What's the Status, Doc?

This weekend I will be sitting out of my match because of a knee injury. In last weekend's game an opponent slammed into the outside of my right knee, straining/spraining my MCL. It's not serious (no surgery or anything), but I still need to ice it and rest up before I can play again. Very frustrating, but good motivation to come back even more determined.

Lisa P and Patrick D - 5

Well, it's now the 5th installment of Lisa's visit and I think it's about time to wrap it up; not because I want to, but because i could go on for ages. I'll just do a quick summary of all the cool stuff we did.

Caversham Wildlife Park - Visited here to play with the kangaroos and koalas. Luckily the weather held strong for us and we were able to have an outstanding time. Took lots of pictures with the roos, and Lisa tried to feed every one, except for the smallest one we found which tried to attack her. I also took the girls here when they visited.

Swan Valley Breweries - Directly after Caversham we went beer tasting (just like I did with the girls), but this wasn't as successful as 3 of 5 were closed. Pretty disappointed, but it worked out as we got to enjoy each brewery much more (rather than rushing around to hit them all). Really enjoyed sitting outside, drinking, and playing quarters outside of Feral Brewery. Lisa destroyed me in quarters, and I believe I still owe her a foot massage.

Fremantle - Took an entire Sunday to walk around and enjoy the great city. Made a quick stop at a surfing contest on the way down, but the waves were about the size of pillow, so it wasn't the best contest. Headed all around Fremantle, especially the markets (one vendor gave me a free apple), the beach, and the Round House (historic site, a former fort). Made a quick stop at Sail & Anchor for a couple brews (in honor of Tim) and to give our friends back home a call (reunion weekend in Milwaukee for Kristyn's birthday). Ended the day at Little Creatures microbrewery having beer, chips, and people watching while sitting in the beer garden overlooking the harbor.

The Paddo + Nightlife - Attempted to have a crazy night on the town, but didn't quite succeed. Started the night at the clubhouse after my game and then headed to The Paddington Ale House for some dancing. Left around 11:15 to head to another bar (early to beat the crowd and massive line), but the line was already formed. Headed to 2 other places but both were closed, so we headed home, opened some beers and turned on the music to have our own dance party. No, Jared and James didn't join. They were on a bike trip down South. Besides, they can't dance to save their lives.

Perth - Visited downtown for a day, and luckily the weather wasn't completely bad. It did sprinkle a bit, but we still managed to ride the river ferry, eat lunch in South Perth, wander around King's Park, go to the top of the Bell Tower, and generally meander around downtown. Overall a great day, despite the disturbing number of mullets and rat tails we saw. Australians have no fashion sense, unless you still live in the 80s or are blind.

Footy - Lisa got to see two more games, plus the black lab puppy that my teammate owns. Lisa wants a black lab puppy terribly, so she was loving it. Anyways, had a couple more games and we split the two. Lost in the last 5 minutes to our rival, North Beach, but it must have been really exciting to watch. Even though the Reserves haven't won much this season, they still know how to put on a show. Now she knows how footy is supposed to be played, not quite the same as the US version.

Overall, the two weeks that Lisa spent here were the most enjoyable of all my time here. I've had a lot of great memories here with footy, the beach, the girls, and fun nights on the town, but having her here topped them all. Still though, we were thinking of everyone the entire time and we can't wait to get together again.

Lisa P and Patrick D - 4

Once we had returned home and sufficiently slept in, our plan for the day was to sit around and watch movies. We figured it would be a great way to just relax and enjoy each other's company. But, as we got prepared to head to the movie store the clouds parted and we figured an even better way to enjoy the day was at the beach. I was really hoping that we would be able to spend some time at the ocean because we have such beautiful beaches, and a trip to Perth isn't complete without it. And since it's winter and warm sunny days only happen once or twice a week, we took advantage.

The cool thing about the ocean here is that the temperature only fluctuates about 2 degrees (Celsius) the entire year. So no matter the wind temperature, the ocean seems nice and warm, even without swimming through where someone peed themselves. Lisa really enjoyed herself as she got to see what Perth is all about, even though she wouldn't go in the water. Once we had our fill of swimming and wanted something new, it was off to the parking lot to teach Lisa to drive stick. She did a great job and only killed the car a few times; much better than myself. I didn't lose my patience once and really enjoyed riding in the passenger seat for a change. Eventually though, the clouds rolled and it was my turn to drive down to Scarborough Beach to watch the sun set. We ended the night with a great Mexican feast complete with Corona, tacos, nachos, and quesadillas. Chef Lisa was the star of the night.

The following day we spent the majority of our time at the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA). This aquarium is very unique because it only houses species that are native to Western Australia. It was really interesting to see all the different varieties of animals that are in our ocean. Lisa and I got to walk through an underwater tube and watch sealife from the ocean floor, pet sting rays, port jackson sharks, starfish, and watch sea lions from an underwater viewing window. it was a thrill viewing and interacting with the animals. Lisa and I got some great pictures of us petting them too!! Funny story, when I picked up the starfish (after we had played with it) a toddler walked up and looked at it, so I held the starfish for him to pet. He slowly reached down, picked it up, and threw it back into the water as far as he could.

Lisa P and Patrick D - 3

Bright and early the following morning we packed our bags and headed out for our next adventure. It was now Tuesday morning and we were looking to get back home tonight, but not without some fun along the way. Continuing on a Southern course, we headed out of town aiming to reached Cape Leuwin, and the Cape Leuwin Lighthouse, the most Southwestern edge of the country.

The drive to the cape is only about 40 kilometers (25 miles) and is scarcely populated, so Lisa took over the controls to test her skill on the opposite side of the road. Sitting in the passenger seat I got the job of navigating us to the cape and to yell at Lisa to pull over to take as many pictures as possible. Our first stop was at a little pull-off right on the ocean where rocks, beach, ocean, and shrubs collide. With such a beautiful site and the Southern Ocean in view, I suggested to Lisa that she should touch the water (so she can say she's been to the Southern Ocean), but to be careful of the slippery rocks. You can see where this is heading, and the picture of Lisa's wet butt is the result. I was actually worried that she was going to slide all the way into the ocean, which would have been really bad. Laughing about it, we looked to our right to see a beach about 50 feet away, so we headed over there to take some photos and for me to touch the water. But, alas, the ocean won again as a massive wave came up the shore as I was bending down and it drenched my shoes and ankles. Very clever Mr. Ocean.

Hopping back in the car we continued down the coast line pulling over once again for some pictures and to watch a few whales. We could only see their blow-holes, but it was a pretty cool site. Our final stop was the lighthouse, which was pretty neat to see, but very overpriced to visit, so we just walked around outside the fence a bit and took some pictures in the gale force winds, which made Lisa's hair look like a bad 80s hair cut. Still though, it was pretty cool to see where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet. Fully satisfied with our journey so far, we turned back North to explore Mammoth Cave before we headed home. With Lisa still in the driver seat we were headed back North through constantly changing terrain. From towering forests to open farm lands, the thick bush to flowing vineyards, the terrain was a site to behold. I think Lisa enjoyed it too, because at one point we nearly ran off the road and I had a few choice words with her. Ok ok, she didn't do that bad, but it was a bit too close for comfort for me, so she made me drive the rest of the way.

Mammoth Cave is the most Northern cave in a series of caves along Margaret River/Southwest area. Originally named "Dawn of Creation," Mammoth Cave hosts great historical significance as it holds fossils from ancient animals, fauna, and newly extinct animals. Scientists continue to visit the cave every year to unlock it's secrets and to learn more about the history of the area. We learned all about this as we walked on a self-guided tour through the cave with portable headsets describing the cave as we walked. The cave itself lies in the side of a hill in the towering Karri Forest and winds through the rock a couple hundred yards to the exit. The exit itself was formed when the cave roof collapsed, leaving a massive gap in the Earth where the only way out is up. Pretty neat and wildly beautiful.

We got home that night around 7 pm and sat on the couch to relax and enjoy some NCIS. A long day but a day well spent. Getting defeated by the ocean, whale watching, bad 80s hair styles, spelunking, and a small fight. It had it all.

Lisa P and Patrick D - 2

After a great night's sleep in a really comfortable Queen sized bed (much better than my double), Lisa and I arose bright and early to prepare for the day's activities. Our first stop of the day was Wild Tyme cafe for an outstanding breakfast and freshly squeezed orange juice. I'd recommend this place to anyone as my egg benedict were some of the better ones I've had.

After a quick breakfast we had about 2 hours to kill before the tour began, so we enjoyed a nice walk around town, stopped at the bakery for some fresh donuts, and went to the information center to get some brochures about the area. This only managed to kill about 45 minutes, so we decided to grab the car and go explore the surrounding land. Our first stop of the morning was the hotel that Beth, Tim and myself stayed at on our visit (I couldn't quite remember which room it was, so I took pictures of both). Our second stop was the Colonial Brewing Company, located about 5 minutes North of the main strip. Margaret River is known for their fine wines, but they don't make half-bad booze either. Sitting out back on the beer garden, we enjoyed 5 different styled of beer and savored every last drop. The scenery was just as delicious as the garden was surrounded by open range farm land and gum trees. Quite a site. We enjoyed every second of the tasting tray and struck up a conversation with the only other people there, one of whom happened to be from Nevada.

About noon-thirty we rolled back to our place to meet the tour group and begin our wine tasting adventure. Our driver, Steve, picked us up outside our place and drove us out to meet up with the rest of the group at Voyager Estate. The estate was as beautiful as the wine was delicious. I hope Jared enjoys his Cab Sav. The server, James, informed us about all the reasons why Voyager had such great wine, and he wasn't wrong. The wine here was outstanding and James was one cool guy, but a total surfer persona. I wanted to tell him to "hang ten" as we left.

Feeling a bit more saucy our group rolled onto the second stop, Watershed, which impressed greatly with the views, but not so much with the wine. Tasting one after another, Lisa and I became less and less interested, so we began taking pictures of the group, our driver Steve, and Lisa's silver shoes. Still though, it was free and the scenery was pretty spectacular as vineyards surrounded the estate on 3 of 4 sides. Lisa's pictures show this (to be put up soon). Now nice and sauced up, the games began as Lisa made fangs out of pretzels and we raided the snack basket provided by Steve. Those salami, cheese, and crackers were sooo good. Our third stop for the afternoon was Pierro estate, but I'm not sure if estate is the correct word, because it looked more like a barn, which they tried to justify as "rustic." But, the inside was cozy and the company was friendly, so the overall experience was a winner.

The last winery was Moss Brothers which included barrel tasting!! Normally wine tasting involved wine strictly from the bottle. but this place actually let us walk into the wine cellar and taste the wine directly from the barrel. A novel idea and certainly delicious. Here Lisa and I tasted our favorite wine (in our price range) and picked up a couple bottles. The last two stops for the day were at the Margaret River Dairy Co. for some cheese tasting and the Margaret River Chocolate Co for some free samples of chocolate. Living in Wisconsin, the cheese tasting was a welcome surprise, but a disappointing result. I believe one of the flavors was literally Hobbit's feet. The Chocolate Co was much better, and James B. would agree (we got his present here).

Around 5:30 the tour wrapped up and dropped us off back at our place. Feeling a little tipsy and not too hungry, we immediately passed out with the radio playing. Waking up a few hours later and a bit hung over, we headed off to The Spaghetti Bowl (Beth, Tim and I also ate here), for some great pasta, great company, and a lot of water.

Lisa P and Patrick D - 1

Lisa gone. Vacation over. Now it's time to sit back and enjoy the memories and what great memories were made. I could go on and on about all the great times we had and the neat things we did, but to save some time I think I may summarize just a bit.

Lisa's flight arrived on Friday, July 4, and I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate Independence Day. I picked her up from the airport around 3 in the afternoon and from then on it was game on as both our expectations and emotions were running sky high. Admittedly, we were both nervous and we hadn't the slightest idea of what to expect. Would we still work? Had we both changed? But, from the first hug all the fears were laid to rest as we still went together like peas and carrots. After all the months of talking about it and wondering what would happen, the time had finally arrived, and what a great feeling it was. The rest of the day was spent poking each other's faces and holding hands as it still felt like a dream.

Once we had all settled in and Lisa had had a nice shower, our adventures began. Our first adventure of the trip was my footy game the following day. Ok, so it's not really an adventure, but it was Lisa's first proper game on a proper oval, so just go with it. The game had major significance as one of my team mates was breaking the record for games played at the club. This game was to be his 314th game in a Scarborough jumper. Quite an accomplishment, and something we didn't take lightly. Both teams came out fighting and hungry for a victory, but as the time wore on we began to out-run and out-hustle the opposition. Our club ended up pulling away for a 9 goal victory (I think??) with yours truly making a 60 meter sprint out of defense to kick a goal from about 45 meters out. Not going to lie, I felt pretty cool. That night the celebration was a bit subdued as we left the club house early to make each other dinner and to prepare for Margaret River the next day.

After a night spent trying to steal the covers back from Lisa and learning how to sleep without sprawling over the entire bed, the bleary eyed couple arose and prepared for our southern adventure. Our first stop was at AVIS to get our rental (my car would probably fall apart Blues Brothers style on a trip this long) and for me to get used to driving an automatic again. I tell you, it felt really weird at first. Lisa can testify as I drove for a couple miles with the parking break on. Whoops. Once that hurdle was cleared we were on our way and set for a crazy couple days full of wine, chocolate, and beautiful scenery.

For those who don't know, Margaret River is a massive wine region about 3 hours South of Perth. Margaret River is said to be just as good as Napa Valley or the wine region of France. Not unexpectedly it's a major tourist destination during the holidays, but as it's not tourist season, Lisa and I practically owned the place. But, you wouldn't know it by the appearance of where we stayed. We arrived in Margaret River around 4 pm looking for the majestic Magnolia Studios. From the website the place looks like a beautiful establishment with a contemporary design. But, in actuality the entire establishment is one studio set in the upstairs of a large barn/shed looking building, but the inside did have a contemporary design. The outside staircase leading up to the room reminded me of a bad B-grade movie where the murderer is creeping up the fire escape to pounce on the unsuspecting female in the shower. The single light above the door at the staircase landing didn't help to diminish that feeling. Still though, the inside was quite comfortable and just the right size for us. Once we had settled in we had a quick change of clothes and then headed off to the main strip for some dinner and walking around to see the area. A great way to spend a Sunday night.

Bali - Post 4

... And finally, the big workshop day arrived!! For the full-day shop the company rented out the Presidential Suite at the hotel. Unfortunately I didn't get any picture of the entrance, so I'll try and describe it as best I can. The design of the Suite reminds one of entering a castle, as the main building is surrounded by a 15 foot stone wall with the entrance resembling the stone carving overlooking the pool. After passing through the main entrance, the visitor must walk on a cement and pebble walk-way sitting atop a reflecting pool filled with goldfish and lilly pads. The walk-way leads directly to the steps to the main building which is built as one would imagine a tropical paradise house. It was quite a sight and it made most of the group stare around in excitement. The back of the Suite (I did get pictures of this!) included a sprawling lawn, a personal pool, and non-stop views of the rolling ocean. The pictures really show the scene well. Needless to say, the 10 minutes breaks were spent playing in the pool and entertaining the workers, especially the one who was wedding the lawn with a fork.

The outline of the workshop was basically all the exciting news in the industry, where the future is headed, and how Meerkats will evolve. Over the previous week our two directors were in France attending the Cannes Advertising Festival learning all about the advances in the industry. From the many number of ads viewed, watched, and listened too, and the hundreds of presentations (by various industry and company leaders), our directors put together incredible and very interesting summaries about where the advertising industry is headed. If you can believe it, my industry is trying to move away from standard, annoying ads; Instead it is moving towards consumer involvement where the ads are created by everyone, not just big companies. Pretty cool concept.

When the workshop ended at about 5:30 in the afternoon, it was back to the main pool to get started on the big night to come. Bintangs all around and a setting sun were all we needed to get our spirits up to reek some havoc once again. Our first stop of destruction was the Zanzibar restaurant, a local place just down the road overlooking the beach. With everyone feeling the effects of alcohol before we even arrived, our group settled on the 2nd story and quickly cleared the deck with our thunder-like voices. It didn't take long before the pink wig was passed around as a few games of pool got going and the subject of America v Australia got discussed. I didn't make any friends when I referred to Australia as "America's little whipping boy," but that was besides the point. America 1. Australia 0.

With dinner done and many black-mail style pictures taken, we decided to head out on the town with Tom as our tour guide once again. Looking for something off the beaten path, he headed us down a back alley which lead to certain kidnapping, but we pulled just short and ended up walking into a mobster bar which lead to death. The inside of the place was practically pitch black with shadowy tables, booths set up in the blood red walls with curtains covering them, and not a soul on the dance floor. Quickly 3/4 of the group ran out, but a few of us decided to have a seat and enjoy our last night. It wasn't 15 minutes later that we realized that most of the bar was staring at us, so we killed our beers and got out of dodge before we ended up as luggage. Luckily though, about 50 meters away we found an open-air bar with a live band playing all American hits. Here we spent the rest of the night dancing and drinking with a group of Europeans. By "the rest of the night," I am actually only referring to the next few hours because once again, a few of us found ourselves swimming at about 4 am... clothing optional for the girls.

With the final night complete and a good night's rest, the last day was spent taking care of business as a few of us did a bit of shopping, walking around, and getting massages. Now in the states clothing and massages are fairly expensive, but not in Bali. To purchase any clothing from street vendors (this is how it's done everywhere) it is expected to haggle until the price reflects how cheap the clothing really is. I think I paid about $5 for two t-shirts. The massages were incredible and even cheaper, as an hour only costs about $10. Very well worth it. It was also fairly cheap to get around, as we only paid about $6 for a 20 minute cab ride and about $10 for a 35 minute scooter ride!! Yup, I rode on the back of a scooter without a helmet as it wove in and out of traffic. It was more scary than riding in a car with Kristyn McKee driving!

Our flight home left at 2 am and arrived back in Perth at about 5. This was the third time on the trip, and 2nd day in a row that I got to see the sun rise. Very tired but so well worth it as I had the trip of a lifetime. Bali is such a unique place. It has such stunning natural beauty, but also has an open sewer system running along some roads. It has all the modern conveniences, but still most of the people don't wear shoes and unkept dogs run wild tearing through garbage bag which line the streets. It is a country where lady-boys attempt to earn money on the corner and people can dance nude in dance clubs without getting kicked out, but strip joints are illegal (my dirty co-worker tried). It is a very far cry from the modernized West. This is one trip I will never forget, because no place I have ever been has made me feel so far away from home.