Thursday, 28 June 2012

April 6: The Lorax





















Daisy's first trip to the cinema today.  Despite being a little over-whelmed at first she really got into the swing of it - even shouting at the screen at one point and making most of the audience jump!
All this grown up stuff is hard work!

April 4: 1 year done!

























1 year since we arrived and there was only one way to celebrate - Zumbo!

April 3: Where's the bridge?




















April 1: Afternoon in the park



































Today was a beautiful day.  We spent the afternoon wandering around the botanic gardens making the most of the warm autumn sunshine.  Every time we visit the park we find something new to see.  Today it was this amazing moreton bay fig tree which must be as old as Australia!
After a stroll around the foreshore we called in to inspect the new Museum of Contemporary Art on the harbour facing the Opera House.  Daisy gave it a 7/10 - must try harder!

March 28: Cooogeeee?



Sunday, 10 June 2012

March 27: Look no nappy!


March 25: Fish & Chips at North Head






















Daisy wanted 'chippies' for tea tonight so rather than eating in the house, or on the beach, we took our seafood box up to North head and had an evening picnic looking back across the harbour.  The weather was pretty good this weekend but there were clouds gathering over the city.  More rain tonight!

March 24: Taking the strain

























Daisy was exhausted after climbing the hill up to North Head on the bike.
(Nick had to cycle around for another hour after this just to keep her asleep!)

March 20: Manly from above




















Nick took this photo on a flight back from Lismore.  It was so clear you could see the whole of Sydney right up to the Blue Mountains, but the view of Manly really shows how narrow the strip of land is between the Pacific & Harbour.  You can make out the Corso running from the wharf back to the Steyne Beach and you can see the ferry in the foreground. Our house is in the middle somewhere!

March 17: Toilet training




















No words necessary.......

March 14: Meet the Neighbours part 3




















The worlds largest butterfly?
(although Nick's enormous hands make it look normal size!)

March 10: Taste Of Sydney





















The annual Taste of Sydney festival was held this weekend with a food fair at Moore Park, as well as other events all over the city.
Being the original home of the slow food movement, the taste of sydney festival is really popular so tickets are rationed per session.  We were lucky to be given some tickets from our friends Kirsty & Anton who had a stand promoting their new Sunshack Cider.  We managed to sneak a few samples too!
The festival was packed with the best local chefs and restaurants with plenty of tasty treats to sample. Our only complaint was that we didn't have long enough!

Saturday, 19 May 2012

March 06: Queen Mary 2































The QM2 is the biggest ship ever to dock in Circular Quay.  Its difficult to see in the photos but it's enormous.  It even made Stanley seem small!

March 4: Busy day























Busy day today.  Soon after breakfast we headed over to Darlinghurst to visit the Dinosaur Designs factory shop, then to Bourke Street Bakery for coffee & Cake, before driving over the Watson's bay for a long walk around the coast, followed by fish & chips and 40 winks on the grass (well for Daisy & Granddad anyway).  The weather today was great - we're finally starting to see some improvement.  Fingers crossed that the winter will be better than he summer!

February 27: Melbourne Architecture




















Architecturally melbourne is a lot more interesting than Sydney.......but that doesn't necessarily mean that its better!  The above are probably a good example of 'just because you can do something, it doesn't mean you should'!  Daisy doesn't think that Iggy Peck would approve...

Sunday, 6 May 2012

February 26: Bells Beach



















After another great breakfast in Melbourne we drove along the Great Ocean Road between Torquay and Apollo Bay (via Anglesey).  The scenery was pretty cool but the weather was less than perfect so the photo opportunities were a bit limited.  On the way back we called into Bells Beach to the see the famous surf....which had obviously heard we were coming and decided to go somewhere else!  There were a few brave souls out on their boards but the water was pretty flat - definitely not like it is in the brochures!
Still glad we visited!

February 23: Melbourne




















Nick travelled down to Melbourne for a conference today.  Gem, Daisy, Granny & Granddad are travelling down in a few days.  This is the view of the Melbourne Skyline from the war memorial.

Monday, 16 April 2012

February 19: Australian Surf Championship




















The Aussie Surf Championship was held in Manly this year for the first time in years (don't ask how many?).  The Steyne was jam-packed as you can see from the photos. Unfortunately the surf was rubbish with the swell only reaching a max of about 2ft.  Although this did spoil the spectacle it did allow the competitors to demonstrate just how good they are, being able to pull some amazing tricks on really small waves!  I think we need to practice a bit more, but its something to aim for.......

February 12 Part 2: Rose Seidler's House





















After our Dim Sum breakfast we drove up to Turramurra to visit one of the most famous Historical Properties in Sydney - Rose Seidler's House, designed in the late 40's by Harry Seidler (Rose's Son).  The property is maintained by The Historic Houses Trust and is treasured as one of the earliest Australian examples of modernism.   It's full of fantastic period furniture & fixtures and we could have spent all afternoon there....in fact we did!

Thursday, 12 April 2012

February 12 Part 1: Dim Sum



























Theres a great Chinese restaurant on the Wharf called 'Manly Phoenix' which we've been meaning to try for months so what better excuse than to celebrate Nick's birthday.  Its really popular with families for sunday breakfast so we had to book a table for an hour only, but that was plenty of time to sample most of the great Dim Sum on the menu.  The food was fantastic and Daisy particularly enjoyed the barbecue pork buns!  We'll be back.....

February 11: 'Happy Birthday to Daddy'

February 05: Lets go surfing now...

February 05: Dragon Boats


































Every year Sydney hosts the largest dragon boat festival in the Southern hemisphere on Darling Harbour.  There were hundreds of teams racing over the weekend, some for fun and some more serious. The racing coincides with the Chinese new year festivities and there were lots of stalls & shows including amazing dragon dancers.  Daisy wasn't too keen - hence why she's not in the photos!

Sunday, 18 March 2012

January 29: Heading home


















Today was the end of our road trip.  We spent our last night in a village called Rylstone sharing the campsite with a couple of car loads of bogans who were visiting a hot-rod show in the next village!
We managed to get a pretty decent night sleep, and before heading back we stocked up on stone fruit from the blue mountains and a big fat lemon meringue pie from Foxwood Farm.  Although it was tough at first we really enjoyed our couple of nights in our little van.  We will definitely do it again but maybe next time we'll try to make sure that we're going to have good weather!

January 28 Part 2: Dubbo to Mudgee




January 28 Part 1: Back to the Zoo






















Back to the Zoo this morning to finish our adventure.  Today we saw tigers, zebras and got up close to a couple of huge giraffes.  We really enjoyed the zoo and would probably go back if it wasn't so far away. After seeing all the amazing animals the ones that got Daisy the most animated.....were the Otters!