Spring School Holidays

Starting on September 20th, it was school holiday time again in New South Wales.  So, the kids had a little over two weeks of freedom.  This was the first time we stayed in Sydney for an entire school break.  We couldn't leave town because Sean had a major project going "live" on September 21st and he had to be around to fix any bugs that may arise.  So, I was left with the challenge of keeping the kids entertained.  The kids have gotten pretty used to going out and doing something most days.  Additionally, since our apartment does not offer any outdoor space for the kids to burn off energy, getting out and about is almost crucial.  Besides, with Sydney as your playground, how can you stay at home?

The first event of the holidays was a family trip to the Sydney Opera House on Saturday to see a play adaptation of one of Carter's favorite books, The 13 Storey Treehouse.  It was a really fun play and it allowed us all to say that we have seen a production at the Opera House.  Carter even got his book signed by the author after the show.  It was fantastic.  Sean had to bolt off as soon as the show was over to get to work to kick off his project at West Mead Children's Hospital in Parramatta.  Then, he worked so many hours that we didn't really see him again until the next Friday. 

Ready for the show to begin!

Outside the Opera House after the show

On Sunday morning, the kids and I woke up early, made our way to Milsons Point, and participated in the Family Fun Run for the Blackmore's Running Festival.  Carter was keen on actually running the 3.5 kilometers, but Aubrey had different ideas.  So, we had a great time WALKING over the bridge that morning.  No matter how fast we did it, it was a great experience.  It was a really nice event to be a part of.  Perhaps Carter can be my 5K partner in the future.  Not sure about Aubrey yet, but then again, she is only 5 years old.

Waiting for the bus to take us to Milsons Point

Preparing to start the race at Milsons Point

A volunteer snapped a photo of us just as we were going to cross the Harbour Bridge.

Taking a rest break with the Opera House in the background

The kids had to take a photo with the random panda

Yay!  Carter and Aubrey showing off their medals of completion!

On Monday morning we tried out a pool that we had never been to before, North Sydney Swimming Pool.  It is known for having one of the best views of the city.  As the kids entertained themselves in the pool while I enjoyed a nice coffee with a view, I decided this would have to be an activity often repeated.  

Photo taken from my seat as I watched the kids swim; I could look at this all day.

Such a gorgeous view.  The outside pools are directly below with a sunning deck to the left.

Carter had a great time swimming!

Our swimming plans for the holidays got a little crimp in them though.  We were having a lovely day at Taronga Zoo on Wednesday, when Aubrey fell off some equipment at the playground.  She ended up with 3 stitches in her scalp.  It was a rather traumatic event for the kids and I.  Scalp wounds cause so much blood and the gash was pretty deep.  I hadn't even driven the car to the zoo since Sean was using it that week to get to/from work.  We had to call a taxi and wait for it sitting outside the zoo (while holding a cloth to Aubrey's bloody head) to get to the doctor's office for the stitches.  Luckily, Aubrey was such a brave girl and took the stitches like a champ.  

When Aubrey first injured herself, it looked really bad. I remember having the thought, "this could be life changing".  Then, 2 hours later we are taking a slow, leisurely walk home from the doctor's office on a beautiful spring evening.  The kids were eating lollies and laughing.  I was drinking a strong coffee and thinking "What the hell just happened?".  We are so thankful that it turned out so well.  The worst part of it was just that she wouldn't be able to swim for a little over a week.  We couldn't really complain about that.

We laid pretty low the rest of the week.  Sean did get part of Friday off of work since he had put in a gazillion hours that week, but he was pretty tired.  So, we partook in one of our favorite pastimes when we want to get out and about, but we are low on energy; we drove around and found new parts of the city to explore.  We started in North Sydney and drove through Greenwich, Lane Cove, down through Hunters Hill, Five Dock, and ended up at Timbrell Park.  The kids got out there, had a play, and then we drove back home.  Sydney has so many nooks and crannies to investigate.  We will never get enough of this during our time here.

A map to give you idea of the loop we went on around the city from North Sydney to Hunters Hill to Drummoyne down to Five Dock and the red pin is Timbrell Park.

Carter and Aubrey playing on a merry-go-round with a climbing net on it.  We have certainly seen some creative playground equipment in Australia.

We got a little more active over the weekend.  We went down to Bondi Beach and had lunch on Saturday and then did a little shopping in Bondi Junction.  On Sunday, Sean and the kids went biking while I went walking.  We tried out a couple of new parks.  Hallstrom Park/Flat Gully Reserve in Willoughby was really nice because it had a nice off-road bike track, as well as good hiking trails.  We grabbed a quick lunch and then went a little further away to Buffalo Creek Reserve in Hunters Hill.  It had a nice playground, but did not offer as much in the way of a biking trail.  It was a nice trail for kids to do a loop, but Sean got pretty tired of it after a turn or two.  We decided that Sydney Olympic Park still wins the award for being the best place in Sydney for off-road bikes tracks.

Aubrey showing off her yummy juice smoothie she got at Bondi on Saturday

Carter on the playground at Buffalo Creek Reserve

We had a couple of monkeys that day!

Sean had to go back to work on Monday.  The kids and I decided to head into the city to check out the Sydney observatory.  Carter really loved it.  We watched a film in the planetarium that described in detail all the planets in our solar system.  Carter was very interested in the telescopes and was keen on doing some star gazing in the near future.  One of my favorite things about the observatory was the fabulous view.  They had a room with a table crammed full with Legos, a table with coloring activities, and an open door to a balcony overlooking the harbour.  So, while Carter built with the Legos and Aubrey colored, I soaked up the sun on the balcony.  It doesn't get much better than that!

On the bus to the Observatory

Carter with a transit circle telescope.  It is used to measure the exact time by determining the exact instant stars cross or "transit" the meridian.

Carter at the Lego table

Aubrey at the coloring table

This is the door out to my spot.....that fabulous balcony.

Carter posing on the balcony at the Observatory

Since we were already in the city, the kids wanted to go to their favorite park in the entire world, Tumbalong Park by Darling Harbour.  No matter how long we spend at this park, the kids are never ready to leave.  The beauty of school holidays is that we have no schedule, so they could play away the rest of the afternoon.  We then took a ferry home as the sun was setting.

Aubrey at the water play section of Tumbalong Park

This is Carter's favorite part of the park.

He also loves to climb the huge climbing net.

The zip line is Aubrey's favorite.

Waiting for the ferry home

My favorite part of the day......

On Wednesday, Aubrey got to have her stitches out!  Luckily, her cut healed up beautifully.  We had a celebratory brunch out and did some errands in Mosman. A special school holiday event was going on in Bridgepoint shopping center.  We happened to get there just in time to participate.   A magician was teaching kids some tricks and having them make crafts.  We ran into school friends there and the kids had a ball.  I couldn't have planned it any better!

Carter and Aubrey on the way to the doctor's office.  Aubrey was modeling how she made her necklace into a dog carrier.  She was inspired by all chest baby carriers she has seen.

Carter giving his sister moral support when she got her stitches out.

Introducing Carter the Magician!

Aubrey also learned how to balance a ball on her nose.  And she could even do it while keeping her hat on!

Sean had gotten another weekday off, on Thursday, as a comp day for the all the work hours he had put in the previous 2 weeks.  Unfortunately, it was a cold, rainy day.  That afternoon we took the kids back to swim at North Sydney pool to make up to Aubrey all those days she missed out on swimming because of her stitches.  It was a great indoor/rainy day activity.  So many activities in Sydney are outdoors and it is a challenge to find a way to burn the kids' extra energy on days when the weather is not nice.  

The kids did find some creative things to do around the house during the time when we stayed in.  One of their favorite activities was producing and acting in a play in which Aubrey was a tiger and Carter was the tiger tamer.  They spent hours practicing the play.  They also spent some time playing on their iPod/iPad and occasionally using my phone as well.  It is always funny to see what photos show up on my phone after they have used it.....

Carter and Aubrey in their costumes for the play

I am not even sure what to say about this photo.  It mysteriously showed up on my phone.  I did nothing to modify it in any way.

I was really looking forward to the last weekend of the holidays as Sydney was having a huge celebration to commemorate 100 years since the first Royal Australian Navy Fleet entered the harbour in Sydney.  There were many events planned around the harbour over the weekend.  The most impressive of the events was a fireworks and lightshow spectacular scheduled for Saturday night.  

Unfortunately, Carter began not feeling very well Friday night.  Then, he woke up with a fever on Saturday morning.  His fever lasted all day.  He slept most of the day and generally just felt miserable.  There was no way he could go see the fireworks on Saturday night.  Sean offered to stay home with him since he had seen the midnight fireworks on New Year's while I had stayed home with the kids at that time. So, Aubrey and I walked down to Cremorne Point on Saturday night and left the boys at home.  The fireworks were gorgeous and we had a good time.  The worst part was walking back up the big hill from Cremorne Point with a very tired girl.  A walk that normally takes about 30 minutes, took 50 minutes with lots of rest breaks. There were tons of people out doing the same trip back up the hill since the streets had been blocked off to most cars.  It was a festive atmosphere that helped keep us going.

Spectacular firework display!!  

Carter was feeling a bit better on Sunday, but still not good enough to get out and do anything.  He was much better on Monday, but he still didn't have his full energy back.  Monday was a public holiday, so the kids still did not have school.  They would start back the next day.  Unfortunately, Sean had to fly to Melbourne that morning, so he could not enjoy the last day of school holidays with us.  The kids and I decided to do a quick trip to Taronga Zoo as we had recently renewed our annual pass and we could make it a short outing for Carter to regain some of his strength after being sick.  Aubrey revisited the place of her accident at the beginning of the school holidays.  So glad we are able to laugh about it later.......

As suspected....they are monkeys!!!

We spotted a little quokka in the walkabout portion of the zoo.  When Europeans first saw the quokka, they thought it was a rat.  But, actually it is a small wallaby.

Aubrey on the play equipment she fell on and sliced her scalp the first week of holidays.  I think she hit her head on one of those metal pieces (like the one between her feet).  She will be much more careful when playing here now! 

As fun as the school holidays were, I was pretty happy to send the kids on their way Tuesday morning.  I have gotten pretty spoiled about having time to myself.  I took the morning to walk down to Balmoral Beach and have breakfast alone.  Sometimes it is good to have a little "date with myself" to clear my head.  Mornings like this may be one of the things I will miss most when we leave Sydney.

The Boatshed on the first day the kids were back to school for Term 4

Father's Day

Father's Day in Australia is celebrated on the first Sunday in September.  And, September 1st is what Aussie's consider to be the first day of Spring.  Since September 1st happened to fall on a Sunday this year, the two events coincided on the same day.  To make it even better, it was yet another gorgeous weekend day in Sydney.  We are really getting spoiled with these beautiful 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) days with barely a cloud in the sky.

Even though we had been to Manly Beach on multiple occasions, Sean and the kids had never done the 20 minute walk to Shelly Beach.  So, I thought it would be a perfect day to introduce the family to this amazing area.  Shelly Beach is just on the southern side of Manly Beach, but it has a completely different feel from Manly Beach.  It is sheltered from the open ocean by the big rock cliffs, so it is a haven for marine life.  Also, it looks back on the mainland, so the view is comprised of Manly Beach extending up to the Northern Beaches.

  

Shelly Beach looking towards Manly Beach

The view from the cliff by Shelly Beach.  The edge of Manly Beach is on the left, this is followed by Freshwater Beach, then Curl Curl Beach, and on up the Northern Beaches.

The sculpture on the rock pool located on the walk between Manly and Shelly beaches.

Carter had been writing a report on an Australian Heritage Site for school around this time.  The Heritage Site that he had chosen was the Quarantine Station on North Head.  Since it was a nice day for a walk and the Quarantine Station is located right by Shelly Beach, we decided to go over and give it a look.  The Quarantine Station was built on the north side of the harbour, away from the majority of the population of Sydney at the time.  Its main purpose was to contain any diseases that ships coming from foreign lands could be bringing into Sydney.

The Quarantine Station was first established in 1835, but the buildings were mostly erected in 1847 to 1853.  Prior to that, people had to sleep in tents.  Then, in 1909 it was dramatically upgraded to include all the buildings that can be seen there today.  This was a good thing as, even with the upgrades, it was stretched to its limit with the 1918-19 influenza pandemic.  The last ship to be quarantined was in 1973 and the last people to be quarantined were in 1975 when some airline passengers arrived without adequate immunization certifications.  The Quarantine Station, or Q Station as it is now called, has been turned over to private ownership.  People can now take historic tours, ghost tours, stay the night, rent out a building for a wedding or a conference, have dinner at Boilerhouse Harbourside Restaurant, or just walk around it and enjoy the views.

Aerial view of the Quarantine Station

The building at the entry into the Quarantine Station with an interesting mural on the side.

During the upgrade in the early 1900's, accomadations were built to separate the different classes of people arriving on the ships.  This was one of the first-class cottages.  

A view down a road between the cottages of the Q Station

The Q Station is located on a very steep hill.  We were descending a very long staircase when this photo was taken.  The building at the very top of this picture was the hospital.  We were walking from the first class buildings towards the wharf and beach area.

The Q Station beach by the wharf

The wharf at the Q Station.  Luggage was removed from the ships onto a funicular railway whose tracks can be seen in the photo. The luggage was taken to the autoclaves to be steam disinfected and then into the luggage sheds.  The ill people were taken directly to the hospital seen at the top of the photo.

Some of the ship passengers made engravings in a rock wall near the wharf to commemorate their time spent here.

These were the autoclaves where the possibly infected luggage was fumigated.

This was the hospital.  You can see a bit of the view of the harbour beyond between the buildings.

It was fascinating to walk around the buildings and think about all the history that occurred here.  We tried to imagine what it would have been like when it was filled with either healthy people just biding their time after a long voyage or ill people battling for their lives.  No matter what the conditions, the beauty of this place had to of helped the spirits of the weary travelers after they had been stuck on a ship out at sea for months.  

View from the hospital verandah

We didn't celebrate Father's Day in a very traditional way, but hopefully Sean enjoyed his day.  He is the backbone of our family and we love him dearly.  He helps me keep everything in perspective, especially when I am stressed and can't see a way through a difficult situation.  He is the family problem solver.  He is a strong father figure for the kids and they always strive to make him proud.  He is constantly spoiling us either with gifts or new adventures.  One of his greatest joys in life is to surprise us when we are least expecting it, then act as though it was no big deal.   He has provided a life for our family that I could have only dreamed about when I was younger.  The kids and I are so lucky to have him.