On Thursday we did a usual swim in the morning / early afternoon (a bit later than usual in order to fully rest after the long walk at Manly!), then in the late afternoon John and I met Colette and Colman in the near west suburb of Marrickville for bahn mi. For readers new to bahn mi, they are Vietnamese sandwiches on crusty rolls and really delicious! We ate ours at a little park near the takeout place, where other people were playing what looked like mahjong. I’d really like to learn to play mahjong! Marrickville is a near west…

On Wednesday, we did the usual swim / run / coffee hang around stuff in the morning, then John and I went to Manly in the afternoon, while Liam and Kat got tickets to La Boheme at the opera house, and miles, granny and grandad hung out around here then went for dinner nearby. Manly is a town across the harbor from the CBD or central business district, that has beaches and a very seaside fun feel. We took the ferry over (pics of bridge and opera house below are from the trip back later) then a cab to the…

Kathleen and Cyril came over on Tuesday to help us start off 2019 on a good note. We had a lovely time visiting with them and enjoying some fish and chips on our back porch. Then topped it off with Kathleen’s delicious cupcakes and Christmas cake! Some people enjoyed siestas and then later in the afternoon paddy and Kathleen went over to clovelly for a swim and the 5 Chicagoans ubered to maroubra to meet Colette, Colman and Rory for a quick play on the beach then Thai food for dinner. Yum! We all agree Thai food is really, really…

I’m aiming to swim every day while here, and so those around here have heard me refer to my swim streak. Most mornings I’ve gone swimming in clovelly beach, which is an inlet about 350 meters long. By 6am there are quite a few people swimming laps of the inlet the long distance, and I have found that three laps or 6 lengths is a good half hour swim. There are some nice medium sized gray fish in the deeper bit. I’m including a pic of the stairs to show the trickiest part is getting in and out during low…

The school where colette works has a really amazing view of the harbour and bridge, which is the epicenter of the Sydney new years eve fireworks, and they allow staff and friends to picnic and watch the fireworks from the grounds. this was our second time spending NYE there and it was super nice! And a huge thanks to Colette for organizing it all! You can also see videos and more photos of the events here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydneysiders-farewell-2018-as-harbour-city-puts-on-a-show-20181231-p50p0t.html colette made these snack trays for maggie and rory – lovely!

Colman’s friend Gordon is a share owner of a wooden sailing shop built in 1952 and we were very lucky to be invited out on a trip on the harbor during the day in New Year’s Eve. It was a Colman + 3 situation and the lucky winners were me, John and miles. it was so much fun and a really great way to spend the day and see Sydney that we hadn’t seen before. Huge thanks to Gordon (and ship dog Heathcliff) and Colman for making it happen!

keeping this brief since i have plans to go out on the harbour in a boat in a few minutes! we went to friends andrew and jacinta yesterday for an amazing lunch and a swim in their pool, then into the city to see the opera house, walk across the harbour bridge and meander through the rocks neighborhood. Please refer all questions about internal leak #23 to Liam who keeps up with pipes even while on vacation!.

After a nice time catching up here with Colette and Colman’s friends Michael, Suzie and Peter, John and I took the bus to Bondi Beach and walked back in the cooler evening temperatures. It was still pretty hot at the beginning of the walk but cooled off once we got into the shade. These blue boats are at North Bondi, the start of our walk. Selfie to get the walk started! Birds have been a theme here – from the birds outside our window in the morning to the bird show at the zoo. This bird mural is in North…

As I’m sure I’ve covered in past blog posts about Sydney, there are walks all along the harbor and also along the coast that are super nice. Improvements are being made to the walks to connect even more parts, and earlier this year a walk at the southern end of what had previously been complete was finished. This walk takes you south from Marourbra (where Colette lives) to Malabar, the next town south. We started off in Chalk cafe in Maroubra because Sydneysiders like us need a coffee before taking on a new adventure 🙂 and then walked the hour…

Probably not the biggest priority right now in the US, but if we could just get past some of the other issues occupying our minds, we might get to the problem of how to refer to December 26, which in the US doesn’t really have a name. In Ireland they call it St Stephen’s Day (referenced in the Christmas song Good King Wenceslas. I just googled the song and it’s really confusing so good luck with further reading on that!) In the UK and Australia, it’s called Boxing Day. In Australia there is cricket played all day and good for…