Ashes in the bag

Today was day 2 of the Melbourne Ashes test and the Aussies are looking dead & buried barring some kind of miracle. The Boxing Day test is a major Melbourne event and 86,000 turned up yesterday to witness one of the best English sporting performances ever - finishing Australia off for only 98 runs and then going on to notch up 157-0 themselves...... The Barmy Army had a whale of a day. Myself, Anthony, Trevor & Debbie watched in amazment as the day unfolded .... then I got offered a ticket in a corporate box for today.  Fantastic couple of days ! See the pictures here.

Santa here at last !

Well, the boys have been besides themselves waiting for Christmas this year and its finally arrived..... once again, Santa has been good with a vast array of toys delivered. Ethan got a new bike, Aidan his playmobile dragons and both got remote control helicopters (which Daddy is enjoying the most!). Anthony has been over to help with the various lego monster build sessions not to mention a few goes of the helicopters himself and Trevor and Deb popped in as they're in Melbourne for the start of the 4th Ashes test tomorrow.   A few of the pics from today are here.  Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas !!!

A new Hawkins arrival !

Just two days short of Christmas (and ending up being named Noel).... baby William Macmillan Hawkins arrived on the scene safely to Sarah and Neil. Another boy joins the ranks of the Hawkins offspring !   Congratulations, Neil & Sarah - a perfect Christmas pressie and certainly a unique one.  All the best from the gang down under and we hope to see little Billy soon !

Santa Baby

For the first time in living memory getting to see Santa was actually quite easy this year.  Getting to David Jones (department store) wasn't too bad and the queue was small. The boys were both mega keen to see the old man so easily rattled of their list for him (obviously that took quite some time to reel of the list of 'demands' !!).  As you can see,no fears this time around. Probably the last year before the non-believers get to Ethan :-(

Pool Time

Well as you can see, December has started to warm up nicely and the pool is in regular use by the boys. It looks like the UK is enjoying similar tropical weather for the build up to Christmas ;-).  Hope that's going well for those in Blighty !   The Ashes has started well for England and long may it continue - makes for great fun in the neighbourhood and at work ;-)
Pics of the day in the pool are here.

Back to the birds

Joannes final day and we had a very hot day to see her off. To head somewhere cool we went up to the Dandenong ranges and our usual haunt for UK visitors. Bird seed in hand we went and fed the cockatoos and parrots that live wild in the forest. The best bit was one of the cockatoos taking a liking of Joannes bag of food, flying straight for her and then eating the contents in the nearest tree holding onto it with its claw. Got some good shots of it here.  Have a good trip back Joanne !  Hope the weather in Blighty is just as good ;-)

Mornington & Melbourne

As the weather has been hotting up (32 degrees so far) we took Joanne out to do a couple of day trips, one to Mornington (seaside) and another into the city for the first time. In the city we covered off the riverside, Fed Square, Victoria Market and the Block Arcade which are a few of the touristy type areas. The girls have also managed to squeeze in another night out on the town (this time in Melbourne) on a warm spring night. Headaches were once again the norm the next day !  Here are a few pictures from the two days.

Balarat for Jo's Koala & Kanga's

Today Maxine, Joanne & the kids went to Balarat wildlife park to see all the 'aussie' animals, the usual suspects .... crocs, kangas, echidnas, wombats & koalas. The kids loved being back there and were a bit braver with the animals (well Ethan was anyway). Another thing ticked off the Aussie experience for Joanne. See the day's pictures here.

Max & Jo hit Sydney

Maxine's mate Joanne is over escaping from the winter of the UK and on their first weekend headed to Sydney for some R&R.  This apparently equated to a bit of sightseeing and a lot of drinking until the wee hours of the morning by the harbour.  Several asprins later and the cycle started again. See the pictures here.

Karting Fun

Ethans friend Taj had a Karting & Laser tag day for his 7th birthday last weekend. Ethan loved the karts, although they were a little under powered for his liking (battery powered not petrol !).  The laser tag went down even better with all the boys there .... the gun thing must get implanted at birth. 

A week in Blighty

Well, I'm sitting in the lounge on my way back to Melbourne now. Its been a frantic week in the UK but a good one. I've spent a few days in Coventry (see the picture of the dump I had to stay in ;-), a few days in Brum, Warwick and then finally a pilgrimage to the homeland to see history in the making and catch up with the 'rellies'. Of course I refer to the 'history' as the seasonal STUFFING that Newcastle Utd dished out to Sunderland (5-1 !).  Not in 50 odd years have we beaten them so badly, so my timing was excellent. I can board the plane with a smile on my face. Bye everyone, the sunshine awaits.

The Rock

This week its another around the world trip back to the UK for me (Martin). I've got a work conference in Birmingham which to some extent is going to be handy as our UK tenant moves out this week too. Anyway, on the way over today, the pilot flew almost directly over Uluru (Ayers Rock). So here is the picture I took from the window.  The rock from 38,000 ft doesn't look quite as large as it does from the ground. More like Ayers Pebble.

First Swim of the year

Yesterday we had our first swim outside (pool got up to 27 degrees).  Summer has arrived !   Looking back at the blog, it's 4 days earlier than last year ..... proof of global warming if any was ever needed. Temps are surprisingly up to 29 degrees in Melbourne today, so the pool should be even warmer for a dip tonight after a hard week at the office ;-)  Where's them beers.........

Ethans fun walk & picnic

Ethan participated in a 'fun walk' around the school playing fields yesterday followed by a picnic with the parents.  The weather gods turned up nicely and we got a beautiful day for the event. Ethan managed 8 laps in an hour, slowed by the plodding pace of his younger brother .... and his talking to fellow 'athletes'. The parents even got roped in for a couple of laps.....  International readers of this blog are more than welcome to put their hands in their pockets and nominate their donations !  All proceeds are going to a new playground / playcentre at school.

Humpbacks to the starboard!

OK, so us land lubbies finally went whale watching ...... on the most violent seas that were possible!  We did well to hold on to our breakfasts (some other passengers were not so lucky).   Byron Bay is right on the northern migration path of humpback whales as they head to warm waters for the mating season.  Coming in as close as 500m from shore, you can actually see them from the beach - but its much better to get a closer view from the sea. It was amazing to be so close and see the mothers & calfs swimming on by and popping up to take a look at us. I won't lie & say this is my picture (the boat was rocking too much for that!) .... but you get the drift.  The real pictures from the boat & all the rest of the holiday pics here.

Byron Bay

This is the second week of school holidays in Victoria so we've flown up to Byron Bay on holiday for a week. Byron is Australia's most easterly point (about 500 miles north of Sydney) and is a surfing hot spot in Australia (not that we're partaking). It also is a major whale watching location, so we plan on doing that while here..... the weather forcast is good for the first couple of days buy could be turning a bit 'tropical' later in the week (i.e. its going to rain...).

Chicago airport drama

So this time the airplane drama occured with me sitting in my seat at the gate. Just before I boarded to return from Chicago, a fuel tanker driver decided it would be a giggle to turn a corner a bit too quick. Next thing you know, the said tanker is upside down on it's roof with kerosene merrily spilling onto the Tarmac of the taxi area. So, guess where my plane was? Yep, thats right..... Immediately behind the tanker. So after sitting there 30 minutes, it wasn't looking good for making the only connecting flight to Melbourne from L.A. Next minute I bailed for the next flight on the other side of the terminal. The gamble paid off and I made the connection (minus my bags). So I finally made it back to Mel after yet more airline related dramas!

That's a tall building

On a balmy Autumn evening we went out into Chicago after finishing work early. This picture from my iPhone (quite impressed with the quality) is of the 100 storey Hancock building in downtown Chicago from way down below. Its a nice area in that end of town - upscale shopping, bars & resturants - very like 5th Avenue in New York. The skyline in Chicago is littered with tall buildings but this is one of them that stands out somewhat - even though it's only the 4th largest building in Chicago !!  We had dinner at 'Tavern on Rush' which is just around the corner .... excellent place, then off to a Jazz & Blues bar to round the night off.   Now that's what I call work ;-)

This week ....... Chicago

This seems like my new mode of transport at the moment..... not bad I suppose, but I can't quite claim it as mine. Qantas has now delivered me safely to Chicago after a mammoth 18 hr flight.  I'll be spending the week acquainting myself with my new team at the corporate HQ before heading back. Will try to squeeze in some nights out (in between the hard work of course) and hopefully some pictures of downtown Chicago - which I've been thorugh, but never stopped in.  Should be a bit of fun.

Citizens Vote

As new Citizens of Australia we had the right to vote this general election. Now normally, I have to say the Hawkins family in Australia are not a very active political household.  However, in Australia, unlike the UK, voting is compulsary - so the party lines were drawn. Since we can't usually agree on anything, the divided political household went to the booths with different bits of paper. After a very long drawn out election in Australia (it was a stalemate) - Australia has finally settled on a government.  The Labour woman from the Valleys (she was born in Wales) got back in by the skin of her teeth - and a few independent candidates. So the male side of the household won out.....

GeekNerd 4.0

Today was a wonderful day. My Blackberry was cast into oblivion as a new found & much anticipated gadget entered my corporate jacket pocket!   Yes, thats right, a shiny new iPhone 4 is now my weapon of choice in the world of IT..... and yes, it is a beautiful thing!   Now, to spend the next few days playing .....err, I mean using my new corporate tool for maximum efficiency as an employee.  Whooo hoo.

Titanic

Today we've been to the much hyped Titanic Exhibit at the Melbourne Museum. It has been sold out on the internet at weekends for weeks so we turned up early to buy tickets on the day. The exhibit is, as you would expect showing various relics recovered from the ship but they've also recreated stories and life size mock ups of cabins and the famous stairwell. Unfortunately you weren't allowed a camera inside (so they could fleece you for $25 by having a photographer on tap obviously!) - so we don't have any internal pics. The rest of the pictures of today & the museum though are here.

Loperamide Hydrochloride 2mg

(AKA Immodium, Diacalm etc etc) That's the stuff you need after visiting a traditional food restaurant in Manila apparently....  The last day of the trip included a bout of Gastro for about 5 people, me being one of them !  Perhaps the prawns, pork or beef was to blame - who knows.   Anyway, after that sour note to an interesting trip, I'm now back with the family in Melbourne.

Thriller in Manila

This week work has taken me to Manila in the Philippines. Population 20 million - man it is packed. This time it is in happier circumstances as the last time I was in Manlia there was a car sized hole in the 747 we were all in !!  I'm over here for 5 days as we form a new IS organisation in Asia Pacific and its a great opportunity to see another part of the world.  As it's in the tropics, the weather is hot and sticky but you move from one air-conditioned place to the next. As part of Kraft's community efforts, today we took some time out to work in a local school which is managed by 'Save the Children' and other NPOs.  It has 4000 kids there who attend in 2 'shifts' for 4 hours each in class sizes of 50! To say it was an eye opener was understatement of the year.  We broke off into small groups to help out in classes and we helped serve food to the kids who get a meal there each day (mainly to get them to attend). My class was for 7 year olds (Grade 1s) which happens to be Ethan's age.  Hearing some of the background stories and the prospects for these fantasic kids was heart wrenching.  It was one of the best work experiences I've had and stopped to make me think how lucky we are..... the irony of returning to the 5 star Shangri-La hotel wasn't lost on me.

Ethan's first live match

Our adopted AFL team were playing at the Etihad Stadium today and Ethan has been mad keen on going to a game since he turned 7 and I promised him he could go. So along with Uncle "Anfany", off we went on a cool winter's day to watch St.Kilda (Saints) vs Port Adelaide.  The Saints ran out very easy winners 151 to 57 so Ethan watched his first ever Aussie Rules game as a winning supporter (something which would have been unlikely supporting NUFC I may add !). All the pictures from the day are here.

View from above

View Large Map

Our house from above - zoom in and out on the buttons above, one day you'll probably find Maxine on the sun lounger.

Just found this cool application ( http://www.nearmap.com/ ) a bit like Google maps only the images are updated every month.  Would have been great to have discovered this as we were building the pool !  Only works for Australia as far as I can tell.

Snakes Alive!

Ethan had his 7th Birthday party at home today and we had a 'Reptile Encounter Party' with various assorted creatures for the 7 year old creatures to get up close & personal to. Ethan loved it and had giant stick insects, lizards and snakes crawling all over him. Aidan was not so sure though - he wasn't having any of them sitting on him!  We even got in on the action including a "baby" 4 metre long constrictor around our necks. All good fun. Check out some of the pictures here - especially the excellent cake Maxine made!

A mad few weeks

The last few weeks since the previous post have certainly been stressful - its hard to know where to start. Firstly Ethan turned 7 and we / he had a good day doing the usual frantic opening & playing with his toys. However, in the same week, grandma Hawkins passed away after battling with cancer. We got to spend some time at the hospital back in June which was good but was also difficult to see somone who used to be so fit looking so poorly. Work also took on a new twist (post several internal interviews) in the same week and I was asked to go and meet my new team in the UK - with 6 hours notice. So back on the plane to the UK again 7 days after having left, I spent the week in Uxbridge and a flying visit to Newcastle for grandma's funeral. Back in Aus *I think* 5 days later and I'm not quite sure where my head is at......

What do you do with 50 lemons ?

OK, we're back safe and sound without any incident. Nothing to report other than fatigue and finally getting a shower.  As its mid-winter and the citrus trees are in full fruit mode - as you can see from the picture of my orange tree. So here's the issue - what can you possibly do with 50 lemons. Answers and recipes to the usual e-mail address!  Given there are likely to be 200-300 on the tree next year, they will come in handy. A few pictures of the trees taken today are here.

The Farewell Blog

Well, our time in Blighty is nearly up as we leave for Australia tomorrow. Weather wise its been incredible - it's only rained 1 day in 3 weeks !!   Hosepipe bans are starting up and there's 2 months of English summer to go. Starting to sound like Melbourne..... The trip this time has included everything from Golf with the boys to trips around Northumberland (happily we avoided Rothbury !). Some of the pictures from the trip are here.

Ethan's English Birthday

Ethan is usually a bit like the Queen - only by the fact that he has 2 birthdays. His real birthday is 14th July, but while in England always has another one at his Grandma's, including all the present unwrapping etc etc.  Here are some pictures from his 'unofficial' birthday at the weekend with a fair chunk of the Tosney side assembled...... thanks everyone for coming over !!  (Carol - the chocolate cake was lovely !)

The Travel Blog

The long haul is over and we've arrived on the frozen summer shores of Blighty once again. As you may suspect from the picture, those damn celebrities have been stalking us again. You just can't get away from them.   This time, my old mate Piers Morgan insisted on sitting next to us on the front row of the plane up to Newcastle.  We had a good chat on topics ranging from Danni Minogue to Englands dismal showing in the World Cup, the latter point prompting him to pick up his laptop and write up his article for the Mail on Sunday tomorrow. Well either that or he didn't want to talk to us any more.  Anyone who's on speaking terms with our other Geordie celebrity mates (Ant 'n' Dec, Alan Shearer) - is OK with us.

Pool house kitchen done

No self respecting Aussie (bloke) cooks in the house - so the outside developments are now finished to world class bbq levels !!  As you can see from the pictures here, our outdoor kitchen is complete with all mod cons, importantly, including the other Aussie stape, the beer fridge. For anyone planning a visit - expect to do plenty of time in this area.

The New Australians

Meet some of the newest Australian's .......... a.k.a. The Hawkins Family.  Yes, today we pledged ourselves to this wonderful adopted country of ours and became Citizens and now hold dual nationality.
When we first arrived, 200 blogs ago and getting on for 5 years, we never suspected it would end up with Citizenship but happily it has.  It was always important though to get citizenship for the kids, especially Aidan, as he was born here. Now they have both Australia & Europe to freely explore as they get older which is a nice thing to have.
So 'Gidday' to all of you from the real Aussies..... perhaps I need to rename the blog now.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you today Mam, strange co-incidence it happened on your Birthday!

See more of today's pictures here.

Cardinia Water Picnic

Sunday saw us all head to Cardinia Reservoir as winter approaches (see pic ;-).   Brrrrrrrrr.

The reservoir is only a few miles from our place and is an easy option for a walk with the kids. It also has wild Kanagroo's around and about and we managed to spot a few lying in the sun. This time we took the bikes as we're trying to get Aidan onto his bigger bike.  The reservoir wall is about 2 Kms long and has amazing views across the valley and water. Its only about 25% full at the moment due to the long drought so its not quite the view it should be, but not bad.

Aidan's legs were 'killing him' by the time we headed back but he managed to demolish the picnic with Ethan with ease.  Here are a few pics of the day.

The birds

After another set of swimming lessons and the now obligatory Aussie Rules training on a Saturday, we headed off to the Dandenong hills to feed the cockatoos & parrots. Even after almost 5 years of being here it's still amazing that these types of birds are part of the normal wildlife here, we even see them around our back garden trees all the time.  Anyway, Aidan was a bit scarred of the Cockatoos, not surprising given they're almost as big as him - but Ethan waded in with the seed to hand feed them.  After that we went for a short stroll in the giant gum forest before heading back home. You can see at the pictures here.

Mothers Day at Kurll Park

Last weekend we slogged up the hill from our house (Maxine and I had to walk off the full Aussie breakfast I'd cooked for Mothers Day). Few brownie points in the bag there I recon. The top of the hill is Kurll Park with great views all around and as far away as the city (roughly 40 kms away). The last days of Autumn here have been fantastic, really mild weather perfect for taking the kids around & about. Here are a few pictures of the kids & some of the views from up there.

May is proving to be an expensive month nowadays. With Mothers Day in Australia falling in May, that now means I've got to contend with three (count 'em) lots of presents for Maxine. Ouch. Mothers Day, her Birthday and then our Anniversary. Hows that for bad planning.

Auskick Part Deux !

OK, second week in of Ethan's budding Aussie Rules career and already he's playing with the stars. The club had a player over (Clint Bartram) from Melbourne Football Club (Demons) to come and give the kids some advice, the pre-game pep talk & a Q&A session. Ethan got his AFL ball signed and here he is in the picture teeing himself up for a hi-5. Ethan (nor I) had the feintest idea who he was but I'm sure it meant plenty to some people! Here are some more pictures of Ethan in action from today.

Auskick

Today, May 1st 2010, was a momentous day in my eldest boy's Aussie life as he attended his first "Auskick". Auskick is a national footie programme to get kids into Aussie Rules Football and is basically almost like national service - you just have to do it. As proud parents we watched as Ethan ran around with all of the other kids trying to sus out a game which is a bit more complex than Football (Soccer). This now joins his swimming lessons and tennis lessons in an attempt to make an athlete of him yet !! There are a few more pictures here.

Four

It's been a good week so far at Chez Hawkins. Firstly, Easter, 2 days off, chocolate etc etc. Second, Newcastle Utd get promoted to the Premiership with 6 games remaining of the season. Thirdly, if you're a little boy named Aidan - today is your birthday. Now thats not a bad run of events (even if he wasn't too concerned when I told him of the second miracle).

So yes, once again, today has been a haze of Ice Cream, Chocolate & Lego. Not necessariliy in that order - but close.

Melbourne Grand Prix

Finally made it to the Melbourne GP after being here almost 5 years ! Me and the little un (Anthony) headed to Albert Park this afternoon to get our eardrums blasted and watch a rain shower affected race. The shower made for interesting watching as the teams struggled in the early stages and a couple of crashes thrown in for good measure. Happily for the brits watching, Jenson Button managed to stay safe and eek out the win. Lewis Hamilton took a hit in the final lap from Mark Webber so the local boy had a bit of a mare, making plenty of news over here in the process. A few more pics are here.

A day at the museum

On Sunday we all took a trip to the Melbourne Museum as Aidan was desperate to see some Dinosaur bones for some reason (he's re-found his love of dinosaurs recently). It made for a good day out as it's been a while since we've been down there and the kids love it. Here's some pics from the day.

Rough Coral (Sea)

With Cyclone Ului hovering it was never going to be a smooth trip was it ! Yes, we're fresh back 'me hearties, from several days at sea. Maxine has now returned from a nice shade of green to her usual pink. To say the first few days at sea were rough is an understatement... however, as you'll see from the pics here, it was great when we got to dry land and the tropical islands of Lifou in New Caledonia & then on to Efate in Vanuatu. We had to miss the first port of Noumea as we were 7 hours behind schedule due to the rough seas. Facing a 2.5 day trip across choppy seas back to Brisbane ... and Maxines head down the toilet, we opted to fly back to Brisbane & spend 3 stable nights on dry land again. It proved to be a wise choice as Ului headed for the northern Queensland coast and we're pretty sure it wouldn't have been plain sailing back ! Brisbane is a great city to just relax in, so we just ate (& drank) very well in some nice resturants & squeezed in a trip to the XXXX brewery for a bit of culture & beer!

Cruizin' the South Pacific

Well the folks arrived at the weekend and brought with them the rain from the UK. On the day they arrived one of the worst hail / rain storms ever to hit Melbourne struck !! Read here. I kid you not, the Hawkins seniors are a climatic disaster zone. Anyhoo, the sun is back shining again and on a happier note (for me and Maxine) we're about to abandon them with the kids again and head off to the Melanesian islands in the South Pacific on a 7 day cruise !! We head up to Brisbane tomorrow to spend the night there before boarding the ship and heading off to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Tropical Islands here we come !

2 Days left of summer

Since the UK still freezes I thought I'd send some pics of us lounging by the pool on Australia day ;-) .... Officially there are only 2 days left of summer as we move into March. It was still 34 degrees today, so I guess that depends on your view of what Autumn is. Mam & Dad get here in 1 week so I'm sure they can bring some rain from the UK with them for our scorched gardens (they managed it last time).

Choc to Cheese !

Today, the world of Chocolate changed. More specifically, for those on Mars (pardon the pun), Cadbury has been bought by Kraft Foods. So now, the world of cheese, crackers & cookies awaits.... I'll keep you posted of the change when it arrives, as no doubt it will. Lets see if the P45 can find me hiding in Oz !!
And Dad, before you ask, as soon as I can get my hands on some Toblerone & Terry's Chocolate Orange in the staff shop, you'll be the first to know !!

Ethan makes his first movie

Hot Night.....

While the freeze continues in Blighty, the heat has been unreal here. During the night last night, the lowest temperature it got to was 30.6 degrees C. It was 44 during the day. Apparently - that equals the hottest night ever recorded in Melbourne - the last time was 1902. Have a read of this. If this isn't warm enough before global warming really kicks in, God knows what the future holds !!

Just Peachy !

As you can see from these pictures, the peach crop is coming in ! For some reason the peach tree has come on really well very quickly and there are about 50 peaches on it already. Not bad for a 1 year old tree. Despite Aidan's enthusiasm for picking them off the tree, he's not keen on trying them, but Ethan loves them. They're very sweet and juicy so clearly I'm doing something right ..... must be the chicken poo!

New Year Heat

I'm sure those in the freezing northern hemisphere will feel very little sympathy for us here in Melbourne, but we're almost house bound for the opposite reason. It's scorching. Its 39 degrees outside with a hot wind blowing as I type and the air-con is on full blast. Tomorrow is forecast the same and its due to be even hotter on Monday - around 42 degrees then !!

Happy new year to everyone - we're off to hit the pool followed by some ice cream !1