Summer and Fall

G'Day!

Wow, since I've last written we've been so busy - so, here we go ...

First up, our culinary adventures continued with another birthday gift of Noel's (the gifts that kept on giving) - a chocolate making course!!

We both helped out in the demo sessions



Then we really got into it - yum!



Yep - we got to take all of those home, but times 2 (since we were both students) ... we shared a few 'chocs' with our friends. It was super fun, educational and TASTY!


Next up - Pete swam, biked and ran a triathlon!
Go Pete!!
and, just in case you were concerned that people wouldn't know who the sponsor was when viewing him from behind (note the corporate logos on all sides)...
Here's our group's team - overall there were about 30 KPMG participants, and over 5000 racers total!

Here's the KPMG tent, where Noel spent her time, eating barbecue and enjoying some 'cold ones' ;)



Grand Prix - fast cars and ... not much else actually ...

This was a bit unnerving...


Oh, yeah, this guy - who proves that F1 is NOT that far off from NASCAR

(by the way - 'piss' means alcohol)

After the race there was a concert by Evermore (NZ band w/ one or two big hits - they were pretty good). It was a great end of summer afternoon!


Then, we threw a Cuban Party!
Mostly because you can't really get Cuban food here and also because Summer was ending.

Hola amigos!



Whilst some chowed-down, the muchacos took to the balcony for some cigars.


Hola Kristy - we miss you - hope all is well in London!!

Pedro says buenos noches.





Shortly after that we attended a Greek cooking class - very interesting! We learned how to make hummos, taziki, dolomades, pita, musaka, etc

Isn't it odd how much these 2 look alike!


I made dolomades!



After that - our biggest adventure so far this year - going to Tassie (but Pete's writing that one up).

Also, in between all of these 'photo worthy' events we've been busy exploring. We recently discovered the amazing botanical gardens right here in the city of Melbourne. Also, earlier today, we took the train out to the Dandenong ranges, a National Park, where we had lunch in a little mountain town (at 'Noel's Cafe' no less!) and hiked through the forest. So, we're having fun, and keeping busy :)

Until next time - we miss you all a WHOLE LOT!! I also really hope someone will come visit us - this is such an amazing place, and we really want to share that with our friends and family ... plus, we miss you!!

Much love,
Noel

Valentine's (cheesy) weekend

10th of Feb 2007:

First thing in the morning, we headed off for the town of Red Hill on the Mornington Pennisula. It was about a 90 min drive, we rented a Prius to test a hybrid - it passed with flying colours:



We arrived at Red Hill Cheese Farm for our goat cheese making class (a birthday present for Noel, booked back in November). It was very interesting, and fun ... we also got to wear really daggy (uncool) hairnets.






That evening, we visited a couple of wineries. Noel sampled, since Pete was driving.





We also checked out Chapman's Point, which overlooks Port Philip Bay:

That night we had a really romantic dinner at Red Hill Estate - sorry, no pictures :)



The next morning we went to a Strawberry farm for u-pick. We had a delicious breakfast of scones, cream, and strawberry jam - mmmm...



The strawberries were so pretty!








Then we checked out a micro-brew:



They grow their own organic hops onsite - these are hops:


They brew about 2,000 liters each week!



We even met the "brew-dog":


We visited a couple of more wineries, and Noel tried driving the Prius - her first time driving on the left!

Then, we drove down to Sorrento (at the tip of the peninsula). We stopped in at a local bakery to try their "famous" vanilla slice, which is an Aussie desert that consists of vanilla custard b/w two sheets of pastry - yum!



All in all, it was a great weekend! Very romantic, and a bit cheesy!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

We're discovering that summer (Dec - Feb) is one big party after another. We've been so busy that we've been very remiss in updating our blog - sorry!! So, I've taken a moment to step out of the action and record it all before I forget. Also, there's been some sort of software update to the blog that makes adding the pictures easier, but the formatting harder - so, I did my best lining up the text and pictures, sorry it's not too fancy :)

First off, just to catch everyone up: we went home for Christmas. It was a whirlwind tour from Miami, to Tampa, to Michigan, to Chicago.

We spent Christmas at Noel's family's house in Tampa:




































Pete and his sister-in-law, Annie














Annie and Mark (brother)

Noel's parents



We spent our anniversary and New Year's in Chicago:


mmm Chicago pizza...















We went to the Shed aquarium, with Pete's parents


























and went to a New Year's party where the boys did the cooking!





























Back in Oz (Australia)...

2007 started with some great sports events. First off was the National Championship Game - Go Gators!!

We took the afternoon off work to watch the game direct from the US:





















Noel was beside herself with joy!!! Go Gators!





The next weekend we went to the Australian Open.













We managed to get great court-side seats.














The action was up close ... Pete took the pictures...




















Shortly after that, was the Big Day Out music festival. We saw the Killers, Eskimo Joe, Jet, Lupe Fiasco, Tool, and many other awesome bands!!



























This weekend we went on a fabulous party cruise organised by our friend from work :)

The DJ was great,
















so were the views of the city!















Cheers to you Captain Tim - great party!

Blue Mountains

Noel and I finally had a day off in Australia! For our first day of vacation in Australia, we decided to visit the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. The Blue Mountains are about two hours west of Sydney by Train and are home to one of the most dramatic landscapes in Australia.

Before heading to the Blue Mountains, Noel and I met up in Sydney for a night in the big city. Noel had been working in Sydney that week which made travel just a bit easier.

To make things interesting, we decided to stay in one of the oldest hotels in the Rocks district – the Lord Nelson Hotel AND Brewery! Yes, not only was this a hotel centrally located, it had the added benefit of being a brewery – a tasty one at that.

After some fine micro brews and a good night’s sleep we headed out for a side trip to Watsons Bay. Out day tripper tickets included all day transport, including the two hour ride to the Blue Mountains for just $15.00. Cheap but nice rides all around.

Watsons Bay backs up to the entrance of Sydney Harbour. Even though the weather was dreary, The cliffs and Ocean were still quite stunning.

Overlooking Watsons Bay and in the distance Sydney CBD.

We arrived in the Blue Mountains, unfortunately, the weather was no better than Sydney – wet and grey. The hotel was fantastic. It was built in the 1880’s as a Mountain resort.

The next morning we took a 3K hike to the three sisters range (pictured below). Since the weather was cold we decided to explore the valley floor .5K below.

The only way down was a massive set of stairs that hugged the cliffs. Though most of the route had handrails - some did not. It's times like this you realise the difference between Australia and the states - think legal action.

We reached the bottom and decided to take a long valley hike. Noel though it might be more fun doing cart wheels the way down. After hiking some 1 ½ hours we came across this sign, apparently designed to “prevent foreign tourists from getting lost”

A little bit on we came across this area called Laura Forest which felt kind of strange. Apparently the place used to be a picnic spot. Huge rock formations and large clearings made it look a little mystical.

After a few hours of hiking we made our way back up the Mountain. By this time our legs were really feeling it.

Some 1000 steps later we made it back. Our 16-18K hike felt good but really tiring…the views and the experience well worth the effort.

On Sunday we headed back for the cliff walk trail. The skies cleared (somewhat) for our final day in the Mountains.