   I had been meaning to write something for a while about the Olympics, I guess better late than never! :) I have also attached some photos too that you can use.
I was lucky enough to be in the thick of the action, both in a work and fun capacity. During the olympics, I worked at Canada Hockey Place where all the mens ice hockey games were played as a concessions cashier. So I was basically getting paid to pour pints. The atmosphere at each game was amazing and I managed to get a glimpse or two of it. I also had a main job working for a temp agency where I was assisting with co-ordinating some of the workforce responsible for the transportation of all involved in the olympics i.e. athletes, spectators, media, sponsors etc. Just as awesome, before the olympics had even started, a few friends and I were fortunate enough to see some of the torch relay through Vancouver and shake hands with the very handsome Canadian singer Michael Buble, it was amazing. During the olympics the streets were packed with patriotism not just from Canadians but everyone who had flocked here. It was awesome to see. There was nothing like it when the men's ice hockey team won the gold, it almost made you wish you were Canadian. There was lots of entertainment on and lots of places to check out. We lined up to get into the Canadian Mint to see some of the olympic medals on display and to get to hold them. Such a great design. Also on the night of the opening ceremony we watched it in a cinema for free and then hopped to a bar next door where we even managed to hold a torch from the relay. I could talk about the experience and go on and on, but all in all it was so good to be a part of it and something I will never forget. Kristy
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   Well, it is 5am here on the computer, being in a recovery mode from jet lag after a stimulating two weeks spent in Arizona USA.
Main purpose of our visit was to unite with our daughter Erin who is studying at Tucson University Arizona for a six month 'Study Abroad' stint. What a fabulous experience for her, as well as ourselves, in such a stunning part of the world. Yes, Arizona is just like the Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movies with arid landscapes dotted with 'mesas' and 'buttes' - they are those spires and flat-top formations that dominate the backdrops in movies. And those dominant Saguaro cacti provide natural habitat for roadrunners and coyotes - just like the cartoon. Also found are the prairie dogs, one of which decided to scamper to its peril under our hire car being driven by Jenny. Grand Canyon is very much that. A helicopter view assisted to get the proportions in perspective being a mile deep and about ten miles wide! Great time to visit now, over the transition from cold desert winters to stifling hot spells in their summer to come. Much snow still on higher peaks with Flagstaff in the north having about 300 days each year of sub-zero nightly temperatures. Tucson is quite Mexican in form and culture. Big attractions included a baseball game at the University of Arizona Wildcats versus Oregon Ducks competition. Yes, those pom pom girls, bulk burgers and other high cholesterol foods abound. Erin, our daughter is relishing the experience of US college life. Sorority parties are a bizarre rage; football is American of course; college sport is huge! Do consider Study Abroad program through University if family or friends are tempted. Ian Stevenson    Mel & Mark have returned from Tassie full of praise for the West Coast of the island. Highlights were Gordon River cruise, historic Strahan railway and the beauty of Cradle Mountain have left them with some wonderful memories. I am sure Mel can give us plenty more comments. One of the challenges for the sceptics amongst us were the ghost tours done in Launceston and Port Arthur. The photo below was taken of a solid grey sheet steel door on the Launceston tour. The image of a stage is only visible in the photo !!! I will leave it to you to form your own opinion. Mel has plenty more stories.  Plenty of hiking, biking, training, sailing and generally a full on adventure.       Marg, Dave and Steph had the perfect follow on from the wedding. A couple of weeks in Noosa can eliminate any tension from the intense planning and delivery that took place around the wedding. Activities included:
    Christmas is normally a time for families to get together but this year, the Stevo's have scattered around the globe! Erin took off for her semester at Arizona University in Tucson, while Ian and Jenny spent two weeks in the UK battling the snow and checking out locations for a school tour later in the year. We got really excited when the thermometer on the car dashboard got to 3 degrees!!! They saw the stage productions of 'Billy Elliot' and the new Michael Jackson musical 'Thriller'' (all in the name of research!) before heading down to Salisbury, Sherborne, Bath and Oxford. From Oxford we visited Will Shakespeare's house at Stratford Upon Avon (he wasn't home, though) and Warwick Castle, before walking the Colleges of Oxford to see where the brilliant and famous studied. Fans of the Harry Potter movies and Inspector Morse would recognise many of the buildings and streets. Called in to visit Liz and Phil at Windsor Castle (they were't home either) before spending two days thawing out in Dubai on the way home. If you ever want to see what piles of money can buy, go to Dubai. Apparently one of the local sheiks likes animals so he made a lake and imported about a thousand flamingos! The temperatures in summer range around 50 c, so the air-conditioned shopping centers compete for customers by installing increasingly outrageous attractions; one has a skating rink, another has a giant fish tank which reaches 5 floors and another one has indoor skiing to keep the kids amused! While the shopping centers are crammed with up-market stores like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Armani etc, the shop-keepers weren't exactly run off their feet with customers. A coffee and a muffin cost $14 so one wonders how sustainable the whole project really is? Perhaps the highlight for us was 'dinner on the dunes': after an hour or so of 4X4 hooning over sand dunes we arrived at a Bedouin camp where Ian enjoyed a sheesha and I had a henna tattoo of a camel put on my ankle. There was a belly-dancer, camel rides and all sorts of yummy food and baklava. Oh well, back to gym and the bike to wear off those full english breakfasts!     Marg at Cable Beach Not quite New Year but a great time spent in Broome. After cyclone Laurence it was lacking humidity but still around 35 degrees. Marg and I spent a few days relaxing, seeing local sights like Willie Creek pearl farm and enjoying a fabulous timeshare apartment. We did spend 3 hours at the Broome hospital where we watched several aboriginal kids come in with stinger wounds and Marg was diagnosed with shingles. All power to Marg - her very painful condition seemed to only make it easier to relax. One of the highlights was the flight over Australia which was showing the signs of 4 inches of rain from the cyclone. Lake Eyre was full and Australia looked like one big lake from 30,000ft. The Qantas pilot was thoughtful enough to take us lower and completely circle Uluru for great views from both sides of the plane.    Alison and Marg arrived in Canberra on Friday 22 January with the exciting prospect in mind to visit the Masterpieces of Paris exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. Saturday was allocated and I tagged along with relatively low expectation. After a solid 3 hours of inspection, audio explanation of 31 of the 112 masterpieces and respectful jostling with several hundred other patrons, I can say that I have never been so impressed. It was awesome. Everyone make sure you make it up here to see something that will give you a whole new appreciation of the fine arts.  We were greeted in the first room by Madame Roger Jourdain whose painted highlights on the dress was truely stunning. I cannot imagine how paint (now over 100 years old) could be made to look like it was shimmering. Absolutely stunning. This was an example of how the Impressionists painted in a spontaneous and luminous style using a palette based on pure or unmixed colour.  The next room, to me, was the most revealing with examples of Pointillism and Divisionism where the artist used dots or small strokes of complementary colour side-by-side to create the new colour that your eye would see. Using pairs of opposites from the colour spectrum (red/green, blue/orange, yellow/violet) they are able to create greater vibrancy.  The next room was Cezanne and van Gogh. Starry Night is stunning. How could someone apply colour to a canvas over a 100 years ago and it now looks like they have put little electric globes in little holes in the canvas (you know like those quirky pictures you can get for your bar).  After several more rooms, each with new revelations we came near the end after 3 hours of intense interest, reading and listening to the audio explanations. Alison found her favourite, Les Muses by Maurice Denis 1893.
I hope you all get a chance to go to Canberra and see this for yourself before 5 April. |