First Day of School 2009

Jasper Races to Nine

Birthday weekend for Jasper. Early rise to get to the Grand Prix when it opens. 20 laps with a best time of 58.608. Then water boats and the materialistic nightmare of an arcade, sucking cash and returning tickets for little plastic stuff. Then home to an intimate dinner party with a few families at the CrokerBoys home. What a great year for Jasper, the best is yet to come.

Brisbane, Reds, and Geochemistry

Last city for the this tour, Brisbane the home of the University of Queensland. After a day of business I met with my UCSC professor, who now teaches at UQ. Ken and Betty took me to a great little bistro in Brisbane. Ken opened a couple bottles of South Australian red wine he had cellered. It was great to reminisce. Cheers mate!

Rottnest, Quokka, and Cook

Caught the early morning ferry from downtown Perth this morning after a fast pace week of meetings in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Ferry headed west down the Swan River to Freemantle where we changed to a faster boat out to Rottnest Island. Rottnest is just over 8 kilometers long and sits in the warm Lewellan Current. So unlike the mainland 10 miles away, it is warm water, coral reefs, and quokka. The dive and surf shop was closed for repairs during the low season, so I was lucky to have the one fin I have been carrying all week. We rented beater bikes in the settlement area of the island. I chatted with the nice lady renting the bikes and jokingly asked if they had a boogie board or surf board I could use. Sitting in the corner was a tattered, but usable boogie she lent me at no cost, because I was nice. I was told Strickland Cove is the best surf on the island, and that the locals often tear down the sign, so look for the sandy track after Green Cove.

Beautiful bike ride to the break first seen over the scrub covered dunes as three kite boarding kites dancing. Over the dune to a crystalline white sand beach with a strong swell and winds. The kite boarders were winging themselves into the fast break and surfing it like regular surfers. I had no wetsuit and the wind was a bit cold, but the water was warm enough. I crawled over the reef and managed to get a large set wave right off, see the picture near the end of the ride. But alas, my tattered boogie leash broke and I was left to swim in over the reef. My work buddy spotted the board blowing down the reef, so I ran along the rocks and sand, climbed over another reef and swam out to my waiting board. After 15 minutes to warm up I paddled in again and got many great waves. During the lulls I hung low in the water to avoid the wind, but the cold eventually won and I went in.


Captain Cook's English cottage in Melbourne, presented to Australia as a gift and brought over brick by brick.

Downunder Begins

First day in Australia. Mostly business meetings, but got a bit of time last night to walk around the Sydney Harbor. Wont have time here for beaches or surf in Sydney. Head to Melbourne tonight. The flight was easy, with 8 hours sleep. Walked off plane into waiting towncar and straight into presentations. All is good with sleep and a good swim.

Family at Family Camp

JASPER SAYS: I like going to DeBenneville. One of the days we were there our cousins came down and we had a really fun time with them. I made some new friends at camp. My grammas were there also. We made bow and arrows when we were at camp. I also got to do archery and we built dams at the stream near camp. I had a very fun time at DeBenneville and I want to go back again.