Had a busy week with another trip down to Sussex Inlet - this time we stayed over & had a nice meal in the RSL, did a bit of wildlife spotting (birds, kangaroos & possums) & enjoyed a lovely boat ride with Greg - you'd never guess how big the place was without the viewpoint from the boat. Also gave Lucy's mum (Celia) a change to see the place & catch up with John (who had visited her in the UK many moons ago).
On the way home (well almost) we headed to Canberra & I have to admit that I liked the place much more the 2nd time around - perhaps it's because we had more time there, or maybe it's because Lucy & I didn't have an argument, but either way we enjoyed the brief visit - even the James Cook fountain / jet was working (not that impressive though). Spent a few hours looking around the impressive Australian National Museum (everything in Canberra seems to start with Australian National), although if someone could explain what that 'courtyard of dreams is' then I would appreciate it! Next, we headed to Parliament Hill. Now, I have to admit that I didn't expect to be impressed by the new building... but I was wrong! It is new, but then so is the country (at least the European history) and so the building feels appropriate. Everything is built on a grand scale, entirely with Australian materials (apart from some of the marble) and there has to be an advantage to having a building designed with a modern parliament in mind - the extra media facilities & offices etc. We also had an excellent tour guide who was up on her Parliamentary knowledge - both of Australia & elsewhere. Afterwards, we were able to contrast the new with the relatively old by taking a look at the Old Parliament building - amazing how they managed to get anything done in there! Then it was a bit of thai food before the 300km back to Sydney.
On Friday evening, Lucy & I headed to the Hordern Pavilion to watch the Arctic Monkeys. Now, after been slightly disappointed by them at Glastonbury, we hoped that the smaller venue would give them a helping hand... and I have to say that they were much, much better. Admittedly, they were helped out by the fact the very poor support act (Operator Please) made them look good! (The converse was true at Glastonbury with Kasabian appearing beforehand). Somehow, I ended up at the very front - started to be pushed forward from the off & just went with the flow - and spent a very hot & sweaty 90 mins in the 'mosh pit'! The Monkey's still have a bit of work to do on their stage presence, but their music is good (love the lyrics) & they seem to have done ok with the 2nd album.
Saturday we were up early for a tour of the Opera House - and that provided a fascinating insight into the workings of the building & the history behind it. The guide was superb & of course the building itself is stunning. We also had our questions answered on why there is a series of plastic rings hanging from the ceiling of the concert hall (it's to do with the acoustics) and I'm sure we'll try and go back to see the mightily impressive organ in use.
Our favourite place - Angel - for breakfast on Sunday, with views over Freshwater Beach (I had eggs Benedict with Ocean Trout - lovely!) and then on to Palm Beach for a bit of a walk. In fact, a bit of a trek up to Barrenjoey lighthouse to partake of the tour (bit of a waste) & enjoy the fantastic scenery. Stopped off at the surf-club to allow Lucy's mum to have her picture taken with the 'Summer Bay' sign & then home via the ever busy Newport Arms.
Back to the Hordern Pavilion again on Sunday evening - this time for the Kaiser Chiefs. Thankfully, I managed to miss the 1st support act (it was Operator Please again) and caught the very good 2nd support - Wolf & Cub (who sounded very similar to Wolfmother & had an interesting line-up... 2 guitarists & 2 drummers). Having missed out on seeing the Kaiser Chiefs at Glastonbury, I was very keen to catch up with them here.... and they were superb. Once again, I ended up 'moshing' and the music was perfect for that - think I was bouncing up & down to every song. Surprisingly, 'I Predict a riot' wasn't part of the encore (Oh My God was the big one there) and the fans here seem to enjoy the songs from the new album more (they certainly got the biggest cheers). Ricky Wilson might not have the best voice (Lucy's view) but he certainly knows how to get the crowd going - and enjoys a bit of crowd surfing too! Thoroughly enjoyed myself - even if it did take me 30 minutes to get out of the car park afterwards! One word of warning though if you go to a KC concert... bear in mind that a lot of Leeds Utd fans will be present & whilst I've nothing against that, they should remember that heat + sweat + football tops does not make for a very pleasant odour!
Think that'll be it for a while on the gig front - unfortunately we miss The Killers as we'll be in Asia at the time - let's see what the year end brings.
Had our first house party on Saturday night. We celebrated a combination of things - my 30th, our first wedding anniversary & our first year in Oz. About 20 people turned up in total and we managed to churn our way through a LOT of wine, beer & sausage rolls. I felt ok until the tequilla shots came out... followed closely by the chilli schnapps (never take a recommendation from a cab driver!). Mind you, in comparison to Lucy (who was put to bed by her Irish friends) & Gish (who managed to pass out in the spare bedroom & do his usual trick of puking on himself) I was in good nick!
