Boxing Day

The surf at Manly



We woke up on Boxing Day morning to blazing sun and the promise of high temperatures. Lucy, Mike and the children had left in the early hours of the morning to fly up to Hayman Island for some sun and scuba diving, and we had made arrangements to meet the Watson lot on Manly beach for a bit of surf and sun fun.

Ally is Andrew's best friend, and they have known each other since their school days in Winchmore Hill. He and his family, wife Ally, children Zoe and Samantha and parents in law Sheila and Peter, are on something of a world tour, having visited Japan (and other mutual friends Pete and Christine), then doing Perth, Ayers Rock, Cairns and Surfers Paradise before getting to us. From here they will go on to New Zealand and then San Francisco - then back to St Albans. It is great to see them again.



Ally and Lou

As Ally and Lou are staying in the city, we thought the easiest place to meet them would be Manly Beach, as they could just get the ferry over. Nothing is ever simple though is it?! We had forgotten about the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, as and a result all the ferries were cancelled. However, they all braved the bus again, and by the time they left, the ferries were back on.

We were also joined on the beach by local friends Nicky and Graham with all their children, and a very nice day was had by all - with the possible exception of George, who was got by a blue bottle (a type of jelly fish which leaves a nasty sting). However, he was super brave, and didnt cry at all. When we were finally thrown off the beach by the chap we had hired our sunloungers from, we were all feeling very chilled, and Nicky and Graham invited us back to their house for some supper, which was greatly appreciated.



Nicky



Anna


You know - it's not really Christmas - but I think I like it.....

Christmas Day

George and Anna open their iPods

We had a lovely Christmas Day. The children succeeding in not getting up until 7am (hurrah - jetlag does have its uses after all) and were thrilled with all their presents. George and Anna were particularly pleased with the video iPods that Aunty Lucy and Uncle Mike had given them. I think the next favourite thing was probably Anna's Singstar for the Playstation, courtesy of Granny and Grandad. We will live to regret this, I'm sure, as we are now subjected to karaoke-ing 9 year olds every minute of the day.



Anna and George on the pool seesaw

Katy and Emily were excited to open Australian stockings, and all the children spent some time in the pool with all the wonderful inflatable toys Father Christmas had helpfully delivered. Even Daddy got in the pool with them, and when Ally, Lou, Pete, Sheila, Zoe and Samantha arrived, there were even more people in there!



You absolutely have to have a Crimbo water fight!



Hmmm

I have to say that in terms of preparation and cooking, it was probably the most relaxing Christmas I've had. I had ordered cooked lobsters and tiger prawns from the fishmonger, which we collected on Christmas Eve, and we had a seafood and cold meats and cheeses buffet table, plus a pavlova and Christmas Pudding. It was a lovely day, but I have to admit that it didn't feel like Christmas that much.



Christmas lunch Australian style - not a brussel sprout in sight!

We did have a very Australian Christmas story though - during the afternoon, we found a bandicoot in the tennis court. Bandicoots are a small marsupial, and this one appeared to be paralysed in its hind quarters. It also had a joey, which we later discovered to be dead. Andrew, Ally and Lucy had plenty of silly jokes about it all - 'it doesn't look like the bandicoot on 'Crash Bandicoot' - where is its little blue jumper?' - but I was really upset about it, especially given that it is an endangered species. In the end, after wrapping it in a towel and putting it in a box for safety, I phoned Taronga Zoo, who put me onto the Wildlife Rescue Service. Within an hour, a volunteer had arrived to collect the poor thing, and hopefully they will have been able to help her.






This did all delay Christmas lunch rather!

All the Watson clan caught the last bus back to the city at 10.40pm and the rest of us fell into bed!

All the latest photos!

Christmas morning entry is the previous one! I've finally sorted out the picture upload problem, and wanted to update you all, but if you are looking for Christmas greetings, you will need to go to the previous post!




The children enjoying the pool



Anna, Katy and George on the Opera House steps



George doing his thang at the Opera House



Andrew and Mike at Customs House



Lucy, Mike and Aboriginal chappy at Circular Quay



George playing tennis on our court with Uncle Mike - who was also able to give him some very useful coaching!



Jack, Luke and George on Mona Vale beach



Our kitten Stanley!



Anna and Evie at Speech Night



Lewis, Andrew and George at Speech Night. Don't they look smart?!



New house plus damp towels!



Katy and Emily catch sight of Anna at the airport!

Family Christmas!

Merry Christmas one and all!

Here we are in Australia for our first sunny Crimbo, and I have to tell you....today it is NOT sunny. Who do we send our complaints about this to? However, we do have Lucy, Mike, Katy and Emily here to keep us company, and it was hot yesterday. Apparently it will be hot tomorrow too. Typical! It does mean that it is unlikely that we will go to the beach, but we are hoping it will be warm enough for the pool later on - especially as Father Christmas delivered a selection of pool toys!





As you can see from the photos on here, I have resolved the photo downloading issues (by downloading a new browser), and so I will do another post with all the latest pics on.

Some photos! (I got it working!)

Anna and George all smart for their school Speech Night.

Oh. It won't work again...sorry about that folks! Not sure if it is something to do with our new connection here, or whether it is to do with Blogger. Will try again tomorrow.

But while I'm here, I may as well update you on the comings and goings of the last few days. We got a Christmas tree - a real one, although they are not the same sort of pine as we have at home. It is called a New York pine, and is probably the most perfect shape Christmas tree we've ever had (if it doesn't fall over - it is leaning forward rather menacingly at the moment). With the children we have made and decorated christmas cookies and hung them on, plus dried slices of orange in the oven, threaded them on ribbon and hung them on also. Nigella Lawson would be proud of me. Along with the tinkly lights, the tree looks lovely - and I would put a picture on here if I could!

Yesterday we puppy sat two puppies for the local pet shop. As pet shops here do sell animals, it is possible to look after them over night - and given that we can't have a dog as yet (apparently, according to Andrew) it is a good way of reminding oneself that frankly Andrew is right. They were fantastically cute, and the children were smitten immediately, but obviously they were both incontinent and needed constant supervision. I managed to get them settled to sleep by 11.30pm and they woke up and started crying at 5.30am. A reasonable night in the old days of babies, but I am soooo over all that! Anna named them Hazel and Bray. I think you should take this as a compliment Hazel! Anyway, we took them back to the shop at 9am this morning, and I imagine we will do it again some time....

I still have a couple of gifts to get, and now I'm feeling like time is running out. I have the world's largest pile of ironing, which has taken over the guest room, and I am conscious that my sister and her family are already on a plane to get here. As we have a full calendar of children coming and going over the next few days, I can feel the panic setting in. I've got to wrap everything too...aaagghhh...it was only a few weeks ago that I was feeling smug because I was so ahead of myself! I rested on my laurels! I got complacent! OMG - I need to get to the mall NOW!

Mona Vale

We're all unpacked, all settled and looking forward to Christmas, which we are nearly ready for. Now we are in the house, we are all very happy. It's very homely, and functions better as a house - even if it doesn't have the stunning views etc. The pool is almost ready to be used (it had not been serviced properly recently, so it has needed some work to get it into a state that was hygienic), and the kids have been enjoying using the tennis court.

It's a little like living in Milford again - we can walk into the village, where there is an excellent array of shops and restaurants, or walk to the beach. In fact, there are elements of living on the Northern Beaches peninsula that remind me of the New Forest generally. They call it the Insular Peninsular, as people who live here rarely leave - much like the Forest. And they joke about not crossing the Spit Bridge - which takes you out of the Northern Beaches and towards the city. Is that not rather like not going over the cattle grids?! I suppose it is not a surprise that we would be attracted by such a place - after all, we were very happy in the Forest. We just wanted to shake things up a bit!

The children have broken up for their summer holidays as well, and this last week has been fun and relaxing. It's good not to have to function with such a set timetable, and we have had our first day on the beach. It's been raining on and off the last few days, with a lot of thunder and lightning, but hopefully that will clear soon, and the sun will come out a little more reliably. There have been lots of friends over, and we've had an afternoon at the indoor climbing centre, which we all really enjoyed - the children climbing, and me belaying. I forgot to take the camera - sorry!

Andrew and I have attended our first Arup Xmas do as well, which was a very nice affair. It took place at Darling Harbour, which is always a lovely place to be at night, and I met a lot of new people. It was odd being back in the position of not knowing anyone, and I can't tell you how many times that evening I was asked how I liked Sydney! However, everyone was very friendly, and we enjoyed ourselves. Andrew was very impressed that the beer, wine and champagne was free all night. I was driving....The meal was good, but served in a manner that I found unusual - in that it was either turkey or lamb (to cut out all the poncy french words that appeared on the menu) and equal numbers of each was brought to the table and served alternately. When I was served turkey, and told them that I would prefer lamb, I was told I would have to make a deal with someone else on the table! Apparently, this is common practice...odd. Even odder was the practice of serving a platter of desserts to the table, but no plates.....side plates had not been cleared and it was expected that we would use them. Also apparently normal.

Lucy (sister), Mike, Katy and Emily arrive on Friday, and we are very excited about it. They will be with us over Christmas and New Year, with a break in the middle when they go up North for some diving. Also on Christmas Day, we will be joined by Andrew's best friend Ally, his wife Lou and their children Zoe and Samantha, plus his parents in law Sheila and Pete. It is all shaping up to be a great Christmas!

We've had a bit of excitement here this evening. Next door a load of trees were on fire and the fire brigade had to be called. We spent a bit of time crawling around the Christmas tree, convinced that the burning smell must be coming from the lights or something, before we heard the sirens and went outside to take a look! Next door there is a group of 5 twenty somethings, who were out there with a hose trying their best. The only girl amongst them was taking photos, and when they realised after the firemen had dealt with it, that their were no pics of them with the hose looking heroic, they were gutted. So gutted in fact, that they then spent a while posing below the trees looking like they were putting it out, despite the fact that the trees were in fact drenched and far from being on fire. I think we are going to have fun living next door to them!

I've really tried to upload some pics on here, but it's not having it. I'll post now, and hopefully later it will all sort itself out!

Moving on again....

So tonight is our last night in the house on the lagoon. We all feel sad, but none of us feel as bad as Anna, who has been inconsolable this evening. It's been absolutely idyllic for us all, but Anna's life here has been like a fairy tale. Children available to play with all the time, unprecedented levels of freedom, a whole lagoon to swim, kayak and boat in.....it's not going to be the same at the new house, but hopefully she will settle, and come to appreciate the new and good things that it has to offer.

Of course, the other issue is that we are asking the children to say goodbye to something again, and after so much change, I do feel bad that we are inflicting this upon them. We really do need a period of stability - I hope so much that we are able to stay at the Mona Vale house until we are in a position to buy. I'm not sure I could cope with packing up again either anyway - this week has been exhausting, and rather depressing. I've loved this house too, and I will miss waking up to the stillness of the lagoon, watching the kayaks and sailing boats, and listening to the shrieks of laughter from all the local children on the trampoline.

However, on a more positive note, I think the Mona Vale house is going to be good. We will have even more room, the children will love the pool, and I've been having some tennis lessons so that I can enjoy our tennis court. We will be able to walk to a wonderful range of restaurants in the village centre (Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Thai, Australian, and the ubiquitous Chicken Shop). There are also wonderful shops, a great beach, access to Pittwater.....

It's just that you work hard to make somewhere feel like home, even though you know it's not. And now we have to start again a bit. Sigh.....

The End of Something...

What a busy time. The school year is coming to an end, Christmas is nearly here, and we are moving house. I might have a nervous breakdown!

School ends on 11th December, and the children don't go back until the beginning of February. George will be in Year 6, which is the first year of Middle School at St Lukes. Everything will be quite different for him. He will have to be at school by 8.20am each day (more of a challenge for me, than for him, to be honest), he will be allowed to wear long trousers (wow) and he will have to deal with a timetable. But he has lots to look forward to as well. More basketball for a start. And he has been picked by the school to be part of a team on a television quiz show called 'It's Academic'! How exciting is that? I hope that this will put to bed his idea that he is not good at anything. He got a terrific score in his Basic Skills Test (like SATs) for literacy, putting him in the highest category in the State, and above the school average score. He didn't do so well in numeracy, but still had a very credible score. We are very proud of him, and especially of the way he has grown in confidence this year.

Anna goes from strength to strength, doing well at school and in all her various interests. We are seeing a lot of changes in her though - her body is changing, and with it, her attitude to us - and particularly me. She likes to spend time in her room now, listening to music and trying on all her clothes, and I have become quite the most stupid and embarrassing person on the planet. A lot of the time, she can barely bring herself to look at me, and she is increasingly rude - especially when her friends are there. However, she is still my beautiful and wonderful little girl, and I know it is all a stage she has to go through. I reckon the trick is not to take it too personally! Not always easy...

And so to moving house, I collected the keys for the new property today, signed the lease and gave them a huge bond cheque. In order to do this, I unexpectedly had to go into the city, and on the way back to the ferry I thought I would look in some of those awful souvenir places. Well, they were full of the usual old tat - chocolate koalas, flags, kangaroo skins etc. But by far the most disturbing thing I saw was a CD which was a 'uniquely Australian arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon' on DIDGERIDOO.....I was thinking of buying it for my dad for Christmas. I'm sure he would have loved it.

But I digress....we are now well into the moving process and I am knackered and bored of it. We have been moving all the bits over for 4 days and the furniture will go on Thursday. I was initially a bit worried about the new house when we got the keys - houses look so dingy with nothing in them - but now we have got some stuff in there, I can see it is going to be good. It is certainly very large, and one thing I do like about moving house is that you can get organised again.

I bought a step counter last week, and have been wearing it for the last 4 days. You are supposed to do 10,000 steps per day to lose weight. I've done 15,000, 13,000, 17,000 and yesterday 24,780. I think this must mean that for a couple of days I can remain entirely motionless in my bed without any detriment to my health, or weight. Super!

We are going to be without an internet connection for a while when we first move in, but I'll update whenever I am able.

Bend it Like Beckham

Today is a big day in Sydney. The LA Galaxy are playing an exhibition match against Sydney FC, and David Beckham is in town. The city has gone mad. They have filled Telstra stadium (83,000 peeps), and that doesn't normally happen for football here. Everytime the man touches the ball, the crowd go crazy. And there are a lot of women there with banners saying things like 'Bend Me, Beckham!' Not very sporting if you ask me. And of course, if anyone is going to bend for Beckham while he is here, it ought to be me.

Course, if you say football here, they think you mean rugby league. You have to call football soccer, and although it is not a big spectator sport here, lots and lots of people play it - men and women. In fact, on the whole, I'd say that Australian sporting culture is all about taking part, and not necessarily watching. Whereas, in the UK, it is pretty much the reverse - all about watching and very little about playing.

So you'd think, wouldn't you, that Australia would have a lower rate of obesity than in the UK. Wrong. The rate is higher. Now, I have to say, that there is very little evidence of this where I live. I've never seen so many people running, everyone plays sport, and everyone is a member of the gym. Everywhere sells healthy food, and most people are eating it. And I have only met one person since I got here who smokes (which has reeked havoc with my social smoking habit....there is no one to beg a fag from....). This all must mean that in other, probably less affluent areas of Australia, there are some very very fat people.....

I read in a magazine the other day, that Australian women have the second highest number of sexual partners in the world. Guess which country has the highest? Interestingly, everyone I have asked this question of (including English people), have said the United Kingdom. Not a very flattering supposition for us ladies, that people think we are the world's biggest slappers. But they are wrong. I guarantee you will never, ever, guess who are. The turkish. I kid you not.

There are lots of things I need to find out about Australia. For example, something that has been exercising my mind whilst doing the ironing lately, is what the teenage pregnancy rate is here. I'm curious, because contraception is not free, and I'd like to see what impact this has. But at the same time, they have a very open and robust approach to sex education. I've been told that part of it involves parents also attending, and a session where parents, children and teachers are encouraged to become comfortable with the use of words relating to sex. This is done by making everyone shout as loudly as they can. 'Penis!!!!' they scream. 'Testicles!!!!!' 'Vagina!!!!!!!'. Can't wait - especially if the headmistress is there, as she is so prim and proper they call her The Queen.

I suppose that with this approach, contraception might never be needed.....

Catch Up Session...

Grandad, George and Anna



Andrew having a go on the surf ski



Anna and Georgie on the beach this weekend





I did think that after we moved out here, we would have a bit of a quiet time socially, on account of us not knowing anyone. But people here are so very friendly, I'd say we at least as busy on that front as we were at home - hence the lack of blogging just lately.

So much has gone on in the interim that I barely know where to start!

Grace and Bob came back from Melbourne having had a wonderful time driving down the coast, looking at the fantastic scenery and leaving clothes in motels all over the country (only joking Bob!). Did I say the previous weekend was hot, and we had friends Julie and Simon with their children Freddie, Tess and Finlay over for a BBQ?? I don't think I did.....Julie and Simon are English but have spent the last 7 years living in Bangkok, arriving in Sydney around the same time as us. Currently they are living in the house we are about to move into in Mona Vale (more on that later!) and that is how we met. I'm trying to think of what else we did that weekend but it seems like such a long time ago now!

So back to this weekend! It was Grace and Bob's last few days with us, and we packed it all in. I picked them up from the airport and then took them to Balmoral beach for lunch. We were amused by a very cheeky bird who came into the cafe and was pecking at the cakes on the counter. Don't think the staff saw him, but I bet he will be back!

That evening we had supper at Julie and Simon's, which gave G & B the opportunity to see where we are moving to, and they seemed pleased, although we are all sad to be leaving this place. Living here has seemed somewhat surreal, it's so wonderful - perhaps in the new house I will stop feeling as if I am on holiday all the time. Although I doubt it....

Saturday we took ourselves off to Avalon Christmas markets, bumped into lots of people we knew, and although I intended to buy lots of pressies, I actually only really bought a very large carved giraffe. Yes I know....look - I had a moment, ok?! Its called Humphrey by the way.

Speaking of Christmas, I'm pretty much on top of it now - just a few more gifts to go, and then I'm done. I wanted to get it all done before we move, as I'll have enough on my plate getting the house organised before everyone arrives for the festivities!

What else has been going on?? Well, we spent the day on the beach at Mona Vale on Sunday, where it was hot but with a good sea breeze. I even went in the sea! In the evening we had a lovely meal at Deck 23 overlooking the beach at Dee Why.

And - oh my god! - I forgot to mention the party we went to on Saturday night! It was friend Nadia's 40th birthday party, held in her very glamourous and modern pad with lovely views at Curl Curl. The theme was White and Bling, so there was a lot of tasteless jewellry about (mainly on the men), and a lot of women floating about looking very chic in white. There were ice sculptures of naked women's torsos which had plastic tubing and funnels leading to strategic places from where you could drink a shot of vodka, and many many lobsters and oysters. I felt like perhaps I had stumbled into someone else's life!

Then - this bloke turned up in a purple cloak. Suspecting that it was a stripper, which I always find a bit excruciating, I slipped away to the pool area, from where I could still just about see into the sitting room. But this was not a stripper. Oh no......it was much, much worse! Suddenly the man threw his cloak off and was already stark bollock naked. At first I thought it was just a very bad strip show, but from where I was standing, with no clear view (thank god) of his genitalia, he appeared to be doing something very dodgy indeed. And then I realised. It was the man from Puppetry of the Penis. Now. I know people who have been to see their show at the theatre, and it has been hysterical. But imagine him being feet away from you in the incongruous setting of someone's sitting room. There we all are, at this glamourous party, and there is a bloke at the end of your nose turning his tackle into the Eiffel Tower. Absolutely classic! Certainly a party we will never forget (especially as Andrew ended up in the pool at about 2.30am fully clothed and ruined his mobile phone!). Well done Nadia for organising the 40th party to end all parties!!

Of course this means that I need to put in some serious thought about my own fortieth next year...

Andrew flew off to South Korea on Monday morning, and Grace and Bob went back to the UK, so the children and I have been alone. Andrew has promised me to spend the week practising a few Puppetry of the Penis moves, and will be doing a show for me when he returns. I absolutely promise not to post any photos on here of this memorable event....

PS I went kayaking yesterday at Bayview, which was tremendous fun. But today - oh my God - my arms ache!!

Christmas is coming

I did an odd thing today. i sat in the garden on the daybed, soaking up the sun, and wrote some Christmas cards. Very incongruous. One should not be sunbathing whilst preparing for Christmas. And yet the shops are full of cards, gifts and decorations. I have no sense of it being near Christmas, and haven't yet developed any sense of urgency about it - despite the fact that I will be catering for 15 and we will be moving house between now and then. It just doesn't feel right. To be honest, I no longer have any inate sense of which month we are in - I no longer naturally know that it is November - I have to tell myself. Psychologically for me, it's about mid to end June. No particularly helpful given everything that needs to be done.

And I am confused about the approach to the festivities here. Christmas cards here are generally snow scenes, thatched cottages in the snow, Santa and some icicles - you know the sort of thing. I had to search high and low to find cards which I thought represented the real Australian deal - sun, sea, sand and kangaroos. But I wonder what makes them produce cards like that, and why they associate Christmas with weather conditions which never take place here. It's not as if everyone here is European!

I have made some decisions about things though. I won't be cooking a roast turkey dinner. We'll be having seafood, salads and that sort of thing. I think. Unless I come up with something else between now and then. We'll be going to the beach at some stage, and a lot of the day will take place outdoors. This is all assuming that the weather is good - which apparently isn't at all guaranteed. In fact, I'm told that Christmas Day has a bit of a reputation for being a bit damp. Which is disappointing - but we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Busy busy busy

Anna and Georgie all dressed up for Trick or Treating

For all of you who have cruelly contacted me and asked me to post a picture of me as black as the ace of spades, I have bad news. The tan has faded nicely, and is in fact almost gone. For a few brief moments I did indeed have the golden glow I was hoping for, and I'll probably do it again (especially if it carries on raining).

So back to what we've been up to.....after our return from the Hawkesbury, Grace and Bob took the train up to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days, leaving me to restore order in our home. We did all the usual things - swimming (lots of moaning as usual), netball (won), basketball (also won). I had the tan, as you know.

The tan was part of my plan to look gorgeous (hahahahahaha) for a very hectic social calendar. Thursday saw me glowing with friends at the Altitude Bar in the Shangri - La Hotel for Nadia's 40th birthday. This bar, as well as being very luxurious with waiter service for your Strawberry Bellinis, has the most spectacular views of the harbour from its position on the 36th floor of the hotel. I felt a bit like a film star. Then we were off in our chauffeur driven car to Hugos in King's Cross (which is the Sydney equivalent to Soho). A great time was had by all, and I didn't get home until 2.45am. Luckily I was sober. Friends from home will find this surprising, but I do seem to have become Captain Sensible about drinking. I didn't have anything after about 10.30pm except water (we went out at 6pm), and even ordered a Peach Bellini which I had a couple of sips of and then left because I knew it would be one too many. And this for a person famed for her exploits when three sheets to the wind. Goodness me....

Andrew very kindly put the children on the bus for me the next morning to allow me to have a lie in, and I got up at 11am and went straight to the gym feeling very chirpy. Then it was rush rush rush to get home and ready to go to the Opera House with Andrew and Grace and Bob. We had dinner at Circular Quay and then saw a program of Rachmaninov played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Ashkenazy. It was wonderful, and so nice to be enjoying an orchestral concert. We were pretty tired afterwards, but I took everyone to the Altitude Bar so they could see the view. Andrew didn't like it, and we couldn't get into the reserved seating area we had been in the night before, where the view is best, so it was a bit disappointing, but Grace and I did have a strawberry mocktail which was quite the loveliest thing I've ever drunk.



The Year 4 Mum's Posse

Then the next morning I was up early being picked up to go with Sharon and Maria on the Yea 4 Mum's Weekend Away. This took place at a resort in Ettalong Beach up on the Central Coast, but the town is accessible from Palm Beach by ferry in 25 minutes. It's a very pleasant trip on a nice day, and going somewhere by boat always seems a bit of an adventure doesn't it? We had a real laugh, as you will be able to see from the photos, but the real highlight for Maria, Sharon and I was the completely insane lift system. The hotel rooms had those key cards and the cards also had to be used to operate the lifts. There were 10 of us on trip with rooms on various floors, and the reception people failed to tell us that our key cards were programmed to take us only between the 2nd floor where our room was, and the ground floor. As a result, we spent sometime in the lifts, travelling up and down at the whim of other travellers, unable to make it to the 3rd floor. Irritation soon turned to hilarity (particularly when given that we had consumed a fair bit of champagne), and by the time we gave up and went to ask what the problem was at reception, we were pretty much beside ourselves.



Sharon busting a few moves to the band at the Ettalong RSL Club!

But the fun in the lifts did not stop there. After more champagne in Leisa's room, Maria and I dashed off for a quick shower and scrub up before we all went off for dinner. We jumped in the lift, confident that as we were going to our own floor there shouldn't be any problems. No such luck.....after initially making encouraging noises, we found that we were not going anywhere, and the lift door wouldn't open. We were still rather giggly, but the realisation that we might be stuck was slightly dampening the humour, so you can imagine our relief when it suddenly set off. We were slightly irritated when it failed to stop at the second floor, but at this stage it wasn't all that surprising. What was surprising, however, was to step out the lift on the ground floor and find that we were in the kitchens....Naturally, it wouldn't take us back up, so in the end we crept out, hoping that we might be able to find our way back to reception without being seen....however, we were soon spotted and escorted out, much to the amusement of all the staff. By this stage, Maria and I were laughing so much we were barely coherent, so the discovery that we were in the kitchens of the RSL club next door to the hotel was almost too much for us to bear. We had to walk out the club into the street, and walk round the corner to go back in the hotel and all in all the trip from the 3rd to the 2nd floor had taken over 20 minutes!

I swear that is the sort of thing that can only happen to me....



Ettalong Beach



Sharon and Maria doing a bit of modelling on Ettalong Beach - lol

A Floating Winnebago

Dawn at Refuge Bay (isn't that stunning?)



The waterfall at Refuge Bay



Our home for the weekend - the Lady Madonna



A very friendly Kookaburra

The visitation from the In Laws is going exceptionally well. No matter how much you love your family, only the saintly would not approach the idea of them coming to stay with you for a month with a little trepidation. Everyone here has a story about the Bad Guests, who after a couple of weeks they would have happily throttled. Good friends who wouldn't pay their way, family who wouldn't help, and then the just plain annoying.

Our visit from Grace and Bob is an enjoyable one, however. It's lovely to see how the children love them, they are good company, and they are helping out, which is handy when your family has just increased by half as many again. At the moment they are in the Blue Mountains for a couple of days, and we have just returned from a long weekend on the Hawkesbury with them.



Anna and Daddy in charge of driving



George and Grandad in charge of the navigation

In contrast to our previous adventure on the high seas, our vessel was less of a boat and more of a Winnebago, which just happened to be seaworthy. It was enormous and housed 2 double bedrooms with windows and proper mattresses, a proper bathroom with a good shower, a decent kitchen and a huge upper deck with sun loungers and a gas barbeque. I've never been much of a sailor, but if I had to take to the water, then it would have to be in one of these. It was a very relaxing time, with good weather and plenty of swimming (for those who don't have issues). George spent most of the weekend trolling about in the tinnie, which he loved. Anna was under water for the most part. I read my book and wished I was the sort of person who tanned.



George, Andrew, Grandma and Anna



A beautiful silver bream Andrew caught (we put it back)



Testing the waters



George in charge of the shark spotting vehicle



Grandma in charge of silly hats

Speaking of which....I've been and got a spray tan done today. Before having it done, I pointed out my fairness and asked for a nice 'glow'. Clearly 'glowing' in Australia is not quite the same as we English roses imagine it, as I am now about the colour of an Aboriginal. I'm told it will not be this dark after a shower. It better not be. The children looked at me askance when I picked them up from school. They were probably wondering who I am.

Lots of things to look forward to as well. Tomorrow I am going out in the city for drinks with some girlfriends, on Friday Andrew, Grace, Bob and I are going to the Opera House to see the No 2 Rachmaninoff Piano concerto, and then Saturday morning I am getting the ferry with Maria and Sharon to Ettalong beach for the Annual Year Four Mum's Weekend Away! I shall be exhausted by next week, and I really need to start thinking about packing up for the new house......

Enjoy the photos - I'll catch you later....