Saturday 24th January 2015
So after a sad goodbye at Brisbane airport I flew back to Sydney to join my next family. It wasn't until the plane had landed and I checked messages that I realised that my new host mum had mentioned Sunday. Apprehensively texting to see if that was a mistake, I soon discovered it wasn't and I was arriving a day earlier than I was expected! Still, Sarah and Len met me at the train station and I had a much needed, quiet night in by myself while the children stayed with their Grandmother and Sarah and Len went out. Travelling up to St Leonard's on the train, we passed over the Harbour Bridge and it exciting to see the bridge from another perspective.
Sunday 25th January 2015
I met Eliza and Allegra today when they were dropped off by their Grandma and they were full of excitement, recalling the previous evening. They'd had a fun filled evening at the theatre watching Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat so there were a few renditions of the various songs. Len's sister and brother in law came over for the afternoon with their children so it flew by especially as the girls put on a show for us!
In the evening, the girls were thankful for the gifts I'd brought and we compared Aussie and English words and phrases.
Monday 26th January 2015
When people describe spending Australia Day in Sydney, I imagine a gloriously sunny day on the beach. This was not to be for my experience. In fact it was more like a traditional British bank holiday - overcast and raining for most of the day! Nonetheless, undeterred by the misrable weather, Steph and I met up to enjoy the celebrations in the harbour. A huge naval ship filled part of the harbour near the Opera House while the space between here and the bridge was filled with entertainment, starting with a Ferrython which appeared to be just a load of boats sailing past! After a 21 gun salute, children from various choirs, dotted around the harbour, sang the national anthem and 'I am Australian'.
I never thought I'd describe tugboats as elegant but they really were as they were joined by helicopters and yachts to create an aquatic ballet.
Then a cruising concert arrived to serenade the dripping crowds.
Finally we saw a floatila of decorated boats sail past, it was quite a sight.
Unfortunately, due to the weather, the Red Berets Australia Army Parachute Display team had to cancel their show so we headed over to find some more entertainment but, much to our disappointment, there didn't seem to be a whole lot happening. We did, however, find Gramaphone Man, who, coincidently, we'd only been talking about.
Further round, we found a CultureBeats stage so we stayed to listen to a Greek band play. I'd been keen to stay to watch the evening fireworks but the weather literally put a dampner on that plan and we headed home. En route we passed several vintage buses and it felt strange to see red London buses shuttling up and down George Street - pehaps a fitting tribute to the weather!
Back at home I watched Neighbours and true to form for that TV show, it was blazing sunshine and they were playing cricket in the street!
Tuesday 27th January 2015
This week began as it went on - peculiarly! It was the first week back to school after the holiday but of course yesterday was a public holiday and today was a pupil free day so I got up, unsure if I was needed to look after the children but as it turned out, everyone got up late! I was just needed for a few hours while Sarah went shopping and I taught the girls to play Uno - one of the gifts I brought with me - and it went down a storm.
For dinner, we had a roast dinner and just before it was ready, Sarah discovered there were no gravy granules. I took an adventure to the supermarket and had to manoeuvre a huge car out of the garage and through the gates! It was quite a feat!
After dinner I watched part of the Asia Cup - Australia v UAE - and I was astounded by the lack of crowd considering it was the home team in the semi final!
Wednesday 28th January 2015
The first day of a new school year! And it poured ALL day! Donning waterproof jackets and clutching umbrellas we went to the cafe on the corner for a before school treat and I obliviously sat next to an ex Australia rugby captain!
During the day I completed a few jobs around the house including blitzing the girls wardrobes. Then after school we played more Uno. After a calm dinner we had a noisy bath!
Thursday 29th January 2015
This morning I began to learn the morning routine, packing lunch boxes, snacks and walking both girls to school and preschool. As it was her first week at a new preschool, Eliza only attended for the mornings so in the afternoon we played games and finished a jigsaw a couple of times.
After collecting Allegra from school, we played hide and seek (I impressed myself with my hiding ability!) and enjoyed some Annie songs via YouTube.
In the evening I was excited to be returning to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir and took the bus to Wynyard. It was a speedy journey until we reached the south side of the harbour bridge but we then crawled across the CBD. Although I'd left at around 5:20pm, I only just made it to Glebe Town Hall in time, completing my bus ride in 1 hour 20 minutes. The return journey wasn't much more successful, having to wait 50 minutes at Wynyard but the recognition along with the singing and choreography preparation for Mardi Gras was well worth it.
Friday 30th January 2015
Again, the morning started with the school routine and I got some rest before collecting Eliza at midday. After some lunch we went to the park with her bike.
Leaving the park we went straight to the school to meet Allegra and her friend who came over for a play date. As there was a pest control man spraying the house, we had dinner at McDonalds and I was asleep very early after an exhausting week!
Saturday 31st January 2015
With a couple of jobs to do, I started the day at Northbridge Plaza then took the bus into the city. Relaxing in the Botanic Gardens, I sat in the shade, visited a cafe and completed a blog in the art gallery.
I spent the rest of the afternoon mooching around the city centre and was amazed to see the UAE soccer team disembarking from their coach. Imagine if they had been in European team in Europe - they'd be mobbed!
I also found this handstanding statue which creates a pair with a statue I'd seen previously. The plaque alongside them reads:
"Lest We Forget Them
Children seeking asylum in Australia are kept in detention as part of a government policy which inflicts harm on refugees fleeing violence and persecution.
Their suffering is our shame.
Here at this site we remember them and together call out for change."
Sunday 1st February 2015
Refering to my list of sights I still wanted to see, I decided to have a trip to the Powerhouse Museum. Although I'd been to the TEDXUltimo talks here, I hadn't had chance to look around the exhibits and was in the mood for something educational! The variety in the museum was amazing but they had enough in each section so it didn't seem disjointed and the range kept my interest for a good couple of hours. I saw:
- old shops
- design awards (including a nifty power socket which included USB points)
- Strictly Ballroom costumes
- Interface (which included old computers, lots of macs, an original GameBoy and a Tamagotchi)
- fashion displays (where I spent ages designing my own clothes!)
- steam engines, trams
- Arcadia (which held all sorts of automata)
It really was a fab museum and I was glad I visited even though I had initially been dubious about whether it would hold my interest.
Monday 2nd February 2015
After a slowish start to the day I met Zoe and Steph in the city and we dined at the Grounds of Alexandria. We devoured a delicious lunch but similar to our last visit, the service wasn't up to much!
Dawdling back to the station we past an interesting antiques store which was huge! We spent ages perusing the fascinating wares and reminiscing about some of the fads.
Steph and I completed our outing with ice lollies and a game of Trivial Pursuits in Hyde Park. It was a lovely day with great friends.
Tuesday 3rd February 2015
I spent a pleasant morning at The Makers Loft in Cammeray working on my crocheted fox scarf. It was a cute cafe where they hold knit/crochet meets every week. Unfortunately it was the only meet up at this venue I was able to attend as my days looking after the girls changed but it did mean I would be easier to get to choir on a Thursday. The afternoon was spent looking after the girls, colouring, creating, and role playing before dinner and bed.
Wednesday 4th February 2015
Just a regular day looking after the kids! Not much to report!
Thursday 5th February 2015
The morning passed event free other than dropping the girls at school but the afternoon made up for it! I booked a place in the Colour Run for the weekend so I collected my pack from the square beside St Mary's Cathedral. I was due to meet Steph but had some time to spare so planned to relax in Hyde Park. I was walking along looking at my phone, as you do, but in doing so missed my footing up some stone steps and smashed the screen of my phone trying to save myself. Before I made this trip I would've been filled with frustration but now I just thought 'Right, where can it be fixed?'!
After some investigation into iphone repairs I met Steph at Central Station and I continued my tour of Central Sydney to Glebe and the cinema. We saw The Theory of Everything and although the beginning, depicting Hawkins' university days was interesting, the second half dragged a little and I did take a couple of long blinks!
The evening was spent with my choir chums at Glebe Town Hall where we continued our preparations for Mardi Gras.
Friday 6th February 2015
The highlights of today were a swim in the pool after school and games night in the evening!
Saturday 7th February 2015
Arriving at Wynard station en route to a crochet meet up I was surprised to see a load of superheroes gathering in the park. I'm guessing there was some sort of treasure hunt happening as they seemed to muster in teams. At Max Brenner around 20 knitters and crocheters gathered and while we worked on our own projects, we shared patterns and ideas. It was a lovely way to pass a couple of hours.
I couldn't bear to use my smashed screen any longer so I got it fixed at the Phone Hospital! While I waited I got some snacks including some hot cross buns. I got very confused when they didn't have any fruit in them - I never knew such a thing existed!
In the evening, Steph came over for dinner and we enjoyed a dip in the pool followed by enchiladas and a movie.
Sunday 8th February 2015
It's strange how on a work day it's a real struggle to get out of bed but when there's something exciting happening it's easy to wake up and get going, even at 6am! That's what happened this morning and I amazed myself by leaving the house early - before 7am - to catch the first bus to the city. Why the excitement?! The colour run! It took place at the Olympic Park which is been keen to see but it was awkward to reach, the journey required a bus and 2 trains. But the event was so worth the trek.
Steph, her flatmate Ariana and I started gleaming and white while there was a Zumba warm up...
...before heading through the starting shute, lined with podium dancers and blaring music. There was crowd enthusiasts flinging merchandise to the pumped up runners and walkers as we were 'released' in 5 minute waves. Although the start time was 9am it was 9:20 before we made it across the start line. Of course it's called the Colour Run but there is no way I'm running anywhere so we walked our way round the 5km course and to be honest I think we were in the majority.
Dotted around the course were 6 stations. At the first 4 we were sprayed with coloured powder, each station with its own colour so we passed through green, pink, yellow and blue.
The final two stations contained 'snow' and purple liquid.
At the finishing line we were given a packet of colour and at the climax of the song, the whole crowd threw their colour into the air.
The whole event was indescribable in terms of atmosphere and I'd definitely recommend it.
Covered in bright colours I took the train back into the city and then a bus to Glebe for a weekend choir rehearsal, picking up some clean short and lunch on the way - I had literally the clothes I stood in, my phone and bank card!
I was never going to be able to enter the rehearsal subtly so was greeted with lots of stares,smiles and a high five!
After the rehearsal I was waiting for the bus, planning to head home for a shower but instead was persuaded by some of the other girls in the choir to head to the beach. I launched into the rough sea fully clothed! Some of the colour came out but I still had several large red patches on my skin and tshirt! I was nice to spend time with my new friends from the choir playing frisbee and chilling in the sand.
In the evening I enjoyed homemade pizza with Penny before her sister in law kindly gave me a lift home. After leaving home at 6:50am and arriving home at 9:35pm I reflected on what an awesome day I'd had with one thing leading to another, sharing great fun with great friends.
Monday 9th February 2015
I enjoyed a quiet day after such a busy day yesterday, completing my crocheted fox scarf and getting a well needed hair cut!
Tuesday 10th February 2015
Eliza and I enjoyed playing with her princess castle Play Doh during the day. In the evening I fell asleep watching Patch Adams and woke at 1am fully dressed! I had to drag myself into my PJs!
Wednesday 11th February 2015
Again, just a regular day with the kids!
Thursday 12th February 2015
After a quiet morning I met Steph and Circular Quay for a trip to the Sydney Museum. We were both excited about a Towers of Tomorrow with Lego Bricks exhibition but were disappointed that it was quite small. Nevertheless, the models that were there were impressive and we built our own!
We weren't overly impressed with the rest of the museum, there was some interesting pieces but it seemed a little sparse and disjointed.
Before Steph started work we wandered round the shops in Westfield and admired these wollen lanterns.
It was Thursday once again so I finished the day at Glebe Town Hall with SGLC.
Friday 13th January 2015
Another day with the girls but today on the way home Eliza 'flew' from wall to wall! Allegra went to her friends for a play date so Eliza had her friend Olivia over and they enjoyed dressing up.
Saturday 14th February 2015
In the morning I sorted out a parcel for the Byrnes and headed to Dawes Point to check out the Terracotta Warrior lanterns. They're impressive structures in a great location and their was even a wedding party having photos amongst them. In fact, in the area there were three lots of wedding photos happening and then it occurred to me that it was Valentine's Day!
Next I headed round to Darling Harbour where there were even more lanterns to celebrate Chinese New Year.
I'd planned to watch the Wedding Singer in the outdoor cinema but during some rain I wasn't sure whether to stick around. I'm glad I perservered because the rain eased off and I watched the film on a heart shaped rug. We had to wear headphones though as there was a loud Greek festival happening in the adjacent park.
Don't worry about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. - Charles M Schulz
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