Happy Valley

So, Thursday the 6th of May was a busy day...you can't do all this stuff I keep on doing AND keep up to date with this blog!! ...there was silly amounts going on at work trying to meet various deadlines, then at the end of the day at 5.30 I had my swim stroke correction class, as I hadn’t done any practice during the week I hadn’t really progressed and kept nearly drowning myself…weird when I do know how to swim and have done since I was rather tiny…but these new techniques involve gliding through the water more rather than moving me arms about constantly, and that seems to make me drown. Yep, then Di picked me up and I went to Megan’s birthday dinner (Megan is the person who’s role I’m covering here) at a cool place called Chin Chin at Koto Moon: www.chinchins.com.au/main.html - really good food actually and not too expensive either. I had some tasty Nasi Goreng noodles. Then I had to leave the gathering a little early to go back and make a teleconference (Managing Editor Executive), good productive meeting and I’m glad I got back for it…but then after that I had to finish off packing for the next day…which meant not going to bed till late and then getting up at some silly hour in the morning to get a taxi to get me to the airport for a 9am flight.


I was met by my Oxford work’s Statistician with a sign that said ‘Jessica T’. Fun! He took me back to his house in the Happy Valley where I met his two extremely fluffy dogs called Chow Min and Caramel Lion, quite sweet they were. Then we went to Hardy’s winery at Chateau Reynella. Apparently the site of the oldest winery in South Wales…however, a few years ago, real estate became more important so they knocked down the old vines and sold of some of their land…buying up land in less prime locations to continue to produce wines I’m guessing…odd. I didn’t want to taste too many, being drunk in the late morning with our Statistician who was retiring who I’d not met before didn’t seem like a sensible plan. We bought our dinner in the form of a pasty from a sweet bakery: Old Reynella Town, 211 South Road, Old Reynella. Cute family business and Norm Crittenden who runs it was very sweet and friendly. After lunch we went to Clelland Wildlife Park. Saw some cute animals. You can buy a bag of food for the animals as you enter which gets you quite a bit more attention. I gotta stroke a Koala which was cool.

At one point it heard a noise it didn’t like and turned itself in to a statue just staring in the direction of the noise it wasn’t keen on. We also met some kangaroos and Wallabies and some cheeky ducks, including a very cheeky one who bit my finger trying to fight to get some of the food I had. I also liked the Wombats and the Tasmanian Devils. Nice little park anyway. In the evening I took our Statistician and his wife out for dinner as a thank you for having worked for the group for nearly 10 years, unpaid! We’re now seeking more Statistics help…let me know if you know anyone…The restaurant we went to was called Candles, again in the Happy Valley. It was allright, but very country feel and big food but not necessarily amazing tasty food.