Mardi Gras & Pool Party
It's been a hot weekend, with the temperature in the 30's, but broken in the evening by another spectacular electrical storm over the city with flashes lighting up the sky every few seconds.

On Saturday evening, Sue and I caught the train into the city for the Mardi Gras Parade - the annual gay and lesbian event which runs along Oxford Street in the south of the city centre. This reportedly attracts around half a million people and marks the end of the month long festival.

By the time we got there the crowds were quite deep, with many bringing (or buying) plastic crates or stools to stand on, so we didn't have much of a view! The parade lasted about an hour, starting off with lots of motorbikes revving and cruising down the street, followed by a large number of floats (such as this Trojan horse) and marching groups. Some of these floats were very impressive, many were pumping out loud disco music and there were lots of flamboyant participants, egged on by the cheering crowd. It was an interesting spectacle and one to experience!

Sunday afternoon was taken up by Caroline's pool party - she had invited 13 girl friends from school and they all had a lot of noisy fun in the pool. We're sure the neighbours were pleased when 7pm arrived and peace descended again!