Sydney Royal and other stuff!!

What a Nightmare!!!!!!  Talk about rain ….. will it EVER stop?  We spent a whole week in Sydney and although it wasn’t raining ALL the time it did rain every single day.  We stayed in a very nice little cottage in Sydney.  It was only tiny but it had a bit of a yard for me to pwivacy pwease in and it did have a very nice view of the back side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the city. When you could see it from the rain that was!

Stinky wires and rooftop but it was pretty at night.

We walked around the neighbourhood a lot.  There was a very noisy schnauzer that gave me a hard time every day.  Every time we walked past his house he would go crazy. He would run along the fence line barking fit to kill and then he would appear and stand on this pillar thing near his gate and bark and bark at me. I took NO notice. That soon shut him up but crikey ….. what a performance!  I know he’s probably on security duty like Zoe but fair dinkum ….. is all that noise REALLY necessary.   After all I’m not one of Whitley’s zombiez.  Now they need a good barking at but not little old me.  I’m harmless!  

 

He's got a good spot, aye?

Not game to jump down though. I might eat him!!

Mum took me to the cemetery dog park twice a day. We tried to do it between showers but we ALWAYS managed to get wet at some stage or another. We visited a few other dog parks too. I reckon we found the BEST dog park in the WHOLE world. It’s on the harbour and it’s soooooooo good. Heaps of dogs and there’s lots of grass to run on AND there’s sand and water to swim in and it is sooooo much fun. It even stopped raining for a whole hour and we stayed there for that whole hour too. Mum and Dad got talking to a lovely couple from Oregon, US  who were over here on holidays. They were house sitting nearby and had 3 dogs with them. One was a Saluki and he was the same age as me and we ran and ran and ran.  The Oregan couple arrived in Australia in November and are staying until May. They kept saying how glad they were to have missed all the cold over their way. They even said the rain was nothing because it wasn’t cold rain.  COLD RAIN!!  What’s that?   I’ve never heard of hot rain.

Hmmmmmm! Which one will I chase first??

Mum and I went over to see my 95 year old Nan.  We are a bit worried about her. She is having a lot of trouble with her back and wasn’t looking at all well.  She looked VERY tired and just seemed to have lost a bit of the old spark. She doesn’t want to go anywhere anymore and would stay in bed all day if the staff at the home didn’t make her get up and get dressed.  That’s very unlike Nan.  It’s not that long ago that the staff had trouble keeping up with her.  She’s not supposed to go out alone as she is nearly blind but she used to sneak out and go off into town or go visiting friends ALL BY HERSELF. No-one knew how she was getting out but she’s VERY sneaky, my Nan.  Just like me, aye?? Too funny but not anymore.  Mum gets VERY depressed after visiting her.  It is sooooooo sad to see. I cheer Nan up though.  She really likes me,   but then,   I am VERY likeable.

Mum went to the Royal Easter show.  I couldn’t go!   NO DOGS ALLOWED  (unless competing)!!!!! Hmmmmmmmph!!  Not fair,  I say!  Anyway Mum had a good time.  She’s been to Sydney Royal every year of her life for as long as she can remember and that’s a very lot of years.  At least sixty eight million,  I think.   What’s Sydney Royal,  you ask?  It’s an Agricultural show.  Every year the bush comes to the city to show the cityfolk what they do and to show off all their produce and stuff and it is the BEST.  Not that I would know …. NO DOGS ALLOWED (unless competing)!!!!!! Hmmmmmmmph!!!!!

I had to go to doggy day care.  Now that was a bit of fun!! I met heaps of other pups and I had a good time but don’t tell Mum that. I CHEWED MY LEAD IN TWO when she left. How bad is that? When Mum first left,  the doggy day care lady tied me up to a hook thingoe, so she could do some paperwork,  and I CHEWED MY LEAD IN TWO!!!!!!  I showed her,  aye?????  Tie me up? Charlie?   Was she mad or something?  Some people have no brains,  aye??  Now I’ve got a brand new lead.  The doggy day care lady felt so bad for tying me up that she gave Mum a brand new lead.

Anyway back to Sydney Royal.   Harri and Lucy have been … lots …. They competed in flyball and agility and they competed many times at Sydney Royal.   It was always Mum’s ambition to compete in something at Sydney Royal and Harri and Lucy helped her achieve that ambition.  Me ….. I don’t know …. Mum thinks I’m a bit of a challenge but you never know I might just surprise her when I get a bit older.  Sydney Royal,  as well as being an agricultural show,   is also Australia’s biggest dog show.  You know …  a bit like Crufts and Westminster but not on such a huge scale.  We don’t have as many people as you blokes do but Sydney Royal is very big for our part of the world.  Mum loves it.  She goes EVERY year on the last day which is BEST IN SHOW day and sits for the whole day just watching the dogs.  My two legged sister,  Jane goes too.  They get there REAL early and sit in the same spot every year.  Funny but the people sitting around them are the same people EVERY year and they have become just like a family for that one day only.  One bloke,  a really lovely old Greek bloke,  shows up EVERY year and sits in front of Mum and Jane.  He has 6 daughters.  Only one of them (the youngest) sits and watches the dogs with him but the others all rock up at some stage or other during the day and stay a while. Mum and Jane have got to know them all.  There’s others too that they have got to know.  There’s one lady who is just the sweetest thing according to Mum.  She looks like a bird and she NEVER stops smiling.  Mum reckons she must be the happiest person in the whole world.  She reckons you just feel happy looking at her.  I’m sure Mum will tell you all about her BEST IN SHOW DAY in a few days time.   It’s this coming Monday and she’ll be there with bells on.  I think Mum and Jane would be devastated if one of their group of people fail to show up. They have such a good day.  Mum and Jane’s friends know they are always there and pop by to say hullo if passing as well.  A very social day!!

Don't laugh! I know Crufts and Westminster make it look piddly anty but hey! It's the best we got and we love it!! Until this year the spectators had to sit outside in the rain or heat or whatever but this year the stands are covered.  LUXURY!! Just sail things so you'll still get wet if it rains but no more hot, hot sun beating down. LUXURY!!

 All you crafty Mum’s out there would LOVE Sydney Royal. There are craft competitions. I’ve told Mum she can put some pictures on my blog just this once. Just this once, mind you! Did I do good Zoe?   You've got to be firm with them, aye??  There’s cake decorating,  jam making, cake making,  photography,  painting competitions ….. oh there’s too many things to mention. There is one big glass stand in the middle of all the crafty things called The Standard of Excellence and the best of the best of everything gets displayed in there. Crikey Mum reckons there are soooo many beautiful things made by VERY clever people. 

Here's a couple of the fruit and vegies displays. South East Qld. is where I come from.

Cute cake, aye??

Whoops .... sorry! This cake was amazing. Everything was so delicate. Beautiful says Mum!

Sox, Zoe's Mom .... sox!!!!

This shawl was in the standard of excellence showcase. It was just beautiful. My Mum loved it.

Can you pick the winner??

Too cute, aye??

How could you not like goats? What a beautiful face.

Crikey .... little Flicka!!

How well behaved are these blokes. They just sit there all day, every day!!!

Mum gets all the other parts of the show out of the way before BEST IN SHOW DAY. She is going again tomorrow. Dad is looking after me this time.  We will have a BIG day!! We are staying in Leura in the mountains again.  You know … that cute little house with the hearts on the fence. Every time I look at those hearts I think of MY ENID! Crikey I miss her.  It’s good to be back in the mountains though! Tomorrow Prince William, Kate and baby Prince George are going to be visiting Leura and Dad and I are going to see them. I can’t wait. There will be lots of people but just maybe we will get a peek at them. I have a brand new bandanna collar and a MATCHING lead. It’s bright RED and I am going to look sooooooooo handsome. I’m sure Kate will notice me. She has quite a flair for fashion.  

Well I’d best start getting ready. I do want to look my best just in case I get a right Royal pat. I’m going to ask Mum to give me a bath and a brush  and trim my nails. It’s not every day the Royals come to town.

Wanna run … Love, Charlie.

Goodbye Cudgewa!!

Looks like the road trip continues …. We woke up the next morning and it was STILL raining. These tsunamis that come from the sky just go on and on and on, aye?? Those ocean ones are over in a blink of an eye. Bit more damaging though I s’pose!!! Anyway Mum and Dad decided to head off. The re-enactment had been cancelled and that’s what Mum really likes to see. The rodeo was still on but Mum hates rodeos. Reckons they are cruel things. She worries about the horses and the cattle. The humans’  put things on them to hurt them so  they buck better. Stupid humans I reckon ….. I’d like to hurt a few of them. I don’t like those bull fightin’ blokes either. Sticking speary things in them cows. How would they like a few spears stuck in them??  Too,  too cruel!!  We heard later that the rodeo was a bit of a disaster in the wet.  A few humans got hurt but the animals were all ok.  How good is that??  Ok …. A bit of sensitivity on my part ….. they weren’t hurt all that bad!!!  Anyway we took off and headed for Sydney for a week’s stay there.  Dad’s got some more work to do and Mum and I will catch up with Nan and my 2 legged sister again.  The trip was a bit exciting in places.  It rained nearly all the way but the countryside was just beautiful.  Funny but on the trip down to Victoria the countryside was so dry and brown that Mum didn’t even take too many photos cause it looked sooooooo crook.  Well on the trip back it looked like the Emerald Isle.  Everything was so green and beautiful.  What a difference a few weeks can make,  aye?  We took this tiny little back road when we first left Cudgewa and we travelled through a place called Tumbarumba.  Mum loves Tumbarumba.  It’s up in the hills and it snows there in winter time.  Not big time like your snow but it does snow sometimes.  Tumby, as it is called,  is a very pretty little town and the people are very friendly and very nice.  Mum and Dad had a VERY FUNNY experience there a few years back so I thought I’d tell you about it.  They arrived early afternoon in Tumby ….. Harri and Lucy was with them and they had been told that if they wanted something to eat that night they would need to book as there was a big convention or something in town and all the restaurants  (there’s only about 2 of them and restaurants’ is a very loose term)  were busy.  They were also told that the local golf club was a good place to eat if you liked Chinese food.  They set out to check it out …. parked in the carpark and Dad went in to have a look at the place.  Mum stayed in the carpark and took Harri and Lu for  a walk around.  Well … what a shock she got.  A whole lot of  blokes  pulled up in their cars and trucks, got out, stripped down to their undies and THEN …..donned  women’s dresses and headed off into the golf club.  Heaps of ‘em!!   Even two police officers.   They breed ‘em big in Tumby too.  All big mountain type blokes.  Mum couldn’t believe her eyes.  What was going on?????   Well she soon found out.  Dad came out of the golf club and it took him a while to stop laughing before he could tell her the story.  Harri and Lucy were left in the car and Mum and Dad went into the club house to see the spectacle.  Apparently it was a charity day and all the blokes had to dress up as Sheilas and go out and play a round of golf.  This they did. There were some VERY elaborate dressers there too.  One bloke had a bikini on.  OMD I would have liked to see that.  Another bloke was dressed up in the Charleston era clothes,  beads,  feathers,  high heels and all.  Here’s a funny twist though …. The blokes all left their wallets,  mobile phones etc.  on the bar while they went out to play.  No pockets in dresses, aye??  And here’s how good the town of Tumby is …. No-one was worried that they might be stolen while they were out there playing golf.  Great little town,  Tumby.  No-one locks their houses or cars or trucks, either.  Just like the good old days, aye??

Just out of Tumby Mum had a real treat.  SHE SAW A DEER!!!!!!!!  In the wild.  Not on a farm or in a zoo but just out there.  Mum has lived for 68 million years in Australia and travelled all over the place and  has never seen a deer in the wild before.  She’s been told they are out there but she’s never seen one before. It was two actually. A big one and a little one.  We had been driving beside a pine forest and it was right on the edge of the pine forest that we saw them.  Mum tried to get her camera out but she took too long and they disappeared before she could  get a photo but she saw them.  We all did!!  They aren’t native to here but nor are rabbits or goats or pigs and we have wild ones of those and Mum has seen all of them but until now NO DEER!!  She was VERY excited.  She’s seen all  your pictures of deer and really likes them …. fair made her day … crikey they are pretty things, aye?? That was the exciting part of our day. The rest of the trip was pretty ordinary. It was a long drive and I got VERY bored.  Did my share of barking much to Mum and Dad’s disgust.  What’s with them?  Whenever I barked before they would stop the car and take me for a bit of a walk. I’d get back in the car and be good and quiet for another little bit. NOT ANY MORE!!!!  They just let me bark away ….. hmmmmmmmmmph!  S’pose I’ll just have to be bored and go to sleep like Harri and Lucy did when they travelled.  Yeah????????  Well that’s what they think will happen!  I’ve got news for them …..I’m not Harri or Lu … I’m Charlie and you lock me up in that car and  I’m gunna bark and bark and bark and bark and bark!!!!!!!!! 

Crikey …. No pictures ….. what’s happened to my photographer???  Sorry … I’ll have words with her.  Here’s one of the Sydney leash free park we go to. It’s in an old cemetery. How good is that? There’s always heaps of dogs there and I’m sure the dead people like to have so much happening around them. Mum, Dad and Harri once saw some kids playing cricket and they were using one of the headstones for their stumps. Too funny.  It is a VERY OLD cemetery and Mum loves walking around reading all the headstones. There’s some VERY sad stories there.

Looks deserted but trust me .... there's heaps of blokes here. They all congregate in a big open section where we run and run.

Pwivacy pwease!!!!!!

Balmoral beach on Sydney harbour. One of Mum's favourite spots in Sydney.

From Balmoral beach looking toward the entrance to Sydney harbour. That's North Head to the left.The one on the south isn't South head. You can't see South head from Balmoral.  That's one of our famous ferries you can see if you make it a bit bigger.

Wanna run …. Love, Charlie.