I wanna be a wallaby

Last thursday i was suddenly faced with the realisation that i had absolutely no-one to watch the rugby with on the weekend because everybody was going to the game in Cardiff. So I decided if you cant beat them you might as well join them!

A quick search on ebay, a chance phone call to Dave Macca, and suddenly I had a couple of 9th row tickets, a spot in a car to Cardiff and a mate to watch it with. Good times.

The Millenium stadium in Cardiff is pretty awesome and when 70,000 Welsh fans start singing "bread of heaven" together it sends a shiver down your spine. Just a bit more classy than our Aussie Aussie Aussie! Having said that its even better when they all go quiet because we are wiping them off the field!

Anyway great game but one of the funniest moments was after the game when we all pitchside applauding the wallabies as they did a lap of honour around the field. Suddenly next to us in the crowd is this big guy dressed up in all the wallaby gear, mouthguard, footy boots and everything. He managed to con the security guard that he was a real wallaby and then spent the next 5 mins high fiving the players on the field, before the security realised he wasnt for real and haulled him off.

Very Chaser-esque!
Classic!

Some of the Aussie contingent. Tom, Macca, Dazman, Jo, Mike and Me above and Nick White, Nick and Tara below

The wannabe Wallaby
He's the guy on the far right on the pitch

Last hoorah of summer 07

A destination that's been on our to do list for a while is Sardinia (Italian island south of Corsica) and late August was the perfect time to head there to soak up some much needed vitamin D before the long cold UK winter hits. With a cheeky flight stop in Positano on the Amalfi Coast on the way home, it was a perfect way to finish off the euro summer on a high.

First stop the beautiful Sardinia. Crystal clear water, blue skies and unbelievably fresh Italian food.

Sunset in Alghero

An old fort off La Pelosa beach near Stintino on the far North Coast of Sardinia.

Our secluded pad for 5 days on the East coast of Sardinia. Just 5 mins walk from the beach, awesome views and no one in sight. Noice.

Hanging out on the beach where we discovered that Italians never use suncream, opting for the coconut oil instead. As a result everyone seems to be ridiculously tanned, so much so that even after our two weeks of lying on the beach we still felt albino in comparison! If only we still had the ozone layer left in Australia!

After plenty of time on the beach we also learnt the art of beach tennis (using little wooden racquets and a rubber ball) which Em actually proved to be quite a natural at despite her normal lack of ball skills!

Lots of beaches!

What is it about gelato that somehow you don't feel guilty about eating it all day long as you're in Italy! Here's Em getting stuck into our third gelato stop in one day, and its only 2pm!

Next stop was Positano on the Amalfi Coast on mainland Italy. It was quite a relief to arrive there in one piece after a hair-raising bus journey along the winding road cut into the sheer cliff faces with just a thin rail separating us from 200m drop below. The overturned crashed car we passed on the way didn't do much to ease the nerves either!

Positano is like a bit like Cinque Terra but with a lot more bling. Lots of Italians all dressed up in white, with gold jewellery and aviator ray bans. You'd be quite bitter if you didn't get a room with a view here as the whole town is built into the steep cliffs that jut into the sea.

Our balcony

One downside is that the beach are all black and pebbled, but water is a beautiful aqua blue as a result.

Nice spot for a beer!

We also took a day trip boat tour to Capri.

Stopped for a quick dip in a blue grotto on the way (not "the" blue grotto though, which was closed again!)

Well that's it for the holidays now for a while :(

Grand Cru, Grand Cru

After an absolute cracker of a summer in the UK last year, this year's summer has been woefull! Lots of cloud, rain and too much jumper wearing in the peak of summer. But the beauty of living in london is that you can jump on a ryanair flight for 20 quid and be in the south of France in just 45mins where the sunshine is a bit more reliable!

So it was pretty exciting for us after a pretty dull summer to have 4 of our great mates from Aus coming over to join us for a week and a half of sun and fun in the Dordogne region in south west France.

While the trip had been planned for some time, the logistics pre-departure were a little less organised. So with the arrival of AJT, the Kang, Mike "Bad Bad" Way and Bardots it was a bit of a concern as to where to put everyone! Lets just say that 6 people in our little one bedroom flat is a tres tres tight squeeze ...and leaves a hell of a funky smell in the morning! Not again thomo...

The boys getting ready to snooze in some v cramped conditions!

We stayed in an awesome old converted barnhouse in the Dordogne surrounded by what seemed like a couple of acres of manacured lawn and a massive pool all to ourselves!The pad

A good part of the week was spent eating. Whether it be the local french cheese, salami, pate, or taking turns trying to outcook each other with a series of great dinners including Mikes awesome margaret de canard. We also sampled a fair few of the local vinos and beers, earning us a few comments from the owners about how often they were having to clear out our bottle bins!

A few of the other highlights included a trip to St Emillon in Bordeaux on the advise of the Forta's who had visted on their trip last year. Great Merlot (never thought I'd say that!). We also spent an afternoon canoing down the mighty Dordogne river checking out the castles as we paddled, riding bikes past the sunflowers and even had a chance to check out the Tour de France which despite the 3 hour wait was well worth it even if the riders flew past in less than a 30 seconds!

But the best times of all were probably just catching up and having a lot of laughs with great mates that we hadn't seen for ages.

After a great week in france, the boys headed down for an awesome 3 days in San Sebastian (Spain) for some surf, late night tapas and a few v memorable nights out on the town.

San sebastian

Lots of fun and cant wait for another team holiday next summer!
Who's in?!!