The Mupersan's Australian Adventure

Air Force 1 Lands in Canberra

2011-11-16T14:11:00.002+10:00

POTUS has landed! Yip, that's what the President Of The United States is called amongst the security circles when he's about to hit town. Scott's been running himself ragged amoungst some of our clients who have secure facilities getting things perfect for the visit. He's also on 26 hour call - the full duration of the visit.

The C-17 Globemaster III landing at Canberra airport on Monday afternoon carrying some of the entourage vehicles - including the two presidential limos. One mightily impressive plane!!!

If you look really closely through the trees to the runway, that's Air Force 1 touching down. Sorry - couldn't find the zoom on my iPhone!

Air Force 1 landed and ready for da prez to hit Aussie soil. To be greeted by PM Julia Gillard and the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce.

And Obama drives by in the presidential limo - today he was in the second car.

I set the video to just record so I wasn't fiddling with the camera. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the road. Scott was on the opposite side and got a wave from Obama. Note Julia racing to catch up at the end - surprised with all those cops around that she didn't get done for speeding in a 40km/hr zone. LOL!
Exciting day! I'm not commenting on the politics or reasons for his visit. I'm choosing to keep this superficial and just enjoy the pomp and ceremony. First the Queen and now Obama. It is fun living in the Nation's capital.
The only downside (superficially speaking) is the American press corp who travel the world with Obama and get five star treatment where ever they go. Unfortunately, in Canberra, that happens to be across the road from our apartment at the National Press Club. I swear we're being cooked alive by the enormous dish pointed directly at the bedroom window. It emits this awful low frequency hum that makes me feel nauseous and gives me a headache. I don't think Aspro Clear can fix this headache! Think we'll sleep in the spare room tonight...

Perth

2011-11-06T09:50:00.000+10:00

Greetings from some rediculous height above the ocean! The Mupersans are at it again... This time we're headed to Perth for two weeks. We're in between contracts in Canberra and they're in need of extra hands over in Perth. I've been doing some AV courses recently and have been getting more into the technical side of things. So I'm tagging along on this trip as a junior tech. Yip, I'm gonna be a tradie for two weeks! I do occasionally head off to site here in Canberra, but it's usually more to help with system commissioning than installation. But this time it's getting down and dirty pulling cable and the works.

We're about to start our descent into Perth, so it's off with the iPad and off with the iPod for now. Oh joy! So half an hour of screaming kids - this flight has been a real daycare nightmare!

Cheers for now!

We touched down with no hassles and were lucky enough to have our hire car upgraded from a little Toyota Corolla to a great big Ford Falcon XR6. Grrr!

We were accompanied by one of our Canberra techs, Pete. The job we were working on was an AV refurbishment of one of the Midland Courtrooms. Yikes! Bit of a dodgy area Midlands so the characters coming and going in the courtroom next door were... ummm... interesting.... Put it this way, the place was crawling with police, security guards and plenty of lawyers with greasy, greying shoulder-length hair in crumpled suits. And we had to keep our courtroom door locked while the court next door was sitting.

That's Pete and Scott trying to take an old TV bracket off the wall - the old TV must've weighed at least 70kgs!

Before pulling the cable through floors, walls and ceilings, it all has to be run out and untwisted. As the junior on site, that was my delightful job. But once the cable pulling started - boy, did I have aches in places I didn't know I had places!!!!

Scott had to drill through a double brick wall.... Drilling shit with a giant drill bit on a mighty hammer drill...... Scott heaven!!!

Scott's legs as he tries to unhook a cable stuck in the under-floor run.

This was a messy, hard job to do. Normally we have it easy as we install into gutted or newly built buildings. Ripping carpet up, making holes in walls and floors, pulling cables through cavity walls.... hard work I tell you!

We only had one weekend in Perth which we spent with our friends Tanya & Jamie at their townhouse in Cottesloe. They treated us to a feast of seafood on Friday night. How absolutely amazing to catch up with great friends!

Saturday morning they went cycling and we headed off to spend some time with Shane (my cuz), Megs and their little boy, Felix, who we hadn't met yet.

Waking up with beautiful Zho Zha lying on a patch of sun on our bed.

Brekkie with the De Jongs

Heading down to the beach

Trigg Beach - Felix's favourite beach just a few minutes from their house

Scott taking Felix out for a wade

Chillin' at Trigg

After whiling away a few lazy hours at a seaside bar/restaurant with Jamie & Tanya where we forgot to take our cameras, we decided to head for the beach for sundowners.

It's been a long time since we saw the sun set over the ocean. One of the huge bonuses of living on the west coast.

Tanya, Jamie and Scott on Cottesloe beach

Goodbye sun...

Heading back to Jamie & Tanya's for a braai and a bottle of Groote Post Shiraz - thanks for sharing that with us guys!!!

Cottesloe Beach with the Indiana restaurant. This was our destination for brekkie on Sunday morning.

The view from our table. That water is just beautiful!

Absolutely stunning setting for Sunday brekkie!

Shane was racing in Perth's Classic Paddle Race - a 12km race starting at The Narrows and ending at Left Bank on the Swan River. We met up after the race and they took us to the Little Creatures Brewery in Freemantle. Megs managed to grab us a table right next to the kiddies sandpit for Felix to play in with the other kids.

And the big kids drank beer, ate delicious food and just generally had a great time!

Megs, Shane & I at Little Creatures in Fremantle

Felix in the sandpit - love his t-shirt - "Caution - Extremely handsome"

Scott & Shane raising their glasses

Not sure who had more fun in that sandpit with all the tipper trucks - Shane or Felix

Shane with his excellent t-shirt which he actually bought in the US - "I'd rather be Down Under!"

After a full day of travelling via a 4 hour stopover in Sydney, we finally made it home on Friday evening. It was a great trip. Hard work, but we also got to spend some quality time with friends and family who we hadn't seen in years. What an absolute treat - thanks to all of you for your hospitality!!!

Our next trip to Perth will be a holiday trip where we'll go and see all the sites.

For now, we're very happy to be home in Canberra. Where's my bicycle? After two weeks, I wonder if I'll still remember how to ride it?

Out 'n About in Canberra '11 - pt 2

2011-11-06T09:04:00.000+10:00

The second in my 'out 'n about in Canberra' series. Scott and I both took part in this year's World's Greatest Shave. Well, that's to say that I'd been toying with the idea for a few weeks and then sprung it on him that morning. It wasn't done specifically for leukemia, but I did it for everyone who I know who has been directly affected by cancer - top of the list being my dad who passed away last year and my gran Noreen who had a mastectomy just weeks after dad died. Sadly, the list keeps growing.

The pics below look like we're having some fun, but I can promise you that shaving your head, as a woman, is an emotional ordeal! Not for the reasons I've already explained, but I'm pretty damn fussy about my haircuts. Remember when I flew from Brisbane to Sydney for the day just for a hair cut? What I didn't expect was the enormous sense of liberation I felt. But then the thought of people going through chemo who didn't have a choice was a sobering reminder of the reason for shaving my head in the first place. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster!

Not that he had much to shave off as he keeps it pretty short anyway. But Scott did go for the bright blue hair spray which was pretty eye-catching.

And to top it all off, some bright blue hair spray - just in case I didn't stand out enough!

The next morning we were up early for The Big Canberra Bike Ride. We did the 25km ride which was great fun (excluding all uphills!). There were heaps of people participating - families, clubs, road racers, mountain bikers or just plain old bicycle riders like me. My bike is just WONDERFUL!!! So comfy and easy to ride that all the flat and downhill bits were a blast. Now that I've started cycling to and from work, next years' ride should be way easier!

Scott with my beautiful bike (and his) at the start

At the start of the ride.

Look ma, no hands!

Coffee break at Dickson Tradies

About to get underway after coffee - our two bikes in the foreground against the pole

Look ma, no hands.... argh! Not quite as steady as Scott when I do this. What happened to the good old days when I could ride around the block several times with no hands on my little orange bike....?

A well deserved brekkie after the ride

We did it!

Give me more caffeine!

Plenty of bike parking

And then we happened upon some art in the park and went in for a browse

And then we happened upon the ADF's Air Force hot air balloon

We went in for a closer look and discovered that if you took a number, you'd get in line to go up in a tethered flight.... for free! We took a number!!!

What a blast!!!

As part of the annual Canberra Enlighten Festival, they were holding concerts down at the lake

We booked to see Frankie Valli

It also happened to be the night of Skyfire where there's an aerial display by the new F/A-18F Super Hornet. Those are all the bats and birds taking flight after the first fly-by.

There she goes! The sound was just amazing!!!

I took some footage, but it wasn't as good as this guy's off YouTube.

This vid gives you a bit of an overview of the days' events

Just a pity about the weather though....

But it was well worth the wait - Franki Valli and his Four Seasons where AMAZING!!!

Also as part of the Canberra Festival is the Balloon Spectacular. We got up two mornings in a row - the first we went to the lawns in front of old Parliament House where the balloons were taking off from. The next morning we went to the other side of the lake for another view. Truly spectacular! I had to pick from hundreds of pics we both took.

Out 'n About in Canberra '11 - pt 1

2011-10-18T14:05:00.004+10:00

I'm just going to be updating the blog with some pics I've taken in 2011. So no big blog, just some pictures.

Scott outside the Kingston Old Bus Depot markets.

Lazy afternoon reading in the shade at the lake

Tree-lined suburban street in Barton - so like Pinelands without all the high walls and security gates.

The new hotel being built across the way - the crane about to be dismantled.

It was fascinating watching them dismantle the a crane with cranes.

Autumn in Canberra is absolutely spectacular!

Some of the colours just don't look real.

Autumn in Telopea Park

Oh look! It's Russell!

Telopea Park

Stop in your tracks colour!

A natural bee hive in a tree in our street.

From our apartment - 27 April 2011

Spring is here! It's starting to green up again.

Grabbing some autumn sun.

A Well Deserved Holiday - Avalon Beach, NSW

2011-10-16T09:22:00.000+10:00

Greetings all,

Okay, so I'm going to give blogging a go again. My posts will probably evolve into a different style as I'll mainly be posting shorter 'episodes' from my iPad. One of the main reasons I stopped blogging was that it was just so time consuming. It would take me a full day just to choose the pics, re-size them, upload them, caption them and then write the actual text for the blog. So I went over to Facebook because it was just quicker to upload pics on the go. I'm trying to find a way to post to the blog which will be something in between. Meatier than Facebook, but probably a lot less in-depth than my previous posts. Please bear with me while I find my blogging feet again.

Scott and I hadn't been on a relaxing holiday lasting more than a few days since 2006! We were in desperate need of a little R&R to recharge our batteries. Canberra had 2 long weekends in a row, so by taking just 4 days' leave, we ended up with a great 10 day break. I booked us into a great little apartment in Avalon village - just a couple of beaches north of our beloved Mona Vale in Sydney.

Besides a spectacular lunch in the Sydney Tower, we didn't do any classic style Mupersan Adventuring. This really was just a relaxing break with plenty of reading, lazy lunches, some surfing, tanning, more reading, afternoon naps, leisurely dinners, sleeping late.... The weather wasn't great, but that didn't stop up doing what we needed to do - just chill out for 10 days.

Heading out early Saturday morning for Sydney with Scott's new mini-mal (somewhere between a sml board & a long board) surfboard.

Stunning sunrise over Lake George on our way out of Canberra

We stopped at a great little bakery in Gouldburn for brekkie. No more service station stops on our way to and from Sydney - this place is way better! Even a warm fire for those chilly mornings.

Delicious sushi at Rainbow Sushi in Mona Vale - couldn't take a trip up there without a few stops here!

An afternoon nanna nap on the couch

Avalon Beach in the morning.

Lunch at the Chelsea Tea House in Avalon - awesome spot!

Reading at Avalon Beach

The apartment had this tiny little braai - yes it's charcoal-driven! We picked up some great boerewors at the butcher in St Ives and snacked on it for days. Here's Mr Smokey Robinson himself!

We were so lucky to have our friend from the Gold Coast, Kerry, join us for a night. Kerry & Scott playing with one of the locals on Mona Vale beach.

Kerry & I at the Newport Arms for a couple of cold ones.

Kerry & Scott at Avalon beach for sundowners - even though we're on the East Coast and the sun sets behind us.... Any excuse!

Pure indulgence at The Cupcake Bakery in Sydney.

Lunch at 360 Bar & Dining in the Sydney Tower - yip, a revolving restaurant at around 300m above the city.

The food was superb! My tuna starter

Kerry's chicken liver pate.

Scott's goat curd - sounds odd, but it was absolutely divine!

The views were truly spectacular!

The conversation lively!

Even the bathrooms were amazing!!!

Me with a camera in my hands & waves splashing over the tidal pool wall - an irresistible combination for Scott!

Totally soaked! But look at that grin...

Scott was given this awesome surfboard by friends who run The ACT Rugby Union Club (affectionately known as The RUC). This was his first time out at Palm Beach.

And he's up!!!!

VERY happy Scott!

The people next to us at the beach had our board's big brother.

And Scott couldn't do anything fun without an injury.... 1 x broken toe! This actually looks quite good - it went a very ugly purple colour.

Chilling out at Avalon's South headland

Morning coffee at the beach

Absolutely beautiful!

Great shot Scott!

Rugby World Cup quarter final - Wallabies v Boks. Newport Arms - the perfect setting for a nail biting game. Great outcome though!

We were joined Ange and Michael for the Kiwi v Argentina game.

Simply stunning!

Welcome Back To The Mupersans!

2011-10-16T06:25:00.001+10:00

Trying out a new blog app on my iPad. If it isn't too much hassle, I'm considering cancelling my Facebook account and just going back to posting on my blog. I'm over fb and their right to all my information. I know, I know, I'm not really the customer - the highest bidder for my info is. So I think I'm going to opt out of being someone else's social experiment.

So if this Blogsy app works, I'll start up the blog again. :)

Here's a quick pic of Scott on our recent 10 day holiday in Avalon on Sydney's Northern Beaches.R

Catchya soon!

Dearna's Canberra Visit

2011-01-14T10:05:00.084+10:00

In October 2010, we spent out last night in Moggill with our neighbour, Dearna. It was a rather boozy night but great fun was had by all! Amidst large quantities of wine and Tia Maria, we managed to get out our diaries and decide that the weekend of 14 January would be a very good time for Dearna to come and visit us in Canberra.

December came around and Dearna booked her flights and we had another visitor to look forward to!

We collected Dearna from the airport on Thursday afternoon. She arrived with a niggling little cough which, unfortunately, developed into quite a nasty bout of flu. But in the short time we had Dearna with us, we were able to show her some of the beauty of Canberra.

Dearna's also a keen cyclist, so we headed straight for the bike hire place on Saturday morning to get her a bike. We spent the better part of the morning cycling around the lake and into the city. Really just such a great way to see the city.

Dearna & I cycling along the lake

Scott with Dearna at Blundell's Cottage

Scott & I at Blundell's Cottage

Having a rest in the parkland around the lake

The view as seen from the resting position!

Waiting for the fountain to leap into action

The Captain Cook Memorial fountain

Dea at the fountain

Scott still relaxing

A quick stop at The Australian for a Blue Tongue Light - I have not idea what was so funny!

Dearna took us out for dinner at one of the local Italian restaurants in Kingston.

The three of us at the Italian restaurant in Kingston

We took a drive to Mount Stromlo and popped into the bushfire memorial.

I love this pic of Scott & Dearna!

Up at Mount Stromlo

We found these enormous dandelions which took all Dearna's breath away!

Tellin' time - I think we're going to have to get all our visitors to pose for this pic! I've got one of my Mom in exactly the same position!

Another great shot of Dea & Scott - guess who commandeered the camera!

We spent Dearna's last day with us picnicking under the cool shade at the park down the road.

It was wonderful to spend such great quality time with Dearna and can't wait for her next visit! Anyone else want to come and visit us....? ;-)

Mom's Canberra Holiday

2011-01-02T09:39:00.360+10:00

After we stopped at the Bulli lookout - The Cliffhanger - our journey took us back to the highways for the rest of our trip.

By the time we got to Lake George just before the NSW/ACT border, Mom was ready to jump out of the car for a ciggie break. Lake George is huge - 25km long & 10km wide. For the most part, it's empty. Being very shallow (at around 1m) and in a high wind area, most water that ends up here evaporates really quickly. So windy in fact, that they built the Capital Wind Farm on the far side of the lake.

Scott & Mom at Lake George

.
A panoramic shot of Lake George

Aaaahhh..... Home Sweet Home! Spending Xmas & NYE in Sydney was wonderful, but it was oh so good to be home. It's actually amazing how quickly we've settled into our apartment and how it feels like home. I don't think we ever felt like our house in Brisbane was our home. And to be bringing Mom home with us was a real treat!

Scott trying out our new mat! We've been looking for one of these for ages and finally found it at a great little shop in Avalon on the Northern Beaches while out with Mom one day.

Scott pouring Powerade down Mom's throat at the Captain Cook Memorial Jet

You shoulda done this for real Mom!!!!

The International Flag display at Commonwealth Place - yes, that's me trying to wave may arms like a flag! The display acknowledges the United Nations and those countries who have a diplomatic presence in the Capital.

We thought we'd pop into the casino while in the city & see if Mr Moneybags could win some more dosh. But alas, this is not your typical casino - it has absolutely no pokies (slots)! Nope, not even one!!! Only tables. Apparently there are too many clubs in Canberra with gambling licences for pokies, that there was no pokies allocation left for the casino.

Mom took this nice one of us at The Canberra Times fountain in the city.

Scott finally received all his goodies from Extron after passing his exams with flying colours!

Scott went back to work on the 4th of Jan, so I got to drag Mom around Canberra for some of the sights.

Now, I mentioned in previous blogs that I'd eventually get around to explaining the carillon... The time has come! The National Carillon is situated on Aspen Island on the Eastern side of Lake Burley Griffin. The Carillon was given to Canberra by the British in 1970 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Capital.

So what is a carillon? It's a giant musical instrument consisting of a minimum of 23 brass bells - the National Carillon has 55 bells. These bells are usually housed in a tower or belfry. From the National Capital Authority's website: "Carillonists play the suspended stationary bells from a keyboard of wooden batons and pedals, called a clavier. A system of individual cables and wire linkages draws soft iron clappers on to the bells as each wooden baton or pedal is struck by the carillonist."

This is an example of a travelling carillon - just to give you an idea of the mechanics.

This is the clavier or keyboard.

Click on this link for a really cool virtual look at the National Carillon.

Mom was keen to hear the carillon, so we grabbed the picnic blankets and picked up a couple of Subways on the way. We watched the swans and the people going by until the carillon was due to start playing at 12.30pm.

Mom enjoying her first Subway while waiting for the carillon recital.

This isn't my video, but it'll give you an idea.

And then it started playing.... Mom was quiet for a while and then quietly asked if it was out of tune. LOL! I hadn't wanted to say anything, but the times I'd heard it before, I thought it sounded horribly out of tune! But it was all part of the fun of the experience!

We also headed out of the city to a place called Cockington Green Garden. It's a mini city with these absolutely stunningly crafted miniature buildings and English country scenes. I'll let the pics tell the story...

Mom with the gorgeous mini done up like an old Tudor style house as an advertising board for the attraction. [Pearl, we thought you'd like this!]

Just to prove everything really was miniature!

Council house scene

Golf course scene - check out the water hazard! The people who created this beautiful park really have a great sense of humour!

Godmanchester shops in Huntington

Duxford Mill, Cambridgeshire

The Gravyboat

Stonehenge

This is a beautifully landscaped maze - it's actually not a maze at all as there's no way out.

Another bit of humour - Babe herding the sheep

Then on to the international display - what an incredible array of replica buildings from around the world.

Torogan Marano in the Phillippines

This was a classic! The aliens landed for a wee break!

St Mark's Church in Croatia - there were 45,000 individual handmade tiles in that little roof!

Groot Constantia, South Africa!

Mom posing on the bridge

Taking a ride around the gardens on a little steam train gave us a great view from above.

Drinks break!

Mom outside the entrance with some of the beautiful rose bushes.

These gardens were exquisite! And the miniature trees and plants... Wow! I've been back again - I had to take Scott. We were lucky enough to get to chat to one of the gardeners. She was saying that what we had mistaken for bonsais, are actually dwarf and miniature varieties of plants. Apparently bonsais would be too hard to maintain as you have to take them out of the ground and trim the roots. So all they do is plant these dwarf varieties which also grow slower than their full sized cousins. And when they get too big, they just take 'em out and replace them with smaller plants.

Mom outside Blundells Cottage on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin. This is a historic stone cottage built around 1860.

We decided to have another picnic near Blundells Cottage. Another Subway finished, it was time for a ciggie and a whole new indulgence.... chai latte!

We took a drive up Mount Ainslie for some great views of Canberra

Beautiful!

There were hundreds of butterflies and Mom managed to catch on landing on my cap. There were also thousands & thousands of ladybirds - literally! They were everywhere - I've never seen so many in one place! And dragonflies everywhere!

This is what happens when you smoke a cigarette on my balcony!!! LOL!

The fire alarm went off in our basement. I was mightily impressed when the 2 fire trucks arrived within 5 minutes. And those firies are really so yummy! Quick Mom - light another ciggie!

Mom and I at Coppins Crossing (for those who don't know, Mom's maiden name is Coppin).

The devastation after some flooding at Coppins Crossing.

Mom got to see her first wild kangaroos up at Mount Stromlo

The view from Mount Stromlo

Mom telling the time on the Gwynvill sundial

I got snapped while taking some arty pics

The ACT Bushfire Memorial at Mount Stromlo - a memorial to those who lost their lives, homes and pets in the 2003 bushfires.

It's beautifully done with bricks salvaged from the wreckage used to create these curved walls.

With some of bricks inscribed by survivors with messages of hope and grief alike.

These represent the fires and the lightening that started the fires.

This pond with a bubbling spring in the centre is surrounded by tall glass and metal columns. On closer inspection, we found that the glass in these columns are etched with photographs of the fire, before pics of houses and pics taken of the devastation after the fire.

At yet another picnic, Mom noticed this face in a tree. That led to a whole series of fantasies about fairies in the parks, trees that moved around after dark and oracles...

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Who said that? Why???!!!! *sigh* For a Mom's last night with us, we ate out at Portia's Place in Kingston. It was a beautiful evening so we decided to walk there - it's just a 15 minute walk there.

Me with a mouthful of delicious Chinese food!

The food really was out of this world!

Yip, that's evening! You really have to love daylight savings. This pic was taken at 7pm.

Walking home was interesting...

Where ever I took Mom during her visit, I'd say to her "So show me where our apartment is." LOL! She'd look for the nearest crane on a construction site and point proudly in that direction. We had such a good laugh - I know Canberra is small, but it's certainly big enough to have more than just the one construction site visible from our balcony!

Anyhoo, the sense of direction thing became a bit of a joke, so Scott decided to take it a step further. As we started nearing our apartment building, Scott whispered for me to just follow his lead. And he just kept walking. Around the corner. Down the road. Across the road.... We just couldn't hold in the laughter any long and gave up the game at the next traffic light! Mom said later she was sure we'd already passed the apartment but didn't want to say anything in case we laughed at her again for not knowing where home was! LOL! What a great laugh and such a great way to end a really awesome holiday.

After a stupid Virgin Blue debacle with Mom's carry-on luggage, she made it to the departure gate for her flight up the Gold Coast to see Doug, Mons, Chris and Jazzie.

You know, we are all devastated by Dad's death. As I write this on 8 Feb '11, it is 6 ½ months since he died and although the shock is gone, the pain and sadness isn't. Least of all for Mom. Time does heal I suppose - that's what everyone says, so there must be some truth in that.

I think there is something else we can do to help the healing. And I know it's something Dad would approve of - if not expect of us - and that's to live, to keep on having fun, to keep on adventuring. But most of all to make new happy memories. Well, we certainly succeeded. Having Mom here with us has been good for our souls and a great start to the new year with happy memories of a wonderful holiday.

Thanks for coming to visit us Mom!

Mom's Sydney Holiday

2010-12-25T09:05:00.261+10:00

I drove up to Sydney early on Friday 17 December to get my Frankie (the goldfish) care instructions and shortly afterwards drove Gus & Ian to the airport for the beginning of their lengthy ordeal getting to London for Christmas.

With a week to myself in Sydney, I didn't know which way to turn first! I walked the city flat! Drowning myself in the sights, sounds and smells of the pre-Christmas rush of shoppers and holiday-makers. It was nice to be an observer and not be caught up in the frantic rush of it all.

Of course it didn't wasn't long before Mona Vales magnetic pull exerted it's full force on me...

A pic I sent Scott from my mobile. This was just to let him know I was safe & sound in Sydney and that he needn't worry himself about me being lonely - or bored...

Shame.... and this is the one he sent back to me - livin' it up in the office!

Beautiful Mona Vale beach

As they were to be closing over the Xmas period (the day after Scott was due to arrive in fact), I felt it was my duty to ensure I ate enough to keep both Scott & I satisfied until we got back to Mona Vale.

I also sent this pic to Scott - just to let him know I was looking after myself - eating healthy.

After a haircut from my favourite hairdresser, Nicola at Bhodi Hair in Mona Vale. I went back for more sushi this day too, but thought I'd spare you another boring pic of yet more yummy shushi!

After a sweltering day in the city, this spectacular storm blew over to cool things down.

City lights at sunset from Gus & Ian's beautiful apartment balcony. This was the night of the lunar eclipse - probably not really clear in this pic.

Now as much fun as it sounds to have a week to myself in Sydney, by the end of the week, I was really missing my partner in crime. Scott took the train up from Canberra early on Xmas eve which gave us time to rush through to Mona Vale for some sushi and a walk on the beach.

Merry Christmas from Sydney!

We hadn't planned anything festive for Xmas. We were just excited about my Mom arriving later on Xmas day!!!

We did decide to honour an Aussie tradition by having a seafood lunch on Xmas day.

We'd been to Jordan's before, so knew we'd be getting an awesome feast! They had a special Xmas menu and we chose the seafood platter for two. Hrm..... but no price on the menu... okay, so we ask the waiter who tells us that it's $110 per person. YIKES!!!!!! But we'd ordered already, we were hungry & already had drinks on the table. Now normally this platter for two people is $159. Okay, so being Xmas, they have to pay their staff extra, etc, etc, etc.... So we resign ourself to a very expensive lunch & decided to enjoy every last succulent morsel!

Yummy!!!!

And then the bill arrived.... Well, let's just say that sneaky doesn't come close to what they did concerning the seafood platters!!! And trust me when I say that 80% of the restaurant were eating these seafood platters. In small little text on the menu next to the seafood platter was a note saying $70 premium. We had initially thought that we were paying $70 per person for the seafood platter instead of the $110 per person for the whole 3-course meal. Well, that was definitely NOT what it was. It was an extra $70 surcharge PER PERSON for the seafood platter!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was just too stunned when I looked at the bill to even say anything. Talk about leaving a sour taste.... We can laugh about it now, but we were plenty pissed off at the time. I suppose we should've asked and asked them to clarify. *shrug* I wonder how many other people got stung by that. Lesson learned and we now won't be going back to Jordan's at Darling Harbour on principal.

Yes, okay, laugh if you must! Go ahead - get it out of your system! LOL!

Walking home from lunch, we happened upon this little intersection.... Cross Scott!

My Mom and I talk regularly on Skype - we both touch-type, so mostly it's on IM and we type furiously back & forth for ages. After Dad died last year, we started pondering how we were going to deal with the 'festive' season with none of us Wells's (& a Dickson!) feeling much up to celebrating. I jokingly suggested that Mom fly out to spend Xmas & New Year with us in Sydney where we'd be house sitting for Gus & Ian. Well, I slept on that idea and the more I thought about it, the more excited I became about the prospect of having Mom with us for a few days. Then I started nagging. I'm quite good at nagging. I must've been pretty persuasive, because on 18 October, I got a very excited email from Mom with her itinerary - she'd booked her flights and was all set to go! The only thing left to do was to book the domestic flights up to the Gold Coast for her visit to Doug & his family.

All of a sudden the festive season was something to look forward to again! It seemed like just the day before when we started chatting about the possibility. Time had flown. And we were on our way to the airport to fetch Mom.

We stood at the airport watching all the passengers arriving from South Africa, New Zealand and Hawaii. And no Mom. Another flight from NZ. Still no Mom. We were waiting for Border Security to come out and tell us that they'd detained her for smuggling Myprodol! Just when we were really starting to get worried, out she came....

HELLOOOOOOOW SYDNEY!!!!!

The reason for the delay was because Mom had brought enough cigarettes with her to start a small market stall! She managed to convince the customs guy that she wasn't intending to make her fortune in the tobacco industry, but would smoke them all herself! LOL!!!

Not sure how jet-lagged Mom would be, I'd bought all sorts of snackie things for supper - cheeses, veggies, dips, spreads, cold meats, biscuits, olives.... you name it, we had it! And with a view like that, there was just no better way we could've wished to spend Christmas night!

We had decided before Mom arrived, that there wasn't really much in the line of touristy stuff we wanted to do - except head for Paddy's Markets. We spent hours there. Splitting up and browsing to our heart's content. Meeting up in the square outside when we'd had enough. No time limits, no pressure. Coming back from Paddy's, we decided to head into the Chinese Garden of Friendship at Darling Harbour. Mom had been there with Dad in 2008, but Scott & I had never been before. After the hustle, bustle and noise of Paddy's, it was the perfect tranquil break we needed. And we had heaps of fun with the cameras too.

We finished off with tea overlooking the koi ponds. It was really lovely.

With all that walking, we built up quite an appetite so stopped in at the Harbour Grill in Darling Harbour for a bite to eat. Our burgers were delicious & I swear that Mom's chicken wings came giant mutant alien chickens - they were enormous!

Don't you love Mom's hat? Some stall holder at Paddy's took a shine to Mom & plonked the hat on her head when she was browsing.

And we had to take Mom to Mona Vale so she could see it for herself. Hell, we rave about this amazing place that we lived for a mere 6 months - we had to show it off! She's very lucky that Rainbow Sushi Train was closed for the holidays or we would've dragged her there too!

Scott & Mom on Mona Vale beach

Scott & fatso at Mona Vale

(Yip, all that good food and G&Ts has definitely taken it's toll on the hips, thighs, bum, tum, etc, etc!)

While driving around, we came across beautiful Balmoral Beach in the Mosman area. Absolutely stunning!

With this lovely footbridge over to a little outcrop with grassy areas under lovely old trees - perfect for picnics!

I've lost track to days and exactly what we got up to when! But this is a luxury yacht that was docked in the harbour for NYE - it's the 'Athena' - the 2nd largest luxury super-yacht in the world. It was built for billionaire Jim Clarke - the guy who started Netscape. Clarke is married to the Aussie swimsuit model Krisy Hinze.
The yacht is an incredible 90m long and those masts are 60m high! She's a real beauty!

We took Mom to one of our favourite pizza restaurants at The Rocks - Zia Pina Pizzeria. The pizza literally melts in your mouth and the place has such a great atmosphere.

One of Mom's great pics of the lights on the water at night in the Harbour.

Back at Paddy's Markets!

Scott in the throws of a wasabi rush from some take-away sushi!

Serious conversations! I took this from the balcony of the apartment - this is one of Mom's smoking spots.

Time to win some money! Mom & I at Star City Casino

Mr Moneybags & Mom at the entrance to the casino - Mr Moneybags there won heaps of dosh & took us out for a fabulous Asian meal afterwards!

The porta-loos arrive in preparation for the New Year's Eve festivities.

Going for a walk to check out how many people were camping out waiting for the fireworks that night.

I love this pic - Mom had no idea what Scott was up to behind her. Actually, I'm not sure what Scott was up to....?

Checking out the plebs from our privileged position!

The plebs!

This cute little doggie had us entertained speculating on his heritage.... female corgie + male border collie? Or could it possibly have been a sleeping female border collie + a very brave male corgie?

The sun starts to set and the porta-loo queue grows...

Parties everywhere!

This little street in front of the apartment is a strictly no parking area....

Cheers!!!! We spent the earlier part of the evening sipping on a divine Groote Post Old Man's Blend - Dad's favourite wine. Just before midnight, we popped the champaign.

HAPPPPPPEEEEEEEE

NEEEEWWWWW

YEEEEAAAARRRRR

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fireworks were just spectacular - both the family fireworks at 7pm and the real deal at midnight. Such an amazing experience!

Cleaning Frankie's bowl and leaving him an extra helping of breakfast, we hit the road for the second part of Mom's holiday.

We decided to take the coastal route which Scott & I had previously taken so that Mom could get a small glimpse at the beauty of the NSW South Coast.

First stop was the Otford Lookout

Mom & I at Otford Lookout

Next we stopped at the Bald Hill Headland Reserve where the paragliders where jumping off cliffs.

Aaaaaaah...... The Scarborough Hotel for brekkie

Scott & Mom waiting for breakfast

Next stop: The Cliffhanger at Bulli Tops

Me being attacked AND photographed while taking a panoramic pic of the view.

My panoramic came out okay - despite the threat of attack!

Strike a pose...

Mom wasn't half nervous up at that height!

It didn't help that we were jumping up and down trying to bounce the platform for Mom - notice the death grip on the railing...

Stay tuned - the Canberra part of Mom's holiday will follow shortly.

Celebrating Scott's 20/20 - Jack Johnson in Sydney!

2010-12-09T15:07:00.226+10:00

My darling husband has been a little less than enthusiastic about the approach of his 40th birthday. The past few months has taken its toll on both of us & we haven't been in a particularly celebratory mood. When a big milestone birthday comes along, it's hard to be away from family. And we've also just moved away from the wonderful friends we made in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

So we haven't made any friends yet in Canberra. So we're a million miles away from our friends and family. "Oh suck it up you ninnies!" I hear you say. So that's exactly what we did! :-) Following our friend Lilly's description of her 40th, we began calling it Scott's 20/20 - 20 years of youth & 20 years of experience! In the few weeks leading up to Scott's birthday, while busy unpacking the apartment, I started getting all of you to send me messages for his card. Thanks again to all of you who sent messages - it really made you all seem so much closer on the day!

Instead of putting all his pressies out weeks and weeks in advance to drive him nuts, I only put them out a week in advance. I was determined not to cave in and let him open ANY presents early this year! But in that last week, the pile started off small and slowly grew as gifts arrived from the four corners for him - I even printed & wrapped his gift vouchers!

By the morning of his birthday, he was sufficiently excited & I set him loose on the pile of pressies!

The growing pile of pressies.

The Card.

Some of the messages were printed so beautifully with decorations that I printed & stuck them in as is. The rest I wrote out in differing coloured pens. I even tried to change the handwriting in some.

Scott reading his card before opening any of his pressies. I swear that this was the best of his gifts!

(I'm happy to let on that, as I write this a couple of months after his birthday, he still picks this card up every couple of weeks & to read your awesome messages!)

Okay, okay... enough with the card now - time to get on with ripping open the shiny paper!!!

Opening his pressie from his mother-in-law - Meerkat Manor DVDs - a show my Dad had raved about!

Opening some shaving pamper stuff

Spoilt rotten!!!! Scott with all his loot - a new electric shaver, assorted shaving pamper products, a portable speaker for his iPod, Meerkat Manor DVDs, a book on Canberra's best sights, a book on Canberra's best bush, park & city walks and some great vouchers for both Kindle and Red Balloon experiences.

Birthday Boy!!!! Ready to head off to work.

And home after work with a glass of celebratory Chandon Vintage.

And I made him a nice thick fillet steak with a peppery mushroom sauce - no fancy stuff - just steak! Okay, and a wedge of avocado for added colour & a token towards a healthy, balanced meal. LOL! And another glass of that bubbly of course!

A birthday celebration just wouldn't be the same without a chocolate birthday cake....

But I had one more trick up my sleeve.... One last little pressie. I went to the local craft shop and got one of those cool wood & glass deep frame thingies & got to work with some glue, shells & glitter glue pen.

This is the result - a clue to his big surprise present! Figured it out?

Tickets to Jack Johnson's "To The Sea" show at The Domain in Sydney two days later!
The clues... Aside from the obvious, the guy in the picture below all those surfboards is Jack Johnson and the stunning pic below that is of the Narrabeen beach pool on the Northern beaches of Sydney.

My brother, Doug, works for a company who manages holiday parks all over Australia. With his invaluable assistance, I managed to get a nights' accommodation in a very really cool villa in their Narrabeen park - The Sydney Lakeside Holiday Park. Narrabeen is just a couple of suburbs south of our old haunt, Mona Vale. And at the beginning of the school holidays too - thanks Doug!!!

We were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning (after a bit too much beer the afternoon before @ Scott's company Xmas party - see previous blog). We stopped about halfway at a greasy spoon for brekkie & coffee. Toasted sarmie & coffee consumed, we hit the road again.

And here's where there's a break in the pics - I mean who takes pics of ordinary things like shopping at IKEA? Yes, I'm stooopid! And terribly neglectful of my many fans who'd just love to see photos of AMAZING IKEA! So sorry peeps! Anyhoo, we headed straight through to the Homebush IKEA on our way into Sydney. I'd been searching for 2 small desks for our PCs to go into the spare room. Yes, you've already seen the pics of the finished product in the A New Home blog - just accept that I have mastered time travel! True to my usual AR form, I had done all my homework on the IKEA website beforehand. I had the measurements of each of the boxes, measured up the car to make sure everything would fit. I even checked the stock holding online before we set out on Saturday morning so knew that they had the desks we wanted, in the colour we wanted. Yes, I left nothing to chance!

Everything ran to my careful planning & we even found our car easily this time! (see here for where we lost Scott's old work van, Betsy, at IKEA)

Northern Beaches here we come!!!

We checked into our villa, hit Mona Vale for some sushi lunch & then mozied on through to the city for some great live music.

A wonderful sign at the entrance to The Domain.

We FINALLY found our way to where the concert was.... Yip, I'm not perfect ALL the time! I had a plan for everything. Except how to actually find The Domain. I just assumed that if we headed in the direction of the botanical gardens, it'd be pretty obvious. Hrm..... and what happens when you assume....?

What a stunning venue!

Getting more and more crowded by the minute!

As the sun set....

... the bats took flight...

... more people arrived...

... and the music began!!!

A compilation of some of the music Jack played throughout the evening. It was an absolutely amazing show! 3rd behind Billy Joel and Jason Mraz. And a bonus of Ash Grunwald playing his quirky blues too. What a blast!!! And the finale with everyone having so much fun. *sigh* Just awesome!

Walking back thru the city, we got a great view of the bridge where they'd put up a huge revolving red "O" on the bridge in honour of Oprah's visit that week.

Back to the holiday park in the wee hours and all the holiday lights were shining bright.

Very festive!

Sunday morning we packed all our IKEA boxes again and took off early. We'd decided to take the coast road home.

The lounge/kitchen in our villa.

Villa 38 - home for the night.

A definite spot to camp next time we want to spend a weekend in Sydney - it's right next to the Narrabeen lake and across the road from the beach. Perfect!

Driving on the Sea Cliff Bridge on the Grand Pacific Drive

Just after the Sea Cliff Bridge, we happened upon this absolute gem of a hotel - The Scarborough Hotel - for breakfast.

The view from the balcony we had breakfast on. Spectacular!

And the breakfast was delicious too!

Yummy!

Back home & the desk building commences!

Me fighting with the Allen key again while assembling our new IKEA office chairs. I just found out that it's also known as a hex key. Now THAT explains EVERYTHING!!!

I've taught Scott well! I caught him organising all the screws, nuts 'n bolts before he even began assembling the first desk! I'm beaming with pride!!!

Busted being organised!

Another fabulous adventure! Thanks for having a birthday Scott - I can't wait for the next one to plan another surprise!

Exploring Canberra on My New Bicycle

2010-12-04T14:50:00.258+10:00

Greetings all!

I hope you'll bear with me as I try to catch up on the last few months' worth of activities. It's been a busy few months and I need to put these posts into bite-sized chunks.

In early December, we'd already done a little cycling around the lake. We wanted to pop into a bike shop and get a couple of side stands for the bikes - just makes it easier when you want to stop for coffee, to sight-see or for a picnic. We found one across the road from Bunnings in Fyshwick, an industrial area a few minutes down the road from home.

Now first let me explain a little bit about distance here in Canberra.... There are not many places you'll go within Canberra where you'll travel more than 15-20 minutes. So a few minutes down the road literally is just a few minutes. By car that is. By bike, it's just a few minutes more!

So we head off to the bike store for side stands. Now I'm not sure if you're aware, but I've been adding bits 'n pieces to my Merida mountain bike to try and make the riding position a bit more comfy for me. Scott says it was starting to look like a Kudu with it's raised custom handlebars!

My mountain bike with before & after mods on the handlebars. But it still just wasn't a comfortable riding position for me.

So we're at the bike shop in Fyshwick.... And I fall in love with the Giant Suede!

Giant Suede on the shop floor

Negotiating with Peter, the sales guy, we arranged for a trade in of my Merida and get a discount on the new Suede. We rushed all the way home to fetch my old bike and rushed aaaaall the way back with the old bike - took all of about half an hour for the round trip, pit stop, drinks break and to load up the bike on the car!

My beautiful COMFORTABLE Suede on the back of the car outside the bike shop

Back home, Scott giving his bike some TLC and getting him ready to meet the beautiful new city girl.

What a gorgeous couple!

Saturday saw us heading off to test out some of the bike paths around the city on my shiny new ride. Canberra really does cater for cyclists. Sydney had very few dedicated bike paths and virtually no bicycle lanes. Bike paths being away from the road, usually through parks, bushland or beside highways specifically for commuting. Bike lanes are just that, lanes on existing roads. Brisbane was better when it came to bike paths and lanes but certainly not covering a very extensive network for commuting.

With fabulous infrastructure planning, Canberra has made cycling a viable mode of transport for recreation, commuting and shopping if you have a carrier & a basket. You can even get bicycle trailers for cycling with kiddies or for carting groceries. The Government puts out a walking and cycle map and Where To Ride have also now brought out a Where To Ride Canberra edition.

Look Ma, no hands - the stands work like a charm!

Oh look how beautiful she is....!

Scott beside Lake Burley Griffin with the Carillon in the background - more on the Carillon in a forthcoming post.

The beautiful Suede and I at the lakeside.

You can even take a cruise on the lake - something we'll definitely get around to doing one of these fine days.

The National Museum of Australia across the lake. I'm absolutely intrigued by the building itself and can't wait to go exploring.

We happened upon a stunning park along the lake called the Canberra-Nara Peace Park. It's a small Japanese-themed garden which celebrates the link to our sister city, Nara, in Japan. Scott had just pulled a wheelie, but I was too slow with the camera. I know you believe me....

Time for a brekkie stop! And what a find this was - Urban Food Store & Cafe just on the edge of the city. Plenty of cyclists stopped for the same reason.

The omelettes were absolutely delish and the coffee was a work of art.

One of the hundreds of sculptures and artistic touches around the city. This one, The Parcel by Alexander Seton, is carved from green & white marble.

Next stop, Smiths Alternative Bookshop which is also a coffee bar. At night it transforms into a wine bar where they hold poetry readings, yoga classes and CD launches for local bands. A very interesting store indeed! And they had a copy of Where to Ride in Canberra which we bought.

The Canberra Times Fountain

Some 3D pavement art

One of the storm water drains had its cover modified!

The Civic Xmas tree seen through the ACT Memorial

The Canberra Theatre Centre with a woven sculpture on Civic Square

A close-up of the woven sculpture.... what do you think?

Canberra Museum & Galary on Civic Square

The sculpture Ethos outside the Legislative Assembly on Civic Square

Scott making sure his bike still has what it takes on the steps of the gazebo at the centre of Glebe Park in the city centre.

Posing on my beautiful bike through Glebe Park

On The Staircase - a new sculpture in the city.

Time for a cold one at our new favourite pub, The Australian, in the city centre.

Blue Tongue Light on tap - because of course we don't want to get done for drink riding and lose points on our car licences. I kid you not!

While enjoying the sights, sounds and ice cold beer at The Australian, this jolly bunch arrived for some refreshment on their safari around the pubs of Canberra.

It was a stunning day, temps around 29 degrees (Celcius) - the elephant and the lion definitely weren't getting the full effect of their beer - sweating it out faster than it took for the alcohol to reach their brains!

The guy skulling the last of his drink had actually bought an original long pant safari suit off the internet. It was the real deal - that corded fabric. Railway workers wore these in a brown. Remember?

Heading back in the general direction of Barton...

On our way home, we happened upon the National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia

Beautifully maintained by the Canberra Bonsai Society, it is small but filled with the most beautiful trees.

This one was really stunning. An English Elm planted in 1960 - that's 50 years' of close attention to get it to this fairy-like creation.

Sunday morning and we head off the other way around the lake. Me riding across Parks Way on the Northern side of the lake. Across the way are the High Court, Parliament House and the National Library (left to right).

The Carillon on Aspen Island - as I said, more about the Carillon in a forthcoming post.

Because it was so hot, we opted not to have coffee at the little mobile coffee stand next to Aspen Island, but a slushy instead. Scott suffering from an acute ice-cream headache after drinking his slushy too quickly!

Only a few sips in and already he's got a green tongue. I also had one and, after seeing the colour of Scott's tongue, was scared we'd end up peeing green! LOL!

Heading across the bridge onto Aspen Island

And back again.

On Friday, 10 December, just a day after his birthday, was Scott's end of year work party. They held the party at the company apartment which was within cycling distance of home, so drinking wasn't a problem. What a great bunch of people!

Looking out onto the deck where it was all happening.

The revelers - notice the number of beer bottles.

Just a few more bottles...

I have no idea where Scott was running to - perhaps after all that beer, to the loo?

Scott's new boss, Greg, and his wife Lee.

The boys trying to bend bottle tops backwards between thumb & forefinger - Scott's got REALLY strong hands!

I hope you've enjoyed this catch up post - don't go too far, there's more to come!

A New Home...

2010-11-27T20:00:00.118+10:00

Yes, I fell off the planet! Even bruised my backside & stubbed my toe in the process. Blogs don't get written when you're off the planet I'm afraid, so my apologies for any inconvenience/withdrawals experienced.

To recap.. We arrived in Canberra on 15 November '10. Scott's new company were kind enough to give us the use of the company apartment until we found ourselves a new home. Our new home is in Barton - a suburb within the Parliamentary Triangle. It's within walking distance of both Kingston and Manuka (pronounced Maa-nuka - go figure! I woulda pronounced that Man-ooka.). Both these suburbs have great cafe's and restaurants, so we're stoked to have found a great apartment in a perfect location.

This is a scale model of Canberra and the Parliamentary Triangle. If you click on the picture, it will enlarge & you'll see where I've marked our apartment.

On the morning of 24 November '10, I collected the keys from the agents in Kingston and headed HOME to meet the removalists. I was really lucky and they actually arrived early! If anyone is looking for removalists in Australia, I can highly recommend BFR Removals - pricing was very competitive, staff were friendly and very helpful. There were some minor glass breakages, but that was because I did the packing & hadn't put enough padding between the glasses.

So onto the job of making a home for us in this new apartment. No pressure - just our first house guest the following night!

Aside from our suitcases, these few bags were what we traveled down from Brisbane with. There were a few things which couldn't go into the container for one or other reason. That's the front door in the background and the kitchen hiding behind the bags.

We have boxes to unpack!

Making progress (or had I just shifted the boxes...?)

The fridge was just a centimeter too wide for the fridge space - dammit! Luckily there is this space around the corner from the kitchen. It's supposed to be a study nook and leads onto the laundry.

All the IKEA boxes in the spare room waiting to be assembled.

Scott in his element! Assembling our new spare bed so Julian would have a place to sleep.

Wooohooo!!! I just love this day-bed! True IKEA genius with three storage drawers & that whole drawer unit pulls out so that it can be a spare double bed. The perfect solution for a smaller 2nd bedroom in an apartment.

Drowning in boxes!!!

Excellent progress! I worked like a demon.

Who knew that I could accumulate so much shit in a bathroom... And there's not a stitch of make up there. I'm really not sure what all that is and where it's now hidden.

First night! Pizza and beer were definitely the order of the day.

Our 2nd night and our first guest! Scott & Jules having a chin wag over a beer or 3. Scott & Jules were at high school together in Port Elizabeth - Grey Boys High.

3rd day and time to put my feet up with a well deserved ice cold beer.

The view from our balcony looking back towards Kingston.

Scott joining me with feet up & beer.

Remember our trip up Mount Stromlo to the burnt out observatory? Well these are a couple of pics I took up there. I was on the lookout for a good frame for them & this is how it turned out.

And now we're all settled in. I took the following pics this morning. Yes, I know that that messes up the continuity of this blog (me? anally retentive? never!), but it seemed the best place to put these in. I'll do separate blogs for the stuff in between.

Yes, that's my old surfboard. It's got plenty of dings along the way and we're a fair distance from the sea, so we found another use for it.

It's great to have such a spacious, sociable lounge again after that long narrow space we had in Moggill.

The kitchen's nice and neat with a surprising amount of cupboard space - half those cupboards are actually empty! I've gotta be careful not to start accumulating 'stuff' to fill them.

Photo walls! My bathroom on the left and the spare room at the end.

The en suite - Scott's bathroom. And when we've got guests, it's plenty big enough for me to share it without us bumping into each other.

Our bedroom

My bathroom - or if we've got guests, their bathroom.

The guest bedroom and our study.

Neat little desks (thanks again IKEA!) - just big enough so they don't end up getting too cluttered.

So this is our new home. Family & friends - this is an open invitation to come and visit us here in Canberra. It's a beautiful city and we'd love to show you around. Please let us know if you're heading our way, we'd love to have you visit!