Geelong

We've travelled all over the world - but never been to the bayside city of Geelong before.  We drove most of yesterday, an easy (but long) drive on the Hume Highway, skirting Melbourne city until Ms Google found our way to Ros and Pete's new home in the riverside suburb of Highton.

We've loved what we've seen so far of Geelong: hilly, upmarket Highton, gorgeous river walks, character filled Pakington Street in Newtown and glorious Corio Bay ...........

 It was windy and very cool today. We didn't come prepared for this weather after weeks and weeks of over 35oC in Canberra. But that's Victoria.. if you don't like the weather you only have to wait 5 minutes and it will most likely change - but it's stayed windy and very cool ALL DAY today.

 Fresh mussels have been everywhere on the menu today!

 I thought these camels were a very exotic sight on Eastern Beach today!

 We worked hard to avoid thinking these were a team of Tony Abbotts..... but he's rarely seen in Victoria these days (thank goodness).

 This pair make wonderful hosts. It is so good to see they have really landed on their feet in Geelong Victoria!

 The "ocean pool" at Eastern Beach - pretty deserted today in these very cool windy conditions...........

 We ate well today: lunch at The Sailors' Rest - opposite the Geelong Pier and then an afternoon beer at the big, bold and buzzy Little Creatures Brewery in Swanston Street.

Birthdays weekend

So many good things came together this weekend: Ros and Pete stayed over a few days on their way down to Geelong (they've said goodbye to Sandy Beach), Maxie started to feel better after a horrible week with a cold, and Angus and Jody both had big birthdays to celebrate. It was super special to enjoy the celebrations together, all 14 of us, on Saturday at Josh and Jody's.

 We had to take this shot to record how big these boys are growing!

In between soccer games outside with the boys, Ella gave us a great solo gig on her Tenor Sax..... Is there anything this girl can't do?

 And Claire produced a cheesecake birthday cake (yes, made of cheese) - quite stunning and amazing!

 Angus turned 12 this week. Beautiful boy!

 And this gorgeous girl (Jody) celebrated one of those big birthdays too!!

 Two gorgeous girls in a wonderful decade of their lives ……………..

Canberra was pretty mild by August standards for Ros and Pete's stay. In between family lunches, brunches and birthday celebrations we did lots of walking (mainly to the new Sanoma Bakery in Braddon) and coffee drinking. I thought we'd see the sun today - going by the sunrise ……..

 but it wasn't to last long …..

 .. but that didn't stop us heading for the lake for our morning walk …….

.. and a final coffee (and kimchi jaffle) from our new local, INTRA......

 We're looking forward to seeing Ros and Pete set up in Geelong. That's only one day's drive away for us!! 

Youngest and oldest

We were introduced to the newest member of the extended family this month - gorgeous Ivy Rose born at 9.05 London time on the 20th July 2015, 7 pounds 14.  What a bundle of sweetness!

An adorable baby sister for Ed....who so far looks very interested in this new addition to his little world! We can't wait to see them both this year (and D & C too of course).

And now to the oldest.......Our Mum was born on 31st July 1914 - making her now ONE HUNDRED AND ONE years old!!  And she told us this week - she doesn't feel her age!!  

We made up a photobook for her birthday with lots of pictures of her very photogenic grandchildren (5) and great grandchildren (now 8 including Ivy).  She took a great interest in the book and will treasure it!

We thought that with the cold winter weather we would not take Mum out for her birthday this year....so we celebrated with a family party at Mirinjani on Saturday afternoon.  The staff could not have been nicer - supplying Mum (and her guests) with a lovely afternoon tea with all the trimmings and plenty of space for us to kick up our heels.

Ella and Abi have a ball no matter where they go - and the Mirinjani Activities room proved to be no exception.  The girls provided us with lots of laughs especially when they discovered the vibrating "exercise machine"....

and the balloon and fly swat game. They weren't at all daunted by the various elderly people who checked out the "party" throughout the afternoon. They both had a smile and a chat with everyone who came by, no doubt brightening every one's day.

We had some fun sister (and spouses) time too. Canberra turned on a perfect winter day on Friday and we spent quite a bit of it enjoying the Yarralumla lake front.

Four weddings and another one

It's been physically and emotionally tough this week to pack up Granny K and all her belongings for her move to aged (hostel) care.  Alongside all that we've had to get her townhouse ready for sale too.   There's been lots of opportunities to be reminded of things past.....This selection of photos, framed proudly (if a little wonkily) on her bookcase tells a story - about us but also about family life over the last half century.

Exciting news from the UK this week also made us turn our minds to the anticipation of another family wedding in the next year or so (more on that later).

This is Granny K (Mum) and Dad on their wedding day in Brisbane on 20th September 1941 just before the war was really starting to heat up for countries in close proximity to Asia.  Betty was 27 when she married and Dad was 26.  Their wedding outfits were very elegant, and good quality, but they reflected the prevailing mood of wartime austerity. Dorothy Coleman was a well known studio photographer in Brisbane at the time.
  

Twenty six years later on the 25th November 1967 Maxine (my sister) married Rod at St Andrew's Church in South Brisbane. Ros and I were their bridesmaids, and looked very fetching in powder blue satin with upswept hair dos (lots of teasing and hairspray).  The 60s social revolution had not really hit families like ours so Maxine and Rod's wedding was still quite traditional - although Maxine had tried to introduce some personal expression by designing and making THE DRESS (and the veil).  Maxine was a week off 21 years old when she married Rod (who was 21 himself by then).

Forty years ago in 1972 we were married in the Catholic church on Annerley Road on a hot January day (the 8th) in Brisbane.  I was twenty years old at the time and Rob was three days off being 21.  The 60s social revolution had even hit Brisbane by now but not much of it influenced our wedding.  There were a few informal touches (that Carly Simon style hat was considered very daring) and my dress, the colour of Rob's shirt and the length of his hair were all a bit hippy inspired but apart from that our wedding was mostly what our families at that time expected it to be.  We didn't have a professional photographer and relied on friends and families for their "happy snaps".

Then, in 1978 on the 4th March, Ros married Pete in a beautiful sub-tropical garden setting in Sunnybank in Brisbane.  They had a marriage celebrant and a casual buffet style reception under marquees in the garden...no veils, no trains, no professional photographers, not even a tie for Pete.  Ros was 19 when she married Pete.  Pete was just twenty. I remember really enjoying Ros and Pete's wedding! 

Mum in particular found it hard to cope with all the changes that the sixties and seventies brought to the family and society in general but even she was happy with and supportive of the choices Ros and Pete made for their wedding and everything after that.

We were all so young!!! It's an absolute miracle we've all made our marriages work the way they have....they've stood the test of time.

I do envy our kids though who've never felt the pressure to marry quite so young and who were left pretty much to choose whenever and however they wanted to do it, and even IF they wanted to do it all.  Whatever they choose to do Davey and Cath will do it beautifully I know. We can't wait to be a part of it too!

The 10 "best ofs" for this week

1. Best meal: Although the Nokia's flash found it hard to cope the atmosphere and food at "The Jimbarin", Avoca Street Randwick was the outright winner for us. Sharing wonderful Indonesian food with a Balinese twist in the outdoor courtyard with Ros, Pete and Rob on my 56th birthday was pretty wonderful. Eggplant with green chilli and anchovy sauce, kangkung, pancakes stuffed with beef and the sea food curry were our favourite dishes.

Rob and I returned to Binh Tranh at Cabramatta on our way home yesterday. The sugar cane prawn rice cakes (number 58) keep calling us back (along with the sticky rice cakes for dessert at the nearby bakery - the best ever).

2. Best walk: In a week where we walked everywhere, walking to the Clovelly Hotel with Ros and Pete was pretty special. We had the deck, the million dollar view and reasonably priced Coronas all to ourselves. I like the way Rob has managed to get my favourite Strylitzia (spelling?) plant into this picture.

3. Best Coffee: Cafe Mado, Auburn Road, Auburn - Turkish coffee and pastries to die for. Fascinating to sit and watch the multicultural passing parade- very strong traditional Muslim presence. Rob and I found amazing Afghan bread and hand made (in Auburn) Turkish delight to take away as souvenirs from our visit to Turkey in Sydney.

4. Best show: The only show in town for us this week was the Saturday matinee performance of Miss Saigon at the Lyric Theatre, Star City Casino. The theatre was packed, with a predominantly Asian audience. We were mesmerised by the show - not a particularly joyous one with its tough subject matter - but quite moving even with all the burlesque sparkle and helicopter special effects.

5. Best movie: We fulfilled my little Sydney apartment living dream of walking to the Randwick Ritz to catch a movie: "The Bourne Ultimatum". I experienced every knock, thump, bash and smash in the small but well set up Ritz theatre number two - here's to seeing many more movies at our "local"!

6. Best ice cream: Just to be sure I had two, both enjoyed sitting on the circular steps down to Coogee Beach as night time descended over the sand and rolling waves - my favourite was a double cone gelati - blood orange and pistachio from Gelatissimo, on Coogee Bay Road.

7. Longest walk: On Monday Rob and I walked to the Sydney Antique Centre, South Dowling Street, Surrey Hills - took us about one and a half hours. At least we can say we've done it. Without internet access it was really hard to locate where all the cool Antique shops are in Sydney. They are definitely not cool at Queen Street Woollahra (which we tried exploring on Tuesday). Way too posh; I felt a complete outsider, too intimidated to even enter most of the shops!

8. Best shopping experience: I spent nearly seven hours at Bondi Junction (by myself) on Wednesday. I had promised Rob I was going into every single shop I fancied. The time just flew and I only went into a couple of shops but I had the luxury of time to try lots of things on. Came home with heaps of parcels - new sunnies, David Lawrence coat, two pairs of jeans, a few Country Road tops; all good fun - lucky me!

Rob and I spent five hours at Ikea, Rhodes near Homebush Bay on Thursday. I swear Rob has been permanently traumatised by this shopping overdose, especially in the hyper controlling and consuming Ikea environment. We were very pleased however with our Expedit TV cabinet. It was delivered (exactly as promised) on Friday after which we spent three hours putting it together. We only made two fairly big mistakes despite Ikea's clear instructions, but they are not too noticeable in the finished product. We enjoyed sitting watching TV on Friday night and admiring our handiwork.

9. Best hardware store: One of Rob's happiest moments this week was when he discovered there is a Mitre 10 hardware store close by, on Clovelly Road at the Randwick end.

10. Best Service in Sydney Award: This has to go to Sam from Accept Electrical who responded to our temporary lighting problem on Thursday night with speed and diligence. We are going to get him to install more power points for us next weekend. He's keen to refer an excellent painter to us - she's female, paints like an artist and "doesn't charge too much". We are keen to talk to her!

Maxie and Rod hosted a big family get together last Friday night 28 September to celebrate Ros and Peter's visit. I came straight from a "hard day at the office" but didn't take long to enter into the celebratory spirit.

Coff's Harbour is not a beach

We've just had 3 great days with Ros and Pete (and Josie) on the "Coff's Coast". They rent a house at Emerald Beach, a stylish coastal village about 20 minutes north of Coff's Harbour and about 10 minutes south of Woolgoolga (Woopi). Ros and Pete are great hosts and our 3 days went quickly, sight seeing, eating great meals, lots of beach and headland walks and a chance for us to see their block of land at Sandy Beach (5 minutes further north of Emerald Beach) and all the plans for the beautiful house they are building (starting soon hopefully).

I learnt many things over the three days, never having spent any time in this region before. The main one being that Coff's Harbour is a harbour (duh) and therefore mainly appeals to boaties and fishermen. It is the beaches around the harbour that attract holiday makers and sea changers (like Ros & Pete). The coastline is beautiful-long stretches of clean, sandy beaches broken by rocky headlands and off shore islands most of which are protected as reserves and marine parks.

This is a shot taken at Sandy Beach looking south to Moonee and Emerald beaches.

These shots were taken Saturday afternoon walking around the beautiful headland at the southern end of Sandy Beach.

Pete does a lot of contemplating of the waves.

There was a great break at Sandy Beach that afternoon, protected from the cold southerly. 

It was great to visit Bellingen on Friday. We loved the famous Hammond & Wheatley Emporium building-especially when Rob was able to find a pair of Naot shoes that he liked.

Lunch at the (Israeli) Mouza Restaurant in Bellingen was amazing - best cafe we've eaten at in a long time.

Ros and I ordered the same most amazing dish - stuffed vegetables basically, but amazingly delicious.

It was a fine dining experience the whole weekend. Room 101 at Emerald Beach on Friday night (sashimi oysters and duck for me with a degustation dessert platter) and Saltwater on the beach (at Emerald Beach again) on Saturday night (bugtails and gnochi and spatchcock for me). Cafes at Sawtell (Barrel) and Woolgoolga also benefited by our custom - all serving great food in really interesting settings.

I had to get a shot of Ros & Pete's ocean view from their block of land at Sandy Beach. I sort of got it - but their verandah will be much higher up! They are only about 200mts from the beach.

Thank you Ros & Pete for your great hospitality. You both seem very happy building your new life together. We were incredibly envious of your early morning beach walks and swim. We've decided to restart our early morning walks around the boring old Circuit after the good habits you started to get us into.

The house was very cold to return to on Monday evening; only 8oC. It took hours to crank the heating up to a bearable temperature. It had been the coldest day all year in Canberra, although we hadn't found the the Coff's Coast particularly warm either.

Check out the link to Joel's new website..it is stunning..he is the man!