Sydney,Sydney and Sydney!

I have just returned from my 3rd trip to Sydney in 5 weeks, and now look forward to NOT going again till at least September, for Fathers' Day. It's fantastic catching up with friends and family, and this is always the reason for my visits, BUT the crush of people generally,and the noise and pace of city life, is something I have left way,way behind.

The occasion of my 2nd visit was to celebrate my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. They were married at Arncliffe Methodist Church( now St Mark's Coptic Church) on 10th January,1948. The first picture shows the wedding party on that happy day, and the picture below shows the same wedding party on January 12th,2008. The only person missing from the photo is my dad's elder brother, Arthur, who died several years ago. We were so thrilled to have so many friends of Mum and Dad's able to come and celebrate with them.

Woodford Folk Festival

Woodford Folk Festival is held over 6 days every year, starting on 27th December, in a beautiful valley in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, in Queensland. For years, I've been saying.."...I really MUST get to Woodford one year!!!". And this year....BINGO!!!

Now the historical truth of it is that it is either bucketting with rain or baking hot, and seldom anything in between....and so it proved to be in 07/08. But the festival was such an uplifting experience, the music and workshops so eclectic and everybody so inclusive and respectful of everybody else....well,as Dennis Denuto articulately puts it in the movie "The Castle".....'it's the vibe'!



We were there for 2 days and nights only, but they were full-on.Most people camp at the venue, and here are Ian, Heather and Rob having breakfast.



Highlights for me......Taikoz (pictured below), Archie Roach and Rita Hunter,Totally Gourdgeous, the Indian Music Emporium, the Serbian dance workshop(above) and Hugh MacDonald singing "Diamantina Drover", with John Schumann and his band.



And , yes, we plan to be back this December and hopefully pull a few more friends in with us.

Above is the totally awesome Gourdgeous and below,the crowd going off at the Abba Singalong on New Year's Eve!

Something Stirs!

A new day dawns........

Yes, something stirs in the depths of a giant puddle of humidity....ah, the delights of summer, a WET summer I hasten to add, on the north coast of NSW.

Yes, it's moi...back from Lapsed-Bloggers Land.... and time to resume my occasional postings.

When next I post, I'll write about the 07/08Woodford Folk Festival. Here's a photo to tempt you into returning to read about it.