Sydney autumn and ANZAC day

This week passed by so quickly. I guess that is what happens when you get into a routine life. You work, train, look at some TV and sleep and this is all there is time for during the weekdays. It doesn't matter where in the world you live. But weekends are different, and although Lars is busy with his essays we did have time for some fun. This was a long weekend in Australia because of ANZAC day. ANZAC day is a public holiday in Australia and it marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian forces during the First World War. The big day was on Sunday this year and you also get Monday off to relax. There is a big parade in the morning and the rest of the day is spent playing two ups (a game where you flip a coin in the air and you bet on heads or tail) and drinking beer in basically all the bars in Australia. This is the only day of the year people are allowed to play two ups in the bars. It is pretty crazy and lots of money is spent. Lars and I joined a Norwegian gang at a bar in Balmane (Sydney suburb) but don't worry we did not gamble away all our money. We bet 5$ on tails once during the evening and lost, but at least we have contributed to some ANZAC spirit.

Sunday was such a beautifully autumn day that we decided to take a walk in the Botanical Gardens and go past the Opera House before hitting the pubs. So far autumn has been very nice and this week we enjoyed temperatures over 26 degrees almost every day. I can however now feel the fresh sharp air in the mornings on my way to work, which is a sign that summer, as Australians know it, is over.  

Lars in the Botanical Gardens on Sunday

                                                       Cecilie@the Opera House

By the way, our apartment in Oslo is finished soon. If you know anyone who would like to rent a brand new three room apartment with excellent views over the city have a look at Finn.no and spread the word.

Hope everyone is well and please leave comments if you like. We love comments.......

Have a fulfilling week everyone.

Hug from,

Lars and Cecilie

Surfing in Gerroa, sightseeing in Berry and looking for kangaroos in Kangaroo Valley

We are lucky to have some very good friends in Sydney who invite us to beautiful places. This weekend Barry invited us to his mothers beach house in Gerroa. And when I say beach house it is a house ON THE BEACH, thus you cant get any closer to the water. It was very good timing for a trip down south. Lars really needed a break from his studies, and it was good for me to get out of the city after some long days at work.

As mentioned earlier Gerroa is a small wonderful place on the South Coast. It is only a 2 hour drive from Sydney (without traffic) and it is a perfect place for a weekend getaway. In addition to this it is a very good place to learn how to surf as there are not too many people, and fewer dangerous currents then outside the Sydney beaches. Berry has surfed for many years and he had plenty of boards for us to borrow at the house. So as tough sporty norwegians we were up for the challenge. 
On Saturday we woke up at 9am. The sun was shining and with 26 degrees in the air and 22 degrees in the water neither life or the surf could be any better.

        The gang getting ready for a morning surf

Surfer dude

                      Views of Gerroa Beach

The surfing on Saturday went really well and Lars had some good runs standing on the board. As beginners we did stay close to the beach, and the smaller waves, but it was great fun. After two hours in the water we were totally exhausted. We spent the rest of the day laying on the beach and in the beautiful beach house garden, relaxing. We even spotted a dolphin family jumping out in the sea, and that is not something you see every day.

Since the weather was so nice we also ended up having a big BBQ and lots of good Australian wine under the stars later that night.

On Sunday we did actually get up early to make time for a morning surf, but our bodies aced so much from the surfing (and the wine) the day before so we only had energy for an hour in the water. Later in the afternoon we drove to a little town, only 20min from Gerroa, called (ironically)Berry. When you arrive in Berry its like traveling back in time. There are only old style authentic buildings in the town, cute craft shops, and a very relaxed atmosphere. If you are in the Gerroa area you will not regret taking a trip through Berry.

Sighseeing in Berry

On our way back from Berry to Sydney on Sunday we drove past Kangaroo Valley hoping to spot some wild kangaroos in the countryside. Unfortunately we did not spot any, but Kangaroo Valley was a valley worth visiting. Not only did they have a self serve fudge and coffee machine but the nature there was astonishing. It shows that Australia has more to offer then beaches and wine. 

We enjoyed a great weekend discovering new parts of Australia, and we are very grateful that we have the opportunity to experience it together. 

We hope all of you are well, that spring is near, and that you are not stuck somewhere because of the ash cloud.

Have a super-duper week.

Big hug,

Lars and Cecilie

The Woodchopping World Championships, a Polo Game, and The Three Sisters

On Good Friday we took the train to Sydney Olympic Park where the Sydney Royal Easter Show was on. But folks, don't be fooled by the name Easter Show because the event is not only one big show. The Royal Easter Show runs for two weeks and you can walk around in a huge area all day long and watch everything from Rodeo contests, Polo games, dog shows, and lets not forget the Bananas in Pajamas dancing show. One show we found very interesting on Friday was the Woodchopping World Championships. Who even knew that this is a very serious sport? And talking about sports, we also watched our very first Polo match and it was really good. Nevertheless, although the Sydney Royal Easter show is a mecca for children there are heaps of wine tastings. In other words there are plenty of things to do  also for oldies like us.

                         Barry and me enjoying a Waffel at the Easter Show

The next trip we had planned this Easter was the Blue Mountain trip with Kenneth and Tegen. We really looked forward to this trip as neither Lars or I had been there before, and it would be our very first trip out of the city since we arrived. 

If the traffic is ok it takes approximately 1,5 hours to drive from Sydney to the Blue Mountains and the destination is perfect for a day trip. 

If you are wondering why they call it the Blue Mountains it is because the mountains is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. Thus, the atmosphere surrounding the mountains is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in color. 

Although the weather was a bit too warm and clear to see the full blue effect, the blue color did appear more and more as we got closer to the afternoon. One of the major tourist attractions in the Blue Mountains are the Three Sisters. The sisters are respectively 922,918 and 906 meters tall and they are over 3000 feet above sea level. It is also possible to walk all the way out to them and thus see them up close.

         Lars and Cecilie with the Three Sisters in the background

Steps,steps, and more steps

It was just such a beautiful day for us and we loved hiking in the mountains. I think we hiked for at least 2 hours. Im actually curious about how many steps we walked up that day, it had to be thousands. On the way we passed beautiful waterfalls, mysterious caves and plenty of spiders.

We hope you all had a great Easter and that you did not over feed yourselves on Easter Eggs and Kvikk Lunsj. Next week we will update you on how my job is developing and on how things are going with Lars, working on his 3000 word essay.

Have a fantastic week everyone.

Big hug from Lars and Cecilie

Happy Easter with a twist

This year there will be no KVIKK LUNSJ after a long ski trip, there will be no eating orange in a huge warm down jacket outside in the snow and there will definitely be no moms home made easter dinner. Easter in Australia is very different experience then the one in Norway. It might be a climate thing as there is no snow in sight and we are still enjoying temperatures well above 25 degrees, it is however with no doubt a cultural thing. Australian Easter is very similar to American Easter and I should know since I have lived and enjoyed easter in both countries. Here they buy cupcakes in all kinds of flashy colors, people take there kids to huge Easter Shows where they have plenty of fun games and where kids can meet farm animals and buy Showbags filled with candy and toys. Although Easter does not officially start until Good Friday in Australia I decided to try to get into the Easter spirit by going cupcake hunting in Surry Hills, a suburb  just outside the city center (similar to Gruneløkka). Walking down Crown Street amongst all the organic and hip cafes I stumbled over this cute little cupcakery called SPARKLE. Believe me, this was cupcake heaven with cupcakes inn all the colors and tastes you can imagine. I ended up buying a coconut covered cupcake for Lars, as I know he loves coconut, and for myself I bought a white chocolate coated cupcake with pink mint, a very girly choice. As Lars spent all Saturday at university working on his assignment I decided to surprise him with a little treat. I therefore brought a blanket, the yummy cupcakes and myself to the university and we enjoyed a little picnic on the grass in front of the library. No wonder he loves me....

Nevertheless, we wont really have time to celebrate Easter this year as I start in my new job today and Lars has two essays due just after the Easter break. We will however take time to meet some friends for a BBQ over the long weekend (work is off Friday and Monday) and hopefully go out for some drinks.

                                   Stables Theatre Darlinghurst

As mentioned I start in a new job with TANDBERG Australia today and I am very excited. I will be working as a Channel Sales Development Manager working with developing and training TANDBERG Partners. I will tell you more about the job when I get into it, but I am looking forward to using my knowledge and experience in the Australian market. My days as a "desperate house wife" are over.

                                  Vesbar Cafe, Crown Street, Surry Hills

Lars is still very busy with school and on Thursday he had his first presentation in front of class. Unfortunately he is also busy on the weekends, however yesterday we made time for a picnic in the local park. The best lunch you can eat when the sun is shining, and Lars has to run back to his essay rather quickly, is some cheese and crackers in the park followed by some fresh grapes and strawberries.

  

I also want to quickly mention that on Friday I sailed my last Twilight race for the summer.  The weather was fantastic with lots of wind and the sunset was just beautiful. The summer season starts again in September and I cant wait to get back out there. However, the sailing season never stops in Sydney Harbor.  For those who want to sail all year round the winter series start in May with sailing every Saturday. 

With that note we wish you all a Happy Easter and hope you have a great holiday wherever you are in the world.

Big hug from Lars and Cecilie

Two Ants and a coffee

If there is something Sydney can offer its residents it is hundreds of thousands of small cute cafes where you can drink your morning coffee and read the latest news in The Sydney Morning Herald. After living in our apartment in Rushcutters Bay for over a week we have now found our own favorite cute local coffee place. And believe me there is plenty of competition in the area. So why do we love this one particular place so much? Well for one it is located just a two minute walk from our apartment towards the beautiful and peaceful Elisabeth Bay, but most importantly it serves "the best" Cappuccinos and Mochas we have tasted in a long time. This together with the white antique style building, the friendly staff and the cute name "Two Ants" makes us want to come back for more. Nowadays when I am still unemployed (although not for much longer) and my Harry Hole is at university all day long I bring the Harry Hole book I am reading up too Two Ants for my morning coffee. It is the perfect start to my day.  

I have to say that I am very proud of Lars these days because I know it is hard for him to study again in a foreign language after working six years. He is up all day and all night reading and taking his studies very seriously. I have to be honest and say that I had forgotten how much work it is to take a masters degree at The University of Sydney. This week for example he has a Power Point presentation in class about "globalization and safety" in the subject Business and Security and next week he has two essays due in two other subjects. Although there is a lot of pressure on him at the moment he is learning something new every day and I am convinced that the competence he now is building will be highly sought by in the future.

We also promised you some answer to some questions last week and here they are:

ANSA CRUISE:

Yes, Lars me and Kenneth where probably some of the oldest on the ANSA cruise on Thursday, but we did have a good time with the kids. I have however after some consideration decided that this was probably my last ANSA cruise ever and that makes me feel a bit old.

THE SAILING:

We won the harbor race on Wednesday and I could hardly believe it, great fun to be number one. However in Fridays Twilight race it was back to reality with only a twelfth place. The good news is that there is one more Friday Twilight race to go so we still have time for revenge. (If someone is wondering why they call it Twilight race it is because the race is in the evening (5PM-8PM) just before the sun goes down behind Sydney's tall buildings)

THE JOB:

Good news on this one, it looks like I have a new job. I will however have more on this topic next week as I have not signed a contract yet. I have a meeting with the company on wednesday to seal the deal.

Last but not least have a look at our new film Sydney Action Part 3 for some clips from our local area Rushcutters Bay and some clips from St Patricks Day celebrations in Sydney.
Link Sydney Action Part 3

Have a tremendous week everyone.

We also send an extra hug to Brit this week and wish her a happy snappy birthday on Tuesday.

Hug from

Cecilie and Lars

How many 30 ml tastes of wine can you drink before you get tipsy on a Sunday?

That was the question we asked our selves when we woke up Sunday morning feeling in a good mood knowing there would be wine tasting in Hyde Park with some of Australia's best wineries throughout the day. You see, this week is New South Wales Wine Week, in other words, quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald: Seven days of the state's best drinking and eating all in one place (Sydney). So after a good breakfast on the balcony followed by our morning run in Rushcutters Bay Park we decided it was time for some wine. Strangely it was not only us who woke up with an urge for the squashed grapes this day, so we joined the other 20.000 people in Hyde Park and tasted some of the best wines in the region. And the answer to our initial question: In the sun, with no water its 5 tastes of red, 5 tastes of white and 10 tastes of Peterson's pink sparkling.

The Apartment


We moved in to our new apartment on Friday and we are so, so happy. We love the location, we love the fact that we have the park and the bay with all the sailing boats just outside our doorstep. We love the local tennis club where you can play tennis for 100 NOK an hour and grab a coffee or a sandwich afterwards. We love the balcony where we have breakfast in the sun on the weekends and we love the white, bright and clean apartment with our outdoor furniture, inside. Actually we now call the place our summer house.
For a guided tour in our apartment and the local area see our new film:  Sydney Action Part 2 (just click on the link to watch)

As you probably understand last week was all about moving into the apartment, and while Lars had to go to school I ran around K-Mart and IKEA to try to find stuff that was OK but cheap. The only thing we need now is a carpet in the lounge, a vacuum cleaner, something to hang on the wall and a washing machine for clothes. We do however have a coin operated laundry room in the building where we can wash until we buy our own.
We hope we can find a used one for around 700NOK on gumtree (the same as FINN.no)

The BBQ

On Sunday after the wine tasting we also attended our first Australian BBQ at Tigen and Kenneths place in Pyrmont. It was just what we needed after a long weekend with moving and settling in to our new place.

Next week on livetwiceinsydney.blogspot.com:


Will Lars and Cecilie be the oldest norwegians on the ANSA student cruise coming up this Thursday?
Can Cecilie and the rest of the crew on Carmen (sailboat) win the last twilight race of the season?
Will Cecilie get a job soon?
Does Lars and Cecilie have a washing machine or do they still wear dirty clothes?
Sydney Action Part 3......

Dont miss out on next weeks Blog.

Have a marvelous week everyone.

Hugs from Lars and Cecilie

The best way to celebrate a new apartment is with drinks at Opera Bar

We got the apartment in Rushcutters Bay and we are moving in this week. The happy couple (Lars and Cecilie) therefore celebrated this Saturday with a pub dinner at Harbor Bridge View Hotel in The Rocks, followed by drinks at the Opera Bar down by Sydney Opera House. It was a lovely and warm night and it was our first time down to the Opera House since we arrived. It is at the moment you see the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge lit up at night, surrounded by tourist and party people, you realize that you are in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. After dinner we strolled down to Circular Key and bought our selves a double scoop ice cream to cool down. The evening ended with drinks at the Opera bar where a jazz band played groovy beats and the party factor was high ( www.operabar.com.au ).

Opera Bar

Now, back to the new apartment. It is not furnished so we have to buy some stuff. The good news is that Lars meet this nice Australian guy at university who new another guy who was selling a bed and a fridge for a very good price. So now we have a bed and a fridge. We also bought a new sofa, two chairs and a table for 1500 NOK and a 80 piece kitchen starter set for 500 NOK, both at K-mart. Its a good start. 

See: http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Rent/Apartment/NSW/Rushcutters-Bay/?adid=6474679 

                                       Our new living room furniture

The first week of university passed quickly for Lars and he has now just started his second week of lectures. On Mondays he has a subject called International security, on Tuesdays he has Strategy and Security in the Asia Pacific and on Wednesdays its Decease and Security. Thursdays and Fridays are lecture free and he has time for studying and reading articles for the next lecture. The first semester he will also complete a subject called Business and Security in an intensive course over a few weeks. The first essay is due already in the end of march so there is really no time to relax, and we don't really see each other much during the week. We do however try to make time for dinner together after his lectures and we often meet in Newtown for a good and cheap Thai-meal. 

There is also some new job-hunting news. I have a job-meeting with a company in the city on wednesday and I have also applied for five other jobs. I hope something will land in the near future and will keep you posted. Other then that we hooked up with my old room mate Kenneth for dinner and a drink yesterday after a long nice Sunday at Bondi Beach. Summer is still going strong in Sydney. 

                                 

Saturday market@The FRINGE                            milkshake @Bondi cafe 

Last but not least, have a look at some Live L&C Sydney Action: Sydney Action part one


Have a thrilling week everyone.

Hugs from Lars and Cecilie

Let the university classes begin, and the apartment-hunting stop...

We have some good news this Monday. On Saturday we went apartment hunting and found this cute little apartment down by Rushcutters Bay. It is small and it is in an older building, but it has a good sizes bedroom. and it has recently been renovated. The bathroom is new and the kitchen is new, it has internal laundry and a dishwasher. The best part is that it has a cute balcony with morning sun and it is big enough for us to have breakfast. It is also situated at the end of a no through street so it is very quiet and nice. It is only a 3 min to walk to the nearest subway station that takes Lars straight to uni, and in 10-15 minutes you can walk to the city or straight over to Darlinghurst and Paddington. Anyways, the real-estate agency called us today and wanted us to come down and leave a deposit to hold the apartment. We think that means that we might get it, and tat we can move in already next Friday. However, we will not get too excited before we are a 100% sure we get it. We will know more this afternoon and will keep you posted.

 

This is where we live now in "the" studio

Today is also Lars’s first day at university and it is exciting. He has been taking some pre-courses during last week on how to write essays and how to use the library resources, just to get a feel of the action. He has met a lot of Asians but hardly any Europeans or Australians and no Norwegians. It will be interesting to see if there are any Norwegians in his first class today. As for my job hunting, the first step is to go down to Manpower and Kelly Services in the city tomorrow to present myself and see if they have any jobs available. Other than that I will apply for jobs over the Internet and also contact the Norwegian companies that I know in Sydney. I hope I can get something interesting, time will tell. 

 In between apartment-hunting this week we cooled down with a swim in Leo and Mary's pool.

The week that just passed has been great. We spent most of the weekend apartment hunting, but also had time for some dining and wining, the Mardi Gras parade, sailing, some workouts and a trip to the (closed) beach.

The pictures below will give you an idea about our week.

Have a great day everyone!


Big hug from Lars and Cecilie 

Beach closed because of tsunami warning

 






Mardi Gras Parade 2010

                                                                          Lars@ The Fringe Bar

The first week in Sydney

I can’t believe we landed at Sydney airport last Monday and that we now have been here exactly one week. Time just flies by....We are now staying with some friends in Bellevue Hill only a 10min walk to Bondi Beach. The weather has been great and everyday has been a beach day so far. With that said, we have only been to the beach once because we have been busy opening bank accounts, enrolling Lars at Sydney Uni and looking for apartments on the internet. Looking for apartments and landing one is apparently harder then last time I lived in Sydney and prices are much higher if you want to stay in the central areas. We are looking for a place between the city and Bondi Junction, that of course is a very popular area. Tomorrow we are going to talk to some agencies to see what they can find for us in our price range. We will keep you updated on the apartment hunting. And also, the job hunting starts next week, so cross your fingers.

The first week has been very busy and we have done something every evening. February is a great month in Sydney with lots of stuff happening both during daytime and in the evenings, have a look at what we have done:

Monday: Arrive in Sydney

Tuesday: Open bank account. Drinks with Francine at Darling Harbor

Wednesday: Enrolling Lars at Sydney Uni. Dinner with Leo and Marry (the great friends letting us stay in their studio apartment)

Thursday: Dinner in Darlinghurst. Open-air cinema with views to the opera house

Friday: Twilight sail in Sydney Harbor

Saturday: Bondi Beach

Sunday: Tropfest in the Domain (world largest outdoor short-film festival)

We will leave you with some pictures from the events.

Although we re having a great time so far it is strange to know that we don't have the network of friends and family that we are so used to having at home. But it’s all about learning new stuff and meeting new people and we are looking forward to that. 

As the last words for now we just have to say that we are surprised Australia is so far behind Norway when it comes too high speed Internet and it has been a bit frustrating. At the moment we are at an Internet cafe and it cost us 50 NOK for 2 hours of Internet time on our own computers and the speed is not high. It is very hard to find a cafe with free wireless access like at home. Mobile broadband is also quite expensive here, and it is not that usual to have a wireless connection at home because that is even more expensive. So one plus for Norway there.

But then again, who can complain too much when it’s 27 degrees and the sun is shining. 

Have a great week everyone.

Big hug from Lars and Cecilie

The day of LOVE on a Thai airplane….. The adventure begins.

First, we want to welcome everyone to our blog, we look forward to sharing our time in Australia with you. The blog will be updated at least once a week and we hope to post some great pictures and video clips so you can get some live action as well. Hope you enjoy.
(Kommenter gjerne innleggene våre på norsk selv om vi skriver på engelsk)

So, back to today, Valentines Day 2010, our suitcases are finally packed and ready for the long flight to Sydney. The last few months have been hectic and we feel good about leaving today. The one thing we learned while preparing for this trip is that you don’t think about how many obligations you have at home until you start planning for a year abroad. And you need to plan for someone to take care of these obligations before you leave.

For example, we bought a brand new apartment in Oslo last summer, it is finished in May 2010 and we have too rent it out to someone while we are away. Had it not been for a great mom and dad to take care of the lease and some strong friends to help move our furniture into the apartment, we would be in big trouble. So, thanks to everyone for helping us with our obligations and making this adventure possible.

As for our jobs, Lars got a one year unpaid leave from his job as an investigator, but I had to quit my job and leave my wonderful colleagues at TDC. It was a hard decision.....

But if you think about it, you only get a few chances in life to do something people didn't expect you to do. So, although plenty of our friends are having babies, getting married and settling down, we have decided to take a step outside of our box to see the world one more time alone, together.

There is love in the air today people, and its landing in Sydney tomorrow :-)

Happy Valentines Day everyone

Big hug from Cecilie and Lars