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Published: April 1st 2010
Written: Jan 2010 Published: Apr 2010
Wow have we had the best 4 months or what! Weddings, birthdays, the races, engagements, mini-breaks, family do’s to name just a few. Only… where does one start?
Firstly we are pleased to report we are back on two wheels after Jeff fell in love with “Daz” our new addition to the family. We’ve been out a few times touring around in this gorgeous WA weather and look forward to him coming around the rest of Oz with us in future. Love ya work Daz!
Summer has well and truly arrived over here and last weekend we had our hottest day ever since we arrived (Ok it was only about 39 but when you live on the coast that is frigging hot!). That morning we went fishing with Jeff’s new gear (more about that later) and caught 4 fishies! Needless to say we fired up the bbq when we got home and had the freshest lunch ever. We have been LOVING our WA sunsets over sea this summer, we think everyone should come over here just for that alone. It’s a special place to be late in the day with the view
First ride to work
since 'that' fateful day! Think Jeffs boss just shook his headchanging every 30 seconds till the sun slips below the water…magic.
We were also surprised to find out Tab’s mum’s cousin Lynette and her hubby Les were in town, from SA, after their son Nathan got married up near Perth. We caught a cab to the pub…of course…and had a beaut dinner in the short time we had together. We also managed to catch up with Nathan and his new wife Jill for a latte before they headed back up to Perth. Was tops to see some regular faces and great seeing you guys!
Not long before we headed to Melbourne in October we were blessed…I think…with free tickets to Oktoberfest at the Duckstein Brewery about half an hour north of Margs. We managed to combine weight lifting while drinking with 1 litre steins of fizz and all beautifully sorted with a bus there and home again! It was a fab day with traditional music, beer, slap dancing, beer, kransky’s, beer, sunshine, beer…..don’t even TRY to imagine how we felt the next day, it was worse!
Happily later last year we spent 3 weeks in Melbourne partying up a storm there and in other parts of Victoria.
A couple of days after we arrived we had the pleasure of going to Jeff’s sisters wedding to Andy. It was a romantic and relaxed event and we loved catching up with everyone after such a long time away. Congratulations on such a beautiful day & thank you for having us guys!
Following the wedding we spent a lovely few days with Jeff’s parents, John & Colleen, catching up on all the goss and of course some tinkering in the shed with Jeff & John! Another immense thank you goes out to John & Colleen who lent us their car for our Vic road trip, we couldn’t have done it without you!
Before we headed off to country Vic we spent a few days with Tab’s brother Adam & his wife Carmena and their fur-family Kyah, Becky and 2 new puppies Ella & Sherman. Loved meeting the puppies finally and had a ball catching up since our last visit in Xmas 2008. Melbourne Cup day was spent at the Yarra Valley Races where we got dolled up and, not surprisingly spent the day wining, beering & snacking trackside, again with a bus ride there & home again which
Sunset over Sea
This beautiful view is about 15km from our place in Margs was handy! We all managed a few wins (and a few losses too!) but overall won about $50 which was cool. While visiting the four of us also went for a walk up to the fire ravaged region of Marysville/Lake Mountain which, while eye opening, was fantastic to see the regrowth of the bush & the homes. It’s nice to see so many people haven’t been put off living in such a beautiful area, and one day it will get it’s beauty back for sure. There were green bits everywhere so given some time things will start looking a lot better.
After leaving their place we headed to north-west Vic to Tab’s town of birth Mildura. There we crammed lots of catching up into 3 days (we were getting pretty good at 3 day crams by this stage!). Aunty Patti & Uncle Michael treated us to beautiful curry & wine on the night we arrived and we chatted the night away about traveling as they have a fairly new caravan (chateau on wheels!) and hope to hit the road again soon. Next stop was cousin Jacqueline’s place where we had a couple of relaxing bbq nights with her &
Sunset Smiles
We have been loving the rugged coastline here hubby Brendan, and got to catch up with their tribe of ever-growing boys! While there we also had a great afternoon tea with Aunty Pamela and saw Tab’s God-parents Deb & Zac (whose photo is in an earlier blog when we were looking after the caravan park at Cheynes Beach). Thanks everyone for your hospitality and hope next time we can stay longer!
After leaving Mildura we made our way to Echuca where Jeff & I were married almost 8 (can you believe that?) to stay in the resort we spent our wedding night in. After a beautiful dinner at Oscar W’s (who did the catering for our wedding) we headed back to our villa for a relaxing spa and the next day booked ourselves a paddle steamer lunch cruise on the Emmylou. It was such a romantic & relaxing 2 days and made us realise just how much we miss living close to the Murray, it’s a special place for us.
On our way back to Melbourne (it was about time we gave John & Colleen their car back!) we stopped in at Castlemaine to say g’day to Tab’s parents who were there in their own chateau
on wheels, with Molly dog too. Funnily enough they were on their way to Mildura to a 60th birthday party and were due to arrive there in a few days time. It was stinking hot there so we spent the time doing some local wine tasting (when in Rome) and then made the most of the local pub and enjoyed a couple of cold brews under the airconditioner.
Once back in Melbourne we were then blessed with another wedding to attend. Our great pals Suzz & Jase (finally!) tied the knot on the 13th November in a beautiful celtic wedding at their stone house in the Dandenong Ranges. We had a fabulous time guys and congratulations on making the big walk!
Following the wedding, being the good (and homeless!) friends that we are we promised to do the post wedding clean up in lieu of lodgings! Great deal! The bride and groom arrived back a few days later at which point our very best mates (Madge & Mick, Suzz & Jase, Mick & Bek) put on a pizza & piss night in celebration of Tab’s 30th back in June. On a balmy eve we sat outside, ate home
It's all taste!
Jeff finds some sweetbreads at the fest made pizza’s (thanks Mick & Bek) and got on it til the wee hours (thanks Suzz & Jase). A memorable night full of tasty treats, beautiful wine, dim sims in the early morning and a well-earned mild headache the next day. The highlight was the combined gift, now that Tab’s elderly, she got a Snuggie! Snuggie became a fast friend and featured in many, many events that week. Thanks guys, can’t wait for the weather to cool down so snugs can come out of storage and now we just need to find some matching red ugg boots!
In other happy news our mates Madge & Mick became engaged on the last night before leaving Melbourne to head back home to Mt Isa. Mick popped the question on the beach (thankfully didn’t drop the ring in the sand!) and we are so thrilled for you guys!
Not long after we got home again xmas was upon us and Tab’s parents came to spend the silly season in Margs. After opening our pressies in the morning, we enjoyed prawn cocktails on the lawn with some bubbly, and Jeff & Scott cooked a fab webber with pork, lamb & chicken. With
all the trimmings we enjoyed a late lunch and an even later pudding (thanks to Tab’s Aunty Pamela). We had a great holiday and took Scott & Maria to some beautiful sights around the cape and enjoyed some local wines. New Years Eve was spent with Scott, Maria and their good friends the Hobbs family. We all went out for dinner, then back to our place for a few celebration drinks around a fire in the backyard. Top night guys!
Jeff was lucky enough to get a BCF voucher (thanks Adam & Carmena!) and some cash (thanks Scott & Maria!) and a new surf rod (thanks Tab!) and has spent his lot on stocking up with fishing gear. All he’s gotta find now is a spear gun and the hunter-gatherer will be set. Guess who is in charge of finding dinner when we get back on the road?!
A couple of weeks ago we went on a long weekend mini-break to the South-East area. We did a round trip and visited some places we loved on our way over to Margs, including Pemberton, Denmark, Mt Barker & Frankland River. We took the 4WD & our tent and camped
Carmena & Tab
Enjoying a lovely dinner at Thai restaurant the Basil Leaf in Mt Evelyn...highly recommended for a feed! out for 4 days, enjoying some beautiful wines, drives through old growth forests and spending the nights sitting by the campfire.
We have also still been (slowly) trecking bits of the Cape to Cape track, recently going to a great spot ending at Quinninup Falls. This is sacred aboriginal land, and now that we’ve been we can understand why, it was simply stunning. The falls were high up on the side of the cliff, with the fresh water snaking it’s way down until it empties into the ocean. Well worth the walk, and followed up by a great lunch at Hay Shed Hill winery.
Jeff recently did his first overnight shift at Leeuwin, with the early harvest of their pinot grapes (used in their bubbly). Starting at 10pm, the weary boy arrived home just after 7am, had a nap for a few hours and got up to enjoy a pizza & beer breakfast (well, he’d JUST knocked off work ya know!). The harvest will continue next week, with all the whites being harvested at night time, and then the reds will follow hopfully before April. We have had some really warm & dry weather so this year is
Melbourne Cup Day
In the stands at the Yarra Glen Races set to be a corker, and hopefully harvest will be over early.
It appears our stay in Margs will be extended a few extra months with Jeff having another MRI last week. In the best news, it appears the cartilage has reattached to his hip joint, practically ruling out the need for a new hip in future - YAY! The MRI did show some fluid inside the top of his femur, which the doc hopes will dissipate on it’s own. He did suggest Jeff has a cortisone injection into the joint to take away some of the inflammation (and therefore the pain he’s getting) but he hasn’t yet decided if he wants to do that. Overall the news was fantastic and his next check up will be in August, possibly with one more MRI, at which point his doc thinks he will be at a point to say “you are as good as you’re gonna get” or even better finds everything to be normal again.
So with that in mind, we are gonna be hanging around till at least August, and possibly heading off in a different direction (it’s likely to be getting too hot up north to
be leaving here in Aug) but we will keep you all posted. In the mean time we’ll keep saving up, enjoying the local scene and planning our new adventure.
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