Notre Dame Vs Utah

The University of Notre Dame is home to the largest college marching band in the USA. The band opened proceedings at the enormous stadium prior to Notre Dame's clash with Utah.

From Notre Dame I

Jenny and I had great seats with a good view of the cheerleaders.

From Notre Dame I

Notre Dame, in the gold tights, took to the field and started warming up.

From Notre Dame I

Despite the rain, the stadium was still packed. And as a reward for the ND fans, the Irish got up in a big way over Utah.

From Notre Dame I

Go Irish!

From Notre Dame I

The band had the field taken from them after the game by the students! As this was the last home game for the season, the students were allowed to flow on to the field after the game.

From Notre Dame I

The next day, the weather turned cold but Jenny and I still got out to tour the campus; I will post some more photos, from the Basilica and the dome next time.

Tail-gaiting before the Utah game

Prior to the Notre Dame Vs Utah game, I went "tail-gating". Bean-bag toss was pretty popular. A beer in one hand helps with balance.

From Notre Dame I

Here's a true Notre Dame supporter.

From Notre Dame I

After lunch we headed over to the stadium and passed the "touchdown Jesus".

From Notre Dame I

Next post, I'll post some pictures from inside Notre Dame stadium, shown in the background of the following photo.

From Notre Dame I

Fall at Notre Dame

Jenny visited Notre Dame last weekend. We took a walk around the lakes on campus. Here, I am on the edge of St. Joseph's Lake and you can see the golden dome of the main building and the spire of the Basilica in the distance.

From Notre Dame I

The buildings on campus are grand. Morrissey Hall (pictured below) and Walsh Hall are my favourites. Morrissey has the most imposing presence and Walsh has a little archway that I go out of my way to walk through when going to-and-from the Rockne Memorial sports centre. (Gnute Rockne, a football coach from Notre Dame's golden years in American Football, is immortalized in many ways all around the university.)

From Notre Dame I

Jen joined me on the pier near the boathouse for a photograph in the style I refer to as the "Amy Sullivan-style selfie".

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This cute, well-fed squirrel was not really put out by our presence. I enjoy watching these busy little creatures gathering, burying and re-burying nuts. I was intrigued to read that squirrels will often fake burying nuts if they think that they may be watched! (In order to conceal the real location of their caches!)

From Notre Dame I

There's a little magnetic attraction here but it's very innocent; I'm loading a sample into the 300 MHz NMR to quickly check that the titanium-based catalyst system I use has served me faithfully.

From Notre Dame I

Before I headed off to introduce Jenny to my new colleagues at our end-of-the-week function hosted by some of the grad' students, I posed in my invisible safety glasses and lab coat.

From Notre Dame I

Post-doc at the Uni of Notre Dame, IN

At the end of September, I moved to Indiana to take up a post-doc at the Uni of Notre Dame in Indiana. The photograph below shows me in front of the "Touchdown Jesus" on the Hesburgh library. Though pretty busy in the laboratory, I have "tail-gated" a few times, watched a couple of football games in the huge (80,000+ seats) stadium, cheered the Irish to victory in ice hockey, and made a road-trip to Grand Rapids, MI, for a Ben Folds concert. Without my own camera, I'm a bit light-on for photos, though. I especially wish that I'd taken some pictures of our first snow on the Friday before last. Last month, I also took my driving test to get an Indiana driver's licence. It's more handy than always using your passport for ID, especially as you must show ID for all grog purchases here. I have also had Jen visit in the past week and will post some more photos of Notre Dame next.

From 2010-10-10

Last ride

I missed posting this photo from early September. Marko and Les and I have been playing more and more golf recently. The course in Cowra was returning to its former glory, having had a lot of rain this year. (And I believe that it's still coming down.) We actually played in the rain on the same day that the following picture was taken, though the western sky had cleared for us as we were coming up the eighteenth.

From 2010-06-14

Bill and I took our Suzukis (1400 and 500 cc, respectively) out for a spin on my last full day in Australia before I was to leave for the States. We rode south-east through Mount Collins on the way to the Wyangala Dam. There were many fields of canola lining our route.

From 2010-06-14

The Dam had risen to about 25% at this stage and now I hear that it is up to about 50%. I hope that it's full by the time I get back.

From 2010-06-14

The next day, Jan and Les gave me a ride to Lithgow and then I rode two trains and took two flights and 30 hours later I was in Indiana and getting ready to start my post-doc. In the next post, I'll put up some pictures from the Uni of Notre Dame.

A packed August but light-on for photos

Jen left for the States at the end of July and after hanging out in Sydney for a few days, and then Cowra, I headed north for my last big ride for the year. I didn't have a decent camera, so from this point on, the photos are pretty ordinary. On the second morning of my journey to Brisbane on the GS500, after staying in Newcastle on the first evening, I took the photo from my campsite at Minnie Water in the Yuraygir National Park east of Grafton.

From 2010-09-18

I reached Brisbane on Saturday afternoon, 11th of Sept, and after a motorcycling tour through the city, Hall and I stocked up with some Belgian beers.

From 2010-09-18

Later, we headed north to catch up with the extended Roberts clan for a few more brews.

From 2010-09-11

I lived in Hall's garage for almost a week and was starting to feel right at home. After spending a heap of time lounging by the pool, soaking up the great QLD climate, and catching up with Gunners too for a few brews, I made the trip south again to the Central West. I camped out the first evening and plotted out my route home. Crossing west into the countryside was absolutely freezing. Though the ride from Grafton, through the mountains, to Armidale was outstanding even if it was freezing!

From 2010-09-18

Leaving the RSC

Last Thursday of August, I was farewelled by the Banwell group at a dinner in town.

From Eden

And the next day, Jen and I had our last Bramley's Bar session with a few more of our friends from the RSC.

From 2010-09-18

Good times at Bramley's.

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And we followed it up with dinner and cheap beers at the Hellenic Club. It's a good routine!

From Eden

Golfing in Eden

On the second-last Tuesday of August, this year, Jenny used the viewing tower, on the third hole at the Eden golf club, to ensure that the fairway was clear for our tee-shots.

From 2010-09-18

We were lugging renting clubs having left our own sets back in Canberra and not realised this until almost half-way there. (The rented clubs were probably better anyway.)

From 2010-09-18

Jenny takes a shot from the fairway of the seventh from within the middle of a mob of kangaroos, who are evidently very familiar with the game.

From 2010-09-18

On Thursday, we took our leave from Eden and returned to Canberra. I'll post, next, some photos from my final group dinner and our last Bramley's Bar.

Ben Boyd

At the end of August, Jen and I visited the Sapphire Coast and stayed at Eden. On the first afternoon, we took a walk around Lake Curalo and along Aslings beach to the rock pool. Afterwards, we climbed the steep embankment and followed Imlay Street back through town.

From 2010-09-18

After viewing the old whaling works, we headed up to Boyd's Tower. Nearby, the water, as viewed from the southern head of Twofold Bay, was very enticing!

From 2010-09-18

Boyd's tower is imposing and in great condition. It was not granted a licence from Sydney to operate as a light-house so Boyd packed up and headed to California instead.

From 2010-09-18

After taking some lunch near Boyd's tower, Jen and I headed right out to the tip of the headland.

From 2010-09-18

Later we took an afternoon hike in Ben Boyd National park from Bittangabee, past the ruins to Saltwater Creek and back again. On the return journey, the urge to bathe was once more irresistable for me!

From 2010-09-18

A little further south is the grand Green Cape Lighthouse. It's a beautiful structure though its function is now carried on by a small electric, automated system, just visible on the right edge of the picture. Construction of the lighthouse was started by a private operator that won a government contract. Though he ran out of money, the project was finished with government funding and was staffed by three full-time lighthouse operators.

From 2010-09-18

In the evening, we walked to the marina and watched the sun set over the fishing boats, and then took 2 x everything on the menu at the restaurant behind us.

From 2010-09-18

In the next post, I will show you how we faired on the course before our few days in Eden closed.

Last game of the season with the Uni-Norths Owls

Our rugby team had its last game of the year in August against Easts. We came out victorious from the clash. I'm pictured below with the club's third-grade side. Though we didn't make the finals this year, I had a great time with the club and reckon that it helped to keep me sane during my final year at the ANU. The club attracts a great bunch of blokes and I am always grateful to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them. Here's to a huge 2011 season!

From 2010-09-18

Last beer at The Fox

On Friday, 20 August, Jenny and I finally moved out of The Fox. We packed and swept, scrubbed and vacuumed. Here is the kitchen, formally home to my oft-thought-of keg-fridge.

From OuttaFox

Here I am vacuuming carpet (yes, thrilling) that, along with every other furnishing, was removed to make way for the ensuing refurbishment days after we moved out!

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One of the best things about The Fox was the garden in the backyard. There were these lovely big olive trees and it most mostly pretty peaceful to barbecue, play darts and relax out there.

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Gav, with Rhiannon, came to give us a hand with the last couple of heavy items. Rhi didn't do anything and so she didn't get to have a beer.

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Here are Jen and I in front of our first little home together.

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It took all of my modest Tetris-skills to pack my gear on to the truck! See how compressed the rear tyre is? From here, we headed to Cowra and added to the Pinkerton family collection of washing machines (now four) and fridges (now five).

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After all of this hectic activity - through finalizing the thesis, selling the motorbike, saying our farewells and the moving out of The Fox - Jen and I took a trip at the end of August to the Sapphire coast. I'll mention a few of the highlights in my next post.

Outta Fox

Though we had disposed of some old furniture, we still had a lot of things to move out from the Fox. With this in mind, we started first with moving Jen's things across Canberra. The ute pictured, so kindly loaned to us for our move, was invaluable. I'm shown below on the Monday morning, 16 August, and obviously making light of the job ahead.

From OuttaFox

So for a few days there, we had only the most rudimentry of furniture. (Good practice for the way I have "furnished" my apartment in the US now.)

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Jenny made the tough decision to sell her motorcycle before we departed for our post-doc jobs in the States. This was Jen's first motorcycle and she learnt to ride with it. I was a bit attached to it and then it wouldn't start for the prospective buyers! I imagined that it was for show, so that we would keep it. I persevered and now it lives out near Belconnen. I'll hope to see it around town again (and probably still with an L-plate on it) in 12 months. Jenny rode this bike all the way to Eden with me at one stage and took it to Newcastle and back another time.

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Friday, August 20, 2010, was our last day at The Fox. It was going to the biggest day of packing and cleaning, so we started early. In the next post, I will show you how we managed it all. Before I finish though, I point out the daffodil in the photograph below. This daffodil is descended from one of a number of bulbs that were given to Jen along with some tulip bulbs. We planted these here in preference to the problematic Jerusalem artichokes that we had tried previously. Every spring, we saw that these bulbs were multiplying and were gratified that some of the daffodils bloomed in time for us on our last days in our old home. I bet that the tulips are in full bloom now and trust that they are again brightening people's days.

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Last party at The Fox. I still can't believe it!

Jenny and I had a good supply of ale on hand for our last party at The Fox on Saturday, August 14. The weather was still pretty cool at this stage, so we had the fire bin chock full at all times. I had been hoping to have that last hurrah at the Fox for some time but had to wait for revisions of the fateful document. The beer though, never had tasted so good!

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Here we are, playing with some sparklers, later in the evening.

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You can see how full that bucket is! Also, it reads "Live Free or Die", the state motto of the US state of New Hampshire and the host of Jen's postdoc job.

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Some rickety old garden furniture was dispensed with as well and reduced the amount of things that we'd have to shift later.

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Next time, I will show you how Jenny and I, in a fairly rapid manner, set about emptying the Fox. Having been so comfortably settled there for over eight years, one accumulates quite a lot of gear but we get there in the end, so hang in there. And imagine how after so long I can be so nostalgic about my rough'n'ready little sharehouse in Lyneham. Once we're done there, I'll show you a little of the trip Jen and I made to the beautiful Sapphire Coast.