John's Visit - V

The Australian War Museum had an open day while John was here. There were lots of things to see and do and we bumped into a few of Ian's classmates and their families. Here are a few of the things we saw....

Yes, Australia has Sea Kings too - we all crossed our fingers while watching this one approach and land!






























That's Ian and William by the front right tire (spelled "tyre" here), trying to get a peek at this big rig...














Wings of some sort.....John, feel free to identify this one for me.....






























And what would a military open day be without a pipe band? Imagine marching in a wool kilt in that heat???....

John's Visit - IV - Zoo

John, William and I spent a morning at the National Zoo & Aquarium here in Canberra. It was a lovely and hot day. Here are just a few of the beautiful creatures that we saw....
















My personal favorites, the cats....















Mr. and Mrs. Emu....
















Not sure if the sun is just too bright for this fellow or if he needs glasses.....






























These two were very interested in us humanoids....

John's Visit - III

There's plenty of sport to be had in Australia and John wanted to be sure to see as much as possible. Here we are at Brumbies game. The Brumbies are Canberra's rugby union team. Rugby union is the kind of rugby they play at the Rugby World Cup (forgive me - I have a hard time keeping this straight from rugby league...). John was the photographer here so he didn't make it into any pictures.....

The Brumbies' biggest (toothless!) fan......




















These guys are nuts....
















A Brumbies scrum......which can lead to "cauliflower ears" - not pretty.

John's Visit - II

After resting and exploring Canberra for five days, John headed to the coast to experience Sydney and then went north a bit to Nowra to visit some former Canadian Air Force colleagues , now with the Australian Forces. We met up with him for a long weekend in the Huskisson and Jervis Bay area.

This is Hyman's Beach in Huskisson. I have to say this was the best beach experience I have ever had. The waves were great - we jumped the waves for two solid hours and were exhausted when we left. William and Ian even got out the cricket bat and ball and played some cricket on the beach.

Apparently this is the whitest beach sand on earth.....
















That's me on the left, trying to recover from being knocked off my feet by a big wave. I landed underwater on my back with both my legs straight up in the air - not a pretty sight, I'm sure. The next day my ribs hurt! (That's Ian and William watching and laughing in the fore ground)
















Oh, there is Bo Derek again.....! She seems to follow us to all the beaches we go to!















Can you see the dolphin's fin?....seeing a dolphin is supposed to be good luck! There were three or four in a group. They swam and jumped along the water's edge....

















Another beach scene...