sydney trip

Have just returned from a whirlwind trip over in Sydney, attending a friend's wedding and as always, cramming in as much as I possibly could for the 36 hours I was there . . .

. . . it might surprise you how many people catch the 0055 flight over to Sydney from Perth. Well it surprised me. I thought it would be next to empty, with nobody quite as crazy as me willing to attempt to fly over at this time. I was sorely mistaken, literally. I couldn't get my usual window seat to try and catch some Z's, and our flight had to take an unscheduled stop over in Adelaide because an elderly gentleman that had boarded the flight with us in Perth fell deathly ill 15 minutes after taking off, vomiting and falling in and and out of conciousness. Even after they wheeled him off the plane, we couldn't take off for another 25 minutes because of Adelaide airport's curfew being nestled within suburbia! This resulted in our flight arriving in at the Kingsford terminal at 8am . . .

. . . giving me exactly 3 hours to catch a train to the Wynyard station to catch a connecting bus to Mosman junction so that I could meet up with Tom & Jenni and get change at his sister-in-law's place before we raced along the M2 towards Baulkham hills to attend Caesar & Jenny's wedding. All the while with Jenni using a 2004 UBD (supplied by Avis) to navigate along roads so new that haven't made it into the street directory! Good thing I brought along my tomtom GPS :D Thankfully, we made it to the ultra modern chapel (apparently only less than a year old) before the arrival of the beautiful bride, and sat through a lovely service in greatly appreciated air conditioning. Caught up with a swag of old friends from Adelaide who had all turned up for the wedding and went for lunch nearby.

The evening reception was held at Bicentennial park, and with the number of other functions going on at the same time, we could have just as easily walked in the wrong hall. The food was positively scrumptious, and the red was surprisingly smooth. Our bonboniere was a tealight candle with the cherry blossom insignia which has covered everything in today's celebrations. It was a good atmosphere, nothing too stiff or formal about the proceedings with everyone enjoying the occasion. Did the usual updating of contact details with friends from long ago, and managed to chat and get a photo with the newly weds for a whole of 5 minutes. With daylight saving, we all had our extra hour to stay out, but we still all made tracks by 11. Stayed with a good friend in Pyrmont and chatted till the wee hours of Sunday morning on life and all it's challenges.

Caught up with Vince & Ida along with Tom & Jenni for brunch at Concrete in Pyrmont (224 Harris st). Tried something a little different this time instead of the usual eggs benedict with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce, I went for the italian fried eggs! Italian fried eggs turned out to be a fried egg upon fried bacon and sweet corn pancakes, covered in napolitana sauce surrounded by small fried potato cubes. Interesting combination, worth trying next time you are up in Sydney :) Have not caught up with Vince since he got married, so it was a great catching up on old times. Spent the afternoon walking about Darling Harbour trying to take photos, but it was an awfully wet and windy day, so unlike yesterday which was far too hot for comfort!

Had scheduled to catch up with yet another friend in the afternoon, but due to some last minute changes, could only meet up for an early dinner before my flight back at 1945. We managed to navigate our way with a slightly suspect PocketPC GPS to Bill's of Surry Hills (Bill Granger). Since we had arrived early, we received their 'something small' menu having to wait till 6 before they served their dinner menu. Not really the type of restaurant to rush in to for a quick meal, but my seared tuna steak with vine ripened tomatoes and olive tapenade was an enjoyable meal before dashing off to catch my flight. It would seem that there were a lot of people dashing to the airport as traffic seemed particularly heavy that evening.
Once again, I was stuck in a middle seat, but thankfully, our flight was otherwise not delayed which made for a smoother 4 1/2 hour flight back west . . .