Warmest August

So the winter is coming to an end and we've apparently had the warmest August on record in Sydney, with the blue skies continuing over the past week. We celebrated with a bush walk around nearby Manly Dam yesterday which was lovely - great to have this 'countryside' so close to home.

Earlier in the weekend we attended a quiz night at a local school where one of our tennis friends is a teacher. The event was very well attended and we were on a table of 12, so lots of help for the local and historical questions with an Australian slant. We finished about mid-range from 20 teams and it was an entertaining evening.

Ferry and bike to Gosford

The weather has remained good this week and it's feeling like Spring already. We played tennis on Saturday afternoon for several hours although the sun was obscured by distant smoke for some of the time as it's the start of the 'back burning' season - this is where the 'firies' manage controlled bush fires in the high risk areas where dead vegetation has been allowed to accumulate.

On Sunday we had an early start for another bike ride with the group - this time there were about 15 of us who met at Palm Beach to catch the ferry across to Ettalong. This takes about 30 minutes crossing to the north of the Hawkesbury river estuary and the ferry has to negotiate the moving sand bars to reach the final wharf where we all got off.

We then had a ride of several hours along bike paths next to Brisbane Water and ending up at an art gallery and Japanese garden in Gosford for lunch. It was an easy, flat ride, but quite scenic and interspersed with stops for punctures and other reasons. Had a good lunch and then the group split into 3 parts with the faster ones aiming to catch the 2.30 ferry back to Palm Beach, but in the end we all made it there in time - the last group with minutes to spare!

The ferry ride back was a good chance for a rest and we were accompanied by some dolphins, which was great to see. We then loaded the bikes back in the car for the drive home and a chance to put our feet up for the rest of the day.

The first sign of spring?

I was attacked by a magpie whilst cycling home from the office tonight!

This is a common problem each year and although today's bird was very agitated and flew close to my head, it didn't have a go at my helmet as one did last year. The evenings are getting lighter when I leave work now, so it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow!

The final match

We've had the good weather continuing this week and the weekend was forecast to be a mini-heatwave for this time of year, but in the event the temperature only reached the mid-20s which was still glorious for this time of year. It coincided with Rebecca's last soccer match of the season, as her team managed to get once place further this year, through to the semi-finals.

It was a warm morning for the players and all the girls (and many of the parents) were 'pumped up' for the match. However, although they all played well and worked hard, they didn't really get close to scoring, whereas the opponents had 3 long strikes at goal that all went in. So that's it for another season and we can get our Sunday mornings back! Not sure if Rebecca will carry on next year....

Olympic Park

We've had clear blue skies every day since our arrival back in Sydney, although the evenings remain cool. However, with this wonderful weather, Sue and I decided to get out for a bike ride and 'do' the Olympic Park, which we've been meaning to do for some time.

It takes about 40 mins to get to the area, which was built on reclaimed wasteland for the 2000 Olympics and still has a lot of events going on there, including the annual Easter Show. We found a parking area and set off along the numerous bike tracks that have been built around the park, mostly around the outskirts and up towards the Parramatta River.

It was easy cycling after not having done much exercise over the past few weeks and a good way to explore the areas of the park that we don't usually go to. We also cycled around the main stadiums and had a go on the mountain-X bike track (along with all the kids!).

Will probably come back again sometime to do the tracks we didn't cover. There are some photos from the bike ride here.