Collendina Sunday

For one reason or another it has been 10 weeks since we stayed over at the van. The Sequence game is in demand here so we played 9 games in a row. Bike practise has also been stepped up despite the foot trouble. I have been using the backward pull technique on the pedal stroke.  This has required some concentration but it is easier on the knees particularly after you have finished riding for the day. Yesterday was 37 kms and today was another 31 kms.

Queenscliff Bells

Toast the Coast - Day 1

Those calculating, devious, entrapping,

Taylors have led us astray with their beguiling entreaties urging a quiet day out they say. We'll drive you they say.  We've been here before they say.  I have heard of pub crawls but Toast the Coast must be a  definition of Winery Crawl.  Two out of the three winerys we visited had a sloping view down to the water.  The first was Basil's Farm, with stretched out lambs on a spit. Very tasty. The third one was Baie Winery also very picturesque. The day finished with a wine on the beach down by the jetty.

Baie

A Streaming Live Site

Lamb Roast

Windy Hill Podiatry

Seems I was at the podiatrist in 2001 but the software changed and the history was lost.  James Short has confirmed my Plantar Fasciitis but is a mild tear version. Nevertheless it will take one year to heel. The trouble has always been the right leg. 20 yar ago a tear in the calf,  then 7 or 8 yar back tendoniitis in the knee. The rehab consists of stretching and loosening muscles in the foot by using a ball to stand on.

Heel the Heal

Bohemians Arise

Down with GlobalSoft music generators.  I have lamented previously on this blog about the lack of rock bands coming through. May be Disturbed could start something going. The Queen collaboration with Ben Elton is a good night out. I suspect most of the cast weren't born when Freddie was strutting.  The Regent Theatre has lots of leg room with intermission champagne. WhoolyDhoolyJulie found a Long Room over the road in the old Georges shoppe, not to be confused with The Long Room at the MCG. In this Long Room it is happy hour until 7:00pm and tapas style food when you want it.

Scaramouche

Inferno revisited

Saw the Inferno film last night. Always interesting to see places in film where you have been yourself.  I wish I had known beforehand that there was a door behind Armenia in the map room of Palazzo Vecchio. This must be the most changed film of all time when compared to the book. Characters missing, others promoted and the ending is completely changed compared to what Dan Brown put in there.

Why are secret doors not locked?

Windy Williamstown

Did an out and back ride to Williamstown. The north wind was an issue on the way back but we flew there in the first half.  The total was 43 km, not nearly enough for the upcoming Tour De GOR but it will have to do.  Snakes seem to be following me lately. This one was busy having a snack on our track. We stopped at the kiosk near the Life Savers. They were struggling to serve coffee let alone be a restaurant,

The Silkworm

I started reading the 2nd of these Robert Galbraith  (JKR) Crime Whodunits before I went on this Sydney jaunt. In the ten days of this trip I only had 200 pages to read but this was difficult due to the interrupt levels going 3 and 4 deep.  I am at the airport with some time so managed to get to the end. The Silkworm is a complex tying together of clues to reveal the killer and I think I missed some during the distractions of the beach, the scenery, etc etc. This book is trickier than the last being about an author, who writes about other authors, editors and publishers.  Catullus gets a mention in this one. I've been to his house.

Diamond Python

We have a good house at this van park but a snake crawled out today.  I was in the shower and a commotion ensued outside. Debbie spotted a guy wrangling a snake from under our house.

Yellow diamonds on the back

The BBBC WRLCG

We are currently in the Bateau Bay Bowling Club subset of the Wyong Rugby League Club Group of eight clubs,  We were here yesterday but today is free meals for kids Friday. What a difference a day makes.  There are no empty tables. This place is huge!  Earlier today we drove to Wybung Head. Lots of cliff views then we went down to Birdie Beach.  I recommend the area.

Wybung Trig

The Ark

We are at Norah Head in the Ark Cafe for lunch. Yesterday we toured some caravan parks looking at various cabins. The Blue Lagoon where we are staying is the best.  Immediate beach access out our back door. I could feel the waves hitting twenty metres away. Yesterday we saw dolphins going past and this morning we saw whales spouting from our deck.  So far today it has been a tour of the Tuggerah Lakes.

There be Whales seen from here

Another brick in the floor

After 16 yar I have made it back to the Olympic site which is a huge area covering kilometres. I have a sore foot and no idea where the Boral Brick Road is. So in the car park I asked a guy if he knew where it was. Never heard of it. Turns out he works for Boral. Then after I said the brick has my name on it he remembered. just go down the main boulevarde he says. So we limp along and there it is. After some searching for block A22, then brick by brick.

Notice the Socks

ABN Again

2005 was the last time I got a guernsey at an ABN Conference.  I have worked for my supper on this occasion.  I would say a large percentage of the 300 odd delegates were already PB licensees however there were still 35 ticket sales for the next round of seminars. The booth was being dismantled around me as I was packing stock and working out the labeling.

Inside Laneway - Sheraton Four Points

Who's minding the store?

What to do when 250 delegates are inside at sessions and I am sitting in the booth with no customers in sight?  Get out the blogging tools.  The booth was constructed overnight. We have had a few customers but the main session is at 4:30pm today.

Pure Bookkeeping at KeeperCon

Four Points Sheraton

This hotel is all business, no pool, no view. Obviously the focus is on the work but I always associated travelling with holidays. It is a central location on Darling Harbour but the views are on the other side.  Never let the staff organise your room. Driving here is a crazy place, My Chemical Romance just took a hit nearby. The main action starts tomorrow at 6:00am when we have to assemble our Pure Bookkeeping stand.

Darling Harbour

Escape Room

Laura organised an Escape for me so She, Rick, Debbie and I ventured to Flemington. This is the original concept room from which other copy cats have sprung in Melbourne, including the more corporatised rooms at Strike in Maribyrnong. We had 70 mins and made steady progress in our escape. Twice we sought guidance as well as each of us contributing ideas at the right time to emerge jn about 70 minutes.  Even just the one previous escape situation aids in completing this one.  These are fun, stay focused and ignore the clock.

We thought we were out

Secret Corridor

Third mystery room requires large spoon

Plantar Fascia

I have an age related issue where some strands of ligament have let go in my right heel. This has been a problem for three weeks now.  The healing is a slow business which seems to flare at the end of the day.  The ultrasound shows inflammation at the spot.  Seeing I was there I got them to X-Ray my hands for an update on their crookedness.  Haven't heard back yet.

Return to Sender

I have become custodian of my mother's 60 yar old card collection. I thought I would try a lucky dip and just pluck a loose one out to see what it was. I sent it myself, in 1989, but I only have a vague recollection. James was 5 years old and has written Hello Grandma. Debbie has written the rest for him but I don't remember Storky staying over or Laura getting stitches.  One cent pieces were still in circulation.

Sent from Lorne

Pablo painting at Lorne

Tiggy

Just had my first look at the World Tiggy Championships. Not sure if my eyes were deceiving me. I notice AFL players in the Australian team.  I have heard of a lot of things ending up as a ticket buying sport but your average school yard tiggy, complete with hand holding, can't be a real a sport. There were multiple cameras for reviewing the merest touch just like last week's Grand Final of the footy. At the same time it is also a tackle and wrestle game. The sledging is classic like "You can't touch me". Who would have thought.

It's a load of Kabbadi

Skeletons

One of the aspects of digging into family history is not knowing what you'll find. Things that may have been an issue a hundred yar ago is glossed over these days. Debbie decided she was going to get into the genealogy via the Roberts line. This was cutting edge stuff in 1985. No internet then, no TV ads about getting your documents, no TV shows looking into celebrity trees.

She started with my Grand Mother Alice who promptly said that the past was of no concern, only deal with the future. So that was that. She was not interested in any questions about family history. Debbie handed over all her research to my parents who have been running with it for the last 30 yar. One of the tips for budding genealogists is to get your older relos talking with a recording device in the background. I have spent two weeks sifting through old analog recordings taken in 1992 and have converted them to digital.

The below sound clip describes the scene years earlier where my Uncle Cyril was told of his true birth circumstance. It turns out that Alice had a first born out of wed lock. In those days this was an issue. So much so that the baby was disguised as a relative and given over to the already married older brother Bob Ferguson, who raised him as his own and so never disclosing the true father until an adult.  So Cyril Roberts became Cyril Ferguson and my father had one brother less than he thought until ...

Bridge to Nowhere

We rode the Darebin Loop (49km) again today and this time we got a good look at the constructions going on for the Main Yarra Trail connection. You have never seen a crazier trail than this, where a half completed bridge leaves you hanging in mid air.  No doubt the public servant boffins will have an explanation but it is too embarrassing for words.  We also paid a visit to the Station St bakery touting Melbourne's best Vanilla Slice. I would have to rate it just ahead of the Greensborough Snot Block we had the other day.

Darebin Folly

Sidewalk Vanilla

The LightHouse

Is there a trend for writers to use intials? GRR Martin, JK Rowling and PD James to name a few. Phyllis Dorothy is certainly an older pair of names. Why hide your name?  She wrote this at age 85. She must have done some climbing in her day. Nothing like experiencing an abseil if you are going to write it into your murder story.  I have stayed at lighthouses like ...

Byron Bay - First Light 

Cape Otway - First Sight

And we have always traveled to see them. Like in the USA there was a lighthouse on a working base but when questioned, we had to state our purpose, specifically as visiting lighthouse. We kept saying things like tourist or visitor but the password was lighthouse.

Cape Henry Lighthouse - Fort Story

Mystery revealed

Well Tim&Julie have put on a fun day of touring and eating that I will remember for a long time. The Uber travel is a winner with very fast service. We started out with a tour of the Parliament Building because there were no sitting sessions and then to top it off we had High Tea in the Strangers Corridor. Then another Uber to the Meatballs restaurant. Not to be confused with the now defunct Meatballs and Sons.  So we went from the Holder of the Black Rod to Balls and All.  Thanks go to the sneaker organisers.

Strangers Corridor

MeatBalls Inc

Mystery Tour

Its the Magical Mystery Tour and we're going to take you away, take you today!  I have featured different poems here and this was found on a birthday card I was given.

We have set the date, it's going to be great,

We are on a tour, it will be just the cure,

There will be no sitting, so don't bring your knitting.

'Is there going to be food?' you ask Dude

Only the Highest for us Finest.

So it's set, don't fret,

It's on the 4th but we won't be going north.

                                                                                                                           by WhoolyDhoolyJulie

So working through the lines I am thinking that we are going to walk to a lunch venue perhaps a High Tea somewhere such as South Bank.  But the final Clue : Strangers Corridor, which is not part of the poem, seems to be the most cryptic.

Lombardy

The Tour De Lombardy last of this years Monuments was a winner for Chavez and OBE but  we did our own tour a few years back and had better weather.  These guys did not have much time to look at the exhibits, with another 200 Kms to go.

Sunny for us

GF Bulldogs v Swans

We hosted another GF viewing and barbecuing day. The group has grown smaller over the years but smaller can be better. It could be called the day of the desserts. I made a choco cake but the vanilla blocks plus Debbie's apple pie and Franster's berries were a highlight. I guess the Bulldogs breaking a 62 year drought should be mentioned. The Blues for next year.

with roast potatoes