Dan's Our Man!

Mr. Dan Johnson has purchased his Qantas tickets and will be heading our way in just 11 weeks! Whoopy whoop whoop! He win's the 2nd Visitor award... Our plans are to spend about 4 days in Melbourne, including a nice Thanksgiving dinner, and then we will fly to Brisbane for 3 days on the Gold Coast beaches, and then fly to Sydney for 2+ days before saying our farewells. I think it will be a fantastic time to explore NSW and to hang out in Melbourne. Anyway, thanks Dan for purchasing your tickets!!

... and doesn't he look handsome in this picture that Seany took?

Welcome Leo Maxwell Peter!

Here he is... weighing in at 9.2 lbs! Welcome to the world little Mr. Peter! And a huge congratulations to new parents, Amy & Max! We can't believe we're 10,400 miles away from this little guy... Congrats, congrats!! We miss you guys!

Max and Amy's new addition to the world... any day now!

We're holding our breath for the big event... Billy and I will soon have new, very important titles (uncle and aunt of course!). We wish a nice easy labor for Amy! And hopefully we'll get some beautiful photos soon... In the meantime, here's our little buddy.

Tennis

We're back to ripping up the courts! Billy and I won our doubles match 8-2 today... then I won my singles 8-1... then doubles with another guy 8-1. I don't know if we're getting better or just more intimidating... probably the latter. We'll see how we do next week... I think the opponents will be much more worthy. :)

Kersti gets a job

So I'm entering back into the working world for a brief period. I found a part-time job at the university just doing administrative tasks for a university official. It's 20 hours a week, for 4-6 weeks... so I'll make some money while there is still not a heavy study load, and then I'll be done in time for the last 4 weeks of semester. It should be an easy job and it will be beneficial to have a job reference here in town for when I search later this year. Over these next few weeks, I'm going to have to be very efficient with my time! No more watching daytime tv... oh, what a loss.

Billy Goes to Work

Billy heads off for his first day of work! And of course does not wait for a good picture to be taken...

Tom & Marjie - Our First Visitors!

To see more of our pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kersti.miller/TomMarjieSVisitToSouthAustralia

We had a fantastic time touring southern Australia with Billy's parents, Tom & Marjie! They made the long trip from Florida for a two-week visit, and it was so great to see family again. After filling us in on all the happenings on the Peter Compound, we took them to a footy game at the MCG, with our generous personal tour Byron Wicks giving us the inside tour. Thanks Byron! We also visited one of our favorite dinner haunts, the Met, were we proved to them that we had made some friends in Australia. After showing them around Melbourne for a couple days we flew out to Adelaide.

Adelaide is a beautiful city... more of a large rural town that is the capital of South Australia. It has some beautiful architecture and it's full of nice people. The Torrens river runs right along the edge of downtown, and the city has done an excellent job in setting the buildings back from the river and putting in a nice park area directly next to it. After going for a nice walk along the river, we toured some of the interesting architecture as well as a cricket/Bradford museum and the wide-ranging South Australian Museum. We also visited the house of Mr. Ayer, who was the governor of South Australia during the time Uluru (the giant rock in the center of Australia) was discovered. He basically made his wealth through mining, and was far from altruistic. I think Uluru is a much better name for the rock to be honest...

We then headed up to Barossa Valley for some wine tasting, something that seems to be a common theme when Billy's parents visit! It reminded all of us of Sonoma and Napa, without the crowds! We tasted some excellent wines, the valley is famous for its Shirazes in particular, our favorite being Grant Birge.

We then made our way southeast along the coast on our way back to Melbourne. We stayed at several fantastic B&Bs, including one centered in a beautiful orchard. We first stopped in Victor Harbor, my personal favorite part of the trip. Staying at a hotel overlooking the harbor, we went on a night tour to watch the blue penguins come into tour. Since the tour was small, we were able to get close up to the penguins, which were quite talkative. We didn't spot any whales though..

We then drove along the Limestone Coast, stopping off at a secluded beach with shells a foot thick. After escaping the dangerous Emus, we then headed to Mount Gambier to check out the volcanic (extinct) craters and the blue lake within.

Just outside of Mount Gambier, we visited Tower Hill, which I highly recommend to anyone wishing to see Australian wildlife. Besides the koalas chilling out in the tress in the parking lot and throughout the park, wild Emus walked through the camping area. Emus (below) are similar to ostriches, and make a bass drum-like sound in their throats.


Finally, we headed along the scenic Great Ocean Road and saw the famous Twelve Apostles, London Bridge, and other rock structures.


Upon our return to Melbourne, we then headed to the informative Melbourne goal and my parents made a trip to the Melbourne museum. And of course, we also caught the latest Harry Potter movie.

That's all I can think of for now, but it was an exciting and full trip. I think we were all a bit exhausted afterwards, but it was well worth it!

So now that Tom and Marjie have taken honors as first visitors, who will be next??

Darwin - Kakadu, Katherine Gorge & Litchfield Parks

To view pictures of the our trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kersti.miller/DarwinAndTheTopEnd

Our trip to the Top End of Australia turned out to be a great one. We traveled with Sophie, Elizabeth and Richard and it was a wonderful adventure!

We saw amazing things.... like saltwater crocodiles, dingos, magnetic termite mounds, rock paintings, tons of birds, beautiful billabongs and some really rustic countryside. We managed to not be run off the road by road trains, though there were some close calls, and we also managed to not damage the campervan in any way! Wahoo! Here is a run-down of the trip...


Kakadu National Park
After taking the red-eye from Melbourne to Darwin, and arriving at 3am to find our reservations had been ignored by the hostel, we finally fell asleep in let us say, sub par accommodations. The next morning we picked up the campervan and loaded it up with groceries. I think we had 2 or 3 carts and we somehow managed to cram into all the nooks and crannies in the campervan! Then we headed east towards our first destination, Kakadu National Park.

In Kakadu we went on numerous hikes... one to see aboriginal rock wall paintings, a few up to the tops of rocks to gain incredible views, and a few more around small lakes/water ways (billabongs!) We also went on a river tour at dusk and had spectacular views of birds and crocs.


Katherine Gorge
We drove south out of Kakadu and went to Katherine Gorge. On the way we stayed the night in a very secluded cattle station / RV/campervan park, though we were the only campervan. We really felt like we were out in the woop-woop (outback!). Katherine Gorge is really a series of 13 or so gorges separated by waterfalls. We kayaked up the first gorge and turned around at the waterfall. It was really beautiful... though a bit tiring to kayak all that way. They gave us the impression that we could stop anywhere along the way, just not at crocodile nesting areas. It turned out, all the beaches and areas to actually stop kayaking were ALL crocodile nesting areas... so that made it a bit tricky. No sitings, though. I can't say I was upset about not seeing female crocs protecting their eggs.


Litchfield National Park
Litchfield was fantastic because the waterways are crocodile free, and therefore swimming is possible! We swam beneath two fantastic waterfalls... Billy and Richard of course attempted to climb up the waterfalls, and then slide down. No major injuries occurred. It was here that a whistling kite bird attacked me from behind and stole my sandwich right out of my hands! They said not to feed the wildlife, but I assure you it was not voluntary! I hope the peanut butter didn't kill him.

Back to Darwin...

Darwin and Scuba Diving
Richard, Billy and I went scuba diving to explore a wreck sitting at the bottom of the bay outside Darwin. It is a US transport ship from WWII that sank during the bombings (by Japan) in early 1942. The visibility was pretty poor, but I saw a sting ray and some very interesting corals... and we also saw old motorbikes, tires, a stack of ammunition. At most times, it was hard to know what you were looking at. The wreckage is covered in silt and it was hard to identify any structures. I had imagined it would look like a ship, sitting on the ocean floor, but I was very wrong! It was still exciting to see and we really enjoyed getting to cruise on the dive boat in the bay. It was a very different perspective of Darwin than we had seen... from the water it looked like the Caribbean, or Florida... it was really beautiful. You don't get that sense at all when you're in the town center.

And then after 3 great days in Darwin, we boarded the 2am flight back to Melbourne! Luckily we got to sleep a bit in baggage claim before boarding the plane. The airport was packed! Flights only seem to arrive and depart Darwin during the middle of the night!

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip and we're so glad to have spent all that wonderful time with Sophie, Liz & Richard. Campervan life was such an adventure and we had lots of laughs along the way!

Darwin.... this weekend!

So this Sunday we head to Darwin in the Top End of Australia! We're heading out for about 9 days with Sophie, Liz and Richard... we're flying there and then renting a 6-berth campervan (yes, think big) and touring around Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park and the town of Katherine. (It's Crocodile Dundee country!) We expect fantastic weather as it's the dry season, loads of saltwater crocs, beautiful gorges, some spectacular wildlife and loads of aboriginal art/cultural things. And of course, 5 people in a campervan for 7 days is going to be extremely entertaining in itself... We'll let you know how it goes!

Fun Weekend - Sophie's Birthday

(Left to right: Richard, Kersti, Billy, Sophie, Lisanne)

(Left to right: Billy, Kersti, Byron, Simone, Liz, Richard, Sophie)

Liz & Sophie!

To celebrate the end of Kersti's first term, we enjoyed a weekend full of social outings! Thursday night we went wine tasting at Federation Square, and then to dumplings with a few friends... Friday we went to a first of two birthday parties for Sophie, and went to a bar then a restaurant with a big group of people. We finished off the evening getting rained on at a rooftop bar, but it was fun, nonetheless! Saturday morning we did some errands and then went to Sophie's for some birthday cake... then Billy went to hear the Dalai Lama speak at the park just a few minutes walk from our house. Then we met up with Sophie, Byron, Richard, Liz and Simone for a full night of comedy! It was a dinner/comedy show thing, which was quite fun, and then we went to our first Melbourne club. Sunday we went touring around some new neighborhoods we had yet to explore... and then met up with Richard and Alex to see Shrek 3 at Crown Casino. Of course, three late nights in a row means that Billy and I are exhausted... we just can't party like we used to!!! Good thing we have a week to rest before our Darwin trip!

Tasmania!

Bill and I just returned from a 4-5 day tour of Tasmania... It was a great little trip. We went with Melbourne Uni's International Student Outdoor Program. This meant we went along with 28 americans who are here through study abroad programs. Despite being identified as the 'old married couple', we had a lovely time!

We toured Port Arthur convict settlement.... visited a Tasmanian Devil conservation park... tasted 30 different types of honey at a honey farm (including apricot ice cream!)... we hiked to Wineglass Bay (which was up and over a big hill). On the return walk, I (Kersti) walked alone and skipped the add-on hike to do some work on my paper in the car before the rest of the group arrived. It was a very peaceful walk... full of fresh air and chirping birds. I saw 5 black cockatoos with yellow spots on their cheeks and yellow tail feathers. They were the noisiest birds I've ever heard! Fantastic.

We also went to Cradle Mountain, though I didn't get to do any hiking (paper again). The weather was quite bad so Billy had to hike in the rain, sleet and snow! But he was rewarded with a trip to the chocolate factory later in the day.

Anyway, Tasmania is fantastic... the air is the freshest I've ever experienced... no one lives there and it's got beautiful scenery.

Check out our pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kersti.miller/TasmaniaMay2007

Kersti's Class Fieldtrip

I went on a fieldtrip in April with my Sustainable Landscapes class. First we visited a sheep farm that had been converted to a chicken farm with a conservation area to conserve the special native grasses. Then we drove to the coast to see the 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road. It was a stunning view... it made me miss California! The major difference was, nothing was between me and Antarctica! We stayed the night in Warnambool, and I checked into my first caravan park. Not so bad - the trailer was quite lovely, as were my 4 bunkmates! The next day we were given a tour of an estuary and talked about the problems caused by coastal development. Then we drove into the country and took a walk through a nature area of native bush... It was a lovely walk, though SIX leaches climbed up onto my legs... Yuck. We had a bbq lunch and then got back into the bus for a trip to a dairy farm. Then back to Melbourne.

For pictures... check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/kersti.miller/KerstiSFieldtripGreatOceanRoadVictoria

Sorry for no posts!

Billy and I are very sorry to keep our fans so uninformed of our lives downunder... May was a very rough month... loads of work for kersti and lots of job searching for billy. But winter vacation is just around the corner, so we hope to update more often for the next couple months!

Puffing Billy!

No, that is not a reference to how out of shape I am. Instead, Kersti partook in the annual Puffing Billy race, a daunting race against the Puffing Billy train along a gorgeous course through the magnificent Dandenong Ranges.

The Famous Puffing Billy Train at the start of the race

So the race works that you start with the train, run 13.2 km (that's over 8 miles!) and try to beat the train to end of the course. Kersti has joined the track team here, with the intention of competing during the track season which starts in four months. But right now she is running a grand total of 20 minutes a week, so this was what we call her "long run" of the week. Plus, the course was anything but flat, as demonstrated by the next figure which shows distance on the horizontal axis and elevation on the..., oh sorry, that's my teaching taking over again.
So, did my Kersti just jog this course? Hardly! Instead, she ran the course in 61 minutes, which included a two-minute wait for the train to cross her path in the beginning of the race. She handily beat the train by over thirteen minutes! Congratulations to Kersti!

Honeymoon Pictures!

We had a wonderful time on our honeymoon! We spent 10 days in Queensland (north-east state of Australia). The first few days we spent scuba diving out on the great barrier reef.. then we drove north to Port Douglas and relaxed amidst the beautiful Daintree National Rainforest. Taking a big long vacation meant that we've been busy catching up ever since... so instead of writing about our travels, here are some pictures of the trip.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kersti.miller/Honeymoon