21st May to the 8th July Days 436 to 484
Lets go…latest instalment for you all, from us convicts.
It’s been another busy, busy month and a half for everybody down here I don’t know where the time goes. Anyway summary of activity’s below:
Anniversary
Mrs B and me celebrated 17 years of marriage on the 30th of June and sneaked off to The Hunter Valley, (home of many famous Aussie vine yards).
We stayed at a wee place called Tuscany Resort and had a superb weekend; 4* lodge, good wine, Kangaroos at the front door, vine yards out our back door and NO CHILDREN, (god bless Richard and Helen), enough said!
We spent loads on wine and rolled home happy and 10kg’s heavier!
Westpac Place
A couple of worky pictures for you below – my new home, Westpac Place, 275 Kent Street, Sydney.
-The building is 74,000 sq metres over 32 floors
-Is home to around 5,500 employees
-For the base building services and fit outs, construction took approximately 30 days per floor
-Approximately 9,600 kms of cabling has been used in the building, which when placed end-to-end would stretch from Sydney to Shanghai
-Approximately 50,000m³ of concrete was used, requiring the equivalent of 7,142 concrete truck deliveries
-There are approximately 10,000 light fittings for the base building
Crowe’s Nest
We spotted Russell Crowe’s gaff on one of our treks around Sydney, it was bloody huge – so in the spirit of true children, (Lewis, Ross and I are all mentally about 7), we executed a particularly effective Ring, Bang, Squoosh…..and got chased by the biggest bouncers I have ever seen, (extra’s from Gladiator me thinks) – Fran was not amused, but admired their physiques as they sped past her!
Birds of a feather
On a gentler note we fed some big noisy cockatoo’s in the Botanical Gardens, well they sort of landed on us and started to try and eat us – totally mad things they are. Anyway we all escaped with just a few scratches, no bird poo and some great memories.
Ship
We also went to see the American Navy’s oldest ship – US Kitty-hawk which was an absolutely huge aircraft carrier, (Lewis obviously corrected me informing me that the US Navy have a larger ship – whatever!), well it was 333 metres long and 15 storeys high.
It was ‘parked’ at Finger Wharf near Woolloomooloo along with 4 other American frigates and destroyers and bristled with fighter planes, helicopters and spy planes…allegedly. Luckily we didn’t spot any Nissan Patrols or Jeeps in the immediate vicinity!
The Main Men
Further update on the sporting boy wonder; Ross represented the independent Schools of New South Wales at 3km cross country and acquitted himself admirably and then went on to raise both the minor and major premierships with his School basketball team – the final was an exciting heart stopping affair. His Rugby is also still going well with him getting better and better, soon be good enough for the front row.
Lew’s also going really well with school achievements, debating skills and is also coaching a wee soccer team which is going great – he is loving it and they are winners. He is also becoming a full on teenager with his hands permanently in his trouser pockets – even when he is doing stuff. He has also started to sleep for exceptional long periods of time – either that or he is trying to hibernate.
We all went out yesterday to visit Captain Cook’s first landing point in Australia, (where if he had stayed he probably wouldn’t have been eaten by cannibals). We also went to Cronulla, scene of last year riots, which was nice but it poured down, (it does sometimes rain), so we ended up in a huge shed with no sides on and lots of chairs and benches – sort of like a communal BBQ area bigger than a school hall, which became a perfect rugby pitch for Lew, Ross and me – Fran was the Referee. We had such a laugh that we are considering launching a new sport, ‘Indoor BBQ Area Rugby’ you should have been there.
Bowling
Ah…bowling – great day in the sun, with a few drinks, great friends, a BBQ and a few more drinks. We were all saying happy birthday to Sarah and goodbye to Sarah and Dave before they disappeared back to the crowded island for a wee holiday.
Whale Watching
How wrong is this, walking along your local coastline watching whales jump…I just find the whole place fascinating and this kind of event kind of tops everything off…along with the weather, BBQ, beer, beaches etc etc come and visit soon you all, its wicked!
It’s been another busy, busy month and a half for everybody down here I don’t know where the time goes. Anyway summary of activity’s below:
Anniversary
Mrs B and me celebrated 17 years of marriage on the 30th of June and sneaked off to The Hunter Valley, (home of many famous Aussie vine yards).
We stayed at a wee place called Tuscany Resort and had a superb weekend; 4* lodge, good wine, Kangaroos at the front door, vine yards out our back door and NO CHILDREN, (god bless Richard and Helen), enough said!
We spent loads on wine and rolled home happy and 10kg’s heavier!
Westpac Place
A couple of worky pictures for you below – my new home, Westpac Place, 275 Kent Street, Sydney.
-The building is 74,000 sq metres over 32 floors
-Is home to around 5,500 employees
-For the base building services and fit outs, construction took approximately 30 days per floor
-Approximately 9,600 kms of cabling has been used in the building, which when placed end-to-end would stretch from Sydney to Shanghai
-Approximately 50,000m³ of concrete was used, requiring the equivalent of 7,142 concrete truck deliveries
-There are approximately 10,000 light fittings for the base building
Crowe’s Nest
We spotted Russell Crowe’s gaff on one of our treks around Sydney, it was bloody huge – so in the spirit of true children, (Lewis, Ross and I are all mentally about 7), we executed a particularly effective Ring, Bang, Squoosh…..and got chased by the biggest bouncers I have ever seen, (extra’s from Gladiator me thinks) – Fran was not amused, but admired their physiques as they sped past her!
Birds of a feather
On a gentler note we fed some big noisy cockatoo’s in the Botanical Gardens, well they sort of landed on us and started to try and eat us – totally mad things they are. Anyway we all escaped with just a few scratches, no bird poo and some great memories.
Ship
We also went to see the American Navy’s oldest ship – US Kitty-hawk which was an absolutely huge aircraft carrier, (Lewis obviously corrected me informing me that the US Navy have a larger ship – whatever!), well it was 333 metres long and 15 storeys high.
It was ‘parked’ at Finger Wharf near Woolloomooloo along with 4 other American frigates and destroyers and bristled with fighter planes, helicopters and spy planes…allegedly. Luckily we didn’t spot any Nissan Patrols or Jeeps in the immediate vicinity!
The Main Men
Further update on the sporting boy wonder; Ross represented the independent Schools of New South Wales at 3km cross country and acquitted himself admirably and then went on to raise both the minor and major premierships with his School basketball team – the final was an exciting heart stopping affair. His Rugby is also still going well with him getting better and better, soon be good enough for the front row.
Lew’s also going really well with school achievements, debating skills and is also coaching a wee soccer team which is going great – he is loving it and they are winners. He is also becoming a full on teenager with his hands permanently in his trouser pockets – even when he is doing stuff. He has also started to sleep for exceptional long periods of time – either that or he is trying to hibernate.
We all went out yesterday to visit Captain Cook’s first landing point in Australia, (where if he had stayed he probably wouldn’t have been eaten by cannibals). We also went to Cronulla, scene of last year riots, which was nice but it poured down, (it does sometimes rain), so we ended up in a huge shed with no sides on and lots of chairs and benches – sort of like a communal BBQ area bigger than a school hall, which became a perfect rugby pitch for Lew, Ross and me – Fran was the Referee. We had such a laugh that we are considering launching a new sport, ‘Indoor BBQ Area Rugby’ you should have been there.
Bowling
Ah…bowling – great day in the sun, with a few drinks, great friends, a BBQ and a few more drinks. We were all saying happy birthday to Sarah and goodbye to Sarah and Dave before they disappeared back to the crowded island for a wee holiday.
Whale Watching
How wrong is this, walking along your local coastline watching whales jump…I just find the whole place fascinating and this kind of event kind of tops everything off…along with the weather, BBQ, beer, beaches etc etc come and visit soon you all, its wicked!
posted by Oz Doy at 5:38 PM
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