Happy Australia Day.

January the 26th is Australia day, so happy Australia day to you all!

Australia day is generally a day of celebrations for Australians to celebrate all that is great about Australia. It's also a good excuse to have a day off work, BBQ and few beers too.

One of the main events in Sydney on Australia day is the ferry race. It's about an hour race around the harbour by four of Sydney's ferries. Here you can see the very end of the race and four decked out ferries in the middle of the photo. One is just behind the military frigate, which marks the end point of the race just under the Harbour Bridge.

It was quite good fun to watch the race but it wasn't the sort of race that you would normally get, as there isn't any commentary or cheering on for one of the ferries to win really. They don't even really race the ferries either as a few years ago one of them sunk when they did used to really race them. Still it was fun watch and quite entertaining to see all the other boats around the ferries as well. The boat sponsored by Aami won the race but only just, apparently that boat has won the race in the last four years or so even though it's the oldest one in the race. There were also competitions for the best dressed boat and other races by tall ships in the harbour.

Here you can see Allen, Emily and Deirdre who were with me on the Harbour Bridge to watch the race.

There are also plenty of other events on throughout the day. They are mainly family orientated events but there was a fair bit to do for us too. We went to Hyde Park after watching the ferry racing to have some lunch. Like the noodles in the park last year they have a range of stalls mainly selling BBQ food but also a big range of Indian, Japanese and Thai food too.

On the Opera House front there were several big screens showing the Australian Open, as well as the cricket. Unfortunately for England they suffered one of their worst defeats in one day cricket against Australia today. I even had someone have a laugh at me for having an English accent but all in good nature.

There was also a fly over by F-18 jet fighters in formation and a rescue display by the coast guard helicopter. Here you can see the helicopter that they use to rescue people. It really did come very close to everyone sitting on the harbour front. Doing several loops around the harbour and stopping at some points to drop their lobster pot cage and pick it up again.

We spent some of the afternoon sitting in the opera house bar drinking beer in air-conditioned comfort while watching the world walk by. It was yet another bloody hot day here today.

In the afternoon we went to the Rocks to see some live music. There was a band called Angus and Julia Stone playing that Allen had heard of. They were quite good despite a nervous start. Julia looked and was quite obviously very
nervous but gained confidence as they played more tracks.

In the evening there were some events and fireworks in Darling Harbour so we went down there. It was very crowded but we still managed to get a good view despite the number of people. There were some spectacular fireworks right in the harbour which looked even better because we were only a few yards away from them. I would say that they looked much better than the New Year fireworks because they were so close.

Then just as the fireworks ended there was a F-111 bomber fly over which was really amazing. It was quite dark and you could just make out the plane and see it buring fuel out the back in a big flame. It flew very close right over my head which made and incredible noise and sight.

To give you an idea here's a libary image of an F-111 doing a dump and burn.

I'm all for Australia day and will be celebrating it every year on the 26th January.

Something else that happened last Thursday which was quite good. Allen and I were having a drink in the local pub after work when a film crew turned up from SBS TV station. They said they were filming a documentary on immigrants getting citizenship in Australia and did we mind if they filmed on our table and had us in the background. They sat four people next to us who talked about citizenship as one of them had just come from America and successfully applied for citizenship in Australia. Allen and I were just trying not to do anything silly like trip over or spill drink when drinking. The program should be shown in a few weeks time on SBS TV, so we're looking forward to seeing us on the telly soon!

The Oaks Trail Part Two.

I went out mountain biking again this Saturday with Roger on the Oaks Trail. This is the same bike route that I fell off quite badly on the last time. Hopefully this time I won't fall off and break my bike.

We went out at a more civilised time this morning and caught the 8.18am train to Woodford where the trail starts. We got there around 10.50 all ready to take on the trail.

Here is a photo of the trail. It's mostly a fire-break trail that has been created to stop any bush fires spreading in the Blue Mountains. The length of the course is around 30km and should take about two and a half hours or so as it's mostly downhill.

I must admit that I was more nervous than I thought I would be when I started out riding along the course. I did take the first few kilometres quite gently, especially around the place where I fell over the last time. However once I got further along the course the more my confidence built up, and by the end I was flying along almost as fast as I was before.

I think that the fall has helped me have more of an appreciation of the speeds that I was recklessly going down the route before. More so along the really rough rocky parts of the course. Before I would have gone as fast as I could and not quite been in control of my bike. This time however I was much more in control when dropping and jumping the bumps and rocks.

I guess it's all part of being a better mountain biker. I may not be as fast as I was before but at least I stand a much better chance of not falling off and breaking any bones.

It wasn't all roses though as I did fall off once on the course and at certain points when trying to go up the uphill sections I thought it wasn't so much fun, more of an endurance that I had to really push myself quite hard to get though. I had to get off and walk up the last parts of the up hill sections as I was really gasping for air. It was also very hot in the mountains, according to my bikes trip computer it reached 37 to 41 degrees in the sun!

My fall was at a walking pace, but enough to graze my right palm and give me a couple of bruises from my bike. I was just coming up to Roger who had stopped in front of me. Unfortunately he stopped only a bikes length in front of a small drop. As I came down the hill to the drop I slowed to a walking pace and as I hit the drop my bike was going so slow that it just stopped and bottomed out on the drop and I went flying over the handle bars! It was either do a face plant on the rocks or put my hand out to break my fall. I chose the latter option.

Some parts of the course were really good fun though. There is one massively long downhill section where you could go really fast along more or less a double lane gravel track. There was also a great single track section where you can really go quite fast weaving left and right though trees and bushes along rocks, tree roots and sand. They all put a big smile on my face. My bike looks quite worn now and covered in mud and dust. I'm sure for a $500 bike it wasn't meant to be put though the punishment that it's gone though.

On Sunday the great weather continued and it felt like you were opening an oven door when you stepped out into the Sydney CBD streets. We all went down to Manly beach for the afternoon. We must have had some of the (very) tail end of the winds that you've been having in the UK as it was a little windy along Manly beach. They closed most of the beach from swimming as the rips were quite strong. The sand was also blowing up occasionally and you could really feel it blowing against your back. I know it's nothing like the weather you've been having there, and it's nice to be in the Australian summer rather than the English winter. :-)

We spent most of the time catching some sun along the beach and did go for a quick dip in the sea. I could see what they meant by the strong rips as at times I could feel myself being pulled out by the strong current and this was only when the sea was just above waist height.

Swimming with Sharks.

On New Years Day we went to Palm beach, also known as Summer Bay to Home and Away fans. Having never seen an episode of Home and Away I didn't really recognise any of the sites of interest pointed out to me by Allen.

This lighthouse view is apparently in the opening credits as is the beach view. The beach was very clean and long and even better very empty.

Except for one big animal that was determined to spoil our swim. Just as we got to the beach the lifeguards there were blowing their whistles and letting go with their siren on their beach buggy.

One of the lifeguards had spotted a shark in the water so the few swimmers in the water were all told to get out. One of the poor lifeguards was suiting up with a life jacket and all his mates were having a good laugh at him. It turned out to be his job to get on the jet ski and try to chase the shark away from the beach.

We waited around for about twenty minutes watching the lifeguard whiz back and forth in the sea. Eventually he came back and gave the all clear to get back into the water.

Well Allen, Mike and I weren't going to let one shark ruin our new years day swim. I figured as long as I kept a couple of kids in front of me they would certainly be making more splashes in the water to attract the shark. :-) So, swimming in shark-infested waters, check!

We all had a good swim in the sea and it was a real shame that there wasn't a shop that we could hire body boards as the shallow beach and waves would have been perfect for some body boarding.

After the beach we drove up to a lookout point where you could see Palm Peach and the surrounding bay. The view was quite breath taking. Yet another one of those views which I could quite happily watch till the cows came home or the sun set and the mosquitos came out to play at least.

We also saw a small roo at the lookout point. As usual for kangaroos as soon as it saw someone it jumped around for a bit to make enough noise to be noticed and then froze and stared at us. As Allen pointed out it was probably the worst thing it could do if we were trying to catch it! Make some noise to attract attention to itself then stop so that it could be caught easily.

The roo had obviously been in a fight as part of one ear was missing. It had nothing to do with me, honest!

We watched the roo for a few minutes before I decided to see how close I could get to it. It obviously wasn't really used to human contact because as soon as I got to within a couple of metres of it, it scarpered off into the bush.

Cycling into the New Year.

Seeing as my local gym was mostly closed during Christmas week I had to go for a long cycle ride around town to get rid of some energy. I decided to go and do a seven bridges ride around the NW of Sydney.

It basically covers the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Fig Tree Bridge, Tarban Creek Bridge, Gladesville Bridge (where this photo was taken), Iron Cove Bridge, Anzac Bridge and finally the Pyrmont Bridge. In all its around 35km with lots of cycling up and down various hills as well.

I had to take plenty of stops when going up some of the hills it was quite knackering at times to try to get to the top. In the end I cramped up quite badly on both my thighs when I got to the Anzac Bridge. It must have looked like I was crouching down for the loo to the people driving long the bridge! I had to squat down beside my bike to stretch my upper thigh muscles as it was too painful to even stand up.

Still it was worth it in the end and I was quite pleased that I did manage to make it home, even with very tired legs. The views from some of the bridges were quite fantastic. I was quite jealous of some of the people who must have decent harbour side views and even more so of the people who had a garden that went all the way down to their private boat on the harbour.

For the New Years Eve celebrations we decided to find a spot on the observatory park, which is just across the road from my Apartment. An eight-lane Harbour Bridge road, but still just across the road.

Here is the view that we had of the Harbour Bridge from our picnic spot. We got there around 3pm and it was a little busy but never got that packed even in the evening. There were quite a few people for the midnight fireworks but they were only around for the last thirty minutes or so.

There were two sets of fireworks, 9pm ones titled the children’s fireworks and then midnight ones for the adults. As well as fireworks on the bridge there were also several barges around the harbour, which had more fireworks.

Here's a picture of the kids fireworks they were quite good:

Even more spectacular was the midnight show. What made it really good was that there were also some surprise fireworks on some of the tallest buildings in the CBD. So in effect we were surrounded by the firework displays, as the CBD was behind us, one of the barges directly in front and the Harbour Bridge to one side.

Here you can see the exploding buildings of the CBD:

Fireworks from the barge in front of us:

And finally some of the displays on the Harbour Bridge:

Quite a good display in the end. I'd say that they were only better than the London 2000 fireworks because we were surrounded by them and wherever you looked you could see something. I remember the London display being louder but not as spectacular as the Sydney ones.

Post Christmas Fun.

On Boxing Day the weather couldn't have been any better. Clear blue skies and little or no wind.

We (Deirdre, Allen and I) just had to go down to Manly beach for the day. Unfortunately on the way there we forgot that the Sydney to Hobart yachting race would be on and that the Ferries on the harbour wouldn't be running for a few hours after midday because of the start of the race.

Fortunately there was a sea cat service that was running just after lunch so we grabbed a quick bite to eat in Sydney centre and then caught that. It's a little more expensive than the ferry but much faster as well.

Manly had a solar powered Christmas tree in the middle of their town shopping centre, which was very cool. It does look very odd to see a Christmas tree in the middle of thirty-degree heat summer skies. Something about it just isn't right. Not that I'm complaining as it's much better than the cold, dark and damp usual English Christmas’s that I'm used to.

As you can see the beach on Manly was very crowded on the southern half. However if you walk a little way up to the northern beach it's much emptier.

We hired a boogie board each and went out surfing on them. It was really good fun and there wasn't any lifeguard drama for me this time round.

The boogie boards allow you to walk a little way out into the sea and then 'catch' a wave back into the beach while lying with your chest on the board.

It's a good idea to wear a rash vest when on the board though, otherwise you'll end up with quite a red rash from the friction on the board.

We all had a fantastic time and it was a great way to spend a Boxing Day afternoon.

After the beach we had a nice meal and couple of beers at the Bavarian beer cafe just beside the Manly ferry terminal.

On the way back on the ferry we had a very odd experience. The Manly ferry runs both forwards and backwards to and from Manly from the central business district (CBD), so it never has to turn around at any time.

However this time around because apparently the gang plank which we would normally depart on when getting off at the CBD, was too slippery so the ferry had to perform a 180 degree spin in the middle of the harbour. It felt very strange to have the ferry stop its engine in the middle of Sydney harbour and then spin around.

However on the plus side it did enable me to take this great shot of the sun just setting over the Sydney CBD skyline. It's time like these when I'm coming back on the Manly ferry after a day at the beach that I wonder why I would ever want to come back to England. The view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House at night isn't half bad.

Christmas Festivities.

I've been a bit slow updating my blog recently. No excuses just having too much fun over here to find the time.

We've had the Earth Tech, Wallingford and Sydney Water Christmas parties in mid December.

The Earth Tech one consisted of a meal and dance in a hotel in north Sydney. It was good fun but most other people were much more drunk than me. Earth Tech is the company which Sydney Water hired which in turn hired Wallingford Software to provide the water modelling software.

The photo on the left is of the Wallingford Christmas party which took place on one of the old paddle steamer boats which for two and a half hours circles around the harbour while we get to eat average food and get entertained by a small cabaret act.

There were plenty of other people on the boat, they were mainly tourists though as there appeared to be only one other company there. We all had a good time on the boat but it was a bit brief. You only really had time to eat and watch the cabaret show as it was only a two and a half hour cruise around the harbour. It would have been much better to get some time to walk around the boat and admire the view as well. Still we had plenty of beers once we docked again at a local bar.

As you can see the Australian bus company in Sydney has a good laugh with some of their busses over Christmas. Here are a couple of photos that Allen took of their 442 bus home to Balmain.

It still doesn't really feel like Christmas over here. It's been much too warm though not too hot. The run up to Christmas has been very subdued, if you ignore the shops that is. There isn't that over the top decorating that you get in England.

One thing that we noticed was that there isn't any Christmas decorations put up by the Sydney council. So the only Christmas decorations that you see are either subtle ones on people's houses or in the shop windows. I didn't see any instances of fake snow in the shop windows though, only some tinsel, lights or balls. A much better way to have Christmas if you ask me.

I spent Christmas day at Deirdre and Allen's place for Christmas lunch. We also had Roger, Ian and Ian's mum along as well. Ian is the technical support for Wallingford Software in Australia. He's a proper Sydneysider. We all had a full Christmas lunch cooked up by Allen and played Trivial Pursuit on their front Porch as it was clear and Sunny outside. The Trivial Pursuit here does have an Australian slant though. Unless you happen to know a little bit about Australian sport, politics and entertainment you wouldn't know about ten percent of the questions.