IPP Begins!

After a 15 hour flight that went a lot better than I anticipated, I finally arrived in Australia. The first big event was a day at Brian and Sue Young's (Mr. Puzzle). What a wonderful time!

Jerry Slocum at Mr. Puzzle's. It was an honour to see him again!

I must share my feelings the first time I met Jerry last year. It was incredible. For me it was like meeting celebrity. I have admired his work for a long time and I believe in what he is does. It was an honour to meet him and a thrill to realize that THE Jerry Slocum now actually knows me personally!

Here is a link to a page on Jerry:

http://www.johnrausch.com/puzzleWorld/jerry_slocum.htm

One of the highlights of visiting Sue and Brian Young's place was all the giant puzzles around Mr. Puzzle's property! I knew I was in the company of wonderful people when they were just as excited about life-sized puzzles as I was!

Wei-Hwa is one of the most brilliant puzzle solvers ever! Here he is after solving the giant-sized Chinese puzzle rings!

These guys (Iwahiro and Frans in yellow and Rod in red) persevered on this giant burr! I'm not sure if they ended up solving it! It was around a giant flag pole and at the top of the pole was a giant six pieced burr!

I was very pleased to meet Serhiy Grabarchuk Jr and his wife Kate. They live in the Ukraine and administer puzzles.com. Serhiy Sr has created many great puzzles and I'm learning Serhiy Jr is so talented just like his dad. I enjoyed meeting them both very much. Beautiful people!

This is the site Serhiy Jr administers:

http://www.puzzles.com/

And this is a site Serhiy Sr. administers:

http://www.ageofpuzzles.com/home.htm

This event was fantastic! Sue and Brian put so much effort into making this a memorable event. They served kangaroo, baramundi, crocodile, vegamite, emu, and other Aussie fare. Their puzzle collection was displayed and was a feast for the eyes. Those of you who think I'm nuts for my collection and have teased me for my math room, you would have been amazed by theirs! It was incredible!

I was like a kid in a candy store in Mr. Puzzle's shop and have many more puzzles to proudly add to my collection. The ones that are really Aussie I will display with pleasure.

I will write one more post on this great event! Until then, keep puzzling!

Tanya