Stage 2 - The Send Off

Australia Day!!!! And in the absence of another Straddie Annual, it was also declared CARTON DAY! More details bout that later...

After signing up for work with Newmont, and landing our jobs New Zealand, it was only a matter of time before we'd be packing up and shipping over, and thus a big send off party was in order. What more fitting day than Australia Day?

Tara and I wish to extend a huge thanks to all those who made it out on the day, be it for a quick hello/goodbye or to partake in the carton day challenge, your presence and well-wishers were much appreciated.

The weather was perfect, and it was a great opportunity to have one last Eckersly street back yard BBQ, (something I'm gonna miss). The pool was cool, the BBQ was hot and we severely under-catered with the snags (my bad, appologies to all who were a little hungry). But all in all, it was great to see everyone once more before we'd bugger off.

We got some great photos by the pool, enjoyed a few drinkies, be it rumbos, southos, bitters or teddies, had a sausage sizzle lunch, lots of talk and catching up, and of course Ripping Time. Ripping time and carton day go hand in hand, as many veterans of the event would be familiar with. The concept of chalking up the score on the shirts was short lived, and not many of the carton crew shirts made it into the late arvo. Many people beared friction burns as a results of savage shirt-ripping.

As the afternoon wore on, my memory faded out. If you had to ask me how drunk I was, I can tell you: not drunk enough to spew, but I still made the mistake of putting the ash-end of a cigar in my mouth. There was even some Hilary Duff singing in there (on video too).

Good times. Tara and I will cherrish those memories (or at least those we can remember).