Ramdom Stuff

It is pathetic that the whole month of July and August passed with no blog post. I haven't even blogged about my 40th birthday in Vegas, or how cool my new house is, or shown photos of my dad's retirement party. Must fix this!

In the mean time, here are two blog links you can check out so you don't get bored waiting on me. The first is the blog of my dear friend Dushka Zapata from San Francisco. Dushka is one of the many cool people I've met since I started my job. You can meet her at http://www.dushkablog.blogspot.com/.

The second is a totally useless but cool tool, a map that shows how people refer to carbonated soft drinks based on their geographic location. I found it while I was doing legwork on a blog we're launching at work. Check it out at http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/.

Bryker Drive

I guess because starting a new job just wasn't enough change, even when combined with turning 40, I have bought a house and sold mine.

Regarding why I'm moving, I am super stoked about the new place. It is 4 blocks from where I live now, and has a great vibe. You can check it out at:

http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=411589

I sold my house to some folks who we are not sure are so nice based on their behavior late in the negotiations. Nonetheless, I believe what goes around comes around, and I hope they'll be as happy here as I was.

My closing on the new house is tomorrow, and it seemed wise to reflect for a few moments on what Bryker Drive has meant to me.

I moved here five years ago when I was feeling pretty bad, both physically and mentally. I had been through a divorce which though not messy, was a divorce all the same. I had undergone major surgery less than 60 days before, and was just getting my strength back. My mom was, as always, the best moving helper you could ask for. The house needed a lot of help. Here are some photos of "before."

I gave a lot of love to the house. I realize now as I did all these great things to the place, it made me get stronger. And I'm really proud of how it turned out. Here are some photos today:

Just this past May, a giant hailstone came through the window - check this out:

There are so many good memories of this house, it's hard to know where to start. It's where I've had many fantastic evenings with my friends and family. It was home away from home for Susan and Pablo when they were living in Ecuador and in the process of moving to Texas. I spent my year off here, and wrote my book. Not long ago, I said goodbye to my longtime friend, Hugh, whose ashes we sprinkled in the yard.

All good things have to come to an end, and Bryker Drive was one of the best. Thanks for the memories.

Now, let's go put the Fun in Funston.

Gretchen 2.0: [Just Over] A Year Later

"Any given moment can change your life, you just have to be there"

-Curly Girl Greeting Card from Lake Wanaka, NZ

"Everybody needs a change, a chance to check out the new

But you're the only one who sees the changes you take yourself through."

-Stevie Wonder

It's hard to believe it was more than 12 months ago when I made my first post to the blog. Since I got back from my last trip a month ago, I've had a lot of time to reflect on what the year meant to me. It's hard to sum up in words, but there are times when something will happen and I'll think, "This is what Gretchen 2.0 is all about!" For example, in the picture at the top - I'm in a helicopter on top of Fox Glacier in New Zealand. My friends have given me the front seat for the ride down, and I've just realized what a fantastic view I'm going to get.

Tomorrow, I'm starting a new chapter as I begin my new job. While I could keep hanging out for longer and be happy, I know there is a time to move on and now seems like the right place.

Rather than philosophize on the blog (something I try to avoid), I made a list of everything I did this year. I'm sure I left a few things out, so apologies to anyone who got slighted inadvertently. A lot of my blog readers were involved in these things, and to all of you I say a big THANKS! Let's do it again soon.

• Things I did during Gretchen 2.0, in no particular order:
  
  Rode my bike through a rubber plantation in Vietnam in the pouring rain
  Visited a sheep station in New Zealand
  Learned to ride the bus around Austin and Sydney
  Got to know my neighbors
  Spearheaded a vicious animal hearing which never happened
  Worked with my homeless neighbors in downtown Austin
  Wrote a book
  Bought new clubs and worked on my golf game
  Worked out a LOT…
  Visited with friends I hadn’t seen in years
  Hiked in the Smokies with my dad
  Went to Vegas three times!
  Got Neil married off
  Snorkeled in Bali and contracted a skin rash
  Visited Botanical gardens in Singapore, Adelaide and Sydney
  Saw the Sydney Opera House for the first time
  Rode in a helicopter over a glacier and landed on top of it
  Saw Milford Sound from the air and from the ground
  Visited the tomb of Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi
  Bought too many purses to count in Thailand and Vietnam
  Cleaned up my own yard for the fall
  Went to Thai cooking school and learned to make Thai food
  Took a cooking class in Vietnam
  Saw the hotel where my dad was based out of when he was a journalist in Vietnam
  Stayed in a hotel on top of the tallest building in Bangkok
  Saw rainbows in Austin, Thailand and New Zealand
  Said goodbye to my loyal cat and longtime friend, Hugh
  Had too many massages to count
  Helped my sister move into her house in Portland, OR
  Fixed Lory’s thermostat
  Helped Susan and Pablo move into their first official home in the US
  Helped Andrea bail out her backyard after a thunderstorm tested the drainage system
  Met some koalas from afar but did not cuddle with any of them
  Fed kangaroos and saw a joey in its mothers’ pouch
  Lived in the same clothes for 2 days when my bags got lost on the way to Fiji
  Saw John Mayer and Maroon 5 concerts
  Made great Australian friends sho I know will be lifelong
• Wore lots of sunscreen (thanks Valerie!)
  Tasted wine all over Australia and New Zealand
  Sat on a beach in Fiji and contemplated my navel
  Tried possum jerky and whitebait in New Zealand (yuk)
  Realized my mom is my best friend
  Went to church in Austin and Australia
  Running on Sunday mornings with Eric, Eddie, Valerie and the gang
  Had a psychic reading
• Lived in the Gluskoter’s house in Singapore for 10 days and made myself into a local
  Took my mom to Asia for the first time
  Rode the Star Ferry in Hong Kong and went to the top of Victoria Peak
  Lived on my own for a week in Bondi Beach – bringing up average age on Bondi Road
  Attended and even co-hosted some of Fifi’s fabulous parties
  Three trips to LaGrange, TX starting with the Gretchen 2.0 kickoff party
• Rode in a tuk tuk through Siem Reap Cambodia
  Saw the sunset over Angkor Wat
  Stomped grapes in Milton, Australia
  Walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge
  Walked along the Sydney coastal beach path
  Walked with Sheila along Marginal Way in Ogonquit, Maine
  Ate lunch at Stonewall Kitchens in Maine
  Learned how to say “hello” in Fijian (Bula!)
• Skiied in Breckenridge in mid-April
  

I still plan to keep the blog up to tell about my adventures, it may not get updated quite as much, but I know you'll understand...

The Great Grape Crush

As many of you know, I decided to delay my return to the United States a few days because I was having so much fun in Australia. Also, I got invited to experience a real life grape crushing at the home of Heather and Mark Stewart in Milton, New South Wales. Heather and Mark have been making their own wine for several vintages, and each year they host a crushing party. Along with Sheri, Joylene, Chris and Gini - I got to join in the fun and reunite with my friends from the Vietnam bike trip.


Before it all got started, Joylene came to Bondi and braved a couple of days at my surfer pad. Here we are on the Coastal Walk:



We arrived on Friday evening and had a great dinner at the local pub. Saturday, some people swam and others of us walked on the beautiful beack at Mollymock. Sheri realy liked the way the seaweed felt on her feet:

We could not dawdle, because there was the business of grap crushing to attend to. Only women are allowed to crush the grapes, in the spirit of Lucy and Ethel. If a male accidentally forgets this, he has to worship at the shrine Mark designed as penance. First of all, we had to get dressed appropriately:

We were a little worried, but not deterred, when we saw how many grapes there were. Mark has them brought up by horse trailer from the Barossa Valley, where I had just visited a few weeks before:

Grapes defintely exfoliate your feet, but I am not sure if it is on a good or bad way. One tip is do not wear light pink nail polish unless you want it to have a purple tint.
That night, there was a big party. Heather made these cocktails only for the ladies, sort of a secret ritual for the grape crushers. She is a fantastic hostess and fed everyone until we were ready to pop!

Many thanks to our hosts and to everyone who came out to New South Wales for my last weekend in Australia!

Bondi Bohemian

Several folks have been asking how things are going now that I am traveling solo. Here is the update.
After being looked after 24 x 7 by Backroads, some adjustment had to happen. There was also the matter of budget air travel very early in the morning which landed me here in Sydney even earlier (2 hour time difference). So it is no wonder I was feeling dazed and confused upon arrival.
Let's just say the flat I rented in Bondi Beach is not going to earn a Travel & Leisure award soon. About 300 square feet, it is fine for one and maybe two people. Problem is, the rest of the apartments in the building seem to have 3-4 people living in them, all under the age of 25. The place is just plain LOUD. And it's not a design icon, either.

I should have mentioned the part about the hot plate and coin laundry, but another time. On the plus side, even though the elevator is about 100 years old and on the verge of breakdown, there is a good view while you wait for it:


Nonetheless, I have embraced my surroundings and the neighborhood, and am coping quite well despite no hair dryer (request for which was turned down by the landlords) and no coffee maker. Actually, there is a a coffee maker, it is just located in Barry's downstairs. I have adopted Barry's as my personal cafe... they make a mean flat white. Yummy!

Right. So, the objective has been, spend as little time in the house as possible! No problem, we are in Sydney and there is plenty to do and see. I have mastered the needed buses, adding to my repetoire with Cap Metro in Austin.

Saturday, I traveled by train to the Blue Mountains and got in a 4 hour hike - very strenuous. Reason being 1) to get to the trails you hike up and down 1000 steps each way and b) the trails are not very well marked, which results in extra mileage and about 35 seconds where you wonder if you might have to be rescued. Eeeek. Great workout though.

Sunday, I went to church at the Anglican Church in my neighborhood, St. Matthews. There were only about 12 people there, since it was only 8:30 in the morning. Everyone was very nice and they invited me for coffee and muffins afterwards, which of course I accepted. I extended everyone an open invite to St.David's if they are ever in Austin.

Sunday afternoon, I attended the New South Wales Wine Festival in Hyde Park. Great time, thanks to Chris Seton for the recco!

Monday saw more sighsteeing around Sydney including the neighborhoods of Paddington, Surry Hills, Kings Cross, Chinatown and Darlinghurst. All good times. My favorite activity has been visiting bottle shops looking for Samuel's Gorge wine from McLaren Vale. I have not found it so far, but am determined to score a bottle before I leave.

Chris and Ginni Seton hosted me for an awesome dinner at their beautiful home in Tamarama last night. It was great to meet Ginni, and to be reunited with yet another of the Vietnam by Bike gang. Everyone is excited for the weekend at Mark and Heather's in Milton, where we will be crushing grapes! Yeee hah!


The weather here could not be more perfect! Today, Tuesday, was Beach Day. From my place in Bondi, I walked to Clovelly Beach (about an hour hike) and ran back through Bronte and to North Bondi. That was about a 45 minute run, so I'm calling it equal to a Sunday run with the normal gang. This afternoon I have bummed around Bondi, had a massage, looked at the ocean, blah blah...

Since this is for sure my last post until I am on American soil, I have two things to say:
1. To all the friends I met along the way, new and less new - thank you! This was an experience to be remembered.
2. To the folks at home, I love you and miss you, and will be home soon.

Signing off for now...

-GThis is where I plan to stay next time...

Sun Came Out: Wanaka, Queenstown and back to Christchurch

I am happy to report that positive thinking prevailed. The weather for my last three days in New Zealand was fantastic!

The day I last posted, the rain held off long enough for us to visit the Lake Hawea Sheep Station. There, we met Dougal Burton, who is a third generation sheep farmer. There are 10,000 sheep on their land, out of a total of 40 million sheep in all of New Zealand! To read more about the Burton family and their business you can go to http://www.lakehaweastation.co.nz/.

They had just been shearing last week, and we got to see some of the wool. All the shearing is done by professionals. Dougal told us that wool in general can sell from anywhere from $1000 to $100,000 per bag. A bag is about the size of two large garbage bags in the US.

Dougal treated us to a real live sheep herding deomstration by the working dogs. Unfortunately, one terrier got a little carried away and kind of messed up the demo. We got the idea, though. Note from the photo that Pam has dried off from her bike ride the other day.

That night, I saw the most beautiful sunset ever over Lake Wanaka. I love this little town. If I move to New Zealand, that's where I'm going to live (no, I am not moving to New Zealand).

The next day was the best day of biking for me. The scenery was beautiful and we did 43 miles before lunch. Thankfully, lunch was at a winery. Here I am going up the last hill:

From there, it was off to Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. They are best known for having commercialized bungee jumping. I did not jump from a bungee, choosing instead to relax in the hot tub at the lovely Nugget Point Resort. Nugget Point is a boutique resort and family owned operation, and I would highly suggest staying there if you are out that direction. look them up at http://www.nuggetpoint.co.nz/. You can see how pretty it is in our group photo, and in this photo of my friends, Debra and Larry.

The weather was so good, we decided to make another run at Milford Sound. We got to go! What an experience. We flew in a small plane 40 minutes each way from Queenstown to Milford, then took a 2 hour boat cruise. I think you will be able to tell the plane pictures from the cruise ones. Note that we were REALLY close to the waterfall - the boat pulled up so near it that my hair was wet! Brrrrr!

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to all the Backroads gang that day. It was such a fun trip, made all the more so by our excellent guides, Paul and Eoin. Thanks guys, for making my trip special! The blog salutes you.

Although it was chilly, at least for Texans, the weather in Christchurch was sunny and clear the next day, as I wrapped up my Kiwi adventure. I got to spend the day with Jenny Meadows from the St. David's Writer's Group. She's over in New Zealand for two months, and left about when I did. We had a perfect day and I am really bummed we did not take a photo together. We did love this sculpture because it reminded us of Austin:

And, the begonias in the Botanical Garden were not to be missed!

I made it to Sydney and took possession of my flat in Bondi yesterday. Let's just say there will not be any idyllic shots of the building on the blog. It is, however, clean and well located. More on Sydney soon. Good on ya!

New Zealand is a Green Place: Rain, Rain Go Away

In the last 48 hours, we have discovered one reason New Zealand is so green.

When it rains here, they do not mess around.

I am sort of bummed out today because I was supposed to be flying over Milford Sound right now, and am not doing so because of the weather. Bummer. Since we cannot control the forces of nature, I am posting to the blog instead.

A few words about my stay at Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge - that place rocks. Check it out at http://www.wildernesslodge.co.nz/. The first night, we went to feed some eels. Here is Cory the naturalist with the eels. I fed them some pork tenderloin, which they seemed to like. My friend Deborah was much better at feeding them though.

The second day it was raining, but we still went on a walk to the beach, which was beautiful even though it was full of sandflies. Here I am on the beach:

The next day we were supposed ot have out longest and prettiest bilke ride of the trip. A huge storm moved in during the night, the likes of which I have not seen since the eve of the Gretchen 2.0 party in LaGrange last year! That storm dumped about 4 inches of rain, which was about the same as we got yesterday. I am certain it was raining sideways at one point. I chose not to bike, as did most folks. My friend Pam was hard core and knocked out 51km, here she is afterwards.

Our guide, Eoin (Owen), is Irish. He knows how to describe what type of rain is coming down in 20-30 different terms. Yesterday we moved from "wet" to "terrible." It stopped long enough for me to take this photo of a burned out pickup in front of a cafe:

No one biked up the Haast Pass, a 15k, 3000 foot climb. I did get this photo at the top:

We're now in Lake Wanaka, here was our first view of it, again in a quick break in the rain action:

Today may be better after all, even though it is threatening. Here was the sunrise this morning just outside my room.

Still having a great time. Otago region, where we are now, has wineries! And sheep. Plan for the rest of the day here is to visit a sheep station and a winery. A pretty good day if you ask me.