Sight and sounds of Melbourne

It's been three months here, in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city and the state capital of Victoria. That's long enough to know my way around on foot, and to have found a game of football on a Saturday, long enough to have found a good Indian Restaurant and a place to buy quality fruit and veg, and long enough to have an opinion on the state of the local public-transport network. Certainly long enough to have caught an Aussie twang to my speech, according to Rebecca, Joe Kloska, and Mum. Not long enough however to have bought a bicycle, or to have found a copy of Joyce's Ulysses, or to have chosen a favourite Australian Rules Football Team (I have been told to choose anyone but Collingwood, who seem to be the Manchester United of AFL, incidentally). The public transport is really really good by the way.

For Ellen's birthday we have had guests here from New Zealand and so we got out and about plenty, enjoying a drive in the countryside, and cruising Melbourne's many fancy restaurants and watering holes. Here we are outside the picturesque cafe on the Mornington Peninsular we visited. That's Claire, Ellen, Bronwen, and Michaela, from left to right. Bronwen is our new housemate and she very kindly included us on this visit to write a review of the cafe for Melbourne's daily broadsheet, The Age. After eating we took a walk along the sea-front and saw a seal, before driving on to some local vineyards and tasting some of their produce. Well, what a lovely way to spend a Sunday!

Ellen has completed two weeks at her new job with Greg Burgess Architects. She has enjoyed the return to employment and is already grappling with several projects. It is very exciting for Ellen to be finally here, doing what she came to do. It is a definite success, already impressing her employers with her prescience and conscientiousness. Not to mention her cooking! We are hoping she will be able to continue her internship through New Year and that she will be able to take a break with me in October for the wedding of Mum and Mike in England. Watch this space!

I have been listening with excitement to news from both England and Aotearoa; there are weddings galore to look forward to, and the exciting news that Paul and Joella Andersen are expecting has recently put the icing on the cake for us, 2007 is set to be a very exciting year indeed. I am also glad to see that Joe has left RADA and walked straight into work with the BBC, well done Joe! Also special mention needs to go to Daniel Huggins for being awarded a summer internship at Bristol University Astronomy Department, now that's pretty cool!

A Happy Birthday to Rebecca!

Here's my testimonial to Rebecca, who is spending her summer holiday in Cornwall working, so she can save enough money to fly and visit me somewhere soon!

So, Rebecca Jane CherryAngel Huggins. Now, that is what I call a full-name, it pretty much covers all the bases. With a name like that I suppose you would expect to meet a lovely intelligent girl; someone down to earth, yet imaginative, creative and hard working. Well happily enough you’d be almost entirely correct. In fact Rebecca has all these abilities in spades, plus an unsurprising talent for dance and drama (unsurprising if you know me, that is).

The night Rebecca was born Daniel was very sad, he cried and cried because he was confused by our unfamiliar house at Cairns Road, while Sharon was rushed to the Maternity Ward. He fell asleep finally in his buggy, an oasis of familiarity for him. The excitement was palpable, and we were all delighted to meet Rebecca the day she arrived. As I remember, she had an unmistakeable strawberry mark on her left cheek, and I’m not talking faces here, which quite drew the attention.

“So how’s Rebecca then?”, asked Ellen, her smile glinting from beneath her glasses.
“She’s a little bit Goth”
“Does she wear all black clothes?”
“No, she wears jeans, with a studded belt. A little bit Punky , but she’s also Indie. You know, a bit Punky and a bit Indie”, said Pete; he was imagining a combination of a stripy shirt and a studded belt, with black eyeliner. He was describing to Ellen how his sister had looked to him during the last visit home.
“Oh she’s Emo”, said Ellen, with a certainty in her voice and expression that was at once convincing, “you should look it up!”

Not long ago in London, at Christmas time, sitting at a table in the Shakespeare pub next to Victoria Station, David and Peter were enjoying a drink together before going their separate ways into the night. It was early evening and the pub was full of revellers, the pub’s gaudy Christmas lights surrounding them. For fun the two of them were making predictions on the futures of their younger siblings, and writing the predictions down for posterity. I’m unable to tell you what those guesses were exactly, but I know that they talked of big things for all three.

This year, while Rebecca spends her Birthday away in Port Isaac Cornwall, I am thinking of her and wishing her many happy returns. At fifteen she is as delightful as ever, and I miss seeing her very much.