The Masons in Australia

Nearly Home!

2009-02-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

We are at Changi airport about to board the A380 for our flight to Heathrow. We've had a good overnight stay in Singapore with a swim in the hotel pool this morning. Sorry about the lack of blog entries from Queensland. We were very busy and also only had a very slow internet connection at Dad's house. We are looking forward to seeing everyone soon (although not looking forward to getting back to cold weather!)
Esther

Queensland

2009-02-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

We left Victoria on Saturday to fly to Queensland. It is always sad saying goodbye to family particularly when we are not sure when we will next see one another. We dropped in briefly to see Darren & Sally on our way to the airport. We were only able to see then for about 30mins but is was nice to meet their new baby. Sally said she had to talk extra fast to fit in as much conversation as possible! They had visited us in Wallingford last July so it was good to hear what they had been up to since then.

We then drove to Tullamarine airport, dropped the hire car and got a Virgin Blue flight to Coolongatta (the Gold Coast airport). The flight takes about 2 hours. It was quite wet & windy as we approached the airport and the plane seemed to be being blown around a lot. We got down to about 300m and then the plane suddenlywent up again with the pilot announcing that due to weather conditions he was going to have to circle around and try a different approach! Fortuantely we made it down the next time but the plane seemed to land very fast. I wondered if the runway was going to be long enough to stop in time. The weather when we arrived was wet but very humid. Phil's Dad met us at the airport and we drove home to his house. John(Phil's brother), Leonie and Nicholas were wating there to meet us. John has been very ill with lymphoma but he has finished his treatment and is looking quite well now.

The next day, Sunday we went to Dad's church, Reedy Creek Baptist. The kids enjoyed going off to their own activites duiring the service. It is a vey big church so there were lots of children. After church we went to the beachfront market at Broadbeach and then had lunch with Phil's Dad, brother, nephew and families. We then headed back to John & Leonie's house and enjoyed a long swim in their pool. The humid heat takes a bit of getting used to. All the rooms have ceiling fans in them which helps with sleeping at night. It will be hard to adjust back to English weather!

Esther

Moonlit Sanctuary

2009-02-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday evening we visited the moonlit sanctuary with my sister, Rachel and her daughter, Alisha. This is a wildlife reserve at Pearcedale on the Mornington Peninsula about 30 minutes away from where we are staying. It is called the moonlit sanctuary as you can go on tours at dusk to see all the native Australian animals. We were fortunate as no one else was on the tour that night so it was like having our own private tour. First we got to meet a python. You could have it wrapped around your shoulders but I declined. All the kids did and enjoyed it! There were also lizards and other snakes to see.
We then went out into the sanctuary and fed the kangaroos and wallabies. They were very friendly when you had food in your hand. We then followed the guide and his lantern around to visit different animals. We saw sugar gliders up close. They are like small possums or squirrels but they can glide from treetops for up to 150 metres. We saw one with a baby in its pouch. We also saw an Eastern quoll, bettongs (which we also fed), dingoes, a wombat and a koala. Most Australian animals are nocturnal so it was great to see them when they were more awake. We also saw Tawny Frogmouths up close. These are birds which are about the size of owls but only eat insects. This meant you could let them chew on your hand without it hurting. Jake & Phil tried it but I wasn't keen! The koala we saw managed to open one eye when we approached but then went back to sleep. They sleep about 20 hours in every 24 due to only eating gum leaves which don't give them much protein. Unfortunately lots of the smaller Australian animals have become endangered due to the introduction of foxes into Australia so it is really important for places like the moonlit sanctuary to preserve breeding populations. There is another major wildlife sanctaury at Healesville which is still under threat from the bushfires. The winds are quite strong again today even though the temperature is lower which will not be helping control of the fires. Hopefully there will be some decent rain here soon as it is hard to see how they will get control of the bush fires otherwise. We go to Queensland tomorrow where there has been huge rainfall and flooding (although not in the bit we are going to!). I'm hoping for sunshne and 30C!
Esther

Party time!

2009-02-11T00:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great birthday party for me and Reuben. We started with breakfast at 8:00 and fnished with Talking and playing games at 21:30. During the day we :
- Went to the beach.
- Played golf.
- Ate fish, chips and pizza.
- Talked and sat around...
- And had a water fight in th 40 degree heat.
Hope all you people in England are enjoying the snow instead of really hot weather.
Jake

A busy day ... and the fire

2009-02-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

Today we started with breakfast at a friend of Frank & Ruths. She lives 600m from the beach and we had a nice BBQ breakfast. Then it was drive for an hour to Knox City Shopping Centre to meet my niece (Becky) and her daughter (Ella) for lunch and some shopping. Then off to the Killicks to visit them and their 2 kids, during which we organised a trip to Barcellona with them in April. Then to my sisters (Karen & Bruce) to have tea with them and some others. Then some close friends (the Collers) dropped in to see us after tea, since they live nearby.
Rob told us how he had been up to his mother-in-laws house the other day to stuff things in the guttering and fill it with water in case of fire. He had also heard of a good friend at Chum Creek who had lost his whole house. There were also some girls on the front of the Herald-Sun who Rob knew vaguely - they had been trying to save their horses and were overcome by the fire and died. It seems that everyone in Melbourne knows someone who knows someone affected by th fire. The fire is still going on, but we are thankfully a long way from it.
We missed the snow in England, but were in Melbourne for the hottest ever Februrary day and the worst bush fires ever.
Phil

Spiders, Pizzas and Beer for the kids

2009-02-06T02:43:00.000-08:00

The first picture shows us today having lunch at a place called The Briers, which is a historic park and nature reserve. We were able to see some nice lizrds and turtles as we chomped our lunch down.
The you can see one of the common spiders in Australia called a Huntsman. This spider doesnt make a web but instead crawls around and hunts little creatures down. This one was about the size of a hand and was hiding in the mail box (in Australia mail boxes are outside on little poles).
Then we move on to pics of last nights dinner, which was homemade pizza in the homemade pizza oven, which Uncle Yarrow and Aunty Mindy made from clay in their own garden. You can see the garlic bread warming up in the picture. Jake and Annie also enjoyed a beer over the meal - Strawberry beer (non-alcoholic).

A Funky Fun Fab Fairy penguin trip!!!

2009-02-05T16:18:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I had my day out (christmas present) from Grandma & Grandad, this is what I did:

After breakfast I packed a bag with:
-Warm Clothes
-Swimming Costume
-Hat
-Sunglasses
-Sunsreen
Grandma and Alisha had a swim, it was lots of fun and the water was quite warm.
Afer a lot of splashing and running around in the sea we finished our swim. Then we drove to the fairy penguins. We sat on some grass by the car park

Then I had to go with my Grandma to pick up my (4yr old) cousin Alisha from her Kinder. When we had done that we went and had fish and chips by the beach. I had Shark&Chips. It was yummy! Then we went to the information center on phillip island to book tickets for seeing the fairy penguins(late at night) and for the koala sanctuary. Next we went to the Koala Sanctuary.We saw loads of koalas and the baby ones were so cute!
After we had been round the koala sanctuary and looked at all the koalas we went and had an ice-cream at cowes. I had a bubblegum ice-cream, it was quite cool but it turned my mouth green!
When we had all finished our ice-cream's we went to the beach. Me Grandma and Alisha swam in the sea, it was quite warm so swimming was loads of fun!
When we had finished spashing around in the sea we drove to the fairy penguins. We had our picnic tea on the grass by the car park. Then we looked round the mini penguin museum. After that we looked round the gift shop, Grandma bought me a fairy penguin necklace.
Then we were ready to go and see the penguins. they were really cute!
Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ANNIE

Rosebud

2009-02-04T20:59:00.001-08:00

We are staying with Ruth & Frank Law (grandparents of Jake, Annie & Reuben) at 58 Foam Street, Rosebud. You can read about Rosebud here ... Rosebud - and you can see their house here ... We are staying here - and that link will actually show you Frank cutting the roses in frount of Uncle Yarrow & Aunty Mindy's house. The big white one on the right is Frank & Ruth's house. This link gives you a map of the area around where we are staying - you can zoom in and see more - you can also click to see some pictures ... Near Rosebud

Party preperation

2009-02-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

PANIC!

We are getting ready for reuben & my birthday party.

I am making a 7 hole golf course! I am looking forward to playing it! The only bad thing about the party day is that it is forcast to be 43 degrees centergrade which is just too hot so we're going to buy lots of icey pops so that we don't sizzle so we hope it won't be that hot.

Happy birthday, Reuben for it is his seventh birthday today, feb fifth.

Jake

Wednesday night

2009-02-04T03:56:00.000-08:00

Today I dropped Esther and Annie at DFO (Direct Factory Outlets) to go shopping with Aunty Karen and Becky - a girls shopping day out. Jake and I (Phil) then went hunting through the shops for various things needed for Reubens birthday, which is tomorrow. We ended up at Rachel & Liams (Jake's Uncle and Aunty) house in Frankston for lunch, whichis near the beach. Hung around there and got some pizza for tea. Then headed back down to Rosebud late and sat outside with Uncle Yarrow & Aunty Mindy in the hot night air.
A few pictures from prior days.... Waiting at the airport trying tologon to the free wi-fi to see if things that seemed cheap really were cheap.
Here is Uncle Yarrow, Annie & Jake enjoying the cool bay water near the puer. It is about a 10 minute walk from where we are staying to here.
Here is a lovely Jellyfish we spotted floating around near us at the beach!

A busy day

2009-02-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a busy day. First I went to breakfast at Uncle Yarrow's house. To get to their house I climbed up a ladder from Grandma & Grandad's garden into the treehouse in Yarrow & Mindy's garden. Then I met their chickens. They are called Ruby & Beryl. Jake found a egg that Beryl had laid. Then I went to my Grandma & Grandad's church. Then I helped Jake make a golf course in the garden. This is when I got my first injury. I was going to get a piece of wood and then i pulled it out and it levered a breezeblock onto my leg.
Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soon after that Auntie Rachel, Uncle Liam, Alisha & Aidan arrived. I played with Alisha. We climbed into the treehouse. I showed Alisha the chooks (that is what Aussies call chickens!) Then we climbed back in the treehouse. The treehouse is in a fig tree. I climbed out on a branch to pick a fig then Mum came looking for us. I was surprised to see her and lost my footing and fell out of the tree. It was fun (although Mum didn't think so!) I did a quarter of a judo roll and tucked my head in. I grazed my back which really hurt especially when Grandma put Savlon on it. Ouch again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the afternoon we went to the beach twice. The first time I was catching waves. The second time I was surfing with my boogie board which Grandma & Grandad gave me as an early birthday present. There was a fairy penguin swimming round near us. It was a very busy and ouchy day!!!!!Reuben

Australia ROCKS!

2009-02-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

We had a really good day at the beach yesterday I loved it. We went for a swim with the body boards, it was really good fun because the waves were quite big. I saw some of my cousins. The yougest one(of the ones I saw) is called Aidan (1yr), Alisha (4yrs). The youngest one looks really different and has blonde hair now. Alisha came swiming with me yesterday, she's quite a good swimmer but she doesn't like to put her face under the water. Whilst we were swimming around we spotted a fairy penguin(a very small penguin!) swimming in the water, it was really cute ! I'm going with Grandma and Grandad to see the fairy penguins on Phillip Island this week, i am really looking forward to it!!!

I am really missing all my friends from school and church and I can't wait to see them again! I will try to e-mail them if I have time!
See Ya!
Annie!:-) :-)

Singapore airlines A380

2009-02-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

The A380 is quite exciting at the start when you know that you're going on one but when you get on the plane it is not very exiting unless you are on the upper deck(which we were not)Aalthough it is exciting to look at from the gate lounge because they have to have speical gates with 2 air bridges so that people can enter from the top and bottom.
It also doesn't look like anyone is on top of you.
When we got off the A380 we collected our bags and walked to the `Crowne Plaza' Hotel which interconnects with the terminal building.
Here are some pictures of the hotel's swimming pool, me looking at the departure board and the A380 (which is not ours(This is quite rare to see one sitting on the tarmac if your not getting on it)) ... Jake

Mobile phones setup

2009-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

We just setup our mobile phones here - so we can contact each other as we do things and also people can text us (should they want to). The numbers are:

Esther - 0447373528

Phil - 0447371569

Jake - 0447373486

If you use them from England dont forget to put 00 at the front (for an international), then 61 (the country code for Australia) and finally to take the 0 off the front of the mobile number (must be done for area codes when dialling internationally) - that would mean Esthers number would be 0061447373528.

Arrived in Australia

2009-02-01T03:23:00.000-08:00

We arrived safely in Australia and were met by Grandma & Grandad & Uncle Yarrow. Drove down to Rosebud (about an hour) arriving very late. Today it rained more than it had for a month but we still went to the beach a couple of times. Also had Rachel & Liam come down for lunch to celebrate Liam's birthday. Everyone is now asleep recovering from Jetlag. The can write more tomorrow.

Phil

Singapore

2009-01-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

We are in changi airport and about to get on our flight to Melbourne. We had a reasonable flight here. The new A380 is great. We were on the lower deck so fairly similar to a normal jumbo. They load the upper deck from a separate air bridge. Annie & I had a spare seat next to us so we were able to lay down for much of the flight.
Singapore has been warm but not too hot as we have just been here overnight. In fact, the swimming pool was too cold this morning! There are still lots of Chinese new Year decorations around but no one has given us New Year gifts!
Esther

Getting ready

2009-01-28T00:26:00.000-08:00

We are starting to pack now. Tomorrow night we fly to Singapore, stop over in the airport hotel for 16 hours and then fly on to Melbourne.

Friday 2nd March

2007-03-02T03:46:00.000-08:00

Our bags are packed and we leave for Malaysia tomorrow. Our holiday seems to have gone by quickly and yet in some ways it seems a long time since we were in the UK.It will certainly take a bit of adjusting to the climate when we get home. Thanks for taking the time to read the blog. We probably won't get a chance to add to it in Malaysia so we look forward to speaking to you all in person soon.

Wednesday 28th February 2007

2007-02-28T02:03:00.000-08:00

Today we woke up and tidied the house we had rented before we headed off with Phil's Dad (Lindsay who is now 78) to drive through the area of Melbourne where he grew up and built houses when he was young. We saw many houses he built and places he and other family had lived (including the kids Great-great-grandparents home). We drove on to the Kilsyth Club, where Lindsay took us, Karen & Bruce out for a belated christmas lunch. Then it was off to pick up Shania & Jackson from their school followed by several hours playing back at their house and dinner. Finally ended up back at K&B's where we hope to sleep and wake early to drive down the beach for our last day there.

Tuesday 27th Feb 2007

2007-02-27T03:51:00.000-08:00

After doing some holiday diaries we headed down to Williamstown, which is about 15 mins drive from our house and at the end of the train line at the beach. We caught a boat from there right up through the port of Melbourne along the Yarra river and into central Melbourne. Went on the free city circle tram and saw some of the sights before catching the train back to Williamstown to look around some more and retrieve the car. Came back to the house and Yarrow came for a pasta tea. Must leave the house tomorrow and head back to Karens. p.s I included a picture from the docks of a machine they use to stack containers (I thought it was interesting) - Phil

Saturday 24th February 2007

2007-02-26T03:49:00.000-08:00

Today we drove down to Rosebud (an hour) from Karen & Bruce's. We arrived in time to wander around the Tootgarook Market - which was fun and full of bargains - we managed to get a couple of putters. Back at the house Jake & Reuben began to construct their own mini-gold course in the front garden, making 3 holes so far. In the afternoon we went down the beach by the pier, but the tide was in leaving only a small spit that we could play cricket on. As the tide continued to come in we were eventually forced under water and had to wade back in. Got some tasty pizza for tea from the beach pizza shop, watched spy kids and drove back to Karen & Bruce's late.

Monday 26th February 2007

2007-02-26T03:42:00.000-08:00

Today we got up and did holiday diaries, ballet practice, etc. Then we drove to the airport to pick up Phil's Dad (Lindsay) who had flown down from Queensland (2 hours flight). We came back to the rented house and caught up. Late afternoon Yarrow arrived for some games and cards before Mindy arrived. We all walked down to Yarraville for tea and came back to the house to relax a while before Yarrow and Mindy headed home to Brunswick.

Sunday 25th February

2007-02-26T03:19:00.000-08:00

Today we had a lazy start before we packed our bags and left my sisters house for a few days. We got the train from Ringwood down to Laburnum to pick up a car from Box Hill - a nice 8 seater Kia (which is a Korean car company). We then drove into Yarraville, where we have rented a house for 3 nights. This is the area we would like to move to if we move back to Australia. We had our $2.50 train tickets (which is about £1) which last all day on Sunday and allow travel all over Melbourne on train, tram and bus. So we used these to catch the train into the city and went to an aussie rules football game - Melbourne vs. Hawthorn. Annie & Reuben were a bit bored after the first quarter (which lasts about 25 mins), but we all stayed to nearly the end when we realised that Melbourne were definitely going to lose. Then we wandered through central Melbourne - spotting the restaurant tram on the way. Eventually we caught a tram from Flinders Street Station back to Seddon station (near our house) at about 11pm.

Sunday 25th February

2007-02-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

No time at the moment to update the blog and we will be out of contact for a few days as we are staying in a house in Yarraville that we've rented. Phil's dad is coming down from Queensland on Monday to see us.
We are on to our last week here so we will be very busy.
Friday 23rd was my sister, Rachel's 40th birthday so we spent the day with her. we finished with a picnic in a park. It was another hot day so it was nice to be outside until the mosquitos started biting! It is always very tempting to scratch mozzie bites but it is an urge best resisted as it just makes them even more itchy!

Friday 16th February - Wednesday 21st February

2007-02-20T20:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry about being out of contact for a while. I'm struggling to remember all we have done since then.

Friday: We spent the day with Phil's sister, Karen, her husband,Bruce and 3 of their grandchildren. (That's right, I am their Great-Aunt Esther although I don't let them call me that!) All the kids went to a play centre in the morning looked after by Phil & Bruce whilst Karen & I did a bit of shopping. It was another hot day (about 38C) so it's great to be in air-conditioned shops.
In the afternoon we went to Pete & Alison's house. They are friends of ours who have 2 kids, similar age to Jake & Annie. We had dinner with them before driving back to Rosebud. One of the pictues above is their daughter, Shania with their 2 birds. We couldn't persuade Jake or Annie to hold them.

Saturday: It was such a hot day we sat in the garden (in the shade) playing cards. Jake got some poker chips from Yarrow & Mindy so we enjoyed gambling (though not for real money)
We went to the beach about 3.30pm. It was too hot to go before then. We all went in swimming & then built a big pool in the sand and caught little fish to put in it.
We had mexican food for tea cooked by Yarrow & Mindy & then stayed up very late as it was far too hot to sleep (30C)

Sunday: It was the dedication service of 2 of our great-nephews so we had a long drive up to a north eastern suburb of Melbourne. We were rather late but managed to arrive for the end of the dedication. The kids were pleased as they then got to go almost straight out to sunday school. We went back to Andrew(nephew) & Larissa's house for a family BBQ. It was too hot to be outside for very long.
We then went to my sister's house for tea. We left Jake to sleepover at their house & we drove into the city to stay in a hotel.

Monday: We started the day with a swim in the hotel pool. It was a slightly cooler day, overcast rather than sunny. We then went to Werribee Open Range Zoo where we met up with my sister & family (& Jake). This was Reuben's belated birthday treat as it is a safari type zoo where they have lots of zebras.
We enjoyed seeing the zebras, giraffe & rhinos. The lions & hippos were all rather sleepy. We spent ages waiting for one hippo to surface in the pond but all we ever saw were its nostrils!
We then went back to the hotel & met up with Yarrow & Mindy and went out for an evening meal at a restaurant in Morth Melbourne. The portions were huge. Even Jake was defeated by his pancake.
Annie then caught the tram with Yarrow & Mindy back to their house in Brunswick for a sleepover. Jake, Reuben & I had a late night swim in the pool at the hotel.

Tuesday: We drove to Yarraville (an inner city suburb of Melbourne) & met Annie & Yarrow who had caught the train there. Yarraville is the area we think we might move back to (if we ever make up our minds about what we are doing or as Phil would put it "If Esther ever decides what she wants to do!)
We walked around some of the streets. They have a main street lined with shops which is about as narrow as an English road. Most roads here are so wide they look like a motorway. I reckon you could spend half your life in Melbourne sitting in a car. There always seems to be lots of traffic and everywhere is so spread out.
We saw a nice looking primary school and we dropped in to Westgate Baptist church where we met the minister & youth minister. They were very friendly. We then went to a Yarraville cafe for brunch.
In the afternoon Phil was doing a SAS talk to a group from the Australian tax office. He had to go into their office in central Melbourne but his audience were just on speaker phone link in other offices around Australia so he felt a bit strange just talking to an empty room.
The rest of us went swimming at Brunswick outdoor pool. We needed our UV tops & sunscreen on as it was another 30C+ day.
We came back to Karen & Bruce's house for our evening meal. All their kids & grandkids were here so it was very noisy (5 grandchildren aged 5yrs & under). My Mum & Dad also dropped in to pick up Reuben. He has gone back to Rosebud with them for 2 nights.

Today (Wednesday): Jake & Annie have been at school! They have gone to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School with some friends. Jake wasn't too keen on the idea but Annie wanted to go. We thought it would be interesting for them to experience school life here. We didn't send Reuben as the school year has only just begun here and it might have been too much for all the new school kids to cope with Reuben for a day! Perhaps Jake & Annie will write a bit about their school day on the next instalment of the blog

Thursday 15th February 2007

2007-02-15T02:34:00.000-08:00

We played mini-golf at a 2 storey place that Jake likes to go to. It was good fun and Esther was glad to win at 2 under par, winning her bet with Jake which meant he had to suffer an hour of shopping without complaint. Had a nice mexican meal with Karen (Phils sister) & Bruce in the evening and played some new games.

You can contact us if you like

2007-02-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

We would love to hear from people. I have changed the blog so that you can leave comments without having to join up. So please leave a comment and we can comment back to you too. Or if you prefer you can send us an email - just click on a link to email us:
Jake
Annie
Reuben
Esther
Phil

Or if you are desperate to contact us we are using local mobile phones and you can text or call us on:
Esther - +61 424 327 630
Phil - +61 424 403 859

So from England for Esther you would dial 00 61 424 327 630.

Frank & Ruth's house

2007-02-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

My Mum & Dad are having a house built in Rosebud. Their house was mainly built in the builder's yard and was then delivered in 3 pieces on huge flat bed trucks. It was delivered a few days before we arrived but I thought you might like to see some photos. It still needs quite a bit of finishing but the electrician & plumbers have now begun work connecting the house to the necessary services.

Wednesday 14th February

2007-02-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

Phil had a SAS meeting in Melbourne so he left early to drive to Frankston station and then caught the train into the city. Mum and I took the kids to Mornington which is about 20 mins drive up the coast towards Melbourne. They have a weekly street market there. The market is a mixture of art & craft stalls as well as fruit & veg. We wandered through the market & also went to a big playground near the beach. We saw the old police cells where they used to lock up criminals overnight.
We then returned to Rosebud. After a late lunch Mum & Dad took Jake, Annie & Reuben to the beach. Phil returned from Melbourne. He was slightly delayed by a flat battery in the car. He was impressed that the RACV turned up to help within about 5 mins of his call. We had fish & chips for tea at the beach. We then drove to melbourne to stay with Phil's sister& brother-in-law, Karen& Bruce.
The weather is still hot & sunny. It is due to be 38c by the weekend which might feel too hot! We have now all recovered from our jetlag. It's hard to imagine snow & ice when it is so hot here. I was very sad to miss the snow in Wallingford but this weather is fairly good compensation!

Tuesday 13th

2007-02-14T15:03:00.000-08:00

Another day at Rosebud. Mum & Dad (Ruth & Frank) had some friends coming for lunch. Helen & Bruce are friends from our old church in Melbourne. It was great to see them & catch up with all their news. It was another hot day (about 30C) so after lunch we all went to the beach. There were still lots of jellyfish about. I (Esther) got stung by one in the water. Fortunately these kind have a fairly mild sting (not even as bad as a bee sting).

Monday 11th February 2007

2007-02-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

After writing the last entry on the Monday morning, the kids and I drove down to Rosebud on the bay to join the others. We dropped into a cafe that my (Phil) cousin owns and runs. It's called "Sliced". I hadnt seen my cousin Kelly in about 8 years, and probably hadnt talked to her in about 20 years but she was incredibly friendly not letting us pay for our drinks and giving us a big box full of cakes & doughnuts to take home.
After that we went down to the Nepean highway and had a game of mini-golf (it cost $42 for all 5 of us to play!).
Esther stayed at the shops for several hours and later in the afternoon we headed down to the beach for some beach cricket and swimming.

Monday 11th February 2007

2007-02-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

We are at Karen (my sister) and Bruce's house now, and have internet access so can update the blog. Looking back over the last few days...

Wednesday/Thursday
We flew to Kuala Lumpur (about 12 hours) and had a fairly good flight, except it was a 747-400 which only had 4 seats in the middle so we got 4 together and 1 on its own. So I (Phil) got to sit on my own, but Esther had Reuben next to her who kicked her as he slept most of the way. We arrived in KL around 6pm and walked across to the Pan Pacific airport hotel and started by going for a swim. Then had some dinner and went to bed. I slept the night but the others woke around 3am and played some games.

Friday
We had a nice buffet breakfast and went for a swim again. Later on we wandered over to the airport and looked in some shops and played on the play equipment. Did some more swimming and hanging around until about 6pm when we checked in for our flight to Melbourne. The flight left at 9:35pm and by the time we took off Jake, Annie & Reuben were all asleep sitting up in their seats. The flight took about 8 hours and Jake & Annie slept for about 5, Reuben slept for 7.

Saturday
We arrived about 8:15am and had some trouble with immigration. Apparently due to a new rule if you are an australian citizen then you must have an australian passport and travel on it. The kids have UK passports though, and so we had to sit around and get some special clearance to be let in. A fleet of cars was waiting for us driven by Esthers parents, her sister (Rachel) and family, her brother (Yarrow) and Mindy. So we all headed for Rosebud, with Phil going via Ringwood to borrow a car from some friends. We all got to Dromana across the road from the beach at a cafe for a brunch, before Rachel headed home. We continued on to Rosebud and saw Ruth & Franks new house (Esther's parents) . They bought a house that was made somewhere else and then they bring a huge crane and some trucks to drop it onto the land. It's a big 3 bedroom house which is very nice. They have to do a bit of finishing off inside over the next few weeks and then it will be ready to move into.

Sunday
Went off to church at Rosebud and saw my cousin (who goes there) and some other old friends. Came back for a nice Sunday Roast before Phil, Jake & Annie drove the hour up to Melbourne to see some old friends who were visiting - my friend Rob Mackay who is an Opthamologist and is about to go to Papua New Guinea to live for 2 years and set up a training programme for eye nurses. While we were standing at Rob & Karens house looking at a new extension they are building we saw a huge bit of a tree fall off (since there were stong winds) and it crashed onto a house destroying it's satellite TV dish (very sad!). Later we went to a family pub/bistro for tea (11 of us) and the kids liked playing in the big indoor playground next to the table. Esther and Reuben had stayed back at Rosebud since they were very jet lagged.

Getting ready ...

2007-02-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

The kids are in school now and Esther & I are packing. We leave for the airport around 5pm and fly for about 12 hours at 10pm for Kuala Lumpur, where we stay for a day. Then Friday evening we fly at 9:35pm to Melbourne, which takes about 8 hours. When we arrive we will be going down to see family at Rosebud, Victoria.

More posts to follow once we get on the way...

Phil