Balloon Adventures

Captured some Logan balloon escapades today and still amazed it hasn't popped!

The evolution of my teeth

Onto the next stage of tooth evolution as went to the dental surgeon to get my "abutment" added today. To all us non-medical folk that translates to a metal peg that goes into the implant (shown in skeleton like photo) to stick out of the gum, allowing the gum to heal around it. This will be replaced by the crown once I get that sorted with the dentist. One step closer...

The implant is at the top and yes the photo is upside down...

Dragons Beware

We had an extra sleep this morning with Dad in the chair as we had a late night and to help Mum have a rest from her night out!

So fully rested we were ready to battle his friend "blue dragon"!

Watch out he's walking...

He has been standing and crawling like a madman for a few weeks but not really walked much even with us holding him, but seems he was just waiting for the right "walking tool", which of course is a wicker basket....

And impressive timing as both Logan and I are in the grip of Man Flu as you can probably hear :)

Two videos this time on the sidebar or from these links:

• Starting off
• Coming to get you

Waving is cool - by Logan

My latest favourite thing is to wave at everything. It can be people, gnomes or wall art, I'm not fussy.

So here I am in action with Dad and his fuzzy hair, the morning of his sponsored shave/ colour.

Dancing Batman

"So you think you can dance" next contender is not content with just learning to stand, but likes to jig too.

Check out the video on the side panel or here.

41, where did that come from

Struggling to accept that I was now 40 something but still wanted to celebrate it, so headed out to Yanchep beach and then the national park for the day. Got some good presents from Janice and Logan, including a new Esky with Wheels, which fitted very nicely into the bloke-gadget category.

Had a good day with the crew in the water, then found a great spot to set ourselves up right next to the pub, so we could have our BBQ and a beer or two and listen to the live music from the pub band!

Got a "beach cricket" set from the taylor clan so that got tested out well at the end of the day and Logan was a trooper to last through the day so we could have a good one.

Sporting my new Esky

Delicious birthday Pavlova cooked by my lovely wife

Good cricket, pity about the pitch

The crew, with Sue taking the photo

Diving the Swan

While being down in Dunsborough with the Canadian Crew I got the chance to dive on the Swan Wreck, which I had been waiting to do for a few years.

I booked on with Cape Dive out of Dunsborough which made it only a few minutes from the house we were staying in and after getting the gear sorted we followed the truck about 3 kms out of town, to where we met the boat.

About 15 mins out to the dive site and I buddied up with some other instructors which meant I didn't have to worry about looking after some divers.

Decided to be clever and add a moisture absorbing pack to my camera housing after seeing some condensation on a previous dive BUT hadn't been very observant on WHERE in the housing I put it. This became apparent as we started descending and I couldn't access half of the options and the camera was doing some weird things. I could take photos, but most frustratingly couldn't reset my white balance.

Was a good wreck to dive on with lots of cut-outs to swim through the wreck without having to worry about tie off with a reel or safety. And handy that we got there before the other charter boat arrived :)

Its blue down there, but not that blue
 

Ooooh, look at the bubbles

The resident tasselled Wobbegong under the stern of the ship
 

So made sure I rectified that school boy camera error for the next dive and got some better shots.

Overall a really good couple of dives and could probably do another 5 or 6 to see it all, especially as the majority of it was in around 25m, so couldn't spend too long at that depth before hitting deco.

One of my buddies and a school of puffer fish

A good spot to do some safety stops

Chillin in my swing

Mum and Dad bought me this little swing (see side videos), which I really like chillin out in and watching the world.

"And don't tell them I can swing myself yet as I'm enjoying letting them push me, much less work"

The Canuck Chicks Came a Visitin'

Just had a visit from the female arm of the Garton clan, namely Christine, Leigh-ann and Louise.

Yep you got it, Logan and I were outnumbered in the house 3-2... But think we were still in control!

See, all running as usual

Quite entertaining to have the girls here for the first time (Louise is a pro at it now) as you tend to forget the "odd terms" that make life here a bit perplexing the first time.

They enjoyed all a few days up and around Perth seeing Kings Park, the city...

...and not surprisingly lots of beaches especially with an average temp around 35 degrees. There was lots of playing in waves with and without the boogie boards and our surfboard got its best workout in about a year.

Remember girls its all about the hair

Not missing out on the full WA experience with the beach being closed for a shark sighting just after they got out of the water the first time, then a sting or two from some friendly jellies and of course some close encounters with Quokkas and Pelicans over on Rotto.

One of the Pelicans that "menaced" them

A friendly Quokka looking for some food

For a few days break we had booked a big house down in Dunsborough (especially as our three bedroom, one bathroom villa is a bit too small for 5.25 people) which was in a great location with a forested path right out the back and a good spot to get to Smiths Beach for surfing and other beaches/bays for some exploring.

Half way on the walk around the Cape

Even with 3 bathrooms I'm waiting for the shower...

 

Looking the part heading down to Smiths Beach

 

Our neighbours on the local golf course

I must have behaved (for once) as the girls agreed to wait stay around on the Saturday morning (doing a caves visit) while I got to dive the Swan as my birthday present - more on another post about this :)

 

Will upload more photos soon to Picasa but need to weed a few out as Leigh-ann takes even more than me, especially Waves!!