Woodford and Byron Bay January 2011

Summer holidays don't get much better then this....

We started with a scary flight from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast, due to bad weather. We had checked the weather forecast and had been undeterred by the warnings of flash floods, so we only had ourselves to blame.

Our first stop the next morning was to visit Australia Zoo run by the Irwin family in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. It was just like watching a TV show, but live. The whole family performed, with Bindi doing a series of songs, lip sinc'd with a foursome of girl dancers.

There were big crocs and crikeys. The Irwins seemed to have fun despite choreography and a much practised show. Afterwards the girls got to hang out with young Bob Irwin, playing in Steve's old truck on display. Great fun and a well put together zoo all up.

Then we moved on to the main show. Woodford folk festival is called mudford for good reason. This was the 25th year and they seemed to be well practiced with rain. We were ready, each with our own gum boats, rain jackets and umbrellas.

The festival is set in a valley, spread over several kilometres. It takes more then half hour to walk from the bottom of the festival to the top. The event starts after boxing day and finishes the day after New Years Eve, and the only real way to enjoy it is to stay in a tent.

There are around 15 large tents, covered venues, with amazing music playing pretty much constantly through out the seven day festival. In between each venue that are food stalls and shops selling musical instruments, hammocks, hats, and hippy clothes. Almost anything really.

There are comedians, bush poets and speakers on many weird and wonderful topics performing. Rock sculptures being made and remade through out the seven days around the festival. The girls obsessed about these rocks and made a few piles of their own through out the festival.

There is a special area just for the kids, which has free face painting all day long, amongst other things. Even on site babysitting which allowed David and I to enjoy new year eve on our own. Our favourite tent was the Chai tent, which is the only place that is carpeted and has pillows and low tables though out.

And everyone seems happy. There is a wonderful, friendly vibe, with people being nice to each other. There are few venues where alcohol is served. And happy people drifting from gig to gig.

One venue was called the dance hall and had lessons all day, from belly dancing to Bollywood, to African dancing, and much more. Trinity and India went to one on Burlesque makeup and hair (of course). To the left Trinity is on stage getting a 'kitten ears' hairstyle makeover.

Trinity and India's favourite site was the creeks, where the kids gathered. Trinity continues to build her leadership skills by bossing all the kids around (right). Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't.

Trinity met some unsavoury characters, like Kevin Rudd, the previous prime minster of Australia. Speaking of unsavoury, we got to play 'Bogan Bingo' - performed by the only Rock bingo band in the world. David got to rock the stage with his air guitar show too.

The final day, January 1st was beautiful. The fire event was magical and we lucked out to sit right next to the bonfires, and got nice and toasty. It began to rain and we finished with an absolute crescendo of mud, making all rain coats, umbrella's un-use able until washed and dried (a hard thing to do in the circumstances). We had our final showers and went back to our tent ready to move out the next morning from our recently unbogged car...that is another story.

While we can not crown it the best holiday ever, the girls have voted to repeat the festival next year come rain or shine. We had an absolute ball.

There is something wonderful about random social connections, a spiritual experience without it being shoved down your throat. Just beautiful.

What a blessed life we lead...


After Woodford, we drove down the coast to meet our good friends Stuart and Theresa with their two kids in Byron Bay. We has rented a beach house right on Belongil, which is slowly being eaten away by the sea. The backyard sits high above the crashing waves at high tide.

It rained a lot so India and Sienna got the hang of playing twister. Three year olds playing twister is something worth watching. Very cute.

We swam and jogged along the beach regardless of weather.

We had Stu's (to right with Sienna) birthday night at Rae's, a quite divine restuarant on the famous Wategoes Beach.

And Trinity learnt to surf, standing all the way in to the beach. Here she is in all her glory.

Sydney Christmas 2010

December in Sydney can be lovely, or it can rain alot. We had our work christmas party on a boat on Sydney harbour.

A few hours on a boat on a grey and cloudly Friday afternoon, turned into hours of laughter, swimming off the boat and much entertainment in Darling Point park with a view of the harbour bridge in the background. I love the people we work with. The ability to have fun is a most important attribute in a team member.

The next day was David's sisters 40th birthday party and the cousins got to spend some time in hanging out together. They love it so! Photo credit on left goes to Sam Rock. Natasha the youngest cousin is missing form the shot.

The other important task of the weekend was to build the christmas tree. We do this each year using different things. This year we built the structure using books (see right).

The next weekend was the real thing and the girls got a rare chance to see their other cousins, daughters of my brother Michael and his wife Jill. My parents held their first christmas at the new house in Gymea in Sydney's south. My father David played Santa Claus, as he already has the beard in place.

Present giving came before lunch, with Alannah and Trinity both recieving a magic kits, so expect some performances using cards and top hats soon.

Other gifts included a Harry Potter lego set, Trinity's current obsession, and India particularly liked her pink mask gift, which has been worn quite frequently since.

Auckland, Singapore Nov 2010

This was a trip I did on my own, with no girls to chase me out of meetings. The girls stayed home with Nanna and Granddad, much to everyones delight, with visits to swimming pools and church fetes in Sydney.

Auckland was lovely, with two days spent in a function center in a place called Eden Gardens. I met the key people in our New Zealand business, who at one point carried me. The next day was a conference for some of our trained coaches where I gave my first keynote for a long time (not sure I have ever done one, as normally David's forte).

We had the annual awards, with some 'cracker' prizes. Two of our coaches and trainers, Tia and Jhanna with their 'trophies'.

The weather was beautiful, the people lovely, and the gardens peaceful and serene. There were chickens running around the gardens, following around potential new friends. Just what I needed after only a week in Sydney, back from New York.

I then flew to Singapore to meet up with David and our team in Asia to do some strategic planning for the growth of the business next year. We also met our Indian partners, who we are starting a joint vengture with next year. Then David and I returned home to see our girls, for some good clean family fun.

New York, Boston October 2010

The girls and I caught up with David after arriving in New York. We settled in for the month of October with the girls excited to be attending Blue School.

David and my time was incredibly busy, with less of the normal sight seeing and entertainment I try to pack in to our trips.

The US business has stepped up to another level and we were busy keeping up with the growth and changes. We hired two new high level staff for the North American business, as well as closed some deals with great clients.

We did take one sunny Sunday to go uptown to the Cloisters, an art gallery and part of the metropolitan museum, specialising in medieval art. The guide books give much talk about the unicorn tapestries, and suggest these are an excellent draw card for kids. What they didn't mention is that in all of the tapestries the unicorns are being captured, tortured or worse. Not ideal for little girls. There was also a wonderful tasting garden full of edible plants and herbs.

Another high point was right next store, in the art gallery called Dietch. There was a temporary photographic studio set up, with lights, makeup table, and other amazing photographic resources, so we booked the studio for a few hours and took some photos, which will be shared at a later date. The girls enjoyed being on both sides of the camera. I also got a new camera though this one is bigger and harder to take around.

We went off to Brooklyn for a BBQ and backyard bonfire, with some old friends, Jess and Adrian, then David and I whizzed off for quick trip to New Orleans for an Organisational Development conference for two nights while 'aunty' Marni looked after the children.

The week after it was the NeuroLeadership Summit in Boston which was an amazing success and . Three days of neuroscience and wonderful people. We even had a dual off with gospel choirs for the gala dinner.

The kids got to spend quality time with Sophie the babysitter and tireless reader of Harry Potter. They walked the freedom trail, visited the grainary graveyard as well the Boston Children's museum. The weather was freakishly warm for Boston in late October and the trees and leaves were beautiful and varied.

The weekend of our return to New York was Halloween. Some of the crew from the summit came down and we went out to Wicked the musical on Saturday night and walked some of the parade through Greenwich village dressed up in our finest on Sunday eve.

India was dressed up as a princess and Trinity dressed as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. I have no good photos of this night sadly. David dressed as a southern rocker with a mullet and I was a pirate. Trinity walked all the way up to 9th Street with Gracen, her 'older sister' who lives in the apartment we share in Soho.

The girls were sad to leave Blue School, however the sunshine and warmth of Sydney coming into summer heals many things. David will follow us home via Germany and Singapore.

Munich, September 2010

The female Rocks are on the move again after almost a full school term in Sydney. We headed to Munich in Germany to work with a client as well as deliver a train the trainer program for our growing European team.

From Trinity (edited by Lisa):

We went to Munich, and on our first day we went to Oktoberfest, where we looked around at the rides. India was asleep.

We went into a big noisy hall, with a big band and a lot of really drunk people who were dancing and standing on tables. The music was from an Oompah pah band.

We went into a restaurant where we had chicken and chips, and mum ordered a really big beer. Everyone was wearing the national dress, the ladies were in a dress called drindl and looked pretty, and the men's clothes had straps and shorts called lederhosen, which were really cool.

We went on the Ferris wheel after India woke up. I went on a dodgem car for the first time and I bumped into a lot of walls. India got upset because she was too young to go on. We went on horsey's together and had ice cream and love heart necklaces that we could eat.

It was really fun. Trinity writing finishes.

We went to the Deutsches Museum which was perfect fodder for the next day, which was rainy. There was an amazing mining exhibit that was long, and looked as though we were travelling through underground mining tunnels, with different periods of mining technology.

Upstairs there were airplanes, including the first flying machines, huge boats and even replica space shuttles. Downstairs in the basement was the kids section, with water play, musical instruments and plenty to keep the kids from falling asleep from the jet lag.

I then worked for three days of training and the kids got to play with the new toy - an ipad, including movies to entertain them, while a German speaking babysitter looked after them.

We have now arrived in New York to meet up with David. The girls are loving Blueschool, but more on that next post.

Singapore Bintan June 2010

We arrived in Singapore two days before our annual Leadership Retreat event and with much jet lag. The girls were handed to babysitters, though these sometimes includes RCS staff, which were firm favourites by far. We had approximately twenty five people from around the globe for three days talking about how to grow our business and launching new products etc. By the end of it most people were exhausted and ready for a break. We changed gears and went into a train the trainer process for another couple of days - then it was time to rest.

David had missed the last two days to work with a client in Kuala Lumpa. We met back in Singapore and from there went straight to Bintan Club Med, voted our 'best ever holiday' last time around. And it did not disappoint. The food is outstanding, the pace slow, the people memorise all children's names and on holiday happy occupied children make for happy, relaxed parents.

Trinity found a new best friend with Ester a french girl living in Singapore. They hung out together constantly and loved playing on the beach until after sunset each night. The girls got to perform in a couple of shows.

Trinity sang 'I can sing a rainbow' while another girl signed. They also faced an air guitar championship. India didn't quite get it though, see the video below.

On our final full day in Singapore we went back to the Zoo. We fed giraffes and elephants and Trinity got a long kiss from a sea lion. It doesn't get much better then that.

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.