11st - the last Oxford supper before Paulie and Stephen return to Australia
22nd - James says goodbye before heading to work at Oxfam HQ.
3A 15 minute cycle away for the NGO funding job James commenced last month
4That afternoon in Heathrow's terminal 5 lounge
5and it's off to Sydney
64th - a day disappears and the guys jumped on connecting flight to Adelaide.
7The duo are in OK shape after 30+ hours of travel and transit. Night one is in a nice North Adelaide apartment hotel to catch up on washing and sleep
8Paulie and Stephen join Olivia after her work. Pal Michele has flown in from Brisbane.
95th - a walk on the beach
10And pal Lauren arrives from Melbourne for Olivia's birthday.
116th - breakfast in Prospect
12And then it's off to wine tasting at the "Bird in Hand" vineyard
13.
14Paulie's niece Shari & daughters Claudie and Jess fly in from Brisbane. Olivia's pal Dianna arrives
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18And then it was to the large house that Olivia booked near Mount Torrens for a few nights.
19Chefs Paulie and Stephen prepare dinner for those who gathered for tomorrow's lunch .
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23Dinner is served
24A sizable property easily house all the gals and one token male :-)
257th - breakfast time on Olivia's birthday
26Birthday girl's gifting time.
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29And it was off to Lobenthal Vineyard for a wonderful lunch
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32Other friends joined in
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35And then back to the rented property
36.
37And the party continued.
38Paulie discovered Stephen snoozing (loudly she claimed) - all too exhausting for the old man.
39.
40The gals moved inside as things cooled down.
41.
428th - Back in Adelaide at the West Beach Surf Club where cold winds blew
43And with a few gals staying at Olivia's 2 bedroom flat, the duo decided to stay at the North Adelaide apartment. Pals David and Jane (who had the guys over for dinner) had shared one of their uber-figs.
449th - Olivia had time with Megan before she headed back to Queensland
45.
4611th - time to do a few outdoor chores around Olivia's flat.
47.
48The gals head to Grange beach for a walk.
49The 1884 Marine Terraces (the only 3 storey Victorian buidings on the Australian coast)
50Dinner was served before the guys headed back to Brisbane the next day.
5113th - Arriving home at midnight, the guys worked into the wee hours to return the house to their standard
52A rug that was trashed (but washed up ok)
53a blocked dryer
54A vacuum that didn't have the bag in properly
55marks on walls
56fridge mess
57A hell of a lot of hair
58bedding that was stained and in some cases ruined
59replacing door handles
60And a pool that had an invisible bottom.
61But the duo were getting on top of it
62James inspected some of the mess from Oxford
6314th - Time out! The house can wait. Pals Storm and Daniel were getting married.
64.
65Stephen recorded and edited the event for Storm and Daniel's pals in France. It was ready the same evening (French time) for pals to gather and watch .
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6916th - back to getting the house back in order. More hair.
70More spills
7117th- But the guys were making progress
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7519th- some storm damage needed attention. So it get's it.
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79Out of the blue, someone blue drops in for a visit
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8321st - Olivia flies up from Adelaide to attend Christmas festivities with family. And some girl bonding
84Off to a catch up with old school pals
85.
8622nd- visiting Michele at the Gold Coast
87.
8823rd - other visitors
89The girls went for walks
90.
9124th - morning runs for Olivia
92A catch up with Margo and Rebecca in Auckland
93.
94Christmas Eve meal with most of Clan Traynor
95.
9625th - In Oxford the lads had their Christmas Eve dinner
97Their first wine in a long time (a cheeky 2004 Chateau Margaux)
98And then joined the Aussie team for Australia's Christmas morning
99Paulie & Olivia headed to a late breakfast feast at Shari and Pete's whilst Stephen visited Nick who was in town with Elizabeth and the Powell Clan for Christmas.
100.
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102After lunch Stephen, Olivia and Paulie headed to the Dunlop clan dinner at Paulie's nephew and wife's (Stef & Adrian) house in the hills behind Noosa
103Beautifully set up for the large group.
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115Pete masterfully prepared the ham
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120No wonder the Dunlop girls were tired - they flew in from Estonia and Lapland the day before after seeing where Santa comes from!
121A feast
122.
123.
12426th - Test Cricket was a restful retreat at Jan & Jim's new home
125And then there was the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race to watch. Pete's son was crewing on one of the boats. Toni had done so a few years back. Sadly two sailors died on this race.
126There was time to do other stuff by the pool
127After a descent run to Noosa beach with Olivia, Pete decided to cool down in Jan and Jim's pool.
128Meanwhile in France, pals Nick Traynor, his partner Sonia and daughter Anna stayed at Paulie and Stephen's pad.
129and had adventures in the cold.
13028th - Olivia headed home after lunch but in the morning the trio tackled a walk (mostly running for Olivia) up Mt Cootha
131.
13229th - Back in Adelaide Olivia continued her running training.
13331st - The duo tacked the mountain again with Stephen's Guardian Angel on his shoulder.
