Dear
Friends, I forgot to tell you last Sunday that I would be heading to Sydney
during the week with Danny Millman, and that there would be no Sunday Dispatch.
You are getting a Tuesday Trumpet instead.
Although
it was cold on Monday, it wasn’t wet, so Wes mowed the upper lawns and planted
a Gallipoli Centenary Floribunda Rose (made in Germany) that I had bought from
Ken Rae at the Sunday Market. I planted all the little seedlings I had bought
to replace the massacred geraniums and the dog decking is looking a little better
for some colour.
I
also bought Bilbo a warm rug which he absolutely loves and demands be put on
him as it gets cooler in the afternoon.
Wes
took Barbara to lunch at the Farmers Arms Hotel to celebrate her birthday – her
choice of venue, and they enjoyed their time out.
On
Tuesday, I joined 16 others to see the film ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’, which I
enjoyed very much, although I am still torn between reality and the deception.
I haven’t decided yet which is better, but obviously, the deception was kinder
as far as the story went. Wes and I met for a quick lunch afterwards at The
Food Gallery, and then he visited his sister, Denise, who had rung needing help
with her computer, while I went home to play with my new phone, which had been
delivered that morning.
It
was wild & wet on Wednesday, so there were no walks and only 4 of us turned
up to gym. We devoted the morning to changing our Telstra passwords – always fun,
as there are so many places you have to remember to do it, finishing off with
the mobile phones. Wes visited Barbara, but couldn’t do much practical stuff
because of the weather.
The
afternoon was spent doing more passwords, as well as packing. It will be good
to have a break from all this computer work – I am doing more than I usually
do, while I work my way methodically through our e-wallet. Sandra came to
clean, Mah Jong was cancelled because Valerie had to go to Bendigo, which
suited Dot & me as it was so wet and unpleasant outside.
We
were up early on Thursday, and off to the airport in Brigadoon conditions,
which really only lifted around Keilor. Danny arrived just before us, so we
settled into the Qantas Club and waited until our delayed flight finally
boarded. Once on board, we discovered that only one runway was in use, so we
had a further 40 minutes wait before we hit the skies. We arrived an hour late
to driving rain in Sydney and caught the train direct to Town Hall Station,
which was 1.5 blocks from our hotel, Metro on Pitt.
We
checked into our hotel and contacted Jane Knox, who came into town to meet us and
chat for an hour over a hot drink. Danny & I were hungry as we had missed
lunch, so we headed to one of his favourite places, Fat Buddha, at the top of
the Queen Victoria Building and enjoyed a couple of hours leisurely meal of
chilli prawns & steamed fish.
The
next morning we headed out for tea & toast at Kikko, one of my favourite
spots in Sydney, which is also in the Queen Victoria Building, before enjoying
a mostly dry walk around Darling Harbour, Chinatown, Paddy’s Market etc. We
ended up in the mall, where I bought a new pair of pants from Kathmandu.
Kikko café
Back
to Chinatown for yum cha lunch with Peter, a 79-year old friend of Danny’s, who
had caught the train in to meet us. We enjoyed a very yummy lunch at Judi &
Michael’s favourite yum cha spot. Afterwards, we had thought we would watch a
film, but it was school holidays and not much on offer, so we elected to go
back to our hotel for a rest instead.
Danny & Peter at
East Ocean
Later,
we caught the train to Circular Quay, after panicking when we read that there
were no paper tickets available any more – fortunately we spotted the fine
print, which said ‘ after 1st August’. At the Quay, we caught a
ferry to Neutral Bay, where Jane picked us up and took us back to their home
for dinner and a night of watching the Swans play Geelong at Kardinia Park. We had
a wonderful night – beautiful meal, lovely wine, and a good win for the Swans.
Jane very kindly drove us back to our hotel afterwards.
On
Saturday morning, we decided to have breakfast in the park, so walked through
the Domain to find The Pavilion was open for business. We walked through the
door, past the open sign and were promptly advised that they weren’t open until
9am. I asked politely if we could sit until then, which we did and on the dot
on 9am we were given our menus. If the view wasn’t so lovely, we would have
walked straight out. Breakfast was fine and we continued our walk afterwards,
all the way to the Opera House and back to our hotel via George Street. Jane
& David picked us up and we drove to Homebush, in plenty of time for the match.
Danny, David &
Jane at the Showgrounds Stadium
Apart
from the incessant noise from the ground announcer, which made chatting
impossible, we enjoyed our time there, especially after the first quarter, when
the Pies suddenly decided to play and kicked 9 goals to 2 to take the lead.
Jane, Danny & I were sitting together upstairs, and the rest of our party –
David, Terry, Tim & Marjory were all on the bottom level. It was a very exciting
game and a thrilling win, especially with Travis Cloke playing his best game in
ages.
Afterwards
we dropped Danny at Leichhardt to catch the light rail back to our hotel, where
he was meeting his friend Min. The rest of us made our way to the North
Annandale pub and later down the street to the Vinery Restaurant.
Marjory, Time &
Jane perusing the menus
Jane
& David dropped me back at the hotel afterwards, where sadly I seemed to
have a bout of food poisoning and spent a most uncomfortable night, finally
falling asleep at 5am.
I
missed out on Sunday’s activities, which included a walk around a new
development called Barangaroo and very yummy dumplings for lunch. I spent the
day in bed, and around 1pm risked tea & biscuits, which fortunately stayed
down. Our lovely hotel rooms included packets of biscuits, a clock radio, quiet
& efficient air-conditioning and a wonderful walk in shower. The staff didn’t
disturb me until early afternoon, when they rang to see if I was all right.
Yesterday,
David picked us up at our hotel and very kindly drove us to the airport in
plenty of time for our flight home. We sat in the Qantas Club and had fruit
salad, which was just right for my sore tummy. Wes was at the airport to greet
me and we had a lovely trip home, where Bilbo seemed pleased to have me back. I
had a mug of soup before going to bed and am feeling much better this morning.
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