Aireys Inlet

There is no better way to spend a beautiful sunny day than on the beach. And our favourite is Aireys Inlet on the Great Ocean Road to the west of Melbourne. Before moving to the UK this is the place we escaped to.

We arrived at Anglesea just in time to get fish & chips and head to the beach at Point Roadknight. Curiously we were not harassed by seagulls as we got stuck in to the piping hot flake. James has taken a liking to dim sim so there were plenty of those as well.

We then headed for possibly our favourite beach - the western end of Fairhaven - known as Moggs Creek. In fact, this is where we introduced James to the ocean when he was 1. Although a little windy we had the whole stretch of beach to ourselves. I struggled a little to put up our beach tent (more as a wind break than to shade the sun) whilst James focused his attention on the more important task of making sand castles.

Heading back to Aireys we stopped at a park to have a play. Would you believe - one of his little kinder friends drove up at the same time. Turns out they have a holiday house at Aireys. We are sooo jealous! Being at the foot of the Split Point lighthouse - Aireys most recognisable landmarks - we took the short walk around the point that also takes in Eagle Rock. To finish off, we walked the cliff tops just as the lowering sun fired the beaches below. We certainly missed these days in the UK!

Photos are here.

I have a new job!

OK - so it's been a little while coming. Today I accepted a now job. It's a senior position with a major global Telco company with lots of challenges. I was fortunate to have two offers on the table... but with only one of me I had to decide. One of the factors was the opportunity to travel again should we want to. That being said, we expect to be here for at least a few years.

Tonight we celebrate. Tomorrow I'll try to enjoy the last few days of "down time" in Melbourne's glorious Spring weather. I took a few photos of the garden here. The tulips and daffodils remind me of England. We plan to plant some sunflowers in the next few weeks. They evoke memories of the Bennett's back yard in Fleet - and of course - the Loire in France!

Kinglake National Park

It seems that I will have two job offers on the table come Monday morning. So wanting to make the most of the down time with the family, we decided to head north into Kinglake National Park for a BBQ lunch. The drive took us through the bushland suburb of Eltham and further north into St Andrews as we skirted the Park. Arriving in Kinglake we took sharp right and landed in Jehosaphat Gully. Firing up the (electric) BBQ we soon had our sausages and onions on the go. We kicked around a soccer ball to build our appetite before getting stuck into our lunch. It was soooo relaxing to be out in the bush. The familiar smells of the Gums combining with the warm sun. What's not to like.

After lunch I curled up with the paper. Of course - it was littered with horror stories of the stock market. So we decided to walk the Lavers Circuit. James was facinated by the tree ferns (he though they were large bracken). Merrilyn managed to see a few Lyre birds too!

Photos are here.

Nana Bennett's 96th Birthday

Yesterday the Bennett family joined together to celebrate Nana's 96th Birthday. It was a great opportunity for us in particular to catch up with family that we haven't seen for the last few years. We had a happy time and James enjoyed playing with the other children - Max, Charles and Georgia. There was plenty of food and cake to entertain everyone! We sang happy birthday and had the obligatory family group photo! At the end of the afternoon we were all pooped but Martin, James and I had the pleasure of having Sue and Richard to stay the night with us in our new home.

Photos are here.