Hows the Serenity

38 Weeks Gone

2008-07-20T18:18:00.002+10:00

38 Weeks down the track this is where we are. Hopefully the next post will be to introduce baby mac to the world. Watch this space!!!

7 Months Gone

2008-06-11T19:28:00.002+10:00

Sarah Bump

2008-04-15T18:55:00.003+10:00

Less than 4 months to go.....It is getting close now and Sarah is getting bigger by the day. At the moment the little bugger is taking pleasure giving his/her mommy a good kicking every day.

NAGA Golf

2008-02-12T16:13:00.001+10:00

Well another game has come and gone with everyone improving their individual scores from months past bar me!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a good day out at Gailes and we look forward to the next event at Cleveland booking permitting, from what I have read about the course the whale (for a ball in the water ladies) will no doubt be breaching more regularly than at Gailes though I don’t think as often as it did at Riverlakes in January. You can relax about the water VB (Andrew), with a lifeguard such as the Hof (Thommo) around water really isn’t an issue. After all the support Brisbane’s driving ranges received in the build up to Gailes, hang your heads in shame Clayton and Thommo, it is no surprise that the handicapper has had to come down hard on most of Sundays participants, once again I have not moved after another boring 91. The biggest mover of the week has been VB who has had 4 shots slashed off his handicap from 46 to 42; all this with a bent putter, second to be kneecapped was the Hof from 34 to 31 followed by Clayton having 2 shots smothered off of his from 37 to 35. Yours truly remains at 15 (for all calculations see the attached spreadsheet).

A most concerning thing happened at Gailes which hopefully can be avoided in the future, a game was golf was completed without penalty drinks consumed afterwards. It was a shameful day, we certainly should have toasted the way VB went out of his way to claim the whale he rightfully saw as his almost maiming a few pensioners, 2 holes away but standing near a puddle, out for a Sunday stroll or the way Clayton fought to get rid of the serpent on the 18th even trying in desperation to accuse Mac, The Hof and VB all of 3 putting, last confirmed sighting Clay was under a tree trying to pass the snake onto a wallaby. It is these gestures that need to be rewarded with the nectar of the cactus and the choice drink of the 3 Amigo’s. I leave it there for now.

Gailes quote of the day from VB “You know why they called it golf…because fuck was taken”

Last but not least I leave it to the Hof to contact Cleveland to check availability for the 2nd of March, with everyone’s availability having been confirmed on Sunday. If anyone had any ideas regarding format of the game or if you were happy with the way it was played on Sunday, please let me know.

Yours in Golf
Monty

Niseko Sun

2008-02-04T17:50:00.000+10:00

Here is a picture of the 1pm sun in Niseko trying to break through the snow.

Baby

2008-02-02T10:42:00.000+10:00

Great news, Sarah and I are expecting our first child on the 3rd August.. We have known since around the 4th of December, however we had the first scan yesterday and are now telling the world. Wilson (as Sarah begins to resemble a volleyball) is about 7cm long at present and has been giving his Mom a load of trouble morning day and evening with bouts of sickness. However after seeing the scan yesterday Sarah has already forgiven him and can't wait for its arrival in August..

Powder Snow

2008-02-02T10:26:00.000+10:00

There will be a few short and sweet blogs regarding our recent trip to Japan where we experienced the most awesone powder snow ever, weird foods, fantastic people and super sumo.. I will post some pics as I get time though here is a start with a very basic video taken off the digital camera just to get an idea of the powder snow. This was our first day in Niseko and the snow only got deeper from here as it snowed every day. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrf6-Yo-Lpg

Come and Gone

2007-12-27T08:48:00.000+10:00

Well before you know it Christmas has come and gone and now we look forward to the new year. I can't believe it is all over so soon, it seems just yesterday we were handing out the invites to the Ushering in yet now we are planning when to take down the Christmas lights. It has been an eventful month kick started by the Ushering which was fantastic. We had around 25 people at our place all in the mood to kick start the festive season in the correct manner-dressed in red and white with mates.

We have just moved from function to function from there on in. We had Sar's work function at movie world, a fantastic day of golf with Thommo, Clayton and Andrew at Gold Coast Country Club. I must say this was a great day which started with Andrew knocking on my door at home at 7.20am with an eski full of VB for the "cart". We seem to have found 4 golfers who enjoy the game and a beer and have the intention of making this a once a month event in the New Year. It won't be long before we up the numbers as people here seem to take golf far to seriously and don't play for the right reasons-to be social. Already there are 2 more interested parties for the January edition.

The 15th was our annual "Carine Court" Christmas Party. Invites are handed out to all in the street annually for a Xmas BBQ and cricket in the Cul de Sac. This years turn out was fantastic with around 40 people ans a visit from Santa for the kids arranged by Reece, they loved this and at one stage Sarah and Karen were seen to push in front of all the kids to get their glow bangle and some sweets-now that is the Christmas spirit for you. The evening ended at our place with the girls drinking tea and Matt and I in the pool with beers at around midnight, I think!

the last day of work Troy and I (boss) left early for a game of Golf, it was a memorial day at Burleigh Heads, now this was played in the right spirit as the organisers had cunningly placed an Eski full of beer on the tee box of every 2nd hole-fantastic way to start your annual leave.

Saturday the 21st will be a day long remembered as it brought to the family our sixth niece-yes another girl... Lauren and Jacques welcomed to the world their first child named Caitlin Judy late on Friday afternoon SA time. All are well though the only gripe I can have is that it took 6 days to get a photo for the blog. That has got to be the longest head wetting party in history Jacques . Having Lauren home from hospital made the Christmas at Stormont Ave all the more special I am sure.

We spent Xmas day at Sar's folks place with once again a fantastic spread being put before us for both lunch and dinner, it was hugely relaxing and once again it started to feel like we were on holiday while we were there.

What is in store for New Year we are not sure as yet though yesterday the planning for Japan started as we pulled out the snowboards and gear and started getting ourselves sorted for our skiing trip to Niseko and tour stop in Tokyo where we will no doubt sample the sake with Kim and Kame whilst enjoying our box seats at the Sumo wrestling. All this kicks off on Jan 16th.

She's Finished

2007-12-04T19:42:00.001+10:00

1 Day to go

2007-12-03T17:06:00.000+10:00

Well the pool is tiled and pebbled after the contractors worked the weekend, now all we are waiting for is the water which will be arriving at 7am tomorrow. This is perfect as according to the weather reports we are heading for 30 degree days over the next week. Perrfect.

The Ushering

2007-11-28T10:59:00.000+10:00

With the festive season only 3 days away, 6 Carine court is gearing up for the 2nd Aussie Ushering party on the 1st of December. The numbers are up from last year from 10 to a probable 25 this year as friends gather in the colours of Christmas with compulsory hats to "Usher in" the festive season. This year looks to be good with the numbers and the fact that all who were here last year have been looking forward to this since July. The Christmas lights have been put all over the house in readiness for the big switch on at 7pm 1st December so things are looking really good for a fantastic festive season with lights, friends, pool, beer, cricket and a wedding near the end to cap it off. Bring it on the festive season....

One week from water

2007-11-28T10:54:00.000+10:00

At this stage we are about 1 week away from having water in the pool, the fence has been approved, the plumbing is in and now we are waiting for the coping do be done! It only rains in Queensland when you are trying to get a pool built! Monday we should be having it pebbled followed by 50000 litres of water the following day. Time to start stocking the fridge with cans of beer as there will be a no glass in the pool area enforced by the house.

Pool taking Shape

2007-11-15T20:40:00.001+10:00

Here is a picture of our pool slowly taking shape. Now we have to wait 3 weeks for the concrete to cure then they start to pebble and get the water in. Schweet

Our New Garden

2007-11-07T16:12:00.000+10:00

The Big dig is over-now we have to get the little bits done and hopefully swimming by Christmas

Finished patio

2007-10-29T17:41:00.000+10:00

Above you can see the various stages we have gone through in transforming the outside area of the house. It has been a 12 month process though all worth it in the end. The only distraction we had yesterday while sitting back and admiring the pario was the 1 meter long snake cruising around in and out of our retaining wall, no matter how much stalking I did I just could not get the bugger to come out.

New Lawn

2007-10-25T17:51:00.000+10:00

Here are a few photo's from when we moved in to now and how our front yard actually has lawn. It has been a long hard slog from lifting the clay, to digging foundations and building the wall, levelling thearea again through to where we are today with the new turf in. Many long hot happy and grumpy hours have been poured into the almost finished lawn. All that is left is the garden bed and a water feature.

SAy No More

2007-10-23T08:25:00.001+10:00

Champions Again

2007-10-22T15:46:00.000+10:00

CHAMPIONS

2007-10-21T19:54:00.000+10:00

Don’t hurt yourself with thoughts of Mark Cueto’s disallowed try. Don’t torture yourself with what might have happened had Mathew Tait slipped through one more tackle on that slicing run, or Jonny landed that close-in drop-goal at 3-6 or the long-distance drifter with 10 minutes to go.
It’s hard to admit that it’s over, that we can’t wake up tomorrow and do it all over again.
But it's time to shake a Springbok hand, give thanks for the extraordinary events of the past two months and salute an England team that went further than anyone in their right mind could expect them to.
Sometimes you just know when a match will be yours, and when it will slip away from you.
It didn’t matter how hard England pushed, how many choruses of Swing Low Sweet Chariot swung round the stadium or how many roofs were ripped off by the roaring millions back home.
Tonight, their everything was not enough.
This was stone-cold, hands-up reality after a day when giddy madness had reigned in Paris.
Men had thrown crazy amounts of money at mere rumours of tickets, shipped beers in such vast quantities that you feared the end for some would come before the beginning.
Seeing the passion on the players’ faces at the start – roaring out the anthems, holding on to one another like sailors lashed together in a storm – part of you was crippled with anxiety, while another part wanted to be out there, to be at the heart of such a marvellous maelstrom.
Expectation was hanging so heavy in the air you could almost taste it, belief and doubt mixing together to form an atmosphere so tense you could slice it.

But, when the moment finally arrived, the magic was never quite there. The breaks England needed to win never came.
With 20 minutes to go, even the most banjaxed of England fans around me knew the game was up.
Not tonight the leg-clenching tension of the previous two weeks, nor the ear-splitting noise at the same stadium seven days before.
This was South Africa’s final from a long way out, and everyone in the Stade de France, deep down, knew it.
The Springboks may not have sparkled. They didn’t have to. This was professional rugby for a professional era, a production high on practice and proficiency.
As I write, the fireworks have faded away, the stands emptied, the last celebrating South African skipped off the field. All that’s left on the pitch is a giant slick of golden glitter.
It’s time to go, head back into the bars of Paris and wash all those hopes and disappointments away.
South Africa – I take my hat off to you. England – thanks for the ride.

Birthday

2007-10-08T19:51:00.000+10:00

Here are some pics of the birthday croquet game followed by a bbq-a good time was had by all doing something different.

Cycle Race

2007-10-08T19:37:00.001+10:00

Well after a lot of build up and endless hours in the gym race day finally arrived on Sunday. After what had been a particularly social 2 weeks with my birthday and numerous bucks nights and bbq's the day finally arrived. thommo and I met in brisbane at 5.30am to join 5400 other cyclists in doing the Brisbane to gold Coast cycle challenge to raise money for the heart foundation and so we could say we have done it. It is a 100km pedal from Southbank in Brissie to Southport on the coast. We eventually got over the start line at 6.45and crossed the finish line at 11.57 which included 3 stops for water and some jelly beans. The first 50km were really good though after that once the backside started hurting it was a little more difficult. Once we were past the 70km mark and you can start to see the light it was really pleasant, though I must say I was pleased to get off the saddle at the end. After the race we went straight to Sea World not for the attractions but more for the use of the ice cold pools for a couple of hours-it was heaven. Overall it was a good day capped off by the Kiwi's losing their rugby world cup quarter final-Wha haha

Birthday Month

2007-09-21T14:58:00.000+10:00

Well we are well and truly into birthday month now and things are going crazy. We have been busy every weekend for the last 3 and the first Sunday we have free will be the 27th of October. Always look at the positive side so this is possibly the best training I have ever had for the upcoming festive season for which plans are already being made.

We have been doing alot of work on the house, well outside of the house as we prepare the front yard for the planting of out turf. This sounds easy well it entailed the breaking up of a good few inches of clay which has been baking under the hot Aussie sun with no sign of rain for a while now. Really was back breaking work though will look fantastic once the new lawn is in.

The birthday fast approaching also means that the Brisbane to Gold Coast 100km cycle also looms large 2 weeks away. I have been pounding the pedals in the gym and on the road and tomorrow will be the acid test when Thommo and I do a 60km ride on the coast. After this we will have an idea as to just how good or bad the 7th of October will be.

I will update this once we have decided on exactly what the birthday celebrations will be, at this point we are thinking of perhaps a croquet or backyard cricket afternoon followed by refreshments and a bbq. Willows has been kind enough to supply the Yakka juice recipe which I will unleash onto Australia on my birthday, this is the first step before the debut of the pothole-scheduled for early December....... Can't wait.

Competition

2007-09-12T20:33:00.000+10:00

A new competition though I must warn you this can be addictive. Have a go at this Putting Competition and let me know how you do. So far I have only managed to get a score of 7. Post your scores in the comment section.

Superman Escapes Rollercoaster

2007-08-31T17:11:00.000+10:00

A picture says a thousand words

Brisbane to Gold Coast

2007-08-28T09:08:00.000+10:00

Well some how I have been talked into doing the Brisbane to Gold Coast bike ride with Colin in 5 weeks time, leaving little time for training!! In fact it didn't take much talking into and I am really looking forward to it if for no other reason it forces me to get out there and do some training!! The race itself is from Southbank in Brisbane to Southport on the Gold Coast covering the full 100km between the two. Training has kicked off well though after week one you realise it isn't going to be a walk in the park. The past week I have done 4 rides ranging from 15 to 30km and it will only increase as time progresses. In 2 weeks Thommo and I will do a 50km ride from Surfers to Coolangatta and back just to make sure we are on track. If you have a few minutes check out http://www.bq.org.au/b2gc100/

South African Classics

2007-08-22T08:47:00.000+10:00

Here are a couple of South African classics. The NYC Castle Lager Ad along with a fantastic home video on Braai Etiquette

Take the time to watch these, it is well worth it.

Thanks to Chateau Toby for pointing out these beauts.

New Patio

2007-08-18T09:25:00.000+10:00

It has been a while though in between putting out my back and being bed bound for 2 days, work and doing loads of work on the house you can finally see some pictures showing that our work is starting to bear fruit. Our patio pergola/awning was finally erected yesterday. This is after about a month of back breaking work lifting bricks, re-shaping the area and throwing a new slab-all this work done by yours truly with loads of help from Sar's Dad and Mom. Finally yesterdaay the awning went up so phase 1 is complete. Phase 2 is the tiling of the area though I am planning on having a few weekends off before that takes place. here are the results:

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Not Long Now

2007-08-06T08:43:00.000+10:00

Not long now until the next post-have just had zero time to update though will make time over teh next 5 days-all we seem to have been doing is moving from Monday to Friday work with Sarah having started her new job at Seaworld to the bbq and weekend parties and working on the house. It doesnt look like slowing either as between now and november we have only got 3 weekends where nothing has been booked in though with the rugby world cup starting that is bound to change.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

2007-07-26T20:32:00.000+10:00

An ant and grasshopper lived in the same field. During summer the ant works

all day and night bringing in supplies for the cold winter months ahead.

Meanwhile, the grasshopper hops and sings, eats grass all he wants and

Procreates prolifically.

Winter comes. It gets bitterly cold and the grass dies. The ant is well

supplied and lives comfortably - but the grasshopper has not prepared for

the winter and dies, leaving a whole horde of little grasshoppers without

food or shelter.

The moral of the story is that one should work hard to ensure your comfort

and well-being.

THE AFRICAN VERSION

The above applies but because it now happens in Africa, there are a few

complications.

The starving offspring of the grasshopper demanded to know why the ant

should be allowed to live comfortably while they have to endure such

terrible conditions.

A TV crew promptly arrives and broadcasts footage of the unfortunate

grasshoppers contrasting this footage with that of the ant in his snug

comfortable home.

The public in the neighbouring fields are stunned by what they see.

How can it be that the poor grasshoppers are suffering while the ant lives

in the lap of luxury?

In the blink of an eye the AGU (African Grasshoppers Union) is formed. They

charge the ant with "species bias" and claim that grasshoppers are the

victims of 30 million years of green oppression.

They stage a protest in front of the ant's house and trash the neighbourhood.

When interviewed by the TV crew they state that if their demands are not met

they will be forced into a life of crime and violance. Just to make their point, they

loot the TV crew's luggage and hijack their van.

The TRC (Take and Redistribute Commission) justifies their behaviour by

saying that this is the legacy of the ant's discrimination and oppression of

the grasshoppers for thousands of years.

They demand that the ant apologises to the grasshoppers and make amends for

all the other ants in history that have done the same thing to grasshoppers.

PAGAD (People Against Grasshoppers Abuse and Distress) states that they are

starting a holy war against ants.

The President appears on the 8 o'clock news guaranteeing aid for all

grasshoppers that have been denied the prosperity by those who have

benefited unfairly during the summer from the fare so richly provided by nature for all to enjoy.

THE GOVERNMENT drafts the EEGAD Act (Economic Equity for Greens and

Disadvantaged) retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined heavily for failing to employ a proportionate number of

green insects, and having nothing left to pay his income tax, his home is

confiscated by the government for redistribution.

The story ends as we see the grasshoppers finishing off the last of the

ant's food while living in their new government house (which just happens to

be the ant's old house) and the house also ends up crumbling around them due

to their laziness, lack of skill and general lack of inclination to maintain infrastructure.

The TV crew films the President standing before a group of wildly singing

and dancing grasshoppers, announcing that a new era of "equality" has dawned

on the field.

The ant, meantime, is not allowed to work because, historically, he has

benefited from the field. In his place, ten grasshoppers, who only work two

hours a day, stash half of what they actually harvest for resale on the quiet for personal gain.

When winter comes again and not enough food has been stored, they strike and

demand 150% wage increase so they can buy more food, which now has to be

imported.

The ant packs his things and migrates to another field, where he starts a

highly successful food company and again becomes a millionaire by selling

food to the grasshoppers in the field from where he came.

New Patio Slab

2007-07-23T09:36:00.000+10:00

After being struck down for 2 weeks with Pnumonia and being able to do very little, I tested my health and chest this weekend when Sar's folks and I prepared and threw down a concrete slab to replace the bricks that were our patio. His was stage 1 of 3 for our backyard and went off really well as we knocked it off in 2 days. Saturday was spent preparing the area, I never realised how hard it was to dig up grass and level an area 3 inches deep!!! It was 2 days of hard work which resulted in the final sweep taking palce around 20.30 last evening. Here are some of the stage photo's:

Penguin Smashing Again

2007-07-08T20:10:00.000+10:00

Ok our second penguin competition on the blog as a mid winter treat. This is for bragging rights and the title "Champion Seal Clubber 07" on this site so give it a crack-literally Click on this link http://henriluoma.net/pingu/ and see how far you can smash the penguin. We will run the comp over a week so get bashing and I will do a piece on the blog announcing the official placings on Friday. Once you have your distance leave your name, official distance and country you are from (comes in handy as we may have to handicap people from Alaska for having hands on experience at this) and a victory speech you want metioned on the blog in the comments section below this piece.

How to play: Click on the caveman, then click again when you want club the seal/penguin.

So get clubbing and good luck. This is open to all so get your mates involved to.

PS: While you are on the blog put your bloody pin on the guestmap

Competition

2007-07-02T15:15:00.000+10:00

Try this and leave your scores in the comments section. My first run was 75.

http://hk.promo.yahoo.com/movie/superman/Stop_Press_Game/

Won't be long before we see the return of the seal clubbing competition on the blog!!

Too Long

2007-07-02T08:23:00.000+10:00

Apologies, it has been too long since the last post-probably an indication of how busy we have been over the past 2 weeks though at the same time we have managed a little time at home with the mutt.

There has been a hell of a lot of socialising going on obviously along with some exercise as the new seasons of cricket and touch footy have kicked off. SO once again we are in the routine of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday being sports nights of various codes. Thank heavens only one of the evenings is an outdoor activity as it has been bleddy cold lately and not good for being outdoors trying to warm up for a game of rugby!!

The return the game to squash to Oz is always a good thing with Colin, Clayton and myself aiming at playing a few games over the next few weeks-chances it will be before the tri nations rugby games so we can play followed by having a braai and watching the rugby.

This past weekend we had an old friend from London stay at our place on Friday evening, Joe, it is always a fun evening with Joe around and this was no different. It went from general catch up stuff to darts to bbq to Poker and to cap off the evening Karen our neighbour pulled out the trivial pursuit (when last did you play that?). It was one hell of a festive evening and a good time was had by all.

The most relaxing part of the weekend was probably taking Bindii for a long walk to the dog park. She was walking in the river though the highlight for her was probably trying to kill a kite!! The poor young girl flying the kite had no idea what to do and all bindii could think of I am sure is that she had to catch the multi coloured bird flying just above her.

True Bok Supporter

2007-06-22T21:45:00.000+10:00

There can be no doubt which team my dog is supporting this weekend. Bugger the All Blacks she is a Bok dog through and through!!!!

Durban Curry

2007-06-21T16:20:00.000+10:00

NATAL CURRY CONTEST
If you can read this whole story without laughing then there's no hope for you.

I was crying by the end. For those of you who have lived in Natal (South Africa), you know how typical this is. They actually have a Curry Cook-off about June/July. It takes up a major portion of a parking lot at the Royal Show in PMB(Pietermaritzberg).

Judge #3 was an inexperienced food critic named Frank, who was visitingfrom America.

Frank: "Recently, I was honored to be selected as a judge at a Curry
happened to be standing there at the judge's table asking for directions to the Beer Garden when the call came in. I was assured by the other two judges (Natal Indians) that the curry wouldn't be all that spicy and, besides, they told me I could have free beer during the tasting,so I accepted".

Here are the scorecard notes from the event:

CURRY # 1 - SEELAN'S MANIAC MONSTER TOMATO CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- A little too heavy on the tomato. Amusing kick.
Judge # 2 -- Nice smooth tomato flavour. Very mild.
Judge # 3 (Frank) -- Holy shit, what the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the flames out. I hope that's the worst one. These people are crazy.

CURRY #2 - PHOENIX BBQ CHICKEN CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- Smoky, with a hint of chicken. Slight chili tang.
Judge # 2 -- Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.
Judge # 3 -- Keep this out of the reach of children. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted to give me the Heimlich maneuver! They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face.

CURRY # 3 - SHAMILA'S FAMOUS "BURN DOWN THE GARAGE" CURRY.

Judge # 1 -- Excellent firehouse curry. Great kick.
Judge # 2 -- A bit salty, good use of chili peppers.
Judge # 3 -- Call 911. I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drain Cleaner. Everyone knows the routine by now.Get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back, now my backbone is in the front part of my chest. I'm getting pissed from the beer!

# 4 - BABOO\'S BLACK MAGIC BEAN CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- Black bean curry with almost no spice. Disappointing.
Judge # 2 -- Hint of lime in the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a curry.
Judge # 3 -- I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Shareen, the beer maid, was standing behind me with fresh refills. That 200kg woman is starting to look HOT..., just like this nuclear waste I'm eating! Is curry an aphrodisiac?

CURRY # 5 LALL\'S LEGAL LIP REMOVER...

Judge # 1 -- Meaty, strong curry. Cayenne peppers freshly ground,adding considerable kick. Very impressive.
Judge # 2 -- Average beef curry, could use more tomato. Must admit the chili peppers make a strong statement.
Judge # 3 -- My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted and four people behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her curry had given me brain damage. Shareen saved my tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from the pitcher. I wonder if I'm burning my lips off. It really pisses me off that the other judges asked me to stop screaming. Screw them.

CURRY # 6 - VERISHNEE'S VEGETARIAN VARIETY...

Judge # 1 -- Thin yet bold vegetarian variety curry. Good balance of spices and peppers.
Judge # 2 -- The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions, and garlic. Superb.
Judge # 3 -- My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous,sulfuric flames. I am definitely going to shit myself if I fart and I'm worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that Shareen. Can't feel my lips anymore. I need towipe my ass with a snow cone ice-cream.

CURRY # 7 - SELINA'S "MOTHER-IN-LAW'S-TONGUE" CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- A mediocre curry with too much reliance on canned peppers.
Judge # 2 -- Ho hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can ofchili peppers at the last moment. (I should take note at this stagethat I am worried about Judge # 3. He appears to be in a bit ofdistress as he is cursing uncontrollably).
Judge # 3 -- You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I wouldn't feel a thing. I've lost sight in one eye, and the world soundslike it is made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with curry whichslid unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of lava to match my shirt. At least, during the autopsy, they'll know what killed me. I'vedecided to stop breathing- it's too painful. Screw it; I'm not gettingany oxygen anyway. If I need air I'll just suck it in through the 4-inch hole in my stomach.

CURRY # 8 - NAIDOO'S TOENAIL CURLING CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- The perfect ending. This is a nice blend curry. Not toobold but spicy enough to declare its existence.
Judge # 2 -- This final entry is a good, balanced curry. Neither mildnor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge #3 farted,passed out, fell over and pulled the curry pot down on top of himself.Not sure if he's going to make it. Poor man, wonder how he'd havereacted to really hot curry?
Judge # 3 - No Report.

Weekend Gone

2007-06-19T15:54:00.000+10:00

Well at last Sarah and I got our back room finished and painted on Saturday and Sunday morning. This has only taken us since the begginning of April-yes 3 weeks before our wedding. Shocking. Anyway it was done and it is amazing the difference it makes having the correct tools. I borrowed some equipment from work and I reckon it has saved us about half a day at least.

Friday Sar's and I headed out for one of the best curries I have had since we left London. We went into a tiny restaurant on Chevron Island called "The Curry Muncher" and had an absolutely awesome meal. It was a true Indian experience to the extent where I had to put my Durban up bringing to the party and interpret everything the waiter was saying to Sarah. This bloke made Apu sound like the Queen.

Sunday afternoon we wound up at Andrew and Karen's for celebratory drinks as they got engaged on Saturday night. This turned out to be a lovely evening with all the neighbours turning up with Karen's parents, Andrew threw a few snags on the BBQ and we had our fair share of beers. Congratulations to the both of you. It was really good to be in amongst a group of Aussies and actually be able to bring up sport for a change after the boks narrow win on Saturday night over the Aussies. Hopefully I feel the same way next when talking to my Kiwi colleagues.

Queenslander

2007-06-14T09:16:00.000+10:00

Well it is great to wake up as a Queenslander after your team has pulled down the cockroaches pants (NSW) and spanked them in their own back yard to take a 2-0 lead in the State of Origin series, ensuring the trophy stays in Queensland for another year. Sure the 10-6 scoreline was close though when you consider that the Maroons have not won in Sydney in 11 attempts we will take it.

Now we prepare to come back to Brisbane in 3 weeks to make it a 3-0 whitewash and send the roaches home for another year to think about what could have been.

Strange how all the people dressed in blue yesterday seem to have disappeared much the same way as their team did last night!

TGIF

2007-06-08T09:03:00.000+10:00

I have been waiting all week for this.

TGIF

and it is a long weekend to-HAPPY DAYS

2 Weeks Home

2007-06-05T08:55:00.000+10:00

Well we have been home for 2 weeks and are hardly into the routine again. It has probably been the most hectic 2 weeks we have had since our arrival. Apart form the fact that I was sick as a dog for the 1st three days back and jet lagged we flew straight back to the front line. We have not had a day "off" in two weeks. It is all good though and it has been great to catch up with all the new arrivals on our shores along with friends we haven't seen since our wedding in late April.
Thommo and Eve have arrived in Brisbane, so the obvious thing to do was get together with a few bottles of Champagne on our first Saturday back, throw some "Roo" and Shrimp on the Barbie and catch up on their rapid arrival in Oz-they were originally expected in about November. The evening was finished off in the best way possible by watching the Boks put 50 points on the Poms, depleted side or not it was fantastic.
Last Saturday we caught up with Julie and Clayton for a BBQ at their new house, kind of a belated house warming. It really is a lovely open house and it certainly gave Sar's and some ideas for what we want to do with our outside area-yes more projects on the horizon.
Sunday we were off to another welcoming BBQ at Sar's folks place. Sarah's cousin has just arrived from the UK so it was good to catch up with them. Sarah's cousin Mat is a keen rugby player/fan so it was even better as the Boks had put another 50 points against England the night before-Happy Days.
Anyhow we are up to date now and looking forward to this weekend where I am off to the Gabba for my first AFL (aussie rules) experience as a mid year office party. We have hired a box for the game, Lions vs Bulldogs so it should be a good evening. Sunday will see everyone mentioned in this post coming to our house for a potjie then we are going barefoot bowling for the afternoon, it should be a hoot. Thank heavens Monday is a public holiday so we should be able to get an hour or two in the garden which is in serious need of some TLC.

Something in the water

2007-05-28T14:36:00.000+10:00

There must be something in the water at the moment as once again I am blogging about friends of ours being pregnant. It was a good day when after texting Deano the State of Origin result, which Queensland won obviously that he broke the news that Ingrid is indeed pregnant. A huge congratulations to the both of you and Sarah and I wish you both well as you take the next step in becoming a family of three.

This brings the tally to 3 in 3 months as my sister Lauren is expecting her first along with friends of ours Ritchie and Caroldee also expecting their first. Must be the water.

In the meantime I will stay away from the water and raise a glass of Champagne to the three of you.

WILD AFRICA

2007-05-23T19:30:00.000+10:00

Only in Africa can you see this in the wild in a day. We saw 4 of the big 5 along with Hippo,Girraffe,Warthog,Hyena and loads of buck. Here are a few of the pictures

Home

2007-05-22T11:18:00.000+10:00

Well after what was to short of a holiday Sar's and I are back in Oz after a wonderful two and a half weeks in the "Republic". There are many highlights of the trip which include obviously catching up with the family and meeting the twins for the first time. We also in the 2 weeks managed to get up to Hluwhluwe game reserve for a couple of days where we saw 4 of the BIG 5 along with Hippo, Giraffe, Hyena and loads of buck and Warthog, it was really a great feeling to be back in the African bush again.

Congratulations to Matt and Phil who's wedding we attended in Ballito, we thank you for a wonderful evening and still maintain that I have never seen shooters poured and drunk in that quantity EVER!

On our return Mom and Dad arranged a wedding reception for us which went down amazingly well. We had around 40 people of which a lot I hadn't seen for years. It was a super evening which ended at around 3am when on Royal Marine decided he had had enough vodka shot and it was time to RUN home. All of those present at 3am played golf on Saturday-needless to say the golf left a lot to be desired.

A few things never change at home which is why it is such a pleasure to visit. Stokers for one, monkeys in the garden, eating your meat straight off the fire when braaing, biltong though one of the events I really loved taking Sarah to was the Super 14 final where though the Sharks were robbed there is no better stadium to watch rugby in anywhere in the world.

Thanks to everyone who made our trip so enjoyably and we look forward to returning for another visit someday soon.

UNCLE AGAIN

2007-04-30T18:26:00.000+10:00

yes I am going to be an uncle again!! A massive congratulations to lauren and Jacques on the news that they are expecting their first child. We hope all goes well and perhaps it will be 6th time lucky for a boy this time!!!!

Love

Ryan and Sarah

Update

2007-04-30T18:05:00.000+10:00

Well as I said before the wedding was absolutely fantastic and we seem to be re-living it everyday as more and more photo's of the event come in. We are gradually getting them all together and will try post them soon. Needless to say the wedding has been the main event over the last 2 weeks though we have been socialising practically non-stop with all of our foreign visitors which has been awesome. The day after the wedding we had a mass BBQ at our house where all the guests were invited for day 2 of the wedding. We had a great turn out with groper actually changing his flight plans to Melbourne to be able to join us. All in all we had around 20 people at any one stage through the day which involved a beer run and a marathon game of overs and unders (darts) which anyone from Varsity Hockey and Cricket will know well. I think we finished up at around 10pm with a compulsory screening of The Castle for our Canadian visitor Kate. it really was a great way to finish the weekend. Monday we met Liam and Megan before they flew out to SA for an afternoon drink at the Titanium bar in Surfers which wound up with us having a beer by the pool at around 10pm-so much for dinner again!!!! The rest of the week has been back at work and looking at photo's. We have spent most of the weekend at Sar's folks place as Matt was leaving on Sunday and heading back to the UK. It is never a problem going for dinner at Sar's folks place as the food is always superb and with Matt there we were guaranteed to sample a different Australian wine with every meal, something of which I quite enjoy.

Kate from Whistler will be back with us tonight after her adventure up in North Queensland followed by which Sarah and I leave for South Africa for two and a half weeks of friends, family, a London wedding,golf and game viewing. We are really looking forward to the trip as we will get the chance to meet my nieces for the 1st time (they turned 1 on our wedding day so there is no excuse for forgetting now).

My folks have kindly arranged a celebration for us back in SA for Friday night so by Saturday I am sure I will be completely buggered-just the way my old man plans it for golf!!!!

Wedding

2007-04-23T12:01:00.000+10:00

Our wedding was saturday gone and was truly an amazing event. We had the ceremony on Currumbin Beach and were treated with the most amazing weather and not a breath of wind. Sarah looked absolutely gorgeous. We had about 30 people with us and all seemed to have a really good time from the start with champagne on the beach through to when Sarah and I left the reception at roughly midnight. I will post some photo's on the site soon enough and will elaborate on the day over the next few days.

Easter gone and 11 days to go

2007-04-10T09:50:00.000+10:00

Easter has come and gone, the front wall is 95% complete and all this adds up to one thing-11 days and counting until Sar's and I get married.

How time has flown the last 18 months and suddenly it is upon us. We think we have most things under control, venue,celebrant function venue though it is the small things that almost slip your mind and that pop up at the last minute that make you really start thinking about things. The only major headache that could occur is the weather seeing as though we are getting married on the beach at Currumbin Rock (pictured) it had better not rain. It is really getting exciting now as our international guests start confirming their arrival dates into Brisbane and on the coast. We have really been impressed with the efforts alot of people have gone to be here with us and it really adds to making the day more exciting for the both of us. In all we have people coming in from 3 countries outside Oz namely South Africa, UK and Canada so it promises to be a truly international and festive event. No doubt you will be getting more updates involving the wedding over the next few weeks along with some pics after the fact.

Until then it is back to organising cakes,champagne,limos and the likes.

SA Rugby a Joke

2007-04-04T08:27:00.000+10:00

It is good to see that 15 years down the line we are making real progress on the politics in sport front, this is why the rest of the world does not see us as a threat in ANY form of sport. Very very dissapointing and infuriating.

Quote "The South African government has threatened to confiscate the passports of the Springboks players unless more black players are selected for the World Cup.
The government and the South African Rugby Union have been at loggerheads for several years over the issue, with the parliamentary sports committee claiming the national team is not representative of the country.
Now committee chairman Butana Komphela has warned that the 'worst case scenario' could see South Africa's players barred from travelling to the World Cup in France in September.
"In principle, we can't allow a team that does not reflect the South African picture, to represent our country," Komphela told the Beeld newspaper.
"My fear is that rugby won't see the World Cup. We will try to convince the minister of home affairs to confiscate the passports if the team is not representative."
Komphela wants the team to include at least six black players, which he describes as 'a start', even though he does not believe that would make the team truly representative.
SARFU president Oregan Hoskins said Komphela's comments should not be seen as idle threats. "We must take what he says seriously," he said.

Thanks Damager for the above story from www.chateautoby.com

Busy Busy

2007-03-30T15:37:00.000+10:00

Well all that can be said is that is already April and it feels as though Christmas has just passed. April means a few things, mainly Sarah and I get married in just on 3 weeks time and we are finally starting to do some real planning. We have had the venue and celebrant confirmed for a few months now though I am sure most of you know the small things seem to take even longer to get right.
Other than the wedding we have got our holiday to SA soon there after and will catch up with all of the people who couldn't join us over in Oz.
Bindi is going great and becoming more cheeky by the day, we took her to the beach last weekend which she loved until she got hit by 3 waves and realised suddenly that she could no longer stand, she flat panicked and was very weary of the water after that. We will take her down for round 2 again tomorrow.
Our front wall is finally on the way up, After taking 3 months to dig the trench Sar's dad has been over at our place this week erecting the wall, I think by the time I get home tonight it will be about half-way up and so far is looking fantastic. I will be sure to put some pics on the blog asap.
As for the cricket world cup, well all that can be said is that we really enjoy making a game of it, when will we learn to just take a game by the throat and win it, for some reason it seems to me that the whole team has the attitude that the next bloke will do it if I fail, a thought that will be extremely dangerous later on when the tournament reaches knock out status. Until then let the Aussies win all the games at a canter.

CONGRATULATIONS

2007-03-20T17:14:00.000+10:00

A big congratulations to Richie Nienaber and Caroldee who have just anounced that they are expecting their first child. Well done to the both of you and may everything run smoothly from here on in.

What a weekend

2007-03-20T16:45:00.000+10:00

Well we finally named the dog after having her for almost a week we have decided she will now be known as Bindi-for that is a good name for a mutt with very sharp teeth!! As it turns out the day we named her I received a phone call to say she had managed to escape from the garden and was caught chasing out neighbours cat up the road!! It all ends well though as she was locked up in their yard for the day until I picked her up after work. All it really did was create work for me as now I had to find how she got out and continue to mesh up any possible means of escape. By the time Sarah got home I was knackered so wasn't much help in cleaning the house for the cleaner-yes you heard right cleaning for the cleaner. We have decided to get a cleaner in every second Saturday to do the house so we can have more of the weekend free to actually do things besides clean. This being her first visit we had to make sure the house was in a reasonable state for the cleaner, kind of defeats the point though was necessary for this visit I can assure you.
Saturday kicked off very early with Sar's folks arriving at 7am to begin laying the foundation for our outside wall-yes all the digging was finally over so it was now time for kippie here to mix cement for about 6 hours!! It worked really well with Sar's dad doing the pouring and levelling of the foundation and myself making sure he had an ongoing supply of "mud". We eventually finished at around 2pm-next step:build the wall.
Clayton and Julie paid us a visit on their way back to Brissie so we could show off Bindi to them then I was off to Chris' for a few icy colds I felt I had earned.
Sunday we were off to the footy after we visited the Eldridge family for lunch to celebrate Leanne's birthday. Unfortunately we could only stay for an hour as we had to get to Suncorp stadium to see the Gold Coast Titans plat St George in rugby league. This was really a big day as the Titans are the new boys on the league block and after 8 years finally have a team in the NRL. This was their first league game ever and I think half the Gold Coast were there. They played in Brisbane as the Stadium on the coast wouldn't have taken as many people as wanted tickets so common sense prevailed and they decided to use Suncorp Stadium. Good thing they did as 43000 people arrived and the atmosphere was super. It was a really good day and Sarah got to have her meat pie at the footy which really completed the day. Oh ye, the Titans lost 20-18.

New Family Member

2007-03-11T19:09:00.000+10:00

Well who would have thought on Friday afternoon that come Sunday we would have a puppy in the back garden. Anyway we do after going into a pet shop we saw a couple of Staffy's that Sarah liked though being an SPCA/Animal Welfare person myself I agreed to go and look at the dogs in the shelter. As we strolled in this little one had just arrived that morning. She is 8 weeks old and a Staffy x with we think Kelpie which is also a super natured dog.

Now we are yet to name this mutt so please leave any suggestions on the blog so we can actually name her and stop referring to her as the "pooch". All we have come up with at this time is Scooby.

Time Flies

2007-03-09T14:42:00.000+10:00

I haven't been able to post from last Friday for the simple reason that I have had absolutely zero zip nil bloody time over the last 5 days. Work just seems to be getting busier and busier as the days go by and before we know it will be time to put those Christmas lights up again!!!!

Well the quiet weekend last week wasn't as quiet as originally planned though it was not a big one by any means. Friday we watched a video at home-can't recall the last time we did this and Saturday was spent just cruising between shops, going out for lunch and continuing to lay cement around the rocky edges in the garden-for some reason every time I start mixing cement it is about 35 degrees outside and it is like a pringles add of once you start you can't stop so I just keep going. It will all pay off soon as we are starting to see the difference in the yard. Our quiet Saturday night never came about as Chris came over and was looking for someone to have a beer and watch the rugger with so Sar's and I headed over the Chris' place for some snags on the BBQ and watch some footy. It was a really pleasant evening which ended before closing time as we had to do this fun run in Brissie at 6.30am which meant leaving the Coast at 5.30am.

The run went really well though I only found out later it was for National Woman's Day!!!! I really enjoyed it and pulled up really well on Monday. The route was really nice as we headed out along the Brisbane River on the Southbank side crossed over then through the Botanical Gardens to the sound of pipers playing waltzing Matilda!!! Go figure, it was back across the river into Southbank and to the finish. It was a really good way to start the day though by three pm the day was effectively over as Sar's and I fell asleep on the couch in the comfort of an air-conditioned home.

Work has been crazy though I finally got my new car which has been on its way for about 6 months. It is a Holden,Vauxhall,Opel depending where you live Crewman, the same as the one pictured above though White. It is basically the Holden Commodore interior with a bin on the back. Schweet.

We have booked our trip back to SA for May. We will be in the Republic from 3 May to the 20th so please do get in touch if you are going to be around. Our time will be spent mostly in Kloof though we will be having the odd night or two going to game parks and hopefully spotting some large animals. Sarah has not seen Elephant and Lion so that is our goal while we are there. Please get in touch if I don't have your email address as we will be having a mini wedding celebration when we arrive and would hate to miss anyone.

Quiet One

2007-03-02T15:02:00.000+10:00

Well at last it seems that we may just have a quiet weekend in store for us, after the past few weekends it is quite unusual to think we have nothing planned for Saturday and Friday night. It did not just happen this way, we have planned it and even turned down ticket to the Titans NRL game in Carrara tonight to have this privilege.

On Sunday however things are a little different in that both Sarah and I are doing a 5km fun run. It is not the 5km that worries me as much as having to get out of bed before 5am to be in Brisbane for the start. If all goes well we should finish around midday :o)

Look out on Monday to see whether the planned quiet one actually turns out that way!!!!

What a weekend

2007-02-26T18:45:00.000+10:00

Well this was one of those weekends that flew by from social outing to social outing stopping in between to catch your breath when you can-hell it was good though. We started off Saturday when we headed off to Brissie to catch up with Julie, Clayton and Ruby it was our turn to head north as the Wright's had visited us twice previously on the Coast. We headed up for an afternoon braai (bbq) where we spent most of the day in and out of the pool with a few coldies-it was the perfect way to relax, by the time Sar's and I had left it felt as though we had been there only a couple of hours and not the 6 that we had. Once we left the coast and headed back south we had no sooner walked through the door when we headed out across the road to Sam's 2nd birthday party and into about 40000 screaming, running and jumping kids from all over the hood, they seemed to have a blast as did the oldies who did the obvious thing while the kids burnt off their energy-we watched in amazement and wondered where they got their energy from. Once the youngsters had slowly faded off it became the adults turn to make some noise. Though I reckon that most of the adults were as exhausted as the kids!!!

Sunday we finally did what we have been threatening to do for a few months-went barefoot bowling!!!! Sarah, Karen and I headed off to broadbeach where we paid 4 bucks each to have an afternoon of barefoot bowls (picture above). What a blast it was, from the basement price for an afternoons entertainment we also found that the beer was still at 1970 prices-happy days. Ten bucks for a pitcher and about 50c a coke you had a recipe for a good time or a disaster depending on which way you look at it. We had a fabulous time and narrowly avoided the disaster. After around for or five hours of some good and more shocking bowls-I think we nearly broke a pensioners leg when we won't say who accidentally had the bias facing the wrong way and had the old duck hopping out of the way we decided it would be a good idea to head home. One thing is for certain we will be doing it again at some stage and highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they may enjoy the bowling or even if you just like the idea of drinking cheap beer in the sun, as I said there is something in it for everyone!!

Baggy Greens Win It

2007-02-23T14:23:00.000+10:00

After a season of mixed results the Baggy Greens (my indoor cricket team) last night won our 1st division final. After finishing 3rd in the log due to some mediocre performances over the Xmas period we managed to sneak into the final through the back door having to earn our place through a series elimination matches, 3 in total on our way to the final. Once there we met a good quality team who we had played 3 times through the season having won one and lost 2 so it was always going to be a tight affair.

The final was pretty one sides after we made 144 in our 16 overs. We knew we had them when after 10 overs they had only 70 and after 12 were on 60, yes -10 runs between overs 8 and 10 (-5 runs every time you go out in indoor cricket). Overall it was a top performance by the boys and we look forward to defending our title as Premiers next season.

Crocodile Hunter

2007-02-18T08:48:00.000+10:00

Take a look at this clip of good old Steve Irwin it is hilarious!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa_7P5AbUww

Enjoy.

Day 4-Tangalooma

2007-02-13T21:05:00.000+10:00

Well you realise just how quickly the year is going when you are half way through February and you are still catching up on your December/January holiday blogging-anyway here goes day 4 with Thommo and Eve when we all headed out to Moreton Island for the day at Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort for some diving and whatever came about.

It was a good hour on the ferry out of Brisbane during which time I think we all caught some shut eye after the night before again though once on the Island we were full steam ahead and after a cup of coffee Thommo, Sar's and I were straight onto the Quad bikes for an hour through the dunes. It was quite amazing as we were leaving the beach on our bike there were 2 or 3 dolphins not 2 meters from the shore with people standing in the water looking at them-needless to say this just increased the excitement for when we would dive the wrecks in the picture above. The quad biking was awesome though there were a few close calls and anxious moments thanks to out guide who obviously was no whiz on the health and safety side of things choosing to stop dead on a blind corner!!!

Once done biking we thought it a good idea for the 4 of us to be towed behind a boat on an inflatable banana with some interesting results-needless to say the most memorable thing about the banana was Eve's yelping every time we hit the wake or wave and lurched skyward, at first we thought eve was trying to communicate with the dolphins she had seen earlier in the day with her HE HE HEE calling. By the time we finished the ride we were sopping wet having all fallen off and completely buggered from hanging on for dear life, oh yes Eve's voice was also a little husky from the yelping.

The afternoon we hired some diving gear and took a long walk down the beach to the wrecks, these are located about 50m offshore though with a fair rip inshore between the beach and the wrecks. Once out there we had gloves so could hang off the ships so as to not be swept away-sounds dramatic though not really. It was amazing around the wrecks with the amount of sea life and coral that has established itself on the boats-it was like looking into an aquarium window though you didn't know what was going to be in the bow of the next ship or come up from the deep.

It really was a superb day and would really recommend it to anyone coming into Brisbane who doesn't have time to get up to the real reef. Needless to say we were buggered by the end of it all though not to tired to watch South Africa crush Pakistan over 6 or 7 beers AGAIN.

The Truth Behind Australia Day

2007-02-08T13:19:00.000+10:00

Here is a look at the Truth behind Australia Day.

Day 3

2007-01-30T15:51:00.000+10:00

This was a quiet one to start off with, we headed through Burleigh at about midday on our way through to Currumbin Wildlife Park. I was a little unsure of how this would be having never been there before but was not dissapointed. We ahd planned to rush through as Colin and Eve had to get to Brisbane for a river cruise however this was not possible as the park had everything you could want to see and more. We held Koalas, fed Wallaby's saw the beginning of the Lorikeet feeding. In between all this there were Tassie Devils, Crocs and every other type of Aussie wildlife you can imagine, definitely a place we will go to again with our next guests.

That evening we all did our own thing with Colin and Eve doing the Kookaburra Queen seafood cruise and Sar's and I just relaxing though it did wind up being 2am with many dead soldiers before I got to bed AGAIN.

DAY 2

2007-01-30T15:29:00.000+10:00

Getting there slowly. We headed down to the Kurrawa SUrf CLub for breakfast over looking hte beach. Sar's and I do this fairly regularly on weekends as it is so relaxing and seems to bring you back to where you are living. It is quite easy to get caught up in work and everyday living that you start to take for granted where you are, so a breakfast overlooking the beach is always good. Thommo and Eve capped this off with a swim and headed off to see the sights of Brissie for the afternoon.

Once back from Brissie we headed off to the Marina where we ahd dinner at Fishermans Wharf (pic above). It overlooks the the broadwater and Marina and is a really relaxed place to eat. We ended up at Palace Versace, the top hotel on the coast, for coffee afterwards listening to live piano which was fantastic.

On our arrival home the ladies headed for bed though we Thommo and I had found some live SA cricket on telly which required we watch with a few icy colds. Little did we realise that this was going to become the norm over the next 5 days, watching cricket until 2am+ and having many beers in the process. We woke up every day to a lounge table covered with dead soldiers that had fought hard to resist but failed in the end.

Day One

2007-01-25T15:05:00.000+10:00

I am not going to try and do the entire holiday in one hit, so will do entry's from a day to day basis and will try to upload photo's into the albums for everyone to look at. This entire operation may take a few days.

At last January 1 arrived after many months of waiting for our international guests Thommo and Eve. I must admit I would have preferred to have been in better shape for their arrival after a heavy New Years Eve but was looking forward to catching up. A couple of Gatorades and coffee's later i was feeling a alive by the time they arrived in Brisbane. It was really cool to see some familiar faces again. After settling the guests in the house we headed off to Q1 for some sightseeing. Q1 is a 79 storey residential tower right on the beach in Surfer Paradise with a viewing deck for the final floor. We figured this would be a good way to give Thommo and Eve a general idea of the layout of the Gold Coast as you can see for miles from up there.

The obvious thing to do from here was to take a walk along the beach at Kurrawa (broadbeach). It was getting dark and all this activity after the night before was getting to everyone so we headed home where we cooked up an Aussie come South African feast on the baarbie with Kangaroo fillets, Boerewors and obviously we threw a shrimp on there for good measure which went down a treat along with a few icy colds and shandy's for the ladies. A cracking way to end the day.

One Day Cricket

2007-01-22T19:25:00.000+10:00

I know I haven't blogged for a while and still need to put all the details on from our fantastic week with Thommo and Eve, however, until then Sarah and I went to the cricket game at the Gabba between Oz and England. The crowd was possibly the loudest I have been in at a cricket game. Take a look at this monkey.

New Years Eve

2007-01-12T15:05:00.000+10:00

Well as mentioned New Years Eve had a 5 beer kick start through the afternoon and following a much needed power nap we headed up the road to a cocktail party at Chris and Sonia's place with beers and a bottle of spirits to add to the mix. The evening started off slowly but gathered steam as the evening moved toward midnight with many games of pool, where Andrew and I dominated the table against all comers, namely Sarah and Karen. New Year was seen in with the Sydney fireworks on the big screen and more cocktails of varying strength and many different names which escape me now!!! By 1am the majority of people had started to drift off, Sarah had snuck home and returned for what is becoming known as her customary midnight cup of tea and Andrew was in the pool-for what reason no one really knows. It was a random case of one minute here next in the pool with beer in tow. By 2am there were few people left with Sarah and Karen calling it a night at this time-after all we did need to be at the airport at 11 in Brisbane to collect Thommo and Eve. I assured all was well and I would be home shortly!!! We all know where this is going, last confirmed sighting was Chris, other Sarah, Andrew-other neighbour and I holding up the bar with a fowl tasting green concoction in our hands. After convincing Sarah I was in no state to consume this beast she agreed to take it off my hands at which point I bolted for the door not to be seen again for about 24 hours at least that was the idea!!! I was woken 4 hours later feeling a little lot brittle to get set to head off to the Airport to meet Thommo and Eve from the UK. The good news is that they won't want to have a good to see you drink as it has only been a year since we saw them-ye right!!!!

AND SO THE FESTIVE SEASON CARRIES ON WITH NO END IN SIGHT

Old Years Day

2007-01-12T10:27:00.000+10:00

We started our Old Years day/night with a bang with a mid day BBQ with 2 sets of Sarah's schoolmates of whom she hadn't seen for at least a few years and I had never met. They arrived in full force with children in tow, it is still quite strange to be socialising with alot of people our own age who have 2 to 3 children. With Sarah coming home and getting in touch with friends who have remained in Oz and settled down along with us buying a house in the burbs you really begin to see the family side of life which you believed was miles away from your flat in busy, nothing stopping you London.
It really was an enjoyable day with a group of people I am sure we will see alot more of in future. Needless to say a few beers were consumed as both men were working New Years Eve so considered the BBQ to be their New Years Eve and not being on to ruin a party I joined in without second thought that we also had a cocktail party to attend that night!!!

Webcam

2007-01-10T19:42:00.000+10:00

OK we are up and running with the webcam, so those of you with access to Skype (free calls) and if not download it from www.skype.com (Matt & Imogen) we are now able to converse over the PC with video. Those with a skype address let me know and I look forward to catching up.

Christmas Day

2007-01-10T14:11:00.000+10:00

Well after seeing in xmas day with the neighbourhood planning our assault on the Christmas lights competition for the following year (I believe comparisons to Vegas were thrown about) Christmas morning dawned a little murky, though Sarah was fresh as a daisy and raring to go-even after her beetle in her drink episode the night before! After removing all the dead soldiers from the garage and driveway from the night before we exchanged gifts, which we had picked ourselves and pretended to show surprise and disbelief that yes, Santa got it right again!!

After morning coffee on the patio with Watermelon we headed off to the folks at around 10.30am, I think I still had sleep in my eyes though the thought of a cool swim kept me going. On arrival we were greeted by a fantastic spread put on by the Harrison's who had clearly gone to an enormous effort in their Christmas Day preparations. There was a fruit and nut spread in the dining room to greet us with another coffee (thank goodness). It was clear to see that the folks were really excited to be spending Christmas with Sarah and Sar's with them as it had been 10 years since their previous one together.

The day was spent falling in and out of the pool between tucking into some fantastic cold meat and salads for lunch. The traditional christmas day nap took place which was followed by a super hot dinner to cap the day off. In order to butter my bread I must say that one of the deserts prepared by Sarah's dad was absolutely out of this world-something Jamie would have been proud of and I thouroughly enjoyed. Yes while Sar's lit the brandy soaked xmas pudding and everyone was mesmerised by the flames I was tucking into Dave's very own home made out of a box jelly. I could not think of a better end to the day and as Sarah and her Mom planned their boxing day asssaults on the shops I thought "Thank heavens for boxing day tests to keep me out of that one"

PS: Don't forget to add your pin to our guestmap in the right hand column of the blog!

Its all coming

2007-01-08T17:54:00.000+10:00

Ok it has been a lomg time since the last blog and this is going to be a short one. I will let you all know about and in this order:
1: Xmas Day
2: New Year (one hell of a klomper the following day)
3: Our 1st International guests visiting (Thommo and Eve)
4: Diving at Tangalooma wrecks.
5:Skype Webcam (get connected it is a great way to chat)

Sarah and I are back at work tommorrow so I will have time between getting home and when Sarah gets home to start posting again as life swings back into routine.

All the best everyone for the year ahead.

Christmas Eve Sundowners!!!

2006-12-30T19:37:00.000+10:00

Well Xmas Eve rolled in for Sar's and I with no plans in particular, a dangerous position to be as many of you would agree! As there was nothing cemented in I suggested to Sar's that we invite the neighbours over for sun downers on the driveway at around 5.30, neighbours being 3 couples within 50 meters of our house. One set were going away (Simon & Danni) the others were going with the kids to look at the Christmas lights (Chris & Sonia) though would join us for one before they left and Andrew was in straight away as he and Caryn had no plans themselves with Caryn being at work until 6.30. Anyway we pulled the chairs onto the driveway, the thinking behind the driveway that we could coax any passers by in for an Xmas pint, put the carols on in the background and cracked a frosty. What better way to start Xmas eve. Andrew promptly arrived followed by Chris, Sonia and family all wearing very respectable headgear down to 2 year old Tayla. All was well, Chris and family left to see the lights joking that if we were still going when they got back they would be back over! Ha ha. Before we knew it Caryn was home from work and having her 3rd drink the carols had turned into Live and we had ordered and eaten pizza, Chris and Sonia were back over after having been out, come back home got the kids to bed and arrived as promised. A few drinks later we were all in the road discussing the pros of having good Christmas lights on your house, there were no cons, we were also planning our assault on the Xmas lights competition for next year. The way we were talking Vegas would be considered dull!!! At some stage Chris mentioned he still had to build a bike, Sarah swallowed a beetle and Mine and Andrew's 11th beer had dried up so it was back to the house where we sat watching Chris and Sonia build Xmas presents. Before knew it 5.30 had become 12.30 and after wishing all a merry Xmas it was off to bed.

You cannot argue that the impromptu get together more than often turns out to be the best!!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-29T08:24:00.000+10:00

Merry Christmas everyone we hope you all had a fantastic day, we certainly did along with a super impromptu Christmas Eve involving neighbours and a few sun downers! We will provide the full details over the next few days when I actually find myself at home for a few hours without there being cricket on!!

We wish you all the best for a great new Year and a prosperous 2007.

Mac and Sar's

Xmas Party

2006-12-18T15:59:00.000+10:00

Saturday night was my annual company Christmas party in Brisbane. It is the one time of year that everyone from both the Brisbane office and the Gold Coast office are all together so you don't really know what to expect from the evening. Being up in Brisbane we were put up in a hotel for the evening so that no one had to be considered a designated driver and all could just relax and have a good time.

The evening was absolutely fantastic, we were on an old paddle steamer called the Kookaburra Queen on the Brisbane River. We spent just over 4 hours cruising the river with all the city lights in view and many festive lights visible on the banks. As for the food there truly was something for everyone with a buffet style arrangement which included plenty of seafood. It was really nice to try different things though I stayed away from the Moreton Bay bugs and won't be rushing out to purchase any Oysters anytime soon, though very different I just couldn't understand what the big deal was with them, the Calamari on the other hand was sensational. True to the festive season spirit this was washed down with between 6 and 60 drinks of different sorts though by going on ten thirty I had introduced myself to Mr Johnny Black again and once again we were getting on famously. You just can't beat the good drink.

Once the boat docked a few of us headed to the Pig & Whistle for a nightcap which consisted of a few more beers and a Guiness. As we were about to leave the discussion turned to Rum which most people were drinking, being the quiet bloke I am I happened to mention the Captain and was told in no uncertain terms that in Queensland you only drink Bundy at which point one was thrust into my hand. Not bad I must say but there is still nothing like a good Cappies and Coke.

Overall it was a very enjoyable evening/early morning which most people seemed to enjoy. It was really super to see Brisbane from the river at night which looked surprisingly larger than I thought it actually was.

Sunday morning Sar's and I headed to the Queen Street Mall early for breakfast and to have a little look around. Thank heavens we did as I wound up etting Sarah her Christmas present thinking I still had plenty of time not realising that Christmas is on MONDAY!!!!!!

Well I am o leave from Friday for a few weeks during which time we will be welcoming our first international guests since we arrived, Carine Court is preparing for her international debut. Colin (Thommo) and Eve are out from the UK and will be spending the 1st week in January with Sar's and I on the Coast in which time we will try and show them as much as possible of South East Queensland. It should be a blast and we are really looking forward to catching up with some good mates from Mud Island/South Africa.

I am sure I will post again before Xmas but if not we hope you have a super xmas and a happy New Year.

Xmas is Definately Here

2006-12-11T17:40:00.000+10:00

Friday night Sar's and I decided to go and look at all the Christmas lights on peoples houses. Over here it seems to be the done thing to decorate your house in late November with lights to celebrate the festive season. It is really a lovely thing to drive around seeing the many houses decorated with lights and the like. Some areas really go overboard though, we went up one road that is fairly well known on the Gold Coast for the effort everyone on the road puts into their lights. We could not believe it when we arrived at this road, we had to park down another street firstly, there were people everywhere walking up and down looking at the lights and the residents were loving it, some even standing on their driveways giving the kids sweets as they walked past. I thought I had seen everything until the first of 3 tour busses pulled in!!!!! Yes they do trips around the coast to show you all the best lights. One house actually had an operating Ferris Wheel and train in the front garden with xmas music playing in the background, oh yes their entire balcony was taken up by a smoke blowing snowman and their roof with Santa and his 8 reindeer. It is really amazing the length people will go to and it really does add to the Christmas feel about the neighbourhood. It does however make my front lights along the gutters and Santa in the window look like a poor effort. Here is a clip
from one of the houses.

One Year On

2006-12-04T19:17:00.000+10:00

Who would believe but is is 1 year today since Sarah and I left mud island. It has obviously been a massive year for us so i thought we would put down some the changes to our lifestyles and firsts that have taken place since we left the UK:

1: My sister got married in January
2: Became an Uncle to twins
3: Moved to Australia
4: Bought a house
5: Spent a christmas at home (1st in 4 years)
6: Steve Irwin died
7: A South African ex president died
8: We bought a car
9: We have both started surfing
10:It is warm all year round
11: Bought a beer fridge
12: Drove a bobcat
13: Started playing cricket again (indoor)
14: Joined a touch football league
15: Watched a Bok vs Wallabies Test in OZ (another record loss for the Boks)
16: Watched my first Ashes Test live
17: Arranged the inaugral Aussie Ushering
18: 3 of my mates got married.
19: We have started running.
20: Climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge

I am sure the following year will be as good and eventful as the past year.

Ushering Success

2006-12-04T18:58:00.000+10:00

Well the first official Ozzie Ushering has been held on the Gold Coast with much success. All in all there were 12 participants who embraced it with the enthusiasm expected for the occasion. At first invite there were questions over the reasons for headgear though I must say on the night all who came along definately played there part from singing Antlers through to a rather large Cat in the Hat hat. With the evening kicking off at six pm the curtain finally drew closed at just after 2am with the variety of drinks ranging from punch with a punch to Vodka Jelly. Needless to say Sunday was classed as "Ashes Sunday" with the only activity being the watching of the cricket.

The evening was a great success and is now a firm fixture on the Ozzie calendar.

New Visitor

2006-11-29T17:05:00.000+10:00

Well a change of bait seems to have done the trick. After a few months of common garden doves and a few pigeons I changed the seed in the birdfeeder and at last we have had our first Cockatoo in the garden. Hopefully the first of many. This adds to the 2 Rosella's that graced us with their presence about a month back seen in the picture below. If things keep moving this way it won't be long before I am known as the weird bird man of Brisbane again!!!

Ashes Saturday

2006-11-27T15:15:00.000+10:00

What a super experience it was at the Gabba over the weekend watching the cricks with a full house of 40000 fans and a few icy colds.

The weekend kicked off with us picking Jim and Gen from the airport who had flown up from Sydney for the cricket. That evening was loads of cricket talk to complement the number of beers that were being consumed.

Game day started where we had left off the night before with a few beers outside the gabba before heading into the ground just before the start of play. I must say it is a really different experience watching Test match cricket in with a stadium full. The atmosphere was super though the Queensland Police did the best to dull all the atmosphere in the ground. There was still the usual limitless number of beach balls flying around the crowd and at one stage a blow up doll managed to escape police capture for a good 5 minutes before police managed to get their hands on her, much to the amusement of the 40000 people who suddenly weren't following the cricket all that closely.

Sar's and I both had a blast and are now looking forward to the 1 day international between these 2 teams in January at the same venue. With the Ashes test now behind us we are looking forward to hosting our first "ushering party" this weekend when we plan to usher in the festive season with a few friends. I believe this to be the 1st "ushering" held in Oz and we will bring you news and pics of the event next week.

Sarah prepares for her dubut

2006-11-23T08:03:00.000+10:00

Can you think of a better way to make your Test match cricket watching debut than at the 1st Test of an Ashes series with Aussie trying to win back the urn in front of a full house 40000 people at the Gabba. As a seasoned cricket watcher this exites even me. As for Sarah this will be her first experience of Test match cricket and I can't imagine picking a better game to start with. We know the cricket is going to be extremely aggressive and with the "Barmy Army"in full cry the atmosphere will be electric. Our seats are 4 rows from the front so will be right in the thick of it, right next to the bloke who threw the chicken at Symmo a few years back I hope!!!

We will no doubt take some pics and blog them next week and as the slogan says "IT IS DEFINATELY ON"

Come on Aussie, 4-0 with one draw is the prediction. Sorry Chris.

The Race that stop a Nation

2006-11-13T08:23:00.000+10:00

My first experience of the Melbourne Cup didn't disappoint, it is truly a "Race that stops the Nation". Officially only the Mexicans, sorry Victorians have a public holiday though really the entire country comes to a grinding halt at 2pm on Melbourne Cup Tuesday. Our office put on a BBQ come midday on the day, an office sweep was organised from which I drew a 3 legged donkey-no I reckon a 3 legged donkey would have beaten my horse by 3 lengths!! Once the BBQ was done we all headed to the pub for a punt and a pot. The place was packed at 13.30. We had a couple of beers and for once I backed a horse that came in though no money was to come to hand as I also put a bet on for Sarah who claimed to have insider information on her pony!!! It came in 2nd to last!!! You can see from the above picture that Sar's office also put on a lunch/drinks for staff to see the race and in fact Sarah won $2 in her office sweep. Nededless to sat I was very impressed with Sar's choice of headgear for the day, if this was a pre festive season warm up on the head gear front then it is going to be one hell of a time.
After the race a few more beers were consumed as Troy and I sat and bet on every race televised that afternoon winning and losing. We had it running like clockwork as the races around the country are arranged so there is roughly 5 minues between start times of all races so we would do the 15.00 in Brisbane followed by the 15.05 in Adelaide then the 15.10 in Darwin and so forth. It wasn't quite dark when we left but were forced out as we weren't quite prepared to put our hard earned $'s on the dogs.
It really was a good experience, if you can remember the opening day of the World Cup Rugby 95 it had a very similar feel to that with all roads deserted come 13.30.

TICKETS

2006-11-12T19:37:00.000+10:00

Well after months of trying, hours of begging and many more hours spent on Ebay Sarah and I have secured tickets to Day 3 of the Ashes Test at the Gabba (hopefully I don't get tossed out this time). Sar's cousin Gen and her partner Jim are travelling to Brisbane for the test. As it turns out Jim, who in fact has tickets to all 5 tests and is following England, had 2 spare tickets. It was obviously a no brainer when they were offered to us. It is undoubtably going to be an absolute cracker of an opening test and to be there on the Saturday will no doubt be something to behold. I will no doubt update the blog after the event with some pictures. HAPPY DAYS.

Test Video

2006-11-03T19:40:00.000+10:00

Having just signed up to you tube I have put on a test video off my didital camera. If this works you can look forward to many more snippets from our adventures "Down Under". The first video is just catching Sar's in the kitchen.

Enjoy and let me know what you think...

Mo-vember

2006-11-02T15:46:00.000+10:00

It’s Movember

I remember some years back flipping through Men’s Health —a magazine to which, at the time, I was subscribed despite a poor diet, lifestyle, and a severe disinclination to do anything about either— spotting on the back cover a full-page advertisement for prostate cancer.
Not that they were selling me prostate cancer, just trying a raise awareness. More Australian men die every year of prostate cancer than women of breast cancer, yet it receives only one tenth the funding. People like breasts. I like breasts. Nobody dislikes breasts. You need look no further than the massive media coverage of Kylie Minogue’s breast cancer scare to see a global preference for breasts in action, but nobody really likes the prostate. It’s like the gall bladder, or the pancreas… nobody gives a damn until something goes wrong.
And who can blame them? The prostate isn’t exactly glamourous, but somebody has taken up its cause. For the last two years, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia has been organizing Movember: a national prostate cancer awareness-building and fund-raising exercise. Blokes sign up, they coerce their family and coworkers to donate money, and they spend the entire month of November cultivating a luscious moustache for the cause.

To be honest I didn’t know until three days ago that it was a charity event —I thought Movember was just a goof that an unusual number of university students participated in— but it turns out that it’s a great opportunity to grow a ridiculous moustache that no girlfriend, wife, or employer could possibly object to: it’s for a good cause, after all.
For those with itchy credit cards and a desire to encourage this kind of thing, head on over to the Movember Sponsorship page and sign up to grow one yourself. You know you want to.

We are doing a blog movember starting a day late but never the less email me pics of your clean shaven faces and at the end of the month with your newly groomed porn-star tash in tow. We will be sure to post the results on the site. Take my face in the picture below as the start.

1000th Visitor

2006-10-30T22:06:00.000+10:00

Well the blog page is getting close to having had 1000 visitors. Let us know if you are the 1000th person to visit the site by leaving a comment or dropping us an email. You can see the visitor number on the right hand side of the page.

Summer is Here-God help Us

2006-10-30T18:29:00.000+10:00

Well summer is well and truly here, with little rainand level 4 water restrictions around the corner it is the complete opposite of the UK. At the moment the thought of a long summer seems awful. All that unrelenting heat!! In preparation I was up in the roof again putting in mineral wool insulation to try and cool the house down through the summer months. Without the insulation we would need to have the air con on all day. I figured Saturday was the day as the weatherman had predicted rain (I should have known better) anyway I spent about an hour and a half in the roof and cane out looking like I had been for a swim. It must have been 50 degrees up there. After that there was only one thing to do-go for a swim (picture above). The only thing missing from this picture is a beer for the reason that I am on a detox programme for 2 weeks, that is for another blog though. Yes I bought a beer fridge then went on detox!!!!

Sunday Sar's and I went for a nice cycle along the beach at Burleigh Heads- really slow and relaxing followed by a lazy afternoon at home in the garden, building walls and watering the garden-you know the things you never have time for......

Beer Fridge

2006-10-16T15:59:00.000+10:00

We have lift off, I feel that Friday last week Sarah made the most important purchase since we bought the house and in doing so welcome a new to our family. Yes more important than any car, computer or dining room table. We bought a BEER FRIDGE. Needless to say with the purchase of such a piece of equipment comes much responsibility so we did the right thing and filled it with beer. We are pleased to say by Sunday evening after we had been down at the beach on our bikes we arrived home and found the beers icy cold-brought a tear to my eyes! Just to make sure it wasn't a one off Sarah also tested one followed by 2,3 and 4. Yes they were all cold. All the signs are there for what should be a cracking Ashes summer.

First Visitors

2006-10-09T08:34:00.000+10:00

Well about bloody time, just when I swas losing faith in our feathered friends and their lack of interest in a free feed, these to little beauties decided to cash in. I set up these feeders about 2 months ago to try and attract some of the amazing bird life into our garden though up until now to no avail. This is a yellow headed Rosella and a crimson head Rosella and funny enough this is the first time we have seen this species of Rosella's since our arrival.

Hopefully they have moved off and started spreading the word.

That way I will be one step closer to being known as the "bird man of brisbane" where little kids run past your house to scared to look in for fear of seeing you. Excellent!!!!!

Work Work Work and some play

2006-10-05T15:44:00.000+10:00

As you can see from the above pics it is easy to work out what we did over the weekend-garden work. I had hired the dozer for 2 days so it was a case of get as much done in that time as you can. All in all we did a massive amount with a lot help from Sar's folks. In total we dug up just over 4 tons of dirt and moved it off the the tip. These little machines are fantastic, besides being great fun they also allow you to get a lot done in a short time-we moved all the stone coverings from our garden, all the bark from the garden beds, took about 6 inches of clay off the front garden and levelled out the entire back garden. The only down side being that the wheels on this machine has destroyed most of the grass in the garden so our house now looks like a construction site. We are glad it is done though as now we can get into some serious planting knowing that all the major earth moving has been done and anything that grows now will stay. It was extremely hard work that had us going from 9-6 both Saturday and Sunday and being completely shattered at days end when we sat back and sunk a few well deserved icy colds and Shandy's.

Sunday was the big NRL grand final between the Brisbane Bronco's and the Melbourne Storm. Our neighbours were kind enough to pop over and introduce themselves on Saturday and invite us to their hous eto watch the rugger, these are the people who's house had all the noise during the State of Origon games, so we quickly accepted. Going over there was like stepping back into London time and particularly Cottenham Drive as Chris has converted his double garage into a pub with a large projector for the game and a pool table. A good time was guarenteed as the Bronco's came through a tight one. As it turned out most of the street was there so we got to meet a few more of our neighbours at the same time and it was good to watch a rugby game in a crowd again. I am sure there will be many more of these type of occasions to come.

Criminal Mastermind?

2006-10-04T09:44:00.000+10:00

A burglar has arrested after he left a trail of washing powder from his victim's house leading to his home, Gauteng police said.Full Story

Toys Toys Toys

2006-09-29T13:37:00.000+10:00

Anything that looks as though it can be moved or lifted this weekend better look out as this is what I have at home for the weekend-right now I feel like the Tool Man Taylor at xmas so watch this space next week when I will document my trail of destruction around the house over the weekend OH OH OH.

Anyone for Frog golf

2006-09-26T11:13:00.000+10:00

Men Are happier

2006-09-19T17:01:00.000+10:00

Men are just simply happier people, and here is why...

Your last name stays put.

The garage is all yours.

Wedding plans take care of themselves.

Chocolate is just another snack.

You can be President. You can never be pregnant.

You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a
water park.

Car Mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal.

You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one
is just too icky.

You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

Same work, more pay.

Wrinkles add character.

Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100.>

People never stare at your chest when you are talking to them.

The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.

New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.

One mood all the time.

Phone conservations are over in 30 seconds flat.

You know stuff about tanks.

A 5 day vacation requires only one suitcase.

You can open all of your own jars.

You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.

Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.

You never have strap problems in public.

You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

Everything on your face stays its original colour.

The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe even decades.

You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life.

Your belly usually hides your big hips.

One wallet and one pair of shoes one colour for all seasons.

You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.

You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.

You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25
minutes.

No wonder men are happier!

Competition

2006-09-15T13:33:00.000+10:00

Well it has been a long time since we ran a competition on the blog. This annoying but very addictive game was emailed through to me and seemed perfect for a little blog challenge. It is basically shooting baskets so give it a go and leave your scores in the comments section for all to see. So far I have knocked off 11. Good Luck.

Sydney Party

2006-09-08T14:50:00.000+10:00

Well as you know Sar's and I headed off to Sydney for a well deserved break of 3 days last weekend, little did we know by the time we got home we would have done so much walking, standing,climbing,eating and obviously drinking we would need another break!!
We stayed with Gen and Jim who I must say have the most amazing place overlooking Tamarama beach between Bondi and Bronte beach. The view was so good that Sar's and I were up before sunrise having coffee on the balcony watching the first surfers brave the morning chill, well we did this on the first morning anyway.
We were really flat out both durin g the day doing the tourist thing and in the evening socialising with Jim and Gen and a couple of their mates which really was a blast and involved mant bottles of red and a good few "pure blondes"-a type of beer that is.
On the Thursday Sar's and I did the bridge climb which was really amazing. We spent 3.5 hours going up ladders and stairs until the top where you really have the most amazing 360 degree view of Sydney (this photo is taken at the top). All in all it is about 1500 stairs. Needless to say we were both pretty exhausted afterwards and spent the afternoon cruising around the harbour on ferries and having sundowners at Bondi Beach.
Friday was spent looking at Koala's etc at the Tooronga zoo which also offers amazing views over the city. We also did ha;f of the ocean walk (a 5km path that hugs the coastline from Bondi to Bronte Beach) which was absolutely stunning especially that the weather had played its part and after months of cold and wet Sydney was getting its first taste of summer. Friday evening we went out for dinner as a group to a Tappas restaraunt overlooking Bondi beach, food was good (got to taste eel) and the wine wasn't just flowing but pouring out of the bottles, lets just say thank heavens for corkage charges. We wound up and a bar somewhere in Bondi to see the evenig out/morning in-a good time was had by all until we woke up.
Sat we did the remainder of the walk, as it happens we were staying at the halfway point, to have breakfast at Bronte then Gen and Jim kindly drove us around and showed some of the most gorgeous views of the harbour from the South Head of the harbour. By 2pm we were all shattered and crawled our way back home for a much needed siesta before heading to the airport.
By the time we got home both of us were completely shattered though satidfied that we could not have done more if we tried with our time in Sydney, we met some lovely people and had an absolute blast burning the candle at both ends.

Only in South Africa

2006-09-06T07:41:00.000+10:00

This is classic, for those who don't speak Afrikaans a "Boer" is a farmer and that is the Old South African flag from the Apartheid era on his shirt.

Congratulations Kim & Kame

2006-09-04T18:26:00.000+10:00

Well ot those readers of the blog I am sure you will recall the blog regarding the Braai/BBQ we had at our house about a month with some ex-pat saffers. As it turns out Kim and Kame (from Japan) have since gotten engaged officially-congratulations all round for the both of you and Sar's and I both hope your life together is full of happiness-we also look forward to many more BBQ's in Oz in the future.

At the end of the day Kame gave to Sarah and I a gift for "Obon", a Japanese festival similar to Halloween, anyway I was dead keen to put a picture of this on the blog so asked Kim to be a guest contributor to the blog and write a description of the gifts meaning as there was no way I would get it spot on (I had had a few beers at this stage) and I would put a photo of it on the blog, which you see at the top of this page to complete the article.

About the Japanese Obon festival. ... The Obon week in mid August is one of Japan's three major holiday seasons

Obon is a period similar to Halloween, but with positive overtones. During Obon, lanterns are lit outside of homes in order to guide the spirits of ones dead ancestors to the family. Toy horses are made out of aubergines and cucumbers and left outside the front door. The idea is that the ancestors ride to the house on the vegetable animal. On the first day of Obon, the animals face the door, to signify arriving, whilst at the end, they face away, signifying the ancestors returning to from wherever they came.

Thanks for that Kim and Kame, to let you know the Aubergine and cucumber horse is still outside the door and facing the road now.

Crocodile Hunter Dies

2006-09-04T18:17:00.000+10:00

THE Crocodile Man, Steve Irwin, is dead. He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It appeared that he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest, Queensland Police Inspector Russell Rhodes said.He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occurred.
Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.
Mr Irwin, 44, was killed just after 11am, Eastern Australian time.
His American wife Terri learned for the tragedy from police in Tasmania, where she is currently trekking in Cradle Mountain National Park.
It is understood Mr Irwin was killed instantly.
A source said Mr Irwin was already dead when his body was brought onto the Isle.

Mega Computer

2006-08-28T20:21:00.000+10:00

Well I am back on-line, Sarah and I went on Saturday evening and purchased a super computer for the house with a screen bigger than my tv!!!! It is fantastic. All the all the weekend was a good one after the irritation of Friday when my laptop was stolen had worn we really settled in for a good one on the golf course on Saturday.

Sarah and I have joined a surf club which works out really well as it encourages us to actually get out of bed fairly early on a Sunday (7am) and get to the beach. We ahve been down there the past 2 weekends for a long early morning walk, it isn't quite warm enough to surf yet, followed by breakfast on the balcony. It is really a great way to start the day.

We have been spending lots of time in the garden and house-the work never seems to be complete. I am 90% of the way through planting my lawn and it is starting to take shape now-I had to mow it on Saturday heaven forbid (1st time in 30 years)!!!!! The weather forecast had been for some rain this week (we are in level 3 water restrictions at the moment-no hose pipes) so on hearing that I promptly sowed another section of lawn seeds into the garden. I would love to show you some before and after pics of the house but my laptop was stolen when our office was burgled on Thursday so we have lost alot of our pictures from when we moved in and our last weeks in London which is really dissapointing.

It is really good being in your own place- you actually don't mind working on it. We have really good nieghbours across the road and next to us, we have had dinner with them and went across for beers yesterday. The area seems to be quite young (our age) and mostly first time buyers. Everyone is really cool and there is a real neighbourhood (not neighbours) feel about the place. We seem to be out in the street or over at someones house every weekend-nothing like the UK where I don,t think in 4 years I ever knew my Neighbours.

Sarah and I are off to Sydney on Wednesday, we figured it had been 6 months since we got away and both of us have been flat out at work so it was time for a long weekend. We are going to stay with Sar's cousin Gen who has kindly offered us accomodation for 3 nights while we do the tourist thing and just kick back for a couple of days-should be fun. I am trying to convince Sarah to do the bridge climb though we will have to see. Watch this space for pics next week.

SA or Australia

2006-08-25T14:26:00.000+10:00

Well, this is just a quick note to say that it may be a while until the next blog due to the theft of my laptop, taken out of the office sometime between 6pm and 6am this morning. There is a lot of catching up to do including the house updates, joining of surf clubs, purchase of camping tents, my now being top of the fantasy rugby leagues (eat your heart out Toby) and our upcoming trip to Sydney next week.

So until I am back online

Adios

Good old Saffer/Aus/Japanese/UK bbq/braai

2006-08-18T12:06:00.000+10:00

Long time I know, though between fighting off the flu and munching on Boerie Rolls with some old friends and expat saffers there hasn't been much time.

We were lucky enough last week to have our first of many social gatherings at our new house, effectively breaking in the place, before the event there was a fair bit of rush purchasing as we have the sum total of zero garden furniture so a few quick purchases were necessary!!!!

It was really good to have the ex JHB now Brisbane based Eldridges over for some boerie rolls delivered to them by the SA shop. As we looked back the last time we were all in the same place together was a little over 10 years ago when I was in Oz. Back in SA (the Eldridges immigrated 20 years ago) growing up the families would go caravaning once a month over a period that must have been 5 years. Needless to say it was now an extended Eldridge clan with Kim and her Fiancé Kame out from Japan and Kevins girlfriend Rachel from London also having to put up with campfire story's along with my Sarah.

It soon became a typical BBQ as once the designated driving positions were assigned the beers and wine really flowed, at one stage Kevin and Leanne playing backyard cricks with a spade and baseball!!!!!! It was a really good day with loads banter and bulls... about the place. It really was a fantastic day and we look forward to the next one!

This weekend there is a small celebration taking place as it is Sarah's folks 50th wedding anniversary-yes 50 years!!!!! We are all heading out for dinner on Sat night presuming I win the fight against the flu. Obviously a small congratulations is in order and I am still trying to convince Sarah's dad to write a book.

Suicide Bomber

2006-08-11T15:50:00.000+10:00

Are you getting a bad rap?

2006-08-11T14:45:00.000+10:00

I can think of a few people to put onto this site, dontdatehimgirl.com . A website devoted to guys you girls should stay away from. Wow, truly amazing! You know I will be checking the names of a select few that I know just to see if they made the cut!!!

I reckon it is time the blokes came up with something similar.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

2006-08-08T10:06:00.000+10:00

I am sure this can be tweaked to suit South Africa to!!!

THE ORIGINAL STORY OF THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
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THE MODERN AUSTRALIAN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate like him are cold and starving.
The ABC and Channel 9 show up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper, with cuts to a video of the ant in his comfortable warm home with a table filled with food.
Australians are stunned that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty.
The Democrats, the Greens and the Coalition Against Poverty demonstrate in front of the ant's house.
The ABC, interrupting an Aboriginal cultural festival special from North Queensland with breaking news, broadcasts them singing "We Shall Overcome."
Bob Brown rants in an interview with Ray Martin that the ant has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share."
In response to polls, the Liberal Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti-Discrimination Act, retrospective to the beginning of the summer.
It is quickly passed through the Senate.
The ant's taxes are reassessed and he is also fined for failing to hire grass hoppers as helpers.
Without enough money to pay both the fine and his newly imposed retrospective taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
The ant moves to Asia, and starts a successful agribiz company.
The TV stations later show the now fat grasshopper finishing up the last of the ant's food though Spring is still months away, while the government owned house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house crumbles around him because he hadn't maintained it.
Inadequate government funding is blamed, Kim Beasley now is appointed to head commission of inquiry that will cost $10,000,000.

The grasshopper is soon dead of a drug overdose; the Sydney Morning Herald blames it on obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity.
The abandoned house is taken over by a gang of immigrant spiders, praised by the government for enriching Australia's multicultural diversity, who promptly terrorize the community.