May 19, 2013 - At home

Today I plan to get myself as ready as possible by having a haircut,doing some shopping and then concentrating on finishing the front garden. Having nearly finished the wedding yesterday I hope to add some feed plant a few bulbs and then mulch. The rain has been great but the soil is damp only at the top so some water saver stuff should help. This evening Merrin and I are off to the theatre to see the latest MTC play. I must book dinner at Cafe Vic. Jordie Crawford will be babysitting Amy as Jason has had to go to Singapore for the week.

May 13, 2013 - A lovely week

We've had a great but hectic week catching up with family and friends and preparing for our flight to New York. Mum is turning 90 in a week's time and dad is 92 so we're taking them to New York. They live in Ontario so only 1.1/2 hrs away from the Big Apple, but they've never been there before so we're really looking forward to the week. I think mum's conquering her fears of going to New York as they hear so many stories, but they're both great adventurers, so this is it.

May 5, 2013 - A grandson visits

Bridge Church's newly opened East Campus is attune cinemas at Doncaster shopping town and We went there for the very first time. It was a great service and very full with few seats left. It was good to see friends again and catch up. We met up with Dario and Mel for breakfast beforehand and it was lovely to see them. Our grandson Seth came to us after lunch as a friend of Lily's brought him over. He slept for a good while and then had a good time with us watching a nature show. He is only two but speaks a mixture of Spanish and English and...

May 4, 2013 - Pancake Parlour

Today we had a relaxing breakfast with our daughter Louise & son in law Aaron and then headed off for a short drive before meeting up with The rest of the family for lunch at the Pancake Parlour in Doncaster. How lovely to catch up together again and little Seth is speaking half English and half Spanish.

May 2, 2013 - Melbourne here we come!

An early morning taxi ride with a belligerent taxi driver is not the way to start the day but nevertheless nothing could damp our spirits as we headed home via plane to Melbourne to see family and friends before leaving for overseas. Daughter Louise met us at the airport and we dropped her back to church before heading to her place to drop our things. We met up with Evi and Martin and Alma before they head off for a new life in Queensland. We'll certainly miss them. We had lunch together in Tunstall Square and our numbers grew as Daughter...

Apr 7, 2013 - Leaving Home

Wow. I was so emotional leaving home. I even surprised myself. And it was all because of the cats. I know, logically, that they’ll be fine but emotionally, I just felt so, so guilty. It was so nice to have some friends and family see me off at the airport. Very much appreciated! I loved the Saint Christopher pendant my Godfather Michael gave me to protect me on my travels, and also the very funny photo key chain that Nadia gave me so I wouldn’t forget my friends. As if I would!

Apr 4, 2013 - In panic-mode

Well, it is Thursday today - although I have spent the day convinced it was Friday. And in fact, as I was typing that first sentence, I typed "it is Friday today". My brain is running at a million miles an hour. Unfortunately, it isn't running in any specific direction - it is all over the place. Tasks are being ticked off the 'to do' list, but I also have List B in my brain. So, that's pretty much a guarantee that nothing on List B will get done and I will spend the next 3 days with a furrowed brow, continually mumbling to myself "I'm sure...

Apr 3, 2013 - Preparations officially commence!

Good Evening Europe! This is a message from the Eee-Vee-You, wishing you an ah-may-zing Eurovision 2013. Hello, Gavin here, sending out our first official journal blog entry for their Eurovision 2013 trip. Only 35 days to go and so much to organise. For example, we haven't done our first test suitcase pack yet!! The pressure's on for sure now. We're hoping to do the travel blog again for this trip, and hoping to add in all sorts of fun photos and stories of how we endured standing for 5 hours in the Arena, or unable to see the show because...

Mar 18, 2013 - The Prep

Today was my first real attempt at packing. With three weeks to go before I fly out of Melbourne, I know that packing and unpacking is yet to take place many, many more times before I leave. Good grief. How does one, and what does one, pack to get them through 9 months of living overseas? Especially not really knowing if you are going to be living in one location (provided you find a job in your town of choice) or, if you'll need to settle for another city with a completely different climate to your town of first choice. Then there is the...

Mar 15, 2013 - Auckland, New Zealand

Well we are in our final hotel and will fly home tomorrow. We leave Auckland, NZ for Brisbane, AU at 6 in the morning arriving, after 3 flights, in FT. Walton sometime around 7:30 tomorrow night :-) we have had a wonderful time but we are both ready to be home! I tried to add some pictures to tonight's journal but I could not figure it out. I am just going to wait until I get home to publish those. I'm sorry. I hope you have all been doing great! I miss you! I do not like being electronic free! I enjoy keeping in touch with my friends and...

Mar 9, 2013 - A-Van preparation

Well we have done the 4WD course (very knowledgeable and experienced instructor who gave us many tips on using our vehicle, including using some gear settings we didn't know were there!) so one of the final jobs is to have an Anderson plug fitted to enable the car battery to charge our camper battery while we are driving. After that we need to find out in the last few days before we leave whether all we plan to pack will actually fit without adding too much weight, so no doubt we shall have to cull some things to make sure we aren't making...

Mar 7, 2013 - Melborne

About 7:00 AM the ship docked in Melbourne, certainly one of the most beautiful cities in Australia. We spent part of our day on a sightseeing tour of a couple of different gardens, downtown Melbourne and viewing Melbourne from the Eureka Sky Tower Building 87th floor. The next two days will be spent at sea crossing the Tasman Sea to New Zealand