A VERY SPECIAL OCCASION

Phew! We've just returned from Sydney where we spent a week to celebrate the marriage of our son Brett to his lovely partner, Sarah.

(The view from our apartment of Hyde Park)

The wedding took place in the courtyard of the Mint, the oldest building in Sydney.

It was a lovely occasion with the weather being very kind - not too hot or cold, morning showers clearing so that the outdoor ceremony could take place as planned in the late afternoon.

The bride looked absolutely stunning.

So did the groom !

With both of them around 6 foot they made a very handsome couple don't you think ?

Mum and Dad made the trip down from Hervey Bay with my brother and his partner making the trip possible for them.

It was a lovely, happy family occasion.

The celebrations continued the next morning with a lovely ( guilty) brunch in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. 

Yum !!!

Back home now and back to the diet !

Cheers.

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY - 100 TH ANNIVERSARY

 

This is a photo of just a small section of the crowd that lined every vantage point of Sydney's beautiful harbour to watch the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Navy.

 

Yes, our navy is only 100 years old !

Reminds you what a young country Australia is doesn't it ?

From the Sydney Daily Telegraph:

CAPTAIN Arthur Phillip's eyes must have widened to the size of dinner plates when he sailed through Sydney Heads in February 1788 - the first European sailor to glimpse the world's most spectacular harbour where "a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security".

It certainly was the place to celebrate this milestone anniversary.

A huge flotilla took part in yesterday's salute including a replica of Captain Cook's " Endeavour"

 

 

photographed here earlier in the week passing under the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

 

Tall ships joined the huge lineup of RAN ships making up the Naval Fleet Revue

 

while RAN planes and helicopters filled the sky and small boats buzzed around the bigger ships like bees.

 

Joining our newly elected Prime Minister and Governor-General was this chap,

 

on his best behaviour.

 

An Aussie favourite, his visit was very short - just 36 hours -

 

but the Prime Minister's family

 

 and a few other Aussies managed to meet him before he jetted off to Perth this morning.

 

Last night's fireworks and laser display was wonderful with the sails of the Opera House being used as a screen where the history of the navy was played out in words and pictures all accompanied by a stirring musical score that included The Last Post and the Australian Anthem sung by a female member of the navy.

Well done Sydney

 and Happy 100th Birthday RAN.

 

Cheers.

all photos today from the Internet.

A GOOD START TO THE YEAR !!

Tuesday, 1st January dawned bright and sunny on the east coast of Australia.

 

A perfect day to spend at the beach

basking in the sun

and cooling off in the sparkling blue water.

 

That's what 40 000+ people were doing today at Bondi beach, Sydney.

 

 

That is until the shark alarms went off at 4:15pm and all those people fled from the water.

 

 

It's an eerie sight to see no-one swimming  - in fact hardly anyone has even a toe in the water !!!

 

A surf patrol boat was doing a routine surveillance run up the coast when the lifesavers on board thought they saw a large shark off Bondi Beach.

 

The all clear was finally given at 4:40pm when swimmers we once again allowed into the water.

 

Bet they all stayed close to the shore !!

 

Cheers.

 

You can read about it here

JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

It's a lovely frosty morning here in Brisbane ( no, not literally frosty, we don't have that very often, probably somewhere around 11 or 12 degrees) - and I've been cuddled down under my lovely doona thinking.
You know how you just lie there and your mind wanders around in the fuzzy warmth, flitting from subject to subject in a meandering sort of way while you revel in just enjoying the morning with no pressure to leap up and DO things.
I've been contemplating how things can change.
One minute your life is just mooching along.
 Nothing much happening - housework, job, visiting friends, going out for meals, family dinners, gardening ...............
Then suddenly wham !

That's what it's been like here.
I guess with three parents over 90 it had to come  - and come it has!

First with Dad and his heart - happily that has all settled down for now . He's back to tootling along and enjoying his days at the Retirement Village with Mum and, for them, life is good.

But things have gone rapidly down hill with the other 91 year old and we've had a month of daily visits, doctors, multiple phone calls every day ( many of them at all hours of the day and night and very delusional ) all culminating in what will probably be a prolonged, unhappy stay in hospital while we wait for relocation to a Nursing Home ( head for the hills when THAT subject is broached !!).

The phone calls still come at all hours of the day and night  ( from the phone beside the bed !!!) and it is all very stressful to say the least.

So yesterday it was time for a break.
And the only way to do that was to leave town !
We flew to Sydney ( about 600 miles away) to visit (our son) Brett and Sarah for lunch.
We pretended they lived just on the other side of Brisbane and took ourselves off to have the day with them.
Lovely!
The weather was cool and sunny.
We grabbed breakfast at the airport

(the usual airport food !)

and arrived in Sydney at 10:30am to clear sunny weather and temperatures around 21 degrees C.
Lunch was late - too much chattering and playing with his dear little dogs ! - but delicious Thai which is our favourite.
It was a day for trying new things so we ordered soft shell crab for an entree. I'm not very good at eating whole animals. I prefer them cut up into pieces so that I am not reminded of the whole beast and I have never been able to eat things like a baby octopus, but today was the day.
It helped that the crab was covered in a very light batter which sort of blurred its shape ...
but I have to report it was  delish ! ( sorry no photos, we were too engrossed in the experience !)

After a lovely lunch we moved from the Thai restaurant to a place called Cheeky Chocolate across the way for coffee and dessert.

Are you loving the sound of this day?

Doesn't it sound like just the thing to do after a stressful month?

Now the place we went to - the Cheeky Chocolate - is a specialist dessert cafe run by a wonderful chef  (Adriano Zombo )  featured on Australian Masterchef two years ago.

This is heart attack territory folks.

 Sugar overload !! But what a way to go !

We tried another first  ....... macaroons! 

Yes there were 10 of them and 4 of us !
salted caramel, orange chocolate, raspberry chocolate, banana passionfruit
and just plain chocolate

salted caramel !!!!!

Oh lordy, lordy!

We had a lovely break.
The kids are great and life is going well for them.
It was delightful to spend a relaxing day with them and have a few laughs.

Back to the airport ( Sydney traffic is never ending ) , a few hot chips and a softdrink  ( thought we'd finish ourselves off with a dose of fat and salt !)  then back in Brisbane by 8:15pm.

A Lovely day !

The crazy phone calls started again at 8 o'clock this morning.
Hey -ho !