Anzac Day

G'day! 

Today is Anzac Day and people are generally off work. it is observed on 25^th April each year and it was originally to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. There is usually a dawn service but these days none of the soldiers from the first World War are alive to participate of course.

You can buy Anzac biscuits in the shops; it is an oatmeal and sometimes coconut biscuit that was originally baked and sent out to the troops during the war. I quite like them and they are very easy to make.

Hubby is in the kitchen cooking away. It gives me great pleasure to see. He has really taken to it, and sometimes he starts planning lunch already when we get up, asking me what I would like for lunch!! I'll have to put his name down for MKR if this continues. Don't get me wrong here, I am enjoying it and I hope it's not just a fad. I am thinking of buying him a proper chef's hat like Pascal's below. He is the chef at Chez Pascal where we had dinner a while ago.

My nephew has returned to Sweden and soon we will go there too, only a month left. I think he realised how big this country is after having spent a whole day on the train to get to Broken Hill (he likes trains). It is really worth flying if you are planning on doing big distances here in Australia. It is just so big. Here is a map showing just that.

We didn't buy the house that we so liked in the end. The time frame didn't work out since we are leaving and the owners couldn't move out immediately. Anyway, something else will turn up I hope.

This means that we can't really have people over, not to this warehouse (we still haven't unpacked). So we are opting for having a few people come for dinner at a restaurant. Last weekend we had a test lunch at one that we hadn't been to before, just for fun. It was great apart for the steep staircase that you had to get down (and then up). So I think we are back to our fave in Wollongong.

Father and daughter doing what most people are
doing these days when they see each other.

Time to go and do chores. Bye for now!

PS I know I mentioned that we went out for a meal last week with our niece and here is a photo from that.

Bush fire

Hello dear readers!   

Yes, we have had bushfires very close to where we used to live in Menai and also near where hubby works. In fact they have been told to work from home both yesterday and today. It's a good way to start getting into retirement mode, having cups of tea and working in your boxer shorts.

Fortunately nobody has been injured in the fires and no houses have burnt down as far as I know. The smoke has been horrible though.

This is our neighbour's place in Menai and our
previous rented house was right next to it.

My nephew from Sweden is visiting at the moment. Right now he is in Broken Hill and will be back on Thursday. Before he left we had a day outing to the Hunter Valley wine district which is always good fun. If you are more of a beer drinker they also have several breweries that you can visit, which we did. 

He was also able to add the Big Kookaburra in Kurri Kurri to his list of Big Things. The public toilets below were beautifully decorated with murals. In fact Kurri Kurri is well known for it's many murals and it's worth having a little walk around to see them.

The first weekend he was here he came with us down to Albion Park where we have been looking at a house. Both he and our daughter approved wholeheartedly of the house, but unfortunately we have run into complications due to my non-citizen status and we are still trying to work it out. We went up to Saddleback Mountain where you have a fantastic view of the whole valley and where you can also go for nice walks. Then we went to the Minnamurra rainforest and saw a very rare lyrebird. It was actually quite fearless and walked around without taking notice of us. They can imitate any sound. For instance if they hear a motor mower or chain saw they can imitate that perfectly. Check it out on YouTube.

Tonight we are meeting up with hubby's other niece in Sydney for dinner. She is here for work and it will be nice to catch up.

Time to say goodbye. Cheerio!!