Off to Melbourne for 8 interviews for one job. Yes, EIGHT. Sorry to my Melbourne buddies. I literally got on Tuesday night, had the interviews all day Wednesday, dinner with some of the management that night, more sessions with them Wednesday morning and back to Singapore that afternoon. Now all going well if I do accept this role I will be back in Australia in August – both Sydney and Melbourne. Whoop, whoop. And it is looking good – just some contractual bits and we should be done!

Whizzing past in the taxi, but there she is. One of my all-time favourite cities. The stunning Melbourne in all her glory. It’s great to see you gorgeous.

Checked in. I find out that the office is literally next door. So Jimmy-no-mates as it is late, I pop upstairs to the very cool roof-top bar. QT Hotel in Melbourne rocks. It is a stunning place.

Next day now and prepped for the long day ahead. Loving the kitchen here too and the brekkie choice is stellar. No buffet here folks.

Yeah, I think I’ll have the Victorian black truffle scrambled eggs on sourdough. BOOM!!!

And I am prepped and ready. Wish me luck. Interview stuff is always daunting, and it’s bloody cold here.

Here is that rather cool hotel. I’ll say it again. QY Hotel rocks. If you are needing to be in the city this place is awesome. First time having a beer under burners for about 5 years and I still needed my coat on too.

Love this hotel. This is a piece of art. If you look closely you’ll see that this is all books individually stacked into an amazing piece of artwork. Stunning.

It’s just all uber cool in here!

Everywhere you look. Check these old, antique-looking, silver platters. Again randomly arranged on the wall to create super artwork that you cannot help but stop and stare at. Bloody genius!

And that was that. Wednesday arvo and I am back to the airport and on my way back to wifey and the kids. See ya soon hopefully Melbourne. Lovely to see you.

Check these next few shots out. Lucky enough to get a good window seat, but sadly on the wrong side of the plane to see Uluru this trip. But anyway here are a few WOW shots anyway. These, I assume, are massive salt flats. As in MASSIVE. It’s amazing to be sat here at 41,000 feet and see this scale and the earth curvature. It’s bonkers.

Look at this. It’s stunning.

Wow. Breath-taking.

And then a mass of nothing, literally nothing. But then. ping, a little settlement. What on earth do these guys do? I assume mining, farming, who knows. It is literally in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Incredible.

Massive red mountain ranges. Again don’t forget we are viewing these from 41,000 feet. These are tall.

I think this is one of the World’s largest mine sites. I think. This thing is a monster. Check that out. Wow. But again it looks tiny in comparison to the vast sprawl of country Australia. I bet there are 1,000’s of workers down there. This is one amazing planet!

Seriously just check that out. Man oh man!

Back home to some normality with my best mate Ikea that got delivered whilst I was away. Not a single Alumn key though so I was a little happier than normal ha ha.

Here’s that painting that Jude did at school. WOW. Water Lillies by Monet. Love it, Jude, just love it. This is why I love being home and seeing these guys develop and learn. Stunning painting from my wee man at the age of 5.

The boys then organise a golf day which I jumped at the chance to be part of, and I think I’ll join them a little more as I might use some redundancy $$$ to get a membership. You’ll see shortly that this course is a stunner!!! Off we go bright and breezy on the 0800 ferry – Clark, Tru, Seb and I. England v Australia. Shot just remembered I have not played for 12 months. Could be interesting!!!

Goodbye Singapore. See you shortly!

And hello the rather stunningly beautiful Laguna Resort Golf Course 0n Bintan. Holy cow!!! I double want a membership.

Here are the boys in full swing ha ha. Looking good gents, looking good. What a CRACKER of a par 4 right down to the beachfront. Goodness me one of the most beautiful courses I have stepped foot on. It’s a cracker.

This is the next hole. OMG. What you see to the left is The Banyan Tree. The Kennett gang has stayed here before ages ago. It’s a stunner and so is the $$$. Check this golf hole out though. Anything daunting here? Yeah, how about the beach-sized bunker, the rocks, the postage-stamp-sized green and oh yeah the bloody ocean!!! Jesus!!! I got a 4 on this and I amazed myself!

This is the view as you walk down to the green. I mean come on that is not bad at all, is it? Nature is showing off. You can’t see the sea really well. Suffice to say this was topaz and crystal clear. Goodness me.

I walked two steps off the golf course to take this snap of the other side of Banyan Tree. This very beach is where Mary, myself and the kids witnessed about 60 baby turtles being released to the wild. You may have seen the post of the little things swimming through my legs. Another amazing Asia experience. But today I am playing golf here – WOW!!!

On the left is the Cassia Resort and to the right is Banyan Tree and I am walking to the tee box of the next par three. I tell you what that is not a bad little golf-course is it now? Oh yeah, and as a member, they give you three nights free at the hotel, and 50% of F&B. Yeah, I wanna be a member big-time!

I am pretty cool with this card after no golf for 12 months. 102 shots and 31 points with three holes I really cocked with an 8 on the front nine. So yeah, happy. And Clarky and I beat to Ozzies 3 and 2 – weeee and aome of the winning holes were down to me, so again I am a happy bunny with that!

And then it was time to leave. He is the beautiful island we were just on, the Banyan Tree Resort to the left where we were literally just driving, chipping and putting around. What a cracking day. Thanks to the boys for a great day, and thanks to wifey for the day pass. What a lovely day!

Not The Love Boat. Well, for some it might be. This is Casino Boat in International waters. Apparently owned by Singaporeans and she just potters about getting Singaporeans dropped pon board having left Singapore to Indonesia to meet the regulations of no direct access. And on they get and on they spend and on they get broke without seeing the light of day. Bizarre is indeed the word. Why, because they save the $100 entrance fee for MBS/Resorts World – so 2-way ferry = $50 = another $50 to spend at the tables. Go crazy you muppets…

And then back to my lovely family and dinner at Iza and Jude showing off his passion for Onsen eggs. Welcome home to me and hugs and kisses all round. What a day.