Wednesday in Sydney

In the 'Big Smoke' which is Sydney — In the ‘Big Smoke’ which is Sydney

For the past six weeks we’ve been travelling to Sydney every Wednesday for my appointments to get my new dentures constructed. As you can guess, to get me proper dentures made is not exactly easy. I seem to have a very difficult mouth! Anyhow, I am hopeful now that all the effort is not in vain and in due time my mouth is going to be all right. 🙂 🙂 🙂

So last Wednesday was the day when we met Matthew and Caroline for lunch. Before we met up with them I had seen my dental technician. After our delicious ice-cream treat we took a bus for a few stops and then we had to walk a bit to reach China-Town. This was where we were about to have our lunch. On the way to China-Town and around China-Town Peter took the following pictures.

Near Market City Peter and I were waiting to catch a tram to go to Central Station.

From Central Station we caught our train back home to Dapto while Caroline and Matthew were going back to their place in the Eastern suburbs. We were very happy that we had been able to see them on that Wednesday.

A port city in northeastern Sicily on the Strait of Messina

This is where Matthew and Caroline took us yesterday: Gelato de Messina! Homemade on the premises.

This shop was in Victoria Street in Sydney. Darlinghurst Road was right next to it.

Matthew and Caroline discuss where to go to next.

It was Matthew’s birthday. We had given him a large chopping board as a birthday gift. This is why Matthew is carrying this large bag.

Last Wednesday and last Saturday to Sydney by Train

Last Wednesday we were in Sydney. It was a very enjoyable, sunny winter day. We went to Hyde-Park to eat our lunch which we had brought from home. Lots of people were enjoying themselves in the sunshine. How wonderful for office workers to be able to spend their lunch break in beautiful Hyde-Park right in the midst of the city! Heaps of tourists were around too, of course. People took photos of the sculptures around the fountain with St Mary’s Cathedral in the background. Peter and I we took quite a few photos as well. It was a lovely atmosphere with a bit of rather pleasant music provided by someone who had brought along some recordings.

With the recordings he practiced some flute playing.

All the sculptures looked just wonderful in the brilliant sunshine.

Yesterday, on Saturday, we went to Sydney again. The ASSOCIATION FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT had sent us an invitation for a free conference “Henry George: Social Philosopher or Tax Reformer?” at the Sydney Mechanics – School of Arts in Pitt Street. The conference lasted from 10am to 4pm.The speakers were Terry Dwyer, Professor Frank Stillwell, Richard Giles and Ronald Johnston.

July 2013, DIARY

Hyde Park is in the midst of Sydney. This is where we were today, Wednesday, and not only today but also two days ago on Monday.

Peter had to have treatment at the Dental Center for a broken off tooth and I had to go for another visit to a dental clinic for getting new dentures fitted. I’ll have to go to Sydney two more times for further fittings. Caroline came to see us again and later on also Matthew. It was great to see them both.

Last Saturday Peter and I went on this excursion to the highlands. Sunday I ventured on my own for a walk to Lake Illawarra while Peter did his running training. I took heaps of pictures at the lake. So here I show some of them.

This is Brooks Creek that flows into the Lake.

On Monday we went on an early train to Sydney and could see the sun rise shortly after seven.

Towards the End of May

This is near the entrance of the Great Hall where the five Buddhas are.

I bought a card with the five Buddhas on it. So this is just a copy of the card. At the back of the card it says:

“Nan Tien Temple is the largest Buddhist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also known as ‘Southern Paradise’. The Temple has evolved into a harmonious place where the East and West meet and merge. . . . .”

Nan Tien Temple, Berkeley Road, Berkeley, NSW, 2506, Australia, http://www.nantien.org.au

We’ve seen David yesterday. The place where he’s staying is called Nursing Home now. I think previously it was called Age Care Facility. David is still in te same room where we’ve seen him before. He was asleep when we arrived. The first thing he said when he woke up was: ‘I have a Mother’s Day Gift for Mama.’

I was thrilled that he had thought of me. And he had waited since Mothers’ Day for our arrival so he could hand me his gift! He wrote out a Mothers’ Day card for me as well! Well, Mother’s Day had been more than two weeks ago. His birthday was on the 8th of May. On the same day it is also his sister Kathy’s birthday. Kathy is ten years younger than David. His brother Anthony has been appointed David’s guardian. Anthony told him that Kathy was going to visit him soon. She lives a bit further away from Sydney now. David is very much looking forward to his sister’s visit, I think. His friend Steve had also seen him a couple of times already. And of course Anthony would see him on a regular basis.

We were able to sit with David outside in a sunny courtyard. A nursing help ask him whether he’d like to have his lunch outside. David did like it that lunch was brought there. The friendly help wanted to tie a large bib around his neck. But he indicated that he didn’t need it. David ended up not eating very much.

Today we started trimming some of the trees. After about one hour we thought that we had done enough gardening for the day. Tomorrow we are going to do a bit more gardening.

Coming Home from Sydney

For part of the way the ocean can be seen from the train. This is going home in the late afternoon after having spent some time in Sydney. These train-trips are rather exciting because it’s such a beautiful scenery.

Siobhan Patrick – Soprano

This Berlin Bear with the Sydney Opera House displayed on it greeted us at the Goethe Institute in Sydney/Woollahra

Des Herzens stillem Glück

3 pm Sunday 3 February 2013

Goethe-Institut – 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra (Sydney), NSW, Australia

A fund raising concert with songs from the 18th to the 20th century by Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, Haydn, Gounod, Wagner, Puccini, Bax, Floyd, Rorem, Heggie. Besides our friend Siobhan a friend of Siobhan’s, Alison Manifold, participated. Alison is also an accomplished Soprano singer.

At the Piano was Francis Greep, two Cello players were guest artists.

After the concert cups of tea were offered and the artists mingled with the crowd to talk about the concert. We were able to take some pictures with Siobhan.

The last two songs had the titles: “I will always love you.” and “My true love hath my heart”.

Thanks to the generous support of the Australia Council for the Arts, Siobhan is able to move to Vienna in March for a fantastic career opportunity.

Peter and I as well as our daughter Caroline enjoyed the concert very much. We wish Siobhan all the best for her stay in Vienna!

Peter with Caroline at the Goethe Institute

We had arrived very early for the concert. The terrace looked very inviting to us.

Peter soon went looking to take some photos

Peter took some photos during the concert.

After the concert Siobhan came to talk to us.

Siobhan has a Graduate Diploma of Music (Opera) from the Westerm Australian Academy of Performing Arts and an Honours degree in Masthematics from Jams Cook University. Her experience spans opera, Oratorio, music theatre, cabaret, string quartets and Irish bands.

From Sydney to Berlin continued

SOON WE SEE SYDNEY FROM ABOVE!!

Maybe you can see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from here!

And on we go. Change at Kuala Lumpur, then Amsterdam and at last Berlin.

From Sydney to Berlin

Peter is as bit worried because he couldn’t find his wallet when he wanted to shout some bubbly. It looks someone else may have shouted the bubbly!

Looks like Peter is happy now: He eventually did find his wallet amongst all his stuff!

Last minutes with our daughter before we vanish through the gates to catch our flight.

I take this picture of Peter. We made it! We are on our way to Berlin.

Last Day of the Year

I’m a bit late with this post. More than three weeks have already gone into the New Year 2013. Here now I want to document what we did on the last day of 2012! Our day started with a trip to Bondi Junction, where we met our daughter. We had a cup of coffee with Caroline (sorry no photo). Then Caroline had to go shopping. We strolled back to the station. This time to a different entrance to the station, one that we weren’t familiar with yet. A beautiful large rest asrea opened up in front of us. Lots of different food and drinks were on offer at different outlets. In the middle of the plaza some delicious looking (homemade) ice-cream caught our eye. Peter and I each had a cup full of this very refreshing treat. It wasn’t expensive but tasted wonderful. There were plenty of seats everywhere to have a rest. We took the lift down to the platform. Only a few minutes and our train departed. We got off at Town Hall Station. Later on we looked at the displays of some cake-shops. We were hoping we would find some Berliners. It is our tradition to eat Berliners on New Year’s Eve. We had no luck. We couldn’t find any. We went back to Town Hall Station to catch our train to Dapto. While we were waiting for the train we took some photos. The trip to Dapto took nearly two hours. Some shops in Dapto Shopping Center were already about to close when we arrived there. We knew we had a bottle of Bubbly at home in the fridge for our end of year celebrations. But we were still without any Berliners. I felt a bit tired and was sitting down for a while. In the meantime Peter rushed into another shop that was still open. Surprise, surprise, he came out with some delicious looking Berliners in the form of stars! He got them at half price for they were the last ones that were left! At home we watched “Dinner for One”, which is a tradition with us to watch on New Year’s Eve. It is a sketch about Miss Sophie’s 90th Birthday. Very, very funny! We’ve seen it so often and every time we laugh our heads off again. Peter tried out to take a few pictures from the TV showing Sydney Harbour. At midnight he took also some pictures of the fireworks. Soon after we went to bed. But of course we did have our Bubbly and did eat the heated up little stars with it. They tasted delicious, just as good as the balls, called Berliners, do taste. Of course we did get messages and phone calls from our children before we went to bed, wishing us a HAPPY NEW YEAR.