Koalas, wiggles and snakes

Scarlett has had a busy couple of weeks. The weather has been gorgeous so we have been back at the beach regularly and started back at the pool again too. Rob and I take turns doing laps and playing with Scarlett in the kids pool. Rob and Scarlett went to a special 15th anniversary Wiggles concert at the invitation of our friends George with her kids Sophie and James. It was celebrity packed (by Australian standards at least) affair and Scarlett danced and sang alongwith Russell Crowe and Miranda Otto's kids. Afterwards they headed to Luna Park and the Merry go round. A new mini zoo opened in Sydney last week called Sydney Wildlife world. It's an amazing Armadillo-like structure on the roof of the Aquarium in Darling Harbour and promises a quick look at Australia's animals without needing to have a full day at taronga zoo. I thought it was pretty lame. The habitats and building itself are pretty cool but there was hardly anything to see. You had to squint to see two koalas way up in the trees and the only sighting of a wallaby was of its legs poking out from behind a bush. And for my $30 I expect exhibits more interesting than bull ants. I can see these in my back yard for free. However we did get to play with a friendly carpet python. Rob took Scarlett to the zoo with her friend and doppleganger Sam where they were treated to the results of a new experimental breeding programme they are running there to create much larger animals with some success. Finally Scarlett made her first outing into Sydney Society on Monday night when she joined Rob and I at the cocktail party for the Launch of Good Food Month. It was a smart affair with cocktails, champagne and canapes. Scarlett had her first taste of caviar which went in ok but was quickly spat back out. However she loved the smoked ocean trout. She was also photographed by one of the Sunday papers for its society section which comes out on Sunday so we are hoping she makes it in this weekend.

Wet, wet,wet

We headed away this weekend, down the coast two hours to Gerroa, a beachside village at the head of Seven Mile Beach noted for how little there is to do there except enjoy the surf and the beach. We rented a beach house with old friends Martin and Drew, and despite some of the wettest weather ever recorded in Sydney last week, were expecting a weekend of sun. In my mind's eye we would be spending our days sunbathing, swimming and lazing about, Sweet Manhattans in one hand, Raoul the Columbian pool boy in the other, and our nights on the deck barbecuing and sipping white wine.
During the 2 hour drive to Gerroa on Friday night we are optimistic - the skies are clear and blue, we watch the sun set and the moon rise. What do those weathermen know anyway? Then ahead, on the freeway, the sky is blackened by the appearance of the sort of dark clouds usually reserved for the apocalypse, rising like volcanic smoke from the horizon. Then the rain begins to fall, and lash and lash... until only the hysterical setting on the windscreen wipers will do. I know this all sounds like a recipe for disaster but think again. As it turned out the house was so gorgeous it mattered not what the weather was doing. Architecturally interesting, the house was constructed as two pavilions, a rear one, home to three bedrooms and two bathrooms, connected to the front pavilion by a deck. The front pavilion was a huge open plan L-shaped kitchen/living/dining room with impossibly comfortable leather couches surrounding a fireplace, an immaculate modern kitchen centred around a large stone island and, best of all, floor-to-ceiling windows offering uninterrupted views along the beach. We had the fire lit all day every day, food cooking, wine open, papers out and there we stayed. Our one excursion was a hastily aborted attempt at a walk on the beach, from where we were sent packing by violent winds and a cold, sobbing two year old. Truly there was nothing better than being trapped in this divine house, safe and warm, while we watched the tempest rage outside from front row seats. Perfect.

Oh what a night

A big night on Monday at the Good Food Guide Awards. The star attraction was uber chef Alain Ducasse, the only chef in the world to hold 14 Michelin stars at his various restaurants. The big upset of the night concerned Neil Perry. His restaurant, Rockpool, has held 3 chefs hat awards for several years. Last year he lost a hat and there was uproar. There was an expectation that this year he would win the third hat back (he even brought along a TV documentary camera crew to record the event) but it was not to be. Controversy reigned when during his speech Alain Ducasse declared his outrage that Perry's hat was not returned. Great night with amazing food and much champagne. I made an unusually dignified exit at 11pm, dropping Rob off at an afterparty on the way home. He arrived home at 2.30am.
On Thursday night Sydney was hit by an incredible storm. We were woken at midnight by an incredible clap of thunder that shook the house and scared the bejesus out of Scarlett who climbed into bed with us. The recorded rainfall over the city of a zillion mm or something, broke all records from this century and the last. That much rain hasn't fallen since 1883, which I guess explains why our kitchen flooded into the hall.

Happy Father's Day

What a top weekend. We awoke on Saturday to a 28 degree day, not bad for the second day of Spring, and sprinted to the beach for the morning. I took my first dip of the season, a lively event that saw me alternately whimpering, grimacing and cringing and I lowered myself deeper and deeper into the freezing ocean. I had to wait a good 5 minutes until my lower body had gone completely numb, and reduced my overall body temp, before I could fully submerge myself. In the afternoon, we went for a bbq at the home of our friends Lara and Adam, who delighted us with the news that they are expecting their first baby. They live in an amazing apartment with a deck that overlooks a rainforest. You can walk down a track from their deck into a deep valley and eventually to a creek. Scarlett loved it. Yesterday was Father's Day here. Scarlett presented Rob with a painting from nursery, a new book about Daddy and a voucher for a spa pedicure to sort out his middle aged foot situation. Good grief. We met up with friends in the Botanic Gardens for a morning picnic. Olga, our friend Deb's mum came too and did an excellent job of entertaining the children while we sipped champagne. After a long lunchtime sleep, we had more friends over in the afternoon for a late Father's Day lunch. A brilliant day but it all ended in tears, quite literally, when a certain two and half year old found it all a bit too exciting come bedtime. Tonight we are going out to the biggest event in the Sydney restaurant calendar - the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards. It is a hugely spectacular party at the Opera House at which restaurants are awarded hats, prizes are given and hearts either soar or are broken depending on the results. As Deputy Editor of the food section of the paper I already know all the results and know exactly which chefs to stand behind when they announce them. There will be a lot of bad language tonight as a couple of chefs have no idea they are going down. More on this later in the blog.