One week until the summer vacation!

Here in Australia summer is upon us, whereas in Europe winter is very evident indeed. The picture below is from the south of The Netherlands, Son, and is of the back garden of Rene's sister. We were there nearly a year ago in the snow. I suspect snow might be somewhat warmer than just frost and ice. This was Saturday afternoon.

Here in Brisbane we have had the most unusual weather, with persistent showers for days and days. In recent years it would have been very hot, but like today, a minimum of 19 and a max of 26/27 is quite typical of the past couple of months. We've already clocked up the wettest September/October in 38 years. I still prefer our weather to Europe's.

The once every two years Ashes Test series is on again, and Brisbane is hosting the first test match. If you don't know, it's cricket, and the Holy Grail of cricket is contested every two years with the two countries taking turns. Each match lasts five days, there are five 5 day Tests, and fans queue from before 7am to enter the grounds and prepare for the 10am start. Rene drove past 'The Gabba' last Thursday at 6:30am and the first fans of 40 000 were lining up to enter the grounds nicknamed 'The Gabbatoir'.

The airport has handled thousands of fans for The Ashes plus this weekend 5000 Schoolies (students who have finished Year 12 high school) flying into Queensland for the annual rite of passage. Most head towards the Gold Coast. Yesterday they were like lambs, probably because they'd got up really early to get to the airport in Sydney or Melbourne before jetting north to us. Needless to say Brisbane Airport is increasing passenger numbers every month - great for Brisbane, even greater for the Queensland economy.

Catholic schools finish the year a week earlier than state schools. I finish on Thursday for around seven weeks. I'll continue doing volunteer shifts at the airport because that is enjoyable, but I want to get stuck into a very overgrown and weedy garden. The incredible amounts of regular rain have ensured that much of what was planted less than two years ago needs a very, very heavy pruning and shaping.

To break up the vacation Rene and I are heading to the South Island of New Zealand for our first anniversary. We fly into Christchurch, the centre of a 7.1 earthquake last September, for two nights at a B&B just west of Christchurch, located in the middle of a vineyard. Nearby is the Langdale Winery where we are to have lunch on our anniversary day (30th). That evening we dine with the hosts. On New Year's Eve we move back into Christchurch for the evening's big concert in Cathedral Square followed by fireworks. We are staying at the Crowne Plaza, the largest hotel in the city and easily escaped damage in the earthquake. New Zealand builds to take into consideration its nickname of 'the shaky isles'.

We have a further eight nights to fill in, but we have a hire car from Day 1 and can go anywhere. I know that we'd like to go to Milford Sound, the Franz Josef Glacier plus the cities of Dunedin and Invercargill.
Rene is planning the last nights, so it should be exciting since he's been there before, but I never have. I've been twice to the North Island, but everyone says the South Island (or Middle Earth as it has become known) is like the whole of the world's seriously impressive scenery rolled into one place. Can't wait!

This final week is crazy - Tuesday night is trivia and dinner (as usual), Wednesday is the Dutch Alumni Christmas Dinner at Portside, Thursday night we're at the Greek Club for a 3 course dinner, Greek cooking lessons, dancing lessons plus ouzo. Friday I dine with one of my schools at a favourite restaurant of mine for lunch, and Friday evening cake and coffee at a friends home. No doubt next weekend will be busy, like this one, where I did a long shift at the airport and today we had lunch out at Sandgate and drinks at a new watering hole there - the old Sandgate post office, now a lovely bar and grille.

I have not mentioned the tragedy of the lost miners of New Zealand, the Royal nuptials announced this week, same sex marriage law crawling towards some positive resolution hopefully soon or the delightful opportunity to meet up with a friend who has gone to San Francisco to marry and set up home with her new husband. I haven't even mentioned that a family of dear friends who go to Europe every year for three months in their motor home kept in England have returned with joyous tales of their travels.

Finally, dear Rene joins me in loathing the season of joy soon to be upon us. As a counter to this, I purchased two spare tickets from friends to join them at the Concert Hall on December 11 to enjoy 'The Spirit of Christmas'. Rene was playing the poker machines when I was offered the seats, so he wasn't consulted. He was somewhat surprised when I told him upon his return. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra, choirs and singers will force feed us both for a couple of hours. I intend to ply the Dutchman with plenty of spirit before the event. He'll be 'ho, ho, hoing' throughout the night - and so will I.