Playtime

Coogee Oval is the cultural centre of Coogee. There are about five games going on and a bunch of footballers training for the new season.

Sun Storm

Early Morning Storm - Coogee

Happy Birthday to My Boys

Some of you may know that I have two boys, both born on the same day two years apart. Well today is their birthday. Happy Birthday boys!! I have to go home early today as I will be helping my eldest pick up his new bicycle. Hence the rather alarming nature of the timestamp on this entry.

I caught the 7:04am X73 from the beachside stop along with a number of other bleary eyed commuters. This morning is warm and foggy and as I sauntered down to the beach it was so wonderful to smell the damp and the sea. Out in Coogee bay you could just make out a small fishing boat rocking mightily in the swell. The strangeness and wonder of it all made it feel like it was my birthday and I had been given a great gift.

My two boys are a great gift (most of the time). They are so excited about being older. My youngest slept with us last night (as is his want), and this morning after the rest of us were all up, he was still a slug abed. Because (and before you start howling I know you shouldn't start a sentence with that word but I don't care) I was leaving early this morning I wanted to see him before I went. So I sat next to him on the bed and sang a whispered Happy Birthday song in his ear. Slowly the eyes of the beautiful creature made open, he put a big grin on, looked up and called me "poo face" for waking him. I should have tickled him mercilessly but I did not, instead vowing that he must have grown larger in the night to match his new age. His older brother gave him a puppet Hedwig owl and he gave his older brother a rather curious exam book on the yukky human body. They both exclaimed that these gifts were what they always wanted!!

Sydney Buses (yet again)

I usually catch the good old X74 to work from directly in front of the building. There was no change to my behaviour this morning. For those of you not in the know, the "X" stands for Express, with a capital E. The bus will take a shorter route to it's destination, and it will stop only at certain stops, not all. This is what makes it an Express. There was no change to this behaviour this morning either. There was however a significant departure from other express services behaviour. The driver progressed from Coogee to the City at a maximum speed of 40 kph (24mph), and to top it off, from a standing start it would take about 5 minutes to get to that speed!! Basically I am speechless.