Archive for the “Photos” CategoryMommy was out of town for the Vancouver, BC marathon so she hooked Daddy and I up to join Nana and Papa at Key Arena to take in the MASSIVE production of Walking With Dinosaurs. The staging, the lights, the sound, the dinosaurs, the nachos… A W E S O M E . S A U C E ! !
This weekend we headed down south to the Vancouver/Portland metroplex to pay a visit to Grammy Sam and have an overnight with the Lights. Saturday night my former ELDC teacher Heather Jones made the trek out to East Moreland/Sellwood to hunker down with Henry, Audrey and I while Don, Amy, Mommy and Daddy headed out to East Hawthorne to Sel Gris for a heavy duty culinary get down. While they were popping fois gras and pairing wines, us kids were running cirlces around Heather and having a GREAT time… So awesome to see her. Today after a hearty round of ebelskivers and Otto’s bacon expertly cooked up by chefs Don and Amy, we all saddled up into the new Light family SU-Huge and headed down past Newberg to the Dundee Hills area of Oregon to taste some wine and hang out at the beautiful vineyards of Erath. As Erath is one of the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates labels, mommy and the gang got the royal hook-up.
Ok, so it’s now official: I am enrolled at Pacific Crest Montessori school for the fall of ‘09 and beyond. And so the eduventure begins.
We had a ton of fun in Australia, but it is sure great to be back home. I’m not sure if it’s all of the comfort of all my things, food I’m more familiar with, or just sleeping in my own bed, but as Dorothy once said, “There’s no place like home” and I hear ya sister. The Beelman 3 seem to be adjusting to life back on Mars with a minimum of jet lag (except para mi). I went to bed last night around 8:30 PM and slept until 11:30 AM. Not bad… Not bad at all. Mommy began to worry about whether I was alive or not and came in to my room only to get a kick out of me shouting at 9:45 AM this morning:
Daddy needed to get back to work to deal with some project deadlines, so that left Mommy and me free to enjoy a nice mix between casual fun and getting things accomplished (once I finally got rolling). After a trek to Trophy Cupcake, Mommy got a haircut and then we had a invigorating walk around Green Lake in the crisp sunshine that was concluded with a refreshing visit to the Green Lake Starbucks where Mommy and I shared yummy lattes.
Snapped on Mama’s Blackberry Today we had some great coffees from Far Horizons and enjoyed a little walk on the beach before we caught an early shuttle to Cairns in order to make our Ocean Spirit catamaran out to Michaelmas Cay in the Great Barrier Reef. The boat was massive and features a crew to guest ration of 9:1, so we were well looked after.
It took almost 2 hours to get out to the cay (a cay is an island without trees) and I did have a little bout of sea sickness. Yuck. Once out at the cay the crew had to resort to plan B as the boats usual moorings were unavailable since the island had changed quite a bit due to all of the recent nearby cyclones. And due to the relatively high winds and choppy water, we weren’t able to go ashore. Even more awesome is that the Ocean Spirit keeps a semi-submersible glass-bottomed boat anchored on the far side if the island. We took the 1:30 PM trip around the reef and were floored by all the amazing creatures and pretty colors. Since I wasn’t able to get out and snorkel, the glass-bottomed boat turned out to be just the ticket for this little girl. The ride back went a lot smoother for me as I felt great and helped the crew organize all of the stinger suits and scuba gear. And once again I became the subject of adulation and photographs for bands of excited Japanese girls. One of the crew members channeled his inner Jimmy Buffet and was the entertainment in the saloon for the ride back while Mommy and Daddy sipped the complimentary sparkling wine from New Zealand. Once back in Palm Cove we hit the pool, sourced some takeaway pizza and watch Stuart Little in our suite. A relaxing end to a busy day in Tropical North Queensland.
We piled out of the Melbourne Grand Medina at way-too-early O’clock and hopped aboard our shuttle to the airport. It was so early in fact, that Queen Street didn’t even have a single café open. Youch.
The flight to Cairns in Tropical North Queensland was smooth, quick and uneventful. I drank a lemon squash (a carbonated lemon drink by Solo) while Mum and Daddy watched Australia as the onboard entertainment. We dropped our bags at our beautiful Angsana Resort accommodation and quickly put flip-flop to sand and headed up and down Palm Cove’s Williams Esplanade. We heard that there is a netted swimming area about 3 K’s down the beach that has a livesver on duty and protects from marine stingers. Unfortunately the beach was closed due to too many stingers in the water. We’d never heard of the stingers and while not lethal, they can cause fever, vomiting and heavy sweating. The pools back at the Angsana seem like a much better option.
Another good option was the happy hour at the Vivo restaurant where Daddy had an amazing orange margarita and Mommy had a beautiful fresh watermelon and mint martini. A massive squall pushed through while we were there and I stomped through the puddles and got soaked while Daddy and Mommy stayed dry under a giant umbrella. Our server was the really, really sweet Miss Jade that actually will spend Tuesday night with me as Mommy and Daddy have a nice meal to themselves.
Loving the tropics! Today wraps up our last day in Melbourne and we went out with a quiet bang. After the ritual morning coffees at the Milano Café, we saddled up and braced ourselves to leave the aircon of our comfy apartment for what turned out to be Melbourne’s hottest day on record… A blistering 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Ouch. We did some last minute gift shopping for Mr. and Mrs. Chadwick and had some beautiful Waterford Champagne flutes wrapped along Little Collins before hopping a train at Flinders Street Station bound for Hampton. The train had aircon and was a nice respite from the heat and hot breeze that felt like being torched by a hair dryer. Once at the Hampton station, we stumbled into a health club to nick their aircon and phone the Chadwick home to see about getting a lift. Kevin Chadwick arrived in about 3 minutes ready in his Dodge Caliber. The Beelzecchi 3 piled in and were off to the home of Bob and Patty Chadwick to attend the afternoon luncheon they were hosting for newlyweds Paul and Helen Pettigrew. I was on could 9 in the back room playing with best mates Eleanor and James Chadwick. Though quite hot, both us kids and the adults made the most of it with Tasman beer, tasty vittles and plenty of post-wedding good vibes. Mommy and Eleanor’s mom Sue chatted about what the plans were for the rest of the evening and devised a plot that would take me to the home of Sue, Anthony, Eleanor, James and Gracie Chadwick while Mommy and Daddy headed out with Helen, Paul, Kylie and Kevin for a final night on the town in Melbourne. The plan worked perfectly as I had a ball over at the Chadwick home while Mommy and Daddy bid farewell at the Deck Restaurant overlooking the Yarra in the Southgate area of Melbourne. I hear the duck confit and seafood risotto were both tops! The Southbank party crew rang Sue to let her know that they were walking back so Sue and I saddled up and met them right in front of our Medina digs. Flawless.
Mommy needed to take off early today, so we bopped down to the Milano first thing. While sipping our coffees and hot chocky’s, Daddy spied Bob Chadwick sauntering down the Queen Street sidewalk with ciggy in hand. He was a few minutes early to meet up with Mommy as her transport to the Chadwick home in Hampton for the girls to get ready for the WEDDING!!
Daddy and I hung back, finished up at Milano and then hit the hotel pool. It was fun splashing around in my floatie and playing preted Kung Fu Panda. Daddy was Po and I was Tigress. I put a whuppin’ on him for sure.
We sidestepped over to Hardware Lane for a quick lunch at Max Restaurant consisting of Greek salad and some pizza. It was cool people watching and kind of amazing to see the GINORMOUS plates of food the Aussie’s were taking in for lunch.
Getting ready back at the hotel took over with showers and baths, ironing, hair cobming and teeth brushing. Daddy and I were matching with me in a two-tone purple dress and him in a lounge suit with purple accents. We looked smart! We walked about 7 blocks to the Flinders Street Station and hopped a train to Sandringham on Platform 9. A couple of stops later we got off at the Ripponlea stop and walked the four blocks to the Ripponlea Mansion on Hotham Street. Neither Daddy nor I knew this before hand, but Ripponlea happens to be a center of orthodox Jews. Daddy kind of thought he’s be getting looks of sympathy from people in his suit on a hot day… No such looks from this crowd! While blisteringly hot, the grounds and gardens of Ripponlea were beautiful and made a perfect backdrop for Helen and Paul’s wedding. We stood around in the shade making small talk before the wedding began. So many people were amazed that our family made the trek all the way from Seattle. Frankly, we are too. Thankfully, due to the penetrating sun, the ceremony was short and sweet. In Australia, the people that officiate weddings are called celebrants and Jill, Helen and Paul’s, did a great job. The vows were touching and the same for both Helen and Paul. Best mate Angie handled the rings and successfully handed them off without incident. Mommy looked beautiful standing beside bride Helen and maid of honor Helen… The only puzzling thing is that the hair stylist FLAT-IRONED Mommy’s hair. ?!! Mommy drew the short stick on that one! And Helen, looked stunning as a bride with her fitted ivory dress with beads and sequins across the bottice and a lace up the back.
After the wedding people headed to the Middle Brighton Beach Baths for a wonderful reception featuring lovely food, moving sentiments and some serious booty shaking supplied by the Fat Cats band. It seems like day in Melbourne would be off on the right foot without a stop at either Torta e Café or Milano. Considering Milano is ½ block away from our digs, so begins another day at Milano. Today that had white princess cupcakes with at least one with my name on it. Next on our agenda was a rendez-vous with Helen’s brother, Mr. Kevin Chadwick. He too visited Seattle with the Chadwick posse, so he and Daddy were glad to see each other and picked up like it was yesterday. We piled into his Dodge Caliber hatchback and headed south to St. Kilda. He showed us around the neighborhood pointing out favorite restaurants and places he used to live. Once again we were back at the Stoke Restaurant for about 30 minutes of quality beach time on the calm shore of Port Phillip Bay.
After drying off and trying to de-sand, we stopped for a quick coffee and to grab some Thai lunch and gelato to enjoy back at his place for lunch. He shares his house with girlfriend Kylie and their two cute terriers. The place is the Moorroan neighborhood and is well appointed with 3 bedrooms and two baths and is done up perfectly with every little decoration and finishing touch to make it look like it is out of a design magazine. Next we headed to the Docklands to drop in on the photography studio of Yervant. Daddy attended the Two Views seminar last spring in San Franciso put on L.A. photographer Joe Buissink and Melbourne’s Yervant. Yervant was first brought to Daddy’s attention by amazing Seattle photographer Jim Garner, a student of Yervant with a very similar style and look. At the time of the seminar in SF, Yervant was a bit anxious as the finishing touches were being added to his new space in this up and coming area of Melbourne. The Docklands are a completely new and hip collection of lanes, shops, condos and restaurants located by a marina and all having sprouted out of a derelict industrial area. Yervant’s shop was amazing and Daddy got the 411 from Vito, a charming fellow and super informative.
A stroll through the high end houses off of Toorak Road capped our day with Kevin. Mansion after mansion gave way to heading back across the Yarra from the Southbank to our hotel in the CBD. Kevin was an awesome tour guide, great host and super sweet. We’ll look forward to seeing him at the wedding on Friday. Local babysitting agency Dial and Angel sent us Michelle to keep me company while Mommy and Daddy headed back to the Southbank for dinner at Bistro Guillaum, The Age’s “Best New Restaurant” and esteemed holder of Two Hats.
While Michelle and I watched some telly and colored, Mommy and Daddy whooped it up with top shelf cocktails and superb French bistro fare: Cold smoked salmon with salmon mousse and crème fraiche, seared scallops with fennel and pancetta cubes, steak frites in a bordelaise sauce and duck confit. Due to Mommy’s position at Chateau Ste. Michelle, they were well looked after by sommelier and rocker Ewan Proctor with wines that would make your head spin… 2004 Chateau Balac – Cru Bourrgeois – Haut Medoc and an interesting varietal called Tannat that Mommy and Daddy found very surprising.
This is becoming a broken record, but it was another fine day in Oz. |
© 2007 Kip Beelman
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