Day 86: Sydney Park

10 April 2012

I took the day off work so I didn't have the back to work blues that comes with rushing back to work the morning after your holiday. Carl and I walked to Newtown and got a Moo Burger, then wandered down to St Peters/Alexandria area and perused the retro/2nd hand furniture shops. After a pit stop for coffee and banana bread we walked down to the end of King Street to Sydney Park. There's a nice view from the top of the hill and we always like watching dogs playing. One jumped in the water.

I took the below picture on our way out of the park. I thought someone had left a balaclava in the park at first glance but it was a piece of art made out of a concrete cast.

Day 85: Birthday celebrations

9 April 2012

I got up early on my birthday and helped tidy the last of the house before we left. Carl got me tickets to Karen O's Opera show at the Sydney Opera House 'Stop the Virgens' (can't wait!) and  made me a sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast. By about 9.30 we had hit the road.

We stopped and got the obligatory photo of me and the Port Stephens whale and within half an hour I was dozing in the back.

We got stuck in traffic and took a wrong turn so it took about 4 hours to get back. We stopped at a service station and I had an awful savoury muffin, i've had better birthday lunches but it could have been worse!

We got back around 2pm and went straight out again to meet Katie, Andrew and Indie-Rose in the Royal Botanical Gardens. We went to the Opera Bar for a birthday drink, exactly where we were that time last year. 

We went to Mantra, a restaurant on Woolloomooloo Wharf in the evening. We had lovely prawns, fish, steak and hand cut chips but unfortunately we were freezing cold sat outside. We had to try and eat quickly before our food went cold. They wouldn't let us move inside when we asked to so I can't say i'd recommend it. Having to wait a long time to get someone's attention to be served is never a good thing either. 

Still, all in all a nice birthday spent with special people. I got to speak to all of my family on Skype or on the phone including a Skype call with my Niece and Nephew who were on holiday in India. 2 more years until I hit the big one! 

Day 84: Port Stephens Day 4

For our last full day in Port Stephens we took it easy in the day enjoying the view from our balcony. In the late afternoon, Ian, Carl and I went for a wander to check out a different local beach.

I sat on the rocks and read my Richard Branson book and Ian and Carl played frisbee on the beach.

When we got back to the house we put on a great barbecue - fish, grilled vegetables and houlomi. A huge electrical storm hit just as we were almost finished cooking. It started pouring hard with rain so we had to come in and finish cooking inside. 

We had quite the feast, Ian bought us all some mini easter eggs and the boys bought me a birthday carrot cake, complete with candles. I had a mini bottle of bubbly to celebrate my birthday early and we settled in for the night to play cards. We played 'Hearts', Carl was the loser for the first game and myself for the 2nd. We were up until 2am finishing the 2nd game so I well and truly saw my birthday in!

Day 83: Port Stephens Day 3

On Saturday we ran down to the beach again and got back to the house in time for Ian arriving. He had cycled the 60kms from Newcastle. We had breakfast and headed out to walk to the top of Tomaree Headland for a180 degree view of Port Stephens.

It felt like a big trek to get up to the top, there were lots of sloped paths and stairs involved! It was a great view though, as you can see from the pictures. Along the walk were dozens, if not hundreds of spiders in webs hanging above your head or to the side. It was quite a challenge to ignore them!

Day 82: Port Stephens Day 2

On our 2nd day in Port Stephens we went for our daily jog down to the beach around 9am, had a swim and walked back to the house.

We had breakfast on the balcony and later drove into Nelsons Bay to try and find something for lunch. Unfortunately most places were closed as it was Good Friday. It became a bit of a mission to try and find something gluten free for Carl. Rob and I had a vegetable pasty and Carl had to make himself a sandwich back at the house.

We went on a sand dune tour in the afternoon and went sand boarding, I managed to climb up the dunes and slide down 4 times, they're pretty high so climbing up was a bit of a workout!

Rob and I sliding down the dunes

Before we went back to the house we stopped off at a beach. Carl did some snorkelling and Rob and I sat on the beach. I had a bit of a sunbathe, it was beautiful weather.

Carl on the beach

We had a barbecue on the balcony on the 2nd night, sausages, zucchini, corn on the cob and salad. I spent much of the evening playing Draw Something, very addictive!

Day 81: Port Stephens Day 1

As I write this I am enjoying a nice soak in the huge corner bath in the ensuite bathroom of our Port Stephens holiday home (mustn't drop my phone in the bath!). It has to be one of my highlights of today given that we don't have a bath in our flat. I've got my Yen Magazine and Dirty Granny (cider) at my side.

Rob, Carl and I set off around 10am and got to Port Stephens at about 1pm, by which point we were all starving. We went into Nelson's Bay and bought fish and chips. We all went for grilled blue-eye cod with chips and salad. Very tasty although the chips over here never seem to be hand-cut like they are in the UK, most of them come out of a bag in the freezer.

We got settled into the house and went for a walk down to the local beach just in time to see the sunset as we walked down the hill.

Tomorrow we might go sand boarding at the local sand dunes, but for now I think it's time for me to put my phone down and enjoy my bath... :-)

Day 80: Training

I spent all day yesterday in Excel training. I learnt some useful things but I was surprised at how much time was focused on different ways to cut and paste!

There was a nice view of the city from the HSBC building.

A sign on the bathroom door made me smile!

And the motivational plants in the breakout area! :-)

Day 78: Autumn sun

The sun was very low on my way home now that daylight savings is over. Hopefully that will make it easier to get up in the mornings!

Day 77: Branson

We went to Bronte beach today. The Autumn sun seems even better than the 'summer' we had! I bought Richard Branson's 'Losing My Virginity' the other day for something to read over Easter while we're away so I brought it to the beach with me to make a start on it. I'm up to page 20 and so far so good.

Day 76: Smoothie goodness

Carl and I went to a great workout on Saturday morning. Everything aches today! Carl made Enliven Fitness' coconut smoothie from their recipe - 2 raw eggs, 1 banana, 2 teaspoons of cacao powder and the juice and flesh of 1 coconut. It tastes like a non guilty version of a chocolate milkshake but much healthier and tastier! I just had 1 egg in mine.

Went for a coffee and some lunch at Clipper Cafe in Glebe in the afternoon. I went around Glebe market and found myself a nice leather bag with silver studs and a black dress.

Watched 'Drag Me To Hell' in the evening. It started ok and had the usual jumpy bits but it all went a bit weird towards the end. It's been a while since I've watched a decent horror film. They seem pretty few and far between lately. 

Day 75: R.I.P. Dasher

I found out on Friday that Dasher, the 15 year old dingo/kelpie cross that featured on day 7 of my photo a day postings sadly got hit by a car. He used to sit outside his house on Crown Street in Surry Hills and was well known and loved by locals. Carl and I saw him just last Sunday so we were shocked to hear of his passing. Friday's post is dedicated to Dasher. Here are a couple of photos I have taken of him over the last year.

Dasher sunning himself a few months ago

Day 74: Autumn

Walking to work bright and early with a fuzzy head from the multiple champagnes the night before, I noticed for the first time this year that the leaves on the trees on my walk to work are turning yellow. Autumn is well and truly here.

Thursday was a crazy hectic day that had me very ready for the weekend! I got home and passed out on the couch exhausted.

Carl picked up our first organic food order (fresh from a local farm) from Enliven Fitness where we do our morning classes and we had a lovely dinner of beef sausages, a jacket potato and a really fresh salad. Sounds dull but the organic veg and meat had so much flavour.

Day 73: MCA Opening Night

I had another surreal day on Wednesday, I got a last minute invite to the VIP opening night for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). With 45 minutes to spare until it started I raced home to spruce up, grabbed a cab and met one of our Board Members at work Victoria Reichelt there. It was like the moment in Devil Wears Prada where the main character Andy finds out at the last minute that she's going to the ball with her boss Miranda Priestly!

MCA front entrance

It was a good night of flowing champagne, cocktails, yummy canapes and some great art. I probably did things the wrong way round by having several drinks before going upstairs to see the art (you couldn't walk around the gallery with drinks) so I will definitely be going back to appreciate the art fully sober! The highlight was The Clock, such a great idea. It's lots of film clips that show watches/clocks that show the precise time that it is when you watch it, e.g if you walk in at 12.15pm you will see an actual film clip from a well-known film that shows the clock reading that precise time. The film goes through an entire 24 hours to show every minute in a day. It's great to watch because you don't know what clip will be coming up next.

This photo could be filled with celebs for all I know, my knowledge of Australian celebrities is pretty limited! I saw Glen McGrath and a few people I recognised from TV but that was about it

I thought the photos of Victoria and I trying to take photos of the view were more interesting than the better pictures we got of the actual view on the 4th floor of the MCA building

Day 72: Mannequin

I went to the staff room at work for lunch as usual on Tuesday and the random mannequin that usually sits in pieces on the floor in the corner was now standing up in one piece leaning against the wall - creepy!

I had a surreal day at work couriering Duran Duran invites to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) VIP opening night to their hotels under their pseudo names. One of the more random requests I have had!