A good friend of ours maintains that the year really begins on the 1st of February. And I think this year has shown that perfectly. I mean, where has January gone?
To make sure we haven’t forgotten the best bits though, here’s a quick highlights reel of the last few weeks.
The start to 2021 has included amazing boat parties with a few close travel writer friends, the Open Air Cinema at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, date nights at our favourite Indian, lunch feasts at the Fish Market and a fascinating Aussie movie.
We hope you enjoy this Weekly Edition.
Cheers – Jim & Christina xx
You know when you’ve made it when you have a friend with a yacht. The main man in charge of the incredible TravMedia travel communications firm Nick Wayland has invited us for a swim and a drink around Sydney Harbour.
It’s a perfect day and aboard with us are some of the true glitterati of the travel writing industry.
The water is absolutely amazing – I was expecting a chilly dip, instead it’s a languid backstroke in the warm Middle Harbour. And I can assuage your concerns of sharks – I’m wearing my Sharkbanz anti-Jaws device.
You can read more about that here but I still have both legs so I’m convinced it works!
You really can’t beat a day on the harbour. And if you’re wondering how we’ve got these shots, Christina is using her iPhone whilst swimming.
Since she dropped it in the harbour last year and it still works, it’s really given her a lot of faith in how waterproof the phone is. Hmm.
Since it’s not raining for once, we’ve taken the afternoon off for a bit of backgammon and some beautiful Riesling from Petaluma Estate.
If you’ve never had this wine before and you like your Riesling crisp, minerally and beautifully balanced, you know what to do!
I also sneak in a cheeky cigar – a Montecristo Edmundo I’ve had stashed for a while. Not bad. Not bad at all.
This evening we’re very excited to be invited for the first night that the Open Air Cinema has been able to open in ages. Masks on, everyone!
Here at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair with views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House to enjoy, the film has to be a really good one to hold your attention.
But before the film, we enjoy the proffered goodies at the VIP Croser Garden. I’ve got to say, Croser really is an underrated Aussie sparkling wine.
The food here is from Kitchen by Mike and is truly delicious. And because it’s table service at the moment thanks to Covid, you really get a chance to enjoy the setting.
The staff here are amazing too and really deserve a shoutout for make everything run so smoothly.
The movie’s about to begin and we still have a drop of Croser left to keep us refreshed.
As for the view threatening to pull focus from the film, there’s no chance of that. We’re here to see Misbehaviour – a meaningful comedy drama about the demonstrations at the 1970 Miss World beauty pageant.
It’s as poignant as it is entertaining. Highly recommended.
This afternoon, we’re graced with our mate James’ presence. He’s recently moved to New South Wales from Melbourne, so we thought we’d do one of the most Sydney things you can do with him.
Lunch at the Sydney Fish Market!
I tell you what, one thing that the international border closures have done is made it a more pleasant experience here at the Fish Market.
I don’t think it was ever designed for the sheer number of visitors that would come here, especially in summer.
It was almost embarrassing to learn that more people would visit the Fish Market each year than all of Western Australia. And double the visitors to Cairns.
The Fish Markets is – or was – the most visited place in Australia after the Opera House! And let’s face it, it’s run down.
That’s all about to end though, with the new venue coming up quickly across the bay. Looking forward to that.
In the meantime, we’re enjoying the excellent fresh seafood you can get here. If you haven’t been here in a while because of the crowds, the garbage, the stink and the parking, try the Fish Market now. It’s a completely different experience.
Obviously I’d prefer to have an over-crowded Fish Market than this pandemic, but we have to look for silver linings I suppose.
Tonight we’ve been invited to experience this cool pop-up rooftop bar at the InterContinental Sydney called Panorama Lounge Bar.
Usually, this is this space is exclusively for Club Level guests of the hotel, but this summer it’s open to the public – and the views are insane.
The food and drinks at Panorama Lounge are also excellent – we’ve gone for the Chef’s Selection platter, which has most of the best bits from the cheese and charcuterie menu.
There’s also a kind of tapas menu to explore and – as you’d expect – a wonderful cocktail and wine list.
How about that. Isn’t it amazing. We’ve got a full review of Panorama Lounge Bar you can see here.
Back to earth, we’ve taken ourselves off for a date night tonight. We’ve come to our favourite local Indian restaurant – the oddly named Not Just Curries in Balmain. They really do just do curries here.
But they’re really good! I mean, how delicious do these entrees look?
On to the main course and we thought we were being conservative with the number of dishes, convinced we’d have to order more. Instead, we can’t finish everything, which is a new experience for me!
We’re out for another night at the cinema tonight – this time to the Palace at Leichhardt. We love coming here – so much so that Christina’s a card-carrying member, which does mean we get special advanced screenings of new films.
This film, High Ground, is simply superb. Gripping, heart-breaking, bloody and sometimes funny, it’s a tale of white Australian pioneers and their battle with an indigenous tribe.
Highly recommended, I hope and trust this one gets all the awards.
I’ve heard it’s law that when in Leichhardt, you must have pizza for dinner. Christina and I consider ourselves law-abiding citizens – especially when the law is as tasty as this.
Moretti Pizzeria is right next door to the cinema and – as you can see – its pizzas are amazing.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our Weekly Edition this time round, and we also hope you’re safe and well wherever you are in the world.
Cheers – Jim & Christina xx
