What we did last summer

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Summer felt a little different this year. We didn’t go overseas, and we mostly hung around Canberra. We had a few rainy and stormy days and when it wasn’t too hot, we were out and about a lot. We also had plenty of time to relax, including some me time in Sydney (check out Solo in Sydney post here).

The new year started out as usual with a pavlova and time with family. Phil and I celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary by treating ourselves to an overnight staycation without the kids. Hotel Kurrajong was a lovely place, and we had a delicious mixed seafood platter at Chifley’s Bar and Grill. It was good to reminisce about how it all began 25 years ago. We were so young!

The rest of the summer felt very Australian. We went to 2 cricket games, camped overnight at the Cotter, went on early morning and late evening walks, rode our bikes, ate lots of gelato and iced desserts, attended festivals and famers markets and drove to Sydney for a friend’s special birthday.

Here’s our summer hit list:

• Kurrajong Hotel and Chifley's Bar and Grill - mixed Seafood platter
• SSFM - Love Street Bagels, Gyoza Guy
• Gelato - Gelato Messina, Anita Gelato, That Gelato Place, Florence Gelato (banana)
• Iced treats - Bingsu (Super Emoji), Iced matcha latte (Wildflour), Matcha bubble tea
• Camping at the Cotter
• Little National Hotel Sydney and Midden (barramundi)
• Cricket games – BBL Sydney Thunder vs Adelaide Strikers, Women’s T20 Australia vs South Africa
• Sydney - 50th birthday party, Tea Republic, escaping the storm at Maroubra Beach, The Grounds at Alexandria – big breakfast and pancakes, plane watching at Shep’s Mound
• Walks and food with Mom - Botanic Gardens, Pollen café, LBG: Lennox Gardens to NGA, ANU Sculpture Walk with National Parks Association of the ACT, Sharon May's Filipino Cuisine - halo halo, Northside Garden Cafe (Filipino restaurant), Multicultural Festival
• Bike rides
• Nano blocks
• Catherine doing the Junior zookeeper program at the National Zoo
• More Eats: Edo Canteen, Wild Panda (Dan Dan Noodle), Spit Shack (lamb classic), CocoNine Kingston (chicken pad thai), Dobinson’s, Margot Bar (Cuca Sardines), Drunken Tiger (seafood pad thai)
• Listen: Mi Corazón – Jacob Collier, Turn the Lights Back On – Billy Joel
• Watch: Boy Swallows Universe (Netflix), The Holdovers, Godzilla Minus One