My family have been visiting us for the past week and we have been busy attending Ali's graduation from her PHD...

Well done Ali!

and spending some time enjoying the Christmas festivities...

eating too much and generally having a good time catching up.

I am also proud to disply the first mushroom from the box I am growing in the garage...

tasted good on toast for lunch.

Hope all of our friends and family have a Happy Christmas and a fantastic new Year - especially to those of you who won't be near by including Nathan's extended family, Clarie and Chris, Pete and Bronte, Chris and Jamie, Matt and Christine, Alex and Nathan, Inger and puppy and more local friends Bob and Evelyn, Alison and Anthony & Tor and Lynne and Roger.

We are pretty settled into the new house in Yarraville - thankfully as my family will be staying for X'mas and we will need the room to sleep them! We're both looking forward to having a couple of weeks to unwind and explore the local neighbourhood. Hopefully I will stick up a few photos of our celebrations and post more in the new year.

Well these photos aren't the most exciting as I was taking them to remember the forgettable places of the house and the things that I needed to worry about in the move - like kitchen cupboard space! The photo of the front garden shows how generally unkept it is and if you saw the back garden it only gets worse. The whole right side of the house has overgrown so you can't walk round to the airconditioner or hot water heater! So that will all have to go. Good news is that there is 4.5m x 10.8m out the back that will nicely fit the BBQ and outdoor setting.

I have finally finished the navy suit that I was making last weekend. It looks quite good though will be better with a bit of hanging. I have it on here with the skirt and top that Mum made for me from some material that I bought at least a couple of years ago. It looks great. I am really happy with how the suit has worked out but wow so risky - the effort expended may not result in a wearable garment!

Thanks Mum for trying out your new overlocker!

Now that we are not house hunting I have time on my weekends again! We have also been kayaking twice recently taking advantage of the close proximity of our flat to the water before we move house. We are trying to bring the settlement date forward and move by the end of October but haven't had confirmation of it yet.

I've also been looking into yoga and checking out places nearby to learn more about it. So far the most promising place looks like Agama yoga in Middle Park though it depends on whether I like the way they teach. I will probably check out a couple of others. There is an interesting site from India on the healing properties of yoga that I need to check out more. I'm reading a good book by a Perth guy, Gregor Maehle on Ashtanga yoga that explains the ancient understanding that yogis developed about brain functioning and how to develop a greater awareness and calmness through technniques to balance the mind such as postures, breathing and meditation. The logic and philisophy behind it is quite fascinating and it is amazing to me, but perhaps not surprising the parallels with modern thinking on consciousness and the functioning of the brain that these guys had already figured out thousands of years ago. It is quite sad to see humanity relearning so many things.

We've bought a house - or nearly. Just need to see the bank tomorrow and it will be all organised. We should be moved in by X'mas. It's at 1 York St Yarraville in a quiet street close to the train station and the shopping village. It's a three year old two story rendered house with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a single garage. The backyard is small but should be big enough for a BBQ area and the front will have the best sun and hence the vegie and herb garden. Here are some photos:

It's a bit scary parting with all that dosh but we will be glad to get our weekends back and not have the stress of wondering if we would be out bid on yet another house. Matt & Christine you will be able to visit in comfort in January! We will set the spare room up with a bed for visitors.

Well I haven't written for a while because we have been busy house hunting since we came back from Hawaii. It is taking up a lot of our time and is quite stressful at times - trying to decide whether or not to get building inspections on properties that will probably go over our budget at auction. The market is not very friendly towards buyers :( Still we have found a few places that we like and its only a matter of time until something comes up and everything falls into place.

I've also been working on my yoga techniques and looking around for a local yoga school that I could get enthused about. I am retraining my back muscles - which are very tight - and as they relax trying to take up the slack with my inner leg muscles and core muscles. It is making a difference and I can really see the difference in my flexibility and the poses that I can do. My yoga teacher at work is to thank for the new perspective that drew me to focus on relaxing my back muscles - the change is quite amazing. I'll try and put some links up for those of you that are interested but I haven't found anything really interesting on the web yet.

Aloha! We have just spent a fantastic ten days holidaying in Hawaii and visiting our friend Pete who is posted over there for a few years. Thanks Pete for having us to stay, cooking us meals, taking us to dinner, lending us your car and touring us around Pearl Harbour and the sights. We spent quite a few mornings reading and lounging by his pool getting used to the humidity and warmth. Very relaxing and gave me time to read through the guide book and find out what we should do for the day.

The highlight of the trip was the two days that we spent on the Big Island of Hawaii. We caught a 1hour flight from Oahu (the island where Pete lives and where Honolulu is), hired a car and drove to the Volcano National State Park. We spent all day driving and walking around the Kilaeuea Caldera and lava flows in the park dating from 1969 to today.

Due to the recent changes in lava flows the lava that used to flow to the ocean had stopped in June and then in August this year a new flow had opened up in the north of the east rift zone. There are no roads out to that area and the only access was by air so the next day we took a helicopter ride. It was the best choice, what an amazing experience to see molten rock flowing and slowly burning its way through rain forest. We appreciated it even more having spent the previous day walking over the historic lava flows and seeing their destruction up close. Nathan got some great photos from the helicopter but it somehow dosen't do the experience justice.

Photo from helicopter

The this part of the island is so new that there are not rivers or terrain other than from the lava flows. The rain soaks into the pumice and crevices and so there is no run off. In the older sections of the island the rivers and lakes are only just starting to form. It is such a contrast to Australia the oldest and most worn continents on the planet.

Back in Oahu, we spent a day at Waikiki beach shopping and swimming, did a great Peral Harbour and USS Arizona memorial boat tour courtesy of Pete and his connections, and visited the Polynesian Centre for a Luau (traditional dinner) and wandered around the replica traditional villages from all over the Pacific. It was very well done for such a commercial enterprise and we both enjoyed the comedic demonstration of coconut milk making and the Tahitian dancing...

From the Polynesian Centre

The later part of the week was focused on snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and kayaking (thanks Pete for lending us yours) at Kanahoe Bay. We were amazingly lucky to spot a large sea turtle while kayaking maybe 1m long but not so lucky as to be able to get a photo of it. So cool. The photos of fish at Hanauma Bay did not come out so great but here is a great photo of the Bay...

Snorkelling at Hanauma Bay Oahu Hawaii

Nathan did masterfully driving on the wrong side of the road only a couple of times and not crashing the car even once! We did manage to lose the car key while snorkelling and had to walk back to Pete's place (thankfully not far) then break into his house (thankfully he'd left the upstairs screen door unlocked) by standing on Nathan's shoulders and climbing onto the balcony. We went and picked the car up in the morning with the spare key! Oh dear - at least we weren't stuck outside Pete's place for three hours waiting for him to come home from a dinner engagement.

Overall one of our best holidays for balance, adventure, new experiences and company. Our lizard Laurie though was glad to see us home as he spent a rather colder and hungrier week without us. I thought of him much as I watched Pete's beautiful Discus fish swimming and laying eggs. Hope they are still growing Pete!

Matt and Christine have just left after a happy visit to hotel Bracken. They managed to sleep on the fold out futon couch while we went to work each morning and didn't get too upset at Nathan ironing just nearby. We had some great dinners and brunch in the nearby Bay St and Claredon St and I made a fantastic B'day cake to celebrate. Lynne and Roger and my sister Ali came over to help us eat it...

It was a crazy 1kg of chocolate and 3 cups of toasted pecans with 3/4 a small bottle of sour mash whiskey...

from the Desserts to die for cook book that is the source of all great cake day cakes.

It was great to catch up with them while they were here - talking about Canberra, family, Nathan's old work and future plans.

Other news is our planned trip to Hawaii in early September to catch up with other friends who are posted over there, Pete and Bronte. Looking forward to some warmer weather, seeing lava and looking for pearls in oysters.

Nathan is looking for work again as his current contract is coming to a close. There are a few options being considered that will hopefully pay off.

I've been mainly working on my navy suit over the last couple of weeks and doing a little knitting. I'm trying to finish the suit so that I can focus on writing as I haven't touched the novel since moving to Melbourne. The writer's festival is coming up and I need to get back into it. I'll try to get you a photo of a finshed suit this week with luck.

I haven't been in the mood for reflection lately so now I come to write so many things have happened. My good friend Claire has been in Melbourne for two out of three weeks and encouraged us to see the Melbourne Sympony Orchestra which was excellent though the last piece could have done with a pause part way through so you could reflect on it. We also shopped in Brunswick yesterday which was very funky and has some fabulously grovy shops. At the artist market I bought some soy candles which the wax is made from the husks of soy. They have some fantastic properties where the liquid melts, doesn't give off toxins, isn't as hot and can be washed off in soap and water! I am very fascinated and may even search out a kit to refill my containes with it. Seems to work really well. I also bought some great ear rings which are made out of reson.

A great find was a babuhka pin which will add nicely to my collection and be a nice pin for scarves etc. during the winter.

We've also gone kayaking twice since I got the remainder of our belongings put into self storage. Last weekend was a bit too cold and windy but this weekend we had a nice paddle along to beach nearly to St Kilda and back. Dad - I saw the fishermen you noticed when you were here with the 7 foot long rods. We will have to meet up with the Victorian sea kayaking club now that we have all of our gear.

I have also started a new project that has been in the wind for a number of years now. I bought some beautiful navy wool suiting in Tasmania a couple of years ago with the aim of making a suit. I have finally got around to cutting it out and have started edging the pieces. I traced a pattern off a suit that I own, I decided the pattern that I had tried out last time just wasn't going to be easy to slim down to be the right size for me. I hope this way I will create a suit that I am really happy to wear. Wish me luck.

Finally, I have talke dto my Mum and to Claire about what to do with my jumper that I ran out of wool before finishing :( Claire suggested three quarter length sleeves and after a bit of estimation this morning I think the sleeves are longer than they need to be so I should be able to take off around 6-7 cm of length and still have full length sleeves. I will sew the jumper together on one side and see how it looks before I do any surgery.

Nathan and I babysat Tor Bettanin yesterday and had fun walking to the beach, flying helicopters in the empty car park, rolling around Macadamia nuts and figuring out fun things like changing nappies, settling a crying 18 month old and feeding the lizard strawberries.

Nathan had a nice cuddle and read of New Scientist with Tor for about half and hour after lunch which was nice. I think we had worn Tor out with all the adventures earlier in the day.

Of note, last time Alison and Tor visited when Mum and Dad were up she brought over a fantastic Baklava for us to eat. We took a great photo of it as it came out of the oven (just a little bit of extra cooking required on arrival). Thanks Alison it was as delicious as it looks.