And so with all that fine weather and exercise 2009 drew to a close. You may have seen the town of Sydney on your television set with a few fireworks saying hello to new year. It was the same again this year, as I was one of around one and a half million cramming the harbour foreshore to try and find a view among the buildings and trees. All the best spots were taken a long time earlier, but there was ample space for picnicking, playing chess and cards and splashing out on the $35 wine at Mrs Macquaries Point, and, come midnight, clusters of people from all over the world gathered at gaps in the trees to grab a view of 2010. Now how do I work my way up the pecking order to get on that boat in 2011...
2010 had an inauspicious start, with a bus breakdown on the way back to Coogee, tempered only by a walk along the shoreline once there to prepare for the long walk uphill to bed.
Things got better the next day with a New Years Day lunch featuring an impressive array of salads which were very impressive and the best salads ever (yes, I made a couple of them) to go with some ham and cold bird. And then the trifle, oh yes, the trifle. A very happy new year.
If Christmas Day was a bit grey then New Year’s Day was a bit less grey and towards the late afternoon the sun even made an appearance. Perfect for a doze on Coogee Beach followed by a game of French Cricket (rules: shrug shoulders and munch on a raclette baguette). This was only bettered by the cleverly designed and improvised four way hit the thong poo game. Which was subsequently bettered by a cold beer in the Palace as cruisy guitar chords echoed out over the sands. A good first day of the year.
The second day of the year and the blessed occurence of a weekend meant that the good times continued, despite a stinker of a day where the humidity hit totally tropical man. Not quite ideal weather for a laksa, but the chance to have my best chicken laksa since Thai Cornar changed ownership was not worth passing up. Thai-riffic in Bondi Junction Westfield (with super views) if you happen to be in the area. As always with a good laksa, the ten minutes afterwards are like paralysis, unable to walk or talk very well, but thankfully wearing off enough in time for one of the best walks there is - Walk#3 from Taronga Wharf to Balmoral Beach on the North Shore.
And at Balmoral Beach, just enough time to cool off in the calm water of Middle Harbour before the storm rolls in.
So far the Christmas break had provided many of the typical Aussie trappings… prawns, beaches, snakes, coffee, and a lot of rubbish TV. Apart from some rather lame beach games there has been a distinct absence of sport, something which was rectified on my last day in Sydney. The sport of watching Aussie cricketers getting a once over by the Pakistani bowlers at the SCG. Despite yet more general drizzly dreariness which unfathomably gave me sunburnt knees whole delaying play, the first day of the second test yielded some excitement and atmosphere as the Aussies got skittled out for one of their lowest scores in a while.
You may recognise the face of Mark Nicholas, who must be the jammiest smarmy average former county cricket player in the world, covering TV cricket summers in Australia and England and doing a bit of eating on a cooking show in between. I bet he was on a good boat in the harbour for New Year’s Eve as well!
The cricket signalled pretty much the end of the holidays, with just another wonderful brunch at Globe in Coogee to see me on my way back to Canberra. It was as usual a pretty boring, but pleasingly quick drive and I arrived back to warmth and sunshine as if the summer had instantly returned following yesterday‘s all round Englishness (weather and batting totals). Another Aussie Christmas goes by (my third one!) and I’m still waiting for a scorching beach version. Christmas in the summer is all a bit odd but at the same time there is much of appeal about it. The washing line which now contains five pairs of shorts drying in the Canberra sun is testament to that - it was still pretty warm and there were some top top days. And like Christmas everywhere, there was no shortage of excess - too much food, too much drink, too much hit the thong (flip flop) game. While the food may decrease slightly, the good thing about an Aussie Christmas is that the summer is set to go on and we have more things to look forward to - like Australia Day, hopefully more pummelling of Aussie batsmen, and the continuation of light evenings, shorts and thongs. As for 2010, she’ll be right.
2010 had an inauspicious start, with a bus breakdown on the way back to Coogee, tempered only by a walk along the shoreline once there to prepare for the long walk uphill to bed.
Things got better the next day with a New Years Day lunch featuring an impressive array of salads which were very impressive and the best salads ever (yes, I made a couple of them) to go with some ham and cold bird. And then the trifle, oh yes, the trifle. A very happy new year.If Christmas Day was a bit grey then New Year’s Day was a bit less grey and towards the late afternoon the sun even made an appearance. Perfect for a doze on Coogee Beach followed by a game of French Cricket (rules: shrug shoulders and munch on a raclette baguette). This was only bettered by the cleverly designed and improvised four way hit the thong poo game. Which was subsequently bettered by a cold beer in the Palace as cruisy guitar chords echoed out over the sands. A good first day of the year.
The second day of the year and the blessed occurence of a weekend meant that the good times continued, despite a stinker of a day where the humidity hit totally tropical man. Not quite ideal weather for a laksa, but the chance to have my best chicken laksa since Thai Cornar changed ownership was not worth passing up. Thai-riffic in Bondi Junction Westfield (with super views) if you happen to be in the area. As always with a good laksa, the ten minutes afterwards are like paralysis, unable to walk or talk very well, but thankfully wearing off enough in time for one of the best walks there is - Walk#3 from Taronga Wharf to Balmoral Beach on the North Shore.
And at Balmoral Beach, just enough time to cool off in the calm water of Middle Harbour before the storm rolls in.
So far the Christmas break had provided many of the typical Aussie trappings… prawns, beaches, snakes, coffee, and a lot of rubbish TV. Apart from some rather lame beach games there has been a distinct absence of sport, something which was rectified on my last day in Sydney. The sport of watching Aussie cricketers getting a once over by the Pakistani bowlers at the SCG. Despite yet more general drizzly dreariness which unfathomably gave me sunburnt knees whole delaying play, the first day of the second test yielded some excitement and atmosphere as the Aussies got skittled out for one of their lowest scores in a while.
You may recognise the face of Mark Nicholas, who must be the jammiest smarmy average former county cricket player in the world, covering TV cricket summers in Australia and England and doing a bit of eating on a cooking show in between. I bet he was on a good boat in the harbour for New Year’s Eve as well!The cricket signalled pretty much the end of the holidays, with just another wonderful brunch at Globe in Coogee to see me on my way back to Canberra. It was as usual a pretty boring, but pleasingly quick drive and I arrived back to warmth and sunshine as if the summer had instantly returned following yesterday‘s all round Englishness (weather and batting totals). Another Aussie Christmas goes by (my third one!) and I’m still waiting for a scorching beach version. Christmas in the summer is all a bit odd but at the same time there is much of appeal about it. The washing line which now contains five pairs of shorts drying in the Canberra sun is testament to that - it was still pretty warm and there were some top top days. And like Christmas everywhere, there was no shortage of excess - too much food, too much drink, too much hit the thong (flip flop) game. While the food may decrease slightly, the good thing about an Aussie Christmas is that the summer is set to go on and we have more things to look forward to - like Australia Day, hopefully more pummelling of Aussie batsmen, and the continuation of light evenings, shorts and thongs. As for 2010, she’ll be right.
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