High culture

Can’t believe it’s May! It’s the last month of autumn, but we’ve already had days when it feels like winter. It’s typical by 25 April, Anzac Day, the cold weather arrives in Canberra. It was early this year.

We just finished school holidays and it was back to school this week for Nicholas. We spent his days off with a weekend in Sydney, catching up with friends and a longer weekend in Merimbula, trying to get some rest and relaxation before the busy time starts again.

This time in Sydney, Phil and I were able to spend some time with friends without the kids. We drove to Sydney on a Friday and dropped Phil off at Randwick where he worked for the day. I navigated around with the kids and the help of Dad’s GPS (a lifesaver in Sydney!) to Bondi Junction and then to the city. The kids and I had lunch with friends at Ton Ton, followed by desserts at Azuma Patisserie. In the evening, Phil and a friend went out for a nice dinner at Tastevin, which apparently was good, while the kids and I stayed in with a couple of other friends and had very good Vietnamese takeaway.

The next day we attempted to experience a bit of culture and checked out the Archibald Prize 2012 at the Art Gallery NSW. Nicholas decided to stay home with our friend, so Phil and I took Catherine with us. After we navigated our way through the Triathlon street closures, we were able to spend a good 45 minutes (not long, I know) at the exhibit. Despite Catherine’s disinterest and limited time, Phil and I still enjoyed seeing the art.

Later that afternoon, it was girls’ afternoon out. A friend invited a small group of us to high tea at the Sofitel. We had a great couple of hours enjoying good company, conversation (without interruption), champagne, tea, canapés, scones and sweet tarts. And the guys survived at our friend’s place with 6 kids running around in limited space. The next morning we had yum cha at The Eight before driving back to Canberra.

On the public holiday, Anzac Day, we drove to Merimbula and stayed for three nights. We did the usual thing: went to the beach every day, walk on the boardwalk, eat fish and chips and have breakfast at The Waterfront. We were lucky with the weather and had some beautiful days down there.

So it was a month of road trips for us. Catherine was more tolerant of the drives this time, which made the driving time easier and quicker. And Nicholas seems to be less travelsick lately too. Hope this keeps up!

From Apr2012