Hi Everyone!
I finally have a moment to spare now that our tour has come to an end, which is a relief and a disappointment- i am quite addicted to life on the road, but exhausted as well. I am writing this from my hotel room in Hollywood! (You can see the sign from the bottom of my street) where i have a day to recover before i head down to Mexico for a real holiday for a couple of days before I have to return to the real world (yuck). The photo above is from New York, which seems like a million years ago now. We have covered alot of miles and travelled through so much amazing wilderness, as well as being in some of the most exciting cities on earth. America is a wonderful, surreal and fascinating place to travel, and due to our strange tour schedule we have seen alot of places well off the beaten track. The most spectacular scenery was definately Montana and Idaho, where we drove through snowy mountains and massive prairies, all straight out of a Zane Grey novel. We listened to a c.d. of Jack Kerouac reading "On The Road" in the van which was a pefect accompaniment to the great American road trip. My fave cities...well NY is a dream come true for all city lovers..if you like mountains you go to the Himilayas, if you like cities you go to New York. Staying at the Chelsea was a blast- So many great writers and artists have lived there, Dylan Thomas died there! His last words were "I just drank 18 glasses of whiskey, that must be some kind of record". "2001, A Space Odessey" was written there, Arthur Miller lived there, lots of Australian artists lived there, including one of my heroines Vali Meyers, a bohemian genius of the first order. We did alot of posing around in the foyer like wankers, Ethan Hawke lives there at the moment, and Dan saw him down the street in his jogging shorts! Dan also met Whoopi Goldberg but they didn't hit it off.
Anyway, the glam moments were actually few and far between, the bulk of our time was spent in the stinking cigarette and beer and fart infested van, eating revolting fast food from american truck stops, as we were late every day from the moment we struggled, hungover, from our seedy roadside motel to the minute we arrived at sound check each night. We have eaten frequently from the most disgusting joints on earth, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Denny's, Arby's, Chicken Shack, Burger King, Subway, places i wouldn't let my dog eat if i was in Australia. The places we managed to avoid eating were beyond comprehension, serving things like- and this is no joke- five meat stuffed crust cheese pizza rolled up and deep fried, deep fried cheese cake nuggets, and the worst thing- i still dont even know what this actually is but there is a chain of these franchise joints- Culver's frozen custard butter burgers. What the!!! It got so bad that we found ourselves fantasizing about eating a nutritious four and twenty pie with a lovely side of potato cakes. Completely Wrong.
The other cities I loved the most were Chicago, Seattle and my all over favourite was San Fran. We played at the Fillmore Theatre there, (Uncle Toody, you would have died! massive wall size pictures of Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead posters everywhere) and we stayed in the most dangerous neighbourhood there, called The Tenderloin, so named because historically cops are paid extra to work there and can therefore afford to buy their families the best cuts of meat. The hotel we stayed in had bullet holes in the front window- no joke- that place was seriously rough! but I spent a wonderful arvo at City Lights bookshop, walking through China Town and catching cable cars...i think that was the only 4 hours i have had to my self for an entire month! It's actually quite a difficult thing, to spend every minute of every day and night with four other highly strung eccentric hungover people in your face, even if they are your best friends. Luckily the other band we were on tour with (Band Of Horses) were total champs and did all they could to make our lives easier, letting us use their gear etc and partying on with us every night. We became really great mates, they are all lovely people and are becoming massively successful here at the moment, a very interesting thing to watch. They are all total Drones fans, but their crowds were usually a bit perplexed by the screaming wailing aussie mayhem coming at them. The Drones played some ball tearing shows, just the same. Any one who is interested should look up the tour blog which has heaps of awesome photos, just click on the link from www.bandofhorses.com. Well tonight is my last night in L.A. and i intend to get on the sauce in some sleazy dive with the Drones to mark the end of our time here. I will be very sad to leave. Hopefully i will be able to post some more adventures from Mexico. Love to all, Adios for now x
Stuart and Marianne flew out for Vietnam the next day for a month. Ash and Cathie picked up Dom and Nicholas from Stuart's place and took them to the Jets vs Adelaide game where Adelaide was bumped out of the competition by a 2-1 loss. We arrived back in Melbourne last night (Saturday) so, sadly, no more holiday snaps for the time being. Let's finish with a lovely shot of Ash and Cathie...
We've just had a couple of days on a farm with friends William and Pam Holley. Dom completed a white-water stretch of the local river which involved a roll-over to get underneath a tree that had fallen from one bank to the other. The matching t-shirts are a result of both Dom and William having spent a bit of time in Vietnam. William also gave Dom his first driving lesson in a manual transmission vehicle. Dom isn't that far away from his L-plates. We're just about to check the yabby nets in the dam and then it's off to Newcastle for a dinner tonight with Ash, Cathy and kids; Stuart and Marianne and kids; Jenny and Cathie and whoever else from the family who's in town. I love Christmas holidays...
Beautiful Hannah with flowing black Roff hair (no offence Daniel).
Mother and Daughter pretty happy with their efforts. 
A dak-dak down to Sydney resulted in an excellent lunch cooked by Adam (kangaroo - his special way) and a swim followed by a couple of days with my old mate from Moree High School, Ray Firth. Ray has a holiday house on the South Coast where we spent the second night. The plan at this end for Christmas is that we'll all decamp around the 23rd and head for Newcastle. Jules and I will be staying in house owned by a doctor mate and Dom will probably drift between there and Cathie's house where Amanda and Adam will be staying. I'd love to stay and chat but I've just been reminded that, for the eight year in a row, I've picked Joe in the Christmas list so it's off to the shops to find something fabulous but light. It's all go...
Before...
After...
Pats and rubs are free? Really?
Hi Everyone!
Anyway, the glam moments were actually few and far between, the bulk of our time was spent in the stinking cigarette and beer and fart infested van, eating revolting fast food from american truck stops, as we were late every day from the moment we struggled, hungover, from our seedy roadside motel to the minute we arrived at sound check each night. We have eaten frequently from the most disgusting joints on earth, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Denny's, Arby's, Chicken Shack, Burger King, Subway, places i wouldn't let my dog eat if i was in Australia. The places we managed to avoid eating were beyond comprehension, serving things like- and this is no joke- five meat stuffed crust cheese pizza rolled up and deep fried, deep fried cheese cake nuggets, and the worst thing- i still dont even know what this actually is but there is a chain of these franchise joints- Culver's frozen custard butter burgers. What the!!! It got so bad that we found ourselves fantasizing about eating a nutritious four and twenty pie with a lovely side of potato cakes. Completely Wrong.
Great day had by all. Bacon and egg burger BBQ brunch by the pool for Lachie's birthday, then up to Neils Bar for Ward Christmas put on by Sue. The last photo says it all. In Lachie's world, Lachie is Number One. I'm a bit worried about his grandfather throwing balls at him though when he's in a position where he can't defend himself.
Kelly cut Lachlan's hair the other day, and we realised that we no longer have a baby. We have a little boy! That, and the fact that he is stringing three words together like "I want choc (chocolate)"
Maisie doll is getting cuter and cuter. I regularly reside in her neck. She regularly looks for assistance from her mum.
I'm just looking hotter and hotter as November rolls on...
ps- does anyone know who actually won the race?
Gimmelwald was picture perfect and consisted of nothing more than a few houses, ten pupil school, some goats and cows, a mountain lodge, and a local produce organic food store with the best yoghurt known to man. Ideal really.
