The Bell Family

The Pacific Dawn
The Pacific Dawn was home for the 12 nights of our cruise… We sailed from Hamilton Port in Brisbane and had 5 shore visits – Isle of Pines (New Caledonia), Suva and Port Denarau (Fiji), Port Vila and Pentecost Island (Vanuatu).

Isle of Pines (New Caledonia)
The Isle of Pines was just gorgeous… definitely my favourite spot of the whole cruise! Beautiful friendly people, lovely scenery, enticing beaches… just perfect.

Suva (Fiji)
Fiji’s capital, Suva, was a bit of a surprise. We had a very friendly welcome from the City’s Police Band, singing and dancing at the Port to welcome the ships arrival. We then walked through town for about an hour or two before taking a drive for some more sightseeing.

We had arranged for a three hour tour by mini-bus, however as it turned out, 7 of us ended up crammed in an old Toyota Crown!!! We travelled brielfly through town (very busy, dirty and industrial) and then asked to see a bit more of the ‘real Fiji’. Once outside the city, the countryside was beautiful, however the living standards were almost third world in many areas… Just outside the city there is a lot of agricultural land, with many people squatting in basic shacks. There were about 3 correctional centres that we passed and some development occuring in areas (often excavation equipment was bogged up to the axles and there was little evidence of safety or environmental standards in place)!

We experienced a little of Fiji’s 6 metres of annual rainfall whilst we were there, but otherwise the weather was great. We also had a run in with the local law officers when our taxi was pulled over about 50km outside of Suva on the edge of a little village… we thought the cop would be worried about the over-crowded car and lack of seat belts, but apparently there must have been some law about stopping on bridges (even if they are minor ones over nothing more than a creek)!!! The taxi driver was able to negotiate with the officer, claiming that he had “rolled across” and not come to a complete stop and was successful in reducing the fine from $200 to just $40 (don’t try that here folks – it’s not likely to be looked upon favourably)!!!

Katie (in the back of the Toyota Crown) holds her nose and says ‘sgustiiiinnnngggggg’ (disgusting!) as we drive past the stench of some of in the inundated farm lands

Chrissy safely back onboard the ship, enjoying a drink and watching the crazy bus terminal in the background (these bus drivers seriously do 80km/hr around the city streets with the music blaring)!

Port Denarau (Fiji)
Port Denarau was more like what we had expected to see in Fiji – much more commercialised and touristy. Once out of the main Port area though, there were street stalls selling produce like fresh fish and root vegetables. The countryside was amazingly beautiful and we drove to the “Gardens of the Sleeping Giant”, nestled in amongst rainforest on the side of a rugged mountain. There were lovely ponds, water lilies, orchids, heliconias, bromeliads and lots of other tropical plants. We had a nice walk around before returning back to the ship.

Garden of the Sleeping Giant (named for the shape of the mountain range that runs some 20+km and looks just like a “sleeping giant”!)

Laura proudly showing off her “Fiji money”

Sunrise ad sunset were some of my favourite times of the day on board the ship, particularly when it was a shore day and we were near land. Here’s a nice one from Fiji…

Port Vila (Vanuatu)
Vanuatu was also ruggedly beautiful… we were able to sail straight through the channel and into Port Vila, with its lovely beaches and rainforest veg…

We decided to do an organised tour in Vila, to the Ekasup Cultural Village. The tour is run by one of the local villages and was a great introduction to some of the customs of the local people. It turns out cannibalism was somewhat widespread in Vanuatu history, with the country’s population at one stage reaching 1 million people before starvation led to desperate measures… The population now stands at around 200,000 people!

Pentecost Island (Vanuatu)
We managed to see the local custom of land-diving whilst at Pentecost Island (where locals jump from an insanely high tower with nothing more than vines strapped to their ankles). Local legends have it, that a local woman once jumped from a tree to escape her abusive husband (but not before she had tied vines to her ankles – smart woman I guess). She survived, but the husband who jumped after her without the vines was not so lucky… and hence a new tradition was born. I watched two kids jump from about 10m up, but that was enough for me and I left before the men started jumping from the top (some 30+ metres I guess) – the jolt and ‘face plant’ at the end apparently leaves many shocked, sometimes paralysed and occasionally dead! Intriguing but it all a bit much for me to watch!!! Haven’t they learnt about the wonders of elastic bands and bungee cords yet!?!?!?!

Local kids perform a welcoming song and dance for us…

Laura met with some kids at the local school, whilst studying the ‘ten golden rules of tsunami’s” (get your valuables, move to higher ground, assist the young and the elderly etc…). The school library had only one small row of books, but a new school building was under development for the 150 student school… quite an eye opener for Laura I think. She has a new found perspective on just how comfortable our lives are now!!!

Fun on the Ship
The ship was great – heaps of activities for the kids (and the big kids too)! Lots of entertainment, Island Night, Pirate Night, Formal Nights, deck parties and lots of great food and drink!

The two angels… Katelyn and Laura doing some sisterly bonding

Katie has a go at “hula-hooping” on the Island Night…

Lunch time at the Palm Court restaurant – plus our own waiter for every meal!!! Didn’t cook, clean or lift a finger for 12 straight days – now that’s “Mummy’s Paradise”!!!

Katie sings “Baa Baa Black Sheep” in the kids talent show…

Our return trip into Brisbane
We had smooth sailing all theway home. Entered the mouth of the Brisbane River around dawn on the final day and sailed past the Shipwreck on Frazer Island…

We didn’t have any problems getting under the Gateway Bridge although it was a fairly close shave!!! Unlike the very trip after us of course, which suffered a power failure and nearly drifted into the bridge pylons I’ve heard!!!

Lots more stories to tell, but that better do it for now!!! Anyway, it was great fun and we’d do it again in a heart beat… But whilst we’re saving for our next big trip (the kids have voted for a snow holiday), I think we’ll be back to camping for the next few years!!!

Cheers,
Jason, Chrissy, Laura and Katie

Hi Everyone!

After many years travelling abroad for work, finally, Jason and Chrissy have managed to travel abroad together!!!

Jason was invited to present at a conference at Canterbury Uni in Christchurch, New Zealand. So without further ado, we accepted and forked out the extra cash for the second airfare!!!

Laura and Katie happily packed their bags for a weekend at Ma and Pa’s (they know they always get spoilt by their grandparents, so no hesitations there!!!), whilst Jason and Chrissy packed their winter woollies for the expected 4 degree minimums!

Jason went early to attend the conference and Chrissy met him over there late on the Thursday night. Chrissy did some sightseeing around town on the Friday (Canterbury Museum and Botanical Gardens – absolutely gorgeous), whilst Jason wrapped things up at the conference, however Saturday and Sunday were ours to see the sights!!!

Christchurch Botanical Gardens - Fountain

Rhodedendron

Christchurch Botanical Gardens - Bridge over Avon

Duck on the Bridge!

We visited the French settlement of Akaroa, located in an extinct volcano with its own gorgeous little Bay and rugged cliffs.

Akaroa Day Trip

Sheepy Baa's

Silly Portrait!

Akaroa Harbour

We also visited Hamner Springs (the home of thermal pools and adventure sports)! The roads were good, the drives great and the scenery was absolutely spectacular!!!

Hanmer Springs Day Trip

Hanmer Springs - Still too cold for us to get our gear off in an outdoor pool!

Cheers,
Chrissy and Jason

Recently, I was over in New Zealand for another conference to which I was invited as a guest speaker (I’ll document this trip in another blog post).

Anyway, to cut a long story short, as part of the trip I wanted to make it quite memorable, so I was searching for something a little extreme… I had heard that jet boating was pretty good and wanted to do that, but at the last moment I had decided to do some bungy jumping.

So with Chrissy with me, I decided to buy 2 tickets to go bungy jumping…

Well as you can imagine, Chrissy wasn’t too impressed….

It was funny, with the short drive to the bungy location, I was all excited saying that I would do a superman dive and saying it would be easy…

Here is a photo of the bridge both Chrissy and I jumped off.

Anyway, once we arrived, we got weighed and we had to wait for the jump master… Anyway, when walking to the bridge, which I might add is a single lane wooden bridge, I asked Chrissy did she want to go first or second…. So after a few moments, she decided that she wanted to go first….

So after triple checks, Chrissy walked up to the edge and with a quick count down 3, 2, 1, BUNGY – Chrissy jumped off without much fuss… I must admit I was surprised and proud… Chrissy later said that once it was paid for, there was not much to do than to get it over and done with!!!

Anyway below are some amazing pictures of Chrissy’s jump.

Okay, are you ready???

Wave to the camera

On your marks….

Get set….

Jump….

Can somebody come and get me….

So, it is funny, but with the lead up to the jump, I was all positive and Chrissy was somewhat hesitant… But when it came to being on the bridge and jumping it was quite different. Unlike Chrissy, when it came time for me to jump, I had a false start… It was quite funny, 3, 2, 1…. Uooh…. For those who are unaware, I am somewhat afraid of heights and as a kid I used to be scared of driving over large bridges… So this bungy was a combination of many of the fears I have/used to have…

So the guy said not to look down, but damn that is so hard not to do…

So after a few deep breaths and a second count down I took the leap of faith!!!!

Okay, wave to the camera

On your marks, get set….

False start… Deep breaths…

On your marks, get set…

Jump…..

I must say, this looks a pretty good picture…

Damn that was a lot of fun!!!!!!

Anyway, all things aside, even with Chrissy’s initial concerns and my trepidation, we both were very happy to have “JUMPED” and it was an amazing experience…. what do they say – mind over matter!!!

Hope you enjoyed the pics…

Until next time…

Take it easy,
Jason and Chrissy

Recently, I was in Sydney where I was fortunate enough to be able to present at the eResearch09 conference. The Conference was based at the beachfront Novotel Manly Pacific.

Details for the Conference can be found at http://www.eresearch.edu.au/

Additionally, the conference program can be found at http://www.eresearch.edu.au/programme, which includes my presentation, see “Connecting Video Collaboration Systems to Facilitate Inter-Organisation Communication- Jason Bell and Phillippe Galvez (Australian Research Collaboration Service)”.

Anyway, I have some pictures that I thought you might be interested in.

Here is a photo of a view from my hotel room.

A photo of the ARCS (Australian Research Collaboration Service) stand at the conference. This was where I was working some of the time throughout the conference.

Another photo of the ARCS (Australian Research Collaboration Service) stand at the conference.

View from the conference balcony.

Another photo from the conference balcony.

Here is a photo of the Aarnet Optiportal, which is a high resolution display utilising 27 x 24inch LCD screens.

Photo leaving Manly Harbour heading towards Circular Quay.

Photo of another similar ferry heading back to Manly Harbour.

Obligatory photo of the Harbour Bridge.

Obligatory photo of the Sydney Opera House.

Anyway, it was a good trip. Hope you liked the piccies.

Cheers,
Jason

Hi Everyone

Hope this message finds you all well… time seems to be scooting by so quickly lately, but we thought it would be good to post a quick blog about our Easter holidays to ‘the dam’.

We took a group holiday with some good friends and had a lovely time! We spend lots of time socialising and playing with the kids. The camping was great and we all coped surprisingly well given that between us there were 7 kids under the age of 5!!!

Anyway, here are some piccies to tell the rest of the story…

Laura and Jason going for a leisurely paddle

Row row row your boat!

Cricket at the park

Cool Cat Katie just hanging out…

Laura ready to hit the beach

Group game of ‘freeze fishy’ at the beach

Kids adventures… looking for treasure I guess!

Jason’s big catch of the day

Anyway, camping was definitely a big hit and all the kids had fun (big and small), so we’ll definitely be giving it another go sometime soon!

Cheers,
Chrissy and Jas

I’ve just returned from my third visit to Singapore… another work trip of course, however I did manage to get in some sight seeing this time!!! The conference went well and I even managed a visit to one of the air bases and had a ride in a very high tech flight simulator… very cool.

Well, here’s a few piccies from the trip…

…My Hotel

… Chinatown Food Street

… Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo (fabulous)

…Cable Car to Sentosa Island

…Sentosa Island – Contrast between natural areas, port and city high rise

… Chrissy and in the background, the Merlion (mythical creature, half lion, half fish)

… Giant Snail!!!

… Sentosa Island Mosaic Tiled Fountains

…Sentosa Fountains

... Fort Silosa Surrender Table (Singapore was under British rule until 1942 when they surrendered to the Japanese. After a number of harsh years and POW camps, the Japanese surrendered to the British in 1945, however Singapore's national spirit had already been sparked and it became its own nation in 1967)

… The Merlion

… Snake Charmer

… Sentosa – Mass Development Site for the Future Casino

… Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (train station)

… Singapore’s other national emblem, the Orchid

Hope you liked the piccies.

Cheers,
Christine

As the title says, whilst in Canada, I had an exciting day where I managed to see snow for the first time!

I woke up fairly early in the morning, and headed for one of the “refec” locations on SFU campus to grab some breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they served cooked breakfasts and decided to have some bacon and eggs. However, the lady who was cooking simply opened what looked like a milk carton and poured a portion onto a hot plate, which is how my scrambled eggs were cooked.

Anyway, after breakfast, I headed back to my room and checked on my email. I was feeling a little out of whack and seriously considered not doing much for the day…. especially after the interesting experience I had the day before. But around 9:30, I decided what the heck and settled on a visit to “Grouse Mountain”. This meant that I had to get a bus into the city, a sea bus (ferry) from South to North Vancouver, then another bus to the base of “Grouse Mountain”. The total time taken was over an hour and a half, but it was interesting to see the various sites.

View of South Vancouver whilst on the Sea Bus

Once at the base of the mountain, there were two choices on how to get to the top… a very, very, very, long vertical hike, or a trip on the Cable Car. Obviously I took the Cable Car, though it was quite expensive something close to $40, but it was totally worth it. The top of “Grouse Mountain” is very high and the cable car travels up a very steep vertical incline. The day was overcast, so the cable car actually passed through a layer of the clouds before it reached the top and it was a lot higher than I expected. Once up there, the view of Vancouver City was quite limited because of the weather, but to my huge surprise there was still snow up on the mountain and I was very excited!

Picture of Cable Car

View from the Top of Grouse Mountain

As you can imagine, the first thing I did once off the cable car was to go to the nearest area and touch some snow. Now I realize that the snow wasn’t the usual “fluffy” snow, as it was nearly summer and most of it had melted a fair bit or was clear of snow altogether, however there was still quite a bit of snow left and, to me, it felt like the stuff you use in snow cones! Naturally I made a few snow balls and threw them!

Picture of the top of Grouse Mountain, with snow

After the initial excitement, I went and grabbed some lunch at the Cabin. I then decided to walk along some of the trails. When walking around, there was this group walking in the opposite direction who at one stage were throwing snow balls. One accidentally hit me and one of the guys apologized, but personally I thought it was pretty funny and if I knew them, I would have been throwing snow as well!!!

Main Cabin where I had lunch

Whilst walking around, there was a section in which people were standing, running and playing in the snow. Of course I had to get involved and after my first few steps on the snow, I almost slipped over. It took me a little to get the hang of walking on the snow and I felt like a little kid!

Proof, that it’s real snow

Open area within Grouse Mountain

Different View

After that, I continued walking and saw some real live grizzly bears, which are native to Grouse Mountain. The two bears are in captivity as part of a rehabilitation project and I had timed my visit to perfection, as the following day they were scheduled to open up a section of the fenced area to allow them over 5 acres of area to roam and explore.

Picture of the Grizzly Bears

Walking Track

There was also a bird show (with eagles and things) due to start, but I decided to skip the show and head back to SFU, as I didn’t want to miss the bus and would rather be back earlier than later.

So I managed to get back to SFU after an hour and half or so and was quite impressed with having managed to see snow. When I got back, a number of my AG (Access Grid) colleagues started to rock up and six or seven of us decided to head out and grab some dinner.

It is funny, but during the night’s conversation and also during the conference, many of my AG colleagues could not believe or understand that I had never seen snow. As for some of them, they have to live with it 6-9 months of the year!

So that was my exciting day, unexpected, but well worthwhile.

Cheers,
Jason

G’day All

For those who didn’t know, I am currently in Canada for a work conference (AG Retreat – See http://www.accessgrid.org/retreat2008 for more information if interested). I am fortunate, or unfortunate – depends how you think of it, to be presenting.

Sunday – Travels

Anyway, thought I would give an update on my travels so far. I caught a Taxi from home around 5:30 Sunday Morning, this enabled me to catch a flight to Brissy, with enough time to go through security, grab some breakfast and board the plane at 11 to L.A.X. For some reason, I find it difficult to sleep flying over to this side of the globe. I even tried forcing myself to have little sleep the night before, thinking it might assist me with sleeping on the plane. Unfortunately, this only made me more tired. I only had a couple of hours sleep and arrived at LAX on Sunday 7am (LA Time). I was surprised to see how booked the flight was,… I don’t think there was a spare seat! The bad news was, when I arrived at LAX, I then had to wait for a 7 hour layover to Vancouver. This was the most difficult part of the trip, I did try and lie down for some time, but I was afraid that I might sleep too well and miss the flight, or something!

Interestingly, there were quite a number of people on the flight to LA that were also heading over to Vancouver, so I got chatting to some of them to help pass the time. Like me, most of the people felt completely stuffed and simply couldn’t wait until they arrived in Vancouver.

I did manage to get a couple more hours sleep on the Vancouver flight, but unfortunately, I seem to have come down with a cold, or at least the start of one, which meant my ears were blocked and the descent nearly killed me!

After 28 hours in and out of airports and planes, I had arrived in Vancouver. From first impressions, it was one of the prettiest cities I had ever seen from the air. Everything was nice and green. It also boasts one of the nicest airports I’ve been too as well. It had waterfalls, statues and many other things to look at. Compared to the dodgey LAX, it was a pleasant change. I grabbed a taxi and headed for Simon Fraser University, as that is where the guest lodgings are, which had been suggested for the conference.

Anyway, disappointingly, the campus was very quiet and by the time I arrived and got things sorted, I couldn’t find anywhere to grab something to eat. Additionally, I had gotten out some Canadian money from an ATM, but it was only $20 notes and the vending machines didn’t take them (only coins or $5 and $10 notes). So I ended up going to bed without any dinner, as I was just too buggered to find any alternatives. Though, I did try some walking around campus to find something without any success. Anyway, I crashed out around 8 – 9pm.

Monday – Having a look around

As you would expect, I woke up around 3:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep, my body clock was still out of whack! Unfortunately I woke up hungry and there was nothing I could do. I did manage to have a quick chat with home, checked my emails and tried to get some additional sleep without any success. I tried working on my presentations, but my head wasn’t up to it. Around 5am or there abouts, I decided to go for a walk to see what I could find. Unfortunately everything I could find was closed until around 8am, which meant I had to go hungry for a little while. After around an hour of walking, looking at everything, I decided to go back to my room to get changed and then head to Vancouver City. SFU (Simon Fraser University) is located in Burnaby, which is a large city in itself and is basically connected to Vancouver, which is located towards the Mountains. Anyway, I caught a bus which took around an hour to get to downtown Vancouver.

I visited an Information Centre, got a stack of brochures and then grabbed some brekky. I thought you couldn’t go wrong with some Macca’s, but sadly I was mistaken. I am not sure whether I was jus used to a certain ‘type’ of Macca’s, but the sausage McMuffins tasted very weird and I could barely eat them. The sausage meat was some strange chicken, cross beef, cross something else, I’m not sure! Even the hash browns tasted weird… Maybe I was just very jet lagged, but it was a struggle!

Anyway, I then decided to visit the Lookout Tower (for more info, feel free to visit http://www.vancouverlookout.com/). This gave me a good view of the city and its surrounds, as well as where I wanted to head to next, which was Stanley Park (more info, see http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/stanley/).

View of Cruise Ship Terminal

View of part of Stanley Park

After visiting the Tower for around 45 minutes, I then walked to Stanley Park following a nice riverside pathway. The walk took me around another 45 minutes, but it was good to get out and about.

Picture of a sight whist walking along the riverside pathway

Picture of one of the many parks along the riverside pathway

Picture of a Sea Plane landing

Stanley park has to be one of the greenest parks I have ever seen in my lifetime and once I arrived, I headed towards the Aquarium (http://www.vanaqua.org/home/). This place was pretty cool, lots of different types of fish, most were native to Canada and there was also a section on Southern America types of fish. They even had Piranhas!

Stanley Park

A picture of a sloth

Piranhas

South American Fish, huge fish!

Sea Turtle

One large Sea Lion, it gives people a fright as it swims by!

Same Sea Lion

They also has some Beluga Whales and different types of Dolphins (pacific white-sided dolphins) and I was able to catch a cool dolphin show as well. This place was pretty good, but in my opinion, not as good as Sea World or the Shedd Aquarium (Chicago), but still well worth a visit. Whilst at the Aquarium, I grabbed some lunch and then decided to head back into the city.

Beluga Whale

Pacific White-Sided Dolphins

My next stop was the “Edge Water” Casino. I thought I would walk through Robson street on the way (http://www.robsonstreet.ca/), as this place is well known for all your shopping needs. They even had all the major brand name shops and a lot more, although I couldn’t see any good book stores unfortunately.

After walking a fair bit, I had almost decided to call it a day but ended up finding the Casino on my way back anyway! By this time it was around 3pm and I didn’t want to stay to long, as I wanted to get back to SFU before the last bus etc. The casino is relatively small, but they do have nice customer service, like free bag holding facilities. Obviously I headed towards the Blackjack tables and was surprised to see they had $5 tables. I found the closest one with a free seat and sat down. I decided to play with $40 and it didn’t take long before I was ahead. I wanted to get to $85 as this would have meant I would have doubled my money and could take a $5 chip home as a souvenir. I got very close (I think I got up to $80), but for some reason, I started to feel a little sick, and after a few losses, I decided to leave while still marginally ahead. I still had my $40 I began with and a souvenir $5 chip, so I can’t complain. Although I was a little disappointed to be feeing ill, as I had been playing well and was having some luck.

I thought I might have been a little dehydrated, so I grabbed a glass of water before heading back to find a bus to catch. Unfortunately I had some distance to cover, but I knew I simply had to head north and find “Hastings Street”, as this is where the SFU bus route travels and the bus stops every 500 metres or so. Unfortunately, the part of town where I finally came across Hastings Street wasn’t the best part of the city and reminded me of some areas in San Francisco (where the homeless sleep on sidewalks and there are many drug users on the streets). I must say that I felt rather uncomfortable, as I thought I saw a fight and I was glad I found a bus after 5-10 minutes or so.

Another 45 minutes or so saw me back at SFU. Given past experiences for getting a lack of food, I decided to head out straight away and grab some food as it was after 5pm already. I stumbled across the Student Bar and was excited to see that they served food and that an ice hockey game was on. Obviously I had a couple of drinks, some nice food and watched the Game. Having never watched a full game before, I must say that it is pretty cool and pretty full on. Ice hockey is about two things, how good the goal keeper is and the “fights”!!!!

I managed to get back to my room around 9 and it didn’t take long before I crashed out!

More to come.

Cheers,
Jason

Finally… some time off!

We all bundled into the car and headed off for a fun-filled adventure on the Gold Coast!

On the way, we journeyed through Moolooloba on the Sunshine Coast where we stopped off for a visit to Underwater World. The girls were amazed by the wide range of sea creatures – there were sea otters, seals, fish, stingrays, sharks, star-fish, turtles and even frogs. Laura loved the seal show, especially their cheeky antics, but took a while to warm to the toothy grin of the sharks as we wandered through the underwater tunnel. Katie was a little more hands on and enjoyed touching the star-fish in the touch pool and wandering around looking at all the action in the tanks.

After that, it was onto the Motorway and into the Gold Coast. We spent plenty of time hanging out at the beach, playing at the park, splashing in the pool, walking, exploring, shopping and doing the touristy thing! Some of the highlights included a very special visit to Sea World, Jupiters Casino and the Q1 Building. Springbook National Park was definitely memorable too (but for all the wrong reasons… the girls got car sick whilst Jason was trying out his rally driving on the wickedly winding roads)!!!

We were lucky enough to have some very special company (and babysitters) along for the holiday – Mum and Dad met up on the Gold Coast with us, which made things so much easier on Jason and I! We made the most of it and headed out on the town – spending a few hours around the Blackjack table and also enjoying the live music on offer at Jupiters. Jason and I were also to enjoy dinner and a show at the casino (for our anniversary), however when Jason fell ill with a tummy bug, Laura was kind enough to step in for the night, so we didn’t have to forfeit our pre-paid tickets!!! She absolutely loved Zingara – a kind of gypsy, come showgirl, come comedy, come acrobatics show! The music, singing, dancing and special effects were a real hit and she kept the nearby audience in awe with her insightful commentary and perfect behaviour!

Seaworld was a real hit with the whole family – the dolphin show was amazing, whilst the penguins were just too cute. The polar bear was a little tired, so we only saw him taking a nap! The girls saw the Sesame Street show and loved checking out Big Bird, up close and personal style! They also loved Elmo’s submarine ride as well as the trucks and helicopters down at the Sesame Street Beach area – it was perfect for them! Jason and I enjoyed a few rides too (Rollercoaster, Pirate Ship and the Bermuda Triangle). The train ride was also pretty good as it gave us a kind of ‘behind the scenes’ look at everything there at Seaworld.

The girls were fantastic and it was especially nice to have some one-on-one time with each of them. The holiday proved to be a real turning point for Katie’s communication – she’s been yabba-dabba-doing for some time, however whilst on the trip, we became much more tuned into her needs and wants and now understand her rapidly growing vocab much better. Laura and Katie played together beautifully (with the occasional tiff of course), but they’re getting much more imaginative now, staging their own puppet shows, pretend camping trips and other little games. It’s so nice to see them run off holding hands to explore some little imaginary world together!!!

A huge big thanks to ‘Ma and Pa’ for all their help… it was a great trip and I’m sure the girls will remember it for a long time to come!!!

Cheers from all of us,
Jason, Chrissy, Laura and Katelyn

Well, for those who didn’t know, I am currently in Perth for the APAC Conference (http://www.apac.edu.au/apac07/). I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to present, see conference program (http://www.apac.edu.au/apac07/pages/program/APAC07%20Program%20030907.htm).

Anyway, I arrived in Perth on Friday, after a five and a half hour flight from Brisbane. It was an uneventful flight and the Qantas crew were very good.

Well, the place I am staying in is called Rendezvous Observation City Hotel at Scarborough (http://www.rendezvoushotels.com/perth/). The room is pretty basic, but as you can see from the picture below, I have a nice view.

I spent the day (Saturday), wandering the City. I had a look around “Hay” Street Mall. I then decided to go for a walk along the Swan River. I came across an unusual structure, the Swan Bells Belltower which is the largest musical instrument in the world.

One of the most outstanding things I noticed about Perth, is that it is very clean and the people are quite friendly. There are lots of walking tracks, grassed areas with people playing on them, and I saw a lot of walkers and bike riders along the river bank.

My destination was of course the Casino (lost this time unfortunately), but it was a nice place (see image below). I think I walked around 5 kms from the Mall to the Casino.

On my return journey, I decide to walk past the WACA and check it out. Unfortunately it was all closed up, but now I at least know where it is!

Until next time…

Take it easy,
Jason

Wow, what a trip! In need of a good break away from it all, we invited my parents to share some time away with us (and to help them celebrate a big milestone in their lives together)! We then packed the kids and the kitchen sink and headed off for a few days away in the twin towns of Agnes Waters / 1770. Aptly named, 1770 is recognized as the “Birthplace of Queensland” as Lt James Cook and his crew came ashore on 24 May 1770.

It’s obviously seen a lot of change since way back when, but what a truly beautiful part of the world!

We stayed in a lovely new 2 bedroom self contained apartment just a minute’s walk from the beach. We feasted on a mountain of food, spent lots of time with the kids on the beach and at the park and took some scenic walks and drives.

…Lookout at 1770

…Agnes Waters Beach

…Laura and Jason go running

.. Katelyn kicks back on the blanket

…Funky sand art by ‘the Crab’ – looks like a firework!

… Ma, Laura and Pa

…Chrissy, Laura and Ma

As you can probably guess, we all had a great time and we’re looking forward to our next holiday already!!!

Cheers,
Chrissy

Well, the three day conference is over and I must say that this year was better than last year. Not to say that last year wasn’t good, but I just really enjoyed the presentations and Chicago isn’t bad either! For those who might be interested, the slides for the presentations can be found at http://www.accessgrid.org/node/738 and general notes from the conference can be found at http://accessgrid.karen.net.nz/index.php/Access_Grid_Retreat_2007_-_Report.

I won’t go on too much about the conference, other than to say it was an awesome opportunity to network with people working in the area of Access Grids.

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to present. After day 2, all the participants were asked to vote for the best three presentations. My presentation was lucky enough to be selected as one of the top three, so I received an Xbox 360, with wireless controller and Arcade Game Pack. I must admit, I was hugely surprised as there were a number of excellent presentations given (now I just have to figure how to get the box to fit in my luggage). Another Aussie also won an Xbox too, so must be saying something the standard of us Aussies!

Anyway, the last few days have been great and I have managed to network with a lot of people.  I think the Access Grids are in good hands.

Until next time.

Take it easy,
Jason.

Well, I decided to do some sight seeing on Sunday and headed to the Navy Pier.

Basically saw a few shops and had a general look around. I then decided to walk to the Shedd Aquarium (http://www.sheddaquarium.org/).

This place is amazing, I have seen the Aquarium at Sydney but I think this place was even better. They definitely had a lot more to look at.

I found Mumbles (From Happy Feet)!

I also found Nemo!

Unfortunately it was difficult to obtain any good photos, as you cannot use the flash and the movement of the animals and water generally made most of the photo’s blurry, but I did see some beluga whales, dolphins, sharks and a bucket load of different fish.

I also saw a Komodo Dragon Lizard which was cool.

By the time I walked back to my room, I reckon I had walked at least 20kms. But it was nice to get out and about.

By the late afternoon, everyone from the Retreat started to show up and we spent the rest of the night catching up.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures and please feel free to post a comment on the blog.

Until next time,
Take it easy,
Jas.

Well, my first impressions of Chicago are quite good, The city is reasonably clean for a very large city, I guess my only gripe is how cold it is. It isn’t that the temp is that cold, but with the wind blowing, it will rip right through you.

Well, Friday Night I caught up with my New Zealand colleague and we decided to go for a walk and grab an authentic Chicago pizza. Man, it was more like a pie than a pizza and practically one slice filled you up. Due to some mix up, we ordered a large (to share) and initially we were brought out a medium size. The guy apologised and said they were cooking another large for us. Well, we ate two-thirds of the medium pizza and were extremely full. We told the waiter not to worry about the large as we couldn’t even finish the first pizza. We then decided to walk around a little. I found a Borders bookstore however the book I wanted wasn’t published yet. We then got lost and it took us a while to get to our motel. But deep down, I think we needed to do some walking! Anyway, we got back, I checked some email and stuff and then it was time to hit the sack.

After around 6 or so hours sleep, I woke up at 6:30, had some breakfast and then I caught up with my New Zealand mate again to do some more tourist stuff for the day. We visited a number of shops but the highlights for the day were:

• We visited the John Hancock building (see http://www.hancock-observatory.com/ for more information). Some of the cool things were:

• An elevator that traverses 94 floors in 40 seconds. It is one of the fastest elevators in the northern hemisphere. At top speed, it does something like 20 miles an hour.
• It isn’t the tallest building in Chicago, but it towers over all except one. See attached pictures.



Looking out from the 94th floor.





Proof that I was actually there



Looking up at the John Hancock Building.

• Went and watched a Baseball game. “Chicago White Sox” (http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cws) vs “Kansas City Royals” (http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc).
• White Sox scored a home run hit on the first innings;
• White sox was up 2-0 after the first 3 or 4 innings;
• Royals scored 4 runs in a single innings;
• White Sox scored another home run in the 7^th or 8^th innings (a short fireworks display occurs after each home run hit);
• Bottom of the 9^th, the White Sox have a batter on 2^nd base. He’s sitting on ball 3, 2 strikes and the batter hits it enough for the guy to run home and tie up the match. This forces the game into another innings until the match is won.
• With 2 outs, the royals have the bases loaded and the last batter gets striked out. The White Sox win with a guy sitting on 2^nd base running home after the batter hits the ball to the outer field safely.
• Very exciting match and a nail biting finish.
• Of course, I had to do the American thing and eat a hot dog and drink beer at the game.
• After the game had concluded a great display of fireworks was then put on.



Me at the baseball game.





Some pictures of the game and fireworks.
Anyway, until next time, take it easy,

Jason.

For those of you who may be unaware, I am currently in the US for work. The purpose for my travel is to attend an Access Grid Conference [http://www.accessgrid.org/retreat2007].

I don’t know if I am simply a sucker for punishment or what, but whilst attending the conference, I will be providing a presentation and a hand’s on section for the conference. I will be helping with a number of other sessions as well. So I should be kept rather busy.

I am currently sitting in LAX (Los Angeles Airport) writing this draft for a blog update and so far the trip has been quite un-eventful. Unfortunately I didn’t really get any sleep on the flight, but it was very comfortable and I ended up watching a few movies (Deja Vu and Blood Diamond).

The conference itself is held in Chicago and I am looking forward to exploring the city. A mate of mine suggested I should go to a Jerry Springer show, but I think I might pass on that suggestion.

Well, I am looking forward to getting some sleep and hopefully catching up with a couple of my Access Grid colleagues tonight for a bite to eat before hitting the bed early (with any luck).

It is now currently Friday, so I hope to do a little shopping and recover from jet lag over the weekend before the conference starts on Monday.

Anyway, I will endeavour to try and post more messages and pictures when I can.

Until next time.

Take it easy,
Jason.