Happy Christmas

Adelaide here, still fed up about the cricket but chuffed about the ever expanding Mandy. After months of sickness she is now glowing and looking as happy as an Aussie cricket fan and as fat as Humpty Dumpty.

Things are trotting along here, we moved into the new house last weekend. With the help of some handy Aussies and a happy Scot we shifted our accumulated junk into the little house in the woods. Mandy looked the other way as we nearly let the trailer run through the bedroom wall and dropped the fridge. Apart from that, it went like clockwork. So many thanks to Billy, Mike and Greg for their labours.

The neighbours were very welcoming, one couple inviting us round for tea, pressing home made marmalade on us and regaling us with tales of great bush fires of days gone by. Comforting stuff.

The next lot invited us round for sundowners to tell us about all the short cuts that the previous owner had taken. So we find we have precious little water in the tanks, a bio-waste system way past it service date and sprinkler systems which need ripping out and reinstalling.

Buying a house is a dirty business over here too!

Christmas here is pretty much the same as in the UK, with some fairly striking differences though. Everyone is out for Christmas drinks, but in the beer garden not by the fire. Big meals are essential, but it’s Greek salad and barbecued chicken rather than roast with all the trimmings. Santa wears the full kit and is seen everywhere, but his red face is down to the heat rather than the brandy. In most cases.

Mandy has landed the much sought after night shift over Christmas Eve/morning and she will undoubtedly be a happy little bunny on her return! It might take a while for the full spirit of Christmas to manifest itself around our place.

We’re flying to Melbourne on Christmas afternoon, one more dream coming true as we watch a Boxing Day test match. Even though the Ashes are long gone, it’s a 95,000 sell out. At a cricket match. How about that?

Moving on, all the scans look good for the little one and Mandy has found a few yoga classes for the pregnant, so she can compare notes and eat cake with the similarly afflicted. She is bearing up well though and seems to be enjoying it all.

So we’ll leave you with pictures of the big news….a view which at least means we can see the fires rolling across the valley, the little one looking pretty comfortable and the astonishing revelation that Aussies love beating the English!

So merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all, we’ll send news from Melbourne but please let us know how you are getting on.

Anyway, before I rabbit on all night, the lightning is getting as spectacular as it is scary. It’s time for a beer, fingers crossed that the rain keeps up.

Merry Christmas
M&W

Only A Game!?

Writing this note is a welcome distraction, the best thing on TV is ‘Australia’s Brainiest Radio Personality’, imagine how much fun that could be.

The TV is a significant reason for people talking about Australia as an outdoor country.

Another good reason for keeping clear of the TV has been the cricket. As Mandy keeps reminding me, it’s only a game and I appreciate her point of view. But at the same time I don’t believe her.

Call me narrow minded or shallow, but it’s much more than a game. Particularly when what is either the ‘Greatest Match Ever’ (Aussie press) or the most brainless, gutless and heart breaking defeat imaginable has happened right here in Adelaide.

The Aussies loved it of course and I have heard about little else since. They are quite ruthless sports supporters. They would much rather win a cricket match by an innings or a rugby match by 50 points than have to sit on the edge of their seat chewing their nails. They enjoy nothing more than watching one sided contests.

Of course on the other hand, us Brits generally prefer an evenly matched contest which keeps us interested all the way through. Unless of course it’s against Australia.

Despite the result, and more importantly, the nature of it, watching an Ashes match in Australia really was a dream come true. I have been looking forward to this for a long time and to sit back on the grassy bank, beer in hand under a cloudless sky at a beautiful and sold out Adelaide Oval was just perfect.

Even Mandy enjoyed it and while she didn’t have a beer of course, she was kept amused with plenty of ice cream and looking at Brett Lee through the binoculars. I think cricket is probably the perfect hobby for her at the moment. It seems she is getting bigger every day and sitting round for hours doing nothing but eating ice cream suits her very well.

During this time, Adelaide was fascinated by the antics of the Barmy Army. As I have mentioned, this place is often likened to the stately older lady of Australian cities and was hence a little anxious about an impending rowdy Anglo Saxon invasion.

The newspapers had filled the locals with stories of what over 5000 flag waving, chanting, beer guzzling Poms would do to the city. I was constantly asked about what the Barmy Army was all about, I think people were genuinely worried. I told them that it was an organisation similar in many ways to Al Qaeda and left it there.

Of course it was hyped out of all proportion, 5000 England fans wandered round with a big smile on their faces, sang, drank and made loads of friends. Their response to the worst defeat I can remember was to sing and drink more. The landlords of this city will miss them greatly.

As if the result wasn’t bad enough, I watched the game mostly through one eye having fallen off my bike up in the hills. I imagine it must have looked quite good as I ended up a fair way from the bike and among all the cuts and bruises, came out with 11 stitches around my eye and lip. One day I will learn that I am not still 21 and don’t bounce very well any more.

We move into our new house this week so it’s goodbye to the chic coffee culture of Norwood and hello to no mains water or sewers and bush fires. The upside is a lovely house on a hill with views of rolling gum forests and, if you lean over the fence a little, the sea too.

Talking of bush fires, the season is really taking off now. There are some huge ones burning in Victoria and the news yesterday showed Melbourne engulfed in smoke from fires over 200 miles away. Visibility was down to several metres and smoke alarms were going off in all the office buildings.

Whether it is fire, drought or heat (100F+ for the last few days), this country offers constant reminders that it is at the mercy of some very harsh elements. And if they don’t get you the sharks probably will!

This week there have been 10 sightings of large great whites within 400m of the beach. We’re off to beach ourselves now, but like everyone else, we won’t be going deeper than waist high!

Keep well.
M&W