Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of those wonderful moms (or should I say mums??) out there! I hope you have a wonderful day full of smiles, love, and laughter. Down here in Oz we decided to celebrate with a lavish lunch out.

The brothers Rose and I took their actual/my surrogate mother out to Gordon Ramsey's new Melbourne restaurant, Maze. Unfortunately Gordon himself couldn't be there... scheduling conflict I believe (what, like he's busy?!)... hehe! While the options for the meal were limited (set 4 course menu for the holiday) the food was really nice! Well I thought so anyway, but I think these Australian foodies have a bit more of a discerning palette than I do...

I wish I had taken a picture of the menu, because I didn't know you could eat half the things on it... I mean, even the butter couldn't just be butter. Clearly a seaweed and sea salt infused butter is necessary at any truly classy joint. But in the end they all tasted really good, even the "stinging nettles" that were served as part of my barramundi (that's a fish) dish.

I didn't actually take any pictures today, but I think no good blog post is really complete without them, so here are a few pics from Saturday last week when went to the horse races at Caulfield with Chris' dad.


Sorry for the glare from the sun behind, but what're ya gonna do, right? That's Chris's dad and his leading lady Maree. They are members at the Caulfield Racing Club, so we got to have lunch there in the members section with a great view of the finish line.


And of course, the girls, myself and Ellie. This time I decided to play down the fascinator thing by just going with a headband that has a few roses on it, instead of the bird's nest I was made to wear in my hair when I went to Flemmington... As you can see Ellie's hair piece was rather subdued as well and I think we both look "races appropriate." :)


Last but not least, the boys, looking dapper as always. I do so love a man in a nice suit!

Not only did we have a great time and a nice lunch, but just about all of us won some money at the end of the day! I'm actually 2 for 2 on leaving the races with winnings in my pocket now, so I'm feeling pretty good about my betting instincts. I'll give you all and insiders tip... picking funny names and pretty colors can actually make you successful with the bookies!!

Painting the town

A few random photos of what I've been up to, just to keep the blog going a bit...


A Friday night out with a few girls from work. The night contained birthdays, bar hopping, boys, and lots of fun!


This is from a work even where we went lawn bowling. It looks so easy, but it's really really hard. This is the best round I had. Both the balls in the picture are mine, and I'll point out that there are no other balls even close! I was pretty proud of myself, so naturally a picture was in order...


A family picture of the Roses. Mom Charmayne is in the middle with little brother Tim and of course Chris. This was taken at the garden wedding of the couple in the picture below. (Chris's cousin)


I thought I'd include this pic of the bride and groom just because the wedding was so different to what I was used to from home. I think Candice looked beautiful, and she probably really could wear her wedding dress again! Oh, and Trent looked nice too... :P


A picture from the bachelorette luncheon for Candice. That's Charmayne again, and this time it's me and Ellie (Tim's girlfriend). We had lunch and drinks on a Sunday afternoon at a place called Madame Brussels. Apparently it actually used to be a brothel, and they kind of took that theme and mixed it with a country club. The effect is a place that feels like a garden party with male servers in white popped-collar polos and pastel colored shorts being ordered around by a female manager who seems more like the "madam." The whole place is dripping with pink, pearls, and lace. The atmosphere is certainly quirky, but I liked it.

So that's all for now. I have some more fun photos to put up, and I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. In the meantime the news is really pretty much the same. Chris and I are planning to head to the mountains for the winter. We both officially have jobs to sustain us while we ski all season, so it should be a fun way to get out of the city and onto the slopes a bit. I'll miss my current job a lot, but I'm really looking forward to doing something a bit different for a while.

That's all for now, miss you much and talk to you soon!

Life Down Under

Just a few pics from Oz... A day on the great ocean road and a day at the zoo! The koala bear we actually saw in the wild though, which is really really rare. Most people I've talked to here said that they've never seen one in the wild, and those who have didn't see one that was awake.

The baby elephant was all over the news when we first got here. She was born in the Melbourne zoo and apparently her birth was a landmark in their captive breeding program. I heard about her on the news so much I figured that I had to go and see her. And the kangaroo is just cute. Look at it's pose! He's just hanging out, no big deal, don't mind me, hahaha

Oh, and Chris got hungry on the road, but we didn't have any snacks... so he tried to eat my glasses... but I don't think that helped much... More pics to come!

Melbourne!!

Sorry I've been out of it for a while, but here's a little update about life down under...

Chris and I got to Melbourne about 2 weeks ago now, and we've really just been settling in. I was nervous at first about moving in directly with his little brother and mom, but they're both really nice and it's been an easy transition. Tim (Chris's brother) has a girlfriend, Ellie, who is also really sweet and practically lives here too. She and I have bonded over the fact that we'd both rather go to the beach while the boys entertain themselves playing cricket (which we both just don't quite get)... But I must say, I'm making great efforts to learn the game and have even been participating in a few rounds of backyard cricket with the brothers Rose. I still don't think it's the most exciting sport, but at least I understand enough of it now so that I'm not bored our of my mind when they insist on watching on tv.

Since we got back Chris and I have really spent most of our time relaxing, catching up with family and friends, and applying for jobs online.

We are starting to get some calls back from all the applications that we've put in. We were interviewed by a recruitment company today who places people in remote places. I'm not so sure what they are going to offer us, and I'm not sure if we'll take it, but at least there will be some job offers coming in. Chris is actually at work right now on the second day of his trial at the Italian restaurant down the street, but he doesn't particularly want to take the job. I think he's pretty happy that there may be some other options at the moment.

The second call was from a head hunting agency that is representing one specific property, a historic beach club on Bondi beach in Sydney. If you've heard of a beach in Sydney, i'm sure that it's Bondi, so I'm excited about that interview. The description doesn't say exactly which club it is, but we did a bit of internet research and I think we've figured out which one it is. If we're right, I HIGHLY doubt we'll be offered the job, but it would be amazing if we got it. The pay is great, it's management, accommodation is included, as well as utilities (all very expensive in Sydney) and it's a job at the beach! The fact that they're giving us a phone interview is amazing to begin with, we didn't think we'd even get a call back at all.

So a few things going on job-wise, but other than that life is pretty mellow. We went into the city proper to walk around and get a bit more of a feel for Melbourne. It's a nice city, good for walking and plenty of local cafes and bars for the hungry or thirsty.

Hopefully on Sunday we're going to take a drive down the Great Ocean Road and see the 12 Apostles, which are natural geographic features that Melbourne is famous for. I'll let you know if we make it!

Chillin...

So we made it off the ship in time for our 9:30pm flight out of Ushuaia and into Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, that put us in BA at about 1 in the morning where we waited in the airport for 7.5 hours for our connecting flight at 8:30 to Santiago. Ugh. Believe it or not we stayed up the whole time playing an epic game of gin (which of course I won in the end ;) ).

We finally got to Santiago after our very long trip and crashed for a few hours at the hotel before venturing out into the city to see what it was all about. We stopped in the Barrio Bellavista for a few drinks followed by a nice dinner, complete with live music. It´s a very touristy area, but it was perfect for our purposes.

This morning we got up and had breakfast by the pool before basking in the sun for a few hours. It´s the height of summer here, and the warmth and sunshine is a welcome change from the weather I was experiencing both at home and in Antarctica. I´d say that a leisurely breakfast and a book by the pool was the ideal way to kick off the first real day of vacation here in Chile.

Well I´m off now to see the concierge about some dinner reservations and a tour of a few of the local vineyards... I love mini-break holidays!

Pictures!!

I was finally able to upload a few pics on facebook, so feel free to check those out. It's a public album, so if you're not on facebook I think you can still see them by clicking on the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2492141&id=917103&l=c8b29bc2a2

It's a pretty small selection and it's just from the first cruise, so there are plenty more to come..

Enjoy!

I just saw an emperor penguin!!!

...just thought you guys might want to know :)

On the ship we really don't go far enough south to see emperors on most occasions, so this was a really rare spotting by the captain and the expedition staff. It was just a lone penguin on an ice flow floating towards the ship, but I was there and I saw him!

I feel really good about this. I hope that you do too.

Paradise on Ice

Hey everyone! I know it has been a little while, but I'm trying to wait to write a lot for when I can put up pictures to go along with the narration. It's a lot more fun if you can see the things I'm telling you about.

This morning we are in Paradise Bay on the Antarctic peninsula. It's the first landing on the actual continent of Antarctica (instead of just the islands making up the archipelago around it) so everyone was really excited to get on land. I took a quick 30 minute hike up a steep and snowy mountain (and by mountain I definitely mean hill) with my friend Yura for some scenic views, and then we managed to slide the whole way down on our butts! I didn't mean to at first, we were just messing around and having a snowball fight, but it didn't take long to realize that it was the fastest and most fun way to get down. We were told off when we got to the bottom though. Apparently it's "dangerous," but I think that's only if you're over 60 and run the risk of breaking a hip or something. For us, it was just a good time :)

We took a quick zodiac tour around the harbor where we saw some gentoo penguins, weddell seals, humpback whales, and some very big icebergs! As we rounded one of the smaller bergy bits (yes, that's what they are actually called) we came upon another zodiac fully supplied with glasses, champagne, and one very cute, very cold bar manager :D We had a lovely toast to the Antarctic wilderness and off we were again to cruise around the bay.

As with every excursion, upon returning to the ship we were greeted with hot chocolate with a choice of liqueurs including kahula, bailey's, grand marnier, tia maria, etc. My favorite is the white hot chocolate with creme de menthe!

Well I guess I'm off to lunch now. We're having chili con carne and beers out on the pool deck and I want to get some before it's all gone :)

The South Sandwich Islands

A few days on board so far and we really haven't done much yet. It took a day and a half to sail from Ushuaia to the Falkland Islands, and once we got there, we only spend a very brief lunch hour on land before heading out to sea again. The Falklands are really the only place that we go to which is populated, but I have to say that it's not the first place I'd want to move to if given the choice. The islands are under British Sovereign rule, and the space is used largely as a military outpost. I think the Brits hang around mostly just to annoy Argentina though...

Chris and I spent some time on land just running a few errands and having lunch. Nothing much to report really, and it wasn't long before we were heading out to sea again. This time there were 2 full sea days before the next sighting of land, South Georgia Island.

This morning was the first landing in South Georgia, and it took place in the form of a zodiac tour. It was nice to finally get off the ship for a bit after being cooped up for so long, but I think I could have done without the snow and sleet... It was quite a windy day, and with the zodiac driver whipping us around the bay we were certainly getting a face full cold wet iciness. It's all part of the experience though, right?? The wildlife was awesome and the scenery was pretty great too, so I guess I can't complain too much. I'm trying to upload pictures and video for you, but so far I've been unsuccessful. I'll try again later tonight, but in the meantime, I'm going for lunch. Toddles!

Why 4 1/2 hr connections are actually a really good thing...

So I made it! Let's all just rejoice at that fact for a moment. Breathe it in. Ahhhhhhhhhh. That's better.

I left my house in Dallas at 8:30am on Saturday morning and arrived here at my hotel in Ushuaia at about 5:00 pm on Sunday night. And that's without much of a time change. Dallas - LA - Santiago - Punta Arenas - Ushuaia. Let's just say I'm happy that's over.

The trip begins with the captain of my Dallas flight coming over the loudspeaker to announce that we have "mechanical difficulties" because they were short on planes so they just wheeled this one out of the hanger. Too bad it had been sitting there too long and no one bothered to wipe away the cobwebs before we boarded. So great, we're going to be delayed and I'll miss my connection and never get to Ushuaia in time to catch a boat that sure as hell ain't gonna wait for my free-loading ass. At least that's what went through mind for 30 seconds until the captain got back on the mic to say, "nevermind, guess it's all fine, the engineers are going to sign off on the book, so we'll be out of here in 5 minutes." WHAT?? Now I'm really worried, cuz I don't know about you, but I'd rather be late than dead!

Fortunately it was just the entertainment systems that were malfunctioning, so no biggie really, and we made it to LA in plenty of time. Out of security into security sandwich eaten soda gulped electronics charged last phone calls made flight boarded.

I arrive in Santiago and proceed to the international terminal to catch my flight to Argentina. I go through security again. (I'm telling you, by the end of this trip I must have been the most secure person on the planet.) Proceed to the international terminal, but I cant find my flight number or gate info anywhere. Through some ugly broken spanish (yikes I need practice) I find out that my flight stops domestically in Punta Arenas before continuing on to Ushuaia, which is in Argentina. I have to go back down and out and through immigration and customs. Not only does that mean I have to pay the $131 reciprocity fee for entering the country (despite the fact that I'm really just passing through), but I have to wait in line twice because there are NO signs anywhere that say you need to go around the corner to pay this fee before you get in the immigration line. And since I happened to be caught up in the international terminal (can't figure out why I thought I should have gone there for my international flight) I was the last one down there and didn't have the benefit of herd mentality where I could just do whatever "they" were doing. Ugh. I also had lively debates going with multiple airport, immigration, and airline employees as to whether or not I needed to pick up my bags and go through customs in Chile or if they were checked all the way through like I was originally told. Long story even longer... I did pick them up, but didn't have to go through customs with them. Go figure. This makes little to no sense to me, but my bags got here with me in the end and that's all I really care about.

After all the craziness (and trust me, that was a brief synopsis) I had only about an hour left out of my 4 1/2 hour layover, so I'd say keep that in mind if you're thinking of connecting internationally in South America. Turns out that it can be a real pain. Music played coffee sipped book read flight boarded.

The rest is history really. An hour or so in Puntas Arenas and finally I made it here. It's about 10:15 pm as I'm writing now and it's still very much light outside. It's hard to get a handle on the time when you're this far south. On the plus side I took a shower at about 9:00 and enjoyed stunning vistas of the water and mountains from the bathroom window in full daylight. I'll try to remember to get a picture later for you guys to see at home. Now I'm just killing time until the ship comes in and I can go have a drink with that fine bar manager of theirs. I wonder what the drink special is tonight....? ;)