Author: Mrs A
Friday – location: Newcastle
We continued our journey south, watching the temperature drop a few degrees and the skies turn grey and heavy with rain. We were to have a somewhat gentle introduction to city life, with an overnight with our friends Karen and Chris in Merewether, Newcastle.
Tassie’s been here before, and was soon running from room to room, exploring every nook and cranny before crashing out on our bed exhausted from all the excitement. We meanwhile relished in fast internet speeds, and relaxed with a cup of herbal tea to catch up on news.
Tea progressed into champagne, and the four of us then went out for a delicious local curry – Mark and Chris careful not to overdo the cheese and nibbles before we went!
Saturday-Wednesday – location: Sydney
After a delicious breakfast in Newcastle, we moved on for the last leg back into Sydney. We’d booked caravan storage in Marrickville, quite a central location, but this meant driving through Saturday afternoon traffic on one of Sydney’s busiest arteries, Parramatta Road…not really designed for towing.
Mark drove excellently despite the stressful conditions, and before long we were emptying the last of our freezer bits and pieces and heading to our friends’ apartment in Matraville, not far from Botany Bay for a delicious roast lamb dinner and a well deserved glass of red wine.
Sunday was Mr A’s birthday, so we were joined by about 30 friends at a pub in the city for drinks and nibbles and a general catch up. Much fun and frivolity ensued of course.
Monday and Tuesday were earmarked for the all essential medical check ups, with good news for Mr A’s eye pressures, less good news for my airway (but a new procedure to try in October), and some steroid injections into my foot to allow some comfortable hiking in the USA.
We got all our jobs done and managed to fit in a couple of cups of tea with friends too. Sydney was back to its usual sparkling self:
Wednesday was a final packing day as we fly off to Los Angeles in the morning. We started with an early morning walk in the Malabar Headland National Park. Mr A and Jenny walked, while I (on doctors orders not to use my foot much, post injections) did a little bird spotting – mostly wattle birds, New England honeyeaters, lorikeets, cockatoos and fairy wrens. What a pretty area and great time of day to enjoy the sunrise and birdlife.
Mr A took the opportunity to catch up with a bunch of old work colleagues for lunch while I had a hair cut. Lovely.
We finished off our day joining Jenny and David for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Fabulous food and company as always.
While we are away, Miss Tassie will be staying here at her luxury pad in Matraville for the next month. She’s settled in nicely, already solar mapping out the apartment. Apparently the new chairs on the balcony suit her, while she is also finding the colour scheme elsewhere works with her glossy blue coat. She’s in good hands here.
