I am currently sitting in a motel in Horsham, en route to Melbourne, as I write this blog. We drove from Adelaide this morning after our morning coffee. And saying a sad farewell to our family.
The drive here was easy, not much traffic on the road, and pleasantly warm outside the car. It was overcast and there was plenty of light rain around. At least we did not leave Adelaide on a gloriously sunny day.
This morning we watched Donna open her cards and birthday presents, and sang happy birthday to her, and ate some cake. Not the best time to leave, on Donna's birthday, but we foolishly booked our flight to New Zealand for tomorrow night. After booking the flight we realised we needed to drive our rental car back to Melbourne before catching the plane. Donna has had a lovely birthday weekend though, which included a jump from a plane, but more about that later.
We have had a really lovely stay here, spending lots of time with our family, catching up with friends, plus great social occasions.
The following are a few photographs that I may have left out of my previous blogs.
We watched the cricket, the test matches between Australia and Pakistan, on television. However the most exciting viewing was the tennis, namely the Australian Open. The men's final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was an amazing game.
We spent time with some great pets. Sadly I have no photographs of the dog with plenty of personality, Moet.
The soft and gentle yet highly energetic, Toby and Maisie Lee. They are gorgeous dogs.
The ever gentle, and soppy, Poppy, who has adjusted to the Australian climate and loves swimming in the sea.
Elvis, the fanatical tennis ball dog who knows exactly where they are hidden in the house. A real fun dog.
The very fluffy, Lilly, who loves plenty of attention once she has vetted you.
Angus, the very gentle and well trained dog, who looks fierce. I apologise, to Fiona and Damon if this photograoh is not of Angus but rather his friendly sister.
We had some lovely outings with Sonya and her parents, Jennie and John, who were visiting from Bury St Edmunds, United Kingdom. On the occasion when the photograph below was taken, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for a delicious meal. The occasion was Sonya's birthday.
Sonya's birthday/housewarming party. A great occasion in her lovely new house. A very happy person.
Now I do not know whether I mentioned Walter's Christmas present, or lack of it. A present I bought from Maplins in the UK, then wrapped it, and brought it to Australia. But when Walter opened the box there was no camera. Such a disappointment. We will get our money back when we get back, and then purchase another camera. What a disappointment!
Australian women love their activewear, especially on a Saturday morning. It would appear that it is crucial clothing for cafes and shopping rather than for the gym or other sporting activities.
Notice the missing apostrophe in the sign!
A blue tongue lizard. Very pretty.
And the sleepy koala in the tree.
Donna trying out Scott's motor bike.
Scott giving Jespa a ride on his motorbike, just around the courtyard.
It was great to visit Jay's school, Tatachilla, and Jespa's school, Prescott.
The front view of Tatachilla in McLaren Vale. The setting is magnificant, among the grape vines in the rolling hills in the southern vales.
We went with Donna and Lucy to visit the interesting Migration Museum
A view along the leafy North Terrace, which borders the Adelaide University, art gallery, museum and library buildings.
Walter, Donna and Lucy sitting in some welcome shade.
Walter posing with a sculpture of two migrant children holding their suitcases. Walter also arrived in Australia as a ten year old migrant, luckily with his family, unlike the thousands of children, some as young as 4, who arrived in the country on their own. This happened during the 1950s and 1960s, to children who were in orphanages in Great Britain. Life for most of these children in Australia was awful. A scandal that was kept very quiet until the mid 1980s.
Rundle Mall was a blaze of colour and activity a week ago. Chinese New Year.
Lovely cousins, Jay and Lucy.
Another sunset. Last Friday we walked down to Glenelg Jetty to look at the sunset and let Poppy run on the beach. It was a beautiful evening.
I love this photograph as I am the only person posing, as Darren is busy helping Jespa with his shoes, and Jay and Lucy are talking. I am also the only person wearing a fleece!
After a meal at the local RSL Club, nothing fancy for sure, but well cooked, it is time to rest before the drive tomorrow, and the very late flight to New Zealand.
That is once I get rid of the pesky bush fly that persists in sticking to my eyes. I will not miss the flies.
Oh and I forgot to say that Walter found a large Huntsman spider in his bag, which was stored under my bed. It is okay, Margaret, he got rid of it before he packed his bag.
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