Vineyards and Farmyards

Now that I'm well into my last month in Australia, my social calender has once again been rapidly filled by my super-planner of a sister and the last week has been full of awesome stuff.

Thursday night was another opportunity for Aussie movie experiences. Me, Katy and two of her friends went into the city for a moonlit screening of Dirty Dancing in the Botanical Gardens. The place was absolutely heaving so we tucked ourselves into a little corner and set our our cider, champagne and cheese picnic. And yes, you did read that right...I was indeed tucking into cheese and biscuits. Katy has force-fed me cheese so much over the last ten weeks that rather than merely tolerating i may potentially be liking. Ok, so I'm not gonna be drooling over some mouldy stilton that tastes like feet, but some mild cheddar, brie or edam might just be sneaking into my supermarket trolley.
Anways, so with such a large crowd there the atmosphere was pretty epic. The first time Patrick Swayze came on screen everyone squealed and wooped and just the same enthusiasm was given to booing at Robbie, the slimy waitor who seduces Baby's sister. Loved it! We all made our way back to the car singing and re-enacting our favourite parts on a complete girly high.

Friday was the first day in a while that I've had to myself so I went into the city for some retail therapy. Me and Katy had a coffee before she started work and then I hit the shops. Four hours and several shopping bags later I went up to Katy's office to collect her for our lunch date. She took me for sushi, because she  knew that I supposedly hated sushi but was determined to make me like it. Her mission was indeed successful as I enjoyed three sushi rolls of crispy chicken, teryaki beef and prawn and cucumber. My preconceptions of sushi only being horrifically strong raw fish has been dispelled and I will be at one of those places with the conveyor belts before you know it. The afternoon was spent wandering around the city and I spent a couple of hours in Elder Park just sitting in the sunshine watching the world go by...heaven!

The next entry in my diary is one of my top five things I have done so far, me and Katy went wine-tasting. We went to an area called McLaren Vale that is about 40 minutes from my sister's house. In an area of about three square miles there is around 30 wineries which each offer free-wine tasting at their bars or "cellar doors". The area is absolutely stunning to drive through, with scenes reminding me of being in the Mediterranean and with the added bonus of free wine it has to be one of my favourite places in Adelaide. We only had a couple of hours before we had to get home to the kids, but in that time we visited four wineries and I sampled around 20 wines (Katy was chief driver). My favourites were a rose which is served over ice and a chardonnay infused with cucumber and green apple. Bottles of each were of course purchased.

So you have heard about the vineyards, now its time to divulge my farmyard adventures. Yesterday Katy and I took the kids to Hahndorf Farm Barn. Its basically an interactive farmyard experience where kids can get up close with the animals and stroke them, feed them and even milk them. Heading there it was hard to tell who was more excited between me and the kids. The nature girl in me definitely got to come out and play. We held baby chicks, guinea pigs and rabbits, fed bottles to lambs and calves, fed carrots to ponies and donkeys and fed grass pellets to kangaroos, deer and even an ostrich! As well as all the cuddling and stroking, which of course I fell completely in love with there were a couple of animal shows put on by the staff. The first involved a spitting alpaca and milking a massive cow called daisy and the second was a reptile show. The woman started by asking for adult volunteers. Cue me waving my hand around like Hermione Granger in my excitement to take part. I was handed a blue-tongue lizard to hold while she talked to the rest of the audience about him and the other reptiles. After the show everyone was allowed to hold the lizards and me and Scarlett even got to hold a python, which was awesome! My favourite animal was a small calf that seemed to take a shine to me. She seemed to think that my hand resembled a bottle so was sucking hard on all of my fingers in an attempt to find some food. The day was fantastic and I had a massive grin on my face the whole time that my sister couldn't help but laugh at. Scarlett was just the same and Katy had to literally drag us away when it was time to leave. Josh on the other hand was a little more nonplussed. He was excited about all the animals but if they happened to moo, baa, move towards him or even look at him, he was more than happy to retreat back to a safer distance. At one point he even asked if he could go sit in the car. It seems he takes after his dad and isn't exactly a nature boy....

Family fun

Well, the last two weeks have been the quietest since I have arrived and actually it has been a welcome break. After all the excitement of my first couple of months, to take a couple of weeks out and just spend some time with the family has been great. Scarlett has been my shadow from the day that I arrived but even Josh now asks me to play with him and lets me give him cuddles. His favourite game that he demands to be played all the time is when I hold him upside down by the ankles and swing him around. Everytime I try to put him down he squeals and shouts out "More, Auntie Abba! More!"

I think this bonding may be due to fact that we have just potty trained Josh. Now that was an eventful experience. At first I was kinda grossed out with the whole idea and was seriously unimpressed that it couldn't be done once I had gone home. But I am now so used to it all that pulling his jocks down and sitting him on the potty has become an automatic reflex. Even his stench-bombs of poo no longer phase me, but to get to this stage there has been some amusing incidents. The first three or four days were the 'winky watch' days. It involved one of us staring at Josh's winky every second of the day and then as soon as he started weeing to scoop him up and run him over to the potty. Apparently this is the quickest way to get kids to understand what it feels like just before they need to go. I have never stared at someone's private parts quite that intently before and it did feel so wrong, but it worked because in three days he was doing all his wees in the potty. Boom!

The poos on the otherhand have proven to be much trickier and he is still struggling now. This was worrying because on Sunday I was left in charge of both of them while Katy and Boot were treated to a day out at the cricket with their best friends. They left me around midday and I had to entertain, feed and then put the kids to bed. It was all going pretty well to start with. Josh woke up from his nap and was crying for Katy, but with a few cuddles and a bribe of watermelon he soon cheered up. We played together all afternoon with me on poo watch because the boy definitely had one brewing. I just went inside for a quick wee stop and he chose that moment to poo his jocks. Brilliant.  It was made even worse by the fact that he was on the trampoline doing sit jumps so he smushed it all over his bum. At least all his wees were all in the potty though, well except the one when he didn't have his winky pushed down so it spurted out like a fountain which I had to deflect back into the potty with my hand...

Ok, so that's enough poo stories, I have done other things with my time I promise. The weather has continued to be gorgeous so we have made good use of the pool, the paddling pool and the waterslide the kids got for christmas. After a lazy morning at the beach yesterday, me and Katy set up the slide for the kids and sat back in the sun with vodkas in hand to watch them.

Last night was treat night for me and Katy. As an early birthday present for her I bought us both tickets to go see Les Miserables in goldclass. To watch such an amazing movie, in an electric recliner with a hot chocolate fudge brownie ice cream sundae to nibble on....I felt spoilt! We both inevitably cried at exactly the same parts of the film, liked the same bits, misunderstood the same bits and disliked the same bits. Anyone would think we were related....

New Year's in the Riverlands

 

For new year we all piled into the car and headed back down to Renmark to stay with Sarah and Tom. This weekend took pretty much the same format as my last weekend in the riverlands: drinking, eating, sunshine and speed boats. But this time, the kids and Boot were with us too! There was defintely one new addition to the farm though. One of Sarah's friends found an abandoned baby joey in the bush and is looking after it until it is big enough to be released. It was the cutest little bundle of fur, that she carries around in a self-made pouch. I thoroughly enjoyed my cuddles and watching him jump around the garden. Katy even got to bottle feed him, just a tad envious of that one.

 

 

 

NYE itself was spent mostly by the river as it was such a hot day. Scarlett conquered her fear of the water and was swimming away quite happily in her life-jacket. Josh on the other-hand jumped in without pausing but then screamed that it was too cold and he wanted to get out, haha. I took Scarlett out in a kayak and then jumped on the back of Timmy's jet ski for a ride. I was a bit scared after my last experience with water thrill sports, but we took it slow to start with and soon I was screaming to go faster. We headed back to the swimdeck and he pulled a life-jacket over my head and passed me the keys. Argh! A quick tutorial on controls and I was off. Absolutley loved it! I was followed out by another friend of Sarah's, Toddy who decided it would be hilarious to do donuts around my jet ski so that massive waves of water would keep hitting me in the face. Brillaint. I held my own though, despite losing my sunglasses to the river.

 

 

 

After a quick shower and change, it was party time. We headed back up to the deck for a few champagnes and then decided to join the boys who were taking to speed boat out to do some tubing. Me, Katy, Scarlett and Chewy the dog sat right at the front of the boat, posing like filmstars while Tom raced around in donuts and figures of eight as fast as he could to try and get the others to fall off their tubes. Scarlett thought the whole thing was amazing and the faster we got the louder she laughed. It was dark by the time we got back to the house, so she was really excited that she was allowed up so late. Well it was new year's afterall...everyone deserves a treat!

 



 

So it was now 9pm and party time. The woolshed was an awesome place for a party with the beer and cider on draught, and the fridges filled with spirits. Toddy made margheritas while Tom worked his magic with tequeila sunrises, Sam had brought a fruity punch and we dontated a bottle of raspberry vodka. I took it upon myself to tast-test everything going just to make sure it was fit to drink...

We let off some fireworks just before midnight, I have no idea why actually, which had an amazing 3d effect. They actually fired towards the deck so running and dodging them was all part of the enjoyment. By then everything starts to go a bit hazy. I have vague memories about watching tribal dancing around a flaming tissue box, putting money in Todd's shorts as he strip-pole danced around the beams of the woolshed and trading the remnants of my vodka for Joe's cowboy hat. I also got a chronic case of the hiccups which everyone tried to cure from making me jump, to putting an ice cube down my back, throwing cider in my eye and pressing my pulse point on my wrist. It was the latter that finally worked. There is alao a photo of me wearing a mexican wrestling mask for some unknown reason...bizarre.

 

 

 

 

 

Well I woke up new year's day morning feeling like death, so I knew it had to have been a good night. If 2013 continues to be as amazing as how it started then I am in for one hell of a year!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Festive frolics

Seems like forever ago that I last updated this blog, but actually its only been a couple of weeks. Ive just been so busy and done so many things over the last fortnight that it feels more like a month.
Well I left you last having just been to carols by candlelight. That was the first time I felt really festive because up until then it was too just hot and sunny to feel like christmas. Over here you dont really get the big build up like you do at home either. The aussies are typically laid back about everything and only seem to start planning for christmas a couple of days before. They just dont get that excited about christmas, well i guess for them it is just another day to have a barbie.

That wasnt quite the case in my sister's house though. It was hard to work out who was most excited between her and the kids. But her enthusiasm was infectious and I soon became just as excited about our traditional english christmas in the sunshine as she was. The run up week was the usual rush of shopping, wrapping, list-writing and cleaning. One highlight was a trip to the local shopping centre during late night shopping. The car was in for a service so we took to 25 year old banger of a courtesy car. Seriously, it was embarassing to be seen in. It was a complete crap-heap of a car, so much so that when we came to put the shopping in the boot, it wouldnt open. So while cars queued behind us for our parking space I climbed into the boot by going over the back seat and Katy passed the stuff to me bit by bit....it took forever!! Then after struggling to get it started we got home and had to get all the bloody stuff out again only this time it was dark so you just had to feel around and hope for the best. Hilarious.

So before I knew it, it was christmas eve. Boot had to go into work, so me and Katy took the kids to the beach. Went went to Brighton which is about a ten minute drive from the house. It was a bit blustery down the front (kinda reminded me of skeg) and the kids werent all that impressed. Scarlett complained that she was cold and proceeded to put on a hoody and a coat. Ok, so it was windy but it was still about 30 degrees! I think someone wouldnt do so well at the great british seaside...haha.

So we retreated back to house at the insistence of the kids and set the paddling pool up for them. Supervision was then carried out by me and Katy sat out in the garden, cider in hand. I struggled on through. Later in the evening Kelly and Andy came over. They are friends of Katy and Boot, who emigrated around the same time and live just down the street. We put the kids to bed early, because they had to make sure they were asleep for when santa arrived, and spent the evening chilling out on the patio with nibbles and alcohol. Pretty good way to see in christmas I think.

So christmas morning arrived and I was woken by Scarlett's screams of delight as she discovered her stocking. The next couple of hours were then a frenzy of excited unwrapping and instant playing. The last time I had a christmas morning like that was when I was the excited kid, so it was amazing to experience it again with Scarlett and Josh. Santa brought Scarlett a barbie dolls house and Josh a Thomas the thank engone train set. Both of which were massive successes.

After a series of webcams with all the family and wishing everyone back home a very merry christmas we left the kids playing with their mountain of new toys and started christmas dinner. I was put on cocktail duty while Katy prepared our mammoth christmas feast. We went all out with turkey, pork, veggies, yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets (cooked on the bbq of course), apple cranberry and bread sauce as well as paxo stuffing from the british lolly shop. Kelly and Andy joined us in the early afternoon bringing with them a starter of smoked salmon and prawns...yuuum! So the afternoon quickly passed in a blur of good food and good company. Once dinner was suitably digested Andy and Boot took the kids in the pool to test out their new water slide, while the girlies tidied up and had a well-deserved drink or few. Somehow we then got the inspired idea of playing a hilarious game of twister before tucking the exhausted kids in bed. The night was finished in the best way possible, me and Katy got in the pool at midnight for a moonlit swim. Now thats something you just cant do back home....

 

 

So christmas day might have been over, but the partying surely wasnt. The next three days were back-to-back pool parties with different friends of Katy and Boot's. Sunshine and cider really is an awful combination, but I carried on and endured them for the team, dont worry. Im a selfless person dont you know......

Camping and Candlelit Carols

When I first heard about what my latest adventure was going to be, I wasnt exactly sure. Camping. With most of my previous camping experiences being not exactly enjoyable, I wasnt looking forward to a weekend in a tent. My fears were heightened when we awoke on the morning of departure to heavy rain. It was the first bad weather I had seen since I left Britain and we were about to go camping....brilliant.

We were camping at Horseshoe Bay, which is a gorgeous little beach village about an hour and a half drive from my sister's. It wasnt the most comfy drive of my life though, we had packed so much stuff that none of us actually had anyroom to really sit down properly. The kids had their feet up on top of boxes and duvets, Katy was squeezed inbetween them hugging her knees and I was sat crossed legged in the front seat as I didnt have a footwell, with blankets and towels piled so high on my lap I couldnt actually see out of the window. This was also after the drama of actually getting in the car because we didnt think we could get the car up the steep drive. We solved the problem by me and Katy waiting at the top of the road in the rain while Boot managed to get the car out. So we were now completely squished into the car and soaking wet. Fabulous.

Luckily though, the rain stopped about ten minutes after we arrived so we put the tent up, unpacked all our stuff, grabbed a fish and chip lunch and then headed down to the beach. We had the entire beach to ourself so spent a great couple of hours playing about with the kids, running around and jumping in the waves.

The beach frolicking really set the tone for the rest of the weekend. We were joined by some friends later that day who have two kids the same age as Scarlett and Josh, so we took turns in taking the kids to the playground and staying by the tent and having a few casual drinks looking out across the sea. The next day we left the guys and kids at the beach while me, Katy and Sam snuck away to have a coffee. My first cup of proper coffee in weeks and it was goooood! We stopped off at a bakery on the way back though and we all had a cake/donut/eclair picnic on the beach. That evening was barbie time and then just chilling by the tents with some ciders. It was pretty stressful, let me tell you!

So as you can probably guess, I had a pretty good weekend. We were lucky with the weather and although it was a little chilly it only rained overnight so we werent stopped from doing anything. We packed up sunday morning and headed home with two tired little kids in the back of the car, but not without one last trip to the bakery....



Sunday evening was then time for some festive fun. Me, Katy and Scarlett headed into the city for Carols by Candlelight. Its an open air concert on the banks of the River Torrens, which becomes candlelit once the sun goes down. There were so many people there and everyone was getting into the christmas spirit and singing along. I have been struggling with feeling festive because it feels like its the middle of summer at the moment, but last night really got me excited. Looking out over the park and seeing thousands of people all waving their candles was an incredible sight. I admit I did even get a little emotional and the homesickness kicked in a little. It will be strange not being with some of my loved ones this christmas, but then getting to see how excited the kids are already I think christmas morning will be amazing. 8 more sleeps!!!!

Birthday Celebrations

So I have been in Australia nearly a month now and things have finally started to calm down. Last week I even had a couple of days which could be described as quite....I know, it had me fainting in shock too. So as it goes, I dont have a whole lot to report. I did have a couple of exciting days though, because it was my birthday!!!! It only seems appropriate to divulge my aussie celebrations to you all.

On the morning of my birthday I was woken up by the kids who I think may have been even more excited than me. Josh was jumping up and down on my bed shouting birthday cake. He knows about the important things in life obviously. Then I did a few skype calls to the family back home so they could se me open my cards and pressies. It was my first birthday spent away from home, so a little strange. But, it was also my first birthday spent with my sister in over a decade!! Katy took the day off and after a lazy morning in PJ's, we headed out for a girly afternoon. She took me to the cinema, but not just any old screening, the GOLD CLASS screening. It had to be one of the most awesome birthday treats ever. I was sat in an electric reclining armchair in a room with only about 20 other people watching the lastest bond film. Then we had drinks and food delivered to us at various intervals during the film. Our menu was as follows:

Trailers: glass of sparkiling rose
30 mins in: BBQ chicken pizza with sweet potato fries and onion rings with various dips
1hr in: another glass of sparkiling rose
1hr 30 mins in: churros and melted chocolate

What more can I say really.....fab, fab, fab.

We spent that evening at home as Katy and Scarlett werent feeling that well, but they both somehow managed to recover enough to help me eat my choccie mud cake....mmmm.

My second birthday celebration was a few nights afterwards when we went out for dinner at Hog's Breath in Glenelg. Its the first time all five of us had gone out together and we all had a great time. I even got a slice of chocolate brownie brought out with a sparkler in it as a surprise. Well when can a girl ever get enough of choccie cake...

So that was my birthday over and now getting geared up for christmas. Really struggling to feel festive when it is so hot but Im sure the kid's excitment will quickly be passed on.

Sydney baby!

My latest adventure was an amazing four days in Sydney with my sister. It is an incredible city and it was a brilliant place to spend my birthday weekend. We arrived around 9pm on Thursday, dumped our cases at the hotel and headed out to explore. By 10pm we were in Darling Harbour and drinking a pitcher of sangria...shocking I know.

Friday was the tourist day, starting off with breakfast pancakes at Bondi Beach. After spending a few hours sunbathing and people watching (and by people I of course mean hot surfers and life guards) we headed back into the city. Not wanting to waste holiday time we didnt bother getting changed and headed to Circular Quay still in our beach gear. The usual tourist pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge were then captured in numerous poses and positions before we felt the calling of alcohol once again. I must say I felt a little under-dressed sat in the Opera Bar in beachwear, but after a few glasses of wine I just didnt really care.

It was around 5pm that we both had the amazing idea of heading back to the hotel but stopping at every bar we passed along the way and having a different drink. We had a cider at an italian bar at the Rocks and then a beer at an irish bar on some random side street. At this place we also managed to steal a couple of santa hats because a group having their christmas party had left them behind. It only seemed appropriate to continue the bar crawl sporting said hats.

I would try and relay the route to you, but surprisingly it all goes a bit fuzzy after the irish bar.... I do remember that we didnt want to waste money on dinner so we had our evening meal in mcdonalds at which point I became increasingly concerned that I wasnt wearing underwear so after a quick detour back to the room to get changed we headed back out into the city. We spent a fair chunk of the evening in a student bar called Star Bar. It was happy hour so as the drinks were cheaper, we bought two each time instead of two...logical. I have vague memories of getting tequila shots bought for us by a random guy from which we ran away and being asked to drink a glass of water at the bar before they would serve me another shot. Aussie's are strict on that kinda stuff!! We eventuallly made it back to the hotel with my sister wearing my shoes and me in bare feet (don't even ask) and collapsed into bed. I was especially impressed that even whilst drunk I had enough self-control not to eat the gingerbread house that was on display in reception no matter how amazing it smelt everytime I walked past. An achivement worth recognition, don't you think ;-)

 

So we awoke on Saturday morning and I had the worst hangover I have ever had! We had prepaid to go to Sydney Tower where there is a revolving restaurant that overlooks all the city. The food was absolutely gorgeous and I had been looking forward to going for ages. However, my body decided to punish me and so I spent the entire time trying to keep down what little food I had managed to eat...very sad times. I couldnt manage doing anything strenuous that afternoon so we hopped on the ferry to Manly and sat at the beach for a while doing yet more people watching and just letting the world pass by. I started to feel human again by late afternoon so we headed back to the city and spent some more time in Darling Harbour. We drank some gorgeous cocktails in Cohi bar before meeting up with some friends for dinner. There was also and amazing fireworks display around 9pm as the countdown to christmas had begun!



 

 



 

 

After and alcohol-free detox day I was ready on Sunday to do some more exploring. We met a family friend from home for brekkie and he showed us around his part of the city. I especially enjoyed the visit to the macaroon shop and the gingerbread macaroons..yuuuuuummmy! More tourist times followed with a walk around the botanical gardens. Gorgeous settings but sadly the colony of fruit bats that I really wanted to see had been moved on so I had to make do with some funky-looking birds instead. Not quite as David Attenborough worthy, but cute nonetheless. It was walking back to the hotel that I saw a pretty awesome sight. We heard music behind us so we turned around and saw an old guy dressed in what can only be described as the clothes oxfam rejects. He was riding on a mobility scooter to which he had fixed a speaker and amp to the back and a massive elvis ornament to the front. He then was just riding around the city blaring out elvis music as he went. Very bizarre.

 

 

Monday was our last day and as the weather was terrible we headed to the aquariam. It has to be one of the best I have ever visited and got to check another thing off my wishlist: seeing a duck-billed platypus!! It was then time to head to the airport. Ok, so we were four hourse early but Katy had won quantas platinum membership for the year, so as were allowed into the quantas club lounge it only seemed appropriate to make as much use of the free food an alcohol as we possibly could. My highlight would have to be the chocolate orange bread and butter pudding. Yummy, yum, yum, get in my tum!

 

And so the flight home....and shall I just make you aware that we got a business class upgrade for the first time. Woohoo! Pretty awesome birthday pressie from my amazing travel consultant of a sister. Strawberry juice on take-off, followed by pre-dinner wine, a roasted duck salad and chocolate torte for dinner and yet more wine. Not bad for an hour and a half flight. Lets just say, I don't do economy anymore......