Saturday knights out

Having been a bad omen for the Hunter Pirates and Newcastle Jets tonight it was time to see if we could bring another dose of bad luck to the Newcastle Knights. Rugby league (or football as they illogically call it) is the highest profile sport in New South Wales and unlike our previous sporting ventures we were viewing World class players here. You could argue that we were seeing the World's best when we went to see Aussie Rules but that is not difficult seeing as they're the only ones that play the damn sport. Anyway with 20,000 in attendance the atmosphere was good and we were entertained pre match by the Knight on horseback (wearing jeans), local schoolchildren singing advance Australia fair, Very cold cheerleaders and Tom Jones Karoake. Not unusual I suppose!!


We took the cheap seats. So cheap infact you bring your own seats. Admittedly I prove yet again that I do not look good in hats but this was not the time to be fashion conscious. If in doubt just look at the ladies to our left. Apart from these two and the Jesus lookalike we were also surrounded by a strong contingent of Cronulla Sharks fans. The guy behind got very well acquainted with me, shook my hand and brought me a beer. Probably due to the fact that in an excited moment he kicked his all down my back.


Having got dressed up in all the gear and the fact that this took about half the time of Aussie rules meant it was easier to get the kids enthused about this one. OK so the flag and bear waving got a bit dull after the first five minutes but the promise of a half time hot dog kept the spirits high. An enthralling second half actually kept them from moaning at all. Needless to say the Knights had three tries disallowed and lost 16-26 but we stayed dry (apart from me getting covered in beer) and came home having enjoyed the evening if not the result.

A Manly Meeting

Going out for an evening meal without children in tow is a rare luxury this year but Saturday night afforded us the opportunity courtesy of older son Tom. What a fine young man! So woke up Sunday, ready for the drive to Manly still replete and contented from our Thai meal the night before. Good to come back to Shelly beach which had been the venue for a fly infested lunch right back at the start of the year but here we were again no flies, no swimming trunks either and in the company of 6 other poms. The long sleeves and trousers give it away a bit but considering we are heading into the depths of winter we can't complain as we compared notes around the barbecue with our fellow exchange teachers and all came to the same conclusion that we are all a bunch of jammy gits, enjoying our year immensely but all with the feeling that it will be great to get home too.


The children found alternative ways to amuse themselves, giving us the willies, as they clambered up the surrounding rocks bare foot. It was only a 20ft drop at the top I suppose.


We came ill prepared for barbecueing so having left half a kilo of cooked fish stuck to the communal barbie we beat a hasty retreat to the clifftop behind the beach and had a fruitless attempt at whale watching. They are heading north at the moment stopping off at Hervey Bay for a bit of whale "rumpy pumpy" before coming back down in September but no sightings today so we got back down to "So when are you doing the Barrier Reef?" and "What's your school like?" before saying our goodbyes


We were well looked after this weekend and before heading home Richard had one more surprise for us as we headed 3km south to North Head Scenic drive which according to our lonely planet guide "offers grand views of the harbour, ocean and city skyline." Now we dont always bank on the lonely planet to deliver the goods. This is the same book which had us doing a 60 minute round trip on dirt roads to have us looking at kangaroo poo on pebbly beach two months previously. In addition when I read about my home city it stated "Quite frankly there is very little to see or do in Southampton", bloody cheek. On this occasion though Richard and the LP guide did not disappoint and apart from the serious concern that this picture shows signs of a belly and bouffant greying hair that Liberace would be proud of it certainly was a view to add to the memorable list. Needless to say the camera does not do it justice. Tina and I would argue that it doesn't do us justice either.

Lions and Tigers and Bears....(oh no! I missed the Tiger!)

After two Warners Bay based weekends, we were excited to get back on the road again. A short 90 minute drive to Hornsby was made to feel even shorter courtsey of Ian sending us a compilation tape of various happening (Embrace/ Robbie Williams) and not so happening (Rolf Harris) tunes from back home. The final destination was to Chris and Richard's house; fellow exchangees who we had entertained 3 months before. After settling in nicely on Friday evening we awoke to gorgeous Winter Sunshine and impressive views of bushland and creeks at the bottom of their garden.
The itinerary today was Taronga Zoo, which to me looked like a 20 minute cruise down the Pacific highway. I suggested taking Cars, nobody turned around and said don't be a fool but
90 minutes after crawling through the outskirts of Sydney they probably wished they had. Anyway we got there in the end, I was forgiven (I think) and we had a great day.
Tina's Lion encounter was quite impressive, she had to push several small children out of the way to get the shot below but it was worth it. She would have you believe that this was a face to face encounter and there isn't really 3cm of reinforced glass between her and certain death. I was just waiting for it to stand up and say "Welcome Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve."



Our Gorilla shots were not so impressive so here are the kids, mobbing the model ones striking poses like a U2 album cover.















No tigers (well there were but Tina forgot to see them) so here's the bear. Striking a similar "I'm bored you look delicious" expression to the lion.
















One of the highlights of Taronga Zoo in case you were not aware is the location, overlooking Sydney Harbour, the bridge and the Opera House. to admire the view we rode on the "Sky Safari" about four times. Judging by Jessica's face this was the fourth time.

















The Zoo with a view they call it. You'd think the Girafffes would appreciate it more than most but they were more into stepping on the Zebras and licking each others ears with their scaringly long blue tongues.















Any other outlook though paled into insignificance when we sat down to see the bird show. Great show, fantastic backdrop. We did have a picture of 100 birds in perfect formation spelling out "Welcome to Sydney" but Tina insisted we put her "Peregrine Falcon in Silhouette" shot on the Blog instead.















So what was the highlight? Definitely the birds for the adults. The children disagreed. They preferred the Chimpanzees. Their antics amused them none more so than the "Chud chewing"
Chimp pictured below, who passed the time sticking its finger in certain places, getting some motion going, catching the end result and chomping it up cheerfully . Please excuse my over use of alliteration, I couldn't resist it. Neither could the chimp resist licking the remnants. Neither could Alex resist writing about it in his News on Monday.

The perfect weekend to be.......

......violently vomiting! But really, this bout of illness, which attacked Alex and Chris couldn't have happened at a better time; we weren't going anywhere, it was raining and Alex got it first and Chris was able to finish his reports before he went down with it....perfect timing!(these bugs are so considerate!!)
In addition to sick, rain and report writing, the weekend's mood was not helped by having to stay up until 2:30 am to watch England's dull performance against Paraguay. World Cup watching over here is spectacularly annoying with games starting at 11pm, 2am and 5am and co-existing with a nation who believe beating Japan 3-1 is tantamount to becoming World Champions.
The little "socceroo" pictured below was just focussing on keeping a slice of toast from coming back up.

All I want for my birthday...is my 2 front teeth!

Jessica was up with the larks to cut the ribbon leading down to her birthday room. The 'rumpus room' had been prepared by my friend, Tracy and I the day before, so the message read, "No admission for any 8 year olds."
Her birthday card was a painting showing the new Tamagochi game that we have ordered for her present, but is not released until the 20th June!


Jessica opening her presents very slowly, next to her birthday table. Alex was dying to help and couldn't resist offering his assistance frequently!


L
Luckily the rain stayed away for the Horse trek at Singleton Dunes! (Not really, I know it is Stockton really)....a nervous looking crew: Emily(Jessica's borrowed cousin), Jess(birthday girl), Claire(friend across road), Paul(Claire's Dad and Tennis opposition on thursdays), Alex and Chris, of course.



Blown away on the beach...and we couldn't see any whales !



Much more pleasant in the bush...Alex loved riding...especially when we did a few trots(my knees hated it though! Chris had to lift me off my horse at the end. because my knees were locked in a seated position..how embarrassing!)


This was the donut game......8 donuts tied to a pole, with 8 girls trying to eat their one first! Chris & I found it very amusing watching sugar, hair and chomping teeth battling together! Great party game...but maybe not too good to mix with loads of pizza, fizzy drink, ice-cream and sweets! The winner of this competition was sick at 2am in the morning.....so that will teach me!


Jessica's birthday party; pizza, party games, DVDs and sleepover(just for 4!)


Grace would be proud of me.....luckily one of my new friend's, Ann, is a wonderful cake maker; she has 4 children so she has lots of practise and fun. She and her eldest daughter gave me wonderful tuition and helped me to make this...my first ever birthday cake!

Our big 9 year old!

Jessica & Alex are very lucky to have a borrowed Nanny here too; she kindly invited us all to a special party to celebrate Jessica's and Alex's birthdays.

Our borrowed family for the year. We promise to put them back as we found them. We are very lucky.

Jenolan Caves

Chris was disappointed when I said I had booked Oberon, despite the cabin looking nice on the internet and it was a good price. He moaned that it was half an hours drive from Jenolan Caves and that he had heard there was nothing in Oberon!
Well, this was our view as we drove up to the camp site... my heart sank and Chris put on a really smug grin...but the cabin was lovely and clean and the indoor tennis court over the road was great and saved us from complete boredom! It was also easy to buy supplies in the nearby shops...although Chris did regret going into a local pub, while waiting for take-away pizzas to cook...as the locals gave him funny looks...as if to say,"don't get many strangers in these parts..." It was the absence of a mullet and checked shirt that made him stand out.



Look...real Australian frost on the windows!

We got to the caves nice and early, saving $4.50 on parking, by being there before the attendent! We then played the teacher's card at the caves booking office....(asking for a teacher's pack and discussing possible visits.....) that gave us one of the caves for free!(saving us $65) ...oh, I do like a bargain!



The mock Tudor looking building in the background is Jenolan Cave's House...lovely open fires and hot chocolate...but it got a real slating in the opinion polls, of good places to stay: Some comments likened it to staying at Faulty Towers!



The first cave we visited was the Lucas, which had an impressive 944 steps and Enya on a Matsui CD player during the 90 min tour. Because that went well we risked a second cave in the afternoon, called the Chifley. Alex was a bit,'caved out' by then, but luckily this tour was only 60 mins.


If you look carefully you can see a formation called...The Cardinal, or The Bishop...or was it the Missionary? or am I thinking of something else?
The 3 stones together are called The Three Sisters (refer to previous blog when we visited there with my Mum and Dad when they were visiting)


The Dragon's mouth. ...and...Alex was very impressed, as you can see, with the glowing rock!


Apparently it is un.PC to say stalactites are the ones that come down because tights come down!!Stalagmites are the ones that go up and when the two meet, they form a Column! In case you were the slightest bit interested. No? Thought not.

Well, the final cave we visited on the Sunday really was special, The Temple of Baal; they spent loads on state of the art lighting, sound systems and nice footpaths!
This fomation was called, The Angel's Wing.
I was in rock formation heaven....I loved it!




My arty effort, titled, "Cave mouth and sky!"


Scary, windy roads with rotten wooden posts on the sheer drop side!

Time off school.... A costly business

My drive to school this morning was interrupted/ cut short about ten minutes down the road when for the second time in 6 weeks. the car decided to grind to a halt. Last time the fault was intermittent. I started the car, got to school , took it to the garage the next day and it cost a mere $300 dollars. Today the car was going nowhere and so by the time the breakdown van came, followed by the breakdown truck. Hopes of getting into school were abandoned the cost this time $500. Those with a bit more testosterone running through their veins will recognize Exhibit A and B below as being the distributor and fuel pump. The two culprits of these two breakdowns. Unexpected expenses but I suppose drives to Queensland, Melbourne , Sydney, PortMacquarie, Blue Mountains twice and Hunter Valley twice are going to take their toll.
EXHIBIT A and EXHIBIT B
















Whether my new parts look anything like this I have no idea or interest. Oh well at least it gave me some time to catch up on my paperwork, planning and write a few E mails. Didn't stop much to admire the view today probably because it looked like this...
















We are currently into the second of five weeks work outside the house. Not quite sure what they are doing apart from making a mess but we've heard the word subsidence mentioned so if it is going to stop 2 Whitby St from collapsing into a disused mine shaft we are not going to complain.
During the week they turn up at 6:30 am in a convoy of about 9 lorries although as far as we can tell the only ones doing any work in the first three hours are the two men holding the stop/ slow signs. The majority of the workers look like members of a ZZtop tribute band so when they park their red cars and lorries all over the front lawn we don't like to complain.
(picture of ZZ top for any blog readers under 30 or over 60)