Canberra best

In the last two weeks we've seen Canberra at its best - the decisive return of progressive local government (continuing now for 23 YEARS!), the opening of the commemorative "gift" to celebrate our National Gallery's 40th birthday, the staging of the wonderful Canberra Writers Festival and an action packed 6 day visit with our friends from Far North Queensland.

Lindy Lee's "Ouroboros" was unveiled at the Gallery on the 24th November. We were among the first group of visitors at special members only events, the day after.

While there has been some controversy about the choice of Ouroboros to mark this milestone birthday - especially around its $14,000,000 cost, the consensus view now seems to be quite positive. We think it looks absolutely sublime in this setting!

There is a small exhibition inside the gallery of key works by Lindy Lee over the past decade including this 50 kgs 24 carat gold version of Ouroborus (worth $10,000,000) on permanent loan to the NGA by its new sponsor partner the Pallion Group.

In an abundance of riches the Canberra Writers Festival followed on from these big events at the gallery. All events were conducted in iconic locations in the Parliamentary Triangle ..... a chance to hear some of my favourite writers talk about new works in these beautiful venues .....

Our dear friends David and Ro arrived the day after these big events concluded. Ro had a conference to attend at the ANU on Tuesday but we wasted no time in taking David to see our new favourite art acquisition - part of our morning walk around the lake. I think he was impressed!

We took both David and Ro with us to see Ouroboros later that night - after a movie outing to our old fave Palace Electric at New Acton.

If anything Ouroboros looks even more spectacular at night .....

We caught up with the Wharf Review on Thursday night at the Canberra Theatre. Very sad to think this will be the last W.R. - after 25 years of brilliant and hilarious satire of our political life. This week's show was one of its best!

It was David's birthday this week too - a great excuse to meet up with other old Canberra friends for a classic (and delicious) Italian meal by the lake at Molto on Friday night.

Saturday dawned warm and sunny so we took David and Ro on one of our favourite "close to the city" bush walks - out to Shepherd's Lookout, along the back of the new Ginninderry development.

David and Ro left early yesterday morning - a big day's drive back to Brisbane ahead of them - and then from there, eventually back to Cooper Creek, north of Cairns. We loved having them stay with us but also felt proud our town had so much to offer our visitors, especially over the past week or so.

Sam's routine

Sam's been out of the hospital (quarantine) paddock now for over a week and everyone is adjusting to the new "owning a horse" routines. At weekends it's twice a day out to Freshford, during the week its only once a day.

We went out to Freshford last Sunday afternoon to watch the routine for putting Sammy to bed. First of all Abi has to find where he is in the paddock, put his halter on and lead him back to the stables. When Sammy was on his own for two weeks in the quarantine paddock he was so lonely he'd run to Abi the minute he saw her. But now he has the company of other horses he's not quite so quick to come when he's called!

Sammy has his own roomy, well appointed stable at Freshford - under cover (of course) .....

... and with its own alfresco outdoor area for whenever he wants a change of scenery. Sammy loves his food, and every afternoon he gets a biscuit(++) of hay and a bucket of hard food (nutritious pellets full of horsey goodness). There's always carrots for dessert/snacks/rewards/treats as well.

Time for lots of pats too........

Chance is a good mate of Sammy's and is his stable neighbour. Chance's owner (Chloe) and Abi are also very good mates!

Chance has the same routine as Sammy every afternoon.

Abi is continuing her lessons with Victoria out at Freshford too. Being such a young pony Sammy wants to do everything FAST. Abi is teaching him to make moves in a more considered way - according to her direction. He's learning fast, and they look really great together!

It absolutely pelted down heavy rain all through Abi's lesson last Friday afternoon. Sheets of water were gushing down off that arena roof, forming a small moat all around the building after a little while. Abi and Sammy didn't miss a beat throughout the downpour and, fortunately, the "moat" cleared quickly as the storm clouds and torrential rain moved further northwards towards the city.

It's all a very good routine for this pair!

Birthday long weekend

We've had a huge few days in Coogee since my birthday last week. 

We stopped in Wollongong on the drive there to catch up with Ollie - now happily settled in his new share house in North Wollongong. He has the best room in the house and looks set for a much more settled few years ahead as he finishes his double degree and continues to enjoy Wollongong's surf side lifestyle along with his best mates who share the house with him.

We had a day to ourselves in Coogee on Friday. All looked quiet on the beach that morning - a moment of respite for Coogee before the inundation of the long weekend coming.

The young ones arrived Saturday just in time for lunch at our fave Coogee Bay Hotel. After that it seemed like no time at all before we were meeting up for our Uber drive to Circular Quay and the Manly Ferry ride over to our celebratory dinner destination on Manly Wharf.

It was a beautiful evening on the harbour, and not just because of the company. The absolute magic hour - Sydney at her magnificent best!

Our timing was perfect arriving at Manly - allowing us pre-dinner drinks at Four Pines Brewery on the Manly Esplanade before heading to our dinner date.

Our big event dinner was booked at Dan Hong's Queen Chow on the Manly Wharf. It was busy on Saturday night but we got a warm welcome and it took no time at all before we knew we were in the right place, with the right menu and the most perfect level of service for an elevated, delicious, yet still unpretentious dining experience!

Ella and Abi liked the Asian fusion menu (as we all did). Abi gravitated to the lobster dish (served with garlic noodles) without any hesitation, bless her! Luckily we were all able to share the dishes: 1/2 shell scallops, Cantonese roast duck, Wagyu beef, salt 'n' pepper cauliflower with tofu mayo and the best dim sum platter we've ever shared - anywhere. It was all wonderful food!

Rob chose beautiful wines too - a Tyrrells 2018 HVD Semillon and a beautiful 2022 Maude Pinot Noir from Central Otago NZ.

.... and a Pandan sago, coconut sorbet, finger lime dish for dessert - yum! Such a memorable, fabulous birthday celebration for me, with my favourite people in the world!

After a laughter filled family breakfast - cooked by Abi in our tiny apartment kitchen - we set out for Bondi Beach via the 7klm Coogee to Bondi coastal walk on Sunday morning.

The girls wanted to swim at as many beaches as they could along the way.

First up was beautiful Gordons Bay .....

...and then Clovelly beach, crowded today on a perfect Sydney Spring day.

... past Bronte Beach ......

then Tamarama, before rounding the Marks Park headland towards Bondi Beach .....

We were able to walk right in front of the iconic Bondi Icebergs Club this day for the first time in a long while - after all the renovations to the path.

Bondi Beach was as crowded as ever. What was special about today was spotting two whales having their own tail slapping party, not too far off the beach - so lovely to see for us lucky visitors on land!

By now everyone was hungry for lunch. We have a favourite lunch spot in the centre of Bondi's retail strip. The Hotel Bondi on Curlewis Street may not be the coolest place in the village but the food is excellent and the beer garden is never as crowded as some.

Joshy taught me to take a selfie over lunch. I learnt its all about getting the right grip, having long arms and holding your phone above eye level. That's a lot to remember all at once (for me).

Rob and I and the girls Ubered it back to Coogee after but Josh and Jody did the return walk. That's a 14 klm round trip on top of the 5 klm run they'd done in Coogee before breakfast. Not a bad effort after a big night out on the town last night!

Dinner that night was at our fave La Sen up up at the Spot. The girls love the selection of Saturday night treats at the nearby Ezy Mart for dessert.

Rob and I enjoyed an artisanal icecream from Gaia Gelato at The Spot before heading back to our room at the Royal Hotel at the top of Coogee Bay Road - now full of patrons celebrating the Panthers NRL Grand Final win. The beautiful old Randwick Ritz on Saint Pauls Street looked entirely oblivious to all the football fever this night.

We had another long, leisurely, laughter filled breakfast in the same tiny kitchen on Monday morning before the young ones had to pack up and head back to Canberra. It seemed so quiet when they left us .....

Much later that afternoon we headed back down to the beach - filled with golden late afternoon light and thousands of people from every part of Sydney (and the world) enjoying Coogee's charms in the dying light of the Labour Day public holiday. The shocking events of the world, particularly on this day of the year (7 October) seemed an awfully long way away from this gorgeous and mellow part of the world. We are so very lucky!

We eventually found a quiet place up past the Ivo Rowe Rock Pool in South Coogee (the locals call this part of the coast the Honeycomb apparently).

... overlooked by this amazing property ........

We took a few photos including my best selfie yet ... but then put the phones away and enjoyed a quiet half hour of watching the waves break over the rocks while having the most amazing view of the coastline stretching from Maroubra to Bondi ......

Love Coogee!! And so grateful to share this time, around my birthday, with the ones I hold so dear. xxx