House-warming and Birthday Party!

Way, way back in March, we moved house - about 80 metres around the corner, into a larger apartment, with a spare room for visitors (hint, hint) and a private garden.

By the time we got around to having a house-warming party, it was also my birthday, so we celebrated the only way we know how - with a BBQ!

You can see photos from the evening here.

Bratislava

For Easter we went to Bratislava in Slovakia for something a little bit different. The city itself feels very small and is dominated by an imposing castle which overlooks it.

We had fun wandering the old town, popping into pubs and cafes along the way. The best discovery though was Kofola a kind of brewed cola drink (which out-sells coca-cola in Slovakia). The pub near our accommodation had it's own style that they brewed themselves which was great. The local sweet pancakes were also a huge hit.

A highlight was a day trip to visit another castle outside of Bratislava. It had snowed out in the countryside that day which provided us with some amazing scenery.

Bratislava is only 60klms from Vienna so we paid a visit to Austria and sampled some of the delights of the market (with so much falafel and Turkish delight!) as well as some general sightseeing.

There was heaps to see over the long Easter weekend and we definitely want to go back to Austria at some stage to explore some more.

You can see the photos here.

Tokyo

From Cairns we headed to Tokyo again for a few days before going back to work. Once again we were enthralled by this amazing city. Our only regret is that we still haven't been able to get out and see more of Japan.

Click here to see a few photos from our time in Tokyo

Home Sweet Home

Once again, we headed back to Australia for Christmas. It was great to leave the London winter, even if it was only for a few weeks.
One of the main reasons for heading home at Christmas was so that we could be godparents for Ryan, Melanie and Roger's gorgeous first born. You can see a few photos from the Christening here.

In the new year we headed up to Cairns to visit Alun's parents. You can see some photos here of some of the birds that Alun's Mum was looking after as part of Wildlife Rescue. Jase and Bec joined us in Cairns to take part in a learn to dive course on the Great Barrier Reef. This was an amazing experience and we hope to do some more diving in the future, perhaps in the Red Sea.

London Night Shoot

After enjoying Nigel Wilson's Weekend Photography course so much, Jodie and I decided to embark on his Night Shoot.

We did the course in the middle of December and it was freezing along the River Thames when we set out on the shoot! We weren't disheartened though, and managed to get some great shots and learnt a thing or two along the way.

Click here to see photos from our London night shoot

Bremen Christmas Markets

It wouldn't be Christmas in Europe without a visit to the German Christmas Markets! After a great time last year in Düsseldorf and Cologne, Bremen had quite an act to follow. A weekend of sausage, glühwein, and carnival rides put everyone in the mood for Christmas though.

Can't wait till Chrsitmas 2009.

Photos from our weekend in Bremen are here

Paris, Champagne and Burgundy

After more than two years in the UK we finally made our way to Paris. Although we stayed for a few nights we could never hope to see everything that we wanted to on our first trip so we stuck to the big sights. A great walking tour gave us a nice introduction before we headed to the myriad of museums, monuments and arrondissements.

We hired a car and drove out to Reims in Champagne where we visited some of the amazing chalk cellars that tunnels under the town. The Champagne houses use these tunnels to store the wines as they maintain a very even temperature all year round - perfect for the maturation of Champagne. And of course there are tastings at the end of the tours!

From Reims we headed south to Beaune, near Dijon in the heart of Burgundy to try some very different wine. Here we tried to get our head around the terroir classification system used for Burgundy wines. Beaune is beautiful town and we enjoyed our stay there, indulging in some amazing food and unsurprisingly, wine.

Finally, we went to Grenoble where we met up with Dana and Tim, who had recently moved there. We toured around the region including a visit to Annecy and Voiron (home of a very special liqueur).

You can find some photos from our trip here