Last week we enjoyed fantastic weather to welcome the service men and women to San Francisco for the yearly Fleet Week celebrations. It’s the one week of the year I really look forward to: the sight of young men and women in uniform, the ear-splitting sounds of jets flying over our apartment. And the weather always seems to cooperate.

We arrived at Fort Mason rather early, scouted out the best spot and set up camp on a small grassy knoll. It was a perfect location… until a totally obnoxious Australian-British family set up camp right next to us. Feral kids running all over our rugs and the grandma in her full bogan glory. UGH. Miles and miles of open space, but they decided our spot was best.

I try, I really do. But there’s something godawful about annoying Australians. And I’m allowed to say that, because I have already declared my cultural cringe. So I sucked it up and didn’t say a word (inwardly cursing them to buggery), but soon the American had enough and suggested we move elsewhere.

So soon enough, we picked a nice patch of grass far from the family and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with our mates. Life was much more enjoyable free of grassy knolls. Nothing good comes from grassy knolls…

The highlight of the weekend’s festivities are the Blue Angels, the Navy’s aerobatics team. They wowed the crowds lining the Bay and dotting the rooftops of San Francisco with opposing passes, barrel rolls and formation loops. One of the interesting things we learnt about the Blue Angels this year was that if one of the pilots is sick, then the performance is cancelled.

It’s a little confronting but also a little exciting to feel the might of the American military so close. There were plenty of cheers from the appreciative crowd at Fort Mason. And it was great to see Karl the Fog buggered off for a little while so we could fully appreciate their manoeuvres.

Did I tell you that October was the best time in the Bay Area?