Before we came out numerous people warned us about deadly snakes, deadly sharks, deadly crocodiles, deadly jellyfish and deadly spiders in out here. And yes all these things do exist, and I might be tempting fate here, but we haven't seen a single one of them in the wild - never mind been threatened by one! The fact is that we're spending the vast majority of our time in a major city and creepy crawlies don't like cities. Of course everyone likes to talk about their close encounters or about a friend of a friend who rescued his son from the grips of a python .... or whatever. And we did have a large (harmless) Huntsman spider in the house a couple of months ago. But I'm beginning to wonder if it's all a fuss about nothing. That said, it strikes me that these posts can't be deleted once they've been published ........ so I could be setting myself up for an embarrassing backtrack if we're attacked next week.
We were away on a camping trip in Jarvis Bay last weekend. It's a popular destination about 3 hours south of Sydney. The beaches have the whitest sand in Australia (it's in the Guinness Book of Records apparently) and go on for miles, so it's obvious why it's so popular. Part of the reason for the trip was to try out snorkeling - we bought all the kit while we were down there but things didn't quite go to plan. Turns out that facial hair doesn't help in forming a seal between skin and mask. Drastic measures may need to be taken! Here's a short set of photos from the trip.
The snorkeling is a prelude to scuba diving as we've been bought gift tokens for a local dive school (birthday presents from the Smith family back home - thanks folks!). If the snorkeling goes well the plan is to upgrade to the full scuba course and give that a serious try. It could prove to be just one of many new experiences we're picking up here.
Wednesday 26 February 2014
Wednesday 19 February 2014
A holiday every weekend.
Both Ros and myself have been working for a few months now so we're over the new, eager to get started phase. Consequently the working week has become fairly routine on a day to day basis. It's compounded by the fact that it's now dark well before 8 on an evening so there's only so much you can fit in to it.
On the other hand, come 4 o'clock on a Friday the weekend starts! We're conscious that we only have 2 years here and there's so much to do, so many places to see - and that gives us the impetus to just get on with it. Invariably we do something different each time, often visiting two or three places over the weekend. So much so that we have to pinch ourselves, every so often, just as a reminder that we're not on holiday. The downside to all this is that every Monday morning we get that post holiday slump we all suffer from...... but every week!! C'est la vie.
Photos from the last few weekends here: Sydney Feb 14
On the other hand, come 4 o'clock on a Friday the weekend starts! We're conscious that we only have 2 years here and there's so much to do, so many places to see - and that gives us the impetus to just get on with it. Invariably we do something different each time, often visiting two or three places over the weekend. So much so that we have to pinch ourselves, every so often, just as a reminder that we're not on holiday. The downside to all this is that every Monday morning we get that post holiday slump we all suffer from...... but every week!! C'est la vie.
Photos from the last few weekends here: Sydney Feb 14
Monday 10 February 2014
Backpacking and cycling.
Niall has spent the last couple of weeks in Coffs Harbour-a working holiday you might say. He's been staying in a back packers hostel - music, beers, bbq's by the beach and the company of people less than 50! Needless to say he's enjoying the experience. but the trip was partly prompted by his frustration of not finding work in Sydney so he's also been fruit picking up there. He came back to Sydney yesterday but the plan is to go off again some time soon and break things up that way.
The result of Niall's absence is that I've been without my training partner so I've finally joined the local cycling club. Peleton Sports describe themselves as a recreational club which suits me fine as I've promised Ros I won't be racing here - we just have too much to fit into our two precious years. The set up is reminiscent of the Ilkely CC in that there are several hundred members and it has a family vibe to it with a good number of women and youngsters out on the rides. We meet at seven in the morning on a weekend but with so many members there are several rides going out, according to ability and ambition. The fast group do a regular 50-60 mile on a Saturday with a few 2-3k climbs and descents up by the coast - fantastic in a 30 up group. And all this in time to get back home and in the pool by ten. It came as a bit of a shock that I was struggling with the pace on the first ride last week. It shouldn't have - it occurred to me that it was the first group ride I'd done for 6 months. I've got some work to do!
The result of Niall's absence is that I've been without my training partner so I've finally joined the local cycling club. Peleton Sports describe themselves as a recreational club which suits me fine as I've promised Ros I won't be racing here - we just have too much to fit into our two precious years. The set up is reminiscent of the Ilkely CC in that there are several hundred members and it has a family vibe to it with a good number of women and youngsters out on the rides. We meet at seven in the morning on a weekend but with so many members there are several rides going out, according to ability and ambition. The fast group do a regular 50-60 mile on a Saturday with a few 2-3k climbs and descents up by the coast - fantastic in a 30 up group. And all this in time to get back home and in the pool by ten. It came as a bit of a shock that I was struggling with the pace on the first ride last week. It shouldn't have - it occurred to me that it was the first group ride I'd done for 6 months. I've got some work to do!
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