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…

Getting High

Guess what Traci and I are doing on Saturday? That’s right…we are going up and over the Sydney Harbor Bridge on one of their bridge walks.

The tickets are purchased and this post will ensure that I don’t back out…

What was I thinking!?! Oh well, let the fun begin!

Little Heroes

Have you ever walked into a meeting expecting nothing…and come out inspired? Excited? Rejuvenated?

The, you must have been with me for my first meeting today. I spent my morning with the founder of the Little Heroes Foundation here in Adelaide, Chris McDermott and Tim Ginever. The foundation is new and began with two former footy (Australian Rules Football) players decided to make a difference in the lives of kids with special needs and, in particular, terminally ill children.

The morning was amazing.

The foundation has done amazing things and recently raised the necessary funds to purchase an MRI machine for the Adelaide Children’s Hospital. The machine will benefit all of these kids but will really help the kids with cancer. It will be exciting to see how this group grows and continues to do amazing things.

For more information on their exceptional work, visit here.

LHF founder Chris McDermott (pictured left)

LHF marketing manager Tim Ginever (pictured right)