The Lachlan promise part 3

Fathers Day, Adelaide

Sorry to break up the Lachlanfest, everyone. I promised I'd post these photos, and it is Fathers Day. The Adelaide Roffs spent the weekend down at Victor Harbour. It was a nice stay, although like Grant I've also had some scrabble-related disappointment (mum pipped me at the end of the game with the word 'gaspiped' - hmm...).

This morning dad woke us up early because he wanted to go for a walk. Outside. On any other day of the year we'd have told him where to go, but he was revelling in this new-found power he had over us, and it seemed cruel to disappoint him.

Pictures!























Anyone want me to post a picture of Phanny every day for a week?

The Lachlan Promise - Day 2

A promise

I just noticed that alot of the recent blogging has come from the G. Roff faction of the family. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing as they are quite obviously alot more interesting human beings than the rest of us. I'm not afraid to say, that since I had children I am happy to live vicariously through the blogged lives of the lot of them.

In saying that, Lachlan Osborne Roff is coming into his own, and is probably becoming more interesting than most of them.

I know alot of people have turned away from the blog because of the lack of presence from young Lachlan, so to bring people back to the blog, I have, in the spirit of 'Bishop Allen', (an indie band from the U.S. who pledged to bring out an E.P. every month for a year) decided to download a picture every day for one week!!

I hope everyone enjoys. I hope I deliver (as this promise is coming on beer number 8). I hope one day that the Melbourne Roffs realise that although they have Spain and hammocks, they dont yet have cheeky smiles from a child after they have thrown custard all over you.

Scrabble victory

Jules just beat me 280 to 273 while we're waiting for Dominic to finish his Friday night shift at KFC. I'm staying up late to collect him because he occasionally gets some leftover chicken to take home. Based on my scrabble luck, it will be a late night for me and I won't get anything to eat. Tennis is over for Dom (his team made it to the semis) on Saturday but there's still a few weeks of soccer left. Manningham won last week 4-2 and they're finally playing Dom in the forwards. The plot seems to be when we get in front, the coach immediately moves him back to sweeper to protect the lead. One of last week's goals was his. Amanda is coming over tomorrow night to get an oil leak in her car engine fixed and to celebrate Father's Day on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it but, since Dylan is between albums, I can't imagine what they'll give me. I just want some respect but I guess that's a bit much to ask for. Annika is finally in Paris and seems to have survived Spain without being robbed. It should be a quieter month for her while she does her French language course. Adam and Monica got a new car today - either a 1990 BMW 318i or Mon's father's old Nissan Bluebird. Win-win, really, but the latter was going to be free so that should swing the deal. The poor old Saab was lost in the Newcastle floods. Dom just rang to be collected - he has a box of wicked wings, some fillets and some other stuff. Maybe my luck is changing. Happy father's day to all the great Roff (and Hill) dads.

Hola from Spain

Since I began my very own ¨Eurotrip¨ at the end of July, I have made fleeting visits to Germany, France and Spain. Granada in the Andalucia provence of Spain has been my favourite place so far, and since I have finally found an internet cafe where I can upload photos, I thought I would share some with you. Here I stayed in a traditional Andalucian house and found that it only took a few seconds to become accoustomed to the southern lifestyle. I spent my days taking multiple siestas in the hammocks of my hostel courtyard; getting up occassionally to explore the cobblestone alleyways of the Moorish quarter of town in search for a bar, because here in Granada, whenever you order a beer you get FREE TAPAS! This genius concept means instead of ¨going out for dinner¨, you simply ¨go get beer¨, the food part is covered, and it completely removes the need for a late night souvalaki run! I love Spain. I also visited the palaces and gardens of the Alhambra which was the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. It was truely magnificent and worth getting up at 4am to queue for the entry tickets.







(I´m not computer savy enough to turn these photos around sorry...Adam...?)

Next on the itinerary is a month in Paris learning French, then it´s on to Eastern Europe for two months before heading across to the UK for a month in Dec. I head home in Jan, but won´t actually arrive until Feb because I´ve managed to wrangle a one month ¨stop over¨ in Japan ¨on the way¨ home. Will keep you posted xoxo

Ukeladies Gig

Ok, these guys are Bruce and James Milne, the owners of the fabulous Tote Hotel where I "work". The occasion was Bruce's 5oth birthday party, quite a big occasion, as Bruce is one of Australia's most famous underground music icons. He started Au go go records, and Infidelity records and has lost more money on rock bands than most musicians earn in a life time. Genius runs in his family, his mother Rosmary wrote the theme from "Playschool"! I kid you not. There were many fabulous costumes and gifts, the funniest present was an actual gravestone with a gap to chisel in the date when he finally croaks. Practical! Bruce is a Hawaiian music nut and a big Ukeladies fan, so it was an honour to be involved.

Be afraid....be very afraid

Do not panic little ones, I am just practicing! This is in NZ at "Hot Springs Beach" where very hot water comes out of the sand so you can have a self made spa and then cool off in the freezing ocean. Very civilized!
MotoGP may be out of reach, Adam. I used up my credit points going skiiing with a group of blokes last week. We had a hoot and didn't break anything. Win/Win!

Stuart

MotoGP 2006

I developed some old rolls of film today and found some of the last motoGP at Phillip Island. It looks innocent enough but I aged 5 years in that single weekend. Do we need to book early this year Dad?

For those not in the loop, 21 year old Australian Rider Casey Stoner looks likely to win the Motocycle World Championship this year, in Australia and on a Ducati. Should be a great party. Can you come again this year Uncle Stu?The ambulances were typically used for alchohol poisioning, not for crashed riders.
This is what I looked like before I went to Phillip Island with Dad and Uncle Stuart. That's my cousin Benedict Murray.

ohau- (oh-how)

A four hour drive to get to this mountanin range.

Pinky and I stopped to help some tourists.
Question: who is crazier; a) the crazy person? or b) the supposedly sane person who follows the crazy people because they don't want to look like a chicken? I just spent 3 days at Ohau, a private ski slope, it only has one chair lift which does not take you to the top of the mountain, this has its advantages and disadvantages.
pros: not many people which require avoiding.
cons: walking, lots and lots of walking.
This photo was 45 minutes of walking- the ride down- about 2 minutes. Worth it? oh yes.
The following day we came down from the peak you can see on the other side of this bowl, it was untouched when we got there and was still left with only our tracks when we left it was great boarding down that.
The only way to finish the day
When i figure out how to post film work i will send post some of the thrills and alot of the spills from the weekend. until then this will do.

Kelly Rocks Gero

The Wa Roffs have recently experienced eastern states civilization with Paul Kelly's concert here last night. (It's still a small town though cause we made Dan say happy birthday to a mate from the stage!)
What a fantastic live show! Its amazing how such a little guy with no hair and crooked teeth can turn out such speccy music.
...and paul kelly was good too.
Seriously - it was great.

Warm up from Little Birdy singer Katy Steele (WA girl like the best of 'em) wasn't too shabby either!

Playlist included the entire Stolen Apples CD and an hour of greatest hits, only downside was it was a sitting concert venue and no dancing.
We did however perfect the head-bopping, leg-tapping, bum-shuffling old foggies dancing technique.

Caught up with Dan after, great to have a chat - we tactfully steered clear of Amanda talk...but I'm still up for sitting next to Uncle Paul if it ever comes off...
I'll even buy Amanda another opp-shop dress if that is going to swing it.

-Rock

Hello family!
Grant yelled at me 2 nights ago for not blogging, so I thought I'd tell everyone about the new man in my life. Then I thought it would just be easier to show you with a picture. For all of my over-protective and picky family members I have to make a few points about how fabulous he is and how this photo displays this so well:
1. He is tall and handsome.
2. He has a steady job.
3. His hands are not placed in a suspect position in this photo.

as well as this he is made of fiberglass so he is very strong and he can't run away or talk back. I'm sure all my aunty's and married cousins are currently seething with jealousy. I know its innapropriate to talk about this on a family blog but we met on the main street of Newcastle and went to my friends house that night. This will be the first that mum and dad have heard about this, so in advance, sorry mum!

In other news, uni is going well, we are seeing patients now. I have perfected the art of explaining to patients that their gums aren't in pain and bleeding because I cut them while cleaning their teeth- but because they are inflamed! Its great- people believe me every time. If anyone is in the area and wants an appointment, just call me and I will arrange it. Also, one of my tutors that already loved me loves me even more because he is a Joe Roff fan and thinks Joe is a fabulous rugby player. I thought disagreeing with him wouldn't be a wise idea as he was about to mark me on my skills with my last patient who was bleeding and in agony as a result of my awesome teeth cleaning skills, so I let it go. Maybe when I graduate I'll tell him what I really think.
Til the next time family dearest, Mil

ps- congratulations to all the new mums and dads! you're babies are gorgeous, but when is the cutest baby competition going to begin?
pps- happy birthday lizzy! you look gorgeous, hope you behaved yourself when you went out... oh and happy birthday Rock, I'm sure you looked pretty too.

floods

the floods were terrible my friends. a lot of people were out of home, very sad affair. It was a difficult time for us here, hard to put into words. All I'll say is that the whole community banded together to help with the relief effort.... I know because I watched it all on the news from the couch in our house half way up a hill. I wasn't going outside, it was raining. Just before the Thames broke we decided to go to the beach instead.

Messages for cousins

Liz: Oxford boys are bad people. You will be chaperoned at all times.

Harry: we are house sitting at the moment and take over the lease of this place mid September, but it should be Ok to use on any application if you want. I am sure you will be declined as the visa departments are required to ask 'whether you are carrying any weapons with you currently'. Saying yes and pulling out your hunting knife won't get you the looks of admiration you might think.

Address is 70 Bullingdon Road, Oxford, OX41QL.

Uncle Rock Rocks On Through Another Year

Happy Birthday for Thursday Dad!

Liz's 18th Bday Party

Ok so i thought u guys might like to see a few photos of my 18th party i had in Gero. It turned out to be a very enjoyable night all up!



I had a joint party with my friends Lorin (left) and Shari (right)


A family one of my Aunty Robyn, Kate, Mum and I


Zac and I enjoying the party, he's doing his best "dont even think about dancing with my sister" look, practising for the nightclub to follow...

Gossip

Amanda is back from Europe and has had a week of BAD jetlag. She thinks women suffer from it more than men. Perhaps. She's back at work and the manager of the Tote pub where she books bands is currently overseas so she has the use of his car which has a 12-stacker. This transport option is useful as she's having trouble remembering with whom she left her own car. The Ukeladies are getting more and more gigs. Annika is in France and enjoying it but not without reservations. She had planned to spend a month in Paris studying French and sent a 400 Euro deposit for accommodation only to discover on her arrival that they'd never heard of her. Julia spent a few days trying to cancel all the money transfers until it was discovered that the money HAD arrived but the person to whom it was addressed had been on holidays and nobody had opened the envelope. It looks like the study will go ahead but she'll be sharing a room with a Chinese student rather than having her own room which was the original plan. She read Harry Potter on the plane and knows how it ends. Amanda and Annika had a few days together in Germany before Amanda came back.
Nick is enjoying Annika's car in Newcastle and is settling into the insurance job although gossip is he's considering a stint playing rugby in Canada next year. Speaking of rugby, I read a few days ago that Dan Vickerman will be going to Cambridge to study next year which might upset the Joe plan to flog them in the intervarsity match.
Dom has had his second shift with KFC, his team lost last weekend (4-1) which was against the flow of play. He went to his first concert last weekend (Bloc Party - whoever they are) and we're planning to watch what happens this weekend when the Melbourne rugby team plays Canberra in the first game of the new national competition. If anyone's interested, I'm giving Melbourne 50 points start and still think Canberra will win. It's live on ABC which is great for the code.
Yes, Annika will blog soon with DIRECT Europe gossip. Annika? Can you hear me? Annika...

look out Joe, Sar and the X-man

Hey Joe, Sarah and Xavier,
I realise that some time ago when you guys first moved to England you sent a clear message to a select few of us cool cousins (actually i think it was Rowan and I) stating that we are not welcome to come and visit you- I'm cool with that. But, my Dilema is simple, British companies don't even look at my impeccable Resume simply because my home address is here in NZ and Australia- here is where you come in handy (Stuart thinks it will be the first time for you Joe). Can i please tell a few companies that i will be living with you as of the 9th of October? Don't stress, i don't plan too crash at your place and nobody will be ringing you or anything.
well joe, i don't have your email address, but mine is harryroff @ yahoo.com, if you could please email me id be happy to explain more about my situation.
Thanks

P.S. This doesn't mean i am moving to England- i am simply job searching- ill let you know where i end up next when i know- which is generally after i am a supposed to start work.

I think it's time to return to family values. (Adam and Rowan)

We thought it appropriate to show everyone some family snaps in light of the recent disgraceful bloggs from some of the seedier cousins.

Beautiful Maisie Anne

Lacho the sporto

More Beam

Monica and I helped out on another film clip on the weekend attended by none other than the Sydney chapter of the Jim Beam girls! I forgot to get a picture with me but took some with some of the other members of the cast.

I feel a bit weird being connected to all this. It's like a bad joke that DOESN'T get better the more times you tell it.

Bogan Night (I strongly disagree)

A disgusting representation of university culture and... oh screw it. It was awesome. I used the second hand drink trick that Adam taught me to get a picture with the Bundy girls for free. But admittedly, all the while I was with them I couldn't stop thinking about the Jim Beam girls. If you are reading this, girls, let's get in touch.