It's the vibe

There's definitely a late January vibe around here - the hot weather has arrived (better late than never), although how weird is it to start the day with a heavy fog, like we did a few days ago?

but always followed by some perfect, warm and mellow, late afternoons ....... where's my G &T?

We've also been to the odd Heavy Metal concert!! - to see (and hear) the awesomest Illmania, Canberra's "Illest" band, at The Basement (Belconnen), the coolest live music venue here in little old Canberra.

...... and then the 26th January comes around - the anniversary of the arrival of the colonists!!! We took a break this year from the politicking around the date (thankfully, it seems now that a change of "Australia Day" date is inevitable) and walked down to the lake the night of the 26th and enjoyed a spectacular, quiet sunset. .....

... and a distant view of "Lights on the Lake" - part of a 4 night show to mark the end of January (with no special reference to "Australia Day" thankfully).

We've also been doing the usual late January thing of getting household stuff tidied and sorted (a hangover from the days when I had to start school at the start of February?). I've even made time to start a few sewing projects using all those fabrics I've found from my sorting efforts .....

The young ones have been in Coogee for the 26th Jan. holiday (extra) long weekend. Its their first stay back at the apartment after a break of four and half years. They've sent us these pics of their brilliantly hot and sunny time in (super crowded) Coogee, one of Sydney's busiest town beaches in summer. I think they're enjoying it.

That's Abi in the water, giving us a wave .......

Ollie weekend

We were lucky to have the company of Ollie over the weekend - up to Coogee, down to Wollongong and some places in between. Ollie's heading to the University of Wollongong himself in a few weeks, so we thought it would be fun to show him a side of "the Gong" he may not know about, as well as having some down time back in Coogee after a break of a few years (for Ollie).

We got to Coogee on Friday in time for a late-ish lunch at the Coogee Bay Hotel - always one of the first things on the agenda whenever we visit.

Coogee was at its summertime best that afternoon .......

We walked all the way up to Giles Baths, off Dolphins Point, to the north of the beach.

...... taking time to admire the mature plants in the native garden we'd helped plant out (with our friend Haruko) all those years ago.

Saturday, we headed out of Sydney down to Wollongong, taking the picturesque coastal drive through Stanwell Tops, and over the amazing Sea Cliff Bridge at Coalcliff Beach. We spent some time checking out the beautiful leafy campus of the UOW and working out the layout of student residences and facilities etc. It was time for an early lunch then at the Illawarra Brewery near the CBD before we set off for a walk to the Flagstaff Point lighthouse on Wollongong Head and around to the harbour area.

There was lots of discussion about what this huge concrete pit near the lighthouse was all about. Google confirmed later that it was a remnant of the old Flagstaff Hill Fort. The pit was apparently constructed in 1890 to hold a very big 6 inch gun, as the nearby cannon placements were considered obsolete!! The greatest fear in those days was that the Russians were coming!

This weekend coincided with Wollongong's Honk Oz Festival - a street music festival we hadn't been to for a few years (with lots of Covid related disruptions), but one we'd enjoyed in the past - especially because it is the brainchild of an old and dear friend of ours - David R.

We happened to drive through town just as the Honk Oz street march was ending up at the Town Hall fountain.

It looked as raucous and rebellious as ever!

We found a spot under the trees in the Arts Precinct and enjoyed a few of the performances in the day long program -  the Samba pick up band, the Curious Rendition Orchestra and the amazing kids orchestra. I was thrilled to catch up with David R in the midst of a busy afternoon for him, and see him continuing to do amazing things in the vibrant Wollongong music scene.

We were very taken with this spectacular drumming Grandmother in the Curious Rendition Orchestra.

We decided to take the longer coastal road back to Coogee late in the afternoon and were rewarded with beautiful views of the northern coastline from the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge. I could do this drive every day and never tire of it!

We're hoping we'll be able to catch up with Ollie regularly once he's settled in at the UOW. He likes Coogee and it will be so easy for him to catch the scenic train up from Wollongong whenever he can spare a weekend. We'd love that as any time spent with this amazing young man is very special indeed.
 

Another year

This was us 51 years ago today, a pair of twenty year olds, just married, in a Catholic church in Brisbane, on a hot January day .......

..and here we are today, with our proudest achievement together, our beautiful family, celebrating in style over lunch at The George Bar & Dining in downtown Bungendore..... Fifty-one years on we don't look all that different do we?

The food, wine and conversation (and laughter) always flow freely and widely when we're together - we're so lucky!!

The young ones have been back from Byron a week or so now, so we've been able to celebrate New Year's Day together and a few days just hanging out with the girls and Jody, out at Redlands with Abi, fabric shopping with Ella (for a sundress I'm making her) and lunch and vintage shopping together in groovy Braddon. 

Abi has an amazing appetite for good food (must be all the horseriding!). She made her way through the Mighty Breakfast (for lunch) from 80/20 at Braddon with little difficulty!

A noteworthy effort we thought!

Speaking of wedding anniversaries, our friends Jennie and Wayne celebrated their 40th (ruby) anniversary on New Years Eve - a good excuse to celebrate together out at Murrumbateman, starting with bubbly at sunset, overlooking Mt Nanima and the vineyards and finishing a very extended feast of courses as the new year ticked over - a great way to start 2023 for all of us.