Author Archives: Brian

Echo Tunnel

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Sunny weather is on, so we took advantage of a lazy afternoon to pack a picnic & go stomping around Belair National Park.

nature O

There’s more coolfun stuff to do in Belair than a single afternoon allows, assuming you’re not just after a hike through the trees of course. This time, we did have a goal in mind: Echo Tunnel! It’s the perfect time of year for this particularly butterfly-infested area of Belair, & the boys had never been, so it seemed like just the thing.

Oh yes, junk words on the walls & much darker once you’re inside. Just the thing for exciting the blood of young explorers.

On the far side of the tunnel, we found the path quite overgrown with blackberries, grass & wildflowers, so we didn’t get too much farther, which is ok. Short legs & all. Still, we managed to pick a good spot – as we enjoyed some fruit & the boys gibbered happily, some nearby koalas let us know that, yes, we were being quite loud. 99 points for sighting a drop bear taking lunch!

Orlando has taken great strides in following his mother’s photographic footsteps, as revealed by this clever group photo;

Goonies Never Say Die

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On our last day in P-town, we knew we had to rent a car to get our bums up to Seattle to meet up with Jamie-san & catch a flight to Fairbanks, so we decided to make the most of it with a just-like-old-times road trip to the coast.

Cannon Beach is where we’d go to get Aurelia a fix o’ the seaside when she was particularly homesick. Brimming with Northwestern seaside charm & tourist trappery, we managed to find the best place to have some brunch.

You may be familiar with Haystack Rock, once seen on the silver screen in the background as Mikey sights up the Fratelli’s hideout in search of One-Eyed Willie’s lost treasure.

Reya says “It is mandatory for members of my family to visit Cannon Beach & do a little happy dance!”

Sneaking like a tiger in the long grasses is also acceptable.

Before we left town, we dropped in on Steidel Art Studios & scored some great prints, like this one (although the colours aren’t all blown out on ours), & we probably gutsed a bunch of saltwater taffy too.

Next up: Alaska!

Multnomah Falls

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Two years on & it’s time to put these up before I accidentally baleeet what’s left like I accidentally baleeeted the part where we visited the Japanese Gardens >_< Funny to look back on these pictures, & then look at the 4yo O bouncing off the walls today. Time @_@! So before we rocketed out of P-town, we took a trip to see Multnomah Falls. I met up with some people I'd met online; my world-ranging biologist friend Chris who was in town hanging out with our maths-crazy buddy Bike Mike.

While we hiked to the top of the falls, Orlando was having ice cream at the bottom with Nanna, Mum, Andrew & Emily. Somewhere we have a picture of the infamous SNEZ train, although you cannot see the SNEZ. We think this may have been the origin of O’s fascination with ‘junk words’. Here instead is a view of the Columbia River from most the way along the hike up the falls.