Australian Weekend

January 26th, Australia Day is massive here! We didn't really know much about it until recently - aww and we got Monday off. We headed down to Circular Quay to meet our friend Iain and to see what the fuss was about. The place was jammed! Nearly everyone had Australian flag tatoos on their faces and were wearing other ridiculous outfits. We just missed the ferry race and the tall ships on the harbour. The Rocks had a free music festival around the streets and all the bars were buzzing. The atmosphere was amazing. Later that night Darling Harbour held a Aboriginal festival and had laods of boats and fireworks.


We took some cool photos of the Harbour Bridge, which Iain climbed yesterday! The views up there would be breathtaking - its a pity you have to be a millionaire to afford to it. (Chris said she would climb up it but she wouldn't be able to get back down again)

We did not see any paralytic 13 year olds laying on the ground in the city, like you do in Derry on St Paddy's Day. However we did hear there was bother in Queensland, where loads of drunken teenagers, draped in the ozzy flag, attacked the police. Sound familiar???



We had to leave the city early (and didn't get to say bye to Gillian) as we had tickets to see LCD Soundsystem at our local Enmore Theatre. We were thinking the gig would be empty because of Australia Day. NOPE. It was packed to the brim. We had to nip and punch a few annoying drunk people to survive! It was class! Our photos are pretty crap though.



On Sunday we went to Coogee Beach for a wee swim. The weather has got very hot again!


Iain has gone back to Glasvegas now and Gillian and the girls have started travelling around the country. NOOOOO. It's always nice to see familiar faces when we are out here and we have some cool memories of our time in Syders. Good luck guys. We will miss you. xox

Australia Day Gallery

Coogee Aussie Day Weekend Gallery

Sydney Fish Market

Some ladies at Dave's work recommended that we go down and visit Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont. The weather was minging wet and it took us ages to find the smelly place but after stopping to look at a map in the Star City Casino we eventually found it. The place had ques of cars trying to get in. Apparently the auctions for the restaurants start at 5am and all the families come in after that. There were loads of fish outlets with stacks of ugly fish. Some of them were really weird looking! Sydney waters have some crazy fish! Anyway, Dave bought some prawns to use for the recipe the lady in work gave him. He said they were great - but Chris thought they stank!






The rain continued all day but we decided to treat ourselves to Wagamama's meal, thanks to Paul. The food was lovely and Dave even managed to use chop sticks! Thanks again Paul.


Sydney Fish Market Gallery

Shark Beach and Parsley Bay

We decided to adventure out to another end of Sydney. Last September we went up to Watson's Bay, Camp Cove, Lady Beach (the nudist beach), and around the cliffs where the lighthouses are. This time we decided to start out at Rose Bay and walk up towards Watson Bay, where we could get the ferry home.

Rose Bay was very quiet and seemed like a rich area. There were very few people around, just a few seaplanes taking off and landing. We walked up the steep road, past a huge catholic college with amazing harbour views and into Nielsen Park.





Shark Beach at Nielsen Park is really small and gorgeous, although it was swamped with families as is all protected with shark nets. Why would they protect this beach and not all the rest of the Sydney beaches? Anyway, we have seen this beach on the ferry and always wanted to visit it. The sand was so white and the water was crystal clear. We had a nice wee swim outside of the nets where it was quieter.


We dandered on up the shore where we saw lots of tiny coves and beaches. We decided to stop at Parsley Bay cause we needed another swim and the water looked class. We had to cross a cool bridge to get down to it. Parsley Bay was like a lagoon! It was gorgeous and we would love to go back and bring a picnic. This was a great place for people to chill. We walked on up to Watson Bay to get the ferry home, passing massive spiders on the way. Scary!







Shark Beach and Parsley Bay Gallery

100th Post Super Edition! - Sydney University

Well not much of a special edition really, just more of the same, but we just felt it necessary to highlight the landmark.

Unfortunately we're weeks behind with posts. We didn't sit inside watching films this month, well not the whole month anyway. We did get out there and soaked up the Australian summer. Found that getting back into work after the joy of 2 weeks off at Christmas sapped us of the enthusiam necessary to sit in front of the computer and type things. Also the computer gets really hot which isn't pleasant, there's always the concern that sweat from the wrists might start to pool and cause a nasty shock.

Firstly we've got some photos online of awalk round Sydney Uni which is not far from our place. It's very popular particularly among overseas students who pay mega-bucks to learn enough to get employed in Australia and thus sponsored for residency. Apparently tertiary education is Australias 3rd biggest export industry. Loads of young people many from Asia coming over here trying to forge a better life. And who'd blame them, it's great!

Enjoy these photographic gems. The Uni certainly looks the part, can't remember when it was established, around the middle of the 19th century probably. We didn't venture into the union as it was a Saturday and the summer holidays but who knows we may visit when term starts see how it compares to back home.






Sydney University Gallery

Anzac Bridge Sunday Walk

On the last day of the Christmas holidays (for Dave anyway) we decided to take a walk down to Glebe, which is a nearby suburb. We came across Blackwattle Bay which had perfect view of the Anzac Bridge, which links the city to Balmain. We really like this bridge and at night it is lit up. You can see the Harbour Bridge in the background. It just seems every time we go a dander in Syders we always end up seeing beautiful and different perspectives of the city, even in the suburbs. The park was really pretty with loads of dogs and some had a dip in the water to cool off. It was a fairly overcast day but it got up to 30 degrees. We were killed coming home. Our flat was so hot too so we may have to buy a fan.

We are sorry that our Christmas holidays are now over as we had a great time together and did loads of touristy stuff but we have to work like everyone else. (will keep you informed if Christine gets a job) Hope you all had a good Christmas. xox





Anzac Bridge Gallery

Kings of Leon

We were so excited to see Kings of Leon. The venue was excellent - not too small and not too big and it was air conditioned! As the place crowded up Dave bent down and for the first time saw what Chris sees from her perspective. So we tried to avoid standing behind huge boys and made our way up to the front. He even lifted her up a few times. When Kings of Leon came out everyone went mad. They were so good and we didn't stay still for one song. We got so so sweaty and ugly but we didn't care! What a good gig. Here is Fans.


We were exhausted getting back but the bus and train came right away and we got to look at some Ozzy fashion from today's younglings. It's great! We went and got a kebab and Chris got humus and chicken in hers while Dave got the extremely spicy one. We also took photos of our neighbourhood. Just for the record. Newtown, Enmore and Stanmore are not sleazy areas - there are just a lot of goth shops about as a lot of hippy and cool people live here.

Also we killed a few cockroaches before we got to our street. It's great fun running after and jumping on them! We filmed some exciting shots and encountered a new friend, Jiminy Cricket.








Kings of Leon Gallery

Manly again

We decided to go back to Manly as the last time we visited here was 6 months ago in the middle of winter. The beaches were busy enough but the life savers were banning people from going into the water due to rough tides. And they were right - the tides did look fierce but it did not stop all of the surfers. We mostly just sat and watched them. There was a life saver on a jet ski warning people out of the water. He looked like he was having loads of fun with the waves! We would have liked to walk up to the Northern beaches of Queenscliff Bay and Curl Curl but we couldn't see a coastal walk like the Eastern suburb beaches (Bondi, Bronte, Coogee). So we just walked the other direction to Shelly Beach and watched the young Manly Life Surfers have a race. The weather has been amazing over our 2 week Christmas holidays. We have been very lucky cause Melbourne had high temperatures of up to 42 degrees and Brisbane was hit was really bad storms, cancelling their NYE fireworks.








Manly Summer Gallery