Sick House

The Problem - wow that glare is bright!

The Solution - now that's better!

Daddy and mommy's sunglasses

Looking for glass

Mill Bay beach at low tide

It's funny looking at these pictures from Saturday because it seems so long ago.  Saturday was an event-filled, fun day.  We beachcombed for glass in the morning and went sledding in the afternoon.  And then came Saturday night and both kids got sick.  Nora brought new meaning to the term 'Mak and Yak' - our nickname for macaroni and cheese. 

Sunday was the polar opposite of Saturday - dreary and gray outside and no energy inside.  Stuey only got sick saturday night but Nora (and me) stayed sick all day Sunday.  Of course the not sick anymore Stuey was energized and hyper while Nora and I couldn't be bothered.  This created an another sort of problem - entertaining Stuey.

I spent the day cleaning up sheets from the night before and folding laundry.  The laundry machine and dryer were going ALL day and into to last night.  Nora lay on the couch and slept.

However, today is a new day.  Both kids were up and charging about by 6 AM.  The birds are singing outside - Nora has noticed the birds and tells me that it means, 'It's spring'.  Both kids are chatty and all is well. We are now a healthy house once again.  Patrick

Hiking, Museum and Movie

 Yesterday the weather was sunny, so Alisa Eric and myself went for a hike on Mt. Wellington, which sits right behind Hobart. There were 360 deg. spectacular views from the top. The trail was in wonderful shape and after an hour plus hiking, we enjoyed a picnic lunch of cheese, fruit, crackers that Alisa had prepared.

 Since it started raining in the early afternoon, we decided to check out the Museum of Old and New Art. This museum is very new to Hobart and was funded by a gentleman who made lots of money off of gambling. It is only over a year old. It is built UNDERGROUND-3 stories. The rock you see in the picture below is bedrock underground. I was in awe-it is a very modern museum with lots of bizarre but incredible exhibits.

The picture above was these screens of people all singing to the same song, but individually. Hard to explain, but Alisa was quite fascinated with the TV screen art displays. Eric liked them as well. So much to watch!


The one below was the coolest...water droplets from the ceiling formed words as they fell through the air! The words rotated. They were just random words. I did a video of it and fortunately the camera saves the first frame of footage as a still so I was able to capture a 'droplet' word falling through the air.

 Last night Alisa and I went to a movie "First Love, Goodbye" at a local theater. Yes, that is the room where we watched the movie below. On leather couches with wine! It was such a fun venue! The movie was a french love story with subtitles, so it was the PERFECT movie for me to watch here with Alisa. Patrick would have thoroughly rebelled. She and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great story, acting and french scenery.

 And picture below is us with our wine before going into theater...

I am loving every minute in Tasmania. And every minute with Alisa. It is so fun to catch up on life, to talk about kids, travel, etc with no rush at all to our conversations.

Tasmania 22 years ago

Mrs McIvor's sheep at her ranch near Camperdown (not Tasmania)

Wineglass Bay - I tried bodysurfing here in July!

Old prison cells at Port Arthur. This is where they put the baddest of the bad - transported convicts who got in trouble AGAIN.

Another view of Port Arthur - a really beautiful place

Kangaroo?  I only put the question mark because I sort of remember that it was not actually a kangaroo but a wombat or some other sort of marsupial.

Zoya's visit to Tasmania has got me rummaging through my old slides and thinking about when I was out and about traveling the world in the early 1990s.  I went to Australia directly after working for DeBeers in the diamond mines in South Africa. After working in the mines I cashed in my pension (I also got a huge tax refund for some reason), sold my Toyota Corolla and took off for parts unknown with a healthy grubstake.  Since I was an 'Apartheid bad boy' I was not allowed to fly directly to Australia and I consequently spent a while in French speaking Mauritius first.  Due to an Apartheid embargo airlines were not allowed to fly direct from South Africa to Australia, and I remember I had my choice of stopovers with Harare in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, or Mauritius.  

Once in Australia I stayed with a childhood neighbor outside of Melbourne. Mrs McIvor had a sheep farm near the town of Camperdown.  I remember that she picked me up from the train station in an old Holden Commodore (sort of a Ford Pinto equivalent only bigger). In the old Holden she drove me site seeing all over SE Australia.  I also took trains to Adelaide, Alice Springs and Perth, and a ferry to Tasmania (more on this later).  I got to see a lot of Australia.

Coming from South Africa I was struck by the ethnic and cultural homogeneity of Australia. I'd come from a country populated by Dutchmen, English, Indians, Jews, Sothos, Zulus, Xhosa, Vendans, and Cape 'Colored' - just to name a few.  And it was weird to come to a country where everyone was white and spoke Australian English with the same accent.  I remember that everyone even watched the same soap operas on the television, and told the same jokes.  It was like returning to a stereotype of Eisenhower America from the 1950s.

Anyway, I think my favorite part of Australia was Tasmania.  With the sea and rugged coastline, it was weirdly like returning home to Maine or even Kodiak.  While I was there it even snowed and I got to go skiing!  It's also very illuminating to hear and see from Zoya how much Tasmania has changed.  I remember that Australian food was sort of 'English' - like what you'd get in London. And there were certainly no organic farmer markets. That certainly seems to have changed for the better!   I wonder if you are still not supposed to tip at Australian restaurants? 

On a side note - in 1990 it was hard to find a good beer or meal in America too.  Remember that this was before micro brews changed the whole scene and the best beer that you could buy was imported (think Heineken).  Maybe even London has good food these days.

It's so cool that Zoya gets to visit a country I saw almost a quarter century ago.  I can't wait to hear and see what else has changed or stayed the same!

Patrick

Favorite Month

Stuey showing Sophie the beach glass pickings with some Kodiak 'urban art' in the background

Anemone underwater in a tidepool

Cece with lowtide at Mill Bay behind her

Easter Sunday Peak - this was my skate ski destination

The Valley I skate skiied up to reach Easter sunday with Pyramid Mountain in the distance

This is my favorite part of the year to be in Kodiak.  Plenty of sunlight and plenty of snow!  And best of all the kids WANT to go outside.  This morning we went to the beach to collect beach glass and seaweed (I'm making kelp chips and seaweed salad for dinner), and then I went for a skate ski into Kodiak's backcountry.  I was gone around 2 1/2 hours (including drive time) and yet I probably went for a 20 kilometer ski!  So convenient, and this time of year the crust cruising is at its best.  Right now Stuey is pestering me to go sledding - so off we go!  This kids are going to be whacked tonight.  Patrick

Kangaroos, Possums and Devils, Oh My!

Yesterday Alisa, the two boys and myself went to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, which was about an hours drive out of Hobart. The  Tasmanian Devils in the wild are afflicted with a contagious cancer which is spread through their saliva. All the Devils in the park are cancer free and they are looking to help support their population.

There were also kangaroos, possums and parrots. Little Eric was NOT a fan of the kangaroos. He would cry and get upset when we spent time with then. There were about 30 kangaroos in  very large field and we could just walk amongst them AND feed them! They are such cute, gentle animals. In the picture I took the baby kangaroo is nursing.

After seeing how sensitive Eric was to the kangaroos,   Alisa and I figured that he wouldn't enjoy Tasmaian devil feeding time. We were wrong! We went the the area where they feed the Devils chunks of meat, and they fight like crazy for it, squealing and playing tug-o-war with the meat. Eric laughed! He thought it was great.

The picture above is of Alisa on their Sailboat, Galatic. More sailboat pics to come next week when we go for a several day sail! I have been spending primarily the evenings on the sailboat with them for dinner. During the day Alisa and the boys and myself are out and about exploring.

This is a view from an overlook along the way to the Devil Conservation Park.

Yesterday we also went to an incredible large outdoor Market which is held every Saturday, Year round! It was phenomenal. The street artists, food, crafts, produce. In the bottom picture is a vintage clothing stand that was part of the fair. It was fun to browse through all the old clothes!

Above you can see the Tasmanian Devils fighting at feeding time. They are ferocious creatures! They only eat dead meat, which is a good thing!

I have been really, really enjoying traveling by myself. This is the first time out of the country by myself since College when I went to visit Ella and Sweden. All of my other trips overseas have been with Patrick. Before leaving, I was a little nervous about going by myself...customs, money exchanging, etc. I had nothing to be worried about. This country is a perfect place to travel to by myself because it is english speaking, and they use dollars and the exchange rate is nearly 1:1. Plus, I'm not really here by myself because I'm with Mike and Alisa.

Unplugging from my cell phone has been lovely and really good. It doesn't work here and I haven't tried to make it work. I have access to my work e-mail, Facebook and this blog, which is all I need. Its been nice to have enough technology to touch base with my family once a day. I think that is one advantage of having vacation here....a non working cell phone!

I'm having the time of my life with Alisa. It has been so fun to really catch up with her and play with the boys and see the country here.

The white Australian wines are amazing. So fruity, smooth and ever evening we enjoy a glass with yummy Brie cheese and crackers.

Zoya

Sun from the Sea

This is the sun rising out of the sea this morning just after Nora and I got up - we adjusted the colors in photoshop looking out the window at the real thing.  Nora made sure I got the colors and exposure just right to match what was going on outside in the real world.

Here are Stuey and Nora out by the firepit last night.  They cooked hotdogs on pokers, and, in honor of Zoya in Australia, I cooked a rack of lamb chops.  We did not bother with buns or condiments - just the meat on sticks and fingers for grippers (I had to use a knife to cut up the ribs though).  Later for carbos I cooked them up popcorn.  Simple food.

At the airport it broke 55 degrees which is truly amazing.  I don't even think the kids needed jackets!  All the crocuses are blooming now and I noticed that the rhubarb has come up.  Spring has sprung rather quickly in the last week or so.  Patrick

Loving Tasmania

Tasmania is lovely. It has been so much fun to see my friends Mike and Alisa and their boys. Alisa has spoiled me with wonderful white tasmanian wine and brie cheese last night from Kings Island. It was the smoothest, best brie cheese I've ever had! And we've had so many great laughs since my arrival yesterday. Last night after the boys were in bed, Alisa Mike and myself enjoyed dinner atop the sailboat outside. It was fun to eat outside under the stars. Its nice to catch up and not be in a rush...to know that we have a week to hear stories from the past 5 years apart.

Today Alisa, Eric and myself went to a very cool Art sculpture walk which was about a 1/2 hour drive out of Hobart. There was a mile trail through the woods with about 20 various sculptures along the way. We were the only ones on the trail and Eric had such a great time walking with us as well. The art was done by a variety of artists and I posted pictures of a few of our favorites.

And the gate in the photo is no ordinary gate. Someone had knitted a cover for it! Yes-thats right--a knitted cover made out of yarn! There were several gates like that. Alisa says people knit covers for such structures occasionally here! I thought that was most unusual and cool!

After the sculpture walk, which took us about 1.5 hours, Alisa, Eric and myself had lunch at a sheep cheese farm and winery. We enjoyed some goat cheese tasting (YUM!!) which included lavender infused Manchego as well as another type of manchego. Anyone around our house lately knows that Manchego is currently my favorite cheese!

With lunch I had an ewe-chino.... which is a cappuccino made with sheep milk! So creative! It was delicious. I'm in love with anything sheep--sheep cheese, milk, and even pictures of sheep. Such great animals they are!

I'm staying at the cutest B and B ever-pictures to come.
There is WIFI here and the password is: ConvictTransportationForTheTermOfHisNaturalLifeByMarcusClarke
I couldn't believe it was correct at first, but it works. I was telling Alisa about it and she said it is probably because Australia was originally where convicts were sent that there is a lot of convict history here. That made a little more sense...still quite funny!

Zoya

Nora and the wolf

Last night Saint Mary's had their spring 'Festival of the Arts' event, and all parents and children were required to attend. At first I thought, 'oh great, Zoya's gone to Australia and here I am taking Stuey alone to an event that will go on until after his bed time'. 'This could be a nightmare.' Bad daddy that I am I did not even know about the event until the day before it happened. In the end Stuey fell asleep and I had a great time watching Nora do her performance.

The opening play was a sort of 'Peter and the Wolf' type performance where a teacher narrated the story and the kids played instruments to act out the scenes. The story is on the wall in comic form behind Nora in the photo. Basically, a braggart wolf named Harry gets everyone annoyed by constantly talking about how he is faster than everybody else. So the other animals come up with a plan whereby an ant named Fred challenges Harry to a race, and then hides on his nose and jumps at the last second of the race to beat Harry the wolf across the line. 'Fred wins!'. Nora got to beat sticks, imitate Harry's laugh, and chant 'Fred is winning' during the race.

And it did go late. I had to carry Stuey back to the car and both kids went to sleep immediately when we got home. Wow!

Anyhow, on another subject, today was my 100th day of the year on skis. I only bring this up because that is the quickest I have ever made to 100 days on snow. I have gone skiing on 100 of the 110 days to date of the new year. Wow! I guess I'm pretty obsessive. But I'm proud that it seems I am skiing MORE and not less than I used to when I was single and without cares or kids. Patrick

Small Site Archaeology Public Lecture

Today at Noon at the refuge visitors center I'll be giving a talk about what we found last summer at the Amak site during the Community Archaeology dig. I'll be comparing what we found this year with all the other small sites we have dug in the past. Bring your lunch and watch me squirm, or rather present. Patrick

Travel to Sydney!

I made it! To Sydney!

I love Virgin Australia Airline. It was so comfortable, new-agey... and they gave every one in sardine class a blanket, pillow, earplugs, eye covers and headsets! Completely unheard of in airline travel nowadays.
The 15 hours passed amazingly quickly; I watched 3 movies during the flight and slept 6 hours. There was an empty seat between me and the gal I was sitting close to and she was a lovely Australian. We laughed at baggage claim because our bags came out on the belt right next to each other. What a coincidence!

At customs an official pulled me aside to another room and a customs official questioned me. He asked to see a copy of my itinerary, which I didn't have. (it is on my iPhone and is a "live" document and internet on my phone wasn't working). He asked what I do in Alaska and I said a physical therapist. He asked who I work for and I said I have my own business. He asked to see a business card, which I didn't have on hand. He then asked what type of physical therapy I do and I said I work primarily with people with low back and neck pain. I got the sense that he wasn't necessarily looking for what my answer was, but my body language when I answered it.
Then he searched one of my bags, seemed satisfied and sent me on my way. Next time I'm definitely going to print out a paper itinerary. Messed up on that one.

I have several hours before my flight to Hobart Tasmania so I ate at a delicious restaurant in the Sydney airport food court. They had the most beautiful spread of greek food. It was fun to enjoy a meal of tabuohli, stuffed grape leaves and hummus at 7 am! The food court is quite amazing with a variety of fresh food restaurants.

More from Hobart, Tasmania!

Zoya

The goodies given to customers on Virgin Australia
New-agey lighting on the airplane. The colors would rotate throughout the flight!
The spread of greek food at Sarahar restaurant in airport food court.

Australia Bound!!

Tonight when I cuddled with stuey and kissed him good night he said,

"And everyone is good. But some people are bad and good. And deer are bad and good because they mess up our garden."

I leave for a 12 day trip to Australia tomorrow to see my friends Alisa and Mike and their boys. My bags are packed and I'm so excited for a journey to a country I've never been to and to see friends who lived in Kodiak about 5 years ago.

(and the trip comes at a perfect time after an incredibly busy four weeks---including jury duty, assisting at 2 births, subbing for fitness instructors, helping my sister from recovery from surgery...thats why you haven't heard much from me on the blog lately. I'll update from down under!)

Zoya

Picture: packing, laundry, more packing, more laundry...

Last Light

Yesterday morning it was sunny and beautiful, but by the time I finished with my ski it was cloudy and sprinkling. And today it is already blowing 40 and we got a full on storm. While on my ski I watched the light get overtaken by the dark clouds. In the top photo you can see Buskin Lake on the far left with Elbow Mountain and Elbow Creek headwaters on the far right. The clouds came in from the East and town was already dark by the time I started my ski while it was clear to the West. I got a few brief spotlit moments and then it was all dark.

The bottom map shows the general route of my skate ski trips the last few days. I created the map to post on the snow forum. The top picture is from the 'flat bench' at 900' looking towards the bottom of the page. The second picture down in the 'April - sun, snow, surf' (the snow) below I took a few days ago and is from the 'sidehill' and is looking towards the top right corner of the map. You can see the 'Spruce Trees - Sloping bench' on the lower left.

But today my skiing experience will be entirely different. It will be sleet and high winds. I'll be pretending I am climbing Everest in a storm or something. Patrick

Tidepools

Yesterday while we were down on the beach I checked out the tidepools and took some under water pictures with little Pentax point and shoot. I used the 1 cm focus feature and the pictures came out pretty good. I was amazed at how cool things look up close. These sea anemones are actually pretty small and don't look as colorful in real life. But I did not play with the colors in photoshop - they just look colorful up close. When I took the pictures I did not expect that they would come out. They looked good on the screen, but pictures often do until you blow them up on the computer screen back home. Next time I go with the kids to the beach I hope the tide is out so I can explore the tide pools some more with my camera. Patrick