Melbourne Freezes While Caloundra Boils.

I read Kate's Facebook entry this morning and saw the headline "Relaxing by the pool and enjoying the heat". Obviously she is in Caloundra and we are down in Melbourne enjoying about 16 degrees right now! I am sure glad we brought some warm clothes with us.

However one thing we don't get at home on the Sunshine Coast is great and cheap eateries. Last night we visited the Hoa Tran restaurant in Springvale with friends Pat and Graeme. It was the first time for a long time that they had been to Springvale, a suburb noted for its Vietnamese population and drug usage. In all the times we have visited Springvale going back on 20 years now, the latter has hardly ever been an issue for us. As per usual, the restaurant was a hive of activity. As I have said before, this restaurant is best described as an eating house where people can come in, grab a quick and inexpensive bite to eat and then be on their way. As we were there, I saw three different people occupy a seat near us as the evening progressed.

We all enjoyed the food immensely an ate until we could eat no longer! It is Bring Your Own too so we took our own drinks (beer and wine) with us. We had lemongrass spicy chicken, beef on crispy noodles, roast duck, rice paper rolls, crispy skin chicken and salt and pepper calamari. Graeme's stomach doesn't enjoy chillies any more so he had the less spicy dishes. Our bill worked out at well under $20 per person and we could eat no more. It was then back to their home for another chat and a few drinks.

It was a great night out!

Four Days At The Cricket

It is late afternoon on Tuesday and again I have been to the cricket today! That is 4 days in a row now! With Christmas Eve, Christmas Day followed by Boxing Day and then four days into the MCG for the Test match, needless to say I am a bit on the weary side. And to top it all off, Australia seems to be well on the way to losing its No. 1 status as the best cricket team in the world with its second loss in a row to South Africa. Losing quite a few top class players to retirement has left some massive gaps in the team. Australia is now in a "rebuilding phase" so it may struggle for the next few series as it rebuilds its cricket side.

Kate, Arj and family flew out of Melbourne Airport this morning and are now swimming in the pool at home in Caloundra and enjoying the sub-tropical heat and the comfort of the swimming pool. Meanwhile in Melbourne it is a brisk 20 degrees and I am dressed in my 'winter' clothes! I dropped them off at the airport this morning before heading off to the cricket.

We have a 'booking' for tonight with friends for a Vietnamese meal and we are off to a party tomorrow night. Apart from that we are 'free'. Give us a call if you want to catch up!

The car we have here isn't performing well, hopefully it is an automatic gearbox service problem which can be fixed up cheaply. However with Kate and Arj away we can use their car to a certain degree but we will need to stay a little closer to home than what we would have had we had our own car working 100%.

After Christmas

Christmas night was spent with Arj's family at the home of one of his brothers. This night captures the real spirit of Christmas. His family is quite close and this is a time of the year when being with family is paramount. We had a few carols as Arj's parents are quite religious. Arj plays the keyboard and gives the carols a lift in the beat which keeps the teenage grandsons involved. Singing carols just isn't what they are keen to be involved with! As you can see in the photo, James enjoys helping Dad playing the keyboard,

Boxing Day was spent traditionally for us, a day with friends at a BBQ in Drouin. They are the same two guys who had recently spent a week with me in Caloundra while Trish was visiting down in Melbourne. I must confess I had too much to drink! It was a great day with nice sunny (and warm) weather.

Yesterday (Saturday) I went into the MCG to the International cricket match. Though 'suffering' a little during the morning, it was a great day. I really enjoy getting in to the MCG and watching the cricket.

Today Sunday and tomorrow Monday will see me again in at the MCG again!

Merry Christmas To All

Another year has almost gone! Christmas time is with us and it is becoming more difficult to find time for all the family to get together. There are other family requests to accommodate so spouses can also spend time with their family. This year we had our family get together on Dec 24th at Chris' home. Our three kids (Chris, Kate and Kim) were all there along with our four grandchildren. As usual there was too much to eat with ham, chicken, salads, prawns, nibblies and sweets.

But this day is a day for the grandchildren. They had a wow of a time eating, playing, getting presents and eating and then playing again. There was the usual backyard cricket game and even more time to give the new presents a try out. James missed his regular early afternoon nap and he slept very well Christmas Eve.

We arrived back at Kate's home early evening in time to get the kids to bed and for us to complete the major construction requirement, the finishing touches to the kids' trampoline Father Christmas was bringing for them the next day! Kim came over to Kate's home and stayed overnight, ready for Christmas Day. 18 month old James more than caught up with his missed afternoon nap and slept for about 14 hours. Though it seemed he could have used another few hours sleep still!

Christmas morning was in full swing, there were presents galore and we are still not sure who had the most fun, the kids or Mum and Dad! James woke up enough to give his new radio controlled car a test drive. I don't think he really knows how to 'drive' it but I am sure Dad will teach him the ropes! Charli had a great time too opening so many gifts. Mum had to help her put her new doll's house together while the Thomas the Tank Engine DVD had to get a play very early in the piece.

The trampoline turned out to be a real winner. Charli will spend hours in there jumping around and I think Mum might enjoy it too!

We all will enjoy a little nap this afternoon after our small Christmas day lunch. (There are a few prawns left). Tonight we attend Arj's family Christmas get together. Being Sri Lankan, magnificent curries will be the order of the day! There will be singing, drinking, eating, presents and lots of fun! The kids will sleep well again tonight.

Tomorrow (Boxing Day) Trish and I head down to Drouin to catch up with former neighbours Barry and Rainy and other friends for a BBQ. There will be more eating and drinking and laughing! And then for the next few days after that I am off to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch Australia Vs South Africa Test match cricket!

34 Degrees Today!

Such is the changeable weather in Melbourne. A couple of days ago we had the heater running, today it should get to 34 degrees. But it is going to be a 'nasty' 34 with cloudy weather and a hot gusty northerly wind! If it were a little hotter and sunnier, it would be a sure fire recipe for bushfires in this part of the world.

Friday night saw us travel to Drouin for a great night with friends. Drouin is about 50k's south of Berwick and is a 35 minute run along the freeway. It was a terrific night, a few drinks and lots of good company and chatter. The ladies 'spread' the duties of cooking and we had a most delicious meal. Needless to say we ate too much and drank a little too much as well. As you can see, it was a great spread for our evening meal.

Saturday was a 'recovery day'. Kate and Arj went off for a Christmas visit with friends while Trish and I did some baby sitting. There was lots of sport on TV so I was quite happy to stay home and enjoy the sport. During the afternoon Charli 'discovered' the TV series 'Dora The Explorer' for the first time. As you can see, she was an instant fan! She spent much of the afternoon watching a couple of episodes I had downloaded onto the laptop!

On Sunday evening we caught up with our daughter Kim for a great meal at our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant. It was as cheap as chips and the food was just sensational.

And I have got my "Counter" to work again when viewing this page with Firefox. I have a Firefox add-on which stops advertisements from showing on pages I visit! This add-on saw my web page counter as an advertisement and would not let it load. I have turned the advertisement blocker off for my blog page and now the counter shows again!