Superheroes seen kayaking local Tassie river

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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