Lunar eclipse

We experienced a full lunar eclipse yesterday evening while playing tennis. The day had been clear and sunny, followed by the warmest evening for some time at tennis, which was perhaps a sign of spring around the corner! The moon started to disappear around 7pm, was completely covered by 8pm and then started to reappear around the edges as we finished at 9.30.

It was better to look at it happening away from the floodlights and although we could see the orange glow, it wasn't quite as impressive as this photo. Apparently you really needed to be in the bush away from the lights of Sydney to get the best effect!

Sunday in Manly

The sun returned again this weekend, at least on Sunday, after a dull and wet week. Sue and I attended a birthday drinks session this afternoon in Manly for one of the English friends we've made. We caught the bus from the end of our road and met up on the rooftop bar of the Steyne Hotel at the end of the main Corso street (all the 'pubs' here are called hotels and few have rooms!).

There were about 10 of us there for the afternoon which was very pleasant - Brits, South Africans, French and even a few Aussies! We had a great view overlooking the beach and then as the sun went down we walked to the other side of the town and finished off at the Wharf Hotel by the ferry terminal as the sun went down. The place was packed and obviously the place to be on a Sunday afternoon!

On Saturday morning we dragged Rebecca with us to a charity book fair in Mona Vale - these happen about once every 4-5 months and are popular since books here are quite expensive new, as they are either imported or have to support relatively small print runs. We always pick up a few bargains and Rebecca even found some for herself as well!

Parliament House

I attended a seminar in Sydney last night which was held in the NSW Parliament House, which was interesting to visit. It seems to have a mixture of old ornate rooms and modern facilities - the meeting was held in a comfortable, modern auditorium - although the building doesn't seem to be that big, from what access we had to it (so maybe we need to try a public tour sometime!).

The seminar was entertaining and thought-provoking, about future business trends. It was the opening event of a month long programme of meetings for small businesses in NSW and there was a good crowd of people here, so I managed to get some networking in, which was better than the event a month ago!

It was also much cooler than when I attended the evening meeting last month, with a cold wind blowing along the streets, so by 8.30 the city was pretty quiet and everyone had disappeared home or inside. I caught the ferry from Mosman this time, since the Cremorne Wharf is still being repaired, but this was just as easy with parking near to the wharf and a longer ferry ride, which was nice!

Wild and windy

Well the hot weekend a week ago was a false dawn for the arrival of spring, as this weekend has been cold and dull on Saturday, followed by torrential rain and high winds today. Rebecca was due to play in the school band at a local public (primary) school's fete, but that was cancelled due to the weather - sounds more like the UK! In the end she went to the movies with a friend while the rest of us had a day at home.

Laura even missed a driving lesson this weekend, although that was more to do with catching up on homework after having had a week of work experience for her 'entertainment' course. She spent the week at the nearby Christian Church complex (which apparently attracts congregations of around 5,000 each week) working in the media studio. It's a large modern group of buildings and the week started quite mundanely, but she did get involved with some of the TV and radio recordings that were being done at the studio, including by external companies who rent time to film commercials.

Sue and I were invited to a barbeque on Friday evening by the South African parents of Laura's best friend, who was celebrating her birthday. Laura came along too and there were also the English parents of another of their friends, although they have lived here for over 10 years. We had a good evening and it was interesting to meet the other parents and particularly to hear about the type of crime-ridden lifestyle the South Africans had left a year ago!

Earlier in the week Sue and I had also had an evening out at the small art-deco cinema in Collaroy. We often drove past this when we were living in Narrabeen and it looked an interesting place which tends to show less mainstream movies. It wasn't quite as impressive inside as we were perhaps expecting, but quaint and comfortable. We were amongst 10 or so others in a largely empty cinema (it was Monday night after all) watching the Swedish film 'As It Is In Heaven', which has been showing for many weeks here. Very good, well acted film and Sue found it quite emotional as she sniffled away in the dark.

Signs of summer

After a sunny week, the weekend was some of the warmest days for some time, with clear blue skies and low 20's temperature (and we're still in the last phases of winter!). The shorts made a reappearance for the first time in several months and Sue & I had a 2 hour walk around Manly Dam reserve on Saturday morning.

We had ventured into this area of bush before and not found the paths that easy to follow, but we picked up some of the main routes today and could get into the area close to our house, which was convenient. There weren't many walkers around but plenty of mountain bike riders on the main tracks, although there are also narrower paths just for walkers. We managed about a third of the area and will probably cover more of the paths soon.

Saturday afternoon was spent at home and taking Laura to work and Rebecca to a friends house, as she was going off to the Telstra Stadium to watch the Sydney Swans again in the evening (Ausssie Rules football).

On Sunday we had Anne & Ted here for lunch which was very enjoyable and we sat outside on the veranda for drinks beforehand, although there was some back-burning going on at a nearby area of bushland, so there was a big plume of smoke in the sky and it started to smell a bit burnt after a while - this must be the equivalent to your neighbour in the UK lighting a bonfire on a warm summer's day!

Kirribilli

The weekend was sunny and getting warmer. Saturday was mostly spent at home, with a quick trip to the mall in the morning, and then Paul and Carol came over for a meal in the evening with their children.

On Sunday, Sue and I went with Rebecca for a walk around Kirribilli which we'd not done since arriving. The harbour area provides a different view of the city opposite, while the bridge towers above and you get a good impression of its scale by walking under the supporting towers. We also walked around to the entrances of Admiralty House and Kirribilli House (the PM's residence) but there didn't seem to be anyone home!