As they were re-setting the tables after last night’s “dinner session” a the Katoomba RSL, I noticed one of the blokes had a tape measure, and was measuring the distance between the tables. I overheard him tell a colleague about the “plain clothes inspectors” who were visiting local venues to ensure they were “Covid Safe”. As in the famous episode of “Fawlty Towers”, I wonder if he, falsely, thought I was a plain-clothed inspector!
Although everyone else had already left the room, I was still there, having arrived at a later time than most. Having enjoyed a fair bit of “steak and chips” lately, I went for the “butter chicken”. Since I lived near the corner of Crown and Cleveland Streets in Surry Hills (and am therefore spoiled when it comes to Indian food), I wasn’t expecting something anything terribly authentic. It was “average” at best.
Last night, “Katoomba RSL” was pretty popular. After dinner, I enjoyed a couple of drinks and watched a bit of footy on the TV, along with a room-full of others. It was a nice place to spend a couple of hours, and it was across the road from the motel where I was staying. I should emphasise the staff at the RSL did an awesome job checking everyone on entry and on leaving, and throughout to ensure everything was COVID-Safe.
I dined at Katoomba RSL because pretty much everywhere else in Katoomba was booked out.
From the look of things, they’re taking “COVID-19” pretty seriously, as you might expect for a town that’s highly reliant on the tourist industry. “Have you recently visited Victoria?”, was a question asked pretty much everywhere I visited, whether it be the hotel where I stayed to a cafe or a restaurant or a bar.
My visit to the Katoomba was one of those “spur of the moment” decisions. Four months of living and working from home, and I definitely needed some mountain air.
Overall, the town was pretty quiet, due to COVID-19, whereas winter would normally be pretty busy for them. Hopefully a few dollars from me will help the local economy.
At the suggestion of a few friends on social media I visited some bookstores and art galleries.
I also noticed there’s a terrific public art laneway, not far from Katoomba Street.
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Naturally enough I visited a few tourist attractions, and have blogged about them elsewhere.
Of all the photographs I took, this is probably my favourite. Move over selfie-stick, this is how you capture your holiday snaps now. Spotted this family using a drone yesterday at The Three Sisters.
Everything is going smoothly so far. I’d pre-purchased my ticket for the Arlanda Express, which is a dedicated high-speed rail link that whisks you from the airport into Stockholm Central Station in just 18 minutes. It hits speeds of up to 200 km/h, but the best part for me was the accessibility; it offers level boarding from the platform, which makes life much easier. The airport wheelchair assistance was also excellent—the wheelchair assistant took me all the way to the platform.
Aside from a minor detour—there are two Radisson hotels next to Central Station and I naturally picked the wrong one first—it’s been a breeze. It’s cold, certainly, but hardly a blizzard. I’m actually still wearing my shorts. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny.
The $50 Doctor
I’m flying with Norse Atlantic Airways, a relatively new low-cost carrier that has stepped into the gap left by other budget long-haul airlines. They operate a modern fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, offering a “no-frills” experience where you pay a low base fare and then add on everything else—from meals to seat selection—as extra. I bought the ticket well aware of these limitations, but the price for a return trip between Bangkok and Stockholm was too good to pass up.
While boarding my flight in Bangkok, I overheard a classic budget airline exchange. “Could I get a seat in the exit row?” a woman asked the flight attendant. “That will be $50,” came the reply. “Even if the seat is free? And I’m a doctor,” she added, hoping for a professional courtesy. “That’s still $50,” came the reply.
“It’s half the price of flying with Thai Airways,” a man remarked to me as we boarded. He’s Swedish but has a Thai wife; they split their retirement years between both countries. At 70, he’s been retired for a decade after running a printing business. He was returning to Sweden to check on his house on an island in the archipelago. He mentioned he also helps out his older neighbours by “emptying out their shit buckets”—apparently a common logistical challenge for island dwellers.
Conversations and Cultural Clues
One thing about having an amputation is that it’s often a natural conversation starter. He noticed my Australian passport and asked what happened. Realising we could have a laugh, I gave him my usual lines: I sometimes tell people it was a shark, or that I lost it fighting as a soldier in the Middle East.
I’d estimate about half the passengers were Swedish. In the middle of winter, they flock to Thailand to escape the gloom. You can always spot the returning Swedes at Bangkok Airport—they’re the ones with the deep, two-week tans. I remember once seeing a woman take off her sunglasses to reveal stark white circles where her tan hadn’t reached.
The In-flight Experience
Months ago, in a moment of sensible foresight, I’d pre-ordered a diabetic meal: grilled fish with steamed vegetables. It was actually quite good, even if the toasted sandwiches smelled tempting.
The in-flight menu is priced in US dollars. A ham and cheese toastie will set you back about $10.50, with small meals around $13.00. They also sell a lot of “travel tech” merchandise, like luggage trackers and Bluetooth connectors for headphones. Not that those were useful today—an email last night warned us the in-flight entertainment system was broken.
While the Swedish couple next to me were quite concerned, it didn’t bother me. I’d brought my Chromebook tablet, packed with about a dozen of my all-time favourite films for precisely this reason. I revisited some absolute classics like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Brokeback Mountain. There is something about the isolation of a long-haul flight that makes those heavy, emotional dramas hit even harder. I also have Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (fitting for a Stockholm arrival) ready to go.
I also started watching A Single Man, where Colin Firth plays an academic in the 1960s dealing with the hidden grief of losing his partner. I remember sobbing out loud the first time I saw it. Within fifteen minutes today, I started to tear up again, so I decided to save the rest for the flight home.
The crew were lovely—a truly international mix with a Swedish captain, an American customer service lead, and French-speaking cabin crew. I had one flight attendant speak to me in Swedish, and I was able to respond accordingly The plane felt modern and well-maintained, despite the tech glitch.
The flight from Bangkok to Stockholm takes roughly 12 hours and 40 minutes. We left the lunchtime heat of Thailand and touched down in mid-evening, sub-zero Stockholm.
Interestingly, the security officer seemed baffled as to why an Australian would be coming to Sweden at this time of year. #rollseyes
My Swedish friends also can’t understand why I’d visit now rather than in the height of summer. I understand their perspective, but for me, the snow and ice are the main draw. It’s been ten years since I last saw a proper winter. There are risks, of course—falling is a bigger concern now as an amputee—but the beauty of the landscape far outweighs the downsides.
My friends back home seem to be in a panic about the weather on my behalf, but I’m exactly where I want to be.
Today, I wore pants for the first time in about a month. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been wearing short pants every day. I’m talking “long pants”. “Grown up pants”. Jeans, actually. I needed to go into the city, and so I decided I needed to get a little “dressed up”.
Using apps and online, for about a month I’ve been trying to deal with an issue with my home internet. I don’t have ADSL or NBN, by the way, I’ve been using mobile broadband for a couple of years, as it’s been both faster and more flexible. I’ve been able to take it away with me, as I’ve travelled with work. Though it’s more expensive than a traditional home connection, it’s worked for me.
Working from home has meant I’ve been using a lot more data, mostly due to video conferencing, and because of my job, transferring large files back and forth. And even though Telstra have given customers an additional 25g of data, it hasn’t been enough.
So I attempted an upgrade to my service, which I was promised would be provided within 24-48 hours. That was on March 25. I gave them a little bit of slack, given the current situation, but of course it’s now almost a month later. I’ve been going back and forward between the app and the call centre. The app sent me to the call centre, the call centre sent me to the app. Neither was able to help.
And so today I went into the store on George Street (all of the others in the city were closed), and the problem was resolved within a few minutes. Thanks Samir!
Cleaning down the hard surfaces of the public furniture in Sydney.
While in the city I also popped in to purchase some of the awesome BBQ pork they sell as Emperor’s Garden. Oh my goodness, what a lunchtime treat it provided (along with a glass of wine) for my day off work.
I’m still taking Wednesdays as an annual leave day (in order to reduce the amount of “excess leave” I have). Even though these days started out as opportunities to visit galleries, go swimming, and to catch up with friends, I’m still enjoying them now. I use them as time for reading, sitting in the sun, and visiting the Tesltra store.
Got up nice and early on Monday for a walk around Centennial Park. Lots of joggers, a few cyclists, and a few, like me, just enjoying the sunrise while getting a bit of exercise.
Otherwise life is going on as per normal, whatever that means these days. I’ve been trying to get some exercise with a “big walk” most days to one of the nearby parks. Most days I’ll pop down to my local coffee shop to get a takeway. The only real life social interaction I’m having is with the people at the local shops, and some of my neighbours.
On Saturday night, I popped down to the supermarket and thankfully there was toilet paper on sale!!! This was the first time since lockdown that I’ve been there are the right time.
In the “virtual world”, I’m catching up with family, friends and colleagues.
We had our first attempt on Sunday at a “three city/town” family hookup (linking Brisbane, Lismore and Sydney), and it went pretty well. We need to do a bit of work on camera angles, having the volume loud enough so everyone could hear, and remembering to charge laptop batteries, but otherwise very successful and enjoyable. We’re doing another one next Sunday, this time also linking in Darwin.
I’m also catching up with a cousin and aunty on video conference tomorrow.
And tomorrow night, Kate and I are participating in an online Drag Queen Bingo, like we played in Darwin last year. Oh, it seems like such a long time ago.
Drag queen trivia in Darwin.
I’m probably talking to more people now than I would otherwise.
There was a very strange feeling at Sydney Airport today. Though of course there are times when it can be reasonably quiet there, there’s always at least some “buzz” around the place. When I caught the train to the airport, there was only one other person who got off at the same time as me. She was already wearing a face-mask.
All of the Virgin check-in facilities were, of course closed, and there was only one Jet Star baggage counter open. I don’t know what it was like at the Qantas terminal (as Qantas doesn’t fly to Ballina Byron), but at the “discount airline terminal” things were pretty quiet. There was only one line of security, and on the inside there were only two or three restaurants or bars open. As I waited for my flight to leave, I grabbed a beer. (Sadly, the Qantas lounge was also closed).There was lots of safe distancing going on, and at least a couple of warnings from the staff, recommending that we pick up one of the Fly Well packs.“The hand sanitiser packs look like condoms”, a friend joked.Pretty much everyone on the flight wore face masks, which is just as well because there wasn’t a free seat on board.
“You’re not separating the seats anymore?”, I heard one passenger ask a flight attendant. You could sense his disappointment, as he looked down the aisle, hoping there might have been at least one free seat. I felt the same.
As we arrived at Ballina Airport, I looked out for Michelle, who had come down from Lismore (about thirty minutes drive) to pick me up. Immediately, I noticed no one was allowed in the airport. There were maybe thirty or so people waiting OUTSIDE the terminal. Michelle waited in the car until she saw me arrive.
And so I’m baaaaaackkk….
This is the first time I’ve been home since Christmas. I had hoped to come home earlier for Easter, but everything has been on hold since COVID-19.
At just over eight hundred kilometres away, it’s about eighty minutes to fly from Sydney to Lismore. Announcing the resumption of a more “regular” pattern of flights, I managed to score a round ticket price of $70, plus $30 for securing front row seats. Bargain.
On the kitchen table, I was greeted by the final print editions of the local newspapers. There’s the 6-day a week daily paper, and the weekly freebie. “Jack only buys The Northern Star to see who has died”, Pat told me. I’m not sure how he’ll do that now.
As part of this trip I was planning to visit family member, “Young Margy” who has spent the last few weeks battling pancreatic cancer (the same cancer that killed her mother only a few years ago). I’d organised some cross-border passesm so we could head up to Brisbane on Monday.
Sadly, she died just before midnight last night.
I love this photograph from Christmas 1966. Margy was nine months older than me, and so we spent a lot of our early years together. I used to look up to her, and I loved when the Hyland and Pepper families would come home to Lismore. I love this photograph of five generations of some of the very strong women in my family: Tootsy, Mum, Granny, Margy and young baby, Jacqueline. Emily wasn’t even born yet!!
“Isn’t the overnight rain great at the moment?”, I’ve heard several people note over the last few days.
I’ve been doing it myself.
In fact, over lunch today I waxed lyrical about the late night rain in Sydney.
“It sounds gentle. It freshens up the air. It defeats the humidity. And when you wake up in the morning, the place feels clean”, I said to my luncheon companion.
But several hours – and a significant afternoon downpour – later I’m a bit “over it” to be honest.
I had lunch today upstairs at the Woollahra Hotel on Queen Street.
Although the service was a bit ropey today – we actually had to ask for our wine twice – the meals were good. Colin had the beef and mushroom pie and I had the chicken.
Queen Street is such a lovely street. Well, of course it is, with all of the money that goes into housing and shopping there.
And the best shop I discovered today was the butcher.
As you walk into the shop you see the butchers behind glass/perspex chopping up the meet.
Further down you see carcases twirling around on hooks, again behind glass/perspex.
“You wouldn’t want to be a vegetarian in here”, I commented.
And on the shelves, they have everything from pate and other deli items to large pieces of very fine wagyu beef.
It was a pleasure to behold.
After lunch I came home, had a nap, did some grocery shopping.
And then late tonight I watched a Swedish film, Jalla Jalla on SBS Two.
At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it.
The opening scenes concern a couple of blokes who work in gardens, mostly picking up dog shit. Both seem pretty unhappy with their lives. One is in a relationship but is also committed to an arranged marriage. The other faces erection problems, perhaps symblomatic of his own unhappy relationship. At 11.20 on a Saturday night, it wasn’t the kind of film I thought I wanted to watch.
But I stuck with it. And although the plotline remains fairly simplstic, and there are moments of slaptstic comedy, it turned out to be quite a good film.
“A romantic comedy for blokes”, is how I’d best describe it.
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve just awoken from a nap. After some lovely bread and a couple of glasses of wine, and some Italian-style veal for lunch, I needed a little lie down, especially as I’m heading out to dinner tonight.
Yes, lunch was great. This afternoon I went with old schoolfriend, Anthony and his mate, JT, to the Italian Festival in East Sydney, which I enjoyed immensely.
Unlike Norton Street with its large wide streets, this festival based around Stanley Street seems to more genuinely have the feeling of a small Italian street party.
Unlike some cultural festivals, I also thought it had a fairly contemporary feel, even though there was Eurovision-style crooning, and piano accordian/violin folk. When they sang “That’s Amore”, for example, it didn’t feel corny, it felt real and heart felt.
Almost every time I make a visit to the Opera House or Circular Quay, I feel somewhat obliged to take a photograph.
I don’t know why exactly, but I still continue to find the place somewhat magical.
Tonight, Damo and I went to the Opera House to see Wil Anderson. It was the third time we’ve seen him, by my re-collection. The first time was excellent, the second time less so, but tonight I was re-affirmed in my enjoyment of his humour.
He’s older and wiser, it seems, after his relationship breakup, and hitting his mid 30s. He’s a lot more interested in politics, these days. And I don’t mean partisan politics, though he’s obviously he’s on the left of Australian politics. A lot of his humour, tonight, dealt with poverty, the Third World, and human rights. It wasn’t just a bunch of jokes told randomly. There was the narrative of a bloke concerned about the world, and growing up before our eyes.
“Who do you think will be here tonight?”, I asked Damien over dinner at Opera Bar. The pizza and fish were excellent by the way. Damien responded with “people who’ve grown up with him”. And Damien was pretty spot on with that analysis.
There were a few “fart jokes” here and there, like the one about the currency, “the dong”, but mostly it was a more elevated kind of humour than I remember from the last show we saw are the Opera House.
Overall, a good night.
Otherwise it was a reasonably quiet and uneventful day.
