went exploring on the bike today, found some apple pie + ice cream along the way

It truly is hard to explain how beautiful Australia is from a landscape perspective. To date it is one of the best countries I've had the fortune to travel to and explore. Fortunately living here has allowed me to go a bit further off the beaten path without having to do extensive research or read online reviews, as you would when you go on holiday. It's also a blessing to be able to wake up on the weekend and do something you've never ever done before. And I think i'm just scratching the surface in terms of whats out there.

Today's adventure stems from this....Ever look out the window of an airplane and think "hey that looks like a cool spot to go explore one day". Well today I went on a ~150km round trip in a northerly direction in the hopes of finding a series of bridges and water hidden amongst some serious greenery. We saw this from the window on our flight out to Gold Coast a few weeks back. I didn't realize I'd end up eating apple pie and ice cream at a biker hangout called "Pie in the Sky" after finding the exact bridges we saw from the the airplane. Check out their site for more pics of the local scenery.

Unfortunately, one of the most frustrating things I've found about moving to another country is that every so often you come across something or a place that you wish your friends back home could be with you to enjoy. The roads I experienced today was another fine example. The biker crew would love these roads. In a nut shell... long twisties cutting through various elevations, low to no traffic and no cops for miles. Doesn't get better than that. Oh yeah... some good eats at the end of the run.

What happens when the wife is 15000 km away?

... you get bored and make cookies with sweet poppy/suwar dana mixed in it. Interesting. Would I make them again...hmm likely not, in my defence it was a good idea at the time

I also made a big pot of chilli on saturday, which turned out pretty good, definitely will not need to do much more cooking over the next 2 days.

trip back for Hiran's Wedding

There is no two ways about it: Flying from Australia to Canada is a long ass way to go for a friggin wedding.... but I'm still glad I went! Despite the journey which takes over 29-30 hours when you add all the time before, during, between and after the flight. Also, don't forget the added bonus of having to go through US customs when you land in LAX. Anywhoo I digress.

Was great catching up with the family and the boys. As always the pre-wedding events are just as much fun as the wedding day itself. Managed to squeeze in a hike plus lunch at Tucker's Market Place with Dad/Rin and on another occasion Rin and I made dinner for Mom on one of the evenings. One of the highlights of the trip was Mom making me my favourite... fresh mandwo with pappa nu lot + sugar...mmm

The wedding itself was good. Reception was great, was fun doing the Harlem Shake mid speech with the boys while almost burning the place down. Still wondering if I should have eaten Lamb Chops before sitting on the mandap during the wedding... ahh well sure Rimi and Hiran aren't too fussed.

soul cleansing

Today I volunteered at a local mandir with a friend. Was nice to do a bit of gardening and be behind some powertools again for a change. City living has been quite a change from my domesticated surburban life back in Waterloo. Also on the 45min highway drive down it was nice to get the bike out of the usual first second gear driving that is usually all you end up doing around the city.

Link to Mandir

Pri