Hi, Daniel , arrived in Sydney. Warm here, spent the day enjoying our friend's garden. Resting the foot which is getting better. Again thanks so much for your generosity. Hope to see you in Vancouver soon.
All the best, Corinne
Hi Kids!
Just arrived at Ania's and am off shortly for a swim. Cora Lee and Ania are off shopping, in a few minutes, for tonight's dinner. Just a brief note now, more later, but do you have our tickets for Sydney to Melbourne? I'm hoping you can forward an e-version. Coriander is just checking her email travel files and can only find Cairns to Darwin so we assume you might have details. Since you are no longer staying in Sydney, I guess we simply forgot. Anyway, let me know and we'll act accordingly. Sunny, with some cloud, so quite a change after fog and drizzle of HK. Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Casimir et al!
Trust you are well! Thanks so much for the invitation to Andrea's 65th. Unfortunately we won't be able to attend as we will be in Brisbane around the 14th of April! Nevertheless, we send our hearty congratulations to Andrea on this very special and happy occasion.Once again, best wishes to Anrea. Hip Hip Hooray! for She's a Jolly Good Fellow!!! All the best to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Big Al!
Hard to believe, or perhaps not, that Alegeant can be so ridiculous about compensation for time, never mind the sheer trauma of the harrowing experience. Glad the Sue and Herardo had such a good time on the rides, especially after all the medical problems he's had to deal with of late. Also glad that Maureen was whoping it up. I read out your account of near-death experiience to Cora Lee and Ania and Ania wondered how Maureen expected her will to survive if she didn't! Guess one really dowsn't think all that rationally at times like that. Great story and funny, of a very dark sort, to look back upon, but pretty damn frightening at the time. Of course, you with your New Year's Eve welding gas/ballon caper probably thought it was just another Disney ride!
After a full morning of trying to catch up with email, I was back to Victoria Park Pool today for a glorious late afternoon dip. Started at 4:00pm and finished just after 6:00pm. Did a lazy two miles but would have liked to have done three. However, Cora Lee was waiting for me to return wth dinner fixings so I had to make my way back, via bus to Town Hall and then by subway to Bondi Junction. After a bit of shopping for groceries at Coles at the huge Westfield Mall there, I took another bus to the top of Bellevue Road, or should have. I was reading my book and missed my stop! Had to walk about an extra half mile, uphill all the way. Fortunately I was familair with route as I used to traverse it whenever I walked to Icebergs at Bondi Beach, on earlier visits. Evening was simply delightful, still very pleasantly warm, the sound of cicadas music to my ears as I made my way home. Can see some of the cityscape from top of Bellevue Hill but I was quite surprised at how much less impressive it looked, compared to that of Hong Kong's skyscraperscape. In the past, I have always been taken wth Sydney's skyline. Nevertheless, it is still impressive. Once back where I should have alighted from bus I walked the seven or so blocks to #17 Fairweather Street. Coriandre had finished the dregs of the last night's Knappenstein Riesling and was working on the bottle of Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley, 2009 Shiraz, 13%, that Marysia had brought yesterday evening but which we hadn't opened, so she was not overly fussed that I walked in the door at 8:00pm! I probably would have made it by 7:30pm but for my inattention. Enjoyed a simple cherry tomatoe/bocconcini salad with grilled chicken breast, brushed with sweet chili sauce. I did the few dishes and Coriandre repaired to bed to read. She is still fighting her allergic reaction and the various medications, (She has to take about 12 pills a day!), take a bit of starch out of her. She feels the rash is slowly receding but not as quickly as we would both hope. Nonetheless, she is feeling better and has plans to go shopping at the above mentioned Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction. This, of course, means she is definitely on the mend! Be fun if we could meet but not a big deal if that is not possible, obviously. In any event, keep me posted. Great to hear about your work close to home. Fond regards to Marilyn and the Young Brothers! Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Colin!
Thou dost wax poetiic, Dear Syrah! I play to the groundlings in the Pit, however. I think this is the pilot that was flying our plane!
Once upon a time, a pilot asked a beautiful princess, "Will you marry me?"
The princess said, "No!!!" And the pilot lived happily ever after and flew jets all over the world and drove hot cars and banged skinny long-legged big-titted flight attendants and hunted and fished and went to topless bars and dated women half his age and drank whiskey and Captain Morgan and never heard bitching and never paid child support or alimony and kept his house and guns and ate cold spam and potato chips and beans and blew enormous farts and never got cheated on while he was at work and all his friends and family thought he was frickin’ cool as hell and he had tons of money in the bank and left the toilet seat up........ The end.
Hi Maggie and Chloë and Tinsel Town!
Seems as if you both are living the high life, at least from Facebook entries! Just wondering if you found envelope with addresses and Australian money to give to Sarge. Your apartmento sounds delightful Ayn. I hope you are able to rent it. Lap pool there makes me spit on Victoria Park Pool!!!
On another matter, I have invited a friend of Penny's, June Burton and her friend, to stay at The Island Inn to keep an eye on you two!
Hi Patrick,
Many thanks for your long and informative email. I would certainly like to make another trip to try to see the Northern Lights, although it is possible that are visible from some parts of the U.K. I am sorry I haven't had chance to reply. Since I got back from Norway I have been very busy catching up on all the things I didn't get chance to do before I went away. Also this past week I have had a French student whom I accommodate, feed and teach English.
The flights to Canada have now been booked by my friend, Myrtle. We will be arriving at Vancouver (BC) Airport on Sunday 20th May at 11.15 a.m. We would like to stay with you, if possible for 2 or 3 nights (20th to 22nd or 23rd) and again on 28th May. If that is possible could you please let me know what arrangements we need to make for a taxi from the Airport. We have also booked the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Jasper on 29th and 30th May. We will also need to organise a transfer for that as well.
We would like to hire a car and visit Vancouver Island from 22nd or 23rd May until 28th. Do you know how much that would be likely to cost? We have been advised to book it here with Alamo Rent a Car and are thinking of a Chevrolet Aveo (automatic with A/C) or similar. Any advice would be much appreciated. Do the cars have sat nav as standard?
I hope all is well with you and your family. hoping to hear from you again soon. Kind regards, June
I suggest that you put them in The Annexe for the time they will be in town but you can decide. Let me know what you prefer and I'll advise them. I'll also tell them about Sky Train but will need to co-ordinate access to our place. I'll copy you on next email to June and she can write directly to you about that. Depending on your schedule, one of them could always walk over to GIB for key. I'll warn them about the fierce guard cat!
Ania took Nana to Bondi Junction a little while ago so that she could shop at all the high-end stores there! Later on she'll pick her up and they plan to go for a walk along the ocean cliffs at Bondi Beach with another friend. If your Mom's foot is too sore/tired she will just loll on the beach and read in the sun! I'm off to VPP as soon as I've sent a few more messages. Much warm love, Dad!
Hi June et al!
Trust you are well! Sorry I have not replied sooner but Il Conduttore has finally surfaced! (Whether this is viewed with delight or displeasure remains to be seen!), after more than a week of email/blog silence. (We were in Hong Kong from March 6th to 11th.) Life on the road has been exciting, hectic, extremely full and, not surprisingly, this has necessarily meant that I have had very little time to submerge myself in Vacuum-land. As a direct result, the Kowloon Diaries have suffered and the unfinished entries, Harpy-like, plead for scrupulous attention, weighing heavily on my guilt ridden shoulders. (Not even to mention The Down Under Diaries!) I hope to rectify this scandalous oversight, (Friends and family members assumed Cora Lee had finally had enough and had had, (Dear Reader, is four "hads" in one sentence too, too much?), me dispatched, for a mere pittance, in a darkened alleyway somewhere in Tsim Sha Tsui, the vibrant neighbourhood where our hotel, The YMCA Salisbury Hotel, thrust its mere fourteen Lilliputian dwarf stories into the Brobdingnagian Kowloon skyline!
Arrived in Sydney on March 12th and will be enjoying another "hardship posting", here in the Eastern Suburbs, but a most pleasant 20 minute stroll, downhill, to Bondi Beach. Whether I swim at the ocean pool, Icebergs, there, remains to be determined. I was able to buy a twenty visit pass at Victoria Park Pool, (I swam there regularly when visiting in both 2003 and 2006), close to the U of Sydney, on Monday, very inexpensively, (less than half the price of a regular adult visit), as young lad at ticket counter gave me the Senior Concession Rate, 60 here in Australia, although I didn't have a Seniors' Card from Canada! (Had an email from Chloe informing Cora Lee that her application for Old Age Pension had gone through. Maybe we won't have to come back now!) Managed just over a mile, (2.33K!), to help overcome jetlag. Only a 9 hour overnight flight from HK, (left at 7:00pm and arrived at 7:40am), so we wanted to fit into local time as find that works best in terms of adapting to new chronological zone. That night Ania, our host, prepared a wonderful lamb shank for dinner. We sipped a Knappstein 2010 Riesling, Clare Valley, 12.5% before meal and graduated to a Kirrihill 2008 Shiraz, again from Clare, 15%, perfect gangbuster with dynamite lamb dish!!!
Unfortunately, Corinne has had to deal with a recurrence of the allergic rash on her right foot, (Started back in Vancouver about three weeks before we left, a complication from corrective surgery.), some on the lower leg of her left foot as well. This latest episode started a week ago, today, in HK, and I convinced her that she should seek medical attention. She resisted until Thursday morning when there was not much improvement overnight. Fortunately for us, friend, Daniel "Ting" Chen, (We met back in early 80's when he was doing an MA in Architecture at UBC. He has lived here ever since. We'd seen the evening before and he mentioned that he could probably arrange an appointment with a dermatologist friend, Dr. Francis Yu.), was able to obtain a last minute consultation and Cora Lee saw him later that morning. He prescribed antibiotics as he was concerned about infection as well, antihistamines and ointment. He said prescription for latter, made in Vancouver, was far too weak to be effective. Last few days were still uncomfortable for much walking but we paced ourselves and Corinne soldiered on. We will basically be taking a rest and relaxation vacation from our travel vacation for rest of week and then we fly to Melbourne on Saturday to meet close friends, Flamin' and Sarge.
Happy to report that yesterday morning, Coriandre was working in Ania's back garden. Ania is a wonderful individual but she needs a full-time gardener so Corinne was weeding and raking. Last visit she transplanted a number of potted plants and generally tidied up so Ania was very pleased. Around 10:00am she went for her daily walk around Bondi and Bronte, next beach south, but Corinne wasn't up to that yet. Too bad as it was a simply glorious day, right from the start. When we arived on Monday it was quite cloudy, with a few drops of rain, until late afternoon and then it was hot enough that I walked in the shade when I could! First real sunshine we'd seen since leaving Vancouver as weather in HK was very foggy, some drizzle and a few bouts of heavy rain. Fortunately we were either on the Big Bus Tour or in a museum when it was pelting down so weather didn't actually matter. Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if it had been warmer and sunnier but believe conditions were true to historical patterns, according to Daniel.
Yesterday, after a full morning of trying to catch up with email, I was back at Victoria Park Pool for a glorious late afternoon dip. Started at 4:00pm and finished just after 6:00pm. Did a lazy two miles but would have liked to have done three, if only to watch the more than colourful undersea life: shoals of buxom co-eds, from neighbouring U of Sydney, in itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bikinis zipped by me, as I plodded along in the Slow Lane! However, Cora Lee was waiting for me to return wth dinner fixings so I had to make my way back, via bus to Town Hall and then by subway to Bondi Junction. After a bit of shopping for groceries at Coles at the huge Westfield Mall there, I took another bus to the top of Bellevue Road, or should have. I was reading my book and missed my stop! Had to walk about an extra half mile, uphill all the way. Fortunately I was familiar with route as I used to traverse it whenever I walked to Icebergs, an ocean fed pool, at Bondi Beach, on earlier visits. Evening was simply delightful, still very pleasantly warm, the sound of cicadas music to my ears as I made my way home. Can see some of the cityscape from top of Bellevue Hill but I was quite surprised at how much less impressive it looked, compared to that of Hong Kong's skyscraperscape. In the past, I have always been taken wth Sydney's skyline. Nevertheless, it is still impressive.
Once back where I should have alighted from bus I walked the seven or so blocks to #17 Fairweather Street. Coriandre had finished the dregs of the last night's Knappenstein Riesling and was working on the bottle of Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley, 2009 Shiraz, 13%, that Marysia, Ania's sister, had brought yesterday evening but which we hadn't opened, so she was not overly fussed that I walked in the door at 8:00pm! I probably would have made it by 7:30pm but for my inattention.
Enjoyed a simple cherry tomatoe/bocconcini salad with grilled chicken breast, brushed with sweet chili sauce. I did the few dishes and Coriandre repaired to bed to read. As you can appreciate, she is still fighting her allergic reaction and the various medications, (She has to take about 12 pills a day!), take a bit of starch out of her. She feels the rash is slowly receding but not as quickly as we would both hope. Nonetheless, she is feeling better and has plans to go shopping at the above mentioned Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction today. This, of course, means she is definitely on the mend! For my part I plan to buy a snorkel, the better to view, without gasping for air, the indigenous fish, Australiana Voloptuana, which populate Victoria Park Pool!
Now for the part you really wanted to hear about:
Glad that you have organized flights, etc. As you can see, I have copied Chloë/Penny on this message as I think you should deal directly with them regarding some of the details of your arrival and getting into our place. I've sent her a copy of your last message so Chloë knows when you will be landing in Vancouver and when you'd like to stay. With respect to getting close to us, simply take the Sky Train from airport to Olympic Village Station. Once there, there is a bus which goes past our place. If you prefer, it is a very short taxi ride from tube station. You'll just have to flag a passing cab at curbside. If you elect the bus, (my preference and suggestion), simply go to the bus stop outside the station and ask someone, driver or waiting passenger, how to get to Granville Island. The bus will stop either before or after our building so you'll need to hoof a block or two but it certainly isn't near as long a walk as it is from Mill Hill Broadway Station to Penny's place. If Chloë is not working and available and can borrow a car, (My car will be in storage and uninsured for driving by then. This is my usual practice whenever we take extended trips.), she might be able to collect you at OVS. I'll let her let you know about that end of things.
At any rate, you will need to connect with her at some point to obtain a key to our place. Depending on her work schedule, one of you could always walk over to the Granville Island Brewery, but five minutes from our place, for the key. Will provide precise directions for getting to our ground level patio, from bus stop or front entrance to our building's parkade, (this is where taxi would drop you, 1425 Lamey's Mill Road), where you can leave your bags and rest, a bit closer to time you are arriving. In the meantime, you might ask Penny to give you some idea of how relatively easy it is to find our place and the GI Market, etc.
I don't know if it is cheaper to rent a car from England or in Canada. I suggest you find out details and cost from Alamo and send them along to me. I'll ask Flamin', friend we are meeting in Melbourne, to do a comparison with some places in Vancouver. She is our "expert" on car rentals. She did all the booking online for the vehicle we will pick up in Melbourne. I have a Sat Nav, (We call it Garmin Girl here, because of voice selection: veddy veddy British!), that you are welcome to use so don't order a car with one if you will be charged extra. I'll ask Chloë to put it out for you.
Ania took Cora Lee to Bondi Junction a little while ago so that she could shop at all the high-end stores there! Later on she'll pick her up and they plan to go for a walk along the ocean cliffs at Bondi Beach with another friend. If Coriandre's foot is too sore/tired she will just loll on the beach and read in the sun, topless! (I knew there was a reason I liked going to Icebergs!) I'm off to VPP as soon as I've sent a few more messages.
Think that is about all for now. Let me know what you think and we'll plan accordingly. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Tiptoe!
Arrived at Ania's about 10:00am this morning and have already been for a
swim at Victoria Park! Give us a call when you have a moment and we'll
arrange to meet when everyone's schedules are meshable! We leave for
Melbourne on Saturday, March 17th, at 3:00pm. Hope we can see you before
then. Fondestos from Cora Lee. Cheers, Patrice!
Helllllooooo Mr Dunn, where are you?
Either send me your landline or call me on my mobile.
Hope to chat soon.
Tim Kelly Business Development Manager Vodafone Hutchison Australia
Greetings from Bondi!
Hi Gaelen!
Just arrived in Sydney this morning. Looking forward to taking it easy for a little less than a week after busy, exciting time in Hong Kong. Cheers, Patrizzio!
I am so jealous! I loved Hong Kong..John Paul and I stayed three days there before heading to Thailand. Have a great trip! G
Hello
Finally coming back to life from this flu
Heard Nana wanted more loft details. I find out tomorrow if I got it as there was an applicant ahead of me who was having difficulty qualifying for the place and needed a co signee
It's a cute place...3.8 miles from my office in Valley Glen close to the small college Pierre attended here before going to Colorado State
When you enter there is a full bath to your right or to your left there is the dining area. High ceilings. A new kitchen with white cabinets and granite counters no fridge so I will have to buy one
There is a stair case against the back wall leading to a large loft and another full bath with a walk in closet...also downstairs beneath the loft is a den or study like room for guests
The kitchen looks out into the living room which has a gas fireplace and small balcony
Below the balcony is a lap pool for Poppa and a patio table with chairs and two large community gas grills
I like the area, more working class than Northridge but accessible to many great parts of the city quickly
I will keep you posted
Pierre is due home or spring break on the 23rd so I plan to have him help me get organized for the move
Love to all for now Ayn
ANDREW BERTRAND-SREDZKI!
Hi Richard!
Trust you and Esther are well. Spumoni asked me to pass along Andrew's
address. He doesn't have a computer although I've tried to convince him to
use email at TPL's public access terminals.
His usual shifts are from 4:00pm to midnight and he is home by about
1:30am. He is a night owl so you can phone anytime around 1:00am-2:00am his
time.
I talked to him about an hour ago and I mentioned you are hoping to be in
touch. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Thank you Patrick
I shall be in touch with Andrew in the near future.
Esther and I are doing well thank you.
I hope this note finds you and yours well and happy.
Thanks again Richard
surfacing, rogue waves and the grand gedankenexperiment
P,
Good to hear all is well with the wayward
travellers. There was some concern with the cyber silence. In fact we were so
troubled that we all gathered at the Island Inn and drank copious amounts
maltage. We have decided, now that the malt cupboard is empty, that the unread
books of the NRBC will be kept there -- behind the sacred glass.
You missed a wild wind storm here
lasterday -- the waves over the sea wall were looking for you. Be well, W
Laugh, and the world
laughs with you; / Weep, and you weep alone. / For this brave old earth must
borrow its mirth, / But has trouble enough of its own.-Ella Wheeler Wilcox,
poet (1850-1919)
- I arrive Friday morning in Sydney. We lost to Steve Wier 5 to 4 in the final tonight. Had a draw to the four foot with last rook that wrecked on a guard.
- Good effort! Congratulations to Stevalimo! Better to lose to him than Jason! If you have a minute, give us a call at Ania's to say hello and chat about Melbourne. I'll send you her home phone number via email as Ania doesn't want it posted on Facebook. Did you happen to get my envelope with addresses from Chloe? Not a big deal if not. Did you receive/understand message about taking bus to Spencer Street train Station and then free shuttle to hotels downtown? Goils are watching TV. Have a safe flight. Cheers, Patrizzio!
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