Last week in Sydney

Sorry, haven't taken many photos this last week.  However I still have had lots of fun!  How could you not, in beautiful weather in gorgeous Sydney...when you're on the countdown for how many days you actually have left before heading south!

After a very rainy week I had a last visit with British cousins on the Central Coast (including seeing the Australian Watercolour Institute show at the Gosford Regional Art Gallery--which was excellent.  I guess I should be acting on joining that Institute plus their equivalent in Canada--if I'm serious about being a world-class artist it would be a smart move to have juried membership in two countries now wouldn't it?)

Then on Tuesday morning I picked up an old friend (and coach) from Vancouver & we set out to enjoy some of my favourite spots around--Camp Cove, South Head Lighthouse and then when she crashed (as you do, after that long flight) I joined friends for this year's last Open Air Cinema on Sydney Harbour for "Bright Star" which was a fantastic movie about the poet Keats.  Yesterday we got up, headed for Manly and walked the promenade there down to Shelly Beach and had a snorkle, lunch at the place that Nicole Kidman got married to Keith Urban, and drove up the Northern Beaches to Whale Beach for a splendid birthday dinner for another friend.  And today, my first kayak on Sydney's Middle Harbour with a lesson from Laurie who is an experienced sea kayaker who does 10 day wilderness trips kayaking every year, from Mexico to the West Coast of Vancouver Island.  Fantastic, and we're intending to do it again tomorrow morning, along with a walk along Sydney Harbour and hopefully another swim in the ocean to round off the day!

Needless to say I've been too busy to paint or even sketch, except for one day when I practised my ink and watercolour technique which has created some lovely gum trees, on producing rocks.  I might need a little more practise, however the initial results were quite pleasing.

And we'll need to get packed up in 2 days to head for the Blue Mountains for a 4 day stay, before returning to Sydney and organizing all of our possessions for the journey south to Melbourne.  I can feel the time ebbing away here and want to make the most of it.

That said, I might not be posting for a couple of weeks because of all the travels but stay tuned for more adventures!  (Hopefully there won't be any shark incidents but we are wanting to see dolphins while kayaking in Jervis Bay on the way down the coast!)

Enjoy whatever you're doing in life--until we meet again!