Australian Open, Melbourne

As I was in Melbourne for the week working at Head Office, I took the opportunity to go to the evening session at the Australian Open. General admission meant I could wander the outer courts, making the most of the evening sunshine. The first game was to watch the Argentian David Nalbandian play. Unfortunately he retired hurt so could not see a full game but did get a good view of the cityscape from my seat.





Next I sat on the grass watching the big screen showing the Australian Sam Stouser playing on the main Rod Laver court along with hundreds of other Aussie fans - fortunately she won!





Then finally watched Andy Murray convincingly win his second round match - the crowd was brilliant, loads of Scots cheering him on.







Had great seat here as quite a small court and close to the action.

Then headed back to the hotel by tram - view of the city at night.

Waipu Highland Games

To celebrate New Year, we headed up to Waipu with Darryl & Alistair for the 140th Waipu Highland Games. The tradition comes about as a result of the Scottish heritage of the town. The pipe band announced the start of the games.

The heavyweight competition was fierce with 8 different events for the entrants to demonstrate their strength - the first event the throwing of the 22 pound highland stone.

Other events included throwing the hammer.

And tossing the caber.

Alistair decided to enter the novice competition and had a good effort at the various events.

There were other events as well including athletics, fiddling, piping and lots of different highland dances. A full fun packed day.

Christmas Day at the Beach

A quiet Christmas for us this year, just the two of us, and although warm, not the sunny day we have become accustomed to in recent years. We still managed a trip to the beach for our picnic lunch.

We didn't venture too far from home and ended up at Rothesay Bay - a few parties in the park area but the beach was virtually empty as the water was a bit nippy! A very nice relaxing day.

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory

The main reason for our visit to Wellington was to watch the Phoenix play - the only professional football team in NZ. Their home games are played at the Westpac Stadium, about a 10 minute walk from the city and a great stadium that holds about 30,000.






The "Yellow Fever" were out in force, though the total attendance for the game was just over 6,000 so plenty of empty seats.




A glorious afternoon for watching the football, and Phoenix started well with plenty of pressure and an early goal. Melbourne fought back though and were leading 2-1 at half time.





The second half, Phoenix pressed for the equaliser and it finally came through their star player Paul Ifil, ex English Championship player. Final score was 2-2 and a very entertaining game.

Wellington

We have spent this weekend down in the capital, and were lucky to have the most glorious weather rather than the cold and wind that Wellington is renowned for. We spent most of the day exploring on foot and seeing the sights.







Oriental Bay is a short walk around the harbour past Te Papa museum and a popular little beach for the locals.







And good views back to the city from the promenade.







We also had good views at night on our walk back to the hotel after a lovely Malaysian meal out.

Taste of Auckland

Today was the highlight of any foodies year, Taste of Auckland. This year held at Victoria Park right in the centre of town. Despite the predicted rain we had a glorious day sampling food from some of the top restaurants in Auckland.

First dishes of the day were a cured kingfish carpaccio by Harbourside followed by crispy wild boar by The Grove.

Next up was the best dish of the day from Japanese restaurant Soto - teriyaki chicken infused with manuka honey.

After a few other samples, the final dishes of the day were from Euro - Alaskan king crab & prawn in jalapeno cream and veal rump with parsnip puree. A great day eating lovely food with friends.

Anyone for Bowls?

This month's Social Club event at work was lawn bowls at the Takapuna Bowling Club. Despite the drizzle, we had great fun. Royston concentrating hard on the line to take whilst Dean watched on.

It proved much harder than expected, maybe it's because we are too young! Craig giving it a good go here though as Richard gives some tips.