Labour Day Long Weekend

Andrew and I this afternoon



George and Anna



One of the islands in the lagoon - the children love kayaking to them and exploring!

It's a public holiday on Monday (as opposed to those deeply disappointing Bank Holidays) and so we have a long weekend. It's Labour Day - which celebrates the Unions achievement of an 8 hour day for workers. Lots of countries seem to have this holiday, but not the UK as far as I can tell. The weather forecast for tomorrow is excellent - clear and 27 degrees - so we should be able to get out and have some fun.

Anna was at her friend Charlie's house for a sleepover. She lives in a beautiful house overlooking Freshwater Beach, and they spent some time in the sea there. George had his friend Andrew over for a sleepover too and they enjoyed pizza and playstation!

Today the weather has been good - hot but windy, which is a good combination so long as you are not fooled into thinking that you don't need sunscreen. Andrew had cricket coach training this morning (and now he is a qualified coach!) but this afternoon we've been out on the tinnie and round to the lagoon beach with the children. This evening we will be barbequeing greek lamb as we watch the sun go down.

The good news is that we've found the kayak over the other side of the water. Course this is now I've informed the police and the insurance company. It's tempting not to let them know it has turned up, but knowing me I'd be deported when they found out.....There was no paddle with it, so we'll have to get a new one of those, but it will be great for the children to have it back for the holiday.

Enjoy the pictures - we are going out for the day tomorrow, possibly to Bondi, so more pics then.



Out for a bike ride with the children round the lagoon, after school on Friday



One of our local sulphur crested cockatoos - a bit out of focus I know, but you get the idea!




Anna at the park at the end of the road

Okay, okay....

It's seems I've been rather remiss with updating the blog this week. But as a result I've been accused of having given up (Andrew) and of being incontinent (Lucy). A little harsh methinks. Nevertheless, I do apologise for this lapse, and will endeavour to ensure that it doesn't happen again!

The problem with not having written for a while is that now there is so much to say, I could write a novel. I'll try not to go on too much...!

So - my birthday. I was 39, which means I am still, briefly, in my 30s. I had a lovely day - got lots of lovely presents, went out with my friend Maria for a great brunch at Swelter in Palm Beach (which is owned by friends Paula and Richard, and they insisted that we had champagne - yum yum), and had a quick shufty at the shops but, being very good, I didn't buy anything.

We went out with the children in the evening and had hot chocolates and cakes at the local coffee lounge and all in all it was a good birthday.

I haven't reported on the children's sports matches recently. George didn't play basketball last week as he was off school with a sore throat. However, Anna was obviously on good form, as her netball team won 22 - 1! The girls were very pleased with themselves. This week, George's team struggled with no reserves, and got very tired. The final score of 30 - 12 didn't really do justice to the great job the St Lukes Hotrods did, and George gets better every week. Having a basketball hoop in the garden is definitely helping. Riding isn't on for Anna at the moment. There is an equine flu epidemic in Australia, and the ponies at the stables have got the bug. The riding school is quarantined as a result, and there will be no lessons for at least 50 days. Also on a sporting theme, the swimming school George and Anna attend is closing down for 6 - 9 months while they upgrade the pool, so I've enrolled the children at Fitness First, which is my gym. This means I will be able to get a workout in while they are having their lesson, which I'm rather pleased about - two birds with one stone and all that!

To be honest, the children are exhausted. With no half terms here the terms are very long, and with the early starts and the after school activities, they are pretty ragged. Luckily this is the last week of term, before they get their 2 week spring break. George has been ill, and has terrible bags under his eyes. Anna is even cheekier than usual, and lots of their friends are off school with various viruses. It will be a relief for everyone to be able to kick back a little. I certainly am looking forward to some lays in!

Things have been pretty busy on the social front for Andrew and I as well. While Andrew was in Singapore at the beginning of the week, I went to the first meeting of a book club I'd been invited to by friend Kerry. I met some interesting new people, and although I hadn't read the book, had a really nice time. Then on the Friday evening, I went to the year 4 parents bowling evening. Maria was on excellent form, managing to do an excellent 180 degree spin whilst trying to bowl her ball, and landing on her bum. I was just dreadful as usual! There were good people there and at the end a presentation of trophies and medals. I managed not to have won the trophy for lowest score of the evening (I think they must have miscounted!), and I was rather jealous of Maria's medal for most spectacular fall and Sharon's for best dancing whilst bowling. Never mind - there is always next year!

The next evening was a cocktail party for year 5 parents at Stella Blu - a bar down on the front at Dee Why. It was fun to get dressed up and have a few drinks (this was the first such event since we came to Australia!) and the cocktails were great. Happily I didn't overdo it, so managed to have a good day on Sunday as well! Some new friends were made too, so we are hoping to get out a bit more.

Sad news this week - the kayak was stolen. This means no kayak to play on until we've sorted things out with the insurance company. It's not quite paradise here then.....

Huh

No one has written a comment for ages, and I'm not telling you what I did on my birthday (today!) until someone does. So there.

Cricket season...

Glorious weather this weekend, I'm afraid. Spring has definitely sprung (although it feels like the height of summer to us). We've been very busy relaxing - Saturday started with George and Andrew going off to play cricket for the first time this season. In George's age group they play what they call Average Cricket, which means that matches are played across two weeks - one week batting and then the next week bowling. Each child gets 8 overs whether they are out or not, and then the scores are averaged out. This means that if you are a novice, as George is, you get a fair crack of the whip. Apparently it all went well, and as you can see, George looked very professional!

When they returned, we had two of George's school friends (Jack and Andrew) over for a sleepover, plus the usual contingent of girls from across the road. There was a lots of screaming and laughing coming from the lagoon all afternoon, the shower was in constant use, and I have a huge pile of towels to wash! In the evening we barbequed and fed all the local kids. I love that our house and garden is full of children all the time - even sometimes when none of our children are actually here! The boys got a dvd out in the evening, but George had a sore throat, so he was easy to persuade into bed at a reasonable time!

Today more of the same, but we did take time to wander over to the monthly market held on the other side of the lagoon. The children weren't keen to come, but they got an ice cream out of it. I bought a big floppy sunhat (see picture!), a super heated belt thing which I am hoping will help my back, and an xmas present for my nephew Lewis. I shall definitely go again - it's all arts and crafts and delicious food. A good venue for Crimbo shopping I reckon.



Now that spring is here, all sorts of beautiful plants are blossoming, most of which I am unable to identify and many of which smell glorious - including the orange tree outside the sitting room. The fragrance from this fills the garden and our bedroom balcony with the loveliest scent, even though at the moment the flowers are only buds. When it blooms properly I will take a picture to put on here - along with anything else I see and like (like frangipani, which is all over the place and looks and smells wonderful).

Andrew flew off to Singapore this afternoon and won't be back until Wednesday. However, as he flies in early in the morning that day, he is taking the day off and we plan to have a child free lunch somewhere gorgeous.

And before I go, I must say Happy Birthday to my very good friend Caralyn. This time last year we were at the 40th birthday party to end all parties - enjoying the chocolate fountain, the cocktail bar and the bands. And nursing a truly dreadful hangover the next day! And also to celebrate, I took Caralyn zorbing - quite the funniest thing I've done for many years. Oh happy days with good friends.....

Cardiology - Aussie Style

So - we went off for George's cardiology appointment. And very impressive it all was too...to set the scene, you have to know what we were used to. We would arrive at Southampton General, where invariably we would have a fair bit of trouble finding a parking space. Once there, we would make our way through the very busy hospital to the paediatric cardiology department - which was standard issue NHS (dis)comfort. But you don't mind that the place could do with being spruced up, because you know this is one of the best in the country in terms of care. We would wait a while, then a nurse would come and take George into a room to be weighed and measured. He'd come back and we'd wait again and eventually another nurse would take him to another room and do his ECG. This was followed by more waiting, until we would be taken off for the ultrasound. After this, only one more wait before we would see a doctor (not the consultant) who had usually never seen George before. This would all take several hours, and more than once, Andrew had to give up and go back to the office.

Now. You will all know that I am a fan of the NHS (although not blind to its shortcomings). So making this comparison is not very comfortable for me. But..... We turned up at North Shore Private Hospital (not as private patients - this is just where the consultant holds his clinics). We park with ease (having asked the concierge at the door where the parking was, and having declined the opportunity to have valet parking. Oh my god) We have a drink and something to eat in the cafe as we are a bit early. We make our way to the consulting rooms through quiet corridors furnished with comfy sofas, and arrive at Mr. Gary Sholler's suite. We are 10 mins early as advised. I have written off the day, and told school not to expect George to return. We fill in a form, and at exactly 1.30pm - the time of our appointment - we go in AND SEE THE CONSULTANT. Apparently you always see the consultant. Not only that - but HE DOES THE ULTRASOUND HIMSELF! He is even apparently capable of, and willing to, weigh and measure our son. And twenty minutes later we are on our way home.

Before you get too excited, before we left I wrote a cheque for $375 - of which we will get all but around $100 back under their Medicare system.

I'm not going to comment any further - it's too painful. But I would make the point that the system is good, but not free. My last prescription was $80. This will last a month and includes contraception which isn't free here. That cost is already subsidised, and the exchange rate is currently about 2.3. You do the maths. What I always said about the NHS is that we can have a much better service, but it will cost you. And consulants would have to start playing the game (and I don't mean golf).

So what other news? Well - Anna had her first netball match and they won 6 - 1. It was a good game and Anna played well. I failed to get any pictures of her with the ball - no one holds on to it long do they? - but she was right in the game. George finally plucked up the courage to go out in the kayak, had a great time, and has been out quite a few times since. He has two friends coming for a sleepover tomorrow and they are planning adventures on the lagoon. It's great to see the children having fun outdoors.

George has also finally overcome his shyness enough to make friends with the boy across the road, which means he is much happier and spending less time on the playstation. We have also recruited his older sister as a babysitter, which is great, as she won't need driving home!

And more George news - his first cricket match of the season is tomorrow, and he has attended his firsr training session at which be bowled someone out. The coach was very pleased with him. And guess who the coach for the Collaroy Plateau Thunders is? It's Andrew! Cool eh? It's great that Andrew is getting involved in things locally in this way, and also lovely for George. He's so proud of his dad!

Highlight of this week though has to be the JHSAA (the group of schools to which St Lukes is affiliated) Music Festival, at Sydney Town Hall. Anna sang in the St Lukes Primary Choir and the Combined Choir (about 200 children from all the schools) and the standard was phenomenal. I filmed some of it (although we were told not to...) and I'm going to try to put in on here. If not, I'll put it on YouTube and provide a link.

Finally, I thought you might like an update on the duck situation. Our white duck, to whom we had become so attached, seems to have lost interest in us, although I know he/she is still around on the other side of the lake. However, we do have some interlopers who we think might have told her to push off. They are a menage a trois of mallards (2 male and 1 female) who have taken up residence in the garden, and are brazen in their attempts to get in the house. As they have been in and crapped all over the floor (I cannot begin to describe to you what this smelt like), they are not particularly welcome, but if they produce any cute little fluffy yellow ducklings, I'll let you know.

Till next time...

Oops

Not drowning but waving...

Just realised 2 things - I promised dad that I would make two things clear on here. The first was that he wanted people to know that he had heard of 'Home and Away' but had never seen it. Not sure why he was so keen that I clarified this - it's not exactly like saying you've heard of La Traviata but have never seen that, is it??

And also, he wanted me to tell you that he did go in the sea at Palm Beach. He said it was very cold, and the only picture I have of this is the top of his head just before he disappears under a wave. I've put it on though, just to prove it.

I didn't put any of the national park pictures on the post either, so here they are now...



Smiths Creek



Dad outside the Bahai Temple at Mona Vale



Dad enjoying a still warm freshly baked scone at Cottage Point



Dad, George and Anna just before the school run.

Happy Apec Week!

Dad at Bradley's Head

What a week! I rushed around with dad, showing him the local sights - Bradley's Head for the fabulous views of the Harbour, the National Park, local beaches and all the children's activities, including our very first professional basketball match (more on that later). I took lots of photos as you can see, but the weather really didn't play ball. Although it pains me to say this, it pretty much rained every day except the first one, and was cold, wet and miserable. I've told dad he is not to tell anyone this, and tried to persuade him to pose for all our pictures in his swimming trunks but he refused. Spoil sport. He says that next time we emigrate we are to move somewhere where the weather is warmer. As I told him - this is the driest continent on earth! Really and truly it is!



At Manly Oceanworld (sheltering from the wind and the rain!)



Dad and George after George's basketball match on Tuesday. Dad and I shouted so loud at this match that I nearly lost my voice! One of the other dad's there said that maybe my encouragement could be more specific when George gets possession. Apparently screaming 'George! George! Just dooooo something!' is not all that helpful...

Added to the weather issues, was the APEC issue. Not sure how much coverage there was of this on the news in the UK but Sydney has just hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Community get together (21 great world leaders...1 great city...). This involved a visit from George bush which meant that the city closed down for a week with the largest security operation Australia (or perhaps the world...) has ever seen. They built a metal wall around the Opera House, closed roads, train and bus stations and put snipers all over the sky scrapers. Andrew spent all week looking at helicopters with people hanging out of them. Cafes and restaurants in the city centre were not allowed to use metal knives and forks on their street tables, and workers in the skyscrapers like Andrew's building were told to stop looking at the helicopters. The disruption was so complete that for the main meetings on Friday, a public holiday was called. This was because in addition to all the above, they were going to scramble the mobile phone network. George Bush - and Sydney - survived the onslaught (but not until after the lovely George had congratulated all the Austrian troops in Iraq and referred the summit as OPEC....still really really stupid then...).



My three favourite men..

Obviously, this was not really the week to be visiting the city centre, so we've left all those delights for dad when he returns with mum in April. Dad insists that he had a great time despite the weather and the strange conditions in Sydney, but I felt bad about it (although obviously I realise it was totally out of my control!). He left on Saturday having had to put him on the train to the airport, as driving through the city with all that still going on would have been a bit risky. I had a good cry on Friday night in bed (although I didn't tell him) - I had such a lovely time with him. I don't think we have ever spent that much time together before (without the rest of the family) and we get on tremendously well. I admire him enormously and I felt so sad that I wouldn't be seeing him again for seven months.

Dad took us out for a lovely birthday dinner on the Thursday at Deck 23 in Dee Why. The meal was delicious and was to celebrate my 39th birthday which is in a couple of weeks. And - oh yes - I nearly forgot our first ever professional basket ball match. The Sydney Kings versus the Wollongong Hawks. The Kings won, and it was an exciting match. I tried not to let the evening be marred by George having a paddy because we wouldn't buy him a burger - not because we want him to starve, but because he had 'forgotten' to eat his packed lunch and then hadn't eaten his dinner because he was 'full'. Anyway - taking him out and looking like I really was going to take him home made him buck his ideas up....





Me and me dad!

Andrew thinks that it is unfair to create a sport that relies on freaks of nature. The size of those blokes was really extraordinary. And the thing that I found amusing was that most of the audience was giant as well!

Despite Dad's departure, this week looks like being pretty busy too - we have George's first appointment with the Australian paediatric cardiologist tomorrow, then Anna's first netball match. And on Thursday, Anna is involved in a very big choir concert at Sydney Town Hall. We are all very excited about this and I'm going to try to video it and put it on the blog. Then Andrew is off to Singapore for a couple of days....

Of course...the sun is shining now...

Father's Day...Week

Well, it's been a busy week. The first half of it flew by with the usual combination of school runs, coffees, helping out at school and going to the gym. Then - tremendous excitement! - it was Friday and time to pick up my Dad from the airport.

I negotiated the drive through the city to get to Kingsford Smith International Terminal without incident, and we were there in just under an hour despite the heavy Friday evening traffic. Not to be confused with what us Englanders would think of as heavy Friday traffic, in that we were moving all the time and covered 30km across the largest city in Australia in that time...imagine that in London...

Anna had painted a special sign for grandad and we stood at the barrier waving it with her gold cheerleading pom poms. As a result we were naturally rather disappointed when he finally appeared and started grinning and waving enthusiastically at another family who clearly thought he was a nutter.

However...once we had reminded him who we were, and had all our hugs and cuddles, I drove dad back home taking the route over the Harbour Bridge. Dad has had a life long ambition to travel to Australia and in particular to see the bridge and the Opera House, so his first glimpse was special - to him and to us. I can't tell you how pleased I am to have him here, even if it is only for 9 days.


George and Anna playing on the lagoon sandbank

The next morning we needn't have worried about him being tired - as always he was up with the larks and raring to go. We thought we would take him out on the tinny for a tour of the lagoon. I think it is safe to say that we are really not seafaring folk. After running aground twice, the engine gave out and we had to wait for a passer by to tow us back in. I'm beginning to think the bloody boat is jinxed, but dad enjoyed the adventure (and of course it was a good laugh!).



Dad playing on the sandbank!



Dad, Anna and George having fun on the lagoon


Being towed home after the engine failed. As you can see we are quite a long way from home!

In the afternoon we had to take George to a ten pin bowling party in Dee Why so we all took the trip down that way, stopping in to get a few bits in Warringah Mall. The bowling place is in Dee Why RSL. The RSL's are the Aussie equivalent to our British Legion clubs, but the similarity ends there. This place boasts swish restaurants and bars, a huge gaming room, and a large auditorium for concerts and shows. There is not much pub culture in the suburbs here, and the RSLs are where you go for a drink and a very good value meal. Andrew and I joined with a 10 year membership for $20 each. That's about seven quid...

After that we went down to Dee Why beach for a stroll and a snack until it was time to pick up George and set off on the highlight of the day - a concert at the Opera House. We went on the ferry from Manly which meant dad got to see the spectacular view of the harbour lit up as you come around the Heads, and we had dinner at Circular Quay. The concert was really wonderful and even the children really enjoyed it. It was Charlie Chaplin's 'Gold Rush' film being shown on a huge screen with Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing the score live in front. It was very funny - I don't think I've see a Charlie Chaplin film before - the children laughed and laughed, but the most amazing thing for me was the discovery that Charlie Chaplin had not only conceived of, starred in and directed the film, but he had also composed the score. What an amazingly talented man!

On arriving back at Manly Wharf we felt a little peckish and found a cafe called that only sold chocolate things. Bliss. George had a chocolate pizza with marshmallows and banana. I think he was in 11 year old boy heaven!

Today it is Father's Day in Australia, so it was especially lovely to actually have my dad here with us. The day started with presents and a special breakfast, and then we went off to Palm Beach to enjoy the sun and meet up with friends Richard and Sharon and Paula and her brood.


George bodyboarding at Palm Beach


Anna doing the same!


Dad enjoying the Australian winter sunshine


View across Palm Beach towards Barrenjoey Lighthouse


Dad posing outside the surf club at Palm Beach where they film "Home and Away" - hence the Summer Bay sign (Dad's never heard of "Home and Away" but never mind!)

I'm looking forward to a fabulous week with dad - I'm sure there will be lots more to report on here!