Hokkaido

Well I finally got my beautiful wife and best ski buddy to Japan.

Surprise, surprise, she was enthused. And I now have a few photos of her up to her eyeballs in powder amongst the Japanese birch.

Whilst the snow (or weather) wasn't all time, it was still pretty goddam spesh, with plenty of fresh tracks in knee deep goodness amongst the insane beauty of Hokkaido. We ate like a king and queen, and basically lived the honeymoon that I always wanted - an accidental second honeymoon.

We slummed it in Niseko, before I introduced her to the kookiness of Rusutsu where I attended at least a couple of talks at the conference.

We enjoyed the company of James, and I also picked up a new ortho list, such that the vast majority of my work is now with fellow skiers.

The pinnacle of the holiday was, without doubt, our Yotei ascent.

It was enough to get Marie-Laure hooked.

Mission accompli!

New Year's Eve

It's been a great year...

A year of love, activities, travel, family, growth, achievements, health and adventure. We're very fortunate. May every year be so blessed.

After such a lovely family Christmas in SA, we headed down to the Prom for a lazy New Year's.

Marie-Laure and I finished the year with a final small adventure over to friends at Sandy Point. We threw our bikes into the Zodiac and whizzed across the Inlet in beautiful light, and rode into town for a very relaxed BBQ and drinks.

Then back across the inky black water under decent moonlight to bring in the New Year with Anne and Dominou and several bottles of champagne.

During the week, we adopted a baby galah (Rosie) with a fear of heights. Mum and dad joined us, and, obviously sensing a family-friendly-environment, would stay for most of January.

Happy New Year to all!

Christmas at Robe

We had a lovely Garrett family Chrissy this year at Robe. The photos below only do it justice by virtue of their paucity - we were otherwise far too busy catching up and enjoying each other's company to be bothered with cameras! I'll have to update later when I get hold of Anne's Nikon.

The Claisses arrived a few days before school break up, and together we loaded up two cars and a boat with Santa's sundry goods and equipment.

We broke up the long journey with a stop at Dunkeld and a memorable dinner at the Royal Mail. The Claisses were once again knocked out by our stars, troupes of kangaroos and good food.

Then on to Robe (via a few wineries at Coonawarra) and a lovely revamped old sandstone house that we'd rented for the week (the old Bush Inn). We soon realised that Penny and Simon had rented a cottage across the road, and mum and dad and the McKenzies weren't far away either. It was great to have the bikes (we gave Lucie her new Chrissy bike early) for regular forays in to town, or to the beach. I was also glad to have brought the kayak, and whilst we didn't get a whole lot of use from the boat, it at least served as a handy vassal.

We had several wonderful dinners hosted by each of the houses, and the kids as usual got on like cousins do. The South Australian seafood and wines made dining a higher pleasure. There were lots of beach activities when the wobbly weather allowed, including an afternoon at the beautiful but unfairly named Stinky Beach. And Robe itself is delightful.
Christmas day was at our joint, with lots of joy.
Then all too soon it was over and we had to wend our way back to Victoria.