Saturday blog

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Travel to work did get much easier towards the end of the week. I got up early on Thursday morning fearing the worst for my journey to Fraserburgh, but I sailed through and was at my desk in the Broch by 7:45 am - well ahead of schedule. It was a busy day, but I made it back down to Kippie Lodge in time to get a game of doubles with Malcolm, Richard, Keith and Dan.

The forecast for Friday was bad and I was swithering about whether to work from home or not. I was tempted by the additional possibility of watching Andy Murray's semi-final from Melbourne, but, in the end, I went to the Bridge of Don office, where I was able to do some work and also watch Andy's great win. Tomorrow morning - like the rest of the nation - I'll be glued to my TV, hoping he can pull it off against Djokovic.

This morning, we watched the Tour Down Under - with the sound off mostly - on TV, looking out for some of the places round Adelaide that we'd visited a few short weeks ago. Then, Gary and Luca arrived - the first time Jo had seen them since before Christmas. They had come directly from Luca's football practice and he was resplendent in his new Aberdeen strip - a Christmas present. When I asked him to pose, he insisted on also showing one of the Octonauts gifts that Kelly and Chris had bought for him:

It's a beautiful, almost spring-like day outside, but with plenty of snow still lying on the golf course - ideal for sledging down the 3rd hole, as our children, nephews and nieces, and, indeed, other grandchildren, have done over the years - but the boy is not for turning. He'd rather stay indoors with his Granny Jo.

Another moan

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, here I go again. It's been a week of travel hell. I made it to Fraserburgh yesterday - eventually. Again the major problem was wind blowing dry, powdery snow off the fields on to the roads. I was listening to the local travel reports - including NorthSound's JamBuster line - and they were bad enough to make me stop off in Inverurie for a cup of tea and assess whether to go on or not.

I had the good grace to phone Carole before I stopped off at Rae Circle, giving her the chance to hurriedly get dressed. Gary was just getting ready to go to work and Luca was there, complete with big smiles and a giant hug - that made it all worthwhile stopping.

In Fraserburgh itself, there wasn't even the remotest sign of snow. However, I had experienced what it was like inland, so I decided to drive home down the coastal road to Aberdeen - and that was fine until I got to Garlogie where I started to hear the ominous rumble of hard packed ice under the tyres, so it was a slow crawl from there.

Summary of yesterday - time spent at work = four and a half hours. Time spent in car = 5 hours. Something not right there.

Today wasn't much better. I'd had enough of side roads and decided to stick to main roads only on my way to our Aberdeen factory at Bridge of Don. The problem with this is, nowadays, Westhill is so busy with all the oil service companies that have set up there, that it was nose to tail all the way from there to B.o.D. Elapsed time to my office - 2 hours. Grrr.

I'll be out of here soon - well before everyone else heads home hopefully.

Tomorrow it's Fraserburgh again. Any bets on how long it's going to take me?

Monday moan

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Great start to the day/week - got stuck in snow this morning - and it's not even snowing here! I went the back road via Tyrebagger and came to one section of the road that is open with high fields on one side, and the wind was blowing the snow from the field on to the road.

A car coming up the slope towards me got stuck but I thought I still had room to get past him, but it was so tight that I ended up going in to the deeper snow just off the road. Great - now there's 2 cars stuck, side by side, with the road now totally blocked. The good thing about this is that everyone behind came out to help dig and push us out! Uncomfortable, but a result.

After a weekend of complete inactivity, it's squash again for me tonight.

I booked tickets for Jo and I to go and see Tony Robinson at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Saturday 1st March. The blurb says:

Come and hear Tony talk about his love of archaeology, his passion for history and how he's created a career that has lasted and lasted, making him one of the best known TV stars of our time.

Here he is:

Yes - it's Blackadder's Baldrick!

I also bought tickets for 5 of us to go to Glasgow to see Wilko Johnson's final concert in his Farewell Tour. He's got pancreatic cancer and is refusing chemotherapy, so he ain't going to be around much longer. Here he is in his prime:

and here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilko_Johnson

So that's about it for today. Oh - nearly forgot to tell you that "Wart-off" works. Yes, I got my first ever wart at the age of almost 64, but it's gone now thanks to this Aussie acid.

Another thing - I suspect that I'm allergic to the memory foam pillow I bought last month, so I've now acquired a cheaper hypo-allergenic one to try out.

Weekend blog

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

First weekend at home for a while and I'm taking the opportunity to revel in doing just about nothing. Why, even my Saturday and Sunday papers were brought to me, courtesy of Jo (yesterday) and Ross (this morning).

I did go to the golf club on Friday night and have a few beers at the quiz night - it was nice to see everyone again. Not sure exactly when we all stop wishing each other Happy New Year though.

I also went to the Douglas last night to watch the tea-time match and have a couple of beers with Colin and Ian McRae, so you can see I'm not completely de-toxing after our Aussie holiday. Lucy was on FaceTime last night and we were talking about how, when we come home after our American holiday each year, they make a point of taking absolutely no alcohol for a while. In other words, all the beer, wine and cocktails we consume daily in Grants Pass is all our fault. Maybe she's right?

I guess Kelly and Chris will be feeling exactly the same just now - not having to imbibe daily. Yes, holidays are for sunshine, heat, books and alcohol - or so it seems.

I especially enjoy reading books on holiday - I seldom get the time to devour them at home - an occasional chapter before I go to sleep, that's all. I read Diary of a Football Nobody, plus a Michael Connelly Harry Bosch novel - and half another one - and Lorene (Chris' Mum) gave me one of her Lee Childs' Jack Reacher (now a Hollywood novel starring Tom Cruise - http://www.jackreachermovie.co.uk/) books to read as well. I'm sure I read another book too, but can't remember which one it was now - it's probably still at Kelly and Chris' place. I've brought Pete Townsend's autobiography home - it was a Christmas present from Kelly and Chris.

We've also started watching Homeland Series 1 - we missed out on it when it started, but are catching up now. We've come back to the usual mountain of Corries as well - good zoning filler when you're a little zonked out. A new series of Borgen started on BBC Four when we were away so we've missed the first couple of episodes - damn - and they're not on catch-up TV, so we're going to have to figure it out somehow. All these series start each episode with what happened in previous episodes anyway, so we should be alright.

So what's on the agenda today then? Sunday Times of course, plus Match of the Day, followed by the Chelsea - Arsenal and Spurs - Man Utd matches, with filler supplied by the golf from Abu Dhabi - played on one of my favourite courses - one I know well. Sounds good to me - best get on with it then. Bye for now.

Back at work

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

This weeks's been interesting - I haven't felt too bad at all, considering the journey we've just done. OK, I awoke early on Tuesday and went in to the office, but Tuesday and Wednesday nights were relatively normal. I'm wondering when - or whether - it's going to hit me. I did sleep in a bit this morning and I seem to have a bit of a head cold coming on again, but otherwise all's well.

I even played squash last night - and I'm going to try again tonight - I badly need the exercise.

I've spent most of the last few days catching up with mail, admin etc - both business and personal. Tomorrow will be different, however - lots of meetings and all the Managers will be here. I'll be ready for a few beers on Friday night.

Nowt else to say really.

Journey home

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Our Sunday in KL was even less busy than Saturday had been. We took the hotel shuttle bus up to the Twin Towers, intending to go up, but, when we got there we found out that the first tickets to go to the top wouldn't be available until 7:15 pm, which would make it too tight for us as we were getting picked up to head for the airport at 8:30 pm.

Still, we already had a Plan B in place - we would instead wait until dusk and head up for cocktails at the adjacent Marini's on 57 - not quite as tall as the Twin Towers, but no entrance fees and wonderful views.

We strolled round the very upmarket KLCC mall before heading back to our hotel to pack and relax the afternoon away. Here's Jo in the mall:

It finally came to dusk and we checked out of our hotel and walked to Marini's on 57 where Ross tried out their cocktails as Jo and I stuck to G & T, with a few tapas, including a cheeseboard:

Lots of photos were taken as well, including this one which shows how close the Twin Towers were:

Our journey to the airport was fine and in good time, nicely arriving there just as the Man Utd - Liverpool match started, with the match ending just as we were called to board our plane.

The flight from KL was very good - Malaysian Airlines are excellent - super service and great food, and the A 380 is a terrific plane, although how this monster gets off the ground I'll never know. We arrived at Heathrow's Terminal 4 just after 5 am UK time, and we positively flew through customs and immigration and were over in T5 before 6 am, with our scheduled flight to Aberdeen not due to leave until 4 hours later.

Was there any chance of changing to an earlier flight to Aberdeen? I noticed there was one at 6:55 am, but we were told that was too soon - we had to be there 90 mins before apparently. Disappointed, we trudged off and eventually checked in, went through security and waited. It was Ross who was first to notice that there was another flight at 8:40 am, but, yet again we were too late to notice this. We were disappointed the BA staff didn't point this option out to us however.

Eventually we boarded our scheduled flight, which was held up a little at Heathrow, apparently due to a bit of snow in certain parts of the country. We were therefore a little late landing in Aberdeen, but they then compounded the felony by keeping us waiting on the tarmac for half an hour as there was no available berth for our plane - grrr.

Jacquie's husband Tom was circling the airport building in my car for an hour waiting for us to come out - he wasn't very pleased!

Anyway, we're home now and all seems well. I'm doing this blog partly to keep me awake - it's 5 pm now and we're hoping to stay awake until about 9-ish this evening. Ross has already crashed however, but I bet he's up in the middle of the night.

The North East is white just now and apparently the temperature is going to drop overnight - could take a bit of adjusting to!

Final day in KL

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

We didn't do a lot yesterday - a walk that lasted a couple of hours but didn't go far - it's too hot and steamy - and an afternoon by the pool followed by an evening at the pub then some late night food. There was an opposition (yellow shirts) rally at the Twin Towers, so we kind of bypassed that and just photographed them from the park:

After several beers at TAPS, we decided the only place we wanted to eat late at night was back at the hotel. Ross and I had Shangri-La Slings first:

That's it for now - we're headed out - the rain seems to have stopped for now.

KL

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We arrived in KL in very good time - too early, in fact, for our transport in to the city, so we had to wait a while. The flight was great - just 7 hours and only a handful of others in Business Class meant we virtually each had a steward/stewardess to ourselves. The food was great again too - lots of Satay.

Of course, late afternoon not far from the equator (KL's just 3 degrees N, compared with Adelaide's 35 S, Grant's Pass 42 N and Banchory 57 N) inevitably means thunderstorms of some kind and we certainly had a downpour and some lightning, but it wasn't all that much really and it was dry by the time we went out in the evening.

Our hotel (Shangri-La) is big and beautiful, with terrific service. Here's our room:

Ross' room is identical - it's 2 nights of luxury for him after sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Adelaide, accompanied by the occasional cockroach and armies of ants!

We had a drink in Arthur's Bar at the hotel first:

We then had a very frustrating time trying to find our way to Taps Bar. Ross gave up eventually, but Jo and I got there in the end - via taxi. We walked back to the hotel where we could just see one of the Petronas Twin Towers lit up:

We also spotted some fairly large snails:

After a good sleep, breakfast was welcome - and what a spread it was. The choices were amazing, including honey direct from the comb:

There were also 2 chocolate towers - one white, one dark:

Then we posed outside the breakfast room:

Bye for now.

On our way

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So this morning's breakfast blog comes from the Qantas lounge at Adelaide airport. We've checked in, gone through security and said our farewells to Kelly and Chris, who drove us to the airport.

Yesterday we got our packing and washing organised then walked down to the Parade for a coffee at Buongiorno, with the additional treat of mini-marshmallows from Nic & Rocco (http://www.nicandrocco.com.au/), conveniently located next door to the cafe:

We had lunch - chicken salad - back at Donegal St, where we were joined by Lorene and David, who were in the city for another check-up on David's eye. He's much better now and all seems to be well thankfully.

After David and Lorene left to go home, 4 of us (all bar Chris) went to the movies again to see Hitch. It's pretty well done and Anthony Hopkins' impersonation of the Master of Suspense is very good, but I hadn't realised that it's based on a book about the making of Psycho, so there's no more than passing mention of Hitchcock's other great films.

Our "last supper" with Kelly and Chris was some beautiful - and huge - salmon steaks, smothered in pesto sauce - delicious. We'll miss them - but they get to have their home - and their lives - back again after being invaded by us over the last 3 weeks - it's never easy and we appreciate the upheaval it can cause. Looking forward to seeing them again - in Scotland - at Christmas.

Next stop Kuala Lumpur. There's a cyclone to the west of Australia that we'll have to bypass, but we should be in KL about 3 pm local time today (Friday).

Penultimate day

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

So today (Thursday) is our last full day in Adelaide and, as usual, I'm sitting here having my breakfast, updating my blog diary.

We did do the long walk from Norwood in the East up to the Old Lion in the North of the city yesterday, to revisit where we stayed last year. Kelly stayed at home, of course, but the rest of us traversed over, through the Botanical Gardens, where we had a quick coffee stop, then past the zoo, over the River Torrens and across the parks to Jerningham Street.

It was really nice to revisit the Old Lion - good place - nice lunch and good choice of beers. Afterwards, Chris and Ross marched home whilst Jo and I strolled our way through the various parklands, stopping regularly for a quick chapter or two of our books. We popped in to the (indoors) Lily Centre at the Botanical Gardens:

and posed for a photo in front of another (outdoor) lily pond:

I really struggled with my knee on the latter part of our walk. I think this holiday has convinced me that I need to get a new knee this year - I don't think I can put it off any longer as it's causing too much pain and discomfort. I think I'll start to make enquiries and appointments when I return - and, of course, talk to Dawn about her experiences.

I think Jo will also be visiting the specialist when she gets back - her shoulder has been causing her a lot of problems over the last month or so and I'm not sure the physiotherapy she was getting before we left has helped all that much. She's been dosing herself with Arnica all the time to relieve the discomfort and pain.

So a good start to the day - Kelly got up and managed to go to the early morning gym session today. Chris is going this afternoon whilst the rest of us head to the movies again to see Hitch - then back home to pack, as we leave first thing in the morning - sad!

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning

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We had a lovely meal in the restaurant at Grace last night - mostly steaks. Here's Ross, Chris and one of the steaks, with potatoes and sauce:

Kelly finished her meal but went home fairly sharply afterwards to get her head down again, with Jo following behind her, unable to catch her on the walk home!

This morning, the 5:30 am alarm went as usual and Kelly and Chris headed for their gym session, but Kelly had to return after 10 minutes, feeling a bit sick. She's back in bed, trying to sleep it off just now.

We had planned to walk from Norwood today over to the North of the City to have lunch at the Old Lion, where we stayed early last year. It's certainly a lovely day for it - the coolest of the holiday so far - a mere 26 C - but I'm not sure if this is still on or not. I feel a little queasy today - a tad too much sun yesterday, I think - and Ross is just up - his longest lie-in of the holiday. We'll see how everyone feels in the next hour or so.

Well, I've checked in for our flight to Kuala Lumpur on Friday now, so the holiday is coming to an end - too soon.

Monday/Tuesday

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

In the end, Kelly, Jo and I did go to see Les Miserables last night - and it was great. Kelly was feeling a little brighter, having slept virtually all day.

While we were doing that, Chris and Ross had a night on the town with a bunch of Chris' pals. They left here before 6 pm and didn't get back until after midnight, so I guess a few beers were sunk - along with some pizza and, when almost home, Adelaide's equivalent of the late-night kebab:

Sounds worse than it tastes, according to Ross.

This morning, only Kelly and I rose early so we decided to walk in to the city centre. Chris roused eventually - just in time to join us. It was a really nice day to be out, with temperatures peaking in the low 30's - ideal.

We then all drove to the beach at Henley and had some lunch. Kelly and Chris then headed back for their 4:30 pm gym session (having missed their usual early morning one) whilst the 3 of us took a walk along the esplanade south from Henley, heading towards Glenelg, which was a bit too far away to walk and still get back in time for dinner. We did manage a quick walk up the pier at Henley first of all, however:

Jo, Ross and I, after a few chapters of our books, then caught the bus back to Norwood - and now we're getting ready to go out for a bite locally tonight.

Back in Adelaide

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I forgot to add a photo from the morning that Kelly, Chris and Ross went off quad biking on KI. It was Wednesday 2nd - the day after Ross stopped smoking. Shall I say that last bit again? Yes, he hasn't smoked for almost a week now. Not a New Year resolution as such, but something he said he would do sometime, so why not now?

Anyway, here's the photo of the three of them - David and Lorene had planned to join them, but David had been suffering with what turned out to be shingles - it was finally diagnosed at a late night visit to the doctor. His eye was virtually closed and it was beginning to look worrying, but thankfully he's on the mend now.

On Friday, we were all due to attend the Cirque du Soleil show Ovo, and we headed off for the giant marquees with the temperature reading in the car rising alarmingly to 45 C. When we got there, we were told that the show had been cancelled on health and safety grounds - hardly surprising really.

What else could we do but go and have a beer at Wright's Hotel - one of the places that had been closed last week when we tried to go there. From there it was just a short hop across to Central Markets and the Asian Food Court there. We'd been on previous occasions and had enjoyed it, and this was no different. Here's Jo and Ross enjoying their meals:

We managed to get re-booked to go back to see Ovo on Saturday when the temperature had dropped back in to the 30's. Here's the stage at the start:

Great show - the theme was the insect world.

Yesterday (Sunday) we drove back up to Lobethal to re-fill my Growler:

On the way back we popped in to stroll around Hahndorf, a pretty little German, touristy town - lots of places to eat and drink. We stopped outside the German Arms and posed in the stocks:

No faces in the son and daughter holes - Ross wasn't feeling too good at this stage - perhaps a little beat of heat exhaustion/sunstroke? - and Kelly had stayed behind to clean the house and prepare tea.

Kelly started to feel a little ill in the evening and went to bed early. She still didn't feel good in the morning - so poorly she never even went to the early morning gym session today.

Chris drove us down to Westfield shopping centre in Marion and we met his Mum and Dad for a quick lunch. David is definitely on the mend now and was a lot chirpier today.

Apart from that, we haven't done much today, although Chris is taking Ross out for a few beers and a pizza with his pals tonight. The rest of us had originally planned to go and see Les Miserables in the cinema but I think we'll put that off now.

We did have a short walk this morning - down the Parade and back up through the side streets. We spotted what I regard as a pretty typical old Adelaide house, complete with grey corrugated tin roof:

So that's me back up to date with my blogging again - bye for now!

KI (3)

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On Wednesday, we booked lunch at the Marron cafe/restaurant, which was 14 kms up a dusty, bumpy track. Marron are crayfish and they farm them here. We shared the special spreads:

Looks wonderful - and it was.

Soon it was time to head back again, with Chris leading the way:

We decided it was time we finally stopped off at Seal Bay, which was very near our resort. They've got nice boardwalks and look-out posts where you can watch the sea lions basking on the beach:

On our final day on the island, we packed up and headed off back to Penneshaw where we stopped for coffee then lunch, with a break in-between when I wandered off along the coastal track:

stopping at the viewing platform at the end, where I watched a school of dolphins at play:

Adjacent were the penguin nests:

The fish and chip lunch at FISH was excellent:

So that was it - back on the ferry and head for the heat of Adelaide city.