A few days in wonderful Adelaide!

From Tuesday to Thursday in one bite size chunk....my bite size tho remember!!

Good evening from a whole different state, have you missed me?! I've missed you but I've been so busy spending time with the wonderful gang that something had to give....and I just kept falling asleep!!

So, it was Tuesday morning after the wheelie good wine tour (I'm still getting flashbacks) and it was to be a relaxing day which, thankfully, it really was!! It started with Jenn and I having an nice little beach walk from Seacliff to Brighton, past the crystal blue waters with the sea breeze cooling the air.  When I say breeze I mean hurricane force winds....well maybe not quite but it really was blowing a hooley.  So much so that Jenn was wearing a hoodie!! I was not giving (she had long since left the winds of the UK behind) and being a true Brit, I stuck it out in my sundress, proudly showing my goosebumps (not a euphemism) and announcing at every given opportunity 'that sun is roasting when the wind dies down' and roasting it was, so I was soon rewarded for my faith.  We were also rewarded with a magical sight as we walked out on the Brighton jetty - two dolphins swimming in the sea below us.  It was magical, made even more so as Jenn said she had not seen any dolphins here! Perfect.

We then met up with Helen at another fab little eatery, Cream, for a spot of yummy breakfast (I could get used to this) and after catching up on the previous days shenanigans (including some video which made for a wheelie good watch), Jenn and I headed out to the shops.  Marion to be precise and purchases bought we headed home to chill before heading out later that night to the cinema.

But this is not just any old cinema, this is Gold Class cinema. I've spoken about it before my regulars will remember, but for those newbies it is bloody marvellous! Drinks before you go in, drinks and food bought to you throughout the showing, at the time of your choice, direct to your reclining leather laziboy chair.  Heaven.  So the whole gang were there, reclining two by two sipping bubble, and cocktails and coffee! Nibbling on snacks and icecream and cheeseboards (just one, mine, which was pig enough to take over the entire table I was sharing with Tracey) and as we nommed and sipped away, listening to the bloke two rows down scraping his slate clean with what sounded like a shovel,  we watched the enchanting and utterly heartbreakingly wonderful Lady in the Van.  Dame Maggie was as awesome as ever and after a lot of laughs and just as many tears we bid our good nights to each other and all headed home to bed.

Wednesday bought an early start as Jenn Carrie and I headed into the city early.  They had a errand to run so I met with them a couple of hours later in one of my favourite places in the city - Central Market.  It does exactly what is says on the tin, it is central and it is indeed a market, selling all manner of wonderful produce, fruit, veg, bread, cheese, meats, fish and and amazing array of local and worldwide foods. Some of which I am sure were loaded onto the sack barrow wielded by a very small Asian man that knocked me over.  And I mean over.  Right over.  To the floor in a fine display of mobile phone shattering and flop flip breaking glory. Like a sack of spuds. I didn't see him coming from my left and he clearly didn't see me (his barrow laden with boxes was taller than him).  After I'd replied to his recurrent questions of 'are you allright' with 'do I bloody look allright' whilst attempting to get up on a broken flipflop with some modicum of dignity, I limped off with more than my pride bruised to finally meet Carrie and Jenn.

I'd had a quick coffee and a flowerpot muffin at a little cafe before the barrow incident, but I wanted to take them to my little place in the market that I'd been coming to ever since my first trip to Oz with my ex about 15 years ago, and where I have come every time since.  This time however the Big Table was closed for the day, so it was a quick recommendation to give it a try, a nostalgic look at it's metal shutters and off for some more retail therapy.

Happy shoppers were we three, and a quick stop to china town for a nice little bit of late noodle lunch before getting back in the car to go and pick up Daniel from school, to take him to the liquid nitrogen ice creeam joint I went to the other day with Helen and Savannah.  A 30 min drive into and out of the city bought us back to the shop, only to look left to find the road we had just eaten at not 200 yards away...

Fancy ices nommed, it was home for a quick change to head to the only place to be on my last night - Seacliff.

Carrie and I arrived first and grabbed the perfect spot on the balcony that gives me the view I just cant get enough of and sat with a bottle of bubbles watching the sun disappear in between the palm trees, casting its warm glow onto our faces and into our hearts. Sue called in to say goodbye but couldn't stay long, then as the sun was almost gone on my last day in Adelaide the rest of the girls appeared, with Megan and Sarah too.  It was fabulous, we reminisced, talked about all sorts, laughed, drank and laughed even more, all in agreement that we had packed a lot into the last week and what a blast it had been

Another bonus in the Seacliff that night was it appeared to be an open mic night, giving any up and coming local talent the opportunity to showcase their talents.  Well it just so happened we had a talented musician in our midst in the shape of Tracey's daughter, Sarah.  She was keen but not too sure but in a jiffy I was up at the stage with her asking the rather lovely organiser of the event how you got your name on the list.  Just like that she was on the list!!!

And wow, she may have followed one after a 10 year old boy who did the Justine Bieber song that I sing constantly but can never remember the name of (you can go and love yourself....) better than Bieber in my mind, but she held her own and her renditions of Wonderwall was amazing.  It gave us all goosebumps and a tear in our eyes, none more so than for Tracey.  She is a star in the making and we were all there right at the start. Then it was time to bid farewell to wonderful friends once more, and in the balmy warm evening breeze we hugged and said goodbye, but not for long, I would be returning before they would even realise I'd been back home. Then me and Carrie headed back home for my last night in the Heggie household.  Sniff.

All too soon it was this morning and with a heavy heart I packed my things and said goodbye to Graeme and Daniel before Jenn took me via Carrie's work to pick her up and head for the airport.  We had subways by the boarding gate and then we had to do the inevitable but it was with a smile knowing I would be back really soon, and would be seeing them sooner when they visited England in the summer.

I made my way onto the plane and headed to my upgraded little bit of extra legroom seat which necessitated me agreeing to assisting in the event of an emergency by opening the emergency exit door I was gonna be sitting next to for the next coupla hours, and now that I knew how to open it that is exactly what I wanted to do.  So nodding off next to a young lad who must have been 6'8 and also grateful of the leg room but who was also far more capable of opening the emergency door since my sack barrow incident left my arm rather sore, we left the beautiful shores of Adelaide behind and eventually arrived back where it all started, Sydney.

After a shuttle bus ride to my hotel that would not look out of place in the next Fast and Furious film, I was at the (closed) doors of the Woolloomooloo Waters Apartments.  An interesting cat and mouse game of getting my key from the unmanned front desk occurred and finally I arrived to my home for the next two nights, right in the heart of the up and coming cutely named Woolloomooloo. My pops and me came here last time and I fell for it's charms, a little bit rough round the edges but with the highly chic Finger Wharf filled with apartments and restaurants that this evening were apparently hosting a major event.  I meandered down the lovely waterside, soaking up the sunset and the atmosphere, stopping at the Woollie hotel for a pint on Fat Yak and a pizza (I'm hoping that the latter does not make me into the former later on this evening...).  Just before 8pm I headed back to the apartment to get myself sorted and marvel at what the view from my balcony had become in the dark (wow) and then there were fireworks.  Literally.  Only I could sit looking at a view for over an hour and have fireworks in full view of where I just sat 10 minutes after leaving.  And of course as soon as I got back in the lift and arrived down back to the wharf the fireworks stopped as quickly as they started.  It was time for a stop at the bottle shop and then home to bed, not before sitting here and updating you all as I know how you love it so much!

And that is where I am now, looking at the bright lights of downtown Sydney ready to have a final day of exploring tomorrow.  I am sure that I will find things to bore you with but I will try not to let it involve getting knocked over by a barrow....

So until then my faithful followers, thank you for your patience and TTFN xxxxx