Home?

It's odd being home and not being at work. On one hand, it's great being in control of my time for a change. On the other hand, it's hard to decide what task to complete first.
So, of course, I took myself out to breakfast first.
Sitting at the IHOP drinking coffee and looking out the window at a cold and dreary Chicago day (and trying not to think of the hot sun that greets Sydneysiders at this time of year), I noticed a short apartment building a block or two away. What drew this building to my attention was not only the nice wooden trellis on the roof, but the flagpole next to it.
The rain and wind had wrapped the fabric around the pole until one moment when the wind shifted and the banner was released...an Australian flag!

Going back Up Over

SYDNEY, AU - - Finished packing and am waiting for the airport shuttle, once again bringing a close to my Australian holiday. As expected, depression is starting to set in. Mother Nature, however, is trying to push me on my way with a cool, overcast day. Thanks, mom!
Had a second long chat with Tour Guide last night. (VERY AFRAID of cell phone bill!) He wants to work and maybe live longterm in Canada. Doesn't know exactly where or what he will do for a living, but he wants to go there. Did I mention that he doesn't know anyone there, has never been there and knows almost nothing about the country?
I guess we all make uninformed decisions and then cling to them for dear life. Oh well, he'll learn...or maybe not. But it's not my problem.
Yep, he hasn't said anything about coming to visit me in Chicago and that's fine. Maybe we'll go back to being Facebook friends. Nothing more.
Again, that's fine.
Well, gotta get my luggage and meet the shuttle.

Sunday Night at the Observer Hotel

SYDNEY, AU - - And before you get all "oooh, dirty bits coming up," let me educate you a bit. In Australia, a hotel often is a tavern/pub that may or may not rent out rooms. The Observer Hotel was established in 1848 and I think they know what they're doing...or maybe not.
You know you're in for a special evening of entertainment when the singer/guitarist starts playing a song not because it's on his song list, but because the local guy in the corner started singing it. What song? "You Lost That Loving Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers. And yes, EVERYONE in the bar started singing along!
The next singalong was Frankie Valli's "You're Just too Good to be True."
Things got out of hand pretty quickly after that.
This being my second visit to the Observer in the past week, the bartender apparently recognized me asked me if I wanted a Toohey's New (beer). Refreshed with my cool beverage, I grabbed a seat in the corner of the bar where I could watch the proceedings in safety.
Did I mention that the singer put a piece of gum in his mouth between songs? I don't know if anyone else noticed that but I have NEVER seen a solo performer chew gum during songs.
I don't know if it was the gum or what, but our singer seemed to have a bit of trouble hitting the high notes during "Take on Me" by A-Ha. No worries! The crowd filled in for him.
There was a small TV on the wall near where the singer performed and during one of his songs, a few guy right in front looked up to see the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team doing its warm-ups. If you've never seen this event, you really should. Picture about 20 muscular blokes dressed all in black, beating their chests and chanting in a terribly menacing fashion. It's very primal and actually pretty scary and if I were their opponent, I'd be soiling my pants right now.
The singer looked up to watch, too.
Like I said, things were pretty loose at the Observer.
Just when things were getting somewhat mellow (he actually sang a few songs by Bread, if you know the band), he flew into "Faith" by George Michael. The crowd went bananas, jumping around and singing.
Do we have places like this in Chicago and if so, can someone please tell me where?

Aussie from the past

SYDNEY, AU - - Would anyone out there be surprised to hear that I got an email from Tour Guide about a month ago through Facebook? If you don't remember the situation, let me refresh: we stayed in touch after I left Australia via Skype, email, texts and the occasion phone call.
We seemed to get pretty close (if you consider being in daily contact getting close) and then he asked if I would ever consider leaving Chicago? This question was followed pretty quickly by the off-hand comment that he had recently gotten drunk and slept with a female friend of his!!!
Needless to say, we fell out of touch soon after that conversation. I even deleted his Facebook friendship.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. He emailed me to let me know that he had taken a job in Tasmania (another state in Australia, one that's an island south of the mainland) and would be moving from Darwin to 'Tassie' in October and I would be welcome to visit him while I'm in Australia.
I was curious as to why he contacted me, so I texted him while I was in Port Douglas a few days ago. We arranged to have a direct phone call and spoke for over 2 hours!
Apparently, our 'falling out of touch' was his way of running away from me because he felt like he might've been getting too close to me and we both knew the situation was impossible. Instead of discussing it and agreeing that nothing could come of our 'relationship,' he re-directed his desire for me to this other woman and in the process, lost both women.
He invited me to come to Tasmania this weekend (pretty much now, as I'm writing this on Friday afternoon). I was pretty sure it wasn't a good idea, but an ocean provides a pretty good buffer from trouble, so I checked on flights just for the hell of it.
The travel gods must have felt it wasn't a good idea either because the flights were CRAZY expensive!!! Tour Guide even offered to pay my way back to Australia if I flew down to Tassie, but the cost was really too much and the flight times didn't make for a good plan anyway.
So where does this leave us?
I'll keep you posted.

Fashionistas Down Under

SYDNEY, AU - - Okay, I'm not one of them. And BOY! did I feel out of place shopping along Crown Street in Surry Hills (suburb of Sydney). You know you're in trouble when you don't have nice enough clothes to wear to GO SHOPPING for nice clothes!
Actually, I headed this way (about a mile southeast of the central business district) to seek out a restaurant called Spice I Am, a lovely little storefront Thai place that Rachel Ray mentioned on one of her travel shows.
I've never seen so much leg on one street! Apparently, the spring fashion in Sydney is to wear (essentially) a bag that just barely covers the ass and then either ankle boots or gladiator sandals with it. Fortunately, most of the girls wearing this style look good in it, but I think they might look a bit better with a dress that shows off their figure a bit more. Okay, sue me, I'm old!
Yes, I did end up helping the Australian economy (that's doing just fine, thank you!) with several purchases from little boutique shops and a few vintage stores. I LOVE vintage jewelry and purses! I even bought a baseball cap that's angora and lambswool. Fabulous!!
And I DID find the restaurant so it's time for an early dinner!

You take your entertainment, I'll take mine.

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - - Every time I try to read a book on my balcony, one of those rainbow lorikeets screeches past & reminds me that nothing in print could be as captivating as the show Mother Nature has set in front of me. A flash of red, yellow and green. There goes another one, careening from one coconut palm to the next.
Golden palms, foxtail palms, lipstick palms and fan palms...my buddy Wolfgang (former owner of the apartment building where I'm staying) taught me the names of these beauties.
The breeze creates a swooshing melody that's so soothing but at the same time competes for my attention with the insistent roar of the not-too-distance waves at 4 mile beach.
Who needs a book?

File under 'So You Think You're All That'

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - - In an effort to get some sun on my shoulders and even out the 'farmer's tan' I got in Sydney, I put on a tube top and went to sit on my 2nd floor balcony (although they call it first floor here). Anyway, I stood up to get a better view of my beautiful surroundings and leaned over to cross my arms on the railing.

Two young guys were walking past on the sidewalk across the street and they both looked over at me and smiled. Do I smile back? Wave? Before I could decide, they were gone.

And then another guy was getting into a taxi in front of my building and he looked up at me...a few times.

Hmm??? What's this about?

Then it hit me. From their position, at ground level, they probably couldn't tell whether or not I was wearing a top!!

Find the sun through the rain

PORT DOUGLAS, AU - - My tan development program will be postponed for one day, at least, as it is once again raining in PD. I've been here 5 days and it's rained for 2 of those day. (Of course, I've spent every MOMENT of the other three days on 4-mile beach, so I'm getting a bit brown).
The rain is funny here, though, as it seems more like a cleansing than anything else. It's a rainforest rain, very drenching but not in a freezing, angry, run-for-cover-type of way like at home. I don't mind at all getting caught in this rain.
This trip has been unusual for me, but I can't put my finger on how I feel about the differences in this year's excursion Down Under. I've always loved Port Douglas, but this year is definitely an out-of-sorts visit.
My friends sold the apartment complex where I'm staying, so I don't know anyone here except one of the housekeepers. My friends moved a few hours' drive away, so I don't really expect to see them at all. And there are a TON of families with small children in town this time (small, crying, fussing, interrupt-your-quiet-dinner little ankle-biters).
Did I mention it's rained a lot here this time???
There's even a chance I won't be able to go snorkeling on my birthday because of the high winds. Guess I never really appreciated the opportunities I've had in the past to spend my birthday on the Great Barrier Reef. I'm crossing my fingers that last year won't have been my last chance.
Okay MJ, enough bitching. I am determined to snap out of it and count my blessings that I can afford (???) to treat myself to what for many people would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. (I've been here EIGHT TIMES!!! somebody slap me!)
Rain or no rain, screaming children or not...I WILL find the joy in this, possibly my last, trip to Australia.

Do you live here? Only if I can find my way home...

SYDNEY, AU - - I must look, or at least act, like an Aussie because I've been in Sydney for about 24 hours and I've been asked directions twice! Hmmn...

One discernable difference between me and a true Sydneysider is that they know their way around town. I was dropped off at my hotel yesterday morning, dropped off my bags and went walking around to re-acquaint myself with the city.

Several hours later, I decided to see if my room was ready yet (too early to check in at 9am). I walked south down Pitt Street from the Rocks neighborhood to a store that read '303 Pitt' across the front. Okay, my hotel's address is 300 Pitt, so I looked across the street for the entrance to the Metro Hotel.

It wasn't there.

It wasn't next door to 303 either. Or one or two store fronts down.

IT WAS ON THE NEXT BLOCK!!! (One point for Chicago's grid system of streets).

Tomorrow it's on to Port Douglas!

The bridge

Hey there Australia, it's me again.

SYDNEY, AU - - I've decided that time moves at a different pace here. I've been in Sydney for less that 12 hours, but I feel like I've been away from home for a week (and I mean that in a good way). In the first hour, I got sunburn (yay! that's how I start a tan). Of course, it's only 3:30 in the afternoon, but I REALLY want to go to bed.


Getting off the plane here, I wondered what had changed in this, one of my favorite cities. Well, as different as it is from Chicago, Sydney always has seemed comfortably familiar to me (even the first time I was here). But like any other major metropolitan area, it's a living, breathing entity and change is inevitable.


Having dropped off my bags at my hotel, I trekked down to Milson's Point (???) and said my usual hello to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The Opera House will have to wait since a humungous cruise ship had docked in my line of sight. I'll bid my welcome to the Opera House tomorrow.


My stomach growled and I decided to go to my usual haunt in the Rocks neighborhood. The Gumnut Cafe is this cute little eatery that features a tiny back courtyard where you can often spot brightly colored parakeets in search of spilled sugar. The 2-seat tables are actually ancient Singer sewing machines, complete with foot pedal! It's a lovely bit of calm in the midst of the hectic Sydney business district.


Not any more.


I walked up and found a rental store for bicycle tours of Sydney! I stood outside the door with my mouth agape and then my stomach rumbled again, so I moved on. My second choice of brekky locale was fine, but I felt cheated. Turns out, my little cafe only closed a few weeks ago!!!


I'm quite sure no one's moved the Opera House, so I can return to my sense of stability when I visit it tomorrow.


On Wednesday, I travel to Port Douglas. It's another return visit, but another change, too. My friends, Wolfgang and Christel, sold the Archipelago (the served apartment building where I've stayed for several years) but the new owners sound nice in emails and a surprise long-distance phone call.


Change is inevitable and often, very healthy. I'm preparing for some changes myself, so this trip will be good practice on learning how to roll with it. Wish me luck!