Beat The Bordem - Car Cricket

Ipads and DVD players are banned in our car, even on longer trips. We don’t want the kids to have their eyes glued to a screen. Over our Easter travels we dragged out a classic travel game to keep them occupied – Car Cricket.  It has been a winner! It’s a game we played as kids on trips to Melbourne. Nowadays it is a bit harder with dual carriageways, they just need to count faster! Most of the trips we took over the holidays were on single lane roads so it made it a little easier.

How We Play

Car -1 run

Ute or Big 4WD – 4 runs

Car towing a trailer, boat etc 4 runs

Car towing a Caravan -6 runs

Truck – 6 runs

Red Car or a Motorbike – Out

When in a 60km or lower speed zone, No play.

Before starting it is a good idea to set up how many innings you are going to have, just to prevent World War III.

Of course how you score is completely up to you. The rules we used were those we used as kids in the 80’s but there are so many more Hilux type utes on the road so maybe these vehicles could score 2 runs.

The kids have loved it, especially my son, who thinks he is the worlds best car cricketer and it is all down to skill, not luck of the draw. It has also been great for their addition skills.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Through Tired Eyes

A 1am (AEST) start time might seem annoying, but I don’t mind it too much. Everyone else is in bed which means I can lay my devices out and not have to worry about getting asked to put out the garbage.

Like most I was hoping to see a ding dong battle up the front, hopefully not just between the two Mercedes cars but hopefully the Ferraris up there to mix it up. But my heart sank on the formation lap to see Vettel’s car explode robbing us of the most likely Ferrari to challenge the Silver Arrow cars.

Again Lewis was slow off the start and was collected by an over ambitious Valtteri Bottas. This would have been ok if it didn’t damage Hamilton’s car. It would have been great to see Lewis make a race of it by trying to chase down Rosberg, but the damage to the car made it impossible to do so. 

Kimi did a good job for Ferrari, but never looked like threating Rosberg up front and although he got the gap down to just a few seconds after the last pit stop, I think this was down to Mercedes managing their car, rather than Ferrari’s pace.

Whilst the race at the front didn’t have you sitting on the edge of your seat, the mid field battles were fantastic, with close racing and some good overtaking. I think having the 3 different sets of tires available is spicing things up and gives the fans a bit more overtaking.

Again Romain Grosjean was a star again for Haas Racing with 5^th place. It is great to see a new team arrive in the sport and be quite successful, although some teams up and down the pit lane aren’t that happy with Haas because a lot of their car is purchased instead of building it themselves.

Ricciardo did well again and it will be great to see him on a track like Monaco (especially if Red Bull have their engine upgrade by then). I think at these tracks he will be threat to Ferrari, if not the leaders.

What a great debut by Stoffel Vandoorne finishing 10^th for McLaren. Maybe Johnny Herbert was right when he said Alonso should retire and make way for Vandoorne. Although sadly I think it probably should be Jenson’s seat he takes.

It is also fantastic to see Manor improve, but sadly Williams look like they have taken a step backwards over the winter, lets hope they turn it around.

Queen of The Classics - Paris-Roubaix

The European spring time is arguably die hard fans favourite time of the year. Whilst the Tour De France is the most famous and prestigious bike race in the world, the Spring Classics really generate excitement amongst cycling fans.

Last night Peter Sagan displayed a powerhouse performance to win the Tour Of Flanders. He was quite literally a machine. The way he just rode the group off his wheel on the cobbled climbs and then soloed the last 16kms to victory was amazing.

Some might not see cycling as an exciting sport to watch on TV but it was hard to take your eyes off the screen. Just when it looked like Fabien Cancellara was about to bridge the gap, Sagan accelerated. With 14 seconds separating Sagan from Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke with 15kms to go it was tense viewing. Sagan would eek out a few more seconds only to have the chasing duo close the gap and look like they were going to catch Sagan with just over 5kms to go. But alas it was just like Sagan was toying with them and he stretched the gap to go on and claim his first monument.

This leads into this weekends Queen of the Classics, Paris – Roubaix. This is without doubt the favourite one day race amongst fans and never fails to deliver an entertaining, dramatic race. Being an aussie you cant go past Stuart O’Grady’s win in 2007.

If you are unfamiliar with Paris-Roubaix, watch the clip below from SBS and come Sunday night you might just find yourself glued to the TV.

River vs Beach

 After our trip to the beach the debate started River vs Beach. My wife and I were at loggerheads over which one we prefer. I have experienced both in that I grew up on the banks of the Goulburn River, but also spent few years living on the Mornington Peninsula.  My wife spent many years living on the mighty Murray River.

Obviously there are pros and cons for each. For me I love the sound of the waves crashing to the shore and swimming out in the waves. Of course I love the fact you can ski on the Murray and this is a fantastic family activity - if you have a boat.  Whilst the sand is a little annoying when you get out of the beach, it quickly falls off when you when you dry off, unlike when you get out of the river, you stay muddy.

So we would love your thoughts. Vote here or comment below!

Ocean Grove - The Hidden Gem

With the outbreak of Blue Green Algae in the Murray River we decided to switch things up and head south for the coast. It had been a long time since I have spent any time in Ocean Grove and the difference was amazing. So many of the little beach houses are gone, replaced with million dollar townhouses. Whilst I don’t mind the quaintness of the old beach houses, some of these townhouses are amazing.

Most people know about Torquay, Lorne and Anglesea, but Ocean Grove is a lesser known cousin of these Surf Coast tourist spots. But it is a fantastic little spot especially for families to get their dose of the sand and sea. Located 97kms south of Melbourne it is a relatively easy drive to get there. We arrived just after the Easter rush and whilst it was school holidays I was surprised how quiet the beach and the small shopping strip was.

The beach at Ocean Grove is patrolled in summer and is fantastic for children. The wide, gentle slope into the water means there kids could move a fair way out and still be able to stand up. This made it easy for kids to boogie board and learn to surf. My kids loved it and the smile on their faces was priceless as they caught waves (although I don't Kelly Slater or Stephanie Gilmore will lose any sleep with worrying about a challenge from Milana and Sebastian).

On low tide there are a few little rock pools to fossick about in, but if you head over the bridge to Barwon Heads you can go for a walk over the headland towards 13^th Beach and then on low tide walk back around the headland. This provided the kids some great rock pools to explore. Finding a star fish was the highlight of the walk.

Ocean Grove isn’t really party central as it doesn’t have a large pub (you can venture across to Barwon Heads for that) but does have a couple of bars including the newly opened Uncle Jack and also the Zebra Bar and Bistro. The Driftwood Café on The Terrace is a good spot grab a coffee and a bite to eat.

Where To Stay.

We stayed at Dare Ja Vue which is a beautiful house on Dare St. From here it was an easy walk to the beach or the shops.

The nagging has started and the kids want to get back to the beach.

What I Love About Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Whilst the Australian F1 Grand Prix doesn't often provide you with the most nail biting races, you still have to love it for the simple reason. It is the opening race of the year!
After waiting out the off season, we finally get to see the cars race around the track. We get to see what teams were sandbagging in pre season testing and which ones were running light. It is the time we get to view new team and this year it was pleasing to see HAAS come in and score points.
In the opening race we get to see how new driver pairings are going to compare with one and other.
Turn 3! It always provides us with some good action. From Brundle in 96, Schumacher, the Tragic Villeneuve accident and this year Alonso, turn 3 delivers. I was fortunate enough to be sitting their this year and the sound was sickening. It was a relief to see both drivers walk away.

The crash this year did rob us of the possibility of a fight between Ferrari and Mercedes. Vettel had a brilliant start and just survived the undercut. I was suprised that they didn't match the Mercedes strategy and in the end it cost them the race (along with the red flag and poor pitstop) It also seemed silly that they didn't put Kimi onto the harder tyre so they had both strategies covered, not that it mattered with Kimi's fire.

Anyway it is great to have F1 back.

Energy Breakthrough Wonthaggi

Last weekend saw us venture down to Wonthaggi for out first taste of Human Powered Vehicle racing. Milana made the MGPS team, but unfortunately was too short for the trike. So instead she became part of the pit crew. It rained and poured on Friday and the wind made it difficult to put up tents, so we ended up staying at Phillip Island that night. I was rapt because I love the Island and got to have breakfast at Mad Cowes, a great place for breakfast in Cowes.

The concept of the Energy Breakthrough HPV's is great and they can get up some serious speed. The kids love driving them and as a cyclist I it really spiked my interest, might need to get a group of friends together and by a trike. They aren't cheap!

MGPS were 1-2 the Junior Secondary category with a 50+ lap lead. It was a shame it wasn't closer as it would have made it a little more interesting.