Thursday 29 November 2012

Manly Bike Ride

Today was a hot one, it started out with a 4 mile run at 6:30am when, believe it or not, the park was packed again with joggers and cyclists and it was 20 degrees. After breakfast we made our way to the Manly ferry with the bikes and followed one of the mapped out routes around the headland with some stunning views of Sydney and the harbour. On our way back from the headland we dropped in at Collins Bay which was a beautiful secluded, sun drenched, tropical paradise. The Memsahib decided to do a spot of sunbathing whilst I kept in the shade. Suffice to say I am still a human creamy colour whilst the Memsahib has taken on a rather more rouge hue. The temperature topped out at 28 degrees today, we are expecting it to be hotter over the next couple of days, up to 33 degrees. The day was rounded off by the discovery of a Huntsman spider IN our apartment. As you can see from the photo he was a fair size but I overcame him and removed him from the premises without a single squeal.....ok maybe a little squeal but he was BIG ok!













Tuesday 27 November 2012

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Today was not too hot or sunny so lent itself nicely to a bike ride to North Sidney over the bridge. There is a well marked network of cycle tracks all around Sydney with some very well delineated from the other road users. We followed one such cycle way across the iconic bridge into north Sydney. Once over the other side we stopped for lunch beneath a brightly coloured tree, which was obviously very appealing to Rainbow Lorikeets as we had a couple in the tree above us searching out the nectar. A pleasant change from being pestered by pigeons and seagulls whilst eating your sandwich (although both were also evident in abundance). The trip back was to be via one of the many ferries which operate all around the harbour much like buses and included in the price of the multi trip pre-paid travel tickets. The views all around the harbour are breath taking, Sydney is indeed a lovely city although for my liking a bit busy. I have become a country boy and prefer less hustle and bustle, although out here less hustle and bustle means more rustle, as in creepy crawlies. Hey ho!









Monday 26 November 2012

Fitness fanatics

In Scotland I have always considered myself to be a reasonably fit individual who likes to exercise and eat a healthy diet. Here in Sydney, Australia I am feeling decidedly lacking when it comes to anything approaching a fitness regime. Today we have come to the Andrew (boy) Charlton outdoor swimming pool for some exercise, yes, and for some relaxation and sunbathing. We arrive around lunchtime to see a steady stream of people running to the pool and then partaking in length swimming, the like of which I have only previously seen at my boys swimming club a few years ago. When I say length swimming we are not talking breast stroke, oh no! That would be considered well below par. We are looking at full on front crawl with the occasional individual embarking on fly! The water is boiling with activity, it's as if the pool were alive with Piranha fish. I steal myself to enter at the recreational swimming lane, the lanes are numbered with the two centre lanes for fast swimming getting slower the further from the centre you get, I find myself looking at lane eight and wishing there was a nine.





Sunday 25 November 2012

Manly Beach

Today we took a ferry trip across Sydney Harbour to Manly beach. A fantastic stretch of beach with great waves coming in from the South Pacific. We had a dip and surprisingly it was not too cold then some sun bathing to dry off. After an arduous afternoon on the beach we walked back into the town for some refreshment and food before catching the ferry back to Sydney central. A fantastic view of the opera house and bridge were to be had on the way back, unfortunately because the sun was low in the sky I could not get a good photo. We will just have to go back another day :-)

Saturday 24 November 2012

Early Morning Jog

This fine Sunday morning we decided to get up and go to the park for a jog. Well I was jogging, the Memsahib was riding a bike. Sydney must have the largest population of fitness fanatics I have ever seen, it is the polar opposite of Ayr; Glasgow even. We were in the park for 8am and we felt like we had already missed the bus, it was packed with runners and joggers of all ages. There were old runners, the young beautiful effortless runners and even mums and dads with buggies (one of whom overtook me at one point). I can honestly say I have never run in such heat, but what a beautiful day and a fantastic park. The park itself is called Centennial park and has separate roadways for cars, cycles and rollerblades, joggers and horses. It was incredible to see so many people out exercising or just out with the dog in one place.

The Huntsman

I have just found out today from the owner of the apartment we are staying in that a couple of Huntsman spiders live in the patio garden and come out at night to bugs. Check out the Huntsman on YouTube. Needless to say I will not be poking around in any nooks or crevices during the day, and I almost certainly will not be venturing into the garden after dark :-s

Struggling to relax

It's hard sometimes to just let go, cast off all of the stress and baggage we all carry around with us and relax. I think the Memsahib might just have pulled it off :-)

Friday 23 November 2012

Australia

Well here we are in Australia, a place I never thought that I would ever visit, but visit we have. The reason for the visit halfway around the world is to see no.2 son who is still on his travels/gap year. We arrived Tuesday 20th and spent a couple of days getting the lay of the land. During this time we settled in to our apartment and moved our son in with us. He had decided it would be a good opportunity to save a few dollars rent and food money. I dare say the Memsahib is over the moon with the situation. Any road up, we had a cycle around Sydney one day and took a walk from Bondi to Coogee along the cliff tops another. Today we took a trip out to the Blue Mountains and had a fantastic walk through some Australian bush. The views were spectacular and the weather nigh on perfect for a walk.