Narrawallee Easter

This is the third Easter break we've spent with the young ones at beautiful Narrawallee Beach - and the fifth stay we've enjoyed here altogether since 2021. This Easter we had perfect weather and all the conditions in place for a perfectly wonderful time together - lucky us!!!

We start Easter early each year - the girls are allowed an early mark from school on Thursday and Rob and I take them to the coast ahead of all the Easter traffic. We always enjoy a slap up lunch in nearby Milton and the girls enjoy a bit of a shop afterwards in some of Milton's carefully curated emporiums. Josh and Jody join us much later, driving down from Canberra after the work day ends.

 

Ella and Abi always score new PJ's from us every Easter too - its a long held tradition!

... and Joshy is always in charge of meal planning (and cooking) each night. The girls thought that being Easter they should say Grace before hoeing into this particular feast. This is a picture of them acting pious!

Every day we walked to nearby North Mollymook Beach - in perfect beach/surfing conditions .......

A highlight of this weekend was Elly and Abi conducting our parents & grandparents Easter egg hunt. Their cryptic clues (complete with adorable illustrations) were very funny (and pertinent). It raised lots of laughs... 

The girls still love a fishing expedition too. (Off Ulladulla Harbour is the best spot!)

And there were plenty of little fish biting (all released back to the water of course) .....

.... and then more beach time ..........

Rob looking out towards the Ulladulla Lighthouse from the North Mollymook Beach headland .....

Josh and Abi doing some strenuous rock hopping around the headland ....

Even now she's twelve, and so grown up, Abi still loves to explore nature and identify shells and rocks. It was a hard Easter for Abi in lots of ways because she had her new braces fitted the day before we left, causing her a fair bit of pain and discomfort for a few days - so hard at a time of the year when Easter eggs, seafood and all sorts of other foodie delights are on the menu. We thought she was very brave and quite stoic through all of that.

Its hard to get this crew to pose (for me) for a cheesy family shot!

Abi was pretty happy to find sorbet on the menu at the Mollymook Golf Club for the final meal of our stay - so soothing when you have new braces!!

We headed back to Canberra today after another wonderful Easter break at beautiful Narrawallee. We had a coffee and a last minute look around Ulladulla on the way home, and came across this amazing sight at the Fishermens' Co-op down on the wharf - a big catch of Albacore tuna. 

Rob and I are so lucky to share these happy times with J & J and A & E. With the girls growing up so fast these times are doubly precious!

Canberra Balloon Spectacular @ Enlighten Festival

March is a busy month for us here in Canberra (our city's birthday month!). The 10 day Enlighten Festival started on the 1st day of March this year - coinciding with the opening of a wonderful Vincent Namatjira exhibition at the National Gallery - and a chance for us to see (after hours) the superlative Emily Kane Kngwarreye exhibition being staged there at the same time.

 

Its a treat for us to see Enlighten and visit the gallery any hour of the day (or night during Enlighten) - only a short walk from home.

As part of the festivities the Canberra Balloon Spectacular lifts off as Enlighten is coming to an end. We set out this morning around 6.30 and fluked some superb views of the balloons launching over the lake as the sun rose in the eastern sky......

And have I mentioned the Alliance Française French Film Festival opened on the 7th March in Canberra too?? (We signed up for 6 films this year - starting this week!) Oh and Skyfire (fireworks display on the lake) is back - tonight - after a 5 year break!

It's a beautiful city we live in!!  

Walking Sydney

We stayed on in Coogee Tuesday and Wednesday after the young ones had left. We enjoyed Ollie's company on Tuesday night - on his way to a day of work at Sydney HQ and music festival the night after - and spent the rest of our time exploring more of Sydney.

Tuesday we set out walking to Centennial Park - admiring the big street trees, the various ocean glimpses and the always fascinating range of buildings along the way. This beauty was on Glebe Street in Randwick..... 

 

We came across Hooper's Cottage on Gilderthorpe Avenue, Randwick's oldest residence (built 1848) and listed on the state's heritage register since 1999.

We found the cute little Cat & Cow Cafe on Clovelly Road was a great spot to break up our walk on this hot, sunny Sydney day.

Wednesday we set out for Balmain In Sydney's (inner) inner West - an old stamping ground for us, but a part of Sydney we haven't visited in quite a few years. It was a pretty easy trip there on the L2 and then the 442 bus from the QVB stop on York St.

We walked the length of Darling Street from Balmain Town Hall to the ferry stop in East Balmain, trying to identify places we used to shop, eat and explore all those years ago.

We found a great lunch spot at Ciao Thyme on Darling Street - very innovative and rustic in character and everything we ordered was packed with flavour.

Our view from the cafe .......

We caught a ferry back to Circular Quay, via McMahon's Point and Milson's Point Wharf - one of Sydney's most spectacular short ferry trips!