old news	november 2003 news 06 december 2003 so thought it was about time we updated you all on our continuing adventures - the time definitely seems to be going so quickly now. thank you so much for all the emails. as ever, great to catch up on the news from back home. and if any of you want a surprise call at 3pm then send us your number. miss foster can explain more about our random phone calls disturbing her quiet friday night in (see further down for more details)!!! amazingly 3 weeks have flown by since we last gave an update. mid november we finally managed to make it out to the mornington pennisula to catch up with simon's uncle. did the complete tourist tour of the fantastic pennisula - catching beaches and surf for the first since arriving (v gower like). it was the first really hot weekend too - so lots of red people around. great to see some family and hopefully we will see both ges and anne again very soon. the following week was countdown to two very important events: nick and andrea's engagement party and the rugby finals! we managed to keep calm by attending our local pub quiz on the wednesday. in keeping with attendences at any pub quiz we have been a consistent 'last', except this wednesday with the help of simon's diagrams we managed to win the jackpot of $100! amazing! and then the following night, we went to see a fab melbourne band called the cat empire in st kilda. what a fantastic night! an excellent band and we can thoroughly recommend checking out their website for more info on them (cross between stereo mcs, miami sound machine (no gloria) and madness!!! - and yes, it really works!!) for those of you that don't know, victoria is not a rugby state. afl rules here, so the saturday of the rugby final could have been just any old wet saturday in melbourne. however we were off to celebrate nick and andrea's engagement with a bbq and to be the only brits in a room full of aussies whilst watching the rugby. what a match! what a result! although our celebrations were somewhat restrained as 40 australians shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't care as they didn't understand the rules anyway! we flew the flag and simon wore his rugby shirt with pride for the next two days! and then it's been back to normality: to the extent that now we are definitley into summer. unfortunately that means hayfever time for simon. sniffles, red eyes and zyrtec have followed us round the world. working in the airconditioned offices help but then it just gets too cold and you need to go outside to wam up! we've also had our november clubbing treat as eric morillo played here last friday. for those of you who know us, he is one of our fav djs and didn't disappoint. had a superb night in a club not dissimilar to media in nottingham so felt very much at home. thanks to mr ian hogg for being the beneficary of our 3am saturday morning (4pm on a friday afternoon uk) phonecall; poor debenhams swansea for missing out, and fantastic to speak to miss foster as we strolled home at 7am in the morning chatting to a friendly voice a million miles away! as tradition dictates, after much sleep, the recovery session was held in the local pub some hours later. too much wine was consumed but hey, that's what it's all about!! since then we've had the worst storm in victoria in 100 years, with over 100mm of rain falling in 2 hours. roads flooded, shops ruined and lightning strikes a plenty. rounded off with the first christmas celebrations of the year with one of our agencies (don't you just love free drinks nights?), it seems to have been quite hectic. 11 november 2003 we last left you as we were off to watch the england v samoa game in melbourne. for those of you who have been following the world cup, it wasn't the walkover. we had great tickets right next to the 22 yard line so had a good view of everything. however we were sat right next to the samoan supporters who were all alot larger than us!! but the atmosphere was fantastic, despite johnnie wilkson missing (missing!!!) a kick and at least we won!! the place has been full of rugby fans - we have been surrounded by the french and irish for saturday's game. in fact the irish have been here for the past week with both 'normal' rugby and aussie rules being played. we've also managed to get to see the all blacks Vs south africa game this weekend (thanks geth). fantastic tickets right behind the posts. not as good atmosphere as the england game but the hakka was fantastic. we then made our other local (the leveson) stay open just for us to watch the wales game on sunday. again, closer than expected and not sure that we'll win on current form. our other big adventure has been working the melbourne cup racing last week. simon accurately described it as a week of university balls (everyone dressed up, getting absolutely slaughtered and trying to pull). it was most amusing being sober and watching everyone. and it was induction by fire for al working behind a bar: thinking that I was going to a glassie - no, first day working in the members champagne bar (never opened bottle of champagne before!); day two pullling pints/schooners/pots/whatever (never pulled pints before). however we survived and now hope to get work at the other festivals and sports events that are coming up here. and thankfully we now have 'normal' office work - we are both working at Lincraft. simon as a planning assistant; Al as admin bod in the custom made curtain dept (drapes!). Can't believe it's christmas coming: the sun is out and the shops are full of christmas stuff.