Glenifer's Gypsy Trails: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Annandale

G'day, Glen here! We thought it was time for me to share some thoughts and adventures on the blog. So here goes!

After our month up north in tropical Queensland (good times but too many crocodiles nearby for our liking, maybe 20 years in the States softened me?) we totally changed up the scenery and moved into Bevan and Celia's place for three weeks while they are off exploring China.

Bevan and I went to the same kindergarten, primary school and high school and lived in the same neighborhood, so I was surprised when they invited us to take care of their beautiful home, given he still remembers our antics the first time my parents left my older brother and I home alone for a week back in 1978.

Their home is in an old historic inner city neighborhood called Annandale which is about 3 miles to the city center. My mother, Bev, grew up in Annandale so we thought it would be nice for her to come over for dinner and stay the night, which she did this week. Bev had not been back to Annandale for many years. Even though she only lives about 9 miles from here, the harbor and some serious traffic make the trip challenging.

Anyway, we were blown away by how excited she was while exploring all her old haunts including her childhood homes, elementary school, high school, church, the halls she went to dances in and even the one where she made her debut. She shared many stories of life in the neighborhood including all the hot spots for kissing boys.

Our time in Annandale has been very urban and we have used the bus and train system to explore the city including hip Saturday markets, China Town and a Food Festival. We even went to an Art Gallery exhibition opening in Paddington last night as guests of Zach's girlfriend, Nikki, who works at the gallery.

While we have been enjoying the inner city energy, the driving has been full on. Our primary mission while here has been to buy a car and equip it with the accessories we will need for our future traveling. Annandale is on Parramatta Rd which is probably Sydney's busiest. It's busy because it is a main artery into and out of the city but also because it has a huge amount of car yards and many other businesses on both sides. The good news is we have been able to find everything we needed within five or six miles of driving Parramatta Rd, but this involved many missed turns, back street re-routes, tight parking and I'm sure annoyance to the drivers trying to get through their work days behind us. Monday we get the stereo changed out to a blue tooth ready with reverse camera set up, then hopefully we are finished with Parramatta Rd and Jen's lessons in colorful Aussie language can be shelved for the time being.

This weekend we have started our physical and mental transition from urban/city back to a beach life mentality. We bought paddle boards yesterday and met with the family we will be house/dog sitting for in January. Talk about "The grass is greener". They are heading to Colorado for a month of skiing, while we can't wait to watch over their home that is perched on a hill over looking Curl Curl Beach (the same beach I was a junior lifesaver " nipper" way back when).

Next month we'll be looking after my mum's place for a month while she travels and holidays in Queensland. Mum's place is about a quarter mile to both Freshwater and Curl Curl Beaches. It's still spring in Sydney so the weather varies greatly but we are hoping the water temps and weather will warm up for lots of paddling and beaching through November.

So this is Glen signing off. As you probably guessed we are not missing the snow but we both miss our wonderful friends and family back in the US. We are not big on posting on Facebook but we do enjoy hearing from all ya'll through F.B messenger and please know we are browsing F.B and stalking you.