Billy Bad-ass

Please forgive the curse word, but when you read this story, you see that it is suitable. Last week, Jay and I met Daryl and Lee-Ann at the local Ingleburn RSL Club(http://www.ingleburnrsl.com.au/). RSL stands for Returned and Services League of Australia. It's basically a club with snooker, pool, pokies (slot machines) and TAB (http://www.tab.com.au/Racing/Default.aspx?State=2), drinks, food, and footy that also honors the men and women of all armed forces from all countries.

Daryl invited us over for a barbi last weekend and we all sat out back by the fire. We also met Billy, Daryl's little pit-bull dog. See more pics of Billy at the bottom of the blog.

Billy is a very sweet little dog, but like any pit breed, is one big muscle attached to her jaws. She is very friendly and took to Jay, laying in his lap all night.

This Saturday night was no different, we were invited back over for another barbi, and at the end of the evening, Daryl walked with us back to our house, with Billy on a lead. Daryl warned us that while Billy loves people, she doesn't like other animals at all. Jay being Jay, begged to differ with Daryl, because EVERYONE loves Tankbutt....and Jay let Tankbutt out of the house to meet Billy.

Well, Billy apparently had no warm and fuzzies about this Yank Tank running up to her, and immediately clamped onto Tank. It was a pretty scary scene, with Daryl and Jay trying to pry Billy off Tankbutt, but in the end, the only one bleeding was Daryl. He got a nip from Billy on the hand, but Tanks fat and fur saved him from injury. Billy was spitting hairballs, but nothing else. WHEW. Note to self - no play dates for Tank and Billy.

So for a little dog, she whooped a big ol’ Yank Tank, and hence her name is now Billy Bad-ass.

March 29, 2008 - Drive Along the Ocean

Our friend, Russ, and his son, David, took us on the most awesome Sunday drive EVER! We started the day off with a game of 10 pin. Then Kevin and his buddy, Mitch, decided they would rather play video games than go for a drive. And boy did Kevin miss out! He's learned his lesson after seeing the pictures and videos.

We started in Ingleburn and stopped at the Sublime Outlook, before driving down the Illawarra Escarpment to Austinmer where we had lunch. We ate at a place called the Headlands Hotel. Lot's of bikers and people out for a lovely Sunday afternoon. We ate lunch on the grass, overlooking the beach.

Austinmer Beach is the coolest beach Jay and I have ever seen, and we have barely ventured an hour from our house in Inglenurn! The rock escarpments reaching out to the sea were amazing. Oh, and there was a topless chick on the beach which the guys really liked.

We continued north, crossing the Sea Cliff Bridge (http://seacliffbridge.com/), which the Aussies are quite proud of, to Coalcliff, where there is a beach pool, literally carved into the rock formation on the beach. It is a salt water pool, obviously.

We drove back up the Illawrra Escarpment to Bald Hill Lookout near Otford, NSW. There were three monks sitting in the grass and we all joined them, while eating an ice cream. The view was spectacular. You could sea really far south to the Sea Cliff Bridge, and a long way off to the north along the coast.

We drove through the Royal National Park (http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWRoyalNationalPark.shtml) to our last stop, Wattamolla Beach, where there was a really big waterfall cascading into the eastuary below, heading out to sea. Again, very cool beach to take kids and to camp. On our way back to Ingleburn, we drove over the Audley Weir, which is along the Hacking River. It's the furthest that boats can travel upriver from the ocean.

The whole trip took about 3 hours drive time, but we were gone for about 4 hours. Round trip was 148 km (or 92 miles). Very close to home, and awesome day out anytime. See more pics below.

Saturday, March 29, 2008 - Bush Bashing

We decided to go bush bashing last Saturday, so we hiked down to the Georges River where Kevin likes to hang out. And now Jay and I know why he likes it so much. It's really peaceful, if you ignore the huge spider webs and associated HUGE spiders hanging around. More pics below.