Recent outings

We have been keeping busy and enjoying the "winter" weather.   Monday was a public holiday (Queen's birthday) and Rob took us to the Sydney Fish Market in his SAAB.  The kids agree, it goes pretty fast!  Priya bravely tasted a little octopus and we devoured a fried seafood platter at 10AM!   The market was pretty quiet, but it had an impressive display of fresh seafood.  Next time we will bring some goodness home to cook.  

The kids and I had a great trip to Sydney harbor on Wednesday.  The train goes right to the wharf, so it was a seamless adventure for us.  The kids were super excited waiting to board the ferry and they got a kick out of the aggressive seagulls jumping on crumbs from their oat bars.  The ferry passed the opera house and went under the harbor bridge.  We stopped at Luna Park, an amusement park that invited us in with a huge smiling face and set of chompers.  The rides were not running, but we could still look around.  We escaped from the gift shop without any trinkets and jumped back on the ferry for a return journey on the windy deck.  We stopped at the Museum of Contemporary Art, toured a few exhibits and had lunch on the rooftop terrace.  We shared a yummy platter with meats, cheese, and pickled veggies.  The kids followed that up with lollipops on the way home... a great idea until  Priya's got tangled in her hair!  

We have discovered a few more great parks during our daily rambles.  Victoria Park, near the university, is amazing.  It has a "flying fox" zip line with a seat that runs about 20 yards over a soft pile of mulch.  We had a blast zipping back and forth.  Kiran insisted on me running along with him to slow him down a bit!   There is also a giant spinning saucer and climbing rope web which I conquered.  Hanging out with these kids is great exercise!  Priya really liked the mulch in the play areas.  I caught her under the structure filling her shoe up with it!  

In the working world, Ram received the best paper award at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation for his 3-D printing work.  The Australian Centre for Field Robotics, where Ram is collaborating now, received a nice mention in the Economist this week in an article on the future of agriculture.   

  

All aboard the harbor ferry

Under the harbor bridge

Under the harbor bridge

Luna Park

Lunch overlooking the harbor

Playing at Victoria Park

Filling her shoe with mulch!