Remember, It Doesn’t Hurt To Speak Up…

For most of my time in Australia, I didn’t have access to television. When I would watch it, it was largely during the Commonwealth Games where Australia cleaned up on the medals. It seems the Cook Islands and Niue just aren’t the sporting powerhouses that they once were.

Sure, it’s easy to think that this was some type of an attempt to make me believe in the incredible power of the Aussie athlete or, perhaps, in the ultimate power of…dare I say the monarchy. I wasn't forced to watch hours and hours of telly -- Clockwork Orange style -- until I relented:

Mainly, most Australians don't believe in the monarchy and I'm convinced that it was just a great case of perfect timing. But, during my last week in the country I was able to catch up on some great shows and even better commercials. See, I kind of fell in love with the public service announcements in Victoria and despite the fact that they had an uncanny knack for coming on the telly when I had a mouth full of food or water…I somehow managed to not choke or spray Ab’s walls down from laughing my arse off.

I think I need to legally say that there is nothing funny about workplace accidents, especially when you are talking about young people who are new to the working world. However, having said that, after you see these I hope you find them as ridiculous as I did.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Oh, some of these ads can be graphic.

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Want to be a baker?





Restaurant worker?





Nail gun operator?

Getting Hitched, Aussie Style

While I was in Melbourne, I was fortunate to help celebrate the wedding of Kara and Troy. In fact, I actually helped run the music at the ceremony, but that is a story for another time.

Here is some video from the ceremony:

Here is the real priest, a dead ringer…right?

Anyway, the wedding was amazing and everyone had a great time. I will have a special post dedicated to one person who really helped make the day extra special, but more on that tomorrow. 

CONGRATULATIONS Kara and Troy! Thank you for allowing me to be part of your special day. And, thank you for making me feel like a part of the Abakumenko-Barnett clan.

Troy and Kara

Claire, Kara, Ab and the other bridesmaid.

Party time - Ryan and Ab (aka Lisa)



John Abakumenko sporting the 'Katy Perry Pink' (Spring collection) shirt and tie.



Claire - Survivor: Espada Tribe



Maree - Survivor: La Flor Tribe



The Abakumenko Family: Claire, Yvonne, Kara, John and Ab.
Victor (dad) was not in this picture but was present for the fun.

P.S. Thanks to Troy for letting me drink all of his beer at the Melbourne Cup celebration. It was an amature move not showing up with provisions, but he got me sorted.

AUSome Signs

I think this is my final AUSome Sign post. I think there are still some good ones!

Again, attacking birds…there is a pattern. Even the Seagulls are crazy.

This may only be funny in the Northern Hemisphere where we have a type of condom called a ‘Magnum.’ One in six sticks wins instantly!

There is a problem with Japan killing and eating whales (e.g. Whale Wars).

This was a sign on the way to a busy Japanese tourist spot.

A sign in a toilet. I think it says it all.

Good to know…

This one is hard to read, but this pipe says, “Sit and Spin.”



Besides the fact that there is a sign dedicated to the rat, there is a lot of other stuff wrong with it.



Just when you thought the fun was over…



Photo courtesy of Brian Burt from the Gawler Rotary Club. No national landmarks (e.g. Map the Miner) were harmed in the creation of this picture. Thanks Brian, love it!

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Dear blog fans,

I have at least one final good week of posts in me. That’s right, I’ve been back in the country for about 36 hours and am starting to sing the jetlag blues. Now that I have begun the unpacking process, worked my way through the laundry and trashed a small mountain of mail…I will begin putting up the final posts from Australia.

So, stayed tuned for more AUSome Signs, a fighting priest and, yes, even an appearance by Jesus and Mary. I had a vision and I’ve chronicled it all for you.

More soon!

On Top of The World

We came, we saw…we conquered. Today, at about 4:30 p.m. Traci and I began our hike to the summit of the Sydney harbor Bridge. It was simply amazing.

For our portion of the trip, we literally walked along the outside railing of the bridge all the way to the summit. Once there, we spent a fair amount of time just hanging out and then crossed (via a very narrow catwalk) across the center of the bridge to get to the other side. We did this at the height of the bridge right under the two flags that have been placed at the summit. You will be able to see a copy of this photo as we are suspended hundreds of feet in the air.

It made us feel alive and really very special. It was an honor to share it with Traci. By the way, our special clothes were required and nothing – including watches, earrings or brackets was allowed onto the bridge so we are limited to their pics and not our own

Enjoy!

I Hope You Had The Time of Your Life...

Here is the final video from this portion of our trip. Thank you 9500, we did have the time of our lives...



And, thanks Chris...you're a rock star!

Hooroo and Thank You!

When I was selected to participate in the GSE experience, I knew it would be intense, rewarding, exhausting and life changing. And, it was all of these things and so much more.  

I knew the people I would meet would be incredible, but I didn’t realize that they would actually make the trip. I was wrong, they were the GSE experience. There were a lot of people that made this experience possible. In fact, too many to name here…but I wanted to take a minute and just thank my host families for welcoming me into their homes and treating me like family.

I wish I could say that the hospitality showed to me was unusual, but in truth it’s probably not. The generosity of these people goes to the very heart of who they are, what it means to be a Rotarian and what it means to be an Australian. And, I am a better person for it. Thank you!

Gawler: Maggie and Wayne Murphy. 

Barossa Valley: Robyn and Bob Sloan

Peterborough: Karen and David Chambers 

Clare: Carolyn and David Dunstan 

West Lakes: Christine and Brian White

Mawson Lakes: Kerry and Peter Tomaras (Kids: Dion & Larissa, Ashley and Nikki)



Salisbury: Jan and Ron Hann

Walkerville: Fran and Allan Wilson

I also want to give an honorable mention to one couple who really helped make this trip amazing and deserves recognition for putting up with us. When we were at Mawson Lakes, we spent a lot of time with Mark driving. He hosted Sarah, but got pretty close to the entire crew and was personally close to my host family. This could have explained how we ended up "falling" into the pool. 

Mawson Lakes: Mark and Carolyn Abbott

In Vino Veritas

Over the past month, we have worked our way across South Australia and been to some amazing places. Our philosophy was simple…leave no grape unsqueezed. We succeeded.

It is hard to give a proper shout out to all of our favorites, but I have tried to give you just a sample of the incredibly awesome Australian wine industry. To the men and women of this region….Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, Clare, Langhorne Creek…you gave us some amazing memories, helped us through some awkward times, caused us to buy one too many kangaroo themed items and always (somehow) ensured that we were up and ready to go in the morning. It must be something in the water…

In short, you made our trip memorable and exciting. We came to your industry as neophytes and leave with a healthy respect for your craft. You are artisans and we thank you for your service. You make our world just a little smaller with each bottle.  

Angus, if you’re reading, we are talking about you. THANK YOU!



Jacobs Creek can be purchased in the States.




Angus makes the grapes that make the wine that make life fun.



Aged to perfection…

Stack ‘em high and tight. There’s gold in them there barrels…even if they are French Oak.

Blahh – bloody French.

Jan stands in to give some perspective on the amount of wine in just this one container. The room was full of these. As the wine maker said, there are a lot of headaches in there…agreed.

Ron stands in front of one of the oldest wines in the South Australia.

The wines are well over 100 years old and produce some of the best grapes in the world.

Barrels and barrels of fun.

Ron pulls a sample of port from the barrel to show me how you taste and then blend batches to arrive at just the right mix. It was a lot of trial and error, but I was committed.  

I mean…even their cars spell it out for you.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

When I was young, my mom used to read to us from a Shel Silverstein book entitled, “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” Due to technical issues, I was unable to post about this day, but it seems fitting now and to do so with the book title in mind.

Earlier in the trip, we found ourselves lost in the Outback. Well, not lost as much as in luxury SUV’s with GPS units. And, not so much the Outback and the “edge” of the Outback…but we were roughing it. I mean, the beer was warm.

As Chris points out (and rightly so) if you look close, you will see the GPS has no idea where we are located. We’ve reached…white.

It was amazing scenery and helped us appreciate the bush. We almost lost one of the team initially and then one of our bumpers, but all is fine now and nobody was harmed in the making of this post.

For the record, this picture was not faked. Right before this was taken, Sarah decided that it was OK if that was the day she died. Thankfully, it didn’t have to come to that…