Enjoying a sense of peace one stitch at a time
This week’s theme is “Share ANY photo you’d like” so I’ve chosen a couple of photos from Santorini that I really love (they’re scans from the actual hard-copy photo so the clarify isn’t great, but I still love them). I’ve asked Mum to bring some of my other photos of Greece and Paris so I can scan them in and use them in the future (almost all of my old photos are still with my parents in New Zealand).
First of all, my apologies if this post is a bit ‘abrupt’, but I’m pretty shattered … I do want to put our ‘journey to bed’, though, so here goes …
The final expedition of Mum and I was last Tuesday – my final day of freedom before starting work on Wednesday … I was originally going to drive to Katoomba, but needed to drive to the train station to pick up a timetable and work out where I’ll need to park my car etc for the commute into the city. In the end we opted to take the train into Katoomba instead of driving – and I have to admit I do regret the decision! It would have taken us approx 1 to 1 1/2 hours to drive there, but instead we were on the train for almost 3 hours (there were some track works, it seems, which slowed things up a wee bit) – it was a lovely train trip, but very very loooooong. Coming home was a much shorter 2-hour trip!
I’m very glad we decided to head out there, though – I really wanted to take Mum to see Karen and the shop at Dragonfly Dreams (as well as being very keen myself to say “hi” in person). It was a very hot day, and Mum and I walked from the station to the shop … when we got there I was thrilled at what a wonderful haven Karen has put together – we loved every minute of being there! Karen was an exceptional hostess, and it is so easy to chatter away to her as if we’re long lost friends, instead of strangers … and every room we entered at Dragonfly Dreams I’d say “but wait, there’s more!!!” … every room hosted a treasure trove of goodies … sheer bliss to a stitcher’s soul! 😀
After spending a couple of hours with Karen, Mum and I headed off with goodies in hand to the end of the street where we were most impressed with the sight of the Three Sisters. Unfortunately by the time we got down there it was too late to do any of the tourist trips, but we enjoyed the scenery for a while before starting the arduous trek back to the train station again. Brenda has offered to go with me again one weekend to do the cable car trips with me … which is awesome!
Following are some photos of the Three Sisters – and the first one shows the cable that the cablecar travels over … with a glass bottom car!!! I might need a stiff drink to get into it, but it’s just gotta be done one day!! 😉
We got home around 8pm, and just had time to eat dinner before having to hit the hay for bed – and thus it has been ever since I’ve started work! On the previous weekend, though, I did actually have time to put a couple of stitches into fabric, and finally managed to finish off It’s Halloween by The Drawn Thread.
Here endeth the fun part of moving to Sydney … from now on the drudge begins … 😉
I’ll tell you about the arduous task of getting to and from work another day – ‘cos it’s now almost bedtime … already! 😦
Rightio, now where was I up to when I posted last??? Better go back in again and find out …
When we arrived in Bermagui, we decided to get a motel room as opposed to a cabin – and arrived just in time before the heavens opened up and it poured down with rain. There was a fish and chip shop/restaurant directly across the street from us, and once the rain eased off a bit we walked over to find at 7pm they were closed for takeaways … what the? Anyway, we then took a short stroll in the drizzling rain into the main township and found another place for fish and chips, so we decided to sit in and eat before heading back to the motel room. Unfortunately I personally have to say it was the worst fish I’ve had in years … it was marketed as Blue Grenadier, but when questioned what sort of fish that was we were told kiwis may know it as Hoki – I had reservations, as I was sure Hoki was one fish I’m not keen on, but ordered anyway … and was proven right, it was bl**dy horrible! The chips and salad were nice, though, and we still cleared our plates as we were so hungry – I definitely wouldn’t go back there again though 😦
The next morning we re-packed the car and had a quick look around the area of Bermagui. It is only a very small little hamlet, but very very pretty. Straight opposite the motel was the harbour of fishing boats (I won’t bore you with too many photos, but let’s just say I took a fair few photos haha), and it was a wonderful sight to see. After going photo mad for a while, we drove just around the corner to look back at Bermagui from the ocean inlet and took another photo.
From Bermagui we started our trek back up the coast again. We took a small detour just up the road to see Camel Rock – and spent a short time watching the surfers catching a few waves.
The next detour we took off the main highway was to go to Pebbly Beach – on a lengthy unsealed road, it was a lovely drive through Murramarang National Park to get there, and we had stopped and ate our ham-filled bread rolls under the trees. A friendly crimson rosella flew over to see what was on offer, but unfortunately we didn’t capture him on film as the camera was in the car. Anyway, I was thrilled when he hopped up on my knee, then started walking up my chest … I put my hand out and he sat there for ages … all the while trying to get my filled roll! We had fun watching him each a grape, then he pinched the last inch of my bread roll from my fingers, the little sod – it was great fun!! Not so great was when a great big black bird of the raven family started to try to do the same thing, and trying to take the entire bag of grapes … at that point I decided it was time to stand up and leave!! We did manage to see one female kangaroo and her joey near the beach, which Pebbly Beach is quite famous for.
In fact a great thrill for us on the whole trip was the different amount of native wildlife we saw on the way – we had an echidna, a wombat (unfortunately the victim of a car accident, I think, as it was laying on the side of the road with one paw up – I don’t think he was trying to hitch a ride), a snake (thankfully half-dead on the road, also the victim of a car), kookaburra, galahs, pelicans, rosellas, kangaroos, and koalas (Mum saw them while I was driving). It was wonderful!!
Anyway, after Pebbly Beach we pretty much drove straight up the coast, and just had a short stop in Woollongong. While we were driving we saw a wonderful temple on the skyline – when we saw tourist signs giving directions to get there, we thought “what the heck” and took a quick detour. I’m so very glad that we did!! What a gorgeous place – unfortunately the temple itself was due to close in a few minutes time, but we could still have a quick look at a small part of the gardens. I definitely want to go back again and spend more time there. They have a website, so you can see more of it there – it’s called the Nan Tien Temple, and it’s a Buddhist temple … it’s just exquisite!! 😀
It was then back on the road again – we looked at the map and decided it was easiest to miss the final hour of coastal driving into Sydney itself and headed over to the Hume Highway, as that then linked to the M7 which took us up to where Brenda and Nigel live. We arrived about 7pm, and after chatting for a while we popped around to the local Outback Restaurant where we had dinner. It was wonderful to see them again, and we’ve had a lovely week here with him so far. I’ll go more into what Mum and I got up to during our two days free before I started work in another post … right now I need to get dressed and head over to the other side of Sydney to look at a flat! 😀
Before I do anything else, let me post a piccie of Tannia, Mum, Fraze and Jason (and me) from our pub night out – for some reason WP won’t let me edit my last post whatsoever, so the formatting is totally screwed up, and a couple of piccies missing ho-hum …
Rightio, back to the story we go …
My final day at work in Melbourne was very very sad – I was mortified that the my fellow Hotliners had done a small collection for me (which never happens for a secondment as technically you’re not ‘leaving’) … so I was very unprepared when a sign went up saying the presentation for Anne was about to start … yikes!! I was so overcome emotionally I could hardly say anything, and got all teary-eyed. Their gift for me was perfect – I got given a book of Sydney street maps for driving (which was christened on my way into the city on Saturday night) and a $50 gift voucher from Visa so I can use it anywhere … to say I was stunned and touched is a definite understatement!!
Anyway, we didn’t do too badly by getting on the road by 1pm (I finished work around 12 noon, although I only answered about 4 phone calls all day – I brought mini chocolate bars in for everyone in the building and spent 2 hours walking round handing them out and saying farewells to everybody … gotta love that! haha). As we’d been up since just after 4am, we decided not to push things on the first day of the journey, and drove as far as Sale before stopping for a leg stretch and drink (I also paid my RACV membership which had expired and got printouts of a driving map for the next day). After that we just drove to Lakes Entrance, arriving around 6pm, where we paid for a cabin with ensuite at one of the Big4 Holiday Parks. We unpacked the car which was basically the entire back seat jam-packed right up to the top of the seat head rests haha, and then wandered over for a walk up the river inlet and over to the beach to see what “90 mile beach” looked like. It was nice and invigorating having that walk, as we’d been feeling like death warmed up just moments before being over-tired. We finished the day with a chicken salad and bottle of wine while watching So You Think You Can Dance on TV … and so endeth our first day travelling. One highlight of the day for me was seeing an echidna on the side of the road (alive).
Day 2 saw us driving up the coast with a bit of a side trip. I’d been advised Mallacoota was a nice spot to visit, and I have to say they weren’t wrong, but before we got there we took a side trip to Marlo … a very small and peaceful hamlet, we were thrilled to see our first pelicans in the wild when we drove down to the water’s edge. I got a bit camera happy there, but loved every minute of it. I have to say, too, I wish I’d had the guts to also take a photo of some of the local fisherman as they looked like they’d just walked off the set of Deliverance!! Picture the long flowing beards and look of Z-Z-Top, and you’d have the image perfectly created!!
After Marlo we drove on to Mallacoota – it was a fair detour off the main highway, but it was just lovely. It’s definitely somewhere I could have stayed a night or two and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the area. Here I found another stuffed duck to add to my collection (actually the dog here, Dusty, can obviously sniff out a ‘toy’ at 1000 paces ‘cos I caught him with his snout in the bag last night, with jaws around my poor duck – it’s now residing on a top shelf in the wardrobe away from his drooling jaws LOL), and I grabbed a cappuccino to take away so we could sit and have lunch and refreshments down on the lakefront watching yet more pelicans and their antics. They made me laugh when at one stage there were four of them lined up at the fishing station begging to be fed fish scraps – it was too funny!!
From Mallacoota we took one more quick detour before returning to the highway, to Gypsy Point – mentioned in the tourist info it’s supposed to be a great haven for bird lovers, and it was lovely and secluded with a small like in the bush setting … definitely a place to ‘get away from it all’ and relax. Here we managed to see some Galah’s up close (although they’re really common in Victoria too, Mum hadn’t seen them that close I don’t think).
After that we continued on hugging the coastline via Eden, Merrimbula, Perrimbula, and Tathra, before finally settling in at Bermagui for the night … but I’ll leave the tale there for another night, as it’s way past my bedtime before my alarm goes off at 5.50am tomorrow!
My next stop on my day out was Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens – I was getting peckish at this point, though, so opted to sit and have my own version of a Devonshire Tea (with coffee instead of tea) … the scones were delicious! And it gave me chance to chill out and relax while waiting for a schoolbus of noisy teenage school kids to leave – it’s amazing the peaceful hush that came over the gardens once they’d gone! 😉
There isn’t as much to see in these gardens as with The Enchanted Maze Garden, but it’s still a lovely garden to stroll around. They have a “Great Gnome Hunt” for kids, where they have to find the gnomes with red name tags somewhere in the gardens … a great way to keep them amused.
Once again, the gardens will look totally different when the summer flowers are in bloom – I can’t wait to see the Circular Rose Maze when the roses are out, as they just look like a garden of twigs right now! It didn’t stop me from taking squillions of photos, though, focusing on the different types of flowers that were in bloom, as well as a few of the gardens themselves.
There were lovely spots in the garden where you could sit down and while away the hours in abject peace and serenity – there were some gorgeous little nooks where I could easily have curled up with a book without a care in the world 🙂
It was lovely to see some of the spring blossoms starting to arrive on the trees, and also to see some spring bulbs in flower – I was especially thrilled to see bluebells popping up near the lily pond … they always remind me of England, walking through the local woods near home (one of the few memories I do have of my childhood).
I took a few photos of the lavender garden – there seem to be quite a few new plants, so it wasn’t as spectacular as it will be when they’re more established, but it was still lovely to walk through the garden, as they have it set out as a small maze. I’ve only chosen a couple of photos from the dozens I did take, but no doubt will use a couple in upcoming Photo Hunts (I have one of a bee resting on a lavender flower that I really love … but you’ll have to wait for that one haha).
So, all-in-all, a wonderful outing – I finished off by driving as far as Sorrento afterwards, although it was getting late in the day so I didn’t have time to look around. Next time I’ll spend a day on its own perhaps exploring that part of the world, and maybe taking a return trip to Queenscliff on the ferry as well (weather permitting, seeing as I get terribly seasick!).
Anyway, this definitely won’t be the last time I visit these gardens – I’d love to take Mum around them as well next time she’s over (make sure you bring your walking shoes Ma!).
Rightio, time to sign off and think about getting ready for work again … fingers crossed when I return home tomorrow after my nightshift I won’t have cat sick to worry about! Mind you, at least this kitty is a friendly old thing – Ally is an 11 year old tortoiseshell moggie, and definitely very laid back and relaxed … that’s a nice change! 😉
Can’t guarantee to show any stitching progress for a week or two … although I do hope to get two small pieces finished while I’m here (one revolting bit of stitching on plastic canvas, and a Winnie the Pooh bookmark – for those of you who’ve been reading my blog since the start you might remember I was ‘cheated’ into doing some stitching for a work colleague … well, these are the pieces, and I still haven’t stitched them – but this is the girl I’m housesitting for at the moment, so I thought it would be great if I could get them done in time to leave them here). I’m also really REALLY itching to start Snapperville, and it’s taking all my resolve not to pick it up and start it yet … so I may just end up caving in and treating myself and starting that one real soon 😀
I hope everyone is doing well, out there in blogland – hopefully I’ll get chance to get online again soon to catch up on some blog reading before I lose my access again. I have to say, though, here were 1200+ unread feeds sitting in there, so it is definitely not going to be a ‘small task’! 😉
My first garden stop was to The Enchanted Maze Garden – this would be a fun place to take your kids on a nice day … there’s something there to please both adults and children alike. When walking through the garden entrance gate, one of the first things you see sticking up out of the main maze is this wee fella … and there’s a quirky tone like this throughout the entire garden.
There are different ‘theme’ gardens – for example the “Tile Garden”, which has a beautiful magnolia tree surrounded by pieces of tiled artwork planted throughout the garden plot … the “Enchanted Garden” has whimsical fairies etc dotted around … and the succulent garden is gorgeous (just love those terracotta pots) … and the “Christmas Garden” has a topiary arrangement of reindeer and a sleigh.
There is a mix of different styles of artwork and sculpture throughout the gardens (you can click here to find out more about the artists and their work – and more abou the gardens themselves of course) – I especially loved the marble sculptures near the pond. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of year to go there, as the gardens in that area are bare … it will be superb in summer when the flowers are in bloom, and I’ll definitely be taking another trip out there later.
This was one of my favourite places in the whole garden – I just love this sculpture! It was so incredibly peaceful standing and looking at it, listening to the water running … ah, bliss!! 😀
There are a number of different mazes – there is a brick maze where you follow the brick path (no chance of getting lost here, as the maze is at ground level!), a children’s maze where each corner is set aside for different settings (such as dinosaurs, jungle, beach), a kid’s playground with three separate brain teaser mazes (loved the tyre one below), as well as the more traditional large hedge maze (which I have to admit I’m not a great fan of, so I didn’t go in).
There is also a tiny wee petting zoo for the kiddies (with a sheep, goat, chickens, and ducks) … and a sculpture walk through the bush, where the main focus is on the artwork by Ken Blum – those carvings of aboriginal people are stunning! To top it all off, you are surrounded by the peace of the bush, with lots of native birds flying overhead … I managed to recognise a few, but there were loads I didn’t know.
Here’s one more sculpture that I really love … and very unique to Australia, I guess … the Swagman (OK, altogether now … “Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda ……..) 😀
At the end of your time here you can buy souvenirs or lollies from the gift shop, or have a bit to eat … but I had things to do and places to see, so I just hit the road and went off to the next gardens on my list – Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens!
I’m back briefly for a two-week stint on the internet, before losing it again for possibly a full month … I wish I could say I’ve been spending my time offline stitching my little heart out, but the truth of the matter is I’ve hardly touched a needle the whole time … I’ve had my nose in a book instead, and finally read Diana Gabaldon’s latest novel “A Breath of Fire & Ashes”. All I can say is “wow!” – over 900 pages, and once you get into it you just can’t put it down!!! Those novels would have to be some of my all-time favourite books – and every single one has had me hooked and enthralled through every single page! Next up I’ve borrowed “The Kite Runner to read, which apparently is supposed to be exceptional – everyone I’ve spoken to so far has raved about it, so I thought I’d find out what all the fuss is about … 😉
Anyway, I can say that I have done some sort of stitching, although it’s not embroidery … I finally hand-stitched all the binding onto my Quilt UFO – this would have to be about 8-10 years old, and it’s a great feeling to finally get it finished. One of the Supervisors at work has offered to buy it from me, as I wasn’t too sure what to do with it now it’s all finished, so I’ll probably take her up on her offer – even if I just get $20 for it. I need to get it drycleaned first, though, to get rid of both the old musty smell and the wrinkles 😉
As to what else I’ve been up to … there have been some hiccups with my housesitting, which I won’t go into in huge detail, but it’s started me thinking about giving it up and looking for my own place in November. Daniel came home from overseas a day early, when I was in the middle of packing up … I got a call at 7pm (on a 6pm shift) to say they were at home and basically wanted to get into their own bed – having no spare room, they stayed at his parents place overnight and kept saying “how early can we come over?” so I felt really uncomfortable, I ended up finishing my packing after work at 2am and doing the last lot of cleaning, then going back to work at 5am to pick up a key from my pal a day early … she wasn’t expecting me turning up at work, of course, and let’s just say I had a frosty reception. Made me realise how much I rely on her for my ‘inbetween’ times of housesitting, and I think it would be better to call it quits (mind you, I did get an apology from Daniel when I saw him next.) It would be perfect if I could get something for 2-3 months over Christmas, but I guess that’s not going to happen, so decisions need to be made ho-hum 😦
While I had my days off, though, I made a concerted effort to get out and see some more of the Mornington Peninsula – I headed out for a drive to Arthur’s Seat to take in the views, then spent time in both The Enchanted Maze Garden and Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens, before taking a quick drive out to Sorrento and back home. It was a wonderful day out, and even though most of the garden wasn’t in bloom yet, it was a really pleasant way to spend the day. I’ll definitely have to go back again when the flowers are out, as the gardens will take on a whole different personality again 🙂
Here are some shots of the views from Arthur’s Seat … there’s usually a chairlift operating to the summit, but it’s closed during winter, so I just drove up to the top instead 🙂
The next couple of posts will be dedicated to both of the individual gardens I went to, and they’ll be pretty chocka full of photos – I took oodles more as well, and in fact went a bit snap happy overall haha.
In the meantime I’ll close this post with photos of some of the colourful beach huts on the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula – I just adore their bright colours, and I’ve been dying to take some photos of them forever. I still want to head out to Brighton beach at some stage and take photos of those ones too, as they’re the most famous ones in Melbourne, I think (there’s a great shot here – love it!). Here are a few from Dromana anyway …
Rightio, while my next lot of photos are loading up into Webshots, I’m off to clean up cat sick … that was what greeted me on my first ‘morning’ here in Edithvale – I woke up after my nightshift to find a pile of cat sick on the lounge carpet and floorboards … there’d better be some rubber gloves somewhere, that’s all I can say!!! Let’s just hope I’m not like I normally am … I often join in in sympathy at the sound and smell of sick … yukky!! 😦
My final day in Sydney started very leisurely – we had a buffet breakfast set up for us in one of the ballrooms, so after I finished repacking my case etc I wandered down to consume a cooked breakfast, followed by fresh melon, danish pastries and coffee … just what the doctor ordered! After I’d finished I took my bags down to the Concierge and asked them to place them in storage for the day, and hit the road … my first port of call was to Town Hall train station where I caught a train out to Killara – most of you who’ve been there will likely guess where my destination was 😉
On arrival at Killara, I walked the few short steps round the corner to Crewel Gobelin for my first LNS visit in Sydney. I just browsed around the shop for a while, kicking myself I didn’t think to bring my list of threads that I needed … I absolutely refuse to visit a LNS and not buy something, it just isn’t right! Considering I’m supposed to be on my 50 Project Challenge, this now put me in a bit of a quandary … do I buy some threads that I ‘think’ I need, or do I just go ahead and break the challenge for a while … I guess you can see for yourself what my decision was! 😉 Now I just have to work out how I’m going to deal with my breaking of the challenge – perhaps add on another one or two projects for each new project bought … hmmm …
I ended up coming away with three charts for smalls (I had decided to buy The Cat’s Whiskers Dilly Bag, but then who could resist With My Needle charts for $5? So I bought both of them – Swan Stitcher’s Etuis, and Cherished Workes) and the Dec 2006 JCS magazine (which I can never buy locally in my newsagents). I was seriously tempted to buy one of the Veronique Maillard alphabet books (the one I fell in love with was $85, though, so I think I’ll just have to save up for that one). I meant to order some fabric as well, as I need some 32ct Belfast in Little Boy Blue for a couple of different projects, but I got chatting with Margaret (the owner) and I forgot all about it. I have to say we stood at the counter and chatted away for quite some considerable time, and it was the most wonderful time spent – Margaret is a really lovely lady who is extremely knowledgeable about her craft and eager to share her knowledge. If anyone is visiting Sydney it is the easiest shop to get to by public transport – you just hop off the train at Killara station, and if you stand at the station facing back towards the city, you head off to the right. Turn left at the road and head towards the park on the corner of Marian St & Culworth Ave, and Crewel Gobelin is just a few steps up the street on the right. It is literally only about 2 minutes walk from the train station.
Where Crewel Gobelin is located – within a 2-minute walk of the Killara Train Station
Eventually I tore myself away from Margaret’s wonderful company, and headed back by train to Circular Quay to buy a ferry ticket to go to Taronga Zoo – unfortunately, though, this was now 2.45pm and the ticket seller said I’d be lucky if I got an hour’s visiting time at the Zoo so I decided it wasn’t worth it (it just means it’s something left for me to do next time … along with a trip to visit Karen at Dragonfly Dreams!). Instead of the Zoo, it was time to get back on the train again on my way back to the Hotel. I thought I’d just take a leisurely walk over to Darling Harbour and ended up having a splash-out dinner at one of the restaurants instead. On the way, though, I was transfixed by some beautiful old buildings by the Town Hall Station – one was the Queen Victoria Building, and the other was the Sydney Town Hall. I just adore grand old architecture, and I spent a wee bit of time just pondering the wonderful nooks and crevices of the outside of the buildings.
Queen Victoria Building (“QVB”)
Town Hall
From there it was over to Darling Harbour – once again I took my time to just stroll and dawdle round the harbour, before I settled on having dinner at Blue Fish restaurant (mainly because they had a 25% discount for earlybird diners … but also because I was dying to try their Vanilla Creme Brulée haha). Creme Brulée is one of the bad habits I picked up on a trip to Paris … I had it once at a restaurant and never looked back – it would have to be one of my absolute favourite desserts, and thankfully one that isn’t very popular so I can’t have it very often, or I’d be even bigger than I already am teehee. I started off by having Kangaroo Loin on sweet potato rings with crunchy asparagus, washed down with two big glasses of Sangria, followed by the creme brulée and a mug of cappuccino … it turned out to be a wise choice to eat before I flew, although I was questioning my choices while I was waddling back to the Hotel after totally stuffing myself stupid 😉
One half of Darling Harbour (with my Hotel in the centre)
On return to the hotel I grabbed a quick change of clothes into my business attire, ready for my taxi to the airport and my flight home. It turns out I hadn’t realised they’d changed my flight home for 1/2 an hour earlier (they’d stuffed up my booking a total of 3 times, including sending me home before the actual event had even started!!), so I couldn’t check my bags in using the quickcheck service, and had to pop over to the sales desk for assistance – she managed to get me back on the original flight I’d been given, and gave me my business class upgrade straightaway, which was wonderful news. The flight was very full, though, and because of that I missed out on the food inflight (one of the downsides of being staff, because you travel on a standby basis all the time there are no guarantees you’ll actually get fed if they’re running short) … the crew member was very apologetic, but I was personally just happy to be on the flight in a seat – anything else is a pure bonus, and as it was I would have been turning the food down anyway after stuffing myself senseless at the Darling Harbour restaurant LOL. Unfortunately when I arrived there was some sort of problem with the baggage carousel so we had a significant wait for our bags, but eventually they arrived, and it was time to jump on the bus to the long-term parking ready for the drive home. I got in at about 11pm, and was back in at work for 11am yesterday where I had to re-tell the event stories to a few people. There is also a “day of stars” at work next week, where we get to celebrate with our own colleagues after the event, but I’m on night shift this week so I’ll miss out – but I have enough memories to last a lifetime already.
All-in-all it was a wonderful time away – filled with love and laughter, wine and song, and experiences that lift the soul and make life worth living. For now, “life is good” 😀
Thursday started nice and slowly with a small sleep-in. I had a couple of ‘stupid’ moments, though, like when I realised I hadn’t brought any styling products for my hair, and I had to wash it, so just had to let it sit and dry naturally. Then I thought I’d pop out to a hairdresser and get it styled for the evening, only to remember I didn’t have any keys to the house, so had no option but to sit still and relax. I just spent the day reading until it was time to get ready for the function. We had to be at the Hotel “ready to leave” no later than 4.45pm, so Brenda had to finish work at 2pm to have us ready to leave by 3pm – Nigel very kindly came home early as well and drove us into the city. Here’s a photo of my beautiful hosts just before we left the house (jeez, I wish I could’ve done something with my hair!).
Me with Brenda
Me with Nigel
We managed to get to the Hotel at 4pm, so we checked in and took my bags up to the room, then went down to the bar for a vodka for Brenda and a bourbon for me (at the price of $17 for two drinks that’s where we finished LOL). The Hotel we were staying at, compliments of work for the night, was the Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour. I’ve included a piccie here of the Hotel that I actually took on Friday, as it made more sense to include it here.
Four Points Sheraton at Darling Harbour
We all had to meet in the Lower Ground level of the lobby where we were given “boarding passes” and name badges. Here I managed to meet up with the other two ladies from Melbourne that I work with, Mary and Carolyn, and Teresa that I used to work with in Auckland (it was so lovely to see her and here Auckland’s news). We didn’t have to wait around for long before we were sent on our merry way in two groups for a short walk … down to the harbour. At this point I was getting a bit disgruntled and jittery – I get seasick, and I’ve been hoping like heck we weren’t going on a cruise, but unfortunately those hopes were dashed! I’d packed my Sea-Bands ‘just in case’ and popped them on, but that basically meant that I wouldn’t be drinking or eating on board, which put a real damper on the evening for me … the boat started rocking a bit while we were moored, at which point I figured it would be better to get off until we were ready to actually move, so I asked a crew member if I could leave – and he kindly brought me out some homeopathic travel sickness tablets (ginger-based) that wouldn’t affect me and meant I could have a drink etc … that went a BIG way to putting me at ease! I’m usually OK on boats for about 1/2 hour (which I why I felt OK to try the ferry the previous day), but after that I’m laying ground bait …
As it turns out we were on board that vessel for some considerable time – we had one of the chief managers of the company with us and we each had to go up to to the front and receive a framed certificate from him and have our photo taken together. There were even people from as far away as our London and Tuscon offices – I thought that was wonderful. Brenda mentioned to me during the night that “this really is a big thing that you’ve won, isn’t it?”, and I probably had to agree that I guess it was – the whole event made me realise just how big it was. Out of 7000 nominations, I was one of the 200 around the world who won … wow! 🙂
Anyway, back to the story … we cruised up the river for a couple of hours, and in fact almost made it as far as I had the day before when I travelled to Rydalmere – eventually, though, we got off the boat at Homebush. We were then bundled into coaches and taken a short distance up the road to our final resting place for the night – Acer Arena at Sydney Olympic Park. Here we were ushered to a lobby area where there was a band playing and yet more alcohol being offered (boy, oh boy, they certainly didn’t skimp on providing refreshments!). We stood there for a while chatting, then all of a sudden curtains were pulled back just behind where we were standing, and the doors were opened into the stadium itself – it was like we were Olympic athletes flowing into the stadium … and when we walked in it looked like something from a fairy tale! Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of it all, and the photos in general from now on are a bit crappy due to the poor lighting, my poor camera, and being a fair distance away from the stage etc. But take my word for it, it was magical! We were seated in the middle of the arena itself, with formal dining set ups, and a stage with two large screens on each side.
Sydney Olympic Park – Acer Stadium
Brenda and I inside the Stadium about to sit down for dinner
Unfortunately we were all split up at different tables, as they’d already given seating allocations … at each place setting for the winners, though, they’d put a book together as a momento – inside it includes a photo and blurb about each of the winners and what they did to win the award, plus a copy of the menu, and the entertainment schedule for the evening etc. It was a great touch, and made the evening even more special … although those special touches just kept on coming!
After everyone was seated at their tables and introduced themselves music started in the background then eventually it changed … the lights dimmed and then a spotlight went onto three members of the Australian Girls Choir on stage, who started to sing “I Still Call Australia Home” … then a line or two in spotlights moved to our side of the stadium where a line-up of more girls appeared at the top of part of the stadium seating, then the same happened on the other side of the stadium. I have to admit it brought a lump to my throat and goosebumps to my arms … that to me was one of the major highlights of the evening. I’d rather not say in print what the significance of having them there singing that meant … but I’m sure at least the Aussies will know why that’s important 😉
Part of the Australian Girls Choir singing at the top of the stadium
That, though, was just the start of all the entertainment! We had speeches from top management, and I have to say they really made me feel proud to be sitting there. They also put together a video set to music of all the photos they took of us onboard the boats receiving our awards from management – it was great. During the evening we munched our way through the various courses – the menu was (sorry, but no stone is being unturned in this post haha):
Entree
Salad of chicken breast with sweet potato, cucumber and semi sun-dried tomatoes, tossed with spring leaves and a lime and sweet chilli dressing
or
Goat’s cheese and semi sun-dried tomato tart with Italian antipasto salad
Main Course
Marinated rack of lamb with seeded mustard potatoes, vegetable bundle and balsamic vinegar jus
or
Pan-fried Atlantic salmon fillet with potato gateau and fresh herb hollandaise
Dessert
A trio of desserts:
Lemon tart, chocolate charlotte and assorted desserts served in a shot glass
or
Triple layered chocolate black forest, white swan mousse and assorted desserts served in a shot glass
Tea/coffee … followed by port
During the entrees we had an Aerialist perform, hanging from two strips of ‘fabric’ from the frame surrounding the arena area … that was a bit ho-hum, but the next lot of entertainment blew me away … next up we had, of all people, the infamous Toni Collette and her band performing live for us – wow!! She performed about six songs for us.
Toni Collette singing
The next, and final, act was someone I’d never heard of, as I’m not a jazz officianado … but now I’ll remember his name as he was the best entertainer of the evening! It was James Morrison and his band, along with Emma Pask on vocals … all I can say is “wowzers!!!”. That guy can really PLAY! He’s also a really fun entertainer and showman – just exceptional! And what a way to finish the night off!!
James Morrison and his trombone (shocking photo sorry)
Eventually the night came to an end – to say this was a memorable event in my working history for the company would be an understatement … I for one really appreciate all the work and effort that went into such a successful evening, and I’m extremely grateful I was able to attend. We finished the evening by being taken by bus back to the Hotel again (here, though, I said goodbye to Brenda, as Olympic Park was closer to home than the city, so Nigel came to pick her up from the venue). It was sad to say goodbye to Brenda, but we’ve agreed I really do have to make the trip more often, finances willing.
When I returned to my hotel room, though, there was another surprise waiting – they’d taken the framed certificates off us again on the boat so we didn’t have to think about losing or breaking them during the night, and they said they’d be waiting for us in our rooms … that they were, BUT they weren’t alone! There were two black boxes sitting on the bed – when I opened one up there was the certificate tucked in under a couple of straps in the lid, and sitting in the base was a bottle of wine, a pair of the pyjamas designed by Morrissey that people get in First Class, as well as the little First Class amenity pack. My jaw nearly hit the floor! What an awesome way to finish off an already perfect night!! 😀
Now I can explain why it was a good thing I bought another ‘wheelie case’ two days earlier … while I loved the gifts etc, they were quite large, and weighed a ton (the box itself is really really heavy!) … and of course because Brenda didn’t stay at the Hotel I ended up with two boxes, with the quandary “how the hell am I going to get them home?”. In the morning I did some major rejiggling with the suitcase and managed to get one box in the bottom of there, then I asked the airline staff to let me take the 2nd one on board with me (the one with the certificate) – as it turned out it wasn’t an issue, as I managed to get business class home again, and you’re allowed two pieces of carry-on bags anyway … phew! I almost dumped the second box, but then decided against it, as I figure it will make a lovely storage case for some stitching supplies, or other crafting supplies 😉
So, all-in-all it was a wonderful, wonderful experience that I’m extremely grateful for. Mind you, by the time lunchtime rolled around the next day, I probably wasn’t quite as grateful for having the Chardonnay flowing so freely as I do have to admit to feeling ever so slightly seedy haha.
Wednesday is where I started my first day in tourist mode – it was an incredibly pleasant way to start the day, by cruising leisurely up the river on the ferry picking up fellow travellers on the way to the city, and I have to say that I concur with everything I’ve read so far about the majesty of Sydney harbour. I used to think “yeah, sure, whatever” when people raved on and on about how amazing the harbour is … well, I’m one of those converts now too – there are no words to describe the view as you approach the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the Sydney Opera House nestled in beneath it, it truly does take your breath away! It probably helped that it was a stunningly sunny day, but it was exceptional and definitely a highlight of my trip. This photo is of my first view of the harbour as we sailed under the bridge (sorry, but it’s taken forever to upload the smaller shots, and I can’t be bothered re-uploading for the larger clickable versions).
Sydney Harbour Bridge with Sydney Opera House in the background
Sydney Opera House
I spent quite a bit of time just meandering around the Opera House, and watching the boats come and go, then I walked up to The Rocks area, which is rich in Sydney’s oldest history to find the information centre and plan my day. As it turns out I ended up finding a walking map of the old classic buildings in the area, and walked for miles that day through many a back street (I followed the Colony walking map) – my feet were killing me by the time I finished, but it was great fun. I then walked back and had a late lunch at The Rocks (at Nurses Walk to be exact, at the Gumnut Tea Garden) – it was lovely to sit under the shade of a big tree outside, sampling fresh mint and lemon iced tea and Caesar Salad with chicken, while listening to the live jazz duo … it was very relaxing. Then I walked further into the city centre and went shopping – to buy a new wheelie case (as it turns out later on, it was a good thing I did, but I’ll tell that story later!). After that I had to rush back to Circular Quay for the ferry trip home for Brenda to pick me up again.
The Rocks (behind the Information Centre)
View of part of The Rocks from the ferry
A local character in aboriginal dress at Circular Quay
While I was in The Rocks I had a couple of phone calls from my real estate agent, giving me an update that the work on the building won’t be taking place until May some time, as it’s quite serious and major work (the building is basically sinking!!) and has to get consent from the Council etc. Sitting here in the freezing cold right now (where did that heat go while I was away??), not able to close the windows, I’ll be making another phone call myself next week for them to at least come and fix the damned windows so they’ll shut … hmmm 😦
Anyway, back to Sydney again … That night I just had time to quickly have a shower and get changed before we were being whisked off to dinner with a friend of Brenda and Nigel. We went to a Chinese restaurant – unfortunately I have to say I didn’t really enjoy the food. It’s strange, as I absolutely adore most Asian foods, but Chinese isn’t one I really enjoy … There was only one dish out of the 4 that were ordered that I really liked (everyone chose a dish and we shared) – I felt dreadful, and a bit difficult, but I ended up ordering a Tom Yum soup instead while they polished off the other dishes (and I have to say the soup was yummy). All-in-all it was a great night, though, especially when we relived some stories that I’d forgotten about – there was lots of laughter and merriment, as well as lots of wine haha. We ended up tiring ourselves out so much, though, that it wasn’t long that we were in bed!
The next day is all to do with the function itself, so I’ll wait and post that separately tomorrow … I’m starting to get quite tired as I’ve been at work all day, and didn’t get in until very late last night … I’ll finish off the rest of the trip tomorrow 🙂 (Apologies also for any typos, but I’m getting too bleary-eyed to read my own typing!)
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