Mozzeenet

It was a proud moment when Andrew won man of the match for his cricket grand final yesterday!  His team won the GF and he took 6 wickets which was a great achievement. The game went over 3 days due to rain last weekend and I made it to watch last Sun and yesterday.  Was definitely a cricket novice but understand a bit more now.

The nice thing about it is that everyone in the club is really friendly and many have known each other for years through the club, their kids and schools in the local area so it is a very community-oriented atmosphere.  I could really see the value of this, as I have often found in cities that people are quite disconnected from neighbours and the local community.

Had a celebratory party last night at the home of the one of the players and everyone was in high spirits of course.  There were a few speeches and lots of cricket talk!

Saw the amazing Chris Isaak last Wednesday night at the historical St Kilda Palais theatre.  I swear If I hadn’t met the man of my dreams already, I could have become a Chris Isaak groupie.  He is to die for and that voice and music. Superb! He walked into the audience during one song - even up to the dress circle where we were.  He evidently knows all the ladies love him, from young(-ish) to old. The house almost came down with each of his well-known songs.

It was positively balmy in there though (on a cold, rainy Melbourne night). I understand there are renovations planned for the theatre which seems like a good thing as long as they don’t destroy any of the historical decorations etc.  The ladies toilets were abysmal with water all over the floor of the cubicles (of which there were only 3) and obviously had once been the men’s because had urinals with that funny chemical smell.

After the big move to our new place, it was nice to take a break for a week to visit the Great Ocean Road (third trip for me - with great memories of two previous trips with Andrew in ‘05 and Amit and his parents in ‘04) and two wine regions in South Australia, Coonawarra and the Barossa Valley - even though the spare room was still full of boxes and other paraphernalia without an obvious home.

First two nights we camped, first in the Otways (love the towering gums) with koalas overhead (apparently the mating call of a male koala sounds like a pig grunting which we heard during the night as well as the lulling tones of heavy metal music until 3am from a 30th birthday party being held at the campsite) and a goat which peed and pooed all around the tent. Ahhh - camping!

Second night was at Penola in the Coonawarra region, a quieter campsite but our patch was located next to the main road where big trucks passed from 5am!

Still, you can’t go past relaxing in a camp chair with a book after a BBQ meal and the sounds of nature all around you.  Visited a couple of cellar doors there - a nice one was Balnaves in a lovely setting with vines hanging over the verandah next to a small lake and a rose garden.

The next three nights we spent in the Barossa Valley - the self-contained accommodation seemed like luxury after camping.  We caught up with our friends and their children who left mid-week for the US for 3 years.  I have to say the Barossa must be one of the nicest wine regions in Australia with field after field of grapevines, picturesque cellar doors and the gorgous Adelaide Hills nearby.

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