Steve Pope Barbel Fishing

 

Not a huge amount to report since my last update, for much of the time Ive been suffering from what I first thought was the Aussie equivalent of Manflu, but after a visit to the doc he said I had picked up a bacterial infection from the little fella and a course of antibiotics was prescribed.

The cough is still lingering as I type, fortunately the other stuff has cleared up but it certainly knocked me for six.

Life here has pretty much fallen into a steady routine. Up in the morning at 7, check the emails and Facebook and have an online chat with whoever is about, the UK time then is about 8pm so it works well.

My daughter will have already set off for the office and its just a matter of waiting for Master Henry to wake up and then the work – fun – begins!

Nappy change, breakfast time at his own little table – yoghurt, toast and vegemite, well he is an Aussie!

Milk and porridge. He gets through the lot in a very methodical fashion, usually handing me the crusts from his toast and if I’m lucky the yoghurt pot, if Im unlucky it goes on the floor!

And then if he isn’t going to Daycare, its playtime for a couple of hours and that now means setting up the train set and getting all the little cars out.

I nearly forgot, if Spurs have played during the night then we sit and watch the match at breakfast time, Henry is well into it now and loves it when I get over excited when Bale scores, he takes that as an invitation to go mad himself which means we end up bundling!

Then, if the sun is shining and it usually is, we load up the pushchair, walk up to the top of the road and catch the bus into Manly, that takes about twenty minutes and costs us 3 dollars apiece, nothing for Henry, I tried to use the bus pass here but the drivers weren’t having any of it!

Down by the wharf its a walk through the Corso, Henry can’t resist the water fountains and always ends up soaked, then it’s a play in the kid’s area and then its down to the surf beach or a walk around to Shelly Beach.

A few hours on the sand, digging holes, building castles and trying to keep out of trouble with the lifeguards because Henry just has to keep running into the surf! Now if you’ve ever been here you will know that the undertow is really strong and there are designated swimming areas, and thats on the good days when there are no sharks about – it’s dangerous here!

Anyway after what seems an age but in reality is no more than three hours it’s back on the bus for the ride back home. Funnily enough the bus goes back on a different route and we get to go around the houses and up in the hills, the area is not flat! The properties and scenery are stunning and I have been very impressed to see everybody – young and old –  who catches a ride on the bus always thanks the driver, it’s very pleasant here.

Back indoors, its dinner time although Ive been tending to go easy on the food, one of the great benefits of chasing the sun is that your food intake is less, I’ve lost over a stone since I’ve been here so just one more visit and I’ll be at the weight Ive been wanting for years!

If we dont go down to the beach, it’s stay at home and the paddling pool comes in handy, and that’s pretty much how my week pans out. I wouldnt have it any other way and with our next grandchild due in July life is never going to be the same again.

Being grandad will become my number one priority and I am extremely pleased and grateful that it has come at just the right time in my life, I mean to savour every moment.

Back to the football.

Have to say it has been a real joy watching all the Spurs matches, well perhaps not the last one where we simply threw it away.

I’ve always been a Tottenham man, been to White Hart Lane many times but not in recent years. However the team at the moment is as good as it’s been in many a long year and if only we had a decent striker to compliment Bale we would be pushing hard for all the honours.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Bale, he is without doubt one of the greatest players to wear the white shirt but the media pressure and no doubt from his agent as well, will make it almost impossible for him to stay. I hope I’m wrong, because he really is priceless, I hope the owners realise that!

Been watching the cricket today, England look well set in the second test.

Also been smiling at the stick the Aussie cricketers have been getting for not doing their homework! The funniest line came from Freddie Flintoff when he said, “ It would have been punishment enough to make them play in the third test!”

England should have no problems at all in the two Ashes series coming up, the Aussies are in total disarray!

Next week is Boss Time, two shows lined up at the Allphones Arena which is situated in the Olympic Park. Will be brilliant and I should get some good pictures to put on here.

The clock is ticking down, the end of April is not that far away and that’s when we’ll be heading back to the UK. Five months flies by but I’ll be back out here at the end of the year for another stint, home is now split between Australia and the UK.

It’s autumn here now ,but since the start of March when it kicks in, the temperature has barely dipped below 25 during the day, thats better than any English summer!

Here’s a few pics from the past couple of weeks;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it!