Wallabies!

Just went for a little hike with Todd up in the Bunya Mountains. By mountains they really mean, "some high points with some low spots." - Todd's words. In any case, for being only an hour out of Dalby, they are magnificent! Best part was I was able to fulfill my promise of photographing some alive wallabies. Unfortunately I usually see them worse for wear but these little guys were perfect and adorable!

Wildlife on site

Check out some of the amazing wildlife on site. The other day the safety officer brought in a wallaby that he had injured on the way to work (read: hit with a car). Thankfully the little guy seemed to be doing well and had a good coat on him which means he is old enough to live away from their mothers. Very interesting but wallabies (kangaroos) are so close and protective when they are in the pouch but seem to be more solitary soon after.
The other picture is of some emus that we see quite regularly! I have been trying to capture some of the uninjured wallabies on site (only on film of course) but no luck as yet.
Todd and I are off tomorrow on our cruise.7 days around the islands near Australia. Can't wait to read and eat and sleep! Speaking of, goodnight all! :) xx

Holidays come and gone

I started this a week ago and haven't really finished... i was gonna change the tense to past but i figured you would figure it out... "Vacation time has come and gone. Todd and I arrived back in Dalby on the 3rd and were greeted by our favorite alarm clock jingle at 4am the next morning. Needless to say, we are both pooped. This has only increased due to the fact that our New Year's resolution is to run 500 miles before the end of the year. We are actually doing pretty good and running a few times a week. Up to 3% of 500 so far!

Our time in Tassie was not long enough but also seemed to be a long time. It was incredible to spend so much time with Todd's family. "

Present day: we are 10 days back at work so far and trucking along. Russ is back at work with us so he can watch the site while we are on the cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu! Yay can't wait to sleep and read and be out of Internet range. I am looking forward to having a tech break. Or at least a communication/work break. I have some more wildlife pics I'll post in the next few days. Cutie Aussie animals pop up everywhere!

Latkes and birthdays!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I had a marvelous day :) unfortunately it did involve work but bookended by breakfast cooked by Todd and dinner cooked by Todd! He really is a great cook and I'll get him to branch out from meat and three veg one of these days :)
Backtracking a bit, Todd and I celebrated our first mini Hannukah! We didn't have a hannukiah but we did have potatoes, apples, and sour cream. Todd took charge in the kitchen and after I made the latke "batter" he fried 'em up real good! Honestly though, very yummy and I believe it was a big success! At least he now knows how much Jewish holidays revolve around food...
Things are slowing down at work which is great. The road we have been working on is being handed over to the client which means it will finally be complete! Can not wait to get that off our hands. Holiday break countdown here! Just two more days and then we are off to Tassie. Interesting to think that the last time I was there for the holidays I had only known Todd for a few short months and now I am sorta a part of the family. Nice feeling and I can't wait for the time away :)
Some pictures of food (what else) for your amusement! Breakfast and Todd cooking latkes :) food of champions ;-)

Taxi drivers, more trouble than they're worth...

I'll start out by saying that Sydney is more beautiful than I remember. It may (definitely) has something to do with the fact that we were staying in an incredible residential area filled with harbor side expanses built in the early 1900's. Todd and I had two very nice planned walks through the winding streets, and one unplanned walk.
The wedding was at a ladies college (6-12 grade) in the outskirts of the city and the reception was at a restaurant straddling the water on the north side of Sydney. After a beautiful ceremony, Todd and I returned back to our hotel which was very close to the reception (not a coincidence ;-D). We decided to taxi it because I was a bit tired of driving stick through a city with hills that could give SF a run for its money. We called the cab and waited, and waited and waited until it showed up, zoomed passed the hotel and screeched down the street. Not the best start to the trip.
The cabbie proceeded to pick us up and then go the wrong way down a dead end street. A few minutes later he dropped us off at what we thought was the correct location. Boy were we wrong. iPhone maps gave us the wrong address and we were 3.5 k away from the actual location. Already 30 min late, we decided to hike up our skirts (Todd's theoretical) and find the place ourselves. I took off my heels, he loosened his tie and we were off! 35 minutes later we sweatily reached the restaurant and fell into chairs right before dinner was served. Lessons learned: never trust iPhone maps or cabbies that miss your hotel and go into a dead end street and Todd and I need to step up the exercise ! It was only 3.5k after all, obviously we have nothing to complain about :)

Getting hot hot hot

I definitely remember the heat last summer. The dripping, stifling, as soon as you walk outside you can't breathe hot but I forgot about the storms. Believe me, we welcome the rain. It means a chance to catch up on work and the possibility of a day off. The thunder and lightening, however, still slightly terrify the little girl inside of me. This is why Todd took pictures of the storm while standing outside and I took pictures from the window :) I don't think I did too bad though! The heat is something else here. Worse than I remember CA heat although that might just be because there isn't a movie theater nearby for me to take refuge in. Actually I think it is worse here. Wayne (a surveyor) was just saying that when he worked at mt iser it got to 50 degrees Celsius. Look it up, it's HOT. So hot in fact that when he set up his Total Station and pushed the tripod into the pavement, it pushed right through. The tar was melting under his feet hot. Definitely fry and egg on the bonnet of a car hot. So if you are freezing this Thanksgiving, remember me and send some cool weather my way!

Everyday Occurrence

I have never seen so many interesting things on the backs of semis before. One day on the way to work there was a house precariously balanced on the bed of the trailer. Not 1/2 a house that has just come from the factory like track homes, but a full blown house barely kept on the back of the trailer by flimsy straps and people running before and behind to keep it balanced. We had to drive onto the curb to get out of the way. Pretty amazing.

Here is another wide load that I spotted this morning coming back from the gym. A huge moxie sitting on the back of the truck blocking off all traffic. Yup, just another day in Dalby... :)