Back among friends and family

Ben, who shall hereafter be known as Harry, was a kind soul and met me at the airport fairly early in the morning. I was quick coming through quarantine and we made it safely to his by cab. I didn't feel as tired as I should have, and after sorting myself out with a tea and a shower I tried (almost, but not quite, in vain) to sleep a little. After this Harry took me on a brief walking tour of his bit of Sydney via a few pubs. The walk was of a good length and the pubs sufficiently numerous so that I was better equipped with fatigue to indulge in an afternoon kip.

Oli and Martin were arriving later so, after I saw Pip briefly, Harry took me out to a stand up comedy night in a nearby(ish) pub. All the warm up acts were really funny if a little strange at times, but the headliner was a bit lazy in his delivery and I found myself about to nod off. I made it to the end and we headed back to Pip's place to see my fellow Englanders. It was very relaxing to be in their company; family and friends are probably about the only thing I really miss about home. I feel bad to even consider putting bacon in with them, but I did miss bacon in India too! I went back to Harry's to crash.

The next day I woke after sleeping really well on the sofa and we set off for Circular Quay, the transport hub of touristic Sydney. Harry and I were meeting Oli and martin there for our guided tour. Once they'd arrived we all set off and Harry showed us the sights of Sydney with great enthusiasm and aplomb. We saw the botanical gardens, opera house, harbour bridge, and Darling Harbour. I was delighted and freaked out by the presence of large fruit bats just hanging in the botanical gardens, and absorbed by the liberal presence of noisy cockatoos. Harry's zest for guiding did not wane and we went for a pre-lunch snack at an oyster bar. They were top grade oysters and all of us bar Martin indulged. He may do in future after the positive noises we made! After more guided strolling (including insight into an angle from which, when viewing the statue of Cpt. Cook, it looks like he has a big erection) we met my uncle Chris for the purpose of catch up and more food 'n' drink. We did this at a bar called James Squires where the beer is all boutique beer from small specialised breweries including James Squires itself. The beers were all tasty and soon Pip turned up with her man, Alec, for a couple more. We went back to theirs for a couple more beers before heading out to a club called Home at about 11pm. Alec had free tickets but us dog-tired Poms were not quite able to do it justice and decided that once Oli was falling asleep it was time to call it a night.

Next day...

Pip let us sleep ina bit, which was good, but Martin is struggling slightly with the jet lag and didn't get the full benefit. Bacon and eggs for breakfast was icing on the lie-in cake. After said breakfast we went down to the harbour again and took a tour of a wildlife park. It was quite small but well presented and laid out. We wandered through all wide eyed and curious about the mad tangent evloution took down here. By the time we'd seen loads of poisonous snakes and spiders and wombats and koalas we'd all worked up a healthy thirst. We sourced some beers from an historical part of town called 'The Rocks' and the plan was to crack on from there. Oli went to catch up with an old school gfriend who'd emigrated to Oz and so Haryy, Pip, Martin and I set off on a drinking spree. It was a really great night and began with aussie pizzas at the Australian Hotel where we sampled the delights of Emu, Crocodile and Kangaroo. There we sampled a few different beers and were warmed up wby the time we left. It was a top class night and booze and banter flowed effortlessly. We toured a few bars, bumping into a couple of Pip and Harry's mates on the way. We ended the night at the place Harry used to work and succumbe to the lure of shots. One of them was a hazelnut liquer called Frangelico, very nice. In true post pub crawl fashion I had a superb kebab (I'd even have one sober!) and slept like a champion.

Next day...

More bacon and eggs for breakfast and after a couple of pints of water I was back in the game and ready for the day's scheduled activity of beer tasting. To clarify, last night was just drinking, today was TASTING. Posh. Martin, Pip and Alec were all struggling a bit, but we set off for the suburbs and Uncle Chris' place. It was a comedy journey as Harry had borrowed an old convertible Ford Capri from a mate and Oli, Martin, Harry and I all squeezed in. On top of us 4 strapping lads was also a box full of ice and beer. All good in the hood.

It was cool to see the house that had been home to the cousins and Uncle Chris, i would describe it as being suitably comfortable, but clearly well maintained. Also present at the tasting were two neighbours (everybody needs good neighbours, sorry) and the line up was Chris, Karen, Harry, Pip, Alec, Damon, Jen, Oli, Martin and myself. It was excellent fun, and the hungover ones among us quickly recovered their thirst. The tasting had to be conducted with each person tasting then scoring but we had to bear in mind two scenarios:

1) Having just mown the sloping lawn in the garden in 40 degree heat, and

2) Being about to sit down to dinner

We tried a total of 21 beers (not full bottles each!) and the banter was an essential accompaniment. The marking seemed pretty consistent, but definitely altered slightly as the final saw us becoming under the influence. We had a BBQ with 3 diffferent types of sausage including crocodile and salads that were awesome and then played a foolish golf game in the too small garden before a fantastic pudding of fruit salad and tiramisu. Num num!

We got up early the next day and bumbled onto the train to Normanhurst. From there Chris took us by car up to the Hunter Valley giving a travelogue en route. The information he provided was interesting, even pointing out little fauna bridges so the animammals don't get squished by the SUVs that are sadly in fashion here. Oli and I both managed to fall asleep though, which left Martin to go solo on information absorption. I think that he is now an honorary nephew.

Our first stop in the pretty Hunter Valley was the McLeish estate where Chris is a member. It turned out that he has brought almost every conceivable family member to tis place as he is a member of the wine club. We soon got to find out why though, as the vino is top notch, especially the vintage Semillon.

The whole Hunter Valley region is geared up for tourists on the tasting trip. As a result there are plenty of expensive places to eat, but we found a cool place with good food and some free samplings of local produce. Food was good as wine on an empty stomach is not a bad idea. Through the day we tried some great reds, whites and pudding wines, but the sparkling red was a disappointment. i was merry by the time we had to head off and promptly fell asleep in the car on the way back. Two tastings in two days was good going and we went back to Pip's after the full and ejoyable day armed with gifts of wine to say thaks for putting up with our stinking bodies for a few days. We had a good game of poker and soem pizza which rounded it off nicley and as it was our last night as a group in Sydney Martin 'n' Oli said goodbye to Harry, Pip and Alec.