Guess who is a happy chappy that Hawthorn won

I volunteered to man the U3a stall for a couple of hours at the Baby Boomers and Retirees Lifestyle Expo at Darling Harbour the other day.  Here we are enjoying the winter sun in the park area near the Chinese Gardens just before going in.  John wandered around the expo and then went off into the Darling Harbour shopping centre to see what he could see.  Meanwhile I spent the two hours trying in get people interested in U3A.  There were not a lot of people as this expo was supposed to be on a month ago and this one was put on in a rush and I am sure not many people knew about it.  Volunteeres are required for the Retirees Expo at Rose Hill for the U3A stall in a months time and am not sure whether to say I will help.  

My first walk as leader went off well with no problems.  The weather was good for walking and the 9 ks from Abbottsford to Cabarita just slipped away.  I am to lead another walk in mid July from Many to North Head and this too requires a prewalk.
The gardners gathered here on Saturday and there were 7 of us, talking not just on gardening, but lots of other topics.  I bought a couple of specially designed bags to grow potatoes in compost, which can be harvested by opening a flap at the front.  Someone else will grow potatoes in a no dig garden and then another person said they would put them in the ground.  We will see which way is best.  I'm going to go halves with Graham in a deal by Diggers and we will have quite a variety to plant.  I probably will put some in the gound too as there will be 6 different varieties.    

As the leader for the Hen and Chicken bay walk is ill, I offered to lead this walk.  This will be my first time leading and am a bit nervous.  We catch a ferry from the Quay to Abbottsford and then walk to Cabarita and then a ferry back to the Quay. A prewalk must be done  so I and three others from our group did the 9k walk but twice got the directions mixed up and as one was a bit tired we didnt retrace our steps.  For a couple of nights I didnt sleep as I dreamt I got everyone lost, so last Monday there was a couple of dry weather hours and John and I did the end bit of the walk which had me confused.  So tomorrow I'll be prepared. 

John and I went to City Recital Hall Angel Place to see/hear the Australian String Quartet. The quartet comprised of two violins, viola and cello and played pieces of Schubert and Dvorak.  A modern piece by James Ledger was not to our liking.
After the lovely 2 hour program we walked down to the Quay and saw some of the Vivid Light displays which finish this weekend.  The video is of one lot of lights displayed on the Opera House.  There were too many people in front of Customs House to get a shot of that, as it was spectacular.  The way the lights glided down the building, it looked as if the building was melting.
I don't take many videos with the camera, so this is practising.  The normal shots taken did not turn out at all.  I will have to look up how to take night photos.   

An excellent movie - Get Low - nice story, no swearing or smoking and a happy ending.

A talk at the SMSA was on Maybank Anderson was a married woman and so had no rights to her own children or to her earings within the marriage and could not vote even if she owned property and paid taxes.  She divorced and was a single parent at a time when divorced women were social outcasts, and her success in influencing all-male powerbrokers via her writing and speaking skills.  An interesting lecture.

Minammura

Bombo



Kiama



Audrey, our leader for the day

Another stop at Sutherland last Friday but this time it was all of the walkers to gather together to catch the Kiama train.  We reached Minammura and hour and half later and started our 9 km walk.  It was great weather and this makes walking easier as its not hot or cold.  I loved the walk.