Kangaroo Valley

For the Queen’s Birthday long weekend we decided to go to Kangaroo Valley which is just over two hours south of Sydney.   We left Friday after work and decided to stop in Mittagong for dinner.  We stopped at Esco Pazza a little Italian restaurant.  It reminded me so much of Squan Tavern at home.  The food was delicious and after dinner we continued on our way to Kangaroo Valley. 

 

Since we arrived quite late we had to collect our keys via the after hour key collection option.  Well that was quite an adventure.  The directions we received to pick up the keys were like a clue you would receive on the Amazing Race.  They read something like this : “ Facing the Friendly Inn Hotel, walk past the Nostalgia Factory shop and walk to the back of the car park and turn left in front of the Nursery.  You will then locate a verandah at the back of the building and you should walk up those stairs.  Next to the stairs are two electricity meter boxes which will contain the envelope with your keys”.  Now mind you we are in the middle of nowhere so it is pitch black so this key collection was only made possible with the assistance of a torch (a flash light for my North American readers)! Once we secured the keys we made our way to the Sweet Gum House- our holiday home for the weekend.  

We were welcomed with open arms by two to three frogs in the toilet!  Four city girls plus frogs in the house equals screaming and laughing and a call to the after hour emergency line which was useless.  They told us to catch the frogs in a plastic bag.  However, the frogs seem to have disappeared on their own, but it was quite the entertaining start to the weekend.  Once we got over the frog situation, it was time for Emily to blow out her birthday candles for her first Australian birthday!

Our adventure on Saturday involved a bike ride through the beautiful Kangaroo Valley.  The Tour de Kangaroo Valley was approximately 28 kilometers per the man at the bike rental shop.  Throughout our bike ride we saw a plethora of cows but no wombats even though there were wombat crossing signs galore.  There was one kangaroo sighting from afar but nothing clear and distinct.  After our bike ride we just relaxed and played Skip-bo – a card game.  We made a nice pasta dish for dinner and watched Chocolat.  

Who knew that the Shoalhaven  Coast Winter Wine Festival was happening this weekend!  We meandered around four wineries on Sunday before driving back to Kangaroo Valley taking in the beautiful sunset.  Sunday evening was spent playing Monopoly and going out to a nice dinner!  Congrats to Maria on building a monopoly!  

To break up the drive back to Sydney we stopped in Wollongong at one of the largest Buddhist temples in the Southern Hemisphere.  After touring around the temple grounds we treated ourselves to a little waffle and ice cream dessert at Sugar Cube.  And it was delicious or as the sign on the wall said…”Wafflelicious!” 

And by the time we got back to Sydney dusk was approaching and it was the last night of Vivid Sydney.  So to cap off an already wonderful weekend I just had to see Vivid in action one more time at the bridge and Opera House!

Pumpkin Treats Because It's Winter

Last November we imported in three cans of Libby's pumpkin pie mix for Thanksgiving at a price that shall not be disclosed.  At the time we didn't realise they were the extra large cans - 29 ounces! 

You'd be amazed at what can be made with 29 ounces of pumpkin.  

Since the first day of winter was just five days ago we thought it would be appropriate to open our last can of pumpkin to help us get in the winter spirit (mind you it was about 70 degrees today!).  Plus it would create some tasty treats to celebrate Emily's birthday on our upcoming long weekend trip for the Queen's Birthday to Kangaroo Valley. 

In case you didn't think it was possible, in just under five hours with 29 ounces of pumpkin it is possible to make :

• Three traditional pumpkin pies
• Six mini pumpkin tarts (only three in the picture as I ate three along the way!)
• One dozen pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
• Two and a half dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
• And.....
• A very very very messy kitchen using almost every bowl, measuring cup, measuring spoon, and inch of counter space I have!  But the taste is worth it!

Happy Winter!

Vivid Sydney

Vivid Sydney is a festival of light and music.  From 24 May through 10 June Sydney is transformed into a beautiful canvas of colour.  

The first area of colour we saw was Darling Quarter and Darling Harbour.  The display at Darling Quarter was called Luminous.  It is the worlds largest interactive LED display showcased on the Commonwealth Bank building.  In Darling Harbour is the Vivid Aquatique display.  It is a water theatre of light and music inspired by the fountains of Versaille in Paris.  The theme was Dance Around the World and there were light projections of all different types of dance set to beautiful music.  Also in Darling Harbour leading to Pyrmont was the Night Blossom display.  Twinkle lights adorned the trees on the foot bridge to Pyrmont.  

Circular Quay is encircled with vivid light displays.  Everything is lit up – The Custom’s House, The Circular Quay Train Station, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Opera House, and of course the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The array of colours is just amazing.  The display on the art museum was my favourite.  

Customs House

Circular Quay

 

Museum of Contemporary Art

Where is Nemo?

The Rocks also have quite a few colorful displays to take in.  

We took the long walk home Friday night from Circular Quay through the Walsh Bay Finger Wharfs.  It was so delightful to walk along the finger wharfs as it was much less crowded than the Circular Quay area yet the light displays were just as beautiful.  

Sunflowers in the Rocks

Luckily we saw all of this on Friday night before the wicked winter rains came.  It rained non stop until Sunday evening just before our Vivid Sydney Harbour Cruise.  

There were some short rain storms on the cruise but overall we managed to stay fairly dry and captured vivid scenes of the Harbour Bridge and city.

 

Ten Month Catch Up

Well let’s see..it’s been about ten months.  

So August and September 2012 were busy with work.  This was around the time Wendy, Louisa, and I started having Taco Tuesday’s to give us something to look forward to every week.  

The first weekend of October was Labour Day weekend.  It was my first visit to Balmain and it was beautiful day as Spring started to show its face.  A view of Balmain from the ferry.

Towards the end of October we went to Brisbane.  We went rock climbing and night kayaking on the Brisbane River.  We also explored South Bank and the Botanical Gardens.  It was a bit cloudy on the day we left Brisbane but here is the river we kayaked on.

The first weekend of November was Sculpture by the Sea.  All along the Bondi to Coogee walk were amazing art displays. 

 

 November  also brought our first annual Australian Thanksgiving dinner.  Josh roasted a turkey for us and Wendy made some fantastic mashed sweet potatoes!  And we even imported in some Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Mix so we could have a proper dessert!  Since we had to work on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday we treated ourselves with a trip to the Hunter for the weekend.  And as summer was just around the corner it was a beautiful hot weekend for touring the vineyards.  

And after waiting five months from when we left the states in the summer it was finally our turn to have summer.  Summer began on the 1^st of December.  It was beautiful out.  Looking at all of the Christmas lights on Town Hall and St. Mary’s Cathedral in sundresses and flip flops was just lovely!  

Then on the 21^st of December I began my journey to reveal a huge secret to America.  In October I decided I wanted to go home for Christmas so I told my dad and that was it.  We decided to surprise everyone.  And it turned out to be amazing.  Due to flight delays I landed in Newark pretty late and by the time we got home to Brielle it was too late to wake my mom up so I went to bed in my bedroom without her knowing.  Then in the morning I walked down the stairs for the biggest surprise ever.  She was thrilled.  I continued to surprise friends and family and it was so fun.  

 After a week of winter it was time to fly back to summer and the iconic New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney. 

Rachel, Iz, and I took the ferry to Goat Island to see the spectacular celebration.  We packed a picnic dinner and dessert to enjoy while we waited for the 9pm fireworks and then the midnight ones.  It was an amazing sight to see – unlike anything I’ve seen before! 

We still had one more mandatory week off from work and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.  It was mid-summer and it was hot hot hot.  A lot of time was spent at the pool and eastern suburb beaches.  Wendy and I also took a trip up to Palm Beach and the sights to see were lovely. 

The last weekend of January was the Australia Day long weekend.  We took a trip up to Port Macquarie where it rained the whole time.  We managed to make the best of it with a walk through the rain forest in the rain and a quick visit to a koala hospital.  

Not much to report for February but March was a big month.  Bruce Springsteen came to Oz and had three shows in Sydney.  We  went to the concert on Monday night and had such a good time that we ended up buying tickets for Friday night as well.  Friday night’s show was amazing…fourth row and Born in the USA! 

A few days later we saw Zac Brown Band and Jason Mraz.  ZBB was great…Mraz..interesting.  Easter fell at the end of March into April so we took advantage of the four day weekend and headed down to Tasmania.  

There were about a dozen of us in Tasmania-  Louisa, Wendy, and Wendy’s UNC connections.  We arrived in Launceston on Good Friday and headed straight for a guided tour of some wineries.  On Saturday we drove to the Bay of Fires to explore the beautiful coast lines. 

 On Easter Sunday Liz gave us a proper Easter Egg Hunt.  Following breakfast we drove down to Freycint National Park for a hike down to Wineglass Bay.   

After a quick hour of relaxing on the beach we drove down to Hobart.  In Hobart we went to the Mona Museum.  Before heading to the airport we took a quick drive up to the top of Mt. Wellington where we were lucky enough not to blow away.  The wind was strong and the temperature dropped to about 8 degrees!  

April was a month of travel.  A mere couple weeks after returning from Tasmania, Wendy, Louisa and I took our very first quick trip to the Northern Territory.  We flew out to Ayers Rock to see Uluru.  The quick trip involved a walk around the base track of Uluru, the view of the sunset at Uluru, and a Camel ride!  

A few days after coming back from the Northern Territory we flew out to Bali for an extra-long weekend.  Bali was all about rest and relaxation and it was well deserved for us auditors as the end of April was a very busy time for us.  Our first full day was spent entirely at the spa.  We went on a boat trip the next day and snorkeled  the reef.  On Saturday morning we rested at the pool until taking an afternoon trip to a temple where we watched a traditional Balinese dance.  We took the red eye home on Sunday night so we spent Sunday relaxing at the pool and beach.  

May began with us saying goodbye to our Louisa and welcoming in our new friend Emily, another fellow auditor.  Louisa’s farewell was at the Opera Bar so she could take in the sights of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge one last time. 

 

 May was also Wendy’s birthday!  To make her

birthday more like home I arranged for her favourite cake from home to make its way here and it was a great surprise!