Saturday, January 23, 2010

Settling into Sydney life








In some kind of order, here's 3 photos of Sydney including Freshwater Beach and one with Queenscliff with Manly Beach in the background--one of my favourite swimming spots!  The second last is a painting I did of the poinciana trees hanging over the road in Buderim, Queensland, when I first arrived here in November.  The last one is, as seasoned travellers will already recognize, Venice--a painting with ink that I did at the course last week.  

I've been really enjoying Sydney over the years that I've been coming to Australia and now I've got a good amount of time in January to enjoy some of the wonderful Sydney Festival activities.  
On Friday night we saw Circus Oz which is a wonderful Australian version of Cirque du Soleil, and last night after a bit of thunder, lightning, rain, wind and hail we sat at the Domaine and watched the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as the heat wave passed by.  For the next few days there's showers and storms and not much sun predicted so that'll be good for my painting time! 

I'm also planning a trip to Canberra to see the Impressionist Exhibition from the Musee d'Orsay so that might be as quickly as this weekend.  The National Gallery is the only place in Australia hosting this tour so I'm really looking forward to seeing some originals of my favourite artists like Monet, Degas, Renoir and van Gogh.  All that & catching up with some British cousins who have flown in for a 6 week vacation with their daughter's family on the beautiful Central Coast, one hour north of Sydney.  And not to forget some visits to my wonderful friend Skye who lives at Terrigal & will keep some time open for me while she's impatiently awaiting her new baby in February.  And celebrating another birthday later in the week!

Tuesday (Australia Day) I celebrate the 2nd anniversary of becoming an Australian.  I was sworn in on a warm morning in Melbourne and remember it very well--thinking, can I be loyal and swear allegiance to 2 countries, and what does that mean about my birthplace, Canada, if I do so?  And I am still in awe of the privilege of being a citizen of the two best countries in the world!  There's no conflict in my mind or heart about it at all!

That's all the news for now, I'll see you again when I have more to say!

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