Even though the trip to Blue Mountains was a long and draining day, I was up at 6:30am the following morning. Not just because the heat and city noise in my room was next level, but because I was headed to watch a soccer game.
Tottenham were playing an important Champions League match away to Barcelona and the 7am kickoff time was manageable. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to watch it with the local supporters group. And my hostel’s internet was dog shit so I wouldn’t be able to stream it or pull up a replay later.
The Sydney OzSpurs met at a hotel (bar) in walking distance, so that was convenient. There was a turnout of probably 25 people. There were having projection issues for the first 5-10 minutes so a few people had pulled it up on their phones.
It got sorted out and we all watched anxiously as it took to the 85th minute for our boys to draw level and get the result they needed to advance to the next stage of the competition. It was actually a super fun moment when we scored. The place went nuts and I pumped my fist so hard my bracelet flew off (it was later found). That meant everybody was leaving happy, to start their days at 9am.
I bumbled around town for a little bit. Nabbed some internet from a cafe and had a small bite to eat. I went back to the hostel around noon and ended up taking a critical 4 hour nap. It felt like work to rouse myself from the dead.
Once I was alive again, I went to check out the architecture of the Queen Victoria Building and The Strand Arcade. Both were nice looking indoor malls.
Then I walked down to the Circular Quay to scope the Opera House at night. I had a good time finding different setups and learning some new capabilities of my camera.
In the morning, I checked out of my hostel and transferred all of my stuff to Stephany’s place in Bondi. Maria returned home, so Steph was nice enough to let me crash on the couch.
After a lazy afternoon, we caught a bus down to the beach and she showed me some cool spots. We hopped on some rocks to a lookout called Ben Buckler, then walked North Bondi to Dudley Page Reserve, which had a great view of downtown Sydney.
Our intention was to watch the sunset there. Instead, we were watching a gnarly lightning storm over the skyline. Some guy set up a full news-style camera next to us. That should’ve been a hint. It seemed like the clouds were moving closer to us, but not at an alarming rate. I had just stopped filming myself when lightning struck incredibly close to us. I could feel a small electric pulse from my camera. The dude next to us “beat feet like a fuckin track star.”
It was for sure the closest I’ve been to being struck by lighting. We immediately headed for the bus and hoped it would be there before the downpour came.
Thankfully, we were still dry when we got scooped up. By the time we got dropped off, though, the rain was comin on down. We had to wait under an awning for 10 minutes before it was tolerable enough to brave. Even then, we had to wade through an ankle deep river in the street.
This started a trend of intense evening rain after getting off the bus.
The next morning, Steph and I put on our walking shoes. We were set to do a coastal walk from Watson’s Bay back to Bondi with a few detours here and there.
It was a warm day. We were getting some good views and an obvious sweat on. A few kms in, we reached a sweet bluff and cove called Diamond Bay Reserve. She took me down a pseudo-secret path that led to this gateway to death.
I took out the drone and was getting some tasty footage. I was starting to get good at 3 part simultaneous movement.
Then I crashed it on some rocks close to the water. Oops.
We followed its position on the map and Stephany spotted the lights. It was in a dangerously inviting spot. There was a few ropes and a ladder that sort of led down to where it was. But it was way too unsafe to venture down there without a harness or any sort of safety equipment. Stephany was game to climb, but I didn’t feel good about that optjon. As much as I wanted it back, even if it was damaged, it was too risky.
I hopped on a few Sydney forums to see if I could get in contact with somebody that had done the climb before without any luck. We had to leave it behind. Brutal. A very costly mistake. So many thoughts in hindsight.
An hour later when we got off the bus near her apartment, it started raining heavily yet again. That along with waves crashing on the rocks would’ve claimed the electronics anyway. Still sucks. A repair is cheaper than a full re-buy. Also, the sweet footage.
But that was that. The only way to make it better was to have a beer.
The solution to that was Marta’s office Christmas party. Coincidentally it was in a WeWork space, which is the company my brother works for.
The event was catered and there was booze galore. Draft beer FTW.
All of Stephany’s friends from the pool party were there. I also met a few other people throughout the evening. Potentially the most miraculous thing is that I lost at tic tac toe like 3 times. Not even sure how that happens. There was some rough karaoke to take my mind off of it.
Once it wound down, the group went to a place called Retro where there was dancing. I saw the real-life version of that Dane Cook joke about girls putting their purses in the middle of the floor and dancing around them.
After coming out of the bathroom, I got approached by a random dude. He was trying to sell me hard on photographing his friend’s wedding on some island in a few months. I kept trying to tell him I was amateur at best and couldn’t even figure out how he knew I had a camera to begin with.
Eventually, it came time to eat a late night kebab and catch a bus back.
The next day Stephany was working a concert. I went back to the scene of the crime to see if 1) drone baby had been swept into the sea or 2) people were out for their Saturday afternoon climb and could help a brother out. The answer was ‘no’ to both scenarios. Still didn’t have a solution of how to get it back so I said a fond farewell.
Apart from arranging my next Workaway, that was pretty much my entire day. Cool.
On Sunday, we hung out for a little bit by the pool. Then we went to another person’s place to have a few bevs and snacks on the way to see “Christmas Carols” on Coogee Beach. Unexpectedly, it was a full on concert with a ton of different acts and a million people. They did have a pretty good firework show at the end before everyone dispersed.
Since it was my last night, Steph busted out some solid Japanese whisky and we debriefed on my time in Sydney.
Her hospitality and guidance around the city was an obvious highlight. The lowlight was clear. Tried not to dwell on it. We had a nice chat and then I repacked my bag as is necessary every few days.
I got up the next morning to catch several modes of public transportation up to the Central Coast.