City to Surf....to Blue Mountains, to....

August was one of those busy months, both in and out of the office. The focus date early on was August 11: aka, City to Surf, a 14k race from the, um, city to the, er, yeah. Anyway, the race involves running through the streets of Sydney, great views and a little incline known as Heartbreak Hill. Definitely an exercise in exercise, but fun times, especially with the post-race beers at Beach Road.
Watching the Olympics afterwards made us feel like slackers in comparison, but at least we don't have to wear swimming goggles. As an aside, there's something about the Olympics for me that makes them seem like pancakes: when you first get em, you're all excited but after about five minutes, you're sick of em. OK, loosely stole that line from Mitch Hedberg, but it's true. After about 50 swimming heats without even seeing a gold medal race, not too interesting.
Somewhere along the way, work reared its ugly head and my friend Trynn (Trinh?) came to visit, which pretty made the Beijing Games null and void. Having a visitor in a city like this really makes you want to show them all Sydney has. We couldn't see the Harbour until it was sunny, but we did catch a good chunk of town and made our way to the Blue Mountains for a few days. A few massive hikes and 30 views of the same awesome canyon/mountain thingy, followed by a semi creepy hotel celebrating Christmas in August, we had a pretty damn good time.
The next week we finally did the Harbour thing, Manly, Darling Harbour. Just thinking about all the walking makes you tired, but when you're a host on a mission, it's got to be done.
The month ended with a trip up to Cairns and Port Douglas. Great preview for summertime, took in the sights of Great Barrier Reef, Daintree River, Cape Tribulation. First real vacation in awhile, felt real good. Skip Cairns, but make it up to Port D if you can, it's amazing how the scenic beach of Northeast Australia can combine with deep rainforest. Me likey.

I think this blog this is now up-to-date. It's been a long, strange trip catching up. Now I can talk about important current events, like Ohio State-USC and Sarah Palin. Can't wait.