Life is a Journey – Page 251 – The life and times of Libby Withnall

Fathers Day

Posted on September 6, 2010November 11, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Well, it was was a most unusual Father’s Day in the Withnall household. Amy was sick, Kevin got stuck going into work and I had to prepare our Fathers Day lunch all by myself.

The day started off well enough with presents in bed.

Our school run a Father’s day stall and they always have a great selection for the kids to chose from. Christy picked a car sunshade.

And Amy chose a lunch bag.

Everyone ended up doing their own thing for breakfast. I had planned to make pancakes but it didn’t really pan out that way. Then just before Nan, Pop and Granny arrived for lunch, Kevin got called into work. It was terribly windy here and power was out in Wollongong which meant the office generator was running – and someone has to look after it.

Luckily the soup was already ready so he was able to take some of that with him.

For lunch we enjoyed Corn Chowder.

followed by Roast Honey Pumpkin Rissoto

Both recipes are thanks to Lisa at Bike Bake Blog.

For desert we had a chocolate orange pudding with cream and ice-cream.

then some mini cupcakes and chocolates with tea & coffee.

It was nice lunch but it was odd not having Kevin there. Luckily my Dad was present so it wasn’t all for nothing. For some reason I didn’t take any people photos during lunch!!!

Kevin got back just after 3.30pm and we watched a few episodes of The Tudors. I also worked on some knitting – which I haven’t done since before our trip.

I actually finished this scarf and started work on another :-).

Sydney – Part 2 – Harbour Bridge Climb

Posted on September 4, 2010November 9, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Kevin and I were up early, and I mean EARLY, as in 3AM to go on our Dawn Harbour Bridge Climb. Not only was it early but it was cold and rainy. Still we got dressed and caught a cab to the Bridge Climb office. I think we were still half asleep – what do you think?

We arrived a bit too early and had to wait until they opened.

Once we got all geared up we headed out with our guide Matt. We were doing the Discovery climb which involved seeing more of the bridge than just the arch. We set off in the dark.

And arrived at the top just before the “sunrise”.

As you can see it was an awesome sunrise :-). Suprisingly the weather didn’t “dampen” things too much for us and we absolutely loved the whole climb experience. By the time we headed back down it was a lot lighter. This was what we really liked about the dawn climb – we saw the city and bridge in both the night and day.

Having recently watched Glee we were pleased to see they had a nice day for their climb :-).

While it’s not a cheap thing to do (we had been given vouchers for Christmas from my Mum & Dad) it really was an awesome experience – one I’d encourage everyone to do if given the chance.

After the climb we were tired, damp and hungry so headed to Starbucks for some breakfast.

We then went back to our room where I had another bath and Kevin had a little nap. We checked out around 10.30am and headed home. It was brief but very enjoyable little getaway.

Sydney – Part 1

Posted on September 4, 2010November 12, 2026 by Libby Withnall

On Friday morning Kevin & I headed up to Sydney. First stop was some shopping, including some birthday presents for Christy’s upcoming birthday. We also stopped at the San Churro chocolate shop to use a vochure that Kevin had got for his birthday (thanks Leanne). Kevin chose the churro with chocolate dipping sauce.

Twas rather yummy, but a little bit too rich for me. Don’t you just love the napkins?

From here we drove into the city and checked into our hotel. We had a booked a secret 5 star hotel which turned out to be the

We got checked in and headed to our room. It was gorgeous.

I loved the cupboard cubicles.

One contained some bath robes and slippers…

But my favourite was the one for tea making.

I loved the big window sill that you could sit in to take in the view.

After getting settled we headed back out to visit Kevin’s favourite shop – the Apple Store.

We also stopped in a Haighs to stock up on my favourite dark chocolate and then to the David Jones Food Hall where we bought some bits and pieces, including some cheese and crackers and we couldn’t resist these cupcakes once we did a taste test. One box for us and the mini ones to take home.