Gosh we've been busy

Whenever people ask us about our new life here in Sydney - we always say that there is always something happening. And it is true - we have never had such a busy social life. Now I will admit, most of it revolves around drinking - but we are in Australia after all, and it is the national pastime. Our friends from Brisbane - Mandy and Scott - recently stayed with us - they were off to see ACDC and we provided accommodation. As well as quite a few of Gus' now famous cocktailsWhilst they were at the concert, we headed off to a special private event - the soft opening of Rita's bar. Situated in Ashfield, this was a cool new happening spot.



Whilst I was a bit concerned to see the barman drinking his own martinis, Gus remained unfazed by it all. He kept his cool - must have been the hat!

The following weekend we had yet more visitors from Brisbane - Gus' cousin Lennard and his wife Alida. They were in Sydney for the George Michael concert - we had tickets too - clearly we are all about the same age! Amazingly this was my very first stadium concert experience - I have led a sheltered life! It was a great night - 40000 fans - and Mr George Michael was in fine form. Still sounds good and still has the stage presence and all the moves. I would have liked a bit more Wham, but he ended the evening on a great note.




The following night was Mardi Gras - the Gay and Lesbian parade. Now I don't do crowds and there was no way I was mixing with the plebs on the street, so we had VIP tickets to the Glamstand. This was banked seating, in a separate area - with its own bar, food, and toilets. Now that's much more me. We even glammed up ourselves especially




The tickets for Glamstand were sold to raise money for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, an HIV / AIDS related charity. So it was money well spent. And we had a blast. Great seats, a great view of all the hot boys parading past,





and commentary from 2 of Sydney's finest drag queens.






After all that excitement, we needed a break and so last weekend, rather than host people from Brisbane, we headed up there ourselves to stay with Gus' schoolfriend Kerry. Like a true South African, Kerry treated us to a braaithough I have to admit, I am not a fan of boerwurst. The kebabs and burgers were delicious though. As was our Sunday morning breakfast at Surfer's Paradise.



Now Surfer's seems to be the Aussie equivalent of Blackpool or Bournemouth - you either love it or hate it. It does have a rather faded, shabby quality - and seemed to be populated by either retirees or hippy surfersI quite liked it. Mind you, that might have been due to all the half dressed hippy surfers.