Utter madness

We're never doing this again - up to Sydney and back again - after a concert - in the same day. OK, it wasn't strictly the same day, cos we got home at 3am on Monday.

The kids had tickets to the Come Together concert at Luna Park (which is right on Sydney Harbour, in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge). Son went up a few days earlier by train, to stay with his girlfriend (I shall draw a kindly veil here). But Dotter is too young to travel alone, and so we agreed to drive her up and back in the one day.

We left around 10.30am, and stopped at Berrima, where Dotter got some alpaca and silk, and I showed my Branching Out scarf to the ladies at the alpaca shop - I'd made it with alpaca / silk from them. They loved it :)

I get car sickness if I look down while in the car, but this trip I did manage to get quite a lot of Mariah's back knitted, as it's stocking stitch, and I could just glance down quickly now and then to check my needles were doing the right thing - no dropped or split stitches (that I've noticed anyway)!

We deposited Dotter at Luna Park at 3.30pm, after finding Son and GF (who is very nice, BTW, and was shy about meeting us). Here's Dotter ready to rock out...


Hubby and I then got back over the Harbour Bridge again, and parked at the Opera House. Very exciting - our first show at the House (I've walked around the place, but not been inside). We went to the 5pm show of Scottish stand-up comedian, Danny Bhoy. He was SO funny, just wonderful! We had great seats (Row G), and thoroughly enjoyed the show. His show is being recorded for DVD this week, so you will be able to enjoy his wicked Scottish madness soon too!



We then had a leisurely dinner at one of the cafés alongside the Harbour, and with a good 2 or 3 hours still to fill, decided to drive back to Luna Park, and just wait in the car... Hubby really needed to sleep, as he'd done all the driving, and was pretty wiped out. We parked next to Bradford Park and the swimming pool, right at the foot of the piers for the Harbour Bridge. Pretty spectacular scenery!


Luckily the kids were ready by 10pm (an hour earlier than we were expecting). Dotter was traumatised, as the mosh pit for Karnivool had been really rough and violent - lots of pushing and kicking, and she had a panic attack, and had real trouble getting outside. Luckily she 'only' got bruised feet and shins, and nothing more serious. She went back in for the Cog and Shihad sets (the bands my kids had come to see), as their mosh pits are much more dancey and fun and safe. She has a new appreciation for how people can be crushed in crowds, and that not all mosh pits are alike! Scary.

We drove Son & GF back to their hotel in town, and headed home with Dotter (Son got home on Tuesday). Hubby did all the driving again, and took a rest break every hour. Not much traffic on the road to Canberra at 2am, just in case you're wondering. We stopped for coffee at the rest house near Goulburn - and came across the Big Merino, sitting in his new home, waiting to be properly installed! I bet he's happy to have some new scenery to look out over after all these years...

Hubby and I have made a pact - we'll NEVER do that again. Next time we have to go up for a late night event, in Sydney we're staying overnight!

Thanks everyone for your kind comments about my hands - I actually bought that nail polish because it matched the wristwarmers (and I like dark purple)... And I *have* used the harissa, I put about 1/4 tspn in some Moroccan mince last night, and it wasn't enough to make the dish too hot. But I'm going to ignore George and not taste it 'neat'. That way leads madness! And pain!