Music & Wine

Filme hier soir au Vanguard a Newtown (une banlieue sehr cool de Sydney). La chanteuse s'appelle Anika Moa, elle vient de Christchurch, Niouziland et son album In Swings the Tide est une petite merveille. Bonne nouvelle, elle en sort un nouveau dans pas longtemps!! D'ailleurs la chanson qu'elle interprete "Running to her" en fera partie.





C'est Caribou #2 qui rigole - quand je filme je suis silencieuse :)

Le Vanguard est une toute petite salle avec un concept plutot marplij: vous pouvez diner pendant la representation! Deux niveaux: un vrai espace dinatoire avec des tables et des chaises, en haut juste de quoi s'asseoir avec vue sur la scene mais vous pouvez consommer victuailles et breuvages alcoolises!

Brisbanification

The story you’ve been waiting for.. or maybe not :) Before I start I should give you some background info on the trip.. Last April I booked my flights to Brisbane because of… rugby! I knew that Australia and New Zealand would play there the last of the Tri Nations games [for the non rugbyphiles, the Tri Nations is a competition between the Gods of the Southern Hemisphere -> Australia, NZ and South Africa] so I reckoned it’d be a good excuse to visit my beloved Brissie. When I told Caribou#2 about my plans she was keen to come along, though not terribly excited about the rugby but thought pourquoi pas. Good on her.

So… after much anticipation, it was time to go!!!

While having brekky at the airport C#2 realised that she will be stuck with me for a whole weekend and prays anyone above that it’s going to be alright ! A couple of hours later, we land in the Sunshine State, take the train to the city, drop our bags at the hostel and start roaming the streets of Brisbanelphia. We go past the Treasury Building (which is now a hotel and casino) and the funky metal ball and make our way to the other side of the river aka South Bank. See the giant wheel? Well ... it wasn't there the last time I was in town earlier this year. We gave it a miss but a ride on this smaller version of the London Eye will definitely be on my next trip's to do list. Then onto another attraction: the Nepal Peace pagoda which was built in 1988 for the World Exhibition. The carvings are simply amazing.

Then we walked underneath the Grand Arbour (top left) - Twin Peaks might be interested to know that it is bougainvillea that grows on the wires, and wandered around the market, full of goodies (craft, clothes, jewellery, etc.. ) and while C#2 was shopping I stuffed my face with a delish churro coated with cinnamon sugar – my mouth is watering just thinking about it ! Time to cool off (my trademark photo.. ie my feet) at Brisbane’s own fake beach! Why fake?? The city is inland so the real thing is not exactly close by so a fake version will do .. just like in Paris, but in Brisbane it's here all year long.

Then we walked across the Goodwill bridge, along the river, enjoyed the view with the Story Bridge in the background, stopped at the City Botanic Gardens to rest our feet and legs, then back to the city for a yummy vegetarian Indian lunch.

More walking and we come across an interesting piece of art: a hand sculpture. There were actually two hands: this one and a the other that was sort of lying on the ground (C#2 pretended one of the big fingers was crushing her foot while I tried my best impersonation of the Little Mermaid on her rock). Such a great photo opportunity!! We entertained ourselves very much and as Tyra Banks would say .. here’s our best shot (see above).

Later on it's finally time to head to Suncorp Stadium for the game of the year. The Super 14 final was a big event but this was bigger and better as it turned out to be final of the Tri Nations as South Africa was out of contention. It was a very close game but the All Blacks won 28-24, that’s why they look pretty happy with themselves on the photo. Why wouldn’t they??

They won two trophies in one night: the Tri-Nations Trophy and the Bledisloe Cup (a contest between Australia and New Zealand). My heartfelt thanks to C#2 for coming to the game and putting up with my unruly behaviour! If you ever need a hearing aid, I’ll contribute :)

Our Sunday started in Fortitude Valley. Halfway through our stroll around the market we had a delish brekky – pancakes for both of us – how Canadian! :) - plus bacon and eggs for yours truly…yum! With a full stomach we had another look around the market then embarked on the crossing of the Story Bridge.. it didn’t take as long as I thought it would and we got a better view of the city.

On the other side of the bridge the area is called Kangaroo Point.. you wonder why because kangaroos are nowhere to be seen, ha ha ha. Anyway... with all that walking under the sun yours truly was a wee bit thirsty and requested that we stop at one of Brisbane's icons: the Story Bridge Hotel. Some hotels in Australia are actually pubs and some other hotels are still hotels, like the Hilton or the Sofitel.. confusing I know. FYI, I had one drink and it didn’t contain alcohol.

After a short ferry ride, yes you can take the ferry to go from one side of the river to the other, we were back in the city centre for a bit more shopping. Our last stop was the Museum of Brisbane, a tiny little bit of culture doesn't hurt. Unfortunately the Tower Clock was closed so we didn’t get a chance to enjoy the city from above.

Sadly all good things come to end and it was time for us to get back to the airport and fly back to Sydney. Boo. But .. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Brisbane and/or another adventure with C#2.. not sure she'll sign up for it, maybe.. on the condition that there is no rugby involved :)

Thank you rugby

Most of the time I don't do go out on school nights, but last Thursday I couldn't miss Gin Wigmore performing in Sydney. Caribou #2 couldn't say no to the cheapest concert in town ($11.50) and joined me for an evening to remember, all thanks to rugby.

Just after work C#2 and yours truly make their way to the Civic, and kick off the night with a couple of glasses of bubbles for C#2 and vino fur mich, a bit of chit chat, a bit of a laugh (by the way C#2, what's that thing we said and laughed so much about?? I can't remember... was it another SYFA quote???).. then we were hunting the place for food - the Civic has a few levels of restaurant, bars and pokies - and were told by a waitress that we would have drinks and nibbles at our Universal function. Our what?? What's that woman talking about??? If she says so...

Anyway, we go downstairs, the doors have opened, we take our seats, C#2 gets us some drinks and when she comes back she goes: "they were FREE" That's brilliant!!! This is indeed an industry party to launch Gin's album in Australia and they were kind enough to let some fans mix with them! Awesome! While Gin was gracing us with her amazing voice we had more free drinks and a bit of free food, thank goodness for that because alcohol and empty stomach spell disaster for your truly.

After only 4 or 5 songs it's already over. Pity though Iwas just starting to enjoy myself. Oh well, let's have one last drink before we go. Then I fobbed off C#2's recommendations to take a taxi after all it's only a 10-15 minute walk home, it's only 9pm and I feel good enough to do it or so I thought but I did get home.

Then it's all a bit of a blur. Next thing I remember is waking up at 4am, head pounding, parched and worried that C#2 would be worried because I did not text her when I got home, as per our agreement.

2 hours later I don't really feel any better. It was such a struggle to get up, get ready for work. The weather was on my side: heavy rain meant I had an excuse to take the bus to go to work, my usual stroll to the CBD would have felt like climbing Mount Everest. I check my mobile and read C#2's text message "Me 2!"... Oh.. that means that I DID send one to say that I was home safe but not quite sound. Wow, I'm impressed with myself.

Anyway... you're probably still wondering about the title of the post. Rugby brings so much joy to my life and it does not even know it! Had I not travelled to Christchurch for the Super 14 final back in May, I would not have bought Gin's CD and loved it, I would not have joined her fan page on Facebook, I would not have heard about this gig thanks to an update from her Facebook fan page and I would have missed out on a bloody good time. So.. thank you rugby. Thank you.