West Wandering: Sydney - Pre-Departure Stuff
When last I posted I told you about our trip from Armidale to Sydney.
I'd love to be able to tell you that we got up early and did a lot - but we did the exact opposite, and got up late and did barely what we planned to. Ah, the luxury of holiday time sleep ins and the hectic running about to get things done before the sun goes down.
After a leisurely breakfast, we headed in to Ryde.
I had the misfortune of lodging a form at Centrelink, so Shannon goes off to wander around the local shopping centre and pick us up some supplies while I wait in queue for an age. This I did. It was still morning when I got there. It was afternoon when I was served. In credit to the guy who served me, when I asked if I could do more than lodge my form with him, or did I have to line up again - he said "Not really", then looked around sneakily, stole his boss's keys and helped me anyway. Leaving, I met a very bored looking Shannon already at the bus stop.
From there we headed into Enmore to pick up a Corset for Shannon.
This piece of scaffolding made of PVC, buckles and laces was designed to elevate the already ample bust of my dear partner - and is the semi-finishing touch to a costume for her Vampire Character. This fine piece made by Gallery Serpentine had been pre-ordered, and we were to collect it. Of course this gave us an opportunity to drool over the stock in store, plan what next we were to order (they do more than just corsetry, and some mens stuff too), and beat a hasty retreat before we spent too much more. This hasty retreat lead to the discovery of another gothic clothing an accessories store (one we'd not seen last time we were Enmore way) and more items added to the wish-list.
From there we headed to see have late lunch with my Brother.
Elliott, having recently moved out of home, has a new place, which was very near where we were in Enmore. Unfortunately his instructions and my hap-hazard approach to them meant that we walked the entire length of Newtown and half again before we found it. The place he's moved into is very nice. It's a 3 story town house with 5 bedrooms (all bar two have en suites), a lovely modern kitchen and living room, a small but satisfying back yard - and a very energetic jack-russel-pug cross puppy. Having arrived late (I blame centrelink and Elliott's dodgy directions - but I should blame me sleeping in), we had more of a large afternoon tea than a lunch - and over coffee and a wonderful tandoori thing on turkish bread, I found out about his new job and what it was like living where he was and all that. It was good to see him looking so well and to catch up.
After that, it was pretty late, so we headed back to my mum's place.
There is not much else to report, except for one thing. We made contact with my cousin Lisa, who has been as flat out as we have the last few weeks, and has not been able to get back to us about meeting up in WA. I haven't seen her for nearly 10 years, and she has never met Shannon. I was really looking forward to catching up with her and finding out what she's been up to and all of that - but it seems like she's going to be as busy as we are over there - and in fact will be departing for Sydney and Melbourne when we have the most free time to see her. This means we are probably going to have to give up a conclave night to see her, if at all. This is a huge dilemma, since other than the first (tomorrow) they're all booked. We may have to sacrifice vampire (only game I play :( and the one shannon has just spent hundreds of dollars on a corset for), or blow off the dinner - but I guess that's just something we'll have to deal with.
Next Time: Flight to Perth.
I'd love to be able to tell you that we got up early and did a lot - but we did the exact opposite, and got up late and did barely what we planned to. Ah, the luxury of holiday time sleep ins and the hectic running about to get things done before the sun goes down.
After a leisurely breakfast, we headed in to Ryde.
I had the misfortune of lodging a form at Centrelink, so Shannon goes off to wander around the local shopping centre and pick us up some supplies while I wait in queue for an age. This I did. It was still morning when I got there. It was afternoon when I was served. In credit to the guy who served me, when I asked if I could do more than lodge my form with him, or did I have to line up again - he said "Not really", then looked around sneakily, stole his boss's keys and helped me anyway. Leaving, I met a very bored looking Shannon already at the bus stop.
From there we headed into Enmore to pick up a Corset for Shannon.
This piece of scaffolding made of PVC, buckles and laces was designed to elevate the already ample bust of my dear partner - and is the semi-finishing touch to a costume for her Vampire Character. This fine piece made by Gallery Serpentine had been pre-ordered, and we were to collect it. Of course this gave us an opportunity to drool over the stock in store, plan what next we were to order (they do more than just corsetry, and some mens stuff too), and beat a hasty retreat before we spent too much more. This hasty retreat lead to the discovery of another gothic clothing an accessories store (one we'd not seen last time we were Enmore way) and more items added to the wish-list.
From there we headed to see have late lunch with my Brother.
Elliott, having recently moved out of home, has a new place, which was very near where we were in Enmore. Unfortunately his instructions and my hap-hazard approach to them meant that we walked the entire length of Newtown and half again before we found it. The place he's moved into is very nice. It's a 3 story town house with 5 bedrooms (all bar two have en suites), a lovely modern kitchen and living room, a small but satisfying back yard - and a very energetic jack-russel-pug cross puppy. Having arrived late (I blame centrelink and Elliott's dodgy directions - but I should blame me sleeping in), we had more of a large afternoon tea than a lunch - and over coffee and a wonderful tandoori thing on turkish bread, I found out about his new job and what it was like living where he was and all that. It was good to see him looking so well and to catch up.
After that, it was pretty late, so we headed back to my mum's place.
There is not much else to report, except for one thing. We made contact with my cousin Lisa, who has been as flat out as we have the last few weeks, and has not been able to get back to us about meeting up in WA. I haven't seen her for nearly 10 years, and she has never met Shannon. I was really looking forward to catching up with her and finding out what she's been up to and all of that - but it seems like she's going to be as busy as we are over there - and in fact will be departing for Sydney and Melbourne when we have the most free time to see her. This means we are probably going to have to give up a conclave night to see her, if at all. This is a huge dilemma, since other than the first (tomorrow) they're all booked. We may have to sacrifice vampire (only game I play :( and the one shannon has just spent hundreds of dollars on a corset for), or blow off the dinner - but I guess that's just something we'll have to deal with.
Next Time: Flight to Perth.