The festive season down under

It's odd, but a lot happens, you think nothing of it, and its only when you get the pics downloaded, you think - oh yeah we did do that. That was fun wasn't it. As always we end up taking far too much for granted. I'll try and catch up a bit here on the comings and goings of the Christmas festivities.

Xmas Day was spent chilling in the morning then we spent 5 hours on the beach in the afty with friends Ashley, Andrew and kids Hannah and Louis (same ages as G & J). Boogie boarding, BBQ, Football, wine and beer, no pressure, a pretty relaxing way to spend XMAS day, no rushing around or pressure.

Georgia had her 11th b'day electing to spend it with friends Gracie (on the left) and Hannah around the pool followed by a meal at the Belair Hotel (likened to the Brookmans in stlye) with cocktails (non alcoholic) and then a good movie in PJ's. They were meant to bed down in the theatre room all together, but at 2am and 4am they decided they wanted to move to a bedroom as the little princess's were not comfortable enough. The Princess and the pea story comes to mind.

New years night we entertained 6 friends, who all live locally and all members of the golf club. A great night was had by all, Debi as always doing us proud on the catering front , and then taking over the Karaoke. Amazing how good you sound with a few swallies inside you. We played the video back next morning, what a shocker! It was well after 5 am we eventually got to bed.Music up full volume, dancing and singing to our hearts content. Next year however we'll need to tone it down as we'll have neighbours by then. We are the only occupied house on this new estate for several hundred metres. On 2nd thoughts - nah sod it. Lets make a racket, life's for the livin'.

On 2 Jan we welcomed an old travel trade friend Brendan Jones and his lovely wife Sharon. They stopped for 2 nights as part of their years round the world trip. What a great experience for them. We spent a lovely 2 days, thankfully over a weekend as I was back at work by now. We took in a visit to the McLaren Vale wine region and the Woodstock winery & Coterie for a leisurely lunch and wine tasting. We also showed them the beach at Brighton (with the obligatory bevvy at the beachside pub) before retiring home to play Texas hold em poker into the wee hours. Sharon is a real wildlife and animal lover. On one walk with Charlie we casually said you need to look up in the trees to have any chance of seeing a Koala (we hadn't seen one in over a year of walking this particular route), and guess what, no sooner had I said this than - bang there was a cuddly Koala perched on a branch right above us...

The Kids Summer holiday is now nearly over. They've been off since mid December and go to their new School Westminster on Wednesday. Georgia is well up for it, but now the day is aproaching is getting understandably nervous. Jamie is even more anxious as it is another move another year on. This school though we hope will be it, right through 'til leaving age. The opportunities for development at this school both academically and sportswise are immense. The facilities are amazing. I'm sure (I hope) after a week or two they will both have settled, made good mates and be off and running. That just leaves Debi and I .....

Port Lincoln to dive with the Great White Sharks

Port Lincoln is on the Eyre Peninsula some 650 kms or 8 hours drive away. Interesting to see the lay of the land, but can honestly say I won't be doing that journey again in a hurry. There are flights serving the route in 45 mins, so depending on budget , time and the reason for visiting, we'll not be back in a rush.

I'd bought the Shark Dive and 4 nights in a self Catering B&B type joint at a charity auction, so also not quite what Debi has been used to, but that was also part of the fun. The kids shared the room with us on a bunk bed, it was fine and the owners very friendly and helpful. We saw the aftermathe of the recent bush fire here - very frightening I would imagine. It burnt down some houses on the fringes of the town, hundreds of metres from where we stayed.

As for the dive itself, I travelled a further 3 hours by boat in exceedingly rough seas - all on board bar the Crew and me chundered . We waited a further 6 hours for the sharks to show, but nothin' doing. Went in the Cage to experience it, saw a few fish but nowt else. You will understand why none of us fancied going for a quick dip in the briny to relieve some of the boredum. 3 hours back which was better as we then started on the beers and were escorted home by a few dolphin.

We visited  a beautiful area called Coffin Bay, actually a coastal national park, with acres of pristine beaches, bush and trials for 4WD cars and Camping. We also went to swim with Tuna. Well I did, Debi and Georgia both deciding not to get their hair wet, and Jamie just getting his bum wet then thinking better of it. Understable really as the Tuna were very large and incredibly fast. However despite being in there with 100's of them, not one touched me.

All in all a nice break, seeing some new country and a major Tourist and Fishing port (Tuna, Oysters, Mussels). Of course we ate out every night, sampled the local wines and had several one for the roads, without having to hit the road...

<< Proof that Jamie did get in with the Tuna, even if it was only for a few seconds. Not sure who the baldy is on the left...enough blubber on him to float for days.

World Team Tennis and Skal

Had a very nice invite from the local rag "The Advertiser" to attend the above event last week. A few drinks and nibbles followed by great seats to watch the main event. John McEnroe, Pat Rafter, Pat Cash and Henri Leconte were representing the Legends and current players were Ginepri, Tomic, Simon and Stepanek. Singles followed by doubles. Excellent fun - Leconte was great as was wild card Mansour Bahrami who astounded with an array of trick shots. Mine are never meant... McEnroe on court as intense as ever but when interviewed in the pre event function showed great humour. I think he's great. At the end there were 6 palyers on court at the same time keeping 3 balls going and wowing the crowd with their skill.

Skal Club Adelaide
This was my second meeting of this travel Trade networking club. I was inducted at this function held at the Henley Beach Sailing club to a backdrop of an amazing sunset. I'd left my camera in the car so didn't record it. It was stunning. I used to be in the Skal Club of London in the 80's, so a bit of full circle here. It will be a great way to meet new Travel Trade contacts over here and build up some new friendships. Went along with my new boss Phil Hoffmann, who is a real trade icon over here. He has also rejoined being too busy in recent years to attend.    

Am going on  Saturday to the 20/20 final featuring the Adelaide Redbacks and the Victoria Bushrangers. Jamie boy is coming with me. Should be a great evening, full of big hitting, incident and beer.

A Catastrophic Day

We were advised by the local SA fire Service that the Fire Danger rating in the area that we live in, was Catastrophic.  This was the official recommendation for us yesterday:


ACTION: For your survival, leaving early is the best option.

• Fires will be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast moving. Flames will be higher than roof tops. Thousands of embers will be blown around. Spot fires will move quickly and come from many directions, up to 20 km ahead of the fire.
• There is a very high likelihood that people in the path of the fire will die or be injured. Thousands of homes and businesses will be destroyed.
• House construction standards do not go beyond a Fire Danger Index of 100. Well prepared, constructed and actively defended homes may not be safe during a fire.
• Do not expect a fire truck.

The kids are in the School holidays and have been happily playing and swimming in the pool. Thankfully we have one, as it was so hot, 2 days over 40c with that risk of fire. We actually live in a semi risk area, with not so many trees around us, but of course they say the other risk is from the embers that can start flash fires ina greater area. The day passed thankfully without any serious event, only a handful of small local fires, easily contained. Today we've had rain and back to 26c. A far cry from the frozen UK.