Golf Balls and Gift Wrap

Ok, after all that napping I guess it was time to go out and do something...


...so, after much talking about it, I finally made my way down to the driving range in Terry Hills to whack a bucket of balls with Dave and a lot of fun it was too! According to Dave, I did Ok and I certainly managed to get most of the balls flying in pretty much a straight line which was more that I was expecting :-) I've also invested in a glove as I came home with a couple of cracking blisters from not using one. Another couple of sessions and I think we'll head out for a round! Can't wait!

Last week was Isy's birthday so Dylan and I spent a few hours wrapping presents one evening which was a lot of fun. (The secret is to give him something ELSE to wrap while you get on with business...) I kept saying to him "shhhhh, don't tell mommy!" and when she came home he was saying "shhhh!" all the time which was pretty cute.

Spring is well and truly here now and the weekends have seen us putting in some serious time down at the local parks. Dylan is now a big fan of the swings... as are a few other people we could mention... The garden is also coming into full bloom and the plants are growing a quite a pace. Fortunately there was a note in out letter box from a local gardener offering his services recently so I think a quick call is in order soon before jungle starts taking over.

This afternoon we headed over to Manly to have a BBQ\Braii\Barbie at Gary's place with a few other friends. Very nice it was too and I think we'll have to reciprocate in the not too distant future. Speaking of Manly, the Manly Surf Cam on the right is live in Australia so if it looks black, it's cos it's night over here and even crazy surf dudes don't tend to go out at night. If you want to see the action, best times are probably between 8:30pm and 10:30pm UK time...

This week we have been mostly snoozing...

With teddies on our heads......

In our hammocks...

...and like old ranchers after a dusty day herdin' steer.

Cup o' Tea

Well, it's been a busy week or two that's for sure and first up is the big news about Isy! As I mentioned before, she had in interview for a Business Analyst contract with a consultancy in the city and....big drum roll... she got the job!! Yey!! It's working three days a week so not too much impact on Dylan (an extra day at nursery) and is based at one of the main Aussie banks helping them implement (wait for this project title...) Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Legislation. So don't mess with her. It seems that the team are all pretty nice folk too so all in all, she's one happy camper right now.

Out and about we've done a few things. Last weekend we went to the Manly Aquarium which was great! They have one of those underwater tubes you can walk through with sharks, manta rays etc. swimming right over your head! One fish with a long snout swam past to cries of "Noooooossse!!" from Dylan which kept us laughing for a while :-)

Today we drove across North Sydney to Terry Hills and had a look at a driving range we'd heard about. It looked very good and I will probably have a bit of a session there one evening next week with cousin Dave. We also had a quick peek into a small, modern Buddhist Temple which was very nice. Lots of fat laughing buddha's and gold stuff :-) Then it was on to Mona Vale to meet with an old collegue of Isy's, Gill and her fella Ross who have recently arrived in Sydney.

One slightly "small world" moment also happened at work the other day when I found out that one of the guys I work with used to be a barman at the Bear and Staff pub on Charing Cross road - A favourite watering hole of Ken and I a few years back. Aussie barmen in London. Who'd have thunk it?!

Dylan's phrases of the week are "cup o' tea" which I particularly like and "Again!" which accompanies everything he particularly likes.