Sydney with the Parkwood Seekers

 Before Easter we had a week in Sydney: Monday to Thursday with a small group of Parkwood Seekers, then Friday on our own, followed by part of Saturday and Sunday with the lovely Kirsty.

It was our first Parkwood Seekers venture apart from one recent theatre trip during which David fell asleep - in the second row... I know the cast could see him. Little did they know that when lights go out in a theatre, movie or a stage play, David goes out like the lights!

However the trip to Sydney was fabulous. Shona, who is the Seekers' organiser, coordinator and travel guide, is amazing and such a lot of fun. She arranges all the outings, events and meals that are just great.

So our schedule was full. Shona and her husband Mike, whose job was to drop us at the airport, collected us all late morning from outside our villas. And as we headed off down towards the motorway, Shona handed us the detailed itinerary. All looked fabulous except for a jaunt up the CentrePoint tower with lunch in the revolving restaurant. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I told Shona she had just raised my anxiety levels and that I would stay with my feet on the ground and find something else to occupy my time rather than do that. Jan said she wasn't keen on doing it either. So rather than let us separate from the group, Shona said we would find something that suited all of us.

The flight over to Sydney was awful - very bumpy and David and I were not sitting together so I couldn't clutch his hand. Fortunately he was sitting directly behind me so I could reach down beside my seat and hold his leg. Would not have been possible if we weren't both in window seats. I did have my lorazepam with me BUT of course it was in my bag in the overhead locker so effectively out of reach, esp as the person beside me slept from pretty much the moment he put his seatbelt on. Such sangfroid!

And to make matters worse, Qantas' idea of a vegetarian meal was hideous. Rice with unidentifiable black specks and some tofu cut and pressed to make it look like chicken in a nondescript and tasteless sauce. Another AAARRRGGGHHH!!! And because they equate vegetarian with vegan, there weren't any crackers and cheese, dammit. The dessert was OK but given I can't remember what it was it doesn't count as one of nature's best!

So the flat out taxi ride from the airport to the hotel was a doddle after the turbulent flight - and you know I hate being a passenger, eh?

Lovely rooms at the Swissotel in Market St in the centre of the city - and what was right outside our window? The Centrepoint Tower...

Tuesday was a very full day as we had a coach trip, along with about 30 other people, up into the Blue Mountains. First stop was Featherdale, a bird and animal sanctuary. An amazing and well kept place. Australia has some weird native birds and animals. The cassowary is a very grumpy looking bird and apparently very vicious. And I can see why the Tasmanian devil got its name - the teeth and the snarl looked pretty frightening. There are a number of animals that look like small versions of a kangaroo. One such is the quokka - and strangely enough the question what is a quokka came up in our Parkwood Quiz last Friday, as a multiple choice question: currency, animal or something I don't remember. I knew it was an animal but could not remember why I knew ...

Onwards to the Blue Mountains, lunch stop at Leura - David and I opted for the Thai place only to find it's not open Monday or Tuesday, dammit. Still, we found a very nice place to eat and were back on the bus in time.

The Blue Mountains are spectacular - David and I had a weekend in Leura with Kirsty a few years ago, stayed at an Airbnb and hired a car, drove around, went to Wentworth Falls and afternoon tea at a fancy hotel, and bush/riverside walk, an art gallery, an art deco house, saw stuff - we had barely scratched the surface that time though. And to be fair I don't think we did much more this time, but it was different stuff. The views are stunning. I did not venture on to the cablecar, the gondola or the vertical railway. David went on the vertical railway as did all of the others I think.

The coach driver dropped us off at a ferry stop the other side of the harbour and we caught a ferry direcxtly back to Circular Quay. I think that evening we had dinner at a beautiful wee restaurant called Deux Freres. The food was amazing. And as became the pattern for the trip, when I wanted to see the dessert menu everyone said 'oh no, we don't need dessert' and then promptly ordered one... The creme brulee was very yummy!

Wednesday was the Not up Centrepoint Tower Day, and instead we went for a walk around Barangaroo Point with lunch out as the culmination.

We found a large seat that had been made from concrete with Oyster shells embedded in it, then cut and polished. It was an amazing piece of waterside furniture. We all sat on it and Shona took our photo, but we wanted her in the photo too, so I asked some passersby if they could take some. What a lovely couple, Michael and Adesola, who had just that morning landed in Sydney from their flight from the US. They had five days in Sydney and then were heading to New Zealand. It really does pay to chat to people - amazing what you find out and so lovely to make connections with people.

And lunch - what a fabulous place we found. A really beautiful Italian restaurant with fabulous prices but we didn't care! The food was just amazing. David and someone else had a pesto and pasta dish, and the pesto was made in a huge pestle right beside the table. Do you know how beautifully aromatic basil is? I had aubergine parmagiana - I've never had it before and it was so gorgeous. I am going to have to make it and let David heat up some chilli beans from a can for himself ...

And of course no one apart from me wanted dessert until the menus were put in front of them...

That evening we went to see Guys and Dolls which was staged outdoors across one of the bays from the Opera House. The stage was built out over the water, and the seating was tiered up the slope of the hill. The staging was amazing as was the choreography and costuming, the orchestra was great, and most of the singing was very good. But the story - what a crock! Still and all, a fun experience, although we did get a bit cold. I had taken a dress to wear to that event but decided against it - very good plan!

I can't remember what we did on Thursday during the day but I know I found a Skechers' shop and bought a couple of pairs of shoes for me and a pair of sandals for Joy here at Parkwood - she had tried on my pair but couldn't get them at our local shop as they'd sold out. That evening we had a cruise and dinner on a sailing ship - there was almost no wind so it was very calm and the sunset was spectacular through the Harbour Bridge. We were on the yacht with a bunch of high school students who kept us entertained with climbing the rigging.

We walked back to the hotel and as it was the last night, we had cocktails/mocktails in the bar - Shona made the mistake of having an espresso cocktail ...

Those heading home on Friday were out of the hotel by about 6.15am, while we were still sleeping! We Ubered over to Kirsty's place late in the morning, and then walked to our Airbnb separately - I was having a Thai massage in the same building before we checked in. So good after walking over 47,000 steps since Monday evening!

We have stayed in the Airbnb apartment before but won't again - it's fine, very Russian oligarch style according to Kirsty, but it's not particularly comfortable. And on looking at the website since then, I've found several other options also close to Kirsty's place.

David and I decided on a Thai meal that night - there's a restaurant in the building but we were so tired we got takeaways and went back up to the apartment. 

On Saturday we went into the city by train with Kirsty and had lunch at an Asian place in George St - all the dishes were sharing plates, sort of like Asian tapas, I guess. We looked at what we had ordered and thought there would be heaps of leftovers, but no - as Kirsty said, she had not factored in the garbage truck who was dining with us - not me, by the way! Once again, I tried an aubergine dish - very yum.  David didn't dispose of that one - quelle surprise!

David and Kirsty went up Centrepoint Tower while I went back and had a civilised cup if tea at the Swissotel - it was like coming home!

On the train and bus back to Canterbury Kirsty looked very tired - late night with work colleagues the night before ... So she headed back to her place and we had a quiet night in again. Sunday she came over and we played Case Closed - I'd bought it online and brought it over with us. We solved the case, but I know much of it was guesswork - if that's how the police work, I don't want to know! 

Another early night as we had to be up very early for our flight home. At the airport we checked in early, went through security and then found a place to eat breakfast. Eileen, who had stayed on to visit her daughter, found us there and we realised we were all sitting together in Row 29 - bloody hell! I was prepared this time and took lorazepam as we took off. The captain said it was going to be a smooth flight, but he lied! But the drugs took the edge off my anxiety. And we had changed our meal preference to omnivore, so had the nice vegetarian option - go figure!

Shona was waiting for us at the airport - such excellent service - and drove us back home. Early to bed, yet again!

We are definitely converts to travelling with the Parkwood Seekers. Shona is such a wonderful organiser and camp mother.