Some pics from Rieti.

Surely a future All-Black?

Grandpa Barnes gets Bradley engrossed in a book on sharks, while Reuben seems less impressed.

The "barnyard" in one of their scarcer get-togethers

Cutting the cake

And a happy time was had by all

Uncle George and Brenda take their vows

The sky. Well, you know I love it. Here's a photo of it, just before I launched my sailplane at 3pm in the middle of a Brisbane winter. You want to know what it was like? 5kts to 7000ft, where I was quite comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts. And this is winter! Fantastic. The days are short though - I only got an hour or so before it had died off to virtually nothing.

If you are interested in where Noel and I are living, here's a photo. A lovely 'Queenslander' in Bardon, just 4km from the Brisbane CBD. Unfortunately we will be kicked out mid-July, so we are madly searching for alternative accommodation.

Here are a few more photos of the launch point. Eat your heart out Dave! Actually, I don't think anyone stayed up more than about 45 minutes - it was far from epic, and there was a breeze down the face for a fair bit of the time.

After 2 days at work, bussing in from the campsite 4km N of the Brisbane CBD, I got to have my first weekend! Here's Warren on Sunday, about to offload the gliders on top of Tamborine mountain. Beautiful launch spot.

Here's a few photos of the farm at Jondaryn (Darling Downs gliding club) where I left my glider. Not unpacked yet - still in the box - but should get back to it soon!

Some of the typical scenery heading north. Notice the remnants of snow at the edge of the road? It was visible near the roadside for several hundred km. It had been sub-zero overnight but the stuff didn't thaw all day - when I eventually stopped to investigate I discovered it was raw cotton!

This enormous roadside cactus caught my eye (fortunately not literally) on the road between Goondiwindi and nowhere. This one is about 8m high - I saw some later up to 12m high!

This burning house is the view from my camper in Goondiwindi, just north of the NSW/QLD border. It erupted into flames in front of my eyes as I was sitting reading a book in the warm winter sunshine. A quick call to 000 on my cellphone, and the fire brigade were there within 5 minutes.

A typical view enroute... you can just see the Warrambungle mountains in the distance. I was yet to discover the trail of diesel stretching all the way back to Tawonga South!

Leaving Benalla on a frosty May dawn. First time I've towed the glider with the camper! Only 1600km to Brisbane...

Top row - Mum, Liz with Reuben, Irene (Liz's neighbour), Gemma (Julia's Child), Neno (Ian's wife) with Bradley, Julia, Ian.

Front row - Dad, me and Dave.

Family reunion on Liz's 40th birthday 

Liz shows off the family tongue 

Mr carrot takes a stroll 

Old Mr B 

Ian & Bradley in Mum & Dad's front garden