Sydney Opera House

In 1955 a design competition was announced for a venue that could hold large theatrical productions. The entries had to have a large hall to seat 3,000 and a small hall for 1,200 people, each hall had to be designed for different uses; including holding large meetings to full-scale operas. 233 people from 32 countries entered the competition, but it was one Dane who took the prize, Jorn Utzon. Construction began in 1959 and was completed in 1973, 10 years after the original completion date. The completion date isn't the only thing that went over the original estimate, the total cost of the building was $102 million, $95 million over the original budget! This was Jorn Utzon's first design that had been built and will go down as one of the most iconic and famous in the world.

OOW: Where Have all the Outfits Gone?

I haven't done an Outfits of the Week post since landing in Australia and I really miss doing them. Since arriving here I haven't been inspired by my clothes and find myself wearing the same ole same ole. This may be due to my closet dramatically downsizing as well as wearing pants every day because of the constant chill in the air. This is more of a problem since I only brought two pairs of jeans to Australia, needless to say a girl can only wear the same pair of pants so many times before getting annoyed with them. Thank goodness Spring is only a few weeks away and I can again go back to wearing dresses, skirts, shorts, and at times a pair of jeans!

Here are some pictures of a few things i have been wearing while here in Newcastle:

As you can see the uniform since being here has been pants, vans, shirt, and cardigan. Sometimes the outfit is spiced up with a scarf!

I also am playing around with idea of changing the format on how I present my outfits since I am not entirely sure this is the best one. It may just be an outfit once and a while, one outfit a week, an outfit a day...who knows!

Any suggestions on how you would like the see Outfits for the Week be displayed or changed? 

p.s Have you joined the Cool Kids Club (a.ka. following my blog) yet? If not, join right over on the right side there!

Cheers!

Day Trip to Sydney Harbour

The other day I woke up and the first thing Dave asked me was, "Wanna go to Sydney tomorrow?" Of course I replied, "Why NOT!!" so we did just that. Newcastle is about 2 hours north of Sydney and lucky for us there is a train that goes there every hour. We walked to the station, ordered our usual hot chocolate and chocolate chip muffin, and anxiously awaited the train to arrive. During the 2.5 hour ride down to Sydney we chatted a bit about what we would do, watched the scenery go by, and took a little cat nap.

Dave explaining which way we were traveling

Once we got to Sydney we grabbed a few maps and were on our way. Instead of taking the bus or rail we decided to walk so we could really get a feel for the city and explore things as we came across them. Right away when we got on the street Sydney felt like New York City with the fast pace, large amounts of people, and skyscrapers block after block. It was welcoming change from the slow pace city of Newcastle. 

After touring parts of The Rocks, the first settlement in Australia by British convicts, we headed to the nearby harbor. As soon as you walk onto the sidewalk you are met with spectacular views of both the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Both iconic landmarks are breathe taking, I couldn't stop myself from taking picture after picture. ( I will do separate posts with more pics!)

After spending a good hour or so taking pictures at the Opera House we headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens. If you are ever in Sydney you NEED to visit the Botanical Garden, it is definitely a MUST SEE! We didn't get through half before we had to leave because the sun was setting. The garden had the most wonderful array of trees I have ever seen. I love trees and I really geeked out over these trees due to their size and uniqueness. (More tree geeking out in another post!)

We ended the evening by grabbing a bench and watching the sunset over the bridge and the light bouncing off the opera house. For awhile there it felt like everyone disappeared and it was just Dave and I there taking in the beauty.  We grabbed a bite to eat at Burger King  Hungry Jack's, headed towards the train and talked about all the things we want to do when we come back for a second time!

Cheers!

Glimpse of Newcastle Beach

This is just  little glimpse of the beach that Dave and I live about a mile from, Newcastle Beach. Since the weather was finally warmer we decided to head out for Dave to get in the water. The bad news was that as soon as he put his foot in and a wave went over it, he got stung by a jellyfish! Everything was fine and nobody had to pee on his foot, he just had to take a hot shower! The lifeguard informed us that there are about 100 bites a day!