It's all over! Today is our last day in this beautiful city! Only 11 more hours to go before we take off and head north to Hong Kong en route to London. Another 24 hour flight before we arrive in the freezing cold UK weather to sit out the miserable winter.
Never mind; in six weeks time I'll be sunning myself on the beach again. SOUTH AFRICA here we come!!!
Chat soon,
DelBoy
Thought I'd sneak in a quick photo for Photo Friday as I missed last week's.
This week's pic was taken here in Melbourne. It is one of Melbourne's famous trams. It was taken in Wednesday.
Chat soon,
DelBoy
So things are much better now! We've all recovered from 'the bug'
(not before passing it on to 4 more people though!) and have had a wonderful week.
Sunday we had a spit (BBQ) and spent the day around the pool catching up with old friends and drinking too much beer and bourbon. It was about 36 degrees and the kids spent most of the day in the pool.
Tuesday we drove down the coast to Sorrento and spent most of the day at the beach. Photos to follow...
Wednesday we went into the city. We did some sight-seeing before having lunch with our friend, Colin, at a really nice restaurant. In the afternoon we went to the Melbourne Observation Deck on the top of the Rialto from where you could see the whole city and all the way down to the coast. After that, we caught the City Circle Tram and saw some more sights before heading home.
Today was spent at Melbourne Zoo. Definitely the best zoo I have ever visited! We spent the whole day there and then went out for dinner 'cos it was Deb's birthday. The girls got a little tipsy while the guys did some gambling in the casino (and we won!)
Only 5 more days here then back to cold old London! Not looking forward to it...
Chat soon,
DelBoy
After a hectic weekend jetting to Dublin for the day to watch the Boks get a well-deserved beating from the Irish in the rugby, we flew out to Australia on Sunday morning. No, I'm not going to dwell on the rugby...
Anyway, we arrived late on Monday night and hit the sack. And it has gone downhill since then.
The weather has been shocking! Rain, cold and wet. It snowed 20cm locally yesterday and was the coldest day in over 50 years! They are dubbing it 'Snovember'! And to top it all, the whole family has picked up a stomach bug. I spent most of last night in the toilet and today I weighed 2 kilos lighter! No lies! Unfortunately, we have passed the bug on to the rest of the family - sister-in-law, mother-in-law and grandma!
I feel a lot better this evening. Which is a good thing 'cos I am off to the Pearl Jam concert in a couple of hours!
Tomorrow I will attempt to post my photo Friday, but if I can't, don't hold it against me.
Chat soon,
DelBoy
It's Friday again and that means photo time.
This weeks pic: Sailing on the Thames. I took it last Sunday while I was out riding my mountain bike. As you can see, not a breathe of wind!
Chat soon,
DelBoy
As promised! Photos from our Halloween staff party. Photos of the 'Sparkled' pub to follow!
Chat soon,
Del
Chat soon,
DelBoy
Yep, starting Saturday, I'm on holiday again!
I am going to Dublin for the day to catch up with my Cuz & her hubby and then we're going to Lansdowne Road to watch the Boks kick some Irish butt in the rugby. (OK, so maybe the second bit is a little optimistic!)
After getting back to London at around 11pm on Saturday night, I will get a few hours sleep before the long-haul flight to Melbourne, Australia where I plan to spend 2 weeks doing nothing or as little as possible.
While in Melbourne, we have tickets to catch 'Pearl Jam' in concert. This will almost be better than watching the Boks annihilate Ireland as I have twice missed seeing them before - once in London and once in Verona!
The plan is to spend the rest of the 2 weeks at the beach, catching up with long-lost friends and trying some of the fantastic wines from the Yarra Valley.
I will let you all know how it pans out...
Chat soon,
DelBoy
OK, so I've been a little quiet lately. The reason, as usual, is work.
Last week the pub was shut for three and a half days while we did a quick refurb. Of course, being really tight, the company doesn't pay for a project manager, so I had to do that job. Which meant starting work anytime between 6.30am and 8am and finishing between 7pm and 8pm.
It also meant dealing with the laziest, most laid-back foreman in the world! Hand-over was supposed to be at midday last Thursday. By 5.30pm (we were supposed to be opening at 6pm), there was no sign of the job being finished. My boss had turned up and he was fuming! If he could have, I'm sure he would have grabbed him by the throat and flushed his head in the (newly redecorated) urinals!
Needless to say, we eventually opened at 6.45pm. The 250 invitations that had gone out drew in a massive crowd and the evening was a magnificent success! I had a couple of glasses of wine with the boss and when he left, I started to drink with my friends. Even my staff starting buying me drinks - my fav too, Sambuca! By 1am and 2 bottles of French Champagne later, I crawled into bed with the world spinning around me.
Friday was a very long day at work. And I was surrounded by builders who were still trying to catch up!
Chat soon,
Del
PS: Monday night we held a staff party at The Marlborough Head off Oxford Street. As it was Halloween, we all dressed up. The beer, vodka and Sambuca flowed freely! And the cab drivers were pleasantly surprised when they had to take home the ghost of Davey Jones. Photos to follow...
It's photo time again.
This week's photo was taken last year November while my dad was on holiday in London from South Africa. We spent the day seeing the sights and ended up with a hot chocolate at the Tower of London. The view takes in Tower Bridge, London's City Hall and HMS Belfast, a WW2 battleship which is now a museum.
I took this panorama with my dad's new camera. The colour says it all - it was a regular London day; miserable, dreary weather.
Chat soon,
Del
