Sydney

The older kids had the first two weeks of July off of school for winter holiday. We had never been to Sydney (outside of the airport) and so we planned a car trip up. It is almost a 7-hour drive from Myrtleford but my awesome friend Jackie is from the Sydney area and planned out our itinerary, including emergency stops along the way. We didn’t fit in half of her suggestions so I guess that means we need to go back sometime!

We stayed in a fancy flat above a neighborhood convenience shop in Paddington. It wasn’t the most kid-friendly but we were really only there for dinners, baths and bed. The location was excellent – close to the train station and bus stops, a nearby playground and footy oval, ALDI (yippee!) and a funny statue that the kids could climb on while we waited for the bus.

We walked our feet off exploring the sights of the CBD (Central Business District – the way “downtown” is referred to in cities). And when we needed a break from walking we would take a ferry around the harbor.

Enjoying a train ride:

At the top of our list was the aquarium in Darling harbor, we have all become sea life fans. Our resident sea life expert (Asher) was impressed. We especially liked watching the sharks being fed squid and the boat ride through the penguin area.

We shopped the outdoor market at The Rocks and watched people climb the harbor bridge. We went to a show at the Sydney Opera House! “Justine Clarke and the Gobbledygook.” We couldn’t take pictures of the show so you will have to google it to see what it is about. Justine is a presenter on the TV show “Playhouse,” which is a show aimed at pre-school aged kids where they read stories and sing lots of songs with silly actions. Playhouse has been televised for over 50 years (longer than Sesame Street) by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The show was fun and even Cady grooved to the music.

We went to a special spider exhibit at the Australian Museum where we saw large live spiders and watched a huntsman get milked for its venom. I might have had nightmares the following night.

 

We spent almost an entire day at the Taronga zoo. It was good (baby elephant!) but the views back across the harbor were the best part.

From the zoo we took a ferry to Watson Bay for playground fun, view of the ocean from the other side of the bay and take-away fish and chips.

We watched the sunset over the harbor bridge on our ferry back into Sydney. We sat by one of the ferry guides and she answered a million questions from us- mostly about the Japanese U-boats that attacked the harbor during WWII and where famous people from Sydney lived. This holiday was really an educational experience disguised as fun ;).

On Sunday we attended a congregation that met in a building facing Hyde park (right smack downtown). It was amazing to sit with people from all over the world and sing the same hymns we sing back at home.

Although it is winter here, we had to visit the famous Bondi beach. It was a balmy 17 degrees (63 degrees F) but that did not stop the kids from swimming. I enjoyed watching the heaps of surfers catching ripper waves. Notice the people in the background in full winter coats!

  

We reluctantly departed Sydney and made our way down the New South Wales coast to our next stop: Jervis Bay. I’m still sorting the pictures but will have a post on that soon.

Activities

I’ve been saving a few photos in my favourites folder that all deal with the kid’s activities – both in and outside of school – and realised that I hadn’t covered them in the blog yet.

We just finished up a season of miniroos soccer. Both older kids played. It was a fairly laid-back affair with weekly practices involving every kid from age 4 to 10 at the soccer pitch of the Myrtleford Savoys – our town’s semi-professional soccer team. Before it got too dark and cold Maren even enjoyed attending practices to get a sausage from the canteen. Once or twice a month gala days were held in nearby towns with miniroo participants coming in from all over the area to spend the day playing games. Parents help coach the gala day games and Eric has helped out with the older (U10) team. Gala day in Bright (what a setting!):

Last weekend Cady took part in an all-girl gala day here in Myrtleford and even got her picture in the local paper!

Asher has been learning a new sport: Australian Rules Football, otherwise known as “footy.” He has been part of the AusKick program, learning the rules and practicing skills every Saturday morning. Tonight they had their last meeting – under the lights at the local footy field with a parents vs. kids game followed by sausage sizzle. Asher in action:

As part of the enrollment in AusKick, we received 4 tickets to a professional footy match at the MCG in Melbourne. We figured it would not be a great event for a 2-yr old and so we gave 2 tickets to friends and Eric and Asher had a long (7 hours of car travel, 3 hours of game time) footy Saturday. Asher thought it was worth it.

Both older kids have continued with weekly swim lessons (indoor!) in Bright. We have really come to love their coach. They have also continued with horseback riding lessons about once a month. During the school holidays (Easter and now winter) they have done a day camp at the same equestrian park. Boy we have been busy!

Sport of all kind is really emphasized in the schools here. Probably one of the reasons Australia is always in the lists of top 10 healthiest countries. At the start of term 1 years 1 through 6 participated in a swim carnival – racing others in their age year for points for their house. Term 2 began with a field sports day where they competed in running, throwing, jumping and 3-person potato sack (the most serious of) events. Asher and Cady are both in “Barwidgee” house and they were able to cheer each other on. Cady and mates in a sack race:

Cady has had the opportunity to play in a regional netball tournament (another new to us sport!) for the school. On Thursdays for three weeks she got to leave school and play netball all day!

She also took part in a cross-country run day where all upper grades ran a long distance according to their age. They ran through the golf course across the street from our house and so I was able to watch them out our window (and sneak over to cheer Cady on).

The school has been great to us in other ways. I’ve ben involved in the parent’s club (like PTO/PTA) and helped out with some of the fundraisers and the fun activities they sponsor. They provide fresh fruit to all the classrooms every Friday and once a term have a special treat. Today I helped serve hot chocolate and “bikkies” (biscuits/cookies).

Last term we hosted a hot breakfast and got the principal to flip the bacon. One of the other fundraisers was a raffle with the top prize of a trailer full of wood and we won it! Which was great because we are going through about that much every fortnight trying to keep our house warm with our wood stove. Our prize:

The preps (kindergarteners) have been matched up all year with a student from year 6. They meet once a week and read together or work on words. Asher’s buddy is Harrison and whenever we see him in town he has a hug and hello for Asher. Getting that kind of attention from a 12-year old is about as “ripper” as it gets.

I know we are going home to a great school but I think we are all going to miss Myrtleford P-12 College! Even the unis (uniforms)! 

Echuca

We took a trip back in time this past weekend and landed in Echuca (to prounce: sneeze ACHOO! and add a “ca”) on the Murray River circa 1870. View of the old train station at the historic wharf on the Murray:

We stayed in an apartment above a bakery on the main street in town. The building was built in 1874 and had lots of character and peculiarities (and 5:00am deliveries to the bakery every morning). Front room with extremely tall ceilings and view down to the bustling main street:

In the mid to late 1800’s Echuca was a thriving port town along the Murray River – servicing paddle steamers that were used as the main mode of transportation in the area. The paddle steamers quickly lost out to the train and by the 1900’s they had nearly all been abandoned or burned. Echuca has restored many of its historical sites and now has a thriving tourist economy. The highlight of our weekend was a boat ride on the Murray aboard the Canberra, a restored paddle steamer:

We all had a go at steering her and the kids received honorary skipper certificates:

While we were cruising we passed many houseboats and other paddle steamers including the beautiful Emmylou, named after the folk singer (E. Harris):

We took a horse-drawn carriage ride around town with Ollie and Dolly:

View down “Echuca Port” - the heart of the historic area from the top of the carriage:

It wasn’t all history all weekend, however. On our way to Echuca we stopped at a large outdoor play area in Shepparton called Kidstown. It was a chilly Friday morning (our kids did not have school due to end of term reporting) and we had the place to ourselves. Eric got in on the digging action:

The city of Shepparton has cow statues all over the place – something to do with the thriving cattle industry – painted in the most peculiar fashion. Maren would yell out “MOO!” whenever she saw one and needed pictures of all of the different cows at Kidstown:

We also checked out a children’s science center in Echuca called TwistED. It was small but we still managed to spend over 3 hours there – everything was really hand’s on and engaging. Friday being a school day for kids in the area we again had the entire place to ourselves. Maren trying out a flying thing on the air table:

Asher held a very large and spiny stick insect for about a millisecond until it started to move and then he vigorously tried to get it OFF. Luckily the bug had sticky feet and dig not get tossed across the room. The approach of the stick insect:

As we are finding in small towns in Australia, everyone we met and interacted with was generous and friendly. We went to church on Sunday and the members of the congregation fed us lunch and offered us a free place to stay the next time we passed through - or more permanent housing if we wanted to move there anytime soon. I don't think it was my organ playing skills that got us the offer- they were really just that kind. My overall review of Echuca: really neat historic town but a long weekend is just about the perfect amount of time needed to visit.

Birthdays

Maren is 2 years old! This is a bittersweet milestone as I want her to continue to be my baby but at the same time I am excited about seeing her sweet personality develop. She became interested in using the toilet in March and her birthday gift to us has been freeing our lives of nappies (diapers)! We celebrated with a weekend of fun.

After soccer games on Saturday we stopped by the red stag and emu farm to feed the animals and pet baby goats and a fawn. Then we had friends from church over for dinner and cake.

Which large animal will try to take the bucket of food first? My money is on the ostrich:

Maren has everyone eating out of her hands:

Baby goats! The kids all wanted to take one home until the goats started nibbling their fingers:

Maren opened a few presents Sunday morning (June 4) and was really excited to have her very own backpack like her older siblings:

On Sunday we went straight from church to our good friend Jackie’s house. We met Jackie our first few days in town and she has been so generous to us. She threw a Care Bear party for Maren complete with rainbow fruit, Care Bear games and prizes, and adorable decorations.

Maren was asleep in the car when we arrived and so we started the party without her. The party crew minus the birthday girl:

She’s awake! Birthday cake #2:

Birthday blocks:

This past weekend we celebrated the Queen’s birthday the way Australians do – with food and footy. We attended a local footy (Australian Rules Football) match with the hometown Alpine Saints playing the Wangaratta Magpies. This is an intense game with 36 players on an oval field. There are no set plays or positions – play continues until the ball goes out of bounds. It is much of a free-for-all with kicking, punching (not throwing!), running with and dribbling the rugby-shaped ball down the field to try to get it through the other teams posts. Middle post scores earn 6 points while side posts get 1. Tackling is allowed and there can be fouls (although I’m not sure what differentiates a foul from normal play).

The female Saints and Pies were playing netball at the same time and place (stadium park area). This is another new-to-us game that is fascinating. It is much like basketball except there is no dribbling and the players have to stay in their zones on the court – some can only stay on the back half, or some the front ¾ of the court. Contact is not allowed and “goal” positions get a 3-foot buffer when shooting the ball. Cady has been learning this sport in school and she tried to explain it to us.

Monday we had a day off of school and work and met friends at Botanical gardens in Albury for a picnic and then to a playground to tire the children. Jackie made apple crumble cake fit for high tea with the queen.

Botanical gardens with Jackie and Jane in the background:

It is winter here and mornings are usually foggy but the mist lifts by late morning and we have had sunny and fresh (in the low 60s) afternoons. Our nights get down to the 30s and we can see snow at the top of Mount Hotham!