Merry Christmas

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years!

A special congratulations to Mark and Vanessa, proud new parents of Mitchell Andreas on December 19th. We're thinking of you guys ;-)

Best wishes for safe and happy holidays for everyone.

Love Selina & Angus

xox

Wedding Anniversay Weekend Away & Cambridge Trip to visit Hannah & Owen

We had our big weekend planned away for last weekend (8th/9th December). On Friday night it was my work christmas party. It was an interesting evening. It was a corporate party event really, we had two tables of people and there must have been about 40 tables there. It was nice to talk to some colleagues outside of work and Angus and I managed to have a bit of a boogie on the dance floor too which was nice ;-) We walked home afterwards in the cool air which was pretty nice.

On Saturday morning Angus made us great French Toast ;-) Then we packed up our stuff and got in our rental car. We headed North, towards the city of Perth. The forecast for Edinburgh for the weekend was a maximum of 2degs and sleet, so we were pretty ready for some cold wet weather! We drove through Perth and kep going north to the town of Pitlochry. We had lunch there and then drove out towards the lochs and mountains. We drove through some really lovely countryside. We went to Loch Tummel which was really spectacular, and then past Schiehallion, which is apparently the hill where the first contour map was made. The weather was getting a bit worse, and we actually had some snow fall while we were driving which was very cool ;-) We drove along a beautiful loch, along a really narrow road, with snow falling around us, it was quite magical. We got to the town of Callander about 4ish and checked into a nice little b&b which we had managed to find on the internet - we were pleased with it! We had a pretty quiet afternoon and had a great dinner in the restaurant. It was excellent food and we had a tasty bottle of spanish red wine with dinner. Afterwards we sat in the great little bar and angus had a whiskey! It was a really nice evening.

On Sunday morning we had an awesome breakfast - porridge, cereal, toast, hot breakfast - yum! Angus tried Haggis and Black Pudding too! We then drove a little way from the town to do a walk. We walked for about 2 or so hours, up towards Ben Ledi, we made it to a bit above the snow line, walking along a river for the first part, then up a beautiful valley with a waterfal running down it. It was a great walk. We were ready for a late lunch and lucked upon an incredible little cafe right on the edge of a loch. We both enjoyed a great lunch with views of the loch and mountains surrounding it. Then in the afternoon we had a great drive back and stopped in at Doune Castle which is one of the best preserved 14th century castles in Scotland. It's pretty spectacular, and we really enjoyed looking around the very impressive rooms and the view from the roof was amazing! It was a great weekend away ;-)

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We had a fabulous weekend in Cambridge with Hannah and Owen. It took us a while to get there - I left work about 20 past 4 on friday afternoon and walked to Haymarket train station and met Angus there. We caught the train to Glasgow, and then walked through the city (under 10mins) to the other train station in Glasgow, we bought some chocolate to take to Owen and Hannah (we can't take wine on the plane of course!) and Angus bought a beer for with dinner. We got on the train to Prestwick Airport, which is about an hour from Glasgow. We ate dinner on the train - Angus had cooked a fabulous quiche which was really really yummy! We got to the airport and had lots of time and grabbed a coffee (eeek, this starbucks stuff is aweful, i don't know why people would actually _choose_ to drink this stuff!!) before lining up to get on the plane. Ryanair don't do allocated seats, so you have to line up. You can pay extra to get priority lineup, but that seemed silly when it won't actually get you there faster or more comfortably or anything! We ended up being basically at the front of the plane anyway, so i'm not sure of the point of the paying extra! The flight was fine and at the other end (London Stanstead) there was a bus waiting to take us to Cambridge (although according to the bus timetable there was no bus, but we wern't arguing!). We met Owen and Hannah at the other end! It was so great to see them both! We went for a bit of a walk through Cambridge, through Clare college (Owen's college) which is really beautiful - just like in the movies (which sounds really corny, but it's a fantastic building, with a square in the middle, with grass you can't walk on so it's all green and lush, with cobbled paths, and maginficient buildings all around!, including a chapel with stained glass!). We also saw Kings College and walked on a bridge over the river Cam (Clare college is the second oldest college and has an old bridge over the river, it's actually sagging on one side! - very cool). Then we went back to Owen and Hannah's flat, which is very nice - cozy but not small, pretty similar in size to our place here in Edinburgh. We had mince pies and tea and the boys had whiskey and we had chocolates too. We talked and talked and talked. The way you can only do with old friends. It was fantastic! We actually stayed up until about 2:30am talking!

On Saturday morning after a great breakfast we went back to Clare College to go for a punt. The weather was perfect. Blue skies and sunshine, it was really beautiful. We got all our stuff into the punt and headed off, Owen being punter. It was fantastic. So wonderful just seeing all the fantastic colleges, bridges, gardens, views etc all from the peace and comfort of a punt! Angus had a go and appears to be a natural punter! Hannah managed to lose the pole which was very amusing and I stayed sitting in the boat the whole time (not being a big fan of slippery backs of punts and cold cold water!). We had the grand tour of the river Cam with Owen and Hannah telling lots of stories along the way. Photos will be loaded up soon, I promise!! We then went for a bit of a walk, visited the local markets, which are on every day (which we are very envious of, as we would love to have local markets in Edinburgh - apparently there is a market here once a week but a decent walk from us and on a Saturday morning so we havn't been yet!). Then we went back to Hannah & Owen's for lunch (fantastic walnut bread and garlic stuffed olives!). We had a cruisy afternoon too, going for a walk through some more beautiful colleges, Trinity & Kings. Unfortunately the evensong wasn't on, so we couldnt' go to that. All the more reason to come back next year! So we sat in a nice pub for a few hours before going to a cool restaurant for dinner, a bit reminiscent of the Jeruseleum in Adelaide (think the parachute ceilings!). It was a great night out, though very very cold!

On Sunday morning we had another tasty breakfast before walking to the bus stop to catch our bus to the airport. It all went smoothly and we were back in Edinburgh by mid-afternoon and then walked home from the city and did some food shopping on the way. We had pretty quiet evening in as it had been a big weekend!

I think it was minus 6 degrees this morning (Monday 17th) when I walked to work and it's meant to be a maximum of 1degree. So so cold! Before we came to Europe I don't think we actually thought about the cold that much, it was just not something we considered. Now that we're here and living in it, we're quite challenged as to how to keep warm enough. Ie, how do we keep our feet warm enough in our shoes? And I can understand why girls here wear stockings under their pants to keep warmer! I'm certainly very very glad I bought a big coat when we were in Germany, without that I'd be frozen!

Now for some news:

A massive congratulations to my super talented big brother Martin who has got his PhD!

And a big well done to Michaela and Graham who had their baby daughter Karina Jade Heinson on Friday December 14!! Very Exciting!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone, we'd love to hear some news from you all.
LoveSelina & Angus
xox

Edinburgh musings

Edinburgh - our new home.

Well we've been here for about 3 weeks in Edinburgh, so I thought i'd better write another blog entry about our adventures thus far. After our boxes all arrived (yay), we decided it would be nice to go away for a night. So we booked a car and then walked up to town to pick it up. We needed a couple of bits and pieces for around the house - some kitcheny stuff, a table for the computer, some bedside tables and lamps. So off we went to ...IKEA... of course. Where else do people go when setting up house!! We managed to get through the maze and find most stuff we wanted. We got a great cheap table for the computer that is subtle and easy to ignore (not like the massive monitor sitting on top of the desk! - perfect for looking at photos and playing games on!) and we got some little wooden step ladders for bedside tables - very cute! After we got out of Ikea (it was totally dark by the time we got out at 4:30pm) we drove away from Edinburgh, through Stirling (great castle on a hill there too) and towards Loch Lomond, to the town to Drymen, where we checked into a b&b. We went for an ok pub dinner (nothing to write home about, so it's not really getting a mention here, except for the cool wallace tartan carpet - maybe something we can add in our house...) and then had a cup of tea and shortbread in the kitchen of the b&b. The next morning we were up pretty early and went to look at the Loch. It was really beautiful, the sun seemed to be just rising over the loch and there were lots of lovely trees and mist and great rocks. I got the camera out (and monopod - there's a little less light here than in France!!) and we went for a short meander along the side of the loch. It's quite spectacular, with massive hills rising up with little covering on them - that is low scrub that makes them look really bare. It was lovely. We then went for a bit of a drive through the countryside, just enjoying the lovely views. We stopped in at a distillary but just had a tasting and didn't buy any whiskey. We stopped at a couple of small towns - Killearn, Fintry and Kippen. At one we stopped for a coffee and great cake in a very sweet little cafe with a great shop of antiques and cool fake flowers and great cards. We bought a card with a painting of the area on it, to be framed at a later date. We had lunch in a funky cafe with lots of great produce, and we bought some herbs and spices and wine also. Then in the afternoon we went to see the Wallace Monument. It was great! We walked up the big hill and then climbed up lots of (narrow and steep) stairs to the exhibitions. They show his sword there - it's massive! And the story is pretty interesting. We made it up to the top and the view over the area was nice, but it was raining a bit so we didn't stay up there. We drove back via the Forth Bridge to Edinburgh. It was great to see some of the very spectacular, stark, desolate countryside. The hills here are really amazing and we're looking forward to doing some hiking on them (in summer perhaps!)

Since then we've been getting into the swing of work. Last weekend on Saturday we went round to the local cafe for breakfast and read the paper. Then in the afternoon we walked up to the city and went to a 'french market'. Now it was nice to see a bit of french culture in Edinburgh, but these people obviously haven't been to a real french market. We are starting to realise how spoilt we have been whilst traveling in France (and even in Holland we saw fabulous markets just near Zoe's place). We managed to buy a stem of garlic (that is about 12 heads) so that should last us about two weeks maybe, given the rate we consume it at! But we had a nice time wandering around the very busy city centre and then headed home for a quiet one. Oh, also on Tuesday night we met up with Kris and Geordie (some guys we've met!) and had a drink and a pub meal and then went to a stand-up comedy show - it was a pretty good gig actually. And last sunday I went to the local church which is really nice - one of only two totally wooden churches in Scotland! It's pretty convenient - about a 10 or 15minute walk from our flat. In the afternoon we walked along the Waters of Leith (a creek running through the area) and then went to the Botanic Gardens - really lovely. Lots of big trees with great colours and unusual leaf shapes (for us anyway!) and a couple of squirrals. It was nice. We went to the cafe and had a coffee overlooking a lovely view of the gardens and then with Edinburgh Castle in the background. The Gardens are also about a 15min walk from our place. We're very lucky to live so close to all these great places!

This weekend we again went out to breakfast, or tried to at least. We had seen a 'continental' cafe, which we thought would be good to check out, but the breakfasts looked pretty dismal, so we didn't stay there. Another place we tried only served coffee. So we ended up doing our grocery shopping and going home for breakfast! A little frustrating. We then took a packed lunch and walked to the centre of town and to the library (just off the royal mile). It's great- like a good bookshop! They have a massive range of lonely planet guides, and also had a lot of maps of the area - good topographic hiking maps of the whole of scotland! We borrowed a couple of books and then walked out towards Princes St Gardens - this is the main sort of shopping drag, but there are gardens all down one side and you can look up and see the castle and lovely old buildings etc. So we sat in the sunshine and at our lunch. It was pretty cold, about 6deg, and while we were enjoying our sunshine unfortunately the sun 'set' behind the buildings. Doh! The sun is setting about 3:40pm at the moment, which is a little surreal! In the mornings when I walk to work it's light but not bright. During the days it does get sunny some times but it's always dark when I come home. We're quite enjoying it actually, but we're looking forward to the long days next summer. For anyone interested we are planning a cycle trip along the Hebrides islands in September 2008. We plan to take a little over a week to ride the length of the islands, probably camping or perhaps YHA'ing along the way. We'd love to have some fellow riders if anyone is interested! Check out the website: www.cyclehebrides.com for more information! It looks simply stunning, and is mostly flat roads with some off-road riding on hills for the adventours.

Today (Sunday) I had a lovely long chat to Michelle before going to Church. There is a new priest there - he's from Woolongong, so we had a bit of a chat after, and Angus came and we had a cup of tea and chatted to a few people which was really nice. Afterwards we went to the National Gallery of Modern Art (across the road from Church!) and looked at part of the gallery. It's really great how the museums and art gallerys are all free to get in over here (in the UK that is), it means you can look for an hour one weekend and then go back in a month and look at a different section, whatever you like! So we're going to try to go to them all regularly, especially as the weather gets darker and colder! After lunch we read the paper a bit and booked our ski trip in February. We're off to Chamonix, France - we loved France so much we decided to go back, but this time to do some _serious_ skiing. Although our flights wern't too expensive we think we chose the busiest week of the season because all the accommodation seems to be booked out! At least that's what we thought initally, luckily we've managed to find some cheap accommdoation - in a hostel with a kitchen which is great.

So regarding work, it's all going well. I'm enjoying the challenges of working for a small company, it's certainly very different to working at Santos. But the people seem friendly and interesting and keen to try new things that I might suggest. I can see that I can actually have an influence on the way things are done and really make a contribution to the company which is really exciting. Angus is doing lots of searching for jobs and has made contact with some people in the university and there area a couple of good leads he's following up, but we don't expect anything until mid-january as this is a tricky time of year for job-searching. But luckily he's got something else to keep him busy... He's bought a guitar. A solid-body electric, very nice... so he's been rocking the house pretty constantly for the last few days!!

All else is going well, we're loving our yoga classes, even though it's very painful the next day! And our little flat is really starting to feel like home. This friday night is work's unofficial Christmas party, so we're both going along to that. Then we're off for a weekend away for our 1st wedding anniversary. It's so hard to believe it's a year! And a busy one at that!

Till next time,
All the best for Michaela, Graham, Vanessa & Mark, all expecting family additions soon!
Love Selina & Angus
xox