Christmas Down Under

Merry Christmas everyone.
After opening presents (Santa was very kind this year) we spent our Christmas Day at the beach ,trying out Dave's new snorkelling gear, followed by a BBQ and a wander around the local streets to view the Christmas light .
Turns out these are something of a local tourist attraction, and we will post up the best of them soon (once we figure out the new video camera!!)
In the meantime a few photos of our Christmas Day below.

Hope that you all enjoy your Christmas holidays be it hot, sunny and summery or snowy ,cold and wintry, either way there is always eggnog!

Thinking of you all love Lyn, Dave and the bump.


Christmas Picnic at our Local beach

Sharks!

Right - to put yesterdays Shark stories in perspective, I've got to together with Google Map, and Microsoft Paint, to create the above map. Numbers 1 & 2 are where the sharks were spotted, and number 3, is where we live, and we swim in the Ocean. And about a 10-15 drive from our place to Henley Beach...

Below is the local papers "Reporting" of the events.

"THREE shark sightings today have terrified swimmers and forced the temporary evacuation of Henley Beach.

In the latest sighting, a shark was reported swimming in waters near Penneshaw on the eastern tip of Kangaroo Island about 4.30pm

Earlier today, Henley Beach was evacuated when a large shark was spotted 50m from shore about 11.30am.

Another sighting was recorded a few hours later at Grange.

Police said it is possible one shark had migrated down shore and they were attempting to locate it and monitor its movement.

Today's sightings follow a surge of shark spottings in recent weeks, with reports at Moana, O'Sullivan Beach and Christies Beach.

Last month, a man fishing in a dinghy was attacked by a shark about 1km from shore near North Haven.

He phoned police after a bronze whaler circled his dinghy and bit into the hull and motor.

The boat sustained only minor damage and the man returned to shore."

Swimming!

Just a quick blog today! But since I left Canada 10 years ago - outdoor swimming was something saved for holidays on the Med or for over chlorinated hotel swimming pools.

Well, no more I say!

This past Sunday, it was hot & sunny, about 32c if the newspapers are to be believed (and considering the quality ofsome of local rags, I would take most everything they say with a very large grain of salt).

So on went the swim trunks and 15min later - there I was just like the local dolphins, Swimming in the ocean!

And the best bet - the water was warm! (and not that yellow kinda warm you sometimes get a public swimming pools)

D

PS - I hope everybody is enjoying the cold snap in the northern hemisphere.

Christmas Cheer

Lyn's parents came to visit with us for a week before Christmas. All went well (aside from the rain) - we had plenty of time to see some sights, visits some pubs, and play the pokies!


We even had a giant Christmas dinner - with the worlds largest leg of ham - which I'm proud to say, we are still eating - athough not sure how much longer I'll really want to be eating ham.


One of the activities we took park in - was the local Christmas Carols by candlelight (seen below). The weather had cleared, so the crowd was decent size, if only they had actually spent more time singing, and less time blabbing... but it was still a pleasant evening


I was on-call for the weekend, so we didn't get to go far, just a trip up to Handorf, and a visit to the summit of Mt Lofty - as you can see below, it wasn't the sunniest weekend!

In the end, Bob & Barbara spent a week with us - and I believe a good time was had by all.


David

E-G-G N-O-G!!!!!!!

This is a quick and simple blog today

After many years of searching, and having to go without during the holidays - I've finally found what I've been missing all these years...

I give you...

Yummmy!

Dave

PS I've still got quite a backlog of entries to come - hopefully I'll catch up over the holidays...

My tribute to David Letterman!

Hi, Sorry it has been a while - very busy with all the christmas BBQ's last weekend, and me working late this week, haven't had a chance to update the blog. I've still got lots of photos I'd like to share from the camping trip - hopefully I'll find some time next week.

In the meantime, I've had time here at the office, so I'm attempted to produce a mildly amusing David Letterman style Top Ten Signs that you might be living in Australia!

Drum roll...

Top signs that you Might be living in Australia

10 - You can’t leave your house without your friendly neighbourhood sand fly hitching along for the ride
9 - “Shoes” are an optional item when going to the shops / pubs / clubs
8 - While driving, if you are anything more than 1 meter away from the car in front of you – your not a real driver
7 - You know enough to be are afraid of the Magpies – not the spiders or the snakes
6 - You know at least one good Kiwi Joke
5 -Its 25c outside, and you wonder.. do I need to bring my coat?
4 -The “Mullet” is perfectly reasonable hair style – business in the front, party in the back!
3 -The word ‘SNAG’ no longer makes you laugh!
2 - You think AC/DC are good
1 - RAIN is a good thing!

/drum roll

PS - Kiwi Joke below

A Kiwi walks into the local unemployment office, marches straight up to the counter and says, "Hi! I hate being on welfare, I'd really rather have a job."

The clerk behind the Centrelink desk says

"Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur/bodyguard for his nymphomaniac daughter.

You'll have to drive around in his Mercedes, but he'll supply all of your clothes.

Because of the long hours, meals will be provided.

You'll be expected to escort her on her overseas holiday trips.

You'll have a two-bedroom apartment above the garage.

The starting salary is $200,000 a year".

The Kiwi says, "You're bull****ting me!"

The Centrelink officer says, "Yeah, well, you started it".

The Epic Camping Blog

We all know and love Crocodile Dundee - some of us fondly recall WWF Wrestler Outback Jack - and most of us skipped the cinema "masterpiece" that was Kangaroo Jack.

Well, today I introduce you to a new Aussie legend - The Camping Kiers!


Yes - we finally made the big leap, after postponing the trip a few weeks due to bad weather and illness, we were finally able to take off for the weekend! We headed south - this time to a place called Deep Creek Conservation Park - a large chunk of wildnerness about 1.5hrs from Adeliade.

It was a weekend of first for me - I saw some of my first examples of Australian Wildlife - such as the Kookaburra (see bel0w)


A lot of Kangaroos. So many of them, they were most activing in the evening, there main feeding area was about 5min walk from our campground, but the actually hopped passed out campsite to get to the feeding spot. We were just sitting around - and the next thing we knew, we heard a large creature or two crashing through the trees - we looked up in time to see this fella!!


We followed him (or her!) to the feeding spot, where I took a few more photos!



As you can see, they graze in groups - taking turns as the lookouts while the others continue to graze. You can't get too close, or they will bolt - unlike the ones in the petting zoo!


We didn't encounter anything scary - no spiders or snakes - but as we were leaving Sunday morning, I spotted this guy walking across the field, eating flies.. I stalked him for a few minutes - but I didn't want to distress the guy - so I didn't get too many photos. I believe that out friendly lizard here is a Shingleback lizard - very common in Southern Australia. This guy was about 30cm in length



I've got more photos and camping stories to show - so I'll be back in a few days to share some more.

-DK