united grrrr
san fran airport grrrr
red carpet lounge reasonable
stupid us customs and immigration even though i was only in transit grrrr
okay so I arrived late and have vowed never to fly united ever again. seriously it’s no wonder they are in chapter 11 bancruptcy protection.
i had of course forgotten to send jo the flight details and so she was waiting folornly at sydney airport for me having taken her morning conference call on her mobile. bless did I ever mention I loved that girl? she’s a star.
We nipped back to Balmain for a quick brunch (although quite what meal it would be for me i’m not really sure) at Jo’s favourite local cafe and i was lusting after the cook/server immediately. welcome to sydney :o)
Whilst Jo rushed to work to catch up on the morning i had made her miss i pottered around Balmain and acclimatised to the sudden onset of summer (although Jo and Michelle kept telling me it had cooled down)
That evening we headed out for food and drinks with Jo’s work mates before heading into town and started where I left off last year at Crown and Oxford for drinks at the Colombian. I really do think it’s my favourite bar, it’s friendly and full of cute guys.
Jo had said she bet me $5 that I would pull within the first 24 hours sadly despite the horny guys I knew better as I had come less than single this year.
So I crashed and burned (jetlag) fairly soon afterwards and we headed back to Balmain for some much needed sleep in a lovely flat bed.
Saturday we hit bondi after a garage sale to get rid of a few extra sofa’s since the girls were moving to Darlinghurst the following weekend (yes to two blocks down from taylor square on the day of mardi gras).
So after some sun and fun in bondi we headed back for another meal out (i’m convinced no one eats in or cooks for themselves in oz) and then more drinks.
On the way back we stopped for pizza in paddington and realised we had completely forgotten about shop! damn so I had missed herb and the boys in drag for the second year in a row.
Sunday was the build up to harbour party (azure) and then after arriving at the party a bit of a blur of retro music including Celine Dion – I drove all night, Barry Manilow – Love is in the air and Randy Crawford – One day I’ll fly away. All very very surreal and yet we danced to all of them. Also bumped into Tony and the boys from last years harbour party but missed Bettina and Margi. All in all a very fun afternoon/evening marred only by the guys asking to borrow a crack pipe at the end of the evening – like do we look like we smoke crack? Next year we have decided just to hire a yaught and moor off the party like the other beautiful sydneysiders who had failed to get tickets had done.
So without any of the after parties or other fun of last year (fnar) we headed back to Balmain for some hard earned rest.
Monday I managed to wander around Balmain and do some mundane grocery shopping and the like, although it seems much more glam to be doing it in Balmain than Balham. Also a quick trip into town to ensure I remmebered the bus route for when the kiwi boys arrived.
Monday night was spent in front of the TV with popcorn and the Oscars. Noozleland sweeped the board and we were dreading the kiwi’s arrival by this point. When the nice australian man Adam Elliot won his and thanked his beautiful boyfriend Dan we all laughed heartily. It’s amazing the storm in some of the papers caused by that the following day. As Mr Elliot pointed out everyone else was thanking their wives and partners why should he be any different?
Tuesday was another trip into Sydney for relaxed shopping and coffees whilst trying to catch up with Gary from Christchurch who was over for a conference for the start of the week. Failing to catch up with him I returned to Balmain. A few cosmo’s later and Michelle and I were more than a little merry. By the time Jo got home we were watching ‘The Bill’ and giggling so we decided food would be a good idea and went for a meal in Balmain. Another bottle of wine later we were all more than merry and stopped for ice cream at Gelatisimo where the two boys behind the counter made a play for one (or all) of us we weren’t quite sure. Neither of them was over 18 though so none of us were that fussed.
Wednesday was the arrival of Dave from Wellington. So after a wander around town and a coffee or two we checked into the lovely Macquarie Hotel. Tanya the lovely lady from accommodation however had some bad news in that the wonders of internet bookings and real systems did not match up and we may not have a room for the entire period. Not good when I was trying to stay out of the girls way pending their move to Bourke Street. Still not to worry. We figured we could wing it with friends if we got really stuck.
Staying centrally meant we had plenty of time to wander up and down Oxford St and Pitt St without the hassle of a bus ride or train journey in.
So after meeting up with Dave we ended up at circular quay for a brief sunbathe and to soak up some of the view. You still can’t beat the view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It’s one of the best sights and most recognisable too.
Thursday was Pam Ann and the Imperial Having seen her on a tiny stage in the corner of the 2 Brewers it was quite a shock. She had an entire stage to herself and a group of dancing boys :o) She was also sponsored up to the preverbial hilt. We followed the show with a trip to The Imperial where the boys watched dodgy caberet in the back bar and I caught up with Bettina and Margy in the front bar.
Friday was… wagamama?
The day of Mardi Gras arrived and Gary and I wandered into town despite the rain. We headed over to Jo’s new pad to see the place. They were moving in so we helped a bit and dried off. Then wandered for beers to The Colombian. We made some new friends and got merry. A few beers later and we got frisky (but not as bad as last year. We went back to the hotel to get showered and changed before heading back up the road. Our new mates were shocked to see us back so soon – they expected us to be shagging or something 😉
Then we met the others at Daves cousins new pad conveniently located above Starbucks on Oxford St a few paces from our favourite bar! The rain was torrential but we ventured with others to the roof terrace to watch the parade every now and then instead of out the window. Talk about rain on the parade!
Back to the hotel for another change and then hailing a cab (you would think that was easy but oh no…) before the maddness that is Sydney Lesbian & Gay Mardi Gras.
More to come.
Okay well here is an update from Sydney
Okay well here is a little update for you :o)
went to the Gulf Air offices today to see about changing my flight. Looks like if they can they will only be able to change the singapore – london not the sydney – singapore. So I will still be leaving sunny sydney on Tuesday night :o(
They are going to call me if they can change the flight. Looks like they have no availability though so I will keep my fingers crossed.
Went to Bondi again today and did the cliff walk around to Bronte via Tamarama [‘glamarama’ allegedly the gay beach] all the beaches were pretty empty. When I arrived at Taylor Square I discovered why – I have never seen Oxford Street so busy [okay so I have only been here a week but you know what I mean]. People where walking on the road as the sidewalk was too busy with people chatting, eating and shopping!
Met Adam and Rob – Adam is an internet friend of Spence -so brought some of that wierd unsure emotion all back.We had a really nice meal after some drinks at The Shift and then wandered back for more drinks – unfortunately by this stage the lines for all the bars were completely mad so we went to the little bar above the shift which is always quiet. Saw a man who was gorgeous and as usual didn’t make any move – must go to assertiveness lessons or something.
So all in all a really nice evening – came home kind of early as it is gonna be a busy one tomorrow . Bettina and Margy have vacated their room – well actualy gone to Bettina’s mums for the week end as they are not participating in MG this year. So they have sweetly offered me their room. These Oz girls are so nice. I mean really nice ina genuine way.
Every morning of my stay in Sydney I have been picking a ‘tarot’ card from a pot along with the girls tomorrows is Action so I’ll interperet that in a number of ways
So off to bed in a minute or so when I have caught up on some blogs I have been missing out on and maybe a look at Spence‘s relaunch site and Dave B‘s site which I discovered in my referral logs. I may be in Oz and not on the internet much but I do chek my logs still!
HAPPY MARDI GRAS 2001 SYDNEY
WARNING: long post (from Sydney)
WARNING: long post
Okay well today is Tuesday and it has been non stop partying since arriving in Sydney on Friday night.
Bettina who I am staying with [and her sister Linda] is wonderful and so generous. She picked me up from the airport and took me out into town after dropping my bags off at their house. We ended up at the Imperial after a troll down Oxford street. The Imperial is the bar in Priscilla Queen of the Desert where they start out from. It is a wierd mix of small bars and a club area downstairs but not a place I would recommend highly.
Saturday B and her lovely other half Margi took me to Bondi for breakfast and then tried to show me how to body surf – I was not very successful I must admit . Followed by a trip to the shops. It was ‘Shop yourself Stupid’ a charity shop-a-thon here in Sydney for AIDS charities. So lots of shows, drag artists and the like on street corners and on the back of trucks. Ooh and a cute boy in a shower cubicle on Oxford Street doing a bit of dancing with not much on. Bought a nice new shirt with Velcro fastening which went down very welll that night when I met up with David and we went out for drinks with Kim and Matt. We got stupidly drunk – well actually the four of them where stupidly drunk when I arrived at Scally’s hotel room and I just played catch up.
Matt, Scally and I then ended up at Oxford street and eventually I headed off home.
Sunday I was not too well – a bit of a cold – I know how do you get a cold in sunny Sydney? Anyways stayed in bed for a bit with Max the cat and then got up and helped Bettina with her hair. Margi had started it with strips of blue fabric. Linda and I then had a rethink and did Bjork style bunches with the blue lame? [shiny blue stuff]. It looked fantastic but I do not think I will be opening a salon in the near future!
They managed to source an extra ticket to the Harbour Party – a very difficult thing to do by all accounts as tickets had long since sold out and the lines to actually buy them in the first place had started at midnight the day before they went on sale.
On our way to the party a car pulled up and a guy came up to us looking puzzled and then decided he did not recognise me. It turned out he did I had just had my hair shaved and was wearing my contacts. Brad I used to know in London – he went out with a friend of mine [James] – I thought he was living in Adelaide so had not bothered trying to contact him for the trip. Turns out he is living in Sydney and was on his way back from the airport – he now works as a trolley dolley for Ansett! He was also going to the harbour party so we arranged to meet up and catch up later – wierd co-incidence or what?
So I ended up having a fantastic night – overlooking the opera house and the harbour bridge with 3,500 assorted fags and dykes partying under the stars. It was truly wonderful. I cannot thank the girls enough or Brad for that matter
Seeing Brad was realy wierd – I will be posting that one to Meg‘s Strangely Familiar site when I return!
Yesterday was another lazy day really – went on the farry across to Manly with Scally and had loads of fun in the sun – after a quick meet up with Kier and Liam who are also over. Then went back and got changed and over to scally’s hotel again. Met Fran – yes another of the London crowd who is over for Mardi Gras and went out for Dinner and drinks. Scally and I ended up at Stonewall where he pulled within minutes and I danced myself to exhaustion on the podium [no change there for me then].
Woke up with swollen sore eyes and had to take a trip to the doctors – I have an opthalmic bacterial pathogen so am on antibiotics. Was supposed to be meeting with Brad today but have decided to stay in the garden instead and read. Then will meet up later at the Albury to see Pam Ann. We usually see her in the 2 brewers at home so it will be wierd to see her in her home town ofr a change – she has flown over for a one off Mardi Gras Special.
Scally and I need to sort out costumes for Mardi Gras too as Margi has arranged for us to be on the 2001: a sex oddessey float. So we will be participating instead of spectating – can’t wait. Hope my eyes are better by then.
Also gonna try and change my flights on the way back to spend some more time in Singapore and catch up with Naz.
Sorry for the extremely long update today but I have been busy enjoying myself offline for a change
Happy Happy Happy – and so blissed out it is untrue – I wanna move to sydney woo hoo.
local time of post – 12:46 – lunchtime – and hot as hell
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