Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Out and About at Easter

We had a lovely Easter. Phil also took Tuesday off work so we had 5 days of family, friends, beach, and other outings.


Shark Beach at Nielsen Park on Good Friday morning. 
Divine sunny weather so we swam a lot.  That's my kids in the middle of the photo below digging in the sand.  They were so engrossed I was able to swim 1 km while they were playing on the sand.  I found it much harder to swim at the beach than in the pool but I thought as I'm training for an ocean swim with my friend,  Jen, that I may as well get used to it.
Much sunnier than this Instagram filter below suggests. 
But what a lovely spot to moor your boat.
  Beautiful patterns in the Sydney sandstone
 Then it was home to prepare a big seafood lunch shared with Phil's sisters.
Fish, scallops, prawns, calamari, home made chips and salad. Followed by baked peaches and nectarines in a caramel sauce.
Saturday we went to the markets early and then back to the beach for almost the whole day. It was wonderful. Sydney really had a late summer.  The beach was much less crowded on Saturday and we scored a nice position under a tree just above the sand. I swam 1.5 km and found it a bit easier as the swell was more gentle.
 Saturday afternoon was spent making hot cross buns (that then got stored in the fridge ready for baking Sunday morning) and sorting out home dyed eggs and cards for the Easter bunny.  We made the nest using brown paper shredded by the spaghetti attachment on our pasta machine (idea thanks to Pretty Handy Girl

Sunday morning the Easter bunny had left some beautiful bowls and a few chocolate surprises.
 Easter Sunday and Monday we spent at another beach. We decided to book a hotel deal for a night - at Bondi - (just 15 minutes drive from our house). Even though it wasn't far it was lovely to spend a night in a hotel, go out to dinner, walk along the beach and swim at Icebergs again. Although it was much colder at Icebergs than when I swam there last week!


Tuesday the weather turned and now it's suddenly autumn. We took out bikes to Bicentennial park and rode for hours around the parklands and along the river. We found a great cafe (the Armory Wharf Cafe) and an amazing playground. We'll definitely be heading back there. 





I also squeezed in time to read Anh Do's memoir "The Happiest Refugee".  What a beautiful man and family. I was laughing and crying throughout the whole book.

So that's our Easter. What did you all get up to? I'd love for you to share something special you did.
cheers
Fiona

BTW I used Instagram for all my photos today. Did you hear that Facebook bought it? What a lot of money to pay for a business that's never posted a profit.  Crazy times we live in!

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9 comments:

  1. What a lovely summary of what sounds like a wonderful Easter weekend..there sure are some lovely spots in Sydney, I have hardly scratched the surface there! We spent Friday down at the beach (Lake Cathie), Saturday we went to markets in Laurieton, and had our neighbours over for a drink in the afternoon/evening. Sunday we overdosed on chocolate, dyed some eggs, and watched Hop while eating coloured popcorn (for the second easter in a row...think it will be our annual easter movie!) Monday I did a bit of painting (workshop floor, and some drawers). Think that was about it...thanks for the opportunity to recap, I am too lazy to do a blog post about it, but it was nice to think about what I did, and write it down for someone :)

    xx Karen

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    1. hi Karen - isn't it great living near a beach! instant fun for free! I love those markets at laurieton. we often camp at brigadoon in north haven and go to those markets for a browse.your easter sounds lovely. glad you we're missing your family in NZ too much, and how cool to have your workroom almost finished!

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  2. I so need a smart phone. I am wondering now if you can instagram with a smart phone that is not an apple iphone. I think that became possible just a week ago. Interesting times indeed. It will be facinating to see what FB does with it.

    Your weekend looks wonderful
    Carolyn

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    1. hi Carolyn - yes you can now use Instagram on any android smartphone. see here. http://blog.instagram.com/post/20411305253/instagram-for-android-available-now
      have fun -It's addictive!

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  3. i dream of one day being able to come visit you- it looks just so beautiful there.

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    1. hi Cassie - anytime, honey! i'll have champange on ice for you!

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  4. Hi Fiona

    Thank for showing the enjoyable and often unknown side of Sydney may need to plan an outing soon.

    Lena

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    1. thanks Lena - it's so good discovering new spots isn't! (as well as making it back to old favourites). we sure live in a beautiful part of the world
      cheers Fiona

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  5. Thanks for sharing this wonderful information. I will be waiting for your next level post. Keep sharing. Very nice keep it up.

    With Regards,
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    ReplyDelete

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