This is supposed to be a blog about our training for the Camino. I know I'm posting a fair bit about the swans on Albert Park Lake, but we're watching them grow as we walk it every day, and they're just so damn cute and fluffy!

From a training point of view, we've walked about 330kms so far. That's the equivalent of Melbourne to Albury or Swan Hill, or from Brisbane to Bundaberg. Although... it's in short daily bursts carrying almost no weight. :-)

Swan Lake

I have wonderful news.

Not all the ducklings were killed the other day. There are still four left, including Red Curry and Twice Cooked.

The entire lake is covered in Swans & their cygnets. They're soooo cute and fluffy. I want to fill my doona with them.

The one/two month old cygnets are almost fully grown, and have stopped hiding behind their mums, and are now coming over to see if we've got food. Now is my chance to start feeding them up, getting them ready for Christmas dinner.

Why did the ducklings cross the road?

I have terrible news.

The ducklings we've been watching grow for the last month or two are no longer with us. There've been some terrible drivers around the lake recently, and one of them took out four ducklings in the one incident. Only a week ago there were at least 10 ducklings, but I'm not sure there are any left now. :'-(

Farewell Red Curry, farewell Twice Cooked. We'll miss you.

A quick update

I can't believe it's been 3 months since we last wrote. Oops. So much has happened since then: we've been to Samoa & New Zealand; had shingles, the 'flu & various excercise injuries; and in the process have become the fittest we've ever been.

In the very first post I outlined a few things we'd need to do before the Camino, and we've made some great progress on some of those. As a summary:

• Get fit: we're averaging about 5kms every single day, and I'm putting in about an hour on the Wii Fit most mornings (if you ignore the trivial excercises, it's harder than it looks).
• Retire the car: for the most part, we've done this. A tank of petrol lasts a couple of weeks now. We're lucky enough to live within walking range of work & Fitzroy St.
• Learn Spanish: we did a 10 week beginner course with Tres Culturas Spanish, and we're half way through another 10 weeks of intermediate. If anyone is thinking of learning Spanish, I can highly recommend Luis!
• Research/buy the hiking gear: We got our lightweight backpacks and sleeping bags a few months ago, and still need to get the books and everything else. There's still quite a few months to go, but we'll make the boots a high priority.

Incase you're still reading, I'll put a few more stories in.

We were originally planning on doing the Camino when our lease expired in November. We've bumped it back by a few months and will now be heading over some time in April. There's a few reasons for this, but the main ones are that it'll save us from walking in mid-winter, and that we'll be able to save a few more dollars beforehand. Hopefully the Aussie dollar will be stronger by then too.

The first night that I had the Nintendo Wii, I played Wii Boxing for about half an hour. OMG! It was days before I could use my arm again! Hannah played it the following week, and ZOMFG I hope she never hits me! Those long arms can swing from a mile away, and her battle face is terrible to behold. After 10 minutes of frenzied mayhem, it was days before she could use her arm again. :D

We're absolutely loving living right next to Albert Park lake. We walk out the door, cross the road, and we're on the water. We're walking around it (~5kms) almost every day, and over the last month or two we've been watching the swans & ducks looking after their bambinos. They're soooo cute and fluffy, and they grow soooooo quickly.

I've named some of the ducks Red Curry and Twice Cooked. I'm yet to find a good recipe for the swans, but I've started feeding them spiced bread in the hope of having them pre-stuffed when we're ready to eat 'em.

Well, that's enough for now. We're off around the lake. Gotta spice the swans. :-)