Hmmm .... First up, apologies to all and sunder for not posting anything over the last 6 weeks or so. I have no excuse, but I have been up to a fair bit over the last couple of weeks which I'll get to shortly.
Last time I posted, I mentioned that I had some work - well that is what I was doing for about half of each of the proceeding 3 weeks or so. This work was scattered about the time off that Em, Izzy and Rhys had so that, in a morning if one was working an evening I would do things with them and then get down to work in the afternoon - sometimes working through to 10 or 11 at night. I am pleased to say that I heard from the registrar last week and he has had his final prototype made and at the last conversation was about to test it out and see if it was working correctly. As I've not heard back as yet, I am pretty sure that this means that he is happy with what has been produced. Job done!
The last fortnight (well actually the fortnight before this week) was spent with my mate Chris from Burscough who came over to visit for a short - but jam packed holiday. A brief account of which is thus:
Monday he arrived and we wandered about Terrigal, he slept for a bit then we had tea and went off to bed early-ish. Tuesday we got a flight from Sydney to Brisbane and drove up to the Sunshine coast for the night. Had a really nice place on the beach almost, and wandered into town for some Thai food that night. Finished off with a few beers in front of the TV before bed. Weds, we headed down to Australia Zoo (former home of the Crocodile Hunter Mr Steve Irwin himself) where we stayed all day. It rained - and I mean rained - for most of the day, but as we were just looking at animals it wasn't too bad. Headed south through Brisbane to Surfers Paradise for the next couple of days. Thursday we'd planned to go to a theme park, but got side tracked by the hunt for a hat for Chris, great weather, miles and miles of white sandy beach, a legendary miniature golf course (King Tut's Putt Putt) and an evening spent in the sea and the hotel pool! We went out for the night in Surfers and had a great time - kangaroo, crocodile, oysters and octopus were consumed followed by a drink or 10 in the bars around the centre of Surfers. Friday we finally went to Dreamworld - Chris loved all the rides once the hangover had worn off, I was feeling a little fragile all morning and still didn't feel up to going on the big drop (think detonator at Thorpe Park, but bigger). Have to say I was fairly disappointed by the place as it didn't really have enough to keep you occupied for the day. If we'd gone on all the rides from the off and not taken an hour or so out at the cafe recovering, I reckon we'd could have gone round it all in 2-3 hours. It claims to have the Big Six, 6 rides which are meant to be 'extreme' but at least 2 of these wouldn't even be mentioned on the brochure of Alton Towers!! Went up to Brisbane for the night so we were closer to the airport for saturday. Sat we got a flight to Melbourne and met up with Em. Was most disappointed by the hotel I'd chosen - two beds which were hard and not particularly clean, pretty grotty bathroom, single glazing onto a balcony over the main road and a smell which reminded us of a crossed between a primary school and a hospital, so we wandered around St Kilda and found ourselves a new place for the 3 days. More expensive but far more comfortable. Met up with a friend of Chris's from uni who had moved out to Melbourne a few weeks earlier for drinks after food which was cool. Sunday we did the neighbours tour (yes, this is the second time for Em and I, and I suspect will not be the last!) as Chris was dying to go round. Twas better than the first one in that we got to visit the back-lot set of Lassiters which was good. It is amazing how the camera lies when you see the shots on TV. It is no-where near as big as you'd expect, and all sorts of things are mobile and are just moved into shot as and when it suits. Went out for a nice meal on sunday night, followed by a couple of drinks in one of the bars. Chris went home early as he wasn't feeling great, and we followed about an hour or two later. Monday Em had to go, so Chris and I went off to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) and did the tour there. It was pretty interesting to see behind the scenes and we got to walk in their long room, and the changing rooms (almost big enough for a 5 a-side match!) as well as all the media centre. Lots of pictures were taken by Chris and then we headed back to the hotel before heading out to the Neighbours Trivia Night. This is an event which is known throughout the mass of british backpackers as a must do - and as such I reckon I was the oldest person in the place (av. age must have been 20) and we played the quiz and I was surprised our team didn't do better, but I guess you think that when they don't give out the answers(!) and of course met some of the cast of the show. We met Dan Fitzgerald and Michelle Scully and of course saw Dr Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) and his band play the night away. Much chasing of stars by Chris led to us eventually getting photos and autographs of all of them!! Was a really good night. Tuesday we headed back to Sydney and once landed, found somewhere to put our bags for the day and then went and climbed the Harbour Bridge. This was good, although after deciding to walk up George Street and then get food meant that we didn't start until 15:05, so we didn't get down till after 6pm and our bags had to be collected by 8! We then had 2 hours, or an hour and a bit given the time to go back and get the bags, to run around circular quay and get as many photos of the opera house and bridge as possible!! Eventually got back to Terrigal about 11pm, and off to bed. Wednesday we went to the Blue Mountains and spent the day walking around the three sisters and most of the pathways around Echo Point at Katoomba. Thursday we headed over to Palm Beach from Ettalong on the ferry as North Palm Beach is the location for the exterior shots of home and away. This is only about a 20-30 minute ferry ride from a town which is about 20 minutes drive from us in Terrigal. This was the only day where I got sunburnt as I forgot to do my legs (you'd have thought I'd have learnt by now) and didn't top up on the arms!! I also think it had something to do with wearing my new Crocodile Hunter shorts which although not Steve Irwin short, are somewhat shorter than the ones I have been wearing for the last few months. Went out for farewell drinks in the cocktail bar in the evening and then I got up at 3 to take Chris off to the station.
As you can see it was a very busy couple of weeks!! Throw into the mix a day when I got a call to see if I wanted to have a bash at kite surfing (muchly fun) although I only got as far as flying the kite and being dragged (in an almost controlled manner) along the beach and through the sea.
I've spent the last week trying to catch up with the house-work (yeah it can get messy in only a couple of weeks) and starting to cook stuff for Xmas (the Cake is in the oven as I type).
Off to play soccer in a few mins (I hate to say it but I've finally succumbed to calling it soccer after confusing everyone around here!) for the second time. Last week was the first time in 11 years that I believe I've played - not since the halcyon days of Priory High have I kicked a ball in anger - I just hope that the cake finishes before I have to go ... I may see if I can get a lift!
Tootle pip,
Rich
