Peel Street Lads

Experimenting with domesticity, the lads make their weekly shopping trip and I have the pleasure of joining them as part of my visit early this week.


It was back to the comfortable new residence for a few brews and a barbie.


Aside from being introduced to the song "Toast", amongst other Bathurst fashions, I competed on Buck-hunt at the famouse Ox Hotel. Lee, for now, is the gun.


Marko runs a close second. I will put in some practice at Mooseheads on the Buck while I still can't get in to to work at my hail-damaged building and try to give the Bathurst lads more of a run for their money next time.


Marko and I took the GS500 for a run around Mount Panorama on Tuesday afternoon.


I may be just a tad over the posted speed limit of 60 kmph..?


In the past, I may not have given Bathurst the credit it deserves and would say now that Marko and Lee are living in a little slice of paradise over there. As such, I will be back again soon and will also be trying to improve my lap times at The Mountain. Marko poses below in front of the turn-off to the pits at the northern end of the track.


Spending a bit of time on the campus over Monday and Tuesday impressed upon me how beautiful the location is - with its rolling green ovals, and the people here are really friendly. Marko and Lee - you guys have made and awesome choice. Thanks again for the hospitality, cheers!

Hail at Pace

Jenny and I are home with a legitimate excuse today. Parts of Canberra were exposed to a thunderstorm last night that produced torrential rain and a volley of massive hailstones. The university campus is closed today while assessment and some repair of the damage, incurred yesterday evening, is undertaken. We prolonged the life of a couple of the hail stones cryogenically and they were photographed this morning. Notice the interesting ice crystal "shards" that project from the stone on the right?

Condomine Street is All Fired Up!

Rimsy, the lead guitarist in our band, hosted a very thorough warming of his house on Saturday afternoon and evening. There is a link to Rimsy's new blog on the right-hand side of this page, right now.


The kitchen was, as in all good house parties, became established as the epicentre of the excitement.

Rosé fans unite!

We rounded the evening off with a trip in to the Transit Bar. Or, if you've been in Canberra for a while, then it's the old Church Bar. Or, if you enjoy Canberra as much as I have and have been lapping it up since Coops was in the army, then it's the old Aree Bar.

Monc'd Again!

Ash is in to Arrested Development now and so should everyone! Welcome back, big boy.

The theme of the party was "on the offensive", but the hosts were their usual friendly selves. Of course, the tasty cake had to be censored... It was so rude that I ate it in a hurry to spare others the horror!

The Monc as it stands at February 2007. Thanks guys!

Congrat's, Dobs; you're always going off!

They have grown.

Chris, your chilli plants are fruiting now! I have made some awesome chilli from these guys.


A bit of water has sent the garden gang-busters. Puss was a little reluctant to pose for a second garden shot, but perhaps you can see the difference? The chilli and capsicum plants at the back are even taller. Do you recall the chilli varieties that you planted, Chris?

Cowra Entrepreneur in Strife

A young Cowra poker champion and entrepreneur has run in to a bit of strife.

OPC 2007

Jenny poses on this cart at Ouyen on our trip to Adelaide last week.

We stayed at the Ouyen Hotel, obviously devised in grander times.


We were advised that the Hay plains were flat and the roads were straight - and we cannot fault that advice!


Many of the posters presented at the Adelaide chemistry conference can be viewed at the RSC. I haven't posted any chemisty-related material. What I have here, instead, is a shot here of my friend from my research group wandering along Glenelg beach in Adelaide.


Getting gassed is, of course, a very important part of going to a conference!


Jenny and I camped under the stars, thus breaking in half our 1300km return journey from Adelaide.

Phil, Fox & The Fellowship

Welcome back the Australia, Phil. I know that you are already busy with your act in the Questacon Science Circus.


Post-O'Neil's tests of strength.


Fun-in-the-sun at the Dickson Pool.


More sedate fun-in-the-sun.


The Fellowship gathered at the Fox and revelled in the balmy evening.

Pilgrimage

The Fellowship are again called to make the weekly pilgrimage.

Gardening @ Fox

Chris, I hope that you are pleased to see that your legacy lives on at the Fox. Your basil, chilli and capsicum plants survive although their welfare is at times a little "sporadic". ("I hope not sporadically!") I laid down some mulch last week and have noticed that the chilli plants are fruiting now. Thankfully, the items that you planted are not susceptible to possum-attacks, such is the fate of my hops plant..

Summer Solctice Break

The pilgramage to Cowra over summer was good fun. Roberts was flaunting his style here at the local RSL club after we were nearly boo-ed off stage for our rendition of Khe Sanh.


Bateman's Bay was a good spot to have a dip between Xmas and New Year's Eve - so much so that every government servant and his dog was there too! Jenny and I headed up in to the National Park so we could easily find some space to swim and snorkel peacefully.


The warm weather has been very conducive to brewing and the stockpile that Jenny and I have amassed now numbers in excess of 200 long-necks of homebrew. I am glad for the warm weather, though it hailed yesterday and we had to cover the car in case of damage! Check out the T-shirt, by the way. Thanks Phil for the top design, we eagerly await your return from the US soon!


Jenny and Mel snapped this photo of my much-loved GS500 while Marko and I were having a hit of tennis at the ANU. The moto' now has almost three thousand kilometres on the clock.


Last night was, of course, New Year's Eve. Jenny and I hosted some festivities here at the Fox and then headed in to find a vantage point near the National Museum, and just on the edge of the lake, from wich we could watch the fireworks. Thanks to those guys who could make it over to toast to the new year with us over a few homebrews at the Fox yesterday. Oh and all the best with the new job in Singo', Mel - hopefully Jenny and I will catch you again before you head off!

2006 RSC Cricket Match

Nine runs, no wickets from 12 balls faced.

Organics were defeated by "All Other Chemists" yesterday in the annual cricket match. Mental note: you really can get burnt on an overcast day!

Stevo made sure thirts were quenched by making beer runs on the village bicycle.

Ijong & Monc'

Happy housewarming, Finch and Bree - the cocktails night was a blast. Hello to Drummey, Sherry and all the other party animals.

Virgin for a Change

I am reluctantly test-running ownership of a mobile telephone - 0435066389.

Tandem

Thanks Deb', for the loaner! It is a dream of mine to get a tandem bike. Having a ride today with Jen was great fun. Perhaps I can talk her in to going halves in one with me...

Snowy Mountains

There was still quite a few snow drifts left up in the Snowy Mountains. On our hiking trip, organised by Emma, up to Mount Kosciusko, I spotted a snow drift here in the shape of Australia.


The Snowy River is little more than a trickle at the point that we crossed it here. Of course, being snow-fed, this is one of Australia's rivers that has a constant flow.


In winter time, the bizzards can be quite rough, so this hut was built to shelter hikers and skiiers from the extreme cold. Really quite unnecessary at the time of the year, but quaint.


Some cool streams ran adjacent to our campsite and a few of us could not resist the chance to go swimming. Even fewer took up the opportunity on Sunday to swim in Blue Lake - the largest of Australia's five glacial lakes. In there, the water is very deep and close to freezing. Exhilarating though!


Up at around an elevation of 3000m, the views are spectacular. (This is as high as it gets in Australia - the Himalayas rise to about 8000m!) From the top of Mt Kosciusko, it is possible to see in to Victoria!

GS500 Unleashed

On Friday, my GS500 arrived at Dahlitz Motors in Queanbeyan and I had it on the road as soon as I could manage. Over the weekend, I clocked up almost 700 km. (The first service is due at 1000 km).

My friend, Glynn, and I have been on a couple of long rides. Saturday afternoon saw us take our bikes (Glynn is on his '89 Honda CRR250R) out through the Cotter. We stopped off a Casurina Sands for a dip and then continued south to the Tidbinbilla space tracking station. We had another splash at a waterfall in Namadgi and stopped off for fuel at Tharwa, the southern most tip of our journey. The Monaro Highway brought us back in to town. Bikes are awesome - I can't rave about the riding enough! Claire and Phil and Adam P. - we will have to take some rides out in the countryside as soon as we can manage.

We were more adventurous on Sunday and took the bikes to Bateman's Bay and headed a little north from there (to Agony Mountain Road) and had a swim in the ocean in the Murrumarang National Park. We gained a heap of practice with cornering as we came back up the "Clyde" on the way back to Canberra. By now I was getting a bit of a tender bottom from being in the saddle for so long and we took stopovers in Braidwood, Bungendore and Queanbeyan before beating the sun home.

Honourable Discharge

The Fox Flag was at half-mast on Wednesday when Christmas had his last homebrews and headed off, suitcase in hand, to take the next big leap into the workforce. You'll be missed, mate - and hopefully I will catch you in Perth early in the new year. Be sure to fulfill your promise to update your blog. Also, book your ticket early to get back for the races. (First weekend in July, right?)


Off he goes with Leah in the XR6... It was a tough few days after CJ headed off, then a distraction arrived, and a new housemate. (Post coming soon..)

Farewell Christmas

The Old Man departs this week to start his career in engineering in Perth, so in true Fox style he was farewelled with the greatest Singstar party yet. (Though, I am sure the neighbours and many people in the suburb would not agree...)


We connected the whole setup outside to take advantage of the excellent weather. The Beer-Can chook made another appearance, too.


The Singstar battles were hard-fought. Rimsy, of course, was unassailable when Nirvana was playing.


I had a blast and I trust that you all did, too. Fare ye well, Xmas and come for a visit when you can. Of course, now that you are returning to Perth, we are even more obliged to made the vast trek west-wards.


Chris cranks his stereo up and enjoys the subsequent rock concert atmosphere generated in the Lyneham Highschool grounds.

Click To Play

Impervious to the noise-pollution being generated, hardcore Singstar fans blazed on into the evening. At one stage, Chris put the stereo up to its maximum volume setting and it really sounded like a rock concert was being hosted at the Fox.