Christmas 2009

As hoped for by the girls, the weather changed at the end of last week, just in time for Christmas Day, with some cooler air from the south and clouds as well as rain by the end of the day, which continued through to Boxing Day. As a result, they felt that it was more like a traditional Christmas and as it was cooler Sue opted for the roast turkey dinner instead of the barbeque and salad! We had a lovely family day at home and only ventured out to feed the neighbour's fish....

As Boxing Day was wet and cool we decided not to go and watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race this year, as did many others according to the lack of crowds on and around the harbour. The rain continued for most of the day, so we had another lazy day at home with a short and blowy walk around Long Reef in the afternoon, between the showers.

Preparing for Christmas

It's the build-up to Christmas but we're feeling unseasonal as always with the sun and warmth! Sue participated in an open-air carol concert in Manly last week, as she had been singing in a mass choir of about 150 people for the past few months in preparation. I went along to watch with Laura and Rebecca plus several thousand others and it was an entertaining evening, finished off by fireworks.

We bought a Christmas tree on Saturday and put up the decorations, while the girls were all reading about (and seeing photos of) the heavy snow in the UK via their friends on Facebook! So we're starting to feel a bit more seasonal now, helped by the girls starting their school holidays that go through to the end of January.

Awards night

It was the annual Awards Night at the girl's school last night, where Caroline and Rebecca were both receiving certificates for good work during the year. As I am now 'president' of the school council, I was due to be sitting on the stage with other 'dignitaries' and, so I thought, that was it. However, I discovered during the afternoon (and not from the school) that I was presenting the awards to Caroline's year, which of course she was delighted about!!

In the end, their group was the last of a long evening and there weren't too many to hand out as a lot hadn't turned up as they were revising for an exam the next day, but I did my bit and didn't embarrass the girl's too much....

Daniel drops in

We have had the pleasure of a visit from our nephew Daniel over the last 5 days, as he 'popped over' from New Zealand at the end of a cycle tour around South Island. He arrived last Wednesday evening so Sue, Laura and I tackled the rush hour traffic to pick him up from the airport and we then drove to Balmoral for fish & chips where we met Caroline and Rebecca for a 'family reunion'.

Over the next 2 days Sue and I were working, so Laura played the tourist guide and showed Daniel around Sydney centre on the Thursday and then they travelled out to Bondi on Friday. The weather has been good, with blue skies and sunshine, although Bondi was cold and windy, so they didn't get to venture far into the surf! On both days they also enjoyed the journey to Sydney on the Manly ferry and had a reasonable 'swell' between the Heads of the harbour.

On Saturday Caroline had studying to do, but the rest of us drove up to Palm Beach, via my new office where everyone helped to carry some more boxes across from the old location on the other side of the road! Once up at Palm Beach we walked up to the lighthouse and then returned home in the afternoon as Sue was off the Opera House in the evening with several friends.

Sunday saw a longer walk for Daniel, Laura and myself as we tackled the Spit Bridge to Manly walk, which took just under 3 hours - this was a great way to see the harbour and also a convenient way to pass the time and then meet up with Sue in Manly where she was having a final rehearsal for a carol concert this week (singing this time, rather than playing an instrument). In the afternoon it was Caroline's opportunity to come out with Daniel as I took them both up to North Head, as the others we attending Rebecca's dance show.

So, it had been a busy few days for all of us, but it was great to see Daniel here and show him around, plus he had good weather to enjoy the sights. It was unfortunate that he couldn't split his flight back to the UK, so he had to leave early this morning to fly back to NZ for a short break before coming back this way again and then on home to England.