Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Approximately 35 years ago, an Australian man and a Californian lady met on a train in Europe and developed a quick, but lasting friendship. Twenty five years later, the Australian man once again contacted his friend and organized a chance for one of his young, enthusiastic employees (plus three friends) to move to Tahoe to work the snow season and live with his friend from so many years before. While in California, and for the 10 years to come, I had a chance to meet these young Australians (Greg, Ryan, Adam, Matt, plus their countless visiting friends) and, in turn, develop a few more friendships between an Australian guy and a Californian girl. I have been there through it all with these guys… bad hair, big moves, new jobs, and countless nights out on the town…where ever that town might have been (Costa Rica, Europe, California or with their friends and families in Sydney). SO…when I planned my trip to Sydney for a friend’s wedding this past weekend, I made sure to include some extra time during my visit to catch up with my favorite Australian guys.

I landed early Tuesday morning and made my way over to Ryan and Dallas’s house in Cronulla to drop off my stuff and get prepared for the day…. After a quick shower, I grabbed Ryan (he had the day off work) and we made the 5 minute walk to the town’s main street to meet up with Adam (he had the whole week off) and Greg (he had the day off as well) for breakfast, where they had the nerve to give me crap about only being around mid- week - a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to be exact - clearly ignoring the fact that although it was a week day, none of them were working. The rest of the day was spent at Adam’s house enjoying the afternoon sun and Australian beers and watching the surfers below. Being old friends, with old habits, we waited until noon before cracking open the first beer; and, being Tuesday, we ended the day at Northies bar for Trivia Night, where I was relentlessly heckled by the MC for being America and slightly crazy….I blame the alcohol and my jet lag.

The rest of the two days continued in a similar fashion, with a slight pause for a tour around Sydney with Adam on Wednesday while everyone was at work. Having been to Sydney before, one would think I had already seen all of the sights of the great city…and in fact, the boys were kind enough to humor my desires so many years ago with a quick stop off at the Opera House for a glimpse at the Harbor Bridge, before heading to the pub for Rugby World Cup (apparently we had to get to the pub 6 hours in advance in order to lock in a good spot which prevented any additional sightseeing). This time around, the tour was more or less the same, although in the opposite direction… Adam and I began the day at Darling Harbor (the area built up for the Olympic Games in 2002 and where we enjoyed Rugby World Cup in 2003), took the ferry under the Harbor Bridge, past the Opera House and disembarked at Circular Quay for a quick stroll through the Rocks (the oldest part of Sydney). However, the highlight of the tour was not the sights or boat ride, but rather the meat pie we enjoyed at the very end. I had been waiting six long years for another taste of the Australian delicacy of dodgy but delicious, unidentifiable meat in a pastry puff. Unfortunately my meat pie eating skills had all but disappeared in those six years, and every pigeon within earshot of my American accent had me marked as an easy target for dropped food. I did not disappoint… the pie and ketchup went everywhere.

The week of “events” ended Thursday night with the whole crew at a Mexican restaurant chosen not for the food (which is a good thing...it is hard to impress a California girl on Mexican cuisine), but rather for the tequila options and buckets of beer. And with 7 out of 10 of the friends not working the following day (along with the tequila options and buckets of beer of course), things escalated quickly. So much so that one of the three who had to work ended up calling in sick and I, at least my liver, was silently thankful that I would not be around for the weekend.

I said good-bye the next morning with a promise that the next time I came to visit I would make sure to include a weekend in the visit….and with that promise, sincere apologies to my liver.