Picnicking at Point Cook

The purple scenery of Point Cook

The 2nd of Jan was Mum and Dad's Ruby Wedding anniversary, so since this was the last day that we were all together, we went for a picnic at Point Cook - a state park in Melbourne's south west on Port Phillip Bay.

Mum and Dad celebrating their Ruby Anniversary

We had a great day - in spite of the heat, and Tom gave us all a crash course in "frisbeeing". We slowly improved over the course of the day...

Left: Justine, Right: Rachelle and Tom

Following that, we took a nice walk along the beach, which due to all the seaweed and sea urchins etc washed up, had turned a pretty shade of purple.

It was a lovely day, and was enjoyed by all, as you can see from the photos.

Retail therapy in Melbourne

Left: The Block Arcade, Right: Rachelle and I with our day's

purchases (includes some of Justine's too!)

While down in Melbourne at Christmas, one of the things to do is go to the Melbourne sales... Rachelle, Justine and I set out for a "Girls' Day Out hitting the shops of the Melbourne CBD".

Those who know me well will know that I have a slight shoe addiction, so will take any opportunity to buy some new ones. Rachelle and Justine did well too - each of us found two new pairs during the course of the day. We all picked up a number of bargains for the day - nothing at full price!

Now just need to hold out till I get to New York!

Web Albums

As you all know, I love putting photos on my blog here.... But playing with Picasa tonight, I've become a fan of web albums. It's always so hard to pick the photos that I show to the world, now I get to show a few more. I will of course continue to post photos to the blog here... but if you want to see more... visit my web albums!

Boxing Day at the "G"

We had already won the Ashes... but we were yet to whitewash... the series was at a tense moment.

Aah... I'd been to the Boxing Day cricket test before, but never on Boxing Day itself, nor to the Ashes... So after pestering Rachelle and Tom for a while, they gave me one of the coveted tickets that would also hopefully see Warnie's 700th wicket.

It happened late in the day.... After we were partially frozen from the football-type temperatures. We watched Warnie get not only his 700th wicket, but he scored a 5 wicket innings, in his second last game before retirement...

Go Warnie!!!

Special mention should also go to "Cousin Glenn" - Glenn McGrath who Mum suggests is likely to be some distant relation of ours, who is also soon to retire from cricket.

Sydney summers on the beach

Waves crashing at Avalon

Of all the places I've travelled to in the world, the only beaches coming close to Australia's have been Hawaii's, and let's face it... much of the sand lying on Hawaii's beaches is from Australia anyhow! This summer has been an odd one, weather-wise, so my friend Claire and I agreed on a day, and said we'd go to the beach, rain hail or shine.

The beach at Dee Why

We headed north, to Sydney's beautiful Northern Beaches and ran into a bit of foul weather... It rained most of the way to Palm Beach, however we did get a bit of a break when we stopped for lunch at Avalon.

Claire relaxing on the beach

Then we headed back towards the city, and by the time we got to Dee Why (Just before we were about to give up and go to a movie at Warringah Mall) so we stopped off for a relaxing afternoon on the beach. It was great - one of those beautiful (however still cool) afternoons we get here in Sydney, just before summer kicks in.

Claire and I at Dee Why

Barefoot Bowls at Mosman

Left: Stormclouds rolling in, Right: Here I am with Jodie (Left) and Kate (Centre)

As our 'End of busy season' (implying that there was a quiet season that I've not yet seen) function for work, we had a barefoot bowls day at Mosman (conveniently in walking distance from my place!). It was fairly dicey weather, you can see above the stormclouds rolling in, however we still got a fair bit of play in.

A great day was had by all, and I even learned to bowl a bit!

Dashing through the snow...

Standing on skis

While I was sitting at work one day in England worrying about some hedge fund, I got sidetracked, and found I'd agreed to a ski trip on my return to Australia.

Tim and Pete before we headed out for the first day's lesson

It took place in September, for what was an already fairly poor ski season... We boarded the bus in Sydney at midnight, and pulled into Perisher resort just as the sun was coming up. We waited around for an hour or so before anything even opened to sort ourselves out with ski gear. We were all tired and grumpy, however it was a beautiful day - we just had to get out there and go.

Views of Perisher - Left: the village, Right: My "toddler" slope

As you all probably know, I'm not the world's most accomplished skier. This was my third time ever on skis, the previous times being once at Falls Creek where the weather was so foul we only gave it half a day, the second time being a day of cross country skiing with Greg at Lenggries in Germany, which I have discussed previously on my blog. This time I actually felt as if I ended the trip being able to ski... at least a little, meaning I could make it down the toddler slope (a bit more challenging than the baby slope) and also - (for me perhaps the greater achievement) ended the weekend having finally mastered chairlifts - i.e. being able to ski off them.

Left: Stacks on on the snow; Right: Grant and Pete during a game of "Thumb King"

We also had some great accomodation. Everyone returned after the day's skiing to have a short nap, before tucking into the great dinner and desert that was served for us. We had a great time, and it also gave me the chance to get to know some of the new faces around the office since getting back from England. One night we even headed into Perisher for a night at the pub. A great time seemed to be had by all!

Dinner at Barakee Lodge

Can't wait for next year's trip!

Flashback to Russia - and some feedback on decisions I have made

Before I booked my May 2006 trip to Russia I struggled with the dilemma of how I was going to get from Moscow to St Petersburg. Unfortunately I couldn't book an open-jaw flight, and had to fly both in and out of Moscow, so I was of two minds whether to train or fly the 700 odd kilometres between the two cities.

In the end with the help of a good friend in Moscow, Lena, I went for the rail option. After all - travel by rail in Russia is legendary. If it's good enough for Dr Zhivago and Anna Karenina... it's good enough for me. And my reading on the situation prior to travel suggested that Aeroflot was the best of the Russian airlines, call me prejudiced, but based on the airline's past, that wasn't quite enough assurance for me.

So today following some random browsing on wikipedia, one of my favourite websites, I discovered some scary information on the airline's performance... I think I made the right decision.

Incidentally, my cousin Robert who was also travelling in Russia at the same time, and whom I finally met up with in Krakow, Poland after some Fawlty Towers style communication problems, made the brave decision and flew Aeroflot... He suggested that it was an "experience", after he was advised to shrinkwrap his luggage and personally identify at the other end. (And that's before even considering the in-flight safety!) Maybe next time I'll brave it!

NB: Despite the above predicament I was in, Russia was an absolute highlight of my world trip. I'd be there again in an instant... if only the visa wasn't so expensive! And admittedly, when I look at the link, American airlines and United Airlines are almost as bad... Might do some rethinking for trip 2007!

2006 City to Surf

Left: A winter's day at Bondi, Right: Alison and I at the start line

2006 City to Surf was held on a beautiful winter's day. The City to Surf is held every year in Sydney, and consists of a 14km run or walk from Hyde Park in the City to Bondi Beach. I've taken part on a number of occasions, usually it's the work sponsored marquee at the end that keeps me going. The course goes through some of the prettiest parts of Sydney, and includes a landmark, the aptly named 'Heartbreak Hill'. It's quite a famous race really, and attracts many professional runners, as well as the cartoon characters and gorillas amongst families and corporate groups making up the 'Back of the Pack'.

Left: Gorillas on course for Bondi, and Right: A sea of red at the start line

This year, Alison and Cameron, some friends of mine were also doing the course so we ran (read 'walked') all the way to Bondi together. As usual, the marquee put up a good performance by supplying us with a decent barbecue and a few drinks at the end.

Band playing on the roof of Double Bay's Golden Sheaf Hotel, and Alison and Cam enjoying the barbecue at Bondi

Stunning sunsets

While we were driving home from our trip to Barwon Heads on the Bellarine Peninsula, we came across this stunning sunset, and just had to stop off and take a photograph.

Lena Juliet Holmes

Meet my lovely niece Lena Juliet. This is one of many photos of the newest member of the family. For more, see Greg and Andrea's website. Lena was born on 23 December in England.

A day for a Seachange - Barwon Heads

Views around the point at Barwon Heads

Not long after arriving home from my trip, I spent a weekend in Melbourne with Rachelle and Tom. Over the weekend we took a drive down to Barwon Heads, a little past Geelong on the Bellarine Peninsula. For those not in the know, Barwon Heads is one of the main sites for the filming of one of my favourite television series, Seachange.

Under the bridge that caused so much drama
in the Pearl Bay of Seachange

Barwon Heads is a small village to the south west of Melbourne on the Bass Strait. We enjoyed a great meal of fish and chips in the boat shed, and then took a walk around the point. It was a beautiful winter's day, and a great day out.

The Boat Shed - Diver Dan's place

Greetings from Aunty Claire

Hot off the press - I am now an aunt. My brother Greg and his wife Andrea gave birth to a baby girl, Lena, yesterday (Dec 23) in the UK. As yet there are currently no photos available, however we are all very excited about the new birth. Check Greg's website for further details, and I'll post some photos as soon as they are available.

There's no place like home...

Whew! As most of you know, I've been back in Sydney since July. Given it's now November, that means it's taken me about 4 months to get the trip posts all up here...

I'll have lots of Sydney adventures posted soon too - I've still been having heaps of fun since I got back here. There's also parts of my trip which may not have made it to the blog... So those will be coming up too from time to time!

"Aloha" - Surfers Crossing

Crossing near Sunset Beach

Hawaii. The perfect place to finish an around the world trip. Also conveniently located as the natural last stop on my itinerary therefore it made perfect sense to stopover rather than doing the long flight from Canada direct. We got into Honolulu at about 11pm on the 4th of July, pity we seem to have missed most of the festivities though.

Another thing I loved about Hawaii was all of the beautiful flowers

From the moment the airport bus guy threw our bags onto the bus, we could tell that Hawaii was going to be a bit more laid back than most of the places we'd been. You could see families on their relaxing holiday wandering around Waikiki with matching Hawaiian shirts for father and son, wondering whether they would ever wear them again when they got home... Everything just seemed to happen on "Hawaii time", a far cry from the hustle and bustle of cities like New York, London, Istanbul or Moscow. But perhaps that was just what I needed.

Left: Here I am on Sunset Beach, Right: Surfboards on Waikiki Beach

We had a great couple of days in Hawaii... I was at the stage of the trip where I was happy just to relax, do a bit of sightseeing but nothing too adventurous. Hawaii is a fantastic place for that kind of holiday... Some nice hot weather before hitting the cold winter in Australia, a chance to relax on the beach (after to getting to a place with the best beaches since leaving Australia) with a good book, and having a nice swim, enjoying the sunset and the first time I've been on an island out in the middle of the Pacific.

Left: Sunset Beach, Right: Waikiki Beach

As is often the case with me, someone who doesn't relax well, we did do a little adventuring. One day we caught the bus all the way around the island of Oahu, stopping off for a break at Sunset Beach on the northern side of the island (I will say the hamburger and chips we got there felt more like a takeaway on the beach in Australia than any of the places in Honolulu or Waikiki) . Another day we took a trip to the beautiful Hanauma Bay near Honolulu - a protected bay famous for its snorkelling. I hired a snorkel and had a go myself, and got to see some beautiful coloured fish. That afternoon, we also visited Diamond Head, a volcanic crater overlooking Waikiki. I did the climb to the top, which included climbing stairs through claustrophobic tunnels, and the view at the top rewarded me with views all over the area. It was fantastic.

Inside the crater on Diamond Head (Left) and the view from the top over Waikiki

The other day? Relaxing down at Waikiki with a good book!

Above: Waikiki beach
Below: Hanauma Bay

Vegging in Vancouver

Our last Canadian port of call was Vancouver, when after 7 months of travelling around, I finally saw the Pacific Ocean again.

Left: A spectacular flight over the Rockies, Right: Vancouver Skyline from Stanley Park

After a spectacular flight from Calgary over the Rockies, we landed in Vancouver, a city of about 2 million people in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Vancouver lies on a short width of land between the mountains and the ocean - it's fairly spectacularly located. I really loved the city, a great mix of outdoors, cosmopolitan shopping and dining, and culture.

Above: Canada Place

Below: Fish market at Lonsdale Quay and some beautiful flowers in Stanley Park

While in Vancouver, we spent some time wandering around the fantastic Stanley Park. There is a bus that during summer travels around the full circuit of the park (it's a fairly large park!) It was a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed the sights, from the raccoons to the flowers to the great skyline views of Vancouver city.

Left: A raccoon out in Stanley Park, Right: The Lion's Head Bridge

I also managed to fit in a spot of shopping on Robson Street, wandered around Canada Place, and got to ride the funky Skytrain. We also wandered down through Gastown, and watched one of the World Cup matches from one of the Gastown breweries. I really enjoyed Vancouver - it had such a great atmosphere, a really great place to be.