Oh, You're So Manly

Sydney and beyond!

I had a wonderful time in Sydney. Prior to me embarking on my trip, my wonderful, long-time friend Julie, so graciously connected me and one of her friends who now lives in Sydney, Matt Young. He, his partner and their two adopted boys, Graham and Michael. It was a fun filled Easter week hanging with the family and exploring the city. Sydney has some fabulous beaches like Bondi and Manly which I wish I would've spent a bit more time at. Unfortunately, summer being over in the southern hemisphere, the weather was beginning to cool off, which was a bit more limiting for beach excursions. But, nonetheless, the beaches are gorgeous and great to swim, people watch and check out the surfers. On my visit to Manly, I did the beautiful 10k walk from Spit Bridge to Manly Beach, which definetely gave me a pair of aching feet. But relaxing on the beach and watching the sunset was a nice payoff. The ferry ride back to Sydney was beautiful with the Opera House and Bridge all lit up in the night sky. Beautiful.

Another really wonderful thing was meeting up with my friend Vega. We've known each other for probably nearly 10 years now. She's a childhood friend of my very close friend Sinead. Originally we met when she came to visit Sinead in NYC. I didn't see her for many years until Sinead's wedding a year and a half ago in Ireland. She recently got married to an Aussie and has only been in Sydney for the past two months. When Sinead put two and two together, she put us in touch. It was so amazing to hang out and talk about all that has happened with the two of us over the past 1 1/2 years. Which, to say, has been a lot for both of us. It's always such a wonderful feeling to reconnect with someone and it feels like no time has passed since you last spent time together. I am sure that Vega and I will meet again in some random part of the world in the future.

Sydney is a beautiful city and I pretty much walked my feet to the bone. It was a nice closure to my travels in a western country for several months. And what better than to spend it with old and new friends.

http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/Sydney