August 29, 2010 by Shree Khare
The day after the Reef adventure, we went on a safari trip deep into the Australian Outback.
Our first stop was a lake and nature preserve.
Here is a picture of some emus standing by the side of the trail.
We stopped for lunch at an old mining town – mostly abandoned now.
The kids got to scavenge at an old marble quarry.
In the same area called Chillagoe, there was also an abandoned old ore and gold mine.
The highlight was the tour of an underground cavern filled with stalagmites (these grow from the floor – and might grow up) and stalactites (these drop from the roof – and have to hold on tight).
On the ride home, we stopped off at the world’s smallest train station in Petford.
We also stopped off at a coffee plantation and the kids got to play with a cockatoo.
The next stop was Port Douglas and the Sugar Cane factories.
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August 29, 2010 by Shree Khare
We took a two hour boat ride from the port in Cairns and arrived at the Great Barrier Reef. This has been labeled as one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It is composed of 2900 reefs across 1600 miles on the north eastern coast of Australia.
We all started with a snorkel dive. The reef is about 10-15 feet below and the visibility is excellent. We were at a reef called Norman Reef, one of the outermost reefs which is surrounded by deep water.
Here is a picture of Annika below. After a short 10 minute snorkeling lesson, she was off on her own.
Here is one of a maori wrasse fish I was able to capture that swam up along side us.
After the snorkeling, me, Nikhil and Vikram went for a couple of scuba dives.
The boys took to the water like fish! They scuba dived to 12-15m deep which took them to the bottom of the reef. We saw turtles, giant clams, clownfish, an eel, sea cucumber and lots of other fish.
We picked a perfect sunny day for our dive.
We returned after a full day of snorkeling and diving. The next day would take us on an adventure into the outback.
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August 29, 2010 by Shree Khare
I arrived in Melbourne and after a day, we flew up to Cairns which is on the northern coast of Australia and is the entry to the Great Barrier Reef.
Unfortunately, United Airlines lost my bag. It remained in San Francisco! I finally received it four days into my trip. I had to buy some new clothes but fortunately, the stores are very similar to the states – Target, Costco, etc.! Their allowance for lost baggage is a measly $50 US which doesn’t go too far in Melbourne.
Anyway, after spending a couple of hours buying some basic necessities, we went to Cardenia to check out the kangaroos and were not disappointed. Our plans for Philipps Island had to be postponed due to all the coats being in my bag.
The next day, we caught a Virgin Blue flight to Cairns and checked into our apartment on the beach. The weather in Yorkey’s Knob was at least 40 degrees warmer 80-90+ the whole time. Here is the view from our place – about 200M from the beach.
The water was warm – in the low 70′s.
During the summer months, the jelly fish are a problem and they have a first aid kit at the ready. Who knew!
The next day, we took a boat to the Reef. I’ll continue on the next post.
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August 29, 2010 by Shree Khare
We just got back from our trip down under. Anjali and the kids went out a week early and stayed at Madhura’s house.
Here are some pictures from Melbourne. This first one is a park within walking distance from Madhura’s house.
This is a picture from Mount Dandenong.
Here is a picture with Keya.
Here is one of a parakeet eating spicy potato chips from Nikhil’s hand!
Here is one in Cardenia with some kangaroos behind the gang.
The kids in front of the James Cook historic cottage.
Here is one at the Melbourne Aquarium.
I’ll continue on another post.
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July 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
It’s a small world. Joey’s littermate happens to live just a few miles from our house. Anjali and Annika went to the park to visit Kieran. Here they are resting after an hour of play time!
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July 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
We just got back from a weekend of camping and hiking in Yosemite. Nikhil, Vikram and 12 of their boy scout troop joined in the fun. I had arranged the camp sites and pre-ordered the half dome hiking tickets last February. This is a strenuous 21 mile hike (from Upper Pines Campground via John Muir Trail) with 4800 feet of elevation gain and took us over 12 hours.
We started our hike at 5:30 AM and started up the John Muir Trail. Here we are at our first break about an hour into the hike.
Vikram and Shree at Nevada Falls
We were fortunate to see this rare sighting of a bear cub at about the 10 mile mark. Vikram snapped this shot and we moved along quickly just in case the mother bear was near.
Here is a great shot of the approach to Half Dome. If you look closely, you will see the trail of people. The lower half is a rock scramble up the mountain, the upper half is the famous cable hike.
Half Dome Cables
Here we are at the hump right before the cable section.
Finally, we reach the top. I had all the boys harnessed into the cable with an Alpine Bod harness, runner and carabiner.
The hike back down the mountain was a bit quicker and had some glorious views of Nevada and Vernal Falls (below). We had all carried up over 4L of water per person and yet nearly all of us were running out at the end! Once again, it amazes me how many unprepared people we saw along the way with a bottle or two of water in 90 degree heat!
Posted in Boy Scouts | Tagged Boy Scouts, Half Dome, hiking, Yosemite | 3 Comments »
July 11, 2010 by Shree Khare
Yesterday, I took the boys and their Boys Scout buddies for a training hike up the San Juan Trail in San Juan Capistrano. It was a 13 mile round trip with over 2200 feet of elevation gain.
Here are the boys at the beginning of the hike:
The first few miles are a series of switchbacks carved into the side of the mountain.
Here is Vikram taking full advantage of one of the few places with 4 bars of AT&T cell phone coverage. We don’t get this kind of coverage at our house!
The boys conquering a rock halfway up the trail.
Here we are at the top of “Cocktail Rock”. Appropriately named because after 6.5 miles of hiking I felt like having a couple of cocktails.
Finally, here is what we had to look forward to going back down to the trailhead. It was almost 4 hours up and 2 1/2 back down.
Posted in Boy Scouts | Tagged Blue Jay Trail, hiking, San Juan Capistrano | Leave a Comment »
July 11, 2010 by Shree Khare
Anjali just got back from Pune and here are some of her pics.
Theses are some of her cousins.
Here is Anjali with her favorite uncle Makarand Mama.
Here is Anjali with her favorite fruit Jambul – a cross between a plum and a blueberry (and very sweet).
Anjali went to Pune for a wedding. Here is a picture of the bride and groom (Sujay and Aparna) along with the family.
Here is Anjali with her cousin Shantanu (also an elegible bachelor).
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July 5, 2010 by Shree Khare
I have some catching up to do as it has been several weeks since my last post. The kids have been keeping me very busy.
Annika and Nikhil had their final two races of the season.
The first was the SCMAF Championship. This is a Southern California track meet with qualifiers thru our city and county meets.
Annika qualified for and ran the 400M and 200M. She placed third overall in the 400M with a personal best of 79 seconds and 9th in the 200M.
Nikhil ran the 1600M and placed fourth overall.
A couple of weeks after the SCMAF races, both raced in the Junior Olympic Regionals. Both ran on two consecutive days the 1500M and the 800M races. These were much more competitive and they were running against kids that were one year older in most cases.
Annika brought her friend Lizzy to help cheer her on.
After the race on Sunday, we went to eat at our favorite Indian restaurant in Cerritos called Jay Bharat.
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May 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
On Saturday, I took Vikram and a few of his Boy Scout buddies on a 10 mile hike into Santiago Oaks.
Here we are at the start of the hike.
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May 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
Joey continues his naughty streak. Most recently, he swiped a box of straws from the kitchen counter and then had fun playing with them.
This week, he figured out a way to jump onto Annika’s bed but then couldn’t muster up the courage to jump off. He sat there whining for over half an hour!
Needless to say that all the bedroom doors are now closed.
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May 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
Yesterday, we went up to LA for the LA Jets track meet.
Annika and Nikhil both ran the 1500M and 800M races and both got PR’s in their races.
Here is Nikhil clocking in at 5:13 in his 1500M race – very close to breaking the key 5 minute mark.
Here is Annika en route to her first sub 7 minute mile with a 6:24 in the 1500M race.
She did even better in the 800M with a 3:07 – almost breaking the magical 3 minute barrier. Next time!
After their race, we went to Polly’s in Long Beach. This was a recommendation from Urbanspoon – an iPhone application. What a great meal! Deserving of the 5 star rating on the iPhone app.
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May 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
Last weekend we went up to Pasadena for a track meet.
Here are Nikhil and Annika in their races.
Annika got PR’s in both her races.
Here are the girls passing the time away after their race.
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May 31, 2010 by Shree Khare
A couple of weeks ago, Annika and Nikhil ran in the Santa Monica 5K. This was an hour drive and required getting there at 7AM!
Here they are lined up at the starting line with a few thousand other runners.
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May 15, 2010 by Shree Khare
Today the boys taught the Fingerprinting Merit Badge for their Boy Scout troop.
Here is Vikram the “teacher” directing the younger scouts.
The event was a huge success.
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May 9, 2010 by Shree Khare
Today we went to Peter’s Canyon to celebrate Mother’s Day. Here’s Anjali with the kids.
Happy Mother’s Day!
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May 7, 2010 by Shree Khare
Last weekend was the SCMAF Orange County meet down in Laguna Hills.
Nikhil ran the 1600 meter and got 2nd place with another PR down to 5:34.
After his run, Annika ran in the 400M and 200M and got 2nd and 4th place. She improved her 400M time to 82 seconds which was a 5 second improvement from a couple of weeks ago. Here she is on the outside lane on the way to the finish.
Here is Annika on the podium.
Both qualify for the Southern California finals coming up in a few weeks.
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April 25, 2010 by Shree Khare
Doesn’t this just make your mouth water?
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April 25, 2010 by Shree Khare
Yesterday we went to Escondido (near San Diego) for a track meet. Nikhil and Annika both ran the 1500m and 800m.
Both got PR’s in each event. The highlight was Nikhil making a 5:15 in the 1500m which was about a 15 second improvement over his last PR just a couple of weeks ago.
Annika too had her PR’s with about a 6 second improvement in the 1500M to 6:52. This was only her second 1500 ever.
The drive was about 150 miles round trip. Nikhil captured the occasion as my speedo hit 44444!
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March 28, 2010 by Shree Khare
This weekend, Nikhil and Annika ran in the Tustin Youth Track Meet.
Nikhil got 2nd in the 1600M and 4th in the 400M with a 5:57 and 0:68 respectively.
Annika got 1st in the 200M and 2nd in the 400M.
Look at her concentration!
They both qualified to move on the the Orange County regional meet in a few weeks.
Posted in Track | 2 Comments »
