We love you George

We had an absolutely brilliant time at the Sydney Football Stadium last night seeing George Michael in concert, in spite of the evening starting badly. The online info revealed George would be on stage at 7.40pm. Our babysitter arrived at 7.10pm but the taxi booked for 7.20pm was a no-show. By 7.30pm we decided to drive and raced into the car and into the city. Once in the cross city tunnel, famous for cutting journey times in half, we ground to a halt, caught in a massive tailback traffic jam caused by the numbers of cars heading to the stadium. Uncharacteristically for us, instead of having a massive yell at each other about which alternative route would have been better, we took the whole thing in our stride. By now it was 8pm, so we put George on the cd player and exchanged texts with two groups of mates inside the venue (including Sarah-Kate who had flown from NZ with her sister Anna just for the concert) to find out if he was on stage yet. By 8.10pm we were creeping out of the tunnel onto the freeway now realising the traffic was jammed due to a breakdown. Naturally at this point we assumed the traffic jam might have been caused by George Michael himself, slumped over the wheel of his car having passed out after recently enjoying a disco cigarette. But no, a broken down coach was blocking a lane and once off that freeway we then encountered a further conked out van and car. At this point several cars started emptying themselves of anxious George Michael fans who were climbing over freeway barriers and running across parkland towards the stadium. At 8.20pm we received simultaneously texts from Sarah-Kate and our other friends informing us that GM was now on stage. Another 20 minutes, and after jamming the car into a multi-storey car park and running the last 200 metres, we too were dancing and singing into pretend 'hand' microphones along with everyone else. We only missed about 4 songs so we weren't disappointed. It was a perfect Sydney night for an open-air concert and we had an absolute blast. After the concert we hooked up with Sarah-Kate at her sister Rachel's apartment which was conveniently right across the street from the venue. Champagne and cocktails later, we eventually got to bed at 2am.

Hot - the weather and the house prices

After an unspeakably lousy Saturday, yelling at the children and each other as we dragged them from one open for inspection to another, we finally got to the auction of the house we were interested in in Leichhardt with 10 minutes to spare before the auction. The house was supposed to go for high $800,000s but eventually sold for $992,000, with us ducking out of the bidding way before that. The house market here at the mo is insane. This was a TINY 3 bed cottage with a sitting room and very small kitchen/diner. $992,000 is absurd. We calmed ourselves during a lovely relaxing dinner with Julia on Saturday night, ruminating on the fact that we live in a society where a 25-year-old has almost $1million to spend on a place that essentially needs to be demolished. On Sunday we all slept in until 8.30ish and then pottered happily as a family all morning, the yelling of the day before a distant memory. At lunchtime Zoe and Paul and Kirsty and Simon and all the kids came over for pork fillet, cucumber and anchovy salad and potatoes cooked in goose fat. As it was another scorcher, the paddling pool earned its keep and the ice cubes from the freezer were put to good use as cooling agents down the backs of our shirts. It was a 3 cold shower night last night and it's 30 degrees today but a southerly is promised for today bringing a cool change.

SOLD!

Today we sold our home of 22 months in Lilyfield. In the course of gently trying to find out how much our house was worth, by chatting to the agent who sold our old place, we sort of 'accidentally' sold our house when we received an offer we couldn't refuse. Feeling much like anyone who faced off again Don Corleone, we decided we couldn't pass it up and tonight at 5.30pm signed a contract of sale. We now have 3 months to move out and decide what to do next. We are fortunate to have a number of options on the table, the trick now is to pick the right one. Onwards.

Simon's 40th

These are our brilliant next door neighbours Kirsty and Simon and their kids Gabe, Charlie and Maggie. This photo was taken on Sunday, the day after the wettest Sydney day since the world was created. A day which unfortunately coincided with Simon's 40th birthday and his party, many weeks in the planning, held in their house and garden. As I say, this photo was taken the day after, because if it had been taken on the day my camera would now be a sodden broken pile of electronics so torrential and unrelenting was the rain. Almost 100 people were invited to the music festival-themed party and in spite of the rain it was a fantastic day, the rain only adding to the Glastonbury feel. There was a door list, wristbands and access all areas passes for those allowed in and enough food, wine and beer to sink a battleship. The kids rolled about in the mud outside while the grown ups ran between the house and a small marquee set up in the garden. As we live next door we were able to go home at one point to change into dry clothes, returning with raincoats and wellies. The chairs you can see behind Simon are there to stop anyone now walking on their lawn which has turned into a thick brown soup. I hope this makes Dad and Alexandra feel better about the visit they made here exactly a year ago, when they experienced 11 straight days of rain. February is just a rubbish time to visit Australia. Today was 81% humidity - 81%! I showered and then blow dried my hair this morning and had to get back in the shower again afterwards it was so muggy. My smooth hair-do remained smooth and flat for about 10 minutes before bouncing back into a large frizzy hat shape.

Chop chop - Flo's first haircut

Rob took Florence for her first haircut yesterday. Apart from me hacking away at her fringe  with the kitchen scissors, it was the first time she had sat in the chair under the gown and had a professional trim her locks.

As you can see she was delighted with the whole affair as our favourite family hairdresser, Rosetta, fashioned a stylish bob and presented her with the customary lolly on departure.

School's in

Scarlett's first set of long summer holidays ended on Thursday as she joined her classmates back in the playground at Annandale Public. Our friends Essie and Simon joined in the larks with Juno starting her first day at school. And Charlie next door started pre-school. We could sense the same excitement from Scarlett's first day this time last year. Over in Bondi, Ella Fleming was also having her first day as was Edward Neale in Haberfield.

Camping at Coolendel

We have just walked in the door (me hobbling actually due to suspect broken toe - more on that later) after a totally wonderful 4 nights bush camping at Coolendel, a nature reserve on the Shoalhaven river, about 3 hours south from Sydney and then inland about 30 km. Campground huge and uncrowded, despite it being the Australia Day holiday weekend, with great amenities and throbbing with peacocks, wombats, wallabies and goannas (huge lizards).

River amazing, with jumping rocks (check out the shots of Scarlett, Rob, and Jules and Ben jumping), and cool, slow-flowing water. We were invited by our top mates Jules and Lenka and our group was made up of 6 families - 12 adults and 13 children aged between 2 and 10. We spent most days cooling off in the river, one cooler day bush walking through absurdly difficult terrain with 2 year old and in flip flops ( have vowed to do it in stilettos next time), 3rd day on inflatables floating for around 2 hours along a couple of miles of the river and through 2 sets of rapids. My inflatable bed had a slow and then a fast puncture that resulted in Scarlett and I repeatedly sinking and me jamming my foot violently against rocks in first set of rapids. Was laughing much too much to notice at the time and only spotted large swelling and accompanying pain when I left the river at the end. Luckily 3 of the mums camping with us are nurses and all leapt into action administering ice packs, anti-inflammatories and multiple glasses of sav blanc.



We enjoyed lots of games of rounders, toasting of marshmallows around fire, chasing and then running from goannas and a great deal of good food and wine. With the kids in bed, the grown ups played charades and that game with a cereal box where you have to bend down lower and lower with each round to pick it up with your teeth. Rob did a champion job of putting up our tent, providing clever venting options at both ends so we were cool and comfortable at night. The girls had a ball with so many other playmates and behaved like the sweethearts they really can be, and Rob and I met some lovely new people. I ache all over from being bashed by rapids, playing rounders for the first time in 30 years and the cereal game bending and enjoyed soaking in a large bath filled mostly with Dettol when we got home. I feel so relaxed and as if we have been away for weeks. I CANNOT wait to camp there again and hope to rope in a few other families for the next trip in March. Best of all, as Coolendel seems to operate in its own micro-climate, we avoided the sweltering 40+ degrees weather in Sydney.

The Wind in the Willows

On Saturday afternoon, with cloudy skies threatening rain we met Susie and Damien and Caitlin at the Botanic Gardens for the Australian Shakespeare Company's open-air performance of The Wind in the Willows. With the main pond as the backdrop, we had a champagne picnic while the cast members moved among the audience, singing and telling jokes to bring the original story right up to date. The clouds cleared the sun came out and during the interval we all had to pack up our picnics and walk 200 metres across the gardens to a natural auditorium to watch the second half set at Toad Hall, with the opera house and bridge in the background. It was a really fun night, ending with both the girls passed out in bed moments after getting home. These are pix from the website but I'll upload better ones I took soon. On Sunday I managed a run before a lazy day spent kite-flying, playing in the park (during which Rob and I managed an hour-long conversation on a bench!) and an early dinner with the neighbours. After my indulgent joyful food and wine-related celebrations at Christmas, I have been eating sensibly and have lost 4 kilos, which is nearly 9lbs. Huzzah!

School holiday fun

With the school holidays still grinding on for another 2 weeks, we're getting our entertainment anywhere we can find it. On Saturday I took the girls to the Maritime Museum to see the dragons and mermaids exhibition. This amused us all much less that the tram ride there so were thrilled to see a poster for Wetworld. Set up in a marquee on one of the museum wharves, it's a water playground featuring water experiments, toys and games and the Super Soaker Zone. Need I say more. It wasn't long before the girls and I were fitted with regulation goggles and going to war clutching massive water pistols. The zone comes complete with foam barriers to hide behind and take strategic aim at your opponents - mainly 7 year old boys. Every time you run out of watery ammo, a helpful assistant gives you a new weapon full of water. We were soaked in minutes, which we loved as it was a scorcher. On Sunday we went for lunch at Gav and Bev's, feasting on ribs and champagne in the shade in their garden while the kids threw water over each other. On Monday it was still hot so we all decamped to Balmoral for the afternoon.
With Rob back at work on Wednesday, I met up with Julia and the girls at Redleaf for a near perfect day. Scarlett and Ella are now so confident in the water they happily swam to the pontoons and back, jumping off when they got there. Scarlett and Flo also amazed me by jetty jumping, straight off into the harbour freestyle. We then swam to the pontoons and lolled about in the sun to dry off. It was magical.

Christmas holiday 2009

Happy new year! We arrived back from our big Christmas trip yesterday, tired and dirty but happy. Our 10-day trip began on Dec 21 when the girls and I headed north on our 3-day drive to Brisbane. The girls are not known for their ability to entertain themselves much further than the harbour bridge so I quickly discovered that the in-car DVD player was the best purchase I had ever made in my life. Aside from stops for food and watering, they were good as gold for the whole trip, laughing out loud at whatever they were watching but on the whole eerily quiet. I frequently forgot they were in the car with me and drove in silence. It was bliss. Our first stop was an hour north of Sydney at the Australian Reptile Park. We saw crocs, wallabies and kangaroos, koalas and this over-sized spider - quite scary.
Onwards then for our first stop over at Eco Point villas on the shores of Bombah Point in Myall Lakes National Park. Our cabin was lovely and only a few minute's walk from the beautiful lake, stained with tea tree oil making the water dark brown but leaving our skin soft and smooth. It was baking hot so we spent most of the afternoon swimming in the pool and lake before dinner. What amazed me on the roads was how much better they were than the last time I did this drive (when Liz and Mike were here on honeymoon). The majority of the single lane highway between Sydney and Brisbane has finally been replaced with good dual carriageways and freeways.
The next day we drove north 5 hours (longer than expected due to an overturned lorry on the highway which brought traffic to a total standstill for about 30 minutes) to Coffs Harbour. Here we checked into a lovely resort with a lagoon, golf course and a huge pool. While the girls swam and played I was able to actually lie on a sun lounger and leave them to it. We're there, Rob, we're finally there!! After dinner by the lagoon, the girls lay down on the bed and were unconscious by 7pm, leaving me in front of the telly with a glass of wine. The next morning we headed into Coffs to the Pet Porpoise Pool. Here we were all kissed by a dolphin and a seal and watched the great dolphin show with plenty of splashing, perfect for another scorcher.
On the third day we drove north again, via Byron Bay, to Ballina where we stayed in a gorgeous brand new hotel right on the river. We ate lunch and dinner by the water watching water skiers, kayakers and fishing trawlers pass by.
We arrived at Craig and Lynda's house in Brisbane on Christmas Eve for a reunion with Rob. It was also a reunion of Rob's whole family - his Dad and Margaret and Catherine came from NZ, and Helen, George, William and Libby jetted in from a snowy UK. It was unbelievably hot and humid and fairly unbearable most of the time, hence the hours spent in the pool. The girls confidence level went up another 5 notches and Flo is swimming several metres on her own without any floats.


On Christmas morning we awoke to a generous present deposit by Santa before an outdoor lunch, street cricket game and more swimming. I was particularly thrilled with a new Canon EOS digital camera that became my holiday play thing and produced most of the pictures you see here. On Boxing Day we watched the start of the Sydney To Hobart yacht race, keen to spot St Jude, the yacht our mate Jules was on board. The rest of the day was devoted to packing up ready for our camping trip and on Dec 27 we all set off in a 3-car convoy, 3 hours' south to Iluka, a tiny fishing village on the river north of Yamba. Although it was still warm, the rotten wet weather that ruined Christmas for Sydneysiders down south, was on its way to us. Hot sunny, muggy days ended each night with torrential downpours. Great fun when you're all nice and warm and dry in your tent, but not much fun the next day when everything is wet and muddy.

On camping day 2 we even discussed packing up two days early and starting our drive south, but as it was still warm we decided to give it another day. I'm so glad we did as it was the best day of the trip. We started off on an amazing surf beach near Yamba where the kids played for hours in the sand, there was a game of beach cricket and much jumping in the surf. A short drive took us to an amazing flooded quarry with high rocks for jumping off into very deep tepid water.



We packed up our camping gear on Dec 30, leaving the rest of the family to it, in even more rain, and drove south to Port Macquarie for the night before finally arriving at the holiday house of our friends Susie and Damien at Nelson Bay for New Year's Eve. It was a relief to be able to dry off, shower and wash a load of damp, muddy clothes. Nine adults and 5 kids sat down to a fantastic dinner before watching the Sydney 9pm fireworks on tv. Not one of us made it to midnight.
We got home on New Year's Day to find a further stash of gifts left by Santa and while the girls played with their toys, Rob and I set about the seemingly never-ending task of unpacking, chucking out old toys and clothes to make room for new, and trying to get everything back to normal. Today was hot and unbearably humid again, but a hugely refreshing change has just swept through bringing an incredibly welcome cooling downpour. After running around shutting windows and doors the girls and I danced around on the lawn in the rain. We are all wet but cool. Have a great 2010 everyone. I wonder what lies ahead.

And now, the end is near...

Scarlett had her last day of the school year yesterday. There was a present for Scarlett's beloved teacher Miss Ward and for a few of the mums who had gone above and beyond and then there was a general scrum for chocolates, festive cookies and a pile of other stuff all the kids bring in on the last day. The year 6 kids, who are away to high school next year, as well as a couple of teachers who are leaving, had to run the gauntlet of a students archway before saying goodbye to Annandale Public for the last time.

We finished off an emotional day with a family Christmas dinner with our next door neighbours before we all head off on holidays.

Today Scarlett and I spent an active day racing between air-conditioned buildings and the car, dropping off presents, buying sunhats, getting my hair cut, and hanging out at the pool - 39 degrees again and the whole state is under a fire ban and yet the fires rage. As I type, the girls are struggling to slep despite ceiling fans and wet flannels and Rob is in the garden in his speedos (It's 8.40pm) hosing himself down. Ridiculous.

Premieres and promises

In more pre-Christmas cheer, the girls and I glammed up this morning for the red carpet premiere of the new Disney film The Princess and The Frog. The first Disney princess film in 10 years, it caused quite a stir among the audience of mainly 6 year-old girls dressed as princesses. Our free tickets came with ice creams on entry and princess tiaras and frog hats on the way out. The girls sat well through the whole film, despite quite a bit of scary voodoo stuff.

Afterwards we stopped by Broadway to get a photo taken with Santa. The girls promised they would be good and do everything mummy asked (ha!) in exchange for a scooter and a kite.