Men, Moose, and Mountains

The Men's outing this year was a little later in June, but we continued to head to one of our favorite get-away locations...Little Lyford Pond Camp in the 100 Mile Wilderness of Maine. The coordination of departure times was only enhanced by having several of our wives meeting at our house and leaving at the same time as the men, for an outing of their own...at least that was the plan.

Cheri, Suzanne Cimochowski, and Lisa Nowak met at our house right on time and loaded up the car for a trip to The Cottage in NH...

You can't see her, but Lisa is in the back seat. When I asked Suzanne why John didn't ride with her, she said he had too many last things to do (pack...cool the beer) plus Jim had offered in an E-mail earlier to pick him up.

Lisa also said Jim had some last minute things to do (something to do with the goats and / or packing), but he was on his way. Charlie showed up at the appointed time so we were only waiting for the other two when the wives headed out. Then it turn out that Jim never read John's positive response to the offer of picking him up, so Jim was almost to my house when John called and asked where was he...and was he running late. Needless to say (but I will anyway) we didn't leave until about 45 minutes after the original plan.

Our first stop was in Northborough, MA to pick up my friend from work, George Brenckle. George has done quite a bit of hiking in the past with his sons and Boy Scouts and is planning to do the Appalachian Trail next year with one of his sons, so he certainly exceeded any of us in ability.

The next stop was a rest room break at the NH Liquor Store...and since we were already stopped...

Then it was on to the Moosehead Lake region of Maine.

Dan Manz had driven over from Uderhill, VT and arrived ahead of us. He and I were in the Trapper Cabin (ideally located near the rest room / shower and community fire pit), Charlie and George were next to us in the White Wolf cabin, and Jim and John were banished to the Trails End cabin at the far end of the camp...coincidence...?

We settled into our cabins, had a small libation to counter the dust of the road, and then it was off to another great supper put on by the AMC staff at Little Lyford. After all you could eat grilled salmon, quinoa salad, locally grown snap peas (as in the garden right behind the lodge), brownies and ice cream (this is 'roughing it' our style) it was back to the cabins for some story-telling...and maybe another libation.





Saturday morning we were up early (being so far north the sun seems to come up about 4 am...plus this was the summer solstice) so we were all enjoying coffee on the porch of the lodge well before breakfast.

Charlie and George are to the right with Dan on the left, next to Dan is a fellow camper named Jim...who just happened to join us for coffee.

Similar to previous years following breakfast the group split up with three (Charlie, Jim, George) heading out to hike the Gulf Hagas and three (Dan, John, myself) heading out to do some fly fishing. Charlie posted the following picture from their hike and you can look back through the archives in June of the last few years to see some other photos of the gulf.

I have typically done the hiking but a combination of a little strain on the MCL of my right knee and a growing interest in fly fishing had me heading out to some remote ponds. AMC offered a program that took us in a van (along with four other fisherman) plus two Maine Guides out to some more remote ponds in the area to fish for wild brook trout.

We dropped off three other fishermen with their guide, Rance at Mountain Brook Pond while Dan, John and I along with another fisherman, Rich and Casey our guide drove to the trail to Horseshoe Pond. We carried paddles and flotation devices into the pond. Once there Casey pointed out the typically good fishing sites and we got into three canoes and headed out.

After about two hours at one pond we met up with the other group, enjoyed our pack lunches together and then switched ponds. Between the two ponds Dan and I caught and released about twenty fish and Dan kept one to have with breakfast the next day. Rich and John in the other canoe seemed to have similar luck.

Then it was back to LLPC to meet up with our hiking buddies and enjoy a great turkey dinner (did I mention again how well they feed us at LLPC?). After dinner some of us attended a very good presentation made by Casey about the Maine Wilderness Initiative and the preservation of these tracts of land for outdoor use. Then it was back to the cabin for some fish stories (I really did have a big one that broke the line as I was trying to get him into the canoe) and maybe a libation.

It was a beautiful evening and there was general interest in using the fire pit near our cabin. So we had a fire and more stories with our fellow campers and staff for a while into the evening.

Early Sunday morning, Dan and I headed out to the Pleasant River to see what was biting before breakfast. This time I was fortunate enough to land one worth keeping. We brought him back to the lodge (Dan cleaned him stream side) and the cook prepared him to go with the vegetable frittata, cherry scones and sausage already planned for breakfast (she did the same for Dan's catch from the previous day which had been kept on ice overnight).

After breakfast the hikers headed out to climb Indian Mountain nearby (about a 2,500 foot climb with good views back over the ponds) while Dan, John and I took out a canoe and kayak on First Roach Pond. Dan and I had several good strikes but didn't land anything while John caught the fish of the weekend (a little over 11 inches). He put it on ice to bring back home.

Before heading back home and to our spouses, we managed to get a group shot...

Speaking of our spouses...

On their way up to The Cottage Cheri, Suzanne and Lisa stopped at the La Belle Vineyard in Bedford, NH. While we were roughing it in the 100 Mile Wilderness they were sampling wines with nibbles.

Liz Manz met them at The Cottage for the day on Saturday. They spent the time with a little swimming (Cheri and Liz only), some kayaking (Lisa, Liz and Cheri), and some general relaxing...resting

It's hard to make out my feet in front of the fire...but you get the idea...another great adventure.

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The Paparazzi have Left Oz...

Our last few days in Oz were simple relaxing days...trying to maximize our time with Evelyn. Andrew had to work Monday through Thursday, so Cheri and I baby-sat a little and let Sarah head out for a few errands alone. Of course we also ended up with a photo that makes Cheri and me chuckle every time we see it...

One of the mornings we (Cheri, Sarah, Evelyn and myself) walked down to the local coffee shop--Common Grounds. It was a cool Fall morning in Oz so Sarah put a hat on Evelyn...and it sure brings out the Swede in her...

Tuesday afternoon Cheri and I headed into the City Centre of Canberra to do some sight seeing. We visited the new Parliment Building. Architecturally it is a beautiful building...very little visible on the outside, but well designed on the inside. The building was purposely built into one of the hills in Canberra with a lawn up the sides and over the top of it--the thought being that Parliment should be visible, but not "over" the people.

The House and Senate are on opposite sides of the building and are built in the style of the British Parliment. They chose to keep the same color palette of the British Parliment (green for the House and red for the Senate) only the architect gathered gum tree leaves and used them as the various shades of green and used the spring color of gum tree buds for the shades of red.
We also went onto the roof and I took a photo across the grass mall to the old Parliment Building (the original). Beyond the Old Parliment you can see the red ANZAC Parade leading up to the War Museum. What looks like a tall blue building on the left side of the photo is the Captain Cook Memorial Jet Fountain in Lake Burley Griffin.

We walked down the grass mall, around the old Parliment and then took the Kings Avenue Bridge to the other side of Lake Burley Griffin. On the other side we had good views of the National Clarion (a gift from the British government in 1963 to celebrate Canberra's 50th anniversary), the Captain Cook Jet Fountain, and some black swans.

Our walk then went up the ANZAC Parade and to the War Memorial Museum. This is an outstanding museum that doesn't celebrate war, but memorializes those who have sacrificed in any way for all of us. Arriving late in the afternoon we were not able to spend as much time as we would have liked, but we were there for the daily Last Post
Every day at closing visitors gather in the courtyard for the laying of some wreaths at the reflection pond, the singing of the Australian National Anthem, a Lament played on bagpipes, and then the story behind one of the more than 102,000 names of soldiers written on the walls of the museum is read...a different story every day. Following the reading the Last Post is played by a single bugler to signal the end of the day's activities. It is a very moving event.

From the museum we could also look back across ANZAC Parade, the old Parliment, and up to the new Parliment...a nice end to the day.

Wednesday we were able to squeeze in a ride along some of the many bike paths in Canberra. Paul, Cheri and I headed out from Gowrie (the suburb where Sarah and Andrew live) and peddled about 20 km to the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. From there, if we'd had the time, it would have been several more hours to bike around the lake. Instead we pedaled part way back and stopped for a coffee and cannoli (a very civilized way of biking) before heading back to Gowrie. That evening was the weekly Walker Family dinner only at Andrew and Sarah's this time. Paul and I jointed forces to make a grilled pork wrapped with bacon...a huge success.

Thursday was our last full day in Oz and we spent the time doing some last minute shopping (wine, cookies...the essentials). Then we met Andrew in the City for a picnic lunch on a local park...aso some last minute paparazzi time...

This adventure wound up on Friday with over 30 hours of traveling from Gowrie to Woodstock. We caught a 9am (7 pm on Thursday in Woodstock) bus from Canberra to Sydney Interational Airport. Our flight left at 2:57 pm (local time) Friday afternoon, and we landed in San Francisco at 11:30 am (local time) Friday morning...we flew east from Sydney faster than the earth rotated in the opposite direction...so with crossing the date line we arrived before we left.
It was then a flight to Boston and a car ride back to Woodstock arriving home around 1 am Saturday morning. The end of another great adventure.

Another Day at the Beach...in Oz

We woke up on Friday to the sun shining through the clouds over Point Perpendicular...across Jervis Bay. Before heading out for the day we thought this would be a good time for some group photos...

 

We didn't have to check out of the house until 10 am, so we headed off to Hyam's Beach Cafe for breakfast and the spent some time on the beach. Hyam's Beach is a beautiful area and since we were there at the start of the off-season there were not too many people around. This gave us some time to walk along the beach and Sarah some time to shoot some "plain old film" photos. I stuck with my nice little digital camera...and still got a few nice shots. Cheri also got some great photos...

 

 

 

And then Miss Evelyn was ready for her morning nap...

 

We drove back to Canberra by way of the coast road, with a short "stretch" break in Bateman's Bay (a nice resort town) before turning inland towards the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). While stopped saw some pelicans relaxing...now that most of the tourists are gone...

 

 

 

We did make another short stop at the Braidwood Bakery (in Braidwood, NSW of all places) to have a quick lunch of meat pies...a popular stopping point and well worth it!

 

 

Footy on Saturday...

The next day Andrew and I met up with a a couple of his mates in Tuggernong, ACT (a few kilometers from their home) and rode a free bus to GIO Stadium for a Canberra Raiders National Rugby League game.

The bus got us to the stadium just before warms ups were over so we saw a little practice on the field first...

 

Our seats were in the "end zone" so a Try (touchdown) made at our end had them kicking the extra two points towards us (if you look closely you can see the ball in the air). The extra point kicks are taken for a point straight out from where the ball is touched down and it is basically a free kick with no defenders.

 

Unfortunately, although the photo is of a Raiders' kick they did not make enough to win the game. But it was "Knit Beanie Day" so we brought a present home for Evelyn...and she looks like a fan already.

 

The Adventures in Oz continue for a few more days.

 

 

 

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