Seeeeedneeeeee

I've just realised something. Since I became old, my Derman luck seems to have run out. I booked tickets to Sydney from Monday to Thursday because a) I had my birthday bowls on the Sunday, b) I wanted to watch the final 2 days of the cricket test (Aus vs Rest of the World), c) Luke's farewell was on Thurs and d) I had a "blind date" organised for Friday. a) it poured down so much they cancelled bowls first thing in the morning, b) the cricket ended 2 days early, c) Luke decided to fly to Canada 2 weeks later and d) the date was postponed for 2 weeks.
Sooooo I packed my tourist gear and headed to Sydney anyway. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the zoo,









wandering around the city and Darling Harbour, eating about 3 kg of mussels and catching up with vannies (Bec and Dicko) and London work mates (Paul and his girlfriend Linda),
exploring Manly (and the zoo) with Al (the guy I met at the U2 concert),

shopping on Oxford Street in Paddington (sounds like I'm in London!).
Chinese Gardens...
Dinner with Cameron, Shazza and Watto.
On Thursday Cameron, Watto and I played golf and just missed the downpour (maybe I have a tiny bit of luck left!) and although I didn't manage to get anywhere close to challenging Cameron, I did beat Watto by a few!!

Nephews!

With all the Lulu-ness going on, I thought it would be nice to put some pics up of the little boys back home in SA! Here's a good little saffer eating his flings (Ben):





And looking after the fire (typical Derman), looking like he's just smoked a joint...
Matthew enjoying the stunning view...

Mac!

On Saturday evening I got a lift with Jane and her boys to the Gold Coast to meet Mac and Gail for drinks. Gail wasn't feeling well, so it ended up being just me and Mac, catching up on the last few months (London and Aus) and being thoroughly entertained by the people around us.
We had the best potato wedges ever ever, but weren't allowed to have forks because we were in the smoking section??? Still haven't figured that one out... Mr White Shoes provided hours of hilarity with his ridiculous dance moves and "I'm so cool" grin on his face.
I was supposed to meet up with Belinda and Paul and their mates in Surfers Paradise but we got stuck into the helium balloons and then made a bunch of new (40-something) friends so ended up staying there till closing time.
I had Jane and Peter's flat all to myself, and then spent Sunday trying to get to the beach, then parking off for a few hours of vitamin D, then trying to get back to Brisbane. Was cool to see the Indy stuff lining the streets for the 20-23 Oct Indy series of which I shall definitely be a part!