Proudly South African

After watching Invictus again but this time with the kids, we were in a Springboks phase. So when we heard that they were coming to Brisbane to play against the Wallabies, it didn't take very long to book our tickets to go and see the match at the Suncorp stadium.

Clea was the most excited of all and she was talking about this up coming game very intensly for a week. The kids were geared properly, we dug out our new South African flag and Clea even made her own paper rainbow flag.

We arrived early. It was nice to feel the vibe growing up in the stadium and seeing it filling up with nearly 44 000 spectators. There were quite a few other green and gold shirts and we could hear a very familiar accent around us.

The kids tried to remember few words of the South African Anthem but singing the Australian one is much easier as they practice at school every week. However, the heart spoke clearly and with joy we were all cheering "Go Bokke go!" (hey yes, even me!)

The Sprinboks did really well, leaving the Wallabies supporters very embarrased or commentating harshly the ref decisions apparently always in the Bokke's favour.

The final score was 38 Springboks - 12 Wallabies. Well done Bokke!

 The rematch will be in Newlands (our previous neigbourghood)  in 2 weeks.

Riding for Charity

I (Gregory) ended the first of the five day event at the top of the leader board. Riding at close to 40km per hour for 30 minutes resulted in a very slow ride home afterwards. To make a dontation to The heart foundation, the event charity, or to follow the event visit http://tourdeoffice.com/

Australian father's day

We are not too sure why, but Father’s day is in the 1^st week-end of September in Australia (commercial reasons?). The kids had few presents and kisses ready for their dad.

+ a new tool box made by Victor at school

We then went mountain biking in a great place where even Clea could try for the first time her riding skills on dirt paths, where we could enjoy a picnic under some gum trees (hey, we are in Australia!) and where Gregory and the boys could go bouncing even more through the bush trails.

Dessert du mois

Nous sommes en plein dans la saison des poires. Savoureuses, elles  viennent regulierement finir nos repas. Ce mois-ci la poire “pechee” au chocolat (surnommee ainsi par Felix) est la gagnante!

Getting involved

It didn’t take me too much talking to convince Greg to join the rally which was happening today in the city to save the reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for an area of nearly 350 000 km². However, there are huge threats emerging from too many industrial developments along the reef coastline (coal and gas plants). During our sailing trip we saw too many places where the reef wasn’t as healthy as it should. It was important for us to participate today and raise our voice. It is critical to preserve these magical environments so we can enjoy them as much as we should and our future generations would be able to appreciate it for many years to come.

It was inspiring to be with so many people (apparently 4000) walking and singing in the streets for such a good cause. There was such a good spirit amongst the people of all ages.