Good eats (and more)

The weather over the last couple of weeks has been pretty up and down.  The forecast would call for showers every day.  Then, each day would be generally sunny with a storm or 2 that would sweep through in the afternoon to evening hours.  I got used to that pattern, so when the forecast was the same for Saturday, I thought we would probably have a nice morning like the rest of the week had been.  So, I talked Sean and the kids into a little adventure Saturday morning: the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach 4 km coastal walk.  Unfortunately, the weather was not the same as it had been all week.  The weather turned out to be a colder than expected with big wind gusts, and misting rain.  It was still a gorgeous walk and we made it most of the way despite the less than desirable weather.  We finally abandoned it a little shy of our goal (at Clovelly); we had a little less than a kilometer left to hit Coogee Beach.  We rounded a bend and it got a little too cold, too windy, and too wet all at the same time.  So, we walked a little more inland, away from the coast (where it was a little less windy) and we caught a bus back to Bondi Beach.  **Note to self:  Next time the weather forecast is questionable, I should throw the kids' jackets in the car.**

The purple dot is Mosman (where we live) and the red dot is Bondi Beach (where we started our walk)

This doesn't show the path, but it starts at the red dot and follows the coast down to Coogee.

Bondi Beach

The best of both worlds!  Beautiful lap pools right at Bondi Beach.

Carter and Aubrey with Bondi Beach in the background

Sean and the kids posing in front of one of the many cool rock formations we saw on the walk.

Bronte Beach

Another "bath" or pool by the ocean.  This one has a more natural look and appeared to have ocean water in it.

Leaving Bronte Beach and heading towards Waverley Cemetery 

Waverley Cemetery from the south side

A final picture of Sean and the kids shortly before we called it quits on the the walk.

We still had a good time and learned a couple of lessons for if/when we do that walk again.  And, we found a really good hamburger place on Bondi Beach, Moo Burger.  It is a local chain and we will definitely have to go to another one.  We knew we were in a good place when we saw the Heinz ketchup bottle on the table.  That is a rare treat in Australia.  Most of the time we are paying for a small tub of "tomato sauce" at the counter. 

Carter at Moo Burger

View from the restaurant

The burgers we got on Saturday was just a start to our weekend of good eating.  On Sunday, we went over to our friends' house for a barbecue. By barbecue, I don't mean an Aussie barbecue.  I mean a Kansas City BBQ complete with ribs, brisket, beans, and Oklahoma Joe's BBQ sauce.  Our friends (also from Kansas City) have a homemade smoker.  Our friend, Mike, found a butcher to sell him brisket here in Aussie.  The butcher said that they do not use the brisket for anything other than to grind up to make sausages!!!  Mike is able to buy the brisket for a low price as long as he lets the butcher know how much he wants by Wednesday of each week.  Mike smoked the meat for about 9 hours and then we had a feast.  

The smoker.  Isn't it beautiful?

The main course

Yum!!!!

I went out for a walk by myself on Monday night.  It was a beautiful night out and I needed to work off some of that yummy, but not exactly healthy, food from the weekend.  It is so nice that the days are noticeably longer now.  I ended up down by Mosman Bay where you can catch a ferry into the city.  I got down there just a little too late to actually see the sun go down, but the views still did not disappoint.  It gave me some of the serenity I was seeking at the beginning of the walk. 

The red pin shows the Mosman ferry wharf

A picture I caught as I was walking back home; the last drops of sunlight on the Harbour Bridge in the distance.

Today (Friday), was Aubrey's last morning of Kindy orientation.  These are some final pics of her in her uniform for awhile.  She won't be back in it until the very end of January when she actually starts her school career.  After watching her brother go to "Big School" for 2 1/2 years, she is so excited that it is finally her turn.

The kids before we headed out of the apartment building on this rainy morning.

Aubrey telling me to leave because she was "busy coloring".  I guess she is pretty comfortable in the Kindy classroom.  I know that is a good thing, but shouldn't she at least want to hug me goodbye?