Didn't do much today. Carved a pumpkin and made pumpkin soup from the scrapings. Saved the bigger bits for roasting. Soup recipe: saucepan full of pumpkin, one chopped onion and several potatoes to thicken the soup. Boil for 20 minutes. Use blender to produce a thick orange paste. Add couple of spoonfuls of curry powder and salt to taste. Simmer for a while whilst you chop 200g bacon into small lardons and chop up about 5 cloves of garlic. Fry bacon and garlic thoroughly then add contents of frying pan to soup and stir in. Simmer a while longer so that all the flavours combine.
We ate the above for lunch and saved some for Will's dinner. In the afternoon Di and I took Ollie for a walk on the beach and then to the park. In the streets there was lots of evidence that some Australians, at least, entered into the spirit of Halloween. Groups of little ghosts, witches and superheroes were being shepherded along by young Mums on their way to various parties and trick or treat outings. We actually had at least three groups come to our front door and luckily, Natasha had some sweets to give them. When we returned, I set up the pumpkin in the back yard with two night lights in it. I must say it looked really good. Ollie was impressed.
The last time we were here, we joined the local bowling club. These are an institution in Australia. They are ostensibly, clubs where you play lawn bowls, but they are really so much more. They act as centres of the community where people meet to talk, drink cheaply, watch sports on giant screens and to gamble on "Pokies" (what we call one-armed-bandits). At 6.30 we went down to the bowling club and I availed myself of their birthday offers - a barramundi and chips and salad meal worth ten dollars plus a free drink. Actually we traded the free drink voucher against the price of a bottle of Chardonnay to go with the fish. We stayed for two and a half hours because I was also given a place in an October birthdays draw. At 7pm someone won 100 dollars, at 8pm someone won 200 dollars and at nine pm someone won the top prize of 300 dollars. Actually, the guy who was drawn first on the big prize wasn't present so it was redrawn. Bet he'll be sick-as when he hears! Needless to say, I didn't win anything! Ah well, such is life! Good night!
Monday, 31 October 2011
Sunday 30th October - the birthday party.
The weather wasn't brilliant for my birthday. It rained a bit in the morning but dried up by the afternoon which was just as well as that was when the party was being held. More about that later. So, there I was at breakfast when cards were produced. One from Ollie with a tasteful scribble of many colours. It reminded me of the heat sealed scribble we have at home which was done by Ollie's Mum about 30 years ago. I'll keep this one too. Then came a surprise: a card from Will and Tash with an advert for a fishing charter. They have given me a promise of a day's fishing on a chartered boat out of Ettalong. Will wants to come too so we will take the trip in a couple of week's time when he has got over a spike of jobs he has on at present. I got a card from Di too and with that a promise for us to go out on a special date next Friday to "Pearls on the Beach", a restaurant in, of all places, Pearl Beach. They are putting on a special dinner to showcase Margan wines. Margan is a winery in The Hunter Valley. We visited it last time we were here. The meal is five courses with suitable wines to accompany each course all introduced by the winery owner. Promises, promises! I also opened a card from Mum and Dad back home, which Mum had made herself. Later in the day I had to deal with scores of good wishes from all my Hounslow Manor group Facebook friends. There were about eight pages on my iPad before the end of the day ( which, of course, is eleven hours later than here as British clocks went back this weekend. So I was still getting messages the day after. Lots of really touching and encouraging words. It's nice, tedious but nice! I'm humbled by the thoughts and efforts of so many lovely people.
Will's Mum Janet was in town for the party and came over to us first, for lunch. We had a tasty salad that Will, my talented son in law, threw together and then we all drove over to Will's sister's place for the birthday party. Janet gave Di and I a lift, Will followed with Ollie in the ute and Tash stayed for a while as she didn't want to take Toby out for too long, especially as it would mean subjecting him to a barrage of kiddy germs at his very tender age (three days)!
The whole family were there celebrating sister Joanna's three sons' birthdays. She has twin boys and one extra boy who "came along" about one year later. They all have birthdays at the end of October so it's always a combined effort. Will's two brothers were also there with their wives and two kids each. So that's eight kids with Ollie. Then there was Jo's brother in law with his wife and two kids. Add in a couple of random friends and it was quite a party. Luckily, as I said, the weather was kind so we were in the garden most of the time. Later, we went inside for the cake and pass the parcel. When Natasha finally turned up she caused quite a stir as this was, for most of the assembled family members, the first time they had seen little Toby. Janet was the first to leave as she was expecting a foal any time now and she had to get back to the ranch ASAP.
We drove home that evening with Ollie and Toby in the Subaru with us and Tash and Will in the ute, with Tash driving as Will reckoned he was over the limit. Ollie was dead beat and went straight down when we got home. We had time for reflection on the day's events before we too followed him to bed.
Will's Mum Janet was in town for the party and came over to us first, for lunch. We had a tasty salad that Will, my talented son in law, threw together and then we all drove over to Will's sister's place for the birthday party. Janet gave Di and I a lift, Will followed with Ollie in the ute and Tash stayed for a while as she didn't want to take Toby out for too long, especially as it would mean subjecting him to a barrage of kiddy germs at his very tender age (three days)!
The whole family were there celebrating sister Joanna's three sons' birthdays. She has twin boys and one extra boy who "came along" about one year later. They all have birthdays at the end of October so it's always a combined effort. Will's two brothers were also there with their wives and two kids each. So that's eight kids with Ollie. Then there was Jo's brother in law with his wife and two kids. Add in a couple of random friends and it was quite a party. Luckily, as I said, the weather was kind so we were in the garden most of the time. Later, we went inside for the cake and pass the parcel. When Natasha finally turned up she caused quite a stir as this was, for most of the assembled family members, the first time they had seen little Toby. Janet was the first to leave as she was expecting a foal any time now and she had to get back to the ranch ASAP.
We drove home that evening with Ollie and Toby in the Subaru with us and Tash and Will in the ute, with Tash driving as Will reckoned he was over the limit. Ollie was dead beat and went straight down when we got home. We had time for reflection on the day's events before we too followed him to bed.
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Saturday 29th October - Gym and pool cleaning
We didn't hear Toby in the night but apparently he did squawk a fair bit. He even woke Ollie in the next room at one point. Luckily we slept soundly and awoke for breakfast and a little housework before setting off for the Leisure Centre. We arrived at about 10.25 in time for Di's class (body balance). I went into the gym and did an hour's circuits ending up on the rower. I like to leave this till last as it generally exhausts me and makes me sweat like hell! We relaxed with a coffee afterwards before driving home. On the way we admired the jacaranda trees which are blooming everywhere and are very noticeable where blue coloured blossom is hardly the norm.
Back home we relaxed for the rest of the day as it was very muggy. After lunch Will and I drove to Avoca to pick up some timber from one of his brother's sites. (Stevo has his own building business). Then we drove to the new house where, miracle of miracles, the renderer had started and not only that, he was still there - at four thirty on a Saturday arvo! Strewth mate, what's the go? Still, the rendered bits did look rather handsome. Will and I worked on the pool for about an hour and managed, at last, to clear all macro-debris from the bottom and to get the "creepy-crawly" going. The salt from the other day was beginning to work and the water was now nearly clear. It had certainly lost its green colour.
We finished there by 5.30 and drove home to prepare a barbecued piri piri chicken meal. Delicious. We all watched an Aussi movie called "Kenny" before retiring at around 11.00.
Back home we relaxed for the rest of the day as it was very muggy. After lunch Will and I drove to Avoca to pick up some timber from one of his brother's sites. (Stevo has his own building business). Then we drove to the new house where, miracle of miracles, the renderer had started and not only that, he was still there - at four thirty on a Saturday arvo! Strewth mate, what's the go? Still, the rendered bits did look rather handsome. Will and I worked on the pool for about an hour and managed, at last, to clear all macro-debris from the bottom and to get the "creepy-crawly" going. The salt from the other day was beginning to work and the water was now nearly clear. It had certainly lost its green colour.
We finished there by 5.30 and drove home to prepare a barbecued piri piri chicken meal. Delicious. We all watched an Aussi movie called "Kenny" before retiring at around 11.00.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Friday 28th October - The Homecoming.
Natasha and new baby Toby are in hospital but will be home later today. Will went off with the car rather than his Ute today so he can bring them home. Di and I spent the day keeping house and looking after Ollie. We took him down to the park in the morning and watched him play in the sand. I found a flock of mixed corellas (little and long billed) who were very obliging and allowed me to film them feeding on the grassy bank at the edge of the playground. Back home whilst Ollie had his mid day nap, I hooked up the camera to the TV to watch the corellas in action. These cameras are brilliant! The pictures are so vivid, so sharp. Later I showed Ollie but he was much more interested in seeing himself on the swings and the climbing frame. After lunch we had a call from Natasha to say she would be home at around 4.00pm. We cleaned up thoroughly making sure everything was clean and tidy for the homecoming of Toby James. With five minutes to go, a nappyless Ollie decided to wee all over the little armchair he uses and all over the floor of the living room. I had to take the chair out to the garden, hose it down and hang it up to dry whilst Di mopped te floor. In the midst of all this activity, the Subaru pulled into the drive and I had to dash for the camera so I didn't miss the homecoming shot.
I managed it ok and we cooed over our new arrival before I went into the garden to finish the job. Then we prepared dinner together and as it drew near, we popped the cork on a special bottle of French champagne we'd brought from Europe with us. The baby's head was duly wetted before we sat down to a steak meal with jacket potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob and broccoli, all washed down with a nice Australian merlot. Natasha retired early, understandably but actually did reappear later to sit and chat with us while we watched Grand Designs and a Relocation programme. Toby was wide awake and it was lovely to get the chance to sit with him and get to know our new grandson.
I managed it ok and we cooed over our new arrival before I went into the garden to finish the job. Then we prepared dinner together and as it drew near, we popped the cork on a special bottle of French champagne we'd brought from Europe with us. The baby's head was duly wetted before we sat down to a steak meal with jacket potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob and broccoli, all washed down with a nice Australian merlot. Natasha retired early, understandably but actually did reappear later to sit and chat with us while we watched Grand Designs and a Relocation programme. Toby was wide awake and it was lovely to get the chance to sit with him and get to know our new grandson.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Thursday 27th October - The baby, at last!
At 7.30 this morning, Natasha and Will took the Ute and drove to Gosford Hospital where their baby will be induced. Di and I were left at home to mind Ollie. The weather was still overcast and cool but at least it was dry. At around 11.00 we got an email from Tash to say that they had settled her in and attached her to a drip, presumably of oxytocin or some such hormone to induce her labour. We took Ollie out for a walk along the High St. Di stopped to get some take-away coffee and I walked on. Just as I was nearing home, my mobile rang and it was Will announcing the arrival, at 11.21, of Toby James Mudge. Apparently he had "shot out like a bar of soap" about half an hour after Tash had emailed us. She'd only been in labour or less than an hour!
So we had lunch and Ollie had a nap. At 2.00 pm we got into the car and headed up to Gosford hospital and located the birthing suite. Natasha had a room all to herself. Here we found them, Natasha, Will, baby Toby and senior midwife Caroline and trainee midwife Jess. Little Toby was perfect. 9/10 they told us. We watched as they checked him over and finally, when he'd been thoroughly checked and cleaned, they took him over to the weighing machine where he clocked in at 4.01 kg or 8lb 13oz. He measured 53.5 cm.
We spent the next few hours with our newly enlarged family. Ollie was great. He seemed to have a true awareness of what was happening. In the car on the way to the hospital I asked him if he wanted some apple to eat. He said, "No, I want to see the baby". And in the hospital corridor he had declared that he was going to see his "baby brother". He was great and showed no signs of jealousy. I did my thing with cameras and video and made sure the event was well documented. Finally we were all moved from the birthing suite to the ward of three beds and after we settled her in, she hugged Caroline and Jess in turn and they bade her farewell and good luck. What a great job those people have! Then Di and I also gave them our best wishes and took little Ollie home.
Here I knocked up a quick fish risotto with long grain rice, cabbage, carrot, broccoli and chopped walnuts. I used ling which was the closest I could find to Atlantic cod, and flavoured it all with some sweet chilli sauce. Will stayed with Tash until kick-out time at about 8pm then went to his regular Thursday night tennis knock-up with his mates in Gosford. Di and I had dinner alone, put Ollie down and watched an episode of "The Slap" before turning in.
So we had lunch and Ollie had a nap. At 2.00 pm we got into the car and headed up to Gosford hospital and located the birthing suite. Natasha had a room all to herself. Here we found them, Natasha, Will, baby Toby and senior midwife Caroline and trainee midwife Jess. Little Toby was perfect. 9/10 they told us. We watched as they checked him over and finally, when he'd been thoroughly checked and cleaned, they took him over to the weighing machine where he clocked in at 4.01 kg or 8lb 13oz. He measured 53.5 cm.
We spent the next few hours with our newly enlarged family. Ollie was great. He seemed to have a true awareness of what was happening. In the car on the way to the hospital I asked him if he wanted some apple to eat. He said, "No, I want to see the baby". And in the hospital corridor he had declared that he was going to see his "baby brother". He was great and showed no signs of jealousy. I did my thing with cameras and video and made sure the event was well documented. Finally we were all moved from the birthing suite to the ward of three beds and after we settled her in, she hugged Caroline and Jess in turn and they bade her farewell and good luck. What a great job those people have! Then Di and I also gave them our best wishes and took little Ollie home.
Here I knocked up a quick fish risotto with long grain rice, cabbage, carrot, broccoli and chopped walnuts. I used ling which was the closest I could find to Atlantic cod, and flavoured it all with some sweet chilli sauce. Will stayed with Tash until kick-out time at about 8pm then went to his regular Thursday night tennis knock-up with his mates in Gosford. Di and I had dinner alone, put Ollie down and watched an episode of "The Slap" before turning in.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Wednesday 26th October - Waiting
Natasha came home from hospital this morning. Di and I took the car and went to Woolworth's to get a few supplies. The weather was still very cool and overcast. We also visited a bookshop to get some presents for the birthday party this weekend (and where I found a book on the birds of the Sydney area). Finally we visited the large fruit and veg shop to find a suitable pumpkin to carve for Halloween. We relaxed at "Ruby's" Coffee and Book shop with a large flat white before returning home. We spent the rest of the day with Tash and Will who came home and worked on his accounts etc as we all waited for the baby. We had some fun trying to replicate a famous family photo I took when Di was about 8 months pregnant with Chloe. In this, a three year old Natasha stood at her knee looking stern whilst she looked serene (but large). Unfortunately, he never appeared and we had an evening watching TV (Terra Nova) before turning in at about 11.30.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Tuesday 25th October - Spin and NSW Birding Meeting at Tuggerah
It rained today! After that really hot day yesterday, it was cold and wet all day today. We started with a trip to the gym to do a spin class and then we returned home to give O his mid day nap and to have a light lunch(after yesterday's excesses)! Tash had to go to a midwife appointment and came back saying hat they didn't 't like her blood pressure and that they had summoned her to hospital. Di drove her there leaving me to mind Ollie by myself and even to prepare tonight's meal. Ollie and I had a grand time playing with his trains and watching some cartoons later whilst I prepared a tuna pasta bake. Di returned at about 5.30 and took over Ollie duties and driving me to Woy Woy station as I was going to a meeting in Tuggerah.
I bought a ticket for about 8 dollars and only had a five minute wait before the train pulled in. Trains in Australia are "double decker" and I went upstairs and sat and read throughout the 20 minute journey that stopped at Koolewong, Tascott, Point Clare, Gosford, Narara, Niagara Park, Lisarow, Ourimbah and finally Tuggerah.
I was about 45 minutes early so I went into Hungry Jacks for a coffee before the meeting. I walked across the road in drizzling rain at about 7.10 and joined a group of about 20 birding enthusiasts who had come to this monthly meeting of the Central Coast group of the NSW Birding Society. We listened to a presentation by a man about the birds of South Kent in the UK! Afterwards we chatted and had a cup of tea. I was approached by a woman who had collected enormous numbers of postage stamps for the RSPB but who needed someone to transport them to the UK. We exchanged addresses and I agreed to take them in December when we return. I also spoke to the speaker and found out that he and his wife had lived in Australia since their retirement in 2000 but that with unfavourable exchange rates, they had moved back to the UK two years ago. They were presently on a visit to see their grandchildren.
At the end of the meeting I caught the train back to Woy Woy having to change at Gosford. On the way I phoned Will and found out that Tash was being kept in hospital overnight as a precaution but that she would be sent home on Wednesday morning and then have to come back on Thursday for an inducement if the baby had not appeared naturally by then.
Will picked me up at Woy Woy station on his way home from the hospital and we had a late supper of my pasta bake before turning in at around 11.30. Di told us that Ollie had been excellent while we were all out and had played nicely with his trains. I wonder whether, like Ollie, the new baby will be a "Wednesday's child"?
I bought a ticket for about 8 dollars and only had a five minute wait before the train pulled in. Trains in Australia are "double decker" and I went upstairs and sat and read throughout the 20 minute journey that stopped at Koolewong, Tascott, Point Clare, Gosford, Narara, Niagara Park, Lisarow, Ourimbah and finally Tuggerah.
I was about 45 minutes early so I went into Hungry Jacks for a coffee before the meeting. I walked across the road in drizzling rain at about 7.10 and joined a group of about 20 birding enthusiasts who had come to this monthly meeting of the Central Coast group of the NSW Birding Society. We listened to a presentation by a man about the birds of South Kent in the UK! Afterwards we chatted and had a cup of tea. I was approached by a woman who had collected enormous numbers of postage stamps for the RSPB but who needed someone to transport them to the UK. We exchanged addresses and I agreed to take them in December when we return. I also spoke to the speaker and found out that he and his wife had lived in Australia since their retirement in 2000 but that with unfavourable exchange rates, they had moved back to the UK two years ago. They were presently on a visit to see their grandchildren.
At the end of the meeting I caught the train back to Woy Woy having to change at Gosford. On the way I phoned Will and found out that Tash was being kept in hospital overnight as a precaution but that she would be sent home on Wednesday morning and then have to come back on Thursday for an inducement if the baby had not appeared naturally by then.
Will picked me up at Woy Woy station on his way home from the hospital and we had a late supper of my pasta bake before turning in at around 11.30. Di told us that Ollie had been excellent while we were all out and had played nicely with his trains. I wonder whether, like Ollie, the new baby will be a "Wednesday's child"?
Monday, 24 October 2011
Monday 24th October - Sand castles and Thai food.
Another hot day. When I checked the thermometer at about 1pm, it was 34 degrees in the shade and 41 in direct sunshine! So today was a beach day. After breakfast we chilled for a while doing a few odd jobs and then got Ollie into his buggy and headed down to the beach. It was fairly breezy down there so we didn't feel too hot. We had obviously slip, slap, slopped before we went and we all wore hats. Ollie had a couple of beach buckets: a round one and a large square one, both with battlements, so I began the serious task of teaching my grandson the art of sand castle construction. Our initial practice runs produced a line of seven towers which Ollie squashed one by one, whereupon, Grandad refused to play any more. Ollie went off down into the surf with the womenfolk but found it a bit rough for his liking today so was soon back begging for more castles.
So the master now had the pupil's undivided attention (well, as much as a two and a half year old can give), and we set about building a stretch of the great wall of China with its regular towers joined by long stout walls. Ollie had a great tool in his beach bag - a kind of small plastic hoe which was ideal for fashioning these walls. When Nanny and Mummy returned, they were well impressed and Ollie and I were allowed to go off to the beach cafe in the surf club. There we got an "Ice Pole" and a flat white and settled down at a shaded table and savoured our rewards.
Soon a young woman sat down with her toddler at the next table and asked me, "is his Mum called Natasha"? When I replied affirmatively, she introduced herself as Kristy and said that she knew Tash from playgroup. She hadn't lived here in Umina for long. Previously she had lived in...? Yes, you guessed it, Sydney. Soon Tash and Di joined us and we sat and chatted for a while before we had to get Ollie back for his mid-day nap.
We walked home and whilst he was asleep I went down to the shops to get a few things including the paper which had another dinosaur today. I spent the rest of the rather hot afternoon relaxing with the paper and the dinosaur model.
When Will came home we decided to eat out at the Thai restaurant which is just one block down. It's a BYO so we took a bottle of pink sparkling and a white "savblank" and had a lovely meal in their garden with Ollie able to run around while we ate. He was sparko by the time we got home and he went straight down whilst we had a last cuppa and watched an episode of "Weeds", before turning in at around 11pm.
PS My new grandson will now be a Scorpio just like his grandad, when he deigns to appear!
PPS My apologies to Les Bleus who played their socks off last night and came oh so close to an all time upset with the final score Kiwis 9 France 8.
So the master now had the pupil's undivided attention (well, as much as a two and a half year old can give), and we set about building a stretch of the great wall of China with its regular towers joined by long stout walls. Ollie had a great tool in his beach bag - a kind of small plastic hoe which was ideal for fashioning these walls. When Nanny and Mummy returned, they were well impressed and Ollie and I were allowed to go off to the beach cafe in the surf club. There we got an "Ice Pole" and a flat white and settled down at a shaded table and savoured our rewards.
Soon a young woman sat down with her toddler at the next table and asked me, "is his Mum called Natasha"? When I replied affirmatively, she introduced herself as Kristy and said that she knew Tash from playgroup. She hadn't lived here in Umina for long. Previously she had lived in...? Yes, you guessed it, Sydney. Soon Tash and Di joined us and we sat and chatted for a while before we had to get Ollie back for his mid-day nap.
We walked home and whilst he was asleep I went down to the shops to get a few things including the paper which had another dinosaur today. I spent the rest of the rather hot afternoon relaxing with the paper and the dinosaur model.
When Will came home we decided to eat out at the Thai restaurant which is just one block down. It's a BYO so we took a bottle of pink sparkling and a white "savblank" and had a lovely meal in their garden with Ollie able to run around while we ate. He was sparko by the time we got home and he went straight down whilst we had a last cuppa and watched an episode of "Weeds", before turning in at around 11pm.
PS My new grandson will now be a Scorpio just like his grandad, when he deigns to appear!
PPS My apologies to Les Bleus who played their socks off last night and came oh so close to an all time upset with the final score Kiwis 9 France 8.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Sunday 23rd October - Avoca Market and Erina Fair
Will has worked hard this week and with all the painting he did yesterday, he reckoned he'd earned a day off, so after a light cereal breakfast, we all drove to Avoca; to the ground where Will once played club rugby and where today there is a Sunday Market. As we arrived, a young woman was dancing solo to Tom Jones',"Sex Bomb". So far so good! She finished her routine and explained that she was demonstrating a "dance-yourself-fit" kind of course that she ran. We moved on to see all kinds of stalls selling all manner of goods and services. We met up with Joanna and her boys and we had a coffee together. Di and Tash bought a few odds and ends and we ended the visit by sitting watching Ollie clambering on a climbing frame and slide with some other children.
With lunch time approaching, we made the short drive to Erina Fair; a huge shopping centre and sought out a certain Chinese restaurant which did "Yum-Cha" lunches. Now, I may be just lacking in experience, but I have never seen one of these in England. It's a great idea and I was very impressed by it. You sit down in a large hall with a hundred or so other diners and the food is brought out constantly by waitresses either on large plates or on trolleys. They take the food round the hall offering it to everybody. If what's on offer takes your fancy, she gives you a plate of it and then marks it off on a checklist that's left on your table. The food comes thick and fast and sometimes you turn it down either because you don't fancy it or maybe the sequence is not right, ie you wouldn't want your mango pancakes before your spare ribs! We got through a number of delicious dishes including spare ribs, steamed seafood dumplings, tofu in a sauce, deep fried spring rolls, lemon flavoured squid tentacles in crispy batter, deep fried noodles, stewed chard leaves and stalks in a sauce and the aforementioned mango pancakes filled with mango custard. All washed down with fragrant Chinese tea. For the four of us it was 86 AUD. And the great thing is, that there is no waiting. You're in and out as soon as you like. Brilliant concept.
On our way back to the car we popped in to Toys-R-Us to get something for Jo's boys as she is holding a joint birthday party for them next Saturday. We got started at least but also got Ollie a cricket bat and ball set. The ball sits on a peg that's spring-loaded and which shoots the ball up into the air and you have to hit it. Great for hand-eye co-ordination. Ollie was getting a bit ratty by now as he was way past his sleep time and sure enough, he fell fast asleep on the way home. We all had a rest now in preparation for the 6.30 kick off of the Rugby World Cup final, or the humiliation of the French by The All Blacks. We'll see!
With lunch time approaching, we made the short drive to Erina Fair; a huge shopping centre and sought out a certain Chinese restaurant which did "Yum-Cha" lunches. Now, I may be just lacking in experience, but I have never seen one of these in England. It's a great idea and I was very impressed by it. You sit down in a large hall with a hundred or so other diners and the food is brought out constantly by waitresses either on large plates or on trolleys. They take the food round the hall offering it to everybody. If what's on offer takes your fancy, she gives you a plate of it and then marks it off on a checklist that's left on your table. The food comes thick and fast and sometimes you turn it down either because you don't fancy it or maybe the sequence is not right, ie you wouldn't want your mango pancakes before your spare ribs! We got through a number of delicious dishes including spare ribs, steamed seafood dumplings, tofu in a sauce, deep fried spring rolls, lemon flavoured squid tentacles in crispy batter, deep fried noodles, stewed chard leaves and stalks in a sauce and the aforementioned mango pancakes filled with mango custard. All washed down with fragrant Chinese tea. For the four of us it was 86 AUD. And the great thing is, that there is no waiting. You're in and out as soon as you like. Brilliant concept.
On our way back to the car we popped in to Toys-R-Us to get something for Jo's boys as she is holding a joint birthday party for them next Saturday. We got started at least but also got Ollie a cricket bat and ball set. The ball sits on a peg that's spring-loaded and which shoots the ball up into the air and you have to hit it. Great for hand-eye co-ordination. Ollie was getting a bit ratty by now as he was way past his sleep time and sure enough, he fell fast asleep on the way home. We all had a rest now in preparation for the 6.30 kick off of the Rugby World Cup final, or the humiliation of the French by The All Blacks. We'll see!
Saturday 22nd October - Painting
Today was very uneventful. The weather was again warm, though not as warm as yesterday. After breakfast, Will and I drove to the hardware store and picked up some ceiling paint, then we drove to the house and painted. The girls followed with Ollie at lunchtime and with a little gardening, that was about it for the day. We returned home at dinner time and had a relaxing evening. Will has resolved to give himself a break and take us all out to Avoka tomorrow for brunch.
Still no new baby, so he will officially be one of us now- a Scorpio!
Still no new baby, so he will officially be one of us now- a Scorpio!
Friday, 21 October 2011
Friday 21st October - A brief spurt of activity then......
It was hot today. If you sat in the sun you were subjecting yourself to temperatures in the high thirties. Di tried it but announced that it was too hot and retreated to the shade. I didn't even bother and stayed inside with a good book.
The day started normally with us meeting Joanna, Obi, Lou and Anton at the Leisure Centre where I indulged in a brief spurt of activity in the gym before reading with a nice coffee whilst waiting for Di who did a Zumba class. She returned rather red in the face and said that it had been too hot. They had been displaced by a meeting in their normal room and had the class in the hall where there was obviously no air-conditioning. After a coffee and chat, we collected the kids from the creche and went our separate ways: Jo took her kids to the beach but we headed for home knowing that Ollie really needs his mid day nap.
We relaxed for the best part of the afternoon and as it cooled at around 5pm we went round to the new house to clean and add salt to the pool. At 6.00 we headed home and prepared some pizza topping. Di and I drove down to the bottle-o to pick up some VB and a few bottles of white wine. All this was in preparation for an evening of rugby. Australia were playing Wales in the World Cup play offs. Australia prevailed but an awesome last ten minutes by the Welsh made for a very exciting finish.
The day started normally with us meeting Joanna, Obi, Lou and Anton at the Leisure Centre where I indulged in a brief spurt of activity in the gym before reading with a nice coffee whilst waiting for Di who did a Zumba class. She returned rather red in the face and said that it had been too hot. They had been displaced by a meeting in their normal room and had the class in the hall where there was obviously no air-conditioning. After a coffee and chat, we collected the kids from the creche and went our separate ways: Jo took her kids to the beach but we headed for home knowing that Ollie really needs his mid day nap.
We relaxed for the best part of the afternoon and as it cooled at around 5pm we went round to the new house to clean and add salt to the pool. At 6.00 we headed home and prepared some pizza topping. Di and I drove down to the bottle-o to pick up some VB and a few bottles of white wine. All this was in preparation for an evening of rugby. Australia were playing Wales in the World Cup play offs. Australia prevailed but an awesome last ten minutes by the Welsh made for a very exciting finish.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Thursday 20th October - Umina High Street and Surf Club
The weather has finally stabilised. It was beautiful today, all day long; the sky was blue, a warm breeze kept it bearable and the temperature in the sun rose to 32 degrees. Will went off to work as usual at about 7.00 am and the rest of us got ready and went out to enjoy the sunshine. We walked down the length of Umina High Street with the girls doing their thing in every clothes shop. I got a little bored and took myself off to trawl the bookshops to search for a reference book to Australian inter-tidal biology. No luck. I endured a little more standing around in clothes shops being push-chair minder-in-chief before Tash made the decision to have coffee at the surf club rather than a high street cafe where Ollie would be too restricted. So I walked on ahead and got Ollie an ice cream and myself a flat white. He was able to run around whilst I sat in the sunshine surrounded by noisy miners, mynas, kookaburras and little wattlebirds. Somewhat out of place were a few European house sparrows and starlings.
Ollie was testing the boundaries, as usual (well, he is two), and when he got too far, I rounded him up and took him over to the relative safety of the enclosed play ground. His first act? To climb up the blocks to the highest point and leap off, slipping as he did so and effectively doing a belly-flop from four feet into the sand. Bravely he got up but was obviously winded and couldn't suppress a tear or two. After the briefest of cuddles and words of reassurance from "DanDad", he returned to the fray and did the jump again, and again and again. Di and Tash joined us and we sat for ages in the sun whilst he played. Di noticed some novel behaviour. Another boy was inside a playhouse and pretended to be a shopkeeper and sell him stones through a hatch. Ollie co-operated and took instructions and seemed to understand the pretence perfectly. I'm sure this is the first time we've seen him play co-operatively. Previously I have always been struck by the way he plays by himself, even when surrounded by others. This was even the case when he was with his cousins in the creche.
Nanny was in trouble this evening because she was in charge of him when we got home this afternoon. After lunch, Tash dropped me at the house for an hour's gardening whilst she went to visit her friend Amanda and Nanny looked after Ollie. She left him far too long in his afternoon nap with the result that he was hyper at bed time and loathe to go down. Still Di did cook a lovely Moroccan chicken cous-cous. And, by the way, still no baby, but I did source a book on Amazon for my beach combing.
Ollie was testing the boundaries, as usual (well, he is two), and when he got too far, I rounded him up and took him over to the relative safety of the enclosed play ground. His first act? To climb up the blocks to the highest point and leap off, slipping as he did so and effectively doing a belly-flop from four feet into the sand. Bravely he got up but was obviously winded and couldn't suppress a tear or two. After the briefest of cuddles and words of reassurance from "DanDad", he returned to the fray and did the jump again, and again and again. Di and Tash joined us and we sat for ages in the sun whilst he played. Di noticed some novel behaviour. Another boy was inside a playhouse and pretended to be a shopkeeper and sell him stones through a hatch. Ollie co-operated and took instructions and seemed to understand the pretence perfectly. I'm sure this is the first time we've seen him play co-operatively. Previously I have always been struck by the way he plays by himself, even when surrounded by others. This was even the case when he was with his cousins in the creche.
Nanny was in trouble this evening because she was in charge of him when we got home this afternoon. After lunch, Tash dropped me at the house for an hour's gardening whilst she went to visit her friend Amanda and Nanny looked after Ollie. She left him far too long in his afternoon nap with the result that he was hyper at bed time and loathe to go down. Still Di did cook a lovely Moroccan chicken cous-cous. And, by the way, still no baby, but I did source a book on Amazon for my beach combing.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Wednesday 19th October - Pearl Beach
Wednesday is playgroup day. I cooked us up a sustaining breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon after which we drove round to Pearl Beach to drop off Ollie and Tash at his playgroup. Di then took the car on to Woy Woy where she did her 90 minute yoga class but today I had a treat. Instead of beating myself up at the gym, I stayed at Pearl and indulged myself in a couple of hours of beach combing. I walked along the sand finding lots of little ctenophores or "sea gooseberries", tiny little jellyfish. I photographed some of them for today I was fully equipped with a Nikon D300 fitted with a 50 mm macro lens and ring flash. By the way,yesterday's bluebottles are none other than the famous "Portuguese man o' War! I have never seen a real one before and I have always imagined them to be far bigger.
I then headed for the rocks where I began to photograph some of the Gastropoda there. There was one that looked much like our topshells, with a black and white striped shell. This I later identified as a Zebra topshell, Austrocochlea porcata. There were lots of these and they showed a kind of discontinuous variation having either wide stripes or very narrow ones. Next I turned my attention to a very common black shell with a flattened spire. At home I would be tempted to say Littorina obtusata, but this one was on the upper shore whereas ours is always found on the lower middle shore. The jury's still out on this one, until I can find an Aussi field guide. I saw some very large chitons and lots of limpets which I will concentrate on another day. A family passed me by as I worked and the father said (or so I thought),"is that a tiger shell", I replied that it might well be as it has a tiger stripe pattern but he cut me short and said, "no sorry, I said is that a Tiger's shirt". Ahhh! "Yes it is", I replied, realising that he was referring to my Cotton Traders Leicester Tigers rugby shirt. He was from England and was also a supporter of The Leicester Tigers. His wife explained that they were from England originally but now lived in Sydney. Like so many other "Sydney-siders", they like to come to Pearl Beach for holidays to get away from the city. She said that a lot of people buy holiday homes here as the prices are still very attractive to those used to Sydney property prices which are among the most expensive in the world at the moment.
Next an 'old-mate" (as Will likes to call Senior Citizens), asked me about what I was photographing. He had an accent which I correctly identified as Canadian. (It's the funny vowel sounds. If in doubt, ask a suspected Canadian to say,"out"; it's a dead giveaway!) He was also ex Sydney but now lived here in Pearl Beach. He was donning a wetsuit as he talked to me and as he descended the ladder into the pool I spotted a large nudibranch on the wall below the water line. He gently lifted it off and handed it to me - a fine "sea-hare" Aplysia punctata about the length of my hand. I could also see some large encrusting organisms at the bottom of the ladder, possibly large barnacles, which I resolved to check out next time we came here. I will have to bring my under-water camera and a mask.
Next I took a long walk along the base of the cliffs which are sandstone and which have a broad platform at their base, worn smooth by the relentless waves. As I rounded the headland, I could see that the beach went on, uninterrupted, and that you could walk to Patonga if you wanted. However, the tide was not in my favour and I actually had no idea what stage of the cycle we were at, so I retraced my steps back to the Pearl Beach cafe stopping for a brief chat with my Leicester family who had camped down on the sand, and then falling in, accidentally, with a very attractive young Mum who was pulling a pushchair backwards through the sand. She refused my offers of a helping hand saying that it was really good exercise and was good for her. She asked me about my camera and what I had been photographing and was I over on holiday (I don't try and disguise my English accent). She said she was on holiday from Sydney. Aren't they all!
Back at the cafe we all met up for coffee which turned into lunch. I had the sea-food plate again. We returned home in the mid afternoon and Ollie had his nap whilst I made him one of the wooden dinosaurs which are available with the Australian Daily Telegraph at the moment. Will came home early and barbecued some sausages for us. The baby? Don't ask! Still ne'er a sign.
I then headed for the rocks where I began to photograph some of the Gastropoda there. There was one that looked much like our topshells, with a black and white striped shell. This I later identified as a Zebra topshell, Austrocochlea porcata. There were lots of these and they showed a kind of discontinuous variation having either wide stripes or very narrow ones. Next I turned my attention to a very common black shell with a flattened spire. At home I would be tempted to say Littorina obtusata, but this one was on the upper shore whereas ours is always found on the lower middle shore. The jury's still out on this one, until I can find an Aussi field guide. I saw some very large chitons and lots of limpets which I will concentrate on another day. A family passed me by as I worked and the father said (or so I thought),"is that a tiger shell", I replied that it might well be as it has a tiger stripe pattern but he cut me short and said, "no sorry, I said is that a Tiger's shirt". Ahhh! "Yes it is", I replied, realising that he was referring to my Cotton Traders Leicester Tigers rugby shirt. He was from England and was also a supporter of The Leicester Tigers. His wife explained that they were from England originally but now lived in Sydney. Like so many other "Sydney-siders", they like to come to Pearl Beach for holidays to get away from the city. She said that a lot of people buy holiday homes here as the prices are still very attractive to those used to Sydney property prices which are among the most expensive in the world at the moment.
Next an 'old-mate" (as Will likes to call Senior Citizens), asked me about what I was photographing. He had an accent which I correctly identified as Canadian. (It's the funny vowel sounds. If in doubt, ask a suspected Canadian to say,"out"; it's a dead giveaway!) He was also ex Sydney but now lived here in Pearl Beach. He was donning a wetsuit as he talked to me and as he descended the ladder into the pool I spotted a large nudibranch on the wall below the water line. He gently lifted it off and handed it to me - a fine "sea-hare" Aplysia punctata about the length of my hand. I could also see some large encrusting organisms at the bottom of the ladder, possibly large barnacles, which I resolved to check out next time we came here. I will have to bring my under-water camera and a mask.
Next I took a long walk along the base of the cliffs which are sandstone and which have a broad platform at their base, worn smooth by the relentless waves. As I rounded the headland, I could see that the beach went on, uninterrupted, and that you could walk to Patonga if you wanted. However, the tide was not in my favour and I actually had no idea what stage of the cycle we were at, so I retraced my steps back to the Pearl Beach cafe stopping for a brief chat with my Leicester family who had camped down on the sand, and then falling in, accidentally, with a very attractive young Mum who was pulling a pushchair backwards through the sand. She refused my offers of a helping hand saying that it was really good exercise and was good for her. She asked me about my camera and what I had been photographing and was I over on holiday (I don't try and disguise my English accent). She said she was on holiday from Sydney. Aren't they all!
Back at the cafe we all met up for coffee which turned into lunch. I had the sea-food plate again. We returned home in the mid afternoon and Ollie had his nap whilst I made him one of the wooden dinosaurs which are available with the Australian Daily Telegraph at the moment. Will came home early and barbecued some sausages for us. The baby? Don't ask! Still ne'er a sign.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Tuesday 18th October - Oh, the waiting!
Ok baby, time to get out of there! Still no sign and we're all getting twitchy. Anyway, life goes on and today is Ollie's swimming lesson day. "Paddle, paddle, paddle, splash, splash, splash", as he says. We drove down to the Leisure Centre and while Ollie swam, Di and I did a spinning class. After this, Di went straight into a "Body Pump" class whilst I did some gym work. Ollie then went to the creche while Tash did a bit of shopping. At about 12.20 I picked up Ollie from creche and took him to the cafe and sat him down with some lunch. He drank a little and ate two mandarins but wasn't really interested in his sandwich. Di and Tash both joined us and we had a coffee while Ollie played in the "soft play area".
The weather is looking much better this week and I recorded the temperatures using a two-sensor thermometer. At 2.00 pm the shade temp. was 23 degrees and in the sun it was 28 degrees. Just about perfect.
We went home where Ollie had his customary nap and we had a light salad lunch. Still no sign of baby! Tash had a midwife appointment and she went off. She returned with nothing to report and went for a nap herself whilst Di and I took Ollie for a walk on the beach. I noticed lots of strange bladder-like objects washed up on the beach. They reminded me of fish swim- bladders. Will later told me that they were the sails of little jellyfish known locally as "Bluebottles". They could sting and local life guards equip themselves with vinegar in the season, to treat swimmers who have been unlucky enough to have a brush with them. After walking along the beach for a while watching the crashing surf and the surfers riding the waves, we crossed to the skate park where we watched sone very proficient skate-boarders and BMX riders who could even turn somersaults. Ollie was enthralled. After we had given Ollie his "ration" of the adjacent playground, we returned home and helped prepare dinner which was prawns with a dip followed by baramundi. I cooked up a fine pesto type sauce for the fish which we ate with brown rice, carrots and green beans. Still no sign of baby. The outside temperature had dropped to 9 degrees by the time we hit the sack just after midnight.
The weather is looking much better this week and I recorded the temperatures using a two-sensor thermometer. At 2.00 pm the shade temp. was 23 degrees and in the sun it was 28 degrees. Just about perfect.
We went home where Ollie had his customary nap and we had a light salad lunch. Still no sign of baby! Tash had a midwife appointment and she went off. She returned with nothing to report and went for a nap herself whilst Di and I took Ollie for a walk on the beach. I noticed lots of strange bladder-like objects washed up on the beach. They reminded me of fish swim- bladders. Will later told me that they were the sails of little jellyfish known locally as "Bluebottles". They could sting and local life guards equip themselves with vinegar in the season, to treat swimmers who have been unlucky enough to have a brush with them. After walking along the beach for a while watching the crashing surf and the surfers riding the waves, we crossed to the skate park where we watched sone very proficient skate-boarders and BMX riders who could even turn somersaults. Ollie was enthralled. After we had given Ollie his "ration" of the adjacent playground, we returned home and helped prepare dinner which was prawns with a dip followed by baramundi. I cooked up a fine pesto type sauce for the fish which we ate with brown rice, carrots and green beans. Still no sign of baby. The outside temperature had dropped to 9 degrees by the time we hit the sack just after midnight.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Monday 17th October - Birding at Wyong
I got up at 6.10 am this morning and Will gave me a lift to Tuggerah station where I had agreed to meet Alan Morris. We arrived there at about 6.45 and I went into Hungry Jacks for a bite of brekkie. A hash brown, egg and bacon roll and cup of coffee cost AUD 4.95 (1GBP = 1.55 AUD). Alan picked me up in his 4x4 Subaru and we drove the short distance to the wetland he wanted to show me.
The Pioneer Dairy Wetland Reserve was once a large dairy farm on the edge of the town of Wyong. The government compulsorily purchased the land to build a power station. This was never built and now the land has been leased back to the community to develop a wetland reserve. Alan, I believe, is involved in the committee managing the development of the reserve.
Today Alan had two pieces of business to attend to. Firstly, a meeting with two local government workers to explain certain access problems. Then he had to speak to a visiting interest group to explain the origins, purpose and future course of the reserve. But before this he showed me some interesting birds and suggested some places for me to try. I was left to my own devices for about two hours. By the end of this visit, I had notched up 15 new birds. 15 "lifers". That's pretty exciting for an enthusiast like me.
First off, we visited a little marsh where we saw several new birds: a brown grass bird was pretty uninspiring as its name suggests, but the soaring black-shouldered kite was beautiful. We also got a good one for Alan here which added to his year list - a spotless crake. (imagine a dull black water rail).
At the reserve, Alan showed me a lovely bird, a black-fronted dotterel. It was a pretty little wader with a buff back, White underside and a black band around its chest and another through it's eye. The eye itself was red as was its beak. I returned to the car and fetched my "big camera" - the Nikon with the 400 mm lens. I returned to where we saw the dotterel and positioned myself next to a handy chest high post on which I rested the camera. The dotterel performed perfectly and I got some good shots. I also got some good shots of the local water fowl: black swans, various ducks and Australasian grebes.
I then took a walk along a small creek where I had two good views of buff-banded rails and stopping near some bushes I was treated to excellent views of my first Australian finch, a red browed. A small flock was resting in a bush and I had lots of time to watch and photograph them. Another confiding little bird that gave me excellent views was a yellow rumped thornbill. A sacred kingfisher sat on the wires above my head for a while and a swamp harrier stirred up the local residents as it quartered the marsh. On the return trip to the station, Alan showed me a darter's nest on the river. The male bird was busy feeding several demanding youngsters, a process which involved the babies sticking their beaks right down his throat. A brief stop at the water front on Tuggerah Lake was next with several great white egrets, White faced heron and some Caspian terns. There was also a large flock of chestnut teal. Our last stop was at a sewage works where we found three hoary headed grebes amongst the ducks and more usual Australasian grebes.
Alan dropped me at the station and I got a train back to WoyWoy where Di and Ollie met me in the car and took me home where I stayed for he rest of the day, looking after Ollie whilst Tash had her hair done and Di did some shopping. Today was THE "due date". No sign of the baby though. Nothing else to add save that I helped Di prepare a delicious cottage pie for dinner.
The Pioneer Dairy Wetland Reserve was once a large dairy farm on the edge of the town of Wyong. The government compulsorily purchased the land to build a power station. This was never built and now the land has been leased back to the community to develop a wetland reserve. Alan, I believe, is involved in the committee managing the development of the reserve.
Today Alan had two pieces of business to attend to. Firstly, a meeting with two local government workers to explain certain access problems. Then he had to speak to a visiting interest group to explain the origins, purpose and future course of the reserve. But before this he showed me some interesting birds and suggested some places for me to try. I was left to my own devices for about two hours. By the end of this visit, I had notched up 15 new birds. 15 "lifers". That's pretty exciting for an enthusiast like me.
First off, we visited a little marsh where we saw several new birds: a brown grass bird was pretty uninspiring as its name suggests, but the soaring black-shouldered kite was beautiful. We also got a good one for Alan here which added to his year list - a spotless crake. (imagine a dull black water rail).
At the reserve, Alan showed me a lovely bird, a black-fronted dotterel. It was a pretty little wader with a buff back, White underside and a black band around its chest and another through it's eye. The eye itself was red as was its beak. I returned to the car and fetched my "big camera" - the Nikon with the 400 mm lens. I returned to where we saw the dotterel and positioned myself next to a handy chest high post on which I rested the camera. The dotterel performed perfectly and I got some good shots. I also got some good shots of the local water fowl: black swans, various ducks and Australasian grebes.
I then took a walk along a small creek where I had two good views of buff-banded rails and stopping near some bushes I was treated to excellent views of my first Australian finch, a red browed. A small flock was resting in a bush and I had lots of time to watch and photograph them. Another confiding little bird that gave me excellent views was a yellow rumped thornbill. A sacred kingfisher sat on the wires above my head for a while and a swamp harrier stirred up the local residents as it quartered the marsh. On the return trip to the station, Alan showed me a darter's nest on the river. The male bird was busy feeding several demanding youngsters, a process which involved the babies sticking their beaks right down his throat. A brief stop at the water front on Tuggerah Lake was next with several great white egrets, White faced heron and some Caspian terns. There was also a large flock of chestnut teal. Our last stop was at a sewage works where we found three hoary headed grebes amongst the ducks and more usual Australasian grebes.
Alan dropped me at the station and I got a train back to WoyWoy where Di and Ollie met me in the car and took me home where I stayed for he rest of the day, looking after Ollie whilst Tash had her hair done and Di did some shopping. Today was THE "due date". No sign of the baby though. Nothing else to add save that I helped Di prepare a delicious cottage pie for dinner.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Sunday 16th October - More gardening and goodbye Australia!
Nothing much to say today. We had breakfast and all went to the house where I continued to strim and to clean up around the pool. Then I turned my attention to the "wild area" at te bottom of the garden. This is dominated by a huge gum tree and two palms as well as several smaller trees and shrubs. In the middle is an aluminium shed and the remains of an aviary. These have to go. At the end of thus section is a rickety fence which also has to go, to be replaced by something more robust and smarter. Today, however, I was concerned with clearing up years of leaf and branch litter and strimming the long patchy grass that abounds here. Suffice it to say that I made a valiant effort and cleared a huge amount but there still remains much to do. My only distraction was a maddeningly invisible Koel, a member of the cuckoo family with an easily imitated call: a sort of diurnal tu whit, like a tawny owl. It was really close but try as I might, I never saw it, not even with several long sessions of staring into the treetops with my binoculars. I've read that they are not the easiest of birds to see. Never mind, I 'll take advice tomorrow from my friend Alan, a notable in New South Wales birding circles who has invited me to spend half a day with him tomorrow at some wetlands near Wyong.
Nothing more to add about today other than our extreme disappointment at Australia's failure to make a mark on a brilliant Kiwi team this evening. So ends their chances for another four years. Goodbye, Wallabies!
Nothing more to add about today other than our extreme disappointment at Australia's failure to make a mark on a brilliant Kiwi team this evening. So ends their chances for another four years. Goodbye, Wallabies!
Saturday 15th October - Strimming and kookaburras.
Today we all went over to the new house to do various jobs. Will fitted the new bathroom whilst Di cleaned the kitchen. Will and I took a trip in his Toyota "Ute" to a local building supplier where we bought some plumbing bits 'n' bobs. On the way back we got a take away coffee. I've taken to "flat whites". I spent he rest of the day in the garden. Luckily, it was a lovely warm day for a change. The weather since we got here has been most disappointing; more like a typical English Summer of late, rather than the hot Aussie ones we had hoped for.
But today was exceptional and I revelled in the warm sun with masses of singing, twittering birds for company. A birdy story: Will has had the house covered with polystyrene panels (or styrofoam as the Aussies call it). Next week, the renderers will come and attach mesh and render the surface so as to produce a robust and insulative layer. Trouble is, the naked polystyrene is not so robust and something has been chewing the upper edges, under the eaves. Will suspected rats and acquired some rodent trapping sheeting which he set in the chewed area of the eaves. It is extremely sticky and any beast touching it will become hopelessly stuck.
Brother in law Trent came round to view the progress of the house with his mate Grant and it was they who noticed a madly flapping bird at th bottom of the garden. I was called to deal with it as I was said to be "good with birds". To my amazement, I found a kookaburra flapping on the ground with the end of one wing firmly stuck to the afore-mentioned rodent trap. It struggled madly as I approached but got itself into a tight corner and then resigned itself to my mercy. I donned thick gardening gloves, not liking the look of that massive beak, and made a quick lunge. Thankfully the bird was totally calm and allowed me to pick it up and to hold the feathers of the wing firmly while Grant pulled the sticky sheet off. This was accomplished with minimum feather loss and I sat the poor little kookaburra on a fence and let go. He sat there for a few seconds, looking at me, and then flapped off upwards into the canopy where he was immediately joined by his mate. I watched him madly preening his ruffled and damaged feathers before they both flew off together. I bet he doesn't roost in our eaves again!
Anyway, I strimmed he lawn area immediately behind the house and Di and I weeded the border just behind the swimming pool railings. All this with appropriate amounts of tea, of course! We are British, after all, and we have brought our own PG Tips!
Tash took Ollie off to a friend's first birthday party in the late afternoon and they rejoined us later at home where we had got to just in time to barbecue some nice steak and to watch that bastard Irishman ruin the world cup by a needless sending off of the Welsh captain, Sam Warburton in the early stages of the match thus paving the way for a thoroughly undeserving French team into the final against either Australia or New Zealand. We all know they haven't got a hope in hell!
But today was exceptional and I revelled in the warm sun with masses of singing, twittering birds for company. A birdy story: Will has had the house covered with polystyrene panels (or styrofoam as the Aussies call it). Next week, the renderers will come and attach mesh and render the surface so as to produce a robust and insulative layer. Trouble is, the naked polystyrene is not so robust and something has been chewing the upper edges, under the eaves. Will suspected rats and acquired some rodent trapping sheeting which he set in the chewed area of the eaves. It is extremely sticky and any beast touching it will become hopelessly stuck.
Brother in law Trent came round to view the progress of the house with his mate Grant and it was they who noticed a madly flapping bird at th bottom of the garden. I was called to deal with it as I was said to be "good with birds". To my amazement, I found a kookaburra flapping on the ground with the end of one wing firmly stuck to the afore-mentioned rodent trap. It struggled madly as I approached but got itself into a tight corner and then resigned itself to my mercy. I donned thick gardening gloves, not liking the look of that massive beak, and made a quick lunge. Thankfully the bird was totally calm and allowed me to pick it up and to hold the feathers of the wing firmly while Grant pulled the sticky sheet off. This was accomplished with minimum feather loss and I sat the poor little kookaburra on a fence and let go. He sat there for a few seconds, looking at me, and then flapped off upwards into the canopy where he was immediately joined by his mate. I watched him madly preening his ruffled and damaged feathers before they both flew off together. I bet he doesn't roost in our eaves again!
Anyway, I strimmed he lawn area immediately behind the house and Di and I weeded the border just behind the swimming pool railings. All this with appropriate amounts of tea, of course! We are British, after all, and we have brought our own PG Tips!
Tash took Ollie off to a friend's first birthday party in the late afternoon and they rejoined us later at home where we had got to just in time to barbecue some nice steak and to watch that bastard Irishman ruin the world cup by a needless sending off of the Welsh captain, Sam Warburton in the early stages of the match thus paving the way for a thoroughly undeserving French team into the final against either Australia or New Zealand. We all know they haven't got a hope in hell!
Friday 14th October - Gym with Auntie Jo and the boys
After breakfast we headed off to the Leisure Centre. Di did Zumba, I did weight training in the gym and Ollie went in the creche with his cousins. Tash had a swim with her sister in law, Joanna. "Auntie Jo" and her partner Trent (who was one of Will's best mates at school), have three little boys. Obi and Lou are twins at five this month and Anton will be four at much the same time. In fact, they're all due to have a joint party on my birthday, October 30th. Tash and Will have to go with Ollie, so I'm obliged to go as well. Should be fun!
After we had all finished our respective activities, we met for a coffee and chat. I gave Jo a CD with all the photos I took on our last visit, of her family. We collected the boys from the creche and headed home. There we had lunch before Di and Tash went shopping and I stayed at home and entertained Ollie. It was a good time if you don't count the failed potty exercise! I guess he has to be allowed a few mistakes before he realises that the pee should be done squatting on the potty, not standing over it so the pee runs down your legs into your socks and onto the floor!
Nothing much else to report today save dinner and TV.
After we had all finished our respective activities, we met for a coffee and chat. I gave Jo a CD with all the photos I took on our last visit, of her family. We collected the boys from the creche and headed home. There we had lunch before Di and Tash went shopping and I stayed at home and entertained Ollie. It was a good time if you don't count the failed potty exercise! I guess he has to be allowed a few mistakes before he realises that the pee should be done squatting on the potty, not standing over it so the pee runs down your legs into your socks and onto the floor!
Nothing much else to report today save dinner and TV.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Thursday 13th October - Celebrating 38 years
On October 13th 1973, a young teacher, just about six weeks into his career, married his lovely partner of six years and so began the Nicholson dynasty. So here we are, 38 years later and to mark the event we decided to have a special lunch together.
The day started with Tash dropping me at the House with a strimmer. As I was strumming the front of the house out by the road, the neighbour over the road introduced himself and we chatted together for a while. As we did a pair of large raucous birds flew into a nearby tree. "Channel-billed cuckoo", he said. There's no way he'd know that without specialised knowledge and I asked him how he knew. He replied that he liked to photograph birds and then invited me in to see his albums of bird photos. Half an hour later I emerged to continue my strimming with a new found friend.
I finished the front of the house, inside the fence as well as outside before Di arrived to whisk me off to lunch. Di had spent the morning cleaning the bathroom. I did a quick change and we drove down to Pearl Beach and had a lovely seafood lunch. I had battered flathead, giant prawns, chili-lemon squid rings,smoked salmon with chips and salad. Di opted for Hoisin duck on a bed of crispy noodles and salad. After lunch we drove home and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. I built a wooden model truck for Ollie which he subsequently dismantled with extreme prejudice!
Around six thirty we walked down to the high street and went to the local Turkish cafe where we had a light supper of typical Turkish fare - kebabs, dips, sis kofte etc with a lump of naughty paklava to follow. It was a BYO joint and we took a bottle of Australian sparkling wine to celebrate our thirty eighth anniversary together.
So, all in all, a heavy day for the waistline and looks like a heavy gym session is the order of the day tomorrow!
The day started with Tash dropping me at the House with a strimmer. As I was strumming the front of the house out by the road, the neighbour over the road introduced himself and we chatted together for a while. As we did a pair of large raucous birds flew into a nearby tree. "Channel-billed cuckoo", he said. There's no way he'd know that without specialised knowledge and I asked him how he knew. He replied that he liked to photograph birds and then invited me in to see his albums of bird photos. Half an hour later I emerged to continue my strimming with a new found friend.
I finished the front of the house, inside the fence as well as outside before Di arrived to whisk me off to lunch. Di had spent the morning cleaning the bathroom. I did a quick change and we drove down to Pearl Beach and had a lovely seafood lunch. I had battered flathead, giant prawns, chili-lemon squid rings,smoked salmon with chips and salad. Di opted for Hoisin duck on a bed of crispy noodles and salad. After lunch we drove home and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. I built a wooden model truck for Ollie which he subsequently dismantled with extreme prejudice!
Around six thirty we walked down to the high street and went to the local Turkish cafe where we had a light supper of typical Turkish fare - kebabs, dips, sis kofte etc with a lump of naughty paklava to follow. It was a BYO joint and we took a bottle of Australian sparkling wine to celebrate our thirty eighth anniversary together.
So, all in all, a heavy day for the waistline and looks like a heavy gym session is the order of the day tomorrow!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Wednesday 12th October - Playgroup, Gym and Deepwater Plaza
After breakfast today we drove to Pearl Beach which is one of my favourite places on the Central Coast. It's just east of Umina, round a headland and at the mouth of the Hawksbury River(setting of that great Aussie film, "The Oyster Farmers"). It is a classic little bay with golden sands and a tree lined shore. There are two eateries here: a restaurant called, "Pearls on the Beach" (yet to be tried) and a cafe which does excellent lunches (tried heaps last time we were here). Ollie attends a play-group here every week. Di and I dropped Tash and Ollie off and then headed back the way we'd come and back again to Woy Woy and the Peninsula Leisure Centre. Here we just missed a yoga class as we arrived a little late owing to leaving too short a time and then getting caught in major road resurfacing works on the road down to Pearl beach - in both directions! No matter, as we went into the gym and did an hour on the machines. I even managed the rower as I have brought with me from England a special prosthetic leg which I use specifically for rowing. To row, you need to bend your knees until your feet virtually touch your bum. Not possible with a normal walking prosthesis which grips on the condyles of your knees. For the same reason I can't squat and when I do any gardening, I am forced to sit on the ground when attempting any low level work. Anyway, I haven't rowed for yonks and was happy with a 2000m time of 10min 19s. I did some cycling and bench press type machine work as well as my usual arm workout before we headed back to Pearl.
They were waiting for us and we headed home without a stop for coffee. Must improve on time keeping next week! Saw Tash's two friends Naomi the gardener and Irish Amanda with her two little boys Seamus and Santanta, before we left.
After lunch and Ollie-snooze, I helped Will move a huge shower screen round to the new house where he is busy installing the bathroom now that the tiler has all but finished his work. Whilst he toiled on, The rest of us went shopping at Deepwater Plaza, a mall in Wpy Woy. I bought a cheap pair of shoes and a teeshirt for gardening and Ollie had a haircut. The mall is pretty nice with a large Coles store and lots of smaller shops. I sat and drunk a coffee whilst Di browsed in a clothes shop and Tash took Ollie for a haircut, all in sight of each other. I also bought some credit for our Aussie phone. Di and I checked in to the medical centre there but we were told that nothing was necessary until we got ill and then we could claim back any medical expenses we would incur. Not that we intend to get sick but you never know!
Then it was back to the new house to see how Will was getting on and I went to do some quantity surveying of fencing materials. You will remember that a snake-proof and suicidal toddler proof fence is mandatory and that I have agreed to provide it.
We dined late tonight and talked about plans for tomorrow when we will dine out in celebration of us olds' 38th wedding anniversary.
They were waiting for us and we headed home without a stop for coffee. Must improve on time keeping next week! Saw Tash's two friends Naomi the gardener and Irish Amanda with her two little boys Seamus and Santanta, before we left.
After lunch and Ollie-snooze, I helped Will move a huge shower screen round to the new house where he is busy installing the bathroom now that the tiler has all but finished his work. Whilst he toiled on, The rest of us went shopping at Deepwater Plaza, a mall in Wpy Woy. I bought a cheap pair of shoes and a teeshirt for gardening and Ollie had a haircut. The mall is pretty nice with a large Coles store and lots of smaller shops. I sat and drunk a coffee whilst Di browsed in a clothes shop and Tash took Ollie for a haircut, all in sight of each other. I also bought some credit for our Aussie phone. Di and I checked in to the medical centre there but we were told that nothing was necessary until we got ill and then we could claim back any medical expenses we would incur. Not that we intend to get sick but you never know!
Then it was back to the new house to see how Will was getting on and I went to do some quantity surveying of fencing materials. You will remember that a snake-proof and suicidal toddler proof fence is mandatory and that I have agreed to provide it.
We dined late tonight and talked about plans for tomorrow when we will dine out in celebration of us olds' 38th wedding anniversary.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Tuesday 11th October. - Spinning, creche and a stroll on the seafront.
Quite a busy day after yesterday's indolence. After breakfast we all drove to the leisure centre for various purposes. Ollie had a swimming lesson whilst Di and I booked in for our very first spinning session in Australia. We do a lot of spinning at home so knew roughly what to expect. I thought it best to advise the teacher of my condition so I spoke to her in the office before we started. She was fine and we agreed that I could be at the back out of line of sight of rest of the class. This is a self imposed restriction as I'm aware that my slowness can be off-putting to some people. (My prosthesis makes it impossible for me to pedal fast in the standing position which, in turn, rules out exercises like "jumping", at least at the same speed as the rest of the class). 45 minutes later I was feeling very pleased with myself as I had managed most of her exercises without difficulty. There was no jumping. I had been unable to sprint in the standing position as expected, but was able to compensate by increasing the resistance in order to work slower but harder.
During the spin class, Ollie had finished his swimming and Tash had taken him to the creche. After spin, Di did a body blitz class and I went into the gym for a while to do some upper body work to complement the leg work done in the spin. I then joined Tash for a coffee whilst we waited for Di to finish. I also got Ollie from the creche. I spoke to the supervisor, Sharon, about Ollie. When we were last here, he hated the creche and caused all sorts of problems because he refused to stay there without one of us being present. He cried non stop as soon as we left. The supervisors had to cuddle him and entertain him or he would just sob. Since then though, he has developed and now plays nicely on his own. He was happy to see me though and left with a cheery goodbye to Sharon.
After coffee Di joined us and we let Ollie play for a while in the climbing area adjacent to the cafe before heading home for lunch. Ollie was tired and demanded his "moolk and bed". We think he got his strange pronunciation from his cousin Frida who is being brought up bilingually by her Swedish mother Mia. (Mia is Will's sister in law). I think the Swedish for milk sounds something like "m-yerlk". I started reading a new book, Bill Bryson's, "Home" which I had previously loaded onto the iPad.
In the late afternoon, with a warm sun low in the west,(I had wondered whether sunset would be different in the southern hemisphere, but it seems not), we wandered down Ocean Beach Road to the sea front. It's about 300 metres and takes me about 7 minutes. We called in at the surf club cafe and bought an "am beam" each before deciding it was a wee bit windy for the beach and headed along to the big play area where we could sit and watch Ollie playing on the equipment. It's a very well appointed place about which I will tell you more in a later posting. Until then, suffice it to say we had a great hour or so there before heading back for a pre-prepared vegetarian curry of Natasha's design and construction.
Lastly, I am usually the proud Grandad but today I returned to being a proud Dad - we were sitting on a bench watching Ollie play when a passing young Mum said to Tash, "My Mum and I were just thinking that you look absolutely fabulous". We were bemused but grateful. With a week to go, Tash is huge but she does, as is often the case, look serene. I concur, but I would, wouldn't I?
During the spin class, Ollie had finished his swimming and Tash had taken him to the creche. After spin, Di did a body blitz class and I went into the gym for a while to do some upper body work to complement the leg work done in the spin. I then joined Tash for a coffee whilst we waited for Di to finish. I also got Ollie from the creche. I spoke to the supervisor, Sharon, about Ollie. When we were last here, he hated the creche and caused all sorts of problems because he refused to stay there without one of us being present. He cried non stop as soon as we left. The supervisors had to cuddle him and entertain him or he would just sob. Since then though, he has developed and now plays nicely on his own. He was happy to see me though and left with a cheery goodbye to Sharon.
After coffee Di joined us and we let Ollie play for a while in the climbing area adjacent to the cafe before heading home for lunch. Ollie was tired and demanded his "moolk and bed". We think he got his strange pronunciation from his cousin Frida who is being brought up bilingually by her Swedish mother Mia. (Mia is Will's sister in law). I think the Swedish for milk sounds something like "m-yerlk". I started reading a new book, Bill Bryson's, "Home" which I had previously loaded onto the iPad.
In the late afternoon, with a warm sun low in the west,(I had wondered whether sunset would be different in the southern hemisphere, but it seems not), we wandered down Ocean Beach Road to the sea front. It's about 300 metres and takes me about 7 minutes. We called in at the surf club cafe and bought an "am beam" each before deciding it was a wee bit windy for the beach and headed along to the big play area where we could sit and watch Ollie playing on the equipment. It's a very well appointed place about which I will tell you more in a later posting. Until then, suffice it to say we had a great hour or so there before heading back for a pre-prepared vegetarian curry of Natasha's design and construction.
Lastly, I am usually the proud Grandad but today I returned to being a proud Dad - we were sitting on a bench watching Ollie play when a passing young Mum said to Tash, "My Mum and I were just thinking that you look absolutely fabulous". We were bemused but grateful. With a week to go, Tash is huge but she does, as is often the case, look serene. I concur, but I would, wouldn't I?
Monday, 10 October 2011
Monday 10th October - Ikea heaven!
A supremely lazy day, caused in part, by a mounting sleep debt. We seem to wake up at silly hours and then can't go back to sleep. Take the night before last, for instance. Both Di and I were wide awake by 3.30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. So we read until dawn and then paid the price last night when we were exhausted by early evening. Anyway, the upshot of all this is that we didn't rise until late, Di not until gone 10.00 am. I read non stop most of today as I'd got to a pretty exciting part of my book: a historical novel by Conn Iggulden which tells the tale of the Mongol invasion of Europe. What amazing times and another example of how history education is woefully inadequate. Do you realise how close we came to being Chinese? In the mid thirteenth century Mongul armies swept through Europe destroying anyone who dared oppose them. There was nothing that could stop them. The great European war machine, honed by centuries of inter state fighting and holy wars, was as nothing to the Mongols. They annihilated tens of thousands of Europe's finest with no bother at all. They had just killed 40,000 Hungarian troops and were poised to take Austria and Italy when their National leader Ogedai, son of Genghis Khan, died of a heart attack leaving a power struggle that necessitated the Mongol armies leaving Europe and returning to their homeland. Had it not been for this man's timely death, the Europe we know today would not exist. Wow, food for thought!
Anyway, after lunch I was given the task of assembling some new furniture for the new baby, a shelf unit, a chest of drawers and a baby changing trolley. Spent a merry couple of hours following Ikea instructions, armed only with an Allen key, a screwdriver and a hammer. Things have progressed since the bad old days. An old GP friend of mine once told me that he was called to a patients' house by a concerned wife whose husband needed medical attention. Upon arrival he found said fellow in terrible distress with bloodied forehead which he'd self-inflicted having become insanely frustrated by incomprehensible flat-pack instructions. He'd actually beaten his own head against the proverbial brick wall, so anguished was he by his lack of DIY competence! Not so for Uminajay! I sailed through with ne'er a pause.
In the early evening we went round to the new house to put out the bins. The bin men are very particular hereabouts and you must put them on the kerbside, facing outwards, exactly one metre apart so that the machinery can pick them up easily.
I hadn't been here so late before and the bird life was different. There were loads of cockies in the vicinity. (sulphur crested cockatoos are huge white, raucous birds with erectile crests of brilliant yellow that they always raise and lower as they land). There were also four kookaburras sitting in the big gum tree in the back garden. A large flock of rainbow lorikeets were working the bottle brush tree in the front.
We arrived home synchronously with Will from work, and quickly cooked up a treat - a Jamaican style jerked chicken with rice, corn and peas. A great end to a lazy day.
Anyway, after lunch I was given the task of assembling some new furniture for the new baby, a shelf unit, a chest of drawers and a baby changing trolley. Spent a merry couple of hours following Ikea instructions, armed only with an Allen key, a screwdriver and a hammer. Things have progressed since the bad old days. An old GP friend of mine once told me that he was called to a patients' house by a concerned wife whose husband needed medical attention. Upon arrival he found said fellow in terrible distress with bloodied forehead which he'd self-inflicted having become insanely frustrated by incomprehensible flat-pack instructions. He'd actually beaten his own head against the proverbial brick wall, so anguished was he by his lack of DIY competence! Not so for Uminajay! I sailed through with ne'er a pause.
In the early evening we went round to the new house to put out the bins. The bin men are very particular hereabouts and you must put them on the kerbside, facing outwards, exactly one metre apart so that the machinery can pick them up easily.
I hadn't been here so late before and the bird life was different. There were loads of cockies in the vicinity. (sulphur crested cockatoos are huge white, raucous birds with erectile crests of brilliant yellow that they always raise and lower as they land). There were also four kookaburras sitting in the big gum tree in the back garden. A large flock of rainbow lorikeets were working the bottle brush tree in the front.
We arrived home synchronously with Will from work, and quickly cooked up a treat - a Jamaican style jerked chicken with rice, corn and peas. A great end to a lazy day.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Sunday 9th October - More painting
Nothing much to add today. Went over to the new house and put another coat of white emulsion on the walls. We had lunch there and spent the afternoon in the garden working out what we are going to do as well as starting to clean up the swimming pool. It has one of those creeping "spiders" that automatically move around the bottom sucking up any debris. We left it on when we went home.
A rickety fence at the bottom of the garden needs to be renovated and I have volunteered for the job. My brief is to provide a snake-proof barrier to the garden but with access to the wild area beyond. The swimming pool has a fence on the house side but nothing on the other side. To conform to Austalian regulations, we have to have a fence on the other side too so as to prevent access by random toddlers who have battled through the swamp and lagoon in order to illegally use our pool to drown themselves unsupervised by adults! Anyway, I'm happy to do something useful and it will keep me in contact with the wildlife like Mr and Mrs Swamphen who were there again today. I shall also clear the wild area beyond to give us easy access to the water's edge and also to make it less snake friendly.
Today's birdlife: nothing much to add from yesterday save for a kookaburra that spent the afternoon in the vicinity.
A rickety fence at the bottom of the garden needs to be renovated and I have volunteered for the job. My brief is to provide a snake-proof barrier to the garden but with access to the wild area beyond. The swimming pool has a fence on the house side but nothing on the other side. To conform to Austalian regulations, we have to have a fence on the other side too so as to prevent access by random toddlers who have battled through the swamp and lagoon in order to illegally use our pool to drown themselves unsupervised by adults! Anyway, I'm happy to do something useful and it will keep me in contact with the wildlife like Mr and Mrs Swamphen who were there again today. I shall also clear the wild area beyond to give us easy access to the water's edge and also to make it less snake friendly.
Today's birdlife: nothing much to add from yesterday save for a kookaburra that spent the afternoon in the vicinity.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Saturday 8th October- Painting The New House
It rained last night. Thunder, lightning, the works. Happily, however, by the time we emerged this morning for our first weekend in Australia, it had slowed to a fine mist and occasional drop. Save for the occasional break in the clouds and resultant warmth of the sun, it remained like that just about all day. Not that it mattered a jot to us because today we were committed to some serious painting. We drove to the new house which is about five minutes from where we are here in Ocean Beach Road, and set about applying second and third coats of white emulsion to the downstairs Walls of my daughter's new home. With a break for lunch we worked solidly until we headed off home in time to watch Wales clinically take Ireland apart. We then watched with sadness as England failed miserably, almost from the first whistle, to make any impact at all on a much more determined French side. I even wore my England shirt for that viewing. to no avail, alas!
Whilst at the house, I had a few minutes to stroll down the garden and peer over the back fence to the wetland that lies beyond. It is truly wild; a tangle of gum trees, bananas, Streletzias, vines, ferns, and all manner of other strange Aussie plants. There is standing water about twenty metres from the fence. Not a place you really want to go knowing that Australia is reknowned for its excess of nasty venomous creatures that could snuff out the life of any unwary Pom who dared to venture therein! The neighbours either side have lost small dogs to snakes over the last ten years so there is a real need for caution. Dogs will be dogs and are confrontational with snakes which is why they die! Common sense dictates that us more intelligent humans should not confront the occasional reptile that may pay your garden a visit, but rather just leave them be to go about their slithery business. The neighbours say that the best course of action is to keep that part of the garden neat and tidy and uncluttered so that snakes would not find it worth their while to hunt there. This will be my job sometime before I leave in December. But today I just stood and marvelled at the rich birdsong I could hear and, as is so often the case when one stands stock still for a few minutes, to realise that there's quite a lot going on. A raucous screech announced the presence of some sort of parrot about to appear and a moment later, a brilliant red and green rocket shot through the clearing and disappeared behind me. It was a gorgeous king parrot. Then I became aware of something moving at he water's edge. A large moorhen-like bird strutted around coming ever closer. It was a purple swamp hen or gallinule as we call them in Europe. It has a purple underside with brown and dark blue upper sides. Its beak is bright red and huge- very thick, starting at the top of its skull. Another one appeared and they pecked around coming quite close to me. At one point some high pitched warning calls were the pretext to a short but furious scrap with a much larger brush turkey who suddenly appeared from nowhere. The turkey exited stage left and was gone just as quickly as it had appeared leaving the swamp hens in command of their little clearing.
In the trees above there were lots of birds but nothing to get excited about; mainly noisy miners, lorikeets, cockatoos, little wattlebirds, magpie larks and at least one grey shrike-thrush. More interesting to me were the whip birds I could hear but not see and the many unidentified sounds which I have yet to learn.
Whilst at the house, I had a few minutes to stroll down the garden and peer over the back fence to the wetland that lies beyond. It is truly wild; a tangle of gum trees, bananas, Streletzias, vines, ferns, and all manner of other strange Aussie plants. There is standing water about twenty metres from the fence. Not a place you really want to go knowing that Australia is reknowned for its excess of nasty venomous creatures that could snuff out the life of any unwary Pom who dared to venture therein! The neighbours either side have lost small dogs to snakes over the last ten years so there is a real need for caution. Dogs will be dogs and are confrontational with snakes which is why they die! Common sense dictates that us more intelligent humans should not confront the occasional reptile that may pay your garden a visit, but rather just leave them be to go about their slithery business. The neighbours say that the best course of action is to keep that part of the garden neat and tidy and uncluttered so that snakes would not find it worth their while to hunt there. This will be my job sometime before I leave in December. But today I just stood and marvelled at the rich birdsong I could hear and, as is so often the case when one stands stock still for a few minutes, to realise that there's quite a lot going on. A raucous screech announced the presence of some sort of parrot about to appear and a moment later, a brilliant red and green rocket shot through the clearing and disappeared behind me. It was a gorgeous king parrot. Then I became aware of something moving at he water's edge. A large moorhen-like bird strutted around coming ever closer. It was a purple swamp hen or gallinule as we call them in Europe. It has a purple underside with brown and dark blue upper sides. Its beak is bright red and huge- very thick, starting at the top of its skull. Another one appeared and they pecked around coming quite close to me. At one point some high pitched warning calls were the pretext to a short but furious scrap with a much larger brush turkey who suddenly appeared from nowhere. The turkey exited stage left and was gone just as quickly as it had appeared leaving the swamp hens in command of their little clearing.
In the trees above there were lots of birds but nothing to get excited about; mainly noisy miners, lorikeets, cockatoos, little wattlebirds, magpie larks and at least one grey shrike-thrush. More interesting to me were the whip birds I could hear but not see and the many unidentified sounds which I have yet to learn.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Friday 7th October - The Peninsula Leisure Centre
Friday is Ollie's swimming day. He goes to the local leisure centre and does a swimming class. So after brekkie we drove to "The Peninsula Leisure Centre" on the edge of the nearby town of Woy Woy. It's typical of Australian public sports facilities- bloody marvellous! It has a pool area with kiddies' pool and diving area as well as a 50 metre competition pool. There's a gym for sporTs like basketball, a workout area with lots of exercise machines, A studio for group activities like Spin, Zumba, Body Pump etc, a cafe area with a kid's climbing frame area attached and lastly a creche where fitness conscious Mums and Dads can leave their little ones for up to an hour and a half whilst they work-out.
Whilst Ollie and Tash did the swimming lesson, Di and I signed up for a two month special deal of AUD 132. We then had about 40 minutes workout in the gym. I cycled, used various weight machines and a strange arm cycle. Di used the treadmill, bike and rower. Ollie did well in his swimming and got his first sports award certificate. We had a coffee in the cafe before returning home for a relaxing afternoon in the garden. We did some weeding and reading whilst Ollie, obviously exhausted by his efforts, had a long sleep. I cooked a spag Bol for dinner but Tash had an evening out with the girls, to celebrate her imminent event!
Whilst Ollie and Tash did the swimming lesson, Di and I signed up for a two month special deal of AUD 132. We then had about 40 minutes workout in the gym. I cycled, used various weight machines and a strange arm cycle. Di used the treadmill, bike and rower. Ollie did well in his swimming and got his first sports award certificate. We had a coffee in the cafe before returning home for a relaxing afternoon in the garden. We did some weeding and reading whilst Ollie, obviously exhausted by his efforts, had a long sleep. I cooked a spag Bol for dinner but Tash had an evening out with the girls, to celebrate her imminent event!
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Thursday 6th October - Kincumber
Our second day in Australia and it's still cold! Actually, my Lidl's interior/exterior thermometer showed that for most of the day it was about 18 degrees Celsius. But it still feels cold. This morning we went shopping in the nearby town of Kincumber (near Avoca) because the reptile man was appearing there and little Ollie loves crocodiles, snakes etc. So we all piled into the Subaru and made the twenty minute drive along the coast. The reptile man was appearing in the Kincumber "Coles" store. For non- Aussies, Coles is a large supermarket found in most Aussie high streets. Like Tesco I guess. So there was the guy, looking a bit like Crocodile Dundee, or maybe Lemmy, showing a crowd of kids and parents a sandy coloured lizard. Ollie gave it a stroke before meeting a black-headed python and finally a three foot salt-water crocodile which, by the way, he had met before, at playgroup. We got some coffees whilst the reptile stroking was going on, but soon we left the shopping centre and headed home stopping briefly to pick up some lunch. We spent an afternoon at home having said lunch, playing with Ollie and his train set and sweeping and strimming the back yard. We had to make a short walk to a local hardware shop to get some strimming cord and then popped into Coles to buy a few items. Ollie was in his pushchair. It keeps him in one place as he is a run-away sort of child. Give him the chance and he's off down the street like a mini Usain Bolt. He dented the confidence of a pretty check out girl who gave him a smile and said hello, at which he broke into tears! She said that was a first and that they usually like her. I did but Ollie certainly didn't. I didn't bother to explain that that was a very unusual reaction; I'd never seen him do that before. On the way back, would you believe, it started to rain! It was very fine but still rain and still 18 degrees! This is not what was expected. Cursed La Nina! We left England in the grip of a totally unseasonal heat-wave.
Any birds today? Well only the friendly locals. A noisy miner poked around at my feet at one stage and then a local magpie flew in and I wondered if he'd like some food scraps so I retrieved a lump of fat from the edge of last night's steak. I offered it to him and, blow me down he walked over to me, jumped up on the trampoline and took it right out of my fingers! My sort of bird - I think we two will bond over the coming weeks! Chicken tomorrow old son!
Any birds today? Well only the friendly locals. A noisy miner poked around at my feet at one stage and then a local magpie flew in and I wondered if he'd like some food scraps so I retrieved a lump of fat from the edge of last night's steak. I offered it to him and, blow me down he walked over to me, jumped up on the trampoline and took it right out of my fingers! My sort of bird - I think we two will bond over the coming weeks! Chicken tomorrow old son!
Arrival -Wednesday 5th October
At around 8am local time we wheeled our suitcase-laden trollies out of the lobby of Kingsford-Smith airport in Sydney. So ended a 32 hour journey from North Devon via Heathrow and Bangkok with about 19 hours flying time. Thanks to British Airways for a safe, comfortable and punctual journey. Tash and little Ollie had been at the arrivals lounge to meet us. Two and a half year old Ollie was delightful and full of chatter. Tash was huge with child. Due date is on 17th. It was not warm. Probably about 10 degrees C. It took us about two and a half to three hours to drive from the airport, up the Newcastle motorway to Tash's home on the Central Coast in the little town of Umina. After unpacking our 110 kg of luggage we had a brief rest before heading round to "The new house" to meet Will. More about the new house in a later posting. After a sandwich lunch together, we bade him our farewell and drove down to the only decent pub for miles - in the pretty little town of Patonga at the mouth of the Hawksbury River, with it's Norfolk pines seemingly always topped with a whistling kite. We ordered me a Carlsberg export and three teas with an orange juice for Ollie and went to the terrace for a relaxing afternoon with only the resident brush turkeys for company. These large black birds with the permanently fanned tails and bare red and yellow skin on their heads, wander round the tables hoovering up any crumbs that fall from the tables. They are remarkably tolerant of human proximity. Above our heads, the sweet whistles of the kites could still be heard. I say sweet because it is just that- a very sweet whistle, not at all as you'd expect from a big, butch raptor. I got one in my bins and marvelled at how well camouflaged they were. Drop the bins and the kite disappeared. Amazing! No other notable avian sitings to report. The usual Patonga list - pelicans and crested terns offshore, silver gulls on the beach, a kookaburra calling in the trees behind the restaurant and the usual mynas, noisy miners, wattlebirds, crested pigeons, and sulphur crested cockatoos around the streets and gardens.
Ollie ran off and had to be restrained and bribed with "am beam" (his own peculiar words for ice cream). He can now pronounce it properly but chooses to stick to his baby name. Kitty, a friendly waitress gave Ollie the am beam free of charge. Similarly, I was given a cup of tea free. I like this place! I'm sure we ordered three teas but only two arrived and my beer was long gone so I gently reminded the waiter that we were one short. When it duly did arrive he said sorry for the mistake and there was no charge.
We returned to Umina for dinner which Will and Tash cooked and after watching an episode of Glee, we turned in at 11 pm, Di and I having managed to stay awake most of the day, an important jet-lag beating strategy we're told! Nighty night.
Ollie ran off and had to be restrained and bribed with "am beam" (his own peculiar words for ice cream). He can now pronounce it properly but chooses to stick to his baby name. Kitty, a friendly waitress gave Ollie the am beam free of charge. Similarly, I was given a cup of tea free. I like this place! I'm sure we ordered three teas but only two arrived and my beer was long gone so I gently reminded the waiter that we were one short. When it duly did arrive he said sorry for the mistake and there was no charge.
We returned to Umina for dinner which Will and Tash cooked and after watching an episode of Glee, we turned in at 11 pm, Di and I having managed to stay awake most of the day, an important jet-lag beating strategy we're told! Nighty night.
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