Been a long time, been a long time #2

May have been a long time since the last entry but it's not been a lonely, lonely time.


A very welcome visit from my cousin Kevin and his wife Lyn brightened things up for a couple of weeks in late August.


Their son Paul, whom they thought was house-sitting for them back in the UK, flew in a couple of days before they did with the intention of surprising his parent. To say he did was an understatement. They were completely gob-smacked.

The flabbergasted parents

The Little Worker and I picked up Kevin & Lyn at Canberra airport when they arrived on Wednesday two weeks ago and brought them back home. It was extremely difficult not to admit that Paul was already here staying with us since Sunday and I almost gave it away when I went to pay for car-parking - I'd just given all my loose change to Paul when we left him in Civic to kill time before he met up with Chris and Holly.
The surprise all worked - Chris and Holly arrived to meet the rels, leaving Paul in Chris' car. The greetings and meetings were just over when Paul wandered in. After the tears from his mum and the swearing from Kevin we had a great time catching up. I'd not seen Kevin & Lyn since my trip to the UK in 2006. Paul had been out to Australia twice already but not since 2006.


So the last couple of weeks have been hectic but immensely enjoyable. Many beers have been drunk - we had to get Kevin introduced to some quality Aussie and Kiwi beers [thank you Monteith's in particular!] and a few ports as well.


We've done the touristy things usually reserved for overseas visitors and have been entertained and pleased by what our home town offers. 
Their visit kicked off with a 50th birthday party at a local Chinese restaurant when they met some of our work colleagues. The Little Worker took two weeks leave while I did the odd short week or extra day to try and spend as much time with the rels. A must do was a visit to our favourite local spot, Tidbinbilla complete with a family barbecue in the fresh air. Visits to the cultural centres like the Australian War Memorial were special. Kevin's dad - my uncle Tom - had seen active service during WWII and had been at but apparently slept through the Battle of El Alamein. 
We had another, smaller meeting with our work colleagues [our usual Asian-o-rama dinner group] for a Pork Knuckle night at the Harmonie German Club where some of us manfully girded loins and battled with enormous amounts of beautiful pork and kilos of crackling accompanied by sauerkraut and mashed spuds.
The time went quickly and last Tuesday Paul flew out of Canberra :(


Kevin and Lyn's month-long trip was to end with a few days in Sydney so on the way to Sydney last Friday we managed a stop in Berrima where K & L poked around an antique shop for a while. 
We stayed at our usual Sydney hotel, The Mercure in Central - comfortable and quiet as ever.
We managed a Belgian hot chocolate at my favourite coffee house, Charlie Lovett's in George Street and a meal at The Great Southern Hotel bar including a serve of their excellent beer-battered onion rings. Kevin and I enjoyed a pint [hooray for sense - a better serving size than a schooner] of James Squire's One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale.

Yum!

We walked in the cool mist for Saturday breakfast to Darling Harbour. Fortunately by the time Lyn and The Little Worker chose the eating place the early morning fog had lifted to some welcome sunshine. 
So the breakfast - Canadian pancakes with maple syrup, bacon and egg - which I enjoyed  - was eaten al fresco minus the beanie. 


The Little Worker organised the visitors in her usual thorough and thoughtful way which went a long way to making their stay as enjoyable as they indicated.


We left them in the hotel foyer where they were about to set off exploring. I hope the rest of their stay is as enjoyable to them as my time with them was for me.


Whale meat again...