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...