Easter in Adelaide

I went to Adelaide for Easter this year. Flew out Friday lunch time with Virgin Blue. Was able to offset my carbon emissions for about $1.50 for the return trip, which sounded suspiciously low.

The flight was great. Nan came to pick me up at the airport in her new Kia. Her Pulsar had been recently stolen, and she bought a Kia Cerato with the insurance payout.

We went back to her place in Parafield Gardens, had a bit of a chat, caut up with my cousin Jamie and Nan's boyfrend Tony. Rod, an old workmate and frend from Wodonga came around for dinner.

On Saturday, I went to see Linda and her boyfrend Okke for lunch at Sushi Train near the Adelaide Central Markets. After lunch, we went shopping. I bought some Lindt dark chocolates and Coopers Extra Dark Stout.

Linda and Okke

We went back to Linda's place in Gilberton (just to the North of North Adelaide), met Okke properly, then discussed past events, relationships, and the meaning of life. :-)

That night, Linda and Okke took me to a frend's party in the East End of Adelaide. Drank too much, stayed up too late! Had a great time! It was revealed that Okke and his mates were card-carrying Adelaide United members, so we arranged to travel to each other's home matches. Apparently they've got a blow-up doll of Kevin Muscat, but I'm sure it's all in good sport... :-/

Beehive Corner, Rundle Mall

On Sunday, we went to see the Egyptian exhibit from the Louvre at the Art Gallery. It was a little bit interesting, but I always find myself wanting to know more than the signs tell. They also used some weird terminology, possibly due to the translation from French, and called the Sun God "Re" rather than the familiar "Ra".

We went back to Linda's place. I saw the first half of the Western Bulldogs getting convincingly beaten (again!), then we went out for dinner to an Indian restaurant on Melbourne Street.

After dinner, we went to see The Host at Palace Cinema. Kinda fortunately for me, it wasn't on. I had been really wanting to see The Lives of Others, and that was on in about 15 minutes, so we did that instead.

The movie turned out to be really good. A bit of a Schindler's List type of movie in that the circumstances are those of oppression and control of a war-like regime, and that it focussed on a small group of peeple to show its effects. The story was great and was made very emotive by the direction and cinematography. I felt really worried and concerned for the characters. The ending was good, and really helped show that it's the peeple of the regime that make up the regime. It was also rather ironic, considering one of the main undertones of the movie was suicide. It lead to some interesting discussions afterwards.

Got back to Nan's place a bit after midnight, and flew out the next morning.

Felt quite sick by the Monday night. Ended up in bed for most of the week with tonsillitis.

(I didn't kiss anyone Katie, honest!) ;-)

Christmas with Grandma

This year we had Christmas in Melbourne at my Aunty's place in Surrey Hills.

We were planning to go to Dinner Plain near Mount Hotham where my family own a chalet, but the bushfires near Harrietville made it too risky. The last major fires in 2003 did some big damage.

Instead, my Mum, Dad and Grandma came over to Melbourne to have Christmas with us. It was the first time I'd seen Grandma in ages. My brother Chris couldn't make it, since he was visiting his girlfrend in Boston.

We had a roast turkey, a few glasses of wine, and ended up watching March of the Penguins, a present Mum gave me. It was actually quite a pleasant and relaxing day.

The next day, we went to the Yarra Valley to go wine tasting. By the time we got there, it was about 2pm, so we were all fairly hungry. We ended up going to Yering Station, which was the first place we found advertising food!

They have a big homestead turned into accommdation and dining. Had to go thru a waiting room to get a table. Once we sat down, the waitress tried to put a serviette on my lap. I looked at her funny as if to say "I am perfectly capable of doing this myself!", then looked a little sheepish and apologised. It'd obviously been far too long since I'd been to a silver service restaurant!

I had a steak with mustard and chips arranged in a box shape. Presentation obviously counts! It didn't taste too bad either. :-)

Mum and Dad at Yering Station

We then spent the rest of the day driving around looking for wine to taste. The main one we went to was De Bortolli, which seems to be quite famous in Melbourne. I was the designated driver (just to be sure!), so I didn't end up trying anything. Entered a TAC designated driver competition. (With my luck lately, you never know!) Dad didn't have any interest for the wine, so ended up trying cheeses. He's become quite a wine snob since taking a more keen interest in the Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley! Instead he found an old Italian style of cheese made from raw (unpasteurised) milk for about $60/kg!

Grandma at De Bortoli

We then came back via Healesville. The trip was quite scenic. Reminded me of driving thru the Victorian alps. It was quite windy. Apparently there's a well-known motorbike run nearby called the Black Spur that a frend Nag told me about.

The next day, we went to the National Gallery, had lunch at a really modest (but delicious) Thai restaurant on Southbank called Jasmine, saw Casino Royale (which was really good), then Mum and Dad went home.