Geelong Time

It's been almost 5 months since we last travelled down the Hume Highway to Geelong to catch up with Ros and Pete. In that time Pete has recovered well from his second immunotherapy treatment (and its devastating impact) and, at the moment, has no evident symptoms of the various cancers he's been under treatment for, for the past decade or so. So, life is good for Pete for the time being, thankfully.

Last Friday Ros and I took the train from Geelong into Melbourne CBD for a leisurely day of shopping, browsing and lunching together. We enjoyed exploring the lively laneways and Melbourne's character filled arcades and a delicious lunch at "Journal" on Flinders Lane, just outside Melbourne's glorious city library.

Our vote for best shop of the day went to the Alpha 60 Chapter House concept store (we think it is in one of the spaces that would have been part of St Paul's Cathedral at one stage or other). Isn't it just beautiful?

Our walk through the gorgeous Cathedral Arcade was a first for me, although when I found the Flinders Lane gallery up on its first floor I realised I must have passed by here at some stage or other.

The historic Block Arcade never fails to impress ......

We walked up as far as Drewery Lane in the afternoon, a very cool, gritty corner of Melbourne between Little Lonsdale and Lonsdale Streets.

Friday night Ros booked us in for dinner at the Wool Store in Geelong's trendy Newtown precinct. We loved this refined dining experience with bold, smoky flavours a feature of every dish. We are always so impressed with the foodie scene in this city!!

We set out on Saturday morning for our favourite early morning ritual in Geelong..

... a walk/ ride along the river and coffee, pretzels and a pastry at the wonderful Born and Bread.

Sunday dawned cloudy and quite cool. Pete took us on a drive from Bell's (Beach) to Barwon (Heads), stopping to admire the rolling waves and hundreds of surfers off the beaches along the way.

It was a drive with a purpose of course - and we enjoyed our lunch at the Barwon Heads Hotel in between rain showers.

Back at Highton we made quite a thing of finding just the right home for a few of Maxie's sculptures in Ros's beautiful garden. These pieces needed a new home now that Rod's Minda Place house has been sold and we've moved everything out. We think these pieces look perfect here in the garden with Ros and Pete.

We were lucky to get a visit from John and Erin and the kids on Sunday afternoon - all looking happy and fit and full of plans for the end of year.

Another treat was being part of the regular Sunday evening chat with London Joel and Kay and Vincent and Jazzy. They're due to arrive in Australia in just 5 weeks, another exciting and slightly alarming sign of how quickly we are all hurtling towards Christmas and the end of the year. But of course it will be so exciting to see them here!

Our three day stays in Geelong are always wonderful. This one was one of the best!

Another two weeks

We continue to pack in some busy days as October is progressing. We've heard some wonderful news today - that Rod's house has sold without any glitches, settlement has gone through (as of an hour or so ago) and we are no longer responsible for looking after the empty property, and all the hours of work involved in getting it sale ready and all packed up are OVER!! It really is something to celebrate after the past 10 months of uncertainty.

Apart from all the pre sale house and garden activity in the last two weeks we've also enjoyed some lovely times here in Canberra, and a few more days in Coogee (again).

We always enjoy our regular National Gallery visits. This time we admired one of the Gallery's most recent acquisitions - Man With Horse by Edvard Munch (1918), thanks to the generosity of the philanthropist Geoff Ainsworth AM (no one has revealed how much it cost!). It's a major work by Munch and we are looking forward to telling Abi all about Munch's love of horses and showing her this painting in due course.
 

Canberra continues to give so much Spring joy. This was taken in Glebe Park on Monday 12 October on our walk home from the Canberra Centre.

We were back in Coogee for a few days last week. We wanted to be there in person for our Strata AGM - and just enjoy some more time there. The conditions were just superlative on our morning walk on Wednesday.

Probably one of the best breakfast spots you'd find anywhere on a sunny morning (Barzura @Coogee Beach).

It's that time of the year in Sydney - Jacaranda trees in bloom and HSC (and Uni) exams underway.

We had our dear friend David (from the Daintree in FNQ) visit us for a few days late last week, which is always lovely, and he's coming back next week, again

Abi competed in a show at Cowra with Sammy over the weekend. It's a 5 hour return trip to Cowra - a real test for Sammy in the horse float. But it all went well, except that Sammy wasn't as keen on jumping that day as he usually is.

Abi is continuing with her campaign to train us to handle Sammy with confidence and expertise - ready for the role we're taking on over Christmas-New Year while they're away on holidays.

She is so patient and encouraging with us - and she says we are improving a lot. She is an amazing teacher!! We always love our time with Sammy and Abi - its been a great new interest for us, alongside being a key passion of Abi's.

Yesterday, David's lovely young son Rhys came with us to visit Rod at Arcare Aranda. Rhys used to play chess with Rod before the accident so he brought along a chess set with him in case Rod wanted to play. We loved seeing Rod remember so much about the game. Rhys ended up winning but Rod played well - only making an error at the end, maybe because his concentration wavered. Rod had started playing some games on his device in the last few weeks and he remarked that he found it harder using the board - maybe because his sight and space perception have been impacted by the accident. Anyway it was just wonderful to see him able to enjoy a game of chess again! It's hard to believe how well he's doing especially granted the severity of his injuries at the start of the year.

Two birthdays

Late September - early October brings peak blossom time in Canberra .......

..... and two important family birthday celebrations.

Sammy turned six on the 29th September. He had his portrait taken (and a few extra gourmet carrots) to celebrate. He, and Abi, have come a long way together after he joined the family a year ago.

And it was my turn on the 2nd October - although I am considerably older than Sammy's 6 years, however. 

I was lucky enough to spend my birthday with Rob and Ella, driving to Sydney for an early start to the long weekend - and a stopover in Wollongong on the way to have lunch with Ollie and Tess.

We spent all of Friday with Ella, exploring Sydney via the Light Rail and Metro - and the foodie delights of Chatswood in particular. First off, we did some grazing in the Food Hall of the Mandarin Centre.

... and then a proper lunch at Hawker Lane, Chatswood's very own "eat street" in the basement level of the Myer Centre. Rob and Ella shared this rice noodle bowl from "Yummy Guilin Taste" - which just about blew Rob's socks off it was so spicy!

We recovered afterwards at the Orchard Hotel with a calming beer and a lemon lime & bitters for Ella!

Josh, Jody and Abi joined us in Coogee late on Friday night ready for three days of beachside fun together.

We always do a lot of walking in Coogee; the cars stay parked for the whole time. This weekend was no different.

That's walking ....... with Yo-Chi breaks of course ...........

On Saturday night we set out dressed and ready for a night on the town .......

First there were pre-dinner drinks at the old Australian Heritage Hotel at the Rocks.

This pair make every event fun!

We had dinner afterwards at the stylish and moody Sake Restaurant and Bar on Argyle Street. We'd been there two years before to celebrate my birthday, and it's achieved family favourite status!

The Pinot Noir from Mt Macedon was pretty special too!

The Sake Restaurant Dragon Egg dessert was a spectacular choice for Josh.

And they didn't forget it was my birthday!

My matcha mochi dessert was a highlight too!

Sunday of the long weekend (and Grand Final Day to boot) was a HUGE day in Coogee - this is what the beach looked like by the middle of the day......

Abi is a keen NRL supporter - especially the Brisbane based Broncos team. So we headed up to the lovely old Royal Hotel at the top of Coogee Bay Road to watch the Grand Final on Sunday night. While the rest of us aren't as interested in the competition as Abi is, it proved to be a great game to watch as we enjoyed our pre dinner drinks and slap up pub meal in front of one of the Royal's giant screens. And the Broncos won the game too - yay!

Monday was a whole lot quieter however, especially after Josh, Jody and the girls left for the drive back to Canberra around lunch time

All we have left after the best weekend ever are the memories and my gratitude (and this mix of gorgeous pics!).