Two Weeks' Worth of Fun!

Fear not - for those of you with whom I have not spoken over the past couple of weeks, I have not, in fact, met my demise by anything crawly, hairy, toothy, or stingy.

I have been up to quite a bit, though. In addition to finally moving into my flat (pictures to be posted as soon as it's presentable), things have really started to ramp up at work. But, in keeping with my solid work / life balance, I've found quite a bit of life to balance it out.

I made yet another trip to Bondi Beach, and this time took the full path all the way to Coogee Beach, as opposed to stopping the trek at Bronte Beach. It really is a stunning walk. Also, any excuse to go to Bondi, where there is a really good ice cream place...

It was a bit choppy out today - the wind really
whips up the waves.

There was an area on the walk where the waves

were really churning, at times shooting water

several dozen feet into the air.

I particularly enjoyed the many graphic warnings

this sign provided as to how I might bring about my

own demise should I attempt to swim anywhere near

the area.

Additionally, I happened upon a rather humorously-titled fish & chips cafe - I must remember to go back there at some point.

Absolutely love the name.

Also along the walk, was a hand-decorated stairway, similar to the Santa Teresa Steps decorated by Selaron in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Not nearly as eye-catching as the aformentioned steps, but still really cool to see.

The eyes are watching you...

Some of the tile detail of one of the lower steps.

A few days after that, I went out for a fun night on the town with a few of my teammates. Nothing fancy - dinner and bowling. Turned out to be a blast - we had a lot of fun. Also, they have an equivalent of Coldstone here called Cold Rock. I had a 2-scoop ice cream: one scoop of white chocolate ice cream with cookie dough, and another scoop of butterscotch ice cream with caramel. It was enough sugar to give my grandkids diabetes. I found it delicious.

We went out for some of the best Thai I've ever

had. Was so stuffed after the meal. But not

stuffed enough to skip ice cream.

Bowling was a lot of fun too. The only downside

is that I am constantly reminded of how

terrible I am at it - even though I started

off both games with a strike.

Also, I'd just like to share a quick shot of what I get to see on my walk to work each morning.

I swear, this place is like Disneyland.

Last weekend, it was one of my teammate's birthdays. During the day, a few of us went for a bit of a drive to a place called Bald Hill, which had spectacular views of the ocean and the neighboring city of Woolongong.

It was pretty much a straight shot down from here

to the ocean. People apparently hangglide / para-

glide off the cliff here.

To the right, where you see the twisty coastal

road, is the city of Woolongong.

After our brief stop by Bald Hill, we drove a couple more minutes to a nearby ranch, where we would be going horseback riding. Considering my most recent riding experience was on a mechanical bull, and I had only been riding twice before that (the most recent of such occasions being ~15 years ago), I was looking forward to it.

The ranch was quite nice! Anna's flatmate used to work there, so she set us up with some good horses, and we set off into the forest.

As a side note, they sadly did not have horses with the names that I requested. After failing to provide me with a Widowmaker, a Maelstrom, a Thundermare, a Mane o' War, or a John Goodman, I was given a horse with an equally-terrifying name: Cherry.

Anyway, Cherry and I set off with the rest of the group through streams, forests, across open fields, and we did a bit of trotting as well. I had one of the better horses, it seemed (and the biggest of the bunch). One of the horses, River, felt the need to stand in one place occasionally. Another one of the horses, Pocahontas, was quite often inclined to kick other horses. And my sweet, wonderful Cherry, had a propensity for rubbing his face on anything and everything, including me, fences, and other horses' butts. Affectionate, no?

This is Cherry, in one of his rare moments when

he wasn't spewing brimstone from his nostrils,

rubbing his face on something, or dragging me

through a bush.

I am such a pro (pro: Latin (n) one who looks

excessively goofy in a riding helmet).

First person view of horseback riding. It's like

you're actually there!

The view out into the forest from the trail. While

we were out, we saw a fox, a wallaby, and a

rosella parrot.

Later that evening, we went out in a larger group for a tapas-style Mediterranean dinner and then later to a chic nightspot called the Piano Room. We had a new guy named Nick serve us who came back no fewer than three times to get our drink order. 45 minutes later, we finally had our drinks in hand as we listened to a local band with their self-scribed music. It was good. This place had a lot of potential. This was at 8:30. We left to go wander and come back later.

At around 11:30, it really began to pick up. They had a new band in their place, playing all sorts of fantastic adult contemporary hits - Sexual Healing, Let's Get it On, Superstitious. As a side note, this last song was awesome because the drummer looked uncannily like Stevie Wonder.

After a kebab (yum) at 3:30 in the morning, I made my way home.

I have a diving trip planned this weekend - look for another update then.

Have a good night!