Sydney’s annual Vivid festival – an annual outdoor lighting festival with light installations and projections. read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivid_Sydney
Nice 🙂
We filmed a bit of Vivid from the top of the MCA
Drums in Martin Place
From the Overseas Passenger Terminal
From the Overseas Passenger Terminal
After last week’s little mosey along the Cook’s River from Tempe, we went back there and headed the other way. Turning left at Tempe Station and heading towards the airport, while I guess we didn’t expect to find pristine waters to swim and fish in that close to the airport, we were nonetheless surprised to see some pretty substantial waterfront developments being built around Wolli Creek. If they keep cleaning the river up it’ll be an attractive real estate investment methinks.
And we really didn’t think we’d be enjoying a drink at a club on the Cook’s River… we know where we’ll head for breakfast near the airport next time. Was quite nice!
Plenty of development at Wolli Creek
Disappointing… no fishing in the canal 😉 (Frankly, I’ve heard that lead poisoning isn’t as bad as they make out)
There’s a few nice parks and playgrounds and BBQs along the path
Wolli Creek, and “The Rowers” club on the river.
Shelter shed – you could shoot a 70’s movie in some of these places!
Fishing. Unbelievable!
A hard earned drink at “The Rowers”
The path goes right up to Sydney International Airport
Tempe. Industrial Sydney. My father in law caught the train each day here to work in the Department of Civil
Aviation workshops at nearby Marrickville for probably 30 years.
We are quite probably in the majority of Sydney residents… who knew you could own a 200 metre deep river
front property just 2 or 3 kilometres from the airport?
OK, the Cooks River isn’t the Riviera, but still; the river’s gradually being cleaned up I’m sure and I could
live there. Parks, huge blocks, cafes… nice.  A great morning 🙂
Tempe Railway Station. Fabulous handicapped parking… just need a lift.
Google Best place to watch the sunset in Sydney and one of the suggestions is by the Bridge at Kirribilli.
After a busy week away for me, Robyn and I headed out at about 430 pm and bought some fish and chips before walking down to Jeffrey St Wharf at Kirribilli. There’s a lovely waterfront path heading east from the wharf. It must be a nice spot – we were the only two people there without a bridal party in tow – photographers, brides, grooms and their parties were the order of the day. A beautiful afternoon for their big day 🙂
The city looks gorgeous from here, especially at sunset. It’s a beautiful harbour.
That really IS Savignon Blanc! You’ll just have to believe me 😉
ANZAC Day. I agree with many who argue this is our most significant day of the year.
We went down to Circular Quay to see the ANZAC images cast onto the pylons for the ANZAC centenary.
Beautiful.
We were hoping to see the poppy park down at Circular Quay as well, but by the time we got there after the sunset ceremony it had been taken down. Bugga 😦
Earlier in the day we went into the city for my first (ever) ANZAC Day march. Not many of the old brigade left – a few who joined under the age of 16 still here from WWII.
Appreciative crowd, terrific bands from schools and clubs; I love that our national day of remembrance is not one that celebrates a glorious victory but rather the futility of war.
Late in the day we headed back into Martin Place for the sunset ceremony. Teaming rain, thunder, lightning, but on queue the rain stopped for a moving tribute to the fallen from all wars.
#proud
ANZAC images cast onto the Harbour Bridge
ANZAC images cast onto the Harbour Bridge
ANZAC images cast onto the Harbour Bridge
Representing all the diggers from WWI. A riderless horse with the boots in the stirrups facing backwards
Not many left now
 
 
 
  
We flew home from Europe over the weekend after spending Saturday in Zurich.
We went to a flea market (damn… should have bought that second hand sled we saw!) on the way to our City Walking Tour of the Old Town in the morning.
Photo: metaljar
We met Ivan, our guide, at 11am and with about 15 in our group, set off in wet, snowy rain. We saw a few things we wouldnt have seen and learnt a bit about Zurich from Ivan, who is a Bulgarian student who has been studying in Zurich for about 5 years.
Photo: metaljar
He showed us The Wasserkirche (Water Church), a pretty little church which is a bit back from the river but, when built, would have been right on the water. It has the blackest stained glass windows we have ever seen. The centre panel depicts Christ as would be expected, but the two panels either side depict ordinary Swiss life and track the birth, growth, life and death of a person in Zurich
Photo: metaljar
Photo: metaljar
We had planned to spend the afternoon doing a scenic boat trip on the lake and catching the train up the mountain overlooking Zurich. However, rain and mist and fog saw us change this plan, so we caught a local tram up the hill to near the zoo where we enjoyed a drink in a cafe with the snow falling steadily… Lovely!
That night we flew overnight to Singapore Changi airport for a 2 hour stopover for a quick bit of duty free shopping before overnighting to Sydney, arriving Monday morning 7am.
Back in Australia and able to properly plan, now, for next weekend’s D and beyond.
Oh, and by the way, some boy band joined our plane in Changi, quickly making their way straight to First Class. What a shame they were called The Vamps and not something starting with C!
This first weekend of 2015 we are in Munich; a few weeks into our holiday after arriving in Berlin, then travelling through Dresden, Prague, Vienna and into Salzburg where we spent New Year.
As you might know, our theme for weekends in 2015 is to do something each weekend starting with a letter of the alphabet, from A to Z and back again.
Alter Peter, Munich.
Photo: metaljar
Munich. M… no good, nor is G for Germany, (B)eer, (H)ofbrouhous, (W)alking or (S)ightseeing.
However, a significant church in Munich’s Old Town (Aldstat) is St Peter’s Church with a tower affectionately referred to as Alter Peter (Old Peter). It’s the oldest church in the district, and a church has been on this site since the 8th Century.
We payed our 2€ and climbed the couple of hundred stairs to the top of the 91 metre high tower and were rewarded with fantastic views across Munich’s skyline.
View from Alter Peter Photo: metaljar
I just love the way so many of Europe’s skylines are so different to Australia’s in that they are pretty much devoid of sky scrapers and the way the Old Towns are preserved as areas without towers.
View from Alter Peter Photo: metaljar
A great start to our year of the alphabet 🙂
With just two weeks to go before we will be in Germany, we went to the Cafe Berlin in Balmain, just down from the Unity Hall Hotel.
We beat the Sunday morning heat with an early start and enjoyed breakfast and coffee on the footpath, watching the world go by.
Afterwards, we went for a wander around the block that encloses Balmain Hospital… a real mix of old and new, dilapidated and renovated, loved and let go.
If this is a typical German breakfast, I’m going to need to buy a whole new wardrobe when we get home… I didn’t take quite the healthy option I could have!
15 November, 2015… we’ve made it to Gunamatta Bay in Cronulla.
With only a few weekends left before we leave for holidays, we finished our year long walk from Sydney’s northern most beach to the southern most, and all the bays and beaches and everything in between. Has been a lot of fun. From warm and beautiful through to hot and sweaty, wet, cold and miserable, a couple of hundred swims, a couple of hundred kms, discovering suburbs and beaches and parts of Sydney we never knew existed. And to finish ogling at waterfront houses along Gunamatta Bay and a lovely breakfast at The Nuns’ Pool and great coffee in Cronulla was a great way to finish.
I didn’t think to record this trip using a blog; sadly, I just recorded each week through facebook.
Suffice to say we had a great time. Notable weekends included:
A cracker of a year!
See the Walking 2014 album from flickr here
So, this weekend, we... 
