End of term

The girls finished another school term on Friday so are now on 2 weeks' holiday. For Laura it was the end of 'normal' school as her HSC exams start after the holiday and then she's finished for good. There was an end of Year 12 event for the students and parents on Friday night at one of the nearby RSL clubs which we attended. The last week of school also included the traditional 'muck-up' day where the Y12's generally play pranks and throw a lot of water around. The day actually spread throughout the week and the students seemed to be quite creative with their disruptions without exceeding the restrictions placed on them.

Sue and I had been invited by one of the couples from our social tennis to a barbie on Saturday lunchtime which was very pleasant and our first for the 'season'. It was a sunny and hot weekend which was lovely and we went on a bike ride down to Manly and back early on Sunday morning, to get into some practice before the longer ride next weekend.

I have also been preparing for my new member of staff who starts this week. This is my first 'real' employee for the business here and one of the main requirements that I need to have in place before we can apply for a permanent visa, which - if everything else falls into place - should be possible in a year's time.

Trivia night

Sue & I attended a trivia night organised by the girls' school on Saturday night - as with all schools, they have a 'P&C' committee (Parents & Citizens Association) who organise the occasional evening event, although this is the first we had attended. We had arranged a table of 4 couples, only one of whom were Aussies, so we had a distinct disadvantage on some questions and we're sure we were also up against some tables using mobile phones and Internet connections!

Many of the questions were challenging and although our table didn't finish last, we weren't far from it! The quiz was organised and run by an external group of people and the lady MC was quite strident and 'full on' so we felt verbally battered by the end of the evening! There was also a range of silent auction items around the hall - mostly sporting - including a signed Don Bradman bat, but unfortunately we'd hadn't brought enough money for the opening bid of $1,300 (about £600 at the current exchange rate)!

Still, the school must have made a lot of money for the evening (which will mostly go towards the canteen renovations) and we had a good social evening with the other couples.

Two years on

Today marks the second anniversary of our arrival here at the start of our 'big adventure' (and this blog has also just short of the 200 post mark as well). Saturday has been much warmer than recently, with blue skies and temperatures in the 20s again, so that the heating is finally having a rest and the balcony doors got an 'open airing' during the day - a sure sign that spring is now here and summer can't be far away!

Caroline was out all day, working and then seeing friends, and Laura was off to a party in the evening, so Sue and I took Rebecca to Narrabeen to revisit our first house and neighbourhood. We had a walk on Turimetta beach and then on the new path around the headland to Warriewood beach. This is part of the new Sydney coastal path which has recently been opened and is a mapped route from Barrenjoey Head in the north to Cronulla in the south, following the coast and the beaches as closely as possible - a distance of 100km and an expected walk of 7 days.

The start of Spring?

I had a double-dose of being spoilt over the past few days, with my birthday followed closely by Father's Day yesterday. I took the obligatory 'day off work' for my birthday as Sue and I had planned to go on a Hawkesbury River cruise, but the good Spring weather at the start of the week had gone and although the day was dry we decided to postpone the trip.

We therefore explored a few areas of the inner harbour that we hadn't been to before and then had a Thai lunch in Neutral Bay, followed by a drink at The Oaks, which is the first time we'd been back there since 1993! Caroline was then working in the evening and Laura was also off shopping for several hours, but we managed to fit in some present opening and birthday cake before they had to go!

The weather on Saturday was terrible, with torrential rain for 24 hours but it had remarkably cleared again for Sunday as the day dawned sunny and warm. Although Spring has officially arrived, the temperatures are still low here and the nights remain chilly - it's been reported that August has been the coldest month in Sydney for over 60 years (which is probably all down to us being here now!).

After last year's 'family day out' on Father's Day it didn't work out that way yesterday as Caroline was again working at her store and Laura had studying to catch up on, so Sue and I coaxed Rebecca to join us for another exploration to the south of the city. We followed the route out of the city that we had taken with the motorhome several years ago but then turned into the Royal National Park (the second oldest in the world).

There are a number of roads crossing the park, either across the high ground or through the valleys and we also visited one of the beaches which had wild waves crashing in. There was lots of bushwalking potential here, but we continued south along the coast road, stopping at a scenic viewpoint where there were numerous hang-gliders and parasailers jumping off the cliffs and floating out over the sea.


We then drove along (and walked) the new sea cliff bridge (seen in the photo above) which was built to avoid the regular rock falls onto the original road and is now a popular location for car advertisements! We had reached our furthest point when we had another 'petrol problem' for the second week running - we had noticed that the petrol gauge wasn't moving from half full, so we weren't sure how much we had left and had to hunt down a petrol station to make sure, before heading back into Sydney.

Port Macquarie

Last weekend saw Clive and I driving north up the Pacific Highway to Port Macquarie, around 400 kms away. Clive has a new customer there who wanted a meeting with him and, in return, was offering the family a couple of nights in their hotel FOC. If we had known how far away P.M. is, we may have sent Clive on the train on his own.…

Laura and Caroline were not interested in making the trip, so we told Rebecca she could bring a friend. She chose Robyn, the Scottish friend who had taken her away for a weekend previously - to the Hunter Valley - so it was good to return the favour.

Clive had arranged to meet up with The Observatory hotel’s marketing manager and owners once we got there in the early afternoon. We set off at 8am, having dropped Caroline at school, ad were soon on The Pacific Highway, which is a very, very, long straight road, but quiet. It was a pleasure to drive along for the first three hours, the only problem being accelerator feet going to sleep through lack of movement!

However, then we had a worrying half hour when the petrol light had been on and there was no garage for miles around. We had begun looking out for one when the tank was 1/3 full, but we have now learnt not to let the tank get below half-full! Eventually, we turned off the freeway following a sign that indicated a petrol station close to hand. We had to drive 12kms before we came across it, by which time Clive and I were getting resigned to tossing a coin for who would walk for petrol and who would stay with the girls! Anyway, we just about made it to the hickey station, filled up and then returned to the highway. Road widening slowed us down again for the last 20 miles, so we were very glad to reach our destination, 5 1/2 hours after leaving home. Clive went for his meeting and the girls and I headed for the indoor pool – bliss!

The hotel is 4 years old and is more like a block of apartments, with each unit having a fully-fitted kitchen and laundry room. Ours also had 2 balconies (one overlooking the beach and the other at the back) and 2 spacious bedrooms. There was cream carpet throughout, which was a real treat!

The evenings are still chilly so we drove the 1km to the town centre for dinner, picking a Chinese restaurant which was very popular, but whose food was revolting, not fresh and clean-tasting like Chinese should be like – they’d never survive in Sydney! We did a little food shopping and returned to the apartment to play a game with the girls before watching a free DVD supplied by the hotel.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, so after breakfast we hired bikes and went for a 2 hour ride to the north of the town, which included a free ferry ride to a less-developed area where cattle roamed the streets freely. We suffered a bumpy ride along an unmade road to the beach and then decided it hadn’t been worth it! We had to return the same way, but it was a good ride nonetheless.

After lunch, the girls went off to shop for dinner (they had offered to cook – great!) so Clive and I went for a walk south to explore the beaches.
We then detoured on the way back to visit a koala hospital at feeding time. In this case ‘feeding time’ meant syringes of antibiotics mixed with milk, which doesn’t sound appealing, but the poor sick koalas loved it, dribbling the milky mess down their chins and licking their lips. One was completely blind and will never leave the hospital, one had scoliosis (fairly common) and most had chlamydia (very common). All were very cute! We asked the girls if they wanted to pay a visit on the Sunday, but they weren’t interested – teenagers!

After another swim and sauna, we looked forward to dinner. Lots of ‘pinging’ noises from the kitchen should have warned us – dinner was microwaved pasta in sauce with tinned peas and sweetcorn. It filled a hole… actually, the chocolate mousse did that, and we weren’t too disappointed that it wasn’t homemade!

The weather wasn’t good on Sunday - showery and cool - so we were glad to be going home, even if that meant another long drive. For lunch, we stopped off at a road-side ‘eaterie’ called 'The Rock', with a roof resembling Ulhuru. Very tacky, but the ‘Subway’ sandwich was okay.

It was lovely to get away and to see a bit of the country – the drive followed the coast, with the Great Dividing Range inland. Closer to Sydney the countryside is thick bush, but a couple of hours away it becomes quite English-like, with fields of cattle and sheep. No agricultural farming though. Robyn is a very polite girl and her presence prevented Rebecca from having to put up with us on her own – probably something we’ll be doing again in the future!

Olympic envy

So the Olympics finished this weekend and the Aussies haven't enjoyed seeing the Poms doing better than them in the medals table. Of course all the TV coverage here has tended to focus on the Australian team's activities and they were doing well after the end of the first week with the swimming.

However, the second week was a shock for them to see Team GB move ahead in the gold medal count and the press has been full of reasons why this might have happened (too many Aussie coaches now in the UK, all wins have been 'sitting down', etc) as well as concern about sports funding here and how they can do better in London in 2012.

This article from the sports section of the paper this weekend is intentionally amusing but indicates the type of feeling here about how the UK has suddenly outperformed the Australian Olympic effort. And then Boris Johnson had to appear at the closing ceremony to let the side down...

Back in Sydney, Caroline enjoyed 3 days skiing last week when she went on a brief school trip to Thredbo, one of the closest ski resorts to Sydney. They left by coach on Tuesday night and travelled the 6 hours overnight to the south, which gave them 3 full days on the mountain before heading back again on Friday and arriving home at midnight (in torrential rain). She had a good time with her group of friends and the snow conditions have been the best for some years here.

Aussie Rules

Last Saturday night was another new experience for us – Clive and I went to watch the Sydney Swans play against the Geelong 'Cats' in the AFL at the Olympic Stadium. Rebecca had been to several games with a friend, so Clive and I thought we ought to see what it was like for ourselves.

The Australian Football League ('Aussie Rules') is a cross between football and rugby and probably other ball games, but not being an expert, I won’t embarrass myself by mentioning any more! There are 18 players on each team, who have to advance a spherical ball towards the goal using any part of their body they wish, before kicking it between the inner goalposts (to score 6 points) or the outer ones (to score 1 point). Players are not allowed to throw the ball and they must bounce it every so often as they run with it – easier said than done, given its shape!

The pitch is a large oval, like a cricket pitch, and the stadium edges are reconfigured for this type of game to create a wider playing surface. The game is played in 4 quarters, each at least 30 minutes’ long.

I am not the slightest bit interested in football or rugby, so really didn’t know what to expect, but I had heard that AFL is the most popular spectator sport in Australia and a favourite for family outings. I was therefore not surprised to be surrounded by lots of large groups of several generations, all sporting items in their team colours, ranging from ‘T’ shirts and jumpers to scarves, caps and lovely knitted bobble hats their grandmothers would have been proud of! (Mind you, 'Grandma' was probably there too, so maybe that’s why they were worn!)

Having said that, there were plenty of smaller groups there too, many not wearing any team colours and therefore being able to travel incognito (like us) – not that that mattered though, as supporters intermingled in the stands and shared friendly banter throughout the game, which was great to see. It seemed to be popular with all ages and even with many young people there, we heard no bad language which was pleasantly surprising!

Clive didn’t enjoy the game as much as I did, because he was comparing it to football and thought it was too ‘messy’ at times, with lots of stopping and starting. I surprised myself by quite enjoying it, especially when the ball was passed skilfully from player to player and seemed to get from one end of the oval to the next in no time at all.

The home team wasn’t expected to win, which they illustrated in the first quarter, but their play improved to the point where we thought they’d have a chance to beat the opposition. Sadly, it was not to be, and the final score was Sydney 94, Geelong 133. Clive and I left 10 minutes before the end, to avoid the queue for the free bus which would take us back almost to our doorstep, a journey of around 40 minutes.

As we got on the bus, the cheerful driver said: “Let’s go then and get you guys home to your warm houses!” Lovely comforting words, had they been true – we got home at 11pm and huddled under a duvet on the sofa, clutching mugs of hot chocolate and brandies! Although the evening hadn’t been 'cold' by European standards, the last few weeks have been colder than usual here, so sitting on a plastic seat for almost 3 hours in temperatures of around 10 degrees was a little chilling, and I was frozen to the bone, despite wearing my ski jacket, gloves and scarf – maybe I need to invest in a bobble hat after all!

Classics close up

Last Friday evening Clive and I were at one of our favourite venues, Sydney Opera House. We had just bought tickets a week ago to see the Sydney Symphony play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, followed by Stravinsky’s The Firebird – 'ballet fantastic'. (Not my opinion – that’s what it’s called!)

We followed our usual routine – car to Cremorne Point to catch the ferry to Circular Quay, enjoying the city lights as we crossed the harbour. However, it was a chilly night, so we sat inside on the ferry and had to forgo sipping our pre-performance glass of bubbly on the outside balcony of the Opera House. Mad dogs and Englishmen might have put up with the cold biting wind, but we’re turning into wimpy Australians!

We'd gone for the cheap seats and decided to try a new position within the auditorium, which meant in the choir stalls behind the orchestra. We were right on the front row and consequently had a great view of the conductor and his interesting facial expressions, but musical purists probably wouldn't have enjoyed the best sound quality.

There was just a bar separating our seats from the percussion section so we could have banged the drums ourselves, but I don’t think our help would have been appreciated! It was fascinating to watch the performers from behind, like being a silent member of the orchestra (thank goodness!). We almost felt like standing up and bowing when they did!

There were three parts to the Tchaikovsky concerto. The grand piano was at the front of the stage and the pianist, Yefim Bronfman, played a magical performance - we’re always amazed how some musicians can play such complicated pieces without music. He even found the opportunity to tuck his hair behind his ear from time to time, but he probably started playing that piece at the age of four, mind you! Everything about him gave us the impression that he was in his late-50s or 60s, so it was a bit of a shock to discover in the programme that he was just one year older than me!

The Stravinsky piece called for a larger orchestra – more double bass players came on stage along with percussionists, brass players and three harps (surely one would be enough?). Live music forces you to listen to the various instruments far more than recorded music. Hearing the different sounds coming from various corners of the orchestra, and how they answer each other and complement each other is fantastic. Evert time we go to a classical concert, we vow to go more often. I wonder when the next one will be?

Google Street View of Sydney

Google has just launched a new feature of its mapping service in Australia - Street View provides ground-level images of most streets across Sydney and the other main urban areas. It's a fascinating technology that allows you to 'drive' along streets and look around at the buildings, so it can be useful when going somewhere new or planning a route.

It's also a great time-waster, but once the initial novelty wears off, it should be a good resource when needed (much like Google Earth). Unfortunately many of the roads around 'our patch' are photographed in cloud (or rain in some areas) so the streets aren't displayed in their best light!

A sporting weekend (sort of)

The past weekend has been 'sporty' in a number of ways. On Friday evening I went to watch the local 'footie' (rugby league) team (Manly) again, with an expat friend. They were playing a team from Penrith and had another easy win, although the evening was much colder than our previous visit to the ground (and it was even colder holding the beers!).

There's been a lot of controversy over the past 2 weeks with a leading rugby league player breaking his contract and not only heading off to France but also to 'change codes' and play rugby union. This is seen as very poor form but as there's a salary cap in the NRL the attraction of playing in Europe and earning more money must appeal to a lot of young players. Although some games here attract good crowds, the game on Friday night was seen by around 7,500 people and as the entry tickets are reasonable (about £8 each) it's easy to see why there isn't so much money in the game here, plus most teams are based in NSW and Queensland, so it's not really a national sport either.

On Saturday the weather remained cold but sunny, so Sue and I had a walk on Narrabeen beach before she went to view a possible rental property for one of her relocation customers. In the afternoon I went out for a reasonably long bike ride, doing a big circuit which I hadn't tried before and ended up with a long hill, which just about did me in for the rest of the day!

Sunday morning was our usual spectator routine for Rebecca's football team and it was their last match of the season (at least within the main league games). They finished at 1-1 and look like they'll end up just outside the top-4 play-offs, after having 'peaked' in mid-season with a winning run which hasn't been so good over the past few weeks. Still, they've clearly made progress over the season and hopefully most of the team will continue into next season as we've quite enjoyed watching the games and chatting with other parents.

On Sunday evening I had a game a squash with another expat contact and although there is usually a group of players mixing around, it was just the 2 of us this week. We had a good match for an hour which finished me off for the rest of the day, again!