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Published: February 6th 2006
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2nd January 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Update for you! At last I hear you cry! Well, here goes, hope it’s not too boring for you!
I have completed a Thai cookery course & now have a cupboard full of ingredients it will take ages to use up! But it was good fun & I’ve gained a few good recipes from it. Even though in the process, I managed to burn my brand new wok!
Have also completed my ‘Learn to Row’ course - good fun, but more difficult than it looks! Got on better as a team in the last 2 weeks, though I was struggling to do everything, i.e. using the slide correctly, feathering the blade etc. Not easy! Once my blade got struck in the water & I had great difficulty getting it out again! But right at the end we did mange to actually row as an ‘Eight’ for a few stokes! I was just getting the hang of it & the course finishes! Typical! They do run an intermediate course but that doesn’t start until the end of January, by which time I’d probably have forgotten everything!
Got chatting
to a guy, from the Northern Territory, on the bus recently, who looked like someone out of ZZ Top! Tickled me when he asked me where in England I was from & he said he had relatives in Surrey. I said ‘Oh, that’s about 2 hours drive from me’ & he replied ‘Hell, I drive that far for a beer!’ There’s no answer to that is there?
My employers held a Company Golf Day at Mount Barker Golf Course, about half an hour’s drive east of Adelaide in the Adelaide Hills. Roylene & I were the only girls playing - both of us were novices! My team gave me a few tips after the first few holes, so I managed to use several of the clubs in the bag I had hired instead of just the 7 iron! Did lose 4 balls though - 1 in a tree, 1 in the water, 1 in the paddock (didn’t even try to look for that) & the other one god knows where! The best bit was our team came third! Great! Think the rest of the guys were surprised a team with a girl in it came so high!! One in
the eye for them, hey?
Daniel Radcliffe, alias Harry Potter, was in South Australia late November/early December filming another film on Kangaroo Island - it’s just off the foot of the Fleurieu Peninsula, SA - check the map! Have any of you seen the film ‘Look Both Ways’? That too was filmed in South Australia. Check it out…
Alarmingly, there has been reported 20 shark sightings in the past year off Adelaide’s coastline! Hence I have yet to venture into the sea any great distance - though saying that some local divers I met reckon they haven’t seen any as yet…but they do use electronic shark shield devices!
Went on a Dolphin River Cruise for a pre Xmas celebration. The boat went from Port Adelaide - the entire boat was decked out with Xmas decorations & lots of helium filled balloons. All drinks & food were free hence I started on the champers! We sailed along the river to the mouth & back whilst drinking, eating, chatting & popping upstairs on top deck to watch the dolphins that came out to play at various intervals! It was a lovely sunny day for a Xmas lunch! Father Xmas
even came to visit the children with presents just before arriving back at the Port Adelaide - none for me though! By this time I’d had enough alcohol & had to concentrate on walking in a straight line! And it was only mid afternoon!
Thanks for all your Xmas cards - each card was gratefully & gleefully received & put up on the lounge/kitchen shelf! It’s great to receive some post other than bills! Please keep your letters/emails coming! Let me know that you are all up to!
The Advertiser, the local paper, listed on a daily basis the homes, which have decorated up for Xmas - lots of them. A different home is featured each day in the paper along with a list of homes under the various suburbs - called the Spirit of Christmas. Some of these places are fantastic! Numerous lights, reindeer, candy sticks, Father Xmas etc. - just like in the film ‘National Lampoons Xmas Vacation’ - remember that? One street in particular, nearby, every home in the street was lit up! It was like fairyland! People were actually getting out of their cars and wandering up & down the street stopping to look
at each display! Amazing!
One evening I went to the Carols by Candlelight in Elder Park, in the city by the river - it was packed. Didn’t expect to see so many people, must have been between 25,000 & 30,000 at least! Hardly a place to sit! A large stage had been set up, flanked with big screens on each side. Still light when it started but as the light faded the candles took on a great atmosphere! Sat on the grass, waving our lit candles to the music, watching, listening & singing Xmas carols - really good - plus a good firework display at the end of the concert. I actually felt more in the Xmas mood after this - up until this it just didn’t feel like Xmas! (Think it’s the weather - just doesn’t seem right to celebrate Xmas in sunshine & heat!)
On the lake, close to my place, several teams do Dragonboat racing. So I cycled along one day just before Xmas to get details & before I knew it I was in the boat for a ‘try it’ session! A paddle was thrust in one hand & a piece of foam -
‘to sit on or you will get a sore bum’ so I was told - in the other. Quick introductions as I hopped in the boat & off we went! The sun was hiding behind some big clouds & the wind was getting up pretty strongly, but at first all I had to do was watch! Then I joined in & we paddled around the island & back. Easier to learn than rowing! It was good fun, a good laugh & they are a friendly bunch too! I did get rather wet, but didn’t mind as the water was warm & I soon dried off!
Have visited Victor Harbour, about 90km south of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula coast. Drove through McLaren Vale - vineyard country - nice views down to Victor Harbour. VH is a seaside resort now, back in the olden days during the 1860’s to 1890’s, it was a thriving seaport. As it was a public holiday and summer holiday time, there were lots of people milling around. I had lunch sitting in the sunshine (sorry to rub it in!) only 26oC, with a breeze, so it was a nice summers day! A welcome relief from the 38oC+ days we have had the past week. One of VH’s attractions is the causeway over to Granite Island, which you can either walk over or go by an old-fashioned horse drawn tram! You can also have a camel ride on the beach! I walked over to the island and around it - it’s not very big - taking lots of photos as such a nice spot. At dusk on Granite Island you can see the small fairy penguins come in & in winter you can often see the Southern Right Whales here - they grow up to 18metres in length! Incredible isn’t it?
Well, I think that’s all the news for now - check out the photos!
Regards,
Ronnie
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Dallas
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Up Date Please!
Hi Ronnie Stop chasing those surfing dudes and update your blog ! Booked up the bridge, nice and early @9:15, Queen of the desert ? See ya soon