it's raining

WOOHOO

It's raining in Melbourne for the second day in a row!!! I never thought I'd be pleased to see rain!

Apparently rain isn't falling in the water catchment areas, but many bush fires have received a good dousing!

Here's a pic of the rain radar at 5.55pm

off to a good start

How's this for a brilliant start to a New Years resolution!

So far this year we have seen three movies - The Queen, The Pursuit of Happiness, and Clerks II (at the moonlight cinema). It was a bit windy at the moonlight cinema and the screen nearly blew over a couple of times - but it added to the atmosphere :)

We went to the Tenacious D concert last night - which was brilliant, they put on a great show and were very entertaining! It must have been 50 degrees inside the venue and we came out totally covered in sweat! GROSS!

Next weekend we are off down the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell - hopefully we'll do the Princetown to Glenample hike, which is a section of the Great Ocean Walk.

The Queen

Reid and went to see The Queen (the movie).

For both of us the film reminded us of how we felt at the time of Princess Diana's death - for me it was sad, for Reid on the other hand he thought it was all a bit much.

I think this event highlighted that as a society we can still unite and that we do depend on those around us to help shape our thoughts and actions (geez, that's all a bit deep). But really, I think in this instance it was comforting to see that others were struggling to deal with situation of Princes Diana's death.

Whether or not the movie reflects any reality I think it does highlight how the values and morals of our society have changed - perhaps for the worse (maybe if this happened in Queen Vic's time - she would have held firm and garnered more support for her unwavering strength and resolve than for bowing to the whims of the few.

Or maybe it is just a valuable demonstration in the power of the press . . . . .

either way, interesting film, brilliant acting from Helen Mirrim

fresh

West Coast - NZ

Reid and I spent two weeks in NZ over xmas.
I spent the first week travelling down the West Coast of the South Island with Mum and Dad - which was absolutely spectacular - here's a quick summary:

Green as far as the eye can see - green hills, green fields, green rivers (in contrast to Australia which is brown/red as far as the eye can see). For New Zealand, 2006 was the year of rain, flooding, and landslides - this TVNZ news article summarises the year of bad weather in NZ over the past year.

weatherboard homes - esp in lime green



blue and yellow letter boxes - EVERYONE has one!












it was a very quiet trip, with lots of stops to take in the view - here are a few snap shots:


















A few people pics





















A little local humour



















Local tourism promotion



















Local wildlife



















Mt Cook (Aoraki) & Tasman



Sunrise at Fox



Fox Glacier



Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks)



Lake Paringa



The End of the Road - Jackson Bay

resolutions

I would summarise 2006 as the year of telly.

Working part time meant no money to do anything fun so Reid and I stayed home and watched hours and hours of telly. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that, but there is more to life . . . . .

so I have named 2007 the year of activities. My goals are pretty simple - do more stuff and see more of Australia. With any luck we might squeeze in an overseas holiday too - I think my first preference will be Vietnam - but we'll see how we go!

We've booked in a few events so far - a couple of moonlight cinema sessions and the Tenacious D concert. So I guess we're off to a good start (although we have spent today hungover and in front of the telly!!)