Motivated

Last year, Uwe and I went to Hamilton Island for a long weekend. We spent time relaxing by the pool drinking cocktails, played mini golf and went sailing. It was a great trip up until the part where I broke my foot. We had just spent a couple of hours sailing to Whitehaven beach and I went down below to get my towel and bag when I fell down a step. In that split second, the holiday had ended. The next day we were flying home and spending countless hours at St Vincents Hospital waiting for xrays and getting a cast put on.

Obviously, with a broken foot, there was no sailing for me for a while. Actually, there wasn't much happening at all, just resting my foot and recovering. Since then, I had lost my motivation to exercise and the weight had gradually piled on. It was on Saturday night that finally gave me the motivation back to get fit and lose the weight. Its when you go to your cupboard to choose something nice to wear out to dinner and you realise most of your clothes are just too tight!! That was Saturday night!

So it has begun, the fitness regime. Uwe is definitely with me in the training as he has come to the same realisation as me. So, on Sunday we got our bikes out of the bike cage (had to clean all the dust off them and pump the tyres as they hadn't been used for quite a while) and we rode them from Rushcutters Bay to Bondi Beach and back. Wow!! It was alot of fun and very exhausting. There were lots of steep hills which I couldn't ride up, I ended up having to walk the bike up them. Thankfully, Uwe was really patient with me. Uwe had a quick dip at the beach before we headed back home.

Summer's coming

In just less than a month, summer will officially be here. Yay! Today, Sydney reached a temperature of 37 degrees. It was the perfect time to use the pool on the roof of our building when I got home from work. It was a little cold when I got in, but once in, it was lovely. I did quite a few laps in the pool and then just relaxed in the sun. Can't wait to do this every day during summer. It was also the first test for our unit to see how hot it would get inside during summer. Surprisingly, it was not hot at all when I got home. Now, the storm is coming through and the temperature has dropped alot and will only get to about 20 degrees tomorrow.

Darwin to Broome Holiday

We're back from our outback adventure to the Kimberleys and what a great time we had. It certainly was filled with lots of adventures. There were many lovely sunsets, lots of driving on what seemed like endless roads, lots of wildlife and even some crocodile spotting. The weather was very hot but the water holes and gorges were very refreshing to swim in.

There were many adventures along the way, we got bogged on a rocky trail coming back from seeing a wonderful gorge. It was quite late in the afternoon so we didn't have time to walk back to the homestead so we had to camp overnight there in the 4wd until the next morning when we got towed out. We also had one flat tyre on our second last day, some kind men stopped and helped change the tyre for us. Uwe had his first helicopter ride ever, we flew over the Bungles which were amazing to see from above. It was a little scary, as there were no doors on the helicopter, just seatbelts holding us in.

We saw some freshwater crocodiles at one of the gorges, many kangaroos, birds and countless cattle along the side of the road. There were many Boab trees, some with massive trunks. The roads in the Kimberley were rough and only 4wd accessible, sometimes they were so rough we could only drive about 20km/hr.

Cable Beach in Broome was spectacular. The sunset here was amazing. I couldn't believe how white the sand was and the aqua colour of the water. While we were in Broome we stayed at the luxurious Cable Beach Club Resort which was a big step up from living in the campervan the last 13 nights.

Bondi

I can't believe the difference in weather we have had the last few days. Today, I made it home from work just in time before the big storm passed through the city. It poured down and is still bucketing down now. I'm not complaining, we really do need the water but its such a big difference from the last couple of days where it was warm and sunny. It was the weekend which was perfect, so we headed to Bondi to do the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk. We had fish and chips by the beach and sat in the warm sun and enjoyed a lovely afternoon. Really couldn't think of a better way to spend a warm spring day with Uwe.



We are now getting prepared for our adventure holiday in the Northern Territory & Western Australia. We leave on Saturday where we fly to Darwin and hire a 4WD camper and drive through the Kimberleys to Broome. Really looking forward to it, can't wait.

Sunday BBQ

On Sunday, we went down to the boat club to have a bbq with the Gondwana crew and their families. It was a lovely day, very sunny but a little windy which made it a little cold. It was great to catch up with some of the crew we hadn't seen for a while. The kids enjoyed themselves, playing games and riding bikes all day. I always love to go down to the boat club, it has a great view of the Harbour Bridge, plus it is only a 5 minute walk from our place.

Pink

We had a girls night out last night where we went to see Pink in concert. It was an amazing night, she is such a talented performer. She sold out 58 shows in Australia, it is the biggest concert Australia has seen. The night started with dinner and drinks at a friends place, then we left the boys behind to go to the concert. Before Pink came out, we listened to Evermore play and then the crew came on stage to do the Thriller dance, very funny. Then Pink came out and amazed the entire crowd. She not only sang but did numerous acrobatics while singing and lots of dancing in wonderful costumes. While I loved all the stunning dancing and stunts she did, my favourite part was when she grabbed a guitar and sat down and sang a few songs, my fav was Dear Mr President. It was a great concert, enjoyed by all.

Housewarming Party

We had our housewarming party last night, with great success. There were about 4o adults and 10 kids come to celebrate our new place with us. It started at 2pm, my family came over and we got the place ready by decorating and making snacks and platters of food. My neices and nephew enjoyed swimming in the pool and spa for a while then went to the park to play. Then all our friends came over for dinner and drinks on the rooftop terrace. It was lovely to have our party there in the open, with the city as the backdrop. Plus, it was a lovely evening, not too cold and not raining (we got a few drops at the end though). We had a wonderful barbeque on the roof, Uwe cooked prawns, steaks & sausages and we served up salads, coleslaw and bread rolls. The German beer went down well, everyone loved the Erdinger, Schoefferhofer and Loewenbraeu, they even loved drinking it from the Weiss beer glasses Uwe has. We then had fruit platters and cream cupcakes for dessert. Everyone enjoyed the food and the view from the roof.

Today was cleanup day. There were many glasses and dishes to clean, carpet and our new sofa needed to be cleaned (kids eating and drinking on the sofa didn't help). We filled at least one garabage bin of just beer glasses, amazing how much we all drank!!

We also got some wonderful gifts from everyone. My parents gave us dinnersets and cutlery, my sisters gave us serving platters, friends gave us plants, herb garden, glasses, ice cream bowls, salt and pepper mills, platters and bowls, cook books and much more. We were very lucky. We also received from one of Uwes friends our initials, U & L. They are lovely. Thanks to all our friends and family for coming, we had a wonderful day.

Sydney Swans game

Wow, what a game tonight. Edge of your seat thriller, right down to the last second. The swans lost by five points against the Cats. It was a must win for the swans tonight if they wanted to make the finals with only 3 games left. It is most likely they will have to wait for next year. My sister and I have been members for the last 12 years and have a season ticket for all the home games. We always have alot of fun at the games and I have even managed to get Uwe to a game or two.

My sister Vivien and I at the swans game

Great weekend

What a great weekend we had! Saturday morning, we drove to Bondi and did the Bondi to Bronte walk. It was such a lovely day, the sun was out but the wind was a bit chilly. It felt a bit strange to be walking around in t-shirts and shorts in winter. We had breakfast at Icebergs and had a giant feast. We headed home as we were having our new fridge delivered. It came late in the afternoon and is wonderful. Its about twice the size of our old fridge. We then headed to some friends new place they just moved in to and had a nice dinner at Moseleys pizza.

Sunday morning, we were up early to watch the city to surf. There were about 75,000 people in the race this year and they ran right past our street. The race goes from the centre of Sydney all the way to Bondi Beach. Some people ran, walked even danced past us. Some had covered there whole bodies in paint and others dressed up in costumes. Uwe and I set ourselves a goal, that we will get fit enough to run the race next year. Not sure about it, 14 kilometres plus the steep Heartbreak Hill... The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing.

Blue Mountains trip

Saturday morning, we packed our bags and drove 2 hours west of Sydney, to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. There were 11 of us getting together for a Christmas in July celebration. While we were there, we took a walk through the mountains (it took about 4 hours and lots of struggling walking up the steep steps for me, my legs are still store 4 days after), we had afternoon tea at Lilianfiels in Katoomba, walked down to see the Three Sisters, along with lots of eating and drinking. We left Monday morning, Uwe headed back to Sydney to go to work, and I continued west on to Orange for work. I stayed until Tuesday afternoon to train staff before the long drive back to Sydney.

Sofa has arrived & Brisbane

Just an update, our sofa has finally arrived and it looks great. Only got a chance to sit on it for a few minutes before I had to head to Brisbane for work. Can't wait to get home and relax on the new sofa.

What an adventure we had getting to Brisbane. Firstly, our flight was delayed then cancelled. We managed to get on another flight 2 hours later, then that was delayed but finally took us to Brisbane. When we got there, the cab driver took us for a half hour drive around Brisbane!! He didn't know where he was going. Then when we finally arrived, the restaurant was closed so we ended up having pizza at 10pm. To top it off, there was a crazy guy back at the hotel! What a day.

Rooftop Spa

The other day we enjoyed using our rooftop spa in our unit block. It was the first time we have been able to use it since we moved in. It has either been cold or rainy or we have just been too busy. But it was the perfect day for it. The rooftop has a lap pool (which was way too cold to go in) and also a heated spa. What a great way to end the perfect day, relaxing in the spa while watching the sun set over Sydney. Total bliss.

Sailing & the Central Coast

Yesterday Uwe and I drove up the north coast for a mini holiday. It was nice to just get away and relax. Last week at sailing we won an Audi A6 to test drive for a week. So we got in the car and drove up the coast and stopped in Terrigal. While we were there, we watched a local rugby game, we had fish & chips for lunch and watched some fisherman scale their catch and feed the pelicans with the scraps. They are really beautiful creatures. we also watched boats come and go, people scuba diving and kids playing in the sand and water. We then headed to Ettalong Beach, checked into our room, walked along the beach and had a wonderful massage. It really was such a relaxing day.

Todays adventure - sailing on Sydney Harbour for Ladies Day. It was a beautiful day, very sunny, blue sky but little wind. Janet was the skipper today and she did a great job, we ended coming second in the race which was our best for the season. We headed back to the club for some refreshments and the prizegiving before heading home. We also had to give the keys for the Audi back :(

Relaxing on the boat after the race

The Beginning

Well, its official. I have started a blog!! It didn't take me very long, did it? My reason for creating the blog? To share ideas and thoughts, display photos and scrapbooking pages and its a place to tell my story.

My partner and I recently bought our first home. Its a gorgeous two bedroom unit in the city and we love it. It took us a long time to find what we wanted at a good price. It is so much fun being able to decorate your own home exactly how you want it. Oh, the joy I am having. The only problem we have at the moment is we still don't have our sofa yet. For the last 6 weeks, we have been sitting in camping chairs in the living room and they are so uncomfortable. I can't believe it takes 7 weeks to make a sofa. I really just can't wait to be able to snuggle up with my partner on a sofa again, especially in this cold weather we are having.

Take care.