Fun Family Things – Bits & Pieces

A Day Cycling in The Hunter

Hi everyone

I hope you are well and looking forward to the briskness of Winter. Geoff and I had the pleasure of spending a weekend in the Hunter Valley. I’ve always wanted to cycle through vineyards and have a picnic lunch along the way. So I share a wonderful day we had earlier this month – we were blessed to have sunny, warm weather.

It was nice to be greeted with this sign at the place we stayed – Constable Vineyards.

After we arrived early Friday evening, just in time to watch the sun set – we celebrated with a glass of French champagne and nibbles. OK I know we are in a beautiful wine region of Australia, but we really enjoy a glass of French bubbles, especially to set the weekend off!

In the morning, before we hired our bikes, I went and bought some cheeses, pate, biscuits, sun-dried tomatoes, meats, olives, figs and bread to take on our picnic. I bought these from the Hunter Valley Cheese Company at 447 McDonalds Rd, just next to McGuigan Wines. They were absolutely delicious. I also brought along a rug, nice plastic wine glasses and plates. Oh I was so excited about having a picnic under a tree in the vineyard!

We hired our bikes from Grapemobile Bicycle Hire http://www.grapemobile.com.au (Ph 02 4998 7660) at 307 Palmers Lane, Pokolbin. I booked them the week before on the internet and I’m glad I did as they were very busy. We chose the cruisers as they looked the most comfortable, although they don’t have gears. If you require gears, hire the mountain bikes. There were only two occasions when there was a slight hill, and being a cyclist there was no way I was going to get off and push. We also asked to be picked up and dropped off at our accomodation (only an extra $10 per person). When we arrived at Grapemobile (which has it’s own vineyards) we were given a small glass of Sparkling Moscato. So our wine tasting started before we even got on our bikes haha.

Ready to go!!

We were given a very detailed (partly hand-drawn) map to follow, which included the Palmers Lane Trail. We also wore lanyards which allowed us to cycle on private property. Helmets were supplied, although we took our own.

Our first stop was Worthington’s Vineyard. We were greeted by a very lovely lady – Julie Worthington and her welcoming friend. Julie’s knowledge of wines and the region is outstanding. They also have beautiful gifts for sale. We were given a small cheese plate to enjoy when tasting the wines.

I won’t go into the details of the wines from each winery, I think its is something to be experienced without any preconceptions.

They also had some cheeses from Binnorie Dairy to purchase with a little bag and icepack. Why bother, I told Geoff, we have our cheese and food in our basket ready and waiting. Some other people from the bike group bought some as I looked on with envy.

We left Worthingtons and travelled through their property to Gillards Road. Next stop was Scarborough Wines.

The paths between Worthingtons and Gillards Road

The ride between these two properties takes you onto Gillard Road. It’s only a short ride, until you reach the “hill” up to Scarborough Wines. No problem, I thought. This path just might be the one where you need gears on your bike.

Scarborough Wines

I didn’t realise how easy my road bike (at home) is to ride and how light it is and how great it is to have 18 gears, UNTIL I started riding up the path to Scarborough. As I mentioned before, I CYCLE, so there was no way I was stepping off. After we arrived huffing and puffing and dare I say, perspiring, the staff told us that most people walk their bikes. Yep…..I felt a little bit of pride creeping in.

We were greeted with another cheese tasting plate to enjoy with the wine tasting. I shouldn’t eat too much, I’ve got a lovely picnic basket full of goodies just waiting to be enjoyed under a tree in a vineyard…..any tree will do!!

I think I was trying to tell the lady all about Scarborough Wines!

Oh gosh, nice place right there for a picnic! But let’s push on.

Some views from Scarborough Wines

A bit of silliness

Heading back down that hill (doesn’t look that steep!!)

Next stop was Constable Estate just next to Scarborough at the end of Gillards Road. It was a total coincidence that we were staying there – we didn’t know it was part of the tour.

We took advantage of popping into our room for a break and Geoff went to lay down on the couch for an afternoon nap…….couldnt’ believe it. Absolutely no napping on this adventure, if you please.

If you have the time take a walk around the gardens, they are beautiful.

Geoff thinking he can pop in for a snooze – I think NOT!

Back on the road again and now we retrace our steps (or pedals) back to Palmers Lane, past the bike hire place and continue on to the next winery.

The views along the way were incredible.

By this stage it hasn’t taken us the one hour I thought it would, being a smarty pants. It’s now past 2pm and I still haven’t had my picnic lunch. Also the cheeses, pates etc etc have started to melt etc etc. I’m becoming a bit testy to say the least.

Geoff starts singing the song “Riding along on a pushbike honey etc etc”

We ride back past Grapemobile along Palmers Lane, cross over McDonalds Road and visit the next winery. We didn’t stay for too long, it’s taken us much longer than anticipated.

We cycle through more vineyards, can’t get enough of them and arrive at Calais Estate Winery. The lady who took us through the wine tasting knew so much and like the others was really lovely, so more wine tasting, more wine purchased!! When you purchase wines at any of the wineries, they will happily deliver them to the bike hire around 5pm. The rate we were going we knew we left it too late, so we just drove back and collected our wine purchases the next day.

Calais Estate have a restaurant if you don’t have a picnic basket full of goodies. We arrived a bit late I think.

I’m becoming a little weary and when placing my bike down, all my picnic essentials and wine fell out of my basket. It’s now 3:30pm………… this picnic thing isn’t going to happen I fear!

The gardens at Calais Estate are simple beautiful.

You might notice by the photos that the shadows are looking very long. That’s because it’s now around 4pm.

By now I know the picnic isn’t going to happen so I think what the heck, take lots of photos instead!!

Leaving Calais we just ride across the road to the next winery. The day is nearing a close so we just by-pass the next winery and head to the last winery on our list.

So we arrive at the last place on the list – Gemelli Estate. They were about to close but the lovely gentlemen gave us some wine tastings, and because he was so lovely, Geoff bought some more wine.

So now the sun is setting and we have about 2.5 kilometres to ride back. Easily done on my bike at home, that you can lift with your little finger, not so on these cruisers. Plus I’m a bit of a safety nerd, during the day I have lights flashing on my bike. So it’s a race back before the place closes. Did I mention before that I was hoping to have a picnic??

Well we arrive back by 5:45. Bikes returned, a bit of a laugh with the guys there, we get a lift back to our accommodation and I unpack my picnic lunch and decide to have it for dinner!! It was simply delicious.

The next day, we return to the vineyards to collect our wine. Our first stop was Worthington’s Vineyard.

That’s me without a bike or helmet.

It was after midday, it wasn’t busy so we purchased their cheese platter and did the wine tasting again, at a much more leisurely pace. We sat at one of their outdoor tables and enjoyed our picnic…..at last! I was so happy. Geoff did comment, however, that he would much prefer to have a picnic sitting at a table as opposed to lying on a rug under a tree! I hit him.

Thank you for coming along on our wine/cycle journey. If you have any questions, please comment below and I’ll get back to you.

Until next time.

Love Chris ♥

Chris

Avalon to Mona Vale Coastwalk

Newport Beach

Hi everyone

Summer is here. Yippee, yahoo. A friend asked me about walking along our beautiful coast from Avalon to Palm Beach. I started to explain the walk, then realised I had the details on the “blog”. So much easier reading it than trying to explain. This made me realise I haven’t posted the many stages of the walk that we did in 2011 from Palm Beach to Balmoral – the Sydney Coastrek walk! So below are the details and some photos of the walk from Avalon to Mona Vale Beach. I think it’s about 8kms. When we do these walks we always leave a car at the beginning and one at the end of the walk – we never think of doubling back – yikes.

Start at the southern end of Avalon Beach at Avalon Parade, which becomes Surfside Avenue. Follow it until it becomes a dead end, then take the path between houses to Barrenjoey Road – this is a very busy road so take care as there is no footpath.
Turn left and follow footpad behind barrier rail and then grassy verge for approximately 100metres.
Turn left into The Serpentine. At the end is Bilgola Head Lookout which has beautiful views over Bilgola Beach and Newport and back to Avalon.

Turn left down wooden stairs to Bilgola Beach. These stairs aren’t well sign-posted, if you pass 18 Serpentine you’ve gone too far.

If you choose not to walk along the beach you can still go down the stairs but at the bottom turn right into Allen Avenue then right into Bilgola Avenue and this meets up with The Serpentine. Turn left at The Serpentine and left again down the road which leads to the beach and SLSC.
Follow path down to beach and walk across sand to Bilgola SLSC and carpark.
Take wooden stairs up on south side of toilets with sign ‘Bilgola South Head’.
Follow bush track, veering left around headland. Another place with wonderful views. This continues onto Newport Beach.

Walk past Newport SLSC and across grass at end of carpark parallel to beach to Myola (steep) Road.
Follow Myola Road straight through and up to the crest of Bungan Head to T-junction with Bungan Head Road.
Cross Bungan Head Road and veer left down steps of Betty Morrison Reserve (Myola Road Numbers 95 to 83).
Walk down steep ramp to Bungan Beach SLSC and turn right onto beach. Halfway across Bungan Beach, turn right into sand path between dunes. Take steps and steep ramp up (this is Beach Road) to Barrenjoey Road.
Alternately, if you don’t feel like walking along Bungan Beach just continue on Bungan Head Road and turn left at Karloo Parade until you join Barrenjoey Road. Still a fabulous view this way too.
Turn left into Barrenjoey Road.
Continue on footpath then turn left into Hillcrest Avenue (no footpath) and follow it to dead end (Mona Vale Headland – Hillcrest Lookout.
Continue to eastern end of grassy area and turn right into signposted track down towards beach.

Mona Vale Beach

Coastrek 2011

Mona Vale Beach

This track leads to end of Grandview Parade. Immediately turn sharp left into another bush track with green sign leading down to Mona Vale Basin. Pause half-way down over a little bridge and enjoy the view. Sometimes we train up and down this track and onto the lookout (I end up having a nanna nap in the afternoon!!).
Make a sharp right at bottom of bush track into wide grassy rather curing left to Surf View Road.
Turn left into Surf View Road and veer left to arrive at Mona Vale SLSC. Yay you have reached your destination.
There are a number of cafes – Bronze at the surf club, Cinque at end of Darley Street and The Armchair. You deserve a break.

I train with Rob Cook Training on Friday mornings at various locations between Bilgola Beach and North Narrabeen. Some of the stairs I’ve mentioned he makes us run up and down a number of times. Eg. North Bilgola stairs, North Narrabeen stairs, the path between north Newport and Bilgola and the dreaded stairs at north of Mona Vale beach and Mona Vale headland – just saying! So if you see a young version of the current James Bond (yes Rob is English), encouraging – loudly – a group of ladies & blokes on a Friday morning….. that’s us. If you’re interested in Rob’s training days and locations on the Northern Beaches, click here.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Next time we will be walking from Mona Vale Beach to Narrabeen.

Summer has so much to offer and walking along Sydney’s northern beaches is one of them. Have a wonderful summer weekend!

Love Chris ♥

Chris

Summer is Here!

Hi everyone

Welcome to my favourite time of year (when it’s not Autumn, Winter or Spring). I’ve decided to repost something I wrote earlier about the fun of packing a BBQ dinner and going to a local park or beachside to watch the sunset or just hang out.

As you can see from the photos above and below we have been having picnics for years.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be over the busy holiday season when most dads are on holidays, we have often gone when Geoff arrives home from work. Nice way for a dad to relax after a busy day. Our favourite spot is the Pittwater side of Palm Beach. There are gas BBQ’s ready to go. Another great place on the Northern Beaches is Narrabeen Lake, we’ve seen some beautiful sunsets there, or at Bayview near the tennis courts, no sunsets but great place for kids to run around. In fact wherever there is a gas BBQ.

Here is all you need to take to make it easy (OK, the list looks pretty long but it’s worth it, I promise):

Bread rolls
Pre-made hamburger meat patties from supermarket (or you can make your own)
Tomato/BBQ sauce
Tomatoes (already sliced)
Lettuce
Cheese slices (pop them on the cooked side of the pattie and they just melt)
Serviettes
Plastic plates
Tongs
Paper towels
Oil to wipe down BBQ
Drinks – nice bottle of wine for us and I even take wine glasses wrapped in a tea towel (no plastic glasses here thank you)
Picnic rug – just in case the seats are taken

We will definitely be having picnics again this summer. I’m always writing about the family and this is a great way to spend quality time together and also with family friends. There is something special about cooking outdoors in the early evening, getting out of the house and away from the television.

Let me know your favourite place to have a picnic.

Enjoy summer – I’m already loving it.

Love Chris ♥

Chris

Being a Good Dad

Hi everyone

It’s been a while since I’ve posted – a busy couple of months. In this post I have a guest writer, namely my gorgeous husband and great all round guy, Geoff. We were asked to contribute to our Church’s blog for parents and below is what Geoff wrote about what he has learnt in being a good dad. I hope you enjoy it.

Guilty if you don’t – Inadequate if you do?

A few years ago my wife Chris and I went and saw a play called “2 Pianos 4 hands” at the Glenn Street theatre in Belrose Sydney. It is a comedy about two men who since boyhood had both dreamed of becoming famous classical pianists. One line that really stuck in my mind was when recollecting piano practice in his youth one of them said:

“he felt guilty if he didn’t practice and inadequate if he did”

As piano practice is critical to becoming a great pianist, he evidently pushed through the obstacles, got on top of his practice and became a great musician. I imagine his desire to be a great pianist along with the fact that his best friend also wanted to achieve the same goal were critical to his success.

I can relate to that when it comes to being a Dad. I am sure all Dad’s want to be great Dads but the challenges and pressures of work and other life commitments can make it hard to “practice” being a great Dad. Over time I have seen some Dad’s invest too little in their families to the point where they feel distant and inadequate when they do catch up with their kids particularly in teenage years.

A few things I have found to be effective.

Do life together

Involve your kids in what you do, fixing things around the house, washing the car, going to hardware store. Having a “date” with your kids, doing school projects together, doing active stuff – I like to run and my girls have both done a half marathon with me which made me so proud and made me realise the power of including our kids in what we do. If you have teenage children you might find it is difficult to spend time based on their reactions and behaviours but don’t give up, they really need you to be involved in their life! Organise fun stuff with other families, we have been camping every year with a bunch of other families which our girls have loved as a family, we only started snow skiing when the girls where in their early teens and now we go every year with good friends and their children. Take them to church conferences, let them see how you interact with people, it will give them confidence in developing people skills.

Believe in your children

Include your children in lots of activities, let them try new things and give them many opportunities to learn without jumping in too quickly with correction or criticism. Give them plenty of encouragement and make it fun, speak words of encouragement and build them up by telling them when you see great qualities in them. Your children will reflect back what they get from you. Fathers who believe in their children have learned to believe in themselves.

Love your wife

Children draw security from knowing mum and dad have a strong relationship. You are the main role model for your children, and your relationship with your wife is the model they draw on in understanding relationships. Make your wife a priority, don’t let your relationship fade into the background because of the kids, be a good listener, establish a united front as parents, don’t let your kids play you off against your wife, be openly affectionate with your wife, concentrate on being kind more often and being right less often. If you are divorced, work to create an atmosphere of respect, cooperation and kindness with your ex-wife.

Love God

My girls tell me how secure it makes them feel knowing that I love them, that I love their mum and that I love God. Going back to the play, in “practicing” Christianity, we can slip into facing the same obstacles. Guilty of we don’t practice and inadequate if we do. When that happens to me I can always trace the problem to doing things in my own strength and not relying on Jesus. A quick audit on my life will reveal the same old “natural” offenders, getting too busy, tiredness, worry, poor quality prayer, not spending time waiting on God etc – in short a reliance on my natural abilities rather than the power and presence of God. So when I feel distant from God its the tried and proven stuff that I reignite – spending time talking with God, meditating on the Word of God, praying with close friends, thanking and worshipping God – these things realign my motivations and renew my thinking so that rather than falling into the trap of feeling like I have to do the right thing I want to do the right thing.

Cheers, Geoff

I hope you have enjoyed reading Geoff’s thoughts. I’ve attached a few photos, one being when Geoff went Sky-diving with Eloise last weekend for her 19th birthday present. I watched from the safety of the ground, and I’m sure Ruby would have gone if her jaw wasn’t wired together, but that’s another story.

Have a wonderful Father’s Day to all you magnificent dads.

Love Chris x ♥

Chris

Flint & Steel Bush Walk

The mid-year holidays are here! Even though the girls are finished school they are still on holidays from Uni and Tafe – YAY!! We have just returned from 4 days at Gerroa. This is our third visit staying in the same house. Gerroa (right next to Gerringong) is only just over 2 hours from Sydney and so relaxing. Beautiful Berry is only 15 minutes drive, so we went there every day for great food and coffee. Sorry, I digress….now back to this post.

Are you looking for something fun to do? And not too exerting for little ones? This is a great walk for all the family and is very picturesque.

The Flint and Steel track is located in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park off West Head Road. Take McCarrs Creek Road (either from Mona Vale or Terrey Hills) and turn off onto West Head Road (it is well signposted). If the attendant is there it will cost $11 to enter the park, ask for a map of the walks of the area. As you drive along West Head Road, please be mindful of those pesky cyclists (yes, I’m one of them). I ride from Bayview to West Head twice a month – if you see me, beep and wave – I’m the one at the back of the pack. Our team is called “Team Havachat” – I don’t know why!!

The walk is on the left-hand side of the road and again is well signposted.

The walk is about 2kms return trip. I reckon it takes about 45 minutes to walk down to the beach and a little longer on the up-hill journey back. When you arrive at the beach it is just breath-taking. There are views over Broken Bay encompassing Lion Island and Patonga Beach. You can rest here a while as the children will love frolicking (don’t you love that word) around the rock pools.

When you return to your car I implore you to drive the few kilometres to the West Head lookout (yep I ride up that hill – very slowly) again breathtaking, with views over Palm Beach and Barrenjoey Headland and north to the Central Coast. Also at the picnic area which is 1km back towards Flint and Steel (where you will find toilets) they have gas BBQ’s, so why not pack some sausages and have a picnic. The whole area is one of my favourite places, whether walking, cycling or cruising past on the beautiful waterways of Pittwater.

Let me know if you do this walk or have any questions.

Enjoy your week.

Love Chris x

Chris

Watching Sunrises

Daylight saving is coming to an end this weekend in NSW. I love daylight saving over the summer, actually I just love summer and all it has to offer. So this Saturday (or Friday) is the perfect time to watch the sun rise as it will be the latest time in the year. Even today’s first light was 6:42am and sunrise was 7:07am. Before you know it we will have accustomed ourselves to the new time and we won’t feel like dragging ourselves out of bed.

We have done it numerous times and you can see by the photos (the first one being 2004) that we have been doing it for years. The kids were usually awake at 6:30am anyway when they were young, so we would grab some blankets, organise the clothes the night before and most times even do a sneaky trip to McDonalds for takeaway pancakes or whatever. We’ve had a few disappointments when it has been overcast or raining, so have just stayed home and had breakfast in bed (again something special). We are lucky to live close to the beach so we’ve seen some magnificent sunrises – I think they are best when there is some cloud. I’m sure where you live there is somewhere high enough or with a vista to see the sun rise.

For us it’s always about creating memories and doing something “out of the ordinary”. It’s not like we jump out of bed every morning to see the sunrise, but it has created a desire in our girls to appreciate the sunrise. Just last year I woke and was checking out my Instagram and came across a fantastic sunrise – to my delight and surprise it was one of the girls. She had woken early and peaked out the window and the sky was bright pink, that was enough for her to jump in the car to go and watch the sun come up over the ocean. She said she didn’t want to disturb us – I don’t have a problem with that and I continued to snuggle in bed (that’s a good reason to follow your kids on social media – it allows you to keep track of them haha).

I’ve included a photo of a sunrise at Gerroa on the South Coast – one our favourite places. This was taken in July – the air is so crisp and clear in winter.

So if you decide to head out at 6:30am or even earlier to catch the last snippets of summer please let me know. Your kids will love it just for the pure adventure and eating breakfast outdoors (even if it is McDonalds – go on twist their arms, I’m sure you could convince them have to have McDonalds for breakfast).

Enjoy the Easter break and the school holidays.

Love Chris ♥

Chris

Sunset Picnics

This is a great time of year to pack a picnic dinner and go somewhere to watch the sunset. It doesn’t necessarily have to be over the busy holiday season when most dads are on holidays, we have often gone after Geoff’s come home from work. Nice way for a dad to relax after a busy day. Our favourite spot is the Pittwater side of Palm Beach. There are gas BBQ’s ready to go. Another great place on the Northern Beaches is Narrabeen Lake, we’ve seen some beautiful sunsets there.

Here is all you need to take to make it easy (OK, the list looks pretty long but it’s worth it, I promise):

Bread rolls
Pre-made hamburger meat patties from supermarket (or you can make your own)
Tomato/BBQ sauce
Tomatoes (already sliced)
Lettuce
Cheese slices (pop them on the cooked side of the pattie and they just melt)
Serviettes
Disposable plates
Tongs
Paper towels
Oil to wipe down BBQ
Drinks – nice bottle of wine for us and I even take wine glasses wrapped in a tea towel (no plastic glasses here thank you)
Picnic rug – just in case the seats are taken

You only need to get there at around 6pm. I’ve included a photo from years ago. We will definitely be doing it again sometime this summer. I’m always writing about the family and this is a great way to spend quality time together. There is something special about a sunset and cooking outdoors.

Let me know of some other places that I can include as well.

Enjoy summer – I’m already loving it. We even went for a swim on Christmas Day, before our family lunch with 15 of us. So much fun!!

Love Chris ♥

Chris

A Few Little Christmas Traditions

Oh my only a week to go until Christmas. Yah I love this time of year.

We have a couple of family Christmas traditions which I would like to share.

Videoing the Decorating of the Tree:

I would put Bing Crosby on…..starting with my favourite song – the Little Drummer Boy and video away as we would decorate the tree. I’d always start crying whenever I would start videoing remembering the fun times. It really is embarrassing videoing something while you are sniffling and carrying on like a baby behind the camera. Happens a lot!

Putting out the pillow slip:

This is one of my favourite memories from childhood which I’ve continued with our children. We always put out a pillow slip. In the days when we thought Santa was real, the joy of waking in the morning, realising it was Christmas and then the excitement of looking at the end of the bed and seeing a little sack full of goodies. We were allowed to quietly open this bag when we were kids, even if it was 4am, and then fall back to sleep until daylight and then we would hit the big time presents under the tree (only with everyone present).

Our girls have been doing it forever, but this year I thought that the girls would be too old for this tradition to continue – no way, we’re not too old, they said. Even if there are only a few things in the bag, they are still keen to continue (and why wouldn’t they you might say, when there are presents involved).

Here’s a few suggestions: Nail polish, favourite chocolate, eyelash tint gift card, pedicure gift card, Sudoku puzzles, favourite magazine, nice soap, hand cream for handbag, pretty writing paper, pretty note books, Christmas gold chocolate coins, special tea cup, a gift card from dad or mum for one 15 minute shoulder/neck massage, those lollies that they have been pestering you for all year (ours was always Jelly Beans from the Chemist – and yes I’ve put them in this year). Ofcourse these are heavily biased for girls, I have trouble knowing what presents to buy my gorgeous nephews.

Christmas Tree Decorations:

Each year I bought the girls (they would choose) a Christmas tree decoration. The idea is that when they leave home they would take them for their own tree to bring back memories. One of the girls reckons she probably wouldn’t use them as tastes change, but I so know they will be used somewhere – or else she will put them out whenever I visit (like the unwanted present hahaha).

Christmas Cards:

If your kids are old enough to be babysitting, why not send the children they babysit a Christmas card. Just for them and addressed just to them.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. If you have any traditions you would like to share I would love to hear from you. And I would love to share them.

I’ll be back before Christmas but until then have a wonderful week.

Love Chris ♥