At 2.40pm on Saturday a dark cloud covered Melbourne and a storm cell unleashed itself and for 20 minutes 19 millimetres of rain bucketed down and 10cm balls of hail with such force that they bounced up from the ground to head height. Walking around yesterday was as if Armageddon had struck Melbourne and now the recovery starts. 'Lemon-size hail stones in Melbourne? read more
I am back in Australia after spending 2 weeks in England to see my family and friends. I got on the British Airways flight on Sunday Night and flew to Singapore, when I landed there it was 6pm and very hot, I sat on the roof for 30mins and had a cig whilst they were refueling the plane, then back on it to Melbourne. Compare the Heathrow taxi driver who shouted at me to put out my cig to the taxi driver in Melbourne who I could not shut up for talking non ... read more
I have not updated my site in a long time so here I go.Thank you all for your birthday cards, I did not do anything special for my birthday and just watched the Manchester Derby. Yesterday I went to beach which is where the cruise ships come into port. Last night I watched Melbourne Victory clinch the title and today saw England loose the ashes. read more
The past few days the weather has been very hot in Melbourne. Ben Spier aka Goodgreef was in Melbourne this weekend with Eddie Halliwell. Eddie was playing in front of around 12000 fans from 3-5am, which was amazing as last time I did not get to hear him play as the equipment failed. read more
Sydney FC came down to Melbourne for a top of the table clash and we won 5-0 and then Manchester City produced a stunning display apart from the finishing to top off an excellent weekent. has moved to the top of the Hyundai A-League table after the most devastating football display of the season to date, hammering an undisciplined Sydney FC by a massive five goals to nil. A capacity crowd of over 18,000 fans turned up to see Archie and Kevin Muscat battle it out... read more
I rented a car this weekend and drove down the coast to the which is just over an hours drive out of Melbourne City. I've just come home from the football where Melbourne was playing in the Semi-Final against Adelaide United. Knowing a draw would not be enough for Victory, Robinson secured the win in the dying stages of the match, sending the Telstra Dome crowd into a frenzied celebration. read more
Morning All, I went to see last night in concert or known as the dirty dozen minus eminem. Although Eminem was not there they still put on a hell of a show, some songs they left the record doing Eminems bit and other songs they just ripped them apart and changed the lyrics, for example my band turned into sacking Eminem and taking over the band. Funniest moment of the night was when Bizarre stood up and shouted , is this the loudest you can get Sydney, the ... read more
Melbourne had one of its hottest December days on record as the temperature reached 42.1 at 2.45pm on NYE. But within 30 minutes on New Years Day, as the cool change swept in from the south, the temperature dropped more than 17 degrees to about 25. It was Melbourne's hottest early-December day since 1898 and its sixth-hottest December day. The hottest December day on record was on December 31 last year, when the mercury hit 42.9 degrees. read more
Today was a public holiday in Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup Race, which is a horse race that is ran every year. At the start of guys register with a clean shaven face. These glamorous and groomed events will see Tom Selleck and David Boon look-a-likes battle it out on the catwalk for their chance to take home the prestigious Man of title. read more
Thursday Night I went to Australia vs Greece in the MCG where the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games were held. The game was not the best , George Samaras had a bad first half and was taken off at half time, there was pressure for him to start the game as his dad was born in Melbourne and played for South Melbourne. The goal that settled the game (aus won 1-0) was worthy of the world cup, a superb volley. read more
C'mon the blues, I went to a pub in North Melbourne called the Keepers Arms which is owned by a city fan from Manchester who moved over to Melbourne. Around 20 of us sat around a big screen with a few reds watching the game. Great to silence the swamp :) I have just moved my last things out of my old flat and the cleaners are coming in on Monday with an objection of trying to get as much as my bond back. read more
This weekend in Melbourne was the Greek Festival. A lot of the main roads in the city were closed and turned into a fairground with rides, food stalls and a live concert of authentic Greek music. It was basically a festival of food, what the Greeks call the 'hamburger of the Greeks', the Souvlaki. read more
Summadayze 2005 features great fun stuff including a foam fun area, water slides, future spa world, amusements, rides and a variety of fresh food and festival stalls, along with plenty of shaded areas and over 70 free water drinking points. The world-renowned Summadayze event is this country's largest and most highly anticipated dance festival. Set within the breathtaking beauty of Melbourne's natural amphitheatre, The Sidney Myer Music ... read more
Tuesday was the , it is a horse race if you did not know. The day was a complete washout , the rain did not stop and there was a wind that would put the Amsterdam wind to shame. Makybe Diva won the race for the second year running and now will run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France. read more
What a crazy week here in Melbourne, I have been working days and nights to get some code ready for a release last Saturday and Alex Kidd was in town with his entourage playing against Kidd Kaos who I had never heard play before and it was great night. I got about 5 hours sleep on Wednesday and Thursday night and planned to leave the office around 2pm on Friday so I could go home and get some sleep before meeting up with Alex. Although at one point some ... read more
The weather has been great in Melbourne the past couple of weeks. Warm and Sunny and since the clocks moved forward and we are now in Summer Time the sun is out later each day. This is the first summer in my new flat and the balcony is far superior to Eureka, I can come home from work at 5pm and catch the sun till it sets about 8pm creating an amazing orange sunset. read more
Friday Night I went on a office pub crawl around Fitzroy. On Sunday I went to the football to see Melbourne Victory play Adelaide United in the final. We had already won the league and the top four all then play for the grand final. read more
residents are being ordered to keep balcony doors and windows shut in high wind for safety reasons.
Newcomers to Melbourne's tallest building are told officials can enter apartments to close balcony doors "that may be violating the safety of the building" in high wind. A statement by management said the wind rules were for the safety of residents, no wind alert had occurred yet, and warnings to residents ... read more
Alex was in Melbourne this weekend playing Chasers on Chapel Street. He was playing from 3.30 to 5.30am so it was a very late night for me. Here I am in the DJ box with Alex and Georgia. read more
Last night equaled the hottest night ever in Melbourne History. It was 34 degrees Celsius the entire night and at 9AM it had only dropped to 30. The only other time that temperatures have gone over 40 degrees Celsius and not dropped below 34 degrees Celsius during the night was in February 1902. They are predicting the temperature will rise again to 40 degrees Celsius today before a cool change comes in later this afternoon so at least tonight is expected to be cool. read more
We are having some amazing weather here at the moment in Melbourne while my family and friends freeze over there in England. This is , my place of worship and only a 15 minute train journey away. The weather today was a nice 34 Celsius which is 93.2 Fahrenheit and Sunday is expected to be the same but Monday is going to be 41 Celsius, 105.8 Fahrenheit, thankfully I am going to be at work in a nice air conditioned office. read more
Happy New Year from Melbourne, Australia. The past few days have been so hot I am going to enjoy the cool change over the next few days. It does mean that I have a perfect excuse for abusing the BBQ, I am on my 4th this week. read more
I finally upgraded my iPhone to firmware 3.0 and I have not seen any problems running it on my 2G yet and I have even managed to squash 25 icons on my desktop with a folder full of games. And before you say, what about backgammon, it is not a game, it is a way of life LOL. Nothing interesting to report from Melbourne, we are still on code red swine alert and I have to push another upgrade to a site at 11.59PM this week, like I need an excuse to get a jug of expresso :) ... read more
What a crazy week in Melbourne. I woke up to find my water bed had burst a leak and then remembered I don't have a water bed! LOL It is very hard to fry (my oven is broke) and then discover your flat is full of smoke , so you have to open the balcony before the smoke alarm goes off but it is like opening an oven and getting a blast of hot air rushing in. read more
It looks we are going to have a hot start to the week in Melbourne. Sorry to all of you freezing away in Europe feeling jealous , I will see if I can send any of this warmth your way. Just think of how money you save by not having to purchase suntan lotion LOL :) read more
I have seen some crazy things whilst I have been in Australia but this takes the biscuit! Currently in Melbourne we are having a major transport problem as the population increases faster than the transport network can grow. Look at my post a year ago on a . How crazy is it to let people take motorbikes onto the train instead of riding ... read more
Wednesday night Service Stream, the company I work for had its Christmas Party at Eurkea. Eurkea is the building I used to live in until early this year, my flat used to be on the 32nd floor and the company had hired out the 89th floor with views streatching miles over melbourne. I am all healthy again now and I have broken up for xmas , yeah!!!!! read more
I went to see last night in Melbourne. I have been struggling all morning as I've lost all my hearing and about 5L of water, lol. I am about to have a few hours sleep in the sun and then finish packing ready for my flight tonight. read more
The past week here in Melbourne the weather has been between 90 and 100 making it a very sweaty week. On Friday it reached 102 and the air con at work broke down, so Friday morning was unbearable at work. The drought is getting worse and to give an exampe of how much water has been lost, the rivers are now dry and they are revealing weapons that people discarded years ago, I think some criminals will be a bit worried this week. read more
I am having a lazy weekend , I have been to a new doughnut shop in the city and got myself a dozen selection for the football tonight. For some reason when I left the shop there was loads of people waiting, I think I must have timed it just right. I am off to see Melbourne Victory play on Sunday, they are top of the league after winning 7 in a row so I hope I dont bring them bad luck as it is my first game of the season. read more
I have just had my first video conference call with my grandpa. I managed to see my grandpa and caught a quick glimpse of my grandpa in your dressing gown. I have been back in Melbourne for nearly a week and it is very strange how quick my trip back went, I can not believe that it was 3 weeks ago as it went so fast. read more
has arrived minus any clothing that goes beyond his elbows. I am going to wake him up in a bit and go to the Italian Quarter on Lygon Street for some dinner and maybe a few bars. Sunday I am taking him to Melbourne Zoo to see some native Australian Animals. read more
I was at FedSq watching the game last night, and what a game it was. SOCCEROO fans rocked the city last night as Federation Square became the epicentre of Melbourne's World Cup celebrations. As the 8pm kickoff drew closer wave after wave of face-painted and jersey-wearing fans poured from Flinders St station into the square until it could take no more, with the crowd spilling on to the banks of the Yarra.They came to watch the nail-biting, do-or-die World Cup 2006 ... read more
I went to the spiegeltenttent last night, its really cool. It is like a circus meets a nightclub, crazy stuff going on in a really nice tent. You dont even realise your ina tent. read more
Tonight I went to a Young Professionals at the Melbourne Aquarium. The event was to support four charities: the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, beyondblue, Child Wise and Oxfam Australia. The only worrying thing was the fish they served whilst fish swimmed over your heads, it all seemed so wrong but its rude not to at least try everything once. read more
I am nearly settled in my flat, in the next few days I should have my broadband installed and my webcam up and running. This is the view from my balcony , this weekend has been very hot and no clouds in the sky. Manchester City are 2nd , Melbourne Victory snatched a draw against Sydney after Dwight Yorke scored so overall its been a great weekend. read more
We have had rain non stop and it has caused flooding all over the place, on the way into work this morning shop signs were hanging off and trees were all over the roads. Melbourne's average February rainfall is 45.8mm, but the city received 120mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am (AEDT) today, more than for any other day in any month since records began in 1856. The previous record for rainfall over the city in 24 hours was 108mm in 1951. read more
A FLORAL foul-up has left a city street lined with swastika shapes in a week of major Jewish celebrations. Gardeners hired by Melbourne City Council intended to arrange the purple and white pot plants into neat geometric shapes. The council sent hired green thumbs to rearrange the six offending garden beds last night, about an hour after Herald Sun inquiries. read more
Well the party is now over, I have just been offered a position working for head office in Melbourne. This is to goodof anopportunity to refuse and the chance to work in a field where at least the data is more interesting than old peoples medical records is very exciting. Flight booked for the morning andI just booked into a 3 star hotelfor a few nights to get myself used to the CBD - Central Business District for you non-... read more
I just got my 2nd water bill after 5 years and it is worse than the one before. I am now using 239 Litres per day which is an increase of 9 Litres a day since I started trying to save water. Since I started to try and save water I have actually increased my usage LOL. read more
Another quarter and another failed target, I have not managed to hit the 155 litres a day target which the water board tell us we should aim for. I am using an average of 202 litres a day but it is 28 litres per day less than this quarter last year. At least I am on the right track by reducing my water but at this rate by the time I reach target 155 it will have been lowered to 100 litres. read more
It has been a long time since I have posted anything so here is a rundown. I went to the on Saturday and saw some bands I thought I would never see like, Madness, The Human League and Vanilla Ice. Vanilla Ice was a massive hit and I could not even get close to him. read more
If you are unable to see the picture, visit . Thanks Dad and Mum for an amazing night :kiss: I went to see City play Reading and Wigan , on separate days, lol we may be good but not that good. I missed the winner against Reading and the only goal against Wigan, strange that I see more goals when I am on the other side of the world. There are many things I do not miss from England, cold toilet ... read more
I am now sat ready for the Man United and Liverpool game, it is the last weekend that the games are on early before we change the clocks forward. I have redone the website removing most tables and images and replacing them with CSS. The site loads quicker and the code is neater which some search engines will like more, not that I need any more help getting this site indexed. read more
I have just landed in dubai, I had just written a huge blog update but as I posted it the wi-fi crashed leaving me with no blog entry. I am sat in the longue in Dubai waiting for my next flight to Singapore, the flight was ok, a bit bumpy in parts and at one point all the trays were crashing around us which did make me a bit scared. I had a much better time this time than last time and I think going to Marbella played a big part. read more
I've just spent the past 5 days in Byron Bay with Georgia,Alex and Leo. This was my first holiday in Australia since I started work 1 and half years ago. They dont mind as long as they get the donations Thanks all who donated :) Anyway back to work now and no more holidays till I come back to England in August. read more
This weekend I watched my first AFL (Australian Football League) game which was the Final. Prior to the game , beinga soccer club and AFL final day what else to play before the game but . Sydney Swans won it after 72 years soit was overdue. read more
Enough was Enough , my hair had got so long I wasbeginning to resemble a cross between a reborn Jesus and an ACDC fan so this morning I ventured into the barbers and got my hair cut. They have massage chairs when you have your hair washed, its so relaxing you do notwantto get up. Still waiting for my electric scooter to arrive , images will follow... read more
Hi, Just to clear up some confusion. I first had my extended for one month to take me over the xmas period. I have now just been granted a temporary 4 year residency . read more
I am all healthy again now and I have broken up for xmas , yeah!!!!! read more
