G.I.F.F.F.Ted children

I've not been overwhelmed with initiatives to take back to England but otday's G.I.F. F.F.T barbecue breakfast was quite impressive. We love our abbreviations in education and this one stands for Glendore Involving Fathers and Father Figures Totally. The first idea related to this was get them in for a sausage sizzle. Thank goodness the weather was OK as over 150 dads, stepdads, grandads, uncles and Mum's latest boyfriends gathered in the playground Gingerly.



The "party" warmed up once the sausages were ready. With the offspring of the Fs and FFs to cater for as well the principal was serving up over 300 breakfasts.



The Dads relaxed as only Dads know by getting competitive with the handball.



They were also coerced into doing some educational stuff and mucked in for the first half hour of the literacy. Many of my female colleagues complained of mutual discomfort but with up to 15 other men in my room it was great to have one day in my year, indeed my whole teaching career where I was part of a more testosterone filled environment. I'm not sure a breakfast barbecue would work in England but this was only one initiative generated by the "family action centre" so there would be plenty of other "Dad Friendly" ideas to get stuck into.

A Final Fond Farewell to Stacey.

So, it is goodbye from Whitby Street...didn't we fit in a lot during your 14 day trip?
You might miss the weather but not all the walking or cycling up hills, I bet?


I'll miss my hot chocolate drinking Buddy! How many places did we try, Stacey?


The Rocks, in Sydney was a good place to spend the final morning. Lots of interesting little stalls. We visited the didgeridoo man and got some tuition.


Stacey commissioned an artist to write Sydney in a very trendy way, as a gift for her brother.


Bye, bye favourite sites of Sydney....the Bridge and the Opera House.(Stacey made a promise to see them again in a few years time!)


Special hug for Alex who doesn't give these out generously.....


And a big final one to last the long journey home!

Home and Away, a day at Summer Bay.

Stacey was so excited when we turned up at the place where they actually film Home and Away. Her Nan watches it regularly so she had to get some photos! Filming is usually done on Mondays and Tuesdays. It meant absolutely nothing to me but for a soap location it beats going to dodgy suburbs of London, Manchester or Liverpool........ or Ramsey St.



We stopped for ice-cream and drink refreshments.... more B & Q chairs.



Photo for Nan....the evidence.....club official: A Stewart........ apparently



Then, on to Palm Beach for some serious relaxing. We did think for one moment that Home and Away were filming further down the beach, as we saw camera crews etc....we started to get all excited....but I went to ask and they were filming for a commercial about stomach cancer.
Jess,Alex &Luke gathered under the umbrella, for over an hour, to play an intriguing game about dogs....... don't ask!



Meanwhile, Stacey & Chris had a jolly good chat, while I surfed some waves! (well, ok....body boarded some waves.....it just doesn't sound as impressive!)
Chris G . looked good too, standing next to Stacey's lovely figure...but I prefered to hide mine!



I think Chris G said the carving on the rock was Aboriginal.



After our long day on the beach and nearby cafe, we met up with the boys at the Newport Arms, overlooking Pittwater; where several thousand "Sydneysiders" escape to for the weekends. This pub was the largest we have ever been in...the kids loved the 3 play areas.



Stacey enjoyed her final main meal in Oz. and thanked ChrisG & Richard for their wonderful hospitality.

Stacey's whirlwind Sydney sight seeing tour.

So, we set off early to try to fit the maximum into a busy itinerary....aiming to fit two days worth in to one, so that Stacey could have her final day on Palm Beach.
We started well, with a smooth run to Sydney, armed with a day's Hopper Pass, which allows us on to lots of different transport, and all the kids go on one ticket...(buy one, get 2 free!)...great but it was a pain to keep going through the 'special' exit; not that I'm moaning, because you know how I like to get a good deal!
Anyway, the perfect tour around Sydney...on board a boat going around Darling Harbour, visiting lots of good sites, without moving!
Under the Sydney Harbour Bridge...(I don't think I've got a shot from this angle before.)



Chris G. & I then got duped in to buying an original Aboriginal CD. Having heard it today it is difficult to hear much of the didgeridoo, above the noise of a naff keyboard backing track! I'm sure it will be good for something.....perhaps an assembly?Hopefully it is one of those CDs that grows on you!



Luke & Stacey looked a bit nervous, while Jessica uttered reassuring words of experience.



Chris G. was not keen to go and Alex was once again, too small, from eating a lack of salad (well that's what we told him!) In truth, he does know that we are saving up his special trip for our final visit to Sydney in December....giving Alex the chance to grow another 5cm!
He was very understanding about it.....but felt a bit left out as they sped off.



While we waited for the 35 min Jet Boat, which Stacey, later recounted, was her real highlight, Alex amused himself in an intriguing, spiral, water fountain.


The Strand arcade scored us another hit on the suggested itinerary.
It is a beautifully preserved Victorian building, complete with a clock with moving characters and there are also stained glass windows.....



Buy one , get another entry free was very useful at the Aquarium......this huge Manta Ray reminded us of one of the characters in Dr.Who. (can you tell which one Dr. Who fans?)



Once again, Stacey looked on bemused as I frantically took too many photos....this time... of fish. This was one of my better efforts, that didn't reflect off the glass! (Imagine how excited I am going to be when we go to the Barrier Reef next week....i can't wait!)



....The Sydney Harbour Bridge....a must for a photo....and of course........



Yes....the Sydney Opera House! It was great to see how much Stacey loved it too....even she was out of control with her camera for a while........



Chris G and Stacey, even went in to inspect the bathroom.....with their wonderfully wavy sinks.



By now, the itinerary was starting to crack, as various members of the party started to wilt.....Stacey too, commented on the amount of walking she had done on this whole holiday and how we had clearly starved her....as the poor thing had lost weight(I wish it would work on me then!)



So, our final flourish was a trip to the Minus5 bar in Darling Harbour. Unfortunately it wasn't as good as our experience in New Zealand....and I have just written an e.mail to them saying so. One of our complaints were that we weren't allowed to take photos...you had to buy their ones! (apparently they had had too many people claiming their cameras had broken in the cold!) So we were very naughty and took a few,while Chris G distracted the lady behind the bar.

Sick of Whales....literally!

Hold on to your akubras this blog is a biggy. Spring has sprung, the only chance for Chris to join Stacey and the rest of the family and 6 exchange teachers looking for a place to meet called for a big weekend and that is exactly what we had. Unfortunately our 6 hour driving radius (the limit given for a weekend viable driving distance ) does not leave us with many new places to visit and so we made our third trip up to Nelson Bay except this time to stay. This meant we could appreciate the sunset. We travelled in convoy and arrived just in time to appreciate it and really annoy a woman who had come up alone for Friday night Tranquility. With these three together you don't get tranquil.



Come the morning and we gave away our hard earned dollars to go on a three hour whale cruise. Here are some of us ready to go and checking if our sunglasses look cool enough.



Thank the lord for digital Cameras. We could have blogged 70 failed attempts to get a picture of a whale's arse. We were so pleased to get the arse of two whales that this had to constitute our best shot. Not quite like the website promises. Apparently these humpbacks have been "humping" for a while so they're a bit tired as they make their way back down south. Unfortunately it was all but missed by Stacey who having gone down below, stayed down feeling ill for quite a while and then spent 95% of the rest of the trip horizontal.



No wonder she was ill look how rough it is!!!!!!!
So having oohed and aahed at the whales it was time for some fun on the boomnet. Undoubtedly the highlight for the children and one immature adult.



People were desperate for two things when we got back...... Nelson Bay is just so obliging.



The lodging was excellent. Some of our party used the slightly worrying "rustic" euphemism but this was chic rustic with an open plan bush kitchen , log cabins, campfire and a pool table. It was like going on a year six kids residential without the kids (except our own)



The picture above was a snapshot of a speed eating lunch as we rushed to get ready for the afternoon itinerary. This included a hummer tour on Stockton dunes, where the proportions of the driver and his vehicle have to match, it seems.



The best part of doing this was the party was big enough to have our own hummer. Infact the party was too big so two of us had to go quad biking instead.



Life is tough sometimes. The quadbikers had fun even though with 30km of dune to play with they were restricted to about 300m and went into the $500 fine zone twice without knowing it.
The other downside is that they missed out on the sandboarding. The safety talk took so long that the camera battery went flat but not before we got a shot of Stacy and Jessica about to go for an 80m drop.



Sunday morning's post campfire hangover was not as bad as Friday's even though we had to endure Tina serenading the camp with her versions of "American Pie" and "Wild Rover". Stacey and Jessica were not hungover at all and got first crack at the strawberries, which unlike bananas, are very cheap at the moment.



26 degrees and the beach beckoned but we felt we had to earn it by walking up Tomaree heads.
It took about 45 minutes of walking and whining but 360 of (yawn yawn) spectacular views at the top made it worthwhile. This continues to amaze the children as was demonstrated when we met Rab and Celia (two of our pack) on their way up and on our way down and Jessica told them quite bluntly "Don't bother it's really not worth it!"



The expression on the left in the picture below is a definition of a brave face. We finally made it to the beach and Stacey was very relieved as despite our "parental" warnings about Ozone layers she was determined to go for the tan. Well we allowed her about one hour before going to lunch at a place where they managed to make a 45 minute meal last over two hours and by then the sun was going down rapidly. Time for one more sunbathe? No chance! We went down to Birrubi point where the kids loved the dunes but the wind meant that relaxing on the beach was out of the question. This picture was the ten seconds that Stacey took her towel off her shoulders. Meanwhile Chris (Garrett) and Richard were pondering over the fact that their younger son was enjoying the dunes whilst their older son was having a major sulk in the car because he wanted to go home. No sulks on our part though. Chris G had organised a great weekend (slightly assisted by Chris C's anal itinerary) and we went home happy even if we had more mosquito bites than suntan.

sunny oz!!(stacey blog no 2)

I am sat on a toliet at the Reptile Park with Red Back Spiders behind me (they are not real mum)! Perparing myself for the weekend in the bush!


Thursday I went to the famous Pelican feeding at the Entrance. WOW what a amazing experience we sat on the front step right next to the pelicans. They were all getting very excited about being fed. One managed to flick me in the eye with their huge wings!



After the Entrance Sharon then took us to Norah Head Lighthouse. As you can see a bit windy but a brilliant view!



Monday we headed down to the beach (Caves Beach) to work on my tan! I tried out body broading which was good. Tina and Sharon were my one to one teachers!


This is me riding a wave (a little chilly)