Dear Employer,

I write to you on behalf of your employee, Brisbane Gal, to notify you that she will be unavailable for work for the period of January 22nd to about, ooh, let's say the 30th, allowing for a couple of extra days to recover afterwards.

As I am sure your Human Resources manager will have told you, Brisbane Girl is a hard-working and valued employee, with an exemplary attendance record, and she has taken all necessary steps to cover her work in her planned absence.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Bris Gal's Auntie Coug.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There, that should do it?

Yay, share the joy, Andy's going Down Under! (no silly jokes, please.)  Yes, it's true, he will be starting his season rather earlier than usual, so we won't have to wait until the middle of March to see him in action again.

I wonder if he'll be going over there a week or more early, to acclimatise: and in which case, do you think he'll be staying with Stuey? And hey, wouldn't it be fun if Jakob could take his new Astana kit for an outing as well?

Fingers crossed......