Lachy On The Ball

 We saw Lachlan and his team in a new (for us) venue today.  They struggled early and came home with a rush but unfortunately they left their run a bit late.

Going Back To Your Roots

 Adam and Kate have been looking for an investment property for a while so when an opportunity arose in their old street a little way down from their original house, they jumped in.  It all came together for them on the day and they were able to secure it at an acceptable price.

Country Cousins

 Claire meets up with her cousins Glenda from Cohuna and Valerie from Trafalgar in the city a couple of times per year.  On this occasion I was invited along with Barry (Valerie's husband).  We got a great little spot in Hardware Lane for a long lunch before the others had to catch the bus and train to return home.

Adam Gets Older

 We were able to have Adam's family birthday celebration last night.  It was a few days late but that's the way it goes coordinating family events.  Having the large central table arrangement certainly works best for these events.

Work Continues

 There is always something to do at the Lake House.  While Mark was putting up the ceiling boards in the garage -

Lachlan was taking down the (now redundant) storage shed at the front of the block.

Filling The Canyon

 The cut into the slope for the Lake House meant a deep chasm at the rear.  The next task was to fill this potential safety hazard.

Mark used a small digger to move rock to the rear and Cooper and Lachlan helped move it all into position.  After a day's work another 10 metres of rock is still needed.

Frame Complete

 Mark has now completed the frame of the Lake House and it has passed inspection so he is now able to charge on toward completion with no further inspections.

Market Day

With a run of absolutely miserable weather finally breaking over the weekend, I wandered down to the local Market Day to see how it was operating now The Round Theatre is fully operational.  The market was held along Whitehorse Road and there was no shortage of patronage.

Vale Roger

 While in Sydney we were shocked to hear of the death of our long term friend Roger who had been part of our lives for the past 25 years since we met on a European tour.

Eight of us met regularly for meals or travel and Roger had been somewhat frail but at our last recent lunch he seemed back to normal.

It is a bit confronting that two of our group are now no longer with us.

Heading Home

 Although it makes for a long day, the daylight train is a great way to travel between Melbourne and Sydney.  It is comfortable, you can walk around,  the Buffet car serves snacks, hot food and passable main meals and we enjoyed the passing parade out the windows.

Then all we had to do was get back into the swing of normal life.

Suburban Bushland

 One thing Sydney does well is the preservation of some natural landscape in the suburban spread.  Along the Lane Cove River there are many excellent walks and plenty of wildlife.  On this occasion it was a yellow tailed Black Cockatoo.

The Archibald Prize

 The Archibald Prize winners were being exhibited in the Art Gallery so we went along to see if we agreed.  We didn't.

The winner Tim Winton and the Peoples’ Choice, Marcia Langton were displayed together.  We agreed with the Peoples' Choice.

Fish N Chips

While in Sydney, Darren decided we should have a traditional Fish n Chips night.  So we were able to meet up with Darren, Cameron and Kim and their families. It was just as noisy as those nights of the past.

On The Busses

 While in Sydney, we decided to visit the Bus Museum.  Curiously, the women decided that we would be better able to appreciate these wonders by ourselves. So we headed into town to ride the historic bus to the museum.

The Museum was very well done with exhibits in working order maintained by a large band of volunteers.

While in Sydney we took the opportunity to see the winners of the Australian Geographic Nature Photography Exhibition.

Men's Dinner

 One of the features of the Sydney visit was to be a dinner prepared entirely by the gentlemen.  Despite all misgivings, it turned out well with wine and cheese starters, a slow beef roast with vegetables and Eton Mess sweet.

Vaucluse House

 We visited Vaucluse, one of the more exclusive Sydney suburbs, to have High Tea at Vaucluse House.  This rambling mansion was the home of the Wentworths in the early 1800s.  It had extensive grounds that are now public Gardens and the property is owned by the State.

The house was a maze of stairwells and add on wings as it had grown with the fortunes of the family.

High Tea was served in a pavilion overlooking the manicured garden.  The presentation and food was excellent and put the High Tea served in the Art Gallery in Melbourne to shame.

Following High Tea we walked to the ferry for the return trip.