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Published: December 7th 2010
Well I have moved again and here I am in Hunter’s Hill a suburb of Sydney on the North side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
No internet access here at the apartment so I am doing library stints in a lovely place called Lane Cove. ( Composing and typing up at “home” so I can cut and paste at the library) .
I arrived here by train ( best not say to much about the train …an express it was called …took 6h 40 mins to go 400 km!!!... but it was lovely scenery…and I got to see some of those very swollen rivers in NSW)from Port Macquarie last Thursday and was met by Jo and Stuart , whose apartment this is… they have already been to Eastbourne and so it was nice to be greeted by “old” friends. They showed me the ropes in the neighbourhood and brought along supper – best lasagne I have ever had, Jo!!! They live a short distance away so I can call them any time and will be seeing them during my stay here. I already have the possibility of a couple of my new friends from Port meeting up as they are coming
down to Sydney some time this month.
All the places I stay are so different and that’s one of the things which makes home exchange so interesting. Hunter’s Hill is a very old part of Sydney with lots of stone built heritage cottages in beautiful tree lined streets…. Reminds me a bit of some parts of Canada …Kingston , Ontario where I used to live had similar homes. So I am in an apartment in a very large stone dwelling which was built 1860 – a judge’s home I am told. So come with me on my Sunday morning walk around Hunter’s Hill …it will make a change from the snow lots of you are experiencing. And yesterday the rain held off for a while for me to have 4 ferry rides and a walk in Sydney Harbour and The Rocks.
Other points of interest from last week are the brekki barbi on the beach at 7 am with Wilma and Maggie where one of my sausages was stolen by a Kookaburra as I cooked it on the grill- the buggers are worse than seagulls- and are now well adapted to flying with precision and stealing your food if you
glance away, as I did… then they sit up in the tree laughing at you. You also have to watch out for the bush turkeys who are partial to birthday cake if you leave it on the picnic table and walk away so Wilma told me!!! Jenny came and stayed with me for a few days so lots of fun being with her and she is great at helping with the garden, car and housework …the final days cleanup in Susan and Geoff’s home. What else did we do???…. Some shopping – got myself a t-shirt and a haircut. An amateur drama production of Kiss me Kate – was fun , and I was even introduced to internet dating ( not for me I hasten to add) but Jenny had arranged to meet a guy for coffee so she took me along… well he was a nice chap but I don’t think he was sparky enough for Jenny.
Next there was a yummy dinner at Yvonne’s cute little beach house – with an Aussie favourite dessert – Pavlova ( some discussion there about whether it was an Aussie chef who made it for Anna Pavlova or was it in NZ
– must look that one up ) . Tuesday night we were at Susan’s for a curry night…. And four of us liked being there so much we didn’t get home till 1am. We were all floating around in the very warm heated pool and midnight and were then tempted by loafing around on the verandah with mugs of Milo… thank you Susan for a memorable time. All these women I met were so interesting and have such wonderful stories to tell. ( Sorry if I told you all this before - can't remeber wot I said last time).
Wednesday saw me leave my Port “home” and stay a night with the lovely Maureen – she has been a great mover and shaker while I have been in Port- she got us all together and got things organised to meet up… she is a woman with a generous nature and a very warm heart . So our final dinner was Maureen, Maggie – who she met through an organisation for women travellers, me and Marrissa a Mexican girl she had met that morning who was staying at the hostel. Thank you Maureen for everything and also to Maggie …and I
look forward to meeting up with her back in England….after she has been to Tasmania and Paraguay !!!
So now its December and of course all the anniversaries are looming – Michael’s stroke on the 7th when he went into hospital and then Xmas day. Not sure what I will be doing- not making any decisions yet…I could just ride around on ferries all day. But this year it’s not so painful to remember and I am so far away from Xmas preparations that it just feels a million miles away mentally from that awful time so that’s good for me.
So love to all … sorry for you all stuck in the snow and specifically Marilyn and Terry whose flights from Spain to UK for their pre-Xmas family visit were cancelled. I hope they make it another date.
Lynne xxx
PS - Oh dear Alison and Ross - just got on line and read that you didnt get to the Carribean.. soory but glad you are going later.... the snow really does knock plans on the head.
PPS - taking ages to download fotos here in library - so not as many as I wanted to publish this time.
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Jocelyn
non-member comment
Sydney Suburbs
Hi Lynne I always get a laugh out of Beeny & Flopsy!! They have such great personalities. We wondered if you would see any of the floods on the way south. Hopefully the big rains are over now. Of Course Pavlova originated in New Zealand!! Every Kiwi knows that! Ha ha! Not sure if you are receiving my emails at the usual address? So...if it's any use, Intercity Coaches (www.intercity.co.nz) have got 5000 FREE seats on offer from now until April. I have found some of them. They seem to be not on Sundays but you might find something that you can use. Even if you book and don't use it, it costs nothing. Hope we can catch up with you in January. Love Jocelyn