This year, Friedel and I hosted her family’s Christmas lunch at our home. ‘Twas a very German Christmas, with her parents bringing most of the food up with them from Tasmania. The sauerbraten was amazing, to be sure.

Walter gives me his best hardman look, but wearing Oey’s tiny glasses, it was a tough one to pull off.

Not so hard.

Pia’s boyfriend Oey proves his feelings by making out with her dackel, Jeronimo.

The first drops of Christmas rain come in…

So, yeah. We had a few cameras on hand.

As the youngest, Pia was the first to receive her gift.

…which annoyed Jeronimo a bit, as he’s the youngest overall. The family dog, Sienna, sent him a tin of treats up from Tasmania.

Friedel’s gift from her Secret Santa, her grandfather Heinz.

Pretty good haul for me, I have to say. Some rad Vanishing Elephant socks, and a pair of Ray•Bans.

Of course, it’s now Boxing Day and it’s still pouring with rain, so I’ve got no reason to wear my new shades. Curse you, Melbourne.

Not too big a mess…

Then we all headed back outside for more drinks and laughs.

Friedel, meine Liebe.

Damn paparazzi…

Oey figures out how to use his camera.

Here comes the rain, right on time.

Friedel’s father, Walter, aka “The Lord”.

Did I say rain? Better make that hail.

Even The Lord is wise enough to wear a helmet when braving the Melbourne weather.

My helmet took a beating…

Frosty.

Dinner. Oh lawdy lawdy lawd, this was an incredible meal. Friedel’s mum Christiane can really cook.

Jeronimo, all tuckered out.

A great Christmas and a great day with the family. Now it’s onto a birthday dinner tomorrow night, then a wedding the day after, and finally down to Tasmania for another wedding.

The Summer of endless commitments…

If you’re so inclined, you can also check out my photos from Christmas in Tasmania, last year.

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One of my friends, Dan, loves to tinker with cars. A lot of my friends do, actually, but Dan always has something on the go. He generally sticks to Mazdas, but he’s also got a fantastic Volkswagen Beetle that he’s kitted out in true ‘ratrod’ spec, and we all love it.

His birthday was earlier this month – the day after mine, in fact – and we thought it would be great to buy some junker off the ‘net, deliver it to his house, and enjoy his reaction.

Tony had come across this unloved first-generation 1977 Honda Civic five-door for $200, and we decided it was the perfect choice; it was no Mazda, but it was old – ideal for Dan – and it was cheap – ideal for us.

More photos through the link.

The day began simple enough, with Joel dropping his $1.80 packet of donuts on the ground before any of us had even had a bite. Top work.

Joel and I arrived first, and within 10 minutes, the rest of the guys – and Tony, with Dan’s new Civic – had arrived.

And here she is: 1200cc engine, two-speed Hondamatic transmission, black-taped speed stripes, a tank of premium and brand-new door cards.

Glorious.

I’m told that PBS radio station sticker was placed there to cover the holes left after someone stole the badge that was there. Now we’re concerned that if we remove the sticker, the car might collapse in a heap.

Lichen adds character.

The temptation to paint the horn buttons red and write ‘NOS’ on them was difficult to overcome, but we managed.

Star gives a speed boost and allows you to drive through other motorists, flipping them on their head and causing them to lose all their coins.

Those brand-new door cards I mentioned? Still wrapped in plastic. Getting visions of my grandfather’s couch…

Ryan applied a racing number to the roof. I asked about the relevance of the number 4: “well it’s got no round bits. Easy to tape…”

Above: the highlight of the day begins as Tony rolls up to the home of Dan, who suspects nothing.

And now; the video of the handover.

Above: Here’s the brilliant bit; Dan and this little Honda both rolled off the assembly line in the same month, of the same year.

It’s all smiles on the outside, but you just know that on the inside, there’s only “Oh, god.” But don’t worry mate, we even got you a repair manual.

For the wrong engine…

But wait, what’s this? The first modification, and all within 30 minutes of taking ownership!

Dan had found some roofracks on the side of the road a few weeks earlier, and he figured he’d see if they’d fit the Civic.

Perfect.

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Had some friends over for lunch, yesterday. It turns out I was more interested in photographing the progress of our ‘Bacon Explosion’ concoction than the people surrounding it.

I did manage to snap some shots of our spontaneous visit to the Albert Park Driving Range in Melbourne, though. You can see those, and more horrifying greasiness, after the jump.

The preparation.

Oh gawd, this is going to be good.

Ready for the oven. Now we wait…

Below; an hour, eight slices of tasty cheese and a punnet of tomato and garlic pasta sauce later, the Explosion was ready to demolish our insides.

I couldn’t get through my second helping, but be assured it was delicious. I suspect I won’t be eating meat for another six months, though.

After a round of virtual golf on my Android tab, we decided to hit the driving range. I’d never been, and I had no idea how quickly I’d get bored of the 100 balls I paid for. I gave up about 30 balls into it, and started snapping shots of everyone else, instead!

And that’s that.

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Will you just look at this, ain’t she a beauty? This is my ‘new’ 1996 Trek 470 Fast Track.

It was a fairly basic rig when it hit the market 15 years ago, and it’s nothing special today either – but compared to my generally beloved Shogun ‘Extreme’ (oh save me), it feels like I’m riding on Goku’s Flying Nimbus.

I picked it up this week for a few hundred bucks – about what they sell for anywhere in good condition, these days – and this one is certainly in good condition.

A friend of mine grabbed it from a second-hand store, looking very much the worse for wear. Unfortunately for him, it was only after a few long weeks of restoration that he realised he was a little too tall for this Trek.

His loss is my gain. His efforts saw every nut, bolt, crank and cog patiently cleaned, while the chain and every cable made way for brand-new replacements. The seat and handlebars benefited from beautiful new brown vinyl wraps, too.

It’s a vastly different riding experience for me: gone is the Shogun’s suspension-everywhere arrangement that I’ve become so used to (despite it being utterly inappropriate for road riding), as are the fatter road tyres.

On the plus side, also gone is a bucketload of weight – from the bike beneath me, not from me – and so I’m finding it much easier to go for a blast through town and return home without being too exhausted.

Of course, that means I’ll have to go for much longer rides to get the same cardio value out of my rides… but longer rides can only ever be a good thing.

To get myself used to the different riding position and dynamics, along with the fact I can no longer ride as crazily as I did on the Shogun (bunny hopping every gutter like a maniac), I’ve set myself the challenge of riding to as many of my destinations as possible from now until April 22.

I’ll have to drive sometimes – my job requires a lot of driving (it is very literally unavoidable!) – but for the most part, it’ll be the bike everywhere, or at worst, a train ride here and there.

Let’s see how I go…

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PS: Here’s a few shots my friend took with his iPhone, during the restoration process.

Winter is on its way back into the Melbourne lifestyle, but a few pleasant days remain and I made the most of Saturday’s warmth by having a few friends over for a barbeque.

I also bought myself a ‘new’ bicycle, which you can just make out in the background of the below photo (after the split). It’s a 1996 Trek 470 Fast Track, and I bought it off a friend who picked it up for a song and restored it over the course of a few weeks.

I’ll take some nice photos of the bike when I get a chance this week, but for now, some barbeque shots. I really do love this camera o’ mine.

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What’s the collective noun for ninja? Is it ninjas, or does it remain ninja? Perhaps it’s ninjai…

I caught up with some car-loving friends for lunch today, with the main focus (see what I did there) being the Ford Focus RS that I picked up for work this week.

A front-wheel-drive monster, It’s a ridiculous car, in that unique way where ridiculous is deemed to be good. I was hoping for the white one, mind you, or even the dark metallic blue, but the green will do.

It’s packing 220kW and 440Nm of torque in its turbocharged 2.5 litre five-cylinder engine, which, for the sake of reference, is 32kW and 110Nm more than the Australian-delivered all-wheel-drive Volkswagen Golf R – my current fave.

Not entirely rare in Europe, where it was designed and built, there’s nonetheless only 315 of these in Australia, so it’s a nice thing to be one of the few that will ever drive it.

Well, nice if you’re into cars. I’m not thick enough to think that anyone would would give a damn…

Sitting alongside my brother’s S13, which in its day was a power in its own right. Still a riotous ride, especially with the mods it’s packing.

Dan’s Beetle is a beauty. It’s seen better days, but its beat-up state is a big part of its charm, really.

And, of course, the obligatory food shots;

Now, back to work.

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Popped into the National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square yesterday morning. Photography was allowed, so here’s a few of my faves from the exhibitions we hit.

The detail in this piece was phenomenal, to say the least. When you note how obvious and large the fibres of the canvas are in the below shot, you can see how close I am to the painting, and how small yet detailed the house and surrounding trees are.

The light of the setting sun, in the piece above, was so powerful – I sadly couldn’t capture it with this photo. It was almost as though the canvas backlit by a UV lamp.

Good ol’ Burke and Wills.

The above painting reminded me of Frank Frazetta’s style. The fact that it’s on wood also reminded me of Audrey Kawasaki’s work. Of course, this piece predates either of those artists by nearly a hundred years.

Another piece with brilliant light work, particular in the halo behind the head.

The paint was so thick on this piece, it was almost like I was looking at a zoomed-in stroke of a regular brush, rather than the large broom that the artist used here.

The colours in this piece are so vivid. This painting was created in the 60s, and I’d say the subject matter and style makes that pretty obvious…

This messed with my eyes, and that was the artist’s intent.

Friedy and I agreed that we’d both love to have this photo, from the Stormy Weather exhibition, in our home.

And lastly, a little of the signage around the NGV. I loved it.

I’ll just close out with this space invader, because why not?

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Friedy and I popped over to her sister’s last night for dinner and a few drinks, and as always happens with this little crowd of ours, a few drinks rapidly turned into a flood of wine.

I didn’t know this in the past, but it seems that whenever I buy a cask of wine, it turns into about five hundred glasses worth. Good trick.

I struggled to get a decent photo of this, but you’re looking at a delicious plate of sauerbraten – admittedly not the most photogenic dish to come out of Deutschland, but super tasty.

Essentially a German version of the good ol’ pot roast, sauerbraten is – in this case – beef that has been marinated with various spices and a whole mess of vinegar. The smell of vinegar is strong, to be honest, but not unwelcome.

Friedy’s been practising her winks – she’s nailed the left eye, but the right eye is amusingly uncooperative. That’s alright; I prefer it that way.

After dinner, it was somehow determined that we’d play a couple of hands of UNO. It turns out that we all share a competitive streak, so this turned into about 5 hours worth of good-natured shouting and arguing.

(Also, I totally kicked arse.)

Pia familiarises herself with the rules, busts a few brains cells in the process.

I wound up drawing a whole bucketload of cards after a run of +2s caught up with me, but my hand turned out okay.

Interlude: Captain, in his gangsta get-up. Boy’s got his colours on.

Poker face. Not a shared trait among these sisters…

With UNO wrapped up, it was time for the night to get serious. Pulling out the games drawer, we decide against the classic Guess Who?, and move into dangerous territory: Mensch ärgere dich nicht.

Similar to Ludo and Parcheesi, Mensch ärgere dich nicht (“Humans do not Annoy You”), is one of those games where you can be kicking arse all over the place one moment, only to find yourself back at square one in the next moment.

Suffice it to say, I came dead last and never really got far at any point in the game.

Next time, Gadget, next time…

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Despite the threat of continued storms all across the state, we jumped in the car with friends Kev and Aly today to check out the Red Hill Farmers’ Market down on the Mornington Peninsula.

Afterwards, on the way home, we detoured through Mornington to see what’s what.

Aly, Friedy and Kev start looking around. We arrived a little late and the market was set to close within the hour, so we quickly got about trying the delights and seeing the sights.

Pies, pies, delicious pies.

I bought this one. Strawberry and vanilla. Haven’t tried it yet – it’s not breakfast time…

We bought one of those orange contrieau puddings there on the left, along with a cinnamon and rhubarb pudding. Can confirm so far that the cinnamon and rhubarb pudding is delicious, soft and moist.

Closing time came too soon, so it was off to Mornington we went.

The homes of Mornington’s wealthy.

This pier is being upgraded, so they’re in the process of dismantling the old one.

A passing Bentley Continental GT. I was pleased that my camera snapped this so clearly, as he was moving quite quick.

And that’s that. Now I’m back at home, ready for another Saturday evening loaded with work.

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I spent Christmas in Tasmania. Now, more than a month later, some photos.

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