Castlemaine - 19th Jan to 10th Feb

Back in Castlemaine after our trip to Sydney, we have carried on enjoying the activities available locally. Liz has been getting involved with some drawing and felt making and she and Sarah attended a 3 day drawing technique class focussed on improving observation, by producing one A1 charcoal drawing of a large number of still life objects all mixed up together but studied in one small section at a time. Quite tough and intensive but they both learned a lot. Liz has also joined in with Sarah's singing and recorder groups, as well as local yoga sessions.

I had previously signed up for some didgeridoo lessons and learned to do the circular breathing with some success. Inspired by this I have started keyboard/piano lessons, which is something I had failed to do at home ever since I got my own keyboard many years ago. I have also had a couple of outings with a local off-road cycling group, who are friends of Sarah and mostly about same age as me. We are a strictly non-lycra-clad, multi-rest-stop, and finishing-at-the-cafe-for-lunch group. Having said that, the paths we go on are quite tough - winding through the trees, over logs, steep ups and downs, eyes on the path, so not much time to take in the surroundings, but it is good fun.

We have also met a number of Sarah and James' friends and visited the local cafes and cinema. All of this as well as the local shops have been in very easy reach of Sarah's house. Usually walking or cycling distance, so we have been enjoying not needing a car.

The trick will be to sustain some of these activities back home whilst back to working again.

The weather here has been quite kind to us and even then we have dodged the excessive heat by respectively being in New South Wales and Victoria at the right times. We have pretty much got used to living with the heat and the biting insects. Gnats and mosquitos seem to be around all day here, so it is not always pleasant to sit outside even when the temperature permits though there are places with less insects. We have learned the routine of keeping the heat and insects out of the house. More or less all the houses have insect screen doors and windows everywhere as well as the normal glass and wooden ones. Also blinds at all windows, so on hot days blinds have to be closed at all windows where the sun comes in which makes it rather dark inside but does stop the temperature going up too much. In the evening when the air cools the solid doors and windows can be opened but screen doors kept strictly shut to stop the bitey things coming in. We did notice this routine was much less necessary in Sydney where the air seemed fresher from all the waterways around and there seemed to be less insects.

Lately it has been cooler which makes the Australian people happy, but I have been finding it quite cold sometimes. Still hard to get used to people here referring to "bad weather" meaning hot. They worry and complain about the possibility of long periods of hot weather in the same way we do over wet or cold weather, but for myself I find the heat less bother than the complaining!

Next blog will be about our trip to Tasmania where we were from 11th to 19th Feb.

Sydney - 28th Dec 2009 to 18th Jan 2010 - PART 2

Following our trip to the Blue Mountains we stayed another 10 days with Nesta, during which we continued to enjoy staying at their house and visited some more of the local sights: beaches and coastal views and some nice walks in the parkland they overlook, as well as in the city.

Photo: Part of Darling Harbour, Sydney

View of Middle Harbour from the park near to Nesta's house and the park walk itself.

Visit to the famous Bondi beach - no surf - boohoo!

We also enjoyed the 'Art Gallery of NSW', the main art gallery in Sydney. Very well layed out with a great mixture of art without being muddled or overwhelming - although there was still too much to look at in one visit. It included some good examples of very old pieces from China, with descriptions that were much easier to understand (or believe) than those we saw in some Chinese museums.

Outside the gallery there were two very intriguing installations by Tatzu Nishi, based around the existing traditional huge bronze statues that flank the gallery entrance. He had built enclosures round each of them and created very real and detailed rooms inside, where parts of the statues could be seen in a VERY different context. This one is called 'War and peace and in between' !

We had another 2-night trip, this time down the coast a few hours to the South of Sydney staying at Bawley Point (between Ulladulla and Batemans Bay for those in the know). We stayed in another forest cabin, similar to the one we stayed in at Cape Conran in Victoria and explored the area.

We went down to Batemans Bay and intended to have a walk in the nearby forest park. After setting off from Bawley Point in a perfectly reasonable temperature and being in an air conditioned car, we did not notice that the outside temperature had soared to over 40C when we crossed the small range to get there. We opened the car doors at our planned walking spot and were nearly knocked out by the heat. The car said the outside temperature was 43C with a wind that made you feel hotter instead of cooler. It was quite impossible to walk anywhere and of course ideal conditions for forest fire as well. The picture here of Batemans bay was taken from this hot vantage point.

The following day was our last day and the temperature had dropped dramatically. As we went home the car now recorded a temperatures around 17C and it had become quite misty! It did mean we could have a walk before we left the area in a reserve by the coast, formerly an important food providing area for Aboriginal people, but now only occupied by historical information signs and these kangaroos and of course more birds.

Beach view near Bawley Point

Waterfall near Bundanoon - view after the temperature had dropped to 17C

Back in Sydney we continued to be spoilt by Nesta and Richard and explore the area. We took a trip up the Hawkesbury River which we had both been reading about in a novel called "The Secret River" by Kate Grenville, based on research of her ancestor who had settled there in 1817 after having been deported and worked off his time, but fictionalised to include a lot of typical events of the time. A very interesting account, starting with his career as a boatman on the Thames, conviction and deportation, pardon and rise to wealth on the Hawkesbury river running river transport to Sydney and back along with their struggle to survive and the inevitable conflict with the Aboriginal residents. It was very interesting to see the present day riverside settlements (as in picture) and in some cases how isolated they still are. Some accessible only by boat and other parts of the river still not occupied, and consequently looking just as they would have done when the first settlers took them over. The boat we travelled on was in fact the post boat which stills delivers to the riverside residents and businesses, so it stopped at various small quays all the way along the river.

As it might have appeared to the first Europeans to arrive in the river.

Waiting for the post to arrive on the Hawkesbury River.

As a final treat in Sydney we were taken to a show at the opera house called Optimism, which was a modern take on 'Candide' by Voltaire. The character of Candide was taken by Frank Woodley, who is half of a well known Australian former comedy double act 'Lano and Woodley' and played the part very well. We were not in the famous opera performance space but in the drama theatre on a lower floor, but it was really interesting to see the opera house close up and again afterwards in the dark all illuminated. We were able to walk around it and see the view over the harbour and the hundreds of people milling about in the bars and restaurants of the concourse below. A very impressive entertainment complex as well as national icon.