Morning of the Earth

Sunday morning 7am.

The alarm goes off and in my head I curse it. Why did my husband set the alarm on our sleep in day! Barney resets the alarm, tells me I have to get out of bed when it goes off, wear something nice and get ready while he walks the dog. Argh.

20 minutes later the alarm goes off again and I crawl out of bed and get ready. He returns and we hop in the car and go for a drive. He tells me he is taking me out for a nice meal, so I assume we are going to a local restaurant for breaky. We begin to drive and come the the round-about that either goes into town or out of town. He does a few trips around the round-about just go confuse me, then we head out of town.

Now I'm thinking we are heading to Newcastle, 45 minutes away. There is a chocolate restaurant that I've been wanting to try so I figure he's taking me there. Nope. At the round-about that either goes to Newcastle or to the highway, he does a few trips around it, then heads on the highway.

There is only two options left of where we can be going. The Hunter Valley, famous for its wineries and great restaurants, or Sydney. In my head I'm thinking there is no way that he would take a day trip to Sydney when the drive is nearly 3 hours each way.


Sydney Bound

One more round-about with a few trips around it and we are on our way to Sydney. My mind is spinning on what is going on but soon enough I just let it go and take it in stride.


On the Ferry into Sydney


The markets at the Rocks

We arrive in Sydney, park outside the city, get on the ferry to and arrive safely in the city. We explore the markets, have lunch at the Opera House than decide to go for a walk to see if we can take a look inside. The doors to the Opera House are open so we take a quick walk inside to look around. We get to a exit where there is also a ticket man. I grab Barney to go out the door, not to interfere with whats going on in the theatre today. The man sees us as we head towards the door and asks us for our tickets. I tell Barney to hurry up when he hands the man two tickets! Apparently we are going to a show at the Opera House. I stood there is shock asking Barney "What!?" repeatedly in a squeeky voice. Off we go up the stairs to see a show!

Barney wouldn't tell me what we were seeing until we got into the theatre. We get in and I notice the stage is set up for a large band and there is a large logo on a screen that reads, "Morning of the Earth". I soon learn that 'Morning of the Earth' is the best selling surfing film of all time that was made 40 years ago. The show we saw was clips of the film with the live band playing the soundtrack of the film. I didn't recognize any of the band members but Barney tells me there are quite often on TV and on the radio.


A contortionist (Sp?) in Sydney

The concert was great! The musicians were all very talented and none of the fake singing crap occured. A genuine wholesome band playing wonderful music.


Inside the Opera House

Barney always complains that he can't surprise me but he sure did today! We had a wonderful day together and a great trip to Sydney. Thankfully, we get to head to Sydney is a few weeks again for another show.


Not the most flattering picture ;)

I'm spoiled :)

2011

I figured I would share 2011 in pictures as well since many bloggers are doing the same. 2011 has been a wonderful year with great memories. My relationship with Barney contines to grow daily and I couldn't imagine my life without him. My life is full of blessings and for that I am thankful. Here we go...

January: Busy at work with summer in full swing. Many trips to the beach and swims with Jessie.


February: Our work Christmas party! Yes, its a little late but still had a great time. Many last minute wedding preparations were being made at the same time :)



March: A very busy month! We had our beautiful wedding on the beach surrounded by our closest friends and family. I travelled with my grandpa and parents up the Aussie coast to show them a bit more of the country. Matthew came for our wedding as well and we did a whirlwind tour of Sydney. We also went camping for the first time together. Will definitly be doing more camping this year.





April: More trips to the dog beach and enjoying the last of summer/beginning of autumn. We even had a dog birthday party for a friends dog, Cooper.


May: Work was getting quieter so we had more time to spend outside exploring Gods creation and dolphin spotting.


June: Our adventure around the world began! Singapore, Malaysia (pictured), Italy, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic, US and Canada all in 6 weeks!! We had a fabulous time seeing the world and visiting my family back in the US/Canada.


July: At home in Canada :)


August: Winter. Cold and rainy, but filled with beautiful sunsets.


September: Fine Wine Festival in Sydney. A nice quick getaway to the big city for a change of pace and scenery. First time to the iconic Luna Park. Great wine :)


October: After traveling around Australia for 2 years, Peter and Sarah finally make it to Port Stephens. I can't even describe how refreshing it was to see friends from Canada and I can't wait to see them in August again!


November: We took a mini holiday up to Byron Bay, than went to a friends wedding in Harrington. I'm so thankful we took the trip when we did because Barney and I got to spend quality time together before summer. Summer's crazy busy and we hardly see eachother. Barney's currently working 80+ hours a week. Not fun.


December: Ended the year spending time with Barney's family for his mums 70th Birthday. We both started new jobs this month which has been a good change for us. We're both doing day shifts instead of all night shifts which is so much better! We will still do the occasional night shift but at least its not all the time now :)


Like I said, we had a great year. 2012 is going to be filled with more adventures, beach exploring, travelling and lots of working of course. We hope to head to Byron Bay again before his parents move down where we live and we might take a holiday in April. I will be returing to Canada in August as we have a few family celebrations taking place and will also get to meet the newest Groot members. Barney will most likely not be joining me on that trip as it is a bit expensive and hard to ask someone to watch Jessie while we are away. We'll see. I would love for him to join us!

And that's been our year. Busy but still full of fun and great memories. Cheers to the New Year!