The Stickybeak

Gretel: (to me, Ravi, and Bronte) How was your day today?

Me: (Looking at Ravi) Do you want to tell her or shall I?

Ravi: (quietly) You.

Me: (to Gretel) Well, I lost two things today. My camera. And Ravi. (Looking at Ravi) Luckily, I found both.

******

And luckily, Gretel was very understanding and forgiving!

Here's the scoop...

Today, I took Ravi and Bronte to the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney's science and design museum. It's a really fun museum and the kids had a great time at "Zoe's House", the Playground, and watching the "Science of Cooking" demonstration, among other things. At one point I realized that my camera was missing. Keeping track of the kid's jackets, bags, and lunches had made me overlook my own items - mainly my camera. A slight panic, a quick backtrack, some information from the front desk, and I found my camera at Security. Yay!

On with our fun day...

Later that afternoon, the kids wanted to return to the Playground. We sat, had more of our lunch that we hadn't finished earlier, then the kids were off to play. I sat watching them and shivering in the shade since the sun had moved. So I decided to move to another bench in the sun. I picked up bags and jackets and took everything to our new spot. Then, I yelled over to Ravi and Bronte, who were playing together and not too far away, that I had moved and pointed to the new bench.

A short time later, Bronte came over and we sat and talked. We would look up from our conversation from time to time to see what Ravi was doing. At one point, Bronte said, "Where's Ravi?"

We looked and looked all over the playground. No Ravi.

Feeling a little concerned.

We checked the restaurant and eating area next to the playground. Ravi had told me he had some of his own money and wanted to buy candy with it so I wondered if he'd wandered over to where the sweets were.

No Ravi.

Starting to feel even more uneasy here.

Rechecked the playground in case we missed him. It IS school holidays so there were a lot of kids at the museum.

Still no Ravi.

Panic. Starting to think he went back inside the museum. Too large...to many people...I'll never find him. What am I going to tell his parents?

Security! I'm not messing around with this, I'll let the pros handle it! Luckily, since I'd previously had to pick my camera up there, I knew right were Security was. Bronte and I made a bee-line. I was not letter HER out of my site!

I gave a description, and even had a picture on my camera. The call went out by radio. I swear, it was not even 60 seconds later, and another security guard approached me to tell me they'd found him and he'd be waiting upstairs at the front desk.

Relief!!

Powerhouse Security Rocks!

And there he was! Take a deep breath. Big hugs! And a talk about how I'd NEVER leave him! And if this ever happens again, to just stay where he'd last seen me and I would find him.

Turns out, he didn't see that I'd moved benches. Couldn't find me or Bronte (even though we were sitting in plain sight. I think he just panicked when I wasn't were he expected me to be) and for some reason assumed we'd gone back inside so he went in to look for us. Poor kid. He must have felt awful.

******

Gretel: (to me, Ravi, and Bronte) How was your day today?

Me: (Looking at Ravi) Do you want to tell her or shall I?

Ravi: (quietly) You.

Me: (to Gretel) Well, I lost two things today. My camera. And Ravi. (Looking at Ravi) Luckily I found both.

We spent Friday & Saturday in Canberra, Australia's capital city. It's a 3 hour drive to Canberra from Sydney, mostly along quiet, scenic highway roads. The Halls, another American family (from Provo, UT. Matt is here for work for 2 yrs - he works for NuSkin) also went. They have four kids and their boys and Ravi love to play together. They were a lot of fun to travel with.

We went to Canberra for Floriade, Australia's largest flower festival, which was beautiful and a lot of fun. But we also saw a lot of other great things. Here is a list of some of our "Hits & Misses"

"Hits"

• National Archives of Australia - where I attempted to find my Great Grandfather who migrated to Australia from Britain in 1911-12. Unfortunately, they didn't have any ships records for direct sails to Melbourne prior to 1924.
• Lake Burley Griffin - a large lake that sits in the middle of wide and rolling green parks that make up Canberra's interior.
• Embassy Row - it was sure fun to check out the architecture of all the different embassies.
• Questacon: National Science & Technology Center - hours of fun and entertainment for the kids (ok, and the adults)!
• National Gallery of Australia - Some great aboriginal art and a spectacular Asia-Pacific photo display. Loved it!
• Old Parliament House - was the seat of government from 1927-1988.
• Aboriginal Tent Embassy - sits opposite Old Parliament House and is essentially an old shed. It was established on Australia Day, 26 Jan 1972, as a protest against the denial of land rites and self-determination. It became a symbol of resistance and is where the Aboriginal flag first gained prominence.
• Australian War Memorial - not only a memorial, but an amazing and large museum detailing the events, weapons, and human toll of wartime.

"Misses"

• National Library of Australia - I am particularly sad we missed this as the Library houses Captain Cook's Endeavor Journals, and the original 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place drawings for the Sydney Opera House contest. We actually did show up to see these things -- on Saturday when the display was closed. Bummer.
• New (or current) Parliament House - We were out of time, and the kids (and most of us adults) were out of energy. I'd have loved to have seen the inside of this interesting building. The building is dug into Capital Hill, its roof covered in grass and topped with an 81m high flag pole. In addition, one of only four known copies of the 1297 Magna Carta is on display here.

Gretel and me at Floriade.

Yared just being his cute self.
Ravi, Bryson, Carrie, and Madison don some super cool sunglasses.
Ravi, Madison, me, and Bryson showing off the latest hats. I look like a Muppet.

This colorful cow made us laugh.
Chris and Ravi survived the Questacon Freefall.

Old Parliament House. If you look really, really close, you can actually see us on the steps.

Inside Old Parliament House.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy.

Parliament & Capital Hill.
The white building in the middle of this picture is Old Parliament House. The hilltop with the flag behind it is Capital Hill and new Parliament.

War Memorial.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Memorial.

Sleepy, sleepy kids on the drive home.


Except for Yared, who was wide awake.

Hmm. What to have for lunch. Well, there IS that jar of Vegemite I bought last week. I guess I ought to give it a try. Yep, a Vegemite sandwich it is!

Don't let the chocolaty-like appearance fool you...


That face lasted for a good five minutes!

Vegemite has a really difficult taste to describe: "odd", "different" and "salty" were how me and Bronte described it. I guess it's a little like really salty molasses. It's definitely an acquired taste. And no, I didn't finish the sandwich. One bite was about all I could handle.

We gave Yared a little try too. His initial reaction was similar to ours, but in the end he ate his 1/8th of a sandwich, which is more than the rest of us. Go Yared!

Chris called from work during our taste testing. When Gretel told him we were feeding the kids Vegemite, he told us he was going to call Child Protective Services on us. :)

And now the kids can't stop talking about Vegemite.

I have an unusually large pore on my forehead. It's really quite noticeable.

Tonight, as Bronte was playing with my hair and swept away my bangs she saw it.

With some concern she exclaimed, "Sheridan, you have a hole in your head!"

Today, I decided to take the Sydney Bus Tour. I usually like these tours. Not only is it a fun way to rest your feet and see the city, but having a local guide who can add some color and flavor, give personal recommendations, and share insider stories appeals to me. Of course, much depends on the actual guide. A good tour guide is gold. But even a bad tour guide usually means a somewhat entertaining story to share later. What I didn't know is that the Sydney Bus Tour uses a recording instead of a real live person. Bummer. No amusing anecdotes. No personal insights. Just a too-loud recording that gave me a headache. Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.

And before someone (Dad) says you've been in Sydney a month-and-a-half, haven't you already seen most of the city. Well, yes I have. I'm just a cheesy tourist.

Actually, I did get to see a little of Sydney's eastern suburbs, which I hadn't previously visited. And I got to see Russell Crowe's residence up close. So, depending upon how you feel about Russell Crowe, it may or may not be a complete loss.

My mother recently returned from a trip to the UK to visit her family - a trip I was originally scheduled to go on. I don't regret my decision to come to Australia instead, but I am sad that I wasn't able to visit with family there, especially as my G'ma had a doctors visit that week and found out that she has breast cancer. Given her age and current health it has been decided that she shouldn't undergo surgery or chemo, but will be assisted with medication instead. Here are a few photos my mom just sent me.

One thing I keep hearing and reading is that Australia "has more things that will kill you than anywhere else on earth". Australia does have more deadly snakes and spiders than anywhere else, and has an impressive array of dangerous sea animals as well, including jellyfish and sharks.

Also, Australia is supposed to have some of the most extreme weather, and is the driest continent in the world. And have you heard about the big hole in the ozone over this country? Uh huh.

So why do I mention this?

Well, first the good news!

When things heat up around here, they really heat up! It was in the 80's Fahrenheit today and beautiful. Seriously, it was the PERFECT weather day! And I took advantage of it and headed to the beach! Glorious!!! I had one of those moments when I just fell in love (again) with a place! And I'm so excited that as we move into Spring/Summer here, there will continue to be even more amazing days just like this one!

And not to worry, in a very unusual move for me (especially given my red headed complexion), I SLATHERED on the sunscreen. My last sunburn, when I was home in UT in June, left me unable to sit down normally for days - the backs of my legs were fried - and I have no desire to repeat that.

Now the bad news. Mom, you may want to stop reading.

Bronte found two Redback Spiders in the garage - a mother and a baby. And yes, they are one of the three very poisonous/deadly spiders that Australia is known for. We called over a guy who was painting a house next door, a local, for confirmation of our find. Yep. Redbacks. He promptly smooshed them.

THEY are gone. But my concern is -- what FAMILY have they left behind???

For those of you who don't know, my worst nightmares (literally) were reoccurring, very scary spider dreams when I was about 8 or 9 years old. There is very little in this world that really scares, me but spiders (and doctors) top the list!

Psychoanalyze that. ;)

And Mom, there IS an anti venom serum for Redbacks if bitten. As they say here in Oz, "No worries, mate!"

Ok, bloggers, I need your help. I'm still new to all of this, and I'm having trouble adding a Flickr slideshow to the below post. I'm probably just making it more complicated than it needs to be. But will someone please comment or email and step me through the process??? THANKS!!!

1. A tour of The Rocks - the site of Sydney's first European settlement. Sydney's oldest buildings can be found here, including Cadman's Cottage built in 1816.
2. Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk - completed in 1932 (the Bridge, not my walk). For upwards of $200 you can climb to the very top. For free, I stuck to the footpath.
3. Luna Park - on the North Shore near the foot of the Bridge. Closed today, so no rides for me, but it made for some fun pictures.

PS: for some reason the slideshow is starting in the MIDDLE of the series of pictures, so click on Play Again to see all of the photos. AND, they are playing backwards. Grr. I give up. Enjoy anyway.


BTW, my Saturday date called tonight, he has to be in Melbourne for business tomorrow and won't make it back in time on Saturday. To be rescheduled...

Just a few updates and thoughts...

• As of last Friday, I've been in Sydney for over a month. Time flies when you're having fun!
• Gretel finally has word from the Consulate and will be starting work there next Monday. It's been nice having this time with her and learning the kids schedules so well from her. I will go into the next phase of this trip/visit with a lot more confidence than if she'd started work the week I arrived. She's such a great mom and I've learned a lot from observing her.
• Bronte had her last day of Gymnastics today. I've been going with her for the past several weeks while Gretel has taken Yared. It's been great fun to have that time with her. And we have been able to get to know the other kids and mums quite well. Bronte was so excited this morning to go to her class and was ready to drag me out of the house a full two hours before it was scheduled to start. Once it was over, she was equally as sad that she wouldn't get to see her friends again next week. I can understand. I really like the women there too. For the past few weeks, after class, we have all brought snacks and taken the kids to the park to play while we chatted. It's been a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll be able to set up a few play dates and see some of them again.
• A few of you will be happy to hear that I have a date next Saturday. We're going to brunch and the art gallery. I'll let you know how it goes.
• The following weekend, we're all going to Canberra for the annual flower festival, the Floriade. We've heard good things about it and are looking forward to it. We'll drive down on Friday, and back on Saturday.
• AND, most importantly, the weather is finally getting warmer! We've had a few days that really felt like summer! I love summer!

Yared loves shoes! It doesn't matter whose shoes they are - he just loves them!

Here he is in Dad's sneakers:
In Mom's pink, fuzzy slippers:

Gretel and I had such a fun night! We started off with dinner at a great restaurant at Darling Harbour. We sat outside near the water enjoying wonderful food, chatting, and people watching. After dinner we wandered the shops and found a great little art store where we bought some really fun prints of Sydney! At about 8pm, after it was dark, we found a little spot to sit on the wharf because there were fireworks - and they were really terrific! I didn't have my camera with me, but Gretel did and took a few photos. I'll post them when she's able to send them to me. Following fireworks, we walked over to the Chinese Garden of Friendship - we had tickets to the Moon Festival, a light and sound show that told the story of the Moon Goddess. The show was really well done and we even got a complimentary moon cake. We wandered past the Lindt chocolate store as we were leaving and couldn't resist sampling some of their amazing ice cream! Gretel is so easy to be with and we did so many fun things, it was just a pleasant, relaxing evening!

I met Sonia at JFK Airport on August 10th. We happened to be sitting next to each other while waiting for our very late airplane. We started talking about books. The subjects branched out from there. Our take off kept getting delayed, and at one point, as I was on the phone with my sister-in-law, the flight finally began boarding. However, partially because my sister-in-law is so fascinating (love ya, J!) and partially because I just wasn't paying enough attention and thought it was the gate next to ours that was boarding their plane, I almost missed my flight. Yes, the one that brought me here to Australia! (Duh!) Well, thanks to Sonia, who was waving wildly at me from the gate, I just made it!

During our stopover at LAX, we chatted some more, I thanked her profusely for making sure I made it on the plane!, and she gave me her card. Since then we have kept in touch via email.

Sonia lives right at Circular Quay, which is just minutes (walking) to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - she has great views of the Bridge and the Royal Botanical Gardens. She is a lovely woman. Her husband is elderly and lives in a care facility, so she lives alone and goes to visit him everyday. She is very community minded and has served for years on Sydney's City Council. She knows a lot about this city and has fascinating stories and insights on Sydney's politics and it's politicians. She also has a love for historical fiction, which I also think is fun to read.

Well, since schedules finally allowed, we met up for lunch on Friday. Sonia had me over to her place and made me one of the nicest meals I've had! Salmon and various salads, veggies, fruit, etc. Everything was fresh and wonderful! Then we went for coffee (hot chocolate in my case) at a little cafe just down by the water. Three hours and a food coma later, I took my leave.

What fun! And what a sweet woman! She lent me some books and we've already been in touch since then. Aren't new friends great!

This was such a lovely, peaceful garden. I just fell in love with it!

This garden was initiated by the local Chinese community to celebrate Australia’s 1988 Bicentenary and share their rich cultural heritage.