Sydney Celebrations

 

Well, she's done it! My baby sister has graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW and I am so incredibly proud of her.

It's been three days of celebrating and Sydney didn't fail to deliver.

We stayed in a fantastic serviced apartment at Meriton on Kent, smack bang in the middle of town. I got to Sydney at lunchtime on Tuesday and Katie and I spent the afternoon doing some sisterly retail therapy. I found a beautiful navy linen blazer at Zara, we fawned over Kate Spade handbags in David Jones and picked up some Shiraz, Champagne & Caffe Latte truffles from Haigs in the Queen Victoria Building. Mum & Kathleen flew in from Queensland that night and we dined in Darling Harbour.

 

Wednesday was an early start with breakfast at the Uni and some pre-ceremony photos around the campus.

 

 

Then into the Auditorium for the ceremony.

 

 

Oh yeah baby...we were clapping hard when her name was called.

 

 

Think she was a bit chuffed and deservedly so!

 

 

SO PROUD!!!

 

 

Apparently Kathleen is still on her Gap Year.

 

Formalities over...time to celebrate with lunch at Bondi Icebergs.

 

 

Icebergs is iconic...overlooking beautiful Bondi Beach.

 

 

After bubbly and fish & chips on the balcony we tottered back to the apartment. Kate and Kathleen hit the shops and I took an afternoon kip. After my nap I got to sneak in a quick coffee with a very beloved girlfriend who's office was just a block from the apartment. It was brilliant to see Em and give her a jolly good squeeze.

 

 

Unfortunately not long after that, the ruddy headcold that I thought I'd shaken off earlier in the week hit me again. Kathleen and I opted for a quiet night in, with some Thai takeaway and the Lifestyle channel, leaving Kate and Mum to have dinner with a couple of Kate's friends. Thank goodness for cold & flu medication...it knocked me out for the night and I slept like a rock.

We checked out of the apartment this morning and Katie took us to her favourite cafe in Double Bay for brunch. When she said Indigo do the most amazing breakfast she wasn't kidding.

 

 

We feasted on corn fritters with bacon, avocado salsa & baby spinach.

 

 

It was glorious! Have to say, it was rather entertaining watching the rich & the beautiful in their natural habitat as we brunched. Double Bay = Posh.

 

 

The area is renown for its array of gorgeous boutiques so we had a little look on the way back to the car.

 

 

 

We had just enough time to pop around to see Katie's fab 1920s apartment in Piper's Point.

 

 

Oh my...that is one gorgeous suburb with amazing harbour views.

 

 

Before we knew it, time had slipped away and we had to return home.

 

Katie, you are a kind, beautiful, intelligent and completely marvellous creature. We love you to the moon and back and we are so very proud and happy for you.

Cheers to you Lovely...onwards and upwards!

xx Em

 

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A hazy lazy Sunday

We went for a leisurely peddle along the foreshore of Lake Burleigh Griffin this morning.

 

 

With a pit stop at The Fort in Commonwealth Park...

 

Then back on the bikes along the bridge, past lily pads and iris.

 

 

And the odd Black Swan...or three.

 

 

Time enough on the way back for a peek at the beautiful Blundells Cottage, tucked away amongst the foliage just a stone's throw from the lake's edge.

 

 

Harry scored a bonus stickybeak at a fire engine, (while Mummy scored a bonus stickybeak at the calendar worthy firefighters) which/who happened to pull up beside us in the car park just as we were loading the bikes.

 

 

Such a lovely end to our outing, but these last few photos are also very timely. It's been an early and ominous start to the bushfire season this year. For the past couple of days Canberra and Queanbeyan have been shrouded in smoke haze that has drifted hundreds of kilometers south from the raging bushfires west of Sydney around the Lower Blue Mountains. My heart goes out to the hundreds who have lost their homes already and my thoughts are with friends still in areas very much under threat. Its been ten years since Canberra was savaged by a massive firestorm.

 

It happened three years before we moved here but I remember how the western slopes looked when we arrived and there are still a few tell tale signs today, though most of the affected areas have well & truly regenerated.

 

Listening to the Firefighters chatting this morning was sobering. I think we're all hoping to be spared the horror of what many others are currently enduring but wary that it may well happen in this area again.

Stay safe this season peeps, have a Bushfire Survival Plan in place and if you can, please give what you can to your local Rural Fire Service.

 

xx Em

 

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