Beautiful Sydney

We've just returned home from 10 days in Sydney. We rented an apartment on the beach in Bondi, and the weather the absolutely idyllic. It was certainly hard coming back to Hong Kong's coldest winter for a very long time, especially knowing that we own a house at Bondi - right near the beach.
When we were there, I had visions of Henry and I going for swims at the amazing 50 metre ocean pool Icebergs in the morning, and hanging out with a coffee at the Grassy Knoll in the afternoons. Bliss!
But the best part about Sydney, (apart from seeing all our wonderful mates), was the running.
There are so many incredible runs - along the ocean cliff walk, around Centennial Park, through Dover Heights and Watsons Bay. It's so beautiful that I'm sure you could never be bored. I've come to the conclusion that there is no excuse for not being a professional athlete if you live in Sydney.
Of course, it pays to remember that visiting is very different to living somewhere, and that when you do live somewhere, it's not always summertime.
Here are a few photos that I took on my runs. I had to stop myself from constantly stopping to take pictures. Clearly I've been living in Asia too long!

Bondi! My first run - pretty incredible to be greeted by this view. 

So happy to be out running

Just one beautiful ocean pool - Bronte 

Imagine running along this path everyday. Incredible!

The view of the city fro Dover Heights. Even on a cloudy day, it's still pretty impressive

Check out the swell - it was hard to not stop and watch the surfers

I wish I could do that!

One of my favourite places in the whole world; Bondi's "grassy knoll"

It's just like Baywatch only better; Bondi lifeguards, you can rescue me anytime. 

If you do get sick of the beach, there's always multiple cross-country options in the park. On this particular run, I did the outside loop which is around 8.5km of soft, grassy surfaces. Running heaven!

Our Christmas Tree

Finally, our Christmas tree is up! It was a lot easier than last year, as while Henry is still was not very capable of putting ornaments on the tree, at least he had the idea. Last year, he seemed to be able to pull ornaments off the tree and smash them on the floor at a rate much faster than I could hang them.
Trying to be a good mum, we listened to Christmas music (it is so grating... why do they make it so bad?) for as long as I could tolerate it.
Then after Henry went to bed, I ate choc-mint Christmas cookies. (He doesn't need the sugar.)

Admiring the tree; delivered from the Supermarket. Got to love Hong Kong's convenience! Much easier than last years trip to the Hongqiao flower market in freezing temperatures. 

What's in the bag?

Henry decides to throw the contents of the bag on the floor. Baubles go everywhere. 

He has found some tinsel to tie around his neck. Great!

Done! (You can see Henry's bit - the tinsel in the bottom right corner of the tree.)

Lying on the carpet; defeated. 

Aussie Christmas Gift guide

Oh Bondi! 

As a proud Aussie expat (well sometimes anyway), I've put together a list of the most fabulous things you can get this Christmas from Australia.

I can't give you Bondi on a perfect summer's day, but this is the next best thing!

For you sister / best friend / a Christmas gift for your house (or even yourself!)
I'm in LOVE with Gorman this season. Beautiful dresses, the prettiest shoes, and now they do homewares! Hurrah! A little piece of Oz in your home - wherever you may live!

How do you chose just one thing from Gorman? I 'm obsessed with the Melon print. There is a dress, socks, a top and it's even in their home wares range. I say get them all.

A gift for your husband to give to you... because he has such great taste!
I'm a long time fan of Cue dresses. The fit, tailoring and quality is all great. Their clothes are both functional and pretty - so it's good for the office and summer parties.

I'm loving this dress. Yellow snakeskin, yes please!

Python Origami Dress 

For your Aussie husband. 
It doesn't get much more Aussie than Decibel. If you are either missing home, going to an Aussie-expat function, or you just want to look cool, get yourself into one of these t-shirts or jumpers. Get one for your man. Get some for the whole fam. It's full Aussie, it's fully awesome.

One of my favs - the Heaps Good t-shirt and hoodie

For the toddler who wants more and more and more stories (because he doesn't want to go to bed!)

This is one of Henry and my favourite bedtime stories. It's been around since I was a kid, and it's still lovely.

For your toddler's little mates

Another great Aussie kids books - Pamela Allen has written so many great books. This will help explain to your British / American / Dutch friends what it was like being attacked by magpies on your way to school when you were a kid.

The comfiest PJs for the whole family 

Ok, so maybe keep the onesies for the youngest members of the family, but Bonds have heaps of great stuff for the whole family - great stocking fillers if it's now up to you to buy all the socks and undies for the entire family!

For your dad who likes adult contemporary music

It may not be cool, but don't pretend that he won't love it (even if he has to listen to it in secret). Savage Garden!

For your mum

What can I say, but LOVE! If you aren't a fan of this Ball Bowl & Spoon set , you are sure to find a beautiful vase or gorgeous jewellery for old mum at Dinosaur Designs. Surely an Australian icon.

For your two younger brothers and sister who are all way cooler than you

Big Day Out (or other appropriate music festival) tickets. You may not have heard of all the bands playing, (though hopefully you've heard of Pearl Jam at least) but given you have a brother who is a DJ, another brother who is a pro-snowboarder and also a uni student, and a sister who has just finished high school, they are likely to be much hipper than you, and a bit more up on the music that the kids are listening to today!

For your best friend

I first saw Katie Noonan play in a chapel in Melbourne. My great friend Lucie, who I've known since kindergarten (and probably before that, though I can't remember) took me to the gig. All chicks love this music, and this is a great album.

For your mum friends

Totally retro, but still the best kids cake book around.

For all your running friends

Your running friends are too skinny anyway (and if you fatten them up it might help you beat them, haha! Only kidding of course.) But there is nothing better than home made lamingtons. And I can personally vouch for the fact that this recipe is a winner. Yum!

Have a fun Aussie Christmas!

Our house in France; first impressions

Both because I'm addicted to my iPad (a sad, generational trait), and also because I wanted to capture my initial impressions of things I'd forgotten, things that surprised, or things that are particularly beautiful, before they lost their initial impact and I started looking past them, one of the first things that I did yesterday when we arrived at our house in France was to rush around taking photos.

This is what I saw;

The grapes above the front door

The roses beside the Gite

The Gite

The garden

Running to see the horses - so excited!

The horse on our field!

The lavender and roses I picked from our garden

It's so great. I feel so spoiled. What an amazing place to come home to!