Thursday, 3 December 2009
Moving Day
Good luck to Dayna as she moves to London. You do remember that your gggrandfather was born there so you're a local. Hope it all goes smoothly and the new job is everything fun and not frustrating.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Saturday, 14 November 2009
New Header
Okay, it's taken me many hours over the last few weeks, but I've finally finished the new Bandwagon Header. I wanted to update it with the new members of our extended family, so I figured why not just update everyone as well.
I hope you all like it.
Just for you Mum I've got a tee on RedBubble (with zero markup, the cheapest I can make it). I've changed the design a bit to make it more tee friendly. You can see it here http://www.redbubble.com/people/damienmason/t-shirts/4124819-1-family
I'll also separate out all the different people so you can grab yourself or reorder or remix them.. My plan is to do it now but it'll depend on how Ossie goes, I've just put him to bed for a nap :)
So what do you think of the new header?
Edit: Okay, here are the files.
If you want to remix the header, grab these ones. They're all transparent PNGs with a background the exact size as the header bg and everything placed as it is in the header.. so you should be able to stack the pngs in layers in a photoshop file and then work with each person independently.
Adam
Carolynn
Chez
Dad
Me and Oscar
Daria
Dayna
Dee
Glenn
Jared
Lisa
Mum
Nana
Trinity
I've also put together massive (1000x1500) transparent pngs for each person, in case you just wanted yourself (for avatars etc) which are here
Adam
Carolynn
Chez
Dad
Me and Oscar
Daria
Dayna
Dee
Glenn
Jared
Lisa
Mum
Nana
Trinity
And finally I thought if you wanted to do a calendar rather than using the long horizontal version you might like the more compact tee version, so I've made a big (2880x2100) white background jpg of that for you. It doesn't have the text the tee has.
Calendar pic
Hopefully that's enough to keep you all going for a while :)
I hope you all like it.
Just for you Mum I've got a tee on RedBubble (with zero markup, the cheapest I can make it). I've changed the design a bit to make it more tee friendly. You can see it here http://www.redbubble.com/people/damienmason/t-shirts/4124819-1-family
I'll also separate out all the different people so you can grab yourself or reorder or remix them.. My plan is to do it now but it'll depend on how Ossie goes, I've just put him to bed for a nap :)
So what do you think of the new header?
Edit: Okay, here are the files.
If you want to remix the header, grab these ones. They're all transparent PNGs with a background the exact size as the header bg and everything placed as it is in the header.. so you should be able to stack the pngs in layers in a photoshop file and then work with each person independently.
Adam
Carolynn
Chez
Dad
Me and Oscar
Daria
Dayna
Dee
Glenn
Jared
Lisa
Mum
Nana
Trinity
I've also put together massive (1000x1500) transparent pngs for each person, in case you just wanted yourself (for avatars etc) which are here
Adam
Carolynn
Chez
Dad
Me and Oscar
Daria
Dayna
Dee
Glenn
Jared
Lisa
Mum
Nana
Trinity
And finally I thought if you wanted to do a calendar rather than using the long horizontal version you might like the more compact tee version, so I've made a big (2880x2100) white background jpg of that for you. It doesn't have the text the tee has.
Calendar pic
Hopefully that's enough to keep you all going for a while :)
Monday, 9 November 2009
Exams again
Yes, I'm at that exciting stage of the year again...Exam time. Our exams go for a week but over two weeks (yes it's strange to put the weekend in the middle of them). I'm not looking forward to exams but im definatly looking forward to the formal. Its on the 2nd of December, I already have my dress (I made it) and all my friends and I can't stop talking about it.
Popcorn for dinner
I finally got around to uploading some photos today; you can find them on Flickr (with a couple retroactively added to our last post). I've also got a new phone (an Android phone, whee, it's "wik" (wicked, good) for all you non-geeks, nyah-nyah) and so have a few ... creative ... digital-filtered photos from around London.
So we had the beer festival in Norwich (Norfolk) the other weekend: a massive, Hogwart's-like hallway under a vaunted, cathedral ceiling filled with barrels and barrels of delicious beers. Traditional ales, lagers, stouts, ciders; there was something for everyone (well, everyone who likes beer I guess), and all paid for with little paper tokens we bought when we arrived.
With too many different types to possibly try all of, I tended to base my decisions on the name of the brewery and/or the beer itself. So after a Red Dragon ale I had a Jack The Ripper, a Hobgoblin, a Pirate, a Neverwinter Nights (confession: I'm making them up). We stayed in a local hotel, had breakfast downstairs and headed back to London with Chris and Tina.
We also saw an amateur production of Jack The Ripper (The Musical) -- yes, the same one I was in so many years ago (ours was better :-D). It was in a tiny little theatre built under London Bridge (literally under -- in a gloomy tomb, very appropriate for the show and probably more spooky than the acting).
Yesterday we visited "Befnal Green", our old 'hood in the East End. Took the bus into Liverpool Street, walked through Spitalfields (Jack The Ripper again!) and up Brick Lane; street markets and food stalls and crowds of too-cool hipsters scared us into the straightest bar with the campest name: The Birdcage. We sat with a bunch of old rummies and watched Arsenal play Wolverton ... then finished our drinks (I had a Fosters!! Tee hee!) and ran away to watch some fireworks.
The number of people were intense! After 30 minutes of the fireworks we thought we could beat the crowds, and so ran away to the nearest bus-stop. Unfortunately, no bus came and eventually we were walking along with the herd looking for another way home. Turned out to be another bus stop, then a late night taxi back here -- our planned early night after a few nice fireworks turned into a gruelling trek across the urban jungle towards the safety of our temporary nest!
The punchline: we got home, ordered some dinner from a local curry house (yes, lazy, but nothing in the 'fridge because we've been so darn busy) and then settled in with a tasty glass of Australian red. Waited for food, waited some more, waited, waited, waited. Eventually we got through to the curry-house who informed us that a power-cut had shutdown their kitchen, so it was no dinner for us. We searched through the cupboards, and ended up with popcorn for dinner...
How rock and roll is that!!? :-D
One filter makes photos look like a polaroid,
and gives me a manly, straggly beard
and gives me a manly, straggly beard
So we had the beer festival in Norwich (Norfolk) the other weekend: a massive, Hogwart's-like hallway under a vaunted, cathedral ceiling filled with barrels and barrels of delicious beers. Traditional ales, lagers, stouts, ciders; there was something for everyone (well, everyone who likes beer I guess), and all paid for with little paper tokens we bought when we arrived.
You'll be a pinball-wizard, Harry
With too many different types to possibly try all of, I tended to base my decisions on the name of the brewery and/or the beer itself. So after a Red Dragon ale I had a Jack The Ripper, a Hobgoblin, a Pirate, a Neverwinter Nights (confession: I'm making them up). We stayed in a local hotel, had breakfast downstairs and headed back to London with Chris and Tina.
We also saw an amateur production of Jack The Ripper (The Musical) -- yes, the same one I was in so many years ago (ours was better :-D). It was in a tiny little theatre built under London Bridge (literally under -- in a gloomy tomb, very appropriate for the show and probably more spooky than the acting).
Another filter: "toy camera".
Yesterday we visited "Befnal Green", our old 'hood in the East End. Took the bus into Liverpool Street, walked through Spitalfields (Jack The Ripper again!) and up Brick Lane; street markets and food stalls and crowds of too-cool hipsters scared us into the straightest bar with the campest name: The Birdcage. We sat with a bunch of old rummies and watched Arsenal play Wolverton ... then finished our drinks (I had a Fosters!! Tee hee!) and ran away to watch some fireworks.
The number of people were intense! After 30 minutes of the fireworks we thought we could beat the crowds, and so ran away to the nearest bus-stop. Unfortunately, no bus came and eventually we were walking along with the herd looking for another way home. Turned out to be another bus stop, then a late night taxi back here -- our planned early night after a few nice fireworks turned into a gruelling trek across the urban jungle towards the safety of our temporary nest!
The punchline: we got home, ordered some dinner from a local curry house (yes, lazy, but nothing in the 'fridge because we've been so darn busy) and then settled in with a tasty glass of Australian red. Waited for food, waited some more, waited, waited, waited. Eventually we got through to the curry-house who informed us that a power-cut had shutdown their kitchen, so it was no dinner for us. We searched through the cupboards, and ended up with popcorn for dinner...
How rock and roll is that!!? :-D
Sunday, 8 November 2009
A warm weekend
Hi all,
Just returned from a weekend in Shepparton to celebrate Josie's 40th. She had organised well and had some games(naming TV series from the 70's and 80's and a song and artist from 1969 to 2009) as well as a jukebox and disco lights. Cleaned most up as the evening progressed then went back to finalise this morning. Later went to Cheap as Chips for a little shopping with Denise and Mum. All of Josi
Very warm here again with 32 and 34 (at least) and hotter in Shep. The next week promises more of the same so the air con is getting well used.
All of Josie's children gave up their beds for the visitors. ( and Robbie ended up out on the couch)
News from Berrigan via Val Loomes- Grace Harvie passed away last Wednesday.
We were sorry we missed Charles's christening. Waiting for Lisa to tell us how that went, but she's at a Tupperware party.
Laundry to do and Foxie wants some tea. Hope all is good for all of you.
Just returned from a weekend in Shepparton to celebrate Josie's 40th. She had organised well and had some games(naming TV series from the 70's and 80's and a song and artist from 1969 to 2009) as well as a jukebox and disco lights. Cleaned most up as the evening progressed then went back to finalise this morning. Later went to Cheap as Chips for a little shopping with Denise and Mum. All of Josi
Very warm here again with 32 and 34 (at least) and hotter in Shep. The next week promises more of the same so the air con is getting well used.
All of Josie's children gave up their beds for the visitors. ( and Robbie ended up out on the couch)
News from Berrigan via Val Loomes- Grace Harvie passed away last Wednesday.
We were sorry we missed Charles's christening. Waiting for Lisa to tell us how that went, but she's at a Tupperware party.
Laundry to do and Foxie wants some tea. Hope all is good for all of you.
Monday, 26 October 2009
A busy October indeed
It's been a busy couple of weeks for us this month, with: a visit to Manchester; a trip to the country; Sunday roast for my birthday; a Brazilian barbeque; leaving drinks for MI5; an office move; a halloween party; a sci-fi film all-nighter. To top it off we're headed up to Norwich for a beer festival next weekend! Perhaps November can be a quiet one?
I think I already mentioned Manchester (in an email?) -- we took the bus on Friday night, arrived quite late and were very happy to see Dayna & Bruce (thanks for picking us up! I'm not sure we could've handled another 20-30 minutes on a bus, even a Magic Bus.) It was really good to see Dayna, and we spent the weekend talking, playing Wii, drinking Dayna's impressive collection of donated alcoholic beverages (as Vicky has left for kiwi-land). We even did some tourism/shopping around Manchester central, with the mandatory "duck into shops and pubs to escape the rain" manouever. Then it was back on the bus on Sunday to get here! All in all a fun weekend away.
Another weekend was spent away in Dorking, south of London. Only an hour or so on the train, but out of the city and surrounded by greenery: fields and glens and forests and hills. We stayed with Martin and Helen (of "Jack The Ripper: The Musical" fame -- Martin is originally from Castlemaine) and had a lovely dinner in a pub/restaurant in the middle of nowhere (Helen drove) with delicious food and an awesome, relaxing atmosphere. Seriously! Good! Food! The kind of place you have dessert, even though you can't really fit it in. The next day we hit a farmer's market, before returning to the big smoke on the train.
Hmm, all these relaxing weekends, we should be completely chilled out, right?
The weekend of my birthday Dee cooked a lovely roast lamb for us & 9 guests. We stuffed ourselves silly, I got presents (yay!) and played Xbox. Tim Churchward, who I went to Uni with (and who is known as "the nicest man in the world") even visited with his wife -- they are travelling, and stayed with Martin and Helen for a few days. Great to see them!
Chris and Tina (housemates) were away for my actual birthday, so when they returned they took us out to dinner at the O2 Arena to a Brazilian barbeque house. Dear Goddess, so much fresh and tender barbeque meat: you grab a plate, load up on the bare-minimum amount of salad required to keep away the scurvy, then wait with hungry eyes as the waiters bring freshly cooked skewers of lamb, beef, chicken, fish and other poor, delicious animals straight to your table, slicing off as much or as little as you request before putting the skewers back onto the barbeque to continue cooking. I ate. And ate. And ate. For days I couldn't eat red meat! I even tried chicken hearts! (Chewy, tastes more like beef than chicken, and more than a little freaky.)
Afterwards we took a ferry back along the Thames to London Bridge, then had a traditional ale in a real pewter tankard at The Cooperage. We spoke to the manager about some of the paraphenalia hanging on the walls -- apparently in ye olden dayes of cobblestones and muck it was easier to drag barrels of wine and beer on gigantic wooden "cask sleds" dotted with flint than to risk breaking the wooden spokes of cartwheels.
On the work-front this week we moved into a new office, a proper "City" office. I'm even wearing a suit again (although not a tie)! Right in the heart of the square-mile, our office is newly appointed, clean, bright and airy and has a coffee machine. Yes, small things like that are all that is required to make me happy. The week earlier we said goodbye to a young man who may or may not have joined the secret-service -- we'd become good friends, and I'm hoping he stays in touch, even if he can't talk about what he's working on :-).
Right now we're sitting in our local "indy" cinema, Shortwave, having a glass of wine and trying to decide whether we want to see the Mexican film they're showing this weekend. It's free, as they're meant to be showing Coco Before Chanel, but I spent last night in a sci-fi film festival so I'm not sure how long I can stay awake, even with a nap from about 8am until 1:30 (I got home at 7am, and only slept a little bit in the cinema).
T'was fun though: I met Martin at Victoria station on Saturday night, then we headed to Troy's place for a Halloween party. We were amongst the first to arrive. We didn't dress up, as we were off to the film festival later, but I put in some scary looking contact lenses and we both donned wigs that Troy had from the last dress up party. Soon enough more people arrived: Frankenstein, Death, witches, zombies and even Jack Pumpkinhead and his lovely Lady (what was her name?). Troy cooked nibbles, and Martin and I filled up before heading to meet Allen (from RBS) at the film-festival at midnight.
It might sound daft, going to a party before an all-night film fest, but I think it was a stroke of genius: at about 5:30am Martin and I headed back to Victoria Station and he jumped on the express to Gatwick, where he was catching a flight to Australia at 9am!! With that kind of schedule he was bound to fall asleep on the 'plane, wake up in Dubai, then fall asleep again when he got to Melbourne at about 11pm -- time zone adjustment sorted! Or, at least, that's how the thinking went. We'll wait 'til he gets back to report on how successful the plan was...
I'll upload some photos and link to them here in the coming week: Manchester, and full photostream.
I think I already mentioned Manchester (in an email?) -- we took the bus on Friday night, arrived quite late and were very happy to see Dayna & Bruce (thanks for picking us up! I'm not sure we could've handled another 20-30 minutes on a bus, even a Magic Bus.) It was really good to see Dayna, and we spent the weekend talking, playing Wii, drinking Dayna's impressive collection of donated alcoholic beverages (as Vicky has left for kiwi-land). We even did some tourism/shopping around Manchester central, with the mandatory "duck into shops and pubs to escape the rain" manouever. Then it was back on the bus on Sunday to get here! All in all a fun weekend away.
Another weekend was spent away in Dorking, south of London. Only an hour or so on the train, but out of the city and surrounded by greenery: fields and glens and forests and hills. We stayed with Martin and Helen (of "Jack The Ripper: The Musical" fame -- Martin is originally from Castlemaine) and had a lovely dinner in a pub/restaurant in the middle of nowhere (Helen drove) with delicious food and an awesome, relaxing atmosphere. Seriously! Good! Food! The kind of place you have dessert, even though you can't really fit it in. The next day we hit a farmer's market, before returning to the big smoke on the train.
Hmm, all these relaxing weekends, we should be completely chilled out, right?
The weekend of my birthday Dee cooked a lovely roast lamb for us & 9 guests. We stuffed ourselves silly, I got presents (yay!) and played Xbox. Tim Churchward, who I went to Uni with (and who is known as "the nicest man in the world") even visited with his wife -- they are travelling, and stayed with Martin and Helen for a few days. Great to see them!
Chris and Tina (housemates) were away for my actual birthday, so when they returned they took us out to dinner at the O2 Arena to a Brazilian barbeque house. Dear Goddess, so much fresh and tender barbeque meat: you grab a plate, load up on the bare-minimum amount of salad required to keep away the scurvy, then wait with hungry eyes as the waiters bring freshly cooked skewers of lamb, beef, chicken, fish and other poor, delicious animals straight to your table, slicing off as much or as little as you request before putting the skewers back onto the barbeque to continue cooking. I ate. And ate. And ate. For days I couldn't eat red meat! I even tried chicken hearts! (Chewy, tastes more like beef than chicken, and more than a little freaky.)
Afterwards we took a ferry back along the Thames to London Bridge, then had a traditional ale in a real pewter tankard at The Cooperage. We spoke to the manager about some of the paraphenalia hanging on the walls -- apparently in ye olden dayes of cobblestones and muck it was easier to drag barrels of wine and beer on gigantic wooden "cask sleds" dotted with flint than to risk breaking the wooden spokes of cartwheels.
On the work-front this week we moved into a new office, a proper "City" office. I'm even wearing a suit again (although not a tie)! Right in the heart of the square-mile, our office is newly appointed, clean, bright and airy and has a coffee machine. Yes, small things like that are all that is required to make me happy. The week earlier we said goodbye to a young man who may or may not have joined the secret-service -- we'd become good friends, and I'm hoping he stays in touch, even if he can't talk about what he's working on :-).
Right now we're sitting in our local "indy" cinema, Shortwave, having a glass of wine and trying to decide whether we want to see the Mexican film they're showing this weekend. It's free, as they're meant to be showing Coco Before Chanel, but I spent last night in a sci-fi film festival so I'm not sure how long I can stay awake, even with a nap from about 8am until 1:30 (I got home at 7am, and only slept a little bit in the cinema).
T'was fun though: I met Martin at Victoria station on Saturday night, then we headed to Troy's place for a Halloween party. We were amongst the first to arrive. We didn't dress up, as we were off to the film festival later, but I put in some scary looking contact lenses and we both donned wigs that Troy had from the last dress up party. Soon enough more people arrived: Frankenstein, Death, witches, zombies and even Jack Pumpkinhead and his lovely Lady (what was her name?). Troy cooked nibbles, and Martin and I filled up before heading to meet Allen (from RBS) at the film-festival at midnight.
It might sound daft, going to a party before an all-night film fest, but I think it was a stroke of genius: at about 5:30am Martin and I headed back to Victoria Station and he jumped on the express to Gatwick, where he was catching a flight to Australia at 9am!! With that kind of schedule he was bound to fall asleep on the 'plane, wake up in Dubai, then fall asleep again when he got to Melbourne at about 11pm -- time zone adjustment sorted! Or, at least, that's how the thinking went. We'll wait 'til he gets back to report on how successful the plan was...
I'll upload some photos and link to them here in the coming week: Manchester, and full photostream.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
photos of balloons?
Find the rest of the pictures here (in lower quality than this one). You'll need to log in to Flickr to see them - they're "only family". I'll change that if you want me to.
ballooning
We had a great flight this morning. We had to meet at 6am and found there were eight passengers. After a couple of pilot balloons to test the wind direction, the basket and balloon were set up for the flight, from the Londonderry reserve.(one in Bendigo not Ireland).
Buildings and vehicles looked like toys as we drifted over the city. We even managed to spot our house. Since balloons are governed by the wind we floated over farms and bushland, spotting lots of kangaroos, until we reached Kamarooka where we landed in a farmers paddock. As the day was becoming windy, the landing was bounce, bounce then drag as the basket tipped over on it's side. We'd all been instructed on landing procedures so had no problems. We then helped pack up the balloon and basket back into the trailer and were driven back to Bendigo for a late breakfast at the Boardwalk cafe. Glenn and Dee will be pleased to hear Dad chose Eggs Benedict and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had Eggs florentine (with salmon). Also juice and coffee. Sue made sure we also had water to prevent dehydration. We were presented with certificates and a wine glass each. We'll test them with a sparkling bronze cabernet savignon we bought on our trip to Adelaide.
We both had a wonderful morning. Thank you all. I'll try for photos.
Buildings and vehicles looked like toys as we drifted over the city. We even managed to spot our house. Since balloons are governed by the wind we floated over farms and bushland, spotting lots of kangaroos, until we reached Kamarooka where we landed in a farmers paddock. As the day was becoming windy, the landing was bounce, bounce then drag as the basket tipped over on it's side. We'd all been instructed on landing procedures so had no problems. We then helped pack up the balloon and basket back into the trailer and were driven back to Bendigo for a late breakfast at the Boardwalk cafe. Glenn and Dee will be pleased to hear Dad chose Eggs Benedict and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had Eggs florentine (with salmon). Also juice and coffee. Sue made sure we also had water to prevent dehydration. We were presented with certificates and a wine glass each. We'll test them with a sparkling bronze cabernet savignon we bought on our trip to Adelaide.
We both had a wonderful morning. Thank you all. I'll try for photos.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Up up and away
Balloon flight looks good for tomorrow morning so we'll be up up and away. Meeting at the Boardwalk at 6am so doesn't sound too early. Maybe there's a small plus for daylight saving.
Post again tomorrow afternoon to let you all know how it went.
Post again tomorrow afternoon to let you all know how it went.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Happy birthday Glenn
Hey bro,
I know you had a fab day with cake and fizzy drink (but no fairy-bread.. awwww). Hope the rest of the year is as good as today has been.
Haaaaappy birrrthdaaaay to yooooooou...
Haaaaappy birrrthdaaaay toooo yoooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu...
Haappy biiiiiiiirthdaaaaaaay deeeeear Glennnnnjiiiiiii...
Haappy biirthdaaay toooo yooooooooooooooooouuu!
keep smiling!
*hugz*
I know you had a fab day with cake and fizzy drink (but no fairy-bread.. awwww). Hope the rest of the year is as good as today has been.
Haaaaappy birrrthdaaaay to yooooooou...
Haaaaappy birrrthdaaaay toooo yoooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu...
Haappy biiiiiiiirthdaaaaaaay deeeeear Glennnnnjiiiiiii...
Haappy biirthdaaay toooo yooooooooooooooooouuu!
keep smiling!
*hugz*
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Happy birthday Dad
Happy birthday Dad!
Hope you have a fun-filled day with lots of smiles.
*big hugz*
Haaaaappy birrrthdaaaay to yooooou...
Haaaaappy birrrthdaay toooo yoooooooooouuuuuuuu...
Happy biiiiiiiirthdaaaaaay deeear Daaaaaad...
Happy biirthdaay toooo yooooooooooooooooouuu!
Hope you have a fun-filled day with lots of smiles.
*big hugz*
Haaaaappy birrrthdaaaay to yooooou...
Haaaaappy birrrthdaay toooo yoooooooooouuuuuuuu...
Happy biiiiiiiirthdaaaaaay deeear Daaaaaad...
Happy biirthdaay toooo yooooooooooooooooouuu!
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Happy birthday Damien
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday toooo yoooooooooouuuuuuuu...
Happy biiiiiiiirthdaaaaaay deeear Damiennnnnnn...
Happy biirthdaay toooo yooooooooooooooooouuu!
Hope you have a fantastic day, a lovely week and a terrific year.
*hugz*
Happy birthday toooo yoooooooooouuuuuuuu...
Happy biiiiiiiirthdaaaaaay deeear Damiennnnnnn...
Happy biirthdaay toooo yooooooooooooooooouuu!
Hope you have a fantastic day, a lovely week and a terrific year.
*hugz*
Monday, 28 September 2009
Holiday in SA
We've just returned home after a great week. We travelled to Kingston on the first day via Naracorte. The second day we followed the coast road to Wellington. Dad was disappointed to find you couldn't see the sea and the weather varied from very wet and squally to fine and sunny. It was fun to cross the river in a punt at Wellington and we were lucky in having a very short wait to cross. We visited one winery then had lunch in Strathalbyn. We followed the winding roads and found Bains Rd which led us to Damien and Cheryl's. Oscar was very smiley. What a happy little boy. On Thursday, we walked with Cheryl and Oscar to the local shopping centre, a short? 1.7 kms. We should be feeling fitter. Friday we rested although the weather cleared so we weeded their garden. Went out for an all you can eat for tea at a Chinese restaurant. Pouring rain, hail and windy.
Saturday we all went to the larger shopping centre where Dad bought me a rose gold necklace for my birthday. I've been looking but not found what I wanted before. Also I bought a pair of homyped black boots, ready for next winter.( Nana gave me birthday money so now I've spent it.)
Today we left about 9am SA time, stopped at a local shopping centre where I bought a glass dragon then headed for home. Mostly fine and sunny. We had two stops for lunch and a cuppa and arrived home about 5.30 Vic time. Foxie is glad we've turned the heater back on. I'm sure he missed the heater more than us.
Saturday we all went to the larger shopping centre where Dad bought me a rose gold necklace for my birthday. I've been looking but not found what I wanted before. Also I bought a pair of homyped black boots, ready for next winter.( Nana gave me birthday money so now I've spent it.)
Today we left about 9am SA time, stopped at a local shopping centre where I bought a glass dragon then headed for home. Mostly fine and sunny. We had two stops for lunch and a cuppa and arrived home about 5.30 Vic time. Foxie is glad we've turned the heater back on. I'm sure he missed the heater more than us.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Kerkyra with pictures
More photos, as promised -- press play, then rollover the slide-show for the "full-screen" icon, kick back and enjoy. :-D
Actually, that's exactly what we did in Greece -- a whole lot of relaxing by the pool, a little bit of exploring in an air-conditioned car, and a fair amount of searching for decent Greek food (strangely hard to find).
The trips themselves were somewhere between average and downright horrible: late/early flights, lots of waiting, the stupidest aeroplane seat-configuration I've ever seen (so close together that you couldn't really bring your knees together!), and general chaos on the part of the officials from both Kerkyra and the holiday company, Olympic.
(Our 3am bus, 6am flight happened as predicted. What was not predicted was the hundreds of fellow passengers suffering the same situation -- hundreds of Brits with hangovers, or sunburn, or missing luggage; girls with "flip-flops" and sarongs flirting with boys in cargo-shorts and ridiculous sunglasses; families and individuals with ridiculously large, heavy luggage (what could they possibly be bringing back?!); officials with less idea about what was happening than the human cattle they were responsible for. I remember saying to Dee, "The only way to make this airport more miserable is for some of the fluorescent lights to start flickering." Then a thought struck me: "Or to fill the place up knee-high with stagnant water. That might do it.")
But once we were there -- brilliant! Brilliant despite the crummy accomodation, despite the dodgy bar-tender with his penchant for late nights, loud music and funny cigarettes, despite the narrow, dangerous roads and crazy scooter-riders. Eventually, under the brilliant sunlight, all these things took on a certain romance, a gleam -- they became as much a part of the whole experience as the smell of the ocean, the gentle buzzing of bees and wasps, the sound of our fellow holiday-makers splashing in the pool. Okay, the airport didn't, but the rest ... walking into supermarkets and buying groceries without a word of english is just, just, awesome!
So yes, we explored the entire island by car while we were there -- hiring it from a boy who couldn't have been more than 10 (his uncle came to do the paperwork, but it was the boy's sale, have no doubt). He tried to convince us to get an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) instead: a roll-cage, four chunky tyres and a 250cc engine, no windshield or floor, bucket seats ... Of course we stuck with the little (air-conditioned) Hyundai, thank you very much.
Corfu Town is the main metropolis, and we spent a day walking through markets along tiny streets, dodging scooters and keeping out of the midday sun. It's really crazy how weathered the buildings are -- I kept expecting to hear a crash and turn to find our way back blocked by rubble! We also found beaches, both pebble and sand (hot, hot sand!!), everything from "British" beaches (a whole lot of pale bodies and east-end accents) to secluded ones used by locals and those in the know.
I think the pictures say it all really.
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