Things to do in Sydney in the school holidays - (which are cheap!)

I have just had the pleasure of having my two nieces and my nephew come to stay with us for nine days.  They live in Wagga Wagga, in the south west of NSW (yes that really is the name of the town, when I lived in the UK I always had to say that a few times before people would believe me!), so a trip to Sydney is a little bit different, although they are up here quite often.

Not having kids of my own, I was a bit concerned about what we could do to entertain the three visitors - and at 8, 12 and 15 there is a bit of a difference in their preferred activities.

But in the end we didn't get anywhere near through my list of things to do, partly because it rained so much.  So I have more choices for the next visit.  The things we did get to do though were all pretty good, so here are my suggestions.

1) Watch the New Year's Eve fireworks.  Ok, so that is clearly a suggestion for next year!  But we went to Mort Bay Park, where there were surprisingly few people (we had a good spot all to ourselves), a family friendly atmosphere and a great view to the bridge.  You can also get there and back quite easily on a bus down Darling St in Balmain, although we drove in early and then took the car home after the 9pm fireworks.

Our view from Mort Bay Park - slightly obstructed but good none the less!

Some of the 9pm fireworks

2) - Visit the Rocks.  Yes, it's a bit touristy, but any child who has read Playing Beattie Bow (seriously, if you haven't read it you should.  I loooooooved this book when I was a kid, and so I gave it to my eldest niece for her birthday and she loved it too.  There is a link to Amazon below, if you happen to buy it there I get a few cents towards my next purchase.) will love the idea of walking through the same streets that Abigail did in the book.  There are heaps of little lanes and cobblestoned paths, and it's an easy walk from Circular Quay.

We visited the Susannah Place Museum, which was also really interesting.  Four houses have been kept almost as a time capsule, stretching back to 1844.  You have to take a tour, you can't just look around, but the tours run on the hour, and it wasn't too hard to book in.  I joined Sydney Living Museums, and when you join as an adult you can add up to four kids under 16 for free - which certainly makes for a cheap visit if you want to go to a few places.  They include museums such as The Justice and Police Museum, and the Museum of Sydney, plus Vaucluse House, Elizabeth Bay House and The Mint to name just a few.

Part of the Susannah Place Museum

While we were in The Rocks we also had a look at "The Big Dig" -an archeological dig uncovering our past under the YHA hostel!  This is free to look at, although there is also an education centre which wasn't open when we were there, so I'm not sure if there is a cost involved in that part.

3) Take a ferry - anywhere!  Particularly on a Sunday, when all the travel you can fit in only costs a maximum of $2.50 on your Opal card.  There is something so wonderful about being on Sydney Harbour, looking at that iconic vision of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - you just can't beat it.

The view from the Balmain East Ferry wharf.

 
4) Go to the Big Bash League Cricket - although this might soon be over for the season.  Kids general admission tickets to Sydney Thunder matches are the princely sum of $5.07.  There is free face painting and activities, and they hand out flags and those annoying inflatable "thunder sticks" for free.  You can take in food that is "non commercial" - which I asked about and is simply no take away food such as Macdonalds or KFC.  And you can take drinks that aren't in glass or cans.  We had great fun, and if you take photos at the ground and then post them to social media with the hashtag "thundernation" #thundernation - the pictures then appear on the big screen at the ground - which is quite fun in itself.

If you are lucky you can make the big screen at the stadium.

5) Visit the Botanic Gardens - always lovely, the Botanic Gardens are a forgotten treasure in my opinion.  One point of warning though - if you have a scooter or skateboard mad child (like my nephew) I have found from experience that bikes and skate boards are banned (so I assume also scooters).  Ball games also seem to be against the rules, so it is picnics or walking around only.

6) Parks and playgrounds!  There are playgrounds seemingly around every corner in the inner west at least.  We visited Blackwattle Bay Park (next to Jubilee Oval in Glebe) and enjoyed talking to people with dogs, looking at the water, and playing on the equipment.  The park voted "best park of the holiday" was Livvi's Place playground at Timbrell Park in Five Dock.  Built for children of all abilities, the stand out ride (and even I had a go!) was the motorised carousel, which has chairs and space for wheelchairs to be secured.  The electronic system allows the carousel to be started and the kids had great fun counting down until it started.

6) Well this one is not to do with Sydney - but boardgames are fun.  Our favourite is Sequence, which may not be familiar to as many people but it is quite simple for kids to pick up.  Again, I've put a link below if you are looking for a good gift - I gave this to my nephew a few years ago and he still loves playing it.  We also played UNO and Billionaire card games, and when we visited a friend for the day they had Cluedo and Hedbandz (like Celebrity Head but with objects, the kids seemed to enjoy this one)- which were all popular!

Other things on my list that we didn't get to for this visit included -

• Visiting the Sydney Observatory
• Visiting the Dawn Fraser baths in Rozelle or the Cabarita pool (both lovely harbourside pools)
• Visiting an op shop (charity shop) and buying clothes for a dress up "fancy" dinner
• Visiting Manly by ferry
• Free activities at Olympic Park 

And finally, one thing we did that wasn't all that cheap, but was fun - visit the Hello Kitty Diner in Chatswood.  It's kind of strange, and not as kid friendly as I thought it might be (the only "themed" parts are the cardboard bows on the burgers, and a few neon Hello Kitty signs, plus the waitresses wear cat ear headbands) , but for the older kids it was something a bit different.

My salted pretzel milkshake

The menu - perhaps not kid friendly either.

 So have fun these school holidays!

My kitchen rules (in my opinion) - part two

So as I discussed in my previous post (you can read it here) we put in a new kitchen before we moved in with the help of Kitchennet in Drummoyne.  They organised all the cabinets and trades for installation - but to lower some of the costs I sourced the appliances and also the other essential items.

Be warned - when installing a kitchen - don't forget to ask about what is (or is not!) included.  Things that are necessary but might not be included are -

Tapware - 

There are lots of types and choices.  Mixer taps are the type of taps that have a single unit, and you lift the lever on the top of the spout itself to turn on, twisting to either side for hot or cold.  I think most taps seem to be this type now.  I didn't really see any or many units with a spout and two separate taps, and those really old fashioned ones with two separate taps and spouts don't seem to be around at all.

Mixer tap which is quite common

Old fashioned two separate taps

But we had to get the top of the line tap (of course).  My husband is a great cook, and enjoys spending time in the kitchen (which I encourage!)  He was keen on what is known as a mixer tap with vegetable spray.  Basically you have one part of the spout over the sink and another part that pulls out of the holder and is flexible, and can spray your vegies, or salads, or anything really.  You can get some mixer taps that pull out and retract, but I have been told that they sometimes may no longer retract after a some use.  So our tap is taller, but will not need to retract at any time -

 

The famous tap - one spring out arm with spray, the other fixed arm (although it does rotate) for getting a glass of water

It really is great.  I can fill up tall vases and rinse out the bins so easily.  I know they look a bit strange and my parents complain they can't just get a drink out of it but I recommend them if you can fit them in!

The cupboards had to be moved upwards to fit the tap in

We actually even had to change the plans for the kitchen to raise the cupboards above the tap - but there was never a question in my husbands mind, we were fitting it in somehow!

Sink

You would think that was a given in the kitchen plans, but turns out that you have to pay extra for this too!  And then there are more choices than I expected.

First of all you can get a drop in sink or an undermount sink.  Drop in is the type with a draining board as part of the unit, and as it sounds, you "drop it in" to a hole in your benchtop.  The metal part of the sink sits on top of the bench top.  You can get all different configurations - single bowl, double bowl, single and a half bowl, left draining board, right draining board, double draining board - it goes on and on.  With a drop in sink, there is often a tap hole already cut into it, so you are limited to that hole what type of tap you install.  (Generally this will be a single hole in the middle of the sink, so a mixer tap will fit)

Double bowl sink

Single bowl right drainboard

Reece Bathrooms - this is a Franke Granite sink

Reece Australia -  Franke drop in sink

Obviously space is an issue for this - I always think two bowls are helpful so you can tip out water or rinse out in one bowl while washing in the other.  But it depends on your kitchen. You need to measure up carefully to see what you can fit. And also think about how you prefer to wash up or what is around your sink which might affect which side the draining board goes on.  As these pictures show, there are different shapes and materials as well that you can choose from.  Lots of websites have good choices, but Reece and Clark both are good places in Australia to have a look at.

Then you have undermount sinks.  Again, the name is a hint.  These sinks attach underneath your bench top so all you see is the benchtop, a smooth edge and then the sink bowls.  Some people prefer the look of these, as you don't have a drain board to collect grime.  You also have more bench space. However when washing up you still need to put your dishes somewhere so you need to think about a draining rack etc.  I assume you would only really do this with stone bench tops, as a laminate bench top would not look as attractive on the edges.  When the stone bench top is cut your stone mason will need the sink so it can be attached.

Undermount sinks can be single or double bowls, and also come in different shapes and sizes.

A single undermount sink from Clark

We chose the double undermount sink, which I think looks nicer, is deeper than other sinks, and has plenty of room.  We also got a built in colander with it and you can buy other draining boards to use with these sinks, to cover one bowl.

One side of our undermount sink - I think it has a nicer finish on the edges.  The other side is full of dishes so no photograph today!

Splashback 

You can choose many different materials, but check it is suitable for use, particularly for ceramic or gas cooktops - a melted splashback would not look good.  Tiles are often used, but you can use glass, acrylic, or even just a painted wall.  And of course there are a multitude of choices in tiles.  For our kitchen our tiler was included in the price but not the tiles! I ended up choosing very plain white tiles, with a trim of grey mosaic tiles.

Plain white tile splashback with grey mosaic tile trim

Handles on cupboards or drawers

Again - I would expect these to be included but they may not be.  So check!  And same as tiles and really all accessories - there are many choices ranging from basic and less expensive to much more expensive.  Handles can often be changed at a later date if you want to give your kitchen a bit of a make over.  I don't really see the point of spending a lot of money on them, but I'm sure some people do!

Appliances

The final thing you need to buy and consider - appliances.  Again, prices can vary greatly and you can buy all different sizes and types.  This is going to depend on your situation (a family may need a bigger fridge than a single person, or a person who loves baking may want a bigger and better oven) and of course your price range.  You can make your own choices on appliances - but you will need to consider and buy - an oven, a cook top (or an upright cooker combining both) and a range hood.  A dishwasher is very common but not essential (although I couldn't live without mine!)  And although you might already have a fridge, you do need to consider the size to make a large enough space.  So if you're going to buy a new one - decide before you get the kitchen made!

We were lucky enough to be able to use my parents old Smeg oven, which was given to us for free. I purchased a Bosch glass cooktop from The Good Guys and bought the floor stock to save some money.  The Bosch dishwasher came from Harvey Norman on a super Saturday sale.  And the Blanco rangehood was also negotiated from The Good Guys.  Shop around for the best prices and some places negotiate more than others. 

Blanco pull out range hood

My favourite appliance - the dishwasher

We ended up getting a bigger range hood than necessary - originally we thought we would put in a donated 90cm cook top so needed a 90cm range hood to go over it - but then later we changed to a 60cm cook top.  Range hoods can be pull out or fixed (you pull out one section to make them larger - my preference) and can also be the canopy type that seem most popular in all the magazines I read.  Best to do your research depending on what you can fit in (can you duct it outside?) and so you don't knock yourself out every time you are cooking.

And one final thing - which I will go into more detail on a separate post- do your research on your necessary purchases.  I bought our taps, tiles and sink at the Sydney Renovator Auctions.  This place is fantastic and so much cheaper than other retail outlets.  I paid $300 for the sink, approximately $300 for the tap, and $4 per square metre for the tiles.  There is a buyers premium added but it was still significantly cheaper than buying retail.  Some of the sinks I have pictured above cost between $1600-$2000 just for the single or double bowl!  Taps can also easily cost hundreds of dollars.  While you don't want to buy cheap rubbish that will leak immediately, you can source good quality items.  Our kitchen guys and plumber couldn't believe the prices I paid, to the point they tried to buy the tap and sink off me!  I also bought toilets and vanities (posts coming up) at a reduced price.

My Kitchen rules (in my opinion) - part one

As I discussed in an earlier post, kitchen installation took longer than I would have ever expected!  I had thought you went to a showroom, picked some colours, drew up a plan, and maybe had the kitchen installed in a week or two.  Clearly I was wrong!

The house had a sort of functioning kitchen when we bought it, but it was definitely our plan to put in a new and updated kitchen.  I decided that this should be done before we moved in.  I had visions of moving in, and then it all being too much to unpack the cupboards again and the kitchen never being fixed up.  Many people said we were better to move in and live with the kitchen for a while, so that we got something really practical and that suited us, but with the previous owners keeping their fridge in the laundry (who knows why?) and the cupboards and cooker being grimy and disgusting I did not want to even think about that option.

This is the kitchen which was originally installed - pictures taken prior to us settling

Original kitchen which I didn't fancy keeping

So we started our visits to showrooms about six weeks before our settlement.  I thought this would be plenty of time.  The first showroom we walked into was gorgeous.  Everything was top of the line - 40mm stone tops, automated cupboards that opened with a press of a button (so you don't have to lift your arms above your shoulder!) and all other mod cons you can think of.  Then of course the big question - how much?  As I didn't really know how much kitchens cost I was a bit wary of the "what is your budget?" question - however when we were told the starting price for their kitchens was $35,000 we realised the high end was off the list for us!

Second place was still lovely, but slightly less expensive.  However, they imported all their cupboards from France (or perhaps Germany) and so the earliest they could hope to get cupboards was 8 weeks - with a probably delivery time of 8-10 weeks.  So off to the next showroom.

Finally, we found Kitchennet in Drummoyne.  We were really happy with them.  The initial visit we were looked after by a really helpful woman (whose name I have forgotten, which is bad as she was really very good at customer service!), who didn't mind us asking about the less expensive options.  Although she couldn't give us an actual price, as we were talking about the use of laminate and given our kitchen is only one row of cupboards and an island bench, they were confident we could get a lovely kitchen with relatively lower expense.

The next visit was to meet with the designer.  John was very helpful, and had actually accessed the house plan through the real estate site when we bought it - so had already drawn up some suggestions.  We were happy immediately with this plan, so could go ahead and have it drawn up fully.  Again the question of budget - I was still a bit wary and so I said we were looking at $10,000 but that we would buy our own appliances.

So the final plans were drawn up - and amazingly (or perhaps I am being cynical, but it did seem a bit of a coincidence) the quote was just under our budget - $9700.  I really do wonder if I had have said less money the quote would have fallen under that amount!

For this we got two 900mm drawer systems, 3 other underbench cupboards, plus an above fridge cupboard, pantry cupboard, and 5 other high cupboards, plus the cupboards above the rangehood. There is also an island bench with space to sit at.  All hinges are Hettich, and the drawers are soft close. Overall I was quite happy with the price and the plans.

This shows the kitchen with sink cabinets, drawers, oven (which we supplied) and one of the underneath cupboards, also on the other side you can see our island bench, which consists of drawers and a sitting area

The drawer organiser which also came with the package has been very helpful

We went for laminate cupboards, and initially we were going to have laminate bench tops. We chose white for the lower cupboards (I think the colour is Ash White) and for the top cupboards John suggested that we use a contrasting colour.  We chose a woodgrain finish, and the colour is Alaskan. We were going to use a dark grey colour for the bench tops.  When we were deciding however, we were offered a deal to use 20mm stone for the bench tops and it was only $600 more than the original quote.  We decided on Smart Stone in Marengo, however in the end this was out of stock and so we ended up with Caesarstone Raven.

You can't really tell but the upper and lower cupboards are different colours

Stone benchtops in the dark stone colour

In addition to the increase for the bench tops, we also had to pay more as I wanted a double under mount sink, and there was a slight variation for extra cupboards.  So the final amount for the kitchen was around $11,000 - including all trades and installation, and removal and disposal of the old kitchen, but not including the appliances or the sink and tapware, all of which I sourced myself.  I will write another post regarding buying of appliances and tiles, and approximate costs involved.

Slugs and snails and little rat's tails - that's what Sydney gardens are made of

Critters!  I've had a particularly bad few weeks dealing with unwanted pests around the house and garden.  I figure that is part and parcel of living in the inner west of Sydney.  But I don't have to like it - and I really don't.  (Warning - some pictures of slimy creatures - but no furry ones)

When we first moved in the place was a teeming palace for cockroaches.  Not the big flying nasty ones (I don't know the technical names) but the little tiny German cockroaches.  Every time we opened the front door they would seem to be all over the walls.  When we painted we inadvertently discovered an excellent pest removal idea when the masking tape we put up ended up covered in bugs!

Cockroaches were dealt with by a pest control visit, and for almost a year we have been doing well.  But this summer has been a good one for spiders, as they are everywhere.  Including large huntsmen running in under our security door on a number of occasions.  I don't have any pictures, as I am usually too busy screaming and jumping on the lounge while my husband gets the fly spray.  I understand that is irrational, and that they won't hurt me, but the furry little blighters freak me out - and they move so fast!!

Last week I came home late one evening, and realised I needed to water my garden, as it was a bit parched.  So with the torch on my smart phone I stood outside and watered away, until I noticed what I thought was a normal slug on one of the pots.  As I tried to decide if I could just flick it off with a stick I realised it was bigger than I thought - and it kept getting bigger.  In the end it was about 15cm long!  On further investigation (later, after the salt was liberally employed) I found it was a leopard slug, common in Sydney and usually 10-20cm long.  No wonder so many of my seedlings haven't made it lately - it's not just my lack of a green thumb.

Initially I thought this was two slugs having some kind of hanky panky

That is one big slug

Then Saturday morning I had a lovely trip to the Orange Grove Markets, buying up big on seedlings to plant out.  I came home to get straight into it.  First I was transplanting all the self sown tomato and capsicum plants which sprang up when I moved my compost heap. When I opened the compost to throw in the weeds - a rat scurried away!  Suffice to say I was not impressed.  The neighbours may have been concerned by the shrieking.  I had heard of rats getting into compost before, but I thought because I was very careful not to put in paper or anything other than plant matter that the rats would steer clear.  I also thought the neighbourhood cats skulking around, and trampling my garden beds, should keep them away.  I was obviously wrong.

And then finally, when I got my courage back and tried to keep transplanting and planting out my seedlings - another spider (which was later pointed out to me only has 6 legs?) tried to spoil my party.

Some kind of jumpy spider that didn't like my repotting efforts

So any good tips for how to keep these pesky critters out of my garden (and out of my house) would be gladly accepted.  I am certainly not averse to chemical control, and I do also have the devices that you plug into the powerpoints and which apparently emit a frequency which mice and rats avoid, so I am hoping that keeps them out of the house.  Anything else?!!

Humidity's rising, Barometer's getting low....

Humidity's rising, Barometer's getting low, According to all sources, The street's the place to go....

Sydney in summer.

A swim at the beach, a drink in a sunny beer garden, a ferry ride on the harbour... and mouldy zucchinis?

Apparently zucchini plants are about as fond of humidity as I am, and in the same way that I become a cranky perspiring frizz ball my poor plants are looking very much the worse for wear.  

This is one of the less damaged leaves

Most of the plant seems to be affected (or infected?)

I think there might be something more than just the fungus going on here as there seem to be bugs on the underside of the leaves

The problem is powdery mildew - and according to my newfound favourite book "What Garden Pest or Disease is That" by Judy McMaugh (thanks to my brother for that gift!) it's pretty common among cucurbits (that's such a funny name.  Covers marrows, squashes, zucchini, cucumbers and I think watermelons and others as well).  I have found a few ideas on how to treat it and also some places tell me it's not fatal for plants - but I beg to differ. From what I have read it seems I should have been more proactive when the spots first arrived, and removed any affected leaves.  I also should have planted them further apart so that there was more air circulation available.  Some good information can be found here at the Sunday Gardener website.  I think perhaps I will give up on the zucchinis for this year, and try again when it's not so hot and sticky.  It's probably not even the right time to grow them, I'm not too sure about when to plant things so I have a habit of just putting in seeds randomly and seeing what happens. I'm still quite proud the plants got so big from just a little seed.