Holiday weekend

It's been a hot and sunny weekend for the extended holiday, so we've made several trips to the beach - Narrabeen on Sunday with Laura, after an hour's kayaking on the lagoon, and then Long Reef today after Sue and I walked around the point. On both occasions the sea has had a strong current running along the beach which at times made it difficult to get anywhere, whereas at other times we were quickly moving outside of the flags!

Being the Australia Day weekend there's been a lot of comment about what the day means and being Australian - here is quite an amusing list from a columnist in the Sydney Morning Herald about recognising whether you're a true Aussie. It's safe to say we didn't yet understand some of these, but particularly appreciated 12, 17, 30, 36 and 41!

Australia Day

Yesterday was Australia Day, so it's a 'holiday weekend' with Monday being a public holiday. We started the weekend by attending a performance of Billy Elliot on Friday night, although Rebecca had been invited by a friend to spend the weekend in the Hunter Valley and had left that afternoon, so her ticket to the show was used by Laura's friend Nicola, who is returning to South Africa in 2 weeks.

We drove into the city and had a meal in Chinatown before going to the theatre, which is a large modern theatre designed to look old in the auditorium! It was probably only about 90% full, but the show was excellent and we wondered how well the 'locals' would understand the accents (and the historical context)!

For Australia Day itself, Sue and I went to Freshwater Beach in the morning for the swim and the beach was packed with the annual surf carnival going on with various races out from the beach. Laura was then working in the afternoon so we dragged Caroline with us to the city after lunch where there were events on the harbour, in The Rocks and at Darling Harbour. We finished the day in a packed Darling Harbour to watch the fireworks which were very impressive and then tried to escape the crowds quickly to get back to catch the 10pm ferry, which we just managed!

Mixed weather

The weekend had contrasting weather, with Saturday being wet all day, whereas Sunday turned out sunny and humid, which was a surprise amongst the poor weather we're having over recent days. Saturday was therefore a washout and there was another free open air concert in the Domain which we might have considered going to if the weather had been better, but in the current weather it was likely to have been very poorly attended!

On Sunday Caroline was working in the morning so Sue and I walked to the nearby organic market which is always a hive of activity on Sunday mornings and which we should probably use more often. In the afternoon we took Rebecca with us to West Head, which has great views across to Palm Beach and Barrenjoey lighthouse and then we walked down through the bush to the nearby Flint and Steel Beach on the sea entrance to the Hawksbury River.

It was quite a good beach, although there was a lot of debris around from the recent rains. There were only a few people on the beach - including some fishermen - so a secluded spot, helped by the 30 minute walk from the road! Of course, the walk back was all uphill so we were very warm by the time we got back to the car. However, the path through the bush was good and almost like a European mountain track with pine needles and other soft vegetation underfoot - but you still had to keep your eyes open for wildlife!

Laura's 18th birthday

Laura turned 18 yesterday and so we'd planned a 'family day' at Bondi since we hadn't been there for some time. However, as it turned out, the day was overcast, windy and with some rain, so we eventually decided to head west and visited 'Homeworld' in Kellyville. This is a housing estate of showhomes which is very popular as many people here will buy a plot of land and then have their own choice of house built.

There were 120 houses and bungalows on display and we only visited a small sample of them but they were all very appealing for a very low build price - the expense tends to come with buying the land in the first place. Most offered loads of space - sometimes too much - and were all kitted out with furniture and decor. The girls really enjoyed having a 'sticky beak' around all the houses but we started to flag after a while and headed home for a birthday meal.

Laura's arranged a meal with a group of friends in Manly next week and then we're having a larger party at the house in February when they are all back at school.

Back to an Australian summer

After a successful trip to the UK over Christmas and New Year, we arrived back to a warm Sydney on Wednesday night, less than 24 hours after leaving a cold Heathrow airport.

The last few days have been very warm and quite a shock to the system again, but a few evening walks along Curl Curl and Dee Why beaches have helped the readjustment! Yesterday morning started off very warm so Sue and I went to Curl Curl beach at 9am (since we are now waking early from the time difference) for several hours on the beach, including trying some body boarding with Caroline's board which has spent much of the past year in a cupboard so we've decided it needs some serious use! The sea wasn't too rough so it was a good introduction for us and good fun!

On Saturday evening we took Rebecca with us across to the city where the free 'Jazz in the Domain' concert was taking place and we had arranged to meet Rebecca's friend and parents there. We arrived in good time and found a suitable spot to sit and by the time the main band started at 8pm there was hardly any grass left to be seen with people closely packed in and large groups enjoying picnics and chat in the evening warmth. The band seemed to be a background performance to the socialising going on but it was an entertaining evening.

Earlier today we had another early trip to a beach - this time to Castle Rock on the inner harbour - and took Caroline, Rebecca and her friend who had stayed overnight with us. Sue and I also christened our new snorkeling gear around the beach and rocks area which was great and although not quite the Barrier Reef, there were plenty of fish around.