Finally on the way

We are in Toowoon Bay, about an hour's drive NORTH of Sydney....yes, we are driving in the right direction for the very first time - north is where the warmth is, and that's for us! See me having to wait for my dad who is waiting for my mum to catch up...c'mon...c'MON...I wanna go to the beach.

My mum is so happy to be in a northerly-heading caravan park that she's hugging me hard in this photo - ho hum - I get so many of those hugs that I could possibly share them around if needed.

And I can RUN, RUN, RUN...because this is Shelley Beach (our van park overlooks this beach) and it's leash-free for miles and miles. But notice the sand erosion? We've had lots of rain this winter which is quite unusual and the winds and rains have eaten away so much sand that in some of the coastal towns houses are teetering on their stumps.

I'm acting more responsibly here...didn't want to run myself into he ground on the first day. My mum also told me that my dad is a pretty old bloke now that he's "retired" and I don't want to make him chase me 'cos it might finish him off before we even start the trip.

AH! the end of another day in hell! I had a little snooze in my caravan bed while I let my dad talk to his friends on my 'puter...I was just soooo tired that I couldn't even do my blog. They make me stay in this bed all through the night...but I am allowed to come into the big bed providing it's daylight...and THEN my day can start again!

Love from Colin Harriesxx

Almost On The Road

I say we're "almost" on the road because although we ARE, we don't seem to be getting very far. This is us visiting with my Nanna and Poppy for a few days. They live in Lithgow (in New South Wales, Australia) which is only about a half hour's drive west of our real home, but we did want to spend time with them - particularly me, because they love me so much (well, Nanna does, and I'm still working on Poppy who loves me underneath it all, I'm sure). My dad did a great job of backing the caravan into their back yard through gates that left him only 3 inches on either side. My mum stands behind the van and has a walkie-talkie and she tells him if he's about to get too close to anything, and I sit behind him and kiss his ears because he's too busy to push me away.

Here's us in their back garden. Nanna Ruth was just about to go and be an umpire for lawn bowls. I think it was a pretty big-time game because she had her new outfit on. Poppy doesn't much like photos, but I stand near him and I know that cheers him up.






One day we went for a drive to a place called Hassan's Walls (near Lithgow). My dad had to hold me tight because it was VERY high where we were...but it was so beautiful looking back east towards the Blue Mountains, which is where our real home is.



And then it was my mum's turn to hold me tight because we were still at Hassan's Walls looking to the west this time...which is just as vast. Behind those mountains the land flattens out into farming and sheep and cattle country. There'll be more photos of that sort of country as we travel along, I know.

Back to the east again...and they still wouldn't let me run from rock to rock - I dunno why!!

So, this is today's mini-adventure. I'm working hard to get you up to where we are, but I keep finding interesting photos of myself, and can't resist showing you.

Until next time...love from Colin Harries xx

So Many Adventures

Before actually going "on the road" properly, we went to Shellharbour, about an hour's drive south of Sydney (yep, the place we went last Christmas) for a weekend with 26 of our family. This little guy thinks he's going to put a leash on ME...not a chance, big boy! His name is Campbell and he's my dad's brother's daughter's son. He's only 2 years, so I wanted to be nice to him....better to walk away than do something that's NOT nice, isn't it?

I just KNEW we'd finally have a meeting of the minds and he'd go his way and I'd go mine.






Do you remember this beautiful beach from last year's photo of Shellharbour? It was mid-May and fairly coolish, but who can resist a walk with their dad?

And then there was this dude who thought he could "outplay" me (they will all learn once I hit my stride!)

Back in the van for a rest (who was I trying to kid) - pardon the pun! The kids just adore me...there's my dad's eldest son's daughter whose name is Georgie and she is just lovely to me...and Sam and Ben

who are my dad's cousin's daughter's sons. They also revere me. Haha! I only give you these little family-link descriptions to keep your heads on the hop!

This was just a mini-adventure so everyone could give me hugs and kisses before we headed out into the big world for the rest of this year.

I'm starting to get the hang of this 'blogging' thing again...more coming soon...love from Colin Harries xx

The Adventure Begins!

Well, well, well (I can hear you all chortle)...he's baaack!

Lots of things have kept my paws off the 'puter, mostly that my mum and dad and I have been packing and travelling and were without a 'routine' (whatever that means - it's a "mum" word). We're at Auntie Barbara's house (well, her front yard) in Brisbane - that's in Queensland, Australia, about 1000km/600 miles from home, for my o/s friends. Auntie Barb has her little girl whose name is Calista. She is a Blue Cattle Dog and is very nice to me. There are lots of photos coming up in future posts, taken on our journey to here, but I decided I'd like to START AT THE START and bring you up to date in some sort of order (bein' an orderly sorta bloke).
I was nostalgic when I posted these photos 'cos this first one shows us having morning tea in the front of our real house on 18 APRIL. That's my Uncle Stevie and Auntie Linda and Uncle Bryan (the dad of Noah and the sissies) is on the stool in the front left. This was taken when they helped us move our furniture into the Uncle Stevie's furniture storeroom.

I had friends to visit while my mum was cleaning the empty house...Chloe and I got into trouble because we were walking on the clean floors! I KNOW we had been pulling that broom thing around, but that's what they'd all been doing with it. I just can't understand why WE were the ones in trouble.

Our back lounge room and kitchen sure looked empty. That's my mum in her working clothes, telling Chloe and I not to walk on THAT floor! Where did she think we should go to?

My mum and dad's dear friend, Barbie (who is the one I LUV 'cos I used to stay with her if my mum and dad went away without me) came to help us with the final cleaning. She turned away from my camera because she had her "cleaning clothes" on, she said, but I still don't understand why they all bother with those things called clothes.

Woops! There she is again (Barbie, I mean) going the OTHER way...boy she was hard to photograph!

Hooked up and ready to pull out. It was 25 APRIL and the "tenants" were moving in the next day so we had to go. (It must be Mr and Mrs Tenant who live there now, as that's what my mum and dad kept calling them). I was already in the car so I didn't get left behind.

We moved 10 minutes "up the road" to stay with my Uncle Stevie and Auntie Linda (in their back yard) until my dad finished work on 1st MAY - they call it "retired" but I don't think he's got new tyres on his feet! They look like the same ones to me.

I asked my mum to take a photo of me inside the caravan which is my new home. Apparently this is where I will be living for the next "X" number of years, but I'll be with my mum and dad, so I don't care where we are. It's obvious I will be living rough while we're on the road, though.

The final photo for today. It was rough living in Auntie Linda's back yard...she and my mum and dad had been 'having coffee' (I think that's another way of saying they were squatting on their hindquarters just like I was doing). I do like having my mum and dad at home with me all the time - but they told me not to expect to be the "centre of attention" all the time...WHY NOT?

So, my dear friends...it's all started.

I promise to work harder now to show you "around Australia"....

Love from Colin Harries xxxooo

Colin Harries Apologises

Hello everyone! This is a NON-POST, I can hear you all thinking...and it probably is! Our big adventure in the caravan has started. I have some great photos to show you and I'm having a fabo time with ALL of my time spent with my mum and dad...however, we haven't stopped long enough for me to get my paws on the 'puter. My friends have been giving me some hurry-up, so I promise to get my furry little bum into gear soon...love from Colin Harries

A RETROSPECTIVE

Hello everyone! It's coolish and drizzly rain today - Autumn in the Blue Mountains in Australia will do that I s'pose. Mum has put the heaters on, so it's a good time to sit in the warmth and say g'day to you. Last night, my dad found some mobile phone photos to show me, so I want to share them with you.


This is my very most precious photo. My mum and dad said I must keep it very safe and close to my heart, cos it's a photo of Jack Harries, who crossed the rainbow bridge in December 2007, before my mum and dad brought me home. My mum said he was my 'older-brother' and that I would have LUVVED him very much and he would have been very kind to me, even when I was being a nuisance.





My dad and my Uncle Stevie went to a motorcycle show last month and there was "Bundy" on a motorbike. Bundy is an Australian 'blue cattle dog' and rides with Tex. My mum and dad know Tex (he was a member of their motorcycle club for a while). They told me they would NEVER do this to me...'cos they don't approve of putting me (or Bundy or anyone) in danger.





I tried to tell my mum that standing on a chair in a cafe is dangerous, but she said she wouldn't let me fall. It was November 2008 and I had only just come to live with my mum and dad and we went out for coffee with Noah and his sissies. I was a bit shy with them then. NOT NOW THO! When they visited our house for dinner last night, their mum took a video of them and me 'rumbling'...perhaps Noah will share the video with you soon 'cos he does that sort of thing really well.

LOOK AT 'EM ALL! We were out with four of 'em at one time and maybe I will admit to being just a TEENSY-WEENSY bit of a 'fraidy-cat'...but they're really cool mates now and I can't for the life of me think why I was worried!

Hope you think that 'old photos' are as interesting as 'new stuff'. Anyway, avagoodun...(do ya understand 'Strine'? It's an Aussie way of saying "Australian") - and I just wished that you "Have a Good One". The world seems to think that we drop some letters off our words, but I dunno 'bout that... Love from Colin Harries xx

My Drizabone and Packing Up the House

As you know, I've had some problems with my messages to you. Noah and his mum and dad came to help...so here we go...hope all goes according to my 'puter plan.




Boy, oh boy - packing up the house is SUCH an exhausting process. My dad has decided to begin his retirement on May 1 (only 7-8 weeks to go)! And we're going to rent out our house while we're travelling around Australia in the caravan. So, here I am, lying amongst the boxes on some chintzy old rag that mum found for me - all of my lovely blankets have been packed - and keeping a wary eye out just in case "she" comes at me with tissue paper and a packing box.

We're FINALLY going out! I've had to wait ALL DAY for some attention - why is packing the house up more important than me? Anyway, here is a shot of my DRIZABONE coat which I told you about in another message, but without photos. Cool huh! I do 'full-frontal' and 'swish turn to the right' just like real models on the catwalk. (Aussies wear these coats when they're riding their horses and droving sheep and cattle).