Where's my dust mask?

This morning we woke up and the sky was literally orange!!!! This is the view from our balcony

So I turned the news on to see what the heck was going on!

(I didn't take these last 3 photos...) But apparently this dust blew up from South Australia - it is very fine red/orange dust that just shows how dry this country is!

This is the biggest dust storm a big Australian city has EVER seen! Apparently last time they had a dust storm in Sydney was 1942 - and it wasn't this bad!

Bondi Beach this morning - WOW!

The visibility driving to work wasn't too bad - but the whole sky was orange & cloudy! It lasted until late afternoon, before finally clearing up and moving on to Queensland with the wind. My chest was a bit tight from breathing it in on the drive, but thankfully the work air filters were working overtime today, so it wasn't bad at work. How completely bizarre!

Sunday

Sunday we had some lovely American friends (& 1 Brit) over for a BBQ lunch

So of COURSE we served an Aussie classic dessert - cream filled Lamingtons

And the Aussie Kiddy dessert - Fairy Bread! It was a huge hit:)

Heading East

Saturday we made our way to Bondi, then caught a bus with Anna & Ali to the start of our walk...

Number 1 on this map.....

The Macquarie Lighthouse. This landmark sits on the site of Australia's earliest light station. This copy of the original was built in 1842.

Me, Ali & Anna - tiny compared to the lighthouse - can you spot us?

Gorgeous ocean views and dramatic sandstone cliffs make this a stunning walk!

Sydney in the distance

Anna & Me walking up towards the gap - where Sydney harbour meets the Pacific Ocean

Some amazing boats in Watsons Bay

We had a LOVELY lunch at the Watson Bay hotel, then kept going on our walk!

We walked from Watson Bay towards the Vaucluse area

This area is known for it's gorgeous homes

Then we walked on by Parsley Bay, a secluded little harbourside beach and reserve, crossing over the inlet on a lovely little suspension bridge.

We also popped by Vaucluse House, one of the few remaining examples of 19th-century harborside mansions in Sydney. We didn't see much of it though as a wedding was going on in the front gardens:)

Finally we made it to our destination, Shark Bay at Nielsen Park. This white-sand beach is protected from its namesake by a netted enclosure, to so it is a very safe place to swim apparently! (not quite warm enough for that though unless you have a wetsuit!)

We waited for a bit for the bus, then gave up and just started walking towards Rose Bay

Lovely Lovely Lovely view - Sydney & the Harbour Bridge

Back in Bondi we went for some yummy hot drinks to warm ourselves up (warm in the sun, but once the sun gets a bit low it's chilly in shorts & t-shirts!)

It was a lovely day & fun to spend it with great friends:)

Spring is here, and so is BONDI !

What a fantastic weekend! We had the warmest weather since April this weekend (90 degrees and sunny all weekend)!

Saturday we took a long walk to another side of Manly to a beach called Little Manly - wow that area is gorgeous - lovely beaches and stunning houses! I would definitely picnic over there - so pretty.

Sunday we made our way to Bondi to go on a walk with Anna

We started in Bondi Beach (see the number 1 on the map)

And walked all the way to Coogee Beach (number 6)

Anna & Me at Bondi

There was a kite festival on as well - check out that big bear kite!

The beach was getting busy - but it was still only 11am!

EVERYONE was out soaking up the warm lovely sun

This is the iceberg pool at the end of Bondi beach - they swim in this all year long!

Looking back at Bondi in the distance

Lots of people on the first part of the path on the way to Bronte Beach
(can you spot me & Anna?)

Murray & I with Tamarama and Bronte Beach in the background.

People frolicking everywhere, sand and rocks.

Tamarama beach

Tamarama beach volley ball

Bronte Beach

Bronte Beach Cockatoo

And finally,.....we made it to Coogee Beach!!

Coogee Beach was pumping....!

The new walk way (back) along the coast was beautiful...

I love the low light hitting the sand bringing out the texture.

Sun setting on the packed edge of North Bondi

12km of flip flopping later and it was time to get home and whip up and
chicken, leek and mushroom ....PIE !!!

And von and voo

Last night I was trying to get to sleep & thinking 'gosh what a boring blog post, I swear there was something intersting I was going to say...??'
Then I remembered this morning, the gym.

Last night I attended Body Pump (a weights class set to music). I hadn't been to this particular time/location before - so I had never had this instructor. I have been doing this class for YEARS.... so I know the moves inside out. Therefore, it's the instuctor who makes the class FUN or totally boring.

Last night was FUN!!!!!!!!! And I'm so glad, cause last time I went to Pump, it made me never want to go again (because the instructor was awful!! totally off the beat, boring and he had the music down WAY too low).

Last night - the instructor was PUMPED! He was yelling & jumping around & got us all excited to exercise! I *think* he is German - because as he counted you could pick up a bit of an accent 'and von, and voo and vee' (1,2,3).....

I actually laughed out loud at one point when he yelled 'Come vooooon people, von more time!!'
ha ha

It was great though - the music was loud, he kept pushing us to do 'von more rep - voo can do it!!!' and last night was the first time I did the class to the new 'release' (a few times a year they change up the routines slightly to new music - Britney & Pink made it FUN!)
This is what I like about the gym - when it's fun!!

Bad Blogger

I don't have any pictures from the past week, but we did have a lovely weekend. We spent Australian Fathers Day down with my in-laws, enjoyed eating outside in the sun & cool breeze, and had a lovely afternoon meal of fish & chips by the waterside yesterday - lovely!

This week has started off really well, fabulous to have a good Monday - sets you up for a nice week I think:)