at last....peace and quiet!

I've just been to see Sparky! He's in quarantine at the moment, and looking quite sad, I have to say. He's actually fine, looks well and is eating OK (his fat belly is still there anyway). He recognised me straight away and started purring, which is a good sign! I gave him some 'gourmet' food, which he enjoyed and then he came down from his platform to continually circle my legs. I took my picnic chair and soon he was curled up on my lap purring - that is until some idiots came around the back yelling for their cat - I think they were American!
The Q Station is 40km west of the city, so unfortunately I'm not going to be able to visit as often as I thought. Public transport doesn't really serve the place well, which means we need to hire a car to get there. I'm much happier now I've seen him though and I think I can accept not seeing him so often. He's been assigned Rachel (one of the vet nurses there) who is really nice and friendly. I'll probably make one other visit before collecting him to come home.
Here's a photo of him looking forlorn!!

The grass IS greener on the other side!!

Anzac Long Weekend

We’ve just got back from Jervis Bay, where we went for the Anzac long weekend. We drove down Friday night and came back Monday afternoon. It was a bit of a Team Bondi outing – there were five couples altogether, plus three little 'uns.
We weren’t too sure about going away, as the weather wasn’t forecasted to be very good and when you’re going to beach resorts, there's not always a lot of rainy day options! Thinking of that, it just reminds me of rainy summer days in the caravan park in Filey, with Dad teaching me how to gamble, playing cards and board games!!
Anyway, back to sunny Sydney! The specific place was Callala Beach and we stayed in a five bedroomed house called Utopia! It wasn’t quite my definition of utopia, but it was lovely! Maybe they were speaking of the beaches, because they were pure heaven!
On Saturday morning we went to a beach close by called Culburra. The waves here were quite strong and knocked me straight over. It was pretty exhilerating! By lunch time, everyone had left and we were on our own – weird!! There are very few people on the beaches here, it’s incredible (that is apart from Bondi and Manly)!!
That evening we had a fantastic barbeque with lots of wine – yum, yum! Hami and Alex had bought fishing rods and wanted to test them out, so after food most of us went down to the beach with them. A fire was lit and while they set up their lines, I took some night shots. Alex caught a Skate, while Hami provided veggies in the form of seaweed! The beach by moonlight is stunning, but it’s hard to capture that atmosphere by camera.
The next morning, Alex and Hami were straight down to the beach again and we followed shortly after. This is Callala Beach, just two minutes from the house. It's extremely long and for the most part quite straight, so each wave breaks in one long line. It has lovely white sands and aquamarine (!!) water. It had a very gradual slope too and once you passed the gently breaking waves, it was like swimming in a pool, but without the walls! The water was so calm and glassy - it was the most fantastic place to swim. I honestly didn’t want to come out and was only forced to because the sun felt so hot. We felt like we were being toasted so we decided to go for some lunch in Huskisson before hitting Hyams Beach. We were taken to visit this beach by Phil and Bee when we first came to Australia 2½ years ago, so we had fond memories of it. We got there a bit late in the day though and we had about an hour of sun before it dropped behind the trees. It’s weird – because it’s still so sunny and hot, you’re fooled into thinking it’s still summer when the sun would be out into the night. But it’s actually autumn and it’s setting at around 5.30 now. Just before we left, Dean had to go in for a dip. He claimed it was really warm, but because the sun was going down it was getting slightly chilly and I didn’t want to risk it!! So then it was time for coffee and cake in Hyams Café before heading back to the house and another barbie!
There was another fishing jaunt, so we went just to walk along the beach. We came across a small shark and presumed someone had caught it by accident and left it. Apparently it’s illegal to fish for sharks.
It was soon Monday morning and our last day! I suppose luckily for us, the weather was overcast, which made it easier to think about going home! We were heading for Kangaroo Valley, a slight detour on the way back! It’s a lovely little place with some nice quaint shops! We stopped for some lunch and then got straight back on the road, missing most of the traffic that way!
What a brilliant weekend. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Starting the fire.

Spooky!

Night shot of Callala Beach.

The Skate that Alex caught.

Nice warm fire!

Me, Dean, Vicky, Brendan, Alex, Nuria. Fishing on Saturday night.

Callala Beach, early morning.

Blue, blue sky - just wanted to give some reference!!

Callala Beach - beautiful!

Found this on the beach!

Final Assignments

We finished the course and had our 1 day of fame by being able to hang some of our work in the ACP (Australian Centre of Photography). Well it was upstairs in the class rooms rather than the very high brow galleries downstairs!! But still, sounds good to say that we've exhibited there!!
The exhibition lasted all of a day due to the builders coming in to decorate the rooms and the staff haviung to take down our work as there was alot of dust around! Good while it lasted.
Here's comes the gallery.... sing the theme tune to "Take Hart", all those old enough to know what I'm taking about! You know who you are.

tree in blue mountains

landscape near hunter valley

reflections

layers of the city

mish mash of architecture

Photography

Here are a few shots that we've taken since doing our course. We can't post everything - I think it would overload the blogspot, and most of them wouldn't be that interesting to you!
We had our last 'lesson' yesterday. We had to take an exam! Well, it was a pretty relaxed affair, but nevertheless, it's been a while since I sat a test! We handed in our final assignment which was a selection of shots from a theme of our choice. We mounted them as they will be shown in a mini exhibition at the centre (only upstairs in the workshop rooms, not in their gallery)! We’ve had homework every week! The assignments basically give you the practice after the theory of the classroom. We feel like we’re really improving and have finally taken the camera off automatic and put it on manual!! There’s been a mix of people on the course and we've got on really well. Despite it being a beginner’s course, I did expect everyone to have more experience than me, but they hadn’t. One guy had bought his camera an hour before the first class started! So it was a nice to discover that we were all in the same boat! It's a shame it's now ended. We intend to do the next course, but not sure how many of this group will do the same.

Amazing fig tree roots

Taking city shots for our assignments.

Dean contemplating his birthday!

Beautiful colours

Coogee on Dean's birthday!

This is a school PE class??!!!!

That's a ferry going past if you couldn't work it out!

Chinatown

Our stuff is here!!

Last Thursday our things arrived – hooray!! I was very excited – it was just like Christmas, opening up all those packages! I spent all day opening up boxes and at the end of it, there was quite a mess! Not only did I have all the things from inside the boxes, but I also had the empty boxes as well. I soon became overwhelmed and started to stuff our stuff into cupboards, just to create a bit of space.
I’ve finished unpacking now and there were a few damages, which we’re not particularly happy about. So now I’ve got to sort out the insurance claim for those!!
The living and dining area are now set up and it looks more like a home. It’s a bit strange seeing our furniture in this house and it does mess with your mind a little.

From Bromley.....

...to Sydney!

Aaahhh...and...relax!!

Sailing

As you will know, we’ve been taking sailing lessons, at Rushcutter’s Bay. We’re having a fantastic time and really enjoying the lessons. I get a bit nervous before the lesson, but once I’m there, it’s great. We sail in the harbour, so have great views of the Opera House and Sydney Bridge. There are hundreds of other boats out as well, as you can imagine. Sometimes we get a little too close for comfort! Last Sunday a freighter was coming into the harbour and it was travelling at some speed I can tell you! They're huge and you feel so insignificant in comparison. Only a couple of lessons left and a theory! We’re going to continue though with more lessons, so we’ll be ready to charter a boat when our visitors come to see us!
The photos here are taken on Mikey's boat that he built himself - it's amazing!! He even made the sails, which are a work of art! We went up to see Bee and Mikey in Avalon and we went sailing on Pittwater. The weather was a real mixture - we had brilliant hot sun, clouds, rain, wind, no wind - so it was quite a practise session for us. And of course we finished the day off by having a curry!

Why did I get the yellow one, I hate yellow!

Mikey and Bee!

Ahoy there!

Mikey's gorgeous boat!

The sun's coming out!

Blue Mountains

On Friday, we (me and Dean, Phil and Bianca) drove up to the Blue Mountains to celebrate our birthdays (mine was 19th, Phil’s was 20th and Dean’s is still to come on the 28th). Thursday night rained persistently and constantly, keeping us awake. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going if that was what the weather was going to be like! But, when we got up, although it was still overcast and damp, the rain had stopped. We’d booked accommodation in an eco lodge in the woods near Blackheath. We were only staying Friday night as me and Dean had sailing on Sunday and Phil had work (on his birthday, poor chap!). After checking in we went for a walk in the Grand Canyon, which we’d first visited 2 ½ years ago. From the name, you can guess that the walk takes you steadily down into the bottom of a canyon and then up again at the other end. As you descend, it gets gradually darker and lusher. It’s such a beautiful and undisturbed place and so peaceful. There are lots of rocks and fallen trees along the bottom, some conveniently placed as stepping stones in the water! Eventually you get to the end (unfortunately) and it’s time to climb out! The rocks start to disappear, it gets lighter and more and more trees replace them as the landscape opens up. The climb up seems longer than the one down, but it’s worth it in the end, as you’re rewarded by another spectacular view at the top, across the tree-covered mountains. The boys were desperately in need of coffee and cake, so we took off to Leura. It’s a really lovely quaint little town, with fantastic coffee and sweet shops! After that, we had a quick visit to the Three Sisters. It was getting a bit foggy by that time, but it all added to the atmosphere. We went back to Leura for pizza before retiring to the lodge and a real stove fire. It kept us very warm all night. The next morning we got up to feed the rozellas outside the lodge. They’re amazingly colourful little birds and full of chatter! It was a great start to my birthday. After some delicious breakfast, we set out for the Three Sisters again and the Scenic Railway. We set off for a walk along the mountainside, but I’m afraid it was cut short, as the track seemed to disappear and became more of a mountain hike. We didn’t really have the gear and I preferred to take it a little easier on my birthday. So we took a much less stressful walk to the bottom of a waterfall. Then it was back to Leura for another coffee and cake break before heading back to the city.

Aren't I popular?!

Bad hair day!

Phil didn't have time for a shower at home!

Getting dark!

Lush!

The bottom

Practicing movement shots!

Fast waterfall (sorry, private joke)!

Nice!

Fairy tale steps

Ah, trees!

Gorgeous!

Three Sisters

Taronga Zoo

Another glorious Saturday morning, so we decided to go to the Zoo, as Dean had been wanting to go for ages. So we equipped ourselves with the appropriate summer gear - shorts, flip-flops, sunglasses, suncream and cameras. We got the ferry from Circular Quay which took us straight over to Taronga. The views back to the city were fantastic, but the zoo was even higher up, so we headed straight there.
We're not particularly fans of zoos and didn't know what to expect. The setting is lovely, perched on a hillside with lots of greenery. I think this made it seem more attractive straight away - not as much concrete as you get in the UK. The Chimps were great. There was a lot of play fighting and general noise-making!! Their enclosure had lots for them to do and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. They were fed while we were there with huge chunks of melon - that kept them quiet! There were some sad scenes of despondent, lonely animals like the elephant and rhino. However, the zoo is working hard to improve this by developing part of the site. They are going to create an Elephant Rainforest and introduce some Asian elephants that were born in captivity as well as some other endangered species. The zoo does a lot of conservation work with many places around the world and seems to be doing a lot behind the scenes. It's just a shame that you're not immediately aware of this when you're just ambling around.
The day soon sped by and it was time to go. We noticed the sky get gradually darker and just as we were ready to get on the bus to take us to the wharf, it chucked it down! We got back to the city OK, but then what to do? We weren't really dressed suitably for rain, with no jackets and not even a brolly! We had some exciting times running from one shelter to another, skidding around in our flip flops - they're incredibly lethal in rain! So we just had to go and get a coffee and cake until it subsided. It did eventually and we even made it back to Glebe, but as soon as we got off the bus, the heavens opened again. We hid under the post office porch for 10 minutes, but decided we were going to have to get wet in the end. I'm starting to learn that it's hard to avoid the rain, even when you are prepared. You may as well just surrender yourself to it and enjoy it!!

Should I swim for it, d'ya think?

Its a hard life!

Big Daddy

Hanging around