These pics were from the real estate blurbs prior to that auction, circa 2006 ......
After settlement on 17 May we were able to celebrate our good fortune with a surprisingly large number of family members, with lots of our favourite sparkling Shiraz but no furniture or fittings, on the following weekend (20 May).
Of course Rob wrote one of his special poems to mark the occasion .....
This was described as a modern eat-in kitchen at the time!
And this pic proves there were ocean glimpses from our living room window in those days (now overtaken by the growth in the trees).
Sadly for us, our apartment was tenanted for the next 12 months or so. We had regular weekends at the Coogee Sands Hotel just so we could keep a check on things until our tenants vacated at the end of July 2007.We moved in
with minimal furniture and effects, with Maxine & Rod’s help, and spent the next 3 and ½ months getting it furnished so we could enjoy weekends and short stays there. We had it well enough set up that we were able to celebrate New Year at the end of that year with Maxie & Rod and Ros and Pete - with dinner at our fave Barzura and community
fireworks on the beach after.
This was us at move in weekend in July-August 2007. 
By the end of that year it was a bit more comfortable for short stays ......
In October-November 2008 we started a tradition of "Sisters Reunions" each year at Coogee. Maxie & Rod and Ros and Pete would stay with us in the apartment and we would check out "Sculptures by The Sea" and explore different parts of this amazing city - and just spend extended time together. It was wonderful. We kept up this tradition each year from 2008 right up until 2016 (9 reunion stays all up!).
Rugs and paintings really made a difference in the living room (June 2009).
In 2010 we had a dramatic new paint job in the apartment. Porters Paint - Polo on the walls and Whisper White on all the ceilings and trims transformed the spaces - making them look much more sophisticated.
This pic was taken in October 2011 as I was celebrating my 60th birthday.
We welcomed new neighbours in the last half of 2013 - Greg and Lizzie in number 7. Not only was it great to have a friendly, fun couple as owner neighbours at last but it was also great to have allies on board for all our strata committee decision making. Greg is also a builder so can actually back up his advice on lots of technical matters with expertise and experience.
By 2013 our living area was looking even more homely.
I took this photo on the beach over Christmas - New Year 2014. It's not of the apartment but it is an indicator of the great times Josh, Jody and the girls have been able to spend over the years at Coogee, and sometimes share with us too at times!
In late February 2014 Pete had major surgery at the Mater Hospital, North Sydney as a result of his Neuro Endocrine cancer diagnosis. Ros, and then Pete after his discharge, ended up basing themselves at the apartment until Pete was well enough to move back to Sandy Beach. In the process they ended up having the longest continuous stay in the apartment of any of us up until that time.
in an odd sort of coincidence Rob also got a cancer diagnosis that same year and he had surgery at St Vincents on Oxford St that same year, in August. It also meant we had quite an extended stay in Coogee as he recovered - and thankfully never looked back, health wise, in the following 12 years.
We sold our house in Mawson in August 2015 and became "homeless" for the next 19 months until our off the plan apartment at St Germain, Campbell was ready. We were so fortunate to have a Canberra home with Josh and Jody and the girls for that time but our Coogee apartment was a very welcome backstop for us (and them) whenever a break was needed.
We made the big decision to rent our
Coogee apartment in 2018 in preparation (saving up) for renovations that were needed on our almost 100 year old property. We
did the clean up and move out in April that year and new tenants had moved in by early
May - a very smooth process apart from the pain of packing up and
moving everything out.
We ended up renting out Coogee for longer than intended given all the lockdown upheavals of 2020-2022. We had excellent tenants and they were happy to stay on for the full period throughout that time - a bonus for us.
Around October 2022 we started our move back into our Coogee
apartment after four and half years of renting. We vowed we’d make it a minimal
move back as we had renovations planned. However, we found loading beds,
mattresses and other essentials into vans and carrying them up three flights of
stairs far from a minimal effort. Despite all this we managed to get the
apartment quite comfortably set up for however long it was going to take to get renovations underway.
However not much happened on this front throughout 2023. My alleged abilities to manage people hit a
brick wall in relation to Sydney tradespeople that year so we decided to put things on hold until the reno/building market in Sydney quietened down a bit after the COVID years.
At the end of July through to August 2024 we had new (old style) timber sash
windows installed in our Coogee apartment and a new paint job
after all the disruption the install caused. Every room in the apartment was affected except for the bathroom and sunroom. Many hours of cleaning up were
involved but the final result is beautiful. We now have Dulux Hammer Grey walls replacing the dark navy grey, with sparkling white ceiling and trims.
We were lucky to have an excellent
(but expensive) old school joiner work on the windows and a very good painter
to do the finish off work. Rob and I are project planning window replacement
for our whole block (9 units). It’s a quarter of a million-dollar + project (starting in late 2023) and has required our pretty constant attention. Our joiner works slowly and it’s going
to take a few years yet.
Our major renovation project finally got underway in mid March 2025. We’d been
waiting so long for this to get underway that in the end it came as a bit of
a shock when our builder announced he was ready.
Our old bathroom and
kitchen had to be completely demolished (including a load bearing wall) before
the real work could get underway. You can imagine the dust and mess this created in
our 100-year-old building (three floors up and no lift!). We are absolutely
thrilled with the finished job - finally moving back into what feels like a brand-new
apartment, in August, just in time for the visit of Davey’s family.
We took this pic of the old kitchen just before work got underway in mid-March last year.
... and the bathroom .....
Two or three weeks later the (load bearing) wall between the kitchen and eating area and the ceiling had been demolished and all the kitchen fittings removed.
The bathroom had to be gutted.
Our wonderful builder Greg had erected very effective screens around the demolition zones which ended up saving so much dust seeping into the rest of the unit .....
By mid-May it looked like this ....
.... and the bathroom tiling was mostly completed by the end of June.
..and the vanity in place .....
These are the two men (along with Brett) who made it all happen - We're forever grateful for their professionalism and concern for a high quality, stress free process for us - so important when we're living quite a distance away from the job.
The kitchen cupboards were installed early July.
... and by mid - July the finishing touches were being made.
We were really hoping it would be ready in time for Davey & Cath's and the kids' visit in mid August last year. Luckily it all came together, just in time for their Sydney stay!
We're all set now to enjoy the next phase of our Coogee lives. Josh and Jody and the girls get plenty of fun out of it when they're ready for some Sydney time. Ella has even stayed there with her girlfriends over a weekend - as the adult in charge. We still think it is the very best investment we ever made, way back in May 2006 - bring on the next twenty years!
By the end of that year it was a bit more comfortable for short stays .......jpg)
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