February 2026

- RETURN TO HOME PAGE -
2nd - The Adelaide duo cycled into town. 3rd - And the next day they went a bit further to St Peters on the other side of town. And home again Meanwhile in France, trouble was brewing. Or flowing....
Despite a clear day, the rainfall had been immense and large areas of France flooded. Will this be another 2021 (see Feb 2021 in in photo archives)? 4th - Paulie went on a tour of State parliament. 5th - Dinner at the duo's favoured "cheap & cheerful" Italian on Prospect Rd. 7th - Pals David and Jane drop in for lunch with their new pal, Billie.
In Adelaide, the new AthoTurnbull home was taking shape. 12th - In the AthoTurnbull second home in St Antonin Noble Val things were taking a different shape. . The waters now reached La Cachette's door
13th - Pal John Outridge was visiting PAulie & Stephen so he, and pal John Goopy, went on tour at the Coopers brewery. An amazing setup. Although not a beer lover, Stephen found the engineering and processes impressive The team sampled the various natural ingredients. And viewed the multi-million dollar Belgian made filtration system
And then sampled some of the outputs. Lunch at the Stirling Hotel where Paulie had spent a few nights. . 14th - Back in France, waters continued to rise
The house on the right is the neighbour's house. The square in front of La Cachette Back at the new Adelaide house, the guys sorted through the garage. Still many boxes to unpack, and indeed many had to wait until the duo return to Australia in October Olivia ran a critical eye over pieces of fabric.
Mother realised that perhaps she kept a lot of questionable items. Two newly purchased bookshelves allowed boxes of books to start to be unpacked in the study and lounge. But numerous boxes remained unsorted. The water quickly receded in France 15th - PAulie & Stephen's friend in the village, Karianne, monitored the damage and spent hours working on the project.
The garage and contents The yard. It nearly made it the first floor!! Power was out and remained so for some weeks. But in the Adelaide seaside suburb of Semaphore, Cam & Olivia completed a 10km run in good time. .
Having congratulated the athletic young ones, the elderly trio then headed to the Adelaide Hills to see some private gardens open to the public. . . A natural swimming pool (no pump/chemicals)
Then Jon, Paulie & Stephen headed to a tasting at Ashton Hills Vineyard The view from Mt Lofty. The outside of La Cachette got a hose down by the pompier, but the inside was left in it's post-flood state. Stephen got straight to submitting an insurance claim. As a national disaster, the insurers were obliged to pay up. The guys will see - quotes and invoices needed collecting. The assessor came weeks later on March 9th
Bikes needed servicing (300€ each! ) Shelves needed replacing Clothes were mud covered But taken away and washed by pal Michaela. Invoice kept.
Hot water might need replacing Power was off, but it ended up that the "Linky" (digital meter) needed replacing and it then the power worked. Some weeks later. The tools were destroyed 17th - Back in Adelaide unseasonable rain made gutters overflow. Mid March they were all cleaned.
18th - On the 17th Paulie drove 8 hours back with Jon to his Victorian home in Yandoit Hills. The vineyard needed work as the grapes were nearly ready to be netted. Paulie did extra gardening. Stephen also worked on the garden in Adelaide. Agapanthus was pulled out. A gutter downpipe moved underground (roots had pushed it to the surface) .
20th - Time for Paulie to come home to Adelaide. So she joined the "Overland" train at Ararat. . Over 8 hours later, Paulie pulled into the interstate train station in Adelaide. Turning a house into a home continued
26th - the park across the road was a nice distraction The back covered area started to take shape. It was a mixed collection that worked for the guys And was certainly a relaxing place to read 27th - back on their bikes.
28th. Paulie and Stephen met Cam's parents who came in from interstate for the annual Historic Motor Vehicle Gathering. That day Nick arrived from Brisbane for a visit before the team left for France. Good timing- the Fringe Festival was on. More drainage work. And gutter clearing. And the short month was over. Stephen spent the next few days with Nick and Jess.