Sydney Part One: Celebrity sighting
Tuesday 6, January
Having realised that flying to Sydney for New Year’s Eve probably wasn’t the shrewdest move, I eventually bought a ticket for Saturday, 3 January, returning to Melbourne on the 13th. And whilst it only took me ninety minutes to touch down at Sydney Airport, it was fascinating to see how different the two cities were. On one hand, I was leaving behind Melbourne, a very liberal, laid-back city with rather fashionable creative types and independent stores on every corner. On the other, I was immediately struck by the familiar food chains in Sydney and the amount of locals clad in activewear. Admittedly, I was staying in Bondi (perhaps my first mistake) but it did feel a little ‘Clapham-on-sea’. No disrespect to Clapham, I had a lovely six months in a shared house just off Clapham Common, but there are only so many cockapoos and iced lattes I can look at.
I should add, however, that having spent a little time in Surry Hills and Paddington (the best suburbs in central Sydney, so I hear) I could absolutely feel the ‘pull’ from this city and understand why lots of tourists visit and lots of travellers relocate. Not only is everyone sun-kissed, but everyone seems to stroll the streets a little lighter as if the pressures of the world aren’t on their shoulders. From chatting to a few locals, they seem to have nailed the daily routine: they go to the gym before work, visit their favourite coffee place with a friend at lunch; then, before you know it, they’re closing their laptops at 4.30 pm and heading to the beach for a quick swim or surf. Did I mention it’s sunny from start to finish on this metaphorical day?
Admittedly, I also enjoyed having a little swim in one of East Sydney’s many coastal pools. I chose the one on Bronte Beach (see pic), hoping to skip the crowds that take over the famous Bondi Beach. These pools are essentially well-kept saltwater infinity pools that allow you to swim and look out across the sea without having to worry about the rip tides, rocks, seaweed and stingy creatures lurking below the surface.
It turned out that there were more people from back home visiting Sydney for Christmas. I ended up going for a drink with Chloe (pictured) who was visiting her friend Darcy, both of whom I had met in various house parties and festivals growing up in Manchester.
Darcy has settled in Bondi and has lived there for five years now. It didn’t come as a huge surprise that she now trains for Ironman events and she takes advantage of Sydney’s hills which cater for long bike rides, and the saltwater pools help her prepare for the gruelling 3km swim. I have to say this did not particularly appeal to me but it was fun to connect the dots between our mutual friends and find out what they’ve been up to 10 years down the line. I also reminded Darcy of a date that she had with Ol when we were back in school. Ol had picked her up from her house in his car (what a smooth guy!) and found himself under pressure to perform a parallel park outside the Metropolitan pub in Didsbury. It turned out inch-perfect - something he has mentioned enough times for it to become folklore in our friendship group. Unfortunately, Darcy didn’t recall this incredible feat.
.Another friend of mine, this time from university in Newcastle, had relocated to Australia five years ago. Pad (pictured) elected for Sydney and hasn’t looked back since. Back at university, we often found ourselves in interesting situations, often due to Pad’s charm. This time, he invited me along to a video shoot for a friend’s social media account - Schoonerscorer. As chance would have it, fresh off my Ashes fandom, the shoot was with Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins. Before the shoot, we attempted to chat to him about cricket and Yorkshire (strangely enough his wife is from Harrogate, the town over to where Pad grew up). It was a real highlight of the trip.
I did find myself running short of things to say at one point though and asked him about his back injury (how lame am I?) We eventually plucked up the courage to ask for a photo. He had been bombarded all afternoon for photos - they say he’s the most important person in Australia after the Prime Minister. I decided to make a big song and dance and ask for one in a faux polite manner. He jokingly replied (or at least I hope he was joking) ‘nah f*** off mate!’ before quickly agreeing to take one.
Anyway, I did not have the Australian cricket captain telling me to ‘F*** off’ on my bingo card!
