We moved in to the new house in November. It has been a very dry Summer but of course on the actual day of the move we had hailstorms. Brad helped us with moving the large furniture, and the move was largely completed within a day.



The gloss was taken off the new place almost immediately when we noticed in the heavy rain that there was a leak from the outside deck into the kitchen ceiling. We think the leak has been repaired, but until we have some heavy rain in Melbourne we won't be certain. We've been waiting now for over three months.



The new place is in Fitzroy and the study has quite a nice view of the city, especially at night. It's great to be living a short walk from shops and restaurants again, instead of having to use the car so much. We still have a spare bedroom for anyone who comes to visit us in Melbourne.

We have continued rowing twice a week with the Melbourne Argonauts, with some improvement in proficiency and fitness. I was asked to fill in at short notice in our men's crew for the Head of the Yarra race. I rowed in three seat.



In this picture from the race I am third from the bottom (with the oar being squared too late). To see further evidence of poor technique, check the short video of us rowing after the finish and also arriving back at the starting line later in the day. Jay is in six seat in the second clip.



The race was 8.6 km (5.4 miles) upstream which was exhausting, but the event itself was quite a thrill. There were over 180 crews, so the start was staggered.

The club had its own internal regatta the following weekend which was just for fun. Almost everyone won a medal including the four Jay rowed in.



Here he is holding the (small and chocolate filled) medal in his left hand. This was the end of year celebration for the rowing club before everyone went away for Christmas.

Jay and I were going to spend Christmas with his family in Los Angeles, so we had an early Christmas lunch with my family before we left. It was at my parents' house as our place was still a bit of a mess and the staircases have no bannisters yet, which makes them a bit dangerous for Papa.



In mid-December we flew to Los Angeles to stay with Jay's sister Richelle's family in Burbank. We had planed to go on the new V-Australia, but as their aircraft delivery was delayed we had to make hasty arrangements on Qantas. Flights across the Pacific have since become a lot cheaper now that V-Australia and Delta will be competing on these routes as well.



In Burbank Jay got to meet his new nephew, Holden, for the first time. We spent two very enjoyable weeks in Burbank over Christmas, including taking William and Fraser to Universal Studios, visiting the Air Museum at Chino and playing Guitar Hero.



Here are Russell and Jay at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. There are more photos in an online album. I went to San Francisco for one weekend to visit friends and stayed with Joel and Sam.

We spent New Years Eve at the Masterbeat events in Los Angeles and had a great time. After New Year we went to Calgary to visit Jay's sister Denise.



Calgary was easily the coldest place I had ever been. It was -28C (-18F) on our first day there, quite a change from Summer in Melbourne. We visited the dinosaur museum at Drumheller and also went to Banff and Lake Louise.



The landscape in the mountains was quite spectacular and the resorts were not as busy as they are in the Summer. We returned from Calgary for a few more days in Los Angeles before returning to Australia.



Of course we managed to squeeze in a few visits to Costco with Richelle during the trip. This should see us through until the first Australian Costco opens here in Melbourne in the middle of 2009.

We arrived back in Melbourne in mid-January in time for a period of hot weather which culminated in a day over 46C (115F). During the hot weather we went to the Australian Open and watched Federer defeat Safin. We also volunteered again for the Midsumma Carnival.



The weather and the crowd were much better than last year, but this year we were allocated to the "bump-in" of the exhibitors, so we were there from 6am. By the time of the Tea-dance in the evening we were ready for bed and we didn't stay late. The rowing club also volunteered to marshal at the Australia Day Parade, something I was not aware existed. The parade groups were mostly representing the various ethnic and cultural groups present in Melbourne. The spectators were mostly people trying to get across the road from the railway station.



The hot weather was associated with the bushfires around Melbourne which made the news as about 200 people were killed. The fires were not close to where we live in Fitzroy, but the air was smoky for much of the week. I have a number of acquaintances among those affected by the fires.

Last weekend we visited Ross and Belinda in Ocean Grove, a town about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne. Their 5 year old daughter Sophie had been given a kitchen for her cubby house and we spent a couple of hours with Ross assembling it. Here we are with the finished kitchen and Sophie in her Ariel (from The Little Mermaid) outfit.



This weekend we are heading to Sydney for Mardi Gras, where we will see a few friends from abroad. At present we have no other major travel plans.

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