New week.....

So it's around 10am here in Mornington and for some reason I've got an urge to go for a walk. Not sure where but I need to get some things so probably head up to main street and maybe a chill on the beach as it's a nice day. Well I say it's a nice day but I've not got my lazy bones out of bed yet but I can see sunshine creeping around the window blind so I'm guessing it's a goody.

Since I last blogged I've been up to St Kilda for spot of lunch. St Kilda is known to be the first backpackers stop when they arrive in Melbourne. It's much more of a seaside town than Mornington with an amusement park and pier.





It also has a slightly more cosmopolitan feel to the main street but still it has lots of American influence.





This weekend was the Australian F1 Grand Prix meeting which takes part not far from here and after an airport drop off we had to actually drive right through the area where the racing was taking place and to our surprise there was very little traffic congestion so I'm guessing they really organise the event well. This was about 3 hours before actual race qualifying too so a time when you'd expect the area to be really busy.


Seeing as Melbourne that day was all about cars I thought I might post a picture of the most common type a vehicle that you see here.





OOPs apologies, not the Skyline GTR...that's a picture of the car you'd see here if I lived in St Kilda. I mean't to post this one.....





I actually have this saved on my laptop under the name "RhysBogan" after an Aussie chap I had the honour of playing cricket with last year. I can just see him cruising along the Esplanade (Espy) blasting out tunes with his arm out the window.

After this lunch we travelled back down to Mornington where we had a few drinks and a chinwag with some family friends (not an air guitar in sight). Having been at the same house for the wedding I was again taken aback by it's beauty and mostly....as I would be...by the Kitchen. I could spend hours in there if not cooking then just looking out at this view.





An evening of junk food and unsuccessful but entirely expected cricket followed. I predicted an India vs Sri Lanka final anyway so I'm not overly concerned by England's tired performance....after all it's only one day cricket and not the far superior test match format which of course we are pretty damn good at.

Next day my newly wedded buddy and I were off out to venture upon the high seas in search of netting ourselves a hearty fish supper. I must say it was tremendous fun and I'd do it again in an instant, maybe that's because I actually caught a few fish. Not sure my fruitless fishing partner would agree !!!







Well I thought if your gonna catch fish you've gotta look and think like a fisherman.












Red Snapper, the first of two. The second one was much much bigger......at least an inch longer :-)








This little f%@k3r spiked me in the finger and it bled for ages. I didn't put my blood dripping finger in the the bay though because I thought a shark might get attracted by the smell and drag me in. The fish is called a Flathead by the way.





So for me quite a successful outing and it's a shame we didn't get anything a bit bigger to sling on the BBQ because although these spike riddled creatures of the sea are not all the friendly they certainly make for good eating so I'm told.

Well that's y'all up to date and I suppose I should get myself motivated. I think I'm going to head down to Fishermans beach to collect some shells for the little one then I think a nice spot of lunch is in order...after that who knows ?!?!

Toodlepip xxx

Oz update....

Well excuse me for being a bit lax in the blog department. I've not yet bumped into the guys whom I'm renting my holiday studio off to get an access code for the wifi so I'm having to do what I can whenever I get a connection. At the moment this means walking into the town and using the library wifi which is great because it gets me out and about.

So the first few days here were pretty hot. According to the weather forecast it was only about 22 or 23 degrees but with the depleted ozone above Victoria I alluded to in my last post it felt around 10 degrees higher. I can't imagine how uncomfortable I'd feel if it hits 35 as it often does ?!? Anyway today is much cooler, plenty of cloud in the sky and a nice breeze which mean covering up a bit more but certainly nowhere near getting the gloves out.

The walk down to town from my studio is really rather pleasant. Yesterday I took the beach route which was lovely but such hard work, I never remember quite how difficult and demanding it is walking on sand, especially on a hot day.



I ended up leaving the beach and finishing the rest via the footpath and from there you have this great view across the bay and you can just about see the city skyline of Melbourne. Pretty sure my iPhone camera is not going to pick that up but I assure you it's there somewhere...



I'll get some more pictures of Mornington town later today when I've finished up here and post them up when I can. Once you see some I'm sure you'll see what I mean when I say there is a good deal of American influence.

The walk back to the studio is somewhat different in terms of elevation. I was absolutely knackered when I got back there yesterday...I was sweating like Homer Simpson in a doughnut factory !!!!

One thing I have been doing is eating well. I'm absolutely loving my little BBQ area at the studio, slightly concerned that there might be some meanies in there wanting to have me for dinner though.

I'm not entirely sure it is a BBQ to be honest, it's more like one of those gas fired hot plates that you see in burger vans. I adore it though and I want to get one at home.

A word of warning though to those who like their vices and are considering Australia as a residence or for a holiday it's very expensive for things that are bad for you. A packet of 25 B&H cigarettes is around £14 and you're looking at around £5 or £6 for a beer too. As for other things that of course I'd have no interest in at all being a good boy but I know a few readers might be eager to know these things.......I did overhear somebody suggesting $350 a pop....and that's not Colombian dollars either !!!

Blog off.........

So it's been a while and I've suffered from another attack of lazyblogitis. I've been a bit busier at work in the last few weeks which is fantastic but it's left little time to think of bloggy stuff.

I was asked about my lack of blogging activity last Wednesday by a buddy and only yesterday by central Twyford's most wonderous, charming and welcoming pub landlady (Is that enough sucking up Karen?)

Good food, fine Ales and a warm welcome to all right here at the Duke of Wellington.

So a quick update about what's coming up in my world......

Musicwise I've been a little quiet on the DJ'ing front which has actually been quite welcome. I'm getting far too old to be doing it regularly as even though I love it there are other things in my life that require awareness on weekend mornings and the two never really have gone together all that well.

Saturday just gone I was spinning some tunes..........not playing..........don't you just hate it when DJ's say they are "playing" some tunes? I hardly think sticking on other peoples records and getting paid for it is "playing". Strumming a guitar, tinkling the ivories or bashing some drums is "playing".......sorry off on a tangent there !!! Where was I?........Oh I was spinning some tunes for the folks at my more regular haunt downstairs at Sakura. Was a very good night actually thanks to some rather nice tunes that'll shortly be busted out on the beaches at the Miami winter music conference.

The only other booking I have at the moment is at Bar Mango (the place I call home) in April (or is it May) alongside my DJ hero Brandon Block.....more info to follow on that....

Foodiewise I'm excited and honoured to have been asked to be a judge in this years Reading, Steady, Cook! competition. There are several heats leading up to the semi-finals and final which will be held in Reading town centre on the 4th and 5th of June 2011 as part of the Eat Reading Live programme. I had such fun being a contestant last year and it's just so nice to be part of it again this year and I'll also be doing a demo all of my own on one of the kitchen stages on the finals weekend.

Sportwise the cricket season is gearing up to kick off and net sessions down at my club (Sonning CC) have started. I have a small sub committee role at the club looking after all things related to the pavilion so I still have plenty of projects to get under way there before the season starts and in particular for our confirmed match against the MCC. Once the season gets going why not come along and spend a lazy day watching a match, we have plenty for the kids to do, a stocked bar and every now and then the BBQ gets a blasting.

In the professional game I think that the ICC world cup so far has been tremendous, perhaps a little drawn out with all the associate nations involved but I think it's right that they are there and as Ireland showed against England they can compete with the best now and again and they should be given that chance on the world stage, perhaps that result will encourage cricket Ireland to spend more money developing a team that can soon catch up with the test playing nations, they certainly have the talent there.

Travelwise...............not much going on.........

Oh except for that small 3 week trip to Melbourne I'll be taking in a few days time :-)

I'll be keeping you all up to date on that so don't you worry.

Toodlepip for now :-)

xxx