Day 308: Art Gallery of New South Wales with Lobsy — Afternoon at Balmoral Beach with Ex-Pat Locals
I took a jog in Rose Bay…
Funny: I just went back to edit that sentence because I originally wrote, “I took a job in Rose Bay.”
Freudian slip.
This is the first time Margaret and I have spoken even semi-seriously about moving to one of the cities we’ve visited this year. What a cliche we are! Every ferry-riding tourist is having similar daydreams here in Sydney. This place is stunning — and this week the weather has been perfect. Sydney is livable, friendly, healthy. “Yeah! Let’s move here and have a water view and get in amazing shape and learn to surf and take the ferry to work and have our kids develop little Aussie accents and do the ocean safety camp at Tamorama Beach and, and, and.
Additional factors contributing to these daydreams: We talked to Greg Waldorf earlier in the week and he said it’s easier getting a CEO or exec role here in Sydney than it is in NYC or SF. And we met two American ex-pat families at a perfect little playground today — more on that below.
Oh, and we’re staying in a redunk apartment with said water view. Never mind that we could never afford to live in it for more than 7 days — but that doesn’t matter when you are planning your new (cue the Aussie accent) amaaazing life in Sydney!
The reality is that after much deliberation we have officially decided to move back to NYC in January. But who knows, maybe we come back here for a year or two at som point.
Back to our (temporary) Sydney daydream:
I took a *jog* in Rose Bay this morning. The temps had dropped about 15 degrees from yesterday but the weather was still beautiful.
On the way I passed the corner of “O’Sullivan and Plumer” streets. Ed Plummer (2 m’s but whatever) was my boss at Dick’s Sporting Goods. I sent him this picture.
Margaret went to Cycology. She said this was one of the better classes she’s been to this year. Highlight: cold scented towels handed out at the end of class.
Lobsy and I went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales while Margaret stayed and did homeschool with the kids. It’s a beautiful, manageable museum with free admission. We walked in and were immediately welcomed by a staff member who told us a free 1-hour “highlights” tour was starting right away. Perfect. Ann the docent showed us 6 or 7 pieces on the ground floor which gave us a tiny taste of Australian art history.
After the tour we spent a few minutes in the Public Art exhibition and the floor with Aboriginal art.
We were going to head out for lunch but decided to stay at Chiswick, the bright and airy on-site restaurant. We shared four small plates.
The Art Gallery of NSW sits right next to the Botanic Gardens so we strolled that way and then met Margaret and the kids. The gardens are gorgeous, though not at Cape Town’s level. There were 20+ painted koala statues scattered throughout the grounds — the kids had fun seeking them out and then reading their names. Lobsy bought a coloring book in which each koala had a page.
We walked through the gardens, past a little inlet where a bunch of day-drinkers were dancing on several boats tied together into a circle. We stopped and watched from the railing. My mom: “Looks so cold.” Margaret: “You couldn’t pay me enough.” Me: [silent, as I considered diving in and swimming for the party].
The gardens are right next to the Opera House — the view of that building hasn’t gotten old. We called an Uber from there and headed Balmoral Beach in the Northern Suburbs to meet two American ex-pat families. Interestingly, the Uber driver said that he has to remind himself to appreciate the beauty of this city. Lesson: you can take anything and everything for granted.
Margaret’s Vandy friend Kate Burson intro’d us to her friend Lauren and her husband Brian. They have three kids. Lauren had also connected with Rachel, her husband Andrew and their three kids. We got takeaway food and brought it to the picnic area nearby. The kids got along great —playing at the playground, on the beach and coloring after dinner. Once again, a successful hang with “locals.”
The barefoot + puffer coat look is ridiculous but it was pretty chilly and I was on the beach with the kids!
It was a long ride back to Rose Bay. Both kids zonked in the Uber but managed to shower on their own and get ready for bed.
It’s so nice to have Lobsy fill in as bedtime reader. The 20 – 30 minutes of after dinner chill time is priceless. I made a G&T, got a bowl of salted peanuts, sat on the couch as the sun set and read on my iPad. Not a care or worry in the GD world. Let’s bottle this please!
Actually there is one worry: Willa is almost done with the Harry Potter series! She came out of her room crying tonight because she has only 6 chapters left in the last Harry Potter. She will have read all seven books in two months, catapulting her into a true love of reading. But what can she read when she’s done with Harry!?!
MISC:
James in the Uber to meet Lobsy at the Botanic Gardens:
“Mama, what’s the mediumest thing in the whole world?” Huh? Margaret determined finally that he wanted to know what was between the slowest and fastest thing in the whole world. The “mediumest.” Couldn’t understand why Margaret couldn’t answer that. “Ask Surry or whatever her name is.”
Later, he announced — a propos of nothing — “Mama, when I was three or maybe two, I did not know….what ants were.” Ok!
