Sydney or bust!

About four weeks ago, Alex sent me an email titled ‘time-wasting competitions’. On opening it he said that he had finally won one. Finding a spare moment in my busy day, I flicked a quick email back… ‘what did you win?’. The answer came back… ‘a weekend in Sydney’.

Wow! A weekend in Sydney… two weeks hence! That would require some arranging. Two weeks on, I put Liliane on her first ever flight by herself… all the way to Paihia. We then sat in the international airport for several hours (surprisingly relaxing) while waiting for our flight, which got later and later.

Finally arriving in Sydney we joined the rest of the winners waiting for the transfer to the Four Seasons Hotel. A tap on my shoulder preceded a surprising question… ‘are you Greta’? A cautious ‘yes’, and I discovered that one of my fellow winners was from Poroti – that’s just up the road from Maungatapere where I grew up. The perils of having an uncommon name – and looking somewhat like your mother! Yes, my fellow winner had recognised my name on the list, and then recognised me at the airport!

Off then to the Four Seasons Hotel. What can I say. Right on the entrance to The Rocks, and just across the road from Circular Quay. Convenient doesn’t even begin to describe it! So, a fast bottle of wine with Alex’s cousin, and off we went in search of food. At 10.30 on Friday night. I can tell you that the fashions at that time of night are the same as in New Zealand – short skirts, low-cut tops, and plenty of freezing flesh on display. And these haven’t changed since I was going out at 18.

So, food. A little difficult to find, and a little tricky at times to negotiate through the crowds of party-goers. However, a foray into The Rocks led us to the aptly named The Rocks Cafe. And what a great meal that was! Italian (are they all Italian restaurants in Sydney?), not much English was spoken by the various wait-staff. My potato and black olive gnocchi was divine… Alex loved his Linguine, and Helen couldn’t get through her fish and chips, but I can reliably tell you that it was delicious. That restaurant has been noted on our list for places to eat in Sydney next time we are there. YUM! Oh, and the cheesecake to finish was well worth it.

Saturday was an interesting mix of time on our own, and planned  activities. Planned was part of the competition winnings – an art and culture tour in Paddington. Also planned was dinner at Bel Mondo. But more about that later. Not so planned was a ferry ride to Balmain for breakfast (lovely!), and the quick shop at The Rocks market. I LOVE The Rocks market – the guy there with his aerosol paintings is just stunning. I have one, and each time I go to the markets I love to watch him create the paintings. It is a show in itself. So, after a quick shop in Balmain (one handbag), and an even quicker one in The Rocks markets (three necklaces), we headed back to the Hotel for our ride to Paddington.

Now, neither Alex nor I are great art critics, and our art tends to the colourful (me) or historic (Alex). So the art and culture tour through modernist galleries was…  very interesting. Stills Gallery had weird photos of scenes built for the camera by Maleonn and photos by   Petrina Hicks. Sabbia had an exhibition of ceramics and glass, entitled ‘Winter’. Unsurprisingly, everything was white. (I’m sure I’ve never had a white Winter – and pretty certain Sydney artists wouldn’t have either). But then, I’m no expert. The best piece looked like a piece of corrugated iron and it was bright, but where to put it… nope, nowhere even in our ultra-modern house.

So, on to Hogarth Galleries, and their celebration of indigenous art. This is where I really felt that the stunning newcomer, and so young, indigenous artist was on to a good thing. Brown and orange paintings, all surprisingly similar. Big canvases. Would I buy one? Not a chance. The ones in this gallery that did intrigue me were hidden away upstairs, and for not nearly as big a price. These paintings had the name of the artists written below – mostly in very shaky script, in some cases not as good as Liliane’s. The contrast between the obvious artistry with the paintbrush and the limited ability with writing their own name was just a little heartbreaking.

Australian Galleries was another interesting place, and again I wondered if we were secretly being laughed at (these people will think anything is art!). This gallery had rooms full of sketches by Jeffrey Smart – sketches that he had done in preparation for painting something. So, parts of bodies, different scenes, all jumbled up on pieces of paper that had been framed. And not a single actual painting in sight. But we could buy the book if we wanted – the book had the actual paintings. That just seemed like a complete swizzle.

The biggest shock to the system was at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. This was host to a black and white bouncy castle with a roof. We had to put matching suits on, and crawl into the space. While good for flips and forward rolls, I missed the art completely. Apparently it was a comment on something to do with cells. I didn’t realise that padded cells would be so much fun!

A final trot down the road took us to Sullivan and Strumpf. More paintings on the bottom floor, but the top floor was interesting. Plasticine models that told the story of an artist. Kind of like Wallace and Grommit, with a political statement. These I could relate to, if only from wandering from one scene to the next. It was a cartoon in slow motion.

Phew – art and culture done, we were free to head to North Sydney and see some of Alex’s friends. After a discussion there on the problems of men and big-screen TVs (they talk about them for ages, years, and never commit to a purchase. Take a lesson from a woman! Choose it, buy it, put it on the wall and make it work! Don’t talk about it!) we headed back to the city to get ready to go to Bel Mondo. OK, wow. Hard to find, but great food, lovely atmosphere, and the best ever waiters. Definitely worth going back to.

Fast forward to Sunday and it was Birkenhead Point (clothes) followed by the Fish Market (fish, chips and oysters). A quick trot to Paddy’s Markets to spend (literally) our last dollars on t-shirts for the kids, followed by a long trot back to the Hotel to collect our gear, join our fellow winners on the bus and head for the airport.

Each time I go to Sydney I like it more. This time was simply awesome.