Just a quick update to say that we're mid heatwave and loving it! The heat started on Sunday/Monday and it isn't due to cool down until the end of next week. When I'm talking hot, I'm talking over 35c! Tonight we finished work and headed to the beach and it was still 35c! The sea was bliss!
Had a great weekend - had a barbeque with Jane, Tommo, Gilly and Michelle and consumed a large amount of the red stuff so spent Sunday recovering. In fact, come to think of it I think I'm still recovering.
A good week so far, though it feels like a long one. I think the heat makes everything go slower! Looking forward to the long weekend.
Wow, when they say that February and March are the busiest times in Adelaide they aren't lying! South Australia is know as the 'Festival State' and I think that the weekend gone by has proved that it really is! (I actually prefer 'South Australia: A brilliant blend, but that's the alcoholism coming out again)
So... On Friday night we started out at the Richmond Hotel on Rundle Street and then headed down to the Fringe Festival Opening Night Party. It was chock-a-bloc to say the least and after having a bit of trouble finding a table for ten (yes, we should have booked but I tried and had left it too late so decided to just try on the night - mistake!) we found a brilliant little area of food stalls and a brilliant bar called 'bang bang' - all amongst the big trees in the park with twinkly lights and red lanterns. Brilliant!
There were apparently 40,000 people out for the party and combined with the thousands of people at the Clipsal (the V8 supercar race that storms through the streets of Adelaide!) you can imagine how messy it got when the heavens opened and we had our first rain for a long time! We ended up in North Adelaide for a nightcap before driving home trying to remember the protocol for dealing with misty windows in the car!
On Saturday morning (after brekkie on Queen Street in Croydon) we ventured in to Adelaide again and had a wander through the Botanic Gardens. We were just in the midst of the 'Economic Garden' (planning our own economic garden aka on a budget) when 4 fighter jets flew over and kept circling and doing tricks, all part of the Clipsal. I think I actually stopped breathing at the intense noise they made!
From there we wandered over the the Rundle Street area again and had a wander around the Garden of Unearthly Delights - a temporary garden set up for the Fringe Festival full of mini theatres, puppet shows, bars and rides. More brilliance!
Then it was time to see how close we could get to the Clipsal. We could hear the cars whizzing around but with the steep admission price (worth it if you are really into it, or aren't saving for a house!) the best we got was the big screen and the blur of the tops of the cars. A brilliant atmosphere even outside the gates!
We then had a little drama as I must have had some glass in my shoe (?) which pierced my toe! I yelped and took my foot out my shoe only to see huge drops of blood dripping on to the pavement! A bit of cool calm tissue dabbing and a quick trip to a pharmacy soon sorted it out! Not as brilliant!
Then for the cultural bit. We went to watch a comedy show that was on at the Migration Museum (again, part of the Fringe). The three comedians were all 'culturally diverse' and that is what the show was about. It was really good and there was quite a crowd so very enjoyable.
The evening saw us create a pizza masterpiece - Chicken Satay and Spring Onion! Yum!
Sunday was more DIY day and we booked ourselves into a 'Design your Outdoor Entertaining Area' workshop at Bunnings Warehouse (like B&Q in the UK!). It turned out it was just me and Dan booked on so we had our very own private tuition from a camp DIY expert. Expect brilliance!
After doing our weekly shop, Emma and Mark popped in with Baby Jake for a cuppa and catch up. It was great to see them and Jake is now so inquistive with gorgeous big blue eyes. Uh-ho, broody Becks again!
In the evening we thought we'd round off a good weekend with a trip to the flicks to see Fools Gold. Goodish film but I did make myself feel soooo sick after eating a whole big back of Maltesers. Seem to have lost my chocolability these days.
So there we go. For anyone who ever says Adelaide is dull or there's nothing to do - I DISAGREE!
We've just returned from an over night stay the lovely Mount Lofty House Hotel in the Adelaide Hills. The stay was paid for by Dan's work as a thank you to him for his hard work managing an event last year. They paid for the room, dinner, drinks and breakfast. What a treat!
Yesterday we decided to visit the Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens before checking in to the hotel. I hadn't realised the gardens were on a steep slope and my image of us having a gentle stroll soon disappeared! Let's just say it was 36c, I didn't wear my hat, we left the water in the car and the gardens were much more 'physically demanding' than we had expected! Not cool. We must have looked a sight when we emerged back at the car park an hour after setting off dripping wet, bright red and almost collapsing! The car was like a sauna too so we arrived at the hotel looking a little flush!
The hotel was lovely and we had a great room with views over the Picadilly Valley and the hotel pool and gardens. Of course the pool tempted us and Dan jumped in, only then to find out it wasn't heated and was freezing!
We had a lovely evening meal in the restaurant and of course took advantage of the paid-for alcohol! Dan has been on a no-drinking health kick during February so it was nice to be drinking cognac at $15 a glass!
It felt so nice to go away for the night and funny that I felt as if we were on holiday when we were only 20 minutes away from Adelaide!
As mentioned in the previous post, there was some doubt as to whether all the adventurers would return. Thankfully (and mainly due to the medical breakthough from a few years back... alcohol & meat pies) Clem, Marj, Beckochinno and Fan have returned to their respective abodes.
It has been touch and go over the last week. Clem nearly OD'd on Fish and Chips, Marj nearly had a mental breakdown over the number batteries that had to be brought for her camera, Beckochinno nearly drowned in the world's smallest double spa bath and Fan Dango did become a serial killer of flies, butterflys and one dragon fly.
The trip began well on the Saturday. It was a bright summers morning, the campers were certainly happy and 350km layed ahead. So after 1km it was time for the first stop, food at the Mill bakery. Once the fuel was consumed Ben & Charlotte were on their merry way. A quick trip through the city (Charlotte kept jumping the funny light things for controlling traffic) and the M1 was thus reached.
The first days trip was along the M1 to Murray Bridge (cleverly named after a bridge that goes over the River Murray)and then on to Tallem Bend which has a historic old town as an attraction. Right on to the B1 and on to Meningie, which I think was named after the evil guy out of Flash Gordon. Lunch was taken and then it was time to carry on along the long road to Kingston SE where we were attacked by a giant lobster (or crayfish if you are Australian). Beckochinno took a quick photo of the deadly man eating lobster whilst Fan reved Ben and they made a quick escape. After the escape it was on to Cape Jaffa to spend the night camping with the local fisherman.
Beckochinno and Fan awoke the next morning bright and early, only to discover that Clem and Marj had been awake, dressed and gotten the kettle on already. Time 08.00am. Once packed (Clem and Marj took forever, despite being up so early) the convoy was off. Next stop was Robe which was a quaint beach village where loads of art dudes live and a big obelisx is the main attraction. Beachport, Millicent and then Mount Gambier followed having gone though giant tree forests and fought gale force winds. Mount Gambier is a picturesque town, built around big hills and a giant blue volcano and a very big hole in the ground. The big hole was actually a fantastic garden formed in a sink hole (no not that kind of sink hole, this is a sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the surface topography caused by the removal of soil or bedrock, often both, by water. Sinkholes may vary in size from less than a meter to several hundred meters both in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. They may be formed gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide. ).
Mount Gambier was left behind and it was on to Pavelova (Fan's funny gag for Penola) for the evenings stay and the start for the next days Vineyard extraveganza. The carvan park was hosted by a lovely lady who had forgotten to put her teeth in, which brought great amusement to Fan.
The 3rd day and Beckochinno and Fan were up before the sleeping Clem and Marj who had been given sleeping drugs the night before so as to ensure they were not up too early. Brekkie was good ol bacon and eggs cooked on the bbq which filled everyones boots for the day ahead. The wine adventure tour began at Holicks (surely named after a night on the booze) followed by Wynns Estate (very rude people), Rymill (very nice people) who gave the gang lots of lovely vintage wines to try, Majella and finally winery of the year Balnaves. Over 20 wines were tried and thankfully no bobies were seen. A good day had by all and of course a few bottles purchased for the following evenings.
Day 4, not long to go, keep reading. The trip was now heading north and across to Horsham where a lovely lunch was purchased for lunchtime (not dinner time) and then on to the Grampians. First stop was lunch, it consisted of, Olives marinaded in flies, Ham and fly sandwiches, Spicy Sausage fly, Salad sprinkled with fly and Carlton Draught with a hint of fly. After this relaxing lunch break the team headed off up into the Grampians to take in some of the most amazing views and windy roads. Clem and Marj managed to stop every 2 seconds going up the road so that they restock their fridge that emptied after every bend. After lots of OOOO's and ahhh's it was on to the campsite to feed the 50,000 kangaroos that lived there and to view the Emu's that grazed in the fields. A scenic spot only enhanced by the constant buzzing in the ears.
Day 5, awoken by the fly alarm, Clem was the only one to brave brekkie outside. He set a new record for the most number of flies to sit on the Human body whilst eating wheaties. Once everything was cleared away, it was on with a scenic wavey drive to Port Fairy. Port Fairy is like the Polzeath (Cornwall) of Australia. A sleepy village that becomes a party town for the summer, watch out for those zimmer frames.
Day 6, and its time to set off from the port. Today is the day that the 4 disciples will meet the 12 (now 8) Apostles. We head off in a 20 carvan convoey, it seems everyone from Port Fairy is going on the Great Ocean Road. First stop is at Port Campbell which is surf dude hot spot. So we hang ten and wipe out of PC and carry on our way to the 12 big pebbles. Upon arrival at the tourist spot we ventured out to the cliff face to see the amazing site that is the 12 Apostles, they truely are quite a site to behold. Next stop was the scary walk of death. The scary bit was also that Fan hadn't looked at the petrol gague and suddenly realised he was jazzing things up a bit. The tree top walk is also scary because it has a 15 min walk where you are once again attacked by Elephant sized flies. Anyway, we begun our accent to the top of the trees via a giant meccano set. 49 metres up with the trees was a pretty spectacular site. Once finally (and greatfully) back on firm soil the adventures headed to the campsite for the evening at Cape Otway. A roaring fire was made by Fan & Clem whilst Marj & Beckochinno marvelled at the stoned koalas sitting in the trees.
Day 7. Up bright and brezzy once more, the quite peaceful sound of the camp was suddenly broken... by what. Was it a low flying Tiger Moth? Was it a diesel engine? Was it the windy sound from down below in Fan's underpants? nope, it was a Koala climbing the tree. It was amazing, seeing this creature that sleeps 23 hrs a day suddenly climbing from ground up making this diesel sounding noise. So, animal studies aside the drive began along one of the most stunning drives in the world (well that we have seen anyway). From the GOR Charlotte and Ben headed up to Daylesford for a dip in a Spa and a massage. Afterwards a military operation was instigated to get Clem and Marj, Fan & Beckochinno into town. See video for the trip into town.
Day 8. From Daylesford it was time to head into town (Melbourne) to drop off Ben & Charlotte. It was a sad moment, saying goodbye to the home of the 4 amegios for the past 8 days. It was then into a crazy cab to the city for the luxury stay at Jasper Hotel. Clem and Marj broke into someone elses room, which caused a little bit of a kuffle, but thankfully they only stole a bottle of hotel shampoo. The arvo was spent shopping and sight seeing before a final farewell meal at the Melbourne Docklands. There was a chance of getting back to the UK on a super yacht, but unfortuantly a hotel room was booked.
Day 9. Sadley the journey of Clem Lueray, Marj Targ, Beckochinno and Fan Dango comes to an end. A tearful farewell from the Airport and Grrrrr ride home for Beckochinno and Fan see the adventure come to an end. Its been emotional, fullfilling (from lots of food) and great fun.
Today is the start of 'The journey of life adventure tour'. Where will we go? who will return? what will be cooked on the campfire? what colour underpants will Clem be wearing at the begining and will they be the same ones at the end? All will become clearer as the 4 adventuers start.
Introducing the team:
Campervan 1 Name: Charlotte Occupants: Clem Blue Ray (played by Ian), Marj Targ (played by Margaret)
Campervan 2 Name: Ben Occupants: Beckochinno (played by Becks), Fan Dango (played by Dan).
Day 1 ... the begining
Clem, Marj, Beckochinno and Fan are geeing each other up for the adventure ahead. Marj has just dropped all her belongings down the stairs and Beckochinno has enough batteries packed to power all the Japenesse cameras in the world. Clem is washing up and Fan is tap tap taping away on the keyboard. Shortly they will depart in Charleene, the queen of Semaphore, to pick up Charlotte and Ben where the journey will start. More soon.
News just in, Clem has confirmed underpants are blue with white stripes.
Just a quick post to say that Mum and Dad arrived on Wednesday and it has been brilliant to catch up with them, and enjoy that holiday feeling they bring!
They landed in 37c heat, and the following day battled with their jet lag at 41c! Luckily it has cooled down since and they are enjoying some lovely weather (though they got spoilt with the hot hot weather and now think it is cold at 27c!)
It so far seems to have been talking, drinking, eating and more talking.
Lovely to have them here. Will write more soon! Check out the photos for now by clicking on the link below!
So far this temporary blip of unemployment has been very busy! I feel like I've cleaned the house from top to bottom, washed everything that can be washed, and have a new ambition to keep the ironing pile at zero! It's not easy!
I have an ongoing joke with Dan that I am auditioning to be a housewife and that he really needs to consider getting a job that pays the equivalent of both our salaries so that I can become a full time housewife! He's not buying it... I've even tried to impress him with ironing his stuff - he wasn't impressed at having crease free rugby shirts, but I think he'll look smart... haha.
Mum and Dad are now in Singapore and it is a strange feeling knowing they are just a hop, skip and a jump away (well, a 6 hour flight). I'm so excited that they are coming to visit - it makes things suddenly dawn on me when I realise just how far they are having to travel to see their baby! I just keep telling myself not to feel bad and that actually I'm doing them a favour whisking them away from mid UK winter to 38c heat, blue skies and sunshine! They need some sunshine and it is my role to give it to them!
Enough for now. The ironing pile has grown 10cm just whilst I've been typing.
