Showing posts with label Weekends Away. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekends Away. Show all posts

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Skiing Thredbo




We have just returned from a fabulous week away at the snow and on our second night it snowed!  The boys were beyond delighted as they ran around outside in their pjs/thermals.  We sort of half managed to get them dressed before they escaped outside and engaged themselves in a snowball fight.



We booked the boys into Thredboland every day and I highly recommend it.  The Captain has also attended ski school at Perisher but was a bit luke warm about it.  This year was his first time at Thredbo and it was the little one's first trip to the snow, previous trips he has been dropped off in Canberra to spend quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. Thredboland was fantastic.  They kept the boys together at our request and the instructors that they had for the week were brilliant.  Both boys started off skiing Friday Flat on the magic carpet and by the end of the week had achieved the Captain's ambition of moving up to skiing Merritt's.  R and I ran into them both with their instructor as they were in the line to get onto the Cruiser Chair and The Captain was proud as punch that he was skiing the same terrain that we were! Speaking of Merritt's if skiing Thredbo and looking for somewhere reasonable to eat lunch on the mountain I can definitely recommend Merritts Mountain House.  The food was fantastic, we especially loved the Austrian Goulash and the styling of the restaurant is seriously gorgeous!  There is the most amazing collection of enamelware on display and whoever styled it is another Sound of Music fan, there were references to the movie everywhere.  Every meal we ate there I was wishing I had brought the camera! The photo below is from their site and is just a glimpse of the great styling and vintage enamelware decorating the restaurant. 






Sadly, the days of apres-ski are well and truly over for us... instead we spent several afternoons at the Thredbo Leisure Centre.  The boys adored the waterside and there is a convenient row of chairs placed in front of it for parents and carers to observe their charges at play.  For older kids there is one of those inflatable obstacle courses which also looked great fun.



The baby looks tiny coming down the slide but he was by far it's biggest fan, we had to drag him out of the pool when it was time to go home for dinner:




I know many people are very dismissive of skiing in Australia.  The snow is fairly unreliable and the runs are relatively short if you have skied abroad.  Even so I believe that skiing in Australia is one of the most beautiful places in the world to ski. The snow gums and their myriad of colours dotting the edges of the runs are truly beautiful and nowhere else in the world will you be able to spot wombat footprints in the snow from the chairlift.   I don't think I have ever been disappointed in the experiences that I have had skiing the Australian resorts.   From the wonderful holidays I spent at Guthega and Thredbo as a child with school friends to the many ski trips that R and I went on before we had the boys and now to the wonderful memories we are creating at the snow with our own children.  

Monday, December 13, 2010

My close encounter with Oprah...

On the weekend we flew down to Melbourne for a Christmas Party and look who I ran into outside our hotel:


I know!!!  I can't believe it either!!!  I had taken the boys downstairs to go for a quick scooter along the river before the babysitter arrived and had noticed the police cars/boats/helicopters as the boys were scootering about.  About 10 minutes later Oprah sauntered past us chatting with the Prime Minister!  Apparently not long before she had made an appearance in Federation Square with 26 000 fans... there were maybe 50 people outside when we saw her!

This is how close she was to us! 

Monday, December 6, 2010

A trip down South to Milton

 We have just returned from a weekend away on the south coast of New South Wales.  The highlight of which for me was a trip to nearby Milton, a tiny little village up on a hill loooking over the coast.  It is a lovely little spot full of charming cottages, cafes, boutique homewares shops and best of all some great  antique shops.  I have been visiting Milton for years, (although as a kid I was more into the Scarecrow Festival they have annually than the antique shops), and have watched the gentrification of the town with interest.  At the moment I think it is just about perfect and definitely not too touristy like Berry is nowadays.  


A lovely cottage in the main street of town:


The view from where I parked the car:



 I spent Friday morning exporing several antique shops and there were numerous items I desperately wanted to bring home with me but considering the amount of luggage that our car was literally stuffed with I was obliged to "look and not touch" (as I warn the children every time we enter a shop in a steely voice). 



How I would have loved this old lobster pot to decorate our back deck with.



I can't stop thinking about this rustic meat safe, with it's crackled old blue paint.


I already have way too many of these old suitcases, but I still adore them!


I don't have any of these old trunks however and surely they would make great storage for something...




Lots of divine items here...



and here!



Tretchikoff prints can look amzing in the right houses and this one of the "blue lady" against the wall paper looked fabulous.

Looking forward to my next visit and this time I will make sure that there is some room in the car!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Mayhem Chez Pirates!

An eventful few days were had at Pirate HQ whilst R was away in Melbourne playing golf, staying at a glamorous hotel and dining at establishments like Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant. He had lobster and apparently it was outstanding, can you tell I am a teeny bit jealous...

Incident 1.  The Snake

The Captain announced calmly to me from the french doors that lead out into the garden, "Mummy, there is a snake in the garden"  the calmness of this statement threw me and I ignored him!  In my defence, I was thinking to myself that it must be a stick he is looking at.  A second, more urgent sounding "Mummy, there is a snake in the garden" got my attention though and I got up to have a look.

"Get inside the house and shut all the doors and windows!" I screeched, grabbing the phone to call husband and seek his advice on what to do.  Of course he was in Melbourne playing golf.  Admittedly and in his defence, it was a charity match raising money for Ronald McDonald House, however at that point in time I was outraged that he was not at my beck and call.  He suggested I ring WIRES.  They were very helpful and identified the snake as a non-venomous tree snake!  Phew! 



Incident 2. The demise of the Dishwasher

Out of frustration and to punish husband for his neglectful absence in my time of need I went and bought myself a shiny new Miele dishwasher and to go with it a lovely new Miele oven.  Well, it was on special and that never happens with Miele.  Plus, our stove top is Miele, so now everything matches and looks lovely!


Incident 3. The Power Failure

Tree-loppers across the road  in their attempt to remove some Bangalow Palms managed to accidentally knock down a giant Strezlitzia straight onto the power lines! No power for hours, this was merely inconvenient compared to incident 4 though.

Incident 4.  The Wardrobe Malfunction

I left the house at half-past eight and dropped the Captain off at pre-school.  Then with the baby went to do the shopping, pottered around Spotlight buying party items, had a coffee and some lunch and then visited several of my favourite junk shops.  During the course of the day I chatted with numerous people, but it was not until half-past two when I went to collect the Captain from school, that one of the other lovely Mums sidled up to me and whispered in my ear, "Emma, your dress is on inside out!" I was mortified! I have decided to blame R for this incident. If he had been at home he might have perhaps noticed such a significant wardrobe malfunction.  Also I might not have been so  distracted (see incidents one, two and three). 

Thankfully, throughout the mayhem, my two little pirates were angels... thank you boys! 





 P.S. I love my new oven and dishwasher and it made walking around the northern beaches with my frock on inside out all better, admittedly some rather extravagant retail therapy though!


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Berrima

I met up with my parents for lunch today in Berrima, a lovely little town a few hours south of Sydney in the Southern Highlands.  They have very kindly had The Captain to stay for the last few days and so we met in Berrima so that they could return him to me!  I adore meeting up with them here as we can have a lovely lunch at one of the numerous cafes and then I can have a leisurely stroll through the many antique shops whilst they entertain the grandchildren in the park!  Today we had lunch at The Magpie Cafe on the verandah. 


The Captain dancing about with excitement on the verandah at the cafe, telling me all about the wonderful time he has had with Grandma and Grandpa:

Although it would have been just as lovely to eat outside on the pavement under the blosssoms, petals were drifting down with the slight breeze and filling the air with their delicious scent:


The highlands are in the midst of Tulip Time and there were half barrels full of tulips lining the streets:


Even the post office had tubs of flowers outside:



       This cat is a local identity.  He gracefully permitted me to photograph him outside his home:


A must in Berrima is a visit to Peppergreen's.  An absolute favourite of mine:


It is full of vintage kitchenalia:


Glassware:


Vintage linen:


Other collectibles:


Beautiful things:


There are several rooms full of collectibles and it truly is a feast for the eyes!




Thank you to my wonderful parents for having The Captain to stay!  He had a marvellous time and we had a lovely break!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Floriade and a Funeral

Last week one of my dearest and oldest friends lost her mother to breast cancer. She is also 35 weeks pregnant and I was as devastated as she was that her mother never got to meet or hold her first grandchild. So the boys and I packed a few things and jumped on a plane to Canberra. Thankfully, my two little frequent flyers were thrilled as they got to spend some quality time with Grandma while I spent time with my friend.


Even "Richard" is a frequent flyer now!

Despite it being such a sad time for me in Canberra, it was such a lovely time to be visiting. Canberra is in the midst of Floriade, although I do think that my parents garden rivals Floriade in places. In the past their garden has been open to the public as part of the Open Garden Scheme but now my parents just work on it for their own pleasure (and ours!).







The boys gathered daffodils and other bulbs to make the most gorgeous bouquet to give to my friend.






The blossoms were spectacular. All over Canberra fruit trees and ornamentals are in full bloom and the fragrance in the air was delicious.

The tulips, always divine and so sophisticated looking compared to the rest of the bulbs!


RIP Maggie.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The SNOW!

We have just got back from 4 days away! Best snow that I have seen in NSW since I was a little tacker learning to ski and I can't begin to describe how adorable the Captain looked rugged up like the Michelin man and snow ploughing (or pizza slicing as he called it) with his mates in ski school. Too divine!


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Anzac Day Weekend

We have just had a lovely long weekend away in Canberra visiting my parents. We visited the amazing Questacon, where the boys just had the most marvellous time. The very first exhibit that we saw were huge robotic dinosaurs. A mama Maiasaur with her nest of little ones, a Stegasaurus and of course no dinosaur exhibit would be complete without a terrifying Tyrannosaurus. They were half-size (but enormous to little people) animatronic dinosaurs that were moving, roaring and even blinking. The dinosaur loving Captain was totally enthralled, but the little one was quite frightened by them. He stood motionless, pointing at the T-Rex model absolutely frozen with fear. Naturally I took a photo of this before I rescued him, mean Mummy! The Captain was very impressed with it all though, especially after our previous dinosaur exhibition disaster... aged 3 we took him to see this, after looking at various fossils he asked to see the "real dinosaurs" what do you mean we asked... "you know, the alive ones" he explained, looking at the pair of us as if we were stupid! Poor old Captain, he was devastated when we explained the meaning of extinction to him. Well, Questacon now has a lot to answer for as he has now been announcing to anyone that will listen that "Canberra has real dinosaurs!"


I think that the Baby was much more impressed with "Mini Q" than the dinosaurs. Hours of fun to be had!




Loving the time spent with Grandma.



I have not seen a rainbow for what feels like forever and then suddenly saw two this weekend. Beautiful!





We rode our bikes, all of us (Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy, Me (plus little one on my bike) and the Captain, from my parents house to Manuka, for coffee and babycino's. Then down to the lake and we did the bridge to bridge loop. I was so proud of the Captain riding all that way. We did have lots of stops, including a lengthy playground visit and time spent watching model yachts meander lazily around some black swans, but it really is a long ride for a little boy (probably around 9k) and he loved every minute of it . Perhaps Ross' plans for him to be the next Lance Armstrong are not in vain!









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