Life – Page 26 – Life is a Journey

Fun day at the Easter Show

Posted on April 1, 2013October 11, 2026 by Libby Withnall

We’ve had a fun Easter with the Powells. Often we go away but since we go to Germany in just 2 weeks we decided to do another homebased holiday – meeting up and spending the days together and letting the girls do some sleepovers.

On Good Friday we headed up to Sydney to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Luckily we got there nice and early at 9am because by lunchtime it was crazy busy and very hard to move around.

To try and avoid the crowds we first went to the working dog show…

then to watch the pig racing and pig diving. So cute – we’d never seen this before…

Then it was time to visit the nursery – which was already pretty packed…

Around 11am we had a show essential – fresh corn on the cob (and the first food on stick for many)…

Time to learn some circus tricks…

We then headed into the main arena…

where we watching some stunt horse riding…

precision driving…

and motorcross freestyle… which was fantastic… see the guy in the top left of the photo!

Then everyone (except me) had chips on a stick…

Time to brave the showbag pavillion, before we visited the fresh food dome. This was SOOO crowded.

Kevin got his chili eating badge…Noel got one last year…

The girls got tattoos…

And there was more food on sticks…

and I had some strawberries and cream….

A short time later I found some homemade gnocchi so I had that for a late lunch. It was delicious.

It was crazy busy so we headed in to watch some of the woodchopping finals…

Before we headed out at 5.45pm. Tired but happy.

We stopped for dinner on the way home at a Thai resturant.

I had the BEST dinner I’ve ever had at Thai. What a shame it’s not a local place.

The girls did a sleepover swap so Amy headed to the Powell’s and we took Alyssa home with us. We watched a little TV then went to tired absolutely exhausted.

I’ve got another video with the clips taking during photo taking.

A date with the Boss

Posted on March 23, 2013October 12, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Last night I had the fun of getting dressed up….

and battling the Sydney traffic….

to see this….

I arrived 1.5 hours before showtime so was able to watch the stadium fill up and chat with the lady beside me (who had come over from New Zealand and was going to EVERY concert – lucky gal).

As expected the concert was awesome. The very first I attended was when Bruce toured back in 1985. And honestly nothing much has changed – his energy is amazing.

This was my 4th time seeing Bruce. Last time was 9 years ago and I was lucky enough to be in row 10 on the floor. Such a shame we could take photos back then, and phones with cameras were just a fantasy :-).

It’s always a bit of trip down memory lane seeing Bruce. Him, and his guitarist Nils Lofrgren (in the hat) inspired me to learn the guitar (though I no longer play… couldn’t handle the short nails) and I was absolutely crazy about the whole band during my teenage years.

It was sad that 2 of the band members have died in recent years but Clarence Clemons’s nephew now plays sax for the band, which I think is so cool.

Bruce has always been famous for his long concerts but I heard they were shorter these days – usually 2 hrs, 40mins. Well they played for a solid 3 hours last night. Goodness knows how they all do it, but esp. Bruce. A true rock legend.

It was such a memorable night. One I can only hope will be repeated.

Do you have any bands/singers that you’ve loved since your teenage years?

Weekend in Sydney

Posted on March 7, 2013October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Kevin got part 2 of his birthday present this weekend – which included a show at the Sydney Opera House and another weekend away – but this time with no kids :-). I apologise in advance and have no idea what happened … I have hardly any photos to share with you….. but maybe you’re relieved about that :-).

I booked a secret hotel and yet again, we got the Amora Hotel on Jamison. This is our 3rd time staying here and we really do love it.

We arrived about 11.30am and were able to get into our room before we headed to lunch.

We chose to go to Wagamama’s again.

Not quite sure why I look pained this photo but it’s the only one of me from the weekend.

Kevin and I shared again but he chose a dish that was too spicy for me – so I mainly had the edamame.

After lunch we walked down to the Opera House and arrived with 2 hours to show time !!! It was drizzly so we just got a table and some tea/coffee and people watched and played on our phones. Not a bad spot to relax is it?

We also saw the Costa Deliziosa which is the star of Cruise Ship Diaries. We enjoy the show but it’s definitely not our kind of ship.

Finally 3pm came and it was time to see the play “Yes, Prime Minister“.

It was in the small drama theatre and we were in the second row so nice and close. It’s been years (and years) since I’ve been to a play but I really enjoyed it – as did Kevin, even if we didn’t get a few of the political jokes :-).

It had stopped raining so we were able to walk back to the hotel. Having had heel spurs and bad arthritis on previous trips to Sydney, a little thing like this made me so happy :-).

We stopped at Pie Face to pick up some dinner, which we ate on the bed watching True Blood. I ended up watching about 5 episodes and staying up past my bed time :-).

The next day, after a leisurely morning, we head to Westfield Bondi Junction, where I took almost no photos. However I was very excited to see Williams & Sonoma, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids are coming here soon !!!!

We visited all my favourite shops, and Kevin’s fav – yep, the Apple Store, and I had my first vist to Lululemon.

To make up for a lack of photos I did film a shopping haul. Link here if you can’t see it.

Valentine’s Day 2013

Posted on February 15, 2013October 11, 2026 by Libby Withnall

I don’t have a lot (by American standards) of Valentine’s Day decorations… mainly because they are impossible to find here in Australia. So sad :-(. Probably half of my stuff is actually Christmas decor – which gets to multi-task.

I saw a VERY odd sight at the local petrol station. A man dressed as a knight buying flowers. Only on V-Day :-)….

I decorated the table for our afternoon tea.

I usually buy a little something for the girls but this year they also got some Winter jammies.

Red fruit and cupcakes (just for those who are still eating sugar 🙂 ).

And some treats for the dogs (Nan bought these ages ago).

For dinner I made a meal that everyone loves. Yorkshire Puddings, roast veggies and gravy.

Then dessert for the girls (though Kevin ended up eating Christy’s).

I had planned to do berries and fresh cream for Kevin & I but never ended up having it. He had to take Amy to drama lessons so I spent the rest of the evening with Christy enjoying TV by candle light.