Andy Murray - Dear oh dear!

Australian Open Final - Sunday 30th Jan 2011

Good atmosphere. Terrible game.

 As global sporting events go, the final of the Australian Open tennis is right up there. So imagine my pleasant surprise when I found out just before Christmas that the general public can purchase final tickets online, just like that. Brilliant.

That was Lydia's Christmas present sorted then.

The two month's anticipation built further during the two weeks of the tournament as Melbourne really did go tennis mad for a while. It seems like just about everyone we know went at least once - it is just what you do when you live in this sporting mecca. And of course, Murray reaching the final was the perfect finale for us. 

Everything was great then, except of course the match. In case you didn't know Murray was soundly thrashed by Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Thankfully for us we also went to the semi final between Djokivic and Federer on the Thursday night which was a much more entertaining event.

Still, can't complain too much. Atmosphere was great, Lydia and I had a couple of nights out sans enfants and of course not everyone will be lucky enough to experience such a fantastic event in their lifetime. I just hope Murray doesn't take stage fright again next year.

Anyone for tennis?

It's weeks like this when I really appreciate being a domestic engineer as I get to watch the Australian Open  every afternoon (when not escorting Celia to the park of course). Unfortunately, it also reminds me how much I miss the good old BBC as the coverage isn't a patch on Wimbledon back home. For example, I was watching the final game in a 3 setter woman's match and it was potentially one point away from match point and they broke for a commercial break!!! They also break for 'Home and Away' at 7pm - ahhhh!
Anyway, there will be no breaks in play on Thursday or Sunday as I get to watch the men's semi-final and final up close and personal thanks to Andy's generous Christmas gift (he is also going so he was overly generous to himself in my opinion!)
While on my favourite topic of Aussie TV, I must tell you what the top news story was yesterday - 'Shane Warne kisses Liz Hurley again'. The worst floods in a century don't stand a chance up against a B list celeb's love life.
Well that is enough moaning, time for some positive stuff and there is plenty as we had such a lovely weekend. The sun was out (but not too hot) and on Friday we went into the city to meet Andy after work. We headed to Federation Square where a big screen was showing the tennis and then we went for dinner down one of the many buzzing alleyways. Nearly all the restaurants are child freindly and the atmosphere is very continental. Over the remainder of the weekend we ate outside, went jogging in the park, swimming in our local outdoor pool, visited the aquarium which was amazing and a must for anyone planning a visit, went to the Kid's Party in the Park which the council stages free and had lunch overlooking the Yarra river at the Crown Casino complex which is also a must for any visitor.
I wonder what we would have done this weekend if we had been back home??...............  

Throw another snag on the barbie

Yesterday saw us host our first social gathering as we had a barbeque for 14 big people, 6 little people and a handful of babies (but they didn't eat much) and I'm glad to say it went relatively smoothly and all appeared to have a good time.
 Andy, the aspiring chef, insisted on making a multitude of marinades and salsas from scratch and the preparation, not to mention the shopping, took hours but it was definately worth it as the food was delicious.
We were very lucky with the weather as it was a sunny end to a miserable week of weather. I'm sure everyone saw the horrendous floods in Queensland and although we had nowhere near as much rain, it still chucked it down solidly until Friday afternoon. It was also unbearably humid which I have never really experienced before and don't wish to again. I had a headache nearly everday and by Friday the washing I'd done on Monday was still damp and needed washing again!

Not a Very White Christmas

It sounds like everyone back home in Northern Ireland has enjoyed a wonderful white Christmas. I have to say, we are just a little bit jealous. Although when my dad who has lived there for 70 years is complaining of the cold, then things are definitely pretty bad. He never complains about anything.

Here in Melbourne it feels like we were one of the few places in Australia to have a rain-free couple of weeks and a pleasant 20 - 30 degree temperature throughout the holidays - except for a sticky 38 degrees on New Years Eve.

Our fun-filled fortnight started with my very successfull turkey-on-the-barbeque christmas dinner. Dinner for 2 plus 2 babies took a full day to prepare & tidy up and with a 5kg turkey and a 2kg ham we are still enjoying Christmas dinners right into January. I'm now seriously appreciative of the effort it takes my mother and all my aunties to cater for Christmas Dinner for 20+ people - no mean feat.

On the present front, Celia was very impressed with her trampoline from Santa and Max was just pleased she left him alone for a while.

Between Christmas and New Year we headed south to the Mornington Penninsula for some serious beach time. However with a cooling sea breeze and a family full of colds we ended up spending more time inland sampling the fayre at some beautiful vineyards, strawberry farms and scenic walks. I even managed a game of golf with some work colleagues at a stunning course called Thirteenth Beach - a bargain at $70 dollars.

Celia and I did manage a few dips in the sea and she is already perfecting her surf-girl look. That combined with a new found obsession with sitting on her own listening to CDs - she is definitely growing up fast.

From Rye, in Mornington it was off to wonderful Tasmania following a brief NYE stop back in Melbourne. Tassie is just idyllic, so much so that our 1970's throwback chalet didn't bother us in the slightest. Our New Years week was a delightful mix of beaches, bush walks (complete with first Australian snake sighting), kangaroos, gastronomic delights in stunning vineyard settings and some of the freshest, tastiest produce we've ever had. If you want some serious wilderness, no mobile phone coverage, deserted beaches and  great food and wine, head for Tasmania, now.

The greatest complement we can give came from Lydia - "It is just like Donegal, but with sun!"

Max hasn't been to Donegal yet, but Tasmania definitely meets with his approval.

So there we have it. Christmas was very different and to be honest not quite the same as good old Ulster with the family. We're thinking Thailand next year, minus the BBQ turkey.

As you can see in the photos and throughout this blog 2010 has been so good to us in so many ways. We can't wait for the excitement of what 2011 will offer. But first, time for a diet and some serious exercise! Now, where's that expensive new bike again...Celia, stop listening to your CDs and grab your helmet!

All I want for Christmas is Peter the Possum man

Well here we were thinking we'd have no family around at Christmas and low and behold we have a complete family staying with us in the attic! The Possums moved in about 3 nights ago so now Max isn't the only one keeping us awake at night. I have a bad feeling they will be with us for some time as Peter the possum man tells us they are a protected species so they can't actually be removed - he has to wait until they leave and then block the hole in the roof so it looks like Peter the Possum man may be moving in aswell!?
Apart from our possum problems we've had a lovely Christmas eve. We had a carol concert and barbeque in the church gardens and it was a very sunny 23 degrees.
Presents and dummies are all wrapped (Santa is taking Celia's dummies to give to the new babies!!), stuffing is made and ham is glazed. Andy is barbequing the turkey tomorrow so I think we will get our Christmas dinner at about the same time as all those at home i.e. about 10pm!
Merry Christmas to all. x

It's snowing!

No, I am not talking about the UK - I am talking about Victoria, Australia! I turned on the news this morning and thought the pictures were of Britain cause yesterday when I turned on the local Australian news I was confronted with pictures of Belfast city airport! But no, the pictures were of upstate Victoria and New South Wales - and this is the Australian summer??
We were meant to attend a carol concert in the park last night but the weather was so horrendous (wind, torrential rain, thunder and lightening) we stayed in and wrapped Max & Celia's presents instead. Looking on the bright side, it made it feel just like a Christmas back home!

Getting ready for Santa

As Andy already mentioned Ruth had a baby boy 2 weeks ago and nobody was more pleased with the name than me. This is due to a rather foolish oversight of mine a few weeks back. I was in the local charity shop where I spotted some Christmas stockings and as I'm always on the lookout for a bargain (or just plain tight as Andy prefers to call it) I thought I'd save a few dollars. I did think it slighty odd that the lady at the counter asked if I was sure I wanted both stockings as she could plainly see that I had two children but it wasn't until I got home that I realised I'd bought personalised stockings. In my dyslexic state I just saw a jumble of letters which I thought read 'XMAS' but as luck would have it the first one I pulled out of the bag was for a MAX! The second one was for a 'SAM' and of course at the time we knew no Sams so thank you Ruth and Gary as I'd hate to think my purchase would go to waste. I'll post it over for next Christmas!
This week has been full of parties (mainly for Celia but Max and I tag along). She is being a very stroppy teenager these days as all she wants to do is stay in her room and listen to CDs or sleep. She refuses to even come out for meals. How did we manage to bypassed the terrible twos plus10 years?!
Well I will leave you with an update on what is the biggest Australian news story this week - no, not the climate summit or Stockholm terrorist attacks or even Julain Assange - its 'Queen of TV Oprah Winfrey visits Australia'. And it's been on the news and in the papers for weeks now! They showed people crying yesterday because they got to be one of 12,000 people in the audience of her Sydney show - some people need to get out more (including the whole of the Australian media!)