FIFTEEN VEHICLES IN 45 YRS

Bought a VW in 1965 with 80,000 miles on it for 265 quid! That was during the latter part of my first year working as a teacher. Had an assortment of vehicles since then. Fifteen vehicles all up. Some of them very memorable ones. No utes. No convertibles. Yet.

NELSON BAY

Logan rode the "big" horse while Owen had to be content to ride the 2nd stringer when they were down at Cudmirrah earlier this month.

Logan enjoys a jump on their trampoline while his Mum does washing duties up the back.

The boys were shorn on 27 October. You can see we got quite a few bucks from the clip.

Our units at Horizons Resort are quite comfy and roomy. Means the kids can play golf in the hall etc. Bill & Brendan have managed to get some golf in while we've used the pool and the barbie.

Looking forward to Peta/Jon and Jeremy/Julia joining us at the end of the week.

No sign of snakes for awhile now.

SYDNEY SPRING CYCLE

Here I am with wife Fay and daughter Deb after we'd done the Sydney Spring Cycle. Deb towed Logan (also in photo) and Owen (unavailable) in the chariot.... ALL THE WAY! We did about 46 km. Free train travel was available to get to the starting point and to get home after we'd made it to the Olympic Site.

Experience the thrill of riding over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, [the advertising went on] pedalling through some of Sydney’s most beautiful scenery, and then celebrating your ride in festive style at Sydney Olympic Park… The City of Sydney Spring Cycle is Sydney’s most popular annual recreational cycling event where thousands of cyclists of all ages and abilities join together to enjoy a Sunday cycle through some of the most picturesque surroundings of the city. You can enjoy a fun bike ride while raising money for MS Australia and the Oncology Children’s Foundation – the event beneficiary charities!

Pretty cool going over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Only allowed to ride on the bridge on occasions like this, otherwise you have to ride on the separate bike "path".

While train travel was free for entrants, the carriages were a bit congested. You can just make out Fay, Deb and Logan.

Hope they found their own bikes when it came time to get off!

These two guys were quite happy to get home at about 1:30 pm. They were initially put into the chariot at 5:30 am!!!! Of course they got a few opportunities to have a romp during the day.

Looks good..... but at the end of the day we averaged a paltry 12+ kph!!

This was one of about 4 possible routes. Congrats to the organizers. Well done indeed.

$85 if you'd like one.

TWO WHEEL INDUSTRIES

If you're not into bikes.... I mean bicycles..... just move on, OK?




In Newcastle there's this really cool bike shop - TWO WHEEL INDUSTRIES - with great bikes, great gear and plenty of professional advice.

It all happened on 1 Feb 2007 when Fay went shopping in Newcastle for a sewing machine. I guess she just hesitated a bit or something.... and we finished up with a lovely BH road bike from TWO WHEEL INDUSTRIES at 679 Hunter Street Newcastle. Marek (that's the owner pictured below) offered me a lovely carbon fibre bike with Ultegra running gear for $3800. Except that he "gave it to me" for $2500. What a gorgeous bike. He measured me up and set the bike up for me. By 3 pm he had it all put together with the necessary pedals, computer, pump etc. All up three grand as I remember.

One of the unfortunate things that happened was that I had problems with the bike computer. I think it was just one of those things. Anyway, Marek has replaced the computer with a new one and even upgraded me to a VDO C3DS. I think it does everything except tell me what television channel the cricket is on!
I have promised Marek I'll be more careful of this wireless computer.

So, thanks Marek and the team at TWO WHEEL INDUSTRIES. Fortunately with my daughter Peta living here in Newcastle I have an excuse to wander up here and of course bring the BH. I come to see Mutley, Jon, Dinah and Kerry (Saddos).

TWO WHEEL INDUSTRIES has heaps of bikes such as ORBEA, CANNONDALE and MONGOOSE plus some I've never even heard of. The BH is actually a Spanish bike and was the preferred choice for one of the teams in this year's Tour de France.

If you like bikes, make your way to Marek's shop here in downtown Newcastle. You will be well looked after.

We're here in Newcastle for a few more days before heading home to the south coast.

NZ - A COOL PLACE

On Fri 28 Aug we headed from Wanaka to Haast. Unfortunately we were not meant to get to Haast (West Coast) that day. There was a rock slide which spread across the road and took at least 2 hours to clear a track through. We decided to head to Queenstown instead.

A very typical view with water, mountains and snow. Very picturesque.

Some of the scrub (our name) was unreal. It's no wonder they made Lord of The Rings there. Bit scarey!

We were not quite game enough to try rafting.... maybe it was out of season.... yes, that's it.... out of season!

We stayed at Wyndham Resort, Wanaka for 4 days. The hot pool (behind the slide) was part of our daily ritual. A lovely resort. We'll be back.

More water, mountains and.... yes, you guessed it... snow!

Looks a bit unreal. Think there are a few sheep in this photo. We sure saw plenty of them.

We were amazed at the Moeraki Boulders. There were heaps of them. They were all just about round. Quite a sight. Thought about bringing one back to Cudmirrah.

OK, we've told you about water, mountains and snow. Now we'll introduce deer and giant hedges! Wouldn't like to be a gardener on the South Island.

We stayed at Christchurch, Wanaka, stunning Lake Tekapo, fascinating Akaroa and then back to Christchurch.

Have you been to the South Island? I know Mick has. Thanks for your suggestions Mate. We'll pop a few more photos on later in the week. Meanwhile, it's great to be home.

RESTING IN NZ

Sorry no pix as yet.

Here on Sth Island for 10 days. Already having a great time but don't expect we'll ski although we are staying at Wanaka which is a ski resort town.... bit like Jindabyne in NSW.

The hedges are unreal as we drove out of Christchurch. HUGE trees planted together and then trimmed.... they become a GIANT HEDGE! Unreal. Toyota Starlet with 106,000 km on it is going well. Certainly quite small and I couldn't see either of my brothers in it!

Moeraki Boulders were impressive. Also impressive was when Fay took a photo of me with some of the boulders.... I had my back to the waves as one rolled in.... oops.... sorry about the runners!!!

Bit cold and wet today. Got on internet and within 5 mins Peta had emailed me some Aussie phone numbers. Others I'd looked up on white pages Aust. Yes, Brendan was right.... shoulda brought mobile phone just because it has list of heaps of phone numbers in it!!

Will be off to Queenstown and Haast over the next couple of days we expect. Then we go to Lake Tekapo for a sleep before heading back to Christchurch.

Not as many older English vehicles as they used to have here in NZ. A few models we don't have.

No more news folks. Hope that damn snake is enjoying the quietness of this period.

Cheers

SNAKES ALIVE!

His job is to keep vermin at bay. It looks like he's helped himself to a blue-feathered friend.

Here you can see the bird in his stomach is making it a bit tricky getting up into the gutter.

I don't think he can get into his usual cubby holes. Hey, we didn't even know he lived here!

So, what sort of snake is he? Besides long and not very hungry at the moment.

Here he was trying to get under a tile without very much success.

My mouse is decidely nervous about our new resident. He wants to sleep in our bedroom tonight.