Plan B when it rains? There is no Plan B!

Having driven up from Hornsby for the first time since March, it was time to entertain the Garrett family again. This time their elder son Tom had decided he just couldn't handle another non stop adventure with the Chappells and so stayed back down South whilst we mused over what a second weekend in Newcastle could offer guests. Well Chris (the female Garrett version not the Chappell one) was desperate for a bike ride and so we decided to cycle round the lake for a barbie at Speers point. Unfortunately the clouds were closing in and the first specks of rain were about to fall so we decided to.......still cycle round the lake and have a barbie at Speers Point!
A closer look will help to establish what Jessica thought of this plan!



Tina had stayed dry by driving the equipment round to our destination and as the wind continued to blow decided that her knee would not be able to cope with doing the homeward trek. Here we are cycling off into the distance, looking optimistically at the bluer skies heading our way. This was also about 30 seconds before Alex broke down in tears insisting he couldn't go on any further. I think the Australian for this is... "being a sook".




It had stayed dry for the cycle home so I took Richard and Chris to another local beach. It rained again. We therefore set off on a "boys" mission to see the Rugby(football) with some trepidation. I had even more trepidation about being forced to wear the Knights Jacket(sorry, David....it just doesn't suit me!) But the boys loved wearing theirs and Richard only kept his on long enough for the photo as we decided we didn't need jackets; the brolly stayed down and the Knights won easily.... so smiles all around.(and it is official...Tina must be the 'Boggey', which causes any team that we support to lose!)



Jessica had had her friend Holly over on Saturday night so Sunday morning was rather vexing with three children being taken out after an obvious lack of sleep. They managed to smile nervously for this photo with the Tawny Frogmouth at Blackbutt reserve. Why nervously?



Well he was pretty scary looking and had just swooped over Jessica's head!



Newcastle council is pretty good at funding things which make life just that little bit more pleasant. Blackbutt is a free facility with Bushwalks, picnic facilities, an aviary, Koalas, Wallabies, Emus, Quolls (no I'd not heard of them either) etc. They used to have a Diamond python but he got stolen a few weeks ago*. Anyway here is the boardwalk where most of the local fauna is found. Here am I with Richard and an apparently headless Chris admiring the various exhibits.


*The link takes you to A january news story. The sad fact is he was found and has now been stolen again this time not being returned and obviously not newsworthy a second time around.

More council money has been spent on the kind of urban regeneration programme to be found going on at just about every industrial harbour city around the Globe. You know the sort of thing.
Marinas
Overpriced apartments
Bars and restaurants with names like Silo, Breeze and Terminal One
Water features



Fancy lights and paving along the foreshore.



and a string ensemble for good measure. Sitting out in the sun, listening to Pachebel's Canon, sipping latte (actually I ended up drinking bloody Mocha without realising it whilst the other Chris enjoyed my latte) felt very soothing, chic and cosmopolitan. The Music was part of the "Livesites" programme who had given us the Winter Heat evening a few Fridays before. We could tell it was provided by the same people thanks to the good quality music, the Red Gazebo and the same B & Q chairs.



We realise retrospectively that our style of entertaining does not involve negotiated consultation of what our guests would like to do but a strict timetable of events which must be adhered to. So it was we left the string ensemble behind and forced Chris , Richard and Luke a further Kilometre into the centre to admire the view from the phallic shaped tower which dominates the foreshore. The enjoyment of this dramatic vista out towards the Tasman Sea is somewhat spoilt by the fifteen thousand words of graffitti at the top of the tower with the compulsory olfactorius (Leonard Sachs eat your heart out) complement of stale urine. In simple terms it stank of old P***.



Well we took the pegs off our noses made it back to the cars and said goodbye as the Garretts were keen to see the Pelican Feeding at the Entrance that we had previously enjoyed back in February. We were tempted to go but did not like to risk it with two tired children from the night before. Ironically we got home and the children played happily for two hours and we crashed out on the sofa.

Exhibitionists.

Saved this from the rubbish pile outside somebody's house. "Why would anybody want to throw that out?" I hear you cry. Nevertheless it gave Jessica, Alex and Claire a chance to exhibit their painting skills.It is now in the Rumpus Room, housing cuddly toys. What happens to it in December is to be decided....I think Claire wants it.


Meanwhile Tina's painting skills have continued to be used at least once a week as she finally completed the Warner's Bay playground markings.... well one of the playgrounds! The Kindergarten classes want their one doing now.....but she and her friends should have more fun designing it as the markings are so faded that she and Tracy have some big ideas!



More of her handiwork with a couple of green imps in the frame



Now it has been suggested by some of our e mail correspondents that this year is just one long holiday and there isn't any work actually happening. We don't write about work that much because it is .......... work. A means to an end. In the main the similarities outweigh the differences so there isn't much to blog. Anyway if it makes you happy, here I am at work with 120 stage 2 children, assembled under the cola(Covered Outdoor Learning Area) as the children are given the "We are going on a trip and remember you are representing the school blah blah blah." talk ( Taken from 101 favourite teacher lectures no.27- International edition.) This incidentally is where lunch is always eaten too.


well the trip went off smoothly, trawling around Newcastle Regional Museum. A bit of history, a bit of Science, a bit of pulling kids to one side and giving the "You'll be walking around with me for the rest of the day if you don't calm down!" nag. Anybody who has been to INTECH may recognise the exhibit below. The top floor of the museum had lots of the same sorts of things and called itself Supernova. I've seen better science exhibits but after listening to thirty minutes on the history of coal mining the children were raring to go.


The next day was another notable one at Glendore as we put on our Art Show. I've pulled my hair out at times this year, thinking about what on earth am I going to do in certain subjects. Art has been less stressful having had Tina to back me up and has allowed me to do tasks because it looks nice and it's fun regardless of what level of Artistic integrity it has or what National Curriculum foundation Statement I am supposed to be satisfying.
Anyway a couple of teachers spent the day setting up contributions from all the classes and all the parents were invited along for a viewing and a "sausage sizzle"(obviously wine and cheese doesn't cut it over here) in the evening.

So here are 3/ 4 C's contributions.



and here are some more.



and some more. Members of Marchwood Junior School will recognise the resurrection of "plaited people"

A last and a first

Sunday morning and Alex spent the morning at a Soccer Gala. Apart from earning "Player of the day" (bless him) it was also significant in that he played his last game on Australian soil. Meanwhile he came home very sweaty and we needed somewhere for lunch. We decided therefore to get the thongs and sea shirts out of storage and head for the beach. I like the picture below with Jessica running from the waves. It looks as if we've got the whole beach to ourselves.



This was because...





*we had the whole beach to our selves!



No lifeguards on duty, no cafe open. Consensus has it that we are about 6 weeks too early. Emily was with us and being Australian spent the first half hour wrapped up in a towel wondering why these stupid Poms had decided to come to the beach. Credit where it's due though she and Jessica finally braved the water and went for a dunking. They all dried off by playing a game of Parent baiting. In case you wondered this is not Jessica. She is growing but not that quickly.



*Tina would like it noted that I am slightly exaggerating and there were several dog walkers, surfers, fellow picnickers and about half a dozen other children mad enough to go in the water but nevertheless we all had about an acre of beach each.

What went on in Watagans.

More to the point what are the Watagans. Well we look at them everyday whilst we have our breakfast. Not sure if they count as Mountains or big hills, either way the view from the top was impressive. I won't bore you with the view and if I told you we could see the whole of Lake Macquarie, beyond Swansea over to Newcastle with Stockton Beach in the distance that would just be tedious and mean nothing to you if you're in the UK so I won't bother telling you that. Anyway here's a family shot at the top instead. In case you were wondering the photographer is John who along with Lisa, Sarah and Emily were taking us on another Pateman 4WD adventure. To be honest our cursed Ford Falcon could have probably managed the journey but with its latest rust problem it wasn't worth the risk. We might have lost half the car.



Apart from the gum trees and the hills and the big slabs of grey rock; the Watagans has quite a "New Foresty" feel to it.




It was treacherous in places though, as a flash flood had taken out this bridge and large warning signs advised not to attempt to cross the creek.



We decided to risk it...





and survived


I think the signs would be more relevant after some rain. You could easily imagine crystal clear waters cascading over this dam, falling in a raging torrent to the creek bed below. On this particular day though it looked brown and a bit crap but the viewing platform next to this concrete structure suggested we were just a bit unlucky.



No dramas though. The sun was shining and the cricket season is about to start. I tampered with the tennis ball by whacking it into the creek and soaking it as my "competitive Dad" instinct took possession of me as Alex came up to bowl. Then again it may have been Sarah who was hitting the ball in the creek tempted by my wayward bowling. The memories are hazy.



Tina took a break from deep fielding to turn some kebabs for thirty seconds. Just long enough for Lisa to take a photo.



The barbie also tempted some feathered visitors with more of those darn magpies, sitting in the trees watching us and a lone bush turkey of which we had heard plenty but had not really had a close encounter with. Unlike the Kookaburra it has not had songs written about it. I wonder why?

A Place in the Run.

Bobbin Park, in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, was the delightful meeting and lunch spot, chosen by Richard and Chris, our friends from Horsby.
Richard bravely tackled the barbeque, marvelling how we have been here over 7 months and this was his first BBQ on a public one (these Aussie BBQs really are brilliant...no wonder it's so popular here...it's so easy...no yucky grills/grids etc to clean...just one easy plate.....sorry for starting to go off on one!)
Chris obviously thought the same.....he politely told me.....just one sausage sizzle for him then.



A little warm up walk before the big one on Sunday....but we didn't tell the children we were going for a walk in the bush...they tend to object....we pointed out interesting things like the fascinating mud crabs.



Nice view!


The Aboriginal Art that you can't see very well on this rock was explained in the information plaque...but I'd better not say what Chris really said about the artistic merits of the carving.



City2Surf....race day...Sunday 13th August.
Up at 5.30 to catch the train....well that's what Chris ordered...but he was naughty and put the alarm on to snooze for 15mins, (it makes all the difference, you know!) Richard was most put out to have got up the earliest....but we all got there on time!
We even had encouraging messages in the sky........actually the message finished ........'Donut King.'.......not a good message for running!


All ready for the big race...with 63,500 others! Jessica commented that the porter Loo she used was truely the worst she has ever been in. Each Loo had a queue 20 deep...in people, that is. ....and we're talking a lot of nervous people....that sure is a lot of poop....with no flush.....I was nearly sick! The organisers wanted a sea of red....so they gave out red hats.....(a sea of green would have been really easy!)
ANYWAY, that's enough of that....here we are in our red hats....Jess, Alex & Luke had their faces painted.......I have to confess the Danish part of my brain made me paint Jess's face with a Danish flag, instead of English! It did lead to a chance to practise my second language though, as I chatted with a Danish family living in Sydney.



Alex wanted to see the proper runners who were 7 mins from finshing as we went over the starting line! Poor Chris couldn't get running until after the 3km mark because there were so many walkers in the way!


We saw lots of interesting sights.....Richard photographed this girl in pink......he said it was just because of the T'shirt! It did give us a good topic of converstion for the next km.



Jess liked the dressed up runners.....she always grabs anyone in an animal costume!! (it must be memories of Disney!)



Entertainment, garden parties and people squirted us with water...


The children took it in turns to moan....here's some advice if you ever take children on a long walk....don't walk with your own kids....they don't seem to moan to other people, we discovered!
The sight of Bondi Beach seemed to put a skip into Alex's step and cheered him up...especially when he saw a Mc Donalds sign! We mused later as to why it had taken us eight months to visit this Australian icon (name another Australian beach?)
The two main reasons were every "Novocastrian" we speak to says, "don't bother, ours are better" and it is also now tainted with the Race Riots headlines from last December. We really liked it though and may be tempted back with our boardies before the year is out and see how it looks with a few less thousand people on it. Having said this our positive view may have been encouraged by the fact it was also the finish line. When we do the Totton 10K, Testwood school seems like an oasis.



At last....we reached the finish......Chris finished at an offical ( and he says a pathetic) time of 94 mins and then had another 90 mins (92to be precise) to wait for us! He confessed to a Rum&Raisin ice cream...which he rarely eats....he must have been bored!
Alex got confused about his victory sign.....I think he was trying to copy Luke......or maybe he was telling us what he really thought of the 14km walk (we at least ran the final 200m to the finish!)



Enjoying the free newspaper on Bondi Beach......with 60 thousand others! Chris contemplated world affairs and how on earth he was going to get back up again having laid down.

A "Rotten" Start to the week.....

Straight from work we joined what the radio station called a "massive crowd" at Mereweather Beach. We knew not to be too worried about overcrowding though as a "massive tailback on the road" usually involves a two minute wait at the traffic lights. So by reading the blog title and looking at the photo carefully you can maybe tell what was pulling the crowds in.










Can you tell what it is yet?



How about a closer look? Lovely eh? Yes everyone was piling in for a good stare at a 2m rotting sperm whale carcass. Sliced up by a propeller and nibbled at by Sharks. We certainly know how to have a good time. Macabre fascination satisfied we went home for sausage casserole, content that we have finally seen our first whale.



The blog title had endless possibilities but based on the fact that people seemed to be most interested when things go wrong (speeding tickets, car repairs, bad days at work etc.) we thought this would capture people's imagination.

What We did on my birthday.

Jessica went on a two day excursion to Sydney. Here she is at quarter past six in the morning ready to go and looking slightly uneasy when being hugged by her teacher or maybe she was still half asleep.


Tina celebrated my birthday by going to the Art Gallery with Sharon (neighbour across the road) and Gloria (Michelle's Mum). I understand they had a very nice time.


Me and Alex went to school. Here's me trying to put a brave face on at the prospect of working on my birthday (Last done at Wicksteeds Park* in 1986 and when I was Camp Counsellor in 1987). I don't always wear a hat for breakfast, just trying on one of my presents. In case you were wondering, I did not get a teapot, cuddly kangaroo and artist's mannequin for my birthday. It's all part of my "Danish" birthday breakfast table. I finally got to celebrate with a coffee by the lake straight after school, a Chinese (after tennis) with Sharon and Paul across the road in the evening and a joint birthday meal out with John (birthday on 6th Aug), Lisa, Sarah and Emily (AKA the Patemans) on Friday.



* Wicksteeds Park thankfully did not have Wicky Bear and his annoying tune when I was there.

A few new views.

Fine winter's days have been a bit sporadic of late. As we write this , it is another drizzly Sunday outside but last week was a rare opportunity to get the shorts on and the walking boots as we headed down to Green point for a walk lakeside from Belmont to Valentine. Here we are checking out the local map and info about the nature to be found there. Not much chance of seeing the wedgetail eagle John & Lisa saw last time though due to noisy voices in tow!



Enjoying the view across to Swansea and Wangi point. Well Iwas anyway, John and Lisa just wondered if Tina ever stops taking photos



The trees coming right up to the shoreline made a nice landscape.



Coffee & cake with the pelican was a well earned reward at the end of a hike. Not sure if a 50 minute walk counts as a hike but it does in Chappell terms. We're not great walkers but this was a pleasant one.


Meanwhile a 100km South of here was where we ended up at the end of our Reptile Park adventure. The place is called Patonga and apart from being at the end of a penisula looking out to Brisbane Water (nowhere near Brisbane) it also seemed to be where the rainbows end too. No crock of Gold but very nice fish and chips.