Paula & Iines & Vilma & Otso

Vilma - month by month

2011-06-02T18:44:00.005+03:00

Shot per month since the down term of this blog started.

September 2010, still @Hakaniemi

October 2010, @Bournemouth

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011, @Metro Vavin, Paris

May 2011

New start?

2011-05-08T12:35:00.004+03:00

It's been too long time, too much has happened... new home, new job, trip to UK, Lou&Chris' wedding, trip to Paris... It really seems that we cannot keep the blog going as it has been earlier. Therefore from now on I try upload one or two photos more frequently without too much story around. Let's keep it simple and easy.

Vilma's 1-year anniversary.

August - On the road with Huuhkajat

2010-11-07T12:11:00.019+02:00

At the end of August Beni, Hannu, Tuoppi & myself were full of excitement ... the new Euro qualification campaign was starting, expectations were of course high and we were going to see the game live at the Zimbru stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Easy win and then perhaps a draw from Rotterdam the following Tuesday would be good start for the campaign ... well it didn't quite go that way. Maybe in 2014 then.

Fortunately the trip was much more than just the game. First we checked out the pearl of Black Sea, Odessa. First time for all of us to visit Ukraine and I'd say it's about the time. Anyways one of the biggest countries in Europe. We stayed in Grande Babushka hostel which turned out to be a great investment. The staff was very helpful and we got some useful tips from them, well above all they told us where to find the great bar 14. But as the photos below show it wasn't just the bars... but tourism and culture too.

Odessa opera house

3 handsome gentlemen and the famous steps

The famous beaches of Black Sea, slightly off season though.

Port of Odessa, the charm of transport industry

Central Odessa

Some cool locals we met at Bar 14. Everyone we met during the trip were really nice and welcoming except the dude at the security control in Chisinau on our way back who tried to steal our money.

After spending 3 days in Odessa we were fresh and motivated to do some traveling. Quick coffees next to the bus station and off we go. The minibus from Odessa to Chisinau was good 5 hours due to the border formalities and rough road conditions. Again we met some top people, our bus driver spoke French and was really nice guy. He helped us with the border formalities and even drove us directly to our hotel.

Hotel Cosmos, the headquarters of Finnish fans in Moldova. Some similarities to the legendary Viru Hotel in Tallinn.

View over Chisinau

Proud supporter Tuoppi

Finnish supporter section, Paavo "Casual" Arhinmäki hasn't arrived yet.

Only few seconds away from the complete disaster...

Frustration in the air.

Our public relations' specialist Beni has again a good control of the situation even after the humiliating loss.

Glad we didn't book this hotel.

What could be better for a lazy Sunday than visit Tiraspol the capital of Transnistria and the biggest tourist attraction in Moldova. If you can visit in a country which doesn't exist you should do it. Also it gives you a little bit of that old Soviet Union feeling I believe. If you want some more info have a look at the article by Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish).

Lads celebrating the 20th anniversary.

It can't get much closer to the cover of an electro album

Sheriff or should I say mr. Smirnov seems to own everything here also the football team.

August - Summer keeps going

2010-10-27T12:53:00.005+03:00

As promised the blog rush continues. In August the family holiday was over but the summer still kept going strong. The big event naturally was Vilma's baptism ceremony which took place at Mami's. Godparents are two fine young men, Tuomas and my cousin Mikko. Vilma wasn't quite as chilled as Iines was during her ceremony few years back. It must have been the heat or something. Anyways the event was very nice and cozy.

Otherwise it seems that we spent lot of time in southern Helsinki at least when looking at the photos. Well at that time we didn't have a clue that we would be living there few months later.

The big moment (Copyright M.Tiili)

Tuomas, Otso, Mikko and Virpi-Mami (Copyright M.Tiili)

(Copyright M.Tiili)

Heta's new new atelje at Tehtaankatu 18

Dinner in Viiskulma.

Picnic at Kaivopuisto with the local hipsters.

Vilma seems thrilled by the flash.

I'm shaving what are you looking at...?

July - Holiday in Russia

2010-10-25T21:10:00.005+03:00

At the end of our summer holidays we enjoyed an extended weekend in St. Petersburg. It was about time for Vilma to have her first trip abroad. Also I think Paula was looking forward to her first visit to our great eastern neighbor. It's bit strange how little Finnish people visit this metropole which has ~same population than Finland in total and is only 4 hour train journey from Helsinki.

I guess we all were thrilled too see how traveling with 2 kids would go. And it went well. Of course we had to adjust the pace a little and keep our eyes open to make sure the playground was there when needed. Instead of hotel we rented a flat. It gave us bit more space for the early mornings and early nights that were obvious. The flat was booked through STN which worked out really well and also was reasonable price. Our place was located just around the corner from Nevskiy Prospekt on walking street full of restaurants.

The thing that didn't work out very well was my camera, its battery to be more precise. In order to minimize the amount of stuff that we were carrying I decided to leave the charger at home and just charge it before the trip. Well it seems that it didn't charge at all. Therefore all photos are taken with my old mobile and that can be seen, my apologies.

There was even a small playground outside our flat.

The famous State Hermitage museum, the queue was just too long so we didn't bother.

One of our long walks across several bridges.

On the beach along Neva river.

Another bridge

Iines hanging around with local lads.

In the market buying some honey.

Vilma and Nevskiy Prospekt

Canal cruising

You have to be creative sometimes, play mat Russian style.

Iines and the Great Russian Bear

I like to travel light....

July - Holiday in Finland

2010-10-25T14:42:00.007+03:00

Ok, the plan is to fastforward this blog to up-to-date. It propably will take four to five entries as few things have happened on the way. This first one will cover our summer holiday in July except our trip to St. Petersburg which will be the next entry. It really looks like this summer was pretty wonderful. You should expect more updates in a coming days, I'm enjoying my parent leave at the mo.

Beni's summer place at Lohja

An excellent way to start countryside hopping was to spend few days with the lads.

Lazy morning after a big meal and watching world cup.

Tuomas is one of Iines' best mates for sure.

Rantakinnas near Mikkeli

"Nuku pieni lapsi, nuku."

Iines is cooking for Mami.

Damage by the storm previous night.

Säisä's summer place at Humppila

Pool was definately the biggest hit.

Aira's and Malla's every day tennis session.

Yet another summer storm.

Humppila 6am.

Hannes' 1 year anniversary

Once the weather is so good it's a great idea to take over a public playground to host a birthday party.

June

2010-07-02T12:32:00.005+03:00

Iines' 2nd birthday

First present of the day, pingu!

Iines in her brand new play tent (design by Malla)

Aira & Vilma

Markku

Iines and the chocolate cake just like she requested.

Vilma

Midsummer @ Sammatti

We are in progress of establishing a tradition as we spent the second midsummer in a row at Anna's summer place in Sammatti. For first time I think the average age of guests was less than 18 years.... The next generation is coming, keeps things interesting.

Makke's and Camilla's Sonja

Skugsvilla Big Band (Ida's and Toni's Elmo and Iines)

Anna's and Pekka's Hannes

Just to show that there was also some grown-up people present.

Linnanmäki, theme park

Photo stream

2010-06-05T06:35:00.006+03:00

This time just a stream of photos with few comments...

Iines and Otso checking out the newcomer.

First 2 weeks of May Otso was enjoying the father leave. More to come later in the year.

The weather was exceptional and we did lot of outdoor activities. This time exploring the neighborhood.

The spring party of Iines' daycare. Iines was selected in to the leading role of show but this time pressure seemed to be too high...

Vilma has already grown quite a bit in one month.

Last weekend we took the tram to Kumpula Village Festival. There Mikko had his most recent show (Kani K & Nipa Näätä).

Iines having her very own restaurant meal.

Proud engineer showing off the results of the project.

Vilma Emilia

2010-05-04T23:06:00.004+03:00

was born on Friday 30.04.2010 at 03:06 am.

The actual labor in the hospital was quick and easy (according to Paula). We only arrived to hospital 2 hours before it was all done. One reason may be the series of "false" alarms throughout the week...

Funny coincidence was that our good friends Ida & Toni were also in the hospital for the same purpose. Their daughter was born 9 minutes before Vilma.

Responsible godfather had time for a visit before heading to May Day festivities, well done.

Iines was all excited about the new little sister and above all the bribes that were given to her.

More pictures will be coming in near future as you might expect. Stay tuned.

Gettin closer

2010-04-07T20:01:00.015+03:00

Better make one more blog update before the big day. After that we may be busy for a while. Things have slowed down as Paula's belly has been growing and growing. Look at the picture below taken couple of weeks ago and you'll see my point.

Month ago our xmas present to Paula's parents came into reality when we all took off for a long weekend in Paris. Aira and Paavo were of course running around the town while we took easier and did some shopping particularly for Otso. Saturday night grand parents looked after Iines so we could go out and feel the beat of Paris ... well at least have a dinner in Japanese and few glasses of wine in local bistro. We could notice few glimpses of spring there and there but on Sunday a real storm hit France and we got our share of that during the walk in Montmartre.

Our crew at windy Sacre-Coeur

Ladies are windowshopping

Paavo's morning rituals, Iines is joining the party

Later in March Paula organised a weekend at their country house in Humppila. Times have changed as there were already 3 underaged + 1 unborn in our group. So action was guaranteed. For instance the first and propably the last snow castle of the winter was built and adventures in the "tunnel" were a big hit. Iines and Elmo went along nicely. Later in the night adults enjoyed nice dinner and few beers after sauna. The "climax" of the weekend was however the nasty stomach flu that started taking down people on Sunday morning... The drive back to Helsinki was rather unpleasent.

After some really good times mid March we faced darker moments of life as Marja passed away. You'll stay in our memories forever.

This n That

2010-02-21T17:57:00.010+02:00

Winter
It's been quite an exceptional winter in Helsinki. The temperature hasn't climbed above zero for ages and the amount of snow is just unreal. Traffic and parking have been bit challenging but the scenes are nice.

Social Activities
Recently the everyday life tends to go on a very steady track. However once in a while someone comes up with something bit special. Here are some shots from Camilla&Makke's place from January and also from Hannes' 6 months birthday dinner. Seems that nowadays the babies are running the show...

Makke, Sonja, Teukka & Karkki

Kristiina

Makke & Sonja + Eeva

Hannes' 6 months birthday celebrations

Anna

Iines
Where does that energy come from....? Sometimes it's a challenge to keep up but of course it's so much fun to follow. Drawing and playing hiding are the biggest hits at the mo. Also the dogs are so interesting. Luckily there are fair few newcomers within our friends.

In the beginning of February I was obliged to make a work trip to Perth. Had some meetings there with local Outotec people in regards to a development project that I'm currently working on. Luckily I also managed to organise something important with our Sydney office so I was right on time for Niko's going away party. He's heading to Chicago for 6 months. It was good to see the crew and even the weather was reasonably warm ... +37.4C on Friday afternoon.

Ian & Elias

Marko, Hilkka & Ian

Excellent Thai on King Street, Newtown

Few extra shots to finish with.

Photo taken by Iines (her first one)

Video footage

2010-01-21T21:00:00.003+02:00

Iines is in very amusing stage these days. She has lot to say and sometimes the flow is constant. I see a good use for the video recording feature of my mobile.

Did some testing last night as you can see from below. Didn't realise that I should hold camera horizontally before I saw the stream on the computer. Had to find a software from internet to rotate the image which of course resulted the black bars on the sides. Also the sound and image are not syncronised but we'll do better next time.

After all the most amusing part was to see Iines' reactions when watching the recording afterwards from my mobile...

Xmas

2010-01-12T21:52:00.005+02:00

We're well on the way of establishing a xmas tradition by spending the eve with Otso's parents in Helsinki and then heading to Humppila for the rest of the time. This year we even had proper winter in Helsinki and in Humppila it actually was pretty cold so most of the xmas was spent inside where it was nice and cosy.

Iines is already keen to meet Santa but first it's ...

Christmas dinner.

Some of use even enjoyed a little bit of Finnish white wine.

The waited moment of the night, the arrival of Santa, was pretty exciting for most of us

Interesting presents and their colorful covers had calming effect.

Iines tasting her brand new kitchen set.

In the countryside house was lot busier.

Family together.

Severi setting up some new gear with the little help from Sami.

Iines, Paavo and Sammeli.

Iines chillin with the dad.

Chile

2009-12-06T20:41:00.009+02:00

Finally got the report from Chile published.

Good excuse for this holiday trip was Marjo's and Luis' wedding. Luis is a friend of mine originally from the uni but nowadays he's also a colleague at Outotec, plays in the same football team and has lot of common friends. Many of them were also attending the wedding.

The first stop of our trip was Valparaiso as the ceremony was held in a winery not far from there.

Backyard of our hostel (Caracol). This place was just perfect, cozy and the service was very friendly. If you happen to look for a place to stay in Valparaiso this is the one.

Exploring the new continent.

Everyone has arrived.

Valparaiso is not exactly designed for prams...

Harbour view of Valparaiso

Munkka crew is ready to hit the party...

... which took place in a lovely winery, Casas del Bosque, in Casablanca valley.

Guests and a guest star

Marjo giving her speech to Luis.

People congratulating the newly weds and their parents.

People are getting in to the party mode. No more public footage available after this.

For the Europian quests Marjo and Luis had kindly organised a few day trip to Puerto Varas in the south of Chile. We left Valparaiso early in Monday morning when still many of us were recovering from the huge party.

View over Puerto Varas

One of the many nice dinners.

This part of Chile is ideal for many outdoor activities such as horseback riding, river rafting etc. As Iines is not into that kind of stuff yet we often did our own thing during the day. One day we rented a car and had a bit of a road trip around the area.

Snowy volcano, black and white.

Iines and her trusty companion.

We also found some random fishing village.

Before going home we of course checked out Santiago.

It's holidays so we'll enjoy some ice cream for lunch.

One of the biggest names in Chilean history.

Our serious traveller.

Afternoon sun in the park. The weather in Santiago was quite different from what it was in the south.

Taking the elevator/train to Cerro San Cristobal.

Posing on top.

View over smoggy Santiago.

Autumn Activities

2009-11-03T10:08:00.006+02:00

Well it's the usual story about being busy and such. I guess the main motivator for getting this entry done was the upcoming trip to Chile. I need to update before there's too much content waiting to be uploaded.

Our dear friends Anna, Pekka and Hannes have moved to Kotka. I assume the main reason is Pekka's work at the local hospital. So instead of the traditional "preparing the house for winter" weekend at our summer place we headed to the seaside pearl of gulf of Finland. We had a nice, calm weekend with little bit of sightseeing in the downtown Kotka and some general hanging around. The cultivated part of the weekend included an exhibition at the Maritime Centre Vellamo.

Must photo of Kotka - posing in the port.

Some entertainment also for Iines at the Maritime Centre Vellamo.

Not the usual smile.

In October I had to go and present a paper at 10th Mill Operators' conference in Adelaide. Of course I included some other important activities to this trip such as site visits in Kalgoorlie, meeting colleagues in Perth and above all spending a weekend with friends in Sydney who organised a nice get togteher at Niko's and Eija's place overlooking Darling Harbour. And it was obvious from the beginning that we would end up under the neon lights of King's Cross.

On Saturday I spent the afternoon wandering around in Newtown. I was happy to notice that there are even lazier gardeners than myself when I checked the status of our old house. Later I caught up with Anna, Brent and Ian for some dinner and later with Mico and Pam for some drinks at Marly.

The following weekend I spent in Perth where my old colleague Eric invited me to his place for bbq and beverages. It was good catch up and see that he's enjoying his new work. He left Outotec pretty much the same time when I returned to Finland.

Sydney Crew.

I found myself from the conference pictures. Speakers and the chair of the session.

Sunset at Kalgoorlie

My mate Eric

Having dinner with Dylan, Sue and Eric

The weekend after my return from Oz it was time for the winter preparation weekend at our summer place. This time Heta&Hannu&Kerttu and Camilla&Makke&Sonja joined our family for a cold weekend on the countryside. Basic task such as lifting the pier and the rowing boat away from the freezing lake and emptying the outside toilet (Hannu's favorite!) were done but we also had some time for fishing, sauna, beer, food and playing with the babies etc.

Camilla and Sonja

Makke is ready for some serious fishing.

Hannu caught 2 pikes but the lure was Makke's and the rod was mine. So actually we caught 2 pikes.

After the day full of activity it was time for a proper dinner... and yes there was plenty of food.

Iines and Kerttu

Couple of weddings and Mauritania

2009-09-07T14:41:00.027+03:00

Last month has really been a busy one, both on and off the work. Before the end of our summer vacation there was first Sami's stag do and then the following weekend was the actual wedding party. Once I returned to work I was informed that I need to go to Mauritania which turned out to be not so cool place. My only souvenir from there was a stomach disease that kept me at home for a week after the trip. Fortunately I got better right on time for our holiday trip to Italy. The main purpose for this trip was Lee's and Lucia's wedding in Matera, a lovely town in southern Italy. It also was a perfect excuse for a proper holiday week in Italy.

August started with Sami's stag do which in addition to the traditional activities included some off road driving in the forest. Other interesting detail was the location which turned out to be Sami's summer place where we haven't been invited in more than 10 years, now we had to do it by ourselves. This house was the first spot to host our countryside parties after we turned 18 and got our driving licenses. It still is one the most legendary ones.

Before the cruise

Still everybody on.

When both cars still were ok.

The crew on a break while the car is broken.

Only the craziest ones kept going.

It's getting muddier.

Next morning a relaxing poker game on the sun shine.

Week later we all headed to Pielavesi for the wedding party. Sami kindly had organised a guided tour in Pielavesi for us the night before the wedding. The purpose was to check out all the significant places around. The party itself was held in a local guest house by the lake. All guest from Helsinki also stayed there.

Lepikon torppa, the birth place of former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen.

Orthodox church.

Helsinki people hearing about the wonders of modern farming.

"Muu"

Päivi and Sami heading to the altar... still bit nervous.

Now already more relaxed.

Once I was back at the office I was punished of having too good and eventful holiday by sentence to Mauritania.

Crusing in Sahara, on our way to the site.

Guest house with one of the few bars in Mauritania serving alchol.

My mansion.

Views from Akjout, the town next to the site. Where ever you go it seems that you come across to your dear friend... football. Otherwise the town seemed pretty rough and +45C didn't make it any easier to cope with. I guess it also explains something that I only spent 10 euros during the whole 1 week trip.

Mauritanian Copper Mines, Guelb Moghrein operation.

After recovering from the work trip we headed to Italy. We flew to Rome but stayed there only briefly... saw the colosseum though. Next day we took the train to south where we rented a car. It's an interesting experience to drive on the narrow roads of medieval town in southern Italy... these guys are bit crazy with their vespas. However it all went well and at the end of the day it was actually quite enjoyable. First half of the week we stayed in Amalfi coast area (Sorrento, Positano). These places are bit touristic but the views and the sea are amazing.

Rome

Termini station waiting for a train to depart.

Our nice hotel in Sorrento on the top of the cliff.

It also had an own small beach. Iines appreciated.

Paula and the coast.

View over Sorrento harbour.

Positano and its steep landscape.

Amalfi coast.

Before heading to Matera, the town where the wedding was held we checked out Pompei. It's massive and pretty unbelievable that how well some of the buildings have preserved. The pictures can't really give the idea about the place so here's only one and it's more about my lovely wife.

Matera is very nice small town and its most interesting part is definately Sassi. An ancient area where most of houses are carved to the rock. Matera was chosen as a wedding place as Lucia's family is from there. Lee is my old friend from Lyon times. Other representative from those days in the wedding was Chris with his girlfriend Lou. We usually meet about once a year somewhere in Europe and so far this has been the most unexpected place. The party itself was great, Italian surely know good food. There were 8 terrific courses in the dinner and the party went on late. Thanks Lucia&Lee, I hope you enjoy your 7 week honeymoon in Sicily+Asia.

Signor Hardy

Iines is enjoying life by the pool.

The wedding venue, Santuario Madonna di Picciano. Believed to be more than 1000 years old.

Paula, Lou and Chris.

Iines in her lovely party dress.

The ceremony is about to begin.

Lucia and Lee, newly weds.

Congratulated by la famiglia.

Extempore photo shooting by a random vespa.

The little traveling girl on our way to the airport.

Summer Holidays 3 - Rantakinnas

2009-08-13T09:29:00.004+03:00

I'm already back at the office so now it's good time to upload some photos from the last week of our road trip which we spent in Rantakinnas, Tiili's summer place near Mikkeli. Mami and Ukki had gone to Savonlinna Opera Festival for few days once we arrived. Instead we got company from Kajaani/Beijing/Sydney as our dear friends Heidi and Marko stopped over on their way to Helsinki. We spent the night chatting, barbecuing and having sauna. It think we were way pass the darkest point of night when going to bed!

Later on the week Mami and Ukki returned from their road trip and we spent nice extended weekend with the family. The activities were really traditional "landemeininkiä" such as fishing (we did actually get few pikes), sauna+swimming, picking mushrooms and of course eating pretty much non stop. Iines was all excited about the cows nearby as well as about Otso's old playpen which eased our life quite a bit. The surroundings of the house are stony and there are heaps of ants allover the place. The ones that bite, kusiaiset.

And finally it's perhaps worth mentioning that Iines started walking 22 July!

Late dinner with Heidi and Marko

Calm day

Calm night

"Pallo!!!!"

Eating is so much fun...

Again!

Exciting

Summer Holidays 2 - On the way to Mikkeli

2009-07-28T23:26:00.014+03:00

We slowly started our journey towards Mikkeli by taking some small country roads and getting lost between Humppila and Tampere... too much confidence on navigation skills without map. In Tampere we spent few days just checking out the village.

As usual we walked a lot, this time in Pyynikki and Pispala areas. I must admit that these places are not too bad. Hills with nice houses have sort of same feeling that many areas in Sydney.

The cultural part of our stay consisted of a visit to Amuri which is a traditional working class area of Tampere. Particularly the museum of workers' housing was found to be fascinating. The following two pictures illustrates the past and the present of this animated community.

On the entertainment side the slides became the new corner stone of playground activities.

From Tampere we drove along lake Päijänne, stayed overnight in Joutsa before enjoying the hospitality of Otso's aunt Marja and her husband Matti in their summer house in Mäntyharju. In this very same place Otso has been swimming a lot many years ago. Therefore this was a perfect spot for Iines to have her first swim in a real lake which was an enjoyable yet tiring experience as you can see from the picture below.

Later in the evening Mikko joined us. He was on his way to Helsinki from Ilosaarirock in Joensuu. The time flew as we had sauna, chatted and enjoyed a fantastic dinner. The next morning everyone continued their journeys, we headed to Tiili's summer place in Mikkeli.

Summer Holidays 1 - Humppila

2009-07-17T13:01:00.003+03:00

The first stage of our holiday road trip in Finland took us to Humppila where Paula's family has their country house. We've stayed here since Tuesday when we left Helsinki and the plan is to leave tomorrow for a weekend in Tampere.

The following two photos illustrates the most important activities taking place here.

The house is located in the middle of barley fields so we have an opportunity to enjoy rather typical views of Häme region. The house is expanding as the family is too. The left wing of the house is brand new. That's the small spot of privacy for Aira and Paavo.

Malla, Paula's aunt, and her tireless little helper Severi have made sure that potatos and salads on the lunch table most certainly are as fresh as they possibly can be.

So far the weather has treated us well so it's nice to have some afternoon coffee in the garden. The famous pool is located on the background which has been popular among some of us.

The man in charge.

Cousins with quite different appetites, Sammeli starts 15 minutes later and finishes 15 minutes earlier.

To make a long story short... we're having a blast as you can see from the picture below. It's Iines' first summer and our first summer in Finland for a long while. More updates to come, stay tuned.

Denver

2009-07-10T09:53:00.005+03:00

On a way back from Canada I quickly visited our office in Denver. We honestly did some work too but luckily the client we visited was located on the Rocky Mountains. So while driving back we checked out some pretty nice spots.

Still some snow on the top.

Micro brewery in Idaho Springs

Slightly bigger brewery in the outskirts of Denver next to a big mesa

Well I'm finally at home and about to start my summer vacation so can't complain too much.

On the road

2009-06-30T07:22:00.016+03:00

Greetings from Canada, more precisely from Thompson, Manitoba. I'm here for work, surprise surprise... It's 2½ week trip so I guess updating this blog is just right type of treatment for the home sickness. There's not too much to tell about this place, typical mining town as pretty much everything in here is somehow related to the mine. Well perhaps except yet another sad example of how alcohol effects on the life of the local indigenous community. You can see them having their parties on the streets at any time of the day. Sort of similar stuff that I saw in a little mining towns in Australia. This scene is of course little bit skewed as the indian reserves are dry.

Before going to the earlier happenings we have had in June here's our current office from inside and outside...

June began with the celebration of Iines' one year birthday with the family. Iines got lot of charming presents, thanks everyone. I'd think that the black ferrari has recently been the most popular one especially if dad is driving it...

One sunny Saturday we made a trip to Korkeasaari (Zoo). For me it was almost as exciting as it was to Iines since this was the first time in Korkeasaari in about 15 years. Conveniently there's a direct ferry service from Hakaniemi to Korkeasaari so we enjoyed a short ride in a sunny weather. In the zoo we of course saw heaps of interesting animals but towards the end Iines started to get bit tired. So I guess there still will be something to see on the second time too. For instance when we were checking out the bears, Iines seemed to be more interested about one seagull standing next to us than the bears bit further away.

Cruising is so cool!

What's that?

West and east

Just before leaving to this trip we went to Anna's summer place for the midsummer. Relaxing weekend consisted of good friends, lot of food as usual, little bit of basketball, sauna and few beverages. Perhaps I may say that people were taking it little bit easier than the last time we spent midsummer in this very same place.

May madness!

2009-05-31T12:24:00.006+03:00

It really has been a great month as Mays usually are. It all started with Heta's and Hannu's wedding on the eve of the May Day at Poliisien kesämaja in Lauttasaari which btw turned out to be an excellent joint for a party. Everything could not have gone better ... well except the "robbery of the bride" and that small fire caused by the catering. But anyways I'm sure everyone had a blast, the bride was beautiful and so was the weather, the groom and his bestmen were handsome, the food was excellent, there surely was enough drinks etc.... Above all it really was a party that looked like Heta and Hannu.

Hannu and his bestmen shortly before the "storm" began.

The ceremony took place by the sea in a nice sunshine. The gamble paid off this time, I mean it's not even May and this is Finland.

The vappu theme was strongly present.

Fathers are mastering the ceremony at this point of time. Heta and Hannu are not sure if they should keep going or get the h**l out of the stage.

Paula and Camilla, one of the bridesmaids.

Shortly after the vappu's hangovers were suffered started the football season. How good is that? I'm playing for teams in two, quite ordinary, leagues. However there is about 2 games per week which is good fun. Nice way to meet friends and you don't even need a pint in your hand. To check our teams results follow these links (TARa and HeMo)!

Naturally there has been some family affair in May too. The biggest event was Sammeli's (Iines' cousin) one-year birthday party. I also got to see their family's new home in Jupperi. Iines is always excited when there's others babies (kids) around but particularly when Sammeli is there as they already know each other quite well. I think Sammeli doesn't mind Iines even if in the picture below it looks like Sammeli is escaping Iines with eyes full of fear...

"Where's my cake?..."

Couple of weeks ago we went to Joonas' summer place for the weekend. It's a beautiful spot by the sea in Pellinki near Porvoo. Instead of weather we enjoyed nice meals and it pretty much felt like once one meal was finished after a while someone started to prepare for the next one. Can't complain. Don Luis, our agent from Chile, was there too with her fiancée Marjo. He is currently working in the same office as I'm. It's a small world isn't it.

This weekend has been exceptionally warm and perhaps we have already seen the hottest day of summer... well hopefully not. Friday Paula had her big exam so now it's summer holidays for her. On saturday morning we left her to have a late morning sleep and Iines and me headed for a walk. There was a nice athmosphere in the city since it was the last day of school this spring and lot of happy faces were everywhere.

However for us the main theme for the weekend has been biking! On saturday we got our brand new bikes from Suomen Polkupyörätukku. The rest of the weekend we have been exploring Helsinki city. Below some teasers from our trips.

"An interesting ball"

"The cover of my first electro album!"

Tuoppi enjoying lazy saturday afternoon on the terrace.

Tired but happy cyclist in her brand new pirate hard hat.

On Sunday we went to see Heta and Hannu when they were fixing their sail boat. Every year ritual before being able to put it into action. The docks where their boat is at the moment is just so cool. It is a calm spot in the middle of Helsinki city, situated on a small cliff at the end of the road which goes between Hietsu beach and cemetary.

Late lunch at Töölö.

Sirkustirehtööri

2009-05-10T13:53:00.006+03:00

I think circus is the best word describing what's recently happening at our house. And I'm sure everyone can guess who's running it.

P.S. Pics from Heta's and Hannu's wedding will be in the next entry.

Towards Summer

2009-04-27T19:46:00.006+03:00

It's already one month since the last update. Things are progressing rapidly. Iines already talks a lot. Words like äiti, isä, puuro, kukka, kakka are in her vocabulary. Also it looks very promising that we even might see summer soon. For us it has been almost 1½ years from previous summer.

Iines is more and more interested about things happening around her, especially now when it's nice and warm outside. Dogs are one of her real favorites even in telly. Also she occasionally is very stubborn. Sometimes to be able to get Iines' toothbrush back after a wash you need to wait until she's well asleep. I'm expecting some rather hectic times during the coming summer.

What's wrong in this picture..... ?

In the Easter time we were busy socializing with family and friends. One night Otso's cousins Mikko and Jaakko together with Heta and Hannu enjoyed dinner at our place. Jaakko was visiting Helsinki and his brother. He's currently living in Joensuu after a few year stint in National Theatre of Karelia in Petroskoi. We all enjoyed some good stories from that time.

Lucky ones of us even managed to later go out for few drinks.

A true sign of spring, changing the tyres. Iines supervises.

Last weekend first we all went to Paula's summer house for some family catch up. Perhaps the biggest things was Iines' first sandpit experience. It didn't take long for her to catch the clue and start demolishing the sand cakes that I kept building. On Saturday I drove to Teemu's summer cottage for the traditional Wappu warmup weekend with the friends from Uni. Very nice and relaxing weekend first with family then later with old friends that many I hadn't seen for ages. The weather was nice throughout the weekend and also the forecast is looking quite good for Heta's and Hannu's wedding on the eve of May Day. Fingers crossed.

Hannu's Stag

2009-04-01T09:21:00.014+03:00

Last weekend was the BIG weekend of this spring for many of us. It was Hannu's stag do from Thursday to Sunday culminating to Finland's world cup qualifier against Wales in Cardiff.

Thursday - When it all began

Guys listening via Skype while Hannu was giving a presentation for some loco from "Spanish Meteorological Institute" at the conference center of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

The questions started to get weirder and weirder, the slides started to get dodgier and I guess the tequila bottle cleared Hannu's last suspicions.

After a long journey we finally arrived to 007 Hostel in Bristol around 02:30 am. At that time the place looked rather dubious. But at the end of the day I can nothing but warmly recommend this spot if you're a budget traveller in Bristol. Our hosts were excellent, the beer was served cold at any time of the day, breakfast was included to the price and we had a door in our room ... well at least on the second day (Image Copyright Rami R).

We were the only customers in the only dorm they had. 16 Lads in the same room, very efficient and compact.

Friday - The Offical Stag Day

Chris, our guide in Bristol, met us at the hostel 09:30 in the morning and lead our hungry group to a local breakfast joint where we enjoyed full English breakfast and some instant coffee.

Crew is ready for some action in downtown Bristol.

Even the weather was on our side (Copyright Rami R).

While Hannu and Beni went to the interview with BBC we chose our positions around the pub area. Local ciders were really popular among us too.

The mandatory engineering part of the stag do... I didn't know Hannu has a university degree in cleaning. This time it was some silicon wafers from Hannu's earlier life. Makes a nice pint mat.

Boys will be boys (Image Copyright Rami R).

The mandatory harass other people part of the stag do. Hannu surveyd people's knowledge about Finnish sport legends. It all started well when the first person looked at the first picture and correctly announced Lasse Viren (Hannu btw claimed he was wrong). However from that point it was pretty much downhill all the way.

Stag do without a bit of footy at the park wouldn't be a proper one.

The pitch was chosen very carefully... on top of the hill with a view over Bristol (Image Copyright Rami R).

Hannu was the keeper of course.

While we had some good time in the penalty shootout.

Before heading to the neon lights of Bristol we had a nice traditional British dinner... curry (Image Copyright Rami R).

Saturday - The Match Day

After a short bus trip to Cardiff, we checked in to our hotel and prepared ourselves for the important game. Even after 2 very short night sleeps you could sense that something big was about to happen... the optimism was with us.

Everything is set. Boys are back in town.

Few quick ones on our way.

We were right on time to join the parade of the official supporter club of Finland.

Oi Suomi On @ Cardiff on our way to the stadium (Video Copyright Sami A).

Ääriliike (Image Copyright Rami R).

The Millenium Stadium, capacity 74500, was not quite full.

The atmosphere was very good anyways. Finnish fans outsang the local fans by far.

After the game Kaisa, our local connection, took very good care of us by showing the pubs and clubs where to celebrate the victory and have some good time (Image Copyright Rami R).

Sunday - When we all were feeling good

Thanks everyone, especially Chris and Kaisa!

Lately...

2009-03-20T08:32:00.005+02:00

I've been luckboxing (see here and here) in Helsinki and eating kebab in Istanbul. Unfortunately I was so busy eating kebab that I didn't manage to take any photos from there but it seems very nice city and their food was excellent. Instead I have an official grand parents with Iines posing pic for the family album.

Finally news from the floor - Iines has started to crawl and this time to the right direction. Short distances so far but I can see that the times are changing soon...

Color bath and Potty

2009-03-11T19:45:00.003+02:00

More info about color bath.

More info about potty.

Parent leave, phase 2

2009-03-02T17:41:00.007+02:00

Enjoyable 5 weeks of freedom are almost gone. Next week this time I'm back at the office. It's good time to gather some highlights here.

In the beginning of Feb Paula had few days off from uni after her exam so we decided to have a quick trip to Paris (again). Won't happen again for a while as all of my frequent flyer points are pretty much used now. Nothing too special was going on, mainly we just wondered around the city. However few new spots were discovered - Le Bon Marché and Le Grand Palais. Le Bon Marché is the first department store in the world. The building itself is definately worth a look and their food section is propably the craziest I've ever seen. We were intended to check out the big Picasso exhibition in Grand Palais but it had already ended. Instead they were showing a video project 6 billion others. Very interesting treehugging stuff and it keeps developing in the internet all the time, have a look.

Heta, Iines' godmother, is currently presenting her designs with 2 painters in the gallery Myymälä2 on Uudenmaankatu 23. Their exhibition is called "Matkalla" and we were invited to the opening party. Heta's design hand bags seemed to be very popular, I can see why, and people were virtually fighting to get their share. It seems that the excellent response may result in more masterpieces from her shop.

3 artists

I've also done some shopping online. I bought some camera gear from Digital Wonder World. The lens I bought is the same 50mm Canon that I used to have before I droped it on the floor. I also got my first proper flash and now I'm learning to use it. Luckily I have the best photo model to practise with.

And of course we have had some family get togethers every now and then.

Sorry, I'm late

2009-01-25T22:58:00.008+02:00

Yes, it has been one of the longest update intervals for this blog ever. I guess it's due to my return to the office... it's so tiring. Luckily the second phase of my parent leave is only 3 days away. Other fact is that there hasn't been too much going on lately. The biggest news is that Paula is back at the uni and meanwhile Iines enjoys the quality time with Grand Auntie, Malla.
It has been a success from the day one.

In general the days go by firmly. You can almost say that it's winter ... not really from the snow and cold but from the few flus that we have suffered. True highlights of the month have been two trips to the countryside, New Year's at Hannu's place and in mid January a weekend at Anna's place (for some reason no photos from there). The weather was great on New Year's day, few degrees below zero and clear sunny sky. We went for a walk and ended up checkin out a frozen lake with a mirrorlike ice surface, below shots from there.

Then the standard Iines photo set to finish with.

Massive Update - Entry #100

2008-12-29T08:36:00.009+02:00

Our pre-Xmas trip to Paris was really enjoyable except we all suffered from flu a little. Especially the first night was slightly difficult for Iines i.e. for all of us. Our trip included bit of shopping, bit of eating out and loads of walking.

Let's start with some culture, Cathedral of Saint-Sulpice (Da Vinci code also took place here)

Coffee and banana at the cafe

Hanging out in Marais

Perhaps the only photo of the whole family (and some random church)

Paula on a windy Pont Neuf

Jardin des Tuileries around the blue moment

The sun is setting

Still

Heading to Arc de Triomphe and Xmas lights of Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Here they are.

Paula and one of our walks

Jardin du Luxembourg

Iines and true trademarks of Paris, green steel chairs

Iines, Paula and the home street

After returning from Paris we hosted an Aussie Reunion with Mirva&Tomi on Monday before Christmas. Michaela, Anna&Brent and Hilkka&Ian all managed to pass/be in Helsinki on a same day so we caught up ... together with raclette, wine, reindeer meat and few other bits and pieces. So nice to meet again after our return to Finland but it also makes us miss Sydney more during the dark and cold winter.

Having a good time with m8s

Can I say more

We spent the Christmas eve with Otso's parents. Enjoyed some traditional food, good company and of course we sang to Santa. Iines had been really good girl, the quality and the quantity of her presents can be described as enormous.

Iines and Joulu(p)ukki

Kwak kwak!

Iines and the best xmas present ever, Xylophone

On a Christmas day we drove to Paula's summer place in Humppila to catch up with Paula's family. A hint of snow on the ground and lot of family around makes a great Xmas athmosphere.

The summer house

Humppila Fashion

Xmas coffee and some cake please.

Few shots from the neighborhood

2008-12-11T18:03:00.004+02:00

We had Iines' 6th month check at the early childhood center today. Today's measures were 64 cm/6,5 kg. Also Paula had her last exam of this term so from now on we'll have about 3 weeks of holiday together! On Sunday we'll head to Paris for few days but today we went for a walk. Finlandia House looked so good from far so I decided to take my tripod and do some photography. Merihaka was as thrilling target as always.

Busy busy busy

2008-12-08T16:18:00.006+02:00

Last week was really busy for all of us. We had something going on every day of the week, some days even 2 separate events. On Wednesday Ukki (grandpa) visited us. While Paula was still absorbing knowledge at the uni we went for a long walk in Kallio region which was good as Ukki isn't that familar with the pearl of Helsinki. We checked out famous church of Kallio, Torkkelin mäki, Harjutori, Hesari, Bragu etc. Later when Paula joined us we enjoyed a thai meal at Lemon Grass, a restaurant where I'd take Ian, a connoisseur of thai kitchen, for lunch without hesitation.

On notorious Helsinginkatu

The steel aorta of Finland

Evaluating the menu

Thursday was the first Thursday in December so Hakaniemi Poker Series took place again. Joonas won the braclet this time while Tomi finished second. I was happy to took the last playmoney spot (3rd) and keep my "in the money" streak alive. On Friday afternoon we visited Malla (Paula's aunt) before rushing to Heta's 30th birthday party in Munkkiniemi. The venue was the local pub, Ukko Munkki, which brings lot of memories for most of us, haven't been there for such a long time. We had a blast so some of us even headed to the city for some more action.

Saturday Finland celebrated its independence day. We decided that sushi food would be suitable for this precious day. Most of the needed ingredients were bought from the oriental supermarket across the street. Sari and Juissi helped us preparing as well as getting rid of all the yummies. They actually have taken a sushi course some time ago so their help was highly appreciated. The preparation of sushi rice isn't exactly the same as boiling regular rice. Anyways I think we did well. And of course we watched from the telly when celebrities and other important people were celebrating at the presidential palace... yes it's a bit weird tradition to watch other people having a good time.

"I don't think we did it like this at the course"

"All good now"

It was a short winter

2008-11-30T14:23:00.005+02:00

After 24 hours of heavy snowing the streets looked like this

It was bit of challenge to operate the pram in those conditions. However it only took another day to get rid of all that snow. So we're back in square one.

On Thursday Marko popped in for coffee before heading back to Beijing. It was good to catch up with the latest news and hear how Heidi and Marko have settled to this quite a different world after their time in Sydney. Marko seemed to enjoy the changed roles in their family giving him bit more freedom and wife making the money.

Yesterday we had our monthly going-out-together-without-Iines night thanks to Heta and Hannu who fearlessly faced as well as gloriously overcame the challenge of putting Iines to sleep. This time we went to the cinema and watched Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona... Nice film full of breathtaking sceneries and beautiful people for the taste of both sexes. Afterwards we had dinner at the russian restaurant Kasakka in Kruununhaka and of course we enjoyed delicious Russian classics, blinis together with Russki Standart.

BTW while writing this entry Iines just rolled over (from back to tummy) on her own for the first time.

Winter

2008-11-23T15:29:00.002+02:00

It pretty much arrived overnight.

Hakaniemi Market Place

Standard view to Kallio Church

Earlier this week - Back to the roots

LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

2008-11-21T10:22:00.001+02:00

Well the title explains it all... pretty cool.

Experiences

2008-11-17T14:48:00.006+02:00

Last weekend was very exciting for Iines. She visited our summer house for the first time as well as on Sunday night we started baby swimming in Kamppi (after more than a months queueing). The main reason for the trip to the countryside this late in the autumn was winter preparations i.e. lifting rowing boat and pier from the lake and emptying the dry toilet. Anna's and Pekka's participation has already become a tradition. Relaxing weekend was full of good food and sauna. Iines also saw her first snow... definately the last weekend this year to go there.

What else? Our freight from Sydney arrived last Monday. Paula's bench and our chairs are now shining in our living room. Also a variety of Iines' toys are back at home, especially Jari the giraffe.

This week Iines started eating solid food, she's already big girl. First item in her diet expansion is something very Finnish ... potatos!

The second event of Hakaniemi Poker Series was held few weeks ago. Sami took the title this time, beating Otso in heads up. Paula was the bubble girl finishing 4th. The idea of this series is to play a monthly tournament at our place, first Thursday of every month ... yes like young finns in Sydney.

Let's finish this entry with few miscellaneous shots.

Liked the colors and rainbow

Heta at her ateljee

Iines and Ukki

Shots from the latest happenings

2008-10-28T07:33:00.005+02:00

Let's keep things simple. Past few weeks Paula has been really busy studying (exam is tomorrow). I've been busy too... hanging around with Iines and socialising with friends.

There also have been few occasions here worth mentioning. Juha, a friend from Sydney, had spent this summer in Finland and was heading back to new adventures in Asia. He stayed overnight at our place so we decided to organise a small reunion with Tomi and Mirva. Week ago on Sunday we had Iines' baptism ceremony. It took place at our home and was as informal as possible. Close family and 4 godparents were invited so it was about 20 people in our mansion ... warm athmosphere for sure.

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Helsinki

Few familiar faces

It's so cool to spend time with dad.

Reindeer meat and other Finnish delicates

Iines getting ready for the ceremony

Boring speech

She doesn't know what's behind the corner.

Posing with Godparents

Relaxed after the formal part of the show.

Colors

2008-10-15T08:30:00.005+03:00

After first two days of my parenting leave I must say that this was just what I needed. Long walks with Iines in the nearby areas are so relaxing. You can expect a lot more scenic photos in the future blog entries.

On the weekend we saw Finland securing the crucial victory at the olympic stadium to keep the train to South Africa on the track.

Few shots from Rapujuhlat

2008-10-07T20:17:00.004+03:00

which translates to Crayfish party. Check the link to Wikipedia if you don't know what that means. Last week I went to Sotkamo/Kajaani for work but no stories from there. If I tell you I'd have to kill you ... or then there just isn't much to tell. Kajaani is a great summer town as all other small towns in Finland.

On the weekend our family was honoured to take part Hannu's & Heta's traditional crayfish party at their Veikkola summer house for the first time. This year half of the crayfishes served were caught by the true fishing pros of our group, Beni & Rami. Beni however hasn't caught a single fish this year.

The agenda for the party was fairly traditional - including decorating the place with red things, kicking football, fishing bit more, having sauna and a dip in a lake. Btw Iines had her first sauna and she loved it. Towards the end of the day people started enjoying beverages and the night climaxed with a lovely crayfish dinner complemented with Finnish white wine, delicious fish soup and apple pie for dessert. Noise level increased throughout the night so we can assume that everyone was having a blast ... at least I was, thank you all.

I'm updating this blog from the office so I let the pictures do rest of the talking even if shots weren't great and I really had trouble to find even these shots worth putting here.

Everybody's catching up

Weather treated us well

Dinner

Deep conversation

Takin it easy on Sunday

Tervetuloa - Welcome

2008-09-21T20:20:00.004+03:00

Our first weekend back in Helsinki had an excellent start. Our dear friends had organised a welcoming party in restaurant Bullman in Kallio district. Lot of friends turned up during the night and it was good to notice that too much hasn't changed although surprisingly many people left in a reasonable hour. Iines participated in the beginning, later Paula's parents looked after her at our place. This was the first time for Iines to go sleeping without mum or dad. Luckily all went well so we could enjoy the party until 1:00 am. Thanks Aira and Paavo!

Welcoming committee

Iines getting used to new faces and places.

Enjoying beverages

Mothers

Later hours

On Saturday morning we were bit tired except Iines who was full of energy already at 8:00 am. So instead of sleeping in we chose some quality time within the family. Later during our walk in the neighborhood we spotted a good Saturday brunch deal from restaurant Sävel, 10 EUR for a buffet full of typical Finnish home food including drinks. In the afternoon Paula and Iines met some of Paula's old workmates and Otso enjoyed grinding online poker in peace and quiet.

"I'm the boss"

We prepared ourselves for the new busy week by spending a lazy Sunday afternoon with Anna and Pekka. Unfortunately Pekka missed the party on Friday among many other recent happenings due to work commitments in Turku... Therefore it was important that Iines met her godfather before he heads back to the bush. Helsinki looked pretty fine in the great autumn weather.

Godparents were all excited.

Lovely photo

Hello World!

2008-09-18T15:14:00.006+03:00

Just a quick update for our dear readers...
We've now settled in to our flat in Hakaniemi. It only took one day in the country before we moved in - that eager we were. Monday afternoon we quickly caught up with Mirva who brought our keys before other friends started rushing in. Since that we've been busy organising our home as well as socialising with everyone. Today was then my first day at the office... I barely recognised the place, so many new faces. However I managed to find few old farts lurking at the back corner of the office. They still remembered me so we enjoyed few coffees and they filled me with the latest gossips.

In addition to the obvious things such as family&friends there has been surprisingly many small details that we've been missing ... Finnish rye bread, Morning TV by YLE, proper internet connection without download limits, Radio Helsinki - the free frequency, warm bathroom, UEFA Champions League matches live on TV in a reasonable hour...

Looking forward to the surprise party tomorrow night... find the report from this blog early next week.

Checkin out the neighborhood.

Paula, brand new pram and Hakaniemi square just few steps from our home.

Iines' new play mat with an interesting new feature!

Jäähyväiset Sydneylle

2008-09-12T04:46:00.002+03:00

88 blogipostia mahtui hieman vajaaseen kahteen vuoteen, mutta nyt on sitten viimeisten rivien aika. Kaksijakoisin fiiliksin lähdetään Suomea kohti. Kovasti odotetaan jälleennäkemisiä, mutta myös pieni epäilys kalvaa - tammikuun pakkasilla voi mieli viedä helposti takaisin tänne. Jätän suuremman fiilistelyn väliin tässä ja totean vain, että olemme olleet etuoikeutettuja saadessamme tutustua tähän mestaan ja moniin sen asukkaisiin. Thanks m8!

Alle olen vielä liittänyt muutamia kuvia viimeisten päivien touhuista.

Rahti valmiina pitkälle matkalle.

Siivottavaa riittää.

Työmaalounas.

Eilen käytiin lounaalla Matsin kanssa. Sitten hypättiin bussiin ja mentiin vielä moikkaamaan rannat. Käveltiin Bondilta Brontelle, missä syötiin välipalaa ja sitten bussilla takaisin keskustaan. Illalla hyvästeltiin Niko, meikäläinen toteutti vielä yhden ikuisuusprojektin ja kävin ottamassa nousua Star City kasinon pokeripöydässä.

Iines poseeraa yhdellä maailman tunnetuimmista rannoista.

Tässä myös.

Seuraavan kerran matskua tulee sitten Suomesta ja todennäköisesti Englannin kielellä.

Läksiäisviikonloppu

2008-09-02T05:18:00.003+03:00

Vähiinhän nuo aamut käyvät. Perjantai oli viimeinen päivä toimistolla ... läksiäiskahvit ja pannukakut, sitten vielä työpöydän tyhjennys ja menoksi. Suoraan töistä hyppäsin Annan, Paulan ja Iineksen matkaan ja kohti Central Coastia. Lähimpien ystävien kanssa olimme vuokranneet "mökin" Copacabana beachilta vajaa sata kilsaa Sydneystä pohjoiseen. Yleensä julkista liikennettä käyttävälle olikin aika tutustua perjantain kotiinpaluuruuhkaan. Vielä kun Iines oli laatinut meille kahden varikkopysähdyksen taktiikan olimme perillä vasta reilusti pimeän jo laskeuduttua.

Ensimmäinen ilta meni rauhallisesti seurapelejä pelaillen, kaikki olivat hieman väsyneitä työviikon jälkeen.

Näkymä terassilta

Lauantaina jengi kävi tutusmassa lähitienooseen ja varsinkin hienoon rantaan. Päivän mittaan käytiin myös varsin kovatasoinen biljarditurnaus, Copacabana Invitational.

Kuuma ensimmäisen kierroksen ottelu P. Tiili vs. M. Blomqvist

Nathalia matkalla finaaliin, Jerry valvoo silmä tarkkana.

Mestarin fiilistelyä taistelun tauottua.

Iineskin nautti maaseudun rauhasta (kuva: A. Kurikka)

Illalla valmistimme perinteisen aussibarbequen. Kaikki kantoivat oman kortensa kekoon, ei vähiten Mats jonka ribsit ja focaccia olivat suuressa suosiossa sekä Heidi jonka perinteinen suomalainen perunasalaatti oli ehkä koko aterian selkäranka.

Heidi & Marko

Hyvin tarkeni vielä/jo illallistaa ulkona.

Pokeripöydässä Paula piti Tiilin perheen mainetta yllä ja otti voiton kotiin.

Rankka viikonloppu lopuillaan (kuva: A. Kurikka).

Perth

2008-08-17T14:22:00.002+03:00

Kuten aiemmin tuli mainittua, olemme tällä hetkellä Perthissä kylmyyttä pakosalla niin ja kai täällä jotain hommiakin oli. Kelit on hieman eri luokkaa mitä Sydneyssä viime aikoina, reilusti yli 20 astetta ja aurinkoa pilvettömältä taivaalta.

Torstai ja perjantai meni koulutusta pitäen, mutta eilen ja tänään on nautittu kelistä biitsillä ja vuokra-autolla cruisailusta. Perthissä liikenne on melko iisiä ja kun ei paljoa oo viime aikoina joutunut ratin takana oleen niin oikein mielelläni ajelutin tyttöjä. Olimme myös vierailulla Ericin (meidän Automation Manager vielä viikon verran) kotona Armadalessa. Lauantaina olimme vielä isommalla porukalla syömässä korelaista barbequeta. Huomenna alkaa sitten konferenssinakki eli ständillä päivystämistä - pitäisi näyttää älykkäältä ja olla kiinnostunut asiakkaiden tarpeista...

Keskiviikkona palaamme takaisin Sydneyyn.

Katunäkymä ja poikien viikonloppu

2008-08-06T02:59:00.002+03:00

Vielä pari päivää ja Paulan sykähtely helpottuu kun esseet saadaan pois alta. Sitten varmastikin saamme päivityksiä tänne paremmin ja uusia kuvia Iineksestä. Ensi viikolla lähetään koko bändi Perthiin kuudeksi päiväksi. Alkuperäinen syy mennä on MetPlant konferenssi. Mulle kuitenkin viuhui koulutusnakki edeltävälle viikolle. Väliin jää viikoloppu ja ajattelimme että miksipä ei lähetä kaikki. Tämä reissu toimii hyvänä verryttelynä ja antaa varmasti esimakua siitä showsta, mikä meitä odottaa kun lennämme Suomeen. Konferenssi pidetään Perthin Sheraton Hotellissa joten järkeväähän oli vain pidentää huonevarausta ja päivystää siellä koko paikallaoloaika kun kerran firma maksaa ja bonushenkilöt ei tuo lisäkustannuksia.

Eilen aukesi Googlen streetview täällä australiassa. Piti tietenkin käydä bongailemassa tuttuja mestoja mm. hima, duuni, King street ja Zanzibar. Kyllähän tuo melko mielipuolinen systeemi on...

Viime viikonloppuna sählyporukka järkkäsi getawayviikonlopun tunnin ajomatkan päähän Sydneystä. Vaimoille viikonloppu markkinoitiin Otson läksiäisinä. Mesta oli Woy Woyssa Hawksbury riverin suulla. Talo oli oikein särmä sieltä löytyi mm. bilispöytä ja poreallas. Lisäksi meitä hemmoteltiin hienolla merinäköalalla.

Aamupala, kuten muukin ruokavalio, koostui hyvin pitkälti proteiineista

Näkymä merelle, horisontissa Palm Beach

Pokerin, Playstationin ja rugbyn vahtaamisen ohella otettiin myös pienet ulkosählyt lauantaiaamupäivän ratoksi. Alusta oli lähes yhtä tasainen kuin Rantakintaan legendaarinen parkkipaikkastadion.

Honza oli säätänyt meille pari tynnyriä tsekkiläistä ja hanan.

Hydrostatic head

2008-07-29T02:37:00.004+03:00

Ollaan oltu hieman under the pump niinku täkäläiset tapaa sanoa. Paula koittaa tiukasti saada opiskelut nippuun ja samaan aikaan mulle on napsunu ekat duunireissut sitten Iineksen syntymän. Viime viikko meni Perthissä koulutusta pitäessä, mutta uutta reissua länsirannikolle pukkaa jo parin viikon päähän. Tällä kertaa yritetään päästä reissuun koko perhe.

Nyt on se aika vuodesta kun jengi lappaa Suomeen Australian kylmyyttä pakoon. Jossain Suomen tiedotusvälineissä oli jopa mehusteltu lumisateesta Sydneyssä. Ilmeisesti tarkemassa luokituksessa oli kyseessä ollut pehmeitä rakeita eli ikivanha sääennätys jäi silti voimaan. No meidän kulmilla ei tätä ihmettä nähty. Hilkan lähdön kunniaksi käytiin lounaalla siinä yhdessä japanilaisessa ravintolassa Kingin ja Missendenin risteyksen lähellä. Näin saimme pois listalta taas yhden paikan, johon on ollut aikomus mennä jo pidempään. Kuvallinen todistusaineisto löytyy alta.

Iines on kasvanut jo ihan hurjasti ja kyllä tuolla syömisfrekvenssillä olis syytäkin. Viimeisin noteeraus parin viikon takaa pysäytti viisarin 3115 grammaan, siis ilman rihmankiertämää. Pituutta löytyi jo 53cm.

Ja nyt on saatu sitten passikin. Kyllä kelpaa tarhassa sitten brassailla Sydneyn konsulaatilla verrattuna väsyneeseen Helsingin poliisiin.

Arkisettiä

2008-07-06T05:51:00.003+03:00

Taas viikko hujahti ja kansa vaatii raporttia.

Arkirutiinit ovat pikku hiljaa asettuneet uusiin uomiin. Kylvetykset, siivoukset, ruoanlaitot yms. ovat löytäneet omat paikkansa aikataulusta. Paula toki hoitaa kaikista kriittisimmän huollon, mutta kunnollisena aviomiehenä koitan olla avuksi. Paula ja Iines ovat myös hoidelleet virastoasioita, mm. tänään matka käy Suomen konsulaattiin, sekä keskiviikkoisin on käyty neuvolan äitivauvakerhossa jakamassa kokemuksia. Samalla tuli todettua että massakausi tuottaa tulosta, päivän noteeraus oli 3,1 kg.

Nyt kun varsinaisia syömisrajoituksia ei Paulalla enää ole niin olemme löytäneen Sushijunan tosta aseman kulmalta. Take-away ruoka on kovassa huudossa tällä hetkellä joten monipuolisesti eri vaihtoehdoista, joita King Street onneksi runsainmitoin tarjoaa. Tässä hienossa sommitelmassa näkyy viime viikon saalis, ilmastointilaitteen kaukosäädin, soijakippona toimiva mittakauha, avaimet ... vain muutamia mainitakseni.

Viikonloppuna pyörähdettiin päiväkävelyltä Marrickvillen Metro ostarilla kyselemässä pahvilaatikoita muuttokuormaa varten. Koitamme olla järkeviä ja aloittaa nämä hommat ajoissa. Kyllähän sitä romua, mistä ei irti pääse, on taas kertynyt. Ja tässä asiassa minä en ole läheskään niin toivoton kun Paula.

Tällä kertaa koeajossa hug-a-bab kantoliina. Kehuja jaamme kevyestä rakenteesta ja mahdollisuudesta käyttää molempia käsiä oheistoimintoihin ajon aikana.

Tuntuu siltä että kaikki kuvat minusta osuvat kylvetyksen tienoille...

Ja jottei nyt ihan pelkiksi Iineksen kuviksi mene, niin laitetaan pieni graffakorneri lämmittely eiliseltä kävelyltä.

Lopun alku

2008-07-01T12:45:00.003+03:00

Hups, aikaa ehti taas vierähtää viime päivityksestä.
Nyt sitten kun mietin että mitähän tässä on tapahtunut, minusta tuntuu että ehkä tämmöinen reilu viikon päivitysväli saattaa olla kenttätapahtumiin nähden ihan oikeutettu.

Yhteenvetona loppuneista EM-kisoista täytyy todeta että päivätyö, pieni vauva, seitsemän tunnin aikaero ja suosikkijoukkueen aikainen kotiinlähtö rajoittavat suuremmankin jalkapallon ystävän täyspainoista kisaelämystä. Ihan jees että Espanja korjasi potin, vaikka tietysti sen johdosta Hannu voittikin meidän kisaveikkauksen.

Perjantaina Paula kävi hakemassa Iineksen Birth Certificaten joten ensimmäinen askel passin hakuprosessissa ja sitä kautta kotiinpaluussa on otettu. Heti perään otettiin toinen askel kun sovin duunissa että lopetan elokuun lopussa. Suunnitelma on ottaa pari viikkoa vapaata täällä ennen kun lennämme Suomeen.

Viikonloppu meni tutuissa kuvioissa paitsi lauantaina käytiin Sannan bileissä Pyrmontissa. Tämä oli oiva tilaisuus koeajaa baby capsule ja sen asentaminen taksin takapenkkiin. Hyvin meni, kuten myös itse tilaisuus. Iines chillasi lähes koko matkan, keräten voimia yölliseen mellakointiin. Pari tuntia ehdittiin sosialiseerata ja todeta että meininki oli yltymässä kiitettävästi.

Iines ja Otso multittaa, 4 * NL100 max 5 @ Ongame

Kyllähän Iines näissä kuvissa näyttää epäilyttävän rauhalliselta.

Kävelyllä ja lounaalla Erskinevillessä.

Parit kuvat ja kuulumiset

2008-06-22T10:25:00.005+03:00

Ekan työviikon jälkeen oli niin mukavaa viettää juhannusviikonloppua kotiaskareissa. Käytiin pyörimässä Newtownissa ja Enmoressa sekä lounastettiin ulkona, nukuttiin yllättävänkin myöhään, sessioitiin Frendien season 9, naksutettiin nettipokeria, vaihdettiin vaippoja, siivottiin yms.

Perjantaina kävi midwife punnitsemassa Iineksen ja komeasti oli vajaa 200 grammaa tullut lisää massaa. Tankkaus alkaa tuotaa tulosta, hyvä niin.

Kylpemisen jälkeen on kiva nakkeilla.

Liian hidasta palvelua?

Kylmyyttä halveksuen terassilla ja myös eka imetys ns. tien päällä.

Iines elpyy vaihteeksi.

Loppuun vielä tämmöinen fiilistelykuva

Hyvää syntymäpäivää mutsille Luxiin!

2008-06-18T15:26:00.003+03:00

Laitetaan sen kunniaksi yks kuva miniästä ja lapsenlapsesta.

Lisäksi kiitokset sekä mutsille (+ työkavereille) että faijalle paketeista, ovat saapuneet. Hienoja juttuja ja faijalla lisäksi angle kohillaan.

Vastaus monien kysymään kysymykseen

2008-06-17T01:37:00.002+03:00

I was born in Australia. Am I an Australian citizen?

Whether you are an Australian citizen by birth depends on the date of your birth.

People born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 become Australian citizens by birth if at least one parent is an Australian citizen or a permanent resident at the time of the person’s birth.

A child born in Australia to parents who are not permanent residents or Australian citizens acquires Australian citizenship automatically on his or her 10th birthday provided the child is ordinarily resident in Australia. Children born in Australia to foreign diplomats do not acquire Australian citizenship.

People born in Australia before 20 August 1986 became Australian citizens by birth unless one parent was entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities or was a consular officer of a foreign country.

Eli ei tule.

Eka viikonloppu kotona

2008-06-16T03:10:00.004+03:00

Venaillaan että Early Childhood Centren (Neuvola) tyyppi saapuisi ensimmäiselle kotivisiitille. Tämä oli hyvä syy ottaa vielä tämä päivä vapaaksi. Aattelin sitten laittaa tässä odotellessa pari kuvaa isovanhempien ja miksei muidenkin iloksi. Viikonloppu meni varsin leppoisissa merkeissä täällä kotona hengatessa. Lauantaina käytiin toki iltapäivällä Hilkan ja Ianin kanssa syömässä lounasta ja kakkua Ianin synttäreiden kunniaksi. Sunnuntaina kävi vierailijoita pikavisiiteillä useampikin (Anna & Brent Ikean tuomisineen, Eeva & John, Heidi & Marko).

Tässä elvytään kun viimestä päivää... ennen töihin paluuta.

Tiukkaa vääntöä.

Ihan koko aikaa ei enää nukuta vaan välillä jopa ihmetellään maailmanmenoa.

Asiointia

2008-06-13T12:28:00.003+03:00

Eilen illan hämärtyessä lähdimme ensi kertaa kunnolliselle kävelylenkille vaunujen kera. Ihan tässä lähiympäristössä haimme oikeanlaisia säätöjä ja aerodynaamisia ominaisuuksia (pari kuvaa alla). Tänään suuntasimme sitten centralille ja kävimme rekisteröimässä Iineksen osaksi järjestäytynyttä yhteiskuntaa ja hoidimme myös Medicare asioita.

Ensi yönä olisi Gallian kukkojen aika ryhdistäytyä. Se on pakko nähdä.

Kotona

2008-06-12T08:08:00.002+03:00

Pääsimme vihdoin koko porukka asettumaan kotiin tiistaina. Rutiinia on siis haettu pari päivää.

Paula ja Iines pesulla.

Otso tukee esimerkillisesti niskaa.

Iines ihmettelee Kiinan tuliaista, epäilyttävän vilkuttavan kissan pehmoversiota.

Kaikesta touhusta huolimatta ehdimme myös syödä ja maistaa häälahjaviiniä, Paula ei tosin paljoa voinut vieläkään nauttia.

Rauhallinen aamu

Iines Olivia

2008-06-09T13:53:00.003+03:00

Pirullista, vieläkään ei päästy himaan - jotain bilirubiiniläppää ja sinisiä valoja.

06/06/08 04:57: It's a girl!

2008-06-06T16:53:00.003+03:00

Entry Nro 73

2008-05-31T09:46:00.005+03:00

Viimeiset pari viikkoa talvi on tehnyt tuloaan. Eilen illalla alkoi taas sade ja tauotta on tullut tähän aamuun asti. Viima vastaan löytyi lämmikettä yllättävän läheltä. Enmore Roadin skandinaaviravintolan ikkunassa näkyi tuttuja säkkejä kun ohi kävelimme. Kyseisessä paikassa ei aiemmin ole tullut asioitua, muistuu mieleen ohikulkijan varoittavat sanat Paulan tutkaillessa menua joskus aikoinaan. Nyt käytiin hakemassa muutama säkki sopuisaan 4$:n kappalehintaan.

Viikko sitten oli Paulan syntymäpäivät ja ajattelimme kutsua vielä ihmisiä meille ennen kuin tilanne muuttuu liian radikaalisti. Melko tutulla kokoonpanolla mentiin ja ruokaa riitti.

Työviikko meni tervehenkisissä merkeissä. Urheilun jälkeen maistuu terveellinen thaikkuruoka.

Raskaan viikon jälkeen nukuttiin kellon ympäri. Muutenkin lauantaipäivä meni laiskoissa merkeissä, nautimme poikkeuksellisen hienosta ja lämpimästä päivästä lounastamalla pihalla.

Illalla olimme Paulan opiskeluporukan järjestämällä Harbour Cruisella. Kolmen tunnin ajan paatti seilasi edes takas ympäri Harbouria, melko tyypillinen illanviettosysteemi täällä päin. Siinä ajassa ehti nähdä sen oopperatalonkin pari kertaa. Suurimman osan ihmisistä tapasin ensi kertaa, oli hauska yhdistää naamat Paulan tarinoiden henkilöihin. Tämän kansainvälisen porukan meno yltyi risteilyn edetessä ja todennäköisesti ilta jatkui vielä jossain Darling Harbourin mestoissa. Me suuntasimme kotiin jatkamaan elpyilyn täyteistä viikonloppua.

Pumpulihääpäiväviikonloppu

2008-05-18T15:38:00.005+03:00

Joo eli varsinainen päivä on tänään maanantaina, mutta ajatelimme juhlistaa merkkipäivää jo viikonloppuna. Mitään mullistavaa agendaa ei ollut viikonlopulle tehty vaan uskoimme että hyvä meininki tulee omalla painollaan. No olimme sentään varanneet pöydän illaksi. Tätä varten tarvitsimme jotain nättiä päällepantavaa.

Kannattaa tankata hyvin jotta jaksaa sitten shopata.

Pari muutakin ihmista oli tulossa ostelemaan.

Paula esittelee mahaa QVB:ssä. Otson mukaan on tarttunut juuri noita pahamaineisia laatikonmallisia boutiquekasseja. Jotain oli siis löytynyt.

Uusissa vaatteissa kelpaa poseerata ennen Crossille lähtöä.

Paula oli bongannut tämän Aperitif ravintolan netistä. Mesta oli särmästi townhouseen väsätty ja tarjoili "grazing menu" ruokaa eli siis käytännössä tapasta. Ruoka olikin oikein hyvää, mutta yhdistettynä epästandardikokoisiin annoksiin, meille melkein kävi vanhanaikaisesti. Saimme tehdä ihan tosissaan hommia että se viimeinenkin crème brûlée lusikallinen hävisi tuulen suojaan. Joo ja kuvassa tosiaan on punajuurisalaattia, että Toomaksellekin olis varmaan kelvannut tää mesta, vaikka forssalainen oli just päässyt loppumaan.

Sunnuntaiaamu meni sitten lepposissa merkeissä...

Iltapäivällä Olympic Parkissa, takana punavalkoinen massa vaeltaa kohti katsomoa. Ilmassa väreilee odottava tunnelma ja adrenaliinin tuoksu ennen kaupungin ylpeyden Swansin (aussifudis) peliä. Kovimmat jätkät toki olivat menossa ihan jonnekin muualle.

Vappuhulinat

2008-05-12T01:43:00.004+03:00

... Lihirissä eivät olleet ihan Ulliksen luokkaa. Tosiaan kahden viime viikon tapahtumat voi tiivistää pariin lauseeseen; Herätyskello soi klo 04:00, mars aamupalalle ja töihin, josta takaisin pimeän laskeutuessa kuuden tienoilla. Kanttiinista tai Lihirin sosiaali- ja urheilukerholta illallista, hetki CNN:ää tai BBC:tä ja sitten nukkuun. Vielä kun viikonloput painettiin töitä, niin viikkotuntimäärät lähenevät epäilyttävästi Nikomaisia lukemia. Toukokuun Suomi-illassa joka siis osui juuri vapunpäivälle meininki oli ainakin juttujen perusteella ollut juuri niin riehakas kuin osallistujalistan perusteella odottaa voikin.

Kaiken tuon duunisykähtelyn kuittaa sitten se fiilis kun on palaamassa maailman laidalta himaan. Alla Sydney kylpee auringon paisteessa perjantai-illan huumaa odottavasti väreillen, tiedossa pari päivää vapaata ja Paukku kotona järkkää jo illaksi pöytävarausta lähikuppilaan. Perjantai-iltana siis vaihdettiin porukan kanssa kuulumisia safkan äärellä. Muuten viikonloppu menikin sitten kotona maaten ja akkuja lataillen.

Mun duunikeikan ajan Paula on pääasiassa viihdyttänyt itseään tiedonjanoa sammuttamalla. Kohokohta oli perjantaina pidetty ryhmätyöesitys jossa Paulalla oli merkittävä rooli. Tunteikas tulkinta guatemalaistyttönä sai ansaittua tunnustusta.

Huomasin että tilaamani OZ season 5 DVD-setti on saapunut King Streetin HUMiin, joten sinne sitten töiden jälkeen. Eipähän tarvii normitöllöä katsella taas vähään aikaan.

Tällä kertaa valitettavasti meillä ei ole kuvayhteyttä Paulan mahasta joten seuraavalla keralla sitten. Nyt joudutte tyytymään Lihirin maisemiin.

Saitin näkymää, tuliperäinen maasto puskee vesihöyryä tuolla horisontissa. Tärkeä energiantuottaja kaivokselle.

Kake

Mjötööh, pannaa vähän viidakkoa matalaksi.

Vielä aurinko hieman kajasti kun saavuimme Camp 2:n pihaan.

Viidakon kasvit näyttävät tottuneen taisteluun elintilasta.

Päivään ennen kotiinlähtöä keli näytti tältä ja mieliin hiipi kuumoitus - päästäänkö täältä viikonlopuksi himaan.

Nation's Capital

2008-04-27T07:05:00.003+03:00

Tuli sielläkin siis vihdoin käytyä. Perjantai oli ANZAC day eli pitkä viikonloppu oli tiedossa. Perjantaiaamuna hypättiin Greyhoundin bussiin Centralilla ja eilen lauantai-iltana tultiin jo takaisin. Kilometrejä suuntaansa on noin 300 eli näillä kulmilla juuri sopiva yhden yön reissulle.

Canberra on Australian suurin sisämaakaupunki, jossa asukkaita noin 330k. Mielenkiintoista on se, että kaupunki päätettiin aikoinaan luoda tyhjästä pääkaupungiksi. Itseasiassa tälläisiä paikkoja maailmasta löytyy paljonkin, ihan tuttujakin nimiä...

Pikkukaupunkitunnelma ja kiireettömyys oli hyvin aistittavissa, johtuu varmaan siitä että suurin osa ihmisistä on töissä jossain niistä kymmenistä liittovaltionvirastoista joita siinä keskustassa oli. Vajaassa kahdessa päivässä ehdimme fiilistellä keskustan kävelykatuja (joita melko turhaa etsiä Sydneystä), illallistaa Manukassa ja tsekata vanhan ja uuden parlamentin sekä War Memorialin. Toki esim. Memorialin yhteydessä olevasta mittavasta sotamuseosta raapaisimme vain pinnan. Etäisyydet eri nähtävyyksien välillä olivat aika pitkät ja julkinen liikenne ainakin näin viikonloppuna oli jopa surkeampi kuin Sydneyssä. Diplomaattimersulle olisi ollut käyttöä.

Vääristääkö kamera vai onko Paulan maha aivan kaamean kokoinen?

Civicin kävelykadulla oli hiljaista

Yksi australialaisen kulttuurin helmiä, Drive-in Alko.

Alkuperäisten asukkaiden telttalähetystö vanhan parlamenttitalon edustalla.

Takana kohoaa uusi parlamenttitalo ja massiivinen lipputankoviritys.

Paula Pääkallonpaikalla.

War Memorialin seinä ja nimilistaa

Luovasti nimettyjen asioiden listaan voidaan lisätä uusi ranskalainen elokuva Paris, jonka kävimme viime viikolla katsomassa tossa naapurileffateatterissa. Kun kyseessä episodielokuva, ranskalainen sellainen, tapahtumapaikkana Pariisi ja näyttelijäkaartissa Juliette Binoche niin odotukset olivat toki korkealla ja onneksi myös täyttyivät.

Huomenaamulla matka käy akselilla Cairns - Port Moresby - Lihir Island eli pakkaushommia, pakkaushommia.

Höyhenenkevyt

2008-04-20T14:02:00.006+03:00

Niin kuin jo viime postauksessa mainittiin niin reissu Kiinaan oli viime viikon teema.

Sydney tuntuu melko pikkuiselta kylältä Shanghain jälkeen. Tornitalojen ja monessa kerroksessa pyyhkivien kehäteiden keskellä olo oli hieman epätodellinen. Outotecin toimistossa meininki oli kuitenkin leppoisa ja komennuksella olevat aussit ja yksi suomalainen tuntuivat viihtyvän hyvin.

Reissu Dexingiin kuitenkin palautti mieliin että kaikki mestat Kiinassa ei välttämättä oo ihan niin pitkällä kehityksen (hyvän/huonon) polulla.

Toki tässäkin pallon kolkassa käytetään maailman parhaita röntgenanalysaattoreita Suomesta.

Palaverit pidettiin, käytiin ihmettelemässä rikastamoa ja tässä alla ollaan jo ansaitulla lounaalla. Pari tyyppiä muisti viiden vuoden takaa sen kipsikädessä heiluvan nuorukaisen.

Perjantai aamuna palasin kotiin, jätin toimiston väliin ja siirryin viettämään viikonloppua. Paulan viikko oli mennyt kouluhommissa, ryhmätyötä ja maternal mortality esseetä väsäillessä.
Lauantaina järkättiin pieni get-together Glebessä. Nautimme tapasta ja sangriaa Spanish Tapas Restaurantissa. Kuten Niko totesi, jollain on ilmeisesti ollut todella luova päivä kun ravintolalle on mietitty nimeä. No ruoka oli kuitenkin hyvää. Muut jatkoivat vielä iltaa keskustaan kun me lähdimme kotiin latautumaan sunnuntain synnytysvalmennukseen.

Paula sai jälkkäriksi Churroja kun me muut otettiin vielä vähän sangriaa.

Paulan EBay-shoppaajauran huippuhetki osui viime viikolle kun haaviin tarttui todellinen helmi. Kaikkien potkupukujen ja lastenvaunujen jälkeen fokus oli hetkeksi siirretty isompiin artikkeleihin. Kovan huutamisen tuloksena eilen iltapäivällä ovestamme käveli sisään Singerin klassikko 50-luvulta ... Featherweight 222K.

Ilonanne jälleen graffacorneri, sunnutaikävelyltä Camperdown Memorial Parkista.

Välipostaus

2008-04-10T03:13:00.002+03:00

Reissun jälkeen ollaan vietetty hiljaista arkea, osittain sen takia ei päivitystäkään ole tullut aiemmin.

Paulalla jatkui heti kiireiset ajat Unissa, DL:ää pukkaa joka viikko. Mun kiireet liittyy pääasiassa siihen, että niin takana kuin edessä on reissuja. Kun on toimistolla niin pitäisi hoitaa kaikki rästit pois alta. Ens viikolla suljemme yhden ympyrän kun lähden käymäään Kiinassa, tarkemmin sanottuna Dexingissä. Sama paikka johon nuorena kollina tein ensimmäisen kunnon työkeikan keväällä 2003. Kovalevyltä löytyi kuviakin...

Yksi suomalaisen mielestä kummallinen juttu täällä on halvemman bensan tiistai. Historiallisista syistä bensa on joka tiistai ehkä 10-15 senttiä halvempaa kuin muina viikonpäivinä. Aikoinaan isot säiliö-autot kävivät täyttämässä bensa-asemien varastot aina tiistain ja keskiviikon välisenä yönä ja haluttiin päästä eroon edellisistä jämistä. Tämä on ainoa selitys asian taustoista mitä olen kuullut.

Noh nykypäivän kyönit riistäjäkapitalistit on nyt jäänyt kiinni parista ovelasta huijauksesta vähentää myyntiä tiistaisin. Toisessa tapauksessa premiumbensan pumppuihin lyödään epäkunnossa lätkät ja toivotaan ettei kukaan kokeile josko pumppu toimii oikeasti. Toinen on mielestäni sofistikoituneempi, bensapumppujen nopeutta ruuvataan alas - jonot kasvavat kun tankin täyttäminen kestää puolet pidempään ja useat autot ajavat aseman ohi nähdessään jonon tulevan vastaan jo motarin rampille. Yksi hyvä lisäkeino arseenaaliin olisi pitäytyä kokonaan laskemasta hintoja, varmasti kukaan ei saisi sillon halvempaa bensaa mun asemalta.

Fiilistellessäni Suomeen paluun väjäämätöntä kohtaamista ja jo monta kertaa läpi kuunneltuja albumeita mun ipodissa ajattelin, että voisi olla hyvä idea herätellä henkiin vähäistä espanjan kielen taitoani. Löysin interwebistä aika hyvän saitin mistä voi ilmaiseski latailla lyhyitä (n.10min) espanjan opetuspodcasteja. Niitä on nyt kasa ladattuna ipodiin ja nuokkuessani aamuisin hämärän rajamailla bussissa ehkä sana sieltä toinen täältä jää roikkumaan mielen syövereihin. Toi on jenkeille suunnattu saitti, että välillä superlatiivien käyttö on hieman rasittavaa, menettelee kuitenkin paremman puutteessa.

Outback

2008-03-27T12:25:00.011+02:00

1. Päivä (Alice Springs)
Reissumme Australian Outbackissä alkoi Alice Springsistä, jota voi kai pitää alueen jonkilaisena keskuksena. Asukkaita on noin 25000 ja lähin sitä suurempi kaupunki löytyy noin 1500km:n päästä (Darwin). Ruuhkaa ei siis pitäisi olla. Alice Springs perustettiin aikoinaan mantereen halki kulkevan lennätinlinjan toistinasemaksi.

Seurueemme tutustumassa kaupunkiin. Taustalla kaupunkia halkova Todd River.

Ymmärrettävistä syistä valkoinen on suosittu väri niin taloissa kuin myös autoissa.

Oikeat paikalliset osasivat ottaa iisisti päivän kuumimpaan aikaan. Perinteiseen tyyliin chillattiin ja iskettiin tarinaa.

2. Päivä (Ensituntuma Outbackkiin ja ghostown Arltunga)
Toisena päivänä oli aika suorittaa ensimmäinen isku. Kaikkihan ei mennyt ihan putkeen kun pienen navigointihassin jälkeen yritettiin oikasta kartan semmoista ohuinta viivaa pitkin... Tuloksena puhjennut rengas. Palasimme ennenaikaisesti Alice Springsiin etsimään uutta vararengasta koska ei huvittanut lähteä hirveän pitkälle autiomaahan kännykkäkuuluvuuden ulkopuolelle ilman vararengasta.

Pääsiäissunnuntai ei varsinaisesti ole paras ajankohta ko. ostoksille. Globaalisti toimiva autovuokraamomme tarjosi meille niinkin rakentavaa palvelua kuin "Ei oo mun syy että kaupat on tänään kiinni". Hetken näytti jo siltä että ajosuunnitelmat menee totaalisesti uusiksi ja olemme jumissa Alice Springsin tuntumassa pari päivää. Onneksi yksityisyrittäjät ei vapaapäiviä tunne, ainakaan metallinromutusbusineksessa. Bongasimme romuttamon aidan takaa ystävällisen sielun, joka antoi meille kaksi romuista ylijäänyttä rengasta, ihan ilmaiseksi.

Tästä kokemuksesta karaistuneena lähdimme entistä innokkaammin kohti Arltungan autioitunutta "kaivoskaupunkia".

Joidenkin matka on loppunut tähän. Autonraatoja näkyi tasaisin väliajoin. Olisiko ollut paikallisten tapa päästä eroon vanhoista autoista.

"Mitenkäs se rengas vaihdettiinkaan"

Sen verran hiljaiset tiet olivat että lehmiäkin kiinnosti... tai sitten ne myhäili vaan kaupunkilaisten toilailuille.

Arltunga ei koskaan ole ollut kovin suuri kaupunki.

Saittikardaania tietysti kiinnosti viime vuosituhannen murskaimet ja muut rikastusvehkeet.

Tomia taas kaivoskäytävät.

3. Päivä (West Macdonnell Range ja matkantekoa)
Maanantaina jätimme Alice Springsin kokonaan taaksemme. Tarkoitus oli ajaa MacDonnell Rangea pitkin kohti Kings Canyonia ja viettää päivä tutkailemalla mitä matkanvarrelle osuu.

Paula Gorgen varjossa.

Kallioiden suojasta löytyi water hole. Harvoin uiminen virkistää yhtä paljon.

Alkuperäisväestön maalivarasto

Tässä olisi voinut olla Paavolla vaikeuksia vastustaa kiusausta.

Vielä on matkaa edessä.

Uskomattoman vaihtelevia maisemia näkyi reitin varrella.

Aikoinaan Australiaan tuotiin kameleita kotieläimiksi. Nykypäivänä niitä elää villinä Outbackissa vaikka kuinka paljon.

Fiilistelytauko

Hyvin säilynyt autonraato.

Nimismies piti huolen että keskinopeudet pysyivät varsin maltillisina. Jatkuvaa rynkytystä kesti parhaimmillaan useampi kymmenen kilometriä.

Mirva ja Tomi

4. Päivä (Kings Canyon)
Neljännen päivän suuri urakka oli vaeltaa Kings Canyonin ympäri. Keli oli mukavan lämmin ja aurinkoinen. Amatööreinä pääsimme liikkeelle juuri sopivasti kuumimpaan aikaan, mutta onneksi olimme varustautuneet asiaankuuluvasti.

Tyyli ennen kaikkea.

Kings Canyon

Ihmiset kanjonin toisella puolella antaa perspektiiviä seinämän koolle.

Hyvät kengät, lakki, 30+ aurinkorasva, vettä ja kamera.

Välillä maisemat ihan kun jostain toisesta maailmasta,

Matkanjohtaja

Diisseliä pari taalaa litra.

5. Päivä (Uluru ja Kata Tjuta)
Viimeinen kokonainen reissupäivä vietettiin sitten Australian punaisessa sydämessä. Vaikka kanyonilla ryntäily painoi jaloissa, vääntäydyimme näkemään auringon ensisäteet Ulurun (Ayers Rock) pinnalla. Pilvisen sään vuoksi saimme nauttia todellisesta punoituksesta vain muutaman minuutin, toki riittävän kauan että kuvan ehti napata.

Valoefektin vertailu, kaksi kuvaa lyhyen ajan sisään.

Sitten vaan kävelemään ympäri. Kiven kiertämiselle tulee mittaa noin 10 kilometriä.

Lyhyenmallinen road train painaa meneen minne lie.

Eihän se turisti usko. Me uskottiin vaikka kieltämättä kiusaus oli kova.

Oikein hyvä reissu oli. Hyvä balanssi vaeltelua ja roadtrippiä (matkamittariin tuli 1300km) piti mielen virkeänä. Jeppiskamaa pukinkonttiin.

Projekteja ja projekteja

2008-03-21T06:18:00.006+02:00

Laitetaan alkuun yksi kuva Paulasta. Otettu tosta ihan kulmilta auringonlaskun aikaan.

Viime aikoina on hoidettu jos jonkinlaista projektia. Suurin saavutus lienee viime lauantaina kävelty Spit-Manly Walk. Tästä on puhuttu varmaan yli vuosi ja viimein saatiin aikaiseksi. Ehkä tietoisuus siitä että tällä hetkellä Paulan kävelylenkit lyhenee päivä päivältä sai meidät liikkeelle. Keli sattui erinomaiseksi ja lähdimme hyvin mielin reilu 9 kilsan lenkille, joka kierteli siis pitkin Sydney Harbourin rantoja ja pusikoita.

Paula, Michaela ja ensimetrit

Alkumatka kulkee hyvinvoivien pohjoisten suburbien ja rauhallisten Harbourin poukamien läpi. Niin lapset kuin aikuisetkin nauttivat lauantain vapaudesta.

Varpaita oli mukava huljutella vedessä aina kun kuuma pääsi yllättämään.

Paikalliset mörötkin paistattelivat päivää.

Hieman pusikkoisempi osuus.

Puolessa matkassa kuljettiin hieman ylempänä kallioilla mistä näkyi pitkälle.

Seurueemme

Harbourin suulla näki mikä toinen harrastus oli tänään kovassa huudossa.

Kuivaa

Välillä kuljimme turvaverkon alla

Manly häämöttää jo.

Illalla kaupungin humussa intialaista syömässä

ja myöhemmin uhoilemassa hämyisissä kuppiloissa.

Muita projekteja on esitelty lyhyesti seuraavassa.

Paulan suunnittelema ja rakentama yhdistetty kenkähyllykkö ja penkki. Noudattaa tuttua Paulan filosofiaa siitä että kun ei oikein löydy sopivaa niin pitää rakentaa itse.

Uuttaa tulokasta varten on jo ehditty kutoa useammatkin hienot vaatteet. Jätämme arvailujen varaan kumpi meistä on nämä luonut. Napit toki haimme yhdessä King Streetin nappikaupasta.

Tämä epämääräisen näköinen janari on ihan itse suunnitellut tämän t-paidan osaksi tulevan syksyn Newtown collectionia.