocabulary we need to expand on.

Maybe every year we will have to have a different food/drink tasting advent calendar - this year it's cider. Let the merry tasting begin!

(I'm not sure why two of the boxes below are showing up as white, but I can't be bothered to fix them.)

Number	Company	Beer	Location	State	Type	Alcohol Content	Michael Score	Ronny Score	Bottle/Can Art	Notes
1	Two Birds Brewing	Taco "Flights of Fancy"	Spotswood, VIC	VIC	Hoppy Wheat Ale	5,20%	5	4	6	Tastes like a sour, unripe orange (lime) and something green (coriander)
2	Bargara Brewing Co.	Hip Hop	Bundaberg, QLD	QLD	Session IPA	3.50%	5	7	8	Crisp, hint of sourness
3	Fortitude Brewing Co.	Golden Ale	Mount Tambourine, QLD	QLD	Hoppy Session Beer	4.50%	7	5	1	Lightly sweet with hints of orange, mildly bitter, Michael thinks it tastes a bit like Blue Moon
4	Hargreaves Hill	ESB - Extra Special Bitter	Yarra Glen, VIC	VIC	English Style Ale	5.20%	8	8	2	Aromatic, crisp, hint of coffee, mildly bitter
5	Southern Bay Brew Co.	Requiem New World Pilsner	Moolap, VIC	VIC	Pilsner	4.60%	6	7	8	Sweet, floral aroma. Light, mildly sweet floral taste.
6	Hop Nation Brewing Company	The Fiend	Melbourne, VIC	VIC	IPA	5.40%	5	4	6	Citrusy, bitter
7	Stone & Wood Brewing Co.	Pacific Ale	Byron Bay, NSW	NSW	Golden Ale	4.30%	7	9	7	Buttery aroma, lightly sweet and citrusy, no bitterness
8	Balmain Brewing Co.	Original Pale Ale	Balmain, NSW	NSW	English Style Ale	4.90%	7	7	6	Crisp, lightly bitter
9	The Rocks Brewing Co.	The Governor	Alexandria, NSW	NSW	Golden Ale	4.50%	8	9	8	Tastes like pine needles, fuity/orangey, no bitterness
10	Mornington Peninsula Brewery	Mornington Brown	Mornington, VIC	VIC	English Style Brown Ale	5.00%	7	7	5	Chocolate and coffee, mildly bitter
11	Holgate Brewhouse	Norton Lager	Woodend, VIC	VIC	Lager	4.30%	8	8	7	Safe solid lager, good aftertaste
12	Temple Brewing Co.	Bicycle Beer	Brunswick East, VIC	VIC		4.20%	6	7	6	Wheaty and piney
13	Nomad Brewing Co.	Long Trip Saison	Brookvale, NSW	NSW	Saison	6.60%	6	7	6	Lightly bitter like an IPA,
14	Nail	Red Ale	Bassendean, WA	WA	Red Ale	6.00%	7	6	7	Standard red ale taste, Mild, Safe, no chances
15	Mountain Goat Beer	Summer Ale	Richmond, VIC	VIC	Ale	4.70%	4	5	3	Smells like pine and mango, mild and boring taste
16	Noisy Minor Brewing Co.	Anzus IPA	Mount Tambourine, QLD	QLD	IPA	6.00%	6	7	5	Tasted like ginger and molasses
17	4 Pines Brewing Co.	Pale Ale	Manly, NSW	NSW	Pale Ale	5.10%	9	9	7	Smooth with coffee
18	Thunder Road Brewing Co.	Amber	Melbourne, VIC	VIC	Amber Ale	4.60%	5	8	7	Tastes like a mild IPA with hints of berry
19	Feral Brewing Co.	Hop Hog	Baskerville, WA	WA	Pale Ale	5.80%	6	7	7	Tastes fruity and familiar, lightly bitter
20	Murray's Craft Brewing Co.	Whale Ale	Bobs Farm, NSW	NSW	American Wheat Beer	4.50%	7	4	7	Flat taste
21	Young Henry's	Hop Ale	Metricup, WA	WA	Ale	6.00%	9	8	10	Malty coffee taste
22	Prickly Moses	chainSAW	Barongarook, VIC	VIC	Golden Ale	4.80%	8	8	7	Very fruity, light
23	Brewcult	Hop Zone	Derrimut, VIC	VIC	Session IPA	5.00%	5	6	8	Sharp but mildly refreshing (when cold), bitter
24	Australian Brewery	The Pilsner	Rouse Hill, NSW	NSW	German Style Pilsner	4.80%	5	7	7	Hoppy, bitter, light
25	The Little Brewing Co.	Wicked Elf Pale Ale	Port Macquarie, NSW	NSW	Pale Ale	5.40%	7	6	6	A hint of butter, lightly bitter, citrusy

Like a Cog

Me today, after being super productive making reservations and sorting out old and new accounts, prepping for our upcoming move.

Moving is SO MUCH EASIER when you're not starting in a brand new country completely from scratch.