News & Updates

With the upcoming changes happening in our lives, we decided to change the look of our website! So if you’re reading this from a feed you’ll need to drop by the actual site to see

We’ve moved from having 1 sidebar to having 2 sidebars.  On the left you’ll see the options relevant to this website. On the right are options for other websites (including our Family News website).  It should all work but I am aware of a couple of minor stylesheet issues (how a couple of small bits of text display).

Hope you like it!

The Thoughts Form is now closed for this item!

Ok, so I’m British…let’s talk about the weather!

This is my first full winter in Australia.  Back in ‘99 I arrived into Sydney half-way through winter when I was on a working holiday - and last year we arrived at the end of July.  Spending both June & July in Melbourne is a new experience for both of us, as Dawn grew up in the year-round summer weather of Brisbane!!

In itself, winter in Melbourne is not bad.  It’s actually more like autumn in the UK - sometimes overcast, can be quite rainy at times, sometimes sunny, sometimes foggy.  The temperatures generally range from about 6 celcius (in the night) to 12-16 celcius at lunch time - so it is quite odd to have such a range of temperature in the winter.  I think we even got down to 0 celcius a while back one night.

In general I think I prefer winter in Melbourne to winter in the UK - however I generally prefer summer in the UK compared to Australia (gets way too hot at times…)

However, there is a problem with winter here - houses generally don’t have insulation and double-glazing!  This is ridiculous as insulation doesn’t only help a house to stay warmer in the winter, it also helps it to not get so hot in the summer - I would have thought that it would be normal to have insulation!  This results in it being colder inside than it is outside during the winter months.  For example, Dawn has just been sitting out in the garden and got quite warm as it’s sunny today.  While I’ve been checking email this morning I’ve been feeling very cold - it’s probably about 4 celcius at best (probably colder) in this room as it’s the opposite side of the house to where the sun is.

Being inside a house in Melbourne during winter can feel like being outside in the UK during winter when it’s icy.  Not really that enjoyable!  There is of course another impact of no insulation - heating (& cooling in summer) bills are higher than they need to be.  There is a double-whammy with heating bills in the winter, as the normal kind of heating is gas-powered ducted air heating - rubbish compared to gas-powered (water) radiator system (which would also allow you not to heat certain rooms if they’re not being used).  Dawn also sees the light with insulation, double-glazing, and a decent heating system!!

So even though it’s colder in the UK during winter, in general it feels colder here!

The Thoughts Form is now closed for this item!

Last week, on St George’s Day, it was our 3rd wedding anniversary. We take turns each year is organising something to do for the event - for our 1st anniversary we went to a really nice Japanese restaurant in Melbourne during a brief trip to Australia, and last year we made a trip to Brussels in Belgium.  This year it was my turn again to organise something.

Finding a good curry in Australia is not an easy thing - good Indian restaurants are few and far between.  I think the only decent one I’ve had was 2 years ago in Glebe (Sydney). So the first thing we did over the weekend was try out the local Indian restaurant on Friday night.  It was ok - not bad, but not fantastic.  Good enough to consider going back, but probably not have their rather fatty chicken in a curry again.

Then on Saturday morning we headed out and drove for a couple of hours to Ballarat.  Known from the goldrush days, in Ballarat they have a mock goldrush township called Sovereign Hill.  I’d booked a package that included an overnight stay, day entry to Sovereign Hill (both days), and dinner followed by their ”Blood on the Southern Cross” sound & light show.  We had a good time there, and of course took a number of photos!

Click on the photos to see a larger image - you can also comment on the individual photos when you do this!

The Thoughts Form is now closed for this item!

The Thoughts Form is now closed for this item!