Long weekend!

Warning - long post!

To say that we had heavy rain over the weekend is a euphemism. We had flash flooding, gale-force winds and even a death! Luckily we were snug in our little wooden cabin on the side of a hill. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at King Parrot Cottages on Saturday morning to find about 40 –50 wild King Parrots ‘grazing’ away on our ‘front’ lawn. Their bright colours are quite startling. We started to unpack and so did the skies. By mid-afternoon everything was soaked and my brother-in-law and I had gone through our first 6 pack of beer. We started the BBQ (under cover) around 6pm and then played cards into the night.

The rain got worse. All night we thought that the wind was going to rip the roof off and the rain was going to wash us down the hill!

The next morning it was still raining. By 11am there was nothing better to do than crack open our first beer and a pack of cards. But by 1pm, the sun started to shine through – barely. We made a deal that if it had stopped raining by 3pm, we would take our bikes out for a ride.

At 4.30pm we came limping back into the cabin – cold, wet and very muddy! We showered with our gear on to get the worst off and the snuggled up to our beers in front of the open fireplace.

By this time the ladies were a little unhappy with us, so we took them into ‘town’ for dinner at the local pub. The food was delicious and so was the atmosphere. Being a Sunday night though, most of the food was sold out – like the homemade apple and pecan pie!

Monday’s weather was perfect! We took a drive down to Lorne on the Great Ocean Road for a walk along the beach. We had a picnic in the sun and played ball with the kids for a bit. We then drove up to the Erskine Falls, which are apparently the most visited falls in Victoria.

By the time we got back to the cabin, I realized that I had caught a bit of sun. Which meant that we needed some much-needed medicine – JD and coke.

Tuesday was a nice lazy start with a hot breakfast and a slow drive home. The long way round ‘cos of the fallen trees and flooded roads.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Bokke, Bokke, Bokke!

Thank you and congratulations guys!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Rugby Patriotism

Most of you have probably seen it by now, but I couldn't resist!



Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

Another belated photo. Mainly 'cos I haven't yet set up my PC and had time to move, resize and edit my pics.

So, enjoy this one. Taken in Leicester Square, London last Christmas. I was messing about with different speed settings and came up with this one.

What do ya think?

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday (on Sunday)

OK, so it's a little late, but these things take time to do.

This week's pic was taken, you guessed it, at Niagara Falls. I have stitched together 6 photos to get the final product. As you can see, it was sunset - around 8.30pm I think.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

A new beginning

It's been almost a week since we arrived in Melbourne now. Most of our time has been taken up with red-tape stuff that everyone does when they first arrive in a new country: tax file number (so I can pay taxes and also get a job), MediCare (government healthcare), bank account, local driver's licence, etc. I've also done a little job hunting, but nothing too intense yet. That will start in earnest this week.

For those of you who don't yet know, Deb & I have another baby on the way, so we also made a couple of visits to the doctors this week. This visit included a scan to make sure that there was only one little person in there (which there is!). Below is a picture of this scan.

I also took a trip to my first ever AFL game at the MCG yesterday. Almost 66000 people joined me. For those of you who don't know what Australian Football is, well, it's like a cross between American Football, Gaelic Football and rugby, but with no rules! To familiarise yourself with the game, check out some YouTube footage. BTW Sim, I didn't find any gristle but I'd still rather have a hot dog any day!!

That's about it for now. Life's not too exciting yet, but I will keep you all updated on Australian life's little mysteries.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

PS: Did I mention too that Deb & I got engaged while we were at the Niagara Falls?

Foto Friday

This week's pic was taken in Fairfield, Connecticut from my friend's back yard. We'd just finished having a braai and were about to go inside when I noticed the colourful sunset.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

Another Niagara Falls shot. This one was taken from the 'Maid of the Mist' boat which takes you right into the spray of the falls. The photo is of the American Falls.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Too... many... totems. Must... post... pics!

I've fallen in love with them! Totems are art forms produced by peoples indigenous to the North West Pacific coast. The generally tell a story: myths, important events or ancestral lineages. Read more on Wikipedia or on SFU's website.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Vancouver - City of Totems

Four days into our visit to Vancouver and I'm loving it! The people are friendly, the weather has been great (28C today!) and the scenery is magnificent!

Today we went across to North Vancouver (North Van as it is known locally) to visit the Capilano Gorge. We walked across the Capilano Suspension Bridge and visited the local park. Also was lucky enough to see maybe half a dozen totem poles.

We arrived on Sunday but were too tired to do much after our long stint flying and sitting around in airports. Plus the fact that United managed to send Josh's pram to Dallas, Texas (!!??) instead of Vancouver. (They delivered it to us tonight at 10pm!) We did some food shopping and went for lunch at "Frenchie's Diner", a 50s-style American diner. Food was good, service sucked!

The place we are staying, Penny's Place, is really nice. It is a small apartment with kitchen, large bedroom and bathroom and 100 times nicer than Loftstel! The area is really nice too; quite arty with loads of restaurants, take-aways and organic food shops. Think Portobello Road in London or Brunswick Street in Melbourne.

Monday was spent visiting Stanley Park, one of the biggest urban parks in the world. We walked for about 5 hours, stopping for lunch and ice-cream. We also did some geocaching. There are some magnificent totems on display in the park! (See photos)

Tuesday was spent on Granville Island. Shopping, eating, chilling and drinking beer from the local brewery were the order of the day. Nice and relaxing! Oh, and the beer was good too!

I'd recommend Vancouver to anyone. It has something for everybody.





Chat soon,
DelBoy

Niagara Photos

Some of our Niagara photos. Enjoy! We certainly did!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

One of my favourites so far from New York. The Manhattan Skyline, taken on Monday.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

New York pics

Some photos to whet your appetite.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

Photo Friday with a difference. Today's picture comes with a story.

On Wednesday, Dazzler & I decided to take up the tube challenge. No, not the full 275 station challenge, just the 64 stations of Zone 1. As beginners we were aiming for 3 1/2 hours.

Needless to say, our 2 stop into the challenge and we hit our first delay - signal failure! Once we got off the central line things got better. Then, at King's Cross, we bumped into another person doing the challenge. We started chatting to him (he was aiming for 3 hours 15 minutes) causing us to jump onto the WRONG tube, costing us another 10 minutes! More delays on the Piccadilly Line (gas leak) cost us another 10 minutes plus we lost another 10 minutes waiting for a tube at Aldgate East.

We finally completed our run in 3 hours 49 minutes, but we're pretty sure we could do it in 3 hours 15 minutes. Unfortunately, today is my last day in London, so Dazzler will have to find a new partner!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

PS: Klein Jaap completed the challenge with us too!

Foto Friday

Another Friday, another photo.

This week's photo was taken 2 days ago at Holland Park, London. Josh was on the swings, He absolutely loves the swings. But in this shot he looks quite 'serious'.

Until next time...

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

Photo time again. Keeping with the summer flower theme, I have posted another photo of a bee collecting pollen. I think the flower is a bluebell. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

So it's late again...

This was taken on the weekend. The weather was fantastic and all the insects were out and about.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

This Friday's photo was taken on 20th May.

The subject is the English Houses of Parliament with St Stephen's Tower (also know as Big Ben) on the right. I have fiddled the colours a little with Picasa.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

This Friday's photo was taken last Sunday in a small garden, St Dunstan's, in central London.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

House of pain(t)

Yesterday I went paintballing with some mates and some of the lads from the local hardware store. It had all been planned for weeks and there were around 40 of us. Just a pity the weather didn't want to play!

We left at 8am and drove the hour-and-a-half to "Delta Force" in Upminster. The whole place was pretty well set up and the organisation was very professional.

After registering and collecting our boiler suits and masks, we went through all the rules of play and the safety stuff before being split into teams. We were in the green team.

The day was divided into 6 games. Each game had 2 rounds lasting about 10 minutes. The first and the last games were the two I enjoyed most.

The first was "All the president's men". We had to escort our president from our side of the field to an aeroplane without her getting shot (which we did), and then the other team had to do the same (which they couldn't manage).

The last game was "Jungle assault". The team had to plant a bomb in the other team's base without getting shot. This game was played in the bush with a swamp and thick cover and it ended in a draw.

By the last game we were all absolutely drenched! The boiler suits were covered in mud and most masks were covered in orange paint from the headshots (which don't count btw)

Anyway, in 12 rounds I only got hit twice. Both times in the shoulder. Must be my South African childhood that protected me. And no, I never went to the army!
Base camp


Can you feel the pain?

Chat soon,
DelBoy