triplog

[7pm Sunday 05.04.2009 Edit: ] Introducing Luca Jonathan Tanner.

He arrived kicking and screaming at 10:49am on 04.04.2009 after an all-night labour weighing in at 3.66kg and 52cm in height (just over 8 pounds and around 20.5 inches in old-school measurements). Ears like his dad, hands like his mum, face of a wizened old Jedi master.

Thanks to Ang for these photos. I’ve been a real slacker lately when it comes to taking pics and updating this site… and Jane’s got a lot on her mind and belly

Anyways, we’ve had crew from Switzerland over - Ang, who spent last winter with us down at the block, freezing in the shed and dodging possums, and her sister Anais. It’s been a bit of social whirlwind, but awesome fun catching up with them and all the crew. Highlights include me getting coached and brushing up on my Schwiitzerdüutsch, poker night, a run of awesome weather and definitely the food.

In other news, it looks like the surf season is about to start; we’ve had a swell a week for the last few weeks, and a few days of all-day offshore wind. Sorry, no photos. But I have had some awesome fun waves at Other Side of the Moon, Bears, Noisies/Little Ulus, and got to surf Peabreak for the first time on dusk the other night. And the water is still warm enough for boardies. And yep, the photo above is a pretty clear indication of the water colour and clarity over here.

Settling in is taking a bit longer than I ever thought it would - we’ve still got a stack of boxes we haven’t even opened. On the other hand, we’ve been flat out doing stuff, from a (mammoth) Ikea expedition to setting up a veggie patch and compost bin.

I’ve spent the last few days in limbo, otherwise known as the Gold Coast. After hanging out in Burleigh on Sunday night, I’d headed further south, all the way to Tugun (about two suburbs away), when I got a call from Keenan - I’d thought he was living somewhere just south of the border, but turns out he was one suburb back the way I’d just come, in Palm Beach. So we hung out for beers and dinner at the local surf club on Monday night - it was good to catch up, we figured out the last time we’d seen each other was around 5 years ago - then on Tuesday morning I bid him farewell and was all set to head south into NSW.

I made it as far as Tweed Heads, when the clutch on the troopy decided to give up the ghost - it had been threatening a caper like this for a while. So off I went to Keenans mechanic, Roger, where I was told I couldn’t the car back until Friday. Keenan kindly put up with me as a house guest for the rest of the week (I owe you, mate) while I waited. And waited. With no surf.

Anyway, this afternoon I finally got reunited with troopy (and dis-united from over a grand), and hit the road south. I intended to drive through Byron Bay, just to see what had changed, and then keep going further south until dark… but lo and behold, as soon as Main Beach hove into view, those plans went out the window. There was surf. My home state (sorry Jane!) had laid out the welcome mat.

I managed to keep it together long enough to snap off the pictures above, then bolted for the water. It was offshore, warm water, head high and getting glassier with each passing minute. Oh yeah…