On Wednesday the 9th I flew back to Sydney from Brisbane and got back to Rich and Bryan's at about 1830 and then rushed to get back out. I had arranged to meet Alan, a friend from work, for a drink before he returned to the UK and this was his last evening before he flew out. I got the bus into Circular Quay in the city and then got on the ferry for the 30 minute trip to Manly. There I met Alan, his brother Mark and Mark's girlfriend Donna at a Mexican restaurant, after which Alan and I went for a beer down by the quay where I would be getting the ferry back. It was lovely to catch up on all the work gossip that I've missed since leaving home and it was great to see Alan. I got the last ferry back to the city and en route telephoned Richard, who was working nights, to see if he fancied a coffee. As luck would have it he managed to get out early and drove us both home (saving me the taxi fare) and we stopped at the bar at the end of his road for a couple of quick games of pool. When I got in that night I opened the post that had arrived for me while I'd been away and had a bit of a chuckle. Dad had packaged some "super duper de luxe top class whatsits" (his words, not mine) and sent them out to me. On the customs slip he had written "toiletries" which obviously intrigued the customs officials who opened the parcel to be confronted by 3 packets of tampons, which they also opened! The next day I was up reasonably early, considering, and Rich and I headed to the fish markets to pick up some stuff and have lunch. When we got back home I started trying to sort all my stuff out - a mammoth task as I had accumulated a mountain of bits and pieces. For dinner that night Richard cooked roast pork, which was fabulous - pork, roast potatoes, roast pumpkin, broccoli, carrots, apple sauce and extra crunchy crackling. There were 4 of us as Vourneen came round for dinner as well to say goodbye. At about 2300 Rich and I went out as we had arranged to meet a friend of his called Madge (real name Glen!) at The Imperial where we watched The Wizard of Oz - The Drag Show. It was excellent, much more polished and professional than I thought it would be. It followed the main storyline and every now and then the cast would break into a song and dance routine. Great fun. We got home at about 0300, deciding on an 'early' night as we both had a big day ahead of us - we had booked to do the bridge climb!! So to bed and dreams of Wizards and Sydney Harbour!! S xx