Australia 2017 - Days 24 & 25 - 18th & 19th March

Days 24 & 25

I have lumped these two days together as that is how they seemed to me, one long weekend.  it all began on Saturday morning when I dropped Amy off at the Spa in Crows Nest and had a stroll around before going in to Bravo Trattoria for a leisurely brunch.  very nice food and great service.

I eventually met up again with Amy and we went back to the house.  Amy and Justin were going to an awards presentation in Dee Why and they took Amy with them and I stayed home with Cerys and had a relaxing afternoon because I was to be going out for a very long night with Justin, Alex Rolls and Adam Woods.

So later when we were ready Justin and I got a taxi in to Pyremont, picking Alex up on the way and then we met Adam in the Quarryman's Hotel.

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Quarrymans Hotel

Following a change of owner and an extensive renovation, this century-old Pyrmont pub is now all about craft beer, offering 26 beer taps dispensing ales from small Australian brewers.

Inside, the public bar has been stripped back to reveal wooden floorboards, exposed beams, original brickwork and an ornate ceiling. Out the back, the downstairs courtyard is a triangular nook illuminated by dangling light bulbs. Upstairs is the pub's restaurant, the Drunken Fish, as well as a lovely rooftop terrace.

The Tramsheds

From here we moved on to the Tramsheds at the intersection of Glebe and Annandale Streets. This building at the Northern End of the Harold Park development is where visitors will find that the historic 1904 Rozelle Tram Depot has been gutted, restored, and turned into an impressively slick European-style dining hall. It’s part of a huge redevelopment of the area and was one of the most anticipated elements of the ‘new’ Sydney over the last year year. It opened  to the public on Thursday 22nd September last year.

The massive revamp of the Rozelle Tram Depot features a European-inspired market hall lined with bespoke retailers, from butchers and bakers to fried chicken and fresh pasta makers. Basically, it's enough to make you full of anxious indecision over where to eat. Each of the retailers — which include some of Sydney's biggest food names, as well as some new producers — have created a stunning space to serve their food, with most offering takeaway as well as produce to take home and cook. There's a supermarket, a nail salon and a gym, but the food is where it's at. It is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so there's ample opportunity for enjoying what is on offer here.  

We chose to eat at The Butchers and The Farmer's restaurant. Interestingly, on each of the items on the menu it names the actual farm that the food comes from, with full address details too.

The trams are not just for show either.  You can also dine inside them

Around about midnight Adam had left but I went with Justin & Alex to the Star Casino over towards Darling Harbour.  We spent the time waiting for the rugby to start by playing Black Jack. Quite enjoyable but of course, we had nothing to show for it at the end.

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Then it was time to find a table in the sports bar to watch the rugby and football.  I am not going to go into detail here but just suffice to say that Wales lost to France in rather controversial circumstances, England lost to Ireland buit Bournemouth beat Swansea, so Justin was a very happy man indeed.

England needed to beat Ireland to win back to back Grand Slams and a world record for sequence of wins

But they lost.

But at least Justin would go home happy after his beloved Bournemouth defeated Swansea in a basement battle tussle.

Time for a taxi home now, and it was already getting light.  When we arrived at the house at 06.50 we were met by Amy preparing breakfast for the kids.  No problem though, she knew we were going to be out all night.

I then went to bed in my room and fell asleep almost immediately.  Amy was taking the kids to the cinema in Chatswood for the morning so we could have an undisturbed sleep. Good old Amy.

After a good few hours sleep I got up to find them all returned from the cinema and the vegetables prepared for the Sunday dinner.  Their friends Ben and Christina were coming to dinner with baby Henry so after a quick bite to eat and drink I took over the cooking of the dinner.

We had a pleasant time when they arrived, Henry and our two got on really well playing together and everyone was well behaved. Everybody seemed to enjoy the dinner and the Nunkeri Scarlett wine that I had been given on Friday.

After dinner Justin ran the bath for Cerys and Dylan before bedtime and of course Henry wanted to go in too so Justin had the difficult job of bathing all three of them.

When the children were bathed and dressed, Ben, Christina and Henry left for home, which is in Dee Why and the weekend was over,  What a weekend it had been.