Veni, Vidi, Vici

He came, he scored and he conquered.

Good old Super Tim played a blinder as the Socceroos beat Qatar 3-o. That's him celebrating his goal in what has become trademark fashion

Not only did Super Tim score, but so did Wodonga's very own Josh Kennedy. Our little hometown proudly boasts to be the home of two current Socceroos - Josh Kennedy and Archie Thompson.

When you consider that Wodonga, with only 35,000 residents, has a population similar to Rhyl and has two of it's sons representing a nation of over 20 million, you can't fail to be impressed.

Football's Coming Home

As I type, the one, the only, Super Timmy Cahill is heading home.

Yes, my hero, the Australian Pele is winging his way to Melbourne to join the Socceroos as they prepare to take on Qatar in their opening qualifier for the 2010 World Cup.

All Hail Super Tim, Everton Legend!

Bet he scores.

Never Say Dai

It's been a while since my last blog entry. I've had a lot to blog about but little time to do so. We've been using the library and the Commercial Club in town for our internet use so that can be restrictive, but now we're on t'internet at home so I've got no excuse.

We've had a hectic time of late. Saying goodbye to the folks was sad, but not half as sad as I'd expected. I'd envisaged wanting to get on the plane with them when they left for home, but I didn't feel like that at all, which surprised me. I was sad to see them go, of course, but glad I was staying put.

We've had another house guest since I last blogged, my little mate Dan Barker from Halkyn, North Wales. Dan's a real blast and a great bloke to have around. He helped to ease the pain of my parents departure.

I got to know young Dan many moons ago on his brother Paul's stag nights/weekends (he had two, the cheeky monkey.) Although we haven't seen an awful lot of each other since, our friendship was forged on those two momentous tours and flourished further during the wedding and christenings that have followed.

Dan's currently on the Australian leg of his world tour. On and off he's been travelling for ten years, returning home for periods just to save up enough money to travel again. He arrived here in Albury Wodonga via Perth, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. We picked him up from the pub near the train station and after an hour getting freshened up at home we headed off to Albury city centre for a night on the grog.

Dan's bird mad, and we couldn't have picked a better night for him to be in town as there were three hen nights going on. During the evening Dan chanced his arm with all three groups, but to no avail. He tried and tried all night, but as chucking out time approached it appeared as if he would come up empty handed for a change. While mere mortals would have consoled themselves by cuddling up to a pizza or a kebab, the Pride of Halkyn just lowers his standards and ups his game.

As we stood about to board the courtesey bus home Dan's prospects looked bleak, but as he climbed onto the bus he immediately identified a target, got 'missile lock' and homed in, plonking himself down on the seat next to his unsuspecting victim. We moved further down the bus and watched the little master at work. After a brief bit of small talk the little fella cut to the chase and threw the lips on her in a big way, not coming up for air for a good five minutes. He then preceeded to give her some more flannel before initiating another lengthy bout of tonsil tennis.

The journey home lasted longer than usual because of the number of drop-offs we made and gave Dan the opportunity to transfer about two litres of saliva into his new birds gob. They looked like newly-weds as he gazed into her eyes, fed her his best lines and licked her chops in front of the whole bus. When we arrived at our stop I'd assumed we'd be having an extra house guest that evening, but Dan, like the true gentleman he isn't, simply pecked on her soaking wet cheek, thanked her for her company on the journey and staggered off the bus. We were amazed, but that's Dan for you.

The remainder of his all-too-brief stay was a good laugh and we're hoping he'll swing back this way before he departs for New Zealand. I think the bird from the bus would like to see him again as well.

I was also proud to witness another example of extreme Welsh persistance this weekend as the Welsh rugby team came from behind to give the English a beating at Twickers. It doesn't happen that often these days and was great to watch.

Da iawn hogiau! Twll du bob Sais!

Mercury Rising

It's been absolutely roasting here this week.

It's been in the high thirties all week and is forecast to touch forty today. It's even been too hot for mum and dad to sunbathe and they are devout sun-worshippers. They've got good tans already though, with dad bearing more than a passing resemblance to Mohatma Gandhi.

It's hard on us outside workers too, although I'm surprised with how well I've coped. You sweat buckets, but kinda get used to it.

Tomorrow promises cooler temperatures, which would be nice as we're off to visit the wineries of nearby Rutherglen.

Old Dog, New Tricks

Today is my 40th birthday.

To celebrate this momentous event and also to bring in the New Year, we've journeyed to Sydney.

Last night we spent the evening down at The Rocks and Darling Harbour before heading back to the hotel where me and dad had a nightcap to bring in my birthday.

It's 7.30am here now, I got up extra early to open my cards and gifts. Thanks to everyone from home who got stuff out to me for the big day, it was overwhelming.

I won't bore you by listing all my pressies, but the main one was a flying lesson to be taken at Albury airport.

And, in one hours time, I will be meeting up with my old mate Hed for a surfing lesson at Bondi beach.

Following that we'll be having lunch out at Manly with the folks and then me and the wife are having a big night out in Sydney.

Contrast today's plans with my birthday last year - they're a world apart. Literally.

According to my blog entry one year ago, I spent a soggy day in Rhyl with Weeb as we scoured the towns pubs trying, unsuccessfully, to find somewhere to watch the Everton-Newcastle game.

I would dearly love to be drinking with Weeb today, but here in Sunny Sydney not Rainy Rhyl.

Field Of Dreams

Christmas has been good so far. Having the folks here has made all the difference.

Me and dad had a traditional Christmas lunchtime drink with fellow expats Glyn and Alun followed by Christmas lunch at home with all the trimmings. We rounded the day off with a pool party at Dave and Karen's house, around the corner from our own.

Boxing Day saw us visit Wodonga races. My luck was in as I backed the winner in the first three races. I lost the final three, but still ended up even-stevens overall.

We're in Melbourne at the moment. The girls have been to St. Kilda beach while me and dad have spent the day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground watching the test match between Australia and India.

The 'G', as it's affectionately known, is an awesome sporting arena and a must-see for any sports fan. Dad had his photo taken with the statues of Dennis Lillee and The Don himself, Sir Donald Bradman.

Being at a test match was a first for both of us and although it was a relatively ordinary days play it was still an unforgettable experience to be there, especially with the old man, who's a lifelong cricket fan.

I have fond childhood memories of watching cricket with him, as he explained the games intricacies to me as a young boy. I recall sitting cross-legged in front of the telly in our lounge in Winchester, watching some of the games greats like Lillee, Thomson, Richards, Lloyd and Boycott, with my dad in the armchair behind me.

Today, we were at the 'G' watching modern day greats Tendulkar, Hayden, Kumble and Lee.

The place and the names may have changed, but it was still me and my dad watching the cricket.

Do They Know It's Christmas?

It's lunchtime on Christmas Eve, the sun is shining and I've been working.

The latter two events may explain why I'm struggling to feel any Christmas spirit.

The calender says it's Christmas, so it must be. I think it's just a much lower key event over here. I can't say I'm too bothered about that, Christmas is over-hyped in the UK. People see it as a nice week or two off work over here and that's about it. Xmas decs go up, presents are exchanged and all that, but on a smaller scale.

I got a great pressie from my new boss - a Leatherman multi-tool. I've owned a Gerber one for a while but always fancied the more compact Leatherman. And now I've got one. Get in!

Fair do's to the guy, I've only been there a week or so. I'm working as a pool technician, repairing and installing swimming pool equipment. It's an interesting job with plenty of variety and I'm enjoying it thus far.

During the break we're taking the folks down to Melbourne, me and dad are going to the cricket at the MCG, and then off to Sydney for my birthday and the New Year.

I was on the phone to my old mate Weeb last night and he was telling me of his xmas plans - the lads are meeting up at two in the arvo, in about nine hours time, in the Swan and getting on it for the day. I wish I could join them for an hour or two's festive drinking.

We'll miss our xmas drink with Caroline and Paul this year in The Crown, Trelawnyd and our xmas day drink with everyone in the Esp.

We'll be thinking of everyone from home and we hope you all have a great, safe xmas.

Have one for us.

In Rod We Trust

Tonight is Wodonga's 'Carols By Candlelight' service down at nearby Willow Park.

Robyn is taking part and virtually the whole town will be there to watch. She is part of a three girl group and will be singing three songs on the main stage.

She was on local telly on Friday promoting the event. And yesterday they performed at the Mate Street Festival in Albury. It was great to see her perform in front of a crowd and to have her grand parents there too was nice. She sings a solo part during 'Silver Bells', something she would have never have had the confidence to do back home.

Last night me and the wife had our first night out together since our arrival in Australia. It was the Softball team's Xmas do and we had a good time. I'm struggling to get my head around the fact that it's the festive season- it just doesn't seem right in the warmth of an Aussie summer.

Joining the Softball team, as gay as it sounds, was a social master stroke, as they're a great mob, all around our age with a similar outlook on life as ourselves.

Last night we both noticed how the Aussies seem to be charmingly lacking in self-consciousness. We spent a good deal of the night observing them as they let their hair down. They dance like no-one's watching.

We caught the excellent courtesy bus home for the bargain price of $5 apiece and whilst travelling we witnessed another example of them not giving too much of a hoot.

This pretty young girl got on the bus, her appearance not dishevelled even after a nights partying. She looked about eighteen or nineteen, prime age for vanity. She sat on her own near the front and about ten minutes into the journey she reaches into her handbag and pulls out this massive chicken leg and starts munching on it. Due to it's 'doggy-bag' style of packaging it was obvious that she had liberated said leg from the buffet of the Xmas party she had been attending. She gets down to the bone in no time and then, very delicately, wipes her chops as if she's at the Captains Table and folds up all her rubbish and tucks it neatly away into her bag.

Nothing too remarkable, I suppose, and no-one on the bus so much as raised an eyelid but it struck both me and the wife how unlikely it would have been to have witnessed this in the UK. She probably wouldn't have travelled alone to start with and it's unlikely such a bus service would even be running at that time of the morning anyway. Thirdly, self-consciousness would have prevented her British counterpart from, not only, eating her snack until she was safely out of the sight of her peers, but also of taking it in the first place.

In other local news, Wodonga's superbly named Mayor, Rodney Wangman, has been re-elected to serve a second term.

Although Rod possesses the classic political 'smiling assassin' look I'm glad, purely on the basis of him having such a cool name.

So Far So Good

My folks have been here for two weeks now.

It's absolutely flown by and it makes you realise the worth of having an extended stay over here. They didn't seem to suffer too badly from the jet lag that hampered our first week in Australia

We haven't done an awful lot, the folks are happy just coming and going as they please and sitting out in the sun all day.

We've had a couple of nights out down at the golf club and we went to Pete and Helen's for a barbie at the weekend. They seem to like their surroundings and it's been great for us to have them here.

Our house feels more like a home now they're here and even when they do go back, just the fact that they were here and we'll be able to relate our everyday environment to them will help. It'll help me anyway.

Although I'm enjoying life I'm still missing home. Not all the time but with varying frequency and intensity. Knowing we can go back is a great crutch for me. Whether we will or not remains to be seen. Life is better here, in many ways, but whether it's that much better to compensate for missing family, friends and familiarity, I'm unsure.

Whatever happens, this has been an amazing experience thus far and has benefited us a great deal. All of our horizons have been broadened massively and that can only be a good thing. As individuals and as a family I feel we have learnt an awful lot.

When I think about how far we've come, not in a physical sense, but in a development sense, I feel proud. We are carving out a life for ourselves from nothing in a brand new environment.

We've really challenged ourselves by moving so far away from what had become our comfort zone and we're doing OK.

All About Becks

My folks arrive in a few hours.

The girls are very excited although Lowri was disgusted to learn that she still had to go to school today as her friend had the day off when her nanna came out to Australia! She had a right stink about it this morning, more than likely due to the fact that this lunchtime, her and her partner in crime, Jed, are on litter duty for larking about yesterday.

It wasn't Lowri's fault, of course. Jed 'dacked' her and they both copped it from a passing teacher. 'Dacks' meaning trousers and 'dacking' being the noble art of pulling someone's strides down when they're least expecting it. One of my old mate Pepsi's favorite stunts. I wonder who he's 'dacking' now that his favourite victim (me) is living in Australia. Whoever, I'm sure that he'd be pleased to know that his greatest skill is being utilised and appreciated on the other side of the world.

Also visiting Australia at the moment is world superstar David Beckham. He's over here with his team the LA Galaxy and last night they played in front of a full house in Sydney against A-League outfit Sydney FC.

Sydney won an entertaining game 5-3, but it was more about the phenomenon Becks than footy. All week he's been all over the media. If you think he's only big in Europe then think again. 80,000+ fans attended the game last night - Sydney FC usually get a fraction of that. This was all about Becks.

He duly scored with a trademark free-kick, an absolute carbon copy of the goal he scored for England at Old Trafford in their crucial World Cup qualifier against Greece a few years back. He also played a full game as well, even though he got some 'rough' treatment in what was quite a spiteful game for a 'friendly'.

The Galaxy are staying in town doing promotional stuff for a few days before leaving for New Zealand on a similar mission. I say Galaxy but the spotlight will solely be on Becks. The media circus surrounding 'his' visit is of the volume normally reserved for a visiting monarch or the head of the Catholic Church.

For the Aussies to pour this much acclaim on a sportsman has really surprised me. A foreign sportsman at that and, above all, a pom. I think it goes some way to show how much football is growing here.

They even call it football now, and it's official. The Aussie governing body recently renamed itself the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) from it's old title of Soccer Australia.

But, for the game to become fully embraced by Australia, one of two things will have to dramatically change.

Either the game changes and players stop acting like they've been shot when an opponent brushes past them. True blue, dinky-di Aussies, to a man, won't put up with the absolute rubbish that takes place on football fields the world over. Although the A-League games can lack a bit of quality at times, they still maintain a degree of honesty, toughness and integrity that has all but vanished from the modern-day game.

If the game doesn't change then the Aussies might. The more their kids see of these underhand antics on the field and on TV then they may begin to view them as acceptable and adopt similar. And it doesn't stop on the field either, I think it manifests itself in life. Australian sports are the epitome of tough, honest and courageous competition and that has had a very positive effect on the culture of this great nation.

So, while I'd like to see football gain credibility and popularity over here, if it comes at a cost of the deterioration of good old Australian morality and values then I'd happily start calling it soccer again and watch other countries play it every four years. For that would be too great a levy to pay.

The ball's in your court Becks. Do the right thing.

Meet The Parents

I had a day out at Wodonga races this weekend with my 'first' Aussie mate, Fridgey.

Aside from the flies and poor horse selection, we had a good day.

It's a small racecourse, reminding me very much of Bangor-on-Dee at home, which is just how I like it - no queues, plenty of room, not-extortionate beer and food pricing. All in all, a lovely place. All the ladies dress up to the nines and the blokes get to wear their scruffs, which is also just how I like it.

They hold meetings throughout the year and the next one, on Boxing Day, is regarded as the biggest and busiest. We plan to go with my mum and dad, who arrive this Wednesday evening at half-eight local time for a two month stay.

We left home on July 23rd, little over four months ago although it seems like much, much longer. It feels closer to a year to me. Oddly enough though, it only seems like yesterday that I said goodbye to my folks - to my mum in the conservatory of their house and to my dad, with a firm, manly handshake in the Esp.

It'll be great to see the old duffers and we've got a few things planned for their stay. My dad and I have got tickets for the second day of the cricket test match between Australia and India down at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and we'll be spending the New Year in Sydney. We'll visit the local wineries too and take them around the region's attractions, including Wodonga races.

I hope my mum behaves.

Wet Weekend

Last weekend began with the great news from home that Pauline's dad was home from hospital and was progressing well with his recovery.

My mood was good and, even when the car broke down later that day, it remained so.

On Friday evening we ventured down to Wodonga High Street for the inaugural 'Lounging on High' event.

This is a council organised affair where the locals are encouraged to head down to the town centre with a chair or blanket, bring some refreshments and, basically, hang-out on and around the High Street.

They closed part of the road, there was a band on, face painting and entertainment for the kids, the new lights were illuminated on the town's iconic water tower and there was much merriment for all ages. It was pleasing to be recognised and greeted by a few people as we meandered around waving the flies away.

We met up with our South Walian buddies, Glyn, Deb and their son Al. After which, much beer began to flow. It was a balmy night and it felt like we were on holiday.

The party continued back at Glyn and Deb's house until the wee small hours where I proved that I had lost very little of my ping-pong skill by becoming the house champion, beating all-comers with an ease that could, in part, be attributed to the drunken state of my opponents.

The boozing continued on Saturday when we attended the official opening of the Wodonga Golf Club.

This place, due to it's close proximity to our house, will, undoubtedly, become our local. It's had a big refurbishment and is looking like a new pin. Again, there was much to do for the kids with bouncy castles, face-painting, free sausage sizzle, ball games and a cracking firework display. Again we were joined by Glyn, Deb and Al. We also met some new people and had another good night.

Finally, I'm beginning to feel the comforting warmth of a social circle developing.

A World Away

I've felt, of late, that I've turned a corner with regard to homesickness.

I still think about home regularly, but it doesn't hurt as much as it did. The events of this week, however, have made me think again.

Pauline's dad has been hospitalized after a fall at home. He's on the mend, but we're still worried.

The distance between us and our loved ones seems all the more apparent in a situation like this.

People say the world's a small place and you can be anywhere in a day. That's true idealistically, but, realistically, unless you own a private jet, things are a little trickier to say the least.

We want to be there to support Pauline's mum in anyway we can, but we can't and it hurts. We can phone and email but it's not the same as a visit and a hug.

We knew a situation like this would arise sooner or later. You always hope for later but we don't call the shots. All we can do is hope.

Get well soon, Danny Rhyl. We're thinking of you.

European Breakfast

It's Friday once again. Everyone's favourite week day.

This weekend we're off to the Celtic Festival down at Beechworth. It's mostly a Scottish/Irish affair but hopefully there'll be some Welsh input too. The wife emailed the organisers earlier this week and they have asked if our eldest daughter, Robyn, would like to sing in Welsh at next years festival. Bendegedig, as they say yn Gymraeg.

Also this weekend our boy travels to Belize in Central America with his battalion for some jungle manoeuvres. He's coping admirably without us around, as we thought and hoped he would. Bon Voyage Champ!

This morning I had the pleasure of watching the Super Blues play in Europe as I ate my cornflakes. I do apologise to readers who haven't the slightest interest in sporting matters for continually banging on about Everton on this blog, but I find it absolutely mind-blowing that I get to watch them 'live' on this side of the planet! On a Friday morning too!

They smashed the krauts two-nil as well, which was nice. Away from home too. I wonder how many Rhylbillies made the trip out to Germany. I would have gone had I been still a resident of Europe. I like Germany - great beer and even better food.

Not to mention the lederhosen.

Dead Ringer for The King

I went down to Melbourne yesterday.

Wasn't over-impressed with the place but I'll get to that later.

While I was there I walked down a lane that was full of buskers doing their thang, when I spotted this Chinese Elvis singing 'Blue Suede Shoes'.

He was the absolute double of young Stuey Harris from back home, so I got a snap to prove it.

I couldn't believe my ears when I saw him. Let me know what you think Rhylbillies!

Sport Hurts!

Idealistically speaking, sport crosses boundaries and promotes health, well-being and friendship.

In a bid to expand our minuscule social circles and reduce our waistlines, we had recently joined sports clubs.

A couple a weeks ago I signed up to play Over 35's football, or soccer as they say over here. Despite not having kicked a round ball in anger for a few years, I thought it would be a good way of tapping into the local British expat community.

All Brits love footy. Even I've found myself hankering to watch it over here, whereas previously, back home, I wouldn't have bothered unless Everton were involved.

Sure enough, the first night of training proved my theory to be true - around three-quarters of the old duffers there were British. I was surprised at the numbers, I knew there were a few poms in the area but I didn't think there were this many. It was almost like being at home as they hung around in their little cliques not bothering to greet an unfamiliar face.

Over the last couple of months I've become accustomed to overwhelming Australian friendliness and it felt quite odd being largely ignored by people.

Seeing as I didn't have the distraction of finding out what people had been up to during the off season, I threw myself into the game with vigour. I didn't do too badly for an egg-chaser and almost enjoyed myself. It was nice to hear some British wit/sarcasm once again as some of the 'efforts' on goal went out for throw-ins.

Some of the 'stiff-upper lips' did show signs of wilting during the session by muttering the odd word to me and one even took the very unBritish step of introducing himself. I was beginning to think that, given time, I may be allowed to join this social elite.

Such thoughts were banished though as I spent most of a sleepless night nursing my worn-out knees. The ground, as you'd expect for a region in drought, was bone-hard and my knees felt like they were on fire in the hours that followed.

Work, the following day, was torture and I can't remember wanting a day to end as desperately as I wanted this one to. I decided that my season was over before it had even begun and that I'd have to find other ways of making friends and keeping fit.

A possible solution came to me a couple of days into my 're-hab' - the hitherto untried sport of softball. With a name like that it can't be too dangerous surely. I rang the local team and with typical Australian friendliness we were welcomed into the fold immediately. We went down to the training session and I played, the wife played and the kids had a run too. At last, I thought, a sport that we can all take part in. They even loaned us some equipment so we could practice at home. They like a beer too, a further bonus.

The wife signed up for the ladies team and, fittingly, I joined the men's.

The girls season starts before the boys, so on Saturday we all went to cheer the wife and her team on in their opening game. It was an evenly matched game and the wife was performing adequately in the outfield. Soon, she got her turn to bat, and learnt the hard way what an inappropriately named game softball is, when she glanced a fastball straight into her grid.

The sound of the ball cannoning off her mush echoed around the ground and everyone rushed to her aid. She managed to keep her feet though and was steadied by the home-plate umpire and the opposition catcher.

As her team-mates and I approached, I had a flashback to the time when I belted my old mate Hed in the gob with a squash racket and he spat four of his front teeth out. This seemed a much harder wallop and I pictured the wife with a Joe Jordan-esque smile. Oh no! We haven't even got a dentist yet!

As it turned out it wasn't as bad as I had initially thought. Although she was a bit shaken up and played no further part in the game, all her teeth remained in her head. She has loosened her crown though and is booked into our brand new dentist this week. Additionally, she has a wicked 'fat' lip and an even wickeder 'Hitler' style bruise under her beak.

So, be warned kids, sport hurts - go hard or go home!

My Old Friend The Blues

Something extraordinary happened this week. It rained.

I reckon we've been in the region for about ten weeks and this was the first time we'd felt rain on our skin. It was lovely.

The heavens opened in a big way. It was like being at home. Everyone here is chuffed to bits and hopes there's plenty more on the way.

There is some forecast for the week ahead but it's back to hot and sunny today. Which, as we're going to a barbie later on today, is nice. Although we went to Hed's 40th birthday bash, I would consider this one today as our first 'proper' Aussie barbeque.

Having said that our hosts, Paul and Helen, are British expats, hailing from Liverpool and Wales respectively. They've been out here for fifteen years though.

Talking of home, it was great to watch some British telly after getting Austar fitted last Saturday. We had planned to go to the races after the bloke had finished installing it but we all got caught up watching old episodes of Footballers Wives, Coronation Street and Eastenders on UKTV and we spent the afternoon in front of the box. They're a bit behind the UK with the soaps but it was nice to see Annie Walker and Angie Watts back at the helm in their respective boozers!

Only joking, we're not that far behind, but Charlie Stubbs is still lording it up around the 'Street'. Enjoy it while it lasts Charlie boy!

The highlight of the weekends viewing though was definitely the Merseyside Derby. Even though the nine men of Everton were pipped by the twelve of Liverpool, it was still great to watch. Robyn was as excited as me and sat in front of the telly decked out in all her Everton regalia.

Watching the boys this far away from home was like bumping into an old mate.

And, just like feeling rain on our skin once again, it was lovely.

Bon Chance Angleterre!

A big weekend looms.

Tomorrow we're getting Austar fitted, which is the Australian version of Sky TV, so I'll be able to watch tomorrows Merseyside Derby in the comfort of my own living room. Come on you Blues!

Also tomorrow is Wodonga Races and, as it's Caulfield Cup day, it promises to be a big one. The track is only about 5kms (3 miles in old money) from our house so we're heading down. Unlike the U.K. you don't have to wear your best bib and tucker for the races - you can just rock up in your flip-flops and shorts here if you like. The forecast is for a hot day so that's what I'll be wearing.

On Saturday night we're going to a local tavern to watch the Fridge Man perform the local leg of his world record attempt of stand-up comedy performances in one week. If he's as funny as the fridges he sells he'll go down a storm.

Then the derby game, followed by an early start on Sunday to watch England take on the Springboks in the Rugby Union World Cup Final.

Despite cheering for the Wallabies in the quarter-final, I'll be hoping for an England win. In all my years watching sport I've never seen a turnaround like it. Smashed by the Boks in the group stages and written off as no-hopers at home and abroad, this team has simply refused to die.

They've even managed to win the begrudging respect of pommie-basher extraordinaire David Campese. He's been in the press over here saying that if the Wallabies and the All Blacks had half the guts and determination that England had then they'd be untouchable. He did bombastically add that an England win would be a disaster for the code and ranted about how much he detests their 'kick and rumble' style of play. The man is an idiot though and has deservedly eaten more than his fair share of humble pie in the past.

I hope he gets another large slice this Sunday morning at around seven o'clock local time.

Golden Globe

Unfortunately the take-over bid on the company I was working for was unsuccessful.

The good news is I've secured three weeks work with a very reputable, local electrical company.

For the last week and a bit I've been giving people advice on energy saving practices and installing energy efficient light bulbs, or 'globes' as they're known here, and water saving shower heads into peoples homes.

It's been a very enjoyable and profitable week. I've met some great people in the area and the whole episode, getting laid off aside, has been a very positive experience.

False Start

Today was my first day at work.

And, probably, my last.

Things were going swimmingly until just after lunch-time, when the boss rings up and says that the company is folding in two weeks unless someone buys us out.

Great, back to being Mr. Mum for me then.