The seasons change

We've just had a lovely weekend outdoors, taking in the best aspects of the changing season in Cyprus.  It was quite cold up until last week, with fresh snow on the mountains above Limassol where Ross ran the marathon.  Then over the last few days it feels like bright Cyprus spring sunshine has returned, and before long we will no doubt regret wishing the winter away when the hot weather hits.


Yesterday we travelled up to the Troodos mountains for a picnic in the snow.  Despite the onset of spring, there is still plenty of snow on the ground and all the ski runs are still working.  Ross enjoyed skiing with Angus, who was glad to be back on a snowboard.  'Fearless' is the expression Ross used to describe Angus, as he happily traversed down a black diamond run on the north slopes of Mt Olympus.  Balmy weather made for lovely spring skiing, with a couple of hardy Cypriots skiing in shorts.  Meanwhile Sarah and the other kids enjoyed a picnic with some friends in the snow, and even Anna managed to enjoy herself in the spring conditions.  Much fun was had sledding down hills at great speed and toppling over.

Still plenty of snow to melt

If Saturday was the day of 'white' in the snow, today was definitely the day of 'green'.  We headed off for a 8km hike in the countryside, hoping that the presence of other families and children would spur along the Piper clan.  Our hopes were realized and we ALL enjoyed an old meandering path through beautiful green bushland above a deep gorge leading to a famous Cyprus monastery in the foothills of the mountains.  Even Sam & Anna, (shirtless due to the balmy temperature) managed more than half the trek, getting excited at seeing everything from lady bugs and dandelions to mountain goats and rushing waterfalls.  It WAS a long cold winter but now that spring is here, things are looking up.  The island is a feast for the eyes at the moment; green fields and wildflowers everywhere after all the winter rains.  Hopefully in the coming months we'll be able to enjoy plenty of time outdoors before things really warm up and the island turns brown again!

My Dad on this day...

Ross with the family straight after completing the Limassol Marathon 2012

Today my Dad ran a marathon.  42.1km; it seemed to go on forever!  I was pretty disappointed when, after that mighty long way, he didn't win a medal but he tells me that he finished and that's what's important on your first marathon.  Really?

35km down....thank goodness for the family cheering squad

Next year I'm going to go in the 1km race for kids and win it.  I don't think I've ever run that far before on purpose but I'll just sprint the whole way and probably leave everybody else for dead.  How hard can it be?  I'll probably get a few tips from Dad as he seems to know A BIT about running.  He reckons he should have trained more for today and then the last 7km wouldn't have been as painful.  He also says he wouldn't take lollies he's never eaten before on a race because they made him feel sick.  So that means, learning from experience, I'll probably need to practice eating jelly beans on all training runs.

One great thing about the marathon was that we all went away for the weekend to Limassol.  We stayed in an old apartment looking over the water and there were some cool places to scooter nearby.  Here's a few shots from our place:

They closed the road for the race and the starting line was just up the road

Mum cooked some pasta on the night before the race.
Something about carb loading.....

We woke up before 6am so we had 3hrs to wait until the race started

Whilst Dad was running, we watched some of the shorter races come in, found a good scooter park, met up with some friends, and bothered Mum for food most of the morning.  Sam & Anna & Jessie went on a little train that toots through the park but I just watched.  Wouldn't be seen dead on it.

Once we'd had lunch it came time to help Dad cross the finish line.  He phoned to tell us how far he was away so we knew when to start warming up for our 300m run with Dad!  He was running pretty slow down the final straight but he said the main thing was that he was still running.  I think I helped to speed him up A BIT.

Mum got all excited that he actually finished and took lots of photos and video. He couldn't say much straight after the race so I told Dad all about my sore foot from scootering today.  Sam did his best to beg for an ice cream and Anna was hot & tired and rode home in the pram with no top on.  Jessie just texted her friends like she'd been doing non-stop since yesterday when she bought herself a phone.  I wish I had my own phone...

We went back to the apartment, Dad had a bath whilst we helped Mum pack the bag.  Mum even drove home so Dad could rest.

Have I told you that I'm 8 now?  You bet; grade 3 and 8yrs old.  My birthday was awesome.  I learnt to snowboard with my uncle Roger at Lake Tahoe and then when I got home I got an I-Pod.  That weekend I had 2 friends from school over for a slumber party and we watched Get Smart the movie.  It was cool fun.

USA bound: Some time off the island...

The above title makes Cyprus sound like some kind of penal settlement.  I can assure you; whilst Nicosia is not quite the northern beaches of Sydney, it's definitely an OK place to live.  However, when I stop to think that we are living on an island much smaller than Tasmania then I start to wonder what is across the sea and perhaps what I'm missing out on.  Fortunately, for me, a trip to Barcelona came at just the right time last November but for the kids, they hadn't managed a flight until we boarded for America to see my brother and his family.  Needless to say, their excitement was overwhelming leading up to the day.  In fact, I had to categorise it as 'abnormal' when Angus was on our first flight (of 3) and wanted to set to work on ALL the holiday maths homework that his teacher had set him.  I did a quick temperature check on his forehead, didn't argue, and then went back to my book.  WOW, reading on a long haul flight is something that I had given up hope of long ago but on this trip, with an 8 and 9yr old it was actually possible! Now I believe those older Mum friends of mine; life does move on.

After a hugs all-round good-bye and trying not to think about the 'splitting the family' concept, we were off and away with very little waiting time.  In fact, the waiting time got less and less with each transition.  A sprint to the gate at Heathrow was followed by another sprint at Phoenix hoping to catch our connecting flight to Reno.  Alas, we missed it, but fate must have known we were totally knackered and that we needed a good night's sleep in a nice hotel with a huge American breakfast the next morning.  Wish we'd got a shot of Jessie's 4 courses; she was lovin' it!  Her first comment upon arriving in Phoenix was "Mum, they ALL speak English here and they're SO friendly and helpful!"  Yes, it was quite a culture shock I must admit.

Anyway, getting on with the story, we finally arrived and brother Roger and 6yr old Bryce were there to pick us up.  A quick shopping trip for ski gear and then we were all together in the house at South Lake Tahoe.  Nice to go back after six and a half years. All was totally complete when we got our bags delivered about 12hrs later.

Couldn't wait to get on the slopes and, over the the course of their 5 days on the mountain, my hopes for my children learning to ski or snowboard eventuated.  It certainly didn't take long; they were crazy for it after the first day.  Gus' regular saying at the bottom of a run (despite numerous falls) was "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Whilst his fearlessness was no less than expected, Jessie's tendency for caution did not hold her back.  After 5 days of ski school, she was moving about the mountain beautifully with a big smile on her face.

As for me, it's always great to ski at Tahoe with those spectacular views.  Those first few runs after dropping off the kids were just glorious.  However, as with most things in life, too much of a good thing isn't all it's cracked up to be and I decided that next time I would need to bring a ski buddy.  Sounds a bit stupid but I felt a bit bored and lonely after a couple of days and so I took myself off to do other things like walk and shop and relax.

Other highlights of the trip included:

Spending time with my bro Roger and watching him
teach Angus how to snowboard

Seeing Ben & Angus snowboard & generally have a
great time together.

Angus turned 8 and had a great cake & presies thanks to Aunty Bonnie

The trip HAD to include a chopper flight
  with Uncle Roger at the controls. AWESOME!

In which I forgot to take aerial photos and tried to make up
for it on the ground.  Whoops - sorry Ross.

American treats with J & A.  Cold Stone ice cream.

Gus and his snowboard instructor, Carl, after a day cruising the
California side of Heavenly.

Ben & Jessie playing in the snow outside the house

A bush walk had us trekking across the Nevada-California border

A Marguerita at the Mexican Restaurant El Charo's

A day out at Virginia City - an old silver mine from the 19th Century

The gang for the day...just survived a half hour in the candy store

Hurry Up Mum, it's -7 degrees!

That's the whole fam, including Dozer.  Thanks for a great holiday!

A rare snowfall in Nicosia

Some excitement for the kids in Nicosia last week with some snow falling as winter continues to bite in this part of the world.  It was lovely to look to the mountains north and south and see the extent of a low snowfall.  Winter this year has been a cold one, even for Cyprus, and there's still plenty of snow and good skiing in the mountains.  

I'm just back from some meetings in the UK, and Sarah, Jessie and Angus have also returned from their US trip.  My meetings in the UK were held in an old manor house about 1.5hrs south east of London.  I felt like I was in a Biggles story the whole time I was there.  The house (which is now a conference centre), was apparently used by British intelligence during WWII, and you could easily imagine a Spitfire aircraft returning from a sortie across the channel, landing on the manicured lawns and then taxiing up to the front door where a butler would be waiting with a gin and tonic.  


Some interesting developments at work as we closely monitor unfolding events in Syria, and our teams in Lebanon and Jordan prepare for a possible refugee response.  One can only hope and pray for a peaceful regime change, but it seems likely that the situation will deteriorate further, with potential knock-on effects for a subregion that is already highly unstable.