Australia Trip 2010 - Background Information

I apologize. I probably should have provided some background information before I started doing the posts so that people could put faces to names and have a better idea about who or what I'm describing. So, on that note, here is some background information...

Mum and Dad - well, actually Dad and Mum in this photo

My parents have been married since 1977 and live in Valentine, NSW, Australia. Dad likes to wear repurposed folding chair bags as slings, while Mum likes to walk around and point at things. They're both really good about putting up with my hijinks. For instance, Mum didn't disown me when I slipped a fake lottery ticket in with her Christmas presents a few years ago and made her think that she had won $50,000. Mum prefers the Australian English spelling of her name, "Mum", as opposed to the US English "Mom". Dad's name is spelled the same in both.

Kel

Kel is my brother and he is 2 years younger than me. He has more Facebook friends than my blog has followers. He once ate a massive shank of meat at a local steakhouse. When asked his name to write on the wall, he responded with "Russell Newman". You can see my name/Kel's achievement recognized on the honour roll on the Stetson's website. Kel is as strong as an ox.

From left to right - Andrei, Jeff, Jonathan and Matt (I didn't label myself)

Andrei - a man of many names: Andrei, Onge, Gunge, Humid, the list goes on. Humid is a new name - while I was in Australia I was sending a text message to Matt, and Kel's phone thought I was trying to type "humid" when I was actually trying to type "Gunge".

Jeff - A lot of us normally call Jeff "Jeef". I believe Matt came up with the name a long time ago.

Jonathan - also known as Jonno or Mil.

Matt - also known as Bibz, he and his father own more guitars than everyone else I know put together. No exaggeration.

Rachel and Humid

Rachel is Humid's wife. She does have an identity outside of being Humid's wife, but I'm trying to explain how everyone is linked together. If you want an awesomely funny or disgusting hospital story, Rach is the person to talk to.

Terri

Terri is Mil's wife. Based on all the photos we have, I have to conclude that it is impossible to get a photo with all of Terri's face in it. Just kidding - though this seemed to be the only photo I had of her, so sorry about the quality...

Jeb

You will already recognize Jeb from the earlier post. As well as enjoying Vegemite on toast, Jeb's philosophy on a balanced breakfast includes dry dog food and tea or coffee. He also loves chicken and whatever everyone else is eating.

Bil

Bil is my parents 2010 Subaru Forester. It looks like the picture above, which I took from the Subaru Australia website. Bil is fun to drive - it had been a long time since I had driven a manual/stick car.

The Beast

The Beast is Mum and Dad's second car. It is a 1989 Holden Camira. It doesn't have power steering or central locking, but it gets you from point A to point B. Just be careful how much gas/petrol you use along the way though - the fuel gauge doesn't work.

That should probably give you a solid enough introduction to who everyone and what everything is. If Australians want to add to the descriptions above, feel free to leave a comment...