Happy New Year!

On Christmas Eve we had a little trip into Geelong where I managed to find a jumper (at last). It was the coldest Christmas in Melbourne since 1885. 16 degrees isn't that cold, but it felt cold for Australia. We spent the afternoon/early evening at Mel's parents' best friends' house where we ate and drank quite a lot.

We had Christmas lunch at Mel's parents. It was a roast - too cold to have a barbecue. We met even more of the family, including Pete's mum and dad, Alan and Pam, who are Jo's Great Uncle and Aunt. It's all very confusing. We were promptly invited to stay with Alan and Pam in Carpendeit in the country, which we gratefully accepted. In the afternoon we went to Jill's house (Pam's sister/Pete's auntie) for turkey sandwiches and more beer. We arrived in Carpendeit just after midnight I think.

We got the tour of the surrounding area on boxing day after watching the first hour of the cricket. This involved views, a bit of walking and a bit of driving, plus coffee and chips. In the afternoon we went round the Smiths' house to say hello/play cricket/watch the mayhem caused by 11 grandchildren under the age of 10. We met Pete and Mel half way between Geelong and Carpendeit for dinner, then it was back to Geelong.

On the 27th we did very little. Cricket, books, played with cats, did our washing, went for curry, entered trivia night at pub, lost.

Thursday 28th was the day we unfortunately had tickets for the Ashes. I shan't say too much about it, other than that it was a pitiful surrender by the English. At least the Barmy Army sang lots. We made another foolish decision on our return to watch Pete and Mel's - we watched My Super Ex-Girlfriend despite Mel's warning. Don't do it.

On the 29th we got up to go see Happy Feet with Pete, Mel and Mel's grandma. It was cool. We had a quick look round the shops before heading back to get packing. We said our goodbyes then took the train to Melbourne and boarded our 12 hour bus trip to Sydney.

Arrived in Sydney at 6.15am, took a taxi to Jenny and Jerome's and went straight to bed. In the afternoon we pottered around the local shops and read our books in the garden.

The family returned from their Christmas holiday on New Year's Eve. Maddy and Georgia were very excited to see us. We saw the kid's firework display at 9pm from the cricket oval a couple of minutes walk from their house. We headed back to their house for a couple of hours then returned at a 11.45 with a bottle of bubbly. We saw the New Year in in style with the famous fireworks over the bridge. It was a quite a low key celebration but we have a great night.

Yesterday it was raining lots so we decided to do indoor things. We went to the Powerhouse Museum which had lots of interactive exhibits and not too many ancient artefacts. It was still quite early when we finished so decided to use our free cinema tickets to go see The Holiday, which was surprisingly funny, if a little girlie/soppy/predictable.

Hope you all had a great new year and we'll start seeing a few of you in a couple of weeks!

lots of love

mike and jo xxx