My polyester girl

Almost ready! Should be in black paint by next weekend...

Annual 356 parade

The annual Porsche 356 parade was just down the road at Como park in South Yarra today. Here's a few photos:

Nearly ready for paint

The 356 is nearly ready for paint. Here's a photo:

I've been very slack

It's well due for another post.

For those of you who havent caught up with us yet - we're expecting our first child in late April of next year. And of course we're very excited!

Paula has convinced me to hold off on knowing whether it's a boy or a girl as she wants it to be a surprise.

Other than that we've been lazing around the city and cooking up lots of new stuff at home, but there's no real other news.

cya,
Sam.

A holiday on the beach north of Cairns

View from our bungalow on Ellis Beach.

Don't swim there

Boat launching site near my brother's place...

During the recent cyclone, the local crocodile farm 'lost' 40 salt water crocs. Yep.

Polyester filling almost done

She's in primer mate. And cop the new wheels...

The skunkworks

Well, life is good. Went and saw Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz on Saturday, after the usual friday night's dodgy feed at Quan 88 the night before. And celebrated by having Saturday dinner out with a mate by the name of Bryce on the Saturday night.

Sunday's weather was so good (Gordbless global warmage) that after stocking up at the South melbourne Market, we took the MX5 around the bay with the top down and I actually copped a bit of a tan. Not bad for a southern hemisphere winter.

Last night's return to poor weather was a chance to pull apart a 44 year old Porsche tacho and clean the various bits before sticking it back together. Without a single finger print inside the glasswork.

It's lemon season, so after all that hard work what was needed was clearly pancakes.


Sam.

Nice weather we're havin'

Park across the road today - what a belter!

We went and saw "woman in black" last night in town - and it was well worth the 80 bucks for the tickets. Very low tech special effects and some excellent acting by John Waters made for a great night out - a really engaging old fashioned ghost story without being high tech and modern.






Living in the city I've been more and more interested in bits of urban street art slapped up around the place. Whilst all the tagging that plagues most walls is just uncreative gate pissing, some little bits of street art here and there really catch you out at times and get a reaction out of you.

One piece of Melbourne's urban art that seems to have gotten a bit of press overseas is a giant Tetris style exhibition made from milk crates and lowered over a freeway wall when no-one was looking. Here's some pics:

How's the 356 going?

The Porsche is still going along quickly - Jason is about ready to apply primer. The doors are back on with their new lower skins.




One last bad weld from a previous guard replacement left to undo as is very clear in the foreground...

More balloons

We thought this was a ripper - a house shaped balloon came in over the park across the road from our house last week...

Sooty the possum

A few weeks back we had an unexpected visitor. After a big crash in the house and some scurrying around I'd assumed a rat had gotten in under the front door somehow.

Turns out that one of the local possums had fallen down the chimney! He'd some how taken up residence in our crockery cupboard, behind the lazy susan.

After a bit of coaxing he shot out the front door and up the tree at the front. Guess that cupboard needed spring cleaning anyway...

356, inc

The 356 is humming along thanks to Jason. At night I get to open up tubs of gauges and bits, and with Brasso and a rag start cleanig up all sorts of intricate bits.

I was a bit worried about making a bit of a street-rod out of a vintage Porsche, still I saw this article in the Age on Wednesday. This one is a 'Pre-A' (I think)-> Click here

Better go cook some tea

Sandblasted doors

The doors have been sandblasted inside and out. The bottom strips were cut out by Jason, new sections will be welded in. Various mirror holes from over the years will need welding up.

Rust cut out of doors

Sexy curves

That's Spencer the uber-mechanic in the background, in his Porsche master-mechanic overalls. You can't meet enough highly skilled people in this game who also happen to be down to earth and really helpful...

Bad weld on guard replaced

Here's an indication of the finished quality to come. Jason thought the previous restoration wasnt up to scratch, so he cut out an old weld and then welded in a new strip section. Dead flat finish, no 'bog'. Awesome.

Racing drum brakes

There is such a thing. Or at least there was, back in the early 60's.

"The 40 year old hubcap"

Just made for the modern dishwasher.

The paint is off and the interior is out

Cute, eh?

Boy's toys

Time for some much needed tinkering after being cooped (couped?) up in the city. Owning a Kombi seems to have left me with a love of German cars.

The black one is a 1963 Porsche 356 T6. The white one is a 1962 356 T5. A few bits from each and I should have a pretty nice daily driver in a few months.

Sambo.

Dis-assembly

Ferdinand's curse

Balloons over the house this morning

This balloon seemed awfully close to the top of the house this morning. I think he might have been a bit light on for gas after taking off from Richmond - it appeared as though he put it down near the exit from the Burnley tunnel shortly after (see below!).

Down I go

HappyEaster

Carob is a brown powder made from the pulverized fruit of a Mediterranean evergreen. Some consider carob an adequate substitute for chocolate because it has some similar nutrients (calcium, phosphorus), and because it can, when combined with vegetable fat and sugar, be made to approximate the color and consistency of chocolate. Of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favor of dirt.

A bizarre sunday arvo

Last sunday we attended the 60th birthday of Paula's Auntie Robyn. Robyn took the liberty of booking Mic Conway's National Junk band about two years ago. They are bizarre!

We had a great time listening to a rubber chicken solo, watching sword swallowing, and being entertained by the nose flute.

It's easter weekend, so we're slothing around here for easter. Later I'll be making fish and chips for tea and declining Opec's timely offer of purchasing extortionately priced petrol in order to go somewhere else for a few days....

Sambo the 'petro-sexual'.

Two nights out and we're off to another party sunday afternoon

Feeling a bit old, can't keep up with nights out in a row. So the poor old dog is left at home with a bone to bury, here's some evidence.

It's about (bloody) time

It's been a long time since we posted anything. Lots has happened. Including the a ban on the word 'bloody' in Australian advertising campaigns that feature in the UK. A bit odd.

My old mate Simon got married to a lovely girl by the name of Nadia. A top reception down at St Kilda yacht club ensued - a great time by all. And a long weekend to recover.

Stay good,
Sambo.

Cappucino cake

Paula's been busy in the kitchen this afternoon, there's a picture of the evidence below.We're enjoying life in the inner city heaps, mostly unpacked now! Ah, domestic life.

Work has been good too - got a handset upgrade on friday to a new Motorola V3x Razor, with a 2 megapixel camera. I can even blog to here from it. The two pictures below were taken with it.

Sambo.

Cookin in the kitchen

Mikko, the kinky one.......

The number one Viking modelling an antique fire helmet.

Villle helping out at a Metropolitan Fire Brigade demonstration day. That's him way up in the basket.

Super Busy January

Well we have had a great, but busy January. Shifting to Melbourne, Sammy starting a new job and our Finnish Family visiting for 3 weeks.

It was great to have everyone together again and the 3 weeks flew by. Baby Viking (Laura) is 6 months old now and has a great personality. She loved all the attention that 14 adults (all living under the one roof) could give her and we, of course, doted on her.

Back to the quiet life now though. I have just started temping in the Nestle call centre; great money for taking ice cream orders. Will be working there until the Commonwealth Games.

Looking forward to having some visitors now though......bids are now open for beds during the Commonwealth Games. We are walking distance to the MCG, Rod Laver Arena, Vodafone Arena etc, or a really quick tram ride. First in first served.

Cheers,
Paula :)

About time for an update

Life's been pretty busy, we've relocated into inner city Richmond and have most of the unpacking done for the new house.

Kelby's enjoying it as there is a great big park across the road and he gets to walk lots. We'd love to buy him one of the dog sulkies that have been on local TV - check it out: http://www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini/

The Commonwealth Games start soon, not sure what that'll do to the local traffic, the MCG is just a few kilometers away. Only one way to find out!

Take care,
Sambo, Paula and Kelby.

Early morning surf at Torquay back beach yesterday to beat the late morning Volvo crowd. Fantastic waves, man.

Lunch at the Imperial Hotel in Melbourne last week with the Finns.

Paula's family has Finnish guests visiting at the moment - those Vikings sure know how to have fun.