Sunday 28th August 2016 - catch up weekend

Apologies for a boring blog this week. I have been hit with a cold and there is nothing worse then feeling unwell when the sun is shining outside in the last few days of Winter and you really want to be out and about rather then trying to rest and get better.

Today I am feeling well enough and am on my way to Balmoral Beach to hopefully see some marine life in the rock pools and to go for a swim - after all it is 20 degrees c today and it is still winter. I have my noodle with me so I can float around in the water. Hopefully the water will not be too murky.

I have 2 more weeks of my creative coding course to do and am so glad I fast tracked my intro to cyber security course. I did log into the course to read any interesting posts but not posting anything else as I came across a nasty comment about what I posted.  Last I read 2 of the ladies that responded to or liked my post were still having a conversation regarding the scary prospect of the merging of databases in regards to peoples personal details on their medical records. I liked their 2 posts but did not respond as I didn't want to be "trolled" again. Really some people just don't have any respect for other peoples comments. Obviously their parents didn't teach them the concept of "if you can't say anything nice don't say it at all!"

The creative coding course is a really interesting course. Originally I did it as I was intetested in learning about coding and wanting to compare different coding languages and programs. This course also explores the artistic and creative side of coding. It also allows you to experiment. Looking at some of the examples of computer generated artworks and reading about the artists behind them I often questioned why - surely the artist could have hand drawn these pieces of artwork rather computer generate them with equivalent if not better outcome/result and that the only reasons why you would computer generate artwork would be for example 1. You have the creative talent but can't draw if your life depended on it or 2. You have a physical disabiliy(s) which prevents you from using your creative talent and therefore the computer is your assistant/scribe in which in both cases you are the artist regardless. (Examples of my first attempts at computer generated artwork can be seen on Flickr which I am not a fan of and only set up an account for my creative coding course . I have only managed to upload 2 pieces of my artwork Spirograph Experiment #1 and an earlier piece with no title described as a blue and yellow triangle of equal size within a large hot pink square creating an optical illusion)

Back to Balmoral Beach - I went for a quick swim and spent some time in the rock pools looking for interesting marine life. I didnt find any even under the rocks. The sea hare from last month that was released back into the rockpools had long vanished but the same white tipped sea anenome was still clinging in the same position as when I last saw it although a little worse for wear and all its friends that clung nearby have all vanished. Upon closer inspection of the shallower rockpools I spoted tiny fish like skeletons darting quickly through the water , finding shelter under the odd leaf that had drifted into the rockpool or camouflaging itself next to limpets. In the ocean I swam yet again with hundreds of small fish following the waves forcing them out to sea only to suck them back into shore over and over again.  Perhaps the same school of fish that I swam with previously yet doubled in size and with a huge decrease in population.

After my brief swim, I had a shower at the bathers pavilion then wemt for a walk up the other end of Balmoral  Beach - around the Boathouse and around Balmoral Oval and up the steep stairs along the wslking track from Balmoral to Chowder Bay - didnt walk far before turning around and heading home on a bus. Will save the 1 hour walk for another day as I am still not 100%. Will walk in the opposite directionbie from Chowder Bay back to Balmoral Beach.

Sunday 21st August 2016 - The Two Sides of Manly

It is forecast for rain over the next week and today was another perfect warm sunny Winter day. I was planning to go to Balmoral Beach again but the 257 bus did not show up at Chatswood, the Manly 136 bus did so I hopped on this bus - I have taken this bus before and know it takes over an hour to reach Manly travelking all the way through the Northern Beaches suburbs like Narraweena, Deewhy etc. I was able to do a bit of study ot reading online during my bus journey to Manly even take a nap.

When I arrived at Manly the bus travels along the "beach" side of Manly before turning off and terminating before stand A on the "wharf" side of Manly just outside of the ferry terminal. There is lots to see and do on both sides of Manly but where do I start? There are thousands of people enjoying a day out at Manly.

As soon as I alighted the bus I start walking along the "wharf" side of Manly in the direction of the crowds of people. I see a sign which indicates "North Head" scenic walk and start walking in the direction of the sign only to turn back after walking as far as the Manly Waters Private Hospital and feeling a bit lost as there were no signs indicating if I was heading in the right direction - all I could see was a high density of residential housing and apartment blocks barrow streets no through roads and a lot of cockatoos in trees probably scared off the grassy areas by domestic unleashed dogs roaming around.

I continued walking towards the "beach" side of Manly - now that's more like it, there was a definite stream of people all headed along the coastal boardwalk towards Shelly Beach and Beyond - past the beach promenade where the Sunday markets are held. You can see surfers, paddle boarders swimmers, life savers etc. The street along both sides of Manly are full of cafes restaurants hotels apartments douvenir stores clothing/sportswear stores abd places to drop in and get snacks like ice creams and coffee.

I continue my walk along the board walk with everyone else and stop to take heaps of photos of thd coastline - I dont get out to the "beach" side of Manly so this is an adventure for me. I a tually have no idea where I am heading with my walk.

I see sculptures, a batheing pool which was empty and a few strange birds - one sole bird was sitting on a rock surrounded by rocks. This bird reminded me of the "pooping birds" I saw when I was on a boat out at sea off Bruny Island in Tasmania. This sole bird remained on this rock until around 4 pm when I saw it fly over to another larger rock on my walk back to Manly to join another type of lone bird that had probably been sitting on that lager rock for most of the day as well.

There are snorklers and scubber divers and a lot of people climbing over the rocks along the coastline towards Shelly Beach or what is named Cabbage Tree Park Aquatic Reserve. It is important not to take any marine life out of this aquatic reserve area or to destroy any marine life in it. Signage is everywhere warning of this and fines imposed for doing so. The maine life in this area is precious even endangered hence its protection.

I went for a dip in the cold water upto my thighs as a form of natural cryotherapy for my right knee. There was no shortage of picnicers and swimmers that day.

I love seaching for and identifying marine life amongst rockpools  but I didn't manage to find much interesting marine life here amongst these rockpools. There were plenty of what I call "sea squirts" which didn't actually squirt any salt wster out as they were all dried out being too far from the tidal waves. There were plenty of limpets periwinkles etc all covered in a fine green moss which didnt even move - there was moss everywhere and an abundance of seaweed and algae ( not the blue green stuff thank goodness) - the water was crystal clear like Balmoral Beach and shallow however the sand was very rough and "shelly" in contrast to the fine light sands of Balmoral Beach. I found some gelatinous crimson blobs amongst the rock pools. I could not identify them. When you poke them they remain undisturbed.

After ha ing a quick cold shower to wash away the rough sand in my shoes I changed into warm clothes and started walking back to Manly's "wharf" side to catch a bus vack home . I stopped on my way back at the local supermarket to buy some groceries thinking the 136 bus service back to Chatwood ran its service after 5 pm. It was an error I made the last service had finished just before I arrived back at Stand A so I joined the queue of thousands of people making their way back to the city to Circular Quay on the next ferry.

I do catch a ferry from time to time to and from different destinations usually to and from Circular Quay but this ferry I boarded was massive - boarding was from 2 levels upper and lower deck. The size of the ferry itself was large enough to carry drive on vehicles - with automated wide ramps on either side of the ferry you could virtually drive your vehicle straight onto the ferry via these ramps but this is a walk on passenger only ferry and almost every seat on the ferry was taken. I think the "barge" crossing from Kettering to Bruny Island is in desparate need of one of these massive ferries!

Circular Quay - I run for the connecting train just making it only to find I got onto the wrong train and having to alight at Central to connect onto another train back one stop to Town Hall and then on to an M40 bus back home.

Saturday 20th August 2016 - Hip Hop Beginners Dance Class and The Rocks Market

After making an appointment for Tuesday to pick up my new pre ordered Samsung phone, I walked to Sydney Dance Company to do my regular Saturday dance class however I was unsure whether to try a Theatre Jazz class or do the Hip Hop class. In the end I decided to do the Hip Hop class although I was distracted by the music from the Theatre Jazz class in the next studio throughout my dance class.

After class I had a quick shower before heading off to look at The Rocks Market which is on every Saturday. I never have time to go to these markets after my dance class as I am always running off to an event or travelling to another destination.

Today I had the odd Saturday afternoon free so I walked through the Hickson Rd end of The Rocks Market then towards Argle Street and past The Rocks Centre where The Rocks Information Centre is located in.

As you know I love my food and market food stalls and French cuisine are my favourite. After you read what I just ate so far today you will be in shock if you are a health nut which I usually am by the way. I ate enough kilojoules for the entire week - there goes all the exercise I just did!

It started off with a visit to La Renaisance Patisserie right next door to the Guyian Chocolates Cafe. (No I didn't stop in there to have a snack as well if you are wondering!).

There was a queue to purchase a pastry, cake, coffee, pie, croissant or baguette from La Renaisance so I joined the queue. I purchased a croissant aux almande (oops spelling) and a mini chocolate fruit tart - changed my mind - a large one! both to take away or "to go" as North Americans say. I thought the croissant looked a bit burnt but when I scoffed it down it was one big piece of buttery pastry filled with a sweet almond paste and smothered in sugar and almonds. Yummy like no other almond croissant I have ever tasted. Tres bon!  That was dessert now entree!

Fast forward 15 minute and I was going to get a Japanese seafood pancake the size of a dinner plate but once I saw the amount of oil poured onto bbq it was being cooked on I decided against it and purchased a pair of "big chicken" goyzas (oops spelling) from the Hero Sushi market stall. - what a rip off that was. It wasn't that great and it was extremely oily I probably would have been better off with the Japanse pancake although it looked a little too thick for my liking as well.

$20 later I think I will be eating fruit and oatcakes for dinner.

Off to the fruit and vegetable market on my way home.

Saturday 13th August and Sunday 14th August 2016 - Trip to the Blue Mountains to escape the City2Surf in Sydney

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was not doing the City to Surf 14 km run this Sunday 14th August 2016 for the first time . After 25 City to Surfs and 1 City to Sea it is time to retire and run a different race  - and I dont mean Presidential either.

Saturday 13th August 2016

Today I decided to skip my weekly Saturday Lyrical Jazz class between 1 pm and 2.30 pm yet again and catch the train 2 hours out of Sydney to Katoomba. I missed the 3.18 pm train so caught the next train which is an hourly service only from Central Station to Katoomba Station. I arrived at Katoomba at around 6.20 pm and it was cold and dark.

There was a Taiwanese student on the same train who was also overnighting it in Katoomba. She was a bit lost with her back pack and suitcase. She stopped to look at the map of Katoomba so I asked her where she was staying. She looked like she was staying at the YHA which is where I usually stay when I visit Katoomba. She said that she was staying at the YHA so I said for her to follow me as I knew where it was. It is about a 10 minute walk downhill which is ok with luggage but getting back to the station it will be all uphill. Her suitcase was very heavy . I helped her with her suitcase up the 2 flights of stairs to our room after checking in.

After settling into our 8 shared female room We went for a walk to the supermarket. Only Woolworths and Coles were open. ALDI had already shut and Coles was a little too far to walk to uphill so we went to Woolworths.

We are now relaxing back at the YHA in the dining/lounge areas having a bit of dinner. I made myself a hot cup of chai and finished off my sandwich a banana and some wedges whilst planning tomorrow and blogging.

Tomorrow I have a choice go sight seeing and blog about it or concentrate on my studying. I would prefer to concentrate on my studies so will head to the Cultural Centre and library tomorrow.

Will see.....

To be continued

Sunday 14th August 2016

Sunday morning - waking up to a perfect sunny day in Katoomba. It may have been down to 2 degrees overnight but today it is around 13 degrees but feels like summer!
Showered, packed, made and ate a full breakfast of 2 small poached eggs spinach smoked salmon dill and 4 slices of custy toasted bread for breakfast with a nudie juice, waged my dishes, filled my Contigo with hot water to make a Chai tea, checked out, stored my luggage then left with the Taiwanese student to wander around Katoomba - not much happens in Katoomba on a Sunday morning until 10 am. I showed the Taiwanese student where the Cultural Centre was and we stopped at the station and Trolley Bus Shoppe. There was a train load of tourist arriving at Katoomba Station for the perfect day trip.

I ummed and arred about whether or not to spend the day sight seeing or study at the Cultural Centre and library. I decided to spend the first 2 hours in the morning studying and having a look at the art gallery then maybe going to Echo Point and Leura around lunch time before heading back to Sydney on the 4.54 pm train back to Sydney. The City to Surf madness would be over by then and all roads reopened to traffic.

Slight change of plans. Sat on the steps outside the Cultural Centre until it opened at 10 am blogging. Then purchased a ticket to view the art gallery. This ticket also included entry to "Into The Blue -  Blue Mountains World Heritage" exhibition. Before entering the art gallery and spending some time in there,  I just had to take some photos from the viewing platform at the back of the Cultural Centre of the Blue Mountains and its surrounds. Quite a good venue for a social event or any type of event/conference with its large open outdoor rooftop area with seating and seminar rooms off to the sides.

I spent quite a bit of time in the art gallery then continued onto spend some time at the "Into The Blue - Blue Mountains World Heritage " exhibition. This interactive exhibition is great for rainy days as it showcases the Blue Mountains every changing environment in 3D on several surround sound screens including the ceiling all indoors. (Photos below). A feeling of being there without being there.

I visited the art gallery as I needed some inspiration for my creative coding course and found some. I attach some photos from a Polish artist Magda Wegrzyn who spent several months in The Blue Mountains for her art residency. My favourite was her soundless subtitled digital animation piece of work entitled "Eucalyptus Tree" a story about the early explorers of The Blue Mountains (photos  of her other works attached and hopefully I will upload to youtube in time)

There was another artist(s) exhibiting their work(s) in the art gallery however I was unsure if parts were missing or not as there were large blank spaces on some walls - names without works.

I then umm and arred about whether to take the local bus to Echo Point. I found out the library didn't actually open until 12 noon therefore I decided to take the public bus out to Echo Point. The bus was full but we didn't have to wait long for another one as the buses did a continuous loop between Katoomba town centre outside the Carrington, Echo Point and Scenic World.

When I arrived at Echo Point I did a quick walk along Prince Henry Cliffwalk past Kedumba View as far as Lady Darley Lookout and back. I thought about continuing down to Katoomba Cascades Falls and Kiosk or to Scenic World Skyway East Station  which was another 45 minutes one way or upto Katoomba Panaramic Drive 100 m up steep stairs but decided not to. A quick toliet break snack and look at Aboriginal art before hopping back on the bus back to Katoomba town centre. Back at the YHA studying continues with a hot cup of chai in my Contigo.

I managed to fast track my Cyber Security course by a week by the time my Taiwanese student acquaintence returned from her trolley bus "tourist" shuttle around the Blue Mountains. She only managed to get to Scenic World  Echo Point and The Cultural Centre viewing platform in the time I spent a few hours at Echo Point and via Scenic World on return to Katoomba town centre. I could have done the same stops as her for almost half the cost. I call it the "Cheapskate Chinese" way! (Im allowed to say that because I am Chinese). I paid nothing using my opal card reward trips to get to Echo Point and Scenic World - she paid $25! The most she should have paid was $2.50 unlimited using an opal card ticket on a Sunday!
We retrieved our luggage and walked all the way back uphill to Katoomba station in time to catch an earlier train departing at 4.18 pm or so back to Central Station Sydney. On the 2 hour or so train ride, which was full yet again of day tripping tourists, I continued with my Cyber Security course into the final week's module. Interrupted by a phone from work asking if I could cover for someone tomorrow - travelling in and out of black spots it was difficult to return the call that I missed. I think it took 3 or 4 attempts. These back spots also slowed my course progress as I was studying online.

Back in Sydney around 6.20 pm - no sign of City to Surf memorabilia.

In conclusion if there was an estimated 80000 - 90000 people in Sydney participating in the City to Surf - there was an equivalent number of people out and about in the Blue Mountains on Sunday escaping the City to Surf!