What can we say? Paris and Sydney are our two favourite cities. There are many that we love - just not as much as those two. It was great to be back, our stomping ground hadn't changed a bit (well they appear to have finished the footpaths in Potts Point, finished George Street and the light rail in the city and are getting started on the rejuvenation of Crown Street…) but by and large, just great to be here.

We had a great sushi feast from one of our locals - mainly because it's half price at 4 pm and we stock up, cart it home and go sushi-crazy in comfort. We call Fridays 'ride days' as public transport fare caps are the same as on weekends - just with more reliable services and less people - so we headed to the Blue Mountains for some slightly chillier air and some traditional genuine westernised Chinese food at the Leura Chinese Restaurant - a timewarp/portal/wormhole and flashback to the 1970s if ever there was one. Just as the jet lag was wearing off, we slowed ourselves right down with a dose of Covid after only 2 weeks at home, and that took a while to get over. When we were approaching better again we spent a Friday visiting scenic Kiama on the south coast - a nice outing with a jaunt around the waterfront, the world famous Kiama blowhole and Thai food for lunch. Not as good or as cheap as the Blue Mountains but great that we went for a look as we now know not to bother with a housesit down there.

The Vivid festival of light, music, ideas and yada-yada came around before we even felt like we'd been home. We gave it a bit of a half-hearted, final night, stroll around last year and decided to make a bit more of an effort this year. Our first evening out we took the trusty 311 bus right in to Barangaroo Reserve then viewed the art/lights around the quays finishing at Circular Quay - quite the jaunt. On our second Vivid outing we headed in the opposite direction to Darling Harbour and down into China town - a great walk.

We can certainly amuse ourselves quite tidily in Sydney and one stunning Sunday we headed to the Botanic Gardens for a long walk and a picnic. Just us and seemingly half of Sydney - that joint gets busy. We even managed to fit in another trip to the Blue mountains before the end of June and finally the weather was really cooling off. Winter - here we come.

Aside from relaxing and settling into 'home base' in Sydney, we also keep busy with the annual checkup regime - vital to allowing us to gallivant reasonably care free for the other part of the year. Dentist, Doctor, Blood tests, Flu Vaccine - and that's all in May/June. Later in the year (after our forthcoming regional trip to Mudgee) will be, in no particular order, skin checks, eye tests, bowel screening and a Covid booster. Good times indeed. Looking forward to Mudgee that is for sure.

(Photo: Customs House, Circular Quay during VIVID - Reg Mombasa projections).