Sydney

To end Mel's Aussie adventure we went to Sydney. We stayed at the Old Sydney Holiday Inn which is on The Rocks - the place that the British first came to Australia. The hotel was in a great position. The view from the rooftop pool was of the Opera House & the Harbour Bridge.

We arrived late on the Tuesday night. On the Wednesday morning we tried to have a dip in the pool but it was so cold that we didn't last very long!

We then headed out to the Botanic Gardens to have breakfast with the flying foxes! Mel didn't realise what the flying foxes were at first as they were awake & flying around even though it was daytime! After breakfast we wandered around to the Opera House where we did a tour. The tour was fantastic. We even got to listen to the Australian Symphony Orchestra practising for a few minutes.

We then headed down to Circular Quay where there were a couple of aboriginal buskers playing on their didgeridoos (an English boy was heard to tell his parents that he thought they were fake!!!). We hopped onto the Manly Ferry which gives one of the best views of the Sydney Harbour. We had lunch in Manly before we headed back to Sydney.

Our next bit of fun was to climb up the pylon at the end of the Harbour Bridge - the large oblong structure at the left hand end of the bridge. In the pylon is an exhibition about the building of the bridge. From the top of the pylon you get fantastic views of the whole of Sydney - definitely another highlight.

We then went out for a drink with Chris & Dave Kettle before we met Neil's (Mel's significant other & fab karaoke DJ) brother Jason for a $10 steak (much better than the $10 pizza the previous night). Paying $10 for your steak seems to mean that you don't get much say in how it's cooked.

The next morning I woke at the crack of dawn, literally, and headed back onto the roof to watch the sunrise over the Opera House. Awesome! Once I managed to get Mel out of bed we headed out to Darling Harbour for brekkie. We then went shopping in Paddy's Markets - just a whole different world - Neil benefited hugely from the trip!

The Sydney Tower was our next stop. It's supposed to give the best views of Sydney (it used to - not since they built the skyscrapers though). Finally we wandered back to the Opera House via the Botanic Gardens. We had lunch beside the Opera House with a great view of the Harbour Bridge - well we just had to have another glass of fizz. With the glorious sunshine & the stunning views there was nowhere better to be with my little sister.

All too soon the trip was over & we headed back to Adelaide. Mel has now gone back to the UK seriously bitten by the travel bug.

Annabelle says thanks for all the great presents that you have sent out for her birthday - you're all very kind.

Time to sign off - wish I had a portkey

Big hugs

Geraldine x

The Riesling Trail

Hey Folks

Just when you thought we had drunk Australia dry we found another source - the Clare Valley! We went to Minataro (top photo) in the Clare Valley for the weekend. Clare Valley produces lots of lovely wine but is famous for its Riesling. Yes, we know - yucky German wine but the Riesling from Clare Valley is nothing like. It's dry & lovely.

So in the spirit of Masson entertainment we took the McKendrick clan and Sally & Graham cycling along the Riesling Trail. The Riesling Trail is a gravel track a bit like the Salt Line in Sandbach.

We got the bikes from Cogwebs in Auburn which is run by a lovely lady called Judy who came from Dorset. Judy didn't have any kids bikes so Mel & Lucy rode a tandem (tee hee). Sadly, I have no photos to prove this .

We didn't realise that the track from Auburn (where we collected the bikes from) to Clare was a gentle uphill which wasn't helped by the headwind!

Eventually we reached Crabtree vineyard. I think that the wine maker in Crabtree was glad to see the back of the 'Dirty Dozen' (bottom photo) after we ate all his cheese, biscuits, breadsticks, olives & drank most of his wine. Gary did buy 2 bottles of Shiraz by way of small recompense but that was all we could carry.

We then got back onto the bikes & continued uphill on to Penna Lane wines where we had a lovely lunch. After lunch & the obligatory wine we went back to the track to take the long downhill back to Auburn. Thank goodness we did the uphill sober!

Today we visited Burra which is an old copper mining town - not much copper left now though. The kids got dressed up in period costumes & put on a little show in Burra Town Hall. It was like they were tots again.

Hope you're all having fun - got to finish this bottle of Crabtree wine before it goes off!!

Missing you all

Love Geraldine x

Gary

Hello Everybody

Just thought you would all like to see Gary on his sabbatical. More importantly you can see the view from our balcony. Unusually he has a pot of coffee - it's normally a bottle of red wine.

Wish you could all share some time on our balcony too.

Love Geraldine x

our trip to kangaroo island

We woke up and got packed and put all our stuff in the car and drove to cape Jervis. At cape Jervis we went to the toilet because Annabelle said that the toilets were all like a wave inside!Then we played cards to make time go faster while we were waiting for the boat. When the boat arrived anty mel drove on because the driver was the only person allowed in the car while they drove on. Then dad wanted to get on two minets until it went!!!When we got to penneshaw we drove to cape willhoby because the Mckendricks suggested it good place to go!Then we drove to our apartment.When we were at our apartment me and dad went to check in and there was a puppy and it was wild! Then we went in the swimming pool it was hot as a hot bath!!!After we went to bed!!!

The next day after a morning swim and breakfast, cooked by Daddy!! we went to Kelly Hill Caves. We had to walk down some really steep steps then we saw lots of staligtites and staligmites they were really weird. It was awesome down there. We werre going to back for the adventure caving but didn't get time. Then we went on to the koala walk we saw 4 koalas in the tree and a kangaroo - daddy thought one koala was drunk because of the way that he was looking at us.

Daddy drove us over some really muddy and dirty roads - he drove really fast through a river to try to get me & Aunty Mel wet but it didn't work.
We found a place out in the country where you could choose your own Marron (fresh water lobster things) and taste some wine. We decided to take mummy there the next day for lunch.

We collected mummy from the airport then we went out for dinner to celebrate Annabelle's birthday.

The next day we went to see the Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch, the Remarkable Rocks were weird . At Admirals Arch we saw loads of seals all resting on the rocks because it was too rough for them to go out into the sea.

The next day it was raining but we still went on to Seal Bay - we walked on the beach with all of the seals - one baby seal was really nosey and came up to us - he was sniffing Annabelle's feet and she didn't even have any socks on - just her flip flops. We couldn't go to Little Sahara because it was raining so much. I'd like to go back to Kangaroo Island so that I can do the sand-surfing

I think Kangaroo Island is funky and I'm really glad that we went to visit.

See you soon

Lucy xxx

Happy Birthday

In the month of August it a very special persons birthday, mine, Annabelle Masson's Birthday to be precise. Each year I have a party, invite most of my friends. But this year I didn't want a party because I couldn't my friends from England. But that all changed when I got told that P!NK, the rockstar, was coming to Adeladie and doing concerts only days away from my birthday. So dad got the tickets for 8 people, me, lucy, him, lucy's friend parya (pa-re-a) and my friends louise, lorna and emily.
They all came after school on Tuesday 4th August, we had mexican and ice cream cake (in the middle of winter) before we left for the concert.
When we got to The Adeladie Entertainment Centre, we went on the Bus that follows P!NK around, IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!
After that we went into the arena we sat down and to our suprise EVERMORE start playing, they joined P!NK on her tour.
When P!NK came out onto the stage she was pulled out from under neath the stage. After a lot of great songs by P!NK (some rude ones as well) and her telling us about being hit on the head and a man talking in the steam room we went home.
And that is what I did for my birthday this year!!!

Adelaide Migrants

Gday Mates

Mel has arrived safely in Adelaide after spending a few days in Singapore. Sounds like she had a great time in Singapore with lots of sightseeing and Singapore Slings in the Long Bar at Raffles.

The day she arrived Linda, Eric, Gary & children took Mel to see the Aussie rules football. The 2 local teams Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power were playing. As for all footy matches, it was cold and wet. Poor Mel was jet lagged but seems to have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I missed the fun cos I was working.

Gary & Mel headed off to the hills on Tuesday for a wine tasting tour. We were going to head off down to McLaren Vale for a cheese & wine tour on Wednesday too but Annie had a relapse & was sent home sick from school within 5 minutes of being dropped off! Annie & Lucy then had a pupil free day on Thursday so they all went to Monarto Zoo. Monarto is a bit like a safari park but you get driven around in a bus.

Last night we had our neighbours Sally, Graham & Lucy over for a fondue. Amazingly, I held it together this time & managed to serve starters, fondue, dessert, do the forfeits and let our guests out of the house before I went to bed. We had a really fun night with lots of good company and good wine (yes more). The biggest challenge in all this was buying a fondue pot!

Today we went to Port Adelaide which was really interesting. We went on a dolphin cruise & saw loads of dolphins. We also went to the seahorse farm where we stroked a shark , saw seahorses and a leafy seadragon (have a look online if you haven't seen one - they are weird!). Then we went to the Maritime Museum where Annie & Lucy discovered that Massons and Blanchs had emigrated to Adelaide in the 19th century. Amazing!

Mel's crashed out - must be too much excitement!!

Hope all is well back home. Thanks Lorna for sending us the photo - I opened your email at work & nearly blubbed. It was lovely to see you all having a drunken time - just sad that we hadn't been with you. Anyway we raise a glass to you all back home. Take care

Lots of love
Geraldine xx