Weekend Review

Well I know it is already Wednesday and may seem a little late for a weekend review but here goes anyway. It was a quiet cracker with loads of back breaking work being done in the garden after missing my golf tee time (last time I make that mistake). Friday evening got off to a super start with a few relaxing icy colds at the office after work followed by a couple more in the local Highland Park Tavern on the way home. By the time I got home neither Sar's or I felt like cooking so we settled for a friday night classic of Fish and Chips (for me anyway) and an evening in front of the nelly watching Seinfeld.

As I said I missed my golf time so wound back home by 8.30am for a day in the garden digging up the yard to plant my lawn for the neighbourhood world cup cricket this summer-I hope. Saturday slid away in much the same way as the Springbok challenge on Saturday night against the AB's. I was buoyed for a little while as it appeared Ernie was getting stuck in at the British Open.

The only winner of the weekend was Sarah's fantasy rugby team which has jumped into 3rd place in the standings in the Chataeutoby league from 6th and taking out the prize for being the weekends top scorer. Sar's is close behind myself and Guy who is being stalked on top of the log for now.

We have finally picked a wedding venue for next year in Australia. It is a lovely spot overlooking the ocean and really looks to be a super venue for the wedding.

Well I got to run, will continue this at a later date. Am heading off to Action Cricket to destroy the Baggy Greens, one of whom is my boss!!!!!

Weekend Visitor

This little guy kept us company while we were planting and cleaning up the garden on Saturday. I must say it sure beats the pigeons in London. He was so confident at one stage he had walked into our garage to see what we had in there, when Sarah tried to chase it out he casually ran at her and tried to bite her leg!!!! He seemed to really take to the grass seeds we had put down and started munching away getting so bad that I eventually put some seeds into a bowl of which it polished off!!!

It is really superb to see these birds flying around in the wild though I am seriously considering venturing into the illegal bird trade. These babies must surely be worth 2k a pop!!!

The difference is

I have noted over the past few months that there are a few differences between living in Oz and living in London. I have noted a few here:

• Your neighbours greet you in the road and wave when they drive past you. You can walk across the road to catch up with a neighbour.
• People seem to care about where they live.
• There are children playing in the streets without parents being concerned.
• People say hello to you-even if they don't know you.
• When it is 10 degrees outside you have a heater on in the house and electric blankets on the beds-you are not out in the park tanning.
• Nothing you plan is weather permitting anymore, even if it is raining you can still guarentee it is warm and more than comfortable outside under the awning.
• People don't meet in pubs, you go to someones house or to an event to socialise.
• Pubs are smoke free and pool (snooker) is free.
• You would never drink a room temperature beer in Australia.

It is no wonder people here are always smiling, the weather is good, the people friendly and the beer cold.

If you can think of anymore differences between UK,SA,OZ or wherever you are, leave a note in the comments column.

Boks slide to shameful defeat

Boks slide to shameful defeat

The Springboks slumped to the biggest ever Tri-Nations defeat and the second worst beating in their history as they were thrashed 49-0 by the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.

Well this is what I had to endure over the weekend, being at Suncorp Stadium to see the boks slide to their second worst defeat in history. Even worse-I was at Twickenham to see them record that worst defeat against the poms.

Needless to say I have been getting it in the ear all day, even the new neighbour came over with his 2 kids to show them a sad Springbok!!!!!

One more thing, I am never going to rugby again unless I want the team to lose!!!!

On a more positive note I had a really enjoyable game of golf yesterday before the carnage with a couple of Kiwis coming in just outside the prizes, I know what you are thinking but at least we were competitive unlike the boks. Turns out my partner was Leon MacDonalds (All Black 15) aunt which means I may be able to pick up the inside scoop on selection matters and continue to stalk Chateautoby in the fantasy league and pip him at the post-This is my intention!!!

Hard to believe but Sar's and I are still together after last nights Suncorp debacle, only due to her patience with my mood swings and nasty glares every time the crowd erupted and broke into bloody Waltzing Matilda-which was often.

Weekend at home

Well for once there isn't to much to say about what we have done over the weekend though we achieved quite a lot. We spent the weekend in the garden trying to get the outside areas of the house up to speed for the summer of BBQ's that I obviously have planned. We have taken a few photo's and already the house is starting to look better as we put our own print on the place. I have begun planting the new lawn-the previous owners went for a low maintanence garden meaning the garden is mostly stones and tiles. These have been lifted and partially removed so as to get the grass going for many a game of backyard cricket in the future. Sarah has cleared the entire area around te back where the stones will go into a pathway and garden.

The construction has started on our new post box (in anticipation of recieving some mail!!!), the old one was, well old. Sarah's Dad has been kind enough to offer to build us one, so watch this space, we have laid the slab for the new box. Need I say more!!!! If for some reason a nuclear explosion took place on the Gold Coast all that would be left were cockroaches and my post box....

Saturday evening was good, we were both so tired that we ordered pizza and watched the first game of the tri nations and a movie. I am currently lurking half way down the table of the chataeu toby fantasy league and am poised to strike-along with Sarah who as we all know is the defending champion. We will both be at suncorp stadium in Brisbane this weekend to watch the boks play the wallabies though will be supporting opposite teams-sounds like fun, if we win!!!! I will be sure to include some pics of the event next week.

Hottest Ticket in Town

Well we have the tickets and a conflict of interest in this one as Sarah and I are heading to Suncorp next week to see the Boks take on the Wallabies in what will be the South Africans 1st tri nations game. It is going to be a cracker and all that is left to be done now is to find the box with the jersey, caps scarf and face paint,

and that is for Sarah!!!!!

Queenslander!!!!

"Oh yes!

IT was the moment the Origin crown came back to Queensland.
The maroon miracle men overcame a series of controversial calls to snatch a magnificent victory in the dying stages of last night's State of Origin series decider in Melbourne.

Under-pressure playmaker Darren Lockyer was the fairytale matchwinner, snatching a wild pass from NSW fullback Brett Hodgson, and diving under the posts to give Queensland the lead with six minutes to go.

Queensland had been down 14-4 with nine minutes remaining before Brent Tate started the revival with a long-range try. The 16-14 win meant brave Queensland avoided falling into Origin's blackest hole, dodging an unprecedented four consecutive series defeats.
Video referee Graeme West had been the most hated man in Queensland when a series of botched decisions appeared to cost the Maroons any chance of State of Origin redemption."

To read the rest of this article go to http://www.couriermail.news.com.au

Honestly this Origin thing is fantastic, basically the way it works is that you can be selected for the state team where you first played your club football as a kid, no matter where you live now. It is only contested between Qld and NSW in a 3 game series once a year. If you think provincialism is big in SA you got to see this!!!!!!

I had turned off the telly with 10 minutes to go as I was really p..... off with the ref and had had enough. I turned back on only after hearing screaming from the house next door, Qld had scored. Sarah and I watched the last 10 minutes with the TV sound down feeling like we were at the game due to our screaming neighbours!!!!!

To end it all, after the game, there were screams of "Queensland Queensland" sounding around the neighbourhood. I may have to introduce myself sometime soon. I hope they support the boks!!!!

The only thing I don't understand about this Origin is how you get teams from Qld and New South Wales playing a State of Origin game 3 decider in Melbourne!!!!

Tri Nations

That time of year for the Tri Nations test rugby competition to begin. Do not be fooled the competition is harder in the fantasy leagues than on the pitch especially this year after all us males were beaten by "Budvar" (Sarah) last year, so there is plenty of male pride at stake and I quote from Guys website http://chateautoby.com/

In the ‘Chateau Toby’ Tri-Nations fantasy rugby game, ‘Budvar’ managed to secure what no other aussie team has this summer, a win. An impressive one as well, as Budvar ultimately finished an impressive overall 6th in the competition. At one stage, Budvar was carrying the ‘Chateau Toby’ flag and lead the competition. Please identify yourself for the world Budvar! Chris’s Perennial Sharks finished 2nd in the group and within the top 150 overall. Chris threatened towards the middle of the competition with a top 50 placing but fell away towards the end. As did I, ultimately finishing 5th in the group and 802 overall. Congrats also to Mike Hunt for taking the bronze behind Budvar and the Sharks. Strange thought that, Mike Hunt only taking 3rd. Big shout out to all those who played in this league, clearly there are some well rugby educated supporters among us, as well as some less committed members of the group finishing as low as 4000!! Please, leave comments and identify yourself as I don’t who half the players are in this league! I know that a lot of blokes were roped in as a friend of a friend, especially via Maca, so speak up! Let the world know who you are Budvar.

"I long suspected that Mike Hunt was the alias of Mr Ryan McKechnie, and so it was confirmed on Sat night. The identity of Budvar was, to say the least, a surprise. There are few bigger blows to the male ego than to get to reaped in a sports trivia competition, in a sports bet or in a sports game of any nature for that matter by a female. I therefore have the pleasure in exposing the identity of ‘Budvar’ as none other than Maca’s fiance Sarah. Yip, that’s right lads, we all got beat convincingly by a girl. Congratulations to Sarah, you certainly did yourself and made Mac proud, and rightly so!!!"

To join the league and add a little spice to this years Tri Nations go to http://testrugby.com/tri06/ and register there. When you do join the league named ChateauToby this will ensure we are competing in the same group.

Look forward to looking down on you all from the top of the ladder. Including you Budvar!

We're in

Well as of Saturday we are in our new house, it has been 3 days of cleaning as you have ever seen a place so dirty in your life. The people here before obviously just let it go. Today it is starting to feel like a home. It is clean and all the goods have arrived. I have been seriously improving my DIY skills and the batrooms now have lovely towel rails and hooks on the doors. I have put some photo's in the albums section and will update this blog again tomorrow as I am pirating someone elses wireless to write this!!!!

I will write again tomorrow.