Melbourne Trip

Day Two. After breakfast we set off early for Tilba. This was my second visit to the area and it really is well worth the visit. Mount Dromedary in Tilba was first named by Captain James Cook in 1770 after him noticing the likeness to the one humped camel. In 1850 gold was discovered in the town and people flocked there. The gold began to peter out around the turn of the century and the land was given over to dairy farming. Today, Tilba is famed for the ABC cheese factory. I have a wedge of cheese with chives in the fridge and it's yummy :)

Leaving Tilba we headed for Bega, our next destination. Recent flooding meant a lot of rivers were higher than normal and a poor turtle had managed to lose his way so I jumped out, picked him up and moved him off the road so he didn't get run over. After Bega we drove to Eden and then on to our motel for the night in Lakes Entrance. We covered 396km (246 miles)

Day Three

We traveled to Melbourne today via Stratford upon the river Avon (sound familiar??), Yarragon and finally arrived in Melbourne.
This is our view of Melbourne city centre from our hotel room. This trip covered a distance of 382km (237 miles)The same view at nightMelbourne still has a great tram network. Not so great for car users though as they have ridiculous rules (in my opinion) whereby a car wanting to turn right has to move to the far left, wait for the lights to change green for the opposing traffic and then continue the manoeuvre. Sounds madness to me, glad I wasn't driving otherwise the car would have been cut in two by a tram! Below is a picture of the free tram which runs around the city. It's mainly frequented by tourists and is packed like the proverbial tin of sardines.
The main purpose for the Melbourne trip was to celebrate Taras' Grandma's 80th birthday. The family gathered at the very swanky Langham hotel in the centre of Melbourne where we had the largest selection of food in one place I've ever seen. It was buffet stlye and every taste was catered for. Below is a small selection of the desserts (most important course!!) that were on offer.










The hotel was situated on the banks of the river Yarra. Below is a picture of Melbourne at night with the river in the foreground.

Melbourne Trip

I got back a few days ago from a week long trip to Melbourne. The flight to Melbourne from Sydney is about 90 minutes but we decided it would be more fun to drive. We got to see lots more of the country and, tiring as it was, it was great!
We took the coastal route to Melbourne and stopped at several places on our way down. On day one our first stop was at Kiama. I love this place, it's only about 40 minutes drive away but it's a must see. I've visited many times and never tire of the place.

Kiama is probably most famous for its 'blowhole'. When the seas are high a flume of water is sent hurtling skyward to around 25 metres (82 feet) through a hole in the rocks. It's an awesome sight!After Kiama we drove to Berry, Batemans Bay and our destination for the night, Narooma. We stayed in a lovely road side motel for the night. We covered 299km (186miles) on the first day.

Puptastic

Over the last five weeks Taras and I have had the pleasure (mostly) of looking after his aunt Ksana's dogs while she was on holiday in Moscow and St Petersburg. Getting up early to take them for walks each day was an adventure and the dogs had us trained pretty well during the time we were looking after them.
The dogs all had their own unique personalities;
Benson - the escape artist. He escaped three times in our five week pup sitting. On one occasion he had the back up of Bobbi and Toby as they managed to dislodge a fence post into the neighbouring property. I thought it was pretty quiet so I went to investigate and found the three of them missing. Not knowing where at this point they were hiding Taras, his dad Bob, and I each took off in separate directions to try and find them. I'd just got to the beach when I received a phonecall to say Taras had found them and they were now safely incarcerated in their own back yard. Little perishers!!!
Toby - the gourmand. There is no limit to how much this little barrel can stuff away and, when he knows we're not looking, tries to eat the other dogs food. Walking on the beach he sniffs everything and occasionally, when I'm off guard, he's wolfed down all manner of things I'd rather not mention.
Bobbi - the gentle soul. This poor little pup was badly abused before being re-homed with Ksana and had a fear of humans, particularly men. I've known him over three years and he has only recently made friends with me. He now eagerly jumps up to greet me and happily lets me stroke him.
Skater - what can I say? This poor little guy fell on his head as a pup and suffered slight brain damage as a result. He's a chihuahua cross and thinks nothing of picking a fight with the biggest dog on the beach. He's a little sweetheart even if he does forget who I am from time to time and yaps at me.
Coco - the only girl in the pack. She's the boss and everyone knows it!! She's a Shih-Tzu and a prim and proper little madam she is too, walking around with her nose in the air.
The photo above is me on the beach. Left to right is Toby, coco, Benson, Skater (in front) and Bobbi (behind)

The Flat

Ok, well, I thought it was time I showed people back home in cold and snowy Blighty where I'm currently living. I'm living in East Corrimal which is in greater Wollongong, about 1hour 20minutes south of Sydney and on the coast. The beach is only about 10 minutes walk from the flat and has beautiful golden sand and is surprisingly not that busy at all.
The picture above is the lounge room with kitchen area. Through the window is the front garden which is my next project after I've completed the rear garden (picture to follow in later blogs)

Below is the bedroom of the flat.

Here's a beautiful sunset picture taken from the back garden a couple of nights ago.

Also this week Taras took me for a drive one evening to Austinmer, a very nice beach-side suburb not far along the coast. While we were there we witnessed an awesome storm miles (suppose I should really say kilometres now for fear of getting into trouble with the locals for using imperial measurements) out to sea. Here's a picture of a cloud with the storm boiling away within it. Nature is mighty powerful!

New Year in Hong Kong

To break up a monotonously long journey Taras and I decided to have a couple of days in Hong Kong and explore the sights. I never imagined I would experience anywhere nearly as busy as London but this place beats it hands down! Walking along some of the streets proved impossible due to the volume of people so we merely shuffled along and hoped we could exit the crowds when we reached our 'stop'!
Our hotel room was on the 17th floor and on looking out of the window my eyes nearly popped out of the sockets when I noticed the scaffolding on the building next door was made entirely out of bamboo canes held together with cable ties. Are you people mad? - this is the 17th floor and the scaffold just kept on going. Health & Safety in the UK would have a fit if they saw it.
Unfortunately none of the pictures we took could pick up the bamboo clearly, you just had to see it to believe it.
Above is Hong Kong island taken from Kowloon, where we were staying.







Here are some of the buildings lit up for New Years Eve.


























A picture of me in a quieter street in Kowloon
Me on the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong





We both had a great time and another visit is sure to be on the cards on the many visits to and from the UK.

Christmas in Torquay

After living in London for nearly three years, and having being granted my visa to live in Australia, I decided it would be nice to spend time with my parents in Torquay before emigrating.
Whilst I gained a lot of experience in London and had great work colleagues at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster it was with a sigh of relief that I left London and its stresses behind.

I spent almost two weeks with my parents before moving to Australia and they were two very enjoyable ones. My brother and his family and my sister and her family came down to spend a few days just after Christmas Day to have a small family gathering to say farewell. It was great seeing them all but the family wasn't complete as my other sister couldn't make it as she already had guests for Christmas.


Above is a picture of the Pavilions in Torquay. In its heyday, during the late Victorian era, this place was 'the' place to be and old photo's of the place show just how popular it was. It's a beautiful old building and I pay it a vist each time I'm in town.

Mad dogs and Englishmen


Every Boxing Day the Paignton Lions Club organise a sponsored 'swim' into the sea for charity and takes place by Paignton Pier. This year the weather was unusually mild but the sea was bitterly cold and it was more a case of a quick run into the sea up to the knees and straight back out again for most people. Many swimmers dress up in all manner of costumes to give the event more of a party atmosphere. This year even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II took the plunge. Maybe one year I may just join in myself..................but then again, maybe not. Brrrr!

An apology!

For those that still follow this blog I apologise for not updating it for the last 16 months. I could use the excuse that I haven't done anything blog-worthy but that's far from the truth. At any point in time I've used the excuse of being either too busy, too tired or just plain lazy.
Now that I've finally moved to Australia I hope to update this blog regularly so that family and friends in the UK can see what I'm up to, where I live etc.