Backtracking

 Sunrise at Deakin University, yesterday morning.

Last weekend:
Friday night, dinner and footy with Nick and Kerry was great. We ate at Spice Temple on  southbank then went to the Saints v Magpies game at Docklands. Good to see friends from Busso, catch up on the news, have some laughs etc.
Mrs HP took the train home, I stayed the night at a hostel in Spencer St, cheap and ultra basic but very convenient for my Saturday morning bus trip to Adelaide.
Arrived Saturday evening, Vicki picked me up and we went to the Hamptons for dinner.
Sunday went to Paradise (church that is) then to Aami Stadium for the footy, The Crows v the Cats. What was supposed to be a nice relaxing weekend and comfortable win turned out to be far more stressful than planned, a bit of a nail-biter in fact. The Cats won in the end but we were both pretty nervous throughout.

After the game we had two friendly encounters, one with some Crows fans (Pat & Paula, above) the other with some Cats fans (Bob and Jenny). I was admiring the Crows fan's badges and they kindly offered to send me some of their spares which duly turned up in the mail a few days later. Unfortunately there was no return address so I have no way of thanking them, unless they happen to stumble upon this blog. Unlikely admittedly but...
When we returned to the car we bumped into Bob and Jenny who had driven over from Geelong for the game and were staying on in SA for a week, minus their caravan which had been stolen a week earlier, one of four to be brazenly towed away from their owner's homes in Geelong within a few days. We chatted for a while then decided to go and have a coffee together and wait for the traffic to clear. As we were chatting Bob revealed that he had an unusual hobby, International Competitive Ploughing, and that he had in fact "Ploughed for Australia"!! Needless to say we were both amused and fascinated by this revelation. Sadly I didn't get a picture of them but we did swap contact details and will hopefully catch up sometime soon in Geelong.

First thing Monday morning I boarded the Overlander train and headed back to Geelong after a busy but very enjoyable few days.

Darlow and friends, Josh the Reigning Pom and Sport Boy, taken on Kardinia Park after the Cats demolition of the Gold Coast Suns a couple of weeks ago.

Full on Footy Family and Friends Ahead

Mrs Holt Press and I are off to the footy in Melbourne tonight for the Grand Final re-match, St Kilda v Collingwood. While I'm looking forward to the game, the main reason we're going is to meet up with St Nick and his wife Kerry who've come over from Busselton for a footy weekend. St Nick as the name suggests is a big Saints fan. We worked together at Busso high school and spent 5 Country Weeks together in Perth so it will be great to see them, especially as we're going out for dinner before the game.

I'm staying in Melbourne after the footy because first thing Saturday morning I'm taking the train to Adelaide so I can spend the weekend with Vicki. We're going to the Cats v Crows game together on Sunday arvo at Football Park.
Then it will be back on the train Monday morning to come home.

A busy weekend!

At Holtie's House

Life is good in Gympie, just hanging out with Pop,talking heaps, watching a few movies,  surfing the net and eating when we're hungry. Today I spent a few hours wandering around town, checking out the op shops and finding a few pills and potions for Pop. He is still experiencing the after effects of an episode of Bell's Palsy from a few months ago and with some help from Mrs Holt Press I tracked down a few herbal and natural treatments which may help in the healing process. I also found a pair of shorts, 5 books and a couple of badges but the main objective was the stuff for Pop.
The weather up here is beautiful, you wouldn't know it is winter. I've spent the last couple of days in shorts and T-shirts.

Tomorrow we're taking a trip over to Tin Can Bay, where Dad used to live, and will have lunch with friends, Ken & Jackie before coming back and having dinner with a different friend, Margaret.

Meanwhile back in Ocean Grove our house guest, Josh, from SU in WA, who was enroute to his home in Britain via Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and LA has had some bad news in the shape of a lung related medical problem which means he can't fly for six weeks. Looks like we've got ourselves a short term boarder! It's probably just as well for Josh that he was at our place at the time and not in a backpackers hostel somewhere in a foreign country away from family or friends.

The Heir has been in England for a wedding for the last 5 weeks but I think he's due home to WA shortly.

Favourite Daughter has started full-time in her new job as a support worker for Scope. It sounds like it will be quite challenging but I'm confident she'll deal with it well.

Sport Boy is celebrating a rare victory for his soccer team, the North Geelong Warriors on Sunday. Despite being 11th (out of 12) on the ladder the Warriors beat the 2nd placed Melbourne Knights 1-0 and according to the unbiased view of Mrs HP, Sport Boy played well.

Last time I spoke to Spike he was planning to spend his last $5 on a packet of sausages and a loaf of bread and hoping that would see him through to pay-day! Ah, memories!