Sydney
Posted on August 07, 2007 by Emma
We arrived in Sydney on Saturday afternoon, blinking and disoriented, we plodded our way up from the underground corridors of Central Station. A brief immersion into familiar city life and an occasion to catch up with good friends, before the next leg of our trip. I've been to Sydney before and had planned all sorts of things for Cads who had not been before, but we did not get to most of them. From Big Hostel on Elizabeth Street, we wandered lazily towards the waterfront, popping into book shops, craning our necks to check out the new buildings around us, exploring Paddy's market comparing look and feel with other places we've been.
We found that the park near the Rocks is called Cadman's Park, which was as exciting for us as it is trivial for the locals. Having had drinks in a bar over looking the Sydney Opera House at dusk, we found ourselves queuing for dinner at Zia Pina, a renowned pizza and pasta place, complete with red and white checkered tablecloths and dated autographs of formerly famous people on framed menus. I've never queued for a restaurant before, but what the hell - we were tourists. Twenty minutes later, we are seated and soon after fed. A Four Seasons pizza for me and a Vegetarian with extra chilli for Cads, accompanied by a half bottle of the house red. The pizza was decent enough but it was not a patch on what we got so wonderfully used to from Al Volo on Mt Eden Road . If nothing else, Al Volo pizza alone is reason to come back to Auckland.
We woke late, grabbed brunch and meandered pas Hyde Park on the way to the ferry bound for Manly and a date with Sam and John, old University friends now living in Palm Beach. We always meet in front of the "shell" shaped sculpture by the ferry terminal building, which in fact looks like an enormous faded bronze coloured turd, fully funded by local tax payer dollars. A constant source of puerile laughter for me. Manly was busier than usual - Sunday day trippers and families making the most of the school holiday filled the boardwalk. We took a sunny stroll along the water front, quickly catching up on histories and plans, then to a cool, expertly selected cafe for home made burgers, pot pie, roasted vege salad and more chatter.
I don't take it for granted that I have the kind of relationship with my friends that picks up where it left off. I am so unbelievably lucky to be able carry on conversations that were started eight months ago. I have known these two for nearly fifteen years now and it is a huge source of happiness for me that their relationship, and soon their child, comes from the coincidence of them meeting through me. They are part of a special group of University friends who have all grown up together. We've shared stories of adventure and heartbreak and attended weddings and baby showers, despite, in my case and that of Sam and John, the many miles that have separated us all. They are the friends I love unconditionally and miss terribly, knowing that regular contact and physical proximity with them is the heavy price for this itinerant life.
Of course, the afternoon was too short, we could have stayed drinking hot chocolate for hours longer, but I wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to see them for anything.
Cads and I took the ferry back, snapping photos of the city lights at sunset, then rounded off our brief soujourn in Sydney with a fabulous dinner at Longrain. I have been to Longrain for drinks and dinner almost everytime I am have been in Sydney and it is deserving of the pilgrimage. We each had delicious, innovative cocktails followed by Green Curry tofu for Cads and five spice crispy Pork hock for me. It is one of the few places on the planet that makes me wish I had a bigger stomach. We couldn't manage the tempting deserts but staggered to our nearby hostel, very well fed and contented.
We found that the park near the Rocks is called Cadman's Park, which was as exciting for us as it is trivial for the locals. Having had drinks in a bar over looking the Sydney Opera House at dusk, we found ourselves queuing for dinner at Zia Pina, a renowned pizza and pasta place, complete with red and white checkered tablecloths and dated autographs of formerly famous people on framed menus. I've never queued for a restaurant before, but what the hell - we were tourists. Twenty minutes later, we are seated and soon after fed. A Four Seasons pizza for me and a Vegetarian with extra chilli for Cads, accompanied by a half bottle of the house red. The pizza was decent enough but it was not a patch on what we got so wonderfully used to from Al Volo on Mt Eden Road . If nothing else, Al Volo pizza alone is reason to come back to Auckland.
We woke late, grabbed brunch and meandered pas Hyde Park on the way to the ferry bound for Manly and a date with Sam and John, old University friends now living in Palm Beach. We always meet in front of the "shell" shaped sculpture by the ferry terminal building, which in fact looks like an enormous faded bronze coloured turd, fully funded by local tax payer dollars. A constant source of puerile laughter for me. Manly was busier than usual - Sunday day trippers and families making the most of the school holiday filled the boardwalk. We took a sunny stroll along the water front, quickly catching up on histories and plans, then to a cool, expertly selected cafe for home made burgers, pot pie, roasted vege salad and more chatter.
I don't take it for granted that I have the kind of relationship with my friends that picks up where it left off. I am so unbelievably lucky to be able carry on conversations that were started eight months ago. I have known these two for nearly fifteen years now and it is a huge source of happiness for me that their relationship, and soon their child, comes from the coincidence of them meeting through me. They are part of a special group of University friends who have all grown up together. We've shared stories of adventure and heartbreak and attended weddings and baby showers, despite, in my case and that of Sam and John, the many miles that have separated us all. They are the friends I love unconditionally and miss terribly, knowing that regular contact and physical proximity with them is the heavy price for this itinerant life.
Of course, the afternoon was too short, we could have stayed drinking hot chocolate for hours longer, but I wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to see them for anything.
Cads and I took the ferry back, snapping photos of the city lights at sunset, then rounded off our brief soujourn in Sydney with a fabulous dinner at Longrain. I have been to Longrain for drinks and dinner almost everytime I am have been in Sydney and it is deserving of the pilgrimage. We each had delicious, innovative cocktails followed by Green Curry tofu for Cads and five spice crispy Pork hock for me. It is one of the few places on the planet that makes me wish I had a bigger stomach. We couldn't manage the tempting deserts but staggered to our nearby hostel, very well fed and contented.
Comments
No comments yet