2019 Australia and India Week 4

Week 4

A couple of trips to Brookvale this weekend, the first one was to drop Cerys off at her dance lessons while Amy and I went for a coffee.  Imagine my surprise when I saw a huge poster facing out onto Old Pittwater Road advertising the Dance classes and there, on the poster staring back at me was Cerys

 My next trip  to Brookvale was a trip to get a puncture repaired on the Mazda.  I went to the JAX Tyres place and it turned out to be an expensive trip for Alfie, as the car was in need of a full set of tyres. Plus all the necessary balancing and tracking requirements. 

While the work was being done I went for a coffee nearby and found the perfect place. Those of you who know me know that I am partial to a pie and to be fair so are most Australians. Well, I found the perfect place, the award winning Brooky Pie Shop.  A massive assortment of pies, all cooked on the premises in view of the customers.  

I could not resist it, and the pie I chose, the beef, bacon and cheese pie was amazing.  I will certainly be going back to this establishment again.

On Tuesday I went to Newport Beach on the Ocean side and it was a really nice day, not too hot and not too busy.  In fact the beach was nearly empty.  

After spending some time here and around the surf life saving club I had some freshly cooked fish and chips in Ocean Master situated really close by.  There is something about fish and chips by the sea that is mouthwatering.

View from Ocean Master

Next day the weather had changed and it was 19 degrees and raining.  Alfie had gone to Brisbane and Amy is on a course in the city so I took charge of the kids and dropped them off to school before taking a short trip to Middle Creek Reserve on the Narrabeen lakes not too far away.   Despite the rain it was still very impressive and I managed to get some interesting photographs before giving in to the rain and heading off back home.

On Friday afternoon I went to Cerys’ school assembly to see her presented with a Silver Award.  She was one of 5 students to receive the award.

Saturday was a quiet day at home before going to the Casino at 10.00pm to watch the rugby in the sports bar.  We did not get home until 06.00am on Sunday but as far as I was concerned it was time well spent as Wales comfortably defeated England in what could prove to be a six nations decider.

2019 Australia and India Week 3

Week 3

It has really started to hot up this week, but it didn’t stop over 100 kids, including Dylan and Cerys, from attending practice at the Allambie Heights Oval for the local Australian Rules Football team.  You can tell that this is the most popular sport in Australia. 

Our two got stuck in with the others and really enjoyed it.

Dylan positioning the ball correctly

Before kicking it

Cerys waiting her turn

Over the next couple of days the temperature rose to 40+ and I have to admit, I hid from it.  For me, shopping in an air conditioned supermarket was preferable to being out in the sun while it stayed that hot.

By Wednesday it had cooled down somewhat and I decided to find a little known beach called Collins Flat Beach. You can pack a picnic and enjoy a swim at Collins Flat Beach. Just a few minutes from Manly, this secluded nook is a great spot to splash about on a hot summer day in Sydney.

Whether you’re swimming in the calm waters or nibbling on your snacks from the hamper, this hidden beach, with a breathtaking view across The Heads, feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The reason I chose to seek out this beach was because I had read of this it being home to a waterfall and some very small penguins. Unfortunately when I got there the river feeding the waterfall was dry and there was no sign of the little penguins.  Still, it was a lovely beach and it would be nice to come back to.

This was what I was hoping to see!

And this was what I got.

And these were the penguins that I missed

On Friday I took Cerys to school and went for a drive down to Roseville Chase and the Garigal National Park.  

A magical place I will be coming back to quite often. Garigal National Park is a relatively small park in the northern suburbs of Sydney. It has two main sections, separated by Forest Way in Belrose. The southern section, formerly the Davidson State Recrecreation Area, protects the catchment of Middle Harbour Creek, which flows into Middle Harbour.  This is the area I was visiting today.  The park in this section mainly covers the areas directly around the waterways, and does not extend far on to the ridges. There is a picnic area next to Roseville Bridge in this part of the park.

The northern section, which I have yet to explore, protects the catchment of Deep Creek, flowing into Narrabeen Lakes. This is a more substantial section of the park covering a block of bushland. The area is quite steep with small escarpments dissecting the sandstone plateaux.  I’ll probably explore this area next week.

In the evening Alfie dropped me off at Manley Wharf where I caught the Fast Ferry to Circular Quay.  

I was going to the Opera House to see  Wozzeck, the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. After I had picked up my ticket at the box office I had a couple of drinks in the Opera House Lounge before the performance.

The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck, which was left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's play on 5 May 1914, and knew at once that he wanted to base an opera on it. From the fragments of unordered scenes left by Büchner, Berg selected fifteen to form a compact structure of three acts with five scenes each. He adapted the libretto himself, retaining "the essential character of the play, with its many short scenes, its abrupt and sometimes brutal language, and its stark, if haunted, realism..."

A couple of scenes from the opera

Alban Berg was also the composer of the Opera ‘Lulu’ which Kevin and I travelled to Leipzig to see last year.

Alban Berg

After a thoroughly enjoyable evening I caught the ferry back to Manly.