After a couple of days of high culture with the gallery, the ballet and the quarantine station it's been back to "normal" in Sydney! Back at work, back partying a lot in the evenings and sailing too. Was out on Shoshana, a Cav 28 from Sydney Amateurs last Saturday which was fab - great 1 design racing and a fun crew. After a quick tinny at the club it was straight to work. The bar has been really busy with Christmas parties and the like - but that also makes the tips good :-)

Suvi and I went out to the Blue Mountains on Monday and Tuesday. Stayed at a cute hostel in Katoomba called the Flying Fox. I was pleased that we'd made the effort and got there early as it was a gorgeous day and we did a big hike up and around the 3 sisters and down on the Federal Pass, checking out the view from Echo Point, having lunch at the top of Katoomba Cascades and getting eaten alive by the mozzies - 1 bit me on my forehead!!! We rewarded ourselves with a few well deserved beers at the RSL before a pasta dinner and a couple more drinks in the local pub. Tuesday, the weather was no where near as nice, so we wandered through the town checking out all the cute antique shops and the bakeries before getting a train back to the city just after lunch.

Caught up with Carly and Paul for dinner on Sunday night in Manly which was nice. I am very pleased as Carly found my iPod in the back of her car which means that once my USB stick of tunes arrives from Mark I'll have some music again :-) perfect timing before I hit the road again.

Lots of people seem to be converging on Sydney for Christmas which is fab. I saw Steve and Alison on Wednesday and we did the Manly to Spit walk which was great, despite the heat! Really great to catch up with them - by February they will have been away a whole year, so a fair amount to catch up on! I saw Alison again on Thursday for a spot of shopping/browsing on Oxford Street. Hopefully I will get to see them again before they head off to India before back to the UK.

Saturday night I was treated to a "proper" Aussie night out in Baulken Hills. Headed out west after work to Will's family house - his parents were great and made everyone really welcome (even driving out in the middle of the night to collect 1/2 the party who had had a few issues with the taxi...) BBQ there and then out to a pub/club called Hillside. Quite an eye opener some of the outfits that were on show (more like clubbing in Ibiza than a suburbian pub!)

Looking forward to the build up to Christmas - I am working every night this week except Wednesday so I am keeping my fingers crossed for some good weather so that I can make the most of the days! Off for a run now...