possum52

My Northumberland roots are in the south - North Shields, Tyneside and Bedlington. Interestingly, our former next door neighbour came from Bedlington and has moved back there to be closer to her family. I find it fascinating to think about how our Australian accent developed from the dialects and accents of the first settlers and convicts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and then the immigrants from the mid 1850s from the various areas of England, Scotland and Ireland. Plus of course those who came from all over the world from the gold rush times up until now.

Both Rob and I have Campbell ancestors - his from Cork in Ireland and mine from Northumberland. I assume they were originally Scottish. I have not been able to go back further in tracing where they originally came from.

Has Parkes moved states? Thought it was in NSW.

In our part of south west Victoria, we called it German sausage and there was also Strasbourg sausage, spelt a couple of different ways. My grandfather, a couple of uncles and cousins were all butchers and the highlight for my children was a visit to one of their shops and given a slice of stras,

Wow, you were all very fortunate with your respective accidents/incidents. The poor man who fell, I hope that his lacerations heal well. It just shows how easily a mishap can occur and how vital travel insurance is. Linda, enjoy your trip to Devon and Cornwall.

Rob and I were given gift vouchers to the restaurant Meat & Wine Co so decided to have a night at Crown Promenade and use our gift vouchers for dinner which we did on Sunday night. The restaurant (at Southbank) is about a 400 metre walk from the hotel so it was perfect for us. Dinner was amazing, we started with a small loaf of hot rye bread with butter and olive oil, we both had fillet steak with salad - I had chips and Rob had potato mash. Dessert was liquid - a Dom Pedro - vanilla bean ice cream blended with Baileys - so good. The steaks were cooked perfectly to our liking and overall, a wonderful meal. Yesterday morning we had a buffet breakfast which filled us to dinner.

Sorry to hear you had a fall Lyle and hope you are feeling better. I'm sure Lynn is appreciating you being around even if you do have sore ribs. I still have moments of grieving for my Mum, it is nearly two years since her death. It comes on unexpectedly and I shed a tear or two. I think it is all pretty normal to do so.

The Ports North Cruise Ship Schedule has her docked in Cairns. Cairns Cruise Ship Schedule

There are shuttles into Cairns CBD(central business district), which in the past dropped off near the lagoon. It is about a 30 minutes drive into Cairns.

A good win to Swans - too many good players compared to Eagles -

3/4time -

Commentators said 2-3 goal wind which Eagles will have in last quarter.

Half time -

Swans v Eagles at Mt Barker South Australia. All AFL games are being played in SA this round. Quarter time -

The tenders dock at the Rhyll pier not in Cowes - Tender Docking at Phillip Island, although there are shuttles from Rhyll to Cowes.