Steve Pope Barbel Fishing

 

I’ve decided to keep this separate from my main Update mainly because there is very little fishing content, in fact there’s none!

If you are interested in things of an Aussie nature then you’ll be fine here, I love the country and will share some of my thoughts and what’s been going on since I arrived here in Sydney back at the beginning of December.

To put you in the picture my better half has been here since the end of July, lending a helping hand while our eldest daughter runs her very successful recruitment company.

I set off at the beginning of December and arrived down under after a very protracted journey.

My really good friend Rich picked me up early on a Wednesday morning and drove me to Shrewsbury station where I started the train journey to St. Albans, the first time in many years that  I had undertaken any sort of rail trip!

I would recommend it, better than driving down and surprisingly quick, I was at my daughters place in the town by 5pm.

I stayed in the fabulous town of St. Albans for three days before heading off to Heathrow where the fun started, my plane was delayed by three hours, something to do with it having to take a detour which meant it had to refuel and meant I was hanging around for longer than expected.

I realised that I would miss the connection at Dubai because there was only an hour stopover.

Anyway I eventually arrived there and duly took my place in the queue for the tickets for the next flight out to Sydney, it was a long wait.

When It came to my turn at the Emirates Information desk there appeared to be a problem, for an hour or so I wondered if I was going to be on a flight to Sydney or one back to London. Questions about my passport, my visa, you name it, I was very conscious not to lose my cool just in case. A couple of hours passed and then they called me over and gave me the new boarding pass, just like that, no explanation as to why the fuss, I took it on the chin and then faced the prospect of nine hours just waiting at Dubai airport which isn’t to be recommended!

The long flight to Sydney went quickly, I’ve done it many times and its just a matter of getting your head straight, if you think about it then the time  will drag, if you don’t you’re there in no time!

So after four months or so I finally caught up with my missus, my daughter and little Henry on the other side of the world.

It was then all about getting  into the new routine.

This time we are based a short bus ride from Manly Wharf, in a bigger house with a nice garden and full on toddler minding.

The weather has been crazy, its pouring down as I type but temperatures have reached record levels, up to the mid forties which is too high for me, almost made we want to be back in the snow………….I said almost!

Its a life of barbecues, prawns, Moreton Bay Bugs, getting down to the beach, the Wharf, the Ferry, watching cricket, football, tennis and Lovejoy on the box…………..and regularly on the ipad or laptop to keep in touch with whats going on back in the UK.

Bruce Springsteen is playing here in March, I sort of knew that was happening and I managed to convince my daughter it would be a great idea to turn it into a corporate do, so we have  a private box lined up, can’t wait!

Christmas Day it rained so the BBQ was off, great time with the little fella though and on Boxing Day the sun came out so it was resumption of normal service.

New Years Eve was brilliant as always, fireworks at nine from the Wharf Bar then a trip over to the city to catch the midnight show, awesome!

Every day in shorts, every day its fun just sharing time with little Henry, life is good here.

The weekend just gone was all about national pride, Australia Day, the Aussies do it well. Not up to the standard of the English mind but somehow the cosmopolitan vibe works a lot better over here, must be because the country is so young.

In a similar vein was sad to see Murray, you know the tennis player from Great Britain who happens to be a Scot, lose out to a better man in the final. He didn’t seem to be quite so much in the zone as he was against Federer but hey, he’ll be back for sure. Men’s tennis is fantastic at this time and hopefully with Nadal back very soon there will be more great matches to savour in the future.

Well that’s about it, there’s always something on Facebook if you look in on there.

Here’s a few shots, mainly of little Henry which is only right because he’s the reason we are here.

All the best.