30 Years of Greatness......

The day after Boxing day was Kelley's birthday and I had to hurriedly finish the lemon meringue birthday cupcakes before we left for a night at Werribee open range zoo. We met friends Dave and Allison for lunch on the lawns of Werribee mansion and enjoyed a good picnic. Kelley and I stayed at the hotel out there and had a wander around the mansion and the grounds the next day.

The Werribee mansion



The early owners were clearly keen hunters



Kelley in the 'sculpture park' you can see them but in the background are giraffes, rhinos and zebras in the open range zoo.

Boxing Day Test

After a momentary panic on Christmas Eve, lack of sleep, and continued edginess on Christmas Day, I finally found the tickets for the cricket and we set off. We were there early to meet Josh and to see Ricky Ponting win the toss and bat. We were sitting near the front and close to the notorious Bay 13. To spice things up further, we were directly behind a particularly rowdy bunch of Pakistani supporters.



It was quite a slow day, Pakistan bombed a few chances and both Australian openers were dismissed in the 90's which was rather amusing, particularly the Shane Watson run out. Ricky Ponting made a quick 50 to liven things up and Australia finished well on top at the end of the day (and would go on to win comfortably).

Although it was only mid 20's, it was still hot enough to get sun burnt and the drunk crowd to get boisterous. They kept us entertained with chants, beer snakes, a 'streaker' who was absolutely pathetic, and the odd abusive racial slur (it wouldn't be Australia without it....) With about an hour to go there were people getting escorted out by security on a regular basis so we moved upstairs to find a quieter spot, which we did find but we were still entertained by idiots, including one who decided it was an appropriate time for a haka. That was rather embarrassing.



Nonetheless, it was a super day at the cricket and experience well worth repeating.

Cycling World Cup

It was the first time I'd been to live indoor track cycling and it was really impressive. There was a full programme of finals, and a wide selection of events, including time trials, pursuits, points race, scratch race and the keirin. Australia pipped Great Britain in the final of the men's team pursuit and the crowd loved it, but the highlight of our night was the men's scratch race where NZer Tom Scully rode brilliantly to win gold.

Woman's points race, which was also really good to watch



NZ men's team pursuit who smashed the Dutch in the race for bronze



The half time entertainment was another highlight with the history of cycling on display, including the hobby horse, the first 'bike' ever made, with no pedals.



Penny Farthing



And a selection of others, inlcluding a pedal driven tricycle

Hobart

A quick weekend trip to Hobart to visit Katie and Alastair was never going to be as enjoyable as I'd hoped when I got landed with 20 hours of pre reading to do before a course on the following Monday. Nevertheless, we visited the markets, a beer festival, wandered the waterfront and all around the gardens. It was a nice quiet weekend.

Salamanca markets, easy to fill in a few hours here



Salamanca Square and fountain.



Harbour, looking out to the Derwent river



Henry Jones art hotel

Melbourne and Surrounds

A few snaps from some day trips around and about:

First, a few days with Jenny and Lawrence which included the following:

A trip to the races at Yarra Glen, on Cox Plate day (they play the city races on a big screen)



Looking out over the city from the Shrine of Remembrance



The scariest ride at Luna Park



Looking towards Melbourne from the North east



Then, on the first weekend of November when the mercury flowed over 35 degrees, a trip out to Maroondah reservoir, one of Melbourne's water sources. Its fair to say we struggled in the heat and didn't do much but we are getting better.



On Melbourne Cup day, a public holiday, we went with Josh and Jody for a flying visit to Geelong and on to Queenscliff.



Geelong has a variety of these 'human poles' along the waterfront.

Shedfest

Shedfest involved jumping on a bus and cruising around some vineyards in the Yarra Valley. It was very relaxed, very low key and altogether rather pleasant.



Weather was perfect



But a few grey clouds appeared near the end of the day

Home again - Akaroa and another wedding...

We were back again, this time for the Bernie Pye and Dougal Innes wedding at Terrace Downs near the Rakia Gorge but before we got there we had a couple of days to fill in. Neither of us had been to Akaroa so we took our super cheap rental, weaved our way over the hills and parked up for a day and a half. It was clearly off season as there were hardly any people around but Akaroa was a nice spot and I liked the French influence but was very disappointed with their 'French' bakery. Luckily for us, we got very unseasonal weather and it was a great day for a walk up the hill, but not right to the top, it was very windy.

At Purple Peak Saddle.



A great view of the Akaroa harbour



The track back down



We headed back inland for the wedding which was a very grand affair. Unfortunately it was still very windy but at least it was warm.

Rakia river bridge.



The day after the wedding was a big driving day, all the way home. To make it a bit more interesting, we decided to go over the Danseys Pass which was a real goat track and only achievable thanks to the sustenance gained from a huge ice cream at the Kurow dairy. The rental bomb made it up and over unscathed.

Looking up the road to the pass.



We had a day and a half at home, Kelley's parents and sister Shanon came up for the day before another long drive back to Christchurch and early Monday morning flight back.