Men's Singles Final

It was a great present from Kelley for my 30th the next day - tickets to the men's singles final at the Ausi Open. I was also surprised to see Josh and Jody waiting for us outside the gates with tickets that Kelley had organised for them too. First, we watched the mixed doubles final which was a bit of a walkover. It was raining during the doubles so they had the roof closed but it cleared up enough for the men's to open it up.

Cooling down with a drink and some frozen head wear before the doubles final



Federer and Murray about to do battle



Federer made short work of the final in straight sets but the third set went to a long tie break so Andy Murray didn't disgrace himself. Was such a great event to go though, given that it would be almost impossible to get tickets to any other grand slam final.

View through a sponsor's give away fan.



Winner's presentation



We were a long way up so it was hard to get good photos on my little camera, but here is one of Federer doing his victory lap.

Australian Open

We had tickets to the first Sunday in Centre Court, Rod Laver Arena, and although we were well back in the stand, the view was excellent. We first watched Andy Murray vs big serving American John Isner, who was fresh off winning the New Zealand Open in Auckland. Although Murray won in straight sets, Isner played very well and it was a close match.

John Isner serving



Men's singles draw, with the background of the defending champion, Nadal



Nadal about to start his 4th round match against another tall, big serving Croatian. The match went to 4 sets and was again dominated by serving. The Croatian would regularly serve over 210km per hour, sometimes over 220km.



We had a brief wander round afterwards in the sunshine, round the outer courts.



And watched some mixed doubles, although for a while we were thoroughly confused as we were certain that one of the doubles pairing was two guys.

daAwat

I almost forgot, the clear highlight of any visit to Wellington - a return to the greatest curry house in the entire world, daAwat in Manners Mall. To complete the experience, a booking under Bruce Taylor, polishing / cleaning / sterilising the crockery and cutlery, ordering a round of cokes even though they were part of the deal, avoiding white shirts like the plague and a catch up with the blonde waiter and Raj, who after all these years, still recognised me. Although the place has been spruced up a but, the food was still the same, and was sensational.

Barry enjoying a Chicken Korma, Matt a BC and me a hot labrador....

Two Weddings and a Road Trip

Another whirlwind travel mad holiday home for two weddings. We got a great flight to Dunedin and I managed to get some time at home, both before and after the first wedding, Jacob and Jill Smythe at Glenfalloch.

After attempting to have the ceremony outside, and getting rained on, we moved in. The wedding party.



The food!



I went back home for a day and a half before meeting Barry to drive to Palmerston North. But first, a few photos of home, the new covered yards



The view looking up the hill from outside the yards. The weather pretty much sums up the summer, cloudy and cold, yet as you can see, no rain and horribly dry.



Kelley with Bevan's dogs, Dick and Moss



The front corner of the house from the garage, looking up through the roses



Lambs in the Front Paddock, Rock and Pillars in the background



The front gate and mailbox, minus all the poplars along the front that were ripped out over the winter



The back gate and cattleyards with Dad's horse Chester in the background



View from above, taken from helicopter back when the grass was green, in Autumn. This is the main house, Strathavon.



And the same, from further up showing the sheds and all the way up to the top of the hill and the Sister. Obviously taken before all the poplars were taken out.



Glyn -wye, where Bevan is living, looking towards Middlemarch.



We stayed the night in Kiakoura and in the morning, just up the road, we had a good view of quite a few seals on the rocks.



Our ferry coming in through the Sounds to Picton



The ferry route - you can just make out the thin dotted line



We had a great night out for Angus's Stag function, thankfully cameras were banned! It was then up to Palmy, but the trip was not without mishap given that it was the morning after the Stag do.

We were staying just across the road from where Pool B of the U19 cricket world cup was being played, so when we weren't busy, we just shot over the road for a few hours. It was a good spot for some cricket of our own the morning of the wedding too.

Pakistan vs West Indies, who actually met each other in the semi final, Pakistan qualified for the final



The chaps before the wedding



Kelley and I



The man himself, Angus the groom, visably excited...



Bride, Groom and bridal party in front of the church

New Year in Daylesford

It was a bit of a lazy New Year, we got away early on the 31st and up to Daylesford in good time. We had natural fireworks kindly provided by a spectacular thunderstorm and Josh matched it with some spectacular cocktails which ensured we all stayed awake long enough to see in the New Year, and then some. The next day was very quiet, we were all rather tired, and I was feeling particularly poorly with a bad cold. Nonetheless, we managed a quick stroll around the lake on a grey and drizzly start to the new year. Many thanks to Josh and Jody for pretty much taking charge of food, drinks and preparation.