A few days into the New Year and we decided to go to the aquarium as they have a new exhibition of Dugongs, we then saw the queue and went to the Maritime museum instead. They have a school program that involves splashing about and generally making a mess - both Adam and Emily loved the bit with the water guns!!

Despite all the other toys available, Emily loved the teapot set



We also got the chance to go on the warship and the submarine - Emily has only recently grown tall enough



Colin and I both decided there is NO way we could be submariners as it was very cramped

(also for those complaining that we hadn't blogged for ages - get lost!! We have been a little busy)

Hope everyone had a great New Year. We watch the fireworks this year from Matt and Jen's balcony overlooking the Bridge and Opera House.



We celebrated the bells with the usual glass of bubbly, but had the joy of having our own space and seat and didnt have to queue for 30mins to use a smelly portaloo.

The kids managed to stay awake all the way to the bells and finally fell asleep around 1am. We then walked home about 2:30 and were in bed for 4am. Cant remember the last time we were up so late. How sad is that!!!!



The boys all went for a quick skooner around 11pm and I ended up singing Flower of Scotland with a random old boy from Kinning Park.

The kids woke up at about 10:30am, but we managed to stay snoozing until about 12:30. Much better than the 3 hours I got last year.

Leigh and I discovered tonight that we can walk to the pub without crossing any roads!!!

(as if we need another reason) They have opened the new South Pacific Ocean enclosure for the penguins, seals, sea lions and a leopard seal.



We have been twice already!



(this is me before I have had coffee in the morning - har de har)

At the beginning of November, we went to Bondi for Sculpture by the Sea which stretches from Bondi all the way round to Tamarama. We decided that walking all the way to Tamarama would be too much for the kids (and as it was the last weekend, it was really busy).
            





 Emily being modern art

We weren't going to go back to Shark Island (for the start of the Sydney to Hobart race) but as Jen and Mick were keen to go, we decided to make the effort.  Jen and Mick are the parents of Hannah from Adam's class and serious Wanderers - Jen's Dad is the club secretary and Mick is the unofficial cook when we have the BBQ every Sunday.



It was all the same as last year although this time we knew what to expect so Colin and Mick made their way to the front of the line when getting off the boat to get a good spot (although they didn't run for the spot as some people did!?!?!)

See if you can spot the difference:


2007                                                                               2008

The kids got a bit bored sitting waiting for the start of the race as, as far as they were concerned, it just looked like lots of boats got together on the harbour.



After watching the start of the race, the kids wanted to go swimming. Unfortunately, where they wanted to go swimming was quite deep and one of us tall people had to go in with them.



This is Maddie (Hannah's big sister) and me coming back to shore but having to go through the seaweed



(I was being very brave as Maddie was freaking out a bit about it - I was secretly freaking out too!!!)

Thankfully Emily didn't jump off the pier (although she wanted to at first with the "big girls") but she did want to go for a swim/doggy paddle



As with the last, however many years, it looks like Wild Oats will win again



Update: I think Emily found today quite tiring, after I just finished drying her hair, she asked if it was bedtime and when I said yes, she answered: yippeee

The view  . . . .




Every three days or so I get to watch the touroids loading on and off the cruise ships.

On the Friday before we moved, Adam's school had a 70's theme quiz night. Colin and I, along with a few other parents from the rugby team formed a table, aptly called the Under Sixes. Not only was the quiz 70's theme but we had to dress up

Colin also had a fake 'tache - which made him look like Chick Hicks from Cars


This is Mick, dressed up as Paul Hogan in his '70's tv show (Colin has taken to referring to him as Mick Dundee)



We all had much fun, especially as our team won - Colin would have also had won best dressed but the organisers wanted to share the prizes around!

My computer is slowly giving up the will to work

After the end of the kids rugby season, some of the parents decided that they wanted to have a go so an adults touch football team has been put together and Colin and I have volunteered. Luckily for us, only about two or three people in our team have actually played much before and we are all the same "fitness" level - for our first game, there were many jokes about having an ambulance standing by with a defibilerator. The only slight problem with our team is the lack of women as we have to have three women on the field at all times - and so far we only have four women which means there are not enough subs as we would like


Our team is in red (Adam took the photo)

One of the reasons everyone enjoys it is due to Sunday afternoon "training" - going down to the rugby club, running around a little bit and then setting up the BBQ and sitting and talking rubbish whilst the kids run amok.

On Sunday I had my Motorcycle Operators Skills Test which is the final test before I get my licence - thankfully I passed - I was surprised at how nervous I was, maybe because I announced to everyone at work that I was going for my test and the fact that my learner licence runs out in two weeks time so if I had failed, I would need to resit pretty quickly.

I am now on my provisional licence (or will be once I pay (another) fee to the equivalent of the DVLA) which still means that I am restricted to what I can do - no passengers, zero blood alcohol, 90kmh limit and an automatic suspension if I am caught speeding.

After 12 months on my "Ps", I will then have an unrestricted licence.

The worst bit of my test was the fact that it was during the day and I only ride my scooter at 8am or after 5pm so normally it is not too hot but I was riding in my jeans with my (biker) jacket, gloves and helmet in 24 degree heat - not so pleasant

The other Saturday night was time for the annual office ball and this year the theme was the circus as it was being held in Luna Park

Again this year Colin decided not to go (instead of having to pay for a babysitter) but this year I did take a date  . . . remarkably tall Jenny! As she has a new job, she obviously couldn't go otherwise.  Again this year we invited people around to ours for drinks before the ball.

Spot the difference


From left: Matt, his wife Jenny, Taryn, Carly, me (with new v blond hair!) and Jen

The ball was good fun with some good entertainment with one of those acrobatic shows on fabric and a great band.

Today was Father's Day so after breakfast in bed (bacon, beans, tattie scones, toast and marmalade) and then about three hours of playing Fifa '08 on the Wii (football game), we were invited next door for "leftovers". Walter and Santo's idea of leftovers is our idea of a fully catered lunch!!

After lunch Walter decided we should all go for a walk and he showed us around the grounds of the now empty mental hospital - including the fenced in Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit (for the criminally insane!!)

Unfortunately as it has been raining far too much recently it was all a bit muddy.


This is Ethan and Emily being very concerned that they were going to get covered in mud!!

Last week my office had a social event that was vaguely Olympic themed - the idea was to go to the pub (the infamous place where Princess Mary met her Prince!) and support the Aussies at the Water Cube - which was fine for the Aussies in my team but Kelly (Kiwi) and I made sure we were wearing appropriate colours



Carly, me, James (the only bloke on our team and one of only six in our department), Kelly and Wendy (my boss)

You may remember that in February we went to see Gladiators and finally "our" episode was on TV - well actually it was on TV about a month ago but we have been slack!

We managed to spot ourselves in the audience - but I don't think anyone else would be able to identify us - we only realised it was us after much fast-forwarding and rewinding!

Last night, Colin and I went to see the Dark Knight at the cinema, however, one of the cinemas here have re-invented going to the cinema for grown-ups. It is Gold Class and it is FANTASTIC.

You start by entering the Gold Class lounge (no mixing with the plebs) to have a pre-film drink and then you can order food, drink, snacks, etc to be delivered to your seat whilst you watch the film. The cinema itself is tiny with only about thirty seats  - but not normal seats but extra wide reclining seats with a little table between two for your food and drink - top!!

We started with beer, champagne and a food platter, then about half way through the film a very nice lady brought my coffee and popcorn - and not in a cardboard box but in a nice bowl as if you are at home.

Once you go Gold Class, you can never go back!!

On the day of the Pope's main trip through Sydney, including touring the harbour - officially on the boat-a-cade but I preferred one paper's take - Pope-on-a-boat - my department had our annual strategy conference which happened to be held in the Four Seasons at the Circular Quay end of George St. It made for a very distracting conference as the crowds of pilgrims were making so much noise as they paraded through the city.

Eventually, we heard the news that he was actually making his way down/up George st so we ended up having a great view of the blur that was the Pope-mobile. I don't know if they were running late (it was 5.30pm) by this time but the mobile went down the road at what looked like 30 mph, if you were looking the wrong way you would have missed him!!

That's him!

You can also see the delightful Jackson's on George (which apparently is up there with Clatty Pat's in being a quality establishment!) where we ended up after the hotel bar stopped serving - thankfully we persuaded one of the partners to come with us, or more importantly her Amex!

As part of the team bonding that is the conference, even the Sydney-siders get to stay at the hotel which was lovely although I didn't have a view of the harbour, I did watch the crowds follow behind the Pope.

After today's opening mass, there is a concert being held for the pilgrims at Darling Harbour and WE CAN HEAR IT FROM OUR HOUSE!!!!

Today, the predicted 150,000 people descended on the city, immediately beside my office




This is the view from one of the meeting rooms on my floor.

On Sunday, it was the the Rocks Aroma Festival - a festival dedicated to coffee and chocolate. The coffee was all $1 - unfortunately there wasn't the same special deal for the chocolate although Colin and the kids did enjoy themselves (I was still recovering from some killer virus that Emily gave me)

The most amusing thing was seeing that one of the longest queues was for the Guatemalan coffee that I get at our local market

Sydney is hosting World Youth Day in July, meaning more people visiting Sydney than for the Olympics - urg.

The most interesting day will be the Tuesday when he arrives - his first mass will be pretty much directly opposite my office - we have been watching them putting up the fencing and the port-a-loos, it should make work that day a bit more interesting.

On Friday afternoon at 5pm I took Adam to his first training session with the wanderers. After initial reluctance to take part, he quickly got over his nerves and was running, tackling and passing his way through the session.

He is in the Under 6's Red team, with about 10 other kids. They play 8 to a side on a small pitch with modified goals and far fewer rules. They have no scrums and things like forward passes and knock-ons just get waved play on. They also allow the coach on the pitch to help them all through it and also to make sure that everyone gets a shot.

Adam was at Hannah's birthday party at the weekend. His whole class was there, plus lots of other kids from various other social circles. Plus all the parents, so must have been close to 100 people there. The theme was karoke and games. The obligatory BBQ and lollies was there also.

It was just Adam and I, Leigh stayed at home with Emily, so I was forced into talking to more people. Before we left Adam insisted that he didnt want to sing, but he was chosen by his host to sing and promptly jumped up and sang away like the rock star he is.

There were the usual games and one funny one where Adam and his pals won for having the best rock star pose.



The party was hosted in the Leichhardt Wanderers club house as Hannah's Grandfather is the club secretary. I was chatting away with some of the parents and discovered that about 7 or 8 kids in Adam's class play for the club. More about that later.

Adam danced and sang for several hours, filling himself with sausage rolls, fairy bread and lots of lollies. I had some kibabs and a low alcohol beer as I had the car.

At the weekend we braved the dodgy weather to go camping, and in fact the weather was nto so bad - the Friday was a bit damp but it cleared up on the Saturday and Sunday.

The campsite was a lot smaller than the previous one we visited and, as it is now Autumn, not nearly as busy which meant that we were the only ones camping on our little bit of grass which is aimed for about five sites.



We didn't do too much, just enjoyed visiting the local sites, including Newcastle which is obviously having loads of money thrown at it. We did visit a maritime museum which had a fun exhibition on the Pasha Bulker.


The Pasha Bulker was a tanker that got washed onto the beach at Newcastle last winter during some quite bad storms - the beach is actually called Nobby's Head

Sunday night to Monday morning was a bit more interesting as it was super super windy - both Colin and I both wondered how well we had put the tent up and both Adam and Emily were oblivious and slept through the whole thing.

Monday morning when we came to pack up was quite entertaining as it was still really windy so we had a few moments when we had to throw ourselves or children onto the tent!!

Now we are bereft of visitors, we have planned our next camping trip. This weekend is the Anzac long weekend so on Friday we are heading up the coast to near a place called Swansea



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Adam's school also has a pupil free day on the Monday so we are having an extra long weekend - hopefully the rain will be have stopped by then

Last weekend we decided that the Walker family would go camping. So we reserved a powered site at the Ocean Beach Holiday Park and packed the car with every imaginable piece of camping equipment you could think of. Even the kitchen sink!!!

We left just after swimming lessons, drove about a 90 minutes north and got there around 2:30pm.

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The place was really nice, lots of facilities and the weather was clear blue skies which helps too :)

As you can see we were right on the beach:

We then set about pitching our tent. It was good having the trial run in the garden as we were confident about putting it up and it was very simple.

15mins later we were relaxing with a drink in our seats. Sadly, the one thing we forgot was the BOOZE!!!! So Leigh took the car and scouted the local town for a bottle shop.

Once we had had a wander round the site it was time for dinner. I unpacked our little travel BBQ, complete with travel gas container and fired it up. The kids had sausage rolls and we have lamb kebabs and some salad. All very civilised.

The kids played around the site for another couple of hours on their scooters and then we got ready for bed. We have blowup mattresses for us and the kids and an electric pump. Emily and Adam were very excited about their new beds and sleeping bags. Perhaps a little too excited as sleep was the last thing that they wanted to do. This took a couple of hours of persuasion and Emily was up and down most of the night.

The morning came round quickly and I sat and watched the sun come up over the beach. Very pretty.

We had some breakfast. Regretting that I did not bring the bacon!!!

The tent was pretty wet from all the dew and I don't think we tied it tight enough as the inner layer was a bit wet from touching the outer layer. But will be better next time.

We then went for a little swim/paddle/play in sand and some lunch at the cafe before packing up around 3pm and heading home.

All in all a very successful first camping trip and something we will definitely do again.

 

In an effort to see more of Australia, we are starting a new adventure . . . camping!!!

After compiling a monster shopping list (tent, sleeping bags, mat/beds, mozzie net (for me), mini-bbq (Colin), etc) we hit the sale at the local outdoor shop. We made out like bandits and got everything we needed (and some more) - we got slightly distracted when deciding which sleeping bag to get but as we sensibly realised, if it is anywhere near -5 we wouldn't be camping!

We are having a trial run at a local camp site about 90 minutes from Sydney, however, so we wouldn't embarrass ourselves, we had a trial run in the back garden:

Step 1 - Get tent out bag


Step 2: Get main poles up






Step 3: Get side poles up



Step 4: Cover with fly-sheet



Step 5: Get back in bag



We will see how we get on this weekend when it is for real - worst case scenario we can throw everything back in the car and drive home!

To take advantage of the parents/in-laws being in town, on Saturday afternoon, Colin and I disappeared towards the Blue Mountains to Windsor, which is just beside the Hawksbury river.

We stayed at the Sebel and had a lovely time doing nothing and not being covered in food, sand and other unmentionable by-products of small children.

Way back in January (yes, it has been that long since we remembered to write about this), we joined David and Sally in the city centre to watch the sights of Australia Day. The main focus was, of course, the harbour so we managed to catch the end of the Ferryathon, the tall ships race and the harbour parade - during this, it seemed like every water-worthy craft was on the harbour.


After that we sat in Botanic Gardens for a couple of hours eating ice-cream, rolling down the grass (Adam and Emily) and watching the equivalent of the red devils.

After that it was a nice stroll through the Gardens to see the bats (for David and Sally . . . and Colin, who loves them) and then back to David and Sally's apartment for dinner.

After dinner, we made our way down to Darling Harbour to watch the fireworks. The evening's entertainment was advertised as starting at 8.15, however the fireworks didn't start until close to 9.15. We had an hour of some fairly torturous "entertainment" before the main event. As with last year, we were close enough to get ash in our face (I got some in my eye!). This year though, we were a bit too close so 10 minutes before the fireworks started we started getting pushed by people who thought they could barge to the front - at one point I thought the Dad to our left was going to start a fight as his family had obviously set up in a good position (they had deck chairs) and some people just barged in!!

Even after/before our guests left/arrived, we have been keeping ourselves busy. We finally got round to going to see something at the Opera House . . . Le Grand Cirque, which was basically the acrobatic bit of a circus - lots of tumbling, jumping, throwing, spinning, etc. Both Adam and Emily enjoyed it - Emily got a bit bored during the balancing and strength acts - to her it is nothing special as she can make her dolls do those poses too!!



It was great to see an event inside the Opera House, at least we can tick that off our list of things to do, only a few thousand left!

For Hogmanay we went to Illoura Reserve (park) at Balmain point, which meant we were just across the water from the bridge, although, to be fair the wrong side of the bridge.





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We decided to get there pretty early, well I did and was mocked for it, however, we were glad we did as we found a great spot, far enough away from the rowdy "young folk" but a great view. Behind us, a group of people were playing cricket with some interesting rules - you had to play whilst holding a beer (this included some of the children who played), if it bounced once, you had to catch it one handed and if it bounced twice, you had to head it. The final rule was that if you caught it, it was your turn to bat or bowl, regardless of who it was - this meant that at one point, Adam got a chance to bowl!



We spent a lovely evening watching the boats go by, including the seriously laden barges that the fireworks are launched from.



After eating some of our humongous picnic, at 9 we watched the children's fireworks and after that the park empty a little bit as responsible parents took their kids home. Emily fell asleep and we waited til the main event. As ever, Sydney's love of fireworks did not disappoint - 12 minutes of a pretty excellent display - we were so close, we could smell the gunpowder!!!



After that, Adam managed to stay awake another 30 minutes before he couldn't fight it any longer and we decided to head home. We could have, in theory got a bus back down the road but as we were walking quicker than most of the traffic we decided just to walk (we had two prams with us so the kids were still sound asleep) - it took just under an hour, and I reckoned we would still have been waiting for a bus with enough space for us.