mom in oz...more marsh walks, visits to work...

after our time cramming in derby sights...i had to go to work for a few days.  how inconvenient.  on the wednesday, mom joined me for the morning to see what i do all day.  she got to see the derby hospital and my office and tx room. she met all my co-workers and experienced our weekly morning tea!  at lunch several of us went out to a new cafe in town and had a great time chatting and soaking up the ambiance.  mom walked home from there and i continued working. later that evening we went walking with lisa, hannah and lisa's two dogs on the marsh by the cemetery. we had an amazing sunset care of a bush fire. looking forward to my four day weekend with mom!

concert on cable beach

drove to broome this past sunday for work but also for a concert held on cable beach to protest (unofficially) the gas plant that is schedule to go up soon.  such a shame.  the pigram brothers and friends were there to play for the crowds, and i got to hear some of my favorite songs by them! they were playing on a boat anchored just off shore. the media was there and so were thousands of supporters.  it was incredible. the day was beautiful and the sunset was as stunning as a wet season sunset.  it was one of those days you're even more thankful to be alive.  had a great time in broome, did a little work, a little shopping, and a lot of eating!  went out for japanese at azuki (always yummy) with friends for my bday.  had elderflower water for the first time...and bought a bunch to take home.  mom comes to visit soon!  just a week and a half to go now! i cannot wait!

holy sh-t i'm 30!

so it finally happened. this thing i've been dreading. i've closed out my 3rd decade...and had an awesome time of it! started with a picnic at dinner tree the sunday before with some good friends.  had great food, great company, champagne and other spirits.  when the tourists came and clogged the site up we moved to the marsh by my house and watched the sunset with another bottle of wine. on my oz birthday i got some nice surprises in the morning, watched an incredible sunrise with claire and miski and then claire made this incredible lunch and brought it to work.  i pigged out!  after work a bunch of us went to the jetty to watch the sunset and eat some more.  we also had more champagne.  went home after and played with sparklers and ate cake.  talk about overindulgence.  today was really my us birthday and i watched the sunrise again with miski and claire.  it was breathtaking.  what a lovely way to welcome myself to my 30's.  all the photos are posted here

gili air indonesia

after our trek we headed straight away to bangsal port to catch a boat to gili air (about 20 minutes by boat).  this turned out to be quite a difficult feat. we ended up having to charter a nearly empty boat and after much ado we finally got to gili air. what a beautiful, relaxing place.  there are no cars on the island so we took a pony drawn carriage to our hotel! the beaches were beautiful, the people lovely, the waters warm and clear, the snorkeling the best i've seen, and i got dive certified!  we loved out time here so much we stayed a week at the coconut cottages, relaxing, swimming, eating and drinking. indonesian people are incredibly polite and kind.  i hope we get to return to the islands again someday.  see more photos in this album

sunset and drinks on cable beach

joined claire and her family for drinks on cable beach (later at zanders) to celebrate her 30th!  we had a great time and her family is awesome.  the sunset was beautiful and the sky after sunset even better. jose and i shared one of our favorite beers (little creatures bright ale) and tried a mule at zanders later. then we went and had dinner at azuki where i got to indulge in my obsession with japanese food and jose got to experience it for the second time. and he loved it! what a relief he likes it...might have had some serious problems if he didn't :)

Derby sunset taken with the new camera

as soon as the camera arrived i made good use of it.  still figuring out what to do with it for each situation but even without knowing what to do the pictures are clearly incredibly superior.  we've had bush fires recently, now firmly in the dry season, and the sun was blood red.  just stunning.

golf course walk

this is one of miski's favorite places. the golf course is beautiful. well maintained, nearly always deserted, and full of boab trees, plants and fun insects to chase.  the sunset on the way home was also spectacular.  sadly my camera doesn't do it justice but i think we've decided to get one that will capture the amazing skies and other things we see around here :)  more photos here Derby 2011

sunset and a fish at the jetty

a beautiful sunset again. we went for a quick fish - caught nothing - and enjoyed our time there. beautiful sunset on the way home and grabbed some take out pizza from one of the 3 local restaurants. weird right? not much for choice but the pizza was yummy.  lovely evening

miski's spay and sunsets

poor little miski.  had to get spayed while i was away in flooded fitzroy. more photos under the Derby 2011 album (see right column).  Jose did a great job of caring for her but i wish i could have been here with her too. he had to carry her home, carry her outside to pee.  i came home early because of flooding on the roads in fitzroy. great to be back and was treated to an unbelievable sunset! 

a sunday evening out

that night we were invited to a shindig in town. a coworker who manages the operating room put on a huge affair. there were about 50+ people there and she cooked for everyone! the food and company was incredible. the best part, besides the food, was the beautiful sunset and the fact that we could walk there and back :)

it seems my spot has been taken

by a four legged creature.  which is great actually :) she has calmed down a lot in the past few weeks and really enjoys just taking naps with us at every opportunity. I had a long weekend and we spent most of our time napping on the couch until one day i came back to the couch only to find she had completely taken over my spot!  we also met a really nice couple this weekend through a neighbor and witnessed yet another incredible sunset!

another lazy day

got up this morning and went swimming in the ocean at cable beach. it was spectacular, but very strong currents and very salty water kept me from staying in much longer than an hour. we basically lolled around the rest of the day and i got our tix to Bali for this june and started planning. SO excited! Also started planning our trips in november and such...but that's a ways away.  strolled out to town beach to look at roebuck bay (where water fowl come to feed) but it was sweltering so we came home rather quick and had a couple of cold beers and cooked up some sausages for dinner and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and evening rain.  ahhhh. wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow morning!

enjoying cold beer with another fabulous sunset

after a rather difficult week for us all...i've had a remote trip and tons of follow up and jose started a new job only to be offered another job he'd prefer...we headed to the jetty with emmett to soothe away the sorrows with some cold beer and a beautiful sunset. it's been hot here but last night was beautiful, nice breeze and an amazing sky. we stayed long after sunset and just enjoyed the evening air. miski seemed to want to explore the waters (that would have ended badly) but eventually flopped down and fell asleep.  a perfect friday evening. more photos in derby album