Monday, 23 July 2012
April 9: Telstra Tower
Monday, and before heading back to Sydney we drove up Black Mountain to the Telstra Tower and took the lift up to the top so that we could take some photos of Canberra from above. The image shows how green and flat the city is and how lake Burley-Griffen dominates the landscape.
After the tower we took a stroll around the Botanic Gardens - just to make sure that someone slept on the way home!
We enjoyed our weekend in Canberra, buts its a bit like eating a 'cheesymite scroll'......once is enough
April 8: Easter Sunday
Canberra was built following a design competition 100years ago and is planned with a number of important visual axes linking key buildings and spaces. We began our day at the top of looking from the war memorial back down Kings Avenue towards the Parliament building. We spent a few hours looking around the war memorial which was amazing and pretty humbling. We spent a lot longer at the memorial than we intended but after leaving we walked all the way down Kings Avenue, across the lake and up to the parliament before turning around to look back towards where we started.We had a great meal this evening at a cycling cafe in town. Something of a find because most places in Canberra seem to have shut down for the weekend!April 7: Easter in Canberra
Easter Saturday and we packed up our hire car and drove down the Hume Highway to Australia's capital city, Canberra. Its about 3 hours drive South and inland from Sydney so we arrived early afternoon, just in time for a walk around Lake Burley-Griffen and a quick look around the National gallery
As you can see from the photos the weather was pretty good today - lets hope it stays in for the weekend!
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 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!
Sunday, 10 June 2012
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 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.....
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