Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Summer Down Under

I just spent almost 2 months in Melbourne. Probably my longest single stay since I moved.  What have been up to that has kept me from my blog? So glad you asked!!

Underwater Adventures:

In December I became Dive Certified to 18 meters at Bay Play in Portsea. I dived the Pope's Eye and was lucky there were no nearby boat motors as I bobbed to the top. But I survived the strong current and taking my mask off in open sea water. Next up: diving with sharks in the Melbourne aquarium, live aboard on the Great Barrier Reef, dive trip to Hawaii with my bro, and cage diving with great whites with Sara.

Australian Sights:

In January, one of the hottest months in Central Australia we did a camping/hiking trip to Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Kata Tjuta and King's Canyon. It got up to 43 C/105 F. I learned that aboriginals don't like us to use the translation DreamTime to describe their creation stories since they feel so strongly that they really happened. I have photographic proof of the Devil Dog's presence at Uluru and a newfound respect for a very old culture. If you go, do not climb the rock. There are plenty of rocks to climb nearby and you are polluting the watering holes when you do.

Did you know that Australia has 500,000 wild camels and exports thousands of camels per year to the middle east? All that from a few over worked camels let loose 100 years ago.

House Hunting:

With predictions of continued over saturation in the US housing market and a ever growing immigrant population in Australia, it is time for me to buy a real asset in my new land of opportunity. I'm exploring in Prahran, Richmond, Fitzroy, Carlton, North Melbourne and South Yarra.

Working:

My regional team has expanded to include a Mobile Product Manager in Melbourne, Data Strategy Director in Singapore and Data Asset Manager in Beijing. I'm hiring an Email Product Manager in Australia to drive our Enterprise Email offerings in APAC. I have really come to appreciate the global reach Experian has and I work with amazing people at the local, regional and global level.

Next Up: working in Beijing and Snowboarding in Japan