As The Rain Pelts Down......

A top temperature today of around 15 degrees is the first really cold day we have experienced since leaving the Sunshine Coast around 3 weeks ago.  Our drive down to Newcastle from home was fine except for the 100 or so kilometres of roadworks going on along the Pacific Highway between Ballina and Grafton. 

Along this stretch speed was limited to 80k's and there were many very large trucks as well.  Once stuck behind one of these large trucks, that was where you stayed!

But then the road opened up to be dual highway for most of the rest of the drive all the way down to Newcastle.  When roadworks are completed in a year or so it should be dual highway for the 1000k trip from Caloundra to Sydney.

Our two days in Newcastle were great catching up with friends.  After two nights there, it was time for our longest driving stretch, just under 1000 k's for Newcastle to Attwood, a norther suburb of Melbourne where we spent a night with the Chris Thomas family.

It sure is great to catch up with family and friends which has been the major focus of this trip (as well as to get to a few AFL matches and use my MCC membership).

We have been staying with Kate Arj and the grand kids for much of the remainder of our time here.  Arj, James and I all went to a footy match together and saw Richmond and Carlton along with around 85,000 others.  The next night it was back to the MCG again this time with grandson Andrew a fellow Geelong barracker.  We went home unexpectedly very happy after the game.

Needless to say eating Asian food has been high on the agenda as well.  The local huge Fountain Gate Shopping Centre nearby has a small eatery called China Bar which sells our favoured Malaysian dishes.  So the occasional quick trip to Fountain Gate has resulted in yet another sampling of crispy skin chicken or Char Kway Teow or Chicken Curry and Rice.

Speaking of Asian food we have also managed trips to Clayton and Malaysia Garden as well as to Springvale where we find fantastic Vietnamese food and all so inexpensive.

Trips to Indented Head where my brother lives and Drouin where other great friends now reside have occurred as well.  I have had too much to drink on numerous occasions and it has been a great time for Trish and me.  Our stay here has been interspersed with AFD's (alcohol free days) days of doing very little.  Perhaps we are beginning to show our age or that at last that we are maturing!

The family BBQ which we had at Kate's along with Arj's great BBQ skills was a day to remember. Our youngest daughter Kim attended along with Brad and it was really great to have the whole family together.  However the following day was a very quiet one for us.

One day to remember was the day we went out to lunch with my brother Geoff and Jeanette while staying with them at Indented Head.  We were going out somewhere for lunch.  After around 30 minutes or so we arrived at GMHBA Stadium, the home ground of my AFL footy team, Geelong. There was a small cafe there where they sold OK meals and there was the possible chance we may run into a Geelong footy player.

As we entered the cafe there sitting at several tables were Joel Selwood, Scott Selwood, Paddy Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins and another 6 or so of the players from the footy team.  We were all gob smacked.  I loved being there and being so close to many of the players.  It was a special occasion.

So our time in this part of the world is coming to a close.  Today is pretty cold and wet as the photo above shows but Trish and Kate and several others are off to Arj's singing gig tonight at a restaurant here in Berwick.  Possibly the terrible weather today will keep some others who were coming away.

I am doing the baby sitting with James and Charli tonight but then my footy team's match is live on TV so I will have to watch it I suppose.  Tomorrow the weather is expected to clear a little with some sunshine as Trish, Kim, Brad and I are again to the MCG this time to see Trish and Kim's team Hawthorn play Footscray.  If the weather is OK it should be a fun day.

We are back on the road again Monday morning but this time heading for home via Omeo where my sister Judy and Peter live. After a 350k drive to Omeo we will have a two night stop over before finally heading on the road again but this time back north again on Wednesday.  We hope to arrive home in Caloundra before lunch on Friday.

We will have achieved many of the aims we set out with when we first headed this way a few weeks ago.  I have caught up with my brother and sister and managed great times with good friends as well.

As one gets a little older these times we can spend with family and friends becomes even more important.  However the lure of warmer weather, our own shower and en-suite and our own beds is becoming more attractive the longer we spend away.

Stinker Before Hitting The Road!

With 34° as a max today and then 35° tomorrow, we are getting a last blast of summer here on the Sunshine Coast prior to hitting the road tomorrow as we head to Newcastle. We expect to arrive there Wednesday morning.  As mentioned earlier, morning peak traffic between here and Brisbane and the hour gained with daylight saving as we enter NSW makes the first day's travel a little messy.  We are aiming to cover around 600k's in the day.

Because of the heat today will be a lock the house up and give the air con a run on 26° with the ceiling fans on High sort of day. 

Not a lot of news in this part of the world.  Haircuts, lawn mowing, sorting out what to pack, getting the Waco ready have been a few of the smaller things that have mounted up over the last few days.  A small bout of gastro hasn't helped me either.

Trish is acting as CACA President at her first "Committee" as I type so she was quite hyper getting sorted before heading off.  I have a BeCA meeting this afternoon and as it is a holiday in Victoria today, for good measure there is a final practice footy match on TV this afternoon.

So we look forward to arriving in Melbourne later this week! The prospect of running into low 20's temperatures is a little inviting I must add.  It has been a very hot summer in this part of the world!

Not Having A Cyclone Part 2

The way the wind has been blowing over the last two weeks you could believe that Cyclone Oma is still with us!  The wind isn't as strong as it was when the cyclone was off the coast but it is still blowing at over 30k's per hour right now and it seems to have been like that forever.

We are getting rainfall totals of just several mls per day but it sure makes bike riding a lottery as to whether or not you will get wet as yet another brief shower blows in off the ocean. Yesterday I managed 16k's but got caught in a shower of rain.  Those 16k's were done around the local area here where the wind can be blocked just a little bit.

The pool has plunged to a cooler 24.5° which is still OK.  Regretfully the showers are not quite enough to offset the pool's wind powered evaporation rate.

We are beginning to get our head around travelling south to Melbourne for several weeks.  We didn't manage to catch up with everyone over our recent Christmas trip when we flew down.  This time we will drive.  The car has been serviced, some worn parts replaced and with 4 new tyres, it is ready to do the trip.

We expect to hit Melbourne late on Friday March 15th and make our way back to the Coast around Thursday April 4th.

Trish has become the President of the Arts Centre Association and she has her first real meeting as President on Monday March 11th.  Therefore we will set off for Melbourne around 8:30 on Tuesday 12th.  This puts the morning peak behind us but with daylight saving in NSW, it will actually be a 9:30 am departure.

Last time we travelled down the Pacific Highway 12 months ago there were long sections of roadworks and an 80kph speed limit, especially on the northern leg of the drive.  Hopefully it won't be quite as bad this time but we hope to do around 600k's as the first day's drive.

We share the driving as much as possible, however Trish seems to do the major share.  We are not sure as to how many more drive to Melbourne and back trips we have left in us.  Flying is certainly less expensive for us.

I've recovered from yet another birthday and Trish has her next in the next day or so.  We are both well and looking forward to catching up with friends when in Melbourne.  The odd spot or two of great Asian food will be welcomed as well when we hit town down there.