The Jolly Green Giant and St Patrick's Day!

Having been promised a full Irish Brekkie and a pint for only $10, even the hangovers couldn't keep us in bed on Saturday... unfortunately we actually missed the breakfast and just had to make do with the guinness instead. A worryingly refreshing drinking to be having at 10am!

After a long awaited breakfast we eventually headed into town and found ourselves in the Celtic Club, a bar filled with people celebrating St Patrick's day. Ed even managed to find himself his very own leprechaun!

A little out of place not wearing green, big hats, etc we quickly got a few resources and sparkled ourselves up with green glitter, shiny clover sequins and a variety of other green sparkly bits. Not long after and we slowly began to look the part!

It was then that things got slightly out of hand. Ed armed with a pot of glitter proved to be that bit of treasure at the end of the rainbow and began to bestow the glitter on one and all.


I think by the end of the night Ed had actually managed to 'glitter up' over 200 people...in fact at one point he had a queue of people waiting for the magic stuff - oh lord! I shan't mention the chests he covered in glitter...the fact that he was tipping the stuff down the back of ladies (when they asked, of course) trousers or that I ended up having to almost carry the boy home.

A sign I spotted on the way home summed it up completley!

OH...

Venus Bay - Labour Day Weekend

Being a bank holiday and with us all working ourselves to the bone (with one exception) a gang of us headed south to a place called Venus Bay, a quiet seaside village off the beaten track. After a 4 hour drive (Rella's map work needs some attention, plus there was the tough decisions that had to be made in the bottle shop - what beer, how many crates, what about the wine - sparkling or still. Then there was the rum - did those mohitos need soda water or would ice suffice???) we arrived at our mansion in the campsite.

Venus Bay

As happens with all camping trips the first night was over indulgent leaving a large dent in the bottle shop supplies. An introduction of Roxanne didn't help matters...

During Roxanne (boys drink on 'Roxanne', girls on 'put on the red light')

L-R Paul, Simon, Author

After 2 rounds of Roxanne.... Strewth!!

L-R Cindy, Simon, Celia, Paul, Ed

The following day the temperature rose to the mid 30's so we rested our weary bones and heads on the sandy beach and wollowed in the surf. Sometime later James and Claire arrived and more merriment followed, plus a bit of table tennis, which became a regular feature of the weekend...

James Playing Table Tennis

The next day (Sunday) the weather took a turn for the worse, bit of rain and a chilly 20 degrees so we got in the car and headed to the Wilsons Prom National Park for a bit of 'walking'.

Our 300m walk to a beach

Playing silly buggers on the beach

Rella's turn now...

Having endured the table tennis championship that followed, Cindy, Claire and I headed for beach to catch the sunset and get some fresh air in our lungs. Heading back for the campsite we heard the beat of a local band emerging from the only bar - a chicken fast food joint. We decided to stop in for 'just the one' and quickly returned to grab the others... the boys were wiped so that just left it to the girls to keep up the pace!

After being in the bar for a few minutes we were embraced by the locals and invited to play the tambourine etc....oh dear, that's when the trouble started. Mainly due to this suspicious looking character, Wayne!

Real men really do wear pink!?

Need I say more... my first girlie night out in ages...I've missed that!

Claire, Celia, random local 1, random local 2 and finally Cindy dancing on the table

The end of a fantastic weekend.

I have a job!!!

Well it has taken a bit of time going through the usual hoops of recruitment agencies and consultants, but I finally have a job. It wasn't one from any of the agencies that I registered with, but through someone I knew out here (Kristine Daniels for those in LTSB who remember her).

She kindly forwarded on my CV to a few people in ANZ and as a result from the 20th March I will be Snr Product / Project Manager, New Product Development, Commercial Cards. Bit of a mouthful, but it should be a great role, and something a bit different.

My start date also allows me to get used to having time off, with about a week and a half of holiday before I begin (after all it has been nearly 8 months since I last worked).

We met up with Nathan and Leah (Nathan is son of Chris and David, our fine hosts in Perth) last night and went to China town for a good fill up.

Tonight I have a hot date with a guy call Paul (Kearney - another ex-LTSB). We are off to see Rocky. Not really Rella's cup of tea.

And this weekend is Labor Day weekend so we have a bank holiday. There are about 10 of us heading to a place called Venus Bay. Apparrently good surf, fishing, walking. So we'll load up the Bongo with a few slabs of VB and see what it has to offer over what looks like will be a fine weekend.

For our faithful followers

Just for those of you who check the blog regularly...

Our first proper quiet week is nearly over. Ed has had a couple of interviews which we are waiting to hear back about. I on the other hand have been out at work - the joy of tele sales! I am fundraising for The Rotary Club by day and selling gym membership by night. The teaching rego is taking ages to sort out so this is a way of us making a few pennies or cent in the meantime (very few!).

Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and we have a fun weekend planned ahead. I won't spoil our weekly news by telling you about it until we've done it! Obviously our time away is becoming less interesting for you guys at the moment, as it will be full of office politics and how much commission I am getting for the day - or not as the case may be! We will update the blog weekly unless something really exciting happens.

Missing you all xxx

Messing About in Melbourne

The past couple of weeks have been filled with familiar faces and drunken nights. Mark had already been here a number of weeks before us and stayed in Melbourne for a further week once we had arrived. Then Stef arrived, on holiday with family. Hurrah!!

After investigating a number of the city's bars we ended up in this joint...can't remember the name. Safe to say that we were enjoying ourselves though.

Too soon it was timet to say goodbye to Mark. What a better way to say farewell than have a house (match box) warming party.

Since arriving in Australia I have been desperate to cuddle a koala, so we headed off to Ballarat where a cuddle was guaranteed. Or so we thought! After driving 100 + km we reached the wildlife centre only to be told that photos with the animals were off. Had to make do with a cuddle from this great lump of a koala instead.

It is safe to say that the animals were hardly inspiring and it seem they were not particularly impressed with our visit either!

The cuddle wasn't the only thing that was off. We tried to go to the Neighbours night...fully booked. We tried to get to the theatre...fully booked. We wanted to go up to the observation deck...it was too cloudy. Despite the set backs we had a wonderful time checking out a number of boutiques, going out for dinner, taking a trip down the Yarra and drinking more wine.

The best night though must have been at a place called Dracula's. The most bizarre place I think any of us had visited. A bar/restaurant/cabaret/comedy club where everyone is dressed as vampires and other eerie stuff. The evening begins with cocktails being drunk out of plastic syringes followed by a trip to the restaurant/stage area by ghost train. After that the cast begin their act. Whilst we were there it was the 'Beasts of Burlesque'.

We were positioned on one of the front tables which always means trouble and Ed was continually picked on, winked at and generally flirted with. Mainly with this comedian, Julie.

The show's general idea was to shock, with most of the content being filthy. It was hysterically funny and great fun.

On Stef's final day in Australia we went to the river for breakfast and took an hour long boat ride. The river trip was not that great but a street performer provided some humiliating entertainment.

The familiar faces have now left us. We've drunk far too much, eaten even more but had a wonderful, wonderful time. It is however, time to start the 'real' Melbourne life, get those waist lines back, cut out the alcohol and get some money! Registering as a teacher is turning out to be a nightmare so whilst waiting I am going to be telemarketing for 'Creative Fitness' or 'The Rotary Club'. Ed has an interview tomorrow, so fingers crossed all will continue to go to plan.

Oh yeah...just in case you think we are totally lacking in culture, Ed and I headed over to the Sidney Myer ground for a night of music with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. What a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Telephone

We have a landline number that you can call...

00610394194883

(Haven't tried it, so if it doesn't work leave a comment and I will check!)

I DON'T THINK THAT WILL WORK RELLA!!!!!

TRY 0061394194883

Melbourne

A great start to our stay in Melbourne was a night at the MCG watching the cricket. Even better was that we won!!!

The MCG

Look closely and you will see the bloke from the 'Barmy Army'

The MCG was a fantastic ground and even with the stadium only a third full (40,000 people) the atmosphere was electric.

Melbourne is considered to be the sporting capital of Australia, so much is going on what with the cricket this month, the swimming world championship, grand prix and some sort of athletics championships next month we are going to have a lot of sporting events marked on the calender! Even I am starting to get the sport bug...if you can't beat'em, join'em!

The weekend was topped off with a visit to St Kilda festival on the Sunday, a free event filled with wake boarding, dirt biking and kite boarding competitions and at least eight different stages playing world music, soul, new music, latin, rock...the list goes on (Ed wants me to mention the girls singing in bikinis - an obvious favourite!). A fun day out, especially when all you had to pay for were deep fried hot dogs (???!!!!).

One of the stages at St Kilda

The biggest event of this week however, was us finding a flat and moving in. We thought you might like to have a look around...

The Balcony

The Dining Room

The Kitchen

The Bedroom/lounge!

The bathroom...complete with new surf board

The whole look - cosy!

Well, we're signed up for the next 6 months, where we will get to see a bit more of this incredible city and hopefully save enough cash for the return trip! Guessing we'll probably be away another year...but we'll see how it goes.

Missing you all - if you fancy dropping us a line or dropping by, our new address is;

27/98 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria 3065

Melbourne

Well, we've arrived in the city that will be our home for the next 6 months. Less than 5 hours after arriving we headed for the 'bohemian', Fitzroy, an area sitting just outside of the centre. A place littered with funky shops, organic cafes, asian cheap grub and loads of bars. Less than 5 1/2 hours later and we were looking around a cute matchbox flat. Today we signed the contract and Monday we move in!! How's that for quick moving?!

Ed has lined up a couple of interviews for Monday and I will be checking out some bar/waitressing vacancies whilst I wait for my teacher registration to complete (I know I said I would never step into a classroom again...actually quite missing it!). So all is looking good for the near future.

Now off to the MCG to see England thrash Australia (one can but hope!). This city is filled with loads of entertainment, much of it free, so we've got a busy weekend lined up. Will report shortly.

Leaving Adelaide and along the Great Ocean Road

First port of call before setting off in the Bongo (and then sleeping in it) has got to be a bottle shop. This time it was slightly more upmarket, as we dropped in on the cellar door of Penfolds. After sampling a few wines and buying one nice bottle of red, we headed to the hills hiccuping and clinking (well I did, Rella was drives!)

Our Tasting Range

One Vineyard is never enough so whilst in the Hills we stopped at this pleasant little winery for some more tasting - the sparkling pinot noir was simply divine, so, we bought one and quaffed it later!

Same name as our North Curry local in Somerset

It was then on to Victoria, and straight to the Great Ocean Road. Our first stop was Port Campbell, a pleasant enough little town right by the sea. It was bloody freezing too, and was the start of the fluctuating temperatures that Victoria endures.

On the plus side it was also the start of our most extravagant part of our Aussie experience yet. On leaving Port Campbell we bought a dozen scallops which were later drunk with bird in hand bubbles.

Close to Port Campbell on Great Ocean Road

Next day we checked out the most photographed, and famous stretch of the Great Ocean Road, but instead of just driving along, we took a ride in a chopper!!!! Amazing experience in our little 4 seater bubble.

Chopper Ted (better than a photo of Ted's Chopper!)

Views from the sky

Post ride grins

Views from the road (or near to it)

But that wasn't enough, oh no. Our next stop was Apollo Bay which apparently is famous for its crays, so I bought one - 2.2kgs of one!! If Rella had zoomed in on the photo below you would have probably seen some dribble.

This old fella fed us for 2 meals (probably should have done a bit more)

Post Cray work out, but was still too full to get up so mostly wallowed and groaned

On our way to a lighthouse, which was closed when we got there we spotted a couple of these cute critters in the trees. The one below didn't even wake up when Rella threw rocks at it!!!

After paying the bail money to release Rella from jail for animal cruelty she posed smugly on the beach at Lorne, another beautiful spot on the Great Ocean Road.

Sporting the latest surf fashion