In which Roz and Layla do science and hiking in Sydney

By Roz.

We arrived in Sydney in the late afternoon, and hopped in an Uber to the cool arty flat in Paddington, which we’d stayed in last year, and then booked, again for this trip. It was delightful to be back, though more disappointing to discover that the four flights of stairs (no elevator) hadn’t reduced in the intervening year… We did a speedy unpack, an even speedier trip to the supermarket and then had a super-speedy dinner before dashing to the lovely Cinema Chauvel nearby to see what proved to be a very surprisingly charming Spanish film called Kiki Loves to Love.  I say surprisingly charming, since it was focused on sex (and films about sex are not usually charming).  Having been thoroughly delighted, we then headed over the road for a post film snack (well, what else can you call a plate of delicious brussel sprouts and a cheese board?) at a lovely wine bar called 10 William Street.  We felt delighted to be back in Sydney and in our old favorite neighborhood. 

Next morning after breakfast (notable for me having made the mad error of buying lactose-free milk in the supermarket the night before, an error that convinced me that I love lactose; a similar error in the past gave me the same knowledge about gluten), we headed on an expedition to the Royal National Park (which had been vigorously recommended to us by a couple of fellow travellers on the Uluru trip).  This felt like a commitment – we got first a lengthy train and then a ferry.  But both were entirely straightforward, and we enjoyed pottering round the excellent holiday town of Cronulla whilst waiting for the ferry (and imagining our lives in the unlikely eventuality that we were we to live there). The Royal National Park proved to be an amazing place, with a beautiful hiking route along the sea.  It felt both epic (with the huge landscape and glorious endless sea) and human-scale (with a number of “sights”, like Wedding Cake Rock, which kind of looks like a wedding cake if you look from the right angle).  We stopped to have a picnic in a beautiful spot overlooking the ocean, and then spent much of the rest of the hike regretting that we don’t live in Sydney with its glorious hiking options.  So we hiked up hill and down dale, before reluctantly concluding that we should probably turn around and head back to the ferry.  

On the train home Layla napped, whilst I began to muse on my autumn – since I’ll be living alone whilst Layla is in Hong Kong – and whether I should be thinking about taking a holiday alone or simply devoting myself to our lovely dog, Kaseki.  When Layla awoke she was somewhat discombobulated by my torrent of thinking (“Maybe I should go to Bhutan?  Or Taiwan?  Or China? Or marry Kaseki?”) as we walked home to change for the evening. 

Our destination that evening was the Power House Museum, for an art and science event which was part of Sydney’s Science Festival.   On arrival we were plied with sparkling wine, cheese and hummus and we quickly decided that we were big fans of the museum.  We looked at the line up of speakers and then realized that the first speaker was one of the people Layla works with, which was a cheery coincidence.  We stayed for the first half, after which Layla and I both got emails which promised potentially cheery developments for the future, which distracted us so much that we left the museum and headed to a cocktail bar to raise a glass to the future. 

Next morning we woke early-ish and Layla headed out to visit the work colleague who she’d briefly seen the night before, whilst I headed to Berkeluow’s, the delightful bookstore and coffee shop near our flat for coffee, ahead of a yoga class, at the delightful yoga studio near by.  Did I mention that Sydney in general and our neighborhood in particular are delightful?! We then met for lunch and had a general potter around the bookshop, before going to the cinema again, this time to see the fantastic film “Madame”.  We’d seen a trailer for it when we went to the cinema before, and been tempted – and again, we were both suspicious that the film was too quirky for much of a hope of it coming to Tokyo cinemas.  It lived up to the promise of its trailer, and was charming and heartbreaking and interesting.  After which we continued our pottering round the neighborhood’s shops and bought me a work dress in an overly posh charity shop. 

We then headed home to beautify ahead of dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant and then a parlour magic show.  There’s an irony here, since I’m always trying to persuade Layla (and indeed any visiting guest) that we should go to a magic show in Tokyo (and the answer is always no).  However, when Layla offered me the option in Sydney, I leapt at the opportunity without teasing her about her change of heart.  To be honest, the magician wasn’t quite as excellent as some I’ve seen (including in Washington) but he was good, and I was suitably amazed a lot of the time.  And the venue was fun – a member’s club that was all wood paneling and snooty staff.  There was a fantastic moment where it looked like I might need to take a call whilst there and use a proper old-fashioned telephone booth (since cellphones are not allowed in the rest of the venue).  It’s the first time I’ve been disappointed when a call didn’t happen…  Afterwards we went for a cocktail in the beautiful Golden Age Cinema bar, which is very art deco and nice, before walking home to Paddington. 

The next morning should have been our last and so I woke up with dread in my heart as is appropriate when a holiday is ending.  Soon the dread solidified when I received a cryptic email from Qantas saying that there was a problem with the flight (but without saying what it was).  We eventually established that lots of flights, including ours, were being massively delayed because of a storm in Sydney (only bemusing since the sky was blue, and though it seemed a bit windy it wasn’t that bad!).  We found we couldn’t stay in our lovely AirBnB apartment,  so I booked us a hotel in town in which we left our luggage at and then continued on with our plans.  Which were to go for a hike from Taronga Zoo to Balmoral Beach. 

This was our favourite hike when we were in Sydney last time and so we felt very cheery as we hopped on the ferry and gazed at the fantastic views of the Opera House and the Bridge.  Our cheer dissipated when we started on our hike and saw a sign saying that the trail was closed.  However, a discussion with a fellow passing hiker made us decide to ignore the sign, and so we pressed on – with me at least feeling like a criminal.  It was just as beautiful a hike as we remembered, and the convenient and delicious lunch kiosk was still there as an added bonus.  When we got to the end of the hike, I wasn’t quite ready to be done with hiking, so persuaded Layla we should continue on along the beach.  This was lovely for a while, until we got to a bit which is only passable at low-tide.  And whilst it wasn’t high-tide, exactly, I was unconvinced that continuing on at medium-tide was a great idea – all the more so since the path was one of no-return (since the water was getting higher by the minute).  Precisely a year ago today, we ended up in a sticky situation, sinking more than knee-deep into mud flats during a stroll near Mt Fuji in Japan… and I felt that it was time to learn a lesson and not always go for the silly option.  So we returned along the beaches and then hopped on a convenient bus. And I’m proud to say we were considerably less caked in mud than was the case during the Mt Fuji bus ride…

It should have been time for us to head to the airport but with our plane cancelled, it was time for a final night in Sydney. Back in our hotel room we de-sanded and put on warmer clothes ahead of our evening’s fun.  First was a quick dinner in an excellent Thai restaurant. (an experience which we made unnecessarily stressful by trying to phone our airline to confirm the details of our very, very delayed flight – we were kept on hold for an hour, during which I developed a rash enthusiasm for a beer to accompany dinner in the BYO restaurant… which entailed me walking miles to find a store selling beer while Layla remained indefinitely on the phone. A doomed enterprise: they never did answer. Dinner done, it was time for our evening entertainment.  We’d failed to get tickets for the sold-out show we had wanted to see at the Opera House, but were able to book a differently excellent talk back at the Power House Museum.  This was by an engineer turned comedian who is currently one of the 100 people who have been shortlisted for the opportunity to be sent on a one-way trip to Mars in 2031.  I’ve quite often heard from people who’ve done exciting space things, but I’ve not heard a talk from someone who wants to do something exciting.  The different angle was interesting and he was an engaging speaker.  I definitely have no desire to join him and go to Mars, right enough… Afterwards we walked back to our hotel, stopping in yet another delightful cocktail bar in a charming little lane for cheese and a cocktail, to mark our unanticipated final night in Sydney. 

On what we hoped really would be our final Sydney morning, we were up early and determined to make the most of the blue sky before the long dreary daytime flight (which we’d intended to avoid originally by booking a night time flight).  So we headed to the Botanic Gardens and had a beautiful wander for almost a couple of hours through delightful lawns and flowers and coffeeshops… and a lovely harbourside walk where people were having a wedding, before heading back to the hotel to check out and head to the airport.  And now we really are on the plane back to Tokyo.  But my heart has been left behind in beautiful Australia, home to endless delicious vegetarian options, fantastic cinema and spoken word events, cocktails and unparalled hiking. 

Books read while on holiday

Roz: Miss Pym Disposes (Josephine Tey); 7/10, Judas (Amos Oz); 7/10, A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute); 10/10, Tin Man (Sarah Winman); 10/10, The Man in the Brown Suit (Agatha Christie); 8/10, A Rising Man (Abir Mukherjee); 9/10… and painful progress on Roy's The Ministry of Happiness

Layla: How to Stop Time (Matt Haig); 3/5, The Unit (Ninni Holmqvist); 5/5; A Lovely Way to Burn (Louise Welsh); 3/5, A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute); 5/5, Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer); 3/5, The Rift (Nina Allan); 2/5, and started Tin Man (Sarah Winman).