No sooner had Sam and Marissa flown out for a brief return to NZ than Bear & Emily arrived in Sydney. This is actually a correct statement: Bear & Emily arrived, their bags did not – they were left behind in Heathrow – doh! But regardless of possessions, it was great to see them after all these months! 
Having given them 36 hours to adjust we then headed to watch the Dark Knight at the outdoor cinema complete with real bats flying overhead! Emily lasted until after the first scene, Karen a little longer and myself for more than 75% of the film – but sure enough we all fell asleep and left the Bear to wake us after the film! We started the weekend at the cricket then spent the rest of the weekend eating, drinking, sunbathing and bbq’in before they left for Melbourne the Sunday evening – boo 
Monday 26th Jan was Australia Day. Some call it Invasion day! We joined in the activities and first watched the ferry boat racing in Circular Quay, wandered through a classic car show (Adam would have been in heaven!) followed by live bands in Hyde park in the afternoon. The plan was then to catch the other bands in the Rocks/Darling Harbour before the 9pm firework display – however – the rain came about 6 and dampened our spirits
But on the back of losing Bear & Emily to Melbourne we now have had the good news that Sam has a confirmed date for moving to Sydney, so Sam & Marissa will be back the end of Feb, Bruce’y-boy should be back from Vegas soon (hope he paid for his return flight before hitting Vegas!) and Ruth back from NZ too – so hopefully, fingers crossed, we can all go sea fishing ASAP as I am mad for some sea fishing action!!!!
Given we are both now not working, we spent our first day off by visiting the NSW Art Gallery and was quite shocked by the first exhibit – trust me, we didn’t do it! We *think* its meant to be like that! The best exhibition was the photo’s about “Black Australia” though some images were aimed at provoking a response and a certin exhibit with a dialogue was just plain arsey!
PS: For the sharp-eyed reader, well spotted, for the not so sharp check out the new header – it’s now on rotation for several images we have selected from the trip so far…
