Eam graduates as Bachelor of Medical Science

Wow - what a night! Proud parents watching Eam walk across the stage at Parkside Auditorium at Darling Harbour.

Some photos of the event:

A wet trip to Queensland at Easter

After the wet ride up, it really didn't get any drier for the week that we were there. It didn't stop us having a surf everyday at Kingscliff though - incredible loss of the beach here with some 5-7 foot high cliffs of sand down near Cudgen Creek groyne. We heard on the news after we got home that a child had been buried by one of the cliffs collapsing on top of him - I think he had been digging a tunnel behind the edge of it though! Also had the usual great swim at North Burleigh beach - it has the most consistent and strong body surf waves here. Well worth a visit if ever you are up that way and need to be pounded by some solid surf!
I took the iPad along and Lochie and Mihaiela came down for a visit and gave it a test drive - Puppet Pals in particular - made stories, videos, read. For 5 and 8 year olds, they were brilliant! I don't think Adrian and Leslie will appreciate me giving the kids another toy to lust after!
On the Wednesday we rode up to Buderim for lunch with Raphael, Lyn and the girls as well as Una (Lyn's mum). Great new house they've got and they are loving life up there which is of course quite different to life in Winmalee. Also met with Martin and Jill who we used to teach and go camping with up until about 20 years ago - they have 2 children now as well - Rianna and Hadyn. Then down to Oxley to stay with Vicki and Neville after detouring via Beerwah and Glasshouse Mountains where we used to live in the early 80's.
Down to mum's in Beaudesert for more rain and catch up with mum, Cathy, Anna, Kathryn and Matt. Tania cooked Thursday (Honey Mustard Chicken) and Friday (Coral Trout) and Cathy cooked up a huge Lamb Roast and veg for our last night on Saturday. Did some trimming of mum's garden with the battery-powered hedge trimmer -from Aldi and does a great job. Detailed mum's car with a wash, polish and Armorall - looks really shiny and new again.
Headed off early on Easter Sunday (6.00am) and went over the Lion's Road into Kyogle by 7am for coffee and croissant at the bakery. Onto Grafton to fill up (406km for 17 litres at 23km/l) and then down the Orara Way to Coffs Harbour. Excellent bike roads and deserted as well. Stopped at Coramba near Coffs for a big brekky and more coffee at about 10am. Off into the rain which thankfully stopped by Kempsey. Into Nabiac for a drink by 2.20pm (338km since Grafton) and then a fill up at Buladelah (363km for 16 litres at 23km/l) at 3.10pm. Rolled on into Belmont at Ali's by 4.30pm - 727km for the day from Beaudesert. Bike ran like a clock the whole way. Chris and Julie were staying as well and we had a wonderful dinner from the new BeefEater BBQ!
It's worth taking a basic bike cover for trips like this. I used it every time we stopped to keep the rain off and also at night since it was parked outside in the rain. It also means that you can leave the helmets on the seat and they are out of site when you stop for a bite to eat.
Finished off to home the next day in heavy rain and traffic on the F3 but we were home in a little over two and a half hours for the 190km. Great trip - good time had by all.
Found the next day that I had ridden home with metal on metal on the rear disc - must get better at checking brake pad conditions!

At Kingscliff

Well it certainly rained on the ride up - heavily along the F3 to Newcastle and then drizzly for the remainder. Had a great breakfast stop near Hexham/Raymond Terrace at a pie shop. Good food and service and most importantly coffee!
Cannot believe the lack of road upgrade progress in the 18 months since we were last on this road -the only actual new bit of road is north of Ballina. Not sure of the politics involved but if they spent as much on the road building as they have on speed cameras, average-speed cameras, highway patrol cars etc, then the road would have been finished years back. Between Grafton and Ballina is like a police state!
Bike ran well averaged about 23km/l. We did 895km in 11 hours 20mins including stops etc.

Wandering north

Loading up the V-Strom and heading off into the rain tomorrow up the coast highway to Queensland for a week or so of wandering and catching up with family and friends. Haven't had motorbike tour for a while so it will be wonderful to get back into it. The bike has got 56000km on the clock and is 2 and a half years old and running like a Swiss watch. Changed the oil from mineral-based Castrol Activity 4T about 12000km ago and started using Castrol GPS semi-synthetic - better throttle response and better fuel economy at 26km/l. Change at 3000km intervals.

NY in NY

New years in NY is a big deal especially in Times Square. NYPD begin to lock down the streets around the square from about 2pm at which time the place is already full and no one is allowed in or out unless you have a hotel key inside the shutdown zone. The square (really a triangle) itself is not all that big bound by 47th Street to the north to 42nd Street to the south and the sides of the triangle are Broadway and 7th Avenue. The ball drops on a building in the base of the triangle in 42nd street. The million-odd people you see on the TV are already there by about 3pm! Most shops for streets/blocks around are all closed and the city runs a "weekend timetable" for the subway and busses overnight for your convenience! Public transport and public services generally here are the same as Sydney in lots of ways - after 3 days of reduced and cancelled services after the blizzard, the city put up subway fares by 25c and cancelled the one-day pass on Thursday - it was only mentioned on the paper on the day it happened and there was very little outcry at all.
Anyway - at the MoMA at the moment on 53rd St (you know - the Museum of Modern Art - everything here gets abbreviated) with some great Picasso and Van Gogh works. The modern photography exhibit is also brilliant. BTW did you see that Kodak is ceasing to produce Kodakchrome film anymore? A sign of the digital times though I think black and white film will continue.