Surfin' Video...

We have put together a short video of the boys surfing at Apollo Bay over Easter......look out for a special clip of Chris surfing too....and some great photos.....hope you enjoy..... If you are wondering where Caroline is, she was chilling on the beach sipping a Chai Latte (her new drink of choice...excluding a good glass of red wine of course).

Easter on the Great Ocean Road

Hi Everyone...hope everyone has been having a great Easter weekend...we hear that the weather in England has been really sunny!

The Easter weekend here is a nice long one as Friday, Monday and Tuesday are all public holidays (Tues is ANZAC day), so we headed down to the Great Ocean Road for a couple of days. The start of the road is about a 2 hour drive from Mordialloc and it basically runs all the way to Adelaide winding along the coast with spectacular views.....however we weren't going to drive quite as far as Adelaide.

Our first stop was Torquay (Bell's Beach) which is the surfing capital of Victoria and this weekend the Rip Curl Pro surf competition was underway. Surfing is a hugely popular sport here and Kelly Slater who is 10 times world champion is a bit of a god. There were very big crowds and we couldn't actually see much but the atmosphere was good (lots of people with bleached hair and wearing Rip Curl, Billabong and Quicksilver clothes....).

After that we headed to Anglesea where we had arranged to stay at the holiday house of Maureen and Michael's friends. Anglesea is NOTHING like the Welsh place....it is a lovely coast site hamlet with a great beach and cool cafes. We went for a walk along the beach and the boys played some AFL (yes....) before we went for some food.

The next day we headed further along the Great Ocean Road taking in various sites - there really are some spectacular views...even the boys managed to tear their eyes away from their laptops in the car :-). Our favourites were the 12 Apostles and the London Bridge......lots of photos on our Flickr site as usual.

However the highlight of the trip was our surf lesson which we had in Apollo Bay. It was something that we just decided to do on the fly...and was great fun. We hired boards and wet suits and despite the weather being a bit dodgy it was brilliant fun. Jack had done it once before over New Year so we were expecting him to be an expert....and actually he was pretty good! The following day the 3 boys hired the gear again and headed out for more fun....this time they all improved and managed to stand up. It makes you realise just how good the professional surfers are...but I think the boys are addicted now!

That's all for now....we are busy planning our next trip - probably skiing....but New Zealand or Victoria...decisions, decisions :-)

The Jordans arrive!

We made it to the airport for 6a.m on Monday 11th April just as Jane, Olly and Alice walked through the doors. They had had a good trip, stopping off at Singapore for a couple of days to meet up with Jane's sister, so weren't too jet-lagged.

Since we were home by 7.30a.m and because the weather was going to be good, we headed straight out to Healesville to show them the wildlife of Australia and this time, actually got to see a wombat! She was 7 years old and called Florence!

The week was full- on - city trips, Mornington Peninsula, parties etc and Jane even took herself off on a one day trip down the Great Ocean Road, including a 10 minute helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles!

On Saturday, we met up with some other English friends who have just moved out here from Romsey - the Pockneys. We met them at the MCG and watched a FANTASTIC Afl game between Carlton and Essendon, which ended in a draw. This was followed by a trip to Wagamama for dinner, so it was a great day.

The week was over all too quickly but we had a great time, sharing our experiences with the Jordans, with the result being Alice and Olly want to move out here because they think it's so fantastic!

The holiday comes to an end...

Well, Mum and Dad are now winging their way back to England :( The house seems quite empty without them, especially at the dinner table. We had a lovely day on Friday though, going to Phillip Island to see the penguins. Got down there for lunch and then went to the Koala Conservation Sanctuary, where we saw 9 koalas including a nine month old infant. It was so cute and woke up to feed off it's Mum. She then spent ages grooming it and giving it cuddles. The three of us stood there for half an hour just watching him (there was no one else around!) Then we went off to see the penguins. While we were sitting waiting for dusk to fall, we watched a seal playing in the sea. The penguins came up off the beach at 7.30 p.m so not so long to wait this time, but they were equally as entertaining. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos of them so we can't put any on the blog.

It was lovely having Mum and Dad here and for them to see everything and meet everyone, so they know who and what we are talking about. Hopefully, it won't be too long before they can come out again. Our next visitors (Jane, Olly and Alice ) are arriving next Monday (11th) - VERY early in the morning (5a.m!!!!) so just gives me time to do all the washing!

By the way, our clocks went back at the weekend so we are now 9 hours ahead of the UK. This means no chance for early morning phone calls from this end since by the time we wake up, you Guys will (most probably) be in bed :( So we can only call at the weekends from now on.

Tassie....

Last week, Mum, Dad and myself flew to Tasmania to do a whistle-stop tour of the island. After only an hours flight, we landed at Launceston, where we picked up our hire car. Our first stop was a place called Cataract Gorge, which is only a 15 minute walk out of the town and where the North and South Esk rivers meet with the main Tamar River. We got the chairlift over the first basin and when we got off it, were met by some friendly wallabies! Spent a couple of hours there afterwhich, we went to find our B and B, which was great and did a mean breakfast.

Over the next couple of days we headed westwards along very winding roads towards Cradle Mountain and Lake St. Clair, but unfortunately, because the weather was so bad, we didn't get to see much. Still raining, we arrived at Hobart where we stayed in another lovely B and B and had a good fish "n" chip meal at Meurs. We did pass through some pretty villages called Strahan and Richmond, but to be honest, there's not much to Tasmania and I don't think I'd go again, especially with the Boys - they would be bored silly! It's great if you like walking holidays in the rain, but funnily enough... I don't!

On Saturday, Sam had his first friendly and won 2 - 1 which pleased him. Last weekend, Will played in his AFL game. Unfortunately, they didn't quite have the same result! However Will did get credited with an 'assist' which is great for a first game (he plays the position of pocket forward)

Yesterday (Sunday ) we went to the Australian Grand Prix which was a great experience. Gates opened at 10.30a.m and we pitched our spot on a hill right by the first bend - along with 50,000 other people! There was loads going on all through the day until the actual race began at 5 p.m and it was good to see Lewis Hamilton on the podium at the end in second place. At the end of the race everyone rushes onto the track and heads down to the podium - Jack and his mate Dan ran off....and turned up home a couple of hours later!

Today, I took Mum and Dad down the Mornington Peninsula where we stopped off at Arthurs Seat for a good view and a lovely walk. Then, off to Sorrento for a delicious lunch, before returning home at 5p.m. Tomorrow is going to be another gorgeous day and we are off to Lysterfield National Park to see the kangeroos :)

First two weeks...

OMG! Can't believe it's two weeks since I updated the blog! I was sure I did it last week but think I must've just put new pictures on Flickr and Facebook. We have done soooo much in the last two weeks that I don't know where to start!

In the first few days we went into the City and up the Eureka Tower, did the walking tour "Melbourne by Foot" and visited Redhill Craft market. Took Mum and Dad to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary where we saw lots of lazy koalas, platypus, roos and lots more.

For our birthdays, Mum and I went to see Mary Poppins at the theatre (which was supercalafragerlistically fantastic) whilst Dad had a look round the MCG Sports museum. After that, we went on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant on which we had a 3 course meal whilst travelling around Melbourne!

Thursday we went to Anglesea to meet up with Mum and Dad's friends and then after school on Friday, we drove to Wilsons Prom which is a National Parks area located 2.5 hrs away from Mordialloc ( a cross between the New Forest and Yosemite!!!) We had booked two cottages as we went with Natalie, Jason and the girls and spent a lovely Bank Holiday weekend relaxing and chilling out. The weather was fantastic and we spent all day Saturday at "Squeaky Beach" surfing on the waves and swimming in the sea. The scenery is pretty spectacular and we saw several wombats and kangeroos and a group of 24 emus!

Tomorrow, I am taking Mum and Dad to the Dandenong Ranges and Friday we are hitting the city once more.Then next week, the three of us are off toTasmania!

Loads of new piccies on Flickr...

Mum and Dad arrive!!!

Well, March 2nd arrived and so have my parents. I was very impressed that all the Boys wanted to come to the airport to meet them, even though it meant getting up at 5.30 a.m! Maybe it was more the fact that they would be late into school that appealed?! They had a good journey flying Business Class with Qantas and we were all a bit teary-eyed when they walked through the gates.

After dropping the Boys off at their schools en route, we arrived back at ours at 9.30 a.m. They unpacked, showered and then we walked along the beach to have lunch at the beachside cafe. They don't seem to be too jet lagged though fall asleep very early in the evening (so what's new?!!!)

Yesterday, (Friday) we headed into the city and went up the Eureka Tower and did the "Melbourne by Foot" walking tour, after-which they were exhausted!

Sam made it into the "A" team of Brighton F.C so is now training twice a week. Will has joined an Aussie Rules team and he, too is training twice a week. So things are getting back to normal on the "running the kids around" front!

This week, Chris bought me a beautiful new road bike for my birthday. We have just come back from a ride to St. Kilda and for the first time EVER, I was faster than him!!! This bike is amazing - just makes cycling sooo easy!