I do blog about stuff other than footy ...

I mentioned Sydney a couple of days ago. I went to the harbour city a couple of weeks ago to get away from the miserable weather of Melbourne, although my departure picture, right, makes a complete liar out of me. With a few days of time-in-lieu up my sleeve, I decided to mark the five months of being back from my five month trip abroad with a five-day hiatus. Too many high fives, I know. Flying Jetstar from my local airport at Avalon, I was ready for my first real journey for the year, excluding the work trips to Halls Gap and Mildura, of course.

I have a real love-hate relationship with Sydney, but I always enjoy catching up with my uncle and aunt and they sure know how to put on a good show. Concrete Dave is your typical Aussie beer-drinking larrikin who just bought himself a cement truck and his wonderful partner of more than 20 years, Geez Louise, works in finance in Sydney's CBD. I arrived at their Bondi apartment in the city's eastern suburbs around 6pm on Thursday, April 27, and we soon went to the Bondi Diggers and Golf Club, where $3.20 schooners, expansive views of Australia's most famous patch of sand, Bondi Beach, and Asian food (yes, at an RSL Club, I know) was the order of the evening. In conjunction with some of Concrete Dave's friends, we spent $50 on raffle tickets and left the place soon after with three meat trays and a fruit tray. It was, pardon the pun, a fruitful trip.

The next day, Concrete Dave had some rare time off work so we ran some of his errands before meeting Geez Louise in the city for yum cha. A couple hours later and a $150 bill for lunch, Geez Louise went back to work and I persuaded Dave to join me on a trip up to Sydney Tower. The view was unreal and I took many pictures, including this one. Regular visitors to this blog know that I visited a number of skyscrapers during my time abroad. It was tough to convince the uncle to have a beer, who admitted that it was also his first time up the tower despite living in Sydney for more than two decades, so we then paid $7 each for a Crownie to cap off the visit. Then it was back to Bondi, most notably the Diggers for more beer although dinner wasn't necessary considering we had the lunch of 500 million Chinese earlier in the day.

I had big plans for Saturday: go for a run to Bondi Beach before capping the session off with a dip in the ocean. Alas, it wasn't meant to be and while Geez Louise travelled far west to see her dad, I watched countless Simpsons episodes with Concrete Dave before we went to the "you know where" and had a few "you know what". I can also confirm that betting on horses also took place. Considering Geelong's performance later that evening, I would have been better staying in Bondi and doing my dough than embarking on a two-hour excursion out to the city's west. It's Concrete Dave's belief that everything you really want is in Bondi and there's really no reason to leave. Hard to argue with that.

However, we ventured out for a few hours on Sunday but not too far to watch some more football. There's a lot to like about Geez Louise, including the fact she is an avid Manly fan, just like me. You either love Manly or you hate us, there's no in between. The mighty Sea Eagles played archrivals, Parramatta, at the beautiful Sydney Cricket Ground - the site of five premierships during the 1970s and 1980s and many great contests between the teams - and the three of us had some of the best seats in the place. I'll just say it pays to be connected and leave it at that. Like Telstra Stadium, it was my first time there and better yet, Manly beat the Eels 23-22 courtesy of a Matt Orford field goal just minutes from full-time. The esteemed broadsheet's Sydney twin has all the details. Scarf wrapped around my neck and a few beers consumed (I'm sorry that a pattern is emerging here) it was time to go back to Bondi for some dinner and some much needed rest, but then came the news that the Tasmanian miners were alive. You know the rest.

So my Sydney sojourn was almost over, but not before I finally got down to Bondi Beach. I had to do some exercise after a weekend (and some) of general excess. Monday would be a dry day but not necessarily a healthy one despite my sandy stroll. Indulging in some fast food, I then got suckered into buying two-dozen Krispy Kreme donuts at Sydney Airport (for the family, of course) before flying home to Victoria - The Place To Be apparently - where Poppa Blog and the rain welcomed my return. It was a great trip but to quote The Get Up Kids, all good things have endings.