Christmas and New Year

Been a while since the last entry as the Christmas and New Year holiday period was pretty busy with various things and it was good to be away from a computer for a while.

Had Christmas dinner in Torquay with the folks on a freezing day. The fire was lit all day so no Crimbo on the beach for Mikey. Met Gav, Nick and Alex on Christmas night back in Melbourne. Most of the city was closed but not the trusty Crown Casino so after a full day drinking the inevitable loss of a considerable amount of money happened pretty quickly.

Boxing Day was at the MCG where England once again showed off their class. Due to the previous nights activities I was late meeting the lads from Dan's community who were in possesion of the tickets, which didn't go down too well. It was good to see Shane Warne get his 700th wicket though and the atmosphere was pretty special at the time.

Managed to get tickets to what remained of the test match on days 2 and 3 and made a brief incursion into the Barmy Army area. Proper nutters in that area and there wasn't much attention being paid to the cricket. We bumped into a load of them later on the 2nd day at the designated Barmy Army headquarters. One lad (who was pretty small) was dressed as Yoda and was competely hammered. As he stumbled around his lightsaber kept on collapsing, presumably in a reflection of his own competence.

Had a few days of quiet time back in Torquay following the cricket and the sun came out to play. Steve, one of my relations, helps run the fishing club, which is in the aptly named Fisherman's Beach. Played some pool down there and did some mini-golf. All very respectable.

New Year's Eve was spent in Sydney and respect went out the window for that one. Was actually there for just 24 hours to see the fireworks and go to the Shorething Party on Bondi Beach. Saw the fireworks from way up on the hills above the harbour with a couple of boxes of wine and few beers. Then walked down to Bondi and there were thousands there with a funfair and all that craic. Some mostly bald chaps making merry are pictured - Alex, Gav and I. Tried to make a phone call to the web to post here (I know this because of the numbers called list on the mobile and for no other reason). However, no material has been recorded for which I blame my own incompetence. Probably a good thing as it wouldn't exactly be full of meaningful insights.

Good night out but managed to get competely lost on the way home and end up on the completely opposite side of the city, twice. Got a bus home but it took me back to the beach and then got another one miles away. After the second time I ended up back at the bus station asking the same guy I'd asked 2 hours earlier for directions to the right bus. Had to rely on buses as there were bugger all taxis.

Got back to Melbourne, which is starting to feel more and more like home, and had the perfect wind down watching two undemanding films at the Astor - The Princess Bride and The Goonies. Hey you guys...........