Feeling a little better today and up to getting out and about so we made a plan to do some more sights today.  We started out at the War Memorial which I have been to several times before but they have a new children’s education area that  thought would be good for the Small Child.  Taking the Small Child through the front gates it dawned on me that he knew nothing about what we were there for.  He knows a little bit of the ANZAC history at Gallipolli but knows nothing of WWI and WWII, or Hitler and the Nazi party or anything.  These are topics that I guess those of us who weren’t alive at the time learned when we were young but I don’t remember actually being taught about WWII history.  It is stuff I feel like I have always known about so I must have been introduced to the subject quite early in my education.

It made me very carefully consider everything that I said to the Small Child because while I wanted to make him realize how important this part of history is… i didn’t really want to open his eyes too much to the horrors of war.  Childhood is so fleeting and I don’t think small kids need to be dragged into too intimate an acquaintance with how inhumane man can be to his fellow man.  But then again Angel is already conversant (in his own simple way) on things like the situation in Zimbabwee, global warming and other current affairs so maybe I’m over thinking this one,

Anyway we had a great day, I was able to import to him the solemnity and significance of the War Memorial and very carefully explained to him concepts such as the eternal flames and the unknown soldier.  He took it all in and even managed to surprise me a couple of times with his knowledge – he proudly told me all about Simpson and his donkey which was lovely.

After the War Memorial we went to the Royal Australian Mint where he got to make his own coins and see how money is made.  And of all things… in the gift shop he wanted a Two-Up paddle and some pennies because he remembered seeing the old timers playing it at the RSL on ANZAC Day

driving driving driving driving stop

Whose stupid idea was it to drive all the way in one hit!  Ow! Ow! Fuckity Ow! 

But on an upside… my little car rocks!  It’s one of those things that you’re never sure how small cars will go all packed up on the highway and the little Swift was fantastic.  It seems to like sitting on 125-130kpm which isn’t good if you want to be a law abiding citizen but is fantastic if you want to feel like you’ve flying past everyone going “Fuck off…. I’m the Queen!!!”

Had a dreadful night’s sleep.  I was beginning to think – Yep I know why Bluddy Mary loves living in this part of Sydney so much… nice cafes, close to the beach, cool sea breezes, and plenty of surfer eye candy to be had while sitting on the patio of a trendy cafe sipping a civilized chai latte…..  BUT!!  Last night, some of the neighbours were having a rather noisy get together that literally lasted until day break.  They were all hanging about on their verandah smoking and drinking and it went on all night – their voices echoing around the buildings, waking me up whenever one of them laughed a little loud.  So I had a dreadful night’s sleep and gave up around 0515 – nothing like a sleep in on your weekend away.

Anyway, when the others got up – we went for brekkie at yet another trendy Dee Why beach hang out – Stella Blu – all this eating out makes me feel like I am going to have to be rolled onto the plane tonight.  After brekkie we went shopping down at Warringah Mall to look for some perfectly impractical shoes that would make Dita von Teese green.  Didn’t manage to find any cool shoes, but picked up some groovy stationery and some bits and bobs to bring home.

I also found what I think might be the most unpolitically correct book ever – “Where’s Bin Laden” in the Where’s Wally genre.  Appalling – but fuckin’ funny… so naturally I had to buy that for some entertainment on the flight home home.

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This morning saw me snuggling under my possum wrap with a nice cuppa tea reading a random (left behind in the guesthouse – cos no one would really want to own it) book that I found on the bookcase waiting for the others to wake up in our pretty little rooms in the West Wing at Hurlstone.  After a quick brekkie, we went for the obligatory drive down to Echo Point in Katoomba and did the obligatory oohs and ahhs at the pretty view over the mountains.

  

  
After that we took a stop at the Norman Lindsay Gallery, which was really quite interesting.  I’m not normally one for water colours, and nor am I normally a fan of Australian art.  But I have to admit, I found his work to have a certain appeal.  Probably something to do with the mythyological inspired subject matter, and the nudity… gotta love a bit of gratuitous nudity in your art yeah?  🙂    I particularly liked this painting of Don Quixote, and nearly picked up a print of it… but prints of watercolours just don’t have the same luscious depth that the originals do.

After the gallery – we had a quick and uneventful trip back to Sydney and then a quiet afternoon pottering around before heading out to dinner at a place called the Sandbar, at Dee Why Beach, where we giggled like teenagers, drank expensive cocktails and couldn’t say no to the creme brulee !!! 🙂
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