Maybe in Oz

In January of 1649, Thos Morgan, my great great ..... grandfather, signed the death warrant for King Charles I, an act that in normal times would make him guilty of treason for conspiring against the monarchy.  He ended up fleeing to America, where he changed his last name to Carrier in order to avoid being sent back to England for trial.  Of course, later he married a woman who was tried and hung for being a witch, but that's another story... Three hundred and sixty two years later, I found myself taking a new job in Australia.  In order to get my work visa, I had to pledge allegiance to the monarchy of the same country that my ancestor fled from so many years ago.  And tomorrow, I'll take the Australian Citizenship Pledge and become a dual citizen. Besides the physical move, there were a lot of little details involved in getting to this point.  We arrived on a skilled worker visa, which required providing my resume and degree in addition to the length...

As soon as I returned from my work trip to Jakarta we set out on another three day weekend adventure.  Phil and our friends picked me up from the airport and we started the three hour drive to the Grampians.  We stayed in Halls Gap for the Anzac Day weekend and did some hiking and exploring.  Outside our little country motel each morning and night the kangaroos would hang out and snack on the grass.  There were also plenty of Cockatoos and Kookaburras to add to the Aussie experience.   Roos out the back Kookaburra sitting in the tree The first day there was a bit of a blur for me after spending the night on a plane, but after a nap in the car and a snack we went for a hike along the canyon behind the camp ground.  The rock cliffs were steep and dramatic on both sides and the late afternoon light made for a pretty background.  It was so peaceful and quiet.  This was about as far as I could possibly get from the chaos of Jakarta from just ...

A week ago work took me on another adventure through Southeast Asia - Singapore, Jakarta, and Balikpapan.  Seeing how my last Jakarta trip went I was a bit leery of how this trip would turn out, but it fortunately was very uneventful. I first flew to Singapore and got to catch up with a good friend who lives there.  We walked up Mt Faber and enjoyed the views; with the heat and humidity I could not believe how sweaty I got!  Since it was a quick stop I didn't have time to do much else, but it was nice to see her and stretch the legs. The view from Mt Faber  From the other side of Mt Faber Singapore at sun down The next stop was Jakarta.  I could smell the pollution as soon as I got off the plane.  I was glad I had been there before because it made going through the airport by myself and finding my driver less intimidating.  I spent two days there for meetings, and Tuesday night we went to a place called Skye for dinner.  It's 56 fl...