March 1st marked the first day of Fall here (isn't it odd how seasons are based on the solstice in Canada but not here...who decides these things?), and it's been a beautiful Fall. Warm, sunny days and cool nights. We've been enjoying swims at the beach every chance we get, knowing that our swimming days are numbered. Although the water stays warm for a while, once winter hits with its shivery Southerly winds, the air is way too cold for a swim.
And Easter is coming up, which is actually alot of fun here. Holidays don't seem to be much of a big deal in this part of the world. Halloween is practically non-existent, and lights strung up outside a house at Christmas are an unusual sight. Valentine's Day and St Patrick's Day went by without much of a fuss at all. But Easter, well Easter is something special. For months in advance, hot cross buns are sold everywhere (have I mentioned I like baked things, especially baked sweet things?). And not just plain ones, there are fruity ones, choc chip and mocha varieties. Delish. And, there are Easter hat parades, which are really, really funny. We'll miss our local community parade because we're planning a little road trip down the coast, but Gus is hard at work on getting his hat ready for his school's Easter hat parade.
Meanwhile, the Australian news is keeping us entertained, as usual. Local cricket and NRL players and their wives/girlfriends seem to be contractually obliged to generate newsworthy scandals on a regular basis Most recently, is poor Lara who got dumped for not behaving like a proper cricketer's girlfriend. Even more entertaining though, is the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, who is photographed daily in budgie smugglers. And according to the some articles, Tony's just following in a long tradition of Liberal leaders who like to hang out in their speedos. It's no wonder that I've slowed down my consumption of Canadian news bits on cbc.ca, in comparison to the news here downunder, it's just plain boring.
Gus' hat from last year's Easter hat parade:
