Well its taken me so long to do this I imagine the chances of anyone ever reading this are pretty slim, although i have been quite surprised since we have been home by the number of people who actually read the blog and even said they missed it so you never know. So we have been back in the U.K. four weeks now and it has all been a bit of a blur but rather sadly our time in Adelaide already seems like a distant memory. However coming home has certainly made us realise how great Adelaide was/is and what a fabulous time we had there. I am sure it wont be the last time we ever visit at least i hope not.
So to briefly cast my mind back to complete the story our last few days in Adelaide were pretty great. We took every opportunity to visit the beach, friends and generally keep busy during the day time and sampling our favourite food and drink for the last time (Coopers Pale Ale and Farmers Union Iced Coffee in particular). We left on Jan 2oth and did the first part of the journey to Singapore which was a 7 hr flight. Dylan only slept for 1 hr but was amazingly well behaved and managed to stay sat for the whole flight (iam still not sure how) only occupied by the odd toy and book and a few biscuits. We then had one night at the Mandarin Oriental hotel which was just amazing. We got upgraded to a suite and lived the high life for 20 hrs. Dylan was again treated like a god and showered with free gifts. In our day in Singapore we visited the zoo (we are becoming zoo veterens now) which was the best we have ever been to. Loads of animals which you get very close to. They even had a great water park hidden away at the back. It was then back to the airport and the long - 13 hr - flight. Despite being surrounded by fairly young babies who didnt sleep so well Dylan was again great, sleeping about 11 hrs (we slept about 2!). So all in all it was a fine trip. We were met at the airport by the university chaffuer which was nice and whisked home in a few hrs bar a brief delay when it looked like we had lost a bag from Singapore (it actually arrived in the UK the day before us somehow). It took sometime to get used to the cold, dark, rain, wind and traffic but it wasnt so bad really as we had lots of family and friends to catch up with - and work to get on with so it took our minds of it.
And that as they say is that. Obviously lots of other stuff is going on since we returned like emma back at work, buying a new car, dylan starting nursery again, and selling our house but its not really blog worthy so i'll sign off for good this time with the hope that we will be again doing something blog worthy in the not so distant future. So until next time as Emma says 'byesbye'.
Friday 27 February 2009
Sunday 18 January 2009
Goodbyeeee
Hello, I am guessing our readership has dropped pretty considerably by now, so an extra special thank you to those who have hung on to the bitter end, and in case it is just you Mark - nice one mate!
So this is it, the final blog, actually I am toying with the idea of one final - but short - note once we are home for completeness, a kind of epiblogue (see what i did there?) so this might not quite be the last, but I guess we can pretty much say this is it. And its with a small tear in the eye as we really have had just the best three months, but thankfully we have had a great week to finish things off so here goes..
As you might expect its all been about goodbyes. We have met so many nice people here it is rather sad to say goodbye to them all but we really hope to see them again either back here in Oz or if they visit the U.K. So for me it was quite a busy week trying to finish things off in work. Things in the end have gone well and I have lots of data for analysis back in Nottingham, Rob the computer programmer I have been working with has been putting in the hours to develop some code to analyse my work and thankfully it all came through at the last minute so I can go back to Nottingham a satisfied man, which is pretty good as work was the main reason we came here in the first place although we often forgot this!
Tuesday was the real scorcher, our first day in the 40's, 42 degrees to be precise and it was very hot. So hot in fact you couldnt really be outside as you could just feel your skin burning. It was accompanied by a real strange hot wind which felt like standing in front of a hairdryer. Thankfully the temp dropped to the low 30's the next day where it has been ever since so we have been taking lots of advantage with lots of outdoor swimming etc. On my last day in work they had a little leaving party for me which was nice and I was given a red Adelaide United shirt as a leaving present. I said that just for them and Adelaide I would break my rule of wearing something red and with the word 'united' on it.
On Wednesday I had a great night out at the tennis. I mentioned this last week - it was a current players and seniors tournament which made it a bit more interesting. The current players were amazing. Seeing top players serve at full speed was really impressive. Gael Monfils looked really good so I'll be keen to see how he does in the Australian Open which starts tomorrow. In the seniors Pat Cash and Henri Leconte clowned around which was good value and kept everyone entertained. Forgot my camera though :(
So that's me, what about Em and Dylan? They started the week with (another) trip to the zoo. Emma hired Dylan a car to go round in and they had a fab day shouting 'boing boing' at kangeroos. Seriously he shouts this now which can be a little embarassing. They also had a trip out with Natalie and Claire to Littlehampton to a miniture railway and farm (see pic). This was the first of the many goodbyes and I think it has been a really sad week for Emma as she has made lots of friends, was just settling in and then she has had to say goodbye but I think they will keep in touch. The weather becoming hotter though has made things a little harder as you really need to find indoor things to do when it gets so hot. I think Dylan will actually be glad to have a few months off being coated in suncream every few hours.
We said goodbye to Annie on friday which was sad as it was down to her really that made this trip happen for us. In true aussie style she went away but left us her car to use which has been really handy. So the weekend has been about packing and goodbyes. We had our final day out at Glenelg yesterday which became one of our favourite spots for beach and amusements, plus the best thai food which Dylan seems to love. We then had a 'goodbye' with Nicole who has been one of Emma's best friends. Nicole has a little boy, Marcus, who is a similar age to Dylan and similar temprament (hyper, loud, and occasionally a bit moany) so they have had a common bond comparing notes regarding toddler behaviour. We all went round on sat evening for drinks (rather too many in a rather short time) before heading home to get on with the packing. And then today we had our final 'goodbye' with Natalie, Roger and Rhys which included a trip to Henley Beach (Shark Central but none around today) and a BBQ. It was a little strange for us as they arrived in Adelaide at a similar time to us but Roger has a four year visa so they have just moved into an amazing house near the beach and it made us feel a little bit like 'it could be us' if we were here for longer. But hey ho. We then went into town for the Tour Down Under to see Lance Armstrong. However arriving 10 minutes before it started with a crowd of 100 000 was never going to guarantee a good spot. However we did manage to get a reasonable view only to discover than road cycling isnt the worlds greatest spectator sport but boy do the go fast ! I think i saw Lance..
So that as they say is that. We have one day left now before we fly home on Tuesday. We leave around lunchtime with a 7 hr flight to Sinagpore. We have an overnight stop at the Mandarin Oriental before the 14 hr flight back to Heathrow. The plan tomorrow is to just chill in preparation for the trip which we are both dreading. Dylan has been moaning at anything more than an hour in his car seat recently so heres hoping the Calpol Night does its stuff again! So until next time, it could be a while, typically we get sabbaticals every 5-6 years, I hope you have enjoyed reading this, strangely we have actually enjoyed reading it ourselves. I am surprised I kept doing it but I think I liked it in the end although its 11pm now and seriously time for bed. Best wishes and wish us luck for the trip home below if you like. I assume its warmed up a bit now??
Love Sacha, Emma and Dylan xxx
So this is it, the final blog, actually I am toying with the idea of one final - but short - note once we are home for completeness, a kind of epiblogue (see what i did there?) so this might not quite be the last, but I guess we can pretty much say this is it. And its with a small tear in the eye as we really have had just the best three months, but thankfully we have had a great week to finish things off so here goes..
As you might expect its all been about goodbyes. We have met so many nice people here it is rather sad to say goodbye to them all but we really hope to see them again either back here in Oz or if they visit the U.K. So for me it was quite a busy week trying to finish things off in work. Things in the end have gone well and I have lots of data for analysis back in Nottingham, Rob the computer programmer I have been working with has been putting in the hours to develop some code to analyse my work and thankfully it all came through at the last minute so I can go back to Nottingham a satisfied man, which is pretty good as work was the main reason we came here in the first place although we often forgot this!
Tuesday was the real scorcher, our first day in the 40's, 42 degrees to be precise and it was very hot. So hot in fact you couldnt really be outside as you could just feel your skin burning. It was accompanied by a real strange hot wind which felt like standing in front of a hairdryer. Thankfully the temp dropped to the low 30's the next day where it has been ever since so we have been taking lots of advantage with lots of outdoor swimming etc. On my last day in work they had a little leaving party for me which was nice and I was given a red Adelaide United shirt as a leaving present. I said that just for them and Adelaide I would break my rule of wearing something red and with the word 'united' on it.
On Wednesday I had a great night out at the tennis. I mentioned this last week - it was a current players and seniors tournament which made it a bit more interesting. The current players were amazing. Seeing top players serve at full speed was really impressive. Gael Monfils looked really good so I'll be keen to see how he does in the Australian Open which starts tomorrow. In the seniors Pat Cash and Henri Leconte clowned around which was good value and kept everyone entertained. Forgot my camera though :(
So that's me, what about Em and Dylan? They started the week with (another) trip to the zoo. Emma hired Dylan a car to go round in and they had a fab day shouting 'boing boing' at kangeroos. Seriously he shouts this now which can be a little embarassing. They also had a trip out with Natalie and Claire to Littlehampton to a miniture railway and farm (see pic). This was the first of the many goodbyes and I think it has been a really sad week for Emma as she has made lots of friends, was just settling in and then she has had to say goodbye but I think they will keep in touch. The weather becoming hotter though has made things a little harder as you really need to find indoor things to do when it gets so hot. I think Dylan will actually be glad to have a few months off being coated in suncream every few hours.
We said goodbye to Annie on friday which was sad as it was down to her really that made this trip happen for us. In true aussie style she went away but left us her car to use which has been really handy. So the weekend has been about packing and goodbyes. We had our final day out at Glenelg yesterday which became one of our favourite spots for beach and amusements, plus the best thai food which Dylan seems to love. We then had a 'goodbye' with Nicole who has been one of Emma's best friends. Nicole has a little boy, Marcus, who is a similar age to Dylan and similar temprament (hyper, loud, and occasionally a bit moany) so they have had a common bond comparing notes regarding toddler behaviour. We all went round on sat evening for drinks (rather too many in a rather short time) before heading home to get on with the packing. And then today we had our final 'goodbye' with Natalie, Roger and Rhys which included a trip to Henley Beach (Shark Central but none around today) and a BBQ. It was a little strange for us as they arrived in Adelaide at a similar time to us but Roger has a four year visa so they have just moved into an amazing house near the beach and it made us feel a little bit like 'it could be us' if we were here for longer. But hey ho. We then went into town for the Tour Down Under to see Lance Armstrong. However arriving 10 minutes before it started with a crowd of 100 000 was never going to guarantee a good spot. However we did manage to get a reasonable view only to discover than road cycling isnt the worlds greatest spectator sport but boy do the go fast ! I think i saw Lance..
So that as they say is that. We have one day left now before we fly home on Tuesday. We leave around lunchtime with a 7 hr flight to Sinagpore. We have an overnight stop at the Mandarin Oriental before the 14 hr flight back to Heathrow. The plan tomorrow is to just chill in preparation for the trip which we are both dreading. Dylan has been moaning at anything more than an hour in his car seat recently so heres hoping the Calpol Night does its stuff again! So until next time, it could be a while, typically we get sabbaticals every 5-6 years, I hope you have enjoyed reading this, strangely we have actually enjoyed reading it ourselves. I am surprised I kept doing it but I think I liked it in the end although its 11pm now and seriously time for bed. Best wishes and wish us luck for the trip home below if you like. I assume its warmed up a bit now??
Love Sacha, Emma and Dylan xxx
Sunday 11 January 2009
JAWS
Hello all
Welcome to the penultimate ‘mooneysinadelaide’ blog. Very sadly we will be leaving Adelaide in 8 days and leaving the heatwave for the cold freeze. We all agreed that it would be nice to have another three months here but sadly work and money mean that it can’t happen. So, on to happier news, here’s what we have been up to over the last week or so. Summer is in full bloom now, the temperature hasn’t dropped below 28 degrees and we have been having a brilliant time. I have had a pretty productive week in work trying to finish things off where as Emma and Dylan had a great week spent mainly outdoors meeting up with friends and being active. Emma is starting the process of saying goodbye to her friends which she is a bit sad about as she has met some really nice people. I think they are also really sad that she is leaving. They have been having great fun going swimming, picnicking in the botanic gardens and of course chilling on the beach. In fact one of the highlights of the week was on Thursday when they spent the day at Henley beach with Natalie and Rhys when suddenly the beach was descended upon by several helicopters and a police car with sirens driving down the beach shouting for people to get out of the water just like in ‘Jaws’ as a shark had been spotted – a 5m white pointer as they are called here. This sort of thing has been a regular occurrence in Adelaide for the last few weeks with at least 3 or 4 shark sightings a day by the spotter helicopter. Over Christmas a man was killed by a shark whilst kayaking with his son and yesterday there were two attacks where people were bitten but survived (they each lost legs). Remarkably though Emma said within 20 mins of the sea being cleared people were back in the sea! Made of brave things these aussies (or a little mad).
So what else have we been up to? I skipped work on Wednesday afternoon and went for a game of golf which was great especially as it was nice and sunny. Golfing over here is a lot more laid back in terms of what you have to wear and equipment etc so it was pretty relaxed which was nice although as it is summer holidays here it was quite busy. Dylan has had a few successful visits to the crèche at the gym which is good as it looks like Emma could be heading back to work soon on our arrival home so its good practice for nursey. Dylan has been in great form the last few weeks and is now becoming an expert in copying words that he hears (so I am especially having to be careful). He has finally learnt to say his own name and has been entertaining people by shouting ‘Dylan’ at them, although it sounds more like ‘Dil-lin’. He is also now on to saying ‘wee wee’ and ‘poo poo’ at the appropriate time so it looks like potty training will be kicking off in earnest on our return – wish we had wooden floors..
So this weekend we hired a car and had one of the best weekends in Adelaide so far. On Saturday we drove a few hours to the Yorke Peninsula which is a little like an Italy shaped outcrop of land to the north of Adelaide. It is quite remote but has some fantastic beaches and we had a great day travelling, playing in the sea (close to the shore of course) and watching the fisherman catching blue swimming crabs. One thing that is different to back home is that most of the tourist attractions have very little infrastructure associated with them. There are very few shops so picnics are pretty essential. It is nice though that so much is unspoiled and natural. We also stopped off at a great adventure playground on the way back and all got to act like children going down the giant slides and zip wires (see pic). Then on Sunday we headed south to Moana beach for the day. Fortunately (especially for Emma) there was a surf carnival so there were lots of men in trunks competing in kayaking, rowing and swimming competitions. It was amazing to see just how good at swimming they actually were jumping over 5 ft waves as if they weren’t there. We ended the day with a little retail therapy at an out of town shopping centre which was thankfully really quiet and picked up a few presents to bring back home. That night I felt like a true aussie as I sat with a beer in my shorts and sandy flip flops watching Australia V South Africa in the 20/20 cricket. Having lived here I am actually starting to quite like cricket.
All the talk in Adelaide this week is about the weather (its due to be +40 tomorrow for the first time this year) and Lance Armstrong who has just arrived for the tour down under which starts next Sunday. We will miss most of it as we will be leaving but we’ll get to see the first day around the Adelaide city centre, apparently its on sky sports so look out for us! This week will mainly be about goodbyes though. I finish work on Friday but on Thursday Annie goes to China so i’ll be saying goodbye to her. She has been an excellent host who has been really great to us so we are thanking her by inviting them to ours for dinner on Wednesday (don’t worry, I am doing the cooking). Annie is coming to the U.K. later in the year so it will be great to see her again. We are also going out on Wednesday night to a tennis tournament which includes current and former players (Pat Cash, Mats Wilander, Jim Courier, Henri Leconte, Phillipoussis, Monfils, Johansson) so I am looking forward to that. For Emma she is taking Dylan to the zoo today and then has days out planned with Suzy, Natalie, Claire and Nicole so she’ll be busy visiting the parks and beaches. Nothing planned for next weekend yet apart from dinner at Nicole’s. I guess we’ll be starting the packing process in time for our flight on Tuesday lunchtime. Neither of us are relishing the thought of 21 hrs on a flight with Dylan. Thank god we have an overnight in Singapore to look forward to in the middle. Thankfully Annie is due to become a grandma in a few months so she has bought all our baby stuff which is handy. So I think that’s it for now. Mixed feelings this week. Having a brilliant time here but as they say all good things come to an end. We are just making sure we enjoy everyday now. So until next time – the last time – over and out, Love Sacha, Emma and Dylan x
Welcome to the penultimate ‘mooneysinadelaide’ blog. Very sadly we will be leaving Adelaide in 8 days and leaving the heatwave for the cold freeze. We all agreed that it would be nice to have another three months here but sadly work and money mean that it can’t happen. So, on to happier news, here’s what we have been up to over the last week or so. Summer is in full bloom now, the temperature hasn’t dropped below 28 degrees and we have been having a brilliant time. I have had a pretty productive week in work trying to finish things off where as Emma and Dylan had a great week spent mainly outdoors meeting up with friends and being active. Emma is starting the process of saying goodbye to her friends which she is a bit sad about as she has met some really nice people. I think they are also really sad that she is leaving. They have been having great fun going swimming, picnicking in the botanic gardens and of course chilling on the beach. In fact one of the highlights of the week was on Thursday when they spent the day at Henley beach with Natalie and Rhys when suddenly the beach was descended upon by several helicopters and a police car with sirens driving down the beach shouting for people to get out of the water just like in ‘Jaws’ as a shark had been spotted – a 5m white pointer as they are called here. This sort of thing has been a regular occurrence in Adelaide for the last few weeks with at least 3 or 4 shark sightings a day by the spotter helicopter. Over Christmas a man was killed by a shark whilst kayaking with his son and yesterday there were two attacks where people were bitten but survived (they each lost legs). Remarkably though Emma said within 20 mins of the sea being cleared people were back in the sea! Made of brave things these aussies (or a little mad).
So what else have we been up to? I skipped work on Wednesday afternoon and went for a game of golf which was great especially as it was nice and sunny. Golfing over here is a lot more laid back in terms of what you have to wear and equipment etc so it was pretty relaxed which was nice although as it is summer holidays here it was quite busy. Dylan has had a few successful visits to the crèche at the gym which is good as it looks like Emma could be heading back to work soon on our arrival home so its good practice for nursey. Dylan has been in great form the last few weeks and is now becoming an expert in copying words that he hears (so I am especially having to be careful). He has finally learnt to say his own name and has been entertaining people by shouting ‘Dylan’ at them, although it sounds more like ‘Dil-lin’. He is also now on to saying ‘wee wee’ and ‘poo poo’ at the appropriate time so it looks like potty training will be kicking off in earnest on our return – wish we had wooden floors..
So this weekend we hired a car and had one of the best weekends in Adelaide so far. On Saturday we drove a few hours to the Yorke Peninsula which is a little like an Italy shaped outcrop of land to the north of Adelaide. It is quite remote but has some fantastic beaches and we had a great day travelling, playing in the sea (close to the shore of course) and watching the fisherman catching blue swimming crabs. One thing that is different to back home is that most of the tourist attractions have very little infrastructure associated with them. There are very few shops so picnics are pretty essential. It is nice though that so much is unspoiled and natural. We also stopped off at a great adventure playground on the way back and all got to act like children going down the giant slides and zip wires (see pic). Then on Sunday we headed south to Moana beach for the day. Fortunately (especially for Emma) there was a surf carnival so there were lots of men in trunks competing in kayaking, rowing and swimming competitions. It was amazing to see just how good at swimming they actually were jumping over 5 ft waves as if they weren’t there. We ended the day with a little retail therapy at an out of town shopping centre which was thankfully really quiet and picked up a few presents to bring back home. That night I felt like a true aussie as I sat with a beer in my shorts and sandy flip flops watching Australia V South Africa in the 20/20 cricket. Having lived here I am actually starting to quite like cricket.
All the talk in Adelaide this week is about the weather (its due to be +40 tomorrow for the first time this year) and Lance Armstrong who has just arrived for the tour down under which starts next Sunday. We will miss most of it as we will be leaving but we’ll get to see the first day around the Adelaide city centre, apparently its on sky sports so look out for us! This week will mainly be about goodbyes though. I finish work on Friday but on Thursday Annie goes to China so i’ll be saying goodbye to her. She has been an excellent host who has been really great to us so we are thanking her by inviting them to ours for dinner on Wednesday (don’t worry, I am doing the cooking). Annie is coming to the U.K. later in the year so it will be great to see her again. We are also going out on Wednesday night to a tennis tournament which includes current and former players (Pat Cash, Mats Wilander, Jim Courier, Henri Leconte, Phillipoussis, Monfils, Johansson) so I am looking forward to that. For Emma she is taking Dylan to the zoo today and then has days out planned with Suzy, Natalie, Claire and Nicole so she’ll be busy visiting the parks and beaches. Nothing planned for next weekend yet apart from dinner at Nicole’s. I guess we’ll be starting the packing process in time for our flight on Tuesday lunchtime. Neither of us are relishing the thought of 21 hrs on a flight with Dylan. Thank god we have an overnight in Singapore to look forward to in the middle. Thankfully Annie is due to become a grandma in a few months so she has bought all our baby stuff which is handy. So I think that’s it for now. Mixed feelings this week. Having a brilliant time here but as they say all good things come to an end. We are just making sure we enjoy everyday now. So until next time – the last time – over and out, Love Sacha, Emma and Dylan x
Sunday 4 January 2009
Bumper Blog Christmas Special / Roadtrip
Happy New Year all, hope you had good ones
Seems like an age since the last blog even though its only been a few weeks. Since the last time we have had christmas and new year with our roadtrip in between followed by a few days in the sun in Adelaide. Tomorrow is back to work for me and the countdown for home has really begun (only 2 weeks now). Anyway here's what we have been up to..
So christmas in australia was predictably quite different to back home. I am not sure we were really homesick as we had a great time still. However it certainly didnt feel like christmas and we both agreed we much preferred christmas back home. The weather makes it different but in addition to that it just isnt such a big deal over here, its more like a normal public holiday. Anyway, to do this in chronological order..Christmas eve was scorching and we were invited out to Annie's house in Gawler which was really nice. Annie's house was full of decorations and Dylan had a great time trying to break as many of them as he could. We had a lovely dinner which even included xmas pudding! From there we went to our local church to the evening navity service. It was packed with families and outside the church they had a BBQ, a petting zoo full of farm animals and free donkey rides. We sang 'All come all ye faithful' with our sunglasses on and a glass of fizzy wine to try get in the spirit. On christmas day we did a whole host of skyp-ing with family while Dylan opened up his presents. I think it was probably quite slim pickings for him but he was more than happy with his Thomas the Tank Engine, Igglepiggle, Squabble and Elmo. Not sure how these will all fit on the plane. We heard that my grandma after a long illness had died on christmas eve which was sad and took a bit of the gloss off the day. Later on we took the tram to Glenelg to the beach and we werent the only ones there, in fact it was pretty busy with most of the cafes and bars open. We had a bbq in the park for lunch and even made a full(ish) christmas dinner back home that evening. Emma bought the Snowman on DVD so it did feel a little christmassy in the end.
So that was christmas, on boxing day we picked up the campervan and began the roadtrip. As it happened we got upgraded to a 6 berth van in the end which was huge but it was a good job in the end as we pretty much filled it. It was certainly luxury camping, we had A/C, microwave, TV, DVD even a playstation ! We headed off to our first stop which was Robe. One thing you certainly realise driving round Australia is just how big it is. Adelaide to Robe seemed a short distance on the map yet it took 5 hrs to get there. In fact over the week we drove over 2500 km ! Anyway we loved Robe, its a really small, nice seaside town. Our caravan park was on the beach and we were a few mins walk from parks, cafes and pretty much anything you might need. The other people on the campsites were also really friendly which is good as they do pack you in a little bit. One thing we noticed is that Aussies dont do camping as we know it, its a bit of a sport here with a competition to make it as home from home as possible. They have huge vans, trailers and tents plus every kitchen utensil you could imagine including (and I am not joking) coffee machines, beer kegs and wood fired ovens for making the perfect pizzas! Anyway we had a few great days in Robe as beach bums just chilling out before we took off on another trip, this time to Mount Gambier to meet Tina and Ben. Unfortunately being further north and elevated Mount Gambier has a reputation for not having the best weather and so it proved to be. The temp was about 20 degrees and we even had rain! Anyway it was really fab to meet up with Tina and Ben. We got a great campsite overlooking the Bluewater Lake (a volcano crater) which was close to a few good parks and wildlife spots. On the first night we had a bbq underneath several hundred of the loudest parrots and then got to see a possum in one of the floodlit gardens (we were promised several but as the temp dropped we were happy with one). The next day we explored the best tourist attractions the area had to offer although attraction was a misleading word in a few cases (we used the words 'one horse town' a few times) followed by another bbq this time in the rain (we joked the weather was probably better at home although i guess it probably wasnt). That night the heavens opened for the first time since we have been here and in a campervan it sounded like it was raining golfballs, at one point we were thinking we might get washed away. Miraclously Dylan (like every night) slept through it all oblivious. Tina and Ben had to head back to Melbourne the next day so we decided to head back the opposite direction towards Adelaide chasing the sunnier weather. It did certainly improve but wasnt quite beach weather. The remaining travels saw us drive for hours on long straight roads with us frequently the only travellers. We did a few more seaside places (Goolwa, Port Elliot and Victor Harbour) and had the best fish and chips ever, bar none (see pic). We arrived back in Adelaide just in time for New Years Eve and headed straight to the river for the family fireworks celebrations which was pretty cool although Dylan wasnt so keen. We spent midnight celebrations at home watching the Sydney fireworks on TV which were amazing.
And so the last few days we have just been making the most of being all together and in Adelaide doing all the things we have done many times the last few months and loved (beach, wildlife parks, playgrounds, outdoor swimming etc). The weather has been above 30 everyday for a few days now and its really great. Last night I went to see Adelaide play Sydney at soccer but at the Oval cricket ground which i think was the most picturesque match i have ever been to even if the skill on the pitch wasnt so good. And so now its pretty much all about coming home although with the falling pound its probably a good job as things are becoming pretty expensive now. I have 2 weeks of work left starting tomorrow and loads to do so I'll be busy. And Emma and Dylan I think are starting the process of saying goodbye to all the friends they have met. We might even try fit in one last trip away next weekend. We are all looking forward to seeing friend and family but we have had such a great time we will be really sad to leave. The stories of freezing cold weather, the credit crunch and most of the football results are not enticing us home at present but hopefully a few of those will improve over the coming weeks...maybe...
Ok, well time to sign out, hope you all had good holidays, would love to hear about them, although dont worry I wont ask for any comments :) Until next time byesbye S, E & Dx
Seems like an age since the last blog even though its only been a few weeks. Since the last time we have had christmas and new year with our roadtrip in between followed by a few days in the sun in Adelaide. Tomorrow is back to work for me and the countdown for home has really begun (only 2 weeks now). Anyway here's what we have been up to..
So christmas in australia was predictably quite different to back home. I am not sure we were really homesick as we had a great time still. However it certainly didnt feel like christmas and we both agreed we much preferred christmas back home. The weather makes it different but in addition to that it just isnt such a big deal over here, its more like a normal public holiday. Anyway, to do this in chronological order..Christmas eve was scorching and we were invited out to Annie's house in Gawler which was really nice. Annie's house was full of decorations and Dylan had a great time trying to break as many of them as he could. We had a lovely dinner which even included xmas pudding! From there we went to our local church to the evening navity service. It was packed with families and outside the church they had a BBQ, a petting zoo full of farm animals and free donkey rides. We sang 'All come all ye faithful' with our sunglasses on and a glass of fizzy wine to try get in the spirit. On christmas day we did a whole host of skyp-ing with family while Dylan opened up his presents. I think it was probably quite slim pickings for him but he was more than happy with his Thomas the Tank Engine, Igglepiggle, Squabble and Elmo. Not sure how these will all fit on the plane. We heard that my grandma after a long illness had died on christmas eve which was sad and took a bit of the gloss off the day. Later on we took the tram to Glenelg to the beach and we werent the only ones there, in fact it was pretty busy with most of the cafes and bars open. We had a bbq in the park for lunch and even made a full(ish) christmas dinner back home that evening. Emma bought the Snowman on DVD so it did feel a little christmassy in the end.
So that was christmas, on boxing day we picked up the campervan and began the roadtrip. As it happened we got upgraded to a 6 berth van in the end which was huge but it was a good job in the end as we pretty much filled it. It was certainly luxury camping, we had A/C, microwave, TV, DVD even a playstation ! We headed off to our first stop which was Robe. One thing you certainly realise driving round Australia is just how big it is. Adelaide to Robe seemed a short distance on the map yet it took 5 hrs to get there. In fact over the week we drove over 2500 km ! Anyway we loved Robe, its a really small, nice seaside town. Our caravan park was on the beach and we were a few mins walk from parks, cafes and pretty much anything you might need. The other people on the campsites were also really friendly which is good as they do pack you in a little bit. One thing we noticed is that Aussies dont do camping as we know it, its a bit of a sport here with a competition to make it as home from home as possible. They have huge vans, trailers and tents plus every kitchen utensil you could imagine including (and I am not joking) coffee machines, beer kegs and wood fired ovens for making the perfect pizzas! Anyway we had a few great days in Robe as beach bums just chilling out before we took off on another trip, this time to Mount Gambier to meet Tina and Ben. Unfortunately being further north and elevated Mount Gambier has a reputation for not having the best weather and so it proved to be. The temp was about 20 degrees and we even had rain! Anyway it was really fab to meet up with Tina and Ben. We got a great campsite overlooking the Bluewater Lake (a volcano crater) which was close to a few good parks and wildlife spots. On the first night we had a bbq underneath several hundred of the loudest parrots and then got to see a possum in one of the floodlit gardens (we were promised several but as the temp dropped we were happy with one). The next day we explored the best tourist attractions the area had to offer although attraction was a misleading word in a few cases (we used the words 'one horse town' a few times) followed by another bbq this time in the rain (we joked the weather was probably better at home although i guess it probably wasnt). That night the heavens opened for the first time since we have been here and in a campervan it sounded like it was raining golfballs, at one point we were thinking we might get washed away. Miraclously Dylan (like every night) slept through it all oblivious. Tina and Ben had to head back to Melbourne the next day so we decided to head back the opposite direction towards Adelaide chasing the sunnier weather. It did certainly improve but wasnt quite beach weather. The remaining travels saw us drive for hours on long straight roads with us frequently the only travellers. We did a few more seaside places (Goolwa, Port Elliot and Victor Harbour) and had the best fish and chips ever, bar none (see pic). We arrived back in Adelaide just in time for New Years Eve and headed straight to the river for the family fireworks celebrations which was pretty cool although Dylan wasnt so keen. We spent midnight celebrations at home watching the Sydney fireworks on TV which were amazing.
And so the last few days we have just been making the most of being all together and in Adelaide doing all the things we have done many times the last few months and loved (beach, wildlife parks, playgrounds, outdoor swimming etc). The weather has been above 30 everyday for a few days now and its really great. Last night I went to see Adelaide play Sydney at soccer but at the Oval cricket ground which i think was the most picturesque match i have ever been to even if the skill on the pitch wasnt so good. And so now its pretty much all about coming home although with the falling pound its probably a good job as things are becoming pretty expensive now. I have 2 weeks of work left starting tomorrow and loads to do so I'll be busy. And Emma and Dylan I think are starting the process of saying goodbye to all the friends they have met. We might even try fit in one last trip away next weekend. We are all looking forward to seeing friend and family but we have had such a great time we will be really sad to leave. The stories of freezing cold weather, the credit crunch and most of the football results are not enticing us home at present but hopefully a few of those will improve over the coming weeks...maybe...
Ok, well time to sign out, hope you all had good holidays, would love to hear about them, although dont worry I wont ask for any comments :) Until next time byesbye S, E & Dx
Monday 22 December 2008
Attack of the killer bees!
JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS JINGLE ALL THE WAY
CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA ON A SCORCHING SUMMER'S DAY !!
g'day family and friends
afraid i failed in my attempts to get Emma to do the blog, she would rather do the ironing apparently although she says hi. So this will be the last blog until the new year i think as we head of on our campervan adventure on boxing day - emma is very excited about this, i am a little more hesistant i think. Anyway I would imagine we should have some tales to tell. The rough plan (for those who use googlemaps) is to leave Boxing day morning (apparently the busiest day of the year on the roads) and drive south out of Adelaide for about 4 hrs to a small fishing village called Robe where we have a spot booked on a campsite by the beach. Then we are heading on to Mount Gambier - a kind of Lake District style town to meet Tina and Ben for a few days before heading back to Adelaide around new year via the coast probably staying near Goolwa and Victor Harbour. Anyway more on that next time.
So we have only 4 weeks left of the adventure now so we are making sure we enjoy everyday. The plummeting pound is not helping our cause (down to 2.18AUD from 2.65 when we arrived) and everything is becoming more expensive which is a pain but hey ho we'll worry about the recession when we get home. So last week was a pretty good week. The first part of the week was the quietest as we were all still recovering from being 'crook' the previous week. Work was busy as i tried to finish things off. I had my departmental seminar on friday and that went really well, got lots of nice feedback. I scanned the last of my samples today and officially broke up until Jan 5th. The weather was great for most of the week, mainly between 25-30 degrees, so Emma and Dylan were out and about most days including a few days on the beach at Henley with Natalie and Claire. The main excitement of the week was our flat getting attacked by a swarm of bees. It started with a few at the window trying to get in and before we knew it we had several hundred trying to get in. Some managed it as well but thankfully not too many. Anyway we had to get the pest control to come and save us. Apparently when a bee colony gets too big it sends out a scout party of a few hundred bees to find a new home and it seems like our flat was the prime real estate. Thankfully the pest control sprayed some powder and the day later they were gone but it was quite scary at the time!
The weekend again was jam packed. I took friday afternoon off (a theme developing here) and we went to the modern art gallery. Dylan had a good go at knocking over the priceless exhibits. I also realised for the first time that I need to becareful what I say around him as he is starting to pick up on words he hears as he shouted rather loudly, in the silent gallery, "boobs" at one of the sculptures. Saturday we headed to the zoo again which was nice but we didnt realise that the hotter the weather, the less you see as all the animals hide under the shade. Emma had her night out on saturday night going for a curry and a few drinks with her friends. And yesterday was another day at the beach in Glenelg. Last night was the main event though, 'Carols by Candlelight', 35 000 people down by the river for a free public concert. It wasnt quite as expected, the music was not so much orchestral and more pop style by a variety of australian idol finalists and minor tv celebs. Still it was good fun. The park was packed with many people getting there manyhours before it started to get a good spot. Loads of people were dressed up and the picnics were certainly impressive! Anyway we managed to see about half of it with Dylan lasting til 9.30pm before flaking out. It really is great that there seem to be so many community events here with everyone so friendly.
However it still doesnt feel like christmas to us... I think at this stage it probably isnt going to. The aussie approach to xmas is slightly different to ours. It seems more about fun and partying and less about tradition. The media certainly doesnt get into it as much as at home. If you look at the TV listings for xmas day it looks like any other day (although the queens speech is on at 11pm!). One reason for the difference is that the christmas period is the main holiday period so most people as more concerned with where they are going on holiday after xmas. So for us we are going to spend Christmas eve at Annie's house and then Christmas day at the beach in Glenelg, not sure if it will be packed or if we will be the only ones, we'll have to wait and see. The weather is due to be 34 degrees though so its certainly going to be a little different. I think we might even miss the cold and dark (and the Snowman, Quality Street, Turkey etc) for a few mins.
Ok so that's it. Happy Christmas to everyone reading this. We hope you all have a great day. We will certainly be thinking of you. If you are around it would be great to chat via skype even if only for a few mins (7-9am and 4-6pm your time are best for us). Failing that leave us a message below - I have removed the restriction on anonymous people leaving messages so anyone can leave a note. Have a very happy new year. And hopefully we'll be in touch in early 2009 with an update on the holiday and the countdown to us coming back !
Love to all
Sacha, Emma & Dylan xxx
CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA ON A SCORCHING SUMMER'S DAY !!
g'day family and friends
afraid i failed in my attempts to get Emma to do the blog, she would rather do the ironing apparently although she says hi. So this will be the last blog until the new year i think as we head of on our campervan adventure on boxing day - emma is very excited about this, i am a little more hesistant i think. Anyway I would imagine we should have some tales to tell. The rough plan (for those who use googlemaps) is to leave Boxing day morning (apparently the busiest day of the year on the roads) and drive south out of Adelaide for about 4 hrs to a small fishing village called Robe where we have a spot booked on a campsite by the beach. Then we are heading on to Mount Gambier - a kind of Lake District style town to meet Tina and Ben for a few days before heading back to Adelaide around new year via the coast probably staying near Goolwa and Victor Harbour. Anyway more on that next time.
So we have only 4 weeks left of the adventure now so we are making sure we enjoy everyday. The plummeting pound is not helping our cause (down to 2.18AUD from 2.65 when we arrived) and everything is becoming more expensive which is a pain but hey ho we'll worry about the recession when we get home. So last week was a pretty good week. The first part of the week was the quietest as we were all still recovering from being 'crook' the previous week. Work was busy as i tried to finish things off. I had my departmental seminar on friday and that went really well, got lots of nice feedback. I scanned the last of my samples today and officially broke up until Jan 5th. The weather was great for most of the week, mainly between 25-30 degrees, so Emma and Dylan were out and about most days including a few days on the beach at Henley with Natalie and Claire. The main excitement of the week was our flat getting attacked by a swarm of bees. It started with a few at the window trying to get in and before we knew it we had several hundred trying to get in. Some managed it as well but thankfully not too many. Anyway we had to get the pest control to come and save us. Apparently when a bee colony gets too big it sends out a scout party of a few hundred bees to find a new home and it seems like our flat was the prime real estate. Thankfully the pest control sprayed some powder and the day later they were gone but it was quite scary at the time!
The weekend again was jam packed. I took friday afternoon off (a theme developing here) and we went to the modern art gallery. Dylan had a good go at knocking over the priceless exhibits. I also realised for the first time that I need to becareful what I say around him as he is starting to pick up on words he hears as he shouted rather loudly, in the silent gallery, "boobs" at one of the sculptures. Saturday we headed to the zoo again which was nice but we didnt realise that the hotter the weather, the less you see as all the animals hide under the shade. Emma had her night out on saturday night going for a curry and a few drinks with her friends. And yesterday was another day at the beach in Glenelg. Last night was the main event though, 'Carols by Candlelight', 35 000 people down by the river for a free public concert. It wasnt quite as expected, the music was not so much orchestral and more pop style by a variety of australian idol finalists and minor tv celebs. Still it was good fun. The park was packed with many people getting there manyhours before it started to get a good spot. Loads of people were dressed up and the picnics were certainly impressive! Anyway we managed to see about half of it with Dylan lasting til 9.30pm before flaking out. It really is great that there seem to be so many community events here with everyone so friendly.
However it still doesnt feel like christmas to us... I think at this stage it probably isnt going to. The aussie approach to xmas is slightly different to ours. It seems more about fun and partying and less about tradition. The media certainly doesnt get into it as much as at home. If you look at the TV listings for xmas day it looks like any other day (although the queens speech is on at 11pm!). One reason for the difference is that the christmas period is the main holiday period so most people as more concerned with where they are going on holiday after xmas. So for us we are going to spend Christmas eve at Annie's house and then Christmas day at the beach in Glenelg, not sure if it will be packed or if we will be the only ones, we'll have to wait and see. The weather is due to be 34 degrees though so its certainly going to be a little different. I think we might even miss the cold and dark (and the Snowman, Quality Street, Turkey etc) for a few mins.
Ok so that's it. Happy Christmas to everyone reading this. We hope you all have a great day. We will certainly be thinking of you. If you are around it would be great to chat via skype even if only for a few mins (7-9am and 4-6pm your time are best for us). Failing that leave us a message below - I have removed the restriction on anonymous people leaving messages so anyone can leave a note. Have a very happy new year. And hopefully we'll be in touch in early 2009 with an update on the holiday and the countdown to us coming back !
Love to all
Sacha, Emma & Dylan xxx
Tuesday 16 December 2008
The end of the drought
hello
apologies for the delayed update - due to a stomach bug that we have all had over the last few days which we think Emma picked up from a baby group. Anyway we are all on the mend now so hopefully things will get back to normal. The update wont be as exciting this week as not so much has happened. The main news here has been the weather which properly took a turn for the worst last week. Adelaide has a higher annual rainfall than Manchester but for the last three years they have had <50% of the usual amount and has officially been in drought. However that seemed to change on friday when the heavens opened and it chucked it down for a few days. All the locals we met were delighted commenting how great it was to see rain, unfortunately for us it meant we had to cancel our trip to the Yorke Peninsula which hopefully we'll get to see before we come home (which is 5 weeks today sadly). Thankfully normal service had now resumed, it was 25 degrees today and looking like 30 degrees this weekend.
So what have we done? Not too much really. With Emma poorly her and Dylan didnt get chance to attend the usual baby groups which was a shame as they have all broke up for christmas now. Thankfully Emma has made lots of friends here and her phone is constantly ringing so her and Dylan never seem to be short of things to do. They have a nativity play to go to tomorrow where Dylan will get chance to be in it. Last friday was my christmas party - the bbq by the lake - however as it was raining it was a bit of a sad affair huddled under a marquee. Despite the weather we had a nice weekend though. Saturday we hired a car and explored a few parts of Adelaide that we havent visited before which included the largest shopping centre (surprisingly quiet given the time of year), the beach (for fish and chips) and the worlds largest rocking horse (see pic). The latter is the centrepiece of a wooden toy factory nestled in the Adelaide Hills and was obviously an attempt to draw people out of the city to visit - and it worked. They even had a free wildlife park with albino kangeroos (see pic). We took the scenic route back to the city along the windy mountain roads and experienced what it is like to have a child with travel sickness for the first time (projectile vomiting!). On Sunday we also did quite a bit - visited the street markets, went to a rap festival (dylan wasnt keen), took a boat trip down the river torrens, went swimming and then went to the picnic and carols in the park event which was at the end of the street. The picnic was actually really nice. Emma noticed that there is a real sense of community here which is not something we have had anywhere before. People are certainly more friendly here than back home. We got talking to lots of people and overall the event had a real nice feel to it. Mick-me (Santa) turned up and Dylan seemed to have got over his fear this time (see pic), although perhaps it was because this was the most laid back Santa ever who also gave out free chocolates. Dylan has learnt a few more words this week but the best by far was 'ho ho ho' whenever he sees anything christmassy even tinsel. He has been entertaining lots of people in the local shopping centre by running round shouting 'ho ho ho' all the time.
So that's all the news really, told you not so much has happened. Even though we still have 5 weeks to go things feel a little different now with talk of home more and more common. It still doesnt feel that christmassy here. There are lots of christmas decorations in public but it seems most people dont really decorare their houses with lights or trees. There is also hardly any mention of it on TV. In fact potentially christmas might be a little strange here. Not sure what we are doing yet but it seems sadly as if the bbq on the beach could be an urban myth! Someone told us the beaches are deserted on xmas day. We are hoping to pick up the campervan on christmas eve so then we'll at least be able to explore a little. It seems most aussies have a bbq (tutkey and seafood) at home with family. We have a few things lined up for this week though. I have my departmental seminar on friday and then Emma has her mums night out on saturday night. Then on Sunday it is Carols by Candlelight when 40 000 people gather in the park by the river with the symphony orchestra for carols. Not sure what that will be like, especially since it doesnt start until 8pm and we'll have Dylan with us but we plan to check it out. Anyway we'll report back on that next week in what might be the last blog for a bit. At least probably until the new year. You never know I might convince Emma to write next weeks one as a 'guest blogger'. Might also use next week to deliver our annual christmas message :) So until next time Bye The Mooneys xxx
PS feel free to leave us a christmas message below !
apologies for the delayed update - due to a stomach bug that we have all had over the last few days which we think Emma picked up from a baby group. Anyway we are all on the mend now so hopefully things will get back to normal. The update wont be as exciting this week as not so much has happened. The main news here has been the weather which properly took a turn for the worst last week. Adelaide has a higher annual rainfall than Manchester but for the last three years they have had <50% of the usual amount and has officially been in drought. However that seemed to change on friday when the heavens opened and it chucked it down for a few days. All the locals we met were delighted commenting how great it was to see rain, unfortunately for us it meant we had to cancel our trip to the Yorke Peninsula which hopefully we'll get to see before we come home (which is 5 weeks today sadly). Thankfully normal service had now resumed, it was 25 degrees today and looking like 30 degrees this weekend.
So what have we done? Not too much really. With Emma poorly her and Dylan didnt get chance to attend the usual baby groups which was a shame as they have all broke up for christmas now. Thankfully Emma has made lots of friends here and her phone is constantly ringing so her and Dylan never seem to be short of things to do. They have a nativity play to go to tomorrow where Dylan will get chance to be in it. Last friday was my christmas party - the bbq by the lake - however as it was raining it was a bit of a sad affair huddled under a marquee. Despite the weather we had a nice weekend though. Saturday we hired a car and explored a few parts of Adelaide that we havent visited before which included the largest shopping centre (surprisingly quiet given the time of year), the beach (for fish and chips) and the worlds largest rocking horse (see pic). The latter is the centrepiece of a wooden toy factory nestled in the Adelaide Hills and was obviously an attempt to draw people out of the city to visit - and it worked. They even had a free wildlife park with albino kangeroos (see pic). We took the scenic route back to the city along the windy mountain roads and experienced what it is like to have a child with travel sickness for the first time (projectile vomiting!). On Sunday we also did quite a bit - visited the street markets, went to a rap festival (dylan wasnt keen), took a boat trip down the river torrens, went swimming and then went to the picnic and carols in the park event which was at the end of the street. The picnic was actually really nice. Emma noticed that there is a real sense of community here which is not something we have had anywhere before. People are certainly more friendly here than back home. We got talking to lots of people and overall the event had a real nice feel to it. Mick-me (Santa) turned up and Dylan seemed to have got over his fear this time (see pic), although perhaps it was because this was the most laid back Santa ever who also gave out free chocolates. Dylan has learnt a few more words this week but the best by far was 'ho ho ho' whenever he sees anything christmassy even tinsel. He has been entertaining lots of people in the local shopping centre by running round shouting 'ho ho ho' all the time.
So that's all the news really, told you not so much has happened. Even though we still have 5 weeks to go things feel a little different now with talk of home more and more common. It still doesnt feel that christmassy here. There are lots of christmas decorations in public but it seems most people dont really decorare their houses with lights or trees. There is also hardly any mention of it on TV. In fact potentially christmas might be a little strange here. Not sure what we are doing yet but it seems sadly as if the bbq on the beach could be an urban myth! Someone told us the beaches are deserted on xmas day. We are hoping to pick up the campervan on christmas eve so then we'll at least be able to explore a little. It seems most aussies have a bbq (tutkey and seafood) at home with family. We have a few things lined up for this week though. I have my departmental seminar on friday and then Emma has her mums night out on saturday night. Then on Sunday it is Carols by Candlelight when 40 000 people gather in the park by the river with the symphony orchestra for carols. Not sure what that will be like, especially since it doesnt start until 8pm and we'll have Dylan with us but we plan to check it out. Anyway we'll report back on that next week in what might be the last blog for a bit. At least probably until the new year. You never know I might convince Emma to write next weeks one as a 'guest blogger'. Might also use next week to deliver our annual christmas message :) So until next time Bye The Mooneys xxx
PS feel free to leave us a christmas message below !
Monday 8 December 2008
Yum Cha & Sparkling Sharaz
hello blog regulars and any secret blog readers we may have... Funny i thought not many people were reading this and then when i dont do it on sunday night i get loads of emails saying 'where's the blog!' How will you cope without the blog when we leave?? I dont think the 'Mooney's in Loughborough' is worth blogging about..
So its been a little quieter this week so I dont think I have so much to report. Following on from last week my sunburn at the cricket was a little worse than i thought, got to be better with the sunblock i think. On the plus side we got away with the bump on the hire car so no £1000 bill thank god. The middle part of last week was a little non-eventful as Saoirse and I were working pretty hard and Dylan and Emma were busy with their usual activities. Dylan was in great form until the end of the week when the blasted teething returned for a few days again. He has had three main new words this week, firstly, 'flower', this took some practice, secondly, 'cheese' or as he pronounces it 'cheeeeeeeeeeese' (in fact he sounds a bit like Harry Hill when he says it). The other, and our current favourite, is his word for Father Christmas which is 'Mick-me'. Gods knows where this came from but it makes us laugh every time he sees a Santa and starts shouting 'mick-meeeee'. He is also especially enjoying his chocolate advent calendar so thanks to grandma for that.
The main event of the week was thursday when Emma and I go our first night out in ages when Saoirse babysitted for us. It was great to see Adelaide by night and we really enjoyed going out for a thai meal and then on for a few beers. Dylan slept the entire time we were out but unfortunately he woke up crying on our return and continued to do so until 3am which rather took the shine off things. Still it was good to go out. Unfortunately Saoirse has flown back to the UK today so that maybe the last one for a while. On Friday night I got another night out this time with the guys as i went to see Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix in a football match. It was a really good night out and quite different to a game in the UK. You could pay on the gate and it was only £8. You could choose where you wanted to sit and drink a beer from your seat. I was also lucky to see Adelaide's highest ever win (6-1). The other guys werent really footy fans so I was in my element explaining all the tactics and highlighting the best players. They found it funny that the one player I identified as being the weak link went on to score a hatrick and get man of the match. I'll shut up next time!
So on to the weekend, and unfortunately saturday like most of the week was a little dull and overcast so the beach was off. Instead we just hung out around Adelaide. We went out to an authentic chinese (nobody spoke english) restuarant for lunch and had yum cha. Not sure what the wikipedia definition of this is but essential there is no menu, no price list, they bring you lots of little dishes, sort of tapas like, and you decide if you want it or not. None of the food resembled anything we have had back home even if it sounded the same. Anyway we had a good laugh eating all sorts of things mainly in the form of dumplings and buns although we did draw the line at the salt and pepper chicken feet. Sadly we both agreed at the end though that we preferred the non-authentic chinese food. It doesnt bode well for my planned trip to China next summer!
The best day of the week was Sunday (yesterday). As it was Saoirse's last day we hired a car and headed out of Adelaide to the Barossa valley, the famous wine region (in the top ten best places to visit in the world according to trip advisor). Anyway you can go round all the wineries, some famous, some not so (see pics) and taste all the wine for free. And then the best bit. You can buy a bottle really cheaply, they give you free glasses and you can then go and use the free BBQ's in the picnic area, which is exactly what we did. The Barossa is most famous for Shiraz and i had the tasted one of the best red wines i have ever had, pity i was the designated driver! Anyway the weather was great and we all had a fab day. Although our sausages on the BBQ looked a little sad compared to all the aussie ones who had shrimps, steak, calamari etc.
So that's it really. We are thinking about a road trip to the Yorke Peninsula for a few days next weekend although the forecast isnt great - cloudy again - so we arent sure. Emma and Dylan have lots on this week as a few of the groups they have attended are shutting down for christmas so its party time. Emma even has a girls night out next week with some of her friends so that good. It still doesnt feel much like christmas here, not sure it will, although Emma has decorated the flat thanks to the $1 shop.
Rightyho, hope you are all keeping warm, I heard there was snow last week, sounds fun! Many thanks to all those who have sent cards and pressies too. Love The Mooneys x
So its been a little quieter this week so I dont think I have so much to report. Following on from last week my sunburn at the cricket was a little worse than i thought, got to be better with the sunblock i think. On the plus side we got away with the bump on the hire car so no £1000 bill thank god. The middle part of last week was a little non-eventful as Saoirse and I were working pretty hard and Dylan and Emma were busy with their usual activities. Dylan was in great form until the end of the week when the blasted teething returned for a few days again. He has had three main new words this week, firstly, 'flower', this took some practice, secondly, 'cheese' or as he pronounces it 'cheeeeeeeeeeese' (in fact he sounds a bit like Harry Hill when he says it). The other, and our current favourite, is his word for Father Christmas which is 'Mick-me'. Gods knows where this came from but it makes us laugh every time he sees a Santa and starts shouting 'mick-meeeee'. He is also especially enjoying his chocolate advent calendar so thanks to grandma for that.
The main event of the week was thursday when Emma and I go our first night out in ages when Saoirse babysitted for us. It was great to see Adelaide by night and we really enjoyed going out for a thai meal and then on for a few beers. Dylan slept the entire time we were out but unfortunately he woke up crying on our return and continued to do so until 3am which rather took the shine off things. Still it was good to go out. Unfortunately Saoirse has flown back to the UK today so that maybe the last one for a while. On Friday night I got another night out this time with the guys as i went to see Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix in a football match. It was a really good night out and quite different to a game in the UK. You could pay on the gate and it was only £8. You could choose where you wanted to sit and drink a beer from your seat. I was also lucky to see Adelaide's highest ever win (6-1). The other guys werent really footy fans so I was in my element explaining all the tactics and highlighting the best players. They found it funny that the one player I identified as being the weak link went on to score a hatrick and get man of the match. I'll shut up next time!
So on to the weekend, and unfortunately saturday like most of the week was a little dull and overcast so the beach was off. Instead we just hung out around Adelaide. We went out to an authentic chinese (nobody spoke english) restuarant for lunch and had yum cha. Not sure what the wikipedia definition of this is but essential there is no menu, no price list, they bring you lots of little dishes, sort of tapas like, and you decide if you want it or not. None of the food resembled anything we have had back home even if it sounded the same. Anyway we had a good laugh eating all sorts of things mainly in the form of dumplings and buns although we did draw the line at the salt and pepper chicken feet. Sadly we both agreed at the end though that we preferred the non-authentic chinese food. It doesnt bode well for my planned trip to China next summer!
The best day of the week was Sunday (yesterday). As it was Saoirse's last day we hired a car and headed out of Adelaide to the Barossa valley, the famous wine region (in the top ten best places to visit in the world according to trip advisor). Anyway you can go round all the wineries, some famous, some not so (see pics) and taste all the wine for free. And then the best bit. You can buy a bottle really cheaply, they give you free glasses and you can then go and use the free BBQ's in the picnic area, which is exactly what we did. The Barossa is most famous for Shiraz and i had the tasted one of the best red wines i have ever had, pity i was the designated driver! Anyway the weather was great and we all had a fab day. Although our sausages on the BBQ looked a little sad compared to all the aussie ones who had shrimps, steak, calamari etc.
So that's it really. We are thinking about a road trip to the Yorke Peninsula for a few days next weekend although the forecast isnt great - cloudy again - so we arent sure. Emma and Dylan have lots on this week as a few of the groups they have attended are shutting down for christmas so its party time. Emma even has a girls night out next week with some of her friends so that good. It still doesnt feel much like christmas here, not sure it will, although Emma has decorated the flat thanks to the $1 shop.
Rightyho, hope you are all keeping warm, I heard there was snow last week, sounds fun! Many thanks to all those who have sent cards and pressies too. Love The Mooneys x
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