Suddenly Sydney

Lego Christmas tree!

On Tuesday, December 2nd, my boss pulled me into a room and told me that I might be needed in Australia at some point before Christmas.  On Wednesday, December 3rd, he told me I was needed in Sydney until Christmas break, oh and could I please leave ASAP.  So on Thursday, December 4th, I woke up at 3.30am to catch a plane to Sydney. It's only a 3 hour flight, but with the time change you lose 2 hours, and by the time I arrived at the office at 10am Sydney time, I'd already spent 7 hours travelling.

The original idea was that I would live in Sydney (in a firm-funded apartment) until Christmas to help out with some extra work that had arisen due to some recent legislation, but my own schedule - as always - was  more complicated than that.

Rob's parents were due to arrive in Auckland on Thursday, December 11th and spend the weekend with us before they left to explore the North Island on their own for a week until we could join them (and Rob's brother) on the South Island on the 20th.

So, on December 11th, I flew back to Auckland to spend a fantastic weekend with our visitors (more on that later).

On Monday, December 15th, I flew to Sydney, and my plane landed at 9:45am.  Approximately one minute before my plane landed, one man with one gun took 18 people hostage about 1km from my office, bringing Sydney to a halt.

To say the rest of the day was tense would be an extreme understatement. There were rumours of bombs in the CBD and additional attacks. In one rumour, affiliates of the gunman were targeting Americans (the cafe was near the American consulate), and people warned me against going out for lunch. After lunch, we were told anyone who was scared could go home, but train lines were stopped and people were afraid to take buses. As for me - my hotel was also in the CBD, so it wasn't any safer from the alleged bombs than the office.

By the time I woke up the next morning, three people were dead (including the gunman) and the rest of the city, including me, got back to business as usual. I attended the Sydney team's Christmas party (after which I found myself at a karaoke bar with, among others, the head of my practice) and then on December 19th I came home to Auckland.  By then I hadn't even started packing for our three-week Christmas trip, so spent every spare hour doing so before our 8am flight on December 20th.

To be fair, I did manage to have a bit of fun while I was in Sydney. Coincidentally, my good friend KS was also in Sydney for work the first week I was there, and we and another of her friends, S, spent a weekend in Nelson Bay (I've been there!) and had a couple dinners in Sydney.  We even interacted with some Aussie wildlife - S and I spent an hour ignoring a massive cockroach in the living room of our Nelson Bay rental, and we nearly ran over a small dragon* while we were driving back to Sydney!

*There's a chance that it was just a GIANT lizard, but I'm sticking to my story.

Top: Nelson Bay; Our new friend Max playing with sea gulls; Middle: The fingals of Fingal Bay; Bottom: Searching for tea in Tea Gardens

Top: Visiting the Opera House after work; Bottom: The flags at half mast on the Harbour Bridge following the Sydney Siege

Celebrations

Thanksgiving

This year my birthday fell on Thanksgiving - not that it really mattered, since Thanksgiving is an American holiday that is not at all recognised in New Zealand (although some more well-informed colleagues wished me a happy Thanksgiving).  Thankfully, we know enough Americans for a respectable ex-pat Thanksgiving.  Our friends with a house hosted and we had a delicious pot luck Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday!  Nearly half the people there were not American, and were experiencing the holiday for the first time.  I'd say we did the US proud!

We brought sweet potato casserole and corn pudding.  Not pictured - the massive dessert table.

I'm thankful for everyone in this picture!

My birthday

We've formed a habit of going out of town for our birthdays, but wanted to be in town for Thanksgiving this year, so did a weekend of Megan things in and around Auckland.  First we headed down to the Zealong Tea Estate in Hamilton, which is about an hour south of Auckland.  We did a tour, participated in a tea ceremony and finished off the afternoon with a high tea. It was even better than expected, and I'd highly recommend it to any tea drinkers - or for lunch if you're not!

Among an embarrassment of perfect birthday gifts that included Harry Potter legos, a Harry Potter shirt, and Frozen on blu-ray (because I'm 8) and vintage knitting magazines, a vintage necklace and a History of Knitting in New Zealand (because I'm 80), was a much-coveted selfie stick! 

I'm still getting the hang of the selfie stick - lots of blurry picks and boob shots - but I think I'm figuring it out!

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up still full from dinner and headed to the Puhoi Cafe and Cheese Store for a day of eating cheese, drinking wine and hanging out in the sun. I got a bit of a sunburn, but it was well worth it!

Is this what Heaven looks like?

 

Thanks to everyone who came out - I am a very lucky birthday girl!

Christmas, Day 1

 The Sunday after Thanksgiving has always marked the beginning of Christmas season for us, and this year was no different!  Even though it's warm and sunny and today marks the first day of summer, we are determined to get in the Christmas spirit this year.

Left: The tree skirt I made and some ornaments from our travels over the last year (plus an old favourite!); Right: Our Christmas corner - which is about all we have room for in our apartment