Santa Done and Dusted

Christmas is "done and dusted" as the Aussies would say. The holiday came and went so quickly this year.

Even Mickey gets into the holiday spirit

We had a great turnout on Christmas Eve as we hosted the 2nd Annual "Bangers on Bray" street party in our driveway for all our neighbors. "Bangers" is Australian for "sausages" and grilling them up on the "barbie" with a side of grilled onions is a national past time and, what I think, is a primary food source for all the munchkins in Oz. We even had a visit from Santa.

Our Bray Street Neighbors

Our next door neighbors - Glenn and Vicki

Ben grilling up the "snags" and onions on the "barbie"

Santa makes the rounds on Bray Street

Christmas day was hot and humid as you'd expect it to be in the middle of summer, but we all managed to stay cool with a good selection of holiday beverages on hand. Thanks Mary, the Pomegranate Martinis were a hit and very refreshing!

Christmas Elves!

Santa Bindi

Bindi waiting for her Christmas treat

Santa brings Bindi a new toy

Ben loves those Dewar's Chews - thanks Lorrie!

Granny Cheryl with her "grand dog" Bindi

Santa delivered a Wii into the King household this year (we must have been really good) so there was plenty of sports activities in our livingroom over the weekend. Lulu kicks butt in boxing and baseball!

MIL (mother-in-law) and FIL (father-in-law) duke it out on the Wii

Wii Boxers - Lulu KOs Benjo in the 3rd!

On Boxing Day (December 26th) we had a wonderful change in weather which brought cooler temps (yeah) and much need precipitation. We also set up the ping pong table in the garage and played croquet on the front lawn in between rain showers. Fun was had by all! Of course there was too much good food and sweets consumed so we now have 12 months to work it all off. Good thing we got a Wii Fit too!

Thanks Kelly for the canned cheeries, my pie tasted like a piece of home to me.

"Chrissy" in the Enviro Corner

I decided to bring a little Christmas spirit into work with me today (Christmas Eve) and give the Aussie boys in the Technical Services Department an idea of how an American celebrates the festive season. I have decorations scattered all around my little Enviro corner with a "Home for the Holidays" Yankee candle burning and Christmas music playing on my iPod in the background. Yes, there is a tiny Christmas tree with Mickey Mouse ornaments all over it displayed on my filing cabinet that is unfortunately out of the picture. The Department Manager took this photo of me to share with the rest of the company - all I'm missing is the red Santa hat! Can you tell I'm actually working?

Deck the Halls

Even though a live Douglas Fir can only be found in my dreams here in Oz an artificial tree and a Yankee Candle seems to help fill the void of a fresh cut Chrismtas tree. Our tree has been decorated with memorable ornaments from near and far and the stockings are hung just awaiting the magic that Christmas morning brings.

Sailing Away

I think I love sailing!

This week one of the contracting companies on-site invited a small group of us to go sailing on Sydney Harbour. The company is a sponsor of the racing boat "The SubZero Goat" which won their class in the Sydney to Hobart Race in 2008. We set sail from the CYCA (Crusing Yacht Club of Australia) marina in the Sydney harbour to participate in their St Arnou Wednesday Twilight Race. Boats were everywhere, just a sea of sails! The course goes out and around Shark Island and ends at Rushcutters Bay.

"The SubZero Goat"

Col (my boss) and I getting ready to set sail

Race On!

After the race was over we all had a turn at the wheel. The water was fantastic and the sunset incredible as it slowly set over the skyline of Sydney. After debarkation we enjoyed a fabulous gourmet dinner at the yacht club.
Lulu taking her turn at the helm with a little assistance from steerman Bruce - "I'm Saling"!

Sunset over Sydney (note the opera house in the background)

Springtime in Sydney

Ben and I took some vacation over the past week and one of the places we visited was Sydney. On our way to the "big smoke" we stopped in for lunch at one of our secret culinary gems that serve the best meat pies - it's called "Pie in the Sky" . They also have very tasty fruit pies as well like, apple, peach, apricot and blueberry. Yummo!

Ben with his traditional Aussie meat pie smothered in 'sauce' (tomato ketchup) with a side of 'mashers'

All was a buzz in Sydney with the holiday season just around the corner and signs of Spring everywhere we turned.

Brilliant purple blooms on the Jacaranda trees around Sydney Harbour (note the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house in the background)

Kangaroo Paw in bloom at the Royal Botanical Garden

In the city, there is an old building originally used as government offices that has been converted into this beautiful retail area full of designer/boutique shops and cafes (the YaYas would love it here - yes Ro, there is a Coach store). It is known as the 'QVB' (Queen Victoria Building) and is one of my favorite places to go when I'm in the city. Every year they put a huge, 3-story sized, Christmas tree on display. This year is was covered in dangling Swarovski crystal ornaments - absolutely spectacular!

The 2009 QVB Christmas Tree

On our little escape we also enjoyed dining out, shopping, going to the movies (Gold Class - seated in recliners, way cool), having a massage and catching up with FIL (father-in-law) at Darling Harbour for lunch.

Me and my FIL (Bob)

Melbourne Cup Day 2009

The Melbourne Cup or also referred to as "The Race that Stops the Nation" is the Australian equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. It's a big event and marks the highlight of all the Spring Racing Carnivals throughout the country. It's quite common for most businesses to close at noon on this day each year. Muswellbrook has their Spring Carnival on the same day as "The Cup" so there is generally a large turnout of racing enthusiasts, high rollers and party goers at the local track.

Local race at Skelletar Park in Muswellbrook (notice they are running counter clockwise - everything is backwards in Oz!)

Among the crowd there are plenty of ladies doning beautiful hats to compliment their colorful "frocks" (dresses) with many of the men dressed in suits or creative attire. It is always a great day of fun and excitement. Me and Leeanne in our lovely frocks and hats!

I was running late at work so I missed half of the races but I did make it in time to place a bet and watch the simulcast of the Melbourne Cup race. This was not a lucky day for LuLu. Not one of the ponies I placed a bet on for the rest of the day won. Bugger! Oh well, it was a great afternoon of champagne and spending time with some fabulous work mates.

"Geo Ross"- the geologist, "Survey Ray" - surveyor and Garth the OCE (Open Cut Examiner)

Jackie and Senior Project Engineer "Kimbo"

Szymon (Mining Engineer) with wife Sarah and daughter Lilly
Ross and our Technical Services Manager Steve ("Wylie Coyote" )

'Wicked' in Oz

The girls headed to the "Big Smoke" (Sydney) on Saturday to take in a performance of the Broadway musical Wicked at the Capitol Theatre. For all of us Wizard of Oz fans out there this opportunity was truly a creative and unique look into the humble beginning of those witches from the Emerald City that we learned to love and hate as children.

We had our pre-preformance lunch and cocktails at Ripples restaurant along the wharf near Darling Harbour. Great food, beautiful weather and fabulous atmosphere.

Cheers! Vicki (my next door neighbor), Me, Sue (Ben's Aunt) and Cheryl (Ben's mum)

Work is the Pits!

A birds-eye few of my job location where I work as the "Enviro Chick" at an open cut coal mining operation in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. Quite a landscape change from the cotton fields in the San Joaquin Valley of California aren't they? No.1 Open Cut Pit (the town of Muswellbrook in the background and my office site in the foreground)

FYI - Muswellbrook Coal Company was one of the first open cut mines in Australia. The coal reserves were encountered by chance during a water boring opeation in 1907 and underground mining commenced in 1908 and continued until 1997. Current open cut mining operations began in 1944. No.2 Open Cut Pit

Going Bush

The long "Labour" Day weekend marks the start of school holidays for 2-weeks. Families pack up the kids and hit the road towing boats, bikes and trailers, heading to vacation spots all over New South Wales. We spent our 3 days camping on a property just outside of Quirindi, which borders the Doona State Forest, with our friends Adam and Vanessa and their 2 children Maddie and Nick.

Our little camping community in the bush.
Adam is an experienced bush camper so I was fortunate enough to get a few lessons in cooking "bush tucker " such as "damper" which is bread baked in a camp oven (aka - dutch oven) over coals. Of course I had to introduce these Aussie folks to art of making S'mores too....what camping trip wouldn't be complete without them?

Adam and Lori putting the finishing touches on the "damper" before tossing it into the camp oven to bake.
The damper was a success and tasted great especially when served right out of the oven with butter. Yummo!

In between rain showers and "sticky" (pesky) flies that were constantly trying to challenge our spirit we had a fantastic time.

Ben patiently waiting for the rain to stop while tending the fire.
Some of the more noteable activities we engaged in was exploring all the tracks that ran through the State Forest on our quad bikes and log surfing!

Adam and Ben demonstrate the art of "log surfing" !

The Bush Campers - Adam, Nick, Vanessa, Lori, Ben and Maddie

Aussie Hound Turns 4

On September 27th we celebrated Bindi's 4th birthday. She received lot of goodies from both mom and dad as well as Grandma and Grandpa. Yes, she is a spoiled little puppy and we love her dearly.

In between the birthday festivities there was even time to give the "Grandparents" a ride on the new quaddy.

Dust Storm 2009

This has got to be the dustiest day I've ever seen in my entire life and the wind is blowing strong enough "to blow a dog off a chain"! Apparently the storm is orginating from the west where the soil is red (clay) so everything looks like Mars, but with gum trees of course! The roads around my work site look like a blanket of red snow has fallen. Wild!