Our Own Reality Show Day 1: Sydney and TravelBlog Brunch

A great day
TB meet-ups are always fun. It was good to meet you after having followed your blogs for many years. I notice you carefully avoided mention of the 40C temperature outside. Glad you enjoyed yourself in Sydney.

Travel blog hospitality
Nothing like hanging out with like minded people. The world of travel is kind and accepting. Sounds like a bit of playful snaking around. The food looks fantastic....the Hoopers can throw a party. Keep those tales coming. MJ

A lunch for the ages
Dave here....looks like a great time was had by all!

Upgrade
We went to such an effort to prepare the Vermillion Room for you...even cleaned the spa jets so you could have a floating sleep experience among our flora and fauna. And then you turned out to such a great guest we had to give you an upgrade! What a trooper Jo is...crutches and all...not prepared to miss a minute of the fun. And then there were the surprises coming thick and fast. There is something about the Travelblog community that brings out the best in people...the joy on Sydney TB faces meeting in person in our home...Denise's masterchef cooking...desserts from Jan, Michelle & John & Sylvia...Ali's chuckles as he greeted us in the ether with Dave & MJ joining us as virtual guests for lunch from USA on Skype followed by Andrew Strong of the Commitments belting out songs and wrestling with his guitar...to us. Thank you Brendan & Jo for joining us for this ride...and accepting the Platinum upgrade. And you have only touched on the beginning.

Harbour Bridge Climb
Someone has been inspired by your blog to imitate your adventure but did it on his own in the middle of the night. Attempts to retrieve him were eventually successful but caused total chaos as the main thoroughfare into the Sydney CBD was closed for five hours. Traffic was affected as far back as Parramatta (nearly 50 kms away) and traffic queues were over 3 hours for some. You need to curb your enthusiasm - not :).

Please, sir, I want some more!
"The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear." - With apologies to Charles Dickens! I'm not saying that any of our party at Denise & David's Travelblog lunch were fat but, like Oliver Twist, we sure wanted more of the delectable feast which Denise prepared for us all together with your help Brendan. It was a wonderful way to meet fellow travelbloggers and I'm extremely grateful to have received an invite! So glad that you were able to experience music at The Basement as unfortunately Sydney's iconic music venue is closing its doors. "The Circular Quay nightspot first opened in 1973 and is one of Sydney's oldest jazz venues. Over the years it has become a stalwart of the city's broader entertainment and live music scene, hosting everything from cabaret shows to intimate Neil Diamond concerts." Report courtesy SMH 26/03/18. So, lucky you Brendan!!

Sydney Opera House
So glad you like our beautiful Opera House Brendan. My husband Kev designed a lot of the lights etc there, so we feel that we are part owners of the place!

Travel Blog Meet Up
Wow, what an amazing experience it must have been to meet up with so many Travel Bloggers who you've been in touch with for so long. I bet indeed many travel stories were shared that day in Sydney :)

I wish we could bottle these TB meetups
Now you know why my flights were booked within minutes. I'm glad you arrived after I was out of hospital, as I would seriously have considered self discharging to be there!! Always a safe bet leaving yourself in the hands of the Dancing One :-)