Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Melbourne Cup awaits

Very little to report again. I'll have to start getting out of Sydney for the weekends. Not much happens bar the surf which is great provided I don't kill anyone. Was in Bronte last weekend where the waves were unbelievable but impossible to control yourself on them. I narrowly avoided 2 swimmers and 2 surfers. With those near misses I decided it would be safer to head back for Bondi. Patrick if you're reading this you're dead right that I need to surf the white at the front instead of going out back. Was much more productive. Other than that the usual visits to the Tea Gardens and the Cock and Bull with a trip to the Coogee Bay thrown in for a bit of variety. Also went to Sydney FC on Sunday. They were playing top of the table Central Coast who they beat 3-2. Juninho was hopeless but Michael Bridges looked handy. Sydney just recently got a new manager so they were trying to impress the new guy. They're no Pats. Ah but seriously it's a decent enough level of football. Aloisi was playing for Central Coast. A few photos from the game and the usual from the Cock and Bull.

Hopefully I'll have more cultural photos after this weekend when we do the Great Ocean Road. Currently at good, has to prove it's worth at being great. The Melbourne Cup is on Tuesday as well. All tips are welcome.

Here are the photos:
Sydney FC

Monday, October 15, 2007

Centennial Park

Haven't much to report. I bought a surf board the weekend before last and I had to get a wetsuit before I got stung by a blue bottle. They're in when the wind is blowing on shore. At the weekend went to the womens pro surfing in South Curl Curl near Manly. They were very good. Sunday went to Centennial Park for horse riding. We headed to the Sydney Tower in the evening for our anniversary. I'm sure this makes very interesting reading so maybe the photos will do more justice:

CurlCurlCentennialMercantile

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Killer Magpies

Australian Magpies

Port Stephens

Port Stephens was amazing at the weekend. Maps here:
Map of Port Stephens

The beaches here are fantastic and the weather was amazing. Port Stephens is more an area than an actual place. We had rented an apartment for the long weekend in an area called Nelson Bay which seems to be the main area. We rented it with Catherine from Kilcrohane and John from Kealkil, places otherwise known as Cork. We only arrived at about 11 on Friday night so had a quiet one.

Saturday we strolled down to the marina post breakfast of course and we decided to do a Whale Watching cruise. We saw a couple of dolphins early on but by god was the sea rough and not a sign of a Whale. Everyone felt a but queazy and were delighted to be back in after the 3 hours. We were told that a sighting was made through the binoculars but that it dived and swam off.

Sunday we did a tour of the beaches. One Mile beach was the best by far. It was great to get a bit of surfing in here as well. Swell was poor but did get to stand up on the board which was brilliant.

Sunday did the climb up to a lookout which had great views of the whole area. Also had a surf followed by walking over sand dunes. The photos do more justice than my descriptions ever will.

This area is fantastic for scenery. Although the nightlife is poor the scenery more than makes up for it.

You'll be excited to learn that I met Blake from Home and Away over here. I don't remember him but the girls recognised him. He's not impressed being asked about his fame. When I asked was it him he replied "That was a long time ago". I got out of there before it got ugly. Also I got attacked by a magpie cycling in on Friday and I was told today that a smaller bird was thinking about it today but thought better of it. By the way the magpies over here are much bigger. With this going on I think I might be safer not wearing a helmet.

By the way who is looking at this blog from Gawler, SA. Sure post a comment.

Here's the photos:
Port Stephens