Berry

Since Asher was born in February this year, Chris and I have hardly left Sydney. There have been a few excursions south (to see Chris’ family in Canberra and the Southern Highlands) and a few north (to visit my parents in Dungog) but thats it. For two people who are originally from the country, and love to leave the city at any opportunity, this has been a little difficult. So for Chris’ birthday, I surprised him with a weekend away (with Asher in tow) to Berry. I was actually surprised there was somewhere left within driving distance of Sydney that Chris and I had never been to!

We arrived at Warrimoo Cottage just after 6pm on Friday night (the drive to Berry had been amusing enough, as we tried to work out our new GPS, and convince Asher to have a sleep). It was a lovely two bedroom self contained cottage overlooking a valley, with plenty of farm animals roaming about – we took Asher for a walk on Saturday afternoon, and he seemed very interested in the cows, ponies and alpacas (cheap entertainment!) The price was quite reasonable ($260 for the weekend) and we had everything we needed – including heaters, which we used as the temperature plummeted. We ate dinner in both nights, as this was far easier than going out with Asher, and had some good wholesome fun, including my victory at Scrabble (the first time ever!) Asher also slept like a dream the entire weekend, which is possibly the best thing I could say about the accomodation!

Breakfast on Saturday morning was at Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery – once again my trusted delicious magazine had shared this gem with me. Scrambled eggs on sourdough with smoked salmon and a coffee is my ultimate breakfast – and thankfully it was there on the menu! We also had the unexpected surprise of running into one of my former work colleagues from Sydney. We left with a couple of extra goodies – namely the olive and thyme loaf and a chocolate and hazelnut tart.

The afternoon (when we weren’t introducing Asher to farm animals) was dedicated to wandering the streets of Berry – for a small town, it certainly had plenty to keep the tourists amused. I bought Asher some owl decorations for his room at Bedbugz, and we stopped for tea and scones at Berrylicious Cafe (a totally unneccesary meal, but exactly the sort of thing you do on holidays).

Chris wasn’t up for more shopping on Sunday morning, so I headed in to town to check out the Berry markets by myself. I’ve never seen so much traffic in a country town. I was even the victim of some mild road rage, which was the only downer on the weekend. There was plenty of fresh produce, plants and various paraphernalia for sale – I ended up buying Asher a very cute singlet and cloth nappy ensemble from the My Little Babies Room stall (www.mylittlebabiesroom.com.au). I stopped to buy a donut and coffee for Chris on my way out of town – the Berry Donut Van only makes donuts on demand so they were extremely tasty (and once again, unneccessary).

Our last stop was Gerringong to frolic on the beach and have some fish and chips overlooking the water – the weather had warmed up beautifully but not quite enough for us to venture into water. Asher was rather perplexed by the sand and the crashing waves.

All in all the three of us had a great weekend. While life with a child means holidays have changed from total sloth to a more relaxed continuation of the everyday (the baby still wakes up at 6!) its nice to introduce him to new experiences – and enjoy ourselves at the same time.

Sarah Blasko – Enmore Theatre

Going to see live music upon my arrival in Sydney as an 18 year old was one of the most exciting milestones of independence. Before this, going to a gig was a major event, involving harrassing parents, meticulous planning and hours of travel (see my post on Ben Folds about a time when this didn’t work). Now there were no parents to convince and a short bus ride to most venues. Even though tickets were usually above the budget of a student (especially one who was a sucker for merchadise that proudly displayed to all and sundry that I’d been to an awesome gig) I still managed to scrape together the required cash.

The Sarah Blasko concert at the Enmore Theatre on October 29 brought back these emotions, although it was a different sort of independence. I hadn’t been to a gig since December 2009 when I was 7 months pregnant (and I’m not even sure if it counts if its at the Opera House with the orchestra – although the Whitlams were there too). The sleep deprivation and constant feeding of the following months meant I didn’t have the ability or the energy to be away from my baby for long enough to indulge in many personal interests. I missed many exciting concerts, much to my dismay. But thankfully those days passed, and I could take some time away from Asher to enjoy some pre-birthday entertainment with my sister (our birthday being on October 31).

I’d seen Sarah once before, in 2007 while she was touring her second album. I found her an intruguing performer, but well worth the money. The Enmore was a bigger venue, and her current album As Day Follows Night was quite popular (as well as a complete departure from her previous work into a more jazzy style), so I had high expectations.

There were a few surprises when we arrived. Firstly, Sarah came on only 15 minutes later. Usually there was a support band or two to sit through, then 20 minutes of anticipation before the musician you paid all the money to see came on – we had tried to skip most of this by going out for dinner, but we almost missed everything. Secondly, we actually had seats! I’d dressed in my concert clothes in order to maximise comfort for the hours of standing I was expecting to do – sneakers so my feet didn’t get sore, and noone trod on my toes, and everything I needed stuffed into my pockets so I didn’t need to carry a bag. All this effort was made redundant when we were ushered to seats. I could have checked my ticket for this information, but never thought to since I knew exactly how these things worked….

It was difficult to get into the swing of things from our seats as opposed to standing up, so I found myself concentrating on some unusual things. I have to say Sarah looked pretty ridiculous. She was dressed in a white dress that looked like a slip nightie, with white stockings and Mary Janes, accessorised with a chain of colourful balls around her neck and an accompanying headpiece dangling in front of her face. She looked like a grandma crossed with a hippy. She also started doing this weird dance which reminded me of an uncoordinated male friend from uni – step forward, step backwards, rinse, repeat.

However as soon as she started playing music from her new album it all fell into place. The double bass came out, the lighting warmed up, Sarah suddenly looked more like a 1920′s flapper and everyone looked like they were having much more fun. I found the juxtaposition of her older songs next to the syncopated rhythms and swing of her new album quite jarring, and even though I had started as a fan of her previous alternative pop style, her most recent work is far more enjoyable to listen to.

While there are no more gigs on the horizon at the moment, this situation is bound to change as soon as I get my hands on Drum Media and discover who is touring next. As for the blog, my next entry will be about some travel with baby – on a small scale!