Big Adventure Down Under

Citizenship Test

2009-05-22T15:16:00.000+10:00

After spending a week of swotting and taking various practice tests on line, we both took the test today. After the usual waiting period which seems to be the norm in these government offices, we filled out the appropriate details which allowed us to proceed to the testing room.

100% !!

Yep, 20 questions later (literally), and the results were in. Full score for both of us.

So we've now put our applications in and paid our dues. I think it's now a case of sitting and waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
I imagine a government office like the one from the film Brazil, with an intray full of thousands of applications, and then 6 months later someone looks at the form and rubber stamps it.

So if all goes well, we'll be attending a civil ceremony where we swear allegiance to BBQs, Aussie rules and being able to swear like a trouper.

Bloody Oath!!

AEAF Awards

2008-11-17T22:27:00.010+11:00

One of my recent projects has won an award! Cool.
It's nice to know that all the hard work on this amazing project has been recognised by the Australian Effects and Animation Festival. We won game trailer of the year for the Dawn of War II Cinematic which was a 3 month project I completed for Plastic Wax.

I'm now animation director over there and enjoying every minute of working with this fantastically talented team.

You can see the trailer in all it's loveliness here:
Dawn of War II Cinematic
Dawn of War II Alt Ending Cinematic
The first one was the original E3 2008 trailer. The second is the alternative ending which includes the last fight sequence and released at GC 2008.

These trailers have had a great media response.

Moving around the corner

2007-02-26T13:07:00.003+11:00

Our landlord told us he was thinking about selling the house....poo!! We really enjoyed living here, the house was amazing. As we were about to go back to the UK for Andy & Nat's wedding, we thought we better get our skates on and find somewhere else to live. The landlord wasn't sure of his timing, but if he decided to give us notice while we were in the UK, we'd be in big trouble. So we rushed around like idiots and found another place, just around the corner!! This house was great too, it had it's own distinctive style - spiral staircase and bedroom in the attic! More importantly for us, it was still in Glebe!

Packing up in Colbourne Ave

Our new home

Unpacking in Talfourd St

Our new, colourful kitchen!

2007-02-24T13:22:00.000+11:00

A couple of friends I see everyday at work.

Chris works in the Cherry Bean cafe next door to the Glass Artists Gallery and keeps me sane when I need a break by serving me with the finest coffee in Glebe

Zena is a beautiful Pharoah Hound who guards the glass in Maureen's gallery. She's a bit of a teenager at the moment and doesn't like doing as she's told, but here she's looking very angelic!

Xmas break at Treetops

2006-12-28T12:12:00.004+11:00

Phil and Bianca were still travelling, so we took advantage again, and stayed at Treetops between Christmas day and New Year.
Sparky found a cool place to curl up and undertake serious cat-business (sleeping)!

Deb & Aladar's wedding

2006-12-16T12:00:00.016+11:00

Hen's night!Nick & Emma

Xmas BBQ

2006-12-10T11:53:00.008+11:00

Gav & Jean had some friends round for a BBQ in true Aussie style!
Sheilas preparing the grub and blokes sat around!

Tasmania

2006-11-17T11:36:00.006+11:00

Dean and I spent a weekend in Hobart after I'd organised & attended a Registrar's Conference there. We had a trip by boat to Port Arthur, a historic penal settlement.

Bondi & stuff

2006-10-20T11:27:00.000+10:00

Here's a few other photos from October:
Bondi Beach-scape

This is from the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition near Bondi.

BBQ at Gav & Jean's.

Pulpit Rock, Blue Mountains

2006-10-15T11:08:00.006+10:00

This was a trip to the Blue Mountains with friends Gav, Jean, Deb & Aladar. We stayed at Treetops, which was kindly 'loaned' to us while Phil and Bianca were on their travels around the world!

Tey's 30th

2006-10-01T14:20:00.009+10:00

Here are some photos from the weekend we spent on Pittwater, celebrating Tey's 30th birthday. We hired two katamarans and and went cruising around Pittwater for the weekend! It was great weather, and we had great fun!

Tone & Trace come and play!

2006-08-29T12:27:00.000+10:00

Yeayyyy! It's been great having Tony and Tracy over to stay. They're not new to Australia or Sydney, but we still managed to show them some new sights!
We went up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse on the Northern Beaches and had a lovely picnic on the rocks at the top.
Dean took Tone fishing at Bradley's Head and they both got squeamish when a fish had the nerve to get caught on Tone's hook!!!

Tone & Trace had met Phil on their previous trip down under, so we took them over to see Phil and Bianca in their new house in the Blue Mountains - called Treetops - so beautiful! And of course, we took them to the Three Sisters and did a 6 hour walk - the usual stuff...!
Oh, and the obligatory trip to the Hunter Valley for a well earned piss-up!!

Perisher Blue

2006-07-22T15:05:00.001+10:00

Our second trip snowboarding in Australia! A bigger posse this time and we thought we'd go to the other main resort in New South Wales, which is twinned interestingly with Fernie in Canada! Pity it doesn't have the same amount of snow as Fernie!

Perisher is an OK place to board, but there weren't enough slopes open (due to lack of snow), so after a weekend, we really felt like we'd had enough of the same old runs. There certainly wasn't anywhere to go off-piste - don't know if this changes when there is snow!
Transport was annoying - getting to the apartment was a bit of a trial, as the resort doesn't allow ANY cars at all to park overnight. So we had to unpack everything and then take the 3 cars back to the last village and get the train shuttle back.

However, that didn't stop us having a fantastic time!

Featherdale

2006-06-12T15:21:00.000+10:00

We had been told that this was a great place to visit...so we did! We had an OK day, but it really just confirmed why we don't like animal parks and zoos. Some animals seem fine, but you know that they'd rather be in their natural habitat. That then brings us to the issue of animal conservation, but that makes my head hurt trying to work out what the answer is. I obvisouly support and applaud those situations where animals are released back into the wild, but how often does that happen? Is there any point in breeding endangered animals just to keep them in a cage for the rest of their lives?

Art on the Rocks

2006-05-27T15:54:00.000+10:00

Another Long Weekend here in Sydney and they had an artist's event down at the Rocks. Loads of artists sign up for the competition and are allocated a spot. They then paint (or whatever their 'thing' is) what they see over the two days of the event. Here are some of the photos I took (Dean had to work all weekend).

Lake Macquarie

2006-05-27T15:33:00.000+10:00

It was Hami's 30th birthday and he decided to celebrate it on Lake Macquarie. Vicky and Hami rented a house for the weekend and asked friends to stay or pop by and join them. Hami is a keen fisherman, so all the boys took their rods!! Needless to say, Hami still hasn't caught anything! The weather was overcast, but we still had a fab time.

Horsing around!

2006-04-25T17:52:00.000+10:00

I’ve finally managed to get me some horsey time! Thanks to a friend of a friend, I’ve made contact with a horse owner in Terrey Hills, about a half hour north of Sydney. Jill has mostly paddocked land with a couple of ‘open’ stables. There are 9 horses and two six month old foals. I help out one day a week, filling up water buckets, preparing feeds and distributing them, cleaning tack, moving horses around depending on the day’s activities, brushing and tacking up – generally whatever’s needed on the day.

This is Jill with Ruby, a very lanky teenager who doesn't quite realise how big and powerful she is - absolutely gorgeous!
More often than not, I get a ride while I’m there too. I’ve been riding Merlin, a black Clydesdale and very much a gentle giant! Here he is:
Here is Tyson, another youngster, who's learning how to interact with other horses (and humans)! Isn't he handsome?!

On Anzac Day, I went on the start of a two day trail ride with Jill and some of her horsey friends. Twelve girls altogether – you can imagine the chatter yet we still surprisingly managed to see some wildlife (a wombat and a kangaroo)! We went up to Yarramalong, about an hour and a half north of Sydney. Jill provided some of the horses we were riding, but we didn’t have enough, so we stopped at a riding place close to where we were staying that night to pick up some more.
Then we got them ready and set off for the hills, while Jill’s husband Tony took all our gear in the car!

I’m the one in the red top!

Tony was also providing lunch for us – he met us somewhere in the middle of the bush with the 4WD stacked with goodies and champagne! Ahhh, that’s the life!!

Then we continued riding to the house. The afternoon ride was a little longer than expected, after Jill treated us to several Groundhog Day experiences (there were 3 separate routes that we managed to ride twice). We had a little difficulty finding the house (!!!) and as the sun started to descend to the western horizon, I could see us spending a very cold night under the stars and I seriously thought I was going to have to ration my party-sized milky way that I’d saved from lunch, between the 12 of us!!
Anyway, we eventually made it, and with just enough sun left to untack and feed the exhausted horses. The house that we stayed in was just lovely and had a really magical quality. The old lady that owns it, Judy, is in her 80s and she has 90 acres of land – the house sits in the middle of it right in the valley. We had lovely food and took plenty of booze to numb our aches and pains! The next day’s ride was almost the same, but in reverse, although we didn’t have any scrumptious lunch, as Tony had gone back to work. We had to make do with a mandarine, a plum and a muesli bar each!!
There were no falls or injuries, and we all made it back safe and sound! However, there was a pretty hair-raising experience on the first day for me when Merlin, who normally has a very slow and steady approach to moving, took me by surprise! We were cantering up a dirt track and we were pretty much at the back of the group, but Merlin had caught sight of his two girls (two of Jill’s/Merlin’s mares) at the front and he just had to be near them to make sure none of the other ‘guys’ made a move on them. He spotted ‘a gap’ down the side and turbo charged past everyone to the mares, never minding that I was perfectly happy where I was, or that the ‘gap’ was only horse shaped and didn’t take into account the low hanging branches!! How I stayed on his back is a complete wonder to me. Maybe it was the instruction screamed at me by Jill “sit back, sit back, heels down”!!
I had an amazingly fantastic time!!
Here's a photo of one of the magnificent sunsets I've seen from the paddocks.

Royal Easter Show

2006-04-17T16:32:00.000+10:00

Well, that was an experience! Sydney-siders either love it or hate it - that is, the Royal Easter Show! Dean hated it, but I'll sit on the fence and say I enjoyed it, but probably won't go again!!
I bought my McLeod's Daughters hat, which I love and use obsessively when I'm horsing around (I wear a helmet when I'm riding, mum).
We were introduced to another 'Australianism' today - showbags! These are bags of goodies that most of us associate with trade exhibitions - crappy magazine, pen, handy little torch that either goes forever and is actually extremely useful or else forgets it ever knew that it's job was to illuminate the way - you know the sort of thing!! Well, we entered a giant marquee which was full of stalls, but these stalls weren't promoting their wares in the normal way that traders do, they were actually selling 'showbags'! My Aussie friends had told me that this would be the highlight of the day, but I can assure you that my experience was completely the opposite. They were overpriced tat, and that's being polite! Having said that, I did buy one! But....in my defense, it contained edible goodies - a selection of cheeses and the bag itself was a very handy little coolbag. This was by far the best value 'showbag' there (and I still use the coolbag)!

The highlight of the day was seeing the Woodchopping competition - they were SO fast!

Bobbin Head walk

2006-04-02T16:19:00.000+10:00

Bobbin Head is an area in one of the many National Parks around Sydney. We fancied a bit of exercise and getting back to nature, so we went up here for a riverside walk!

Dean's Birthday

2006-03-28T17:50:00.001+11:00

Dean went canyonning with Phil to celebrate their March birthdays together. I'm afraid I chickened out, and looking at this photo, it was a wise decision!! Dean may or may not write up this adventure - I think he's still in denial about having to wear a smurf outfit!!

We walked to Darling Harbour in the evening for a curry, to celebrate in true Brit style!!

Lisa's Birthday

2006-03-19T17:51:00.000+11:00

As it was another beautiful day (and my birthday), we decided to visit the Royal National Park (about an hour south of the city). We walked along the cliff tops and let the sea breeze blow the cobwebs (and all the years) away!!

Forget Extreme Sports....Extreme Temperatures!!

2006-02-22T17:17:00.000+11:00

We left Sydney in our flip flops and 34°C heat and arrived in Fernie (British Columbia, Canada) in our thermals and -34°C cold!! Well it wasn’t actually -34°C til the following week, but it makes for better reading this way!!
Eventually we arrived at the hotel, after a staggering 30 hours of travelling, to be told that the hotel ‘restaurant’ was about to close. We literally dropped our gear in the room and rushed downstairs to be met in the foyer by Andy and Treena, our friends from Dulwich.
We planned the holiday so that we could meet up with them for some snow therapy. It was fantastic to see them again, and we dragged them into the restaurant to watch us eat and catch up on the previous year!
That was the start of two brilliant weeks of snowboarding, drinking, eating and sleeping, in that order of priority!!

The previous two seasons had been rather bad for Fernie, so we were glad to arrive to plenty of snow. We were staying in the town, which was originally established because of coal mining, and there were plenty of places to eat and drink. Fernie has an outstandingly delicious meal called ‘putine’. This is a scrumptious dish of perfectly fried chips with yummy gravy, topped off with shavings of cheese (we didn’t have the cheese that often)!! Needless to say, this reminded us of our own mining home town – Doncaster.

There was a huge dumping of snow in the second week, which satisfied our cravings for the white stuff and put smiles on everyone’s faces! There were lots of whoops and screams of enjoyment emanating from the slopes.
There were the predictable number of falls and sprains, but thankfully nothing serious! I was the lucky recipient of a huge bruise on my leg, thanks to the T-bar (still haven’t mastered that particular art)!!
We usually take the video camera on the slopes, but this year we just didn’t seem to have the time. We really only took photos of the area and a few from the lifts. So sorry there are no action shots!

Noodle

2006-02-09T17:35:00.000+11:00

Meet Noodle, Sparky's new girlfriend! Honest, that's her name - it's on her tag! This is as much as I got to see the first few times, as she watched from the safety of the tree!

I know there's been some questions in the past over Sparky's sexual preferences, but I just need to point out that the boy-cat chased him in Denaby, not the other way around!

Noodle is a chocolate Burmese, I think - very posh, and pretty! She obviously sees the (very) distant breeding in Sparky! Here she is, sneaking in!

She doesn't like humans! I get hissed at if I go too close, but obviously she will take food from me! I think she might see me as the other woman! She will follow Sparky into the house too and slowly slink past me (only two feet away), as if I can't see her! She follows him everywhere - under the tree, on the pavestones, on the deck, in the house, under the barbeque! I can't see what they get up to under the tree, so don't like that as a parent!

In this photo, Sparky is under the bbq (on the left) and Noodle is trying to entice him out!! I think he's a bit intimidated by her - she is rather forward!!

We're going snowboarding to Fernie, Canada on Saturday and Sparky is staying with Aunty Marie. So he won't be able to frolick with Noodle for two weeks. I hope he copes!

New Years Day

2006-01-01T23:53:00.000+11:00

They weren't wrong!! The weather reports that is! A blistering hot 44 degrees today.....and boy was it a hot start to the new year.

We took a tactical decision to camp in the bedroom for most of the day where we have the air conditioning. Whenever we opened the door we had a quick reminder of actually how hot it was. Imagine turning the oven on to 250 and after an hour or so, open the door and that blast you get...well that's what it was like all day.

We spent most of the day organising the blog and sifting through photos of last night. At about 4pm I was getting a bit stir crazy and wanted to go somewhere and at least top the day off with a refreshing swim in the sea.

Lisa suggested we go to Waverly Cemetery, which has been a spot on the map we've wanted to go to for a while. We heard it was a beautiful cemetery on the cliffs overlooking the sea....and hoped it would distract us slightly from the heat.

We thought that being by the sea on the cliffs would give us a cool sea breeze, but we were wrong on that front! But our consolation was that it was indeed a beautiful place.

Looks like it's been around from early 1800s and some very old stones were dotted around. But the view topped it off as a spectacular place to visit.

We stayed for a short while until the heat got the better of us, but not before we took a few photos. We'll be back to this place though, maybe a little earlier or later in the day to get more of a contrasting light. Definitely lots of material here to take photos of.

We decided to head to the beach, and as it overlooked Coogee that was the perfect spot. Only, thousands of other people had the same idea and we found it difficult to park. So difficult in fact that we had to go somewhere else!

As beautiful as the city beaches are, they are generally extremely busy, and finding somewhere to park is always tricky. So we headed for our favourite spots and went north of the harbour to Chowder Bay. By the time we got there it was after 6pm, but it didn't take long before I was swimming in the sea and Lisa was lazing on the beach, still nursing her poorly knee from Flint and Steel Beach.

We stayed until the sun went down and the swim had certainly done the trick and worked up an appetite. So what else but a curry on New Year's Day! Yum Yum. Our favourite curry hole, the Darbar on Glebe Point Road! The end to a very hot day.

Happy New Year!!

2006-01-01T13:09:00.000+11:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

What a fantastic evening!! Seemed very fitting to the end of what has been a truly brilliant year. Hopefully 2006 will prove to be just as good and dare I say it......even better!?
Well as promised, I'm updating the blog actually on time. We woke up this morning just in time to send text messages and do some phoning for friends and family in the UK to be experiencing the countdown to their new year. Of course most were out or drunk but the messages got through!!

Any way last night we gathered at the Botanic Gardens at around 6.30pm. It seemed there were different grades of tickets and looked like we were in the middle section. This offered a great view looking out onto the Opera House with the Bridge in the background and what amazing and memorable photo opportunities this would provide.

We took our space on the lawn which was very civilised and ultimately was base camp for the next few hours leading up to countdown. If it's one thing that we are learning about being here, is that every event focusses around a picnic!! Down the beach.....picnic, to the park.....picnic, to the concert......picnic. Tonight was no exception. Rugs of all different colour and sizes defined everyone's little patch of territory on the lawn.

The first set of fireworks was at 9pm. This is the family fireworks and a little teaser for what was in store. There were just over 2 hours to kill before the first show and it became obvious that this was the feeding frenzy. Taking a look all around us and every one was eating and drinking wine and tucking into their picnic.

It was a lovely warm night and t-shirts, shorts and flipflops (thongs for the Aussie interpretation) was the order of the night. The sun gradually went down to begin a new day back in England. On any day this is a great spot to be in the city; water in front, city and skyscrapers to the left, park to the right and Opera House and Bridge straight ahead. As the light fades the Opera House generally bathes in a beautiful golden light catching the last of the rays, providing just a few photo opportunities along the way.

It wasn't long before 9pm was on us and the ferries and boats moored in front were all giving their horns in excitement. Not sure how they knew it was coming, but they were the perfect countdown to the start of the first fireworks.

Fantastic!! These were set off somewhere in the middle of the harbour and provided a great back drop to all the different yachts and boats moored up to get the best view. The fireworks ended all too quickly and the smoke drifted overhead towards the city.

More time to eat and drink. At this point we also noticed that the heart on the bridge was getting bigger. It was constantly beating but had now grown in size. For the next 3 hours we chatted and drank and ate, chatted a bit more, took some photos, drank, ate.....you get the picture! The time seemed to go so quickly and before we knew it, the boats and crowd were starting to get excited. Lots of horns and cheering and whistling and then the countdown to 12 o’clock had suddenly arrived.

Boom!! Off they went and they certainly weren't disappointing. Igniting from all over the frame of the Bridge, highlighting it's full shape and the Opera House in the foreground. Any way I'll shut up and hopefully these photos will do the display some justice.

However much we wanted them to carry on forever, sadly they had to end. The Opera House was engulfed in the smoke from all the fireworks, but it gradually cleared as it drifted towards the city. This was the cue for every one to pack up and leave; making their mass exodus from all the great vantage points they held, through the city and home.

The city was amazingly packed, full of people of all shapes, sizes and nationalities in various states of drunkeness. It was all good humoured as the only thing on people's minds was firstly, to wish every one a happy new year and secondly, to get home.

After weaving our way through the throng, feeling like a salmon swimming up stream, we managed to get on the tram. It was nice and air conditioned and made the last of the journey home a little easier!

So now it’s New Year’s Day and most of you lot have just finished celebrating the start of your New Year. It's a little sticky today. 43 degrees as a few people have said, and with all the doors and windows opened, the breeze that comes through feels like a hair dryer blowing hot!!

So we wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May this year prove to be a good one and we hope to see a few more people out here with us. You're all so very welcome.

And if you want to know how fantastic it is.....ask Linda and Chris! :o)

New Years Eve

2005-12-31T16:07:00.000+11:00

It's been a blisteringly hot day again today. Apparently tomorrow is gonna be a heat wave!! Early 40's or something! The only thing to do in these situations is head for the beach!
Anyway, tonight we have our tickets for the Botanic Gardens, which offers a fantastic vantage point looking over to the Opera House and in full view of the Bbridge. Which is where the fire works are blasting off from! To get really excited, here's a few photos from last year, which we didn't take because we were in full throws of selling the house and shipping furniture and cat!

Last year included a big light sphere which hung from the bridge, and on our arrival, we kept seeing the ball for the first few weeks.

So 2004 has a significant time frame for us, we didn't get to see the fireworks, but we were making preperations to see the ones in 2005!! Starting to get excited now and preparing cameras, 'esky' for the wine and nibbles and our well used picnic stuff.

Will talk again in 2006. Maybe a New Year's resolution will be to try and update the blog more often!! :o)

Au revoire

2005-12-27T20:47:00.000+11:00

Well, the day finally had to arrive for mum and dad to leave us and I had been dreading it. To take our minds off it, we carried on regardless, taking them to another sight! As if sharing my mood, the day was a bit overcast.
We took them to The Gap, a fantastic view from the top of the cliffs that are the eastern-most point of the South Head. The view was still spectacular!

We returned home for some lunch – a good English fry-up!! Then it was a case of gathering the last of their belongings and trying to stuff them in the suitcases! It was panic stations for about 20 minutes when they couldn’t find their passports, but of course they turned up!
The drive to the airport wasn’t very enjoyable and went quicker than expected as the roads were completely empty. I think the majority of people leave the city over Christmas. There’s no point in dragging this out longer than necessary – it was very painful to say goodbye, much worse than when I left them in England.
We’d spent almost every minute with mum and dad and our time was packed with such enjoyable moments, visiting loads of our favourite places. We had such an absolutely brilliant holiday with mum and dad. Thank you so much!!

Sydney to Hobart

2005-12-26T19:17:00.000+11:00

The Sydney to Hobart boat race takes place every Boxing Day, so this was the first time we’ve been able to see it. We’ve been told that the best place to view it is from the water on a boat. However, we don’t have a boat (yet!), so we were restricted to land.

This year 117 boats took part, ranging from a 31 to a 98 footer and the winner was Wild Oats, taking 1 day, 18 hours and 40 minutes!
We decided to watch the start of the race from Bradley’s Head, as well as a load of other people, obviously, but it wasn’t as busy as we expected. We’d settled down (with the picnic as usual), but discovered from a ranger that the best view could be had from the beach just 2 minutes down the road. So off we trotted! The view point was much lower down, closer to the water, but you could see more – no trees in the way!

It was another scorcher of a day, so we had hats, shirts and sun cream. [As a side note, I caught the sun yesterday, even though I spent the majority of the day in our sun shelter – amazing!] There were hundreds of boats of all shapes and sizes – it was incredible to see so many together. We were a little behind the starting line and as soon as the horn went, all the boats disappeared into the distance following the those in the actual race.
Then we went back up to Bradley’s Head just to finish off the picnic and the usual……relax!! After a while, all the spectator boats started to come back into the harbour, which was quite funny.
Once all the snap was gone, we packed up and headed back to the city. We wanted to show mum and dad where we first started off in Sydney – at the Wharf, Woolloomooloo, so made a little detour there on the way home.

That evening, we went into Darling Harbour for dinner at Nick's Seafood restaurant. We had a fantastic meal overlooking the harbour. This was the last evening in Sydney for mum and dad, and it finished off the day and their stay wonderfully.

Hot Christmas!!

2005-12-25T14:55:00.000+11:00

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to everyone!!!

We’d been completely racking our brains over which beach to go to on Christmas day. The shortlist was Chowder Bay or Chinaman’s Beach, but then at the last minute, we changed our minds and decided on Balmoral Beach, as there’s a little more to see (it’s bigger), better parking & facilities and a slight chance that a coffee shop might be open!! We’d obviously done our food shopping early on and had our champagne that we bought from the Hunter. We had a couple of disposable barbeques, as ours at home wasn’t exactly portable!!
Everyone quickly settled into their personal routines (we’d had lots of practice by this point): mum in bikini laid out on the beach; dad exploring, fishing and sunbathing; me in the shade (I do normally swim, but my knee was still poorly) and Dean in the water. Ben and Em & baby Leo joined us after a short while too. They headed straight for the water and a quick dip, before settling down to their tucker.
This next bit will be disputed by the rest of the gang I’m sure, but hey, I’m writing this and I like to think I’m pretty fair anyway. It was decided that the food would be cooked up on top, off the beach. Now please bear in mind that for the last few days there had been a total fire ban in New South Wales due to the extremely hot weather. These disposable bbqs are quite small and basically touch the ground (the ground here being dried bark mulch and general tree waste)! You can see where this is going?! I was extremely worried to say the least. I could see the headlines: ‘Irresponsible poms flaunt fire ban causing havoc on Christmas Day.’ When the bbq was first lit, the flames shot straight up, looking like they were searching out the bark of the tree we were camped under! I couldn’t take any more and retreated back to the beach, abandoning my family! After a few minutes I thought I’d check it out again. The flames had disappeared so I bravely sat down and tried to relax. Our Christmas picnic was delicious, but I was so on edge I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as could have. And guess what – my worries were justified in the end. I spotted smoke curling up from underneath the foil tin – it was charring the dried bark bits and soil. We sprinkled water on them and put the bbq out with sand! I was so relieved!! We moved once again to the beach and finished our champagne and strawberries!
It was definitely an unusual Christmas, the first any of us had spent on the beach. I’m not sure that it will ever really feel like Christmas to me, being so hot, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy it still – it’s just different!
Sorry there aren't many photos, but we were too busy doing not much at all. With an important accessory (hat) from dad, Ben made this excellent sand version of a snowman, which sums the day up for me!!

Another day, another beach!

2005-12-23T14:40:00.000+11:00

We were trying to pack in as many beaches as possible to impress mum and dad and we knew The Basin would be a good one to do that. We had been here once before – the hard way! It’s situated in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, on the east coast and we drove there the first time, which then involved a walk down a very steep track. That’s not so bad, but obviously walking back up at the end of the day isn’t quite as enjoyable! So this time we decided we’d take the ferry from Palm Beach across Pittwater – much more civilised and relaxing! We had the essential picnic and beach gear ready for another hard day! The ferry ride was enjoyable in itself. There were quite a few people taking all their Christmas supplies over as they were camping at the Basin over the holidays.
We had our lunch on a picnic table while a bunch of lads decided to have a game of cricket, well it resembled cricket a little! These guys didn’t seem to take it too seriously though – they couldn’t catch the ball very well with a beer in one hand and I don’t think the beer guts helped them move quickly either!!

There are resident wallabies and monitor lizards wandering around and this monitor took off up a tree, being a little put out by the laddish behaviour emanating from the cricket game.

The lagoon here is incredibly calm and clear and very shallow around the beach. There are small fishes that swim around your legs. We saw some sea eagles and another bird of prey that I don’t know the name of, as well as pelicans that share the water with you. Swimming here is just so relaxing. When you’ve had enough of that, there’s always laying in the sun on the beach or playing in the sand building dams as Dean and dad decided to do (Dean had to rebuild his after a couple of 8 year old hooligans trampled all over it!).
On the way home, we called at Bradleys Head again to catch the sunset. It wasn’t as dramatic as the last one, but still beautiful. We arrived in plenty of time after calling at a bottle shop for some wine. So, me and mum cracked it open and settled on the water front with our cameras while the ‘boys’ did a spot of dusk fishing.
Such a relaxing way to end the day – you can’t beat it! Cheers!!

Christmas - what's that?!!

2005-12-22T10:05:00.000+11:00

[Dean writing] I had the sudden shock realisation that it was the 22nd December with only 2 shopping days left to Christmas! As we had been off on ‘walkabouts’ and not paying any attention at all to the fact that it was the Christmas season, we now had to do some shopping!!
A brief tactical get-together resulted in Lisa and Linda going off shopping in the city, while Chris and I went to buy the fish for Christmas lunch on the beach. That says something about no matter how sophisticated we become, it always comes back to hunter gatherer scenarios!!
The fish market is only a 10 minute walk from our house. So we soon arrived and stocked up on the local catches of the day and also had time to wonder around the stalls. It was good reference looking at all the massive varieties of exotic fish that we will never catch!! I will never tire of the weirdness of ‘Moreton Bay Bugs’ and that they look like they should be on the set of Alien!!
After our successful hunter gatherer trip we took the tram into Darling Harbour ready to meet the girls! Realising they will be a little while longer, we took a detour to the Outback Centre to watch one of the daily didjeridoo performances. The 30 minute show was actually pretty breath-taking and the guy playing the ‘didj’ was amazing! Well worth a detour for a free show.
We returned back to Glebe for some lunch where I made a quick getaway to do some shopping myself! Not my favourite past-time but managed OK. I returned home to a feast of buns and tarts of all descriptions that Linda had been baking in the afternoon, the one and only time that Linda was allowed in the kitchen (apart from the previous mini-baking session)!! They were soon devoured though and a job lot were also taken round to Ben and Em’s for them. We had to behave ourselves and not dip into them while we babysat for Leo that night. Ben and Em were let out on a well-deserved cinema pass. I think Linda was disappointed in the end, as Leo spent most of the night asleep upstairs. She only had one chance at a cuddle when he briefly woke up.

Flint and Steel Beach

2005-12-21T09:25:00.000+11:00

Flint and Steel is a very special place to us! So it was nice to share it with mum and dad (and hope they think it’s special too!). The beach is in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, so we set off north again. The first stop was lunch at West Head. The views here just blow you away!

You look out west onto Pittwater towards Barrenjoey Head and north across Broken Bay, which is at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River. We set up our picnic under a shady tree when a big monitor lizard strolled along the path. Luckily he went after someone else’s lunch!

Then on to Flint and Steel Beach and the 20 minute steep descent through the ‘bush’.

Arriving at the bottom, we found another group who promptly packed up and left. We must have crowded their space! Too right – this is our beach!! So we had the whole beach to ourselves…..like a desert island!

The afternoon was spent in total relaxation; swimming, drinking, fishing, taking photographs and exploring the amazing rocks. Hope the pictures do it justice.

I managed to slip on the rocks and cut my knee pretty badly. I hobbled back to base camp with blood pouring down my leg and received loads of sympathy!!

Dad and Dean spent a lot of time fishing from the rocks, and quite a successful trip it was too.
[Dean just wants to add that the fishing took the usual pattern of himself catching 2 little fish at the start – beginner’s luck – followed by no fish whatsoever and dad catching 7 or 8 in quick succession!].

The day ended all too quickly and it was time to head back to the city. It was another day that we just didn’t want to end and Flint and Steel still retains it’s magic for us!

To top it off wonderfully, we saw an amazing sunset from Bradley’s Head. We made a quick dash to the waterfront and dad managed to take this fantastic photo before we got kicked out of the park!

Hunter winos

2005-12-19T18:09:00.000+11:00

Wow, what a brilliant idea! We drove up to a cabin in the Hunter Valley that me, Dean and Phil had stayed in last year. We noted that they offered tours of the region, which we intended to participate in, sometime in the future. That time had arrived and we highly recommend it to anyone, it was excellent value.
There were only the four of us and we really did receive personal treatment. We were taken to two wineries, a champagne house, a chocolate shop and a cheesery (this is what they called it)! At each wine boutique we had our own personal ‘wine guide’ who produced about 10 wines for us to try, starting with light whites through the rosés and reds to finish with the ‘stickies’ (the Australian term for sweet after dinner wines and ports). The champagne house was the same sort of thing and we tried pink and red bubbles for the first time. It was an excellent afternoon and proved to be a bit too much for me – I crashed out on the sofa almost as soon as we got back. Mind you, everyone was in bed by 9.30 that night!!
Here is the cabin we stayed in - very peaceful:
Mum awoke the morning after to a glorious day and was just about to go out on the veranda when she saw this local wallaby with a joey in her pouch. She quickly grabbed the camera, still blurry-eyed and manage to capture this great photo.

Culture & glug

2005-12-18T14:51:00.000+11:00

We thought we’d be a bit cultural and visit an exhibition. We went to the Australian Museum where they show the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. There are some spectacular images and some taken by teenagers – really amazing!
We thought we’d treat mum and dad to one of our favourite yum cha places – Bodhi's, which is next to the Cook & Phillip Park. I think that was a hit! Dad was starting to get withdrawal symptoms from fishing, so Dean took him to Bradley’s Head on the north side of the harbour, looking across to the Botanic Gardens and the Opera House and Bridge!! He was able to redeem himself here and actually catch some fish (they both did, apparently!). Meanwhile mum made some delicious Sicilian Christmas mince pies while I updated my CV for a job application. We were going over to to Fredrik and Marie’s that evening, who had very kindly invited us for some Scandinavian delights and glug (mulled wine) – super yummy!! We ended up very much in the spirit of Christmas, even though it was around 30 degrees outside!
Glad Julen!! (Happy Christmas in Swedish for those not in the know!!)

On to Jervis Bay

2005-12-14T21:31:00.000+11:00

After leaving our B&B in Leura, we stopped off at a great spot called Euroka Clearing which Libby guaranteed would have Kangaroos – it did and we took loads of photos!

Ironically we drove through Kangaroo Valley, which didn’t produce one Kangaroo!!

We arrived at Jervis Bay around 5pm and immediately went down to Hyams Beach for some relaxation and to take in the last rays of the day – bliss!!

This is the cottage we stayed in. It was so peaceful. There were lots of lorakeets and rozellas squawking and flying around. They were quite timid to start with, but Dean soon had them eating out of his hands - literally!!

The next day was mum’s birthday and dad surprised her by taking her on a dolphin watching cruise. We all went along – didn’t want to be left out!!

There were loads of dolphins dotted around the Bay, frolicking and jumping about. As you can imagine though, a bit hard to take good photos of them!!

We finished the day off by going for a Thai meal in Huskisson and almost blowing mum’s head off with a ‘hot’ chilli prawn dish – sorry mum!
Sooner than you expect, Friday came around and it was time to head back to Sydney. On the way we called at Booderee National Park and we spotted these two fighting over a piece of bread. As expected, big bully Kookaburra won in the end!!

We stopped at the blowhole at Kiama on the way up the coast, but unfortunately the tide was out, so no show there! But it still had a lovely coastline to view.

Blue Mountains

2005-12-12T21:30:00.000+11:00

We set off on our adventure into the wild! I’d booked 2 nights in a B&B in Leura, a very pretty village in the Blue Mountains. A gorgeous retreat away from it all and a good base to explore the sights. Two nights obviously isn’t long enough in the Blueys, but we crammed as much in as we could. We went to Wentworth Falls first which has impressive lookouts across the valleys and a great walk which takes you along the top of the waterfall before descending on a very narrow path that hugs the cliff side – not good for those suffering from vertigo. The next day was a biggey – the walk into the Grand Canyon. The trek takes around 3 ½ hours (the guide book says) and we did it in 3 ¾, which is good going to say mum and dad aren’t used to that kind of hiking and also allowing for all those photo breaks! It was a hot day too, making it even more tiring.
But it is an immensely rewarding trek! You gradually descend through the tall, ghostly gum trees and the surroundings becoming greener and more tropical until you get to the bottom. Then you’re clambering over the rocks and fallen trees dotted all over the river that runs through the bottom of the canyon.

Here is a picture of dad, the intrepid explorer with the camera that was never very far from his side - hence all the great photos! After we crawled out the other end gasping for air and water, we decided we should see some more of the Blueys.

We called at Hargraves Lookout, recommended by our B&B hosts Libby and Robert. It was a very prominent headland that jutted out into the landscape with great views of soft rolling hills on one side and the more rugged mountains on the other. Then just to finish us all off completely, we went to the Three Sisters. There is a lookout from the visitors centre across to the Three Sisters, which is pretty spectacular.

We walked down to the first ‘Sister’ which had very steep and scary steps descending to an overhang that you could take shelter under. It was great to get back for a well earned shower and aperitif!!

This is the B&B, 'White Gables', that we stayed in. The next day we had to say goodbye and leave lovely Leura to head for Jervis Bay – what a hard holiday! See next post!

Northern Beaches

2005-12-10T21:06:00.000+11:00

On Saturday it was off to the Northern Beaches. This area is where we stayed on our very first trip to Australia so it always has a special kind of attraction, plus the beaches are less crowded and have less of a city feel and more of a ‘surfing dude’ type feel to them…..very relaxed way of life, filled with beautiful people.
After a quick visit to a recommended bait and tackle shop in Narrabeen (where Dean and dad armed themselves with frozen prawns and sand worms – for fishing!), our first stop was Avalon for a spot of lunch and a quick look around the town. After feeling some what refuelled, we headed out to Palm Beach with the full intention of doing bugger all and hopefully a spot of fishing to satisfy dad’s hunter tendencies!
Palm Beach was a bit too windy and with a lot of surfers and swimmers would prove to be a bit too problematic for fishing. We decided to drive back down the coast 5 minutes to Whale Beach, which is actually our favourite beach up north. This managed to put big ticks on everyone’s list, lovely beach, great for swimming, rocks to fish and not crowded at all…..perfect!

This was the first opportunity for dad to try his new fishing rod too, but didn’t have too much success – I think he needed a different rod or different bait or different line – I know there was some excuse!!?? The water had been tested though (literally!) and dad gained some useful knowledge chatting to the locals who seemed armed to the teeth with rods and tackle. They also appeared to be having some success catching Atlantic salmon.
We took these photos, intending to use them as Christmas cards this year. But because we were so busy enjoying ourselves, we didn't actually get round to printing them - sorry everyone. But here are the images anyway!

After a lovely relaxing afternoon, we headed back to Avalon for an end of day coffee. It turned out to be a fish and chips trip from a highly recommended ‘chippy’. Yum!!
As a side note…..we just want to add that mum and dad are a jinx when it comes to being served in restaurants!! On this occasion ordering coffee and cake was an hour experience which resulted in luke warm coffee 30 minutes later. To add to this, cake arrived at least 10 minutes after coffee was finished. The start of what was to be the Linda and Chris cafe curse!!
As an extra note, the curse has been lifted now that mum and dad are back in the UK!!

Relaxing first week

2005-12-05T12:40:00.000+11:00

The next week was a lot of pottering for mum and dad while Dean worked his last week before his hols and I finished my job off for the Australian Registrar’s Committee. Mum and dad couldn’t help themselves though – as usual they found something to do in the house (well the garden actually). We didn’t think they’d find anything, as our gardens are minute compared to what we had in Bromley, but low and behold, they cleared all the dead leaves from the front and weeded in between the pebbles in the back courtyard! Thank you so much!
They also found time to visit a few of the closer beaches like Coogee, Bondi, Tamarama (or Taramara, as mum keeps calling it!)! They were just itching to get to a beach!

But they also went into the city one day, dragged there by me! They walked through Hyde Park and went to see the bats and all the exotic plants in the Botanic Gardens.

I took them to see the Christmas tree in the Queen Victoria Building and all the lovely shops there.

In the evening, after Dean got back from work, we went to our local bar, the Different Drummer where we sampled their modern tapas and wine – delicious!

Middle Harbour Cruise

2005-12-04T21:40:00.000+11:00

We decided to go on one of the longer ferry journeys around the harbour – the Middle Harbour Cruise – which takes 3 hours! It’s a fantastic way to see the harbour and all the amazing houses on the water’s edge and a great introduction for visitors. You also forget about the sun due to the constant breeze blowing through the boat, so Dean and I ended up with red faces!!

Mum and Dad arrive in Sydney!!!

2005-12-03T21:24:00.000+11:00

Well, excited or what!!?? Mum and Dad (or Linda and Chris to everyone else, apart from brother Jon!) arrived this morning!
We got up in plenty of time, safe in the thought that getting through customs takes an age. Then we checked the arrivals on the website and realised they’d landed ½ hour early!! So panic stations and off to the airport! Those early morning landings are manic at the airport – they all seem to come in at the same time. We had been waiting about 15 minutes when Dean decided to look outside, and what do you know – they were waiting there! It took away all that anticipation I had been building up for that initial tearful reunion that you see all families go through (and that I usually join in on, ‘cause I’m a sentimental old bugger). I feel cheated!! But then I soon forgot that, as excitement took over again. They were feeling obviously tired, but holding up well. We whisked them straight off to the Opera House for that usual baptism of the sights for new arrivals! Then back home for a quick freshen up before taking them to Glebe Market down the road. We hadn’t planned anything too hectic on their first day. A spot of lunch at our favourite café, lounging around, then to Darling Harbour for a drink in the evening. It wasn’t long before they needed their bed!

The next three and a bit weeks were jammed packed, but I’ll try not to go into too much detail otherwise you’ll be here reading for a year! I’ll just try to pick out the highlights from the main trips and sights. Most of the photos we've used here were taken by mum and dad, by the way!!

The Basin

2005-10-23T10:39:00.000+10:00

We decided to head out to a place called The Basin today which is situated in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. We'd heard it was a great place to go and picnic, so we wanted to check it out for ourselves.

The first port of call was Cottage Point for a coffee!! We'd been here on holiday and it's a little cafe which is built right on the water's edge overlooking the water and moored boats. It's a great relaxing place to enjoy a coffee while watching the boats and the occassional seaplane taking people to the posh restaurant next door. The seaplanes bring people from Rose Bay in the city and fly along the coast to the restaurant. Very expensive, but maybe a special treat one day.

This photo is of the fish that were hanging around the bottom of the boats. The water was so clear and the sunlight was bouncing around the surface.

After feeling recharged we headed off for The Basin, driving the scenic route along the waters edge and over to the other side. After parking up, we unloaded the gear and all the picnic stuff and headed off along the track. It was a hot day (as usual) and we didn't realise what a long walk it would be!! Bloody tourists! I think it was a total of 3km, which seemed like miles while loaded up like a carthorse with drinks and goodies to eat.

The last of the track was a steep slope which made it's way to the Basin itself. We had a sneak preview between the trees of what was in store and we were so looking forward to a refreshing swim by this stage!

We made our way down and the path became steeper and steeper, knowing full well that we would have to walk back up! I was determined to eat everything and drink everything while down here to make sure things were lighter to carry.

As we entered the place it was definitely worth it. We also found out that you can catch a ferry from Palm Beach which brings you straight here and avoids the steep track! D'oh!! So the only people here are those that have arrived by ferry or have dared the track. It was very quiet and a peaceful place. On one side was the sea, while on the other side was a stretch of water which looked like a lagoon. This water was amazingly still and lovely and warm.

We camped by the tiny little beach on the lagoon end and relaxed away the afternoon and ate and drank. Lots of swimming to freshen up and make another great day exploring. We of course stayed as long as we could until we felt ready to tackle the steep climb out. It took us a lot longer on the way out but there was no rush and there were lots of wildlife on the way too.

All around The Basin live quite a few Wallabies and their babies. We saw some on the path coming down and later on as the sun went down, a few came out onto the grass to feed. You could get quite close for a photo, but they soon scarpered if you invaded their personal space. This one in the photo is carrying a young and you can see his little head just poking out. How they get in there, I'll never know, but it's spring time and lots of babies were being carried around.

Amazing Australian Wildlife!

2005-10-22T20:30:00.000+10:00

On the way back from Middle Cove, I stopped and had to take this photo. Not sure what the sign is meant to be warning?
That there is wildlife around?
Caution- you may see some amazing wildlife?

Any way here it is....

suit yourselves!! :o)

Middle Cove

2005-10-22T16:00:00.000+10:00

One thing that we will never tire of while being in Australia, is the absolute natural beauty which surrounds you whereever you go. Whether it be local beaches or out in the 'bush' you will always be confronted by amazing trees or spectacular viewpoints which take your breath away. This is topped off every now and again by wildlife popping it's head up to say hello! This trip proved to be no exception.

On the way to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, we decided to stop off at a little place marked on the map called Middle Cove. It didn't look like a massive area of land and so we weren't sure what we were going to see. But it looked like it overlooked middle harbour, and we've yet to be disappointed with off the cuff decisions to try new places out.

Since having the car it's been great for getting out of the city and exploring all the parks and beaches which are actually not that far away.

The small park itself was nothing exceptional and it more or less was a loop in the road. In fact we drove in and out without realising on our first attempt. We decided to go back in and park up and have a look around.

There were a few walking tracks around and we decided to take one which looked back onto a peninsula called Castle Cove. This photo is from the walking track looking out onto the water and the cove. Typical bushland which is looking very lush and green. After a short 20 min walk or so, we came to a lookout which overlooks Middle Harbour. If you look on a map this is a pocket of water that seems crowded by lots of peninsulas which can be sailed to by going through Spit Bridge.

We can never get enough of trees while being out here, so here's a few more to keep you going too!

The first one is a scribbly bark gum tree, which is caused, I think, by some creature crawling around just under the bark. One of the many many variations of gum trees along the way.

On the way out of this little oasis of bush, in what seemd like a housing estate, we chanced upon this Kookaburra who was not phased with us pulling up as close as we could in the car and trying to take a photo. In fact he seemed like he wanted to pose for us.

There's something about these birds which makes it special every time we see one and of course their call which has become that very Australian sound when we go walking.

We took quite a few of him as he sat contentedly in the tree as we sat in the car trying to position the camera for the best shot. I think Lisa took this one, or so she will claim!! :o)

But then every where is very photogenic which makes it a bit more straight forward to get a good shot. Especially when the wildlife is so accommodating!

October Long Weekend

2005-10-02T17:22:00.000+10:00

The first weekend in October was a bank holiday, or ‘long weekend’ as they’re called here – it was Labour Day in New South Wales. There was a milestone (deadline) at TeamBondi on the Friday and luckily Dean was a good boy and had completed all his work. Unfortunately, many other people had to work the weekend to get things finished.
Anyway, we were able to take full advantage of the weekend and we explored the north shores of Sydney in search of some top beaches!

On Saturday, we went to Tania Park which the Spit to Manly walk goes through. There are some nice views and it is a fantastic walk to take. We saw a Kookaburra, well he actually came straight over to us to say hello! Here he is!

We weren’t in walking mode this weekend so we carried on with our search. We went through Balgowlah to the North Harbour Reserve which looked like it had a great beach according to the map. It wasn’t! There wasn’t really any sand – it was more of a watery inlet. But it did have some nice rocks which we perched on to eat our lunch!

We actually walked further along the rocks for a while and discovered that there are more ‘designated’ walks to explore. Again, we stored this information for later, as walking was definitely not on the agenda this weekend!

We came back over Spit Bridge and called at Chowder Bay which had a really sweet beach and park. There were people fishing from the wharf (stored for when dad comes out), and it also had a place that sold coffee and nibbles – very high on Dean’s list of priorities!

Aware of the time, we set off again for Bradleys Head (just next to Taronga Zoo). This headland juts out into the harbour looking south and you can see the city in front of you with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the right. We stayed here and waited for the sun to go down. What a fantastic way to end the day! [the photo is under this post - I couldn't insert it here!]

This is Balmoral Beach

On Sunday we went to two gorgeous beaches – the best of the weekend in my opinion. These two were in Mosman (a very well-to-do area with some of the most stunning houses imaginable) and they overlook Middle Harbour. Chinaman’s Beach is just before you get to Spit Bridge. There were loads of boats moored off the beach with their occupants sunning themselves on the sand or playing in the surf with the kids. They were definitely not your Skeggy types!! It was so hot that we had to sit in the shade! After a lazy morning, we set off for Balmoral Beach – another gem (with another wharf for fishing)! This was like a posh Manly, but it didn’t have as many coffee houses. Many of the beaches around Sydney (these included) have green, park areas immediately in front of them with picnic tables and some have barbies too. It makes for a very relaxed and laid back environment!

We were sat on the wall drinking our flat whites, looking at the tide come in and we saw a pelican land on the wharf.

It was obviously waiting for any leftovers from the fishermen! We went round to see if we could get a good shot. The light was fading and because of it’s position, it ended up being a bit backlit – not the best photos in the world. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more opportunities!

On Monday we chose to go the northern beaches again – somewhere familiar! As usual, we stopped in Avalon for brekkie, but this time we actually spent some time on Avalon Beach. Dean went for a swim – mad if you ask me as the water definitely hasn’t warmed up yet! Then after a spot of lunch, we went up to Whale Beach. This is a much quieter place, but then it is about 4 times as long. Again, you get the most stunning houses overlooking the beaches here. We’re always blown away by the size of them and the fantastic views they must enjoy.
Well that was our weekend over – can’t wait to do it again!

Sunset at Bradleys Head

2005-10-02T07:40:00.000+10:00

For some reason this image wouldn't upload into the post above, so here it is on it's own!!

My trip back home!

2005-08-27T11:32:00.000+10:00

I’m now officially Aunty Lisa!! Let me introduce you to my niece, Erin-

Erin was born at the end of June and is a real cutie-pie as you can see!

I recently travelled back to the UK (Aug-Sep) to see family and friends. It was great to see you all. I spent a week in London staying with Treena and Andrew in Dulwich, who very kindly put me up (and quite probably put up with me!). I managed to catch up with lots of friends, especially at the Tate which was great. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see everyone and I’m sorry about that.
From London, I went back to Doncaster to stay with mum, dad and brother Jon (the proud new dad of Erin). I had a great time catching up with all the family and some old friends that I’ve not seen in a while.

Mum and dad had a party while I was there – jointly celebrating them leaving and dad’s 60th birthday. Here they are cutting their cake! They’re retiring early to Tenerife (they have actually now moved and loving every minute). My brother Jon has bought the family home and as I said, a proud and doting new dad. So there’s been a lot of change! Congratulations all round!!

Here are photos of my cousins' children.

Abbie is five soon and loves pink! She's also going to have a baby brother or sister in around 6/7 months time! Congratulations to mum Rachael and dad Andy - you must be over the moon!

Fin has the cheekiest smile and often likes to run around naked! Luckily I managed to take this before he stripped off! He's also a keen golfer and Sarah and Tony are very proud parents!

While I was there the England v Australia cricket match was happening. It was a bit of a dilemma for me – I didn’t know who to support! Denaby (my home village) has it’s own cricket field and we went along to watch a bit on a lazy Saturday tea-time. It wasn't a terribly exciting game, but the gin & tonic helped!!

Coogee

2005-08-14T18:06:00.000+10:00

On Sunday we decided to chill and go to the beach (as we’d had such an energetic week)!! We went to Coogee, which is a nice relaxed beach and has good walks along the cliff. We didn’t do any walking, it is a day of rest after all! It was actually quite windy on the top of the cliff so not as pleasant as reading and listening to iPod on the beach. Oh, and watching the Mynah birds taking a bath – that was fun!!

Lower Blue Mountains

2005-08-12T18:03:00.000+10:00

We decided to go into the Blue Mountains for a spot of tree hugging. Sometimes we really have an urge to get out into proper wilderness and it doesn’t come much wilder than this landscape. However, having to return the same day required a plan, as it's a fair drive out (something we don’t normally do)!

We wanted to visit Normal Lindsay’s gallery again. This is the artist featured in the film ‘Sirens’ (played by Sam Neil). It’s not hard to feel the romance of the place. My only criticism is that I wish they had some decent books or catalogues to buy!!

After the gallery, we headed for Hazelbrook and a walk along Bedford Creek. We’d bought a guide book of walks in the mountains. Considering the time constraints, this looked like an easy enough walk and not too long.

The book said there was a dirt track leading to a car park, where you then join the walking track. I think Australia has a different definition of dirt track to the rest of the world. Luckily we’d just bought Henry who has a higher under-carriage than most cars. I wasn’t prepared for the track we met – it was very definitely off road with great variations in the level of the surface. I had just expertly manoeuvred down a very steep and rocky section, when a rather ordinary car just powered up the same slope scraping the whole bottom of the car, which didn’t seem to bother them!

Anyway, we took our walk along the creek, peeking at various waterfalls there. It’s a very peaceful place and because it isn’t too strenuous a walk, you’re able to enjoy it properly.

Up north!

2005-08-09T17:51:00.000+10:00

On Tuesday, we decided to go up to the northern beaches. The sun was playing hide and seek, so we thought we’d do some more walking. Our first stop though was Avalon for brekkie and to see Bee in her shop. We love Avalon and have very fond memories from our first visit to Australia in 2002 when we stayed with Bee and Phil.

From there, we went up to Palm Beach and Barrenjoey Head. It’s a rocky peninsula with a lighthouse at the end. There are two ways to climb up to the lighthouse – the very steep way (that smugglers supposedly used) and the easier but longer route. We decided to take the smugglers route (we had a time limit on the parking ticket!). There are beautiful views as you’d expect from the top and you can see all around the Head.

Royal National Park

2005-08-08T18:25:00.000+10:00

Dean's got this week off, and we have our new wheels, so we're off exploring!!
Our first trip was to the Royal National Park, about an hour south of Sydney. It’s quite a large park and goes right up to the coast, with lovely peaceful inlets and also wild and rugged cliffs.

The weather was again glorious! We took all our gear as usual (picnic, beach towels, cameras). There are several walks in the Park and we chose the one that takes you along the coast to a little inlet. It’s a lovely easy walk in and out of scrub and along some weather beaten and eroded rocks.

The inlet is quite secluded and sheltered. We camped down on some rocks above the water and ate our sarnies watching the sea. The tracks down to the inlet seemed easy enough to follow, but going back we had a different perspective. I had been on a previous visit with my friend Charlotte and we managed to lose the track back. So I was prepared when Dean wanted to go in the wrong direction!! I was determined it wasn’t going to happen again.

2005-07-03T17:22:00.000+10:00

I am going fast, honest!

2005-07-03T17:01:00.000+10:00

Dean's new wheels!

2005-07-03T17:00:00.000+10:00

My new wheels!

Our new wheels!

2005-07-02T17:02:00.000+10:00

Today, on another gloriously sunny winter's day, we decided to go to Manly - on a mission! We rose early (well early for us, especially on a Saturday) and went to our new favourite coffee haunt, Le Petite Tart for brekkie to give us a boost. Then we caught the ferry to the beach. The particular destination was Manlyblades, where we'd seen some hot wheels just waiting for the right owners to come along! Dean bought a skateboard, or to be more specific, a cruiseboard. And I bought some Rollerblades, the original in-line skates. I have wanted some of these since I was about 12. I'd mastered the art of normal roller skating (those with a wheel on each corner) and saw some cool dude dash past me wearing in-line skates, the new craze! Don't ask me why I didn't get any before now. I suppose I was pretending to grow up, but at last it's caught up with me. I think ultimately I'm not allowed to grow up until I've conquered in-line skating. So, I succumbed! And Dean didn't need much encouragement to join me in this attempt at denying our true ages!
I did try to show some wisdom, by hiring some skates for an hour, just to make sure I still felt the craze. I was a bit unsteady to start with, but by the end of the hour, I was doing fine and soon felt my skills from ice-skating showing through. I was made to wear all the protective gear - very fetching, but I didn't fall!! We returned to the shop (me, much more red-faced than an hour ago) and spent about another hour trying on and choosing the right one/s.
The irony is that as we were nearing our house at the end of the day with new purchases 'under-arm', I slipped on some kind of perfectly round (ball-bearing-like) seed the size of a chestnut and promptly landed on my arse. I put out my wrist, as you do, which received an almighty wallop from the tarmac (now all bruised and tender). I'm not sure if that's an omen or not. I've been dying to put my skates on, but I'm erring on the side of caution until my hand feels better!

On A Side Note

2005-06-13T20:50:00.000+10:00

With all this absolutely gorgeous weather there is one down side! In 2 weeks we are taking a weekend trip down to Thredbo, one of Australia's snow boarding resorts. Only, there is no snow! Bugger! It's a 4 hour drive away, so we're looking forward to having an extended snow board season that is only a short drive away. Last year was apparently the best snow for about 15 years.....looks like it's a little slow this year.
Every day for the next 2 weeks we'll be watching the weather reports and praying for snow in the mountains and also that winter in the city remains as beautiful as always.

2005-06-13T20:49:00.000+10:00

not much snow yet!

The Queen's Birthday

2005-06-13T20:35:00.000+10:00

This weekend is a bank holiday weekend! Yay! And all thanks to the Queen. Well not exactly! Apparently the original holiday was for the king, but seeing as he's dead it's now officially the Queen's birthday bank holiday! But not in Western Australia for some reason.

Saturday
Wandered down into the city today after a great brekkie of French toast with maple syrup washed down with a large mug of flat white! All set for the day!
Weekends are usually spent doing our photography assignments as it tends to give us the most freetime to take lots of photos. This weeks assignment is particularly difficult, having to take a series of photos from the viewpoint of a giant. a dog, an 80 year old man, etc.
So it was dodging in and out of coffee shops around the rocks, for lots of inspiration....oh and cake too!!

We went over to the Dendy cinema by the quays in the shadow of the opera house. Dendy's a great arthouse cinemas and we'd heard of a Chinese film called 2046, so we booked tickets to return later with Ben and Em.
Not sure it was a good idea! It was a very challenging film. It went on for about 40 mins too long and it had already reached a stage where I thought it had resolved itself and was preparing my bum to vacate the seat, when a new stroy element was introduced and on it went. Ben was able to catch up on some sleep! Sydney Film Festival is on for the next 2 weeks and there's a few films that takes my fancy......so maybe have better luck with those.

Sunday
Got up early in the morning to get down to Rushcutters Bay for 9AM. Sailing seems to be the watch word for amazing weather and today was no exception. After yesterdays little blip with a short spell of much needed rain, this morning was absolutley fabulous. Winter here never ceases to amaze me and I think it was a miserable 23 degrees!! So it was on with the sun tan lotion, and off for 3 hours of sailing around the harbour.
There was a few bouts of bugger all wind, so floating around Sydney harbour taking in the fantastic city sights and the never tiring opera house was the focus of the day. Gigg was my instructor yet again. The very eccentric Swiss (that great sailing nation!!) instructor with a need for speed. The lesson generally sways between him trying to lean the boat over as far as it will go in the water while catching the best possible wind or, if that's not entertaining enough, it's a case of cutting through all the winter series races and dodging in and out of the path of oncoming sail boats!! Certainly makes an interesting morning of sailing when Gigg's onboard.

So after sailing it was a case of back to the house to start preparations for Gav, Jean, Aladar and Debbie to come round for a night of food, wine (and lots of it) and snowboarding stories! In fact it ended up being too much wine as the next morning proved!

Monday
Yes!! woke up with a great hangover. Lisa, who very rarely suffers from the effects of booze, also was a bit worse for wear this morning. That fine Australian wine!
So it was down to Bronte for some fresh air and to catch up with the Team Bondi Posse. Another great winter's day but not as nice as yesterday.

2005-06-13T20:28:00.001+10:00

beautiful winter sun

2005-06-13T20:28:00.000+10:00

a leisurely morning sail

2005-06-13T20:27:00.001+10:00

winter series racing

2005-06-13T20:27:00.000+10:00

just by the bridge

2005-06-13T20:26:00.000+10:00

opera house by boat

Sparky and the FA Cup!!!

2005-05-22T14:07:00.000+10:00

Saturday Night.
Being what seems like a million miles away from the English footy season, or 'soccer' as it is known over here, I caught wind of the Cup final on the day it was happening! When I say day, I actually mean that kick off was at 12 midnight!
Should I stay up and try to catch it live? Questions, questions!
In the end I found myself nearing 12 and thought well why not, thinking of Andy back home nervously waiting to see Arsenal give his team a football lesson! ;o)
The first half came and went with as much excitement as watching a game of chess unfold with no player willing to take any risks! So I decided to turn in, knowing that some how I would change the luck of the game and there would be a 20 goal fest as soon as I turned it off!
Sunday Morning.
Ben and Em very kindly agreed to drive us to the quarantine station to come back with a well travelled pussy cat! Ben told me the news that the cup final had resulted in a 0-0 draw through full time and extra time, only to be resolved by a penalty shoot out which ended in a 5-4 score line. That would have meant me not actually going to bed that night, confirming I made the right decision to turn it off!
Hard luck Andy! Next year maybe! :o)
So.....we drove to the quarantine station which seemed to take no time at all and before we knew it we had a cat in a box in the back seat, heading back to Glebe. He took the journey well and sat there taking it all in. To be honest he's a well seasoned traveller by now so another car journey means nothing in light of his recent adventure! We let him out of the box and he spent the first ten minutes wondering around from room to room, checking out his new abode just to make sure we had made a good decision about the house and that it met with his approval. He gave a thumbs up the only way he could by non stop purring and giving us the mohican (hairs on his back standing up, which means he's excited) for the next few hours.
Looks like the early signs are good and he's more than happy to be here. With Sparky home, our puzzle is now complete and he's a fully fledged aussie feline!

2005-05-22T14:03:00.000+10:00

a well travelled feline

2005-05-22T14:00:00.000+10:00

at last....peace and quiet!

2005-04-28T18:00:00.000+10:00

I've just been to see Sparky! He's in quarantine at the moment, and looking quite sad, I have to say. He's actually fine, looks well and is eating OK (his fat belly is still there anyway). He recognised me straight away and started purring, which is a good sign! I gave him some 'gourmet' food, which he enjoyed and then he came down from his platform to continually circle my legs. I took my picnic chair and soon he was curled up on my lap purring - that is until some idiots came around the back yelling for their cat - I think they were American!
The Q Station is 40km west of the city, so unfortunately I'm not going to be able to visit as often as I thought. Public transport doesn't really serve the place well, which means we need to hire a car to get there. I'm much happier now I've seen him though and I think I can accept not seeing him so often. He's been assigned Rachel (one of the vet nurses there) who is really nice and friendly. I'll probably make one other visit before collecting him to come home.
Here's a photo of him looking forlorn!!

2005-04-28T15:16:00.000+10:00

The grass IS greener on the other side!!

Anzac Long Weekend

2005-04-27T12:37:00.000+10:00

We’ve just got back from Jervis Bay, where we went for the Anzac long weekend. We drove down Friday night and came back Monday afternoon. It was a bit of a Team Bondi outing – there were five couples altogether, plus three little 'uns.
We weren’t too sure about going away, as the weather wasn’t forecasted to be very good and when you’re going to beach resorts, there's not always a lot of rainy day options! Thinking of that, it just reminds me of rainy summer days in the caravan park in Filey, with Dad teaching me how to gamble, playing cards and board games!!
Anyway, back to sunny Sydney! The specific place was Callala Beach and we stayed in a five bedroomed house called Utopia! It wasn’t quite my definition of utopia, but it was lovely! Maybe they were speaking of the beaches, because they were pure heaven!
On Saturday morning we went to a beach close by called Culburra. The waves here were quite strong and knocked me straight over. It was pretty exhilerating! By lunch time, everyone had left and we were on our own – weird!! There are very few people on the beaches here, it’s incredible (that is apart from Bondi and Manly)!!
That evening we had a fantastic barbeque with lots of wine – yum, yum! Hami and Alex had bought fishing rods and wanted to test them out, so after food most of us went down to the beach with them. A fire was lit and while they set up their lines, I took some night shots. Alex caught a Skate, while Hami provided veggies in the form of seaweed! The beach by moonlight is stunning, but it’s hard to capture that atmosphere by camera.
The next morning, Alex and Hami were straight down to the beach again and we followed shortly after. This is Callala Beach, just two minutes from the house. It's extremely long and for the most part quite straight, so each wave breaks in one long line. It has lovely white sands and aquamarine (!!) water. It had a very gradual slope too and once you passed the gently breaking waves, it was like swimming in a pool, but without the walls! The water was so calm and glassy - it was the most fantastic place to swim. I honestly didn’t want to come out and was only forced to because the sun felt so hot. We felt like we were being toasted so we decided to go for some lunch in Huskisson before hitting Hyams Beach. We were taken to visit this beach by Phil and Bee when we first came to Australia 2½ years ago, so we had fond memories of it. We got there a bit late in the day though and we had about an hour of sun before it dropped behind the trees. It’s weird – because it’s still so sunny and hot, you’re fooled into thinking it’s still summer when the sun would be out into the night. But it’s actually autumn and it’s setting at around 5.30 now. Just before we left, Dean had to go in for a dip. He claimed it was really warm, but because the sun was going down it was getting slightly chilly and I didn’t want to risk it!! So then it was time for coffee and cake in Hyams Café before heading back to the house and another barbie!
There was another fishing jaunt, so we went just to walk along the beach. We came across a small shark and presumed someone had caught it by accident and left it. Apparently it’s illegal to fish for sharks.
It was soon Monday morning and our last day! I suppose luckily for us, the weather was overcast, which made it easier to think about going home! We were heading for Kangaroo Valley, a slight detour on the way back! It’s a lovely little place with some nice quaint shops! We stopped for some lunch and then got straight back on the road, missing most of the traffic that way!
What a brilliant weekend. Hope you enjoy the photos.

2005-04-25T10:25:00.001+10:00

Starting the fire.

2005-04-25T10:25:00.000+10:00

Spooky!

2005-04-25T10:24:00.000+10:00

Night shot of Callala Beach.

2005-04-25T10:23:00.001+10:00

The Skate that Alex caught.

2005-04-25T10:23:00.000+10:00

Nice warm fire!

2005-04-25T10:22:00.000+10:00

Me, Dean, Vicky, Brendan, Alex, Nuria. Fishing on Saturday night.

2005-04-25T10:20:00.000+10:00

Callala Beach, early morning.

2005-04-25T10:19:00.000+10:00

Blue, blue sky - just wanted to give some reference!!

2005-04-25T09:17:00.000+10:00

Callala Beach - beautiful!

2005-04-25T08:17:00.000+10:00

Found this on the beach!

Final Assignments

2005-04-17T22:40:00.000+10:00

We finished the course and had our 1 day of fame by being able to hang some of our work in the ACP (Australian Centre of Photography). Well it was upstairs in the class rooms rather than the very high brow galleries downstairs!! But still, sounds good to say that we've exhibited there!!
The exhibition lasted all of a day due to the builders coming in to decorate the rooms and the staff haviung to take down our work as there was alot of dust around! Good while it lasted.
Here's comes the gallery.... sing the theme tune to "Take Hart", all those old enough to know what I'm taking about! You know who you are.

2005-04-17T22:35:00.000+10:00

tree in blue mountains

2005-04-17T22:30:00.000+10:00

landscape near hunter valley

2005-04-17T22:24:00.000+10:00

reflections

2005-04-17T22:18:00.000+10:00

layers of the city

2005-04-17T22:15:00.000+10:00

mish mash of architecture

Photography

2005-04-11T11:56:00.000+10:00

Here are a few shots that we've taken since doing our course. We can't post everything - I think it would overload the blogspot, and most of them wouldn't be that interesting to you!
We had our last 'lesson' yesterday. We had to take an exam! Well, it was a pretty relaxed affair, but nevertheless, it's been a while since I sat a test! We handed in our final assignment which was a selection of shots from a theme of our choice. We mounted them as they will be shown in a mini exhibition at the centre (only upstairs in the workshop rooms, not in their gallery)! We’ve had homework every week! The assignments basically give you the practice after the theory of the classroom. We feel like we’re really improving and have finally taken the camera off automatic and put it on manual!! There’s been a mix of people on the course and we've got on really well. Despite it being a beginner’s course, I did expect everyone to have more experience than me, but they hadn’t. One guy had bought his camera an hour before the first class started! So it was a nice to discover that we were all in the same boat! It's a shame it's now ended. We intend to do the next course, but not sure how many of this group will do the same.

2005-04-11T11:47:00.000+10:00

Amazing fig tree roots

2005-04-11T11:46:00.001+10:00

Taking city shots for our assignments.

2005-04-11T11:46:00.000+10:00

Dean contemplating his birthday!

2005-04-11T11:45:00.001+10:00

Beautiful colours

2005-04-11T11:45:00.000+10:00

Coogee on Dean's birthday!

2005-04-11T11:44:00.000+10:00

This is a school PE class??!!!!

2005-04-11T11:43:00.000+10:00

That's a ferry going past if you couldn't work it out!

2005-04-11T11:42:00.000+10:00

Chinatown

Our stuff is here!!

2005-04-04T11:12:00.000+10:00

Last Thursday our things arrived – hooray!! I was very excited – it was just like Christmas, opening up all those packages! I spent all day opening up boxes and at the end of it, there was quite a mess! Not only did I have all the things from inside the boxes, but I also had the empty boxes as well. I soon became overwhelmed and started to stuff our stuff into cupboards, just to create a bit of space.
I’ve finished unpacking now and there were a few damages, which we’re not particularly happy about. So now I’ve got to sort out the insurance claim for those!!
The living and dining area are now set up and it looks more like a home. It’s a bit strange seeing our furniture in this house and it does mess with your mind a little.

2005-04-03T22:02:00.000+10:00

From Bromley.....

2005-04-03T21:54:00.001+10:00

...to Sydney!

2005-04-03T19:06:00.000+10:00

Aaahhh...and...relax!!

Sailing

2005-03-26T11:50:00.000+11:00

As you will know, we’ve been taking sailing lessons, at Rushcutter’s Bay. We’re having a fantastic time and really enjoying the lessons. I get a bit nervous before the lesson, but once I’m there, it’s great. We sail in the harbour, so have great views of the Opera House and Sydney Bridge. There are hundreds of other boats out as well, as you can imagine. Sometimes we get a little too close for comfort! Last Sunday a freighter was coming into the harbour and it was travelling at some speed I can tell you! They're huge and you feel so insignificant in comparison. Only a couple of lessons left and a theory! We’re going to continue though with more lessons, so we’ll be ready to charter a boat when our visitors come to see us!
The photos here are taken on Mikey's boat that he built himself - it's amazing!! He even made the sails, which are a work of art! We went up to see Bee and Mikey in Avalon and we went sailing on Pittwater. The weather was a real mixture - we had brilliant hot sun, clouds, rain, wind, no wind - so it was quite a practise session for us. And of course we finished the day off by having a curry!

2005-03-25T11:36:00.002+11:00

Why did I get the yellow one, I hate yellow!

2005-03-25T11:36:00.001+11:00

Mikey and Bee!