Wet, wet, wet

While our neighbouring state of Victoria is being ravaged by bushfires and scorched by high temperatures, along Australia's east coast the weather has taken a dive. For a week now it has rained all day every day and the temperature has dropped down to around 20 degrees.  Any trip outside involves macs, brollies and determination. Inside we are going stir crazy. To attempt to alleviate some of Dad and Alexandra's disappointment that  they will not be returning to the Uk with a tan (not at this stage anyway), we have been trying to fill their calendar with events. On Friday we took them to lunch at Flying Fish, a great restaurant at the end of the wharf in Pyrmont. We dined royally on oysters, fresh fish, prawns and crab and a few glasses of wine, while boats sailed by the floor to ceiling windows. Morning tea at Martin and Drew's, while rain lashed the windows, filled Sunday morning and today I took them to the Chinese Friendship Garden near Chinatown, for fish feeding, lizard spotting, tea and dim sum. Suddenly the clouds parted, a strange gold orb shone in the sky, that took us some moments to recognise as the sun, and we raced home to rehang washing, put more washing on and for Dad to change into board shorts and sit in the garden in the sun.

Surprise!!!

Returning home from a walk with Florence on Tuesday morning, I found my Dad and Alexandra sitting in our family room. I COULD NOT believe it. I haven't seen them for  just over 2 years and they have never met Florence. It was absolutely brilliant to see them, a fantastically executed surprise by Rob - who made up some nonsense about a friend coming here on business from NZ, and they are here for all of February. They left Heathrow in thick snow and arrived in Sydney during the hottest number of days over 40 degrees since records began. Today it is 42 - yes, you read it right - 42 degrees. And guess what the forecast temperature for tomorrow is? Go on, guess. It's going to be 47 degrees. We have spent this morning at the pool and this afternoon we're off to a mate's place with a pool. Tomorrow it's the pool for us followed by a kid's party at another beach. God help us.

Happy endings and new beginnings

There has been a lot of change in our house this week with Scarlett starting school. The other big news is that I took redundancy from the Sydney Morning Herald after nearly 10 years. I absolutely loved working there, but I hadn't been happy with my new role since returning from maternity leave last February. I was promoted into a new job in November which  was then made redundant and things went downhill from there.  So it's out into the world again to see what's there. Most of old colleagues want me to freelance for their sections on the the herald and I've had interest from a couple of magazines already, so the future looks bright , even if it all feels  a bit scary. I am going to miss my brilliant friends at the paper but had a fantastic send off. My friend Nick gave a wonderful speech, as did two other colleagues Doug and Conrad. After cake and presents - an ipod thank you very much -  we went to the local pub for the night.
Just 24 hours later we got together with loads of my work friends again.  My journo mate John married  anaesthetist Martine on Sunday, but on Saturday we were all invited to the Clovelly bowling club for a bbq and to for all the bride and groom' s family and friends to meet once another. It's probably the most picturesque bowling club in the world, perched on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific.
On Sunday Rob and I left the girls for the afternoon and evening with our wonderful babysitter Julie and headed off to the adults only wedding at the Icebergs Dining Room and Bar in Bondi. The Icebergs is an institution in Sydney, with its ocean pools on the southern end of Bondi beach.  Again the location was spectacular with John and Martine making their vows with the waves crashing onto Bondi beach in the background.  After the most amazing, thoughtful, articulate and emotional speeches I have ever heard at a wedding, there were tears all round followed by much eating, drinking and dancing late into the night. Brilliant.

Scarlett starts school

Oh....my....God. Where did the time go? Scarlett started school today aged almost exactly 4 years and 11 months. I spent the morning fretting over her lunchbox contents (public schools in Australia don't do lunches), but she danced about happily in her massively over-sized school dress - that she loves, just as it is. Scarlett showed absolutely no signs of distress at all that she was about to enter a new school knowing only two other people (one not even in her year), neither of whom would be in her class. Am I bovvered? Not in the least. Me? I was in tears as soon as we arrived at the school, along with a swarm of other eager parents, grandparents and siblings. Rob managed a late pass to work so was there too, and Flo's godmother Amelia came long for welcome moral support. After assembling in the school hall, Scarlett was pleased as punch when her name was called and she paired up with a buddy from year 6 (Grace) who led her beaming from the hall without a single look back. Rob and I wept. What will we be like on her wedding day? We left it a few minutes before sneaking down to take a peak through her classroom window to find her already happily playing. The classroom is nothing like the primary school classroom of my (distant) youth. The teacher's desk is pushed off to one side, rather than being the centrepiece of the room, there's a play kitchen, bottles of paint and craft supplies everywhere, computers and a huge stuffed snake the kids sit on for books and when listening to teacher at group time. Her teacher is a young English woman, Miss Ward, who has only been in Australia for 18 months but loves it. "I never want to leave," she told me. "I used to teach in a school in the East End." Enough said. I went to work after dropping Florence off at daycare and looked at my watch repeatedly until 2pm when I had arranged to leave so I could pick Scarlett up on her first day. In my haste to make sure she didn't walk out from her classroom into a sea of strangers' faces, I was 30 minutes early. All the mums and dads gather under a lovely big shady fig tree to chat which is great, and I bumped into 3 women I knew. Scarlett emerged from the classroom with a grin, declaring school to be "Brilliant!" "Do you want to go back again tomorrow?," I asked cautiously. "Yes, please". Ice creams all round. 

Australia Day 2009

Kendall came up from Melbourne this week  for two weddings and stayed with us for the weekend, to celebrate Australia Day which was yesterday. After a morning of national anthem singing and flag waving with the kids we hosted a load of mates for a traditional Australia Day bbq, complete with snags (sausages) and plenty of beer.

We took our lead on all things Aussie from Simon, our next door neighbour, as to the correct ettiquette for the day. Already drunk by midday, as is traditional, Simon informed us that the correct greeting to fellow Aussies on Jan 26 is not "Happy Australia Day" as we had thought, but " Good on Youse". 
When the unexpected, but welcome wet weather, drove us indoors, and the kids from the paddling pool,  there was nothing for it but  a rousing session of our new favourite game -YouTube Karaoke. We each took turns selecting 1980s videos which we then sang in full voice and with accompanying dance moves, much to the alarm and fascination of our children. Popular choices included "Rio", "Wake me up before you go go", "Total Eclipse of the Heart", " Come on Eileen" and Buck's Fizz's "Making Your Mind up". I recommend it.

Countdown to school part 2

T - 4 and counting. Today Scarlett went for her school haircut. After declaring to the hairdresser "I'd like an even shorter, bobbier look" Scarlett emerged from the salon with a striking summer bob that will surely make her the envy of the kindergarten class. Next, school shoes. Usually our fairy princess resists wearing anything that isn't pink or somehow attached to a sparkly wand or a tiara, but she has fallen in love with her new school shoes  despite them being black and super clompy. She wears them everywhere, even to the pool, although we did manage to persuade her they might not be appropriate for the beach. Here she is showing off both hair and shoes. Also a shot of the girls having a cold bath in the middle of the day yesterday when the mercury climbed to 41 degrees in Sydney, a temperature that meant it was better to be indoors than out. Rob was at work so picture the scene, me, a one year-old and a four year-old locked in a house made almost entirely of glass, windows and doors closed, with no air conditioning.  You have no idea.  Never has the freezer section of a supermarket been more fun to hang out in.

Countdown to school part 1

The big push towards Scarlett's first day of school began yesterday with her last day at Wattle Lane, the day care centre and preschool she has attended twice a week since 2005.  Most of her mates left before Christmas so it wasn't too emotional for her. Instead she got to have a big cuddle with some of the women who have looked after her over the years and with two of her mates, Jean and Juno (and Florence), who don't start school until next year. She'll still get to see the carers when we go to pick up Florence who will stay on there two days a week.
In other news, it is absolutely roasting here at the moment.  We are getting up at least once a night for cold showers, our fans are on full blast and we are trying to keep the house cool in the day by shutting all the doors and windows. I know we shouldn't complain, but jeez Louise, today it is supposed to be getting up to 35 degrees.  Even the lizards are looking for shade. At 8am it was already 27 degrees. As a result of the heat we can't get our grass to grow at all as it is either getting fried or getting too much shade from our gum trees and tropical palms. Rob turned action man tree surgeon last weekend when he scaled one of the trees to hack away at some of the bigger branches in the hope of liberating the grass.

Summer in the city

We have been enjoying some beautiful summer weather, although a few days have been so hot, it's been a relief to come into work where the AC is on high. In the last week we've spent time at Redleaf pool, one of our favourite harbourside pools with lovely views, pontoons to swim out to and great coffee. At Nielsen Park last week, the beach was hit by an unusual king tide, which took everyone by surprise, nearly sweeping Julia and I and our girls underwater, so strong was the undercurrent. Loads of people lying on the beach got soaked and there was a mad scramble to retrieve flip flops, sunglasses and beach toys that were swept back into the water.

The Sydney Festival is on for the whole of January. It's a great month with lots of performances, special events and open-air concerts. One of the more interesting events is "Play Me I'm Yours", in which pianos have been placed around the city in public places for anyone to play. Our local pool has one of them which has added an extra dimension to our regular afternoon swims. yesterday a really taelnted pianist was there for ages with stacks of sheet music. Other times, it's just local kids, many trying a piano for the first time.

Slumdog Millionaire

Go and see Danny Boyle's new movie Slumdog Millionaire. It's about a boy from the slums of Mumbai who ends up on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and against all expectations gets answer after answer correct and looks as if he's about to win the top prize. When he's accused of cheating, he has to tell his life story to justify his knowledge. Great stuff.

Flo uses the loo!

Florence amazed and delighted herself and us this week by doing her first wee on the loo, unprompted. She had been indicating her interest in the all things toilet for a few weeks before we went to NZ, but we didn't want to start any toilet training in earnest until we got back in case she an accident on someone else's carpet. We needn't have bothered since instead she managed to make her way into Moira's toilet bag and squirt oily hair serum all over the carpet. We are having to avoid dresses a fair bit as without shorts or trousers she is quite likely to whip off her nappy and make a run for the loo, not always while supervised and sometimes when we are somewhere where there is not an actual loo nearby. Deep breath - the next stage is here.

New Zealand 2008/09

On Sunday night we got back from our amazing 10-day holiday in New Zealand. We spent the first 5 days at the top of the South Island around Nelson with Fraser, Moira and Lily who arrived the week before from the UK. The last time we saw them was exactly 2 years ago when we visited them in Scotland. Back then, I was pregnant with Florence, and Scarlett and Lily's
9-month age gap seemed huge. On this trip, they got on like a house on fire, played really well together and had a ball. From the base of a great house Moira and Fraser had rented we explored the local area and the fringes of Abel Tasman National Park. It was a trip down memory lane for Rob who spent many happy holidays in Nelson visiting the Russells. It was Rob's SatNav Man-brain that directed us to Aniseed Valley for the morning to swim in the river. The weather was amazing so the icy water was welcome.





The next day we jumped in the cars and headed off on a gorgeous hour's drive through orchards and farms towards Abel Tasman. Here we were loaded onto a speed boat on the back of a trailer and were pulled by a tractor along the road to the bay to be lowered in at low tide. We then enjoyed a spectacular, very fast and exciting boat ride around the bays before being dropped off at a beach in Torrent Bay, only accessible on foot or by boat. We spent the day picnicking on the beach, swimming in the lagoon and allowing the current to sweep us out around the sand bar to the ocean. It was an absolutely brilliant day and ended with a bbq at Fraser's aunts house.

Most of the orchards in the area specialise in growing boysenberries and raspberries. You can PYO, buy fruit and tuck into fantastic ice cream made from the fruit.Bumpa Booooooooats ! Near the house there was a little kids theme park with a huge water slide and these hilarious bumpa boats.
As well as enjoying the commonplace amazing NZ scenery, this was also a great trip for catching up with old friends. Rob's mate Sue Frost, who he met years ago when he lived in Texas, was in Nelson at the same time and we hooked up with her at her sister's place. And Gordon, Linda and Cindy, who Rob and Fraser knew from their Wellington days, were all also in NZ at the time and flew down from Wellington to see us, just for the night.

We were very sorry to see Fraser, Moira and Lily go when we all headed off on New Year's Eve, M& F back to Scotland and the snow and us onto the North Island for 4 more days.
Glenys and Gerald have been friends with Rob's Mum for years, and it was their move to Greytown from Wellington that inspired Barb to do the same a few years later. It's a fantastic village in the Wairarapa, only an hour from Wellington that has great shops and restaurants despite feeling very rural. It's close to the wineries at Martinborough and the coast is half an hour away. Glenys and Gerald are in the middle of renovating their lovely old villa, but despite the dust sheets and scaffolding, still managed to throw together a gorgeous new year's eve dinner, with their friend Odelle and her daughter Maya, with only an hour's notice that we were coming. I wonder if that is why they work in hospitality.
As a base for the area we stayed in the lovely apartment they have renovated above their cafe and deli in the village. On New Year's Day we headed back towards the Kapati Coast to visit Rob's dad and his partner Margaret. Ian is recovering from major surgery but was surprisingly chipper and we had a great lunch together, and Florence got to meet her grandad for the first time.
From there it was back to the Wairarapa for the races on January 2 with Rob's sister Catherine , her partner Bob and his family, Glenys, Gerald and Odelle. It was a stinking hot day but we had a ball and the kids loved the horse racing, the jumping castle and the picnic.We spent our last day in Greytown visiting old family friends Margaret and Berta before heading to Odelle's for dinner. She lives on an amazing block of land where she has planted an olive grove that supplies her olive oil business, grows all her own fruit and veg, and keeps chickens and pigs.

After final goodbyes early in the morning of Jan 4, we drove back to Wellington, to Island Bay to visit the place where Rob and his siblings scattered Barb's ashes.