Finally.....It's Spring time!!!

 September 1:  Marks the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere... We are delighted to be moving into spring and out of this winter.  It sure does see, like it has been a long winter!  Sister and her friends spent the weekend making dolls for an orphanage in the Philippines.

Brothers 1st trophy from Aussie Rules Football
He had a fantastic time!  

Duke of Edinburgh Camp

Churchs Point Wharf

A tiny bush walk

Charlie, Jerry (the Horse) & the instructor

Balmoral Enjoying the Sun!

Sister had her first practice hike and camp out for Duke of Edinburgh.  The girls hiked through Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to set up camp at The Basin.  They departed and returned to Churchs Point Wharf in Pittwater.  What a beautiful unique hidden little area.  It reminded me of a small town lake community in Michigan or Minnesota.  Now, when I was training for Oxfam we spent hours and hours in the Ku-ring-gai park, but we got no where near this area.  If you haven't been,  I highly recommend the drive up for lunch or breakfast.  Additionally, the Australian Bush is like nothing I have seen ever before -  

Disclaimer: I love spicy food - it doesn't make me sweat, cry or turn red...I just love it!

Restaurant Review

Spice Temple:

Last night we went to dinner with our Australian friends - I know your thinking - really?   Okay, I confess we 2 Australian friends, yes just two.  Your now thinking, "how long have you been there?"  Yes 4 years on and we have 2 Australian friends, don't get me wrong....we have many friends here in Australia,  just 2 that have been born and breed.

Additonally, It is highly probable that our visas will expire (Grandmas that is April 2012) before we have 2 more.   I won't go on about the how, what and whys of it here again...You can see the archives or enjoy reading Allisons: Life Could Be A Dream (what I'm reading links on the right).

Anyways!  Back to the Spice Temple!  YUM!!!!!

The Spice Temple is Neil Perry's spicy cousin to the Rockpool Bar and Grill (which incidentally, I hear has one of the BEST hamburgers in Australia) The service was typical Australian - slow and intermittent - however, its school holidays, so nobody was rushing to get home :)

I almost felt like I was transported back to Hutong in Hong Kong, however,  Spice Temple seriously lacked the authenticity.  They made up for what they lacked quickly with the spice.  Though, it was so loud I could not hear the waiter telling us about their special peppers in the dishes, or why they don't serve spoons for dishing up the food.  Therefore, it is not a suitable venue for million dollar mergers, but for a couple of mates having dinner - it was just fine.  Or maybe my ears were still ringing from the Keith Urban concert the night before????    

Spice Temple hit the very tricky combo of spice and food -

It was not easy on the pocketbook, but is anything here?  Especially, when the dollar is at 1.06$ ???  Oh, I long for the days when it was 60 cents!

Sadly, we did not take any photos.

Next up: Spice I Am in Surry Hills.

School Holidays Week 1!

 As promised our first attempt at coloring brown eggs.  The photo is a bit deceiving, since we didn't actually use our egg decorating kit sent to us from Auntie!  Instead, we tried to using food coloring.  It wasn't unsuccessful, but seriously - why are there no white eggs in Australia?

Coloring brown eggs is wrong and takes away from the very Easter experience.  Next week we are using our egg decorating kit the dino one for brother and a dear friend gave us one she brought back from the Promised Land (thank you Jenny) both kids can have their own set of everything!!!
Once we got the eggs out of the way, they wanted cookies too.  Why not?  We made a batch of sugar cookies and they are JUST like my grandmas - best served with strong black coffee!  The kids had fun rolling, cutting and coloring!  Why not right!!!

With the baking out of the way - the kids have spent the rest of the week at sport camp (brother) and drama camp (sister)!  Here's hoping the weather is just as gorgeous next week!

working on the perfect color

Who needs a Kitchenaid?  

YUM!!!!  Even mum thought so!

Seriously? This is totally on MY MUST DO LIST!!!!

Glamping, Cockatoo Island

Description

Glamping is a luxury camping experience. Unlike traditional camping where you lug the tent and gear with you, with glamping it's all set up and ready to go on your arrival. Camping doesn't get much easier than this.

The package includes a pre-erected Safari Bow tent (3m x 3m), water front location, two camping beds and mattresses (double available), sheets, bedding, towels, two sunlounges, side-table, cushions, and a lantern.

Enjoy a unique camping experience on Cockatoo Island sleeping under the cranes of Cockatoo Island and city lights of Sydney.

Bedding configuration

• 2 x single camp beds and mattresses OR
  1 x double camp bed and mattress

Campground Plan

Download Campground Guidelines and Map [PDF-173KB]

Nearby attractions and facilities

Cockatoo Island has self-guided, guided and audio tours available, tennis courts for hire and a swimming area. Cockatoo Island is 15 minutes by ferry from the heart of Sydney's tourist attractions.

Download a Visitor Guide of Cockatoo Island [PDF - 2052KB]

Download a Things to See and Do brochure of Cockatoo Island [PDF - 4005KB]