New York May June 2010

Straight from snowy Sunshine into the arms of a frozen New York, supposedly avoiding the Sydney autumn and winter but shockingly cold!

We arrived and Trinity and India went straight to Blue school. We had found a wonderful (Australian) babysitter for our entire stay - the sweet Sophie. The school term had only three and half weeks until the US spring break. We took advantage of one of the school excursions and went to the Poets house in Battery Park, lower Manhattan. 50,000 books of poetry to read and photo copy free of charge, open to the public. There was a kids room with questions to trigger poem writing for kids. Trinity wrote her first poem:

We dance, we sing, we play all day
Then the bell rings for a school day
And then what happens?
And then what happens?
We have a dream and what is in that dream?
A sloth eating her lunch at school
Then we wake up and all is quiet
We think our dream is really a flight

Trinity Rock, 28 May 2010

The girls took flights of fancy and roamed Soho and Tribeca in princess outfits. The art in the streets always amazes me. Such a vibrant city with the street sometimes being the best canvas for artists trying to break through.

Thankfully the city warmed up pretty quickly. In fact it was pretty extreme as weather changes go. The next week we hit 30 Celsius most days and so we journeyed to water fountains in local parks to cool off. This seems to be the NYC way - minimal public pools, and lots of water fountains in most parks.

David and I took a couple of breaks from the girls to enjoy the delights of New York. We went to an off Broadway show 'Our town' which was wonderful and heart wrenching. We also got to see the reprisal of 'Hair' which was surprisingly great. Again an incredibly moving show, with David reliving learning drums to the soundtrack with the drummer onstage after the show.

Because of David's crazy travel schedule the girls and I got to hang out together and go site seeing. We visited Chelsea markets for ice cream then the Highline for a green diversion.We also found a grooving carousel that had just opened up in the same area, on the Hudson river near the west village. We ate dinner on the Frying pan, an old boat that had been salvaged and strapped together with two others, and a perfect summer evening for a beer watching the sunset.

The girls took the time to write some more poems.

The Highline
Tell me what thoughts?
A train on the Highline
Grass amongst the threads
A bee hums
The wind blows a scarf
The railing like keys of a piano
Dancing a song on the rails
Trinity Rock 30 May 2010

Mum
I want to go over the waves
to our house, to get home
and bring her into the sea
and climb the rocks with her

India Rock 30 May 2010

Because our annual leadership retreat was shortly, I was hard at work preparing during the week. Weekends were a different matter. The girls and I hitched a ride with Ashley and family, Blue school staff member out to Storm King. It is an enormous sculpture park in up state New York. We drove along the Hudson valley for an hour, looking for bears, and deer on the way with no success. It was an end of year event for a Blue School sub group called paintings and picnics. The temperature was around 35 Celsius as we walked around the grassy park and then trammed around the grounds pasts amazing sculptures and installations.

Because of the end of the school year, there were school art shows and weird and wonderful events, including an end of year play (left, Trinity as a tiger), as well birthday parties being squeezed in before everybody breaks for holidays.

My favourite was the 'happening' that involved the students and parents making a spider web in a class room and then role playing flies (parents) and spiders (kids). The Blue school is also moving over the spring break to a new building and the children took time to imagine what the new school should be like (see above right for the suggested design in progress).

We also got the chance to catch up with my old friends Marni and Jess, with a rooftop BBQ on our last weekend. Trinity found a firm friend in Leo from Germany (second from the bottom on slippery dip, with India at the very top, with photo credit to Marni Hine). Marni is about to move to Australia late in the year so one of my NYC friends will no longer be there! Luckily she is planning to spend some time in Bondi.

Here is India grooving on the carousel.

Banff, Canada - May 2010

So far this trip we have already been to San Diego for 3 days for a conference and meetings, Calgary for 3 days for David delivering a program and a talk and now Banff for 7 days of rest and recuperation.

Last year I requested that David take this week off. It includes my birthday (1st), Trinity's birthday (7th) and mothers day (2nd sunday of May), so this really is the big family week of the year, at least in my book.

David decided that the perfect week would be in Banff, as he surely loves to snow board. So we booked into the Sunshine Village Lodge, the only ski in accommodation in Banff, and the only field still open so late in the season.

The snow to date had been fairly poor with a base of 150cm only. But it started snowing from the time we arrived and only stopped in patches for the whole time we were there. With 20cm of powder over our time there, we were happy.

There was a wonderful day care place for when the girls couldn't face the onslaught of snow each day, when it was too cold to deal with a lesson. And they loved it. Because it was the end of the season the day care had space and toys enough for 40 kids, and only the two girls on some days to enjoy the attention of the carers who, like all the other staff on the mountain seemed to be Australian.

The girls had toboggan runs there too, and India would have occasional ski lessons during her stay in day care, which she loved. By the time she left she could keep her ski's together and laughed loudly when gaining speed going downhill.

Trinity on the other hand, took on the snow board for the first time and had three lessons over the week. It was a hard debate between boarding and skiing, won over ultimately by the understanding that boarding was 'cooler' though a bit harder upfront. On the last day she travelled all afternoon with David on big mountain runs, and loved it.

Each day after the lifts had closed we sat in the hot tub, with occasional trips out to make snow angels in the snow. The weather was magic with snow falling most of the time, and with sunny patches too. And because it was spring the sun did not set until 9pm.

David and I got to board in 2ocm of powder, the best snow I have ever been on, with an awesome mountain or three to choose from. Our favourite was Goat's Eye mountain, which was pretty much pure black diamond runs. From Alpine slopes at the top, through frozen creeks arounds the side, tree filled gullies and lots of jumps, we had a ball. This is my second trip after having kids, and I really found my feet again on the board.

Trinity's brithday was the last full day on the slopes and David started it with an snow cake with icicle candles that were blown out.

David took Trinity snowboarding for the afternoon, then we went down the mountain for a special night out in the town of Banff itself, finding a nice vegetarian restaurant called 'Nourish'. She had a great day.

We then left early the next morning for our next adventure - Blue School in New York.

Below is a video of India skiing and Trinity boarding - I am sorry it is sidewards, but I dont know how to change the orientation!



Here is Trinity boarding with her dad.

Bintan, Singapore March 2010

Our Singapore business continues to grow and David is there frequently to deliver to one of our biggest clients globally. Luckily we are only an hour ferry ride away from the quiet and beautiful tropical islands of Indonesia.

We decided to take a well deserved long weekend from our busy schedule to Bintan. The timing was not perfect, as we hit some pretty solid monsoon rain the first two days, but then it cleared and we got to enjoy a resort near a major shipping lane.

The girls had a ball, with the kids club, face painting, t-shirt painting, sand painting and model painting. They painted anything that moved. They even made friends with a local monitor lizard feeding it tinned tuna.

David and Trinity also took time to focus on creating an acrobatic performance in the pool.

The beach was lovely aside from sand flies, and pollution including floating tar globules that were quite hard to wash off. David took Trinity out on a jet ski, which involved 10 minutes of screaming. We also snorkeled, kayaked, bogey boarded and body surfed after the water had cleared from the rain.

We ate at the restaurant on the beach at night as there was a festival on with nightly performances of various islands music and dancing. The girls enjoyed the shows so much they occasionally joined the dances up front.



After the long weekend we caught the ferry back to Singapore in a very mellow mood. I tried going shopping in the mall next store, but it was all too much so we retreated to the pool to gather enough strength to deal with normal life in Singapore.

We stayed at the Amara hotel in the city, and I had meetings at the bank and with the accountant (the glamour side of our business), and the kids had a babysitter from the hotel who took them down into the depths of the hotel basement into the housekeeping department.

We stayed on the club floor of the hotel, where business people usually stay. We used the facilities fully, though with more noise and movement then most. A three and seven year old don't tend to mix well with business people having quiet meetings. But you cant have everything.

Sadly India became a little sick, vomiting with a slight fever, but no dampening of spirits.

I got to see the new Singapore office, a temporary facility while we source a more permanent option. Our new operations manager Eileen was also there (new business card in hand). And Angie was at the coffee machine, happily using the perks of having an office finally.

Then the girls and I flew home, knowing that we will be back soon enough.

Fiji, January 2010

We had a good christmas in Tamarama with family and friends. We built the xmas tree as a family project over a weekend. It was made with recycled materials, with painted leaves and cardboard.

A few days later we took off to Fiji - firstly with two days in Denaru then catching a ferry to Treasure Island, 17km from the international airport.

The island is one of three islands traditional held by one clan from the main island of Fiji. A village owns 50% of the resort with a 99 year lease, and some of the staff hark from that village and have worked at the island for over 20 years. The people are friendly and welcoming, great with the kids, and apparently, terrible at cooking.

We arrived on New Years Eve which was a bit challenging, as preparation and rearrangement of the facilities was underway for the party that evening. The party was wonderful with lots of singing and dancing, fire sticks and hula type swinging, with the evening ending with David and Trinity jumping into the pool at midnight, while India slept nearby on a sun lounge. She slept through the fireworks, not moving a muscle.

We settled into our Bure, hammock out front, with a view through the palms to the waves lapping the beach, an umbrella down on the sand with to banana lounges waiting for us. The island is very small and takes 15 minutes to walk around. There is nothing dangerous there other then relatively harmless sharks.

The day we arrived we saw a small fin just off the beach beside our Bure (traditional hut), and I sent Trinity down to the water to investigate. It was a beautiful little black tip reef shark. David feels less confident now with my watching over the children. Trinity seemed quite happy with the pool after that.

There were lots of endangered species roaming the island (one of the reasons we chose it). You can't move far without tripping over a Banded Rail, a slow witted bird that cannot fly. Easy pray for hungry folk (a bit boney if you ask me). Also crested iguanas and hawks beak turtles (of Nemo fame - dude), amongst others.

Soon after arriving Trinity asked to go on a fishing expedition with hand reels. It was an hour of pure delight to watch her bafflement as to why people would go fishing at all. The area around the island is a marine sanctuary, and though the boat goes beyond the sanctuary they still encourage you to throw the fish caught back. On the trip back I asked what Trinity had learned: 'I learned not to go fishing' she responded. A job well done.

We swam, and snorkelled. It is very funny to try to spot the Aussie at a resort - the ones in full length sun shirts, plenty of sun cream and hats (even in the pool).

David finally took the time to get his open water dive ticket after years of resort dives. I see diving in our future. The water was clear, lots of beautiful coral and fish outside our Bure and around the island. David got to go on some magnificent dives.

The kids enjoyed the kids club and pool. They got to be in fashion parades and dance performances at dinner for the rest of the guests. Which they hated, as you can imagine, shrinking violets that they are. They learned to shave coconut flesh, searched for hermit crabs in the dark, and had their hair braided.

Sadly, the day before I was booked for my dive trip I sprained an ankle and had to sit by the pool for the rest of the trip, self-medicating. But I made it through okay. See India trying to help me find zen after the fact.

My favourite story is the one of some keen guests ready to go skinny dipping one night, near the lights shine on a certain beach. They tromped down to the sand, rather happy with thoughts of what was to come. And then they saw ten little fins circling in the light - reef sharks that feed on the fish attracted to the light. They did not make it in for a dip that evening. We did verify and there is in fact circling fins each night at that spot.

I got to have my first ever helicopter ride on the return trip from Treasure island to the airport. We came home entirely satisfied, rating this trip to Fiji as our second favourite trip ever after Bintan.

David went on to take the girls to Terrigal for four nights, with side trips to two zoos (continuing research for Trinitys goals to run a zoo when she grows up).

I stayed in Sydney to do an art course and enjoy my first time without the girls not involving work. Bliss!

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.