Sunday, May 31, 2009

Blue Sky on the Horizon



It’s been some time since I was last up the road in Sydney, back when summer was summer, shorts were short and skies were blue. Blue sky was at a premium at the end of May, always seemingly just out of reach on the distant horizon as a further shower or two fizzled overhead. With dodgy weather and the sun setting before 5, it’s a good job they’ve distracted the tourists with a cunning display of lights around the city, culminating in a not quite frequently enough changing opera house illuminati.



After a Friday night getting feet wet hoping the Opera House would turn as yellow as a politician’s nation-building fluoro vest, Saturday was filled with beauty of a natural kind, as a I looked in the mirror… nah, I mean headed north to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park with my friend Jill. This is a beautiful series of bays and bush and boats set around the southern shores of the Hawkesbury River and Pittwater. Sadly, with frequent showers far too much time was spent in the car, but a few stops for views and a fantastic lunch sheltered beside the inlet at Cottage Point made it a worthwhile jaunt.



Heading back to Sydney, with familiar blue skies distant but rain lashing overhead, we managed eventually to navigate the Pacific Highway (which sounds far more glamorous than it looks) to Greenwich, and a break in the weather late in the day for a short harbour-side amble.


The next morning provided a surprisingly blue sky, at least long enough to enjoy breakfast at Globe in Coogee, site of probably the best breakfasts I’ve had in Australia (Eggs Florentine with a side of bacon and a flat white in case you are interested or, now, hungry). This made me very happy and was more in keeping with the cruisy, sunny weekend I was envisaging. Taking advantage, we walked off at least a very small amount of the fat and calories from that Hollandaise Sauce by walking to Bondi, only to add it back on and more with a final stop for coffee and cake in Randwick. I should have inflated my tyres a bit more to cope with the extra weight on the drive back to Canberra!


Sunday, May 17, 2009

The good old days

Hard as it is to believe, I didn’t take any photos this past weekend! It wasn’t a conscious decision and I even took the camera for a jaunt round the Botanic Gardens earlier today but was content with a snapless stroll. Sure, it was less suited to other weekend activities, which included a bracing round of golf on Saturday, and a very middle aged Sunday of morning tennis, afternoon naps, car washing and roast dinner. What I think happened is that the voices inside my head were thinking, ‘ho hum, we didn’t do our blog last weekend did we Neil,’ ‘No we didn’t Neil, even though we went to the coast,’ ‘Oh yes, thanks for reminding me Neil,’ ‘that’s OK, Neil, by the way, looking good today,’ ‘Why thanks old chap.’

So in an effort to shut the voices up, here are some pics from last week (they’re, like, soooo last week). It’s coming flooding back to me now, it was a blue sky day, whizzing to brunch beside the Bay at Bateman’s, taking a walk through forests and lakes, slurping an ice cream in Mogo, watching the day unwind at Broulee, and finishing it with fish and chips. Food. Activity. Food. The meaning of life.





Sunday, May 03, 2009

Winding back the clock

Now I may have alluded once or twice in recent weeks to the onset of autumn, despite the temporary blip last weekend when we skipped straight to winter. It seems to have been a slow process this year and peaking later than I can remember (which hopefully means a shorter winter…) It all seemed to begin over two months ago, but now I feel we are finally at a peak to bring you this year’s official autumn tree collection, courtesy of Commonwealth Park on a bright Sunday morning.





So like autumns across the globe it is time to avoid the pigs with sniffles and venture down on the farm to harvest all that natural bounty. While the diversity of Australian climates means that the likelihood of there being something nice growing somewhere nice is a no-brainer, down here it is time to pick the pumpkins and gather in a small country town to celebrate, 1950s style. The no doubt normally placid town of Collector hosts the annual pumpkin festival, complete with largest pumpkin prizes, pumpkin scones, pie and soup served up by a host of lovingly doddering eighty-somethings, sheep shearings, choirs singing Clancy of the Overflow, and self-styled bushmen selling the latest in sheep dip technology. Vintage charm in the afternoon warmth.





Buying my obligatory pumpkin (butternut squash variety) on the way out, an even smaller nearby town is Gundaroo, possibly even more charming and heralding future visits I’m sure with its log fire restaurant, cosy pub and wood-fired pizzeria (yes, everything does revolve around food!) Despite the cooling off, it aint gonna be too bad after all. Now where did I put my butternut squash?