The Tour Down Under

Well its been a while since I last blogged but to be honest nothing interesting has happened up until today. Of course if you count, watching the tennis on tv or finding an echidna on the front porch or a snake in the house all in one day exciting!!! hahaha all of that was exciting... well except for maybe the tennis but that's fun too. NOTHING compares to the what I experienced today! I got to see Lance Armstrong and a pro cycling race! I was on cloud nine all day and still am! It has been an amazing day and I really can't put into words the excitment and adrenaline I experienced today so I've put a lot of pictures up to show you how cool it was.

I do apologize if this blog bores you as basically it is mainly for my friend Dail as I SO wish he could have been standing next to me the WHOLE TIME!

Miss you Dail!

This is us before the race! Two days before we went to Big W (the equivalent of our Walmart) and bought supplies for Lance Flags... Yes, I know they look very similar to that of our Texas flag but they were made with the motivation to get Lance's attention and hopfully a signature on the star... alas it did not happen. BUT no matter the day made up for it in full.

We woke up early to get a good spot on the barricade. We chose a very nice spot about 100 meters on the receiving end of the finish line... the idea to see the finish clearly looking straight at it. A very cool move on our part as we got to see a smooth start and finish as well as every lap in between a this race was a circuit and set up on a loop type system.

But first warm ups...

That's right! George Hincapie!!!! What a beautiful picture! I would marry him if he wasn't already married! Drat!
Micheal Rogers!

A great Aussie Rider!

Team Columbias whater station was right infront of where we were standing I didn't have to zoom in much for this picture. I have many pics of him and my husband... I mean George sitting and chilling before the race.

Like so... Love this one

Robbie McEwen!!!

Another great Aussie Bloke!

Stuart O'Grady!!!

The First winner of the Tour Down Under and one of the best Aussie riders out there!

And look who snuck in the other way! None other than the legend himself!

Lance Armstrong!!!!

That bike is AMAZING!!!!

He just smiled his sly smile as he rode past because it took everone by surprise as we all were expecting to see him come from the other direction.

Then!!!! Then George came over and signed my hat!!!!! So exciting! I wished him a very good ride and he just smiled and said thanks sheepishly.

What an amazing guy!

The greatest domestique EVER!!!

Right before the start! Everyone ready?!?!?!

They blew past but I managed a rough shot of Lance! Can you see him?

Get ready!

There he is going on the other side of the loop... I told you the best spot! Got to see him twice on each loop and there was 18 plus warm up! I'm just saying I got to see quite a lot of my pal Armstrong today.

So much later in the race as the peleton caught up with the break away group Quick Step controlled the peleton to help out the main man Allan Davis!
A closer shot of the line and you can make out Allan Davis in the orange or ochre jersey!

There he is again!!!!
And again! He's so fast he's blurry!!!

Ok this picture is just to give you an idea of how close the cyclists were to us. In no way could you stick anything over the barrier or you would have died! It was amazing! I could feel the wind they generated like it was going to blow me over and they all were litterally inches away from me. Especially since I was pushed up against the barrier and was resisting the crowds push to not interfear with the riders it was insane!!! But I loved every minute! I saw Lance this close but of course as luck would have it I was never lucky enough to actually snap that shot the below pictures give you an idea of what I could get of Lance during the race.

Can you spot him...? He's in this picture I promise.

Or this... I have so many rear shots of the man. His girlfriend is going to come hunt me down for all the bum shots I have of him. GO #11!!!!

Alas all fun must come to an end. Those 18 laps went far too fast for me. I could have stayed out there all day long. But the boys must have their rest. :(

Give the man some water he deserves it!!!
"Sign my flag Lance!!!!"

Just another pic of my new friend.

The only pic I will have with Lance unless of course our paths cross in the future... oh how I hope that happens... can you see me in the center of the pic? I have an orange sweat band on my wrist and a camera in my face!

"Don't go Lance! Please sign my flag!!!"

I sound like a psycho fan and really I'm not I just was really excited to see him. He is an amazing athlete and a hoss on the bike. But more importantly I respect what he is doing by coming out of retirement and making cancer such a huge awareness to people. Everyone knows about cancer but they don't pay attention until it happens to them or someone they love. Believe me I know! Lance has two numbers on his bike that mean something to him. 1274 representing the days in which he hasn't been off the bike since his 7th Tour de France in 2005 and the first day of the Tour down under. And 27.5 representing the 27.5 million people that have died from cancer during those 1274 days. My mother is apart of that number and that is why his cause is so important to me. I appreciate what he is accomplishing with his tenancity and boldness. Most people think he's crazy for coming out of retirement but I think he's an angel.

I have a goal to ride in the Livestrong Challenge so I too can help make a contribution to the fight against cancer.

After Lance left it was Allan Davis's turn to take the stage!!!

That's the boy wonder!

I'm really glad he won he deserved it!

Bodysurfing with the fans!

Brave man!

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Oui! Oui! Oui!

3,600 KM and counting

Well it's been crazy since I last signed on. I feel like I've driven through the whole country! In Canberra we went to the Australian War Memorial and National Museum. We saw the missions (which are the Embassy's from each country), and toured both Old and New Parliament. On our way out of the city we visited Peter and Jim at the Geoscience Australia. They showed us all the specimens they've found all over Australia as well as in other countries and then gave us a tour of everything they do. It was very interesting and so good to see them both. Thanks guys! We could have spent more time there but it seems there isn't ever enough time no matter where you go.

I took this at the war memorial. For my dad... my own personal Navy Hero. I love you daddy!

So my Christmas Eve morning started with this...

I got to fly in Graeme's Ultralight! It was so amazing! Thank you Graeme! I got a birds eye view of his property and the land that surounds his. It was just exhilerating! I was on cloud nine all day! Dad got to go after me and he was just as excited and happy as I was. That just started our amazing day. After some waking up (as flights started at 6:30am) we all visited and ate some breakfast and Graeme took us on a drive of his property. Our goal was to find a Christmas tree to bring back to the house. We took the long way around and got an amazing tour of the hilly and beautiful land that he and Pat live on. I was so happy that my Aunt and Dad got to share in that experience with us. I just can't put to words how lucky Danielle and I have been since we've been here and the time we spent at Pat and Graeme's house just gave my family a taste of what we've experienced here. Christmas was amazing between both days I think we ate enough for a month. The food was amazing and spending Christmas with such a generous and amazing family was just a blessing. Thank you for opening up your home to us I can't express to you enough how amazing our Christmas was and how much it meant to be able to share the holidays with such a wonderful family.

From left to right: Kylie, Ashley, Tanya, Auntie Cata, Melissa, Pat, Micheala, Tony, Uncle John, Dad, Danielle and Rebecca. I was taking the pic and poor Graeme was at work. Thank you all for making this blessed holiday a memory I will never forget. I hope we get to play spoons again sometime girls! All of you made this a very special Christmas.

We got back on the road and headed south towards Melbourne. Our ultimate destination Phillip Island. Beautiful that's all I can say. Check out the picture below.

Enough said don't you think? Just beautiful!!!

It was a near miss... hahaha! Since we couldn't take pictures of the seals or the penguins we decided to get inventive. Phillip Island was amazing. Koalas and Seals and Penguins... oh my! The penguins were my favorite part I just can't get over how adorable they are. It was just amazing getting to see them pop out of the ocean and onto the beach and waddle their little selves to safety. Too precious!

After some time in Melbourne we had to take Auntie Cata and Uncle John to the airport. After that we decided to head to the Great Ocean Highway and see the Twelve Apostles. It took a lot longer than we had anticipated and we found ourselves in a bit of predicament. Everywhere we turned there was a NO Vacancy sign lit up mocking our need for sleep! AHHHHHH after much deliberation and no other option we transformed our cozy Camary into our own personal bedroom. Yep that's right we slept in the car! It was comical but worth it because the next morning we got to see the Twelve Apostles.

There we are! If you can't tell from the pic it was amazingly windy! It was really cool to see and the ocean was just amazing especially with all the white caps. We ended up back in Robinvale and have been recovering from our nonstop adventures at our good friend Smythe's. It's been great to relax and just enjoy each others company and dad has been in hog heaven doing handy jobs around the house. We head out tomorrow for Melbourne again as dad has to leave in two days. :( Then it's back to work ~ wish us luck in finding one! ha