A little 30525 in the 2022

12 July 2011
It’s 7:25 am right now (well it was when I started typing this post... flash forward to the present 12:30 pm)… I woke up at 6:15 to lug suitcases to the train station, suitably located just below my apartment building. One of my closest camp friends spent Sunday and Monday with me… he’s spending the semester at Melbourne Uni (his first stop on his year- long journey abroad). His program, however, was spending a week in Sydney prior to settling in Melbourne. As I was here anyway, Nathan came in a few days early to see me. His program begins this morning… the LA flight arrives in at 6:30 and so Nathan left my apartment at 6:30.

I find myself fortunate to have such close camp friends… I see them all across the country, a few all across the world. No matter the friend, no matter the location, we all pick up exactly from where we left off, perfectly natural, perfectly comfortable. It’s such a special bond and it’s all thanks to my five-year span with Ramah Darom.

Saturday

Following our return from our day adventure across the shores of the Sydney Harbour (location of the Taronga Zoo), I ventured back out with Katie and Keli. This time… in search of a tattoo parlor. Keli was on a mission, Katie and I were along for the ride. After a few roundabouts on the buses (buses never cease to be difficult), we found two tattoo shops. Both, however, were either a) booked or b) closed. Alas, Keli’s tattoo mission has been postponed until next weekend.

We spent the evening at Darling Harbour, watching the fireworks illuminate the night sky, flashing a stunning reflection over the water below. Our evening concluded with a quick stop into the bar up the street. I’ve decided the bar scene is much more me than the club scene.

Sunday

My alarm was set for 8:15 am. I was out of bed by 8:30 and down the elevator by 8:35. Nathan was waiting for me at the train station; he had, thankfully, only been waiting a few minutes. It was beyond words WONDERFUL to see him… we’ve been friends since Gesher ’07 (our last summer as campers) and have spent each summer since together, whether as campers in Israel or co- counselors for Nitzanim (the youngest age group at camp).

Jump On It and Living Social had a discount for the aquarium a few weeks ago. (Australia offers a wide variety of discount websites, Jump On It and Living Social being the ones we utilized.) Nathan and I had purchased the coupon and after brainstorming a packed, two- day itinerary in my living room Sunday morning, we headed out to Darling Harbour. Him with a Living Social coupon (you pay $17 for the ticket and that’s it). Me with a Jump On It coupon (you pay $ 7 for the coupon and the rest at the door… to my advantage, they saw Nathan’s coupon, assumed I had the same coupon and didn’t charge me a greater sum!).

The aquarium was… interesting. I don’t like fish, that it definitely did reinforce. Slight issue for my upcoming trip to the Great Barrier Reef? Noooo…

Big nose... my sister fish?

We ate lunch (a lovingly packed lunch put together by want to be domesticated mommy me) on the harbour docks and fed (RUDE, mean girls- esque) birds our scraps. There were two birds that were the ring leaders of the crew; One cawed viciously, stretching its neck out in attempt to seem intimidating but really came off as awkward. Regina Goroge's counterpart just flew at the birds, forcing them off the side of the dock. I tried avoiding throwing my scraps in the posse leaders' directions. I simply just did not like them.

Darling Harbour... my first time going by day.

After lunch, we walked along, stopping at the Chinese Friendship Garden to make our friendship official (but decided against it when realized you had to pay $3 to enter the gardens), through Chinatown and up to Paddy’s Market (essentially a flea market in the heart of Chinatown). After a few hours there (and a cup of coffee for Nathan who by this point, had reached a peak on his jet lag), we left to walk to Central to meet up with one of the boy’s on our program… We were all headed to the Hillsong church (the same church I had been to last week). As a camp friend (aka we spend all our summer, Jewish, religious experiences together), I felt Nathan would appreciate the Hillsong, Christian experience. Which he did; It made for interesting conversation later that evening. 

I made dinner for us, complemented with a classy $5 bottle of wine. (Ehem, college student budget.) The plan was to watch High School Musical (definitely definitely definitely his choice... ok mine), but we both got too tired (I agree, he had more of an excuse than me. But this trip really has turned me back into Bubbie Beck. I blame my long work days.) and turned in for the night.

Monday

Although we had carefully planned a day’s excursion across the city… we ended up marking off only half our plans. Which really, worked in our favor.

Nathan and I spent the morning at Bondi Beach, walking along the coast (of course, I freaked out because I was in my blue shoes not my beach flip flops) and up the promenade into a few of the shops. We had a little photo shoot of my shoes… I want to change the layout of this blog, a plan that is still in the works. As we had done yesterday, we packed a lunch (Nathan cut the peppers, I mashed the tuna and together we rolled the wraps) and ate our picnic on a grassy cove overlooking the water.

Our plan was to hop on the bus, take the train, switch buses and make it to a museum. Hopping on the first bus and then the train was fine. It was the transfer bus, which for the life o fus, we could not find. So museum trip: aborted. Impromptu plan: a stroll (and eventual lie down) in the park.

The sun began setting (ugh at 5) along with the temperature. I’ve transitioned back into a refusal to dress warmly (theory: if you dress as if its spring then the weather will warm up?). It was too cold to stay outside so the two of us decided dinner plans were next. We had purchased a Jump On It coupon for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Kings Cross: a shared entrée, pizza, pasta AND salad all for just $29. Just the perfect way to end just the perfect weekend.

Nathan and I at Bondi Beach.

Gesher '07... the start of our friendship four years ago.