Discovering Social Media

Starting to get my head more around the various benefits and nuances of Facebook and Twitter. Have started experimenting and testing through work and finding out lots of new things. I've even attended a tweetup in  Adelaide City centre and am only missing another one tomorrow as I have to go to a works drink up as a sponsor of SA Rugby.

Thought I'd start this post and come back to it, as I have been so bad at blogging these past few months. Looking at ways to link them all up, but only in the correct order. Twitter would look real naff on here, but a blog can appear in my Twitter and hopefully my facebook feeds.

Anyhow tonights World Cup match has started and nothing takes precedence over footy. England departed 2 nights ago, plonkers.

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.

Summer Holidays are here - Aussie style

The kids broke up from school last week, the end of the school year here, but of more significance the last day at Blackwood Primary. They have 7 weeks off now and in late January will start at their new Westminster School. Once we had visited the school, had a show round and talked to some of the teachers, it was an easy decision to move them. The opportunities at this new private school are endless. When I saw the playing fields, indoor pool, stage and theatre, art facilities etc , it was a no brainer. I enjoyed my school days immensely, I'm sure they will love it here too. They had a 2 day trial 2 weeks ago and were looked after by "buddies" whose job it was to show them round and introduce them to friends and school ways.

We can now look forward to at least 5 months of great weather, of swimming in our new pool, of long summer nights. It all sounds so glorious doesn't it? However I personally have been quite unsettled recently. A combination of visits from the UK of Debi's Sister Wendy, my old mate from college, Chris Tipton and stories from home of my Mum going into a care home recently in order to give my Dad some well needed rest. He went over on Eurostar to Lille for a few days to chill out by himself. I would love him to come and visit us, but I fear my Mum will not be able to make the journey. I am planning a trip back to the UK in March/April in order to see them.

As you guys are I guess, we are planning the Xmas / New Year break. We'll be on the beach Xmas day, and have a number of friends coming round for new years eve. The Police here are even stricter than in UK, they put up roadblocks and breathalyze everyone regardless. They do not have to warn motorists where they will be, so a very neat means of controlling things. Guess who'll be driving Xmas day? Can't see it being Debi can you? One for the road indeed.....

What's going on - new house and more

No blog for 2 months, just not sat at the PC and got to it really. A load has happened of course, I'll try and limit this to the meaty bits.

We're in the new home
On 21 October we finally moved in the new home. I took a couple of days off, but already Debi had done a magnificent job in pre-packing, planning and sorting things out for the move. On the day of the move and the day after we had a procession of contractors in - Curtains went up, paving went down, plants were planted, appliances were connected, the pool was filled. Within days Debi had made her mark and it felt like home. Nigh on 2 years since we sold up in Brookmans Park in Nov 07, hard to comprehend really. A major milestone in our new life down under, to be proud house owners again. I will post pics of the new house on our picasa site for anyone remotely interested. Of course we have a few items for the sang list, but really minor things, the builders have done a really good job, and through them we have made a couple of good friends in Hazel (the sales person) and her hubby Hayden (a professor at Flinders Uni, and a great character).

Family visit
13 Nov and Debi's sister Wendy, hubby Jamie and 7 month old Harvey arrived for 10 days with us before moving on to Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts in Queensland. Their arrival coincided with an amazing burst of warm weather. I took the week off work, we had a couple of days chilling out by the pool in great weather and we went on a houseboat on the Murray River for 3 days. Loads of wine, revelry, camaraderie and a bit of mothering - Auntie Debi and baby Harvey. We managed to run aground 3 times on the Murray, much to the amusement of the ladies. Charlie at one time insisted on chomping on a half eaten rabbit on the banks, just as a storm broke, the winds went to hurricane levels and as it was a 47c day the wind became like a furnace. Actually quite dangerous. The boat broke the temporary moorings and started off down the river, with me battling with Charlie to drop the rabbit, Debi doing the same, Wendy holding on to one of the ropes and the kids - and thankfully Jamie (Senior) on board with the kids screaming at us to get on before they disappeared down river. Comical really. Had to down a few bottles to get over it. Saw an amazing electrical Storm that night as the heatwave came to an end.

We all got very emotional when they had to go, with of course each of us trying our best to hold it all back. Brought back home with a bang how much we all miss our families and friends.

We had a fantastic drive back home, from the Riverland via a cross country route through the Adelaide Hills. We stopped in the Barossa Valley at Chateau Tanunda for a spot of winetasting (bought a few too). There was a magnificent Cricket Oval in the grounds where they hold an annual Cricket Charity Match. International Stars take part, I saw a photo of Sir Ian Botham and David Gower to name but a few.

Chris Tipton visit
Many of you will know my old college mate. He arrived here on the 3rd December for a quick 5 days. (He had already been in Hong Kong and was to have several days in Sydney after us) He took the chance, due to changes at his work place, to do a bit of long distance travelling. We had a lovely time, with my old ginger chum (well Ginge has shaved it off up top, but reliably informs me he's still got it downstairs - Mercifully I didn't need to verify).

Played Golf at Blackwood Friday (Debi too). Saturday we enjoyed an all dayer at the Adelaide Oval during the Australia / West Indies test match. After this I took him up to Rundle Street for a few more drinks to experience a bit of Adelaide's night life.

Sunday, we were back at the golf Club for a pre-arranged Mixed Ambrose at the golf Club, followed by a very sociable Xmas dinner. Our Scottish mate Gerald doing a fabulous Santa (Billy Connelly style). Very funny guy. Chris enjoyed meeting some of our new friends and having a brief insight to our new life.

Again sad to see him go after such a short stay, but it was as usual just like I last saw him last week. Good friends will always be... good friends. Great to hang out with. You can't beat history.