To Be Fair...

Guys, I have narrowed it down to just one type of bike to purchase: The GS500 by Suzuki. With this in mind, Roberts, Jen and Mel came with me after lunch on Monday to check out the range of bikes on Wentworth Avenue in Sydney City. We certainly made the sales staff a little nervous by jumping on the bikes - though we did restrain ourselves from making motorbike noises and beeping the horns... anyhow...


Which one should I get? (The mechanicals are identical). The faired version looks a bit sexier and will perhaps be (possibly) "nicer" to ride at speed, though the unfaired bike is cheaper by about a grand and, of course, doesn't have sensitive fairings to be damaged... I don't really think that I would be going far wrong either way though... comments?

Elouise O'Toole Fare Ye Well

Phil and Jenny and I socialised with our fellow chemists at our end-of-week drinks at Bramley's. We will be returning from Cairns (via Sydney) in a bit over a week - so hang in there for some new photos!

Sunrise over Lake Burley G

Puss has trained me to wake up at 4am now to let him in (through the window). Though I try to sleep, I still wake early. Without daylight saving time, and with the days getting longer and longer, it is bright ridiculously early in the morning now. Not one to waste an oppurtunity, I rushed in on my (push)bike on Sunday morning to take in the sunrise over The Lake.

The last time I took in this sight, I was one of the many clubbers and pubbers that I again saw pouring out on to the street at a little after five on my way through Civic. This time I felt as fresh as a daisy and was grateful for it. Nice view - I feel though, that my photo doesn't do it justice..

Farewell Jon Foot

At his farewell dinner in Dickson, Jon is shown sporting his farewell gift from us that sports a likeness of our illustrious professorial research supervisor.

Cackle Around the Barbie

This is a superb method for cooking a chicken. A half-empty (or half-full?) beer can is lodged in the cavity of a chook. Said chook is then "perched" on the barbie and the lid closed. At full power, the chook was cooked superbly in 50 minutes. The purpose of the beer can is to steam the chicken from the inside. This procedure, uncovered by Chris, looks to be a winner and will be repeated again soon. Of course, for full appreciation, the chicken lunch should be accompanied by a generous number of long-necks of homebrew while playing some darts in the yard. The weather now is perfect for chilling out in the backyard cooking chooks with cans of beer in them.

Happy 25th Birthday, Roberts!

The Todman Avenue lads - Roberts, JB and Scotty - hosted an awesome long weekend of partying to celebrate the big guy's 25th, take in the footy grandfinals and revel in the long weekend and top Sydney weather. After Sydney went down in the hard-fought AFL grandfinal, party-goers quickly swung in to Singstar mode.

Jilly and Bog cheer on JB as he wows the crowd!

The birthday boy was accompanied by Ange for a duet. Somehow Roberts, I don't know quite why, all good parties involve you getting absolutely drenched in beers!

The Idiot Patrol was in fine form. Whip-cracking took place at about this time out on the street. (As opposed to earlier in-door exhibitions - sorry about the light fitting, Roberts!). Mel was the whip-cracker to show the most improvement in the evening though Robbo was the deadset whipping cracking champion.

The Rege of course featured in the Sydney trip (like always!) as well as a couple of snorkelling expeditions to Gordon's Bay and Clovelly. They are absolute top spots for a dip - especially when the weather is as great as it has been over the last couple of days. Cheers again to the whole Sydney crew - as well to some new friends like Jill and Ed that I have finally been able to have a few beers with. Great stuff and see you guys again soon. (Good luck with the house inspection, btw!)