After rain comes sunshine.....

As most of you already know, we're still at the Mount Ashby. And not because we're so extremely fond of Australia (we are, but still) but due to a non-existant planning of our trip. With Bruce (the car) packed and washed and with all the goodbyes said we just took a quick look at our travel iteirary and...taddaaaa... we're not flying out in June, but in July. Can you imagine how stupid we felt?! And with Australia being so money-sucking as it is, there was no chance we could have made it for 2,5 month on the road. So back into the working boots for another month of farming, restaurant work and wine tasting. And it's really been great! Snakes haven't been much of a bother and the spiders by now are almost extinct here after Anton's persistant chasing them around. The only minor trouble that's worth mentioning being the flooding which, I'm sure, most of you have seen on tv by now. Vietnam and it's monsoon can go hide and be ashamed compared to what Australia is capable of. For 72 hours it just poured down, as if there was a hole in the sky. Raining cats and dogs, or call it whatever you want, but it was like a wall of water that soaked everything. But after rain comes sunshine and after 3 days it just stopped. "Puff" it said and the sun came out. Crazy crazy country and weather. The damage control revealed a couple of soaked lawns, overflooded pond and parking lot and a couple of floating cows...the wines are safe and sound, so not bad at all.
And with the sunshine it was time for some fun-time. Took a warm-up roadtrip out to the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. A-MA-ZING! The mountains themselves aren't blue, but they give a blueish shade over the valleys and hills around. Had a fantastic sunny autumny day and thank god the rocks held Anton's continuos climbing and jumping. And after rock climbing was time to get cultural. Took a day off and went to Sydney, a fantastic huge casino/theatre for a show of "The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber". For the first time since we got to OZ we felt tidy, pretty and sophisticated strolling around in a luxurious theatre. The only thing giving us away was Bruce, loaded with spare water and fluel tanks roped on the roof, parked at the fancy entrance. For days afterwards everyone on the farm knew exactly where Anton was at on the field - we just followed the sound of the "Phantom of the Opera" solos.
And now, once again, it is time to say goodbye. Sally and Chris are laughning and don't believe that we'll leave this time either, but they've got extra staff coming next week just in case. So Monday, June 6, we're hitting the road again, with the destination Cairns. Approximately 2000km along the coast with lots of stopps planned along the way, so tune in next time to see where we're at.

Loads of love to all of you
M & A