Christmas

Christmas was a beautiful warm and sunny day spent with family and friends. Eating out on the deck, with fresh beautiful food, hand made Christmas crackers (each with a handmade Christmas decoration and mind teaser inside!). What better way to spend your day!!

Could be a bit different next year, with me planning on spending Christmas in Europe, but you havent lived until you have experienced and white Christmas and a hot Christmas.

PUZZLES

I found this cool website that turns your photos into puzzles, oh hours of entertainment!! You either play the ones they have for free, or upload your own photos-how fun :) Check it out at www.jigzone.com

I cant believe Christmas is almost here, there is so much to be done between now and then, and yet so little time. Where has the year gone????

Cup Weekend on the Murray

Cup weekend this year was very exciting, as for the first time in many years I managed to go away as I wasn't working or studying for exams!!!

With my brother Gwilym, his wife Bec, two of Bec's brothers, and one of their girlfriends, we went up to the Murray River, and spent 4 days "rafting". This largely consisted of sitting on a home made raft, and allowing the river to carry us downstream, and trying not to get stuck on the submerged trees along the way.

It was a very relaxing weekend, with just enough excitement thrown in to keep us from getting completely bored. There was a lot of sleeping done, just enough paddling, and lots of lazing on a very small deck.

Being Cup Weekend, there were a lot of people camped along the riverbank, and we received a lot of comments on what were we doing, along with it looks like a lot of fun, looks relaxing, and we seem to be missing a motor.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

On 16th June I turned 24! Yay! for me! Didn't really do much, worked for a couple of hours and had the rest of the day at home relaxing.

I made my own birthday cake, and then went out for dinner with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and grandma.

Overall, quite a pleasant day.

QUILTS QUILTS QUILTS

I have finally finished 2 quilts. It has only taken me about 6 years, but I got there, and they look nice, and most importantly, they are warm.

ANZAC Day

Dawn Service at the Shrine of Rememberance


Waiting to go through the Shrine


Shrine Attendent


ANZAC Day march


What a moving day ANZAC day way. I got up way too early, 4am, and caught a bus into the city to go to the Dawn Service at the Shrine of Rememberance. It was lovely sevice, with thousands of people attending, marred slightly by the couple of drunk ladies wandering round during it.

After the Service finished I decided to line up to go through the Shrine to lay a poppy on the stone in honour of those who fought and continue to fight for us. Apparently so did most of the people who had attended the service, and I ended up at the back of a very long, slow moving queue to go through the Shrine. Eventually I made it through after almost 2 hours, but glad I had waited.

I then headed down to the Gunfire Breakfast, put on by the Army, before continuing on to Flinders Street station, so I could watch the start of the parade, while I wated to join my Grandfathers squadran, with whome I was going to march. It was amazing how many people come out to watch the parade, and how many set themselves up for the day, with chairs and eskies, so they will be comfortable for the whole march. It is fantastic to think so many people still pay thier respects to those who faught or are fighting, as it is the only way to remember the sacrifices made, and ensure we never go through it again.

Eventually I went down to line up with my Grandfathers squadran 10th Squadran in the RAAF, with the Sunderland flying boats. We then marched up St Kilda road to the Shrine, which took about 50 minutes or so. The path of the march was lined the whole way with people who had come to watch.

When we finished marching, I watched the rest of the march, and then met up with a friend who had been marching with the Vietnam Veterans.

World Map-where I've been

create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide


Ok so I found this site where you could mark all the different countries you have been to. It stated that I have been to a massive 2% of the world-thats assuming I have been to every square inch of all countries I have visited!!!!

On reflection of this,
-I have a lot more of the world left to see (that's a slight understatement but you get the picture!)
-There is so many to cultures to experience and countries to ooh and aaah over, that one lifetime just isn't enough
-There are a million more photos to take, which will bring back the most amazing memories later in life, and paint a wonderful picture for others of the life lived

Hopefully in the next 2 years or so I can add a few more places to my map-from Asia to Africa, keep your fingers crossed!

Frankston Sand Sculpures

Once again we go backwards in time, back to Labor Day weekend.

Sally, a workmate from IGA, and I decided we needed a day out, and so decided to head off to Moomba (I had never been, and Sally hadnt been for years) and then down to Frankston to the sand sculptures.

Moomba was a bit disappointing, but still nice enought, we went on a couple of rides, and had a go at the sideshows. Amazingly I actually won something, and ended up with an oversized pink care bear, cute but a few years too late.

Then it was onto Frankston to the sculptures. I went to them last year when they were at Rye and loved them, and once again I wasnt disappointed. They are massive structures, some of them at least 3 meters tall.

The theme this year was fairytales, and there was a selection of sculptures from fairytales from all over the world. Most of them I knew, although a few I must admit stumped me. From the Swan Princess, The Princess and the Pea, to Red Riding Hood and The Wizard of Oz. I would love to watch how the sculptures are made, they are so large, and the details on them are so delicate. It takes thousands of hours to make all the sculptures.

No matter how long you spend there, you can never see all the little details that have been carved into the sand.

Because the sculptures are supposed to be lit up at night, we decided to go and have dinner and come back to see them in the dark, as it was advertised as being really good. However when we came back after dark, there were barely any sculptures lit up, and those that were had the lighting from the back so just cast shadows over the details. It was very disappointing, so we didnt hang round and just headed home.





Puss in boots-oh so cute!
The Princess and the Pea
The Gumnut Babies
3 blind mice
Alice in Wonderland
Goldilocks and the 3 bears
The King and Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland

Little Red Riding Hood

Easter and the raft

Putting the raft together


Gwilym and Brent testing it out

A rafting we will go!!!

Pulling the raft apart

Gwilym and Brent with their raft

Ok so we have gone back in time, but oh well they were kool photos. I went down to Rosebud with my brother, Gwilym, and his then fiance Bec, (they got married the next weekend), to help organise the wedding that was taking place.

We spent most of the 4 days getting things ready and getting organised but took some time out to try out a raft that Gwilym and Bec's brother Brent had built. Their aim is to raft it down the Murry, but it needed to be tested first.

It weights an absolute tonne, and can literally carry a tonne, but somehow we managed to carry the 2 halves from the trailer, down the beach to the edge of the water (it is too large to carry on a trailer in one piece, and would be too heavy to carry in one piece anyway!). It was then screwed together, and tested out.

On the up side, the raft is never going to sink, no matter what is put on it, but was basically unmovable in the water-it was just way too heavy. As the only place we could then get the raft out of the water was 1.5km away, and as you could walk down the beach faster, Gwilym and Brent proceeded to push it instead. Regardless it took us a good hour and a bit to get to the end point-the result.....it needs some work.

Overall though, a lot of good fun

Gwilym and Bec's wedding

Exchanging vows

The rings

Cutting the cake

The wedding party-Hester (best man), Me (bridesmade), Gwilym (groom), Bec (bride)

Me, Gwilym and Bec

Family photo-me, Gwilym, Bec, dad, mum
Dad with Gwilyms bottle-this was bought the year he was born.

Beach Cricket

Beach soccer

My brother Gwilym finally married his partner Bec on Sunday!!!! It wasnt the nicest of days, very windy, and somewhat cold, but at least the rain held off until after everyone had left, and we had almost got everything in the cars.

It wasnt what you would call a traditional wedding. Held at the Mc Crae Yacht Club, the groom and best man were in shorts, open necked short sleaved shirts and thongs, while the bride was in a lovely aqua, brown and cream dress!!!!! But the ceremony was short and sweet, which left plenty of time for the beach games (mainly cricket and soccer) rather than the bridal waltz and other dancing.