Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts

Friday, January 21, 2011

The Wind in the Willows

For the past few years, every January we have taken the boys to see the brilliant Australian Shakespeare Company's production of the Wind in the Willows.  Performed in the Botanic Gardens, located on Sydney's spectacular harbour, it is a truly magical evening.  Although it is possible to attend a daytime performance,  I have found attending the evening show the most fun.  It is a lovely opportunity to sit on the grass and have a picnic dinner with the kids before the show actually starts and the Botanic Gardens are stunning, with bamboo groves, ponds and sweeping lawns by the harbour for the kids to explore. Then as the glare of the sun fades and the sea-breeze picks up, you can relax on the picnic blanket with a glass of wine, as the kids watch the entire show in wide-eyed enchantment!




The boys simply adore it as audience participation is encouraged and the location outdoors is well utilised.  About halfway through the performance the entire show moves from the Main Pond to a nearby location (about 150 metres away) which is the site for Toad Hall.  From here Ratty and Mole then take the older children to the Wild Wood to search for Portly.  This year for the first time Nicholas raced off with all the other kids to join in the hunt! 

Allowing the children to participate and have a run around during the preformance ensures that they stay focused on the production and thoroughly enjoy it. 




Anyone unfamiliar with the Wind in the Willows, I highly recommend the book.  Written by Kenneth Grahame for his son, it is an unforgettable tale of adventure and friendship and most certainly a childhood classic!  Reading it aloud to Nicholas recently I have found it as enchanting as I did as a child.

Monday, January 17, 2011

"On the Loose" Lego Exhibition and Sydney Aquarium


As I am currently CEO (Chief Entertainment Officer) of the School Holidays, I have been busy trying to keep the Pirates occupied and out of mischief.  Lots of excursions have taken place and one of the best was a trip into the city to see On the Loose, a Lego exhibition at Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World.



The pirates (and friends) examining one of the lego murals up close.  These were absolutely spectacular, even for a non-lego person.  Created from one dot lego pieces, up close they resembled a pixelated image on a screen:



But with some perspective became a remarkable mural:


The lego murals and figures, life size models of sharks, mermaids, scuba divers and so on were dotted amongst the exhibits in both the Aquarium and Wildlife World, making the experience of attending the exhibition twice as exciting. 


I adored these dainty little glow-in-the-dark Jelly Fish:



The boys favourite?


Yes, the sharks were a highlight (especially the feeding of them) but it must be said that they spent most of their time in here:


The lego play room at Wildlife World.  Luckily, there were chairs and a Cafe in this room!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Danks Street, Waterloo

On the weekend I had a brief break from the massive de-cluttering that is taking place Chez Pirate to head East as Ross was craving Wagyu Burgers from Cafe Wah Wah.  I love Dank St as many of my favourite shops are located in the area but I had never been to the Bromley Arcade, clearly an oversight as he is one of my most loved artists.  I have one of his paintings, which I treasure and I am also obsessed with Mark Tuckey.  Tuckey and Bromley established the Bromley Arcade as a joint venture and for me it was a heavenly combination....


The boys recognised Pirate Boy immediately!


This would be divine in the little one's room!


Love!


My pond yacht obsessed pirates adored this little boy as well.


After exploring the wonders of the Arcade (if in Sydney you must visit!) we popped into Eco Outdoor.  The shop where we sourced the stone for our retaining walls around the pool and I noticed that they had the same vintage wine baskets as I do.  Only I had never had the brilliant idea of using them as hanging baskets for plants.  They literally had them hanging en masse at the entrance of the shop and they looked stunning. 


Watch this space to see my interpretation of this brilliant idea!


They also had very interesting lighting, I guess for any room but especially fantastic for outdoor rooms.  These ones reminded me of Mark Tuckeys work and also conjured up images in my head of paddocks and barbed wire fences (I went to boarding school in the country!).



These lights are made from Tumbleweeds and were very impressive in real life, unfortunately the photo does not do them justice. A visit to the shop is well worth it!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

A salty, sandy Christmas in Sydney

I hope everyone had a magical Christmas!  I will be along to visit you all soon.  In the meantime,  here are some photos of our Christmas in Sydney:

Decorations hanging from my beloved rusty lobster pot.



The Captain King and his favourite gift from Santa!








A Snow Sandman



Wishing you all health and happiness for the New Year!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Swimming Pool Update and a visit to Abode Bazaar


We have had a rather industrious weekend at Pirate HQ.  My parents have been up visiting, which has been lovely as R and I were able to complete various tasks around the house.  Often a challenge when small children are "helping" or feeling needy, so it was fabulous to have some extra pairs of hands!  One of the main jobs on my to do list was to source some pots similar to the one above.   My mission was unsuccessful unfortunately, however at Abode Bazaar in Willoughby (one of my favourites!) I found some other lovely pots that I decided were perfect anyway!


This is one of the new Abode pots with a lovely Bromeliad in it, I so love the aged, stone effect of the pots.  They remind me of the gardens in India for some reason.  Whereas, my blue and white china pot makes me think of KL and Singaporean gardens ( that particular pot was purchased years ago when we were on posting in KL though.):



Another to do list job was to complete the landscaping around the swimming pool.  R has been pottering away at it for the last few months slowly but having my Dad around for a few days, they both got stuck into it and I am truly impressed with the result.  The stone is from Eco Outdoor and is  the Random Ashlar "Clancy" one and they did it themselves!  In one day!  R also did all of the decking himself, that did take a fair bit longer than one day though!


In this photo you can see the pile of stone that was delivered.  They then stuck each piece of stone onto the cement sheeting, fitting the pieces together like a puzzle.  The more random the better it looked we decided!


My Dad hard at work,(R is cracking the whip somewhere in the background!):


The end result!  (Ignore garden and pool furniture for now, still working on those parts...).  Although, you can admire the lovely new glass pool fence!:







Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The afternoon walk to the waterfall.

Every afternoon I have to exorcise exercise my children in order to make witching hour as pleasant as possible for all of us. We either ride our bikes around the "wetlands" ( a nearby nature reserve) or walk to the waterfall. The pathway to the falls is just down the road from our street:


The little one insists on bringing his pooh bear and blankie:


After a few minutes of walking the pathway is so enveloped by ferns and palms that you can imagine you are in the lush tropics (not in the middle of suburbia!):



Until suddenly the darkness of the rainforest abruptly ends and you discover the magic of the falls.

                                                               It is a little boys paradise!






One of Sydney's secret gems (and one of my best parenting tools, begone witching hour!!!)

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