Last Weekend

This is it. Things have changed a bit.  Patricia just found out that her mother broke her hip and had a replacement, so we are going home 55 days earlier than expected. Patricia spent the day changing our bookings and informing all concerned that we are on the way.

I did spend a little time with Michaela in her studio watching her making a teapot and some cups and trying to be of some help.

Another beautiful Teapot

Then I went out with Dieter to get some sand for the chicken coop, so we cleaned that out

After we cleaned it it looked like a Hilton

and soon it was time to visit Arni and Urs at their home for dinner, and what a dinner it was, lots of food and more laughs.

Arni, Evelin, Dieter, Michael, Urs & Patricia. Michaela takes the picture

What a Paella

This is Urs's office

Time to eat and make conversation

 This was a great final day here in Surfers Paradise.

Now we are on our way back to Sydney, staying another night with Annette in Coffs Harbour. Then we pick up more of our luggage in Port Maquarie and say good-by to Mary White and to Rosie’s and head to Sydney to stay two nights with Neal and Pam.

Mary White. Patricia & I love this lady

It's Monday lets move

Having had a great time on the weekend with the family, it's time to move on to go south to see some more of the coast beyond Sydney. We rented a car and started driving; it seemed that we never got out of Sydney. We thought we had driven hundreds of miles and had only covered about 60km.

The first sight of the coast south of Sydney

This is what's ahead

We got to Kiama. It had been raining all day, so we were ready to call it and settle into a place for the night. We found a nice and not too expensive motel and decided to get a movie (The Tourist) and relax.
On Tuesday, we explored Kiama, a very nice little beach town with lots of cafes and great little shops. Kiama is known for it's Blow Hole, and we went there to take several photographs.

This is what the hole looks like.

and how it comes about

This is what it looks like in action.

We also found a great saltwater ocean pool, and Patricia was just about to go in.

Come on, don't be shy:>)

Walking & almost swimming a lot made us hungry, so we went to the market and got some bits and then to have a picnic in the park.

No tools to eat with, so its back to fingers.

Cut the Mango with my Driver License.

But what a view for lunch

Any time

This evening, we got another 2 videos (Red and Sherlock Holmes) and decided to take it easy. The next day, we headed back to Narrabeen to relax for a few days.

We are on the move

We are traveling for a few days, giving our friends a rest from us.
After having spent a great week at Pam & Neal's place, we headed to Cabramatta with Pam and Neal to see Mark, the girls, Barbara and Alan.

Packing the suitcase again

Arriving in Cabramatta, the girls treated us to a performance of dance - several times.

Sarah and Jessica moving with the music

I think there may be a performance at 'Australia's Got Talent' one day.

Barbara, Alan, Neal & Pam as we are having afternoon tea.

It was great to see some of the Australian family, where I stayed when I landed first in 1971.

Mark's research pride and joy

Patricia and I inspected Mark's workshop. He has a ton of great machines with which he makes lots of things and gets paid for it.  Most of these devises, once familiar, I have forgotten how to operate. 

Patricia having fun at the Asian Markets

Cabramatta used to be a sleepy little suburb when I got there many years ago. Since then, lots of people from Asia have moved in and made the place very alive and vibrant, with an untold number of shops and restaurants. 

I think if we would live here, the markets are where Patricia would be most of the time.

The entrance to the Asian quarter of town

  

Then it was time to go to the petting zoo with the girls and have some ice cream afterward.

Time to pet the animals

Time is flying

We are now in Sydney for a week hanging out with my cousin, Neal, and Pam. It was to be for two days, and the time flew by just like that.

We came down with Malcolm on Monday, in the rain, and the weather has been very mixed and cold and rainy most of the time - and it's summertime!

Most of the time we are down here, it's a time to relax and go for walks.
On Thursday, we went into Sydney proper by train and had a look around and visited a State Library of NSW and the NSW Art Gallery,

Waiting for the train to take us to Sydney

Enjoying the works of old and contemporary painters

Yesterday, Neal and I switched his Mini's in the carport, so he could work on one of them and drive the other. It was not a question of just pushing one out and it is done. We had to winch one up the hill and then do the switch. It was great fun.

This was quite an engineering feat.

Now we are getting somewhere, with a lot of smoke.

And after this adventure, we went to the movies to see Mission Impossible 4.  I think they could not do most of the stunts in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Week eight

Today, Sunday, I am back at Hannam Vale and working in the Café.

There is an antique auction going on next door at the Community Hall, and we are sitting here waiting for customers to come in.

Patricia has her first pictures up in the gallery, and they look great.

Is this straight Michael? I can't see your head is in the way

The introductory part of the Gallery is up for everyone to see.

Most of this past week I spent in Sydney, not doing very much. It was raining and miserable, so I stayed at Malcolm’s place and cleaned up a bit.

On Thursday night, we took the engine that Ian had brought down from Queensland off the trailer. That was an adventure in itself.

One side came loose, and Mal was just about to catch it.

Greg and Mal are pleased with themselves; they got the motor safely on the ground.

My main reason for going to Sydney came on Friday.  I took a bus into Sydney from Narrabeen where we I meet up with some of the old Opera House crew; some of them I had not seen for over 25 years.

We had a great time catching up and reminiscing about the good old days.

We all got a few years older and not necessarily wiser.

Mind you, some of us think we have not changed at all. Olga & Werner

Saturday was another boat day. One of Malcolm’s two boats is stored at the farm in Hannam Valle on blocks, and it needed to go onto a trailer to be moved again. The problem was that when it went in there two years ago, there was more room.  Now more things have accumulated around it, and there is not that much. It took quit an effort to get the trailer under the boat; this thing is heavy.

Lots of calculating going on, I stay well out of it.

In the meantime, Malcolm found one of the boat residents.

We think the reason for it being there were the other residents, the Rats.

In the meantime, Roy and Luke cleaned some of the yard around the kitchen at the Café and made more picnic style table & benches, and we made the courtyard look more like a German Biergarten. I just can’t get away from it.

Ein Prosit der Gemuetlichkeit

The Bird

On his walk two days ago, Malcolm found this bird on his path and brought it home. Subsequently, he put it back; it was actually very happy here, in the warmth and being fed, but it did not seem right to keep it here. We think it is a Bush Turkey. When Malcolm took it back, it hide strait under a rock.

It looks healthy enough.

Staying in Sydney

Back in Sydney for a week, staying at Mal's.  It's different here, a lot more geekish...like there is his desk in his office,

I hope there are enough  screens

and then there is the main attraction I am most impressed with; the only thing wrong with the pool-table is that it should be slightly elevated in the middle.

Notice the BBQ in the back?

Already 3 days

Wow as time fly's we have been here for three days, and it feels like weeks. That's a good thing.
We arrived here on Tuesday local time and made our way to where we staying by train, ferry & bus, an easy ride even with all our bags.
We took it easy for the rest of the day and went to sleep at about 6:30PM and got up at 7 the next morning.
It was Patricia's birthday here in Australia and we celebrated by visiting the Opera or better said a play at the Opera House.

Funny play we went to see

It was great to go over old territory and I even meet Ann & Ivan, both of whom have been working there since 1973.

Nice place to relax

We found a perfect way to loosing a few pounds quickly 

After the play we spend the next few hours checking out the town and waiting for to go back and see the Opera Mac Beath. You could call us cultured now.

Jon & Linda, and how about my handbag

Yesterday then was a day to see friends, Jon and Linda took us for lunch at Bondi Junction and after that we went to see Liana & Steve and the QVB in town.

Patricia had a great time taking photos at the QVB

The evening Mal went to get some Tai food and we spend the time sitting and talking.

Patricia had two days of Birthday celebrations, one for Australia and yesterday for the US.

Today is easy, we rest and work on the computer, writing blog etc., the weather is not very inviting to go out much.

Tomorrow Malcolm will drive us to Johns River where we will be spending the next few weeks.

We have made it

After spending the last hours in the US with Mom before Barbara drove us to Reno, from where we left at 3PM and spend the next 25 or so hours on the road and in the air, so to speak.

Patricia & Mom still working

I did help Barbara harvest some of here grapes  before leaving

Slightly tired but very happy we made it to the other side of the pond and arrived in the early morning hours in OZ.

View of Sydney from the Manly Ferry.

The weather is just about the same as it was when we left CA, so I put my shorts and flip flops on again. This time we tried out to find our own way from the airport and it worked just fine, first we went by train to the harbor, then by ferry to Manly and from there we took a bus to Narrabeen.
Now the last thing before resting I write this, as promised to some of you the readers.
This is it for today.