Back in Sydney...

12/4/10
We are back in Sydney. We arrived around 3pm yesterday, took the train from the airport, and spent the afternoon watching music videos (I know that sounds bad, but we were kind of stunned to see music videos instead of reality shows on a music channel. And these were good videos, from the 80's and 90's.) We decided to get dinner at the sushi place I had been when I was first in Sydney, it was amazing again. We walked around a little also, and I showed Matt where I had originally stayed when I first came to Sydney. It was freaking me out a little at first to be around a whole bunch of people again, after being in the outback and less populated regions for, well, the past month. But I suppose it's a good way to transition back into life in the vastly more populated United States.
This morning, either because we were exhausted or because of the time difference in Sydney or both, we slept until 9:30. We got up and showered and got ready. We skipped breakfast, and it was raining, so we decided to spend our morning indoors at the Art Gallery of NSW. They had lovely exhibits, and it was free, so it was great. We grabbed lunch from a little kiosk cafe outside, then did a few more exhibits. We were both kind of lacking energy, and Matt seemed distracted, I assume because he is heading back to work as soon as he flies home tomorrow. This was getting me down also, so when he went to get his haircut, I decided to do some walking around town by myself. I walked down the street, turned the corner, and saw the little cafe that I had eaten a very hungover breakfast with my Melbourne girls when we were all here back in September. I was immediately reinvigorated, we are in this amazing city, on the other side of the world, we have to use this time wisely while we have it! I walked around, stopped in a 7-11 to get another calling card since I had accidentally thrown mine out, called Bert and confirmed pickup time for tomorrow, and began thinking about how to cheer Matt up. Haighs! Chocolate will do it. I walked around in the area I thought I remembered it being and happened upon the only Haigh's shop in Sydney. It was packed, but being American and being used to fighting through crowds, I was able to maneuver and get some stuff for us to try. I checked out and saw a Coles across the street. I went in and got a banana and granola bars to eat for breakfast and I saw a liquor express. Liquor! That will also cheer Matt up! I got a small bottle of Jack Daniels, and an airplane bottle of Bundaberg, because he has to try it before he leaves Australia. I Was feeling pretty proud of myself as I made my way back to the hotel. I now greeted the doorman with smiles and a "hello!" I confidently climbed into the elevator and popped my card into the slot, pressed the 9, and smiled at my reflection in the elevator doors. When I got to the room, he wasn't there yet, so I scurried around, putting liquor in the fridge and setting things up to make my announcement when he got back. About an hour passed, then in walked Matt, with hair much shorter than when he left. He was already in a better mood, and excitedly began telling me about the Asian hairdresser and the Euro trash haircut he got and had to request to be corrected. I told him about his surprise, and he thanked me and dug into both immediately. And they really did the trick, he was in a much better place the rest of the evening.
Later on, we got dressed up and began our quest to see where we would be eating tonight. We were turned away from our first selection, a bar-like place that would be cheap, and decided to go to Bona Fide, the first restaurant I ate at, where I had breakfast on my first full day in Australia. It seemed fitting to be back in Bona Fide on my last evening with Matt in Australia. I ordered the steak and mash and he had the seafood risotto (including little mini octopus!) and we both had a glass of wine. It was delicious, and the perfect way to end Australia for him.