Catching up by Catching Up

Sunday 25^th December 2016 to Friday 20^th January 2017

This is a bit of a catch-up blog, simply because there has not been much that I have thought that we had done that was of anything out of the ordinary whilst we have been in Melbourne.

Once we had returned from Maroochydore, it was straight into Xmas Day, which was a pleasant day in itself; Diane as usual was ready very early in the morning but had to settle for a coffee instead whilst she waited for others in the house to wake up.

 

Crazy LA kids - this years Santa photo from them
- ain't they adorable

After presents were opened we were down to the chicken place just down the road from us to pick up a couple of cooked chooks which would be part of lunch – saved all of the hassles of a lot of cooking; Sam prepared the vegetables and we had picked up the cheesecakes the night before – oh so easy and simple.

We ventured west of Melbourne down to Warrnambool – at the end of The Great Ocean Road (although we didn’t travel that way) – to visit Brenda (my aunt) and we also caught up with Heather and Ron (aunt and uncle) – very glad to see all of them and to see that they are all very well and very fit.

We will spend more time down this way when we are back in Australia full time.

 

Diane was a bit keen to get to church whilst we were in
Warrnambool and light a candle for Lauren who has had
another stroke - we all are hoping for the best for her

Since then we have had Sam’s flatmate Harry move out to his own place – we helped with all of the moving; Diane has changed a few things around to make it more the way that we would like it and Sam as well; there has been some severe cleaning out of wardrobes and cupboards with extra bins required for what has left the house.

Rebecca was over here from New Zealand so we were able to see her - we all seemed to have tight schedules whenever we come back and so it was a matter of spending time for lunch and then some drinks - funnily we ended up at Young and Jackson's (an iconic Melbourne pub) again with Chloe still there.

Bec and Diane with Chloe

We have continued to catch up with old friends – Diane has had lunches and coffees with Vicki, Sandie and Robin as well as a dinner with others whom she worked with – all seemed pretty well interested with what we have been up to, what we are doing next and when we are coming home (for good).

 

Diane with her ex-colleague and still friend Robin

As well we met up with Robert and Bruce for breakfast one morning and then a week later for dinner – these guys we met 10 years ago on a cruise around some of the islands in the south Pacific and remained friends ever since – they really are great guys whom we love very dearly.

The only sad note of the whole trip is that our dear neighbour Frank has been diagnosed with a secondary cancer following surgery to remove and replace his right eye which had ocular cancer. It is now a fact that we will not see him again after we leave to return – it will be a matter of a few months – maybe a bit longer – before he is gone, leaving his wife Helen.

We have been able to get a few jobs done for them whilst we have been home and once we do return we will be aiming to do much much more.

Frank was involved with the running of the committee for the townhouses and instrumental in the resolution of the problem that we have had as I have described previously. He is a wonderful man who used to be a professional cyclist in Europe and we shared a passion for Le Tour.

So not really a lot has happened – oh, I almost forgot, we decided to have a day out just on the outer area of the City of Melbourne at a little sporting event called The Australian Open (tennis) – just lobbed up to the ticket office there and grabbed a couple of tickets – just took 45 minutes and had a great day out seeing a few well known players and some entertaining tennis matches. It was a bit warm with the temperature rising to about 33C.

 

Like the headwear - ready for the sun at the tennis and any rain that might
dare to be around

The weather whilst we have been home has been pretty much typical Melbourne weather – some hot to very hot days followed by milder weather and interspersed with a few rain periods – mainly overnight – a couple of nights where it was a bit more difficult to sleep – but in the end it was as expected.

 

Just a lovely part of Melbourne - top of  Collins St and the
icon of Melbourne transport - the tram - the network is the
3rd largest in the world

By the time this is published on-line I should be back on the boat; Diane however will be with her parents again in Queensland, making sure that they are doing as they are supposed to be doing – she’s looking forward to getting back on the boat already!

Apparently Diane's Mum wasn't impressed when we
posted this photo on Facebook with the caption
 "just shopping for mum and dad"

South to North

Monday 5^th December to Tuesday 20^th December 2016

Most of the time, so far, has been spent on working for me, getting some things done around the house that Sam either could not do or was reluctant to start – she isn’t a great one for getting too involved with the backyard (as small as it is); but by far the biggest thing that has been happening has been the building site directly outside our front door.

We live in a townhouse in a group of 19 units with a central security area which is not open to just anyone. It is a walkway for the exclusive use of residents and guests, but it is an area over an underground car park and the garages for each unit.

Over the relatively short time since the units have been built, the waterproofing membrane has failed and the underground area, when rain is falling outside,  has resembled somewhere between an underground river and a series of limsestone caves – with Stalactites appearing in various places.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the residents (as a group and of which we are one couple) took legal action against the builder and we won the case – meaning that the builder has to fix the problem.

This has involved ripping up all of the outside tiled areas as well as the existing non-performing membrane and the screed – this has been a messy, noisy and dirty job – but the guys doing the work have been very good, keeping us informed about what the timing is.

Fortunately, part of the job has already been completed, so we can see what the outcome will be, but Xmas approaching has presented new time limits and constraints.

The upshot is that the screed will be laid before Xmas and the job will be finished off in early February (the building trades take 4 weeks off at Xmas).

This would be the "before" photo, with the preparation all done

This is the "after" photo - the area already completed

At the start of our time back home, Diane flew to Maroochydore to see her parents, which was our primary reason for coming home at this time of the year; she has reported back that they are much more frail than they were last year when she saw them, but looking forward to their upcoming renewal of vows – well at least her mother is looking forward to it, Dad is very much ambivalent about it all.

Sea and sun - oh and snorkeller

Not looking too bad here - this is a very good day.

After 10 days in Melbourne doing things as I needed to do – this included organising some things for Xmas in Melbourne, I have flown north as well, and now we are both in Kawana (near Caloundra) where Diane’s brother and sister-in-law – Robert and Sonia manage a beachside resort – they have been able to have a large unit available to us – 3 bedroom apartment with a private rooftop terrace and overlooking the beach – in the prime holiday season for a fraction of the normal price – very nice indeed.

Not bad really - this will do us for the week

From the baclony this is the short path that leads to the beach

The view from the apartment to downtown Maroochydore

The sea was a bit rough during one of the days - the remnants of a storm
had just blown through - but the surf lifesavers were out - and remember
to swim between the flags

The only problem about being here is the damned weather – as anyone reading this blog will know, we do not like hot humid weather and that is what you get here at this time of the year – all of the time; night and day. Temperatures have been between 25 and 30C everyday.

The sunrises have all been quite magnificent as these should show

But we are enjoying the air-conditioning and seeing the oldies; Diane’s sister, Vivienne, arrived on Saturday, so we only have Sam to fly in on Wednesday and we are complete – Mitch and Sara, understandably were not able to get here from LA.

Sisters - Vivienne and Diane

There have been a few periods of quite heavy rain here, which as we are in a sub-tropical region, is quite usual – it only helps to increase the humidity, but as we have been told before, we need to get a grip!

So, a bit of sun, a bit of surf, lovely pristine beaches, BBQ’s as much as we want – there are worse places to spend some time.

We did find this little fellow on the beach

Time for a change

Sunday 27^th November to Sunday 4^th December 2016

As planned we did move off on Tuesday, but only just a mile where we have moored the boat up.

 

She looks mighty fine there with all of her friends - the weather was even fine
when we were leaving

We had a lovely meal with Stella and Dave at Barby Sporting Club that night – we have been before and for a place that is a bit out of the way, the food that they serve is really quite good – that is not just the opinion of Diane and I, but Stella also and she is a chef who really does cook well.

Tuesday night was a wee bit on the cold side (no, that’s not quite right – it was bloody cold) – getting down to -6C which was low enough to freeze the canal and lo and behold we had a tough time moving the boat to where we had to go.

Eventually that was all sorted and we moored it up all safe and sound – had to be really, because we were about to catch a taxi, which we did to Rugby Station and then the train to Birmingham to spend the night – The Premier Inn as usual – with a great nights sleep.

 

A lovely night sky and the German markets - all in Birmingham

This does not count as a true Santa photo my lovely -
it is not a real Santa

The following day which was now Thursday, we made our way to Birmingham International for a 13:30 flight – heading via Dubai to Melbourne – landing at 23:55 on Friday night (local time).

 

The train was a bit full so we were out in the vestibule with
the cases

Diane couldn't help herself - on the flight they were showing the movie Jason Bourne -
so naturally she had to pause it and get a shot with Ferndale in it.

Our lovely daughter, Sam, picked us up – lost a bit of her beauty sleep in the process, and we all managed to finally get to bed about 2 am – some of this time was simply spent talking once we did get home, but that is where we now are and will be for few weeks to come.

I managed to get a decent sleep, but Diane could not and she was still a bit tired on Saturday and succumbed to an afternoon nap.

We did, however, manage to get a few things done that we had needed to get done here.

The purpose of the trip is primarily to see Diane’s mum and dad for an “on-site” assessment of their health and well-being, as well as celebrating her mum’s 80^th birthday (although she thinks that she is only 39) and also a service to celebrate the renewal of their marriage vows – now is your time Dad to ……. – but if you do it may be a funeral we are attending!!

Diane will fly up to Queensland on Tuesday and leave me here, and I will follow later in the month – closer to the actual time for everything – gives her Mum less time to remember her incantations and turn one of us into a frog or a newt or some other amphibian.

Upon our arrival, which was in the middle of the night, the temperature was a mild 13C, but Saturday warmed up to about 20-21C and Sunday has been a bit warmer in the high 20’s (but a bit humid).

  

It has been great to see Sam again, although we had only just seen her in London; it has been about two years since I was last here, but like any home-coming it has been easy to re-assimilate back into the lifestyle here.

The cafes are just great and after catching up with our neighbours – Frank and Helen – we did venture down to Puckle Street and had a late brunch – it simply is wonderful along here where dozens of cafes and eating places are vying for your business and it really is true of most places in Melbourne – If you are not up to the standard required by the public, then you will not survived – and the public is pretty demanding of high standards.

Anyway, we enjoyed it very much and will be trying out a few more soon.

This will, in some ways, be the preview for our return back to here for good – for the time being we are simply soaking it all up and enjoying a change.

Now this is a real Santa photo - the 2016 version; just
waiting for the one from LA with Mitch and Sara

1 Mile

YTD:  837 Miles (1347 km) , 452 Locks, 12 Tunnels, 21 Lift Bridges, 5 Swing Bridges

Total: 4632 Miles (7454 km), 3151 Locks, 124 Tunnels, 66 Lift Bridges, 172 Swing Bridges