Christmas in the sun

Christmas here is much like it is in the UK except for the weather. Jenny & I cooked lunch for 18 - Lizzies family plus some neighbours and that seemed to work out quite well. Sarah & William spent time in the pool with their cousins allowing most of the adults to chat/snooze between courses. Our Boxing Day was spent in traditional australian style at the MCG for the first day of the test against India complete with turkey sandwiches for lunch washed down by weak beer. The current exchage rate(1.50 to a pound) makes this country quite expensive to eat out in but we have had some exceptional quality food accompanied by an excellent selection of wine. We had quite a surprise one day when boarding the train to go to Melbourne for a trip to the aquarium with William. We had just sat down when John/"shaggy" from John Orwell Wapping strolled up to say I didn't expect to see you here ! Small world. Speaking of gyms, I visited the local gym earlier today with Liz & a couple of neighbours. It didn't feel too bad at the time due to the previous nights excess dulling most sensation but as it is the first time in 3 months I suspect that I will be fairly sore tomorrow New Years Day. There must be a resolution or two in there somewhere ?

The run up to Christmas

Paul is out of hospital , groggy at first but recovering slowly although he cannot lift anything heavier than 2kgs or above shoulder height for 6 weeks which is frustrating for him & everyone else. We spend time cooking, shopping & looking after the little 'uns with the occasional outing to the park or the swimming pool with them. Paul seem much better in himself & when obeying doctors orders and taking medication gets no recurrence of his pain in the left arm from the replacement collapsed disc in his neck. He.Liz and we are able to go out to a barbecue on saturday & have an excellent evening with some of his closest friends. Bring on the festive !

Day 3 Brisbane

Our journey home on the bus was eventful as we could not find the correct bus station - there are three in the centre- so ended up getting the wrong bus but struck lucky with a driver who was going close to where we were staying . He volunteered to drop us off at our hotel on his way back to the depot (what a nice man) & we were just in time for a couple of glasses with Liz- . We were not so lucky with the buses the following day - an hourly service - but went into town for a few hours ( breakfast & the botanic gardens and mangrove boardwalk) before going to the ice rink to see the free programmes of the men & women. These were a mixed bag but it was interesting to cast judgement on them & see how close you got - very in my case.We had arranged to meet Jennys friends in Brisbane that evening & thought that as were only 200 yards from the station it would be easy - not quite. First we left a little late then discovered that a rail replacement service was running so we arrived nearly an hour late for our meeting at a lovely steak house on the river at Eagle St Pier  a great setting. It was a lovely meal & our hosts then offered to drive us back to our hotel which improved our travel experience of earlier no end. Tomorrow back to Melbourne & babysitting duties while Liz visis Paul in hospital before his neurosurgery the following day.

Brisbane & The "Nationals"

We met Elizabeth & Brisbane airport 7 took a cab to the "Brisbane International - Virginia hotel where we had a two bed apartment for 3 nights. Liz set off immediately to a judges meeting  for the skating & the ice dance competition while we caught up with the laundry & the cricket . We went for a wander round the immediate area in search of somewhere likely to have dinner but failed to find anywhere that did not promise a formulaic,fast or fried repast so decided that the hotel it must be. As it turned out this was a sound move as the restaurant was lovely & in decor reminded me of River View prior to the removal of tablecloths. The food was very good and the wine list allowed us to reacquaint ourselves with a Hillcot merlot that we had tasted at the winery in the Barossa a few days earlier. The following day begin at with a nice breakfast at the local mall & some xmas shopping before Liz had again to set off for the skating. We caught the bus to the City and had a ride up & down the river - a great way to see town - on the City catamaran (included in the timed bus ticket ), good value. We disembarked on the Southbank and after a stroll along through the parkland turned our thoughts to an early dinner as we had not eaten since breakfast. Dinner was Greek and our outside table overlooked the artificial beach. We then went in search of a bus home !

BRISBANE AND THE "SUNSHINE" COAST

Our flight to Brisbane was short & uneventful and we were soon in the hire car heading towards the Sunshine Coast town of Caloundra about 50 miles north. Brisbane was surprisingly a few degrees cooler than Adelaide and quite grey but I was confident that things would improve - until I saw the weather forecast ! After check-in, our afternoon was spent on domestics ,exploring on foot to find lunch & orientating ourselves. Fortunately the rain and the howling wind did not start in earnest until we returned to the apartment but this meant the evening outing for dinner at the "Hogs Breath Cafe" entailed a drive. I would have volunteered but I lost my driving licence in Delhi.
Day 2 saw us en route to the Glasshouse Mountains for a scenic drive which did live up to expectations and would have been absolutely beautiful if we had seen a ray of sunshine or two. The photos taken from the top of Mount Beerburrum dont do the scenery justice but the exercise climbing it felt good. We returned to Caloundra just in time to avoid the unseasonal monsoon which was fairly constant for the next 24 hours (2 inches in all) and we were content to have dinner in our apartment and reacquaint ourselves with the Barossa shiraz . Day 3 finds us marooned due to rain apart from a trip out for breakfast & internet use and we organised ourselves for the return to Brisbane to meet Liz the following day.

BAROSSA OR BUST

We could not leave South Australia without a brief sojourn in the Barossa Valley and a visit to one or two ( or three ) wineries. We took the bus from Adelaide and arrived at  the glamorous location known locally as the BP station Murray Street the nearest stop to our aim the "Top Drop" motel Nuriootpa to which we took a taxi - one of two in town ! The motel turned out to be more drop than top but was comfortable enough & within walking distance of  a pub that we had been recommended to by the bartender at our chosen breakfast venue in Adelaide the Caos Cafe. We had discussed a trip out to some wineries with the taxi driver & planned our assault on a few over a couple of glasses of the local shiraz. The following day was spent trying the Rockford winery - not brilliant but we did stop short of tasting their real heavyweight and then walked half a mile to Grant Burge . Here I thought the wine was better (Hillcot Merlot was lovely) & we had a lovely mixed platter lunch overlooking the vineyard and tried another glass before setting off to walk the mile to St Hallet (Poachers Blend white, Gamekeepers Reserve red,  another shiraz/grenache blend (memory gone by now) and the finale the Faith Shiraz. By now all we could do is call the cab and go for a lie down before dinner at the local pub - more shiraz - tough eh  . The following day we returned to Adelaide to stay overnight before our morning flight to Brisbane & onward to the Sunshine Coast

Adelaide

Day 1 was spent attending to chores but we did have time enough to visit an Aboriginal cultural centre to see a photographic & art exhibition which was very talented  and interesting although the subject  was in part quite tragic. The photographic exhibit consisted of three sections one of which was a series from a prison. the most moving  told the story of the near genocide of a small aboriginal grouping  on Tasmania and the subsequent desecration of their gravestones and even the theft of the plaque from the memorial. The final part was a recording of an island custom of harvesting wild mutton birds once a year on a remote island off Tasmania.
After this we needed fresh air so went for a wander around the botanical gardens which are lovely at this time of year. Our evening was spent in The Apothecary - a superbly preserved shop complete with the original fittings,bottles etc- in the middle of what must be said is a tawdry part of Adelaide . They had an excellent tasting menu and an excellent wine list

THE OVERLANDER TO ADELAIDE

Ten days in Geelong have now passed during which we have : partied for Paul's birthday until the early hours ; been swimming with the "little uns" and been to the "Bollywood Ball" . At this I felt very underdressed  amongst fancy dress & party frocks and especially when stood next to Paul - photo to come in due course. Having done this it was time to give the family some peace so we took a trip on The Overlander train to Adelaide which commenced with our being dropped by taxi at North Shore "station'" . This  boasted 3 platforms but more closely resembled the goods yard that it was next to as any facilities e.g. waiting rooms, toilets,benches were non existent - just the platform itself then - and I was hoping to have breakfast at the station !  The journey was 8 hours but the seats were comfortable with recline & fold out table . The  buffet car next door had a reasonable selection of Australian gourmet fare - pies & VB - plus some more normal food and drink. We were given a short summary of  what the area surrounding each station we stopped at was famous for or produced  by the train "MC"tour guide fashion which was quite interesting - honestly ! Arrived on time & were at our apartment a few minutes later as central Adelaide is quite small .