Sunday, 9 April 2017
Mitcham Renovation
We have completed a renovation of Liz's rental property in Mitcham. Below are links to some before/after images. Please be patient as each image may take a few moments to display. When viewing each image, drag the slider left/right to see the differences.
Monday, 15 December 2014
Xmas Newsletter 2014
Merry Xmas 2014!
Click here to see our 2014 Xmas newsletter where you can find out all about what we've been doing in the two years since the last newsletter.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Xmas Newsletter 2012
Merry Xmas everyone!
Click here to see our Xmas newsletter where you can read about our latest exploits and adventures.
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Another Xmas Done
Xmas dinner at the Findlays was a great success. Here's a short clip of us enjoying Xmas Dessert:
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Merry Christmas!!!
Okay, so this year we have been a bit slack and have not put together a Xmas letter to update everyone on what we have been doing for the year. Sorry about that :-( In lieu of a proper Xmas letter, here's a bit of a summary of what we have been up to this year:
December 2010 After more than a year of searching, we finally found a house to buy and we moved into it in December. Some people commented that we now had a "grown-up house". In any case, we are now living in Malvern in our new house and loving it!
January
We went on a cruise ship! We've never done that before, and we were rather surprised at how much we enjoyed it. The ship was the ms Statendam, and it was a two week cruise starting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and ending in San Diego, California via the Panama Canal. On the way we stopped at a number of places, including Aruba, Costa Rica, Huatulco, Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas.
After the cruise, we flew down to Queenstown, New Zealand, where we met up with our friend Karen and her son Odin. We walked the Milford Track, which is a four-day hike covering about 60 kms or so through some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. They said to be prepared for cold, wet weather, and boy did it rain! We thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but we are glad that we opted for the comparitively luxurious "guided" option rather than roughing it with the "free-walkers" in their much more basic huts. At least we had hot showers each night and drying rooms for our gear (not to mention cooked dinners and breakfasts).
February
Did a "Sail Training: Boat Speed" course at RYCV. This was a course instructed by Mark Tonner-Joyce who is a renowned small-boat instructor. It was a great opportunity to refine our sailing skills and get some new tips on making the boat go faster. The unscheduled "dip" taken by Liz when she fell out of the boat was not quite in the glossy brochure, but it did make for great stories later!
March
Tour of a select few of the Yara Valley wineries with CoMLife (the social club from Liz's work). Included four wineries with much drinking and a yummy lunch too.
April
Ski Planning Meeting at the Geebung Polo Club. Okay, to let you in on a little secret, there's not a lot of planning goes on at these things -- it's mostly just an excuse to get together and drink -- but hey, there's no polo played at the Geebung Polo Club either, so it's not just us living a lie ;-)
May
Dinner at Ocha! For those not based in Melbourne, you wouldn't know about this fine example of Japanese cuisine done in a very modern way. They expanded to a new and bigger location but it didn't reduce the wait time for a reservation. You need to book at least two months out to get a table.
Also went to see the latest Warren Miller movie. Those who are ski fanatics should know who he is; those who don't ski probably don't care who he is. Doesn't really matter anyway, as he doesn't even appear in the movies anymore: he got too old. It's just fun watching crazy skiers careen down absurdly steep slopes. Oh, I should mention that Liz didn't actually come to this one ... she just joined us for pre-movie dinner.
June
We had solar panels installed on the roof of our new house! We are now officially "green". This was a brilliant idea of Liz's and has worked out really well. We are making money and saving the environment at the same time.
Had a "Cruise Reunion" at Apollo Bay, where almost all of the group who did the cruise in January (there were eight of us, did I not mention that?) got together again to reminisce and eat Mexican food and drink Margaritas - ole! On the subject of drinking, we also headed into wine country for the "Winter Wine Fest".
July
Ski season! We had two weekends in the snow this month, one at Mt Hotham and the other at Falls Creek. Also, to round out the month, we went to see "Anything Goes" (a Cole Porter musical) and had a fondue night at our new house.
August
We decided to become certified divers this year, so in August we did a PADI Open Water Diver course. We are both now qualified to dive to a depth of 18m :-). Also went to see a musical tribute to Eva Cassidy which was very well done we thought. Claire Bowditch was the singer who told us the story of Eva and sang her songs.
September
My friends Teresa and Chris came to visit from the US for a few weeks. This is something that was in planning for a while, and it finally happened! While they were here, a group of us chartered a yacht in the Whitsundays and went sailing for 8 days. On the yacht, apart from the four of us, we also had our friends Ed, Jeanma and Catherine. Jeanma is a French chef, so we ate extremely well -- so much so that some people are now refusing to go on another holiday that doesn't include a French chef!
October
Attended the "Marengo" footy tipping end-of-season luncheon with our friends Susan, Bernie and Doc. Did much better in the footy tipping this year, and so made some money on the bets - yay! Oh, for those of you not in Australia, you probably don't know what footy tipping is. Basically, everyone tries to predict which team will win each football game (of which there are about 7-8 games each weekend). Prizes for the most correct guesses!
Also in October we went to see a musical production of "Beauty and the Beast" with our friends Denis and Jan (Denis was the skipper of Serenity III, the yacht we used to sail on). And for something different, went to see a Roller Derby match with another friend, Brendan. Brendan is quite into the scene, but we couldn't convince him to dress up like the roller derby girls for some reason.
November
Lots on this month. We did the Eastlink Ride, which is a 75 km ride on the Eastlink Tollway (which they kick the cars off for the day). Liz and Amy did the 35km option, and Tim and I went all the way (as they say), which considering I hadn't done much training at all I was quite pleased to have achieved.
We also went to visit our friends Sheree and Derek up in Brisbane. Derek has bought a catamaran and so we cruised with them on that for a few days. Oh, that's all detailed in a previous post on this blog so you can read that for more info.
In other November events, we went to see comedian Alan Davies, went to our friends Rick and Sue's housewarming in Bendigo (yes, they had to keep up with us and buy a new house too - sheesh!!), and saw Stevie Nicks perform at Mornington Racecourse.
December
A month of Xmas parties and trying to get ready for Xmas! Highlights of that were Christmas drinks at Susan and Bernie's, and the annual Christmas BBQ at Gaby's. We also spent a weekend up in Sydney where we explored Sydney Harbour by ferry (including one unscheduled voyage due to jumping in haste onto the wrong ferry - d'oh!) and wandered the streets of the city soaking up the Sydney "vibe".
Dinner at Mamasita! Okay, it turns out this is like the Mexican equivalent of Ocha. Or at least that's how I'm categorising it for now. This is completely different from your usual "Tex Mex" offering. Afficionados of "Taco Bill" or "Chevy's" would barely recognise this as Mexican food, but it is probably more Mexican than anything else you will get outside of Mexico, and was really yummy!!
Oh, and also in December, Christmas! And with that, a very Merry Christmas to everyone, and a Happy New Year too ... see you in 2012!!!!
-- Dave and Liz
December 2010 After more than a year of searching, we finally found a house to buy and we moved into it in December. Some people commented that we now had a "grown-up house". In any case, we are now living in Malvern in our new house and loving it!
January
We went on a cruise ship! We've never done that before, and we were rather surprised at how much we enjoyed it. The ship was the ms Statendam, and it was a two week cruise starting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and ending in San Diego, California via the Panama Canal. On the way we stopped at a number of places, including Aruba, Costa Rica, Huatulco, Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas.
After the cruise, we flew down to Queenstown, New Zealand, where we met up with our friend Karen and her son Odin. We walked the Milford Track, which is a four-day hike covering about 60 kms or so through some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. They said to be prepared for cold, wet weather, and boy did it rain! We thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but we are glad that we opted for the comparitively luxurious "guided" option rather than roughing it with the "free-walkers" in their much more basic huts. At least we had hot showers each night and drying rooms for our gear (not to mention cooked dinners and breakfasts).
February
Did a "Sail Training: Boat Speed" course at RYCV. This was a course instructed by Mark Tonner-Joyce who is a renowned small-boat instructor. It was a great opportunity to refine our sailing skills and get some new tips on making the boat go faster. The unscheduled "dip" taken by Liz when she fell out of the boat was not quite in the glossy brochure, but it did make for great stories later!
March
Tour of a select few of the Yara Valley wineries with CoMLife (the social club from Liz's work). Included four wineries with much drinking and a yummy lunch too.
April
Ski Planning Meeting at the Geebung Polo Club. Okay, to let you in on a little secret, there's not a lot of planning goes on at these things -- it's mostly just an excuse to get together and drink -- but hey, there's no polo played at the Geebung Polo Club either, so it's not just us living a lie ;-)
May
Dinner at Ocha! For those not based in Melbourne, you wouldn't know about this fine example of Japanese cuisine done in a very modern way. They expanded to a new and bigger location but it didn't reduce the wait time for a reservation. You need to book at least two months out to get a table.
Also went to see the latest Warren Miller movie. Those who are ski fanatics should know who he is; those who don't ski probably don't care who he is. Doesn't really matter anyway, as he doesn't even appear in the movies anymore: he got too old. It's just fun watching crazy skiers careen down absurdly steep slopes. Oh, I should mention that Liz didn't actually come to this one ... she just joined us for pre-movie dinner.
June
We had solar panels installed on the roof of our new house! We are now officially "green". This was a brilliant idea of Liz's and has worked out really well. We are making money and saving the environment at the same time.
Had a "Cruise Reunion" at Apollo Bay, where almost all of the group who did the cruise in January (there were eight of us, did I not mention that?) got together again to reminisce and eat Mexican food and drink Margaritas - ole! On the subject of drinking, we also headed into wine country for the "Winter Wine Fest".
July
Ski season! We had two weekends in the snow this month, one at Mt Hotham and the other at Falls Creek. Also, to round out the month, we went to see "Anything Goes" (a Cole Porter musical) and had a fondue night at our new house.
August
We decided to become certified divers this year, so in August we did a PADI Open Water Diver course. We are both now qualified to dive to a depth of 18m :-). Also went to see a musical tribute to Eva Cassidy which was very well done we thought. Claire Bowditch was the singer who told us the story of Eva and sang her songs.
September
My friends Teresa and Chris came to visit from the US for a few weeks. This is something that was in planning for a while, and it finally happened! While they were here, a group of us chartered a yacht in the Whitsundays and went sailing for 8 days. On the yacht, apart from the four of us, we also had our friends Ed, Jeanma and Catherine. Jeanma is a French chef, so we ate extremely well -- so much so that some people are now refusing to go on another holiday that doesn't include a French chef!
October
Attended the "Marengo" footy tipping end-of-season luncheon with our friends Susan, Bernie and Doc. Did much better in the footy tipping this year, and so made some money on the bets - yay! Oh, for those of you not in Australia, you probably don't know what footy tipping is. Basically, everyone tries to predict which team will win each football game (of which there are about 7-8 games each weekend). Prizes for the most correct guesses!
Also in October we went to see a musical production of "Beauty and the Beast" with our friends Denis and Jan (Denis was the skipper of Serenity III, the yacht we used to sail on). And for something different, went to see a Roller Derby match with another friend, Brendan. Brendan is quite into the scene, but we couldn't convince him to dress up like the roller derby girls for some reason.
November
Lots on this month. We did the Eastlink Ride, which is a 75 km ride on the Eastlink Tollway (which they kick the cars off for the day). Liz and Amy did the 35km option, and Tim and I went all the way (as they say), which considering I hadn't done much training at all I was quite pleased to have achieved.
We also went to visit our friends Sheree and Derek up in Brisbane. Derek has bought a catamaran and so we cruised with them on that for a few days. Oh, that's all detailed in a previous post on this blog so you can read that for more info.
In other November events, we went to see comedian Alan Davies, went to our friends Rick and Sue's housewarming in Bendigo (yes, they had to keep up with us and buy a new house too - sheesh!!), and saw Stevie Nicks perform at Mornington Racecourse.
December
A month of Xmas parties and trying to get ready for Xmas! Highlights of that were Christmas drinks at Susan and Bernie's, and the annual Christmas BBQ at Gaby's. We also spent a weekend up in Sydney where we explored Sydney Harbour by ferry (including one unscheduled voyage due to jumping in haste onto the wrong ferry - d'oh!) and wandered the streets of the city soaking up the Sydney "vibe".
Dinner at Mamasita! Okay, it turns out this is like the Mexican equivalent of Ocha. Or at least that's how I'm categorising it for now. This is completely different from your usual "Tex Mex" offering. Afficionados of "Taco Bill" or "Chevy's" would barely recognise this as Mexican food, but it is probably more Mexican than anything else you will get outside of Mexico, and was really yummy!!
Oh, and also in December, Christmas! And with that, a very Merry Christmas to everyone, and a Happy New Year too ... see you in 2012!!!!
-- Dave and Liz
Monday, 28 November 2011
Sailing in Moreton Bay
We've been sailing! Our friends Derek and Sheree have a yacht up in Brisbane, and they invited us up to go sailing with them. Their yacht is a Seawind 1160 Catamaran. We spent four days sailing around Moreton Bay.
Day 1
We left Manly Boat Harbour and headed towards the Sand Hills on Moreton Island. We decided to hoist the spinnaker as a trial and it made us go with such pace that we got there and found that it was only early afternoon. We therefore decided to continue north to Tangalooma where there is a resort and some wrecks which make for great snorkelling. After snorkelling around the wrecks for while, we anchored off the beach and put a lamb roast on before heading ashore in the dinghy. They have a dolphin feeding activity at the resort and we lined up on the wharf along with many others to watch the dolphins being fed by the tourists. We decided that the dolphins were the more intelligent of the two species on display in the water, as both were lining up but it was the dolphins that were getting some fish out of the deal whereas the humans walked away with nothing. Hmmm...
Day 2
We ventured ashore again and took a walk around the resort. We just missed the breakfast sitting, but decided that we could create something better on the boat anyway. We did pick up some essential cocktail-making supplies ashore, then headed back to the boat and cooked up a feast of bacon, eggs, tomato, zucchini and eggplant on the BBQ, with toast. We then set sail for the Sand Hills where we anchored for the night. But first, a hike to the top of the "Big Sand Hill" and then a rather more rapid descent back to the bottom. We really needed a skim board or similar to take full advantage of the slope though. Perhaps an old pair of skis or a snowboard would have worked well? Then BBQ salmon for dinner -- yum!
Day 3
Heading south, we had a good sail down to Peel Island, with some more experimenting with the spinnaker getting us up to around 9 knots of boat speed with the nor-easterly behind us. After lunch and some snorkeling and then a walk on the beach, we decided we may as well stay there for the night (along with around 40 other boats that had the same idea).
Day 4
We awoke to the realisation that we would have to go home today. Not to be discouraged, we had a hearty breakfast of poached eggs on a vegetable stack and then headed further south to Blakesley, where we attempted to make up some new ball games to play in the water. Then it was time to head back home, and we were delighted to find that the wind had gone round to the north-east and so we were able to sail all the way home (cooking some steaks on the barbie en route).
All in all, a wonderful trip. Here's a video of us under sail on day 3:
Thanks so much to Sheree and Derek for their hospitality!
Day 1
We left Manly Boat Harbour and headed towards the Sand Hills on Moreton Island. We decided to hoist the spinnaker as a trial and it made us go with such pace that we got there and found that it was only early afternoon. We therefore decided to continue north to Tangalooma where there is a resort and some wrecks which make for great snorkelling. After snorkelling around the wrecks for while, we anchored off the beach and put a lamb roast on before heading ashore in the dinghy. They have a dolphin feeding activity at the resort and we lined up on the wharf along with many others to watch the dolphins being fed by the tourists. We decided that the dolphins were the more intelligent of the two species on display in the water, as both were lining up but it was the dolphins that were getting some fish out of the deal whereas the humans walked away with nothing. Hmmm...
Day 2
We ventured ashore again and took a walk around the resort. We just missed the breakfast sitting, but decided that we could create something better on the boat anyway. We did pick up some essential cocktail-making supplies ashore, then headed back to the boat and cooked up a feast of bacon, eggs, tomato, zucchini and eggplant on the BBQ, with toast. We then set sail for the Sand Hills where we anchored for the night. But first, a hike to the top of the "Big Sand Hill" and then a rather more rapid descent back to the bottom. We really needed a skim board or similar to take full advantage of the slope though. Perhaps an old pair of skis or a snowboard would have worked well? Then BBQ salmon for dinner -- yum!
Day 3
Heading south, we had a good sail down to Peel Island, with some more experimenting with the spinnaker getting us up to around 9 knots of boat speed with the nor-easterly behind us. After lunch and some snorkeling and then a walk on the beach, we decided we may as well stay there for the night (along with around 40 other boats that had the same idea).
Day 4
We awoke to the realisation that we would have to go home today. Not to be discouraged, we had a hearty breakfast of poached eggs on a vegetable stack and then headed further south to Blakesley, where we attempted to make up some new ball games to play in the water. Then it was time to head back home, and we were delighted to find that the wind had gone round to the north-east and so we were able to sail all the way home (cooking some steaks on the barbie en route).
All in all, a wonderful trip. Here's a video of us under sail on day 3:
Thanks so much to Sheree and Derek for their hospitality!
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Solar System Online
The rooftop solar generation system at Dave and Liz's place is now online and posting data to the Internet. Our generation for today is in the graph on the right hand side of this page. You can click on it to get more details.
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