Windsor bike ride

Another weekend with an organised bike ride came around quickly and yesterday's was the longest yet - 60km from Windsor, in Sydney's north west. Sue decided to give this one a miss again as she hasn't been on her bike much recently and thought it would be a ride too far. So, we both had an early start on Sunday morning as I headed off for the 50 mins drive to Windsor and Sue took Rebecca off to another early football kick-off.

When I arrived in Windsor at the meeting point there were the usual faces there - about 12 of us - until another large group from the local Windsor club all turned up to join the ride (and share their local knowledge). They were good company and it was the largest group we've had for some time - over 25 cyclists - which was a bit of a nightmare for the ride leader, making sure everyone was together.

It was an interesting ride, heading out across the farmlands around historic Windsor, before cutting back to the Hawkesbury river and a stop for cream teas at Ebeneezer church - a peaceful spot overlooking the river and the oldest surviving church in Australia, which had a celebration last weekend for its 200th anniversary.

We then headed up to Sackville where we caught the ferry across the river and then had a long drag up the hill to our lunch stop at an old roadside cafe.

Once lunch was over it was a straight drag back to Windsor and everyone went at their own speed, gradually spreading out along the road. The final half hour was very hard going, with tired legs, saddle sore, busy road and a heavy shower for the last few miles. It was a relief to get back at 3pm, load the bike into the car and head back home for a well earned rest and to find out what the others had been up to for the day.

Bowling party

Clive and I had kindly been invited to help our friend Sue celebrate her 60th birthday. This is a lady I met initially through French conversation and then tennis, and a younger 60 year old it would be hard to find! She has the energy of a horse, working part-time and filling in her spare hours with nanny-sitting her two (soon to be three) grandchildren and helping with any charitable event going. She puts us all to shame.

The party was going to be a ‘first’ for us, and for most of the guests too – we were invited for 2:30pm to a bowling club in Lindfield, to try our hand at lawn bowling before dancing the night away (now that we had done before!). To be honest, I was looking forward to the dancing more than the bowling, but for Clive it was the other way round. Sadly, (for Sue anyway!), we never got to try the bowling, as the weather had been rainy all week and it continued to pour down on the day of the party, so I for one breathed a sigh of relief!

We still arrived soon after 3pm and spent the afternoon chatting and playing table football and pool with some of the other guests. We were fed and watered beautifully throughout the afternoon/evening and met some very interesting people, including a lady who lives on Scotland Island. This is an island in Pittwater, north of Sydney, and accessible only by a short boat ride. There are around 330 homes on the island, lots of wildlife and around 30 vehicles that never leave the island. Residents have to be very organised with their grocery shopping as 'popping out' to the supermarket is not possible, there being no shops! This lady had no intention of crossing the water in the dark at a late hour, so had arranged to spend the night with friends. Unfortunately, the logistics of living there outweigh the benefits - in my opinion anyway - but she obviously loves life there as the island has been her home for 30 years.

Given the fact a lot of Sue’s guests were her age or older, sadly meant that they were all ready to head for home from 8pm onwards, and by 9:30pm we were among the hardy few still dancing. Feeling slightly awkward, we too left for home soon afterwards. Sue has promised to arrange a longer session’s dancing soon, and she no doubt will!

Pittwater loop

It's been cold here over the past week, but usually with blue skies during the day. What with the weather and other commitments, there's been lots of excuses not to do so much exercise! However, we had another bike ride with the local group planned for Sunday, which was the toughest one so far, with a circuit around Pittwater, which included a ferry ride as part of the route.

Sue decided not to go as she hadn't been on a bike since the last ride a month ago, so I went on my own early on Sunday morning and Sue took Rebecca to her soccer match. There were 12 of us on the ride and it was mostly cloudy and cold, so a day for layers to go on and come off again. The route we took is a popular one for cyclists at the weekend so there were plenty of groups around as we headed into the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, then down a rough track to The Basin, where we caught the ferry to Palm Beach and then, after a lunch stop, headed back along the coast road to our starting point.

I was feeling the ride by the end of it and we just got back before the rain started, so it was a good opportunity to put my feet up for the rest of the day!

Laura has had a good week staying with her friend in San Francisco and was flying to Newark this weekend where she is due to stay for one night in a hotel before catching a greyhound bus down to her camp in Virginia - and her home for the next 3 months.

Laura leaves for the US

After all the planning and waiting, Laura's day of departure came on Saturday so we all went to the airport to see her off to the US (and UK) for the next 6 months. She is flying to San Francisco initially, to stay with a friend there for a week, before heading on to Newark and down to the camp she will be working at in Virginia - she heard about this placement last week and had to change her plans with a different start date, but it gives her more time in SF. The house will seem very different without her for a while!

On Saturday evening Sue and I went into Sydney to see the 'Light Walk', which is part of the Vivid Sydney festival - the first time this has been organised. The walk was around The Rocks and Circular Quay, with a series of 'light art sculptures' including the highlights of the Opera House and the Museum of Contemporary Art being lit up with changing patterns. There were some good crowds out enjoying the event and the Opera House looked particularly impressive.

There are some photos from the event here.

Laura's leaving party

Laura is getting ready to fly to the US next weekend for her stint at Camp America - she has yet to find out where she will be going but has a flight booked to Newark, where everyone meets before going off to their nominated camp. She had a 'small' party at the house on Saturday night where about 30 of her friends gathered for several hours before heading off to Manly for the rest of the night. It went well despite the progressive increase in noise level, and there wasn't too much tidying up to do afterwards.

Saturday was another day of torrential showers and the drought of 2 years ago seems a distant memory now. However, most of the rain that falls goes straight out to sea, which isn't great and means that the beaches are closed (or not recommended) for 24 hours after heavy rain. Rebecca's football on Sunday was postponed again for the second week running, so the teams are going to start building a backlog for the season end.

Last Monday, tickets for AC/DC's 'homecoming' tour went on sale and I tried in vain to get online to buy some (although it's only me that's interested!). There was 1 show in Sydney initially - at the ANZ (Olympic) Stadium - which sold out within 15 minutes and then a second show was added (on Caroline's birthday). Subsequently a third show was added and although I eventually managed to see some potential tickets, they were right at the back, which for the money wasn't great. Apparently someone worked out that 2.3% of the population bought tickets for all the Australian shows (500,000 tickets) in less than a day and total ticket sales are expected to be over $60m. In Sydney, 3,400 tickets were being sold per minute at the peak of activity (or 56 tickets per second).