The Real Snow Report #3: Fairweather skiers out in force

Blue skies. Mostly.

Exhibition groomed for the first time this season. Today we skied like we meant it skiing all the runs we haven't been able to see all week.

Schnappy hour at Black Sallee's.

The Real Snow Report #2 - a much better day

Snow falling softly, wind today was 'moderate' compared with 'gusty' yesterday. Visibility, reasonable.

Ready for a day on the snow.

Going up the Kosciusko Chair. A little blustery at the top but nothing like yesterday when this chair was on wind hold.

Lots of lovely fresh snow scattered over the resort. Not so much powder as that deep wet stuff that catches on the skis but still loads of fun. Proper Australian skiing conditions (rocks, crud, rain, wet slush/snow) - love it.

Spying on the kids skiing the Bowl.

A full day.

Sunshine is promised tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it. Who cares. Here's hoping for another magic day at the snow.

The Real Snow Report (aka $30 a run)

So, day one started out okay. Clear skies, hardly a breath of wind. A full day of skiing to be had.

Day two started with a light rain/slush falling from the sky. No wind with conditions improving by lunchtime. Only Thredbo die-hards and those who had already pre-paid their lift tickets were on the mountain.

Day three. Well the fact that it is 11.55am and I'm back in the lodge blogging should give you an idea of the conditions.


All the lifts are on wind hold except the Gunbarrel, Snowgums and the old Merritts Chair. This effectively funnels all the traffic onto two lifts - Gunbarrel and Snowgums. After a 20 minute queue at the Gunbarrel we skied down to Snowgums.



Oh dear. Snowgums is an old, slow, double chair. 30 minutes in the queue...



... to sit in blustery blowy conditions like this.

I love my skiing and will ski in just about anything but after freezing on the double chair we decided it was time to come in. We calculated that after a total of three runs this morning we paid $30 a run each (on a discounted ticket).

Being parent-of-the-year my children are still out on the snow developing a tough skin.

Now excuse me while I take a blog-break to enjoy a hot tea and chocolate cake.

Where did my summer go?

As it has done for the last four summers the new year started with a party at our place.

Glow sticks on the children before they walk down to watch the 9pm fireworks on New Year's Eve

Mid-January: Orchard Road, Singapore. I was here for three days for work. Loved that I could sneak out at lunch time to check out the sales. Loved that the shops were open until 10pm.

A day after I returned from Singapore: Port Stephens for a management meeting. You're feeling sorry for me now - right? For three days I sat in a conference room looking out at boats clinking together in the marina.

26 January: Australia Day BBQ by a friend's pool. Kids splashed all afternoon while the adults sipped cool beverages and indulged in lamb, macadamias and pavlova topped with whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries.

I took no annual leave but Firegazer took the kids to WA to visit the relatives while I was travelling so I didn't have the dramas of worrying about delayed or cancelled flights.

The kids are now back at school and a new reality has hit - the work, home and after-school activity juggle.

Easter Show EasternMax style

Easter in Sydney means the Royal Easter Show. It is where the country comes to the city and where families come to spend their $900 stimulus cheque. Or so you would think by the number of people straining under the weight of their showbags and overpriced novelties. Mind you not a bad place to stimulate the economy - at least the carni operators and showbag stallholders will

eat this week.

We took a more frugal approach. Well frugal, that is, after we forked out $100 to get in and $20 to park. By frugal I mean we let the kids have one showbag each and then drag them around to all the 'free' events we paid our $100 to see.

We are all fun in a bucket.

Our approach is to arrive just as the show opens and head straight for the showbag hall. This year Firegazer and I took a child each and agreed to meet outside when the loot had been purchased.

Big mistake.

I took Blossom into the showbag hall and came out with this Moove Backpack from Dairy Farmers. Contents: 2 x flavoured milks, beach racquet set, groovy sunglasses, ice pack.

M wins mother.of.the.year award.

Firegazer takes PL and comes out with an Army bag containing 3 x military assault rifles.

I was expecting a Ben 10 bag or perhaps a Spongebob bag.

Firegazer does not win father.of.the.year award.

Luckily my nerves were soothed by watching the dog shows. Or, more precisely, watching the people who own the dogs on show. Have you seen the movie Best in Show? If not, you must see it.

Then off to my other favourite - the district displays. What is not to love about seeing apples and pears lovingly arranged in a sea of grain and wool. Each district in NSW plus South East Queensland puts on a display symbolising their local produce in a creative way. It amuses me that, apparently, even the driest part of the State is able to produce a bounty of apples of all varieties...

A quick trip to visit the arts and crafts section and then ...

... the woodchop! The Easter show hosts the WORLD WOODCHOPPING CHAMPIONSHIP each year. This means that in addition to competitors from most Australian States the occasional New Zealander, Canadian and American competes. This year even France sent a competitor. Of course they were all rubbish compared to our rough tough Aussies. We fool them with our hard Eucalypts.

By now the kids are begging for fairy floss or some deep fried atrocity on a stick. We offer them a water and forge onwards...

... to the main arena for the precision driving and the narly boys on motorbikes. Excellent stuff.

Last of all we head to what is possibly my favourite part of the show...

... the working dogs. Just love a border collie that wants to run, jump and herd sheep.

The show is 'done' by 1pm and we head home with nary a deep fried cheese.on.a.stick being consumed.

Like I said, we are fun with a capital F. Who wants to come with us next year?

Holidays can be hard graft

Hanging at the beach is entertaining until someone gets sand where they don't want it.

Hanging with girlfriends is okay. But they eventually have to go home.

Forget cultural experiences. Only one half of this duo enjoyed the Monet Exhibition. The other half feigned sore legs and tiredness and could only recline on the viewing benches and moan for his $12 entry fee.

But a mission inflatable? Hours of fun and I get to read a book.

Sydney 3pm

It's hard to believe it's Winter here.

It's hard to imagine that there is snow on the Snowy Mountains, only five hours drive away. I'll be there this time next week. Yay.

Do you WASGIJ?

I'd like to tell you that my kids are so busy playing outdoors or partaking in wholesome educational craft activities that they wouldn't even dream of sitting in front of the idiot box or playing with playstation/wii/nintendo [or insert maddening mind-numbing electronic activity of choice here] this holidays.

But I can't.

Blossom has been confined to the 'even temperatures' of the indoors while she recovers from a throat infection. This means we are all indoors. Bleh.

The traditional holiday jigsaws are a bit of a distraction.

This one is evil because it has a colour photograph in the bottom half and a sepia photo of the same scene taken 100 years ago in the top half. The sepia section will be darned near impossible. Heh heh.

This is one of those WASGIJs. A jigsaw where the picture is just a clue and not what you are actually piecing together. Double heh heh.

Problem is, Firegazer and I are glued to them and the kids hardly get a look in.

BTW, Lesley has given me this award:

Thanks Lesley! Now I need to spread the love and give it to some other bloggers. Now you know I loves youse all but I thought I'd spread the love to those who don't even know I read them...

Here are my top three LURKS who all deserve this award:

The Sartorialist. This guy's blog is so uber cool he won't even care that I read it. Stunning photos of real people wearing real clothes in exotic (to me) locations around the world. Check it out and read why he posts these photos.

Sew Tessuti. Collette Guanta showcases fabulous fabrics from her stores, features her clients and the lovely clothes they sew. Links to places in Sydney you didn't know existed.

Pleasant View Schoolhouse. Anna is quite possibly my polar opposite but a small part of me loves her self-assured approach to making a special home for her family. And the photographs are fabulous.


Now I've just got to reveal myself and tell them I've given them this award...

Crazy Holiday Idea #54: Visit a button shop with five kids

I just had to show Domestic Goddess this fabulous button shop while she was in Sydney. I've blogged about it before; it's the one at the dodgy end of King St, Newtown. Actually, this time 'round it didn't seem so dodgy. Luckily our host was as bohemian as before with her multiple piercings and tatts. The kids were fascinated.

Here is the interior of All Buttons Great and Small with its fabulous 1930s cabinetry. Imagine three boys lying on the floor just out of sight of my camera; one boy moaning and indicating that he may vomit at any moment. Imagine two tween girls oohing and aahing at all the blingy buttons in the glass cabinet some of which cost $50 each. Imagine Domestic Goddess going mad picking out all manner of buttons she hasn't made outfits for yet.

I almost escaped this shop without spending anything until Blossom saw these:

and this:

and Padawan Learner just had to have these:

I couldn't resist them either.

At least I wasn't buying lollies.

Free Fun in Sydney (even for north shore dwellers...)

The school holidays are notorious for putting a hole in the budget; but this week when Domestic Goddess and her three kids visited from Melbourne we had a great time without the need for a second mortgage.

We played in the tunnels at Middle Head.

We walked across Our Bridge.

We hung out for ages at the new Apple Store playing with all the gadgets we'd love to own. That place is a theme park in its own right.

And we played in the harbour at low tide.

Who needs a theme park when we live in one?

Port Douglas Part III: Where the rainforest meets the sea

Not far from Port Douglas is the World Heritage Listed Daintree Rainforest. The only way to cross the (croc infested) Daintree River in these parts is by car ferry.

Tour operators have been lobbying for a bridge to replace the car ferry - citing long delays to get across.

Bah Humbug.

This car ferry is one of the coolest things in the Daintree. To put a bridge here would just invite over-development of this fabulous area. Take it slow guys, you're on holiday. Or do what we did - cross the river outside 'peak hour'.

This is what you see on the other side.

After driving for about half an hour, heeding the signs regarding crocodiles in the water...

...you reach Cape Tribulation. It's at the end of the bitumen and where the rainforest comes all the way down to meet the sea.