Acrobat rocked along very nicely indeed last week on my first venture out to Candys Apartment – perfectly sized venue, enough seating, no beer on tap (grr), spacious stage, mirror balls (what’s with them all?), good sound. Bumped in to a few people. All good.
On the weekend caught up with about 20 ex-dotcom ex-workmate sorts some of whom I hadn’t seen for 5 or 6 years, others I’d last shared a drink with in Tokyo or London, everyone smiling and happy and puzzling at my natural hair colour. There’s something about seeing people after so long but catching up exactly where you left off without a stumble; sure there’d been marriages, divorces, babies, changes of career path and what not but it was irrelevant when we’d spent 12-18 hours a day together for years.
A few of us headed from our old Double Bay haunt over to Oxford Street and saw Simon Day in a crowded bar (who glanced at me like “I think I’ve met you but have absolutely no idea how” and who I’m scared I’ll end up bumping in to this coming Saturday at Spectrum) and another certain guy. Sydney seems to have started to gravitate towards some people, they’re seen by everyone in this little palm sized town of ours.
Today I was in HMV Broadway to pick up this week’s Drum Media on the lunch break. After checking the front cover out with a lovely picture of the Morning After Girls I wandered through the store, looked up, caught the eyes of a familiar-but-can’t-place-you face, and wandering off I was about to start flicking through the paper while going down the lengthy move-elator thing (what are they called? the flat inclined/declined (that a word?) escalators?) when I realised where I knew the face from – there he was staring at me from the Drum Media cover photo. Hm!
Tomorrow night if energy continues it’s off to the old faithful Hopetoun to catch Acrobat again. Thursday maybe Spectrum but exhaustion is likely to be settling in, Friday I’m sure there’s some gig I’d promised to go to, and Saturday going along to … the band I mention too often.
rambling on…
2.5 months at the new job and the late nights have been hitting low blows but the post-newyear holidays and panics and catch-ups seem to be cooling off.
3.5 weeks til the first formula 1 grand prix and I’m still eyeing up plane tickets and yha accommodation if only I can get myself a freebie pass. Well, a girl can dream of sipping sodas and watching fast cars in melbourne (and snapping up young kimi).
Started plans to head over to NZ at the start of April for about 6 days but don’t know enough about the place to know which city to land in. At the moment it’s looking like Auckland for a few days and then a few days travelling on the north island. Any tips?
see you tomorrow night! If you get there early you can catch By the Sea (8:30) and Somewhereinsummer (9:30)
I caught them together back in November at Spectrum with a friend who spoke high words of By the Sea and I enjoyed both of them so no doubt I’ll be there early on!
hi Niina, great photos of the Acrobat gig on Wed at the Hopetoun!
Ahhh, NZ! Excellent choice, N. You can fly into either Auckland or Wellington on the North Island. You’ll probably just fly the route we took from Auckland to Sydney only in reverse. Auckland’s a pretty cool place to explore.
If you stay in Auckland for a night or two, you have to go to a fantastic little downstairs Japanese restaurant called Renkon (I’m pretty sure that’s what it was called) on Parnell Rd. A little hard to locate (it’s a lower level entrance off the main sidewalk down a set of stairs). Well worth hunting down unless you don’t like Japanese food. Once you finish your succulent Asian cuisine you can head to the deliriously good chocolateria right up the street. At the top of Parnell RD the street winds around and turns at a lighted intersection downhill. On that downhill stretch of houses is a great little bed & breakfast called (I believe) Chalet Chevron. Cozy rooms, nice folks and a great breakfast.
Also, head on up to the Auckland Museum and check out the view from the top of the hill there then go inside and check out some NZ aboriginal heritage. The view from the observation deck of the Sky Needle or whatever that huge tower in midtown is called is magnificent. Should be able to snap a decent pic or two at either tourist attraction.
The mid-Island region around Matamata was pretty verdant and very appealing. If you have the time, money and inclination try a tour of the Hobbiton set near Matamata. You get to go to private farmland that’s not readily accessible to the public and it is spectacular back country. Rotorua is a tourist trap because of the hot springs and geothermal activity in the region. Interesting but expensive. If you like winetasting you can head to the east coast of the North Island around Napier but beware of the town itself. The consensus from the group I traveled with was unanimous about Napier: a big disappointment. Also, south of Rotorua (on the way to Wellington) there was a beautiful location called Huka Falls which was certainly photoworthy. Lots of nature trails around the area to wander if you have the time.
Then there’s Wellington. It’s a great city. Plenty to explore in and around the city proper. You should not want for entertainment in Wellington. Just remember not to mix your starches when you order something to eat. They’ll look at you funny ;-). Prepare to walk for miles in Wellington.
Hope the weather is cooperative when you go to NZ. That’s mainly why our trip was so rewarding because the weather was note perfect nearly the entire time we were there. The worst weather we had was our week in Sydney ;-). Wish I could stow away in your travel bag. You are bound to see things that you won’t forget, in a good way. Unfortunate that you don’t have time for the South Island. That is where New Zealand’s treasures are really hidden.
And don’t forget to indulge in some TIP TOP ice cream before you leave!
Thanks for the fantastic write up Rider. I’ve got the option of going to either the north or south island but I think it’s going to be Auckland and then a trip out of there.
I love Japanese food so I’ll definitely check out your recommendation.
Rain or shine I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. Going to do a little more research and make up my mind for sure which island to head to by the end of the weekend. Might even have to pick myself up a little lonely planet to help the decision. And whereever I go, it’s too close to not go again another time.
If you don’t have much means to get around (ie. rental car) you might want to avoid the South Island. The distances between habitable regions and scenic spots get further apart the further south you go. You could fly into Christchurch on the South Island which is a very interesting city but without reliable transportation down there you might be isolated to a smaller area. Don’t really know how the public transport system is outside the city limits. I can’t imagine doing the South Island without your own mode of transportation. There are plenty of amazing places to go but you really need to drive some to get to most of them. Then again you could spend your entire week down in Queenstown and the surrounding area. It is devastatingly beautiful and scenic that far south (the weather could be trickier down south though too so be warned). You saw the pics I sent you of the Queenstown area. The Able Tasman beach/hiking/camping area was a stunner as well. Still can’t believe I got to dip my toes in the Tasman Sea. Ohhhhh, I need to go back for more.
Can you tell this Yank doesn’t get out much ;-).
Whatever you decide to do, Niina, I hope you have as great of a time as I did when I was down there. Bon voyage, ‘Candy girl.
They’re not escalators! They once were fixing one and had a sign up saying something like the movalator wasn’t working. Serious 🙂
niina, i think they are called ‘travelators’. like the ones at the Airport, only on an incline?