Start of the working week - for some

Chris and Kelly were back at work today after a 2 week break - well, I say it was a break, but in reality, they've had the Lesinas then Jo and I staying with them all that time, so they've had little or no time to themselves. We'll be rectifying this for a few days at least when Jo and I fly up to Alice Springs and on to Uluru on Wednesday.

Since my last blog posting, Jo and I - like the proverbial Mad Dogs and Englishmen - went out for a walk in the 40 C heat on Friday. In terms of miles, it wasn't that far, but we had to stop several times to rest and re-hydrate. We stopped for a brief rest at the former swamp on part of the Kaurna Heritage Trail:

Jo is trying to look cool and natural above, but the reality was she was boiling up - this close-up gives a better picture:

On Saturday morning, Chris took Miller for a haircut and then, in the afternoon, he drove Jo and I out to Brewboys' tap room for a few beers:

On Sunday, Chris took his new mountain bike up to the hills for a trail ride, then met his best pal Anthony for lunch. The rest of us planned to go out for Sunday lunch too, but we had some logistical problems as there were 5 of us, with two child seats taking up the rear seat of Kelly's car, so I decided to cycle down the coast to Henley and meet the rest there. When I got to Henley, it was mobbed - there was a huge religious festival going on on the pier (jetty to my Aussie friends), which I later discovered was the Greek Orthodox Christmas celebration of the Blessing of the Waters by throwing the cross in to the sea - there's an almighty scramble to be the one to recover it. There were so many people on the old wooden pier that I thought it would crumble and sink - but it never did.

Anyway, Kelly and Co made it down to Henley and we had lunch at one of the outdoor cafes in Henley Square, after which I watched a bit of an Aboriginal dance, put on as part of the G.O. Xmas celebrations, then cycled back to Semaphore.

Back at Chris and Kelly's, I spotted this lovely butterfly come to rest in their garden:

Today (Monday), Jo and I walked down to Grange - a distance of about 10 kms. It was a still, warm, cloudy morning and the flies were out in full force - we had to walk along the beach at the water's edge for the last few kms to try and escape the worst of them. It brought to mind my Dad's oft-heard quote about his posting to the Middle East during World War II - "Egypt's great - 10 million flies can't be wrong".

We dipped out of walking the return 10 kms, but, instead, caught the bus to West Lakes shopping centre, did the food shopping there, then caught the bus back to Semaphore. Jo cooked tonight's meal - chicken fajitas - giving Chris a very well-earned night off from cooking duties. The only downside to today was that Asher threw up a couple of times before dinner. Hope it's just one of those things that young babies have, and nothing worse than that.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), David and Lorene are coming up to Semaphore to see us - after a couple of previously planned meetings had to be changed.