tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:50:26 +0000A record of the Hawkins family emigrating to Sydney, Australia, from September 2006.http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/index.htmnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)Blogger274125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-6209110429958298282Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:05:00 +00002010-02-25T15:50:26.028+11:00Well the AC/DC concert finally came around last night, having bought the tickets back in June last year. Although this bunch of ageing rockers aren't seen as that fashionable, they have been touring for over a year and playing to huge stadiums across the US and Europe, with their Australian tour also getting a lot of hype. This was their third and final show in Sydney.I used to love the original http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/02/acdc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-8903542813778518793Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:03:00 +00002010-02-25T15:23:50.172+11:00We've been an uncharacteristically 'sick' household for the past few weeks, with Sue still suffering from her shingles pain, and me having had bad toothache prior to dental treatment during the week. On top of that, Rebecca's had a bout of asthma, so we've been having a low key time of late and limited exercise. However, this past weekend has been an active one, with Laura going off to Universityhttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/02/carolines-18th-and-laura-leaves-home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-7829905108930960375Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:20:00 +00002010-02-09T08:38:24.598+11:00With just over a year to go on our temporary visa, we are posting off our application for a permanent visa today, with a big file of paperwork heading off to Adelaide.After getting the confirmation on sponsorship from the NSW Government, I have had to compile a lot more forms and information about us and the business, as well as get the accounts redone for a different 12-month period - since the http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/02/permanent-visa-application.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-5860502921317039738Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:07:00 +00002010-02-09T08:20:13.723+11:00This past weekend seems to have been a continual rain storm / shower, with Saturday being the worst - apparently over 70mm fell in Sydney over a 24 hour period, and northern NSW is also under flood alerts. Which means that Lesley & Dave timed their visit here very well, and we had a quiet weekend indoors!http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/02/washout.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-5961950297158229785Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:53:00 +00002010-02-04T08:33:17.172+11:00Lesley and Dave have been here for 5 days, on their way to a longer stay in NZ. They arrived last Tuesday morning - Australia Day - after having spent a few days in Hong Kong. The day turned out hot and sunny and we took them to the city to enjoy the events going on around The Rocks and on the harbour, and then enjoyed some fish & chips on the beach at Balmoral on the way home.The rest of the http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/02/olvers-in-sydney.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-321370225645174436Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:15:00 +00002010-02-04T08:33:30.004+11:00It's been a particularly hot weekend, especially on Friday and Saturday when the temperature was in the high 30's and this coincided with the 2-day 'Big Day Out' music festival at the Olympic Park. Caroline went on Saturday with some friends and just managed to last the whole day although the afternoon and evening did start to get cooler. Her main incentive was to see the headliners, Muse, in thehttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/01/summer-heat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-7703875805104525735Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:15:00 +00002010-01-19T08:13:20.068+11:00It was Laura's birthday on Sunday and her departure from teenagerdom! She'd been out partying on Thursday night and again on Saturday, so by the time her birthday arrived she was feeling quite tired, but managed to get up early before Caroline went off to work for several hours.The plan for the afternoon had been for us all to go to the city and enjoy one of the jetboat rides around the harbour. http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/01/lauras-birthday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-2144504269082901139Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:44:00 +00002010-01-19T08:08:55.319+11:00I received confirmation of renewed sponsorship from the NSW Dept of State and Regional Development yesterday. This is the first stage of applying for a full residency visa, and the sponsorship is required for the visa I will now be applying for, as I've reached the required targets for turnover, net assets and employees over the past 12 months.This latest process was similar to that which I went http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/01/nsw-business-sponsorship.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-366177577936591549Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:04:00 +00002010-01-08T17:09:11.870+11:00Only 2 days to go before the dog goes home! I must admit, I’ve grown quite fond of him as the days have passed, but not really to the point of not wanting to let him go – there have been too many ‘accidents’ for that!He’s a lovely puppy though, and has made us all laugh with his antics, especially when chasing his tennis ball and forgetting to stop at the wall, or barking outside each girls’ http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/01/dog-sitting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-3953784591767784628Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:47:00 +00002010-01-05T08:17:19.968+11:00We've had a good holiday week at home - the weather hasn't been great but we've been able to relax and also get in some bike rides and walks along the coast. The walking will be a higher priority over the next week or so for all of us, as we've agreed to look after a friend's dog while they go away - a small black and lively puppy called Ozzy, who is some sort of spaniel / poodle cross.We weren'thttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2010/01/new-years-eve.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-8848932249872487390Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:47:00 +00002009-12-28T15:28:50.310+11:00As 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 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/12/christmas-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-7258780855662087185Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:23:00 +00002009-12-28T15:22:00.049+11:00It'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.Wehttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/12/preparing-for-christmas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-8210712597511060066Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:50:00 +00002009-12-10T16:21:20.635+11:00It 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 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/12/awards-night.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-4021276134612359198Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:13:00 +00002009-12-10T16:16:58.954+11:00We 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 nexthttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/12/daniel-drops-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-9139824001481459227Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:22:00 +00002009-12-04T08:27:01.283+11:00My 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 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/11/night-at-opera-theatre.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-689478052394525324Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:41:00 +00002009-11-25T16:56:59.466+11:00It'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, http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/11/heat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-5125301579919036727Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:45:00 +00002009-11-21T11:06:45.691+11:00Well, 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 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/11/sues-big-birthday-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-3132895177166519075Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:50:00 +00002009-11-12T08:27:29.363+11:00Not 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 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/11/big-night-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-4278515250325630325Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:24:00 +00002009-11-03T08:35:52.434+11:00We 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 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/11/akuna-bay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-1952569068214593883Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:30:00 +00002009-10-27T17:22:23.402+11:00There was a big day of activities in Sydney yesterday, with the main one being Breakfast on the Bridge, when the Harbour Bridge was closed for the morning and 'turf' laid along its length for 6,000 people to picnic on the bridge. I think we missed any chance of getting in the draw for spaces on this, but then the 6.30 start wasn't a great attraction!The weather held for this event, but another - http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/10/opera-house-open-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-7202990570041797643Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:17:00 +00002009-10-15T16:35:53.003+11:00After the long weekend last week, Clive took another one this week and we set off for a weekend in Australia's capital city.We had been planning to visit Canberra for a long time (at least to see why everyone was so disparaging about it!) and decided to pick a weekend when the weather forecast was reasonable enough to allow us to cycle round Lake Burley Griffin. Having discounted many previous http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/10/canberra.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-2692175841433829990Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:23:00 +00002009-10-13T08:19:37.574+11:00It was the start of the 2 week school holidays here this weekend and also a long weekend for the Labour Day holiday on Monday. However, there was a distinct feeling of it being a UK-style bank holiday weekend as after the recent weeks of blue skies and hot weather (including over 30 degrees on Thursday) the weather changed to being wet and cold.The whole weekend was mostly a wash-out, which was ahttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/10/labour-day-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-7984393698176333550Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:41:00 +00002009-09-30T08:57:28.551+10:00The weekend started with some cleaning up after the dust storm of midweek - a thin layer of dust outside and in the house, plus both cars needed a good clean.On Sunday we joined our bike group for a ride ‘out west’, in an area south of Parramatta that Clive and I are unfamiliar with, so we were looking forward to discovering a new part of the city.The day dawned bright and sunny, but with a http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/09/granville-bike-ride.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-3859718977405251916Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:14:00 +00002009-09-23T17:42:51.092+10:00We awoke to a strange event this morning, with Sydney covered by a red dust storm - apparently this is a very unusual 'once in a lifetime' event here. It was caused by some high winds bringing over dust from inland NSW and for the first hour or so of daylight, the sky was very foggy with a deep orange colour. The birds were also very silent for a change!These pictures were taken from the house athttp://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/09/dust-storm.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26328434.post-3207208981988360982Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:59:00 +00002009-09-23T17:34:21.347+10:00It was a bit of a 'training themed' weekend just gone, starting with Friday when I was running one of the training days through the University of Sydney. The venue for the course had to be changed at the last minute on Thursday as a contractor had drilled through a major power and phone line in the city, putting the hotel that we usually use out of action. In the event, myself and the 18 http://www.clivehawkins.co.uk/blog/2009/09/training.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hawkins Family)0