FuShMuSh

King Tide at Clovelly

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:11 +0000

One Sunday morning this summer, joined by the Bell family, we were lucky enough to experience a king tide at Clovelly.

Clovelly has an unusual layout for a beach. The beach shore is quite narrow and there are rocks and cliffs that extend for a few hundred metres out to sea. In the 30s, as a depression era project, they covered the rocks with a concrete promenade. This is where we, and the sophisticated set, usually sit. The beach is generally crawling with toddlers and covered with family sized tents. The promenade has the added bonus of no sand. I'm not a fan of sand.

On the morning of the king tide, the water was high enough to be washing over the concrete promenade. It was lovely to splash along in the impromptu wading pool. Oscar and Leo (and all the kids at Clovelly) had a fabulous time jumping off the walls of the promenade into the ocean.

The snorkelling was great too. Mum and Dad have started taking jatz crackers to feed the fishies at Clovelly. I always put a few in the pocket of my boardies. The fish follow you around even when you have run out of crackers. On the morning of the king tide even Oscar had a go at feeding the fishies. We had our underwater camera out that day and were able to snap a few photos.

I'm hoping we can fit a few more mornings in at Clovelly before autumn, and cooler weather, actually arrives. Fingers crossed for good weather this weekend...

More photos on Flickr.

Isaac

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:40:42 +0000

The Brisvegas Wilsons came down in November for Ivan's 80th birthday. It was great to catch up with Ben, Janet and Isaac who we haven't seen for a year. Poor Isaac doesn't get much fushmush space because they live so far away. So here are some photos to make up for it a little bit. We spent a morning playing in the front garden in the sunshine.

Happy Birthday EddyG!

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:16:20 +0000

Little EddyG turned one on Wednesday. Happy Birthday Eddy!

We were lucky enough to spend the day with the birthday boy. We snorkelled at Gordons Bay (we saw a couple of rays!). We followed that little bit of exercise with grilled fish and chips at Coogee. It was a great 1st birthday celebration. It was also a 29th birthday celebration as Eddy shares his birthday with his Dad, Goldy. Poor Goldy. Nobody is ever going to make a big deal out of your birthday again. We promise we'll make a big deal out of your 30th birthday. Well, we'll call you old at least.

For Eddy's 1st birthday I made him a lambykins. Like the one below except from different material.

Usually, I have to explain what the present is after it is opened. It's a soft toy but it also doubles as a pillow. We didn't have to explain it to Eddy though. We put lambykins in front of him and he put his head straight down and gave it a hug. Everyone there went "awwwwwwwwwww". It was very cute. It's nice to see your presents in action and being appreciated.
Thanks to Nina for the photo. I stupidly forgot to take my camera on the day.

Sushi Roulette

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:10:46 +0000

This year, to celebrate Andrew's birthday we went to see Avatar 3D at IMAX. Here we are in our 3D glasses. Don't we look sexy! The movie was pretty good. The story wasn't anything new (um... pocahontas anyone?) but it was well-paced and there were enough action sequences to keep me amused. The 3D technology was impressive. Andrew gives it 4.5 stars out of 5 (which is a big recommendation from him).

After the movie we headed to dinner at Wagaya in Haymarket. We'd picked this dinner spot for one reason... sushi roulette. How does it work? Well you order a plate of 6 salmon nigiri except there is a catch. One of the nigiris has double the amount of wasabi than normal. So, one lucky diner cops a fiery mouthful of sushi.

The participants in our round of sushi roulette were Sue, Andrew, Simon, Clare, Brendan and Adam.

Who was the lucky winner? You'll have to watch the video to find out.

Thanks to GrabYourFork for the restaurant recommendation.

oooh... aaahhh... Happy New Year!

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:59:39 +0000

We had a great view for the fireworks on New Years Eve. We spent the evening in a city apartment with a fantastic view over the domain to the harbour bridge. It's not our apartment but Paddy and Kat's digs. Paddy and Kat headed to Western Australia over the Christmas break to hang out with Kat's family so, we volunteered to road test their apartment. Just to make sure it was really good venue for NYE. It was. Paddy and Kat, it's all set and ready to go for NYE 2010.

The Sydney fireworks are so impressive, especially with the bridge as a centre piece. Sydney has a reputation as the best NYE fireworks in the world. I think it's a reputation that Sydney is always trying to retain. This year the city spent 50% more on fireworks than they did last year. Last year they spent more than they ever had before. The fireworks certainly went off with a big bang. We hung off Paddy's balcony and oohed and aahed. I even applauded at the end. I'm not sure that they are worth all that money but they are certainly very pretty.

So all in all in it was a good last night of 2009... good company, good music, good fireworks, good fun. We're looking forward to 2010.

More photos on Flickr.

Merry Christmas Part 2

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:04:56 +0000

After Christmas at the beach we headed to Goulburn to do Christmas with the Wilsons. Well, not all the Wilsons as Ben, Janet and Isaac stayed in Brisvegas for Christmas and Simon was at work. But, the important Wilsons were there.

And a few ring ins. Andrew's cousin Debbie, her husband Phil and their son Alec were out in Australia for their first ever hot Christmas. They were missing the coldest Christmas in decades back home in Manchester. Although, they are home now so I hope they are enjoying the below zero temperatures.

Because we had tourists in the house we did some touristy stuff around Goulburn. I've never done touristy stuff in Goulburn before. We went to Berrima for lunch (it was packed and apparently always is) and we also went to Wombeyan caves.

At Wombeyan, we did a guided tour through Junction Cave. The cave has a lot of beautiful limestone formations. My favourite was Chalker's curtain. Andrew got a great photo of it. The cave also has bats (we saw them flying around) and therefore bat poo. In parts the bat poo coats the stalagmites and makes them look like large, chocolate wedding cakes. Don't eat them though, can't imagine they'd be too tasty. After the guided tour we walked through the self-guided Figtree Cave.

We also did a mini tour of Goulburn to look at the Christmas lights. This house won second place in the annual lights competition. I wonder what 1^st looked like? This was impressive enough. I wonder what their December electricity bill is like.

More photos on Flickr.

2009: The end of an era

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:52:50 +0000

Happy New Year fushies! It's definitely the end of an era for the Wilsons. We've left the young, dynamic, exciting city of London and returned to our beloved home city of Sydney. We're definitely going to miss London and all our friends in London. More than anything we're going to miss the mini-break. There is really nothing like jetsetting off to a new country and culture of a weekend.

But, it's not all tears and sadness. 2010 is going to hold many new adventures for us. New jobs, car, new house, new... The Wilsons are really looking forward to the next year.

Farewell 2009... Welcome 2010!

2009: Project 52

Mini-breaks: 11

Cologne and Dusseldorf - Germany (February); Florence - Italy (March, Anniversary trip); Croatia / Greece (April, with Mum and Dad); Scotland (May, with the Bells); Egypt and Jordan (May); Romania (July, with Clare and Brendan); Wales (July, Nik and Kath's wedding); Normandy / Champagne, France (August, with Matt and Tash); Austria / Germany (October, Dubs trip); Hong Kong (November)

Blog: 98

Highlights...
Recipe: Cherry Ripe Mud Cake
Transcontinental Diminishing Whist
The Long Walk Home
Beer vs Beer
Picasso Illuminations
I love Paris in the spring time
Abu Simbel
Feluccan Fun
Where is the mouse?
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Glitter makes everything better
Explore London
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...
A walk at sunset

Movies: 12

Favourite Movie of 2009: Up (yay!!)

Others:
Watchmen (meh), Startrek (yay!), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (meh), Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (boo!), Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (yay!), Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (meh), Inglorious Basterds (boo!), Julie and Julia (yay!), Coraline (yay!), Fame (meh), Disney's A Christmas Carol (meh)

Books: 67

Favourites of 2009:
When Will There Be Good News? - Kate Atkinson, The Dive from Clausen's Pier - Ann Packer, The Island - Victoria Hislop, Hotel World - Ali Smith, Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson, Zorro: A Novel - Isabel Allende, The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies, The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield, Saturday - Ian Mcewan, The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff, Notes from an Exhibition - Patrick Gale, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See

Full list of 67 at ListsofBests.com

Project 52: Week 52

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:36:48 +0000

Sydney: Christmas Day. Sydney: Christmas Day.

" Every year Andrew and I take a photo of ourselves on Christmas Day. Well we try to anyway. Here is this year's effort. "

Check out Sue's day at noodlebowl.net and her photos on Flickr.

Merry Christmas

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:20:35 +0000

Merry Christmas from fushmush! We spent Christmas at the beach this year; you can't get more Australian than that! Pity the weather wouldn't come to play. After a gorgeous Christmas Eve (sunshine, blue skies, 31 degrees) the weather was pretty miserable on Christmas Day (rain, wind, mid-20s). We still managed a trip to the beach though and Andrew and I even went for a swim. I'm still in love with the fact that I can go for a swim at the beach whenever I want.

The rest of Christmas Day was filled with the same stuff as usual.

No presents until 7am. When I was a child, on Christmas Day, I wasn't allowed to go and wake Mum and Dad up until 7am. I also wasn't allowed to touch the presents until Mum and Dad were up and ready to go. We enforced the 7am rule this year with Oscar and Leo. They were both up at 6am though (which meant that most of the house was also up at 6am). The boys were running around excitedly checking to see if Santa had eaten his snack of tiny teddies and VB and the reindeer had eaten their carrots. Surprisingly, Santa hadn't had time to eat all his tiny teddies but did have time to drink all of the beer. I hope there aren't any RBTs up there (don't drink and fly Santa!).

The rest of the day was about too many presents, too much food and an afternoon nap. Well, an afternoon nap for everyone except the 3-year old and the 7-year old. It's funny how naps become appealing again when you're a grown up.

We hope that your Christmas Day was just as fun-filled and love-filled as ours was. Hugs and Kisses fushies!

More photos on Flickr.

This year, we've decided to donate the money that we would have spent on Christmas Cards towards a World Vision Smiles Gift. We made a donation to a child immunisation program

Project 52: Week 50 and 51

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:23:04 +0000

Summer Sydney: Thursday - Summer. Sydney: Thursday - Summer and then Sydney: Thursday - Summer. Sydney: Thursday - Summer.

" We've been spending a lot of time with the boys since we returned home. Since I don't have a job, I'm the perfect babysitter!

The first photo is from Oscar's Christmas Concert. Oscar's class performed a dance to Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground. The girls wore pink wigs and the boys wore sparkly gold waistcoats and headbands. In most photos Oscar looks like he is concentrating hard but in this one he actually looks like he is enjoying himself. "

"The next week we looked after the boys while Annie was at a Christmas lunch. Even though it was a scorcher of a day (31 degrees) we took the boys down to the park. Luckily there are sunshades over the play equipment at the local park so it wasn't ridiculously hot. After an hour or so at the park we headed across the road for lunch at Bitton. The boys had crepes with strawberry jam for lunch. Not exactly a nutritional lunch but guess who loves Auntie Jessie and Uncle Andrew!"

Check out Sue's day at noodlebowl.net and her photos on Flickr.