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Steve's in Sydney, Minda Rocks and Rose...

26/11/2012

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Steve was away this weekend so I got to play! Friday night consisted of post work drinks with colleagues with me doing a  Cinderella dash about 11pm.

I met up with Christine for Saturday brunch and a warm walk around the CBD before having to find respite on the sofa so I could work up strength for my Saturday evening date with Kim.

Kim and I enjoyed the outdoor ambience at Neil Perry's newest restaurant at Crown Casino, Rosetta. We enjoyed plenty a cocktail before seeing the evening end at the Atrium bar over a night cap or two.
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Kim can't quite get over the cost of dinner! If only we could keep the cash.

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Sunday was funday with Stef. We went to Rockpool for burgers. Rockpool is another Neil Perry restaurant hence my witty title of I rock'd and rose'd it - Rosetta and Rockpool.


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Steve was home Sunday afternoon so we spent the evening relaxing and made a great dinner of beef wellington with roast potatoes and vegetables. I used a very quick and easy recipe and it proved to be worthwhile

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Rooftops and a Birthday

24/11/2012

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 Last weekend was about catching up with friends and that started with a Saturday afternoon rooftop bar crawl. Mr Sunshine came to join us, there was dinner in Chinatown and the evening ended with a cocktail at 1806. Happy days!
Sunday was Karly's birthday and we planned to have lunch in the Yarra Valley. Tanya kindly offered to give Steve and I a lift. Sadly unanticipated traffic and roadworks meant it took us 2 hours to get there making us an hour late! The restaurant was great and didn't mind that we ate in two sittings and the main thing was that we were all there for cake!
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Also there to assist with celebrations for Karly were the Davis. Two very well behaved boys who enjoyed cake and ice cream with us.

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This is the very well behaved baby Indy. Nothing fazes her! Cam has been trying to get her ready for snow boarding and she gladly goes along with his harebrained contraptions carrying her by her Jumparoo sit with her little feet taped to a board and spinning her around.

Indy just carries on looking serene and as if its all very normal - perfect baby!

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In contrast to Indy we have the naughty Amelia Grace who gets up twice a night and can be a little minx! Look at her excitement at the 20% sale! Definitely a shopaholic in her like aunty and mummy.

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Family Holiday

16/11/2012

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Mum, Dad and Bro Barley all arrived Monday morning after a weekend in Singapore. Steve went to pick them up and spent the day with them and I joined the party after work that day.

They spent the early part of the week re visiting old territory and exploring new. It has been about 18 months since their last trip over. Steve and I took annual leave for a week and a half and spent the Thursday and Friday in Melbourne with them.
I'd love to say we did lots of cultured things but in reality our activities together revolved around eating. We kicked off proceedings with dinner at Hellenic Republic on Wednesday evening, followed it up with lunch at Cumulus, dinner at Movida and lunch again on Friday at the Press Club.

Just as an aside I have to confess and say I have been super indulgent as after this epic eatathon and our week away (more about that later) I have also enjoyed meals at PM24 and Maha which means that in the last fortnight I have eaten at 5 out of the 7 establishments George Calombaris owns! I feel a bit like a crazed fan for having done that but at the same time I don't regret one of those delicious meals at all!
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On the Thursday we had lamb shoulder at Cumulus which we devoured quite cleanly.

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Followed by a lamb shoulder for dinner. Also devoured completely cleanly.

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Our trip to Port Douglas was a great week of sunshine and relaxation. We rented a villa with its own pool just off the main strip.

We had a hire car that we used to explore the Daintree rainforest and for going to the local supermarket.

We also drove from Cairns airport to Port Douglas passing some beautiful coastal scenery.

We went to Mossman Gorge and walked through the rainforest on a guided tour learning about indigenous culture. We took a boat trip to the Low Isles and snorkelled off the beach.  Steve and I also took a longer boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef and had an excellent day looking at fishes and coral as well as getting very sunburnt backs.

Other activities included croc watching both in the wild on a river cruise but also at a crocodile park where we saw them jump for food. There were other Aussie animals there too including a cute mother and baby koala combo.
We tended to cook at home on the BBQ. Steve proved to be the BBQ king and we enjoyed different meat and fish as well as veggies. It was a great villa with lots of room for us and we really enjoyed cooling off in the pool and having 3 bathrooms as opposed to the 1 back in our apartment in Melbourne!

Port Douglas is a lovely part of the World and a great family holiday destination as there are lots of fun day trips to do as well as the chance to lounge by the pool in the sunshine or on the beach.

We had a great time altogether and we hope the Barleys had fun. They're just home now and recovering from the long flight. It will be March that we see them next.

Back in Melbourne we still have hot days and not so hot days. Spring is truly unpredictable. It's only 5 weeks till Christmas! This also means it's only 4 weeks till oue next trip!
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    We are Steve and Minda and we've been given the opportunity to move to Melbourne for two years. We arrived November 2010 and passed that two year milestone and are now Australian citizens! This is a blog of our experiences as we move to this new country, settle in and have fun!

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