It Doesn't Get Better Than This!

Today was an absolutely spectacular day!

I was so honored and thrilled to be invited by Emma to join her and her husband "Captain Pat" for a day on their boat - Emski - along with Georgina and Pat.

Wonderful friends, fun, great conversation and outstanding weather - all together added up to one of my best days since arriving here in Sydney!

It was so incredibly relaxing on the boat, the sun warmed us as we had our lovely salad and sandwich lunch. And then to top it off, Gary the "Coffee Man" pulled up alongside the boat where we were anchored in Sugar Loaf Bay to take our coffee orders! What amazing service on the waters of Sydney!

In the video below you'll hear Gary suggest we check out fatpaddler.com to read an article that's been written about him. Note to Emma and Captain Pat - the article has his mobile in case you ever need to call and find out where Gary the Coffee Man is next time you take the boat out!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for a most memorable and amazing day!

14K is Longer than I thought!

Since I've already done Wharf to Wharf which is a 6 mile run from Santa Cruz to Capitola Beach and  Bay to Breakers which is from San Francisco's Financial District on the Bay side to the Breakers on the beach which is 12K (7.5 miles) I thought City to Surf which is 14K (8.7 miles) wouldn't be so bad...

Let me tell you 14K is a LOOONG way!  Converted from kilometers, it's 8.7 miles!

It started off in Hyde Park right in the heart of Sydney's Central Business District (CBD) and ended at Bondi Beach.  And me and my 76,254 closest friends ran, jogged and walked through Kings Cross, the tunnel to Edge Cliff, along the shore to Rose Bay, up Heartbreak Hill and through Bondi Junction all the way to the beach. 

The most magnificent view, ironically, was as we were heading up Heartbreak Hill.  It was a glorious, beautiful sunny day and you could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as the Opera House from Heartbreak Hill - it was stunning!  

I finished in 2:35.12 and boy did my left knee hurt!  I was very glad to have the Cure4Kids from Cancer hospitality tent to head to after the race for lunch and a chance to sit down and rest!   The next day, Monday, my muscles were still incredibly sore!

Enjoy the video from the day!   

Part 2 of Trivia Night Video

There were many more Australian questions which I had no clue about which brings me to my final observation from that evening. Australians know way more about American culture (movies, history, geography, music, TV shows) than Americans know about Australian culture and history. I'm endeavoring to change that while I'm here - starting with myself :)

It's a Phenomenon - Trivia Night!

While the U.S. has Jeopardy and Trivia Pursuit, Australia has “Fame Trivia Night”! My coworker, Keith invited me to join he and his wife and their friends for trivia night at the Freeway Hotel (they call all pubs “hotels”) in Artarmon.

I imagined it would have the solemnity and seriousness of a chess tournament but to my surprise it had more of a bingo game at a local community center fun and easy going feel to it. There were people of all ages and backgrounds in very jovial spirits socializing with friends while a very well organised master of ceremonies named Tim led us through two rounds of 20 trivia questions with some bonus questions interspersed throughout.

We decided upon “7-Up” as our team name even though there were only 6 of us (one person called in sick). And in a funny coincidence we came in 7th place which means we won $30 in drink vouchers. I’ll fess up immediately that my contribution was minor (more on that later) and the others were brilliant when it came to world history, music and geography.

I will do a call out to my best friend Michelle who all night I kept think “Shell would totally kick a** at trivia night” because there were several music soundtracks (where you had to know the artist, the song or the chorus) and movie questions.

I was not a total dead weight to my team as I did contribute answers to four questions:

Q: What was the name of the Lone Rangers partner? What was the name of the partner’s horse? Tonto, Scout

Q: What are the four United States that border Texas? Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas (I didn’t get Arkansas correct, I guessed Colorado – oops).

Q: What happened on the 8th day of Christmas in the popular Christmas carol? Eight maids are milking

Q: (Identify the name of the movie from a photo of) Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in front of a house near a lake? The Lake House (I’m a big Keanu Reeves fan, how could I not get this one).

Potts Point Farmer's Market

Right on the water in Pyrmont, there's this beautiful restaurant called Sugaroom where Peter Taylor from Telstra and I enjoyed lunch out on the patio.

Over lunch I learned that Peter not only works out at the same health club - Fitness First - but he's also the technology gadget guy for Fitness First's print magazine. He kept raving about this amazing "Body Attack" fitness class at the Kings Cross Fitness First so I decided to check it out.


It was the most intense fitness class ever! The best way to describe it is like a scene from Flashdance where the whole dance troupe is leaping, running and sashaying every which way around this gigantic room in pretty good coordination. Which is pretty amazing considering there were about 50 people in the class (I kid you not). Then you have me, trying not to get run over or crash into all of these super fit club members who clearly know the routine by heart (for my Decathlon Club friends, when I say it's like going to Lori's class for the first time, you'll know exactly what I mean).

Totally exhausted half-way through the class, I tried to have a zen moment by focusing on the beautiful view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House which I could see from the class room window, but quickly realized that was putting myself in further jeopardy of getting trampled on...

After "Body Attack" class, I had a banana and Nutella crepe at Potts Point Farmers Market (yes, I know, not the healthiest choice after a work out but I felt I deserved it). It was made by this French lady and it tasted just like the crepes I remember from Paris!

Christmas in July with North Sydney Masters

June-July-August are winter months here in Sydney but hailing from Chicago the winters don't even compare! It's actually quite similar to "winter" in San Jose, cold in the evenings, some rain but happily some beautiful sunny days that make you forget it's supposed to be winter!

A popular celebratory occasion in Australia is "Christmas in July" and North Sydney Masters combined this with a lovely curry night pot luck dinner (no I did not make curry, instead I ordered curry take out) and a Secret Santa gift exchange (with some very unusual gifts).

And of course, what is Christmas without Santa and his elf -- Ho! Ho! Ho!