Hooroo to Uluru

After a busy day yesterday of touring around the Olgas and Uluru we stupidly decided that we would get up before sunrise to watch the sun come up and the ever changing colours of The Rock. We had discovered last night that it was actually almost the same price to fly from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs as it was to hire a car and drive or catch a coach, so we booked some flights and cancelled the hire car. Luckily we didn't tackle the 5 hour drive after getting up at sunrise as we were both really tired. Anyway because we were flying now we had an unopened bottle of champas in the fridge that had to be drunk because we couldn't take it on the plane, so we celebrated our Sunrise with a glass or 2 of bubbly at 6.30am. So we said "Hooroo to Uluru" and jumped on a 23min flight to Alice to meet up with our friend Maxine. She was so excited to see us but because she was at work we couldn't stop for long so we took her car and came back to her place for a little siesta. We are just about to head out and explore Alice Springs, our friendly taxi driver from the airport gave us a stack of brochures and things to do. I have taken stax of photos so here are a couple from this mornings events.

Good morning from Uluru

We arrived yesterday at Ayers Rock Airport, had a few celebratory Champagnes upon arrival at our Hotel. A strange thing we have found out about NT liquor laws is there is a take-away limit of 1 bottle of wine per person per day. We had scheduled in the Sounds of Silence Dinner which was a beautiful sunset dinner overlooking the Ayers Rock and the Olgas, champagne was plentiful and we had an array of different foods including Wild Kangaroo skewers, croc ceasar salad, wild barramundi and the best lamb cutlets I have ever had, not to mention the desserts and port to finish off. Today we are about to head off to walk around, well not all the way around, Ayers Rock and this afternoon we are doing a tour out to the Olgas. We tried to schedule in a session at the spa in our 2 hour window between tours but unfortunately that didn't work.

Memories.....

Today was bizzare. I had a phone call a few days ago from a lady who bought my horse almost 15 years ago, we have kept contact over the years and I usually get a Christmas Card and some photos every now and then. But she called to tell me they were going to be in Camden over the weekend. So I got to see my beloved horse Mick. I almost cried when I saw him, he was the last horse I had when I stopped riding and we had done a lot together including riding at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The owners Lex and Jose have had him for nearly 15 years and treat him like a pet and now he rounds up cattle at the campdrafting events. He didn't look as glamorous as when he was going to the shows but he look fit and well and loved. They offered me a ride which I jumped at, however I was not as nimble as I used to be and getting up proved to be quite difficult. Once aboard the nostalgia kicked in and it felt like the good old days. Jamie said the horse groaned under my weight and that his legs were buckling, haha, not funny. We discussed his little quirks which haven't changed and we bid farewell. I don't know when or if I will see him again, but it was a great feeling.

The Concrete Slab is Poured

It was touch and go today for the concrete pour. Friday weather didn't look promising so we were woken up by our Concretor at 5.30am for a weather report (he lives near Campbelltown). Jamie told him "it looks ok, I see blue sky", I personally wasn't that confident but he was prepared to come and give it a go.

Well the day did fine up nicely and we got the huge slab poured, this was 1 big job that we needed done so we could start building the shed.

We signed our names and date into the slab when it was a bit wet and Jamie got me to do a Toyota jump on the slab when it was dry. Not the most flattering look, but very funny.

Weightloss Ticker

I am posting this so it is in public view, making me more accountable for my weightloss. I know my dear friends will support me on this. I have just set a goal of 20 kgs before Christmas. I know it will be hard but worth it. Anyone want to join me?

More on the Shed

Well the weekend was spent with a lot of equipment in the yard and people coming and going. All for the damn shed. It is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare, but hopefully worth it in the end.
Saturday we had Jamie's mates over driving the excavator moving dirt around and generally tidying up the site ready for the new slab. We also had the Dingo which was lots of fun, especially when Jamie showed me how to do wheelies with it. Even mum had a go on it.
Most of Saturday for me was spent driving the dump truck, I was renamed "DumpGirl" oh what a flattering name and outfit and hairdo I had. My friend Colette was my "winggirl" and came for a few runs out to Jamie's parents place where we were getting rid of the stuff. She said we looked like Lesbians cruising in the truck, especially the first trip when she brought her little dog Eric for a ride. Eric only came on 1 trip because he nearly got eaten literally by Jamie's parents german shepherd, funny now but not at the time.
Sunday we spent digging holes for the piers, anyone would think we were building a mansion with the amount of engineering that has to go into this slab. And mum and I doing trips to Kennards because the boys thought we didn't have the right size thingy to dig the hole, I think it is called an Auger (don't know if that is spelt right). I am becoming way to familiar with machine names, when I call it the "digger thingy" Jamie corrects me and says "no dear that is an excavator", whatever is all I say. Once this is all over my workboots are getting packed away for a while, along with my work gloves and hardhat.

Biggest Loser

Jamie and I have been thinking about trying out for The Biggest Loser this year, they are looking for couples, my concern is obviously if we were selected how would both of us take time off work, especially not having any staff to run my business if I was the chosen one.
I have been checking out The Biggest Loser club online and after reading all the emails I kept getting and investigating the site I decided to join. What a phenomenal website, it is even better than I thought. Yesterday I got my weekly program which said I should eat 2000 calories per day to lose 1/2 kg per week. I decided to adjust it to 1600 calories per day which should allow me to lose 0.9kg per week. You can go to your program, print your weekly shopping list, deleting any items you already have before you print, select how many people you are catering for and away you go.
This is the easiest way to track calories I have ever seen and I have seen a lot as well as designed my own Excel spreadsheet.
The most horrendous part of the process was taking a photograph in my underwear, now we all look in the mirror but looking at that photo was a huge reality check, front and side, I was to scared to take a rear shot, Jamie did his as well, neither were very pretty. It is amazing what you can hide with clothes.