December 6th, 2009
After a extremely long spell without a relaxing holiday it was time for some R&R! We had made plans to spend some time on Hamilton Island with Bemily & Dan (Em’s brother) so we extending our break so we could first learn to sail! We booked a competent crew course with Whitsunday Sailing School and set sail for 5 days, 4 nights on the water!
The course was amazing. Steve was the instructor/skipper and we were also aboard with Adam (who was preparing for his yachtmasters) and Blake (who was taking his day skipper). The five of us had a great time sailing around one of the most amazing sailing spots in the world – both day and NIGHT!
Once we completed our course, with knowledge on on to sail, eight knots and a desperate need for a proper shower, we headed to Hamiliton Island to meet the gang. Well, the place was stunning and the shower amazing! Em had booked a sailing excursion for us all so we eventually got to swim in the green waters, snokkled on a reef, swam with a turtle then played cricket on Whitehaven beach, messages below:
We all then returned to Sydney for a long weekend of sighseeing for Dan, meeting the family (Towells & Lyon) and as usual plenty of drinking and eating for us all! All in all, a wicked holiday which also served as half my notice as I have a new job at Yahoo!7 
Tags: Bemily, queensland, sailing, World Trip
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December 6th, 2009
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November 4th, 2009
the blog has a new home
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October 8th, 2009
So, since getting back to Oz since half time in the UK we’ve managed to fit a fair bit in, including a trip to Melbourne, time on the beach and of course a birthday celebration for me!
The weather once we got back was amazing and we settled in for a long, long summer, had a couple of weekends on the beach, played plenty of golf and restarted midweek supper club! There are a serious number of restaurants just around our suburb so we have taken to task at getting around them and true to form we are progressing nicely!
Couple of weeks ago we headed to Melbourne for a long weekend. We left Sydney in beautiful 30 degree sunshine and turned up to a brisk 11 degrees Melbourne! The weekend was awesome, as usual plenty of top quality food, flowing wine and great times! It was AFL Grand Final weekend in Melbourne, given tickets were selling in excess of $1000 each we opted for a bar in St Kilda, the home suburb of one of the finalists! Unfortunately St Kilda didn’t win, but the atmosphere and fun were top notch!
Back to Sydney we have had a few weeks of rain which, given the recent dust storm, have been welcome by most so Karen will have to wait a couple of weeks for a return to the beach! My birthday fell midweek so we opted for supper club on my actual birthday (probably one of the top three restaurant experiences to-date in Oz) and celebrations with all on the Sunday of a long weekend. The Sunday was then the turn of the rugby league grand final which resulted in a day long drinking accumulating in everyone back to ours! I don’t think the neighbours were too impressed given we were complaining the music wasn’t loud enough at 2am!!!
Anyway, wedding plans are coming along nicely – stag & hen plans are in the air and the finer detail for the wedding being discussed.
Tags: Beach, Bemily, Melbourne, sydney
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August 31st, 2009
Since getting engaged the past few months have flown and the realisation that 30th April 2010 was getting nearer, made us both think about the wedding and for me a dress! Unsure about the kind of dress I wanted, I checked out a few places in Sydney with little success and realised that I wanted my mum to be there, so needless to say flights back to the UK were booked.
We landed in the UK 6am Sat 22nd Aug. By 7.30am we were reunited with Dan’s Dad and Sandra and on the road heading north to Sheffield, where we were to meet up with all our parents. Wanting to waste no time, I had booked an appointment at a bridal shop in Sheffield so by 2.30pm me, Mum, Barbara, Sandra and Dad (very surprised at this) were in the bridal shop where I got the best-est surprise of all with the my sis and the kids coming out from the changing room to surprise me – AMAZING! After a few tears, the bottle of champagne being popped and “OMG I can’t believe it” I managed to focus to try on a few dresses and it was when I was trying on the 4th dress I knew I had found the one!
On Sunday we headed up to Newcastle where Kenny had arranged a BBQ for us and invited everyone round. We had a wicked afternoon, it was soooo nice to see everyone again. To add to the celebrations it was revelaved that Nick & KT had got engaged!!!! Crack open more bubbly!!! Like usual we had one too many drinks and I was still urging KT to have another drink at 1am when she had to be up and drive to work in a few hours! 
Only back for a week I was keen to get as much sorted as possible. With my dress sorted on the Sat, on the Monday we shortlisted the bridesmaids dresses and confirmed Dan and the guy’s suits. On Tuesday with Andie and Sez we confirmed the bridesmaid dresses. Tuesday night we went to check out the venue for the first time (good job mother – well done!) and chose the menu for the wedding breakfast – all I can say is people are not going to be hungry by the end!
Wednesday night was time to catch up with the Crammy girls which was FAB. It was SOOOO lush to see everyone and meet Molly for the first time – how cute! Thursday was a day for Mum and we set off to go and have a look at mother of the bride outfits, just to get an idea more than anything. Continuing with our successful week, Mum managed to get her outfit so it feels like things are coming together nicely.
The week home has been awesome, we haven’t stopped and as a result we’re both exhausted (me more so than Dan, as he just played golf pretty much all week!). Only having a week to plan all the major things for your wedding certainly makes you more decisive and I have to say I’m looking forward to having a few weeks off!
Tags: World Trip
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August 31st, 2009
So as not to leave a gaping hole in this journal which I am sure we will refer in the future, this blog brings life in Sydney up to date from our last post to our departure back to the UK for “half time”!
Since Watson’s Bay we have managed to spot whales migrating north off the Sydney coast. On a glorious Saturday afternoon, accompanied with a thick head, we set sail from Circular Quay out through the harbour and past the heads. Within minutes the skipper had picked up the trail of a whale (a trail is basically a string of other whale spotting boats!!!) and followed it for some time. After a while of it swimming along we were pretty much over it and almost as if the whale itself knew it decided to kick (literally) into life! Check out the pics!
Over the past few weeks “we” have been training for Kaz to run her first road race – 14km from the city, along the harbour, to Bondi. I say we as originally I did intended to run it, but we then realised that the Sunday clashed with Bear & Em being up from Melbourne so I gladly opted to give my running number to Em! The training certainly paid off and the girls crossed the line in a respectable 86 minutes which given the traffic they had to pass is a very good time!
So with Bear & Em in town we obviously got out the red paint (never a carpet!) and hit the city. Friday night was a marathon of drinking across the city and Saturday was certainly dedicated to R&R – the girls hit the spa, the boys went fishing with Sammy (& maybe a stubby or two!) and found the most amazing spot. Pictures certainly paint a pretty picture! To celebrate the run we hit Bills in Surry Hills for a late lunch and decided to wash it down with a bottle or two, or to be honest – a case!
Our final weekend before our trip back to the UK contained our first day back on the beach ahead of the summer. True to Sydney winter form, the weather was mid-to-high twenty’s and we went to Little Bay. Little Bay is where I play golf so knew it was a fantastic spot, but it was the first time Karen had seen it and it is truly an amazing spot. With eski and fishing rod in hand we hit the beach. Kaz bathed, I fished and what a fishing spot – first cast, first fish! The fish kept participating frequently with my activity and a fantastic day was had!
Oh, on a final note, we have had our 457 working visa granted so Karen will be bringing home LEGO until January 2010 at least!
Tags: World Trip
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