A Letter from Sardinia

(Earlier post from our trip Sardinia is below - scroll down if you haven't read)

...The only problem with going on a holiday during a sailing regatta when you're on an island and don't have a rental car is that your travel options are a little limited.

Thankfully one day in Sardinia during the TP52 Worlds, the dogs were blowing off their leads (called a Mistral) so after copious coffees drunk while the race committee waited on the weather, racing was also blown off for the day. With good foresight they made their call in enough time for us to get to the rental car place before lunch...in Italy it's all about the lunch, the dinner, the siesta...

We headed off with some friends, Kurt and Margaret (familiar to those who came to New Orleans), with a very basic map, a 6-pack of beers, and instructions from those in the know to head to the beach "where all the windsurfer hang out".
Sardinia, the second largest island in Italy after Sicily, is awash with rocky outcrops, unspoilt (and often undeveloped) typography, with small two-laned roads, dry stoney vineyards, and many cone-shaped stone towers - leftover from a Bronze Age civilisation that flourished 3000 years ago. Although known as a playground for the rich and famous, this is mainly the area called the Costa Smeralda (where the Aga Khan was involved in the development the now famous luxury playground around the Porto Cervo area - where we were!). Much of the rest of the island is unspoilt and certainly at this, low-season time of the year, tourist free.

Less than 30 minutes north, towards the northern most tip of the island, after many winding turns I spotted a sign for Harry's Bar. By now it was lunchtime - so that was a good sign. We turned down the unmarked road (I always say the best beaches are at the end of the worst roads) and came across a small group of houses and a walkway down to the beach. Porto Rafael.

It was the end of the season so the 3-4 small boutiques that surrounded the terrace were closed but we happened upon a small bar where we stopped for simple nicoise salads, and where I had another plate of prosciutto. By the way, the Harry's Bar didn't look so hot - but it helped us find a little piece of paradise.

The view of the beach from the terraceThe buildings surrounding the terrace

A shot from the hillside overlooking Porto Rafael...the tiled roofed, borgonvillia-covered building overlooks the terrace where we had lunch.Taken on the walkway down to the terrace..this house was built into the side of the cliff surrounded by large smooth rock boulders.

After lunch we headed to the northernmost tip of the island, to Capo Testa. The still working lighthouse overlooks the straits of Bonifacio where the massive Mobyline car ferries owned by Mascalzone Latino America's Cup backer Vincenzo Onorato travel across to Corsica. The windswept point is surrounded by rocks smoothed by the waves which rush up onto the shoreline. You can still see the remains of a rock quarry - once used by the Romans as a source of stone for the Pantheon in Rome.

The cliffs of Corsica, France in the far distanceThe following week, Kurt and Margaret were to do the delivery of the Windquest back to Palma, back through the straits.

The beach with the crazed windsurfers making the most of the Mistral.

Back in Porto Cervo the wind had eased by the time we got back from our excursion. The megayacht marina was kind of quiet, but this Kiwi was grateful for the end-of-season peace and quiet. Another gorgeous day, and another fabulous place - been there, done that.

Be ever grateful for the wonderful experiences in life, the places you go, and the great people you meet.

A New Addition to the Family

We have some very exciting news...

No Denise, Tina, Victoria - we're not pregnant...we're about to become foster parents.

We've decided to adopt a three year old Alaskan Malamute, belonging to Gena, Robbie's Dad(OJ)'s new wife. They recently got married and are having to merge dog households - she was a breeder of thoroughbred champion show Malamutes, and OJ has always bred German Shepherds. He has a large male, and Gena had a brother and sister, and the two males wouldn't work in the same household.

When down in Houston at their place last month we fell in love with the two siblings, and being bred for the cold and snow conditions (they are more heavy load pulling dogs whereas huskies carry light loads over long distances), Wisconsin seems like the perfect environment.

Next week is the big national dog show for the breed being held here just out of Milwaukee which Gena and OJ are flying up for (she's judging) so they've managed to have the dog driven up here with another breeder who is showing.

So Sunday, we take delivery of Miles. Luckily Harken is dog friendly, so R will take him to work every day. And I can take him on Fridays at my new job...(GMR even has a dog grooming service once a month) and he will unwittingly become our new personal trainer as we exercise him twice a day - we'll have to get a harness for the mountain bike!

The great things is because he's an ex show dog he has a great temperament, and although a big dog, he probably stands 750mm high at the shoulders, he is happy sleeping in a cage inside and is very much an indoor dog.

This is what the breed looks like - Robbie's looking forward to him being a chick magnet as he walks him along the lakefront...This is a very good likeness of his markings...they've beautiful faces, strong legs and a thick coat which will handy when it's -25C. Nellie, want to come and do our vacuuming...????

More pictures to follow!

Long time, no talk...

Oh dear...I hope absence makes the heart grow fonder. It's been too long...too long without a good internet connection (Sardinia) and too long being too tired at night (Milwaukee) to stay up to write.

But, I think I'm over the jet lag.

So, let's start. Where were we...?

Thu 20 Sept: resign from day job. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Especially when offered a director role at one of the country's leading event marketing agencies that just so happens to be based in the same small town she is. The new life starts in one month.

Fri 21 Sept: fly on the owners' G5 Gulfstream non stop Michigan to Sardinia to watch the husband sail on the owner's TP52 at the Global Championships for the class. There are some lovely perks of living in the Midwest.

Spent the rest of the next week aboard the owner's 175ft Perini Navi during the day watching yacht racing, eating prosciutto and melon every night for dinner (cos it was so good and I could), drinking regular sized cups of coffee (small), taking lots of photos, checking out Russell Coutts' stalker (he has one that follows him to every regatta and sits at the end of the dock each morning and at the end of each day; in Sardinia she had her brother and father in tow; supposedly she's paid for by Bertarelli - to psych him out; she's not pretty - as one of the girls said "if I had a stalker at least I'd want a good looking one"!), walking around the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and admiring the Rolex, Prada and Trussardi stores.

Some of the WAGs - wives and girlfriends

The boys had a good week - a 1st and several other good finishes which was great considering they were an older generation boat than some others at the regatta. If it wasn't for some gear failure in one race and an over-the-line on the last day they would have ended up much better than the 5th place they got overall. Here's a shot of them right at the front during one start...The weather was a bit patchy some days but we were well protected on the Indy...

Fellow kiwi racer chasers Jane Cowie and Linda Rae
Just some of the binoculars on board...
The blue boat out in front at the start again.

There were plenty of familiar kiwi accents on the dock. It seemed that half the sailors in the fleet were of antipodean descent. It made for a decent crowd to watch the All Blacks game at the weekend upstairs at the yacht club - there would have been 30-40 guys up there - where the beers were 10 euros a pop. It was a quiet night...!

Happy Girl

Found a bar in Milwaukee called The Sin Bin. Can't believe it....and it's only five minutes from the office! They sponsor one of the local club rugby teams, and must be owned by a colonial for sure with that name.

They're showing all the major World Cup games on tape delay so I will be camping out there in October. YAY!

As I type Reggie Bush from the New Orleans Saints just got a touch down in the season opener of the NFL against the Superbowl title holders, the Indianapolis Colts...go Saints! GO ABS!!!!!!

Girls - grab your do-rag, guys - get revved!

The annual Milwaukee Rally was held this past weekend which culminated in a Saturday night festival in one of the better known street of bars in Downtown, aptly named Water Street - should be renamed Yeah Right Street (Kiwi readers will get the joke).

A rally in these parts of the world means two words - Harley Davidson. And man, they were out in force.

I've quickly become introduced to the world of HD through a project we are working on at work as our client Miller will be a partner in their 105th anniversary celebrations which are planned for 2008. The festivities, and we may have to move out of town when they're on!, include 25 and travel cross-country back home, to the birthplace of Harley, good 'ol Milwaukeeeeeee.

We headed down to check out the bikes, bikers and biker chicks early on in the evening before it got, lets say, a little messy. The pictures tell a thousand words...

Yes, that's for real - not a costume rented specially for the night!

Rows of bikes lined every street within a 3 block radius

From a marketer's viewpoint the event was fantastic. Robbie, niece Maria, and I - plus a handful of other gawkers - were the only people not wearing branded merchandise and the more pins and badges from other events/festivals/rallys/cities you had on your vest the better. Talk about brand loyalty. These guys are a marketer's dream. You just have to learn to speak their language...(As seen on the back bumper of one bike)

I'm having a hard time with the translation from Louis Vuitton-speak, but the Miller Lite's helping....plus I did spot plenty of leather detailing. Maybe Marc Jacobs could learn a thing or two.It might be hard to imagine for those not familiar with the US Harley culture, but although they might look like "bikers" we only saw maybe 3-4 who were wearing true gang patches. The rest are all, mainly 50-60 something enthusiasts...riding into their retirement sunset on the back of their hog. More trustworthy than their woman, their Harley is certainly, in almost EVERY case, a lot hotter.

This country's great.