lazy days

A day off work to relax before the marathin on Sunday. My long weekend started reasonably well with a Friday morning walk to Clive Park where I let Rowlf have a swim and I enjoyed the clear, crisp morning. The hound was loving his fetch games and I was taking a few pictures and everything was well with the world. Apart from it really wasn't, and a call from my bro saw me making haste away from the water to catch up with him and fail to help him through a few issues. The important thing is that I was there. He chuffed off utterly non-chuffed and I took Rumpole for a walk around St Leonards Park, a rare solo walk for the crazy little hound. He loved it; each morning when I walk Rowlf and Rumpole the little fella mooches around in a sort of huff while Rowlf goofballsa round with any and all other dogs. Solo Rumpole was running all over the park trying to wind other dogs up so they would chase him. I'm convinced he is broken in the head.

So despite the happiness of the dogs the day was a tad flat as I kept thinking about my lil' bro. At least that kept my mind off of Sunday's marathon. Saturday I woke up typically early and took the boys for a quick walk around the neigbourhood, got home for a little bit of family time before heading off to the airport and my flight to Coolangatta, the Gold Coast Airport. Made a quick call to my bro who was leaving for London on Sunday for personal reasons and who, unfortunatley, I'd not be having a beer with upon my return. In a bit of good news he told me his return flight was a return and he'd be back for my 40th, a somewhat winful piece of news.

Flight. Dull. Picking up race kit equally dull and achieved in 18minutes, three minutes more than the time required to get my parking for free at the Gold Coast Conference Centre. I'd borrowed a friend of the families car at the aiport (they were on holiday and it worked out well for me to take their car back to their home from near the airport where they had left it) and after dropping it back at their home it was relax-o-clock. I chilled with sis-in-law and the youngest of her three boys. Mostly mooching around the house, but we did take a drive to Murwillumbah where the in-laws have a house they are about to retire to and according to this website is one of the ten most desirable places to live in Australia. That is a grand claim and I am not sure I completely agree, but is a cracking little town. It has plenty of old housing stock which I find architecturally appealing. It has a few churches that I can take of leave (well, leave) and a town centre with some solidly imposing colonial-come-art-deco touches that I also like. Nostalgia for a past I didn't experience over, we took the scenic inland road back over the border to Queensland's Gold Coast.

Final thought for that day. On the way back we stopped in at The Eco Village in Currimbin where we gawped at a few houses (so many skillion roofs to yawn at) and saw a few wild roos. Which was nice. The website is full of self-congratulatory grandiosity and it does not hold back on telling us how many awards it has won. Which is all very nice, but I cannot help but think a greener alternative to building new houses would be to buy an existing house and set the new land aside for sustainable farming. Don't get me wrong, I love the green concept, but surely the best house for the environment is one that already exists and it within walking or cycling distance of everything you need? This strikes me as green-for-the-chardonnay-set. Anyway, we headed home, had dinner and everyone crashed out.