Day Six - Sydney

It is funny when you go to a different country how you hear the birds singing a different song.  I have no ideas what these birds are that wake me up in the morning (as opposed to a guy filling a skip), but they do sound lovely.  I was up and out by 9.30 and caught the bus to Coogee Beach.  I was going to walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach but then decided against it as my back has been really good since I arrived in Australia; and also, I forgot my stick!  Coogee Beach was beautiful.  I wish I had taken a towel then I would have gone for a paddle.  I sat on the promenade watching the world go by.  I decided then to go and get a late breakfast.  I said it before, Australia has some of the best coffee (as well as New Zealand) that I have tasted.  Breakfast was a treat, the

vegetarian special.  I then went for a walk along the esplanade then up to the shops where I wanted to buy a postcard and get it sent off.  Plenty of post offices around too, something you do not see back in the UK.  More coffee whilst I wrote the post card and then I decided I needed to look for some new shoes.

My feet have been very swollen since I left Singapore and I swear it the shoes I have got that are not helping.  I stopped off the bus and Rewnick and went into a shoe shop.  The good thing about footwear here is that it is designed to do the job i.e. be outside in the sunshine.  The woman in the shop was so lovely and helpful and she could see that my feet were like trolls' feet and don't forget the prickly heat all up my ankles too; such a catch.  Shoes purchased, they were not cheap, I decided to keep them on and I have to say by the time I returned to the AirBnB the swelling in my left foot had gone down a bit (fingers crossed).  

I got off the bus in Gay Land.  I swear I must be the only straight person in

Sydney at the moment.  Once again, like most of my life, I am surrounded by gay men but this time gay men from around the world!  The local area looks very colourful at the moment and I walked up the road to our flat surrounded by dogs, jockstraps, rainbows, harnesses and men (oh my).  Back in the flat I decided I would use the washing machine.  Such excitement I know.  I forgot, but the Australians have toploader washing machines, which I have to say I do like and could have done with a few weeks ago when my back was so bad I could not bend down to get things out of ours.  It was nice to be honest just to kick back and relax before the madness starts.

I met up with Andy and Stuart, but here's a tip. When you do not have wifi as obviously my data allowance does not go as far as the other side of the world, make sure you give directions to a place i.e. business that actually exists and

not just a rough area, of if you are doing this, make sure that the person is aware.  Needless to say, I got lost.  I went off on a stroll, down a huge hill until I finally hooked up on some free wifi and checked in!  All that madness aside, we went for a burger and I even managed to get a vegan burger, albeit being cooked probably with all the meat ones but hey ho.

We then went to the Stonewall Hotel and met two of Stuart's lovely friends and that is where we stayed for the evening, and what an evening we had!  To say I was a minority would be an insult to maths.  I think I saw around ten other women throughout the evening and in the typical tradition of Karen, got speaking to more men in a pub than I ever do when, on the rare occasion, I go out in straight world.  They had men in pants dancing on the bar, right in front of my face.  I nearly lost an eye!  I did video it and sent it to Megan with the note ...... this is what your Mum is doing tonight!  They had drag queens performing, brilliant music playing and in my case, plenty of lager and gin.  It really was a lovely, lovely evening and now I have new International Gay Friends to add to my collection.  Obviously, they loved me and are going to look me up when they come to London.  I mean, what is it?  Why can't I transfer these skills to straight world!

Finally rolled home at 2.00ish, slightly the worse for wear but give me a break, I am on holiday.  Collapsed in bed and that is where I stayed to until 10.00am when I did surface thinking I better just grab a shower and go and get some coffee.  So here I am, in the local coffee shop near to where we are staying and a very good place it is too.  The coffee, needless to say, is really good, I mean, really good and they have a steady stream of people coming in. It really is a good, thriving business and of course, the sun is shining. Busy day ahead, but more about that later.

As always, with my love x