Wings over Illawarra

Wollongong, hitherto known to me for its car dealerships, hosted today Wings over Illawarra, a nicely put together air show (see http://woi.org.au/)

Air show, I hear you say, the Mecca of sore necks and sunburns? Well, perhaps. 

Except for the huge concentration of amicable propellerheads. This is Alan, a F/A 18 commander in the RAAF who spends his weekends displaying the very last flying Meteor. Dad and the boys met him in Temora a few weeks ago, he took me in for a closer look.

If you don't see me in the first picture, have a closer look too.

I also had a good chat with this bloke in the Navy Seahawk. All started well with the usual fist bump...

... until he noticed the Air Force badge I was wearing. Oops. Sounds like there's healthy competition between the two shops.

Vrrrrrooooooaaaaaaaaaaa

Backstage on the parking, on the way to our plane

Bye Wollongong

I'm glad someone took pictures on departure: I snoozed from engine start to landing back in Sydney. 

A good day? You betcha!

Call me Iceman

Got out west today with Dad, Groppi and Grommi for my first GA flight. The idea was to see if I'm now up for a bit of flying.

No clouds to speak of, no wind, warmish. In short: perfect weather for posing.

First we tracked north to Parramatta, then to Long Reef for a couple of orbits inside Sydney Harbour. All very civilised, I found.

We then ducked down low near Manly and headed south past South Head...

... Vaucluse, always a nice view of the CBD to the west

... then Bondi.

That took us fairly close to our Clovelly home. At this stage I'd like to show you what we look like from the ground. Alas, Mum was on camera duty when Ella managed to get her head stuck between the deck's sliding doors.

I could hardly contain my excitement. As you can see.

That's not cool, it's sub-zero. Call me Iceman.

I eventually woke up during taxi, fresh like a daisy. 

The day's grand finale was macca's. If flying is to end with good food, count me in for more of it!

We're on again on the 25th. See you then.

The Monkey Dance

Got this amazing musical card from Groppi and Grommi. Then this happened.

I'm turning three!

A new car!

Dad and I went down to Wollongong to pick up a new car. How exciting!

The weather was spectacularly rotten today, so the girls didn't come down. Dad and I had to make do with public transportation. A couple of hours doing stuff on the iPad was easy enough.

Dad signed a few papers and they brought the car around. Against my explicit advice and vocal protest, dad said no to the pretty red car, pictured above, and got us the rather agricultural grey vehicle pictured below. One day he'll come around, you'll see.

Any hope of an exciting car day gone, I consoled myself with a good lunch at Macca's. Reliable, them.

Drove back. Slept. Got in the mood for Toby's party (more on that later - stay tuned!)