Big bro, little bro

Posted on August 2, 2013 by robandlinds

It had been over a year since I saw Luke last and he sure looked different from last time I saw him. Deeper voice, peach fuzz mustache, hair in weird places, and almost taller than me…. key word ALMOST.

I introduced Luke to the sport of AFL and got him his own “footy”. We started a new tradition called footy in bed where we basically chant “footy in bed” over and over and watch footy on TV in bed..

Despite being the middle of winter when Luke visited we had some awesome weather. In the 70s every day and even got some beach time in Manly.

We took a few days off and had a long weekend up in Hunter Valley,
wine country. Luke and I used a golf voucher Chris got us and played lots of tennis to get Luke ready for try outs. He crushed me… Luke had a rough time at one of the pubs there, we were asked to leave the area where we were sitting because Luke wasn’t 18, the legal drinking age in Australia.

Towards the end of his trip we made it to Bondi beach and went to my favorite ribs spot, Hurricanes, thanks to yet another gift voucher, this one from dad. The ribs were awesome but not the cleanest of meals!

It was great to have Luke visit and see where we have been living the last few years. We had an awesome time!

The Rehrig’s

Posted on March 7, 2013 by robandlinds

We were SO excited to have Kyle and Jules come visit us!! They had quite the itinerary too – flying directly to Sydney to spend time with us for a week (with a side trip to the Hunter region over a long weekend), then spent several days on the southern island of New Zealand, flew back to Sydney for a few nights (repacked for swim suit weather), then up to the Whit Sunday Islands to snorkel and check out the Great Barrier Reef and finally back to Sydney for one last night before taking the 14-hour flight to LAX! PHEW! They probably experienced all four seasons over the course of 3 weeks too (with the worst being on the islands during their snorkel trip, unfortunately).

We were able to find the best accommodation in the Hunter Valley – wine region – since we’ve moved out here (and it only took us 10 tries to figure it out!). As can be seen in the picture above, there were 3 houses on the property including a tennis court, a swimming pool, the owners’ house and hundreds of acres of grape vines. And despite the “hassle” 20-minute drive outside the main part of Hunter Valley, we had several acres of cows, kangaroos, birds, vineyards and millions of billions of stars to gaze at from our own porch!

Even more important, we had ample room to throw around the (American) football in the yard. We also received a case of wine upon arrival, along with a wine tasting and a brief history lesson from the owners. Not sure how we could’ve beat that!!

I raised my hand for the ‘Designated Driver’ role so Rob, Jules and Kyle could have a true experience of Hunter Valley wine tasting. The day did little to disappoint with over 5 stops at the local wineries. Afterwards, we spent the evening playing charades.. which made for an extremely interesting and exciting evening (Rob & Linds vs Kyle & Jules). (Picture: Jules is trying to show Kyle what he should have done when trying to imitate a character). It was great fun!

One of the best parts of their holiday was during my attempt to explain how people in Australia call out to kangaroos. When Kyle and Jules arrived, I told them the best way to see a kangaroo is to call out and chant, “Swish, swish, swish, swish”. During our stay in Hunter Valley we were walking around the property and we were able to get them to start chanting with Rob & me..

They were SOLD!!!

But it was short lived.. Jules quickly caught on and asked if we were teasing them. It’s hard to hear in this video, but still pretty hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01pPxwj7Dd8&feature=youtu.be.

S. Steele

Posted on January 11, 2013 by robandlinds

We had the privilege of hosting another great friend – Sara Steele! The first day she got to Sydney, we did the Neutral Bay to Chowder Bay hike (and it was our very first guest to take on the walk since we discovered it long after we moved to Neutral Bay). This walk connects two of Mosman’s beaches – Balmoral Beach and Clifton Gardens – and after reading more about the area, it is very much connected with the early history of Sydney. For more than a century many of these areas were used to maintain gun emplacements to defend Sydney from invaders, until the land was released to the public in 1995, and reborn as part of Sydney Harbour National Park. It truly is a magnificent walk and has spectacular views! The picture below is taken at Bradley’s Head.

Part of our ‘tour of Sydney’ wouldn’t be complete without spending an afternoon at Jack and Tim’s flat in Paddington. We brought out the red cups and made it a complete college flash-back, playing flip cup (or “flippy cup”)! We also introduced Sara to her first EVER lawn bowls match – she turned out to be pretty good beating me and almost tying Rob.

To end the short time Sara spent in Sydney (before we left for Melbourne), we went out with the girls to Centennial Park. The city puts up an outdoor theatre during the summer months – which includes bean bag chairs, pillows and popcorn!

Sean and Em Down Under

Posted on January 5, 2013 by robandlinds

A few days after our Asia trip, we were back at it hosting Sean and Emily on the last leg of their Australia/ New Zealand trip. To make their visit more exciting, Sean had just proposed to Emily a few days earlier in Milford Sound. Luckily, she said yes and we had the privilege of being the first to celebrate with them. While their Sydney stay was brief, we were able to show them the sights and had a great time catching up with good friends.

Last weekend w. Chris

Posted on April 15, 2012 by robandlinds

Chris’ last full day in Manly, spent a few hours at the Bavarian Bier Cafe, a German bier haus. Had some nice German beer and a few schnapps.

Lindsey made a nice last brekky for Chris on his last day. She made sure to get rid of all the sausage that was in the freezer.

Ride for two?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by robandlinds

Tom and Lynne purchased a lovely gift for Rob and me prior to moving back to the UK; a sea plane voucher over Sydney. I was selfish enough to take the voucher and use it myself.

Luckily, I had Jenny to share the adventure with! 🙂

View of downtown Sydney from Rose Bay

This is a birds eye view of Manly

If you’d like to hear how the rest of the flight went, please feel free to call or email me.

Ms. G…i.a…n.s.i.r..a..c.u…s..a

Posted on February 18, 2012 by robandlinds

Kathy arrived on the same day that my parents left, so she got to spend the morning hiking around Balmoral Beach with the entire Ralph Family (minus Jer)!

The jet lag didn’t last long for her due to our wild Manly excursion. We took the ferry over to Manly and introduced Kathy to all of our Aussie friends, which went over well considering we had a previous, positive encounter with another Kathy in Hunter Valley.

United airlines managed to screw up again, but this time with luggage!! Upon arriving in Sydney, Kathy received the unfortunate news that her bag was missing and the airline didn’t find it for another FOUR DAYS. Regardless, we still managed to have a great time – sweats ‘n all ;)!

North Head

Posted on June 25, 2011 by robandlinds

Not a bad way to begin a sunny, winter day in Sydney. Rob and I grabbed a ‘hearty’ hike just south of Manly Beach. We posed for a quick shot at Shelly Beach, a beach full of sea shells and sand, then worked our way out to North Head.

View of downtown Sydney from North Head

Here is a view of South Head.

North Head and South Head create the only entrance into Sydney harbour. In the 1930s, North Head, South Head and Middle Head were used to set up military posts in case of attack. (http://www.harbourtrust.gov.au/visit-our-sites/north-head-sanctuary/history/index.html).

We did some whale watching along our hike and were lucky enough to see a few! According to the Sydney Wildlife website: “Humpback Whales are most likely to be seen between the months of June (Winter) and October (Spring).

They are known to swim very close shore where they will swim into large bays and Harbour areas in order to rest and gain protection during times of rough seas. In Autumn, as the water temperatures fall resulting in ice forming on the surface of the ocean, the Whales will begin their northward migrations up the East and West Coasts of Australia. This mass migration takes them to more temperate, sub tropical waters where Whales will mate, and the female Whales will give birth to calves. The Whales will then begin the migrations back south down the East and West Coasts of Australia at the end of spring.

By summer, the whales are seen in the freezing waters of Antarctica where they feed on the enormous quantities of Krill (a prawn like species) that makes up their enormous diets.“

We did an entire loop and ended up back at Manly Beach.

Rob and Linds

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