New Year's Eve 2007

We weren't sure what to do for New Years Eve as it's important to get a good view for the fireworks. So we decided to take up the kind offer from Emily from Christine's work to watch the fireworks at her American friend's flat and have food and drink at hers beforehand. We were nervous about hanging out with people we didn't know and also they were Ozzies so they may not understand our accents.

So we headed over to Emily and her boyfriend's gorgeous flat in Darlinghurst where we met another couple too. We all got on really well and had loads of laughs. Crundy, Emilys boyfriend barbequed steak and Emily made up salads and dips and the rest! It was great. We tasted Vegemite and some weird fruits that look like strawberries but aren't. It was our first Ozzy barbeque and it tasted so different from back home. If anyone knows why their barbeques are different here let us know.

Around 11.30 we headed up to the American guy's flat on the 35th floor and we needed special NYE passes. The flat was amazing and the view was perfect! Chris videoed some of the fireworks but it was hard to get them all in and the camera is kind of shakey because we were all excited. There were fireworks all the way up the harbour, not just on the bridge. Even the city buildings had fireworks coming out at the roofs, so the video really does not do it justice. Next time we want to buy a boat so we can watch them with the millionaires in the harbour. Overall we had a great New Year's Eve and met new Ozzy friends. Wonder where we will be next year.....






New Years Eve Gallery

Cafe Bones and Iron Cove

After our Saturday night dining at Delhi 'O' Delhi, an amazing Indian restaurant in Newtown, we decided that we needed some exercise. So we walked up through the Italian quarters of Leichhardt towards Iron Cove. On the way we stopped to see Cafe Bones as several people had recommended it to us. This is a cafe in the middle of a park where dogs (and their owners) can relax and have drinks and treats. Apparently dogs love it and there were plenty playing around when we got there although not as many as we hoped. We wished we had a dog to take up, so instead we took Stevie Wonder and Dougal. They loved it!

We walked on up to Iron Cove which had nice pathway around the water. There were plenty of views of the city in the background. It seemed like ages for us to walk around as the heat was mental. We both got frazzled and we had to get the bus back home. All in all it was a nice day and we definitely walked off our Indian dinner.





Iron Cove Gallery

Palm Beach

We went for another visit to Palm Beach which seems to be lot of Sydneysiders favourite beach. Last time we were here it was on Chris' brithday, the middle of winter. It was very hot, we only lasted a couple of hours but the water was lovely, so clear and the waves were fun. We'd heard that recent famous vistors to Palm Beach have included Elle McPherson and a shark. The Home and Away cast have been seen around too as many of the external shots for Summer Bay are filmed here.







Palm Beach Gallery

The beauty that is Bradleys Head

Spent an energetic afternoon walking from the Taronga Zoo ferry wharf to Balmoral Beach. The weather was cloudy but hot, the sun made an appearance later in the afternoon which was a good thing because we were knackered as it was. Hard to believe that all that nature is so close to the city. That's something Sydney has done well; plenty of nice parkland and nature reserves in amongst the urban sprawl. The little coves and beaches had great harbour views and at one point it seemed as though we'd stepped into a tropical lagoon, the water was so clear and the vegetation is so green and dense. The whole area was so unspoilt and seemed so isolated from the rest of the city and the densely packed beaches.

Couldn't help but think of our favourite Bradley and his distinguished looking head while there.






Bradleys Head Gallery

Boxing Day at the Harbour

We dragged ourselves to the harbour on Boxing Day to see the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. The sun was shining, gorgeous day. The town was packed full of people hunting bargains and there was a bit of street theatre from some whacky Hari Krishna's. Looks like a lot of fun!

We didn't actually see the race start but we got some other nice snaps. Dave has created this artists impression of what the yacht race looked like. Also here's a link to the Sydney Morning Herald coverage.









Boxing Day Gallery

Dawn at Bondi

As we slept over and woke up super early we were able to take some lovely dawn photos at the beach. Something we've been talking about doing for ages.





Bondi Dawn Gallery

Chrissy Day at Bondi

The weather was rubbish on Christmas Day. Unexpected but actually turned out good for us guys as the beach was pretty quiet and we could play a fun game of rounders. Later that afternoon we went to the local RSL club for some beers. Plush place, we were worried that RSL clubs would be full of coffin-dodgers but it was great. Actually it was full of old people but there were young ones too and plenty of seats, unlike the other open bars in Bondi. The girls made us some dinner. It was awesome. Dave had some Kangaroo and Cous Cous. What a tasty experience. The roo was delicious, really tender. Chris wouldn't eat it because she likes Skippy. We drank the night away and stayed in Gillian's. Dave got a solid 8 hours sleep as he nodded off after 10. Party animal!





Christmas at Bondi Gallery

Christmas

Thanks so much to everybody. We didn't expect to get so many cards and presents as we're so far away. We miss you all so we really appreciate knowing that you've all thought so much of us too.

Happy Christmas!!!

Love from us two x

Breakfast!



Christmas 2007

Nevereverland featuring Daft Punk

We had an awesome time at the Daft Punk gig Saturday at the Sydney Showgrounds in the Olympic Park. It was a bit of an all day event, festival atmosphere kind of thing because it started at 2pm and went on to 11 or so. We got there around 4 just as the forecast rain started. Didn't really know what to do with ourselves initially, the main arena was full of muck and the music wasn't all that good. We took a walk around the site and found second stage - the dance pit as it was christened. It was amazing. A good size being much smaller than the main stage and it was covered by a big sheet. It was full of mad people including some dressed up in cool costumes. Another feature was the number of people dressed up in ridiculous bright coloured gear. They looked like twots. We're not sure if this sort of thing has made it back home. We've seen Sean(y) O'Kane wearing similar gear but he's a special case. Maybe they we're all dressing up cause it was a dance event, maybe it's how the kids dress these days. We felt old at times.

The ageism didn't play on our minds we had loads of fun dancing and drinking the afternoon away. Pre-mixed bacardi and coke, champagne, bacardi breezers and carlton draught all went down a treat. Wasn't too dear either compared to some of the rip-off prices at gigs at home. The rain came and it was was heavy but once that was out of the way the skies cleared and the rest of the evening was fine.

We lost each other a couple of times which was no fun at all. There were no real landmarks to help us locate each other or maybe it was the fact that blind drunken panic set in but it was looking hairy for a while. Still we came through and it was a great buzz when we found each other. Other steps will be taken in future to avoid repeat problems.










Daft Punk Gallery

GMTV Christmas Down Under

We headed down to Mrs Macquarie's chair at the Royal Botanic Gardens to try and get on GMTV. We met up with Gillian and the girls too. There wasn't that big of a crowd but most people were while rowdy, ugly and tall. So we never got to the front. Apparently some baby wearing a santy hat hogged the limelight! Some people really put in the effort while we came straight from work, sweating away in our work clothes. Again the weather forecasters got it wrong, predicting heavy showers. The sunset was so so strong and we had to keep moving around cause the camera crew were blinded. By the way, how small is Jono Colman? (Another celeb to add to the list). So you may or may not have caught glimpses of us on the telly but never fear, we will be doing our own 'Chrissy' video on the big day. Stay tuned.








GMTV

Balmoral Beach

We we're looking to cover some new ground in Sydney so we headed off for Balmoral Beach that a few people had mentioned to us as being really nice. Some Aussies don't like Bondi mainly cause it's swamped with tourists and backpackers. A victim of it's own success. Balmoral is very different, it's in the rich community of Mosman where the houses are like Californian mansions on hills. The women of Mosman 'Mosman wives' have a reputation for being well kept by their wealthy husbands. The beach itself is lovely, much smaller than Bondi, small waves because it's sheltered in a harbour, the water was beautiful. Christine was a little scared because of a recent spate of shark attacks which made the news but the swim passed off without incident. We're going to go back there soon to go kayaking on The Middle Harbour at a place called The Spit.







Balmoral Beach

Here's some extra photos that were taken these last couple of weeks about the house and that which we didn't put into our other galleries.



Lucky Dip

CWA Chrissy Do

Chris headed to Balmain, near where Dave used to work with the Ambos, for her Chrissy work do. It was a really good craic playing bare foot bowls and the dinner after at OUR PLACE was amazing. The food in Sydney is incredible - so much variety. So overall it was a fun filled day with the girls. Back home Dave treated himself to a Masaman Beef Curry. Equally yummy. Aww. I'm hungry! xox




Work Do

Early Sunday morning walk

We decided to get up early today and catch the bus to Coogee Beach, part of our new resolution to make the most of our weekends, despite the rain and storms etc. The weather was really overcast and stormy but it was actually really refreshing and different. There were so many young families and surf schools training on the beach. We were thinking it must be great to be a wee kid here. I wonder if they know how lucky they are. Wee shits.

We dandered over to Bronte, through the cliff walk that we love so much. Bronte was quite busy with young families too, no people our age arrived until we were on our way home. We had a wee swim in the choppy, rough sea which was class craic as the waves were huge. It was a lot colder than usual! Then we just sat, read and people watched. Although it wasn't cold the weather was so different from normal. Everything still looked beautiful. (Very much like Ireland in fact). See what you think. Lucky we left as we did cause it poured as soon as we got home.







Bronte Beach