It was strange not seeing the sun for about 17 hours straight. It set soon after we left NY as we flew west to catch up with it. It outpaced us by almost double. With nothing else to do on the plane, we figured we'd have to fly roughly 900mph to keep pace with the sun. The inflight telemetry system said that our groundspeed was only about 540mph. So little by little the black turned to blue, and a full-horizon red and orange sunrise reassured us that tomorrow would come... eventually.

Halfspeed Sunrise

Right from the airport we set to work surprising Marnie. (She knew Matt was coming, but he neglected to tell her which day.) The first plan was to have a large cardboard box delivered to her workplace around lunchtime. Suspecting Matt to pop out of the box, she'd be surprised as he sneaks up from behind her instead. Might have worked, but we opted for the more complicated plan-B instead. Plan-B: As Marnie was getting ready for work, we'd arrange for her twin sister Vanessa to stall her from leaving for work on time. Then, we'd sneak up to her house from behind, and Matt would call her from the footpath leading up to it at his usual calling time. He'd pretend to still be in NY, having just fininshed work. Then, Josh (her nephew who picked us up from the airport) would call her as well (on call waiting), inviting her to dinner the following night. This second call would serve two purposes: A) it would make Marnie think that Matt was arriving the following day for a surprise at dinner, and B) it would distract her just long enough for Matt to sneak into the house and surprise her for real. Well, all went according to plan right up to the part where we sneak up to the house. Aparently, whenever Matt calls Marnie, she goes off to a certain quiet room in the house with a large window view of the back yard (footpath included)! So as we're tip-toeing up, trying to be all stealth, she's laughing hysterically to herself because she can see us clear as day. She tried her best to play along, but it just wasn't going to work. Try the front door next time, Matt!

Later that day, we stopped by Anton's place, a large stretch of land with mango trees and wallabees and a creek running through it. They've also got something called a "Flying Fox" - a steel cable stretched for nearly a quarter mile, anchored at either end over the top of two tall towers, one at the top of a hill, and the other past the trees and over the creek at the bottom of the hill. On the cable sits a pulley, and attached to the pulley is a set of handle bars. So, to demonstrate, Anton climbed the telephone-pole tall (and about as wide) steel I-beam tower, grabbed hold of the handles, and proceeded to fly gracefully through the air - accellerating through the trees, and over the creek, landing at walking speed just beyond it. As he walks the contraption back with a rope which dangles from it, we all gawk and line up to take turns ourselves. Matt, of course, goes first - always eager to try anything that looks dangerous enough to be fun. So, he climbs the pole, leaps from the landing, sails through the air, nearly misses the trees, soaring over the creek and beyond... At this point he is close enough to the ground to touch it with his feet but is moving much to fast to let go. But he had no choice, since the ride was about to come to an abrupt halt. The handlebars dissappeared from his hands, as he flew, un-aided, for several more yards! Anton said, "Oh no! We forgot to tell him about the brakes!" We could not see just how he hit the ground, and Matt doesn't seem to remember that part. But as he walked back, laughing spasmadically, he didn't notice that he only had one lens left in his sunglasses. He'd thought the blow to his head confused his vision! My turn was not nearly as exciting. I only got about halfway before my dangling feet slowed me down in a cloud of red Australian dust.

Up a Pole	Flying Fox	Matt's Ready	Matt Flying
The Long Walk Back	Funny Vision	Josh's Flight

Here's some pictures of the Hazaels and their son, James, with a mini-remote control car we brought for him.

Peter Making Tea

Putting it Together

Starsky and Hutch

In Perspective