Original and Best...

On our journey back from the UK we found 'original' KitKats (with the foil wrapping). It was so satisfying rubbing the logo. (n.b they were also free, so I didn't have to break my Nestle boycott)

Panini Complete!

For as long as I can remember Panini were the ubiquitous football sticker. They made an appearance every four years whenever the World Cup rolled around and I remember as a kid packets costing 20p bought from the local Stars newsagents on my walk to primary school. I never completed a full album. Usually albums were started off with great fervour and then collecting ran in parallel with England's usual precarious presence in the world cup. Eventually enthusiasm would wane and then run out entirely as we were dumped out in the quarters.

You were usually left with five Terry Butchers and three Jorge Campos's.

Just prior to the start of the Russian World Cup I spotted a Panini album in our local newsagents and snapped it up. Thus began several months of ardent collecting.

Times have changed alas. The stickers were pretty expensive this time around and kids no longer gather round in playgrounds shuffling through big decks of stickers, 'got, got, need, need, got, got'.

As is the way, we started with great vigour. Eli's book was soon half full and we were cruising, but then came the inevitable tipping-point. Now we'd buy a pack and the majority would be swaps. It's disappointing on several counts, not least due to the amount you'd paid, but being able to stick a solitary Cameroon player in after buying three packets isn't exactly motivating for anyone.

We forged on. Eli's quest took us to some crazy situations. Swapping stickers in a lady's apartment (after finding out she had started her collection in Mexico), a visit by another lady (with a newborn) who was trading stickers on behalf of her husband. Buying stickers from a small newsagents in Switzerland (the stickers were gold, but the same players and numbers)

Eventually we were in touching distance and I ordered the remaining 20 or so directly from Panini in Italy. When they arrived Eli delightedly stuck them in. Months of collecting were over.

I think next time (if Eli's motivated to collect them as a 13 year old) we'll start earlier. The few shops that sold the stickers in Australia stopped selling them almost as soon as the world cup was over. I worried at one point that our book would go uncompleted, but we made it. I'm (somewhat irrationally) pleased with our efforts..

Here's a short video of Eli's album...

Roos on the cricket pitch

I stopped off to take this picture on my drive home. It's our local cricket pitch and a large mob of kangaroos were enjoying the grass there. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that Canberra is Australia's 'bush capital'.

Sadly, there's an increasing trend for green spaces to be in-filled. Like many growing cities, new apartment blocks are springing up everywhere. Our local outdoor swimming pool is likely to become apartments in a couple of years and already the local pitch-and-put has given way to apartments. Of course the closer you get to the city the more in demand potential building spots become.

For now though at least kangaroos still hop in between many suburbs. The dry winter we've had has also had the effect of driving wildlife in from the bush and I think I've seen more rosellas this year than I ever have in ten years living in Canberra. Flocks of king parrots - a beautiful green and red bird find solace on our front lawn and I love nothing more than seeing yellow tailed black cockatoos on my drive to work.

Eli and I appear just after the 1.00 minute mark...

Audrey and Eli enjoying Disneyland Paris

Me playing the recorder in Bern

I ran into some young people in Bern and they insited I join them on the recorder while they sang a traditional Swiss folk song. I think that's why I like Europe, because crazy things like this can easily happen at any time.

(and yes, the kids were suitably embarrassed)

England, Bern and Paris

Here's a few pictures from our fabulous trip to Europe.



The pictures don't really do our trip justice. We travelled over to the UK, spent some wonderful days with Tim, Ness and Cerys in London, then up to see Mom in Wolverhampton and then down to visit both my brothers in Henley and Bath. Enroute we spent a few days in Newbury where I was so happy to catch up with not only Robin, Shan and the boys but some old AA friends and take part in my first cricket match for over ten years. I was made honorary captain and we duly recorded a victory against the might of the Watership Down Pub (not that I can take an awful lot of credit for the win!)

After the UK we caught a short flight to Bern in Switzerland - an absolutely stunning part of the world and watched Wolves play in a pre-season friendly against Young Boys(a game which Wolves duly won 4-0) From there we caught the train to Paris and enjoyed what was undoubtedly Audrey and Eli's highlight of the holiday - a day at Disneyland Paris. We got to Disneyland as it opened and left at 11.30pm (a full 13½ hours later!) The next day we climbed the Eiffel tower and then embarked on our looong journey home (due to delays taking nearly 45 hours!).

It was such a lovely holiday. Although it was tiring at times, a month away from the chilly Canberra winter represented excellent timing and it was great to see family and friends who we hadn't seen for a long time.