Sunny day, sweeping the the clouds away!

There's no more beautiful city in the world than Sydney on a sunny day. I'm calling it now. Some may disagree, and i shall let them - but when there's a cloudless blue sky and endless pockets of this amazing city to explore, there's no place I'd rather be.


Of course, i am bias. If you read this blog you know I'm a passionate Sydney-lover. I guess everyone feels that way about their home-town though, so i don't feel bad about it (and you can't make me.) My point is, the weather's been warm and sunny (after days and days of rain) so we've taken advantage and visited some of our favourite spots.



If you asked me where my favourite outdoor spot in all of Sydney is, I'd say Balmoral without hesitation. For a start, the scenery is really stunning. Views out to the heads, shimmering aqua blue waters, yachts dotting the ocean and shorelines...seriously appealing. The water in summer is always warmer than other beaches because its a cove. It's home to one of my favourite brunch places, the Bathers Pavilion, who also do a damn fine dinner if you wanna go somewhere a little bit fancy. And its lack of public transport is actually a big plus - it never gets as crowded as Cronulla or Bondi, so it has more of a neighbourhood feel.


We were in Mosman for breakfast last weekend, so we decided to head down to Balmoral for a walk since the day was shaping up to be so fine. I'm sure my English friends will see me rugged up in a hat and scarf and jacket and think I'm crazy for wearing so many clothes on such a sunny day, and on this occasion i have to agree with them - i was boiling.

Sparkly Balmoral Beach

Peace dude. Hard out.

Jo loves facts.

The beautiful Bathers Pavilion

Another day, we took a random drive through Point Piper (to check out the houses we'll never be able to buy), and ended up spotting a teeny tiny entrance to a little reserve with stunning views of the harbour. If you blinked, you'd miss it, but i told Jo to pull over and we jumped out to have a look. You had to walk down a whole bunch of stairs and wildly overgrown brush....

 

...but it was well worth it for this view:

There was some sort of regatta happening, hence all the sailboats.

This is my "LOOK AT THIS EFFING VIEW!" pose

Thanks for the great weather, Sydney! Keep it up!



Ha, Winter! The sun defies you!

The last few days have been GLORIOUS. We had a cold snap, but SUCK IT WINTER - the sun's back and better then ever. At the beach today we actually saw people sunbathing - sunbathing! I mean i was rugged up, but it was WARM.




At first i was skeptical about the whole excursion. Jo's alarm went off inexcusably early for a Saturday, which at first i thought was a horrible mistake, but no. He said that I'd better get myself up and ready, cause we were going out. Obviously i was taken aback. Out? Us? In the...morning? Before...lunchtime? How can this be? Not one to argue, (what? i'm not. why are you laughing?) i leaped out of bed without one complaint (creative liberties. it's my blog and I'll lie if i want to) and we headed out for brunch, here, at one of my most favourite places in all of Sydney - the bathers pavilion in Balmoral.








In my humble (read, expert) opinion, this is one of the prettiest spots (and nicest beaches) in town - how, tell me, could you possibly disagree?

Balmoral Beach

Me, THRILLED to be by the water as always

This place was built in the 1920s, and was, literally, a pavilion for bathers for about 40 years. Change rooms, lockers, shops that sold towels and caps and so on. Now it's a restaurant/cafe with a killer view and a damn fine bacon and corn hash, if you're into that sort of thing. We usually have dinner in the restaurant, but the cafe is great for brunch - much more casual. We got a great seat by the window, where the gleam off the water was so bright that i had to don my sunnies, indoors, in winter, because i have to remind you again that this IS winter, despite the 19 degree temperatures *swoon*...

Bathers from the hill



Jo and I

After brunch and a walk, we were off to our next destination, another of my favourite places in Sydney town, the Orpheum in Cremorne. I've talked about this old cinema before, a gem with its original features restored to their former glory. Its always a treat to see a movie there.

Orpheum interior

We were there to see Toy Story 3 (yes, in 3D), which we've been meaning to see since it came out but as usual, no time. Even as adults, we admit to loving these movies, cause who doesn't, and the third installment was a fitting goodbye to all our favourite toys. There were some new additions, notably barbie and a suitably cheesy and fashion-smitten Ken, and I'll tell ya right now that i spent the last ten minutes of the movie bawling like a baby. Even if you haven't see the first two, I'm pretty sure you'll still enjoy the this one - wrangle up some kids and check it out. Or not - hell, we were the only childless (and totally fine with that) couple in the cinema. It's funny, heartwarming, bittersweet - i guess its kind of about growing up and saying goodbye.

Jo and I with our groovy as 3D glasses. I kept mine, cause you never know when you'll need a pair.

Tomorrow, we're off to the powerhouse museum to see the 80s exhibition they've got going there at the moment. Can you believe that?? An 80s EXHIBITION!!! FREAKEN AWESOME!!! Pictures will surely follow.

And now I'm going to the pub, so sayonara from me kiddies. Enjoy your Saturday night!