Family Reunion

Hello to all my family and friends :)

I just returned from my family reunion out in Upstate NY this past weekend and it was a ball seeing folks I hadn't seen in almost 20 years (D'oh!). The Kelcourse clan had the most representatives with 17 members in attendance. At least I think it was 17, they were all skittering about like fireflies, so it was hard to keep a count :)

Anyway, it would take a novel to decribe who is in each picture, but there's my nieces Megan and Keline looking over the family tree; one of my brother-in-Tim with his son (my nephew) Conor; my brother Kevin with his daughter (my niece) Carmen; all of us cibs together (Sans Patrick, he had to work) with our cousin Patti; a couple of Patti and Me,;one with my Aunt Mary, Patti and me; Bob and Me; and a slew of others of the family.

In those pictures, in various locals, you'll also see my nephew Esteban, sister-in-law Anna, Sister Terri; Kevin's daughter (my niece) Cecilia; my sister-in-law Cristina; my Mom (of course :); and my brother Mark. I hope I didn't forget anyone :)

Enjoy the pics :) More to come soon.

Family Reunion

Back in the USA

Hey every one :) I'm only back in the US for a few weeks before returning to Oz, but here's some pics of me and some family at a BBQ held by my brother Kevin. In the Pics are me, Kevin, his brother-in-law Carlos, my brother-in-law Tim (Terri's husband) my nieces and nephews: Carmen, Megan and Connor. My niece Cecilia happens to be MIA at the momment.

I've also included a picture of me and Angela on my last nite before leaving for home for a few weeks.

After attending my family reunion in Upstate New York, I'll be heading back to Cairns in Far North Queensland to spend a week or so before taking the southern route over to Perth :)

I'm really excited about returning to Oz and I hope you enjoy the pics :)

Love you all :)

Finally... another Hello (Pics)

Finally a new update :)

Hey to everyone :)

Some of you may know I was planning on returning to the OBX in April but for many reasons my plans have changed and I've decided to stay and enjoy Australia for a while longer. And that means Jeff and I will finally find the chance to paddle out to Double Island once the Coral Sea settles down a little bit - which should be pretty soon :)

The apartment I'm living in on Trinity Beach has been put up for sale - D'oh! - and I can only hope that whomever buys it is doing so for an investment and an abode. It's a beautiful place and if you have Google Earth, you'll find it as one of the beaches a bit north of Cairns in Northeast Queensland on the east coast. What is it about me, the Northeast, and the coast? It seems I'll never find myself very far from any one of them.

Work is going well. The boss has even found a way to be a little nicer as of late. And though I never found out how they new I was in Cairns, a hospital up in Darwin (The Northern Territory) called to refer an orthopaedic patient down to me. A few days later, the pooch with a dislocated hock (ankle) arrived via plane for her procedure and flew back home a few days later. I hope her arms didn't get too tired :) ("Hook")

Anyway, there's a lot going on with me unpacking and settling back in so I'll write more later. In the meantime, here's a picture of John; the president of the Kangaroo Rescue Team up here in FNQ.

Miss you guys. Best wishes and G'day.

Finally an update :)

New Post... finally :)

Hello to all my friends and family,

I know it's been a while since my last post but getting up into the Tablelands during the wet season is like trying to shoot a very small fish in a very large barrel with a BB gun. It's not about getting wet - it's about the wisdom of driving the winding road up the mountain through the rainforest to get "there and back again" (as Bilbo would say) in the rain.

But after 3 tries, we made it up this past weekend to finally paddle Lake Eacham again... the remnants of an extinct volcano now filled with water.

In the first pic, you'll see the Baron Gorge Falls; now flowing a bit rough due to the rain. The second is my friend Jeff paddling (I know his wife must wish we could carry a third Kayak on my roof :); the third is you know who posing with Flat Meghan (a school project my neice is working on) under a fig tree; and then you know who doing some paddling followed by a Flying Fox roost we stumbled across on our way to the lake.

I hope all is well back home and I'll see you soon... actually, we'll see you soon :)

Love and miss you all. Cheers, Matt

My first License in Oz

Merry Christmas Everyone

I heard it's become un-PC to say that back home, so let me say it again... Merry Christmas Everyone.

I read an inspiring report on yahoo news about a midwest town who put a nativity scene in front of their town hall and were asked to take it down. Their response... No; but you're welcome to display your belief as well, there's plenty of room.

No matter... or maybe it is... but I hope you're all wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas.

As an aside, I'm posting a pic of my very first driver's license in Oz that I just got today down in the city of Cairns. I know it's a bit fuzzy, but considering my last NC license was the day after my birthday party, I think it's a step up :)

Ho Ho Ho = No No No

Ho Ho Ho = No No No

This is one that I simply have to post... it's a pic from the front page of the Cairns Post today about Santa being sacked.

Now I thought things got a little out of hand when everyone (you know who I mean by "everyone") freaked out about the Jackson-Timberlake event at the Super Bowl half time show. In my opinion, they needed to take a chill pill because I remember the days when ABC showed Sharon Lawrence's butt and boobs on NYPD Blue without so much as a blip on the radar. I mean, c'mon - Howard Stern had been doing the same PG-17 shtick for decades, but when Janet's non-nipple exposure hits the nation, the FCC kicks him off and sends him over to satellite radio.

Well, this one is a little bit better... and worse...

A department store company here in Oz hired thier Santas under two conditions: 1) they're not allowed to sing Christmas Carols because they might offend the non-christians, and 2) they're not allowed to say "Ho Ho Ho" because they fear it will scare the children (Huh?!!)

Long story short, the Santa pictured above was caught Ho-Ho-Ho-ing and was fired from his job for being the Santa every kid enjoys. And suddenly I find myself wondering what would've happened if Santa sang Deck the Halls.

It's a crazy world we live in... hang on and enjoy the ride :)

Cheers, Matt