New York, November 2009

Of course all good things have a down side and we found it this trip in the form of nits. We may have imported nits into the US. Or maybe not...we will never know for sure. Aside from the endless combing in front of the TV, my favourite part was getting to say a very Croc Dundee 'You call that nit? No mate, in Australia nits are this big.' See Sona Wink playing with Trinity.

The girls have continued to find ways to play , from painting with water colours to yoga, as well as making their own laptops and cell phones. They have also been lucky with adventures, getting to walk the high line, and go to a farm to pick a halloween pumpkin amongst other things.

New york mostly feels incredibly safe, certainly a lot safer then then when I first lived there in the early 90's as a model. This time we had the pleasure of a brush with the efficiency of the polisce which was both exciting and a reminder of the necessity of paying attention.

We met some friends on the streets in Soho, with many distractions, including types like a man with a cat on his head. We started chatting and Trinity laid her scooter to the side to pat a dog close by. A moment later a taxi pulled up and the driver asked if we were missing a scooter. And of course we were. The (plain clothes) police had picked up a young lad with a newly acquired scooter down the block. We hardly knew what was going on before it was all handled by the police. We got to face the young boy, and the police asked Trinity if she had anything she wanted to say to the boy. She declined to comment, and the police promised to scare him a way form a life of crime. Good luck with that.

This is the latest in the fall that we have been in New York, So we have gotten to enjoy wrapping up to go out and watching the turning of the leaves. After some prompting from Trinity we went ice skating in Central Park. My friend and fellow Australian, Marni, came too. A long time New Yorker, who I first met while living in Osaka, Japan, and had the fortune to hang out with a lot in Hong Kong.

Trump ice rink is at the south end of central park, with the beautiful city scape behind. The rink had rental boots small enough for India, so we all got to go on the ice together. There was lots of slipping and sliding, and a slow acceptance from Trinity that falling was the only way to learn. Marni was patient teaching her how to be okay, while I carried India gliding just above the ice.

The next week was Veterans day. I happened upon the parade by accident. Watching all those men and women makes me incredibly sad, so I couldn't stay too long. The thought of youth going to war, dying, being maimed, or mentally scarred for life is an appalling thought and yet an army is entirely necessary.

I was served the next day at the post office by a Vietnam veteran. He said that before 9/11 nobody came to watch the parade each year. After that people had a sense of what it might be like to be in harms way, to be in constant jeopardy. He said that what was funny was that 9/11 was 20 mins of uncertainty and fear. War is 24/7, for months at a time. I have no wish to imagine that experience.

My final Saturday night was spent fare welling good friend Ara Koopelian from New York. Ara is an Australian photographer, who has lived in New York for a long time. Ara introduced David and I, so we have a lot to thank him for (as well as being one of the family photographers). At Ara's farewell was another face from long ago. Eric Bertuccio, advertising writer, now New Yorker, worked at the boutique ad agency VCD, my first real job after returning from modeling in Paris.

And then it was time to go home. No upgrades this time, and the girls traveled beautifully, with not a single cry through the 24 hours of travel. They are champions, as several people on the plane noted. Home to the strawberry patch and a Sydney Summer. Heading for 35 degrees celsius on Saturday, so the weather man says.

New York October 2009

We had one and a half months planned in New York. Thankfully, considering what we had to fit in.... The girls and I arrived on a Sunday night after hanging around the pool in LA for a day.

We were greeted with open arms by our New York family, Griffin, Gracen, Jaimie, David and Lucky the dog. We launched into the New York experience with Trinity going straight to Blue School the next day. She loves the school, I think, because the class is small (10 kids) and they are the oldest kids in the school. Blue school is growing grade by grade, so Trinity gets to be queen of the school for a little while when she comes in, changing the dynamic, and bridging the gap between kids that don't normally hang out together.

This time Trinity is in first grade so she doesn't just get to have fun all the time - she also gets to do school work too. There is no space for India in the two year old's class this time so she gots to hang out with Emily the nanny, who had come along with us too.

The first big event on the agenda was David's book launch for Your Brain At Work which was truly wonderful. A breakfast for 100 people, 40 floors up, overlooking central park. The girls came along, Trinity getting to miss a days school.She even got to sign someones book too. It felt like a true coming of age for David. Our good friend Ara the photographer was there to capture the moment.

Next was TED x Blue. TED (ideas worth sharing) is a big conference that happens in Long Beach each year, with a cult following. Each speaker has 18 minutes to share their idea, so it is a really tight format. This event was an independently organised (thus the x) one specifically based around the idea of how to make education better with over 200 people there.

One of the videos played was of Blue School board member Sir Ken Robinson which is one of the most popular at the TED conference website. We were lucky enough for Sir Ken and his wife Theresa to join us for dinner on the first night of the summit in LA the following week. Dan Seigel spoke on mindfulness along with Chris Wink, David and Jaimie Cloud all talking about what is needed in schools.

It was then time to focus on the final details of the NeuroLeadership Summit which we held in Los Angeles this year. David and I flew in the night before, while the girls stayed with Emily and our family in New York. This allowed David and I to focus on the wonderful people a the summit.

With a combination of Leadership greats and neuroscientists, the event was quite overwhelming. The response from the participants and speakers alike was wonderful. It was a respectful and curious space created for the building a bridge between the latest neuroscience research and leadership both in education and organisations. The RCS staff that flew in for the event where champions and the event went off with out a hitch. We flew straight back to New York the next morning to see the girls who didn't appear to miss us much at all. All credit to Emily for looking after them so lovingly.

The next night was Halloween and Trinity choose to dress up as a member of Kiss the band, so we all joined in too, including Griffin (12). We went trick-or-treating in some apartment buildings around the financial district, and the kids ended up with way too much candy.

Then it was time for the parade, which starts right near our home in Soho. We walked around the start, enjoying the creativity and craziness. There was sushi, lots of wild things, and all kinds of other costumes. My favourite costumes was a couple dressed as a stairway to heaven and the road to hell. Sadly, I didn't get a good photo.

The next day was the New York marathon and our friend Stuart and his mate Warwick ran the 43 kilometers to help raise money for a sports foundation in the slums of Nairobi. Holey mackeral.

We took an hour to see a beautiful Georgia O'Keefe abstract exhibition at the Whitney while we waited for them to get closer to the finish line. We watched Stu and Warwick take the finish line, 6 hours after starting the run, ecstatic with their achievement.

It was amazing to feel the emotion, support and acknowledgment that the crowd poured onto the runners as they moved towards the finish line. Megaphones, signs, and the yelling of names on the runners shirts as they passed by. I was almost inspired to give it a try next year. I am sure the idea will fade.

Two weeks to go...on the downhill run now.

New Zealand, September 2009

Okay, naughty parents that we are, we snuck (?) away from the children for the first time since India was born. So this isn't really a family blog...

A bit of context if you will....part of our pre-nuptial agreement was that I had to learn to snowboard. And of course, David took me to learn on a live volcano, and then left me, a newbie boarder in the middle of a blizzard, on the slopes.

Of course, I passed the test and we go back to the volcano every few years. Mt Rupheau is in the middle of the north island of New Zealand. The place is called Whakapapa, and it is an excellent ski field full of bowls and gullies created by lava flows.

We stay at a place called the Chateau Tongarao, named after another nearby volcano. It is a grand old place in the middle of nowhere and perfect for relaxing, especially after having thrown your body down the hill all day.

From there we went to a conference, and then home to the children who has been in the care of grandparents.

Bintan, Indonesia, July 2009

School holidays are still new to us, so it was slightly surprising that we actually aligned our travels with one. David was working in Singapore and had time between training days, so we met him in Club Med Bintan, an hours ferry ride from Singapore. Some people that had met David in Tokyo would be there too.

I have never been to a Club Med and was not keen on the concept. I am happy to say expectations were surpassed by a long way. Both the girls went to kids club the first few days, keen to get into the activities - from archery, to kite making, fish feeding, water slides and so on.

David and I relaxed and enjoyed time off. And then we threw ourselves into the Club Med experience.

Swimming, yoga, massages, sailing, windsurfing, though David was unhappy with the wind's performance over the week. The photo on the left is of David on the one relatively windy day on a sailing boat - in the background you might be able to see a girl who jumped overboard.

Each night after dinner there was circus skills practice, a show and then line dancing and of course the free drinks. We learnt how to juggle, diablo, hula hoop, and indeed salsa dance too. The major shows each night were quite amazing, cirque du soleil types, to comedy, and rock and roll.

The high point, literally, for us was the trapeze. I took to it like a duck to water, getting to do tricks and catches. Trinity took a little longer to warm to it, ending up doing many flamingos and a final knee hang and back flip off which turned into ten somersaults in a row. She made firm friends with the crew. Monkeys even came to watch.

The big story was watching David trust himself and his body to fly through the air. After a couple of days of simple swinging he decided he was ready for a back flip and then the next day went the whole way to do a knee hang and then back flip off the trazpeze (see the video below). I will load videos of Trinity and me flying too and will send out the links separately.

Totally satisfying as holidays go. Then to the ferry, airport hotel for the night and an early flight home.

New York June 2009, part 2

As always, I leave this town with my head spinning. It takes time to adjust, and get into the rhythm and just as I do, it is time to leave.

This trip has been a good one. We found, thanks to Jaimie and Joe, a great venue for David's book launch on October 13th (see the view to the right). Our friend Ara helped us come up with a fabulous idea for the launch, which we will keep under our hats until the event.

Trinity tried out Tai Kwan Doe, which she loved. We watched eight year old's spa, and were impressed by their energy and focus. She loved chasing around the instructor trying to land a blow with both fist and foot.

Summer camp run by blue school allowed Trinity a week of hanging out with other kids and doing great creative projects.

One of the big events of the trip was going out to Coney Island to see the Mermaid parade which happens around the summer solstice each year. Sadly it was raining this year, so the parade ended early.

We walked along the board walk past lots of amazing creatures and costumes. Our favourite was the sea creature, which India was entranced by, as he ate his fish and chips under cover during the rain. We all dressed up, with Trinity as a mermaid (including a blond wigand a shell shaped bra top). Unfortunately I didn't get any good photos but it was great fun for her.

Coney Island is an interesting place. The fun fair has lots of great rides for little kids, though operating intermittently due to the rain on the day. I was tempted by the 'Shoot the freak' game (!). We were deeply sad to miss the hot dog eating competition that was due to take place in 12 days.

Trinity and I also had the pleasure of going to the Broadway show 'The little Mermaid'. Last time she saw the 'Lion King' with her father, so this time we got to sing along with Ariel. We then walked around Times Square which is now a more pedestrian place, as they have fenced off many of the roads to allow for the vast amounts of tourists that walk around there each year.

The trip ended on a high note. We got to JFK burdened with the normal extra luggage collected in NYC and found that we had been upgraded to business class the whole way home. Ahhhh, such happy events.

New York, June 09

I love New York. It is such a great town. We arrived Wednesday night, way too late, and on Thursday afternoon went to the last hour of the last day (before summer break) of Blue School with Trinity. The kids and teachers greeted her with joy and excitement.

One of the children, Charles was having his birthday party that afternoon so we gate crashed the party, which happened to be one of the most amazing birthday parties I have ever been too.

Held in a photographic studio on the waters edge, there was soccer, t-shirt painting, floating balloons, dress-ups, plays, dancing and great food. What an entry to New York. I connected with the mothers, arranged some play dates, drank some champagne. Such hard work.

I feel very blessed to be part of the blue school community, the parents are open hearted and welcoming to us, the kids are bold and creative and it feels like coming home in many ways. Trinity fits right in. David is on the board of the school and contributes the latest neuroscience to the curriculum. See the Time magazine video here.

We are also blessed to stay with the Cloud Levine household in NYC. They open their space to us, and allow us to be as chaotic as we are! We have common ground in growing businesses, and similar values in improving our world. Jaime runs sustainability training for K-12 teachers across the US, and David is a sustainable chemical composition guy, who lobbies the government about recycling materials, makes jars out of corn and other fantastical things.

Other big news is that Trinity has two new teeth coming up in front at the bottom. Unfortunately the two teeth already there need to make way, so we are waiting with baited breath for the tooth fairy to arrive for the first time.

Prague, Czech Republic June 09

David left for London to teach his class at Oxford and pitch some business, while the girls and I flew from Singapore to Frankfurt and then on to Prague. I had heard a great deal about the beauty of Prague, so was a little disappointed in the first few days walking around. High expectations can do that.

I found that Prague grows on you. Walking through the old town is beautiful at every turn. The squares are surrounded by amazing old clock towers and churches. Every building has an ornate front, sculptures and friendly gargoyle types. And the river winds its way through the city. Our first day we took random tram trips all over the city to get the lay of the land. The next day we went to Prague Museum which was filled with thousands of stuffed dead animals.

Summer in Europe is never to be trusted, especially with global warming. It was almost arctic so I spent time searching for warmer clothes for the girls. Luckily our rented apartment was wonderfully warm.

David arrived, and he and I focused on business. The reason for our visit to Prague was a Leadership Retreat for our businesses licensees from around the globe. Sadly a couple of them couldn't make it, so with three of our team from Australia we met as a group of 12 and had two days of solid talking and thinking about where we want to take our business, and what is next for us as a business. Really worth while, and a precursor to our next meeting in late July in Sydney with our regional managers from around the world, from markets we manage.

After the retreat was over we got to enjoy Prague again with the girls, by visiting Prague Castle and most importantly a toy museum with a '50 years of Barbie' exhibition. It just doesn't get better then traveling half way around the world to walk through rooms full of barbies.

The Czech people seem to be an outdoor loving group (that and fatty foods), with a decided lack of politeness for tourists. Overall a lovely city, and glad we had the opportunity to experience it (with the help of locals - thanks Vladi and Kristin).

Singapore May 09

The female Rocks left Sydney on May 27th 2009, with the au pair Emily in tow. We left a few days late due to a mumps scare. David went to Tokyo first to speak at the first TED conference there. Unfortunately he was laid low in bed for some of his short time there so didn't get to enjoy it fully. We met him in Singapore, where we slowly got to recover from the cold/sinus infection we had. Having Emily was a blessing which allowed for much needed rest.

Time by the pool and a trip out to the Sentosa Shangri La, with it's three water slides was relaxing and a nice way to start this trip.

Sydney May 09

The first Sunday in May is opening of the Icebergs season. We head down to the pool, where, after much ado, ice blocks are thrown into the water and then the members all jump in. We then swim 5o meters, have a sausage sizzle and beer, and head slowly home to a relaxed Sunday afternoon. See Guy and Siani doing their duty with ice in hand.

It was also Trinity's sixth birthday party with lots of chaos, family and friends to celebrate. She was thrilled that everyone came and more importantly gave her lots of good presents.

We also had the good news of a new niece, Natasha Hain, with a happy, though tired Danielle, Barry, Mikayla and Rhys. Congratulations to the Hain family.

Trinity and I got some quality time to go to the Kusama exhibition at the MCA, walk around Circular Quay and eat ice cream. We loved the magical fairly light room, and the fluro polka dot lounge room.

Also just before we left Trinity had a trial at Montessori East and decided she wants to go there despite the kids calling her Trinity Infinity. She will start back third term as she needs a week of quarantine, which segways into school holidays nicely.

The other big news is that David submitted his final manuscript for his new book to the publisher, promising not to write another book for another five years. I don't quite believe it myself. India didn't really help with the speed of the process either.