Jimmy Jimmy Jeep Jeep

Bob appears to have lost the plot. Or maybe he's just happy? Either way, he is dancing about the living room, shaking his bum whilst singing along to Vanilla Ice and has his newly won baseball cap sideways on his head juggling his newly won golf balls. Sometimes I worry. Truth be told, he played an absolutely amazing game of golf today in the Warragul Plate. Must have been the free beer and BBQ pre-match that helped him on his way. Not only did he win the individual round with a score of 72, he also won the team event too and came away with some prizes. He had to give a speech in which he mentioned he was struggling with the heat (17C) and the lack of wind......think he got some laughs, not to mention some beers bought for him. A rather merry Bob wandered home about 7pm demanding (guess what) some Thai for tea! Love it.

Bob was far more successful in his sporting achievements than I was today. The Dusties played Cora Lynn in the knockout stages, playing to reach the semi finals next week. After an awesome 1st quarter for the Dusties, we were leading 20-12 at quarter time, only for Cora Lynn to inch back into the game, making it 37-37 going into the last quarter. Despite playing extremely well (well done girls) we were pipped at the post with the final score 50-47 to Cora Lynn. Knocked out! End of the season for us. Boo. What sport shall I try next? Anyone for tennis? Or perhaps lawn bowls?

The big news though is that we now have Jimmy the Jeep! He is all ours and running rather smoothly after his service the other day. This is the first car I've owned that (a) hasn't been a rust bucket, (b) hasn't been stolen and rally driven round a field and (c) hasn't been set on fire by my welder of a brother-in-law and towed away. Fingers crossed the jeep shall survive! Long live Jimmy

Our weekend has been fairly tame, as I had a mammoth netball training session on Friday night and then was working on Saturday, and Bob was playing golf Saturday and Sunday. Nowt much else to report, peeps! Other than we were watching the Edinburgh Tattoo on the telly tonight and it made me feel a little bit (just a little bit) homesick - Bob was happily humming along to Highland Cathedral, couldn't help but hum along too. I had to explain to my netball girls what a ceilidh was the other day - they'd never heard of it! That's it, we'll need to organise one before we leave.

Will write more next Sunday as we are off to Sydney for Matthew and Verity's wedding part II! Will tell you all about it on our return.

Hope you are all behaving yourselves back in the UK/Europe

Lots of love Mo and Bob xx

All change

Jimmy the Jeep is almost ours! After a checking over from the local mechanic, it has been decided that we are buying Jimmy for a reasonable price and, for a 16 year old car, it's in pretty good shape. Slightly dodgy gearbox could prove costly in the future, but according to the mechanic Pete, that's the risk we'll have to take with an old second hand car. Negotiations underway with Laurelle about getting the roadworthy certificate and service done first before we hand over any cash, but all being well, it should be ours for next weekend. Camping galore!

Pete very kindly offered his services in return for a crate of Victoria Bitter, a bargain! Pete is the boyfriend of Liza, my netballing friend. They live in Drouin which is 5 mins from Warragul, with a dog and a pet goat, which seemed to be rather interested in my coat when we were over there and tried to have a nibble at it before he got lead away to his little outdoor house. Very cute but rather mischievious!

Recent developments with our housing situation. Our housemate Bec has decided she would like to live in Melbourne city rather than Warragul and is keen to move back to Melbourne at the end of October. She is happy to rent the whole house out to us however once she gets her own place, she'll be taking all her furniture. Our other option is to move into Liza's two bedroom house in Drouin as she has recently moved in with Pete. Hmmm. Decisions decisions. Looks likely we will move to Drouin in October but nothing is final as yet! We popped round to see Liza's house though, it looks perfect, enough room for visitors so if you'd like a holiday with free accommodation let us know! The house is in a cul-de-sac Ramsay Street style, awesome for a street party or game of cricket!! Watch this space

Now that we have a car (almost), we are planning our next trip. We are off to Sydney in a couple of weeks for Matthew and Verity's wedding part II which will be a welcome break from work, but after that we hope to do the Great Ocean Road mid October, with the weather being a little warmer but not so busy that it'll be tourist central out there. We'll drive to Geelong, then onto Lorne then onto the Twelve Apostles (although now I think there are only 6?) then onto Port Fairy with a few activites thrown in along the way. Definitely getting another surf lesson or two and I'm planning on going hang gliding!! A warm up to the skydiving.....We have been offered numerous tents by lots of lovely people so think we'll be all kitted out with the camping gear before we head off on our travels.

The past week has been relatively lazy, with us recovering from our man and woman flu. It appears to have taken hold of most of Warragul, our housemate is currently under the weather with it and I've had plenty patients coughing and spluttering through their appointments so fingers crossed the germs go soon! We did manage a wee trip to the Thai (again) and of course our weekly sporting events of golf and netball.

Bob had part II of his golf competition yesterday with his partner John the Baker. John apparently had the best round of his life last Saturday which unfortunately led to him overanalysing his game and trying to change how he hits his shots. This in turn led to him playing like an idiot and therefore Bob and John weren't in contention for the medal. C'est la vie. Another closest to the pin win for Bob though on the 18th - winner of a golf ball, woo hoo! His name will be in the local Gazette yet again, claim to fame. He enjoyed several pots of beer in the club house after the golf - mainly consoling a rather upset John - before heading home, this time not getting caught out in the rain unlike two days ago (see pictures!)

As for the Dusties, an appalling performance against Nar Nar Goon ended up with us finishing the league in 4th position going into the finals rounds. We play this coming Sunday against Cora Lynn which I believe is a knockout stage. A nailbiter! We ended up in the local Club hotel for post match dinner and drinks to make us feel better about our loss and I had a rather interesting game of pool with a 70 year old Hell's Angel lookalike. Not great chat but he gave me some good pool tips! Thanks Harry

Today was sunny! Despite two hours spent in the shopping mall with my housemate, we spent a lot of time in the sunshine and fresh air, kicking a footie around the park and cycling to Drouin. Topped off the day with a BBQ (see piccie) and Iain (Bec's mum's partner) got his picture taken on our deck that he built, looking rather pleased with himself!

Another week gone, another week to look forward to. This weekend may involve A Taste of Melbourne - we shall see!

And finally.......would you ever have believed that Gippsland (Warragul) has twice the annual rainfall of Edinburgh? One of my patients said to me the other day "for 9 months it rains, for the remaining 3 it drips from the trees". Super smashin great - we still managed a BBQ today though, the rain hasn't defeated us yet! xx

Karma Chameleon

Dilemma: Do we buy Jimmy the Jeep and purchase a tent or do we hold out for a campervan?

For Jimmy:

1. We'll have it by the weekend!

2. Good price

3. Roof rack and big boot

4. Can go off road

Against Jimmy:

1. Drinks fuel quickly

2. Not enough space for a bed in the back, must buy tent

For campervan:

1. Travel and accomodation in one

2. Can get it for the same price as Jimmy

Against campervan:

1. Cannot go off road

2. Won't have one by the weekend!

Answers on a postcard please......

Another pleasant weekend in the state of Victoria! As always netball training on a Friday so a relaxing evening in with pizza and the footie. Preparations underway for the following day's sporting events - Dusties vs Nyora and Bob playing in the golf competition with John the Baker.

Results:

Dusties win 68-17, Mo wins best and fairest

Bob and John come 3rd overall, Bob wins closest to the pin

We are pleased and decide to celebrate with a night out in Melbourne! Booked a bargain hotel room near Chapel Street where we have arranged to meet our friend Steph who is celebrating her 24th birthday (we feel old). Just before we get on the train, Bob finds a random $50 note by the bin - another dilemma...keep it or hand it in? If it was a $20, no question, stick it in the pockets. If it was a $100, no question, hand it in. But $50 is a bit tricky! In the end, we opt for being honest and hope that karma helps us out. It does - our bargain hotel room has been upgraded to a king room and it's awesome! We feel chuffed with ourselves, and celebrate with room service and some fizz before heading out on the town. Note to self - never walk the length of Chapel Street in a pair of borrowed shoes - OUCH!

Chapel Street is a rather trendy/grungy/camp/alternative/cool part of town where anything goes. It's pretty close to St Kilda beach and makes for some good people spotting. We had yet to experience it at night, and boy oh boy did we see some sights! Ended up in O'Reilly's Irish bar in the end so didn't get to try out too many weird and wonderful bars, but we had fun chatting with Steph's pals who had done a lot of travelling and were due for home in the next week or so. Managed to buy a tent from one of them for $50 - if only we'd kept that money, we'd have a free house! Ah well.

This morning, I left Bob snoozing away while I popped down to the pool for a swim. I did 60 lengths!! (of the tiniest pool in the world - 5 strokes and I was at the end). Hotel breakfasts are just the best however I did have an incident with the toaster - I managed to set fire to my crossiant and got the waiter in a bit of a flap when big flames were coming out the top of the machine. Oops. No firemen required but it was a bit hairy for a moment (Bob was entirely oblivious, tucking into his hash browns) After much amusement playing with the pancake machine, we headed into town.

An hour or so was spent wandering around Melbournes laneways and boutiques, trying to find a dress for a wedding. Found one but unfortunately my size was just a teeny bit small and the size up was like a tent - don't you just hate it when that happens?! Rrrrar

Homeward bound and chilling out, trying not to notice the rain lashing at the windows. Are we really in Australia? Did we get off the plane in the wrong country? Come on summer, where are you?? xx

Rubbish golfing and other randoms...

Did Wilson have a date to the Prom?

So we didn't win $10,000. Boo

However, Casey and Phil were in the last 10 - Casey was feeling confident about winning as she had driven through a rainbow earlier that day and was convinced she would find her pot of gold. Unfortunately it was not to be! However, another netballer Tania (who is in Bali at the moment) got to the last 5 and it was decided the last 5 would split the winnings between them. The text message to Tania to say that her $2000 had been put behind the bar for the footie boys to drink away did not go down well......we were of course kidding

Free beer does not make for a good car journey the next day as Bob discovered at 9am Saturday morning. A wee spew and all was well (sorry Gran, he's a nice boy really) and we arrived in Wilson's Promontary about 11.30am via the chemist for some 'travel sickness pills'. Ahem, right Bob, whatever you say.....

Wilson's Prom is glorious. A national park filled with wildlife, camping spots and hiking trails with beautiful sandy beaches and good surf. Kangaroos roaming free, emus too (although we didn't spot any) and the odd wombat, although they are now one wombat down after Casey accidently ran over one (it was already sleeping). Oops. Those things are solid

By lunchtime, Bob and Phil were slowly stumbling up Struggle Street heading for Hangover Town so it was agreed that a bit of fresh air, coupled with chips and a burger was the best plan. Bob perked up and decided he didn't want to go any further. Sadly Phil was past the point of no return and the eyes were closing. However he did decide that surfing was the way forward and off he went. Bob got dragged on a hike by Casey and myself, but seemed to enjoy himself anyway.

Having managed the 50min walk from Tidal River to Squeaky Beach and Pillar Point (yes, the beach actually did squeak) we decided to tackle something more strenuous and opted to climb Mount Oberon, the highest peak in the Prom. Phil ditched his wetsuit in favour of some walking boots and joined us. A rather constant gradient got the bum muscles into gear and there was a lot of heavy breathing once we reached the summit approximately 1 hour later. But it was worth it, the view was spectacular and the sun was just thinking about setting. Bob's knee held up well on both the ascent and descent which he is obviously quite pleased about. Phil's feet finally warmed up after his icy hour of surfing (brave boy) and Granny Casey had snacks ready for when we returned. She's a legend.

Our cabin was situated approximately 10 min drive from the national park; sitting on the deck we had an amazing view of the water. Treated ourselves to a glass of red wine and a steak at the local pub (30 mins to Fish Creek) and settled in to watch the big AFL match, Geelong vs Collingwood. Bed by 10.30pm - gotta love the outdoors.

After a magnificent feast cooked by Chef Phil and a sneaky peak at a caravan for sale (tempting for surfer phil) we had a coffee stop at Sandy Beach and Warratah Bay before heading to the historic Lighthouse enroute back to Warragul. Blue skies, not a cloud in sight, the sun was shining. A rather pleasant weekend was had by all, and funnily enough, no travel sickness for Bob on the return journey. Wonder why......

We may also have a campervan by tomorrow! Watch this space, details to follow.

Enjoy the photos! Speak soon xx

Speeding fines: 1
Red lights run: 1
Parking fines: 1
Lost car key: 1
Number of times stranded in the rain because the car key buzzer wouldn't work: 1

Is this a sign from the big man above? Maybe we should stick to cycling, although mishaps with the policeman and a collision with a car would suggest otherwise.

Bob's wrist is good. My achilles is good. All is well

This week has been interesting! Having the car has been awesome. Our trip to Noojee on Saturday night was great, the restaurant was like a wood cabin, with fairy lights outside and an open log fire inside. It's a bit of a posh restaurant but remember we're in the country here so that means Old Farmer Jock has put on a clean pair of jeans and brushed his hair. We were perhaps a little overdressed but we didn't care! Food was lovely, pub grub, and Bob was pleased to have a Talisker at the end (although he was worried the bar staff would ruin it with water or worse, coke - they didn't). We also had a furry friend join us....we're not entirely sure if it was a real possum snuggled up in the corner or just someone's furry handbag (in other words, bad fashion faux pas) but it was there for a few minutes and then it was gone. I'm convinced it was a possum but I guess we'll never know......Noojee, we knew, was out in the sticks but it really was out in the middle of freaking nowhere. I'm now very glad we didn't watch the end of that film Wolf Creek otherwise if the car had broken down or run out of petrol (a possibility given previous episodes) I would have been ever so slightly jumpy!! Made it home in one piece.


Bec hasn't been around the house much this past week. Bob and I were starting to worry that we were taking over her house and that she didn't want to be there however it has come to light that she has signed up to internet dating and is now ever so slightly addicted! She has been round at her mum's on the computer most evenings and has now started conversing with some boy called Glen. Romance is in the air, hallelujah

Had a slight panic that I'd lost the car key during a trip to the supermarche. That horrible feeling you get when you've lost something important bit me on the bum big style and I was frantically searching in the veggie section until I found it had fallen through a hole in my pocket in to the lining. Phew.

Monday Fine Film night in Warragul - this week was Soul Kitchen, hilarious German film, would recommend

Thai on Wednesday for some curry puffs. Have to do something on Hump Day!

And now here we are on Friday, finished work and heading out later to win $10,000. Bring on the spit roast dinner, free beer and wine! Update on the weekend to follow on Sunday. Anticipating mild hangover tomorrow before the big drive to Wilson's Prom - if you're interested in where we're staying check out www.tidaldreaming.com.au

PS Have a wonderful wedding day Sineag - sorry we can't be there xx

Mo and Bob