Soggy Sydney - Fab weekend

My adventure in soggy Sydney - as promised.

Just about everything came together the way it was supposed to for my four day long weekend earlier this month. Planes left on time and trains coordinated beautifully for my journey from Launceston to Sydney. Even the ferries worked out well for me between Kirribilli (where I stayed) and Circular Quay – where I didn’t.

The plan was to catch up with Sue (my writing buddy, Suberbabe) and her husband Dave on holiday from San Antonio Texas, the intrepid Jen (Thelma to my Louise – or is that round the other way? I can never be sure) and also fellow Aussie Diva, Lois who managed to make it down from north of Sydney to join us for dinner one night.

Yes everything was terrific, that is, except for the weather- and then there was the incident with my phone.

Sydney(and most of the Eastern Seaboard – except for Tasmania apparently) was enduring monsoonal weather from the fallout of Tropical Cyclone Olga.

I don’t cope well with muggy weather – even less well with muggy and wet – and that was Sydney weather in nutshell for that weekend.
I’d packed makeup, but didn’t even bother opening it. It would have sweated off the minute I walked out of the door.

The only thing that made it slightly bearable was that it wasn’t cold – merely overcast and grey – and very, very wet.

Still, we all managed to have a fantastic time. We talked and laughed a lot. We admired the fabulous harbour views from the Shangri La’s Horizon Club, tried to spot my tiny hotel on the other side of the Harbour and ate far too much. We walked all around the Rocks and Circular Quay and came to the conclusion that Sydney is a lot hillier than we’d realised – especially near the watery bits.

We managed to do quite a lot in spite of the weather including:

1) Go to the opening night of the Edinburgh Tattoo in Sydney with Jen and her mother– where we were drenched in a sudden downpour during the first half hour. Even though we wore raincoats we still got soaked. And those bits that were kept dry by the raincoats felt clammy anyway. But we tried to ignore the pruny feet and the disconcerting experience of sitting in a bucket seat that is quickly filling with water. I can tell you that you leap out of your seat fairly quickly when the water level rises past your knicker elastic and the water trickles over and down … and through (shudders).
Oh, and this is where my lovely new phone met its untimely end. It seems that the waterproof pocket in my carry bag was only good for keeping the water IN!

On a side note, I learned that my insurance doesn’t cover water damage, so I had to buy a new handset. It was either that or pay out on a contract I couldn’t use.
The kicker was that the phone was barely two weeks old and at the beginning of a new two year contract. However, I found a bargain on eBay and bought the same model for a 100 dollars cheaper than it would have cost me locally. So I felt a little better about that.

But for the time I was away, it was darn frustrating not to be in phone contact with home.

2) Visit Taronga Park Zoo by ferry with Sue and Dave and have our photo taken with the glamour-puss of all koalas - Eliza. Such a cutie she was too! She even tried to comb Sue’s hair with her claws. We took the skyrail trip across the park when we arrived and the view was breathtaking: bushland beneath and Sydney spread out for us in the distance. Apparently the giraffes have one of the best views in the country.

Sue was very keen to see a Platypus. They are very shy and nocturnal. We expected to have trouble spotting one during the day, but we even struggled to find the right enclosure! We did finally find one in a special nocturnal tank – and he / she flashed past us underwater in a very big hurry.

We had similar trouble spotting the Tasmanian Devil – he was sleeping under a rock, and the Wombat – which was huddled in a corner. Sue made up for it at the stuffed toy section though.


3) Go out for dinner with Lois, Sue and Dave at the Summit revolving restaurant in the imaginatively (not) titled Australia Square. We completed about two and a half rotations during the meal and we watched the sun setting over the city and the lights come on. It was very special.

The food was lovely but the service was pretty crappy. The food was not hot - and we had to pay for our vegetables separately. That is so wanky!
We were also given a wine list but no one came back for our order!!! Silly people. Don’t they know that’s where they make their money?

3) Bought a Daytripper ticket for trains and ferries and window shopped around underground arcades with Jen while trying to keep out of the rain. Sue and Dave were checking onto their Cruise liner that morning. Occasionally we ventured out of doors and I learned very quickly that my Crocs (which had been an inspired packing choice given the weather) had no tread left on them. The upshot? I aquaplaned down the streets. A bit scary really.
I bought myself a pretty little Murano glass pendant after we walked past the same shop three or four times. It seems I can only resist temptation so many times.
Hmm, perhaps the least said about the divine little cupcake shop a few doors down the better. Suffice it to say that the ‘Custard Tumble' cupcake (with custard filled profiteroles on top) was quite irresistible too.

And finally the pick of the bunch... Drum roll please.

4) Revisit our youth to see the Beach Boys in concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera house! Again with Sue, Dave and Jen. All I’ll say is that it was Un- be– freaking-lievable! Old farts’ music? Not on your Nellie. We had a ball – clapping from the outset and up and rocking and bopping all through the second half.
I discovered that I knew all the words to the songs too! That was a surprise. I didn’t even know I knew them!


I had to leave on Sunday mid morning. I wasn’t prepared to trust the weather and tackle getting myself back to the airport by a combination of foot, ferry and train. So I lashed out and booked a shuttle bus to pick me up from my hotel instead.


Of course that was when the rain stopped, didn't it?


But on balance I didn’t mind. I’d had a great time and my new suitcase/duffle/ backpack combo worked out pretty well.

I’m all set for my next adventure now. And you know what? It may not be too far away.

New Years resolution - enacted!

Yes it is happening.

I decided it was way past time to de-clutter my life and my home. It was time to clear out years of accumulated crap from the house I’d lived in since it was new – in 1982.

I’d read a book on de-cluttering, gotten sick of not being able to move around in my garage, so I said to myself ‘I can do this.’ So after a quick phone around to check on prices, I arranged for a large skip to be delivered to my front yard on Friday afternoon

There it sat on Friday night, squatting in my front yard, looking ominously large. What had I let myself in for?

We had it for a week and by the end of it we had cleaned out the attic, sorted out the wardrobes, had a decent crack at emptying the garage and the storage in its roof, plus sorted out the garden shed. I’d also gotten two car loads off to the City Mission, offered the trampoline to the RSPCA (for the dogs) which is yet to be collected, and a stack of children’s books to a colleague.

There is still a bit of a way to go, but even though the skip has gone, I’m continuing the good fight.

The thing is that we’ve done the easy stuff. Now it’s the tricky – ‘too-good-to-throw-out-or-give-away,-but-will-I-ever-use-it again?’ items. Perhaps eBay is the answer – if I can be arsed.
I’ve offered Nick the proceeds from the sale of these items – if he sells them for me.

I had a weekend away from the clean up two weekends ago. I flew to Sydney to meet up with some internet friends. I had a ball - but I digress. I’ll tell you about my interstate adventures to be titled ‘An Aussie Diva's Soggy Tattoo and Old Farts’ Concert Weekend.’ next time.

When I came back from Sydney, I attacked the medicine cabinet and threw out a garbage bag of out of date medicines, potions and lotions. I mean why would I keep a bottle of expired eye drops? It's not like I'm ever going to risk putting them in my eye! It’s actually quite tidy now. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep it like that.

As of last night I was also finally able to park my car back in the garage. There might be three or four boxes still requiring my attention, but I can feel that I’m almost there.

De-cluttering is very empowering. I suspect it is one of the only advantages to moving home a lot. You get the chance to de-clutter every time you move - not that I would know. My parents have lived in the same house since 1963. They thought about moving a year or so ago, but the prospect of disposing of a lifetime of accumulated stuff gave them cold feet - and they've told my sister and me that we can deal with it when the time comes. Gee, thanks Mum and Dad.

I am determined I will not let it get as bad as that.

I feel stronger and more decisive for having made the decision to simplify and streamline my life. At this stage it is still about the tangible things, but I can see it might affect me at another, deeper level. For one thing I’ve noticed that I'm tidier at work now and I’m getting better at deleting emails. Not good yet, but getting better.

But it’s a good feeling.

Hmm next week – I think I'll tackle the Laundry room.