Echidna resident at Cape Paterson

Andy sent us these wonderful videos taken on 22nd Nov 2012. We have seen track before, but here is the evidence:-

Oz vs UK

I have been in the UK for around 18 months, and this is just my second trip to Australia in that time. For what its worth, here are some comparisons between the two:-

Australia is expensive. Beer in our local, the Royal Oak in Clifton is GBP3.30 a pint, and that is expensive for the UK, its much cheaper in parts of Manchester. In many pubs in Melbourne its A$10-12 a pint, and at the current forex rate that is GBP7-8. Ouch. The hi A$ skews the numbers a little, but things are expensive here. But people earn more also

Traffic is getting worse in Oz.....but it has a long way to go to get to the UK levels of congestion.

UK drivers are more considerate than Auzzies - I guess they have to be, as there are more of them on the roads. Poms are much better with cyclists, and Auzzies on a main road are far less likely to let people turn Right, in front of them onto a side road.

The UK is a little bigger than Victoria, the most densely populated state in Australia, with 5.5m people. The UK has 62.2m people, ie it is 11x more populated for the same land mass. This state tells us a great deal about liveability in both countries.

The roads in Australia are much better than the UK. There have been lots of pot holes this year due to the high rainfall, but many have been fixed, in Australia. Poms will know this is not the case over the Old Blighty.

I just bought the same car on each country - lets see how they last. Did a wheel bearing in the UK, I reckon the wear and tear in Australia will be much less.

Hay fever has been shocking this Spring in Oz, much worse than the UK. I never normally have a problem in the old country, but my eyes have been streaming here in Oz.

Mau 40th

 

 

On Sunday Oct 14th Mau joined the 40s club. Unfortunately I am not longer a member of that group, having been "upgraded" to the next one! I see it as a Gold frequent flyers card - Mau is still only on Silver!

 

I joined up with Sophie, Alicia, Mau and Ravi Savarirayan at San Telmo, a groovy Argentinian eatery in Meyers Place, for a night of great food and serious Malbecs. The boys were robust, the gals just gorgeous as ever. And Sophie had run a half marathon that morning - amazing.

 

Most of the discussion was on the topic of web profiling; how to control or manage what comes up against an individual on a web search. Am itching to write stuff about Ravi to prove this point, but am far too professional subject my blog to a slander and libel claim. But yes, its tiny! Lets see what comes up on a Google search as a result of this.

The bass has arrived...at last

 

 

There were a few hitches getting me to Melbourne, but the bass had more hoops to get thro. But its here, at last. Customs didnt fumigate it, nor did they charge import duties. Yay to both. And a huge thank you to Michelle Fink for taking me to pick it up at Tullamarine. And taking this shot to celebrate!

In Melbourne....where its windy!!

I was meant to land in Melbourne on Mon 3/9 local time. My flight from Manchester to Doha was delayed, so we circled the airport waiting for a landing slot.....by which time I had missed my connection to Melbourne. Or Qatar had oversold the seats on the flight!! Either way I ended up in a 5 start hotel in the desert. More food then ever I could eat. But no grog of course.

So I landed on Tues eve. Wed was windy - this house had its roof blown off on Harcourt St, North Melbourne.

Am staying with Johnny and Mimi - life is good

Carvery lunch at the Fairview

The weekend before I left for Melbourne we went to the aptly named Fairview in Shaw for a carvery lunch, with Mum, Julie, Steve and the girls Sarah and Charlotte, who were both on fine form. £4.50 for a carvery lunch - wow.

It was a beaut day, as the photos atest.

And all taken with my iPhone - how did we survive when phones just made phone calls??

Edinburgh Aug 2012

In late August Stuey was working with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra doing a concert in the Edinburgh International Festival. Nic popped up too for a long weekend or mixed weather to celebrate our 22nd anniversary.

Dinner at Greywalls was amazing. Its a beautiful old house in Gullane, 6 miles East of Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth. As you can see, Nicky scrubs up good for a woman married 22 years, and she is looking very excited about her scallops entree!

We had a great walk up the Pentland Hills just South of Edinburgh, which offers a great view of the Forth, the bridges, the City and nearby dry ski slope and golf courses. Everyone plays golf.

Next was Roslyn Chapel, made famous at the end of the Da Vinci Code book and film. Stunning.


We made a soggy trip to St Abbs Head, which would have been marvellous had the weather been better. And the seabird centre at North Berwick is cool - there are cameras on the 5 islands in the Forth, packed with birdlife, such at Gannets on Bass Rock. And a trip to scotland would just not be the same without a visit to a distillery, and this time it was a tour of Glenkinchie, and its subtle lowlands scotch.