Category: Simon

Parades and fairs were the order of this weekend. The Sydney Christmas tree lights were turned on during the week, so we headed down to take a look. On the way we caught the end of the Christmas parade making it’s way from the CBD down to Darling Harbour. It did feel a tad bizarre watching what I’d consider a winter activity on a glorious summer day – you have to sympathise with Santa and his elves dressed up for the North Pole in the scorching heat! The parade ended in a small park with the obligatory childrens show, which we watched for as long as the Mango & Passionfruit smoothies kept us cool for.
After catching up with the Aussie election news in a decidedly cooler park (landslide to “Labor”, with the residing PM losing his seat, and an MP getting slapped by a jilted journalist – UK politics is so dull!), were our ears deceiving us or was that the faint drone of bagpipes? The annual Scottish fair was in town! Passing the Irn Bru and shortbread stands with saltires flying, we managed to make it in time to hear the thank you speech and see the tents get put away. Ah well, at least we managed to scoff a square sausage butty (white sliced bread, obviously!)
There was still time to get back to the flat and walk to Bronte beach for a quick swim, if that’s what you call being at the mercy of huge waves (great fun though!). I reckon I’m in need of more beach time – still haven’t mastered walking around in those thongs!

Work this week took me to my first private school – really in 30 years I’ve never even set foot in one before! I was a little nervous to say the least but I loved it and am pleased to say the feeling was mutual – they asked me back until the end of the week and even went as far as to ask if I was looking for permanent work. I wish. What makes it so great I hear you ask. Well to start with I was in the preschool so the fact that the privileged little darlings were, well, little helped. It also helped that for the first time since I have been with the agency (about a month now) I was sent into the ‘Nest’ a.k.a the babies room! (I have been longing to work in a babies room since I started but was beginning to suspect a conspiracy, eg Si phoning the agency and warning against it due to broodiness overload!) Yes all of this helped but what really did it for me was the staff. I was treated with respect! Quite rare in this temping work (some people don’t even bother to ask my name just boss me around and give me the yucky jobs). But at this place they were unbelievably nice. Almost to the point of being too good to be true. I don’t think I realised there are quite so many terms of endearment in which to address children. Almost without fail every sentence to come out of these Mary Poppins-esque teachers began with some variation of ‘my darling’ or ‘my beautiful’ ‘my lovely’ and so on! At one point, after struggling with a particularly obstinate little ‘darling’ who refused to tidy up the mess he had made, I asked one of the teachers for some help. I was hoping that she would tell him to just do it but to my surprise she cupped his chin with one hand and said in a soft voice ‘Wilbur my gorgeous boy, could you please….’ and even more surprisingly- it worked!
Another plus point about working there was the long hours which meant that by Thurs I’d clocked up enough hours to take Friday off and hit the beach. Unfortunately I learned that it is not so easy to apply suncream to your back on your own and I got a tad burned. Oops, No more beach for me this weekend!
In an effort to avoid the beach at the weekend we headed to Centennial Park After picking up one pair of rollerblades and a bike we were ready to hit the road. Luckily there was a path in the park especially for rollerbades and bikes so we didn’t have to worry about such obstacles as cars and other people. Even more lucky, for me, Si took the rollerblades first. After a wobbly start he was off like a pro making it look easy. I, on the other hand, did not find it so easy! I made Si swear, on pain of death, that he would not let go off my hand- fortunately he is an expert on a bike and can ride one handedly! Of course, after a while I did pluck up enough courage to let go of his hand for brief spells and amazingly I only fell off once. Honest!
In the evening we headed to the Opera bar for a much needed drink or two. The bar is located beneath the Opera house with perfect views of the harbour bridge, especially for the fantastic New Years Eve style fireworks.
Sunday found us hitting the park again but for a much more chilled out affair this time. Armed with a picnic and our books we prepared ourselves for a day of relaxing in the sun.

Another day, another tourist attraction ticked off the list, this time it was Taronga Zoo, hidden on a hillside looking over the Sydney harbour. Arriving by ferry from near the harbour bridge and Opera house makes the visit more of a quintessential Sydney day trip. First animals to visit were obviously the kangaroos, enjoying their early afternoon nap and unperturbed as zoo visitors wandered past in their enclosure. Round the corner, an almighty roar broke the silence, with a cute koala being the only culprit, which it probably was – they’ve also been known to confuse a few Aboriginals too. The other highlight was sitting inches from a huge salty (crocodile, that is), fortunately for us a couple of those inches were glass…
Back to Bondi for fish and chips, well prawns in my case as they’d run out of octopus. I thought I was on to a winner as the bag was pretty full, but as I sat down to munch, 12 little black eyes stared back. Time to try and remember how to peel the little critters!
Sunday started rudely with Caroline waking me up for a walk to Coogee. We walked along the same path as last weekend, although there was now a sign indicating that the homeless man was not an art exhibit, and to please step away. A few miles, and several bays later we arrived in Coogee, where a proper slap up breakie of pancakes made up for the walk.
It’s now only 2 weeks until I’m done with this working lark, and the holiday starts again. It’s feeling like those final few days of school before summer holiday, maybe I should start taking board games to work…

Purely by accident, we seem to have spent the weekend doing arty things. The annual Sculptures by the Sea was in town, a collection of “interesting” sculptures along the path between Bondi and Tamarama beaches. The strangest thing was everyone thinking the homeless man who has set up home on the cliffs next to the path was a piece of art. Well you can hardly blame them, knowing what passes for art…
Continuing the art theme, we headed to the Star City theatre for a showing of Miss Saigon. Now I know it’s a musical, but you’d think their motto was “Why say it when you can sing it”, for barely a word of dialogue was spoken, instead replaced by long theatrical outburst (man, they can hold a note). Nevertheless, a good time was had, and the show had an underlying political theme, raising awareness of the children of US soldiers born to Vietnamese women.
Sunday was easier on the art, after a failed attempt to get to the zoo, we wandered around the botanical gardens next to the Sydney Opera House. Caroline had heard there were bats in the park, and only after wondering why the crows seemed to be hanging upsidedown did we see them – fruit bats, or flying foxes – and they definitely have a fox-like expression as they stare down at you from their lofty positions. Walking on, and passing loads of outdoor weddings in progress (brave souls, it was forecast to be a wet weekend), we sat for a while at Mrs Macquaries chair, said to be one of the best views of the harbour. It was alright, but you really had to strain to see the harbour bridge, and to not look at the docks in front of you. I guess Sydney’s changed a bit over the past hundred years.

The Australian flies are a special breed – and they truely are Australian, having made a sport of attempting to fly up your nose at any given moment, or attempt to land on your eyeball given half the chance. They’ve also taken that other Australian trait to heart by never being inside, even if it’s a smelly place, oddly enough (odd for flies, not the Aussies…).
One of our encounters with the flies this week was at Watsons Bay and South Head, the southern side of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. You can imagine Captain Cook entering the harbour through the relatively small entrance to the large natural shelter, but what is quite surprising is how far they went before stepping on shore near the harbour bridge which is way off in the distance. Watsons Bay itself surrounds a grassy park, perfect for Sunday picinics – something that the ferries and buses realise as they only head out this far at the weekend.
We didn’t miss out on the beach action either, although it was a bit more uncomfortable this time as I walked down to the beach in my new thongs (that’s Aussie for flip flops in case you were worried…)

Well this weekend I made it, to the beach that is. It may surprise you that up until now I’ve not actually set a foot on the clear sands of Bondi Beach (I = Simon, it’s a given that Caroline has been to the beach!) It’s not for want of trying either, a couple of weeks ago I did wander down, but the wind was strong, and the sand literally blasted me away. Before that I always seemed to be walking by or sitting next to the beach.
Anyway, sipping a fruit smoothie and lying back reading a book is definitely the way forward. There are a couple of other beaches near Bondi, so we headed down to Tamarama beach, a smaller homely place. Lunch was at a cool little beach café, whilst a wedding took place on the grass. It also had loads of washed up jellyfish like creatures, little blue pockets of air with a long strands coming out the back. Didn’t think much of them, but Dave at IBM later told me they are Bluebottles (also known as Portuguese Man O’war) that can administer an almighty sting (non-deadly if that makes it any better). I’ve now spent the rest of the week scaring myself and Caroline by trawling the internet finding out about all the poisonous and deadly creatures of Australia! Syndey also has the Blue Ringed Octupus on it’s shores, with a venom that inflicts so much pain you don’t need an ambulance siren on your way to hospital, nice!
We rounded off Saturday with a trip to Star City, the casino of choice in Sydney. I guess we’ve had our expectations set high by Vegas, as it didn’t quite cut the mustard, or was it that the $1 put in a fruit machine didn’t pay out…
By Sunday it was time for another beach, Cronulla (pronounced Cru-null-a, although that’s still up for debate…), basically a suburb by the sea 1 hour from Bondi. A relaxed sort of place with families sitting by the sea doing the sandcastle thing and having barbeques. Quite a contrast with Bondi, but I’m glad we’re living near Bondi Beach!

This weeks day of fun was spent out on the high seas, on the search for the migrating humpback whales. The whales spend most of their time in the Antarctic feeding, but head north in winter to warmer waters to calf, losing a third of their body mass in the process. Fortunately for us, it means we don’t have to go to the Antarctic to see them, so we took a 4 hour jaunt out into the Pacific. We encountered quite a few pods of whales, identified by their blows, tail slaping and tails showing as they dive. A couple of curious whales also came up to the boat for a look (see photo), and then headed off on their long trip south. The females with calf will pass by Sydney in a couple more weeks time, but much closer to shore and visible from some points – that’s a cheap day out for the future!
Caroline has nearly finished her nannying, and is already looking forward to being on holiday again (2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, at least!). It’s also her 30th birthday on Thursday, but alas she’ll be working, I’m sure we can make up for it somehow. As for me, I’m on week 4 of 12, not that I’m counting..
It’s also warming up here, meaning I get to use my convertible trousers to the full – shorts on commute, trousers in office, and no, I don’t care how stupid I look whilst I’ve got half trouser, half shorts on!
P.S. Cat – I know the photo is not as impressive as your whales, but I promise I took it! 😉

It’s been a couple of weeks since we arrived in Sydney, and a couple of weeks working for me! We’ve tried out a couple of the districts to see which one to call home for the next few months, and no surprises that Bondi Beach won! The photo is the view from the rooftop pool, the beach is in the background. The other contender was Newtown, set to the west of the city near the main uni it has a young and vibrant feel, but alas no beach! It was also a bit closer to the IBM site I spend most of my time at, West Pennant Hills. It’s a leafy suburb on the outskirts of Sydney with the office set in a forest with Kookaburras and Gallahs chirping away, not to mention massive lizards (30cm IS massive when it’s a lizard at your feet!).
For a change of scenery, or days when the bed is just a wee bit too comfy, IBM Darling Harbour comes to the rescue. Based in the CBD*, with the treat of a ferry ride for the first visit, it’s only later that I realise the station is only 500m away, but that’s boring! Working on the 12th floor and doing lunch is actually great fun, and a new experience for someone who’s never worked in a city before. Having a commute is also a novelty, and actually quite relaxing, plenty of time to read, play and email.
The final work topic is Caroline having found a job as a nanny (i.e. playing with kids all day…), just for a couple of weeks as she continues to collect the required mountain paperwork to allow her to teach (thanks for posting it Dad, I’ll let you know when it arrives!).
As for the sightseeing, it’s slowed a bit compared to the first few weeks. We’ve mostly been walking around markets, along beaches (ferry to Manly, Bondi etc) and eating fish & chips, or chish & fips if you’re in Coogee. Today was a nice sunny day down at Bondi, people out surfing, sitting on the beach and playing catch with their dogs along the front – bearing in mind it’s still essentially winter here, makes you wonder what the summer is going to be like!
*CBD – Central Business District, in case you didn’t do that in Geography…

After the Cook Islands, Fiji had a tough act to follow, and they have definitely done well! We headed out to one of Fiji’s 300 odd islands, the ferry takes you most of the way, with little dingies coming to collect you for the final trip to the beach side resorts. After checking several times with the ferryman that we were getting off at the right stop, we arrived at the beach and got a few blank looks as we were around the corner from where we needed to be. $40, and a life threatening (well, baggage threatening) wet ride later we arrived at the Bay of Plenty, greeted to our new “home” by some of the friendliest hostel owners ever. The Bay of Plenty lived up to it’s name and we had loads of food (there are no shops, so the hostel gives you 3 meals a day, woohoo!) The hostel is across the bay from the Blue Lagoon, and site of the film “Return to the Blue Lagoon”, we had some tremendous snorkelling there, and saw Nemo (Clown Fish), blue starfish and squid, it was like swimming in a fish tank!
After a couple of days we’d done everything there was to be done (and there was no one else there either!), so moved on south to Coconut Bay, where you could literally stumble out of your room onto a hammock and watch the world go by on “Fiji time”, a very relaxing approximate time keeping affair. The evenings entertainment was hilarious, reminiscent of the New Zealand Haka, with 5 young men strutting their stuff in grass skirts (along with Britney, otherwise known as Steve). Followed on by us doing the Bula dance (think Macarena, but more cheesy!), and then musical statues, with a partner! (Caroline got Britney 🙂 ) We then had a sample of Fijian culture by going to the staff Kava drinking session, it’s a strange muddy drink that has the same effect as a strong strepsil, making your tongue and lips a bit numb, and is meant to make you sleep well, and the locals prefer it to beer (it’s ok Dad – I’m sticking to beer…). True to form we slept well that night, but that could just be the alcohol!
Final night on the Fijian Islands was on Kuata, another stressful time sitting all day in hammocks!

Well, actually they all do, even the little dirt tracks off to the middle of nowhere, so I guess U2 got that one wrong. For the music fans out there, that means we’re heading to the Joshua Tree National Park, making the full use of the $80 pass we’ve bought, and breaking up a 250 mile driving day. It was another scorcher, so top up and air-con on again, but when you realise that the park is actually the boundary between two deserts, it explains the heat. Anyway, we cruised through the park, with U2 playing all the way through, the music actually fits well with the scenery, so either this is another Pink Floyd – Wizard of Oz link, or could just be me, as I think I’d find U2 music fitting anywhere…
The Joshua Tree portion of the park is actually quite small, and limited to the cooler (~35 Celsius!), higher Mohave desert, the park then drops down to the hotter Colorado desert, with the cacti you’d expect. Wildlife seemed to be quite abundant too, strange white lizards, little squirrel creatures, and a coyote have been added to the list.
We’re now reaching the end of the US part of our trip, tomorrow is LA but only for the day as we’re flying out to Rarotonga in the evening. I’m not sure what the internet access will be like for the next two weeks, so blog updates may be sporadic – I’ve added lots of photos to the link to the right – health warning: there’s an awful lot of them, but hopefully not too boring!