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February 13, 2006
Volvo Ocean Race
Sunday we spent messing about with boats as we ventured out onto Port Philip Bay to watch the start of the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. 70 foot yachts are a whole new world to me but it's certainly an exciting event and the start (off Station Pier) was great to see close up. The spectator crowd was not as big as the previous week with the in-port race and so we had a nice view quite close to the start.
The excitement was even greater when Pirates of the Caribean took off and lead over the starting line and down through the bay at a cracking pace. There's nothing like the a skull-and-crossbones to add a thrill to proceedings and with a name like that they deserve to win. So much more exciting than a boat named after a bank!
The spectator fleet set off down the bay after the boats including us on our rather slow and lumpy whale-watching boat. We managed to keep up for a good while with a suprising turn of speed from the old-girl before turning back towards the city and Docklands to finish lunch and drinks at a more leisurely pace.
'We' were Ron and Kees and I. Judy opted to stay at home and mind the kids so Jacob got to spend the day with Beatrice, Queenie and Charlie. Just about his favourite way of spending a day at the moment! The photo above is as we were heading down the bay after the start. You can see all six of the competitors. Below is a shot of Melbourne from the water.
You can see some 'real' photos here.
Posted by Faith at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2006
Fish on Friday
Further on the tourism-or-die project, we went to the Aquarium on Friday. Yes, we saw the GIANT squid frozen in a block of ice. (reminded me of how nice grilled baby blue octopuses taste with a glass-of-something-chilled) We ooohed and aahed at the sharks and rays and the eerie light as you wander underneath the fish swimming around you. Jacob found a friend who was just as interested in rubbing his bottom on the glass at the sharks, thus saving Ron and I some potential humiliation.
Along Southbank and the Casino Yarra bank we stumbled upon an Asian market (a very sanitised-corporate-Asian-market mind you, with all nasty-asian-messiness-removed) and were able to indulge in Green Tea smoothies and Kueh Talam amongst other things. There was also a suprise childrens farm thrown in where Jacob got to chase some piglets and cuddle an alarmed-looking-chicken. Jacob then considerately fell asleep allowing us time for one of those cups of coffee where you pretend-he-doesn't-exist before catching the train home. Succesfully touristed all around, must do it again some time.
Posted by Faith at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
The girl that ate Amsterdam
Just when I had despaired of Peter and Vanusa updating their web site they have uploaded some photos of Analu. She has done one of those quantum-leaps that babies do where one day she is still a baby and the next practically a full-blown adult. She'll be driving by next week!
We saw her in Amsterdam not long before we left and she didn't look anything like this big. What happenned? Steroids for Christmas? She definitely has Peter's eyes (in a different colour) and I'm not sure about the rest but she is looking gorgeous so it must be from her mum!
Posted by Faith at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2006
Photo Friday: Blur
Thank God I have something for Photo Friday this week! Lately it has been a bit difficult to find anything fitting. This photo of Fintan, just-a-blur-on-the-dance-floor, was taken at his and Steve's wedding last May. I had pumped up the ISO to 1600 so that I wouldn't have to use a flash. In addition to a nice grain it also meant you got a nice bit of blur.
Posted by Faith at 09:09 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2006
Cousin Joost
Posted by Faith at 04:55 AM | Comments (0)
What's holding Jacobs pants up now?
A week.
A whole week without any nappies during the day. And only three accidents. (One late in the afternoon when he was tired and two on one day when he decided he just wasn't going to be bothered.)
Toliet training has however created a new problem. The removal of nappies has made keeping-Jacob's-pants-up even trickier than it already was. New feats of maternal-engineering will be required. Luckily, showing off your underpants and the top of your bottom is still fashionable amongst the under 3s.
Posted by Faith at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2006
Starting from scratch
It has become painfully obvious that despite our best efforts to be fascinating, childish and spontaneous-funsters Jacob is missing the company of other rug-rats. So even though we are not working at the moment we went to check out the local creche situation. (Also playgroups, but he is going to need a creche position soon anyway so we thought it best to start now)
Despite all the hype about ridiculous waiting lists and so forth we found a place that not only seems ideal but where he can start straight away. (This was exactly what happenned in the Netherlands as well. We just seem to get lucky with fabulous-instant-child-care?)Initially just for a day or two per week, for the company more than anything else, and then later we can extend when it becomes neccessary. It isn't De Schep, but then that was unique, even in Amsterdam, but it does seem like a nice place. What we also like is that they have children speaking more than 25 languages and are used to children for whom English is their second language.
Jacob spent a couple of hours there on Monday morning and LOVED it. Straight into his charming-the-pants-off-everyone-routine. Danced madly with all the girls, climbed the highest climbing frame and cycled the fastest in the playground to impress all the boys and announced when he needed to go to the toilet to impress the carers.
The other children also left quite an impression on Jacob. Especially one little girl who wasn't into sharing the old-frying-pan-full-of-sand that Jacob had set his heart on. With two huge scratches under his eye it will be a while before Jacob forgets her!
Posted by Faith at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2006
Cathy B
A successful Saturday was topped off with a very pleasant Sunday. We are still busy catching up with friends and finally managed to catch up with Cathy B at her place. The car's unlockable lock meant Ron got his first train trip to the west, Newport, the sunday timetable being a fitting way of setting the pace for the day.
At Cathy's we lounged around in a disgracefully lazy way while somebody-else's-child entertained ours. It was great to see Cathy again and also to catch up with Peter and meet his wife and daughter 'licia who was busy keeping Jacob busy.
IF Cathy's hospitality hadn't been so tempting we could have gone to the Pride Parade in St Kilda. The Midsumma festival in Melbourne is always a nice contrast to the Sydney version, much more 'grass roots', bit less flash, less cash, more laid-back-fun. I used to always enjoyed watching the trolley-dolly race outside the Blue Elephant. (picture drag queens in stilletoes on tram tracks with supermarket trolleys)
This years parade saw official entries by a huge police contingent marching in their uniforms, the fire brigade, more MPs and politicians than you could poke a stick at and a couple of schools. Which yet again makes me wonder, just who is voting for Howard?
Posted by Faith at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2006
3055
Saturday we spent in our now weekly routine of checking out a suburb via the auction pages with a view to finding somewhere we might be happy to live. Happily this Saturday left us feeling positive and optimistic after the discovery of an area that seems to have most of what we want but more importantly is still within our price range. The location is good, the locals varied and congenic and the prices leave us a lot of options within our budget. Dus, we are now entering deep-research-mode for Nth Fitzroy/Brunswick! All tips gratefully received.
Our succesful afternoon was only slightly marred then by the mysterious 'locking' of Mum's car steering. After a fuitless visit by the RACV we were cheered up with a ride home in a tow truck and we did remember to drill the driver on what car NOT to buy. (Another project looming)
Posted by Faith at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2006
Today we went to the zoo
We have now embarked on an effort to do all the touristy Melbourne things.......... while we can. We did intend to do the same before we left Amsterdam but somehow ran out of time. Kind of embarassing. "Have you seen x?" "No, we ran out of time, we were there only 5 years". At least I've been to the Rijksmueum, unlike some Dutchmen I know.
My most recent memories of the zoo are of their Twilight Jazz evenings which I used to go to, just over 5 years ago. Now they're added the chance to have breakfast with the animals AND (best of all), the chance to camp out overnight in the Zoo grounds. Now that sounds tempting.
While I've been away they've upgraded the elephant enclosure. The elephants were one of the last of the animals stuck in the old-fashioned enclosures that basically didn't enable them enough space or privacy. Upgrading their enclosure had been on the cards for years and while I was away it happenned. The new enclosure is lovely and and like the other newer areas, doesn't really give the sense of an enclosure at all. Its the humans who are enclosed and guided past the elephants rather than vice-versa. The kitsch Thai elephant-village design is also really nice. I often don't enjoy zoos, seeing animals enclosed isn't very enjoyable but the design of the climatic zones in which the animals are kept seems to really address a lot of the stress animals suffer in these situations. It also adds a real sense of adventure to the day. Or maybe that just shows what a dull life I've been leading?
Jacob was beside himself with happiness at all the real-life bears, lions, elephants and tigers roaming around. But especially the gorillas and monkeys. Wandering through the treetop exhibits he couldn't stop gabbling madly away at every other child he saw (in Dutch). But what rendered him open-mouthed and speechless was the sight of all the butterflies in the butterfly enclosure.
And he didn't wear a nappy ALL day. (Third day in a row....)
Posted by Faith at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
Photo Friday: Disguise
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February 02, 2006
Gone feral
Posted by Faith at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
Pissing with the big boys
Being the highly perceptive parents that we are it has suddenly occured to us that Jacob has grown up a lot in the last month since we have been in Australia.
In Amsterdam he still slept in his cot in our room. Just because there was no other bedroom and it didn't seem to make sense to buy a bed when we'd be moving so soon. In Australia his own room with a proper single-bed was waiting for him. We'd assumed he'd want to sleep with us at first and then once the strangeness of new-land, new-people, new-language and the vanishing-act-of-his-previous-life had worn off we'd ease him into his own room and the 'big' bed. Just goes to show what we know.
From our first night here he has slept in his own bed in his own room quite happily. The first three nights he woke up in the middle of the night but that was most likely the residue of his jet-lag. Since then he has slept through every morning until dawn when he then comes into us.
In addition to that he is now half-way to being toilet trained. The great thing about hot weather and wooden floors is that he can wander around naked all day. Two days of this and he'd stopped having accidents on the floor. Now, its only when we're outside the house and he has clothes on that he sometimes misses his cue. But today he went the entire day without a nappy or an accident. He is not always keen to go to the toilet when we suggest it but can usually be seduced by the promise of being allowed to stand up 'like papa'.
A future without nappies beckons...........
Posted by Faith at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2006
When the boat comes in
Our boat has come in! Sterker noch, it arrived on the 9th of January (apparently our posessions were lucky enough to be flung on a 'direct boat' and thus the sea voyage tool less than four weeks rather than the expected six) and everything has been cleared by Customs and Quarantine. Tomorrow it will all be delivered to us. Jacob gets his tricycle back and I ................. what DID we have on the boat actually?
Quarantine are particularly vigilant these days and we had been told that they would unpack all 26 boxes, unwrap everything in them and check it all. This amazed me and I wasn't sure if I believed it until I heard from Judy and Kees, who had 126 boxes + furniture, that when their posessions were released they received a letter from quarantine explaining that they had removed and destroyed one item. A small bag of pot-pouri.
Posted by Faith at 06:37 AM | Comments (0)