Settling into Sydney life and trips to Cape Town and Northern Queensland
Priceless Moments
2007 in more detail
2007 has not been quite as eventful as
2006 on the experience front but that's hardly suprising considering we were not travelling for 6 months of it! It certainly has had its fair share of highlights though.
Work
On the work front, 2007 was a year of knuckling down and often (certainly in the first half of the year) putting in long hours. Not that work was all slog and no play. We
merged with Ixion to form "Blackglass" and I got to enjoy a whole new bunch of
zany work mates - and we had some really
hilarious moments. The Christmas
party was also a lot of fun. As was our
Melbourne Cup lunch.
The work itself also had its fun sides. The project I think I enjoyed most was developing
Fabricmatcher - a one stop shop for designing quilts and dresses online. Other memorable clients included Dulux, Hansons, La Trobe University, Virtual Medical Centre, Hot Dockets and Spring Day.
Another aspect of work I enjoyed tremendously (believe it or not!) was the daily commute. Getting the
the ferry to Darling Harbour provided a wonderful low stress way of getting to and from work with
beautiful sunsets thrown in. And being situated right in the centre of town was a great
lifestyle location close to lots of lunch spots and camera shops (for lots of browsing and occasional buying).
Fireworks
The year began with an enormous bang with some wonderful
New Year's fireworks at Mc Mahon's Point (enjoyed in style from the comfort of Blues Point Towers) and we had lots of fun with Doug, Claudia and Matt.
Later on in the year, we also got to enjoy the
Australian Idol Fireworks over the Sydney Opera House. Beautiful.
Living at Mc Mahons Point
We have really enjoyed living in our flat at Mc Mahons Point - and particularly sharing it with wonderful Kerry who moved to Sydney in March. Mc Mahon's location is pefect, 3 minutes from the ferry landing, with access to beautiful
picnic spots on the lawn , close to the Opera House (by
day and
night) and
Luna Park and a beautiful
public pool for swimming.
It is also close to where the action is, be it views of the
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary when they came to stay, the festivities of the
Harbour Bridge's 75th birthday . And to finish things off:
friendly parrots who eat from our hands from the kitchen window.
Doug and Claudia
Talking of Doug and Claudia; they have been wonderful friends. Early in the year, we spent an awesome 3 days with them
houseboating on the Hawkesbury River. We also
weekended at Hunter Valley where we pigged out on wine, cheese and delicious chile pickle. We had a relaxing day on their
new Tinnie but didn't have much luck in the fishing department!
It was very special to celebrate
Mother's Day with the Fletchers and it was particularly sad and poignant for us when Doug's mum
passed away from cancer later in the Year. We will always remember her very fondly as our "mum away from home" and memories of our
yacht trip and
Xmas 2005 will always be fondly remembered.
We were delighted for Doug and Claudia when their first child,
little Lucas was born - what a cutie he is.
Brendan and Eva
2007 was the year that
Bendan and Eva arrived in Sydney , much to our delight. We enjoyed many a delicious meal at their beautiful place in Mosman, celebrated the
victory of the Springboks in the Worldcup Rugby (Go Bokke!) and I got to take some photos of Rebecca, Abigale and Ella at
Manly and the beach at
Mosmon.
One of my favourite moments was trying out the wine that Brendan and Eva made on their farm in Melbourne the year before last. Delicious it was. Ally also got to introduce Eva to beading and she
became a convert. Eva now has her
own blog using blogger. Good to know I'm in good company! Ella is as cute as ever and we got to share some
fun swims.
Visitors to Sydney
We were also very excited when Dorothy from Volvo
came to stay . With her, we enjoyed the Manly Scenic Walk, the beauty of Rose Bay, Yum Chow in China Town and the Sidney Fish Market. It was great to see Dorothy again.
2007 was also the year that Roger (Boet) and Lucy came to stay. They are based in Melbourne. On their visit to Sydney, we enjoyed an outing to
Manly and had dinner at the revolving
Tower Restaurant . What an excellent meal it was and the 360 degree views were superb.
Family Events
There were also some big life events for our family in Cape Town this year. Sammy started
"big school" and looked cute as a button in her school uniform. We were very excited to be in Cape Town in April when Sam had her
Brats birthday party. Mike was re-united this year to
his family and he got to see his grandkids - very special. Also
Rolo joined the family and
grew very fast . Mum and Mike
moved to their new flat - and are comfortably settled after some initial hiccups. Poor Robyn had a tough time this year with injured shoulder and wrist. We hope 2009 is a much better year for her! On the London front,
Bronwyn and Mark got married this year and we are delighted for them.
Our visit to Cape Town
While we were in Cape Town, we also attended
Colleen and Steve's wedding. It was a very special event and we are delighted for them both. Before flying back, I also got to climb
Myburgh's Ravine with my best mate, Russel, who we miss terribly. Russel had an interesting year as always, starring in
Hollywood movies and
leaping in Lesotho . He has now
moved to London to be re-united with Colleen and Steve and Dave, to mention but a few.
Sport - or lack of it
On the sport front this year, we attended a few games at the Sydney Stadium including the
Sydney Swans verse the West Coast Eagles and the
TriNations . Then of course there was our glorious
World Cup Rugby win.
From an exercise year, 2007 was a rather sedentary year. I joined gym but never really got into it. I bought a bike but have not ridden it much. Towards the end of the year, I took up
paddle skiing and that's been more of a success. I'm enjoying it immensely.
Outings around Sydney
We had several fun outings too as we explored Sydney and her surrounds. Our walk from
Bondi Beach to Coogee was awesome. There was our trip to the
Blue Mountains where we had our memorable view of The Three Sisters. We visited the beautiful
Bobbin Head,
Palm Beach and the
Cumberland State Forest. Also
Deep Creek ,
Bicentennial Park and
two trips to the wonderful Royal National Park. We also enjoyed the
Sydney Noodle Market and North Sydney
movie festival. And there were some photographic safaris to
Taronga Zoo. Not to mention a fantastic (if rather nausea inducing)
Pelagic trip to see Petrels and Albatrosses and a great weekend in
Capertee Valley.
Holiday
We had a wonderful holiday to
North Queensland this year - an idyllic two weeks of birding, exploring forests and mangroves, resting and lazing on the beach.
Nostalgia
2007 was a year of nostalgia and special memories. Mum found a whole stack of
letters from childhood and
old essays which are now on the blog. Also, we had
Gramp's war stories transcribed. Not to mention the fact that I got in touch with a whole bevvy of old class mates and friends through
Facebook which grew like wildfire this year.
House Hunting
We did lots of house hunting - must have seen over 75 houses on an array of Saturdays. The perfect house (Number 57!) came along but we were not quick enough in putting in an offering - gutting. Since then we have not found the right one. We'll be continuing to look in 2008.
Entertainment
On the entertainment side
Potter mania ruled this year. We got to read JK Rowlings final book and it did not disappoint. We also watched the
5th movie. A big highlight was our enjoyment of the musical,
Priscilla Queen of the Desert . What a fun show - one we can heartily recommend! We also went to some great parties at friends - the most memorable was our
Bogan party.
Xmas 2007
We spent
Xmas with our Australian family in Brisbane.
Wildlife and Nature Outings
Life Goals Achieved this Year
Favourite Movies
- The Prestige
- Into the Wild
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Children of Men
- The Illusionist
- Apocolypso
Favourite Reads
- Lee Child's Jack Reacher series (brilliant!)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (JK Rowling)
- Cider House Rules (John Irving)
Looking Ahead-
We are looking forwards to a great 2008, particularly our trip to New Zealand in March with Mum and Mike.
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