3 days in Currumbin on the Gold Coast

Hey everyone, Emily again. We have been staying on the Gold Coast for three days since we flew in from Sydney on Friday afternoon. The house we are staying in is amazing, with balconies and fab views of the beach. The people we are staying with are also really nice, there is a picture of Andrew at Byron Bay, and we have had lots of hospitality and great food since we arrived, with Sophie's delicious salad making a constant appearance at the dinner table. We've all tried to surf, but now our muscles ache, my fingers and knees are rubbed raw, and only dad managed to stand up. I did sort of kneel up though, so I'm quite proud of myself! Luckily, we don't have any pics of surfing, but there are some of me and mum swimming at Byron Bay.
Emily xxxx

Monet and Impressionists

Went to the Monet and The Impressionists touring collection at the Art Gallery in Sydney - great to see the paintings close up - Emily would like to visit Monet's garden sometime.
Loads of other interesting stuff

Sydney Museum Contemporary Art

Went to the Contemporary Art Museum last week, and were really knocked out by the Yinko Shinobare exhibits - interesting stuff by younger artists also

Its not quite summer yet!

Really cold today - windy and pouring it down so hunkered in by the fire!

Sydney Harbour Tidal Pool

Yesterday we went to a tidal pool near where we are staying. We had to get there at high tide because it gets grungy at low tide. The pool is built in a bay and as the water comes in the harbour, it fills the pool up. The bottom of the pool is just the bottom of the bay, so it is sandy and at all different levels. We could see fish and sea weed underneath us as we swam. When I got out, I noticed a large flat fish and some harmless jellyfish too. Glad I didn`t see them when I was swimming!
The pool was virtually empty because people don`t usually come until November when it has warmed up. (Once again, the British resilience to the cold wins the day!)
I got a splinter and a very nice young male lifeguard pulled it out for me. Steve didn`t believe me when I said it was impossible to get it out myself!
The hat is coming very handy as you can see, Tim, Ali, Will and Dom!
Lots of Love
Lyn XXXXXX

Opera Weekend

We went to opera in the Vineyard this weekend
The vineyard was north west Sydney near an old mining community, and we arrived at this basic hotel place where everyone met and then went on a bus to the vineyard - a bit of a Blickling event. everyone had brought too much food and we ate as much as we could at the opera and took the rest back to the hotel where there was a bit of a party till late
We had a really lovely weekend - a friend of our friends had organised a group of about 20 people for the trip.
The music was brilliant - it was a top 20 most favourite arias kind of thing - and the singers just fantastic, also weather was perfect and it was hot for the whole weekend.
The next day we drove on the scenic route (and I mean scenic) it looked bit like settler ranches in old westerns as we drove down this long winding river valley - God knows how much some of the posh the places cost but there were also shacks and old tractors etc - we also drove through the national park for about 50k down a dirt track and some met at a pub for lunch and ate some of the rest of the food.
Written by Steve xxxx

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The Aquarium

Hey everybody, it's Emily, and this is my first (and probably only) blog entry so I hope it goes okay. We went to Sydney Aquarium two weeks ago, and these are some pictures. Some of them are a bit blurry, this is cos playpus and fish are incredibly hard to take pictures of as they swim past!

I, - as the person who took the most pictures at the aquarium - am the first person to attempt to upload videos into our blog, so here goes:

Here we are at Bondi Beach. As you can see, only one of us was brave enough to swim. It was fantastic surf, I will have to get a body board, it`s a lot of fun. There were quite a few ladies and gentlemen sunbathing and displaying good tans etc! However, it seems the water is too cold for a lot of people. Need some of the old Blighty spirit. What!
Anyway, the weather was great, the sand hot and the water refreshing. A good time was had by all.
Lyn XXXX

Sydney first stop

Hello everyone. Welcome to our first ever blog. Here are some of our photos. This is our first attempt at a blog entry, so I`m sure the layout will improve as we go! Has and Al are our wonderful friends who live in a suburb of Sydney. We have been staying with them since our arrival in Sydney. We stayed here when we came 9 years ago with the whole family. (I`m sure there will be scenes here that are familiar to you both, Jack and Harry.)
The first picture is Hal in their new kitchen cooking something delicious as usual.
The next two scenes are from Has and Al`s bedroom at sunset. Al is in one picture with me. Then one of Em watching a free film show in the park nearby. The council put two films on for the local community and lots of families came with their rugs, food and chairs. It was a gorgeous evening.
The next pictures are at a ferry stop. We catch the boat here to go into the main city of Sydney. There is a picture of Em with Has and Al`s daughter Charlie (on far right) and her friend Emily, who are very friendly and took us to the Museum of Contemporary Arts one Sunday. You can see Sydney Harbour Bridge in some of the backgrounds.
I`m going to post this now and find some more pictures to write about.
Love to you all Lyn xxxxx

Sailing in Sydney Harbour

The weekend we arrived we went out sailing with a friend of Has & Als in Sydney harbour - not much wind but we moored at Manly and listened to some of the Jazz festival from the boat