Feels like Fall

Today is the first day that officially feels like Autumn--not only is it rather cool, but it is the first time it has been overcast (though not rainy) since we returned, three weeks ago. The deciduous trees are even losing their leaves. It is super dry again, so even though the leaves turn brown and fall, they are not really changing pretty colours like red and orange. However, I suppose it is better than those last few Autumns we had in North Carolina, where it would remain very hot through October and the trees would drop their leaves, bright green, from their branches.

Seth would like this weather, and it is too bad he is missing it--he flew back to New York on Wednesday morning. Nonetheless, I am sure he is loving the snow and having a great time being home with his family, especially for Easter. He hasn't been home for Easter in years!

Today, Good Friday, is a public holiday, as is the Monday after Easter. I suppose it has been almost two full weeks since the last public holiday, so it is nice they are giving the Public Servants a four-day weekend to let them unwind. As for me, I will try to get working on a conference presentation, and if I can get it done by tomorrow night I can enjoy my Easter, too.

Here are a few photos from the past two weeks:

Seth showering at BoZo (we got pretty comfortable there, if you couldn't guess!)...

...but we finally found a place to live! The girls we moved in with, Jordan and Alex, are also in the process of unpacking.

Our first morning in the new house. The tiny bedroom looks a bit less cluttered now, but I still don't have a bed! I am getting used to sleeping on the floor and will probably not get one (even though Julien and Heather offered me one). I like the floorspace that even a twin bed would totally devour.

Artur and Moose during their housewarming party. Moose, who grew up in the US, lived in the Emirates for a while and sometimes wears the traditional clothing. Before I took the photo, Artur (from Russia) advised Moose not to say "bomb".

Jan and Greg's farewell party at El Dorado (Dickson). Alecia and Reggie are presenting Jan with a poster-card, while Greg, not paying any attention, is busy yakking away.

Seth's poor, busted up guitar--the case is destroyed, and the guitar itself is also cracked. Before he left he made sure to make a nice big sign so people at the airport would know who is responsible for the damages: Qantas Airways, the main airline in Australia. (This happened last March when he flew back to Australia from the US. Qantas still refuses to pay for the damages).

Kaima came over for a 'visit' on Wednesday. He actually wanted to use the kitchen to bake ultra-cute Japanese muffins!

The very mini, yet delicious, finished product!

Half Marathon and New Wheels

This is a bit random, but I finally ate my Q-Cup (cup-of-noodle soup) I grabbed from the free bin in a hostel in Hobart last April. The little pig faces are pretty funny.

Last night was kinda nice--after spending all day at BoZo we went to Garema Place in Civic to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. During the summer, the city shows films by projecting them onto a large screen in the middle of the town centre for people to watch "under the stars". Despite not being able to hear very well (the direction of the speakers made the sound fluffy and it was impossible to understand conversations in the movie), and not following the plot of Harry Potter (I never read the books), it was still nice to have a night out with Seth.

After the movie we went to stay the night at BoZo. We had always half-joked about sleeping there, but last night we finally decided to do it. The main reason why we wouldn't normally sleep there is that the cleaners come in during the week around 4 or 5am and it would be weird if they came in. Sleeping there went really well--in fact, it was probably the best sleep we had in over a week. We had lots of warm, comfy blankets, and we each had our own full-sized pillow. The only strange thing was that the hall light was on and I woke up at 4:30am thinking it was day-light and thought I had overslept.

Sleeping at BoZo was especially convenient because I woke up early to meet with Kaima across the street at Johns, and we went together to Black Mtn Peninsula for the Weston Creek Half Marathon. I decided not to register because I had only run two road races before (both 5K) so wasn't sure how a half-marathon would go. Also, I am coming down with a cold and felt like I probably wouldn't run my best.

Kaima was great company, except that he thought he dropped my student card a few kilometers into the race and ran all the way back to look for it--when he caught up with me around 8K, he saw that I was actually holding it! He ran just for fun and helped keep my pace up. I first began hanging out with Kaima last year when training for IB with him--he is planning to run again this year and has been running quite long distances three times a week. In fact, he had already run yesterday (about 20K), and will run again tomorrow! To help train for IB, today he even carried a pack with several litres of water (and my camera) during the race!

I finished the 21K in 1:53:58 and based on the race results from last year think I placed about in the middle of female entrants.
This afternoon, I went to Julien and Heather's house. They are ex-Johns ressies and Julien is a good runner-friend of Seth's (and a bike wizard). Julien helped clean up my grimy bike and popped on my new semi-slick tyres I ordered before leaving for NZ. I figured the smooth tyres would be much faster for commuting when I live off campus!

Last night out and first day back

Last night a bunch of us went out for coffee- the last night out of the year! It was a bit sad, but hopefully we can get together next semester. We will just have to visit Yahya (our injured NC friend from Yemen) when we return to Raleigh.

Early this morning Kaima and I drove out to Namadgi; it was my first time back in that park this year. Since it is Saturday, there was an available van to make it out there, but unfortunately I was not able to find any honeyeater nests, which was the purpose of the trip. It felt nice to be back in Namadgi, a fairly isolated and very beautiful place. It was also great to have Kaima's good company, particularly since I was pretty tired from last night and was worried about falling asleep at the wheel!