Coogee etc

We've settled back into our Canberra routine after the excitement of holidays in Bali and it feels like everything is picking up pace as the end of the year draws closer.

Abi is competing in the Canberra Cup (equestrian) this weekend so there have been quite a few training sessions with Ringo out at Redlands.....

 

and we've just got back from a four day visit to Coogee - getting a few things in place in the unit in readiness for family stays over the next few months.

We got there last Monday afternoon and after a pretty heavy unloading job (in the rain!!!!) we celebrated with a customary drink at the Coogee Bay Hotel. By this stage it had stopped raining and the salty breeze through the windows felt rather wonderful after the heavy work of carrying things up three flights of stairs (many times over).

My post surgery feet are walking so much better these days so I was keen to do the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk on Tuesday. It's wonderful to be able to consider a long walk again after the last few months of restrictions. That would be a 7klm walk (at least) and I did it easily - yay!

I took this pic at Bondi Beach for Abi who is a "Bondi Rescue" fan.

We enjoyed our lunch at Mami's Casa Latino at 286 Bondi Road - a buzzy new Mexican Restaurant offering home cooked style Mexican food that is a world away in flavour and quality than the fast food franchises out there. The two women who own and run the restaurant were both there at lunch on Tuesday with a crowd of friends and family - it was a bit raucous and service was slow but it felt like a unique (and flavoursome) experience. The blue painted restaurant exterior is a homage to Frida Kahlo (of course).

We added a few more things to our apartment this stay. We'd vowed to keep furnishings minimal until renovations are done - but we're both resigned now to the fact that any likely start date is a long way off!! So here we are .....

I did a restoration job on the dressing table we'd bought for Joshy when we were preparing for his arrival (nearly 45 years ago). It was a vintage dresser then and its even more vintage now - so appropriate for our 1929 apartment.

.. and the new sofa - barely visible under all the covers and cushions - ready for family chillaxing over Christmas-New Year.

We timed our visit to see the install of new gas infrastructure to the building. This is what nearly 100 year old infrastructure looks like - now replaced by many thousands of dollars worth of shiny new copper.

We had a visit from the two Burmese cats that are our neighbours: Simba and Gracie (and Lizzie and Greg). For a pair of cat lovers like us it's a huge bonus having friendly Burmese cats in the building.

We also visited friends at Chiswick (on the Parramatta River) one afternoon. It's always fun catching the ferry in Sydney, and Chiswick is a bare 30 minutes from Circular Quay on the F3. 

We caught the ferry home from Abbotsford and were amused to see this group of Sydney Boys High School students all lined up waiting for the ferry too - all in the same uniform, all of Asian heritage and all doing school work (?) on their laptops, just like they were still in class. Sydney Boys High School is a very high performing, academically selective high school with rowing sheds at Abbotsford. The boys had spent the afternoon at rowing training!

We had a bit of excitement on the final (rainy) morning at Coogee with the Step Out Speak Out Walk progressing down a closed to traffic Coogee Bay Road (raising awareness about domestic violence - and organised by NSW Police Eastern Beaches and Randwick City Council.

I included this shot because you can see Gracie (the Burmese cat) in the top front window of unit 7 of our building checking out the horses leading the walk!