✅ FESTIVAL OF 50 🎂

50, half a century, five decades, no matter how you say it, it's a milestone, and that's a bloody good reason to celebrate. After the Fijian Festival for my 40th, the benchmark had been set, so 5 freaking 0 needed to be one to remember.

🥂🪧FEBRUARY 14: Valentines Day, Banks and Bubbles, training and midnight at the pub.

Queen Victoria Building's Reign Bar for champagne, oysters and a little romance before strolling across the street to Banksy's Without Limits exhibition at The Sydney Town Hall. An excellent event with over 150 works spanning Banksy's installations, street works and some recent and new pieces.

Next stop, football training from 8.00pm to 9.30pm followed by a very important weekly team tactics meeting at the pub, which if we stayed at until midnight was then officially my birthday, thankfully the boys were happy to assist staying for a few additional beers and we made it out at 2.00am in the morning.

12.01am First beer at 50

🍾 🍽️ FEBRUARY 15: Uccello Restaurant for an Italian lunch and wine

Lunch with Di at Uccello, the Italian fine dining restaurant overlooking theThe Ivy Pool Bar oasis in the middle of the city.

Overall it was a good share-style lunch, the highlights were all Aperitivi, Wood roasted Shark Bay scallop ($14ea), and the raw beef and Oscietra caviar on toast ($30ea), the WA Lobster special was lacked flavour and presentation, at $180 was underwhelming.

Service was good, food was good, wine was good, thankfully the company was great.

⛳️🍺 FEBRUARY 16: Golf at Liverpool Golf Club and pub lunch

Liverpool Golf Club, 8.30am tee off on what was supposed to be a mild day, but turn out to be a hot and very humid. This was never about great golf, though everyone was seriously competitive, the focus was having fun, no stress and swinging freely.

So standing on the first tee box, a short dog left left when it was confirmed we're playing four-ball best-ball, everyone put away their conservative 3 and 5 woods and brought the drivers out, which pretty much described the day. Grip it and rip it, 1 in 4 is surely bound to get a decent shot away.

The overall teams were pretty even, coming into the clubhouse at -5 and -3, when handicaps were included it was exceptionally close, with only 1/3 of a stroke between us.

Team 1: -5 = 58.75 Brett Buckley, Gary Coffee, Troy Parry and myself,

Team 2: -3 = 59.125 Colin Sternberg, Emmanuel Diamantis, Joe Pizzinga and Tim Lewis.

🎉 🍺 FEBRUARY 17: Party at The Royal Leichhardt

What's a birthday without a party! and this one was amazing, overwhelming and I loved every minute. Over 50 of the most amazing people all in one place, all on one night, people I've known throughout my life, family, friends, work mates, local area coffee legends and of course the football team.

It was challenging to get around and try to spend time with everyone, catch up, have conversations, and say thank you for being there. the only request I had was no speeches, and that was quickly overruled after an impromptu "Happy Birthday" song people yelling speech speech, so I ended up having to make a speech.

Thank you to everyone who was was able to be in the room, you are all the most important people in my life, and I love you all. Looking forward to sharing many more beverages, experiences and memories with everyone.

⚽️ 🥟 FEBRUARY 18: Soccer 1st Trail of 2024 and Lotus Dining

10.00am and the first trial soccer game of the 2024 season. As much as it wasn't a great idea to play, I was determined to prove at 50 I still could. We were all sweating out the night before before the first whistle, but we were on the pitch. After half a game I'd proven enough, went to the side line and enjoyed some highly required hydration.

1.00pm Lotus Dining at Barangaroo with some pretty special peeps to say thanks for coming up from Melbourne Nicole, Richard and Kathy as well of my wonderful sister Lucy brother in law Andrew and Di.

This was dining as it's supposed to be, champagne and chardonnay, great banquet menu and amazing people, outdoors on a Sydney summers day - though maybe a tad to humid, especially after playing football.

🍝 🍷FEBRUARY 24: Family Lunch at Grappa

The festival of 50 ended perfectly with a table full of family. What had stretched out to 10 days of celebrations with so many amazing people Im privileged to have I'm my life, concluded with the most special people in my life, over an excessively large 5 course Italian banquet at Grappa.