Saturday, December 26, 2009

Sleds Without Snow..


The Drinkwater brothers' adventure-challenge series continued this week as we moved to Threadbo in Australia's Snowy Mountains. Threadbo is a ski resort that keeps running in summer with hiking trails, downhill mountain biking, a 'bobsled' run and a nine-hole golf course. But since Australians don't go there until after Boxing Day, Eric and I had the place all to ourselves.

This was great on the golf course because it meant we had lots of time to look carefully for snakes before stepping into the rough. And on the bobsled run -- which was an aluminum track that we rode with a wheeled sled -- we could go as fast as we wanted without colliding with cautious Australians. (The Aussies aren't used to crashing tobaggans, so they tended to be a bit slow in the turns.)

The downside to being at an empty resort was that nightlife was somewhat slow. The place was so eerily quiet in the evenings that we were often completely alone walking through the town square. So we watched TV.

On our last evening in Threadbo, we watched a hockey game between Toronto and Buffalo on Fox Sports. Neither of us normally watch hockey, but we enjoyed looking at the ads on the boards at Air Canada Centre for familiar products like Mr. Sub and Tim Hortons. After the game, the "Trailer Park Boys" movie came on. The all-Canadian soundtrack featured Rush, the Tragically Hip, April Wine and Helix, and it made me homesick.

It's been a long trip and some of you have been asking where I'm going next and when I'm coming home. As it stands, I will be returning to Edmonton at the start of February -- as scheduled. But before then, I intend to make a final stop in Houston, Texas.

Houston is where my trips end. I'll tell you why later.

1 comment:

  1. Robert and Eric. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR to you both. It is great to spend time with Eric. We are glad the you are returning to Edmonton again. Joe retires Dec 31, 10. We will be going to Hawaii, Jan 20 - Feb 10, 10, so will probably miss you. Have a great time.

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