Kate who?

So I figured it was about time I blogged, just in case I rock up at the Roff Christmas and nobody knows who I am…or worse, confuses me with Lizzy…

Joe and I (yep, you read it here first) have moved to NZ where we have been setting up a lovely house in a dodgy neighbourhood. Don’t worry Grant, it’s a two bedroom house.
I had a really tough time getting used to the cold in a shocking winter, but spring is here so all is well. I've never seen a season like this before, what with it being hot or friggin’ hot back in Western Australia so I am pretty damn impressed with this spring business. Whole trees just bust out with flowers, streets full of them - daffodils and tulips everywhere, sounds corny but it's amazing to see.
For example:




I'm working as a sub-editor for a really small town's newspaper. “Sub-editor” sounds glamorous but it's not really - i sit in front of a computer making up headlines into which i try and slip in-jokes and musical references....
The town in so small that we have exciting stories like "Man grows potatoes in September" (rebellious because traditionally they are grown in October) and "Council to fix re-occuring pot-holes" (complete with a photo spread of before and after photos).....like I said, exciting times.
So far, in my supreme ditsiness, I have managed to print a photo with the wrong name (nice big head shot too), and spell a headline incorrectly - boss nearly had a heart attack. brilliant to know i can still cause panic where ever i go....

Joe is working as an environmental engineer and thinks his title is cooler than mine. His job is amazing (apparently) and he is loving it.

New Zealanders are an odd bunch. I'm sorry, I gave them a few months to warm up to but they're pretty strange. I always thought they would be like Australian's (with a stronger affiliation with sheep) but they're quite different. I foolishly thought I might prove the cousins who had gone before me wrong. Daniel, Joe, Harry….I promise to always listen to you from here on in.
Here’s and example: Kiwi’s have only just figured out you can do tax returns. I kid you not, headlines have read "Thousands of dollars up for grabs from tax man" ‘cause no one has ever bothered trying it before.
I know what you're thinking "But I've met cool Kiwi's before..." - it's true, so have I, but as Joe ominously murmered "Those are the one's that got out...."
To be fair, they are streaks ahead of Australia in terms of farming irrigation and recycling. But since I am not a farm or a recycling plant that doesn’t really help much.

We've done a bit of exploring around New Zealand, which as far as scenery goes is just plain amazing, I keep getting the Lord of the Rings theme song stuck in my head. Here’s some pics...

Flight around Mt Cook:


Best seats in the house at the Super 14 final:


Street festival:


Strange people you meet in NZ:


Bay's around Christchurch:


On another, and completely different, note I went to South Africa earlier this year as a Rotary ambassador and meant to blog about it at some stage so here’s a summary:

Things I learned in South Africa
- Crime won't kill you: the drivers will
- 50% the country has aids, 20% of teachers have aids
- The maid makes $16 A DAY
- Personality. Everyone has one. Your waiter will have more spark and charisma than in their little finger than your average Australian.
-Christian is a religion (they will look at you strangely if you ask what denomination of Christian)
-Not everything is black and white - SA classify themselves as White (Caucasian, obviously), Coloured (mixed) and Black - none of which are deemed racist terms.
-Don't trust the maps given on national park hikes.
-Bathing in river water from a dairy farm is in fact NOT a good idea, regardless of what the farmers say about it.
- South Africa has cheerleaders at Rugby games that take it one step further by striping.
- The South African minister for health (now thankfully the former minister) refused to acknowledge that HIV is linked to AIDS and recommended people eat beetroot to solve the problem.
- The only place that doesn’t have it’s power cut off for a regulated 2 hours a day in part of a load shedding scheme is the construction site for the next Soccer World Cup stadium.

Can’t wait for the Roff Chrissie, and while Grant is looking forward to some interrogation Mr No Hands will in fact be Mr No Show this Christmas as, like Zac, he has some other family on the other side of the world who, deep down, you know he loves more….

see you all soon,
Kate

P-berg

We are staying in a pretty cool district in Berlin, just on the eastern side of the wall. There is a length of the Berlin wall and some flack towers just up the road where I've been jogging. There are even some bullet hole on some of the buildings in our street. You can just imagine sneaking through a tunnel into the east and racing around in a Lada being chased by the Stasi. The only hills around here are from massive bomb craters they have built over.

This is our street and it is starting to get cold here. It's just started snowing and there was a huge snowstorm in the middle of the night. I was the only person on the street and it was sureal because the snow dampens all sound like sound proofing, so it was eerily quiet and still. There are kids throwing snowballs at each other everywhere today.
Luckily there is lots of hearty German food to cook. We had roast potatoes and bread and swine flisch last night, which hit the spot. The nightlife has been rocking too. We went to see a Japanese funk band that played Isaac Hayes and James Brown covers. They all wore suits and were tight as. One more week in Berlin and then we are thinking of hiring a car to get to Paris. I want to listen to Autobahn by Kraftwek while on the Autobahn.

Luke's Party

This is the gallery of rogues that attended Luke's 7th birthday Party. Note Jenny's excellent monster cake. The Party consisted of indoor soccer, red rover, dodgeball and boof hockey.

Turtle diving, time taking sport to watch, its as if they are afraid of heights- or the water!

On other news, i have 10 days left before my retirement- its been a long time coming and i think i deserve it. This is basically a quick message for any Melbourne Roff's and Forrest's, we will be arriving on the 8th Dec........ we will see you then.

FORGOTTEN BIRTHDAYS!

Sorry people, but some important birthdays have slipped by!

Luke Roff (8yh Nov) Happy belated birthday Luke - now SEVEN!
Cathie Roff on the 15th - Marianne was fortunate enough to be in Adelaide at the time to help celebrate.
Damian! (19th) Sorry Damio - I remembered before the event but got sick (flu) on the day and then totally let it slip. 45!!! I will make it up to you by visiting next weekend!
Adam Seage (21st Nov) - Adam turned 17 yesterday. Yes, Adam turned 17!!
Lady Betty Forrest has her ? birthday TOMORROW (Sunday 23rd!)

and coming soon....LACHIE on the 28th (3) AND... AMY on the 30th. Amy will be ELEVEN!


Tood

Ich bin ein Berliner

Monica and I officially arrived in Berln yesterday. I think if we were doing it on our own it might have taken a few weeks to settle in but we've been welcomed by the Aussie diaspora. Enclaves rock. We have etched out a little community in Schönhauser Allee‎ which is right in the heart of the city. We are all drinking cheap bier and comparing notes on music venues and where to get "BIO' food, which is organic. It's everywere.

Berliner Pilsner is probably the best bier I have ever tasted. Subject to ancient bier purity laws it is made of just 3 ingredients, and they are all made of bier. You can buy a case of 20 longnecks for AU$20. I won't harp on about the bier anymore but seriously... a red note.

The photo is outside The DOM, named after my little brother. In Australia there would be one of these amazing building with a whole town built around it. In Germany there are whole suburbs made out of shit like this. Heaps of culture mate. If you ride a bicycle everywhere, have green power, recycle, take a cotton bag to the shops and eat organic food in Australia you are an activist. EVERYONE lives like that in Berlin.

It's a good reminder to all Roffs et al to make sure you have green power at least. Just ring your provider and ask or go to http://www.greenpower.gov.au/home.aspx for info. It's only 10 bucks a bill and you can go carbon neutral.

Ukes slay Melbourne

Julia, Dom, Annika and my good self went to see the big gig in Melbourne last Sunday night. The support act (Dan and the Ukes) only get about 35 minutes so, if you're going, don't be late. The brief set was very well received although I think Dan could do a bit better with his song selection. If you're going to a gig, loudly request the "Catholic Leader", my favourite in his current repetoir. We paid for two tickets and were "on the door" for the other two - thanks Ukes. Amanda took me backstage in the break and introduced me to the Augie March band members. WARNING: the boss guitarist and singer, Glen, has a VERY WEAK handshake. As you can see from the puffed-up right hand in the picture above, I may have overdone it. If you meet him, Joe, it might be better if you hug him. Augie March is a world-class band but the Melbourne venue acoustics weren't perfect - hope it's better in Brisbane. It was a great night, though, and Amanda, the Ukes and Dan have clearly benefitted from a month on the road. It's all very tight and a pleasure both to watch and listen to. Any reports from the Sydney gig?

Joe and Sar update

1. Selling at Straddie, have been getting it ready and it lists next week.
2. Yes I am a fan of the counter cycle method of investment - buy at the top and sell at the bottom
3. Moving to Canberra for a new job
4. No I do not know what management consultants do (ask Ash)
5. Going to the Ukeladies in Brisbane (if I can get a ticket), and can't wait
6. Xav is looking forward to his first Roff Christmas

Before job.....


After Xav realised he could (occassionally) have money for the tuckshop because dad has a job....

See you all in a couple of weeks.

Movember

Yes, it's that time again.

Here's a quick tip though - Don't make a deal with your home group in which they design your mo' if they can raise $50.

My aim is to raise $100 each year. If anyone is keen to donate to prostate cancer research and other male health issues, I would certainly appreciate it. (tax deductible)

Click this link https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1937846&country=au and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account

OR, leave an IOU in the comments section, and I'll collect at christmas- and Daniel, the rules about drunk blogging apply to drunk charitable donations - don't do it unless you remember what you've done the next day.

Potsdam Uber Alles

Guten Tag. Still loving Germany. It's 'eine bier bitte' if anyone was curous. I'm still working at the hotel but Moni has been exploring. She rode a hotel bicycle over to Cecilienhof today for a visit and a bagel.

Cecilienhof was the location of the Potsdam Conference in 1945. Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Harry S. Truman met at the round table in the great hall and issued the Potsdam Declaration defining the terms for Japanese surrender. Truman had already given order to prepare the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Stinking war criminals, all of them. Anyway, they sell an awesome snow globe of the dudes. That's Amanda's chrissy present done.

We ate tonight at a French restuarant in the Dutch Quarter of a German town. Pop. We shared breakfast this morning with a Swiss Army Major. He is observing some war games in Goebbel's old hunting reserve. He assures me that the Swiss Army do have knives, but that they are only good for stabbing people and are near useless for opening wine. I have to pull an all nighter to finish a chapter or I am toast, but tomorrow we go to Berlin. Ich bin ein Berliner.

Beer is AU$1 for a long neck. And it is all imported european beer. Well, not imported, you know what I mean. Did I mention this already? They sell long necks in cafes and post offices and newsagents. I'm starting to wish they had won the war. Is that bad?

The conference went well. I butchered my talk because I hadn't slept in 6 days but made some good contacts at NASA. For realz. Our bags turned up in Bangladesh under the name WOFF. I am making the insurance pay for all my beer as compensation. Next stop East Germany. I can't wait to snuggle under the Iron Curtain. The wind comes straight from Siberia and it's freezing.

BAND HERO NIGHT

guitar hero took on a whole new meaning of lame last night. our only saving grace was that i didn't sing, how ever i do strongly recommend a few beers and a lot of south park quotes on hand. it was a good night

The Ukeladies buzz

I had no idea about the impact on the Oz music scene of the Ukes until I ran into Mick in the gym. Mick is the fitness trainer for the Melbourne storm. We have had previous conversations about the state of the 'scene' as we call it, and I feel he is on the same page as me in terms of taste (we haven't had a Neil Diamond convo yet though).

Jake; "What are you listening to Mick?"
Mick; "...various JJJ bands that Jake has never heard of because Lacho likes Bob the Builder better that Jay and the Doctor .... and Augie March"
Jake; "Oh yeah mate, (..very pleased with my rising cred..) I'm seeing them in Brissy.
Mick; "Really? The gig on the 28th with Dan Kelly and the Ukeladies in support?"
Jake; "I know of the Ukes - How do you?"
Mick; " They've done various projects with Dan and Paul Kelly over the last couple of years"

Anyway, you can imagine what happened after that - I spewed on more about my relationship with Amanda than Lizzy did about Joe at the '95 World Cup!!

Can't wait for the Ukes... and Dan.... and Augie.

Bizarro World

I'm super excited about Europe so apologies if I blog too much. We flew in via KL and Amsterdam, a trip that took us over Alice Springs, Indonesia, India, Iran and central Europe. That means we flew over what at least 2 billion people. Mind blowing.

The plane was fun but I found the stewards get a little shirty if you just keep ordering gin and tonic over and over all through the night. We had some Laksa at the airport in Malaysia which was second to none. Amsterdam airport has a casino and a museum but no 'special' cafes, which is probably just as well.

Flying into Berlin was my favourite part. There are windfarms EVERYWHERE, lots of cooling towers for nuclear power plants and market gardens all through the outskirts of the city. It looks like the future.

Unfortunately our baggage didn't enjoy the same experience and is missing in action. There is in fact, no record of our baggage at all, which is a little perplexing. Monica is disappointed because all her best dresses are in there but I am stoked because it adds to the adventure, and they gave me a free toilet bag with a cotton shirt in it. I am easily pleased. We are insured to the hilt and KLM airlines is likely to fork out some cash for new stuff so no dramas.

Potsdam is pretty cute. It is like the old section of The Rocks, or Fremantle, but a whole city. There are pretty girls riding on bike paths that go everywhere and you can easily take your bike on a train. I thought Sydney was based on a European design but they should have thought more of Germany and less of London. We should hang the RTA and the NSW planning bodies. Beer costs less than milk too. Ouch. We went for a walk through the woods and it is like the prettiest parts of Emerald but seems to go on forever.

Anyway, Monica thinks I am working so I better do something. Conference starts tomorrow.

It's still all happening

Adam rang today from the departure lounge of Sydney airport where he and Monica were waiting to fly to Berlin via KL and Amsterdam. He is delivering a paper in Potsdam and, afterwards, they'll be staying in Berlin with members of the "Skipping Girls", a performance art group that Monica was involved in a few years back. Potsdam is where Count Zeppelin invented the airship in 1910.





Then it's on to Paris for a couple of weeks. Adam reckons he'll be working on his thesis but I fear there may be distractions. The pics above show the interior of the Paris flat and where they've been living in Sydney so that they could save money for the trip. Adam's uni is, at least, paying his airfares. He's promised to blog regularly.
Annika dropped in tonight (Sunday) and only has a take-home exam and a proper exam to go to finish her undergraduate degree. She has applied to do Honours next year in politics and looks like being accepted. We have two tickets to the Augie March/Ukuladies gig in Melbourne next weekend and she and Julia will be going. Not much news from Amanda but it's mid-tour and she's probably resting up for four nights in a row.
Nick is having his 21st in Newcastle on December 21. You'll all be invited but we understand you can't all come. You'll have a chance to pat him on the back up in Lismore. Dom is going for his L plate test tomorrow which adds a new dimention to the expression "road safety".
I've been invited to the presentation of the NZ motorcycle awards this year at the end of November and Jules and I will get three days there. Apparently there's a coast-to-coast walk across the Auckland Isthmus (16 kilometres) which is on the agenda along with a ferry trip to an island with a vineyard on it owned by relatives of friends here in Melbourne. Should be a nice break. In the meantime, lots of marking and a stress-inducing conference where I have to talk about my own thesis. Hmm.. maybe I should get back to work on that.

Black or White or Tan

Daniel Stuart Roff is on a mission to improve indigenous relations across Australia. At the Glengarry pub in Redfern on Friday night, our group was joined by Norm, Sam and Rictchie. Sam and Norm are cousins from "the bush" and they now reside in "the block". Ritchie is Sam's boyfirend.

At one point Norm expressed his concern that we were too white. Finger pointed sharply into Norm's chest, Daniel accused Norm, and all aborigines, of stealing the tan from the white man. Awkward.

Despite having lost his tan to the black man and despite having red hair, Daniel still managed to catch the eye of Sam and Ritchie. Ritchie confided that he would be happy to cook and clean for Daniel for the rest of his life. Sam loves red heads because they didn't exist where he grew up.

As far as I know, Daniel made it home in one piece.

Woot

Narrowly Averted

What's Happening in Adelaide?

The actual caption for this photo is: "I have 3 exams next week...woooooo!"

THE TRUTH ABOUT AMY!

At last the truth as to why Amy was "sin-binned" for ten minutes at the pool in Lightning Ridge can be revealed. Amy, contrary to clearly displayed pool rules, went down the slippery slide HEAD FIRST!! Where were her parents?

An update, because it is what the crowd wants....

I guess I owe it to the blog readers to let you all in on my life at the moment. I arrived home to Newcastle last Friday direct from Christchurch- if anybody still believes i am the "golden" child of the family would be wrong these days- it was evident when there was no one waiting at the airport for me after an international flight- no, sadly i was left to make my way through crowds of people all ready and waiting to collect their loved ones from the airport to catch two trains home, this was made more difficult by the fact that I was carrying Snow boarding gear, work gear (including a tool box) and a bass guitar that doesn't even belong to me.
I leave here tomorrow to make way to Brisbane for some work, this is only for a short while (4 weeks) where by that time I will be well and truly ready for a much needed holiday, several month holiday to be exact, the first part of which will be touring the Melbourne Roff and Forrest clans, a trek along the Great Ocean Road will be part of this trip. (Thank you Grant and Julia for lending us the beloved Kombi- i will take good care of her) If anyone has any sight seeing must-dos in Melbourne we would happy to take it on board.
After this we will be heading north for the always great Roff Christmas in Lismore, where Vicky and I will be leaving early to make sure we are in Tokyo for New Years Eve, it was a tough choice deciding wether the Grand Hotel in Lismore or Tokyo would be more intense at midnight, I guess only time will tell.
From Tokyo I will be relaxing at the ski slopes in Hakuba as there will be no relaxing once we get stuck into the serious backpacking around Japan, After which we fly to Vickys home tome of Taichung in Taiwan, this is where we will set up camp for a few months to explore the rest of Asia, one trip will be to catch up with Jesse Forrest And Jo when they are in China and a wedding in South Korea next year.

Melbourne cup blues

Sorry, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to scoot up to the TAB to collect Dom's winnings. Showing the style he's famous for at the Lismore dish-lickers, he spent his $10 allocation by splitting it between Viewed and Barbaricus. I think the return on his $5.00 is around $200. In retrospect, why would you ever bet against a Bart Cummings horse? I had $10 on Guyno and, at last reports, it still hasn't finished the race...

Ukeladies Wow Perth

The Regal Theatre in Subi was treated to an awesome performance by Dan and the Ukes last night, and owing to Amanda's ability to score us reduced (read:free) priced tickets, Liz and I were able to afford to come and watch! Although insulting Johnny H in front of 200 residents of the most conservative, liberal state in australia could have ended in tears, the crowd really seemed to get into it, even indulging in some participation (unheard of in Perth)!! Some other band also played afterwards, but this was overshadowed by the party in the upstairs bar, where Amanda and her cousin Ben Murray, his wife Janelle, Liz and I were able to enjoy a couple of drinks. It was awesome to see Amanda again, and to see how comfortable she looks up there on stage, so if you can - get to a gig!

Maisie part 7

This is a picture of Maisie at a party last weekend, so everyone is up to date, and she is looking forward to getting lots of cuddles and volunteers for babysitting at Christmas.

BUM DEAL FOR AMBER

Spare a thought for cousin Amber who began her own PR company and her first client was the Coogee Bay Hotel (or is that Poogee Bay) and its gala opening after refurbishment. Amber's previous work put her as the PR person for the Sydney Fish Markets which were plagued by the "toxic" fish in Sydney Harbour scare then the poison oysters debacle! She can't seem to win.

Saw all the Forrests at Cairo's wedding (to Victoria) on the week-end. Victoria's parents own a luxury accommodation estate up the valley and was perfect for a great weekend - everything was top drawer and great fun. Pictures to come shortly

Maisie6

Maisie5

His Excellency

Modesty forbids His Excellency from posting this blog but his relatives will appreciate that Andrew Roff has been elected/selected as the Youth Governor of South Australia.

Sponsored by the YMCA, each year a group of young prominent people from all socio-economic walks of life are selected to form two political parties and engage in debating bills at Parliament House for a live-in week of politics-in-action.

Andrew was initially elected by his ruling party as the Premier of South Australia and after the week was through, selected by the organisors to be the Governor of SA, the ambassador for the youth parliament for the next year.

Now there are two X men in the family??

Maisie4

Ukes triumph at Speigeltent

The first of the Dan Kelly and the Uleladies tour shows took place on Wednesday night. Around 250 people packed in and between Annika's uni mates, Julia's mates and the Lemmings MC, we made up about 25 of them. Dan was in fine voice and the Ukes have redefined the concept of glamour. The song arrangements are very sophisticated with sometimes spare but excellent harmonies. The Ukes did two songs by themselves, both featuring May rather than Amanda, but I suspect that was because Amanda is supposed to finish the show with a solo. It didn't end up happening because Dan was clearly under the mistaken impression that everyone was there to hear HIM and hogged the finishing number. The set lasted about an hour and 20 minutes which is probably longer than you'll get if you see them as the support for Augie March. We've got tickets to that show as well so I'll let you know if my hunch is correct. One of Dan's best songs is about the "Catholic Leader" newspaper from his youth and how awful it was. In the song, a nun runs off with a groundskeeper.
"They left in a Toyota Cressida,
But you won't read about it in the Leader."
Make sure you request it. Everyone who gets to see the show will enjoy it just for the music but the added bonus for us is we get to see Amanda shining brightly in the spotlight. Beautiful.

Best yet

In previous correspondence, Sue has indicated that the welcome BBQ run by the Woodlawn Roffs would be on 24th Dec. Sue would like me to convey to everyone that this should read the 23rd.

She also told me last night that this is looking like THE Roff christmas to be at. There are not many 'Hi my name is Zac and I can't attend this year because I have 13 sweedish sisters who are desperate to see me' apologies this year.

Can't wait.

Maisie3

World tour of Adelaide

Adelaide is waiting in a state of barely controlled anticipation for the sublime Ukeladies-Dan Kelly-Augie March combo set to do their thang on 13 November at the Gov. This will be the most exciting thing to happen to Adelaide since that Ikea store opened near the airport. Some reviewers have already labelled it "the best gig ever". This might be a tad precipitous, since said gig hasn't actually happened yet, but no one can deny the possibility.

To answer a question Amanda asked a while ago: yes! By which I mean, we have spare bed space for 1 (possibly 2), couch space for at least 4 and floor space for about 20 rabid groupies and/or miscellaneous hangers-on. And I'm sure that one of my flatmates will have some whiskey we can appropriate.

Yeehaw!

Oh, one other thing: Rowan and I have both organised tickets, but Ashley was wondering whether he might be able to get put on the door list for the show. Apparently he is "down" with young people music.

Maisie part 2 (yeah I know I missed a day or two!)

Le Tour

Joe in shock comeback!

www.theroar.com.au/2008/09/23/wallaby-laden-silver-foxes-outwit-pokolbin-reds/

The full (and very funny) report appears at the above link but here's a summary taken from the report:

"The third outing of the Silver Foxes invitation rugby team to raise funds for rugby charity Hearts In Union. Hearts In Union (HIU) raises money for players who have suffered spinal injuries playing the game.

But back to the weekend.

It was all initiated via a phone call from Pokolbin President Iain Riggs to Tim Horan whom he knew had played for the Foxes. Would the Foxes be interested in coming to the Hunter for the weekend to play the Reds? Horan relayed the call to Foxes supremo, president and chief selector Richard Harry, and Silver Foxes III was born.

Test Wallabies Andrew Blades, Marco Caputo, Richard Harry, John Langford, David Wilson, Tim Gavin, Owen Finegan, Sam Payne, Andrew Leeds, Jason Little, Tim Kelaher, James Grant and Joe Roff all ran out to start the match, which was played over three twenty minute thirds.

The Pokolbin boys may have been outclassed on paper, but reputations mattered little once the pill was in play. Although the scrums were uncontested, the tackles were full bore and the Foxes were rocked by the Reds halfback who surprised Richard Harry on the fringe of the ruck after only 5 or 6 minutes, slipped through to run 35 metres, and posted the first score for the Reds.

This clicked the Foxes into gear and saw some tremendous running from Owen Finegan, Joe Roff and Jason Little.

Wings Grant and Roff showed that class has no age limit, although perhaps the Friday night reds took a yard or two off the former Wallabies’ pace. The Pokolbin side scored a 50 metre intercept through one of their speedy wings, upon whom Roff made little impression during the chase, but he made amends with several sweetly timed passes and breaks after slipping into the 5/8 spot which had been deviously promised to him in the lead-up by Foxes captain Harry. “Sure Roffy – anywhere you like…yeah 5/8 no problem…”!

See the full report for more details.

Stomping out ideas about favouritism - part 2

Maisie doll is really coming in to her own right now. We are very much looking forward to letting our aunties (and anyone else with baby fever) taking her for extended periods while we catch up at Neil's bar till 4 drinking beer and eating barbecued cheese.

I obviously am obliged to proffer a photo of Maisie every day for a week after doing the same for Lachlan, so today is day 1. There are some very cute photos ahead.

In other news, after two years of contract work, I was just offered a permanent job at Woodlawn (no help from Glenn who refused to be on the interview panel) - so even after Glenn moves on to a life of golf and bowls, we will still have a Roff thumb in the Woodlawn pie for years to come.

When they say permanent, I don't think that they realise that I have taken it literally. I am actually grooming Lachlan to become the next sports master at the College, so that we can continue Roff gatherings until at least 2050.

Guess the family member

Armidale Roffs on Tour

Pressure. Luke wins a raffle to be involved in a penalty shootout with local member Richard Torbay. For the record he nailed it bottom left corner.




Various shots of Mt Kaputar in Narrabri. A great National Park 10/10.

Lightning Ridge Sin Bin

In a town where there is a general consensus that the law does not apply here, where you can pretty much do anything you like, how can you possibly get sin binned at the local pool for 10 minutes. What atrocity must you commit?