A night at the Opera (Theatre)

My birthday celebrations finally ended last Friday night with a trip to the Opera House with Clive to see a ballet, courtesy of the girls. We saw a production by the Australian Ballet called ‘Concord’ which was a trilogy of dances, each with about 12 dancers performing. We made our usual journey to catch the ferry across the harbour from Cremorne, although the rush hour traffic made it slow going and we only caught the ferry we wanted because it was also running late!

Once in the Opera Theatre - which was the first time we had seen a performance in this part of the Opera House - the first part of the performance was ‘Por Vos Muero’ (‘For thee I die’), a Spanish dance set in 16th century Spain. A bit heavy and dark for my liking, but each to their own!

After a 20 minute break, we were treated to a more lively dance, a comedy called ‘Scuola di Ballo (Ballet School). It was quite difficult to make out facial expressions from our seats near the back, but the binoculars helped a lot! This dance had orchestral accompaniment, which was lovely.

Lastly, we watched a dance with an Antarctic theme, ‘Dyad 1929’. The stage floor and back were a stark white with black squares, and the dancers wore minimalistic outfits which showed off their flexibility to a tee. I think I need to keep practising the yoga! This was my favourite dance of the evening.

It was a perfect night for a visit to the Opera House, warm and still, and the glass of bubbly overlooking the harbour at dusk was very relaxing. Thanks, girls!

We’re being honoured with a visit from our nephew Daniel this week. He’s ‘popping over’ from a cycling holiday in New Zealand for a few days, and we’re all looking forward to seeing him.

Heat

It's been a very hot weekend - more records have been broken over the past week for November temperatures across NSW and Sydney 'copped a scorcher' which made it hard to do much, other than stay inside. This is forecast to be the sign of things to come this summer, with a high bush fire risk as well. Sunday afternoon was the worst time and then during the night the temperatures plummeted again, driven by strong winds from the south.

Fortunately Saturday night was also a bit cooler once the sun went down, as this coincided with a 50th birthday party we'd been invited to - fancy dress as well (something starting with the letter 'M'). Having planned our outfits some time in advance, without considering hot weather, we were lucky it didn't get too hot as Sue was a match (with a bright red wig) and I went as a mummy. Being wrapped in bandages from head to foot got some strange looks from passers by, but went down well at the party! However, with the heat and the unravelling, I had luckily taken some spare clothes and changed into something more normal after an hour or so.

Last week Rebecca received her brand new mini-laptop computer from school - a new initiative this year which is seeing all Year 9 children in Australian schools getting a small laptop plus lots of up-to-date software to help their learning. She will keep this laptop through the rest of school (and afterwards) as the intention is that eventually the top years in school will be taught with the computers as a core resource, with most exams eventually being done on these as well.

Of course the downsides are that handwriting skills will go to pot (like mine) and Rebecca also has to carry her laptop to school and back each day. A lot of the 'popular' websites, like Facebook, are blocked from these laptops, even though they can still be used through our home network. Teaching methods are also going to have to change, but then it will be good preparation for the school kids prior to university and work, where computers are commonplace.

Sue's Big Birthday Weekend

Well, my Big Birthday has been and gone, and as everyone predicted, I don’t feel older at all. Mind you, this is possibly due to the wonderful few days of relaxation I had last week, rather than anything else!

Our main news though is that Laura returned from her travels on Monday morning, which was lovely! She landed at 7.30, having hardly slept on the flight from the UK, only to then go to a brunch party hosted by some friends which lasted until early evening. It certainly helped with the jet-lag and she slept very well that night! Now she’s busy looking for a job to keep her busy until her university course starts on March 1st.

Clive and I had booked 2 nights away in a B&B in Mudgee as a birthday treat, and left home on Thursday morning. Mudgee is 300kms north west of Sydney, across the Blue Mountains, a journey which took us 4 hours. The final 130kms from Lithgow involving driving along just one road through rolling fields with cattle and sheep dotted around. The current drought makes the landscape look very strange, with parched, yellow meadows interspersed with bright green willow trees indicating where the rivers were (or probably weren't – most were dried up). It was quite a stark contrast to Sydney’s green parks.

Mudgee was first settled by Europeans in the early 1800's during the gold rush, although gold was never actually found there. It slowly developed into the small town it is today with a population of 8000, the most famous of whom was Henry Lawson, whose parents opened the first school. Lawson went on to become a well-known poet, but died at the age of 55 after years of alcoholism, poverty (he used to beg at Circular Quay) and a failed marriage. I haven't read his poetry yet, but it must have been popular as he was given a state funeral (or maybe the Aussies just love infamous characters!)

Our B&B was rated 5 stars, and had it all – one of 4 self-contained rooms set apart from the main house, there was a luxurious bed with enough cushions to stuff an elephant, a shower room, kitchenette, eating area, sofa and coffee table, TV and stereo, and the 'piece de resistance', a 2-person spa bath in the corner of the living area! Sounds strange, but it didn't seem out of place once we saw it! The front door led onto out decking with table and chairs and fantastic views of the pool below our window, the lush Italianate gardens beyond and the tennis court in the distance. It was perfect!

Thursday afternoon was really hot, so we explored the garden slowly (impossible to do anything at speed in heat!) before having a swim in the pool to cool down. That evening we walked the 10 minutes into town for an Italian meal, returning to sit on our decking with the mossie candle burning, and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere.


Friday was our only full day, so we got up early to explore the area on our bikes. Luckily, the temperature had dropped from the day before, so it wasn't too hot, but the wind still made the ride a challenge! Mudgee apparently has more vineyards than the Hunter Valley, yet receives just 10% of its visitors. Great if you don’t like crowds, but maybe not so good for wine sales! Most wineries were closed during our early ride, so we had to settle for water to keep us hydrated!

After a quick lunch we drove to the next nearest town, Gulgong, half an hours' drive away. The town has changed little since it began life as a tent town for gold diggers in the early 1800s, and still has only 2ooo inhabitants. We could see why! It was very quaint though.

Back at the B&B, we decided to have a game of tennis. Walking through the garden, we stopped to stroke the resident young kangaroos – our hosts are wildlife carers who take in orphaned joeys and look after them until they reach 15 moths of age, when they move to a 'middle house' before being released back into the bush. They currently have 5, 2 of whom spend all day in a joey sleeping bag, only coming out to be fed, so we didn't see them.

The older 3 were delightful, and would sniff our fingers gently, let us shake paws with them, and enjoyed a stroke. We had just started warming up on the tennis court when we saw one of our 'friends' hopping down to find us! He hopped onto the court and had to be encouraged to leave before a tennis ball in the face spoilt his beauty! As well as the 5 joeys, the B&B was home to 4 dogs, 2 cats and an aviary full of birds. I was in heaven and Clive quite liked it too!

That evening's meal was Thai, one of our favourite types of food, and very good it was too (for a country town!).

We had asked for breakfast on our final morning (the cost was extra). Reviews raved about these breakfasts, so our lips were watering as we headed for the dining room, anticipating beautiful crispy bacon and perfectly cooked eggs. We were to be surprised! After juice and hot drinks were sorted, out came our fruit – a beautiful glass with Greek yogurt in the bottom, a perfectly-poached pear on top and raspberry couli drizzled over the pear.

After this, we were brought our main dish, which was a stack of toasted Italian bread spread with garlic paste and topped with a delicious slice of local ham, then 3 thick asparagus spears, a large baked mushroom, grilled tomato half, slice of Brie and fresh basil leaves to top it all off. A work of art! It was just the sort of food I love, and it was perfectly cooked and delicious, but even I was a little disappointed not to be served a more traditional brekkie! We decided this was aimed to please stylish Sydney-siders who tend to eat like that on weekends.

I think this could be the longest blog entry to date? Anyway, to continue...

We arrived home on Saturday afternoon, the day before my birthday, to 2 big and beautiful bunches of flowers (one from the girls and Clive; the other from friends in the UK). What a welcome! The house was clean and tidy and the girls were being industrious in a secretive way. Phew!

My birthday dawned warm and sunny and we drove to Cottage Point Kiosk for lunch together. This is a cafe on the banks of the Hawkesbury river, deep in National Park but just 30 minutes' drive from home. The setting was beautiful, the food fantastic and the company couldn't have been better!

Then it was home for pressies, cake, champagne, and some family fun – what more could an old woman hope for? It's certainly been a birthday I’ll never forget, and for all the best reasons. Thank you everyone!

Big Night Out!

Not long now until my 'big' birthday, and the warm-up began in earnest last Saturday in Manly, famous more as a buzzing, backpacker haven than a spot for those over a certain age to celebrate their birthdays, but hey, I don’t feel too old for a bit of lively fun yet!

Clive and I had done a ‘reccie’ a couple of weeks previously and decided that Charlie Bar next to the Novotel Hotel was stylish enough for us to hang out in for a few hours, so invites went out and we were really pleased when only one couple couldn’t make it. We took over a corner of the bar and 14 of us chatted and emptied a few bottles of their best sparkling until late.

Not wanting the evening to end, the few hardy ones amongst us who were left at 11pm (yes, I know that’s not late, but we had started at 7!) decided to head for the town’s renowned pub, The Steyne. Sadly, renowned for all the wrong reasons, but we wanted to see if the reality lived up to its reputation. We queued up with the stylish young things, and didn’t get asked for ID, which was a little upsetting.

Once in, we by-passed the drug-dealers and asked where the 80's dance floor was (the decade, not the age). This request was met with blank faces, but we were pointed politely in the direction of the only dance floor in the bar, currently empty. If 80's music had been playing, I’m sure we would have been up there and gyrating, but there was just a loud noise coming from the speakers, so we sat with a drink (water this time!) and waited to see what would happen. Shortly afterwards, kids old enough to be our grandchildren (but only just!) took over the dance floor, at which point we decided to head for home before turning into pumpkins.

It had been good to experience what Laura and her friends live out their weeks for, but I’m more than happy not to have been there at 3am when the bars close, and Clive and I were safely tucked up in bed by the time things really got going. The evening had been good fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and in our books, that made it a success.

Now Clive and I are looking forward to 2 nights away in Mudgee on our own, for some more serious, sensible entertainment, before coming home the night before my birthday. Life’s just one long party!

Akuna Bay

We went to some friends for a barbeque on Saturday night - the first of the season - and managed to avoid most of the groups of kids wandering the streets for Halloween. However, an enterprising group on our street had sent round a note to residents during the week with an orange balloon to hang out if we welcomed the knock at the door, so we had one large group of kids excitedly coming down our drive once they saw the balloon, soon followed by another group that must have been shadowing them!

It has been a hot weekend and I joined our bike group on Sunday for a local ride into the national park and around Akuna Bay, an isolated marina in the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury River. Sue decided to opt out of this one as it was going to be quite hilly, and in the event there were only 6 of us on the ride, with most being regular, fit riders (which doesn't include me!).

I dropped Sue off on the way to the bike meet and she walked home from Narrabeen Lagoon, which was her 2 hour exercise. The bike ride was good and lasted the morning, although it was getting very hot by mid-ride, just as we were going up the long drag out of Akuna Bay where we had stopped for a drink. The roads around the national park are very popular with cyclists and there were a lot around as usual. We had a good ride although there were some hard hills, but of course they were all worth it for the downhills, and the water in the bay looked very enticing!