Sydney together

Two and a half years of regular WhatsApp catch ups have been great, but nothing meets a catch up of old friends in real life, in real time. My dear friend Jane arrived in Sydney last Thursday, ready for four days of fun with our also dear friend Tania, with lots of time for chats about family, art and travel (that mostly never happened), plenty of walking and good food and wine. 

Friday was the opening day of Sculpture by the Sea and we had plans to walk from Coogee to Bondi, meeting up with Tania at Tamarama to see the works together.

With rain threatening we took some time out at Seasalt, Clovelly Beach for our first cup of coffee along the way.

Tamarama Beach always makes a spectacular setting for some dramatic sculpture installations. This year was no exception.

Tania is very well connected in the contemporary sculpture scene, so it was great to hear the stories behind some of the works and meet the artists who'd showed up for opening day. We had a lovely conversation with the two brothers from the Ukraine, Egor and Nikita Zigura (in front of Egor's work). The two sculptors have escaped from the Ukraine and Egor is now working in France. They're really enjoying their stay in Bondi for Sculpture by the Sea and have found everyone very welcoming! They'd already met Tania at her Le Petit Salon de Sculpture exhibition a few days before.

and this distinctive work is by Nikita .....

And this work by Tony Davis really seemed to resonate with Tania ....

We ended off our Sculpture by the Sea experience with a very very long, late lunch at Bills on Hall Street - a perfect end to an exhilarating experience of Sculpture by the Sea.

We woke up to some welcome sunshine on Saturday morning, a chance to introduce Jane to our light rail service and the architectural delights of Barangaroo, all new territory for her ...

Then we met up with Tania again at the Museum of Contemporary Art cafe, and another very long lunch with a lot of art and family talk on the menu .....

as well as a celebratory tipple among friends .......

I love looking at (and talking, laughing and learning about) art with this pair ....... we really haven't changed a bit since those days, over thirty years ago (!!!!) when we all taught art together at Canberra High School.

We saw a movie at the lovely old Randwick Ritz on Saturday night - something we haven't done in a l-o-n-g time. We had a tasty meal at La Sen afterwards, all very nice but The Spot dining scene looks completely different to the last time we were regular patrons.

We ventured over to Manly yesterday - by way of the ferry, and showed Jane one of our favourite walks around North Harbour.

as well as the delights of Anita Gelato on the Corso ........

But our main goal was to make our way up to the old Quarantine Station at North Head where we were meeting Tania at Le Petit Salon de Sculpture exhibition in the historic hospital precinct. 

We were hoping to see some of the local echidnas on our walk through to the exhibtion but today we had to make do with this close up of a very bold cockatoo.

This was Jane's first chance to see Tania's amazing "Terrible Beauty" installation on the wharf entry to the Q Station - still standing proud after three years of many visitors, a change of owner, lots of storms, king tides and other weather events, and many thousands of photo taking sessions..

Jane loves Middle Eastern food - which is not all that prolific on the Sunshine Coast so we took the opportunity to dine at Nour, Surry Hills last night - a very special meal of beautifully executed flavours on our last night together in Sydney.

It was pouring rain when we woke up this morning and it was still pouring as we packed up and tried to load the car out on Carrington Road while avoiding the torrents of water gushing down the roadway and gutters. It was good to dry out a bit and enjoy a slap up breakfast at our old fave Pool Cafe at Maroubra before braving the traffic mayhem around the airport and then the drive back to Canberra.

Jane's heading back to 30oC on Queensland's sunny coast and we're heading back to cloudy wet Canberra. We made some wonderful memories together with Tania this visit and can't wait until we have the chance to do it all again.

Update: My clever friend Jane sent me this hand drawn memento of our time in Sydney together - she is such a clever girl. Isn't it brilliant?
 

Rnewal

In between the downpours of rain Canberra is emerging from its winter doldrums. Floriade has provided some bursts of (rain soaked) colour around the lake ......

and the Malus Purpurea in our Hassett Park are blooming beautifully this year (they must be about 6 years old by now?).....

The gardens in neighbouring Reid are looking blooming beautiful ....

... and some very interesting works have sprung up in our 'hood' as part of the Canberra Art Biennial Contour 556 Program. We're very taken with Sammy Hawker's "Ocean Resonance". He has transformed the four bridge columns under Parkes Way into evocative "core samples" - inspired by core samples taken at a recent geotechnical survey of the Dairy Road Precinct. We're all hoping this might stay in situ for the foreseeable future.

We have finished a minimal "move back into" our Coogee unit as of this weekend. it took three van/car loads and endless trips up and down three flights of stairs, but its done now and we are very happy with how comfortable it feels, in its minimal way. It will be a good set up for us as we embark on all the negotiations and planning required for our bathroom/kitchen/window upgrade over the next few months.

We were excited to spend two nights at the the unit - the first time in four and a half years!!! Its time to renew our relationship with Coogee .......

There are so many new foodie places along Coogee Bay Road - a lot of other changes too - its been a very tough two and a half years for everyone .....

Coogee looked beautiful on a sunny,warm Friday morning.....

And Gordon's Bay is looking as gorgeous as it ever did!

We were relieved to see the small park at the top of Carrington Road is still looking good - no doubt due to the love and care poured into it by local legend Bob in its early days....

We had an evening at the North Head Quarantine Station on Friday night - for the opening of Le Petit Salon de Sculptures (an event that I MC'd!!) in the old hospital precinct of this most amazing site. The Les Sculptures Refusées team have one of the best views in Sydney from their office set up at the Q Station.

We got back to Canberra in time yesterday to take Abi to her horse riding lesson at Forest Park - it was such a delight to see her riding Caspar, a beautiful Fleabitten Grey HORSE!

 

Long weekend

I love the way my birthday usually coincides with the October long weekend. And I was extra lucky this year because our plans for a long weekend stay at the Narrawallee beach house came to fruition - COVID free this time - yay! 

Saturday morning and Joshy and the girls were in full weekend mode - creating the breakfast of champions ......

The girls repeated their breakfast efforts every morning of our stay .......

Unfortunately Saturday remained pretty cold, cloudy and rainy at times - a good day to do over the shops and sights of nearby Milton .......... 

But the sun came out for my birthday on Sunday - blue skies, the warmth of the sun - perfection!

The Narrawallee house is about halfway between North Mollymook Beach and Narrawallee Beach - both beautiful beaches and great for scenic walks.

An added bonus of our stay was finding this Art Deco era round table at a little antique shop in Milton. It's come back to Canberra with us - ready for its next move to our Coogee kitchen. We're very happy with our new table!

The young ones really enjoy their fishing.. and we spent a couple of very happy hours on Sunday (and again today) on Ulladulla Harbour, reelin' them in (not really!). Both girls have got great focus and and get genuine delight from the whole process of catching (and not catching) fish - for hours on end!

Ella's first catch of the day (safely released back to the ocean of course!) .......

Quickly followed by Abi (also released back to the ocean!)

Abi has a great casting action .....

Ella even enjoyed the irony of catching some weed - a great Be Real moment ......

Josh and Jody and the girls prepared a beautiful seafood meal on Sunday night for my birthday: fresh local oysters, beautiful prawns and kingfish fillets - all beautiful. Ella and Abi dressed and "made up" for the occasion!

It was another beautiful day today - so welcome after all the rainy grey days we've had over Winter. We spent a few more hours on the harbour after checking out of the beach house so the girls could get their fishing mojo going again ....

There was great excitement when Ella caught a sting ray!

There was a lot going on at this part of the harbour this morning - lots of fishing boats coming in and out. A couple of guys were cleaning and filleting their big catch of snapper, flathead and Nannygai near the boat launching ramp - and it was amazing to watch the bird life that came in to watch them (and catch the offcuts) .......

We ended off a perfect long weekend with lunch together at the stunningly located Mollymook Golf Club before heading back to Canberra. Rob and I felt so lucky to share such a special time with Josh, Jody and the girls - the best birthday present ever!