Nicola's Blueys Update

Hello and long time no chat as I have been neglecting my blog duties!

After getting into the bluies, we have made sure to enjoy the climbing, mountain town atmosphere and good company of both locals and members of the Adelaide crew who have come to visit and crush.

We are camped in a quiet lush valley, which, though a bit chilly is beautiful and ensures a good night's sleep as the entertainment is nil from any time after dinner!

The climbing is great fun, though we battle long and hard to keep our skin and stay warm in the shade or windy conditions. I am getting back into shape after a long period off but true to form my endurance is quick to rebound and I am hopeful as my finger also feels great. I flashed my first 25 yesterday as it was totally my style and I am psyched this may be the dawn of a new day, when I am strong and gunnin' to go once again!

Hope all is well at home in respective parts of Canada and the wider world!
Ta for now, NIcola

A Lyre bird in the Blue Mountains (we think)!



Nick at Bowens Creek-26



Bill at Bowens Creek-26



Bill at Bowens Creek-26



Nick at Bowens Creek-26

The Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road


Well we decided not to let a little thing like a broken van stand in our way of seeing the Great Ocean Road. We have about three and a half weeks left in Australia and it is definitely time to go to the Blue Mountains. However, first we need to rent a car....pull some sort of magic trick getting all our stuff into it, drive the Great Ocean Road and see a friend in Melbourne.

Enjoy these pics from the beaches and parks along the Great Ocean Rd.

Trying to figure out how we were going fit the gear back in the car!!!

It's all in there....seriously, good thing it's a hatchback!!













A quiet little section just off the Great Ocean Road....a wonderfull place for a morning run before a day of driving and sightseeing!















The famous 12 Apostles at sunset, pictures just don't do this justice!!!



















Nothing but beaches, waves and blue sky at the Great Otway National Park.




















The Great Ocean Road......hundreds of km's of coastline all the way to Melbourne and beyond!!

This is just one of the amazing veiws along the way.


Hope you're all well and can't wait to see what you're up to, no matter what part of the world you're doing it in....





cheers,
n & n

ps Sorry for the crappy format....my internet time was running out....haha

Boys weekend at Mount Arapiles!

Hey Everybody,

Sorry for the delay in getting this last post up.....I was not so motivated to do the editing required while cruising along the Great Ocean Road in our little Hyundai Getz (Pictures coming soon too!!!)

The movie is about 15min long.......so give it a while to download. It is a bit long in spots but the footage is cool so I could't face cutting anymore of it. Hope you all like it!!!!

cheers,
Nick

Click To Play

Girls Weekend

Hello to all after a bit of a stressful period. So Millie is no longer....but oh well, maybe we can actually drive the speed limit when on the freeway after we get a rental car for the remainder of our time in OZ.

Thank goodness for JT and Claire who welcomed us back after only one day and are going to help up sort out the van repair and resale situation!!

Claire and I had a great "girls weekend" after the boys went to araps. We stayed super busy as Claire showed me the City, beach and wild Koalas in Belair Park. Isobel got tuckered out pretty quick and we had to keep waking her up to move onto the next adventure.

Here is to a hopeful last Month in OZ as we move into NSW and the Bluies...keeping fingers crossed for Millie's quick new home and my finger getting back into climbing!
Take care to everyone and keep in touch,
love , Nicola











Claire and Isobel at the zoo!
















Species observing each other.












Cozy spot for a nap!
















Pretty birdie!



















Banana leaves displaying shades of green.















Palm House at the botanical gardens.

The End of Millie!!!!

The End of Millie......

After a wicked extended weekend stay in Adelaide Nicola and I decided to take the Great Ocean road detour before heading up to the blue mountains to finish our aussie time off.

However, as things were starting to look like we were going to have a smooth trip and a nice relaxing few days touring scenic ocean roads and white sand beaches our plans were derailed.

Driving through a particularly deserted looking stretch of road about two hours from Adelaide I said to Nicola "Wow, it would sure suck to break down here!". So of course not 5 minutes later a loud bang followed by a rattle and then instant deceleration. Millie Vanillie had enough!!!!

After getting towed to a local caravan park we crashed the local pub's snitzel night and drowned our sorrows in too much red wine.

So live and learn........luckily our good friends JT and Claire were willing to put up with us a little longer in Adelaide and JT is even helping us sort out the van issues and hopefully re-sell it when it is ready!!!



Millie getting towed to the the caravan park!!!
















So after all this drama we still ended up getting a great weekend in, me with JT and BIll for a road trip to Arapiles(footage coming soon!). Nicola, Claire and Isobel had a great girls weekend on beaches and doing touristy stuff(photos coming soon!).

Hope everybody is well and keep sending those emails we love to hear from you!!!!

cheers,
nick

A bit of everything In Adelaide

Well after a bit of a drive in order to heal some injuries we decided to head to Adelaide to rest and have some chill out time in a house in the city.........















The central market, contemplating the Bum Burner Sausage......turns out a taste was enough to keep me sputtering all day.











The fountain.....seems like a touristy thing to take a picture of.....so we did!!






After a whole day's rest JT decided we had rested enough and he started taking us to a few local spots. One of these was the bachelor pad.....a great place to get strong with some very hard problems and projects.






JT explaining the proper foot work required!!!!


















Nicola busting loose with JT spotting......
















JT putting all the training to good use!











Nick-Claire-JT-Nicola
Madi(cousin) and little Isabell










cheers,
nics