Festive fun

We're very fortunate to have friends who live on Oxford street - the place where once a year, the gay communities from around the world flock to flaunt their stuff and have their say in Sydney's famous Mardi Gras. Jack and Lizzie invited us to theirs to witness the spectacle and to celebrate Lizzie's birthday. So armed with punch and delicious burgers we were able to watch the parade in the street below from the comfort (and safety!) of their terrace above.

And spectacle it was. Highlights included the dykes on bikes, priests who flashed their dresses at us (I suspect they weren't actual men of cloth), and a gay Jesus on a cross! The music was loud, the speedos were tiny and it was lots of fun.

Highlights included the dykes on bikes and a gay Jesus on a cross!

Other festivities of note were Coldplay at the Homebush Arena - an old stadium from the days of the Olympics. Ed said hi to his old schoolfriend and Candice got teary-eyed when they played Viva la Vida. What people say about them is true - they're truly brilliant live.

And then V-festival ended off our summer of fun in the best possible way. We had a great crew, the weather played ball, and we danced and sang along to Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs and finally, spectacularly, the Killers. They were everything we'd hoped they'd be - camp and colourful - so Vegas! They had palm trees and flashing lights, and they belted out all our favourites. We had a blast.

Candice finally made it to King's Cross too, on a night out with the girls at Lady Lux - Brooke's hubby Neil was DJing and Emma wore her spangly dangle top. Unfortunately Ed was working, but picked Candice up afterwards. Driving sober through Kings Cross was quite an experience!

To recover from all this craziness we then spent another lovely relaxing weekend fishing and eating like kings at Greg and Nick's house on the Hawkesbury river. Ahhhhh bliss.