Moist

... Friday, 17th Feb...

This evening we went to Rah Collective's first exhibition at their new gallery space Dampstore. The theme of the exhibition was MOIST... my favourite interpretations were by qwux and Chris Lee. Dampstore is run by Matt Dampney where he works in his studio and sells brilliant tshirts, skateboards and art work. Go visit him in Curl Curl, he has awesome new ping pong apparel!

Beach Bowl, Australian Open of Surfing at Manly

... Thursday, 16th Feb...

Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek getting ready to drop in to the 12-foot bowl, custom built on Manly beach.

Today we went to the Australian Open of Surfing at Manly. It's a week long event filled with surf competitions, an art wall, live music and the Beach Bowl. Today was practice time for all the skaters and we were lucky enough to be up in the bleachers when pros such as Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist, Pedro Barros, Josh Stafford and Australia's own Renton Millar were bashing the bowl. The weather was beautiful too. I loved it! We didn't see much surfing...

Mr Lizard

..15th Feb...

Check out this wee guy! They are everywhere here, just scampering around.

Be My Valentine

I'm sorry, these photos are certainly not magnificent. Today was a busy day and a nice day. I got a brilliant package from my lovely and talented friend Lesley Barnes, containing a limited edition print and some wonderful illustrations. I was desperate for some inspiration, thank you Lesley! I had a great meeting in the city too! Could lead to something quite exciting. We'll see. Also... it was Valentine's day, a day I usually dread... however, a beautiful red rose, pizza, ice cream and views of the harbour made it very nice indeed. Thank you lovely people x

More Rainy Days

from Monday 6th Feb...

I've been a little slack recently. It's been raining almost every day... sort of like being back in Scotland! Today I went to Bondi and Tamarama for a beautiful coastal walk... I had my shorts on, sun lotion and sunnies. Guess what? It was COLD! I felt like such a fool, everyone was wearing jeans and coats, can you believe it? In the middle of an Australian summer. It was also windy, and the waves were a mess. I walked down by the water and spotted some crazy guys out surfing, in the hurling wind and rain. Wouldn't it be good to be so fearless?

Shady Pines Saloon

from Saturday 4th Feb...

The taxi driver looked confused, perhaps even a little disgusted, when we asked him to take us to Shady Pines Saloon. No wonder, it's a secret bar, close to the most outrageous nightlife in Sydney. On a small lane behind Oxford Street, the notorious party street displaying more than most eyes would care to see, hides a line of people waiting by what seems to be an empty shopfront. 'Is this it?' We thought, but didn't want to ask anyone. Then as we waited, in the one-in-one-out que, we heard other people asking the same question. This must be really something. Slowly but surely we made it to the door and, as it opened, the sound, smell and feel of a bar in an old Western movie enveloped us like a warm breeze in a hot room. Shady Pines is brilliant.

Happy Australia Day!

Thurs 26th January

Today is Australia Day, the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet from Great Britain. Bringing in eleven ships full of convicts, as well as marines, officers and their families, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack flag at Sydney Cove in 1788. Australia Day is also about celebrating what Australia has achieved and focusing on how to make the country even better in the future.

Despite the relentless clouds and rain, we celebrated at Big Day Out, an annual music festival which tours across Australia midsummer. While this year’s headliners Kanye West and Soundgarden drove the crowds away, acts on smaller stages blew us away. Kimbra performed beautifully, as did Boy and Bear, The Jezebels, and Stonefield. Kasabian rocked the stadium while Tony Hawk shredded a custom built skate ramp, and Noel Gallagher wrapped up the night magnificently with his band High Flying Birds. After growing up with Oasis, it was quite moving to see Noel performing in front of such a small, friendly crowd. He should have been rocking the main stage, instead of Kanye with his overused sound buttons and long, drawn out, egotistical expressions.