Brookvale!

Singapore Changi Airport is, I think, our favourite airport, on planet Earth, at least. We only had a couple of hours to pass between flights to enjoy the quiet atmosphere, helped a lot by the carpeted floor. We missed out on the butterfly farm and the koi pond this time, but I’m sure we’ll visit those attractions on another occasion.

The other thing I like is that the airport authorities here haven’t felt the need to cram the space with ‘retail opportunities’. You can walk quite a long way along wide, spacious passages without seeing a shop, not even a coffee bar.

The only downside is that the cigarette smoke doesn’t know to confine itself to the designated smoking areas.

The second flight wasn’t as comfortable as the first: more crowded and hotter. Plus, my neighbour smelled really bad. Again, the crew acquired some decent veggie food for me. So, five stars for Singapore Airlines.

On the way to Sydney, I watched one complete film, Dune, and maybe half of another, Meg 2, during which I nodded off, but, to be honest, I don’t think I missed much.

Helen picked us up from the airport, it was lovely to see her, after having had not much sleep for 24 hours. This was our first visit to her (not so new, now) apartment in Brookvale. Needless to say, we didn’t do much before going to bed. We didn’t have the best night’s sleep ever, of course, but it was nice being horizontal. We couldn’t help but notice how much warmer it is here than at home. Funny, that…

Meanwhile, back at home, Martha and William were celebrating World Book Day. Meet Hermione Grainger and Mr Fox:

Helen was woken up by a kookaburra, but I didn’t hear it, so I must have slept for some of the night.

We drove to Manly passing by some familiar but mostly unfamiliar sites. And I did manage to take my first wildlife photo of this trip.

Maybe not the most exciting creature, I know, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

The plan was to have brunch with Helen’s lovely friend Bambi and her gorgeous baby Gypsy. We met at The Pantry, on the sea front, where we have eaten before but not for about five years.

Sun, sea, sand and blue skies, what else could you ask for? Well, in my case, a veggie breakfast. It was a joy to meet Bambi after all this time, Helen’s told us so much about her, and I think most of it is true.

So, what does she look like? I’m sure we’ll be taking pictures of grown-ups over the next few weeks, but yes, of course I took pictures of Gypsy!

The next port of call was the shopping mall. Liesel bought a pair of sandals, having thrown the old ones away. And I bought my first Aussie coffee on this trip, from Café Léluna. Very nice, very tasty.

Back at Helen’s place, it was nice and quiet, apart from a few exotic birds. I hope to be able to identify them at some point. Either there’s a very talented blackbird around, or maybe a mynah, or someone really did set off a car alarm.

In the evening, Helen’s partner, Brent joined us for dinner. It was the first time we’d met, of course, and he seems like a very nice young man! So what does he look like then? Well, you’ll have to wait to find out.

Because I have now disappeared from the UK for a while, my final Wythenshawe Radio show for the time being had the theme of Disappearance. You can listen here. You don’t have to, of course, but… FOMO?

Helen was working all day Saturday, so Liesel and I went for a walk. We planned to visit Freshwater Beach. Well, the first thing we noticed was, how hilly it is around here! Another stark reminder of how flat Northenden and Wythenshawe are. Again, we resolved to go for walks further afield at home, try and conquer some of those Peaks. Just to say, I struggled on some of the slopes.

I don’t know if Google Maps just likes to play jokes, or I’m still half asleep, but at one point we turned right when we should have turned left. We never did make it to the beach. But we did come across Freshwater Brewing Co where we enjoyed a coffee and a muffin (Liesel) and a huge almond croissant (Mick). It seemed a shame to miss out on the beach, but we decided to cut our losses and head back to the shopping mall again. We knew that, from there, we could walk home. And there’s plenty of time to visit all the various beaches around here.

It’s late Summer, early Autumn here, although it feels like mid-Summer to us rain-drenched miserable Brits! Some of the flowers here are beautiful of course, with lots of bougainvillea all over the place.

We found our way home, taking our time. Even though this was meant to be a quick, gentle, introductory stroll, we walked over four and a half miles, so it was good to stop and have a lie down.

Well, I haven’t so far taken pictures of Helen’s friends and partners (apart from Gypsy) but I did capture some more wildlife.

This little chap was visiting Helen’s patio and of course, I couldn’t approach too closely.

I thought I’d take a look at the night sky. Such a dark sky, despite being close to the big city, Sydney. We’re hoping for more dark skies later on, and after a bit of experimenting, I took this picture.

I was very pleased it came out so well. The only accessory to the phone I used was a chair , on which I had to place the phone, pointing in the right direction. I set the timer so there would be no vibration at all.

And a jolly good night’s sleep was had by all.