Walks Wedding

During our many years in Vancouver, Doug and I were lucky enough to meet many great people, some of whom are now living in Australia. A couple of years ago we met Craig walker, a great guy who joined Doug's footy club while in Canada on a one year visa. A few weekends ago we were graciously invited to his wedding in Sydney to his long time girlfriend - Emma. Due to the overseas living situation, we'd only met Emma once during a quick visit to Melbourne a few months earlier. We can however, happily confirm that - yes, she is lovely and a great match for Walks.

Keen to make the most of a trip up to Sydney, we booked ourselves in for a long weekend and headed up early on the Friday morning. The timing was perfect as both Sydney and Melbourne had been experiencing terrible weather recently, and yet the day we arrived in Sydney turned out to be spectacular... and so we quickly headed off to Bondi beach. We used the visit to catch up with great friends - Pip, Lib and Mully. After a very lazy day of lying on the beach and eating delicious meals in the nearby cafes (including Doug's old favourite - Paris-Le-Go), Doug and I headed back to our hotel for a quick nap before going to a pre-wedding dinner with Craig&family and a bunch of our Vancouver/Melbourne mates who were also up for the wedding. The dinner turned out to be a great reunion of sorts as we caught up with many old friends the night before the wedding.

The following day we headed off to the beautiful Tumbling Waters resort (about an hour South of Sydney) for the ceremony and reception. It was a nice intimate gathering and the lucky couple were even blessed with a gorgeous rainbow after the vows had been exchanged. The dinner and dancing afterwards was a lot of fun and everyone had a fantastic day all in all. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Sunday was a day of relaxation and sleeping in before heading back to Melbourne and back to our regular day to day lives....sigh.

Here's some pics from the weekend...

Baby Shower

Last Sunday my fabulous sister-in-law Nicole threw me a baby shower. Admittedly, moving to a new country away from family & friends, and finding out that you are pregnant with your first child, can leave one feeling a little vulnerable. I however have been overwhelmed by the support shown to me by my new girlfriends and Australian family...it makes it nearly impossible to feel lonely or scared. Looking around on Sunday at all the gorgeous girls and yummy mummies who came to my shower (bearing beautiful and very generous gifts might I add) I really felt at home and blessed.

A massive thank you from Doug and I to all the girls who came, to Nicole who opened her lovely home, and to Maddie who busied herself serving drinks and being adored by all the ladies. I am feeling very lucky and excited to introduce our little daughter to all her "aunties".

Here's a few pic's from the day...

Spring Carnival

Two weekends ago, we had a couple of special visitors to Chez Vargo. Pip and Mully (Vancouver roommates from a few years back) stopped in Melbourne for a week on their way to settling in Sydney after two years in London.

P & M are largely responsible for Doug and I getting together. We actually met at there "moving back to Australia" party in Vancouver nearly 5 years ago. Pip and I especially are such close friends that we will no doubt be in each others lives till we are old and gray.

As expected on the Tuesday, the boys took off for the Melbourne Cup while Pip and I planted ourselves bright and early in a nearby coffee shop. For those ill informed - Melbournians love Horse Racing and in particular the Spring Carnival - a series of 5 or so Race days over a month where crowds of up to 130,000 people head out to the track. In all honestly though, about 3/4s of the attendees go there for the parties in the Carparks rather than to watch the actual races. Melbourne Cup day is probably the biggest day and is actually a public holiday in Victoria. The big race has a staggering $5.5 million in prizemoney!!....for a horse race !!

While the boys were off at the races, my Coffee date with Pip quickly turned into Breakfast....then breakfast soon turned to lunch. Eventually, the waitstaff seemed to be eyeing our corner table wondering if we were planning on shutting the place down. I guess that's what happens when two old friends get together after a year and a half apart.

That was pretty much the way the week went. Great conversation, lots of food (including a great BBQ reunion with Tim and Fiona), and non-stop laughter.

On Thursday morning Libby (Pip's sister) landed in Melbourne, and the five of us got dressed to the nine's and headed off to Oaks (Ladies) day at the races. A beautiful balmy Melbourne day where some of us had some lucky bets on to add to our "baby fund" (way to go Doug) while the rest of us had a little less luck. Unfortunately the girls system was definitely NOT fail proof, but with our "massive" dollar each way bets, we were still able to walk away fairly unscathed.

The real drama unfolded as we were getting ready to head home after a long day at the track! After hours in the hot sun where the majority of the crowd hydrate on champagne and beer, most people take the train home at the end of the day. Well at approx 6pm, just after the last race, an announcement was made that all trains were down due to electrical problems !! So about 50 thousand people were now stranded. The solution? Send as many buses from the 1940's to the track to try and transport the crowd to the nearest functioning station.

You can only imagine the stampede of people that flooded around each bus as it pulled up to the track. Women in beautiful gowns...hair falling from their perfect do's... stilettos in hand & skirts hiked up... as they scrambled to push their way onto the waiting transportation. Thankfully we got lucky as a certain "preggo" happened to spot a bus sneaking down a side street and we were able to hop on before the hoards spotted it. There is nothing like seeing a big pregnant lady screaming her lungs out for her husband and friends to "follow me!!!" as she charges across the street to the nearby bus and a startled driver. Not my finest moment, but we managed to get out in record time... which is all that counts.

All in all a very fun, memorable day...and week!

Here's some pics from the day..

Cuban Jazz

Searching for something new and different to do on the weekend, Lyds and I recently spent a very enjoyable day at a Cuban Jazz festival. The event was held at the Rochford Winery about an hour's drive out of Melbourne in the beautiful Yarra Valley Wine country.

The Winery holds quite a few events during the year so they certainly know how to hold a good event. The event area was surrounded by the Winery's wines, which were looking full and lush now they are coming into season. The weather on the day wasn't the greatest, but it was a nice balmy day, perfect for downing a chardonnay or two (not for Lyds of course).

Lyds and I got there relatively early so we could lay out our blanket and picnic supplies before the hoardes arrived. As part of the event, you could choose the option of getting bus transportation to and from the winery from various spots in the city. A very responsible option to stop people drinking and driving....or maybe just a smart marketing ploy by the organisers to ensure that patrons drank as much of their wine at the event as possible?

Lyds and I drove to save some money, and also because one of us is a permanent designated driver for a year or so when we go out now (yeah for me !!).

We were joined at the event by good friends Matty and Shelly and a couple of friends of theirs who all caught the bus. It wasn't long before we starting digging into our feast and enjoying a nice glass of wine. It also wasn't long after that before Matty and I in particular had enjoyed a few more glasses of wine. Looking around though, it was pretty obvious that we weren't alone as hundreds of people were doing the same thing.

The Cuban Jazz was a nice compliment to the surroundings and the lyrics proved to be a good little brush up on our Spanish for Lyds and I. All up, a fantastic day.

Here's some pics from the day...

Around the Bay in a Day.....well sort of

One of the biggest and best riding events in and around Melbourne is the Around the Bay in a Day event. The main event consists of a 250km ride around Port Phillip Bay in Victoria. There is also a 100km and 50km ride for the less fit/unispired riders out there. All rides start and finish in heart of the city.

With my new 2XU inspired fitness regime well and truly in force, I thought I'd take on the 250km ride.I've never riden that far before in one go but I'm one of those people who, when it comes to fitness, needs a goal to work for in order to get fired up about doing it.

Unfortunately, a few months out it became obvious that the ride was scheduled to go only a week after the Melbourne Marathon. I thought about it for a long time, but didn't think my ageing body would be able to handle 2 big events so close to each other. So down my lofty goals went. I found out my brother in law Michael was doing the 50km with a work mate, so I happily signed up for that.

The 50km ride started in beautiful Alexandra Gardens - just out of the city centre. From there it crossed through the city streets, over the monstrous Westgate Bridge and down through Bayside suburb of Williamstown before looping back roughly the same way. Despite the magnificent 28 degrees, and sunny day on the Saturday, raceday on Sunday was 15 degrees, cold, wet and windy....just a lovely day for riding.

It's safe to say I was close to freezing at the beginning of the ride because we had to stop at a ridiculous amount of lights through the city as the organisers had not arranged to block off a route for us at the start - foolish....very foolish !! With at least a few thousand people trying to ride in one lane through the city it was a bit crowded and tight to say the least.

Still, we eventually got going once we were out of the city. About 5km in we had the first go up the Westgate Bridge which was surprisingly easy. It was amusing to see a few people on the side walking there bikes up the bridge....hmmmm a looooong way to go for them. From there it was a leisurely cruise down to Williamstown and back. We stopped at the half way point so we could grab a warming coffee. About a 1,000 other people had the same idea, so 30 minutes in the queue and we FINALLY got them - DOH !!

The 2nd half was a lot faster as I think we all just wanted to get back, get home and get warm. Overall, still an enjoyable ride all up. I'm definately going to do the 250km next year......well, maybe.

Here's some pics from the trip.