Long week-end

Friday was Anzac Day, hence a public holiday. We had a lovely visit from hubby's second cousin and his wife. They have been up here several times but not to this house, so they came for lunch and spent the day. In the evening we went to the Como pub.

Here is hubby unsuccessfully taking a selfie

Due to the long weekend and also Easter school holiday the Como Hotel was pretty packed, and the courtesy bus was very busy. It's a bus for people that have had a drink or two too many and can't drive home. They get taken home, courtesy of the pub, but not unless they can prove by a breath analysis that they have had too much. You are not supposed to treat it as a free taxi ride! I like the idea and I hope it is not too shameful to be dropped off and everyone seeing it in your street. Maybe people give a slightly false address, close to home but not in front of the door.  I might avail myself of this service sometime ... purely for research purposes of course.

Yesterday we had a surprise visit by our son and went for a very long drive to a motor bike museum with more than 700 motorbikes and memorabilia, a veritable gold mine if you like that sort of thing.

Like kids in a candy shop

I was out of there in half an hour and then I had time to sit and read two gossip magazines and play with my phone and write in my diary and speak to the owners and check out their merchandise. All that and more before the boys finally came out.

We had seen signs for a winery and arrived there quite late but was made to feel very welcome by the Hungarian winemaker. We sat for over an hour and tasted his delicious wines and heard his life story. I love hearing peoples' stories.

Needless to say we came home with quite a few bottles and we look forward to tasting them

Until next time, when I will tell you more about White Cliffs,

Back from the Outback

Four days without phones or internet!

I didn't think I could do it, but in fact it was quite nice. But I must admit that on arriving home we hurriedly unpacked the car, and then, without speaking, both of us rushed to our computers and logged on. So here I am, back on line, greetings fellow geeks!!!

Our Easter trip started with a visit to our son who had just gotten back from India and Indonesia. He served us  a type of coffee from Indonesia called Kopi Luwak,  that had  passed through some rat-like animal and come out the other end. Sounds weird, I know but it tasted good.

Can you see the little rat face on the package?

Sorry the text is a bit blurred

Our second stop on the way was Orange, where our friends from Grenoble live now. It was great to have a little visit with them and see their new house (and to indulge in foie gras and oysters and French cheeses.)

We managed to get off to a relatively early start the next morning,  because we knew we had a very long drive ahead of us. Our final goal was a place called White Cliffs, 1300 km from Sydney.

Orange, our first stop should been have only three or four hours from Sydney but it took at least twice  that long due to the Easter traffic. However, once we got out in the Outback it was pretty empty.  Only an occasional emu, majestically walking by.  And of course, loads of kangaroos, but sadly most of them as road kill.

I am going to break up this blog into two parts because I was told by someone that sometimes they don't have time to read a very long entry and that it is easier if they are shorter. So more to come soon about the actual destination which was great.

Back soon, take care!

Omg, I think I am a bogan

This is an unknown Bogan drinking VB in his singlet and thongs.

It's true....hubby got a book for his birthday about being a Bogan and what it entails and I think I fit right in there. This word Bogan was not familiar to me when we first arrived here in Australia but now we live in an area of Sydney called the Shire that is supposed to be the home of the typical Bogan ... and I like VB, short for Victoria Bitter, a type of beer favored by Bogans, and my favorite shoes are thongs (or flipflops).  These are all things typical to Bogans, apparently.

Here is a test you can take to check out if you are a Bogan or not. It turned out that I was only 25% Bogan, so not really qualifying after all. I don't know where I went wrong.

I would just like to add that all this is a little bit tongue in cheek. I really don't believe in dividing people up in classes like this.  Here in Australia you have so many different types of people and Bogans are just one of them.

I can't believe it is almost Easter, time passes way too quickly. Soon it will be time for me to return to the old country and have a visit with my elderly mother and nephew and friends in Sweden, yay!

I feel I have to tell you something. Just because I take photos of beautiful boats doesn't mean we have one. In fact, I wouldn't know what to do with one if they gave one to us. It is just that it makes such a typical picture of Bohuslan on the west coast of Sweden where I come from.

I am off now to buy cat food. Yes, we are cat sitting again while our son is in India for work and hubby loves it.  Until next time xxxx

The party is over....

.... or at least the party-like atmosphere that has enveloped our house the last month. Everybody has gone back home. In fact the last people to go were our Swedish visitors and they had to go to the airport by taxi since our car has broken down.

The car problem started on our elder daughter's last day. She was leaving in the evening on Saturday so since we had all day she wanted to go for a bush walk with her Dad. I dropped them off and was to pick them up later in Bundeena where the Coastal Walk ends. I must do the walk someday, judging by the photos it looks gorgeous. The problem is I am always involved with dropping off and picking up or staying home planning lunch.

Wedding Cake Rock. I tried to find a website for this rock
but they only directed me to beautiful wedding cakes.

Start of the walk

Anyway, after the walk and lunch we had to get back so G could pack. The car's steering packed it in in the middle of the Royal National Park and the car stopped and didn't start. It had happened before but it always started, so we waited... and waited. Nothing happened so I managed to flag down a car with a very nice couple who took me and elder daughter all the way home,  since it was on their way. Hubby stayed with the car and we were supposed to call rescue as soon as we had a signal for the phone.

Fortunately we forgot since our company was so pleasant.  The girl was a stripper and the guy was probably her agent and also boyfriend. They had loads of wigs and make-up in the car. The girl pointed out that she was a high-class stripper, and we really had an interesting conversation about stripping. They were on their way to do a gig at a buck's night. Anyway, we didn't make the call and just as well because hubby walked in just minutes after us. The car had started again and he had made it home.

So it's been a month of cooking, eating, touring, playing cards, having hair cut, shopping, swimming, talking and lots more.

We also went to the Sydney Fish Market. 

Family photo with hubby's brother and sister with husband

It will be hard to get back to our usual routine. It is autumn here now in Australia which really only means that it is a bit cooler in the morning. We still use the pool and people still go to the beach. It really is an amazing climate.

On a more serious note, you have probably heard by now about the earthquake in Chile. Our younger daughter is up in the Andes right now for her job and they didn't feel anything up there. It was really the northern part of Chile that was worst hit this time. It's a worry though. It must be so scary when it starts shaking and things fall over and there is nowhere to go.