Adventures DownUnder

Halloween

2010-11-04T03:28:00.004+11:00

Pumpkin Patch

Witch Ruby

Gretel and the Witch
Hansel

Halloween Party

Painting the upstairs hallway

Down time with Stinky

#2

Ruby at Dre's Wedding Weekend

2010-07-22T08:52:00.000+10:00

April

2010-05-01T02:28:00.003+10:00

For Spring break we visited my mom, kayaked the East branch of the North Trinity and camped at a flying competition for Tim. It was fun week. Here are a couple of photos of Ruby in the car. I was entertaining her by showing her how the camera works.

Ruby and her favorite "friends"

The following weekend we visited my dad. The cousins got to hang out. Here is a series of Ruby and her cousin Sevan.

a couple of recent photos

2010-03-12T17:01:00.002+11:00

Ruby didn't seem to mind my sunglasses. She was actually trying to keep them from falling off.

Here we are eating escargot for the first time. Yes she did eat a SNAIL and she LOVED IT! Proof that she's daddy's girl. I was so proud of her! Don't let her sad face fool you. Two minutes ago she was gulping it down.

January

2010-02-05T15:18:00.002+11:00

First of all sorry it's taken us so long to update the blog. January has been a sick one for all three of us. I think we are healed though.

Lora and I went for a quick ski last Sunday. It was a clear day. We had a blast. We skied up about 2000ft and skied back to the car. We were baby swapping so had to return to do our share of babysitting.

We'll try to update more often.

Tim and Lora

Cold and Snowy in Reno

2009-12-09T15:36:00.003+11:00

We had a great storm come through Sunday and Monday. In fact school was canceled due to the snow and low temperatures. In our front yard we had a foot of light powder. I took a couple of pictures of my favorite girls in front of the house.

Pillars of the Earth

2009-12-06T05:58:00.003+11:00

I thought I'd recommend a book that I recently finished reading. This book was fantastic. The characters are so well drawn out that you can't help root for the good guys. The bad guy is really bad. No, I'm not kidding. He's really, really despicable.

On that note I need to warn you about some of the material though. There are a couple of rape scenes in the book as well as some intense battles. If you can handle these few pages of this epic novel then you're in for a real treat.

I can't recommend this novel enough. It has certainly made its way into my top 10 list. Let me know if you read it.

Tim

She's walking!!!!

2009-11-14T11:48:00.003+11:00

Well, not quite yet, but she is taking her first steps. A couple of days ago she took one step between the TV stand and the coffee table. Both Lora and I looked at each other and I said, "did she just take her first step?"

Today, Ruby was at home with Lora and took two or three steps. So, I guess that means by Christmas we might have a terror on our hands. Luckily, Ruby will be visiting all of her grandparents homes and therefore the terror will be shared. Lucky you.

Tim

SUPERTIM!!!

2009-11-09T17:29:00.003+11:00

A friend sent this to me from Australia. Seems like I made it into an outdoor magazine over there. No photo credit but it is a pretty cool shot.

In case you can't tell I'm the kayaker wearing the 100% Ducktape costume.

An amazing day in the air!

2009-10-22T16:23:00.002+11:00

Well Lora is almost home from the Grand Canyon. Ruby and I have survived! The house is still standing! The cat is alive! Etc. Actually it's been a lot of fun but quite tiring.

I flew from East to West.

Since I've been stuck on the ground I thought I would post an image or two of a recent flight. It was amazing. I flew along Lake Tahoe for over an hour and ended up flying 15 miles or so. I reached 14,900ft. The really cool thing was that I landed a block from the house we were spending the night at for the evening. I actually flew to a friend's house. WAY COOL!

Words can't describe it. The views of Lake Tahoe were breathtaking. Can't wait for summer to return with the thermals.

If you want to see the stats on the flight you can click below. It allows you to zoom in and even view it in Google Earth. Just so you know I was using a GPS to track the flight.

The flight

Tim

Weekend Getaway

2009-10-10T15:53:00.002+11:00

Last weekend the three of us loaded up the van and drove 4 hours south down to Bishop, CA for a little relaxing weekend. We had the general idea of doing some flying but as is normal with this sport the weather didn't cooperate with us. We ended up doing some climbing in the Owens River Gorge on Saturday. It was great hanging out at the cliff with Ruby. We climbed with a great couple which let Lora and I take turns with Ruby at the base. Lora surprised herself by getting up two difficult climbs. She's still got it!

Our trusty Gumby van.

On Saturday evening we watched the sunset while soaking in a great little hot spring as a family. Don't we look like a happy family?

No words to describe how cute this one is!

The evenings were a bit chilly and here we are getting ready to read a story before bed. Ruby did pretty well. Although on Sunday we had our first experience with vomiting baby.

Still cute

2009-10-09T06:26:00.003+11:00

Last night we had a new friend take pictures of Ruby. She wanted practice at taking infant photos. Here are a couple of them.

Just to show that although she smiles most of the time she does get fussy.

The little Rubster crawls

2009-09-28T11:59:00.003+10:00

A short little video of her crawling. Enjoy.

Tim and Lora

Bathtime

2009-09-24T11:41:00.001+10:00

Unfortunately tim is not feeling well. So ruby and I are enjoying the
evening together while tim rests.

Water Baby

2009-08-22T04:00:00.004+10:00

Ruby and Tim have been taking swim classes for 7 weeks now and I finally went into work late so I can watch them. It was so amazing. I am so proud of her.

Tim and Ruby waiting for class to start

Ruby looking insanely cute in her goggles.

Ruby and I go on a hike.

2009-08-21T09:17:00.003+10:00

Ruby and Dad on top of Mt. Rose with Lake Tahoe in the background.

Mt. Rose from the trail.

On Monday Ruby and I decided to go for a little hike. I had been thinking about hiking Mt. Rose for quite a while since moving here to Reno. Ruby and I headed up to the parking area (8000+ft) where we had a quick lunch. I then loaded her up in the backpack carrier unsure if she would like being carried that way. I figured I would hike for a bit and see how she liked it. Well after about two miles she fell asleep and didn't wake up until near the saddle at about 10,000ft. I fed her a bottle and we kept walking to the top. It was about 5.5 miles to the top (10,880ft). She did great! We had such a good walk in the mountains.

On the trail hiking. (Self Portrait) She loves that blanket!

All in all we hiked 11 miles, stopped to change two diapers, drained one bottle, and applied sunscreen 3 times. Enjoy the pictures.

Lora went with us to swim lessons today so hopefully sheLunch break and diaper change.

will put up those pictures and a few short videos of Ruby swimming. IT IS AMAZING!

Too cute!

Tim

If you fly or are interested in learning more then check this out

2009-08-12T02:35:00.002+10:00

This video is a bit crazy but it is very well done. It's about 15 minutes long but I think the first few minutes are the best. The rest of it has these guys doing crazy stuff out of hot air balloons and even an airplane.

Check it out here!

Streamlined 08 from Team Silver on Vimeo.

a few more photos from recent outings

2009-07-29T15:10:00.003+10:00

Uncle Don and Aunt Mona visiting.

Love this photo of my girls.

Our little model showing her smile on the shore of Lake Tahoe.

Heading out to Andy and Nicole's sailboat in Lake Tahoe. Reminds me of BVI except freshwater.

Ruby bored stiff sailing dreaming of other things.

Sailing on Thurs

2009-07-24T10:43:00.000+10:00

Tim and our good friend Dan went sailing this afternoon on Tahoe. We
are excited the Martins moved to Truckee.

100 degrees in Reno

2009-07-19T09:44:00.000+10:00

What better way to spend a lazy summer day than by the pool.

We love it here in Reno

2009-07-16T00:36:00.004+10:00

Andy's boat on Lake Tahoe

So I had a job interview yesterday for a 6th grade teaching position. I felt like it went well but you just never know. Well, by 4:00 I had received a job offer! I'm really excited about the school. One of the coolest things is that my classroom has a "smart" whiteboard. It's like a giant touch computer screen. I can't wait to figure that thing out. Kimberly had one last year in her classroom and loved it.

Also, love the weather here. Yesterday it only got up to 89 degrees and sunny. Everyone thinks it is really hot here but that's not the case. Down in Sacramento it was over a 100 degrees. Love it!

The other thing I did yesterday was meet Andy up at Lake Tahoe for some sailing on his boat. It's a great boat with a built in diesel motor. The winds were light, unusual for late afternoon Tahoe, but we had a great time. The boat is very easy to sail. Should be fun to have access to such a gem. William and Dad the invite has been delivered. Sailing on Tahoe is amazing. I feel like a character from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous... and it's not even my boat.

Sitting in the shopping cart for the first time

2009-07-11T12:11:00.000+10:00

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-08T13:12:00.002+10:00

Pictures from this year's Upper Cheery Creek run with Josh and Swarz from Tasmania.

Ruby first tent experience

2009-06-23T09:36:00.001+10:00

Big morning smiles after a cozy night in her own sleeping bag.

Licking the spoon

2009-06-14T08:49:00.001+10:00

She liked her sweet potatoes so much that she insisted on licking the spoon as we were cleaning up. She's one cute baby.

On another note, she's sitting up all by herself now. She does start to lean a bit from time to time so one of us needs to be there to stop her from falling on her face. She's such a strong baby.

Napping and hot dogs

2009-06-14T08:45:00.002+10:00

There's a great hotdog shop near our house and so Tim and I decided to stop and grab a dog while Ruby slept in her new carrying system. Mom's friend handed down the backpack and we don't think it was ever used. We're stoked!

We then went to the food Co-op and bought a sweet potato for the Rubster for her first real food experience. Tim can't wait for the poop that will ensue. Bye-bye to breast milk poo diapers and hello SMELLY ones.

Ruby's first solid food

2009-06-14T08:22:00.002+10:00

Preparing for our summer adventures

2009-06-14T08:05:00.001+10:00

We plan on doing some backpacking soon and so decided to try out our backpacking carrying system. It seemed to work just fine. Her body is still a bit small but she didn't mind it. I think we could even strap a tent or sleeping bag under her feet. Pretty cool!

Getting ready for bed

2009-06-09T12:32:00.000+10:00

Moms on the river

2009-06-02T06:34:00.001+10:00

On saturday Danielle, the Barnes and the Robinsons met on the South
Fork of the American for a girls paddle to celebrate Ann's birthday.
It has been too long since we were on the river together. While we
were having girl time, Tim and Eric enjoyed a baby and beers picnic by
the river.

Ruby discovers beer at the Rubicon brewery tonight!

2009-05-27T14:13:00.001+10:00

Ruby at the drive-in

2009-05-18T16:13:00.001+10:00

Here is a sleeping sweaty Ruby at the movies. She is such a cuddle
muffin that she would only sleep snuggling up to a blanket even though
it was so stinkin' hot.

2009-05-18T15:55:00.000+10:00

After a good day of unpacking and wakeboarding,the three of us decided
to take gumby to see Wolverine Origins at the drive-in. It had been
a long time since Tim or I had been to the drive-in and thought this
may be a good option to see movies with ruby. The van worked out
great except that it was during the first heat wave of the season. So
all three of us were sweating. The nice thing about being at the
drive-in is that I could strip down into my underware and relax with
some wine and popcorn and no one complained.

2009-05-18T08:33:00.000+10:00

Afternoon of wakeboarding on Boca resevoir with our friend Andy. Warm
and sunny, enjoying life.

Stuff all moved in to the Reno place.

Running errands with G-ma

2009-05-14T08:51:00.002+10:00

The Beach

2009-04-15T23:24:00.005+10:00

Ruby taking a walk on the beach.

Well, the Robinsons are on vacation. We started out our three week trip with a drive to Salt Lake City to see friends. On the way out there we stopped in the Ruby valley with the Ruby mountains behind the photographer. The Ruby mtns are great for ski touring so as soon as Ruby is up and mobile on skis we have a trip planned.

We then headed back to Sacramento where we boarded a plane for Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Ruby was able to meet her cousins for the first time. Above is a picture of Abby holding the Rubster. Ruby was a big hit.

We then loaded up the car and drove four hours to the AL/FL coast to a place affectionately known as the "Redneck Riviera", Gulf Shores. We spent four nights there hanging out with my parents, 2 brothers, and Erin, John's girlfriend. We had a blast getting sunburned, swimming, drinking, and of course playing some boardgames.

Ruby getting ready to go swimming. Meditating about the Tao of Pooh.

While we were in Gulf Shores we were able to meet up with three of our good friends from SLC that now live down in Florida due to Post-Doctoral positions taking them there. Elliot and Mary live near Pensacola with their beautiful daughter, Ellie, and Ann-Marie lives in Tallahassee. It was awesome seeing these guys in a different setting than usual. Thanks for driving out to see us.

Dads and daughters in the indoor pool.

The family on the Riviera

We will be driving down to New Orleans today and then fly back home tomorrow. Ruby is in my arms now so typing is difficult. Got to sign off now.

Reading a good book.

A cute picture

2009-03-12T16:26:00.002+11:00

Ruby's new favorite piece of furniture. She loves sitting up and looking around. She seems to be a very alert baby. Isn't she cute?

Thanks to Lori and Hunter for passing the chair down.

On a side note, I went kayaking today after work. Got to love the N. Fork of the American River. Good times with Joe and Corey.

Tim

Ski day 2 for the Rubster

2009-03-10T11:26:00.003+11:00

Lora, Ruby and I went back up to Truckee to visit again with the Childress and Ellis families. We had a great day skiing up Mt. Tamarack (9,882ft) near Mt. Rose, NV. Ruby bagged her first peak! The weather was exceptional, nice and warm but not too warm to really mess up the snow. Again, Ruby slept on the ascent and kind of woke up for the ski down.

Mt. Rose in the background

It was a great day out and a fun ski down. It's crazy how many people we've run into that said they did the same with their babies. One even told me that he would bring booby popscicles with him to give to his girls when they went backcountry skiing. Lucky for Ruby and myself her mother enjoys skiing as much as we do.

Ruby and Dad skiing uphill to the summit

More uphill skiing

I went skiing the following day as well. Much bigger ski down with Greg Speicher and Jim Barrett.

Ruby smiling and trying to talk

2009-03-06T11:24:00.001+11:00

A 1 minute video of the Rubster. For all of her grandparents! Enjoy.

A few more shots of Ruby

2009-03-06T10:44:00.004+11:00

Bath Time again!

Well the Robinsons are doing well. Ruby is growing so tall and very quickly. Many people can not believe that she is only 10 weeks old.

We got a chance to go kayaking together as a family this past weekend. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Tracy Soule for running our shuttle and babysitting Ruby. I have to admit that because Ruby is kinda cute people sure don't seem to mind babysitting. Of course Ruby would have to have a giant poo while we were on the river. Sorry Tracy.

The person who made it all happen, Tracy.

We did a quick lap on the N. Fork of the American River, a fun Class 4. We had a great flow and although Lora hadn't kayaked since New Zealand a year ago you wouldn't have noticed.

Drysuit Daddy doing doody duty.

How can you not love this face?

Happy baby after a family shower.

Just a quick little video of what else? Kayaking

2009-03-04T16:23:00.003+11:00

A 3 minute video a buddy shot the other day. Joe and I met up with them for the waterfall huckfest. Back home just after lunch. a great morning. In case you're wondering I'm in the lime green boat with the blue helmet.

Traverse Creek and Weber Creek from Jared Noceti on Vimeo.

We are officially a family

2009-03-03T16:12:00.005+11:00

For valentine's day Lora officially(legally)became a Robinson. It was a great gift. Now Ruby will not be confused.

It was fun.

2009-02-24T15:48:00.002+11:00

Well, with 69 votes and many more e-mails it looks like you guys have come to the same conclusion as we had before we put the poll up. Ruby looks like her parents.
I want to just say thanks to all of our friends and family members that voted. It was really fun to see the US map light up with blue and orange. We heard from many of you via e-mail as well. Some of you from as far away as Asia, Australia, and Europe. The bottom line is no matter where you live we need to come out for a visit.

Stay tuned for more polls ranging from steak or chicken to snow or water skiing.

Tim

A little poll for our enjoyment

2009-02-12T16:11:00.009+11:00

So I'm trying this poll function out. Just vote and click. At first it may not seem like it registered but it did! Click on the "see how others in your state voted" tab and you get some cool graphs come up.

Choose wisely. You only get one attempt at it. Scroll down to the previous post to see the pictures if you haven't already.

Click Here for Poll Survey Software
| Website Polls
| Email Marketing

| Innovation Management
View MicroPoll

I'm not sure if you will find this U.S. map as cool as I did. But who cares it's my blog. Only kidding. Sorry about the white background being too big but I just can't seem to find the correct HTML code to fix it.
The state with the most participation will receive a large stimulus package.

Website Polls Powered By MicroPoll

Baby Pictures

2009-02-11T04:59:00.004+11:00

Alright I know everyone think Ruby looks like me, but I keep going back and forth. Here are our baby pictures. Who do you think she looks like? Remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Baby Lora

Baby Ruby's new trick; Smiling

Baby Ruby the bathing beauty

Baby Timmaay

Happy B-Day Dan

2009-02-02T16:26:00.003+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN MARTIN!

Lora, Ruby and I hope you had a great birthday today. Talk to you soon. My Dominion is bigger than yours.

Tim

The life of a Truckee Ski bunny!

2009-02-02T15:03:00.005+11:00

Lora, Ruby and I left Sacramento on Saturday morning to head up to Truckee to visit with Jack and Vanessa Childress and their two girls. We had a blast! We went sledding, played a heap of board games, went hot tubbing, and even hit the slopes above Donner Lake.

The three of us above Donner Lake! No cannibalism occurred during the taking of this picture.

The weather couldn't have been better for our adventure. We ended up skiing up the ridge behind us in the lower picture and then skiing down the N face a little to the left just out of the picture. Ruby shredded it up. She slept most of the way uphill and then on the way down she was staring at me and even smiling. I'm not kidding! Each day with her is amazing and today was no exception. It was so special looking out over the lake from way up high on the Pacific Crest Trail with my little girl.

Just a normal family portrait... right?

I wish I could say we went to the hot tub after skiing like in the movies but we actually went the day before with the Childress family. The hot tub was a kid friendly, no chlorine, salt water, 97 degree affair. So no one freak out. Ruby loved it! We spent about 20-30 minutes soaking in the sun. The pictures tell the best story.

She is so adorable.

Mom and daughter enjoying some time together.

So I'm a bit behind with the blogging... Sorry

2009-02-02T14:24:00.006+11:00

Just a few shots from the past 3 to 4 weeks.

Grandpa Jim and "Ruby the Winner".

Multi-tasking at its finest. She's asleep and I'm rocking on the X-Box!

Josh and Ruby at the park the other day. This is the perspective of a 3 week old at the park. AHHH, what a great place to take a nap.

Just a quick pic of a new board game. It's called Tikal and it's all about the glitz and glamor that a modern day Archaeologist faces as they pillage and plunder.

My Dad enjoying some friendly gaming and Cali brew.

More Ruby Shots

2009-01-04T13:49:00.003+11:00

So a few months ago Lora and I decided that we would have two blogs, one for our "activities and one for our child. Well, forget that. If we did that no one would read our original blog and everyone would just migrate to the Ruby page. So we will continue to just use this address and put up blog posts of our lives... the three of us having fun.

Here are a few more photos of Ruby. We have been lucky to have my mom and dad in from Mississippi here helping out a bit. Thanks mom for the delicious food.

We played A LOT of boardgames over the past five days. The combination of holding my daughter and playing boardgames made my week.

A picture of Ruby's first beer run!

A few days ago we went over to Hunter and Lori's place for a barbecue and to socialize. Below are the shots of the kids. Pretty crazy! Can't wait to have Will, Donovan, and Grayson join in for a big group photo.

The 2 new babies, Josh and Ruby. Maybe these two will get hitched one day. Josh... you better wait until you're married or else.

Ruby Frances Robinson

2008-12-28T14:33:00.003+11:00

So I have so much to talk about but boy am I tired. Ruby and Lora have come home from the hospital today. It's been 6 days! So the facts first:
1. Born at 10:08am on the 22nd of December.
2. 24hrs of labor with no epidural!
3. Cesarian Section required due to Ruby being "sunny side up".
4. 7lbs, 5ozs.
5. Jaundiced a bit
6. A full head of hair with blue eyes.
7. Cute as all hell!

Lora is doing really well. The hard part will be keeping her from doing too much too early. You guys will have to help me with this one. You all know Lora!

So I figured the best thing for me to do right now is talk less and show more pictures so here goes.

Ruby Roars!

Ruby getting a tan. We're thinking of piercing her nose too.

Go ahead and do it... you know you want to just kiss your screen right now.

Ok, so Lora is going to kill me but here's a shot before labor really kicked in and...

One not too long afterward. She continually amazes me.

No she's not retarded. I love this one.

Geaux Tigers! This one is for her two LSU uncles.

We had Christmas today on the 27th. Her Grandpa Jim and especially Grandma Pat went crazy after meeting Ruby for the first time. Ruby is only 6 days old but she already loves being spoiled by her grandparents.

Well, this is just the first of many pictures to come. Lora and I are so proud and can't wait for all of you to meet her. Stop by for a visit or just give us a call if you live far away.

Tim

Battery Life

2008-12-18T02:09:00.003+11:00

OK, so sometimes do you guys feel like your nothing more than a rechargeable battery? I do. My energy levels were running low... very low last week and I needed a recharge. Problem was that it started raining and snowing this past weekend. It wasn't going to be enough rain to bring much water to the dry riverbeds and since there wasn't a base of snow to support the new snow I wasn't sure what to do. I called a friend living near Lake Tahoe and he suggested we just give the snow a chance.

So I left the house at 6:00am for the drive up to Truckee and Greg's home. So I have to say right now that Lora and I knew we were lucky to live in Salt Lake City, being so close to the mountains. I love California for many reasons but the driving times to go skiing are a bit much. For most of the trip it was dumping snow which meant 30mph on the freeway all the way to Lake Tahoe.

BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT! After skinning up a mtn near the Mt. Rose ski area I quickly realized that California has snow... really good snow. It was white-out conditions, 14 degrees, and waist deep fluffy powder! Turns out we got lucky. Greg and I made three runs down a beautiful bowl making choking turns. Faceshot after faceshot were had by both of us. It was hard to smile because I was choking but at the bottom of each run we were beaming and high-fiving.

So now I'm home, batteries recharged, ready for what life brings us. Lora is doing well, but is in a lot of discomfort. We visited the doctor yesterday and she informed us that Lora was dilated to 2cm. The baby is sitting extremely low and will probably not drop any lower... that is until D-Day. We'll keep you posted.

Tim

Thanksgiving

2008-12-06T07:19:00.002+11:00

My step-father Norman turned 70 the day before Thanksgiving, giving the family an excuse to all get together for the long-weekend. We haven't been together in one place for years. So it was great spending the weekend together in Weaverville.

The whole gang, minus my niece Kim who couldn't get off work.

We spent the weekend eating, playing games

and general horsing around.

Point Reyes Weekend

2008-11-24T10:32:00.002+11:00

Lora has been staying in Berkley working out of a lab at UC Berkley. She has been staying with her sister and brother-in-law, Karen and Kevin. She's getting a lot done with her plant samples that she sent herself from Australia. Of course this means that she is in the Bay area and I'm still in Sacramento. So for this weekend we decided to go camping out at Point Reyes National Park. Lora spent some time in this area quite a few years back working at a research station on the coast, but I had never been out here.

Lora hiking down to the lighthouse at Pt. Reyes. You can really see how pregnant she is right now. 35+ weeks! Not far off now!

We loaded up the van and headed west for an evening of camping, using Gumby of course! Nothing really exciting but it was really great to just get away together and hang out. We cooked some dinner and watched a movie inside the cozy van.

Sunday had us hiking down to the lighthouse where we took a short hike. Lora is so strong. She gets winded a bit quicker but she doesn't seem to let the extra load slow her down.

Just a blurry photo of Gumby and the campspot in the redwoods.

Thanksgiving up in Weaverville with Shirley and Norm. Happy Birthday Norm! Then the following weekend down to Campbell to hang out with Jim and Pat. Busy upcoming two weeks.

We get back from Australia and there's been a population explosion with our family of friends! 9 new kiddies including the two preggos and one not pictured (William).

New Orleans, Shrimp Po-Boys, and Family

2008-10-31T05:11:00.004+11:00

Lora, Frank and I drove down to New Orleans to see my grandparents. It was good to see them since we had not seen them in over two years. Papa Frank is 94 and seems to be doing well. Mama Cherry looks like her usual self with her red hair, albeit with a little hearing loss. We had lunch at a really nice Italian restaurant with plenty of yelling across the table.

We then went down to the French Quarter for a drink at Pat O'Briens out on the sunny patio. Ahhh, Nawlins'!

Here's a photo dad shot of Lora and I in the middle of Jackson Square. We debated the significance of the horse's two front feet being off the ground. It's supposed to symbolize that he died in battle... he didn't. Geeky stuff sorry.

I'm sick now with a cold so I'm trying to just relax and get healthy before work starts back up. Today for instance I relaxed by looking at breast pumps with my lovely wife and mother. Exciting stuff!

We are in Mississippi

2008-10-27T13:19:00.003+11:00

Well, as hard as it is for me to admit I'm currently in Mississippi visiting with my family. Lora is here too of course. It's a Louisiana thing!

The most recent family photo.

Waiting to get seated outside the Jackson Crackerbarrel. A southern tradition.

It was absolutely fantastic to see my sister, Kimberly, and her two adorable girls. Both Lora and I missed them both a ton. Boy have they grown! It was also great to meet Mark for the first time.

John seems to be doing well. It's been two and a half years since I've seen my brother. He looks great. I'm not sure we'll be able to get a round of golf in this trip but hopefully in April when we return with our new addition.

Until the next post YA'LL BE GOOD NOW!

Two blog posts in the same day? What's up with Tim and Lora?

2008-10-14T08:56:00.003+11:00

Lora and I went to Salt Lake City to see our friends Mike and Vicki get married... in an airplane hanger. With the multi-million dollar Lear Jet I felt like I was an extra in a rap video. This was the back-up plan in case of snow. Well, it snowed. The hanger actually worked really nice. Everyone had a great time. It was super fun getting to catch up with some old friends.

While we were there Nicole took some photos of Lora all pregnant and all. I know Sylvia has been hounding us to put some photos up on our blog. Well, here you go Sylvia.

Doesn't she look great? Nicole and Paul are great photographers too. You can check out their websites at the following sites.

http://www.nicolemorgenthau.com/
http://www.richerimages.com/main.php

Another story of Upper Cherry Creek from KayakSessions magazine

2008-10-14T08:47:00.002+11:00

Check it out for some photos you have and haven't yet seen. The story is pretty good too. It was just "published" online today.

http://www.kayaksession.com/kayak-yosemite.php

Tim

J and J wedding

2008-10-10T06:14:00.004+11:00

Hello everyone, we know we have been very bad with updating our blog. I am getting settled in here at g-mas house. My days are busy working from home, but I still wish I got more done. My belly is growing well and we are getting excited for the big day, which is now Christmas since I crossed the international date line. Sorry Silvia, we still don't have a picture of me looking preggers.

Last weekend we went to Jason and Jessica's wedding reception.

We had a great time. Good food, dancing, catching up with friends and flying pumpkins.

Here is the trebuchet that Jason's brother, Nate, built and supplied endless entertainment as he launched pumpkins great distances.

It was great catching up with Jason, Jessica, Michele, Ben and Jessamyn.

On Sunday we drove to Pacifica where Tim finally got some airtime. He has been trying for the last couple of weekends to get in the air, but the wind has been a bit cross. You can imagine how happy he was to get a 30 min flight in. We finished the weekend with a delicious dinner with Karen, Kevin, Laura, Ara and STINKY. He is still the best cat on the planet and very well loved.

I know, I know... How are we supposed to keep you coming back if we don't put up any new content?

2008-09-19T11:47:00.002+10:00

Just a short hello from Sacramento. Things are going well here. Lora is back in the States and looking great. Work for me is fun at times and stressful at other times. We haven't really been up to much action. We've just been hanging out with our friends, family, and of course each other.

Future plans include a trip to New Orleans/Jackson to see family and then squeeze out a baby in December at some time. Feel free to send us an e-mail or a phone call.

Don't worry! Lora and I are still going to be posting to the blog.

Tim

The joys of playing in the mountains

2008-08-04T14:47:00.004+10:00

OK so the title of this post basically is an effort by me to explain to you the reader how much my life has been a living hell since returning from the Middle Kings kayak expedition three weeks ago. On the last two days (days 6 and 7) I had to do some walking through poison oak. I've never really had to deal with poison oak more than just a bit no larger than a quarter. Well, I ended up getting it REALLY badly all over my arse! It was a really bad case. So bad that I couldn't even really sit down. I'll spare you the drippy, oozing details. It's finally receding and I can sit without wincing.

Chad with our route up Temple Crag right next to him.

Last week I decided to go climbing in the Sierra Nevada Mtns with a kayaking buddy. Chad is a great boater and like me he enjoys scaring himself on the side of a mountain. We decided to climb an absolute classic, Temple Crag.

Me at the base of the route. It ended up being nine pitches.

Chad snapped this photo of me on lead on one of the loose pitches.

It was a good trip but my poison oak condition made the 6 mile hike in and the climb a rather painful experience. I ended up having a fever due to the P.O. You can see in the photo below me on the approach at 4:00am needing to take a nap due to the fever. It really hit me hard. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we had to do this car to car because we couldn't get a wilderness permit due to the hiker quota.

I need a pillow... and some Tylenol!

Chad on the summit with the Palisades in the background.

All in all it took us about 14 hours. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I hadn't have been sick. It sure was great getting back into the mountains on some good rock though. Chad and I have plans to do some more so stay tuned.

A video certainly worth watching! And no there is not any kayaking in it.

2008-07-26T05:58:00.006+10:00

Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University died today from incurable pancreatic cancer. Since I've been living in Australia for the past two years I hadn't heard about him. Maybe you have already.

In this youtube video he delivers a lecture in the "Last Lecture" series. It is very good! I know it's a bit over an hour long but what he says in it is basically a plan for living a good life. It all comes down to being a good person and not letting the "brick walls of life" get in your way of achieving your dreams. Absolutely brilliant!

Particularly good for all of the academics in our lives. Mom, be warned you may shed a tear or two.

Watch it!

More Upper Cherry Creek stuff

2008-07-22T05:28:00.002+10:00

So I found this video that a group from CO shot and edited of their run down UCC this summer. Cool thing is that I'm in it. You can see my awesome style at 1:26 and then again hanging out in camp. I'm the one with short hair wearing a blue shirt. It's a great video really well done. It would have been good to see some more rapids from the second day but overall a great video showcasing some of the best drops on UCC. Enjoy.

Upper Cherry Creek 2008 from Powder Monkeys, Inc. on Vimeo.

The Watchmen Movie Trailer

2008-07-18T13:00:00.002+10:00

So most of you know that Lora and I are closet comic book fans. A few months ago maybe a year I posted about a graphic novel called The Watchmen. I highly recommended the book and mentioned that they were making a movie. We are both geekingly waiting for the release. Well, they released the first trailer and it looks AWESOME! Zach Snyder (the movie "300") is the director and it looks like he is painstakingly recreating the scenes from the comic into the movie. Anyways, I 'm posting the preview from YouTube. Watch it and read the book. The story is so well told in the book and it looks to me like the movie will not be a let down.

News from the Front

2008-07-07T02:32:00.004+10:00

Well I have news to report. First of all I was offered a 6th grade teaching position in Woodland, California. I'm really relieved due to the added pressure of securing a job with health insurance so we could actually afford to have our baby here in the States. I'm excited about the job too. It will be in a large elementary school and they use a modified year round schedule. This means that I will have lots of time off during the normal school year. I haven't signed the contract yet but I have an appointment on the 17th of July.

Lora is doing really well. She's over her stubborn cold and is working hard in the lab at the University of Tasmania sorting insects. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many insects she has collected over a 20 month period. THOUSANDS... TENS of THOUSANDS! She's motoring through them though. She's also really enjoying the 2nd trimester of pregnancy more so than the first because the all day morning sickness has subsided. On the phone the other day she told me that she's beginning to show a bit. Not to the casual observer just yet though.

I also just got back a few days ago from kayaking Upper Cherry Creek. This was my 5th time down this superb run and it did not disappoint. It starts out with carrying your boat and all of your camping gear 11 miles up a dusty hot trail far from the river. Then the next two days are spent dropping over one waterfall after another. The landscape is amazing with smooth granite dominating the landscape with dome after dome. The river cuts through these glaciated domes forming a kayakers wet dream. Yes Mom, it really is that good that I had to say that last sentence for effect!

The boys (Matias from Argentina, Chris Harjes, Josh Bruckner, and Dan Glauser) at the lake in the sky. From here it drops into the unportageable Cherry Bomb Gorge.

I had always portaged around the entire Cherry Bomb Gorge section requiring 45mins to an hour of carrying all of my gear over a 1000ft dome. Well this year it was time. I was the only one of our team of five that hadn't dropped the "bomb" yet. I was scared! The funny thing was that I wasn't sure who was more scared, me or the rest of the crew that had run it before. Sitting at the lip of this drop looking down the gorge was one of the coolest things I've done in my many years of kayaking. The coolest thing I've ever done in a kayak was running this gorge. There is something about being completely committed to sticking your lines or else. Well, eager readers we all had great lines off of the bomb with no carnage to report. YEAH! The rest of the run went down great. All in all I probably ended up running at least 20 new rapids that I had walked previously.

Chris in heaven!

This trip down UCC will go down in the books as my second favorite. I will always remember the trip that Lora and I did alone down it as my favorite. It's pretty funny to see the reactions from all of these really to cool for school, hardcore kayakers when I tell them that this run is a wife run and that "Ya my wife and I ran this two years ago." Jaws drop! Damn I love my wife!

Looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. This is from the scout of Cherry Bomb Falls. Amazing! It just keeps going too.

Job hunting and waterfall running

2008-06-19T08:06:00.007+10:00

Greetings loyal blog readers. As I'm sure you all know by now Lora and I are pregnant and are SOOOPER excited about it. If you haven't checked out the pictures in the previous post yet be sure to. It's a good shot of our alien baby.

You also know that I've been back in the States for just over a month. I came home to find a job so that we could afford to have this baby. Well, I knew it would be a hard to get all of the necessary documents needed to secure a job here in Cali but boy was I in the dark. It has taken soooo much longer than I expected. I started early with my credential back in February and now that I have that I've been told that I need so much more. Currently, I'm waiting for what I think is the last crucial paperwork from Utah. Of course it was supposed to be here on Monday. It's quite frustrating waiting on paperwork. I have applied for one job but am not holding my breath on that one. Otherwise, I'm in a holding pattern.

I was invited along on an amazing trip to go down the Middle Salmon river in Idaho. After much deliberation I decided that I needed to stay here and job hunt. It was a difficult decision but I'm really glad I decided to stay. It was during last week that I was told I'm not ready to apply for jobs until I get this new piece of paper from Utah. I would have been more of a wreck this week if I had just found this out. Thanks to all of my super friends for understanding.

So with me working during the week that left the weekends free to go kayaking. I was able to talk my buddy Hunter into an afternoon run down South Silver. He hasn't been in a boat much recently especially on Class 5 but he did AWESOME. Check him out below.

What a boof!

I also, went on a two day trip down the Waterfall section of Dinkey Creek. I've been waiting to do this run for years and it did not disappoint. This run was very committing with many waterfalls that had to be run. Some were unportageable!

It started with a HOT two hour hike down to the creek.

The put-in rapid. It was just a hint as to what was around the corner.

One of the many waterfalls. This one did have a sieve just a few meters down stream from the picture edge. SCARY! Photo by Anthony

This run epitomizes the concept of team work. Photo by Anthony

Anthony took this picture from his boat of another of Dinkey's perfect waterfalls.

Rick going deep. There weren't too many rapids that were "gimmies".

Rod showing off his perfect boof stroke.

Ben Zuppo running a committing drop that required a well timed brace. This one was like being shot out of a water cannon.

Just the bottom half of Willie's drop. Most everyone took a hit at the bottom. Just an absolutely beautiful drop.

Lastly, just a typical fun drop on Dinkey.

We had ten people total on this run so it was a large party for such a small creek. I can highly recommend this run if you're up for running big slides and waterfalls above sieves. No really it was a super good run. One that I will run again when I'm feeling ready to huck some carcass.

Well, I better get off of the computer and continue my harassment of our local government workers. I'll keep you posted as to the job hunting.

Tim

We're up the duff again!

2008-06-16T21:32:00.004+10:00

For those of you we have not told yet, Tim and I are excited to announce that we are 3 months preggers! We are feeling really good about this one. Today, I had my 12 wk scan and it was so amazing to see this tiny little creature jumping all around in me.

While it is still too early to determine the sex, it appears to be part alien. I guess we'll just have to wait until Dec 26th to find out. Yes, that's right the day after Christmas.

Yes I am getting some of my Cali kayaking fix between looking for work and all of the other 100 things I have to do

2008-06-04T07:11:00.005+10:00

If you like this picture that Dan took of me and another buddy on a local run here in California then check out the link to the rest of them on the Riot kayak blog page.

http://teamriot.blogspot.com/
Look for June 1st if it's not on the top of the page.

Don't think that just because I've moved back to the states that means the end of my blogging by the way. I'm just trying to think of a more appropriate name for the blog. Adventures Downunder just doesn't fit for too much longer. Any suggestions loyal readers?

Half here in the States, half still in Oz

2008-06-01T03:11:00.006+10:00

Greetings loyal blog readers. I know it's been some time since my last post. Sorry for that. I've been busy. I arrived back 3 weeks ago to start looking for a job. I have one prospect so far and a lot of districts telling me that they are not hiring right now... and may not hire this summer! I'm a bit nervous about that but I know I'll find something.

The good news is that I finished my Master's degree! I'm pretty stoked to have that finished with and I feel good about accomplishing something with my time while living in Australia. I think I'm going to go kayaking to celebrate today!

In a few days I'll head up to Norm and Shirley's to hang out for a few days and get the VW all sorted so that I have a car again. Hunter and Lori have been kind enough to lend me one of their cars and it's been great. Thanks guys.

I thought I'd end this e-mail with some pics that Lora sent me yesterday. No not those pictures! She was folding laundry and when she grabbed her jeans she was a bit shocked to realize just how much weight she's lost. I thought the pictures were amusing more because she felt she needed to take a few pics and send them to me. Now if I could only figure out a way to get her to send me pictures when she's holding up jeans while wearing nothing at all! Yes, I miss my wife. Sorry.

Too bad she didn't lose the weight eating Subway sandwiches or we could be rich from the advertisement. Oh well.

One last trip together in Australia... The Bay of Fires

2008-05-06T11:43:00.004+10:00

A Seakayaking trip to The Bay of Fires

A dark picture looking north from our camp spot. Breathtaking!

Our camp for the night.

So with me leaving Australia soon we decided to take a quick trip to a place in Tasmania where we always wanted to visit but hadn't found the time to get up there. It's called The Bay of Fires and it's absolutely beautiful! The water was SOOOO clear. I must have said a hundred times to Lora how clear the water was. You could see the bottom clearly and it was probably 25 meters deep or more in places.

Lora getting ready to get a mouthful of wave action as we launch. The perks of sitting in the stern. Another remarkable thing was that the beaches were EMPTY! There are no roads up here and we didn't even see a human footprint on the beach.

I've included a few photos we took on this two day trip. It really worked out perfectly for us. We ended up camping at an amazing site overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We had a small amount of rain the first day but we were rewarded with an amazing full double rainbow. It was like we paddled out from underneath them.

Lora took this quick photo as we were leaving behind civilization on the first day.

Who is that cute girl at camp?

The second day we had to battle an outgoing tide to get into Anson's Bay. The bay itself was just as nice as the coastline. We saw the largest pelican either of us had ever seen. He took off and did a slow fly-by as he checked us out.

We ended up sailing up the coastline about 15kms with a nice tailwind. Hardly any paddling. What a great way to travel. Here we are entering the bay.

All that was left was to find a ride back 35kms to the parked car. I finally roped a local into giving us a ride. I was a bit worried since there really was nothing but dirt roads leading to a few small beach shacks in Anson's Bay. Lucky.

Now we are back home packing me up to head home. Boy has Lora got a huge pile of stuff for me to take home. Maybe you should rent a truck Karen. :)

Tim

Bruny Island

2008-05-01T10:08:00.003+10:00

Here are a couple pictures I have from our Bruny Island trip with mom and Norm. With them having both their cameras out, I didn't take many pictures of my own.

Mom and Norm looking cute at Bruny Island "Neck". A narrow spit of land connecting the northern bit with the southern.

Cloudy Bay

Just one of the many Banksia species

On one of our sightseeing trips we visited the 3rd oldest lighthouse (1838), which is also the oldest continuously running lighthouse in Australia. If you look closely at the hill on the right you can see Cape Bruny Lighthouse.

Stepping on Red, White and Blue soil soon

2008-04-28T16:43:00.004+10:00

Well, it's official. I'll be leaving this beautiful country on May 9th to fly home to California. I have very mixed emotions about it. We really have had a great time here in Australia. This country is full of amazing people that I am really sad to leave behind. One comfort is that some will eventually come to visit us at some point in the near future.

Lora will be staying behind for a few months to finalize some data analysis. It's much simpler for her to deal with insects and plant material here than to try and get all the necessary permits for importing them to the states. We are both not looking forward to being apart for three or four months. With my work schedule here I have been able to turn down work to travel up to her field sites every few weeks. That has meant we haven't really spent more than two or three weeks apart the entire time we've been here. This one will be hard but doable.

If anyone would be willing to pick me up from the airport (SFO) at 10:15am on Friday the 9th of May I could really use a ride. I will have some luggage but will not be bringing a bike or kayak home so I should fit in a standard car... maybe. I'll be looking to get up to Sacramento or even better up to Weaverville where my car is currently being stored.

See you all really soon.

Lastly, I thought I'd tack on a few photos of just some of our good friends over here. I don't know... I'm feeling a tad sentimental.

Swarz. A great boater and a strong mtn biker. He's scarier looking than he really is.

Sammy, one of our friends that will be in California this summer. Hopefully you'll get a chance to meet her. A real sweetheart.

Nick, Scottie, and Steve. Just some of the closest of my friends. They were always up for an adventure of some sort.

A pic of Nick running one of our favorite rivers, the Leven.

Raulf and Mark. Some paragliding friends. Mark and I have spent a lot of time up in the air together.

Bugga. Another great person and a phenomenal c-boater. That means he sits on his knees and uses a canoe paddle with one blade.

Another of Nick and I on the Overland track.

Will, Thorpie, and Tom. Some Tassie boys we went boating with while in New Zealand.

Cuddling a wombat

2008-04-25T14:58:00.004+10:00

Now that my months are numbered here in Australia, there is a small list of things I want to do before I leave. One of these was to hold a wombat. I don't usually get desires to hold animals, but I really have been wanting to hold one since we first arrived here in Australia. I finally got my chance when Craig and I drove between field sites (from Brisbane to Cairns).

A great visit from Shirley and Norman

2008-04-22T16:41:00.002+10:00

Well I'm back in Hobart where I've just spent the day doing substitute P.E. teaching. Yes I said P.E. substituting! It was actually more work than I anticipated but it was really fun showing kids how to take their pulse and talking with them about exercising regularly. Of course we had a few relay races and i showed them a game or two as well.

For the past two weeks Lora's mom and step-father have been over visiting from the states. We had a great time hanging out and seeing the sites. The highlight for me was the three day visit to Bruny Island. It's a quick 30 minute drive from Hobart to the ferry and then a 20 minute ferry ride. We stayed in a great little vacation bungalow and visited some of the prettiest beaches I've seen in Tasmania. I even had a quick surf in the kayak at one of them. In the evening as the sun was setting Norman and I took advantage of the fantastic squidding to be had off of the local jetty. We SLAYED EM! We caught two the first evening and then the next night Norman caught four of the five we took home. The other one was given to us by a young boy whom I lent my squid jig to. Apparently he didn't like squid. These things were HUGE! Norman caught one that would have been close to two feet in length easily. We of course cooked them up and had a feast.

We then headed up to Brisbane where Lora was able to show them one of her favorite field sites. I was bummed because the leeches seemed to be away for the hike so they missed out on one of my favorite things about Lamington Natl Park... leeches raining from the sky.

Some how Lora found a plush beach apartment for us to stay in for the few days we were there. It was nice. Lora and myself introduced the game of Zombies to Shirley and to my surprise she really seemed to enjoy it. She was very close to beating the pro zombie slayers. For those who haven't heard Lora has really turned into a gaming geek. Ok maybe I'm a bit more of a geek than she is. Get ready for some fun boardgames when we get back home to Sactown everyone.

Speaking of that I should be purchasing a ticket home in the next few days. I'm still planning on returning mid May so I'll see you all really soon. Keep your ears open for a teaching job for me. Last I heard Sacramento was laying off teachers because of more budget cuts by Arnie! I can't understand how one of the largest economies in the world can't seem to fund education.

P.S. Sorry about not having any pictures for this post. Lora has the camera up in Sydney. I'll try to post some next week when she returns home.

Tim

More Paragliding

2008-03-30T11:05:00.002+11:00

Well since my last post I have left Manilla to hang out with Lora for a week before she drove up to Cairns, and then driven back down to Manilla with a mate from the Gold Coast to do some more flying. Mark and I spent 7 out of 8 days flying around an area of Australia that reminds me very much of the Big Sky country of Montana. I flew with countless raptors (That never gets old!), dialed in my thermaling technique, and just had a blast overall.

There was a laid back comp going on while we were there and both of us did well. One thing I need to get more comfortable with is flying in close proximity to a large number of other pilots. Usually when two pilots collide it's really bad news. Often times reserve parachutes need to be thrown. Although I had two close calls there were no collisions. Some people just have no clue. In both cases it was a newbie pilot looking up at their wing instead of looking where they were going. I of course was and because of it I was able to steer away from a mid-air disaster. One got within a meter or two of me. Not fun.

Now I'm back in Tassie working on uni assignments and doing some sea kayak guiding work. I was shocked to get off the plane and realize that the flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt I was wearing comfortably in Brisbane didn't really cut it down here in Tas. It's cold again.

Well, I better sign off and get down to the boat for some work. I'll post some pictures when Mark is able to send me some. See you guys mid May.

Tim

Lora is still in the field

2008-03-23T20:28:00.006+11:00

This is a picture we took to help us label hemispherical photos we take of the canopy

Well it has been a long time since I have posted on the blog. I have just been busy in the field as usual. I am doing my last big lap between all my field sites right now. I really can't believe I am collecting data from my plots for the last time. It really feels final when I pull of the tags from the plants and take the stakes out that mark my plots. My time here has really flown by.

Meet my assistant Craig.

My assistant Craig has been a big help over the last 2 months. He will be helping me for a total of 3 months. I have been putting him to work. I really don't take days off so he has been stuck working too. But he loves field work and since this is my last big season I have allowed myself to have a bit of fun. While we in Lamington we took a day off to walk the Border Track. This is a great 21km one way track through all different types of rain forest, from warm subtropic to cool temperate. I loved the walk and came up with all sorts of new research ideas.

Here is Craig, Richard and Andre

We had a great crew for the hike. It was Craig, Tim and I, we also had Andre the Senior Ranger of the park and who I stay with while I am there. We also had Richard a friend from Tasmania, his parents own the hotel in Waratah, I have spent many nights drinking at their pub.

Here I am in an excellent Jamper t-shirt.

A new post from Manilla... NSW Australia

2008-03-10T17:31:00.002+11:00

Greetings everyone. I'm sitting at a very old computer right now in Manilla, Australia. I'm about 40kms North of Tamworth, the country music capital of Australia. Lora is a few hours drive north of me at the moment doing whatelse? Fieldwork. It's going well for her. She constantly amazes me with her tenacity and drive to do good quality work.

So why Manilla? Well some of you may remember a blog I posted back in april about flying here. I'm back for more. I've been here for three day npw and have had some great flights. Launch is at 850 meters msl. The past few days I've been able to use the thermals to soar up to as high as 2000 meters! I've flown away from the hill now twice with one of the flights being 17kms away from launch. This is the furthest I've flown so far cross country and I had a ball. One problem though is that this often means you have to hitchhike back to town. Not a problem usually but here you're in the Country. Yesterday I sat on the side of a road for four hours waiting fopr a lift that never came. Luckily another pilot waiting with me was able to get intouch with someone to come and get us. I was starting to get a little nervous. We then had an absoulutely beautiful evening soaring session to top off the day. Paradise!

During the flight yesterday I was soaring with a wedge-tailed eagle. HE/she was showing me where the thermals were. These birds can be a bit scary though because they have been known to attack paragliders. Thin nylon and sharp talons do not mix. This one was just checking me out.Whew!

A few more days of this and I'll be heading back up to hang out with Lora. As allways she sends her love.I have my first uni assignment due at the end of the week so I'lll be busily shoring that up too. I only havre these last two courses and I'll be finished.

I'll keep you posted as to any exciting events. Oh, I almost forgot. Watch out Baldwin, I started windsurfing and already can beach start, have no problem pulling the sail up out of the water, and make the board go where I want it to go. Now if I could just figure out the tacking. I'm almost there.

Also, sorry for the bad spelling etc. I type two or three sentences on this computer and then wait a minute or two as each character takes two seconds to appear on the monitor.

Cool hat

2008-02-20T17:59:00.003+11:00

Not much to talk about these days. Lora is home tomorrow and I've just been doing some relief work and helping some friends out on their reno job on their house (renovation).

I saw this really cool hat while surfing the net and figured if I add a link to the pattern one of our awesome knitters out there might feel like making one for the ultra geek that I truly am. It's an R2D2 hat.

http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/2007/06/r2d2-beanie.html

Even if it wasn't a copy of the coolest little robot out there I'd still like the colors. I can't really think of a reason anyone should bother making one for me but Easter is coming up... or 4th of July... or President's Day.

Catching up

2008-02-05T19:08:00.000+11:00

Well, life goes on for us all. Lora is currently in the field in northern Tassie. I am back in Hobart squaring away my California teaching credential and getting all signed up for the last of my courses for my Masters degree.

Before setting out for the field I picked up Lora's new assistant, Craig, from the airport and while Lora was busy on the computer... of course... we took a quick hike up a nearby peak. You can see the ocean behind me.

A picture of me on top of Hartz Peak. Notice the really cool Jamper Industries T-shirt I'm sporting. Be sure to check it out and be one of the cool kids on the block!

Craig is an eager assistant from the states waiting to get into Grad school for ecology of course. He's a really nice guy and seems to really love doing fieldwork. It's nice to have someone traveling with Lora again so that I know she's ok in the field.

Craig on Hartz Peak. 1200 meters

Last week the three of us headed out to the Tassie field sites to set up traps. I hung out to help for two days and then I decided to go on a little bike ride. My plan was to ride back to Hobart from Devonport in the north. This was about 400kms. I set off alone dragging my gear in a really cool bike trailer.

As you can see from the roadside map it bisects the island. It is comprised of about 25% sealed roads, 35% gravel roads and double track fire roads, and 40% single track. I was really excited to be having an adventure again. Even though the sign calls it a "soft" adventure.

Well I made it two days and 115kms before I had a major malfunction of the bike. Apparently, the trailer caused my rear wheel axle to bend. I'm not talking about the skewer that holds the wheel to the frame but the actual axle. I didn't realize I had that much leg power. Who knew!

This of course caused the freewheel to stop acting as a freewheel and every time I stopped pedaling the chain would get sucked up and cause problems. Also, because of this the cassette, the 9 chain rings in the back, locking ring would unscrew itself and come loose. I rode for about 10 kms with this problem. My solution was to just treat my bike like it was a track bike. This means I would not stop pedaling to "coast". This sounds simple enough right? Well try going downhill faster than you can pedal dragging 25 kilos of weight in a trailer. I would have to brake going downhill and I was in my biggest chainring! Also, riding like this on a mountainbike trail is next to impossible when you have to time rocks and logs with your cranks so they don't knock you off the bike.

So being too far from a bike shop and it being the weekend which means nothing was open anyway. I decided to take the bus home the remaining 300 or so kilometers. I was pretty bummed. Of course like any adventure this one would have been better with a close friend. So if anyone wants to go on a ride you know where to find me.

I'll try to get Lora to write a blog soon so you can hear first hand what she's up to. It's just hard for her right now because she's in the field and very busty. I mean busy.

Tim

Sad News

2008-01-27T19:17:00.000+11:00

Well I thought I would let everyone know that Lora had a miscarriage last week. We went in for our first ultrasound and instead of getting to see our baby for the first time we got the worst news possible. Apparently the fetus had terminated sometime a week before. Well of course this hit us very hard and we were extremely disappointed and really sad. Lora went in for a procedure the following day and recovered from that quickly. She is so strong.

We just wanted all of you to know about it and to tell you that we are moving on and have a positive outlook on getting pregnant again soon. I guess if there's one bright side to all of this it means we get to have lots of sex again!

Around the World as quick as you can go

2008-01-21T09:05:00.001+11:00

She's a monster! But boy can she slice through the water.

Just read about the new speed solo record for sailing around the world. A French sailor reclaimed the record yesterday from a female British sailor who took it from him back in 2005. One of the TV shows I enjoy watching here is Top Gear, a car show from Britain. It's hilarious! Anyway, one of the episodes they had her on the show. They have all of their guests race around a closed circuit track in a factory stocked Hyundai or something like that. She was not only fast on the water but she placed first on the list. She's a fast cookie!

William, what do you think? Could you manage this one?
You have a lot of building to do before this one falls into your price range.

Well, this French guy didn't want to go down like that so he built another boat. This one was much larger, 97ft, and set out to reclaim the record. Well not only did he reclaim it he smashed it. He took off 14 days from her record and 15 days from his previous one! He did it in 57 days 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds. I couldn't believe it. Most of the time I like to just talk about what Lora and I have been up to and how things are going. This story was just too cool and I had to mention it on the blog. A few of our readers are sailors and I'm sure they will enjoy reading this and checking out a few pictures. Be sure to read the previous blogs about kayaking in New Zealand and of course the earlier one where news is revealed to the world.

Tim

A little kayaking in New Zealand

2008-01-20T14:55:00.000+11:00

Well as I posted yesterday Lora and I went kayaking in New Zealand after getting off the boat. It was great. However, we didn't get to spend as much time on the water as we would have hoped for but oh well. We ended up hiking up one river and then doing two helicopter shuttles for two other classic runs on the West Coast. Not nearly enough kayaking for me. The one thing it did reinforce though was how lucky we are to live in California where you wake up and decide which of the many classic rivers will we paddle today. That is something that Tasmania just can't offer.

While we were over there we were able to run into a few friends that we hadn't seen in quite a while. My buddy JJ from the Camp Carolina era was over there and it was great to catch up with him. Also, Jess, who is an old kayaking friend of mine from when I lived in Christchurch was around as well. She commutes between teaching kayaking in California and New Zealand. She told me she hasn't had a winter in almost 10 years! Obviously she's not a skier. Also, Lora's friend...and mine now too... Dre was over with her partner, Don, who is a visiting Professor up in Auckland. Don did a bit of kayaking with us and it was super cool hanging out with the two of them.

Lastly, our good friends Scottie and Anna from Utah were over visiting Anna's parents in Christchurch. We hung out with them one day when the cruise ship stopped there but then just Lora and I hung out with them again at the end of the trip. It was so good seeing them and really lifted my spirits. I can't wait to see all of our friends again. No, I'm not home sick. I just realize how lucky we are to have such a diverse group of REALLY AWESOME people that don't seem to mind us calling them our friends.

Well, here's a video from youtube showing a bit of the New Zealand kayaking we did. Of course I didn't shoot nearly enough video and even didn't bring it along on one of the rivers, the Perth. Near the end you can see Lora get absolutely worked as she runs one of the portages. Remember, she hasn't really been kayaking for almost two years now and she was in a rental boat plus most people portage it! Man is she tough. And yes for those wondering, it was not fun watching her run this rapid upside down. There are also a few pictures near the end too.

Here's another video I found on Youtube that is of the Arahura river. It does a better job showing you what it's all about. I was having way too much fun kayaking to stop and shoot video. Plus much of it is done from a heli.

Losing Viewers

2008-01-18T16:11:00.000+11:00

A typical shot of the New Zealand scenery near Arthur's Pass, S. Island.

What's the quickest way to lose readers of a blog? Don't put up any new content.

Sorry for that guys and gals but Lora and I have been on vacation. You may be wondering how I convinced Lora to take time out from her very busy schedule to travel to New Zealand with me. Well at first I tried telling her about the amazing kayaking there. Interest of course but no go. Then I told her about the friends we would see there. More interest but still she was way too busy with her work to take time off. Then Frank and Jennifer said they would pay for a 16 day cruise from Australia to New Zealand with the two of them and our youngest brother, William. Well of course she found the time. Of course I'm only kidding about all that. We do have to again say a big thank you to Frank and Ginger for a great time.

We did go on the cruise though. The five of us met up in Sydney on the 20th of December and spent the next 16 days sailing the high seas. Yes, they were high, with swells up to 10 meters at times. This made the Tasman Sea crossing quite exciting. Luckily for me I don't get sea sick. Unlucky for Lora she was not able to take any medications due to the fact that she is pregnant. Yes readers of our blog, LORA IS PREGNANT! You heard it here first... well some of you we actually called first but only if your last name begins with an R or in one case a P. This made for a slightly different cruise experience than we had both hoped for but it was really fun telling my parents the news on board. It was difficult for Lora because she's not able to enjoy red wine and boy did the rest of us have some for her. I'm not sure how many bottles of sparkling wine we went through but let's just say we were seriously concerned they would run out.

How could this not get your kayaking juices flowing?
The put in for the ultra classic Arahura river.
This is the view after the helicopter drops you off in paradise.

After the cruise we headed back to the South Island for some whitewater kayaking. I'll put up another blog with those details and a little video soon. We love you all and can't wait to see you all soon.

By the way, the current plan is that I will be coming home to Cali in May or so, trying to secure a teaching job. I'll then head back here to Oz for the birth of our son\daughter sometime in the middle of August. Then all three of us will be living in Sacramento for at least a year while Lora works on analyzing the mounds of data she collected and writes it all up into the opus that it will become. Look out Nature here comes Dr. R.

Tim

Look Ma I'm famous!

2007-12-01T18:55:00.000+11:00

Back in October we actually had some rain here which meant the rivers were at a good level for once. I may have mentioned back then that the day after the race we went to run our favorite run, Leven Canyon. It was really high but it looked good to go so most of us went for it. One of the boaters wrote up a little story and submitted it along with some pics to KayakSessions magazine. It probably will not make it into print but it's up on their website right now. Somehow I managed to be in many of the photos. I've attached one photo, my favorite one, that shows me about to launch off a 12 meter drop.Here's the link if you want to read more. http://www.kayaksession.com/kayaking-tasmania.php

It's kind of funny because I can tell the guy didn't remember my name, he's from Sydney and not a local, because some of the story doesn't quite fit.

Hanging with Kevin and Karen

2007-11-26T18:24:00.000+11:00

Right now Lora and I are hanging out in Far North Queensland. I fly back to Hobart in two days to finish up the last of my school work for the semester. I'm not really looking forward to it. Two weeks ago Kevin and Karen came out to visit us and we took them to see some of our favorite places in S. Tas.

First stop, some sea kayaking near the candlestick. Karen had been kayaking a few times before but it was a first for Kevin. We loaded up the boats with overnight gear and headed over to a little cove to set up camp for the night.

Heading over to camp.

A shipwreck we checked out on the way to camp the first night.

After waking up to rain and having a quick breakfast we started paddling towards the candlestick. Remember a while back I hiked in to this spot to check it out. The little column is called the Totem Pole and is a very famous climb. The paddle across the bay took about 45 minutes and neither boat had any trouble.

Here we are paddling through the crack between the two islands. The swell can prevent people from being able to do this so we were really lucky.

The view looking back at the Totem Pole.

Same view except Kevin and Karen are in the way. Just kidding.

After getting back to the car we then headed to the wildlife park so that they could see the local animals. I think they both really enjoyed seeing the Tassie devils fight it out for food. I know I did.

One of them giving us a menacing look warning us not to try and take its food.

I thought it would be funny to go and hang out with the roos. They were a little freaked out by the whole thing as you can see from the picture. Leave it to me to make totally tame animals get freaked out.

We really had a great time visiting with Jim, Pat, Kevin and Karen. We all ended up visiting Cairns for a few days before they all headed home. One of the highlights for me was a return trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. I think Pat enjoyed visiting another wildlife park. Next time you see her you may have to ask her about the Koalas here. Just kidding Pat. We'll try to get some of those pictures up a little later.

Well it's back to normal life for us just for a bit. I'll try to keep you guys posted as to what the haps are as they occur.

Peace

Tim

Jim and Pat hit up Ozland

2007-11-18T00:24:00.000+11:00

Jim and Pat are here visiting us in Tasmania and soon to be in Cairns. While here in Tas we had some fun even though it was a short trip. First off was a round of golf as promised. We ended up at a really nice course on the water front. My mate Nick came with us for an early round. Jim ended up beating us both but not by a huge margin. It was really a nice morning and I'm hoping to play some more golf soon.

Nick teeing off after Jim smacked a good one over the water.

We then went on a little drive down south after meeting Lora and Pat for lunch. We ended up at the Tassie Devil Park where we watched the Devils tear roo carcass to shreds. These animals are SO COOL! I think Pat enjoyed the live kangaroos better.

At the Devil Park with a couple of cuties.

Some devils.

In a field of roo poo!

Up close and personal.

We then took a drive to the coast where we saw a really cool sea cave that led out to the surf. The local surfers use it to access the waves. It seems really cool to have to paddle out this 50 meter long cave.

Contemplating the swim!

All in all I think both of them realized what a great place Tasmania is and how much it has to offer. I also think they realized why we chose to live here in the first place. Now we're off to see Cairns and meet back up with them.

At the Saturday market.

A few losers in the world still don't read our blog.

2007-11-13T10:18:00.000+11:00

Lora was talking with our friend Danielle today and found out that she had never checked our blog. We have been living in Tasmania for over a year and she's one of our closest friends. Can you believe it? She's just now realizing what cool stuff she's been missing out on. Maybe now she'll know what people are talking about around the office water cooler.

Waiting for Tassie spring

2007-11-08T21:28:00.000+11:00

Well after finding ourselves in hail and snow we returned home and waited for 2 more weeks for Tasmania's west coast to hit spring. I then finally was able to hit the field again. Things went off without a hitch, but it was still a bit cold at times. Fieldwork in a temperate rainforest is very different than tropical. I got back home 2 days ago, just in time to hang out with Dad and Pat. They arrived this afternoon and we had a great walk around the harbour, a drink at the pub and a nice seafood dinner. We will post more fun as it happens.

Below are some pictures I took on a bit of sightseeing with Anna before she left Australia.

Russel Falls at Mt. Field National Park

I finally got to see a couple of Echidnas up close. They are great. This is a juvenile one, but I have seen some BIG ones too.

Just a couple of shots of the color patterns of Snow gums.

Life in Australia

2007-11-04T19:01:00.000+11:00

First off, can you people get the American economy back on track please! It hurts living in an expensive foreign country with a bank account full (ok not FULL) of U.S. dollars. Maybe William needs to encourage the country to spend money again and go out and buy luxury items. It seemed to work before.

For those of you who check our blog you may have been wondering where in hell are we lately. It's been quite a while since our last post. SORRY! Lora's assistant, Anna, went home a couple of weeks ago so I've been out in the field with Lora a bit and working on papers for Uni. We've been stuck out in the boonies and have had no Internet or cell service. Also, since all I pretty much have been doing lately is typing and staring at a computer the last thing I really want to do is type some more. Why oh why do I love procrastinating so much?

Lora's about done with her Tassie sites and will be home in a few days. On Thursday Jim and Pat will be heading over here for a visit as will Karen and Kevin. I plan on playing some golf with Jim. Isn't that what you're supposed to do with the in-laws? Golf seems to be one of those sports which I enjoy every time I go out but then forget about it the next day. This means I never improve due to lack of playing time. Right now I suck so it should be fun.

When Kevin and Karen visit we plan on doing some fun stuff. Maybe an overnight sea-kayaking trip or a quick hike into a cabin in the mountains. You know fun stuff. By the way, Karen got your message today and no you don't need to bring a sleeping bag. We can get all that stuff here for you.

Well now every one knows that we are still alive and well. Summer is almost here and the weather is starting to get good. That means more fishing and longer evenings. Of course Lora has plans for me again this summer. Can you say field bitch? That's what I'm going to be. Oh well, it could be worse.

Tim

A few pictures of when William came to visit Tasmania a couple of months ago

2007-10-16T15:09:00.001+11:00

Fishing with the family from a "Tinnie"

Just getting around to posting these pictures. William, my youngest brother, came over for about a week and half before the sailing trip. We played some xbox and I took him on a lot of missions around the state. We did some hiking where I think I made him puke, some sea kayaking with the sharks, and a lot of fishing. Can't wait to take the other half of the family on some fun missions around Tasmania.

William and I fishing from the kayaks.

More fishing

Just some boring scenery.

William contemplating life on one of the top ten beaches of the world.

Superheroes seen kayaking local Tassie river

2007-10-14T21:39:00.000+11:00

The second weekend of October means it's the Teva Lea Extreme Race again. For Lora and I it's a chance to paddle down a nice river with a bunch of other kayakers. The whole event is a fun packed weekend where we eat and drink lots of food and liquid refreshments and oh yea for 10 to 15 minutes we try to get down a two km section of whitewater as fast as we can in teams of two. Well of course Lora and I teamed up again. How lucky am I to have a wife that is a bad ass kayaker? We really are not that competitive and the true spirit of the event for us is the costume competition.

Last year some of you may remember that we went as a bull and runner from the running of the bulls in Spain. Everyone thought I was a French guy and Lora was a cow. Ok well apparently they do not know about the running of the bulls here in Tasmania so this year we thought we would go as something that no one would miss. As you can see from the photos we went as Superman and Superwoman. Kate and Matt will especially appreciate the fact that the costumes were made totally of duct tape. I spent about 4 hours working on them over two evenings with Lora lending a hand on the tricky S's. Another funny thing is that of course duct tape is expensive over here for some apparent reason so I ended up spending about $70 on them.

We also put coat hangers in the cape parts so that we could bend them up to make it look like we were really fast kayakers. It worked. Everyone really loved them and they looked great.

Here we are below one of the drops on the race. If you look closely at my cape you can see how it looks like it's flapping behind me.

At the presentation dinner we were rewarded for our efforts with $200 to spend at kayak4play.com.au and the knowledge that we may not have been the fastest pair on the river that day but we were certainly the best looking. Besides isn't that what kayaking is all about?

Our 2 Year Anniversary

2007-10-05T19:33:00.000+10:00

For those of you that actually have a life and may have let the 1st of October slip by without thinking it was an important day I'm happy to remind you that it was Lora and my 2nd wedding anniversary. We still remember the great party that was our wedding and think of all of the people that made it special whether they were able to attend or not.

Of course most of you will never guess how we spent our day together this year... that obvious huh? Of course we went kayaking! We ended up going down a beautiful section of the Plenty river only 30 mins from town. It's finally been raining here so the river was at a great level. We had a blast. We ended up paddling with 4 other Tassie boaters and enjoyed a 15 km run. As usual Lora styled all of the lines. I'm not sure how she's able to stay a good kayaker when she only gets to paddle 10 days a year.

I've included two pictures... the only two we took all day because the river was of a continuous nature and we were having too much fun to stop and take a picture. The first is of the two of us with our AWESOME dry-suits many of you gave to us for a wedding present. I know I've said it before but every time we put them on we think of all of you and HOW MUCH YOU ALL ROCK!

The second picture is of course the take out. Pretty boring but there you go.

Then we checked into a swanky hotel right on the waterfront in Hobart. We were going to go out for dinner but the two story hotel room was too nice and the restaurant next door did the room service for the place so we just ordered in. It was a great way to spend our day together. A nice river, good food, and a great view of the harbor from our bed.

A little bike ride around the coast

2007-09-28T09:49:00.001+10:00

It's lambing season here and they are cute!

The ride we took follows the red line from Cygnet around to Woodbridge and then back across to end in Cygnet.

By now most people would have seen our latest post about the sailing. If you haven't yet scroll down below to the previous post. As usual I probably put too much video in it. I think the slide show at the end is the best part.

On to other things...

Recently Lora and I went on a little bike ride around one of the peninsulas near town. The ride was great and ended up being about a 53km ride. The views were spectacular and of course the pictures just do not do it justice.

With Lora being in such great shape and me riding my mountain bike with big knobby tires, it was tough work keeping up with her. Part way through the ride we stopped for a nice little lunch at a pub/restaurant right on the water.

After a glass of wine and a pint of light beer as well as a small lunch we decided to cut through the inland back to the car. What we didn't know was how steep and long the uphill would be. Along the way we saw a couple of really friendly and super cute lambs that whenever I bleated they would come right up to me. Lora was in heaven and asked repeatedly if we could take one home. See the pictures below to see what I did with one of them.

The local countryside. For some reason I'm holding Lora's bike, not my own.

One of the cute lambs I took home for dinner. O.K. it isn't really! Lora and I bought a rabbit from a country hotel later in the week and we cooked it up. YUMMY!

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

2007-09-20T19:31:00.000+10:00

So I decided to just put all the pictures I liked and a little video Lora shot using her little camera onto YouTube. I won't go into all the detail of the trip but we had a blast sailing around for 7 days. For those that don't know my parents and youngest brother came over to visit us and part of the trip we rented a 42' Catamaran. Pure indulgence! Enjoy the video.

Tim

A few cute photos of Frank and Jennifer during our sailing trip in Australia

2007-09-10T18:16:00.001+10:00

We took a hike up above our boat one afternoon and snapped this picture.

Ok I don't usually get to mushy when it comes to my parents. After all they are my parents. However, as I began looking at the numerous pictures taken during the sailing trip last month I couldn't resist putting some up for all to see. It's nice to see them happy together and still in love after all these years. Enjoy.

I still plan on posting a blog about the sailing trip really soon.

Oh yeah, I'm sure I'll get in trouble for doing this but I can't help myself.

This is Lora's and my favorite picture of the two of them.

Holding hands on a walk along a really cool section of beach.

Hill inlet in the background.

Australia's next top model!

The boat was really moving in the 25knt winds and 2 meter seas.

Possums are cuter in Australia

2007-09-04T08:24:00.000+10:00

This one go into a utility room and made a mess.

Fieldwork in action.

Anna and I carrying traps into Border Ranges

Danielle, a volunteer at Lamington National Park, and I hanging Flight-intercept traps

Anna hanging traps

The Family starts to arrive

2007-08-04T03:17:00.000+10:00

I'm so excited to be picking up my youngest brother tomorrow from the airport. He'll be down here in Tasmania for 10 days before all three of us fly up to meet my parents for a week of sailing in the Whitsunday Islands. I have some fun things planned for his visit but mainly we'll just be hanging out. I'll keep you posted as to what trouble we can get into before Lora gets back home on the 11th.

Friday Fishing

2007-07-28T13:01:00.000+10:00

I went fishing yesterday and had a ball. Nick and I took a "Tinnie" (an aluminum boat) out for some salt water flathead fishing. Basically you use a double hook and big sinker to drag along the bottom of the water. For bait we bought the cheapest meat we could find, lamb necks. These flathead fish are UGLY but they taste GREAT. It's been a while since I've done any fishing and we had a blast. It was a bit cold but the sunset out there on the water was brilliant. We ended up catching enough for dinner and even was able to invite some friends over to help us eat the catch.

A pic off the internet of a flathead

We breaded them and then put them over a veggie salsa we made and a bed of Rocket (Arugula). As Lora would say... It was Scrumpsh! Sorry to not include any pics but I still don't have a camera since I've misplaced mine a month or so ago.

If you find the word Hobart we were fishing in the bay under the "art" in Hobart.

I'll update the blog in another day or two with pics of our trip to Fraser island last week. It was an awesome trip and so great to see Lora again. Stay tuned.

Tim

Great Barrier Reef

2007-07-24T09:17:00.000+10:00

Anna and I have been working non-stop since she arrived, so as a treat we headed to the reef for a day of snorkeling. We went with Denise and her friend Kimberly who was visiting from the states for a several weeks.

Denise, Kimberly, Anna and Me on the boat ride to the reef

It took just over an hour to get out to the reef from Port Douglas. Once there, the boat moored in 3 snorkeling areas.

The reef

It was great snorkeling. My favorite would have to be the giant clams. They are huge with crazy colors. Along with all the heaps of fish, Kimberly and I saw a good size reef shark.

After our last snorkel

The only draw back of the day was that it started off cold. Both in the water and out. The water temperature was warmer than the air temp, especially when considering out windy it was. By the end of the day the winds had calmed and it wasn't so bad. After the first snorkel Anna's turned purple from the cold.

Kimberly and Denise comparing their toenail polish to Anna's lips

Overall it was a great day. After this we had one more day in the field and then we started our drive to Brisbane and more importantly getting Tim from the airport.

Just Checking In

2007-07-09T21:31:00.000+10:00

I though I'd let everyone know what we've been up to recently. But first of all a big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Chris and Amy on their wedding! I talked with them today and they seem really happy. Both Lora and I wished we could have been there.

Lora is still up in the Far North with her fabulous assistant, Anna. They are tackling plots and having to figure out new techniques as they go. As always once she figures it out on the first few plots it should get easier. Looks like they will be heading down to southern Queensland in about a week and a half. I plan on meeting them up there for a much needed reunion and vacation. We have plans to hire a 4wd and take it over to Fraser island for a few days.

One of many freshwater lakes on Fraser
Copyright: Alaettin KI

Fraser island is the World's largest sand island. There seems to be a lot to see and do as long as you stay out of the ocean. Seems to be a small problem with sharks. Luckily there are many lakes where one can take a dip in crystal clear water. Oh yeah. I should mention that there is also a 75 mile long ancient dune where someone may try to fly.

I've been busy with my 4 hour work week. Boy it's exhausting! No really I've been really busy recently. I finished up a semester of school work so now I'm half way to completing my Masters degree in Ed. YEA! Teaching up at the Uni has been quite an experience. It took me a little bit to get used to students actually taking notes whenever I said anything. I've received a lot of positive feedback from my students which makes me believe that I'm doing a decent job. It's been a lot of fun but quite a bit of preparation goes into each class.

I'm also still doing some work in the outdoor education setting. On Wednesday I'll be taking some students rafting. Actually, I'll just be safety kayaking but damn they pay well here with my teaching credentials. If I thought I could make a living doing it in the States I might give it a go. Working with kids in the outdoors back in North Carolina is a big reason I became a teacher.

Well that about covers it. Both Lora and I will be really happy when we finally get to see each other. I'll keep you posted. Don't forget that you can always call us or post a message.

Tim

In queensland again

2007-06-29T16:53:00.000+10:00

I am back in the field in far north Queensland. It is a lot colder in Atherton than I would expect. I was really hoping it would be warmer. Anyway things are going well. I have an assistant now, Anna. It is nice to not work alone anymore, plus she loves bugs too. We pretty much hang out all day everyday, which can be intense but so far we get along great and haven't gotten on eachothers nerves yet.

Sunset in Port Douglas

It is really nice to be working again in the sites I spent so much time setting up. Things are much less stressful now. My only problem now is that I really miss Tim. I am hoping he will be able to come visit in a couple weeks.

Here is a picture of Anna and a HUGE fern. There are a lot of tree ferns here so I am use to tall ferns, but check out the girth of the rachis of the fron in Anna's hand.